CORNELL 
 
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 LIBRARY 
 
 STEPHEN E. WHICHER 
 MEMORIAL BOOK COLLECTION 
 
 Gift of 
 MRS. ELIZABETH T. WHICHER 
 
Cornell University Library 
 BR75 .B94 1873 
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 Complete wortcs of John Bunyan / with an 
 
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 Cornell University 
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THE 
 
 COMPLETE WORKS 
 
 OF 
 
 JOHInT buntan, 
 
 WITH A'N IN"TE0DU0TI0N 
 
 Hev. JOHN p. GULLIVER, D.D.. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED EDITION. 
 
 BRADLEY, GARRETSON & CO., 
 PHILADELPHIA, 66 NOETH FOUETH STEEET. 
 
 WILLIAM GARRETSON & CO., 
 
 GALESBUEG, ILL.: COLUMBUS, OHIO: 
 
 NASHVILLE, TENN.: HOUSTON, TEXAS. 
 
 1873. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, In the year 1871, by 
 
 BRADLEY <fc CO., 
 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
 3 7/^7 ^ 
 
 F^ 
 
 Wbstcott a Thomson Oaaim Press of 
 
 Slereotypers and- Electrotypers, PIMada. Shbemah & Co., Philadelphia. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 COMPLETE WORKS OF JOHN BUNYAN. 
 
 By Ebv. JOHN P. GULLIVER, D.D., 
 
 Pbbsident of Knox CoLiiEGE, Galesbueg, Illinois. 
 
 The career of Bunyan is a marvel. It will repay the labour of a careful analysis 
 by the rhetorician, the orator, the writer of fiction, the preacher, the Sabbath-school 
 teacher and the Christian parent ; for each of these may draw out from some portion of 
 his multifarious productions the secret of success in his own department of effort. 
 
 THE SUCCESS OF BUNYAN. 
 
 Bunyan was successful even in his wickedness. He styles himself, as Paul did, " Th« 
 chief of sinners." In both cases the title was deserved, not so much on account of eminent 
 depravity as of eminent ability and energy. All the natural qualities which afterward 
 gave him power as a Christian preacher and writer were exhibited in his leadership in 
 profanity, in revilings, and in all iniquity. 
 
 Bunyan was successful as a Christian man, as a popular orator, as a practical religious 
 writer, and to no small extent as a theologian. In some of these departments his suc- 
 cess has been most remarkable. 
 
 Bunyan was an illiterate man. He was an ordinary mechanic — 
 " a tinker," as the parlance of the times termed him. Unlike the . „ ^ ' "'^'^^ "^^^ 
 
 . 01 Bunyan. 
 
 craftsmen of our nation and age, he had enjoyed only the most 
 limited opportunity for education. Yet his language possesses some of the highest quali- 
 ties known to rhetoric; his thought, even in his most abstract treatises, where it is cum- 
 bered with the system of minute subdivision then in vogue, is precise, discriminating, 
 comprehensive, and at times profound ; while the peculiar vitality of the Pilgrim's 
 Progress and the Holy War has made them the delight alike of child and man, of the 
 cottager and the king, of the cultured and the unlettered. If there is any b6ok 
 except King James' Bible which has a surer prospect than any other of a permanent 
 place in English literature, that book is Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. Is it claiming too 
 much if it is placed on an equality, in this respect, even with the Paradise Lost and the 
 plays of Shakespeare? 
 
 In language, Bunyan certainly has the advantage, for he wrote 
 in the dialect of the English Bible, which was the popular dialect of unyau s an- 
 
 the day, modified and elevated to suit the sacred use to which it was 
 
4 INTRODUCTION TO THE COMPLETE WORKS OF JOHN BUN TAN. 
 
 applied. The words of Shakespeare already require a glossary. Much of his vocabu- 
 lary, though by no means the whole of it, is destined to become as obsolete as that of 
 Chaucer is now. But the most unlettered reader finds no obscurity clouding the words 
 of Bunyan's allegories. They are taken from the very warp and woof of the English 
 language, not merely as it was'spoken at the time, but as it has been spoken since, and 
 as it will continue to be spoken. so long as the English Bible gives law to English speech. 
 The words of the royal Milton, immortal as they will surely be among the learned, 
 are growing yearly less intelligible to the people. But the words of Bunyan, aside from 
 an occasional quaintness, are as easily understood by the English-speaking population 
 of the world as they were the day they were written. 
 
 In other respects thaU in language it would be presumptuous to 
 compare Bunyan with the masters of English literature. His clas- 
 sical training was confined to Fox's "Book of Martyrs" and the Bible. 
 His early reading was comprehended by "The Practice of Piety" and the "Plain 
 Man's Pathway to Heaven" — two books which constituted the only marriage-portion 
 of his wife. But the paucity of his resources only renders more wonderful the results he 
 gained. If we consider literary success to consist in power over men, it may be doubted 
 whether Bunyan should not still be placed in the very front rank. The impersonations 
 of Shakespeare will undoubtedly be as permanent as are the traits of the human nature 
 which he has photographed. But it can be said, with equal truth, that the impersona- 
 tions of Bunyan, rude and unfinished as they sometimes seem, will possess an interest 
 so long as the process of man's redemption from sin is a thing which angels or men 
 desire to look into. The classic machinery of Milton's visions, grand and impressive 
 as it certainly is, begins to seem ponderous and unwieldy to the readers of our times, 
 as if we were made the spectators of a tournament of mediaeval knights in iron armour. 
 But the creations of the Interpreter's House, Doubting Castle, the Valley of the Shadow 
 of Death, and of the Land of Beulah, are as clear and fresh and beautiful to the readers 
 of the nineteenth as to those of the sixteenth century. 
 
 The literary immortality which has been an object of intense ambition to many of 
 the most gifted men of the race has been gained, without a thought or an effort, by the 
 humble story-teller of Bedford jail. 
 
 Similar remarks might be made concerning the theological rank 
 icalrank" ^ ^° "^ "^ these writings. Not a despicable theologian in his graver homi- 
 lies, Bunyan becomes almost an inspired prophet in his religious fic- 
 tions. The greatest of the systematic theologians will be left, behind by the progress 
 of the careful study of God's truth. But when Augustine and Calviii and Edwards 
 have ceased to be recognized as authorities, the theology they taught, changed from the 
 abstract to the concrete, will be studied and accepted in the simple adventures of Chris- 
 tian and his family, in the deeds of Faithful and the experience of Hopeful, and in the 
 wonderful sights of the Delectable Mountains. 
 
 That such anticipations concerning the literary "immortality" of 
 of'Sun^^an^s workf ^^^^ unique works of sanctified genius are not visionary, may be 
 safely argued from their immediate success at the time of their pub- 
 lication, and from the permanency of their high place in literature since. The sale 
 which followed their first publication in England, amounting to more than one hundred 
 thousand copies — an immense issue for the times — their republication in the infant colo- 
 nies of New England, their speedy translation into the languages of the French, the 
 Dutch, the Flemings, the Highland Scotch, and the Irish, is but the introduction of a 
 career of influence and popularity to which, among xininspired writings, the works of 
 Shakespeare present perhaps the only parallel in the history of literature. 
 
INTRODUCTION TO THE COMPLETE WORKS OF JOHN BUNYAN. '5 
 
 Such a phenomenon in the world of letters, and such a power in the kingdom of 
 Christ, challenge a scrutinizing examination alike from the critic and the Christian. 
 
 THE SPECIAL SUBJECT OF THIS ESSAY. 
 
 Our main inquiry in this essay will be for the causes of this success. 
 
 What made Bunyan for six years after his conversion a conventi- Inquiry for the 
 cle exhorter so formidable to the proud Episcopate of the realm that "^^^^'^^f Buqyan's 
 only the thick walls of the Bedford jail, under the sentence of the 
 Bedford justices, sustained by no less a jurist than Sir Matthew Hale, could protect 
 the English hierarchy against his sturdy blows ? 
 
 Why should the refusal to use the "Book of Common Prayer"— a frequent and in 
 most men a scarcely noticeable violation of the bigoted English statutes of the day- 
 have become a crime of such magnitude in Bunyan as to demand the expiation of a 
 twelve years' imprisonment ? 
 
 What was the inspiration that made those twelve years an era in English literature, 
 and endowed the Bedford jail with a literary celebrity not inferior to that of the Arno 
 and the Avon? And what was the spell which, after his release, drew constant crowds 
 to the dreamer's spacious chapel in Bedford ? 
 
 It is plain that the discovery of Bunyan's secret, if our analysis be delicate enough 
 to catch and retain for examination a quality so spiritual, would render a most im- 
 portant service to all who, in any capacity, are seeking " to preach the gospel to every 
 creature." 
 
 THE PREACHING OF BUNYAN COMPARED WITH THE PREACHING OF OUR 
 
 SAVIOUR. 
 
 The writer who can at the same time inform the intellect and move the sensibilities, 
 has reached the perfection of his art. The speaker who can " so speak " as to affect at 
 once the scholar and the peasant, and to charm all classes of men by the same spell, is 
 the consummate orator. Among the examples of such success, Jesus our Saviour stands 
 unapproached. Of his merely human imitators, perhaps none has achieved so great and 
 so permanent success as John Bunyan. To analyze the style of the one and to deter- 
 mine the elements of his power will be to discover the secret of the 
 other. Such an analysis, moreover, will give the solution of one of ^ ^° " ""^ ° * 
 
 •' ° great question of 
 
 the most important questions of our era, viz. : How may the gospel be ^^j. g^j^ 
 
 so preached that men shall crowd to hear it, as they thronged the 
 
 river banks in the days of John the Baptist, as they covered the mountain acclivities to 
 
 listen to Jesus of Nazareth, and as they flocked to the spacious chapel in Bedford and 
 
 hung entranced upon the lips of Bunyan ? 
 
 Contrary to a very common impression, it must be admitted that 
 our Saviour was eminently a doctrinal preacher. Whether his success t^-^^^^ oreacher ' 
 were owing to this peculiarity, or whether he was successful in spite 
 of it, no man can question the fact that instruction, and that in the deep things of God — 
 in "those things which," as he himself says, "had been kept secret from the founda- 
 tion of the world " — was his constant aim. That is a most superficial and unappreciative 
 view of Christ's teaching which supposes it to have been wholly or chiefly confined to the 
 sphere of practical ethics. From the Sermon on the Mount, which is a. most compact 
 and profound doctrinal discourse, to the conversation with Peter in the twenty-first 
 chapter of John, which was a most acute analysis of the "' evidences' of regeneration," 
 
6 INTRODUCTION TO THE COMPLETE WORKS OF JOHN BVNYAN. 
 
 '' his doctrine drops as the rain and distils as the dew." Such themes as the origin of 
 evil and its proper treatment, the nature, origin, and evidences of the new birth, the im- 
 possibility of salvation by personal goodness, the necessity of faith to produce personal 
 goodness, the mystery whereby Christ, " being a man, made himself equal with God," tlie 
 peculiarities of the kingdom of heaven as compared with human governments, the abso- 
 lute. Divine control over free human acts, the essential unity of the believing soul and 
 its Saviour, together with many another of the most profound and even metaphysical 
 truths, such as are calling forth the liveliest denunciations of the sensational preacher 
 of our era, were the themes of his daily discourse. 
 
 I Nor need we hesitate to admit that this richness in doctrinal dis- 
 
 ( . Doctrine essential euggjQQ ^a;g ^ positive and even a prime element in his success, as it 
 
 to all popular sue- . ^ , ^ , . , 
 
 gggg must be in all permanent success m popular teaching, everywhere 
 
 and in every age. Truth is the natural pabulum of the human soul. 
 
 From infancy to old age, among barbarians and philosophers, the inquiry is the same : 
 
 "What is truth?" If the feelings are moved, or the will is determined, it is always by 
 
 means of something thought — that is, through the intellect. Even the fancies of the 
 
 poetical preacher are attractive only through their verisimilitude. Christ gave to the 
 
 famishing minds about him this bread of life in rich abundance, and they who ate of it 
 
 never knew hunger again. 
 
 To say that the writings of Bunyan, the most attractive religious 
 
 unyanasoa oo- ^gg^Qjjgj. of ' modern times, are distinguished for their wealth of doc- 
 trinal preacher. . , , . , , „ , . , 
 
 trinal truths, is to repeat vyiat every reader, even oi his most popular 
 
 works, well knows. In his three great religious dramas, the Pilgrimages of Christian 
 and Christiana and the Holy War, every character is a personified fact, and every 
 incident is a vitalized doctrine. No man can thoroughly understand the Pilgrim's Prog- 
 ress without becoming an accomplished theologian. The power of the book is largely due 
 to this fact. As a story, it has no plot. Its characters are simple enough for a nursery 
 tale. Its fancies are quaint, and even rude.^ The play wright and the bookmonger would 
 ridicule an author who should expect success with the public by the use of such simple 
 machinery. Yet the Pilgrim's Progress is successful, more successful, certainly in 
 popular impressiveness, than even the plays of Shakespeare, to which, in some respects, it 
 bears a marked resemblance, but to which, in all the requisites for dramatic impression, 
 except the single one now under discussion, it would be preposterous to compare it. 
 The peculiar power of the book is to be found in its presentation of truth. The doc- 
 trines bristle along its pages like cannon upon the walls of a citadel. The attention of 
 the reader is constantly aroused by a strong, bold, and almost explosive utterance of the 
 successive truths of evangelical Christianity, .reinforced, almost uniformly, by a scrip- 
 tural reference, and expressed with such unquestionable common sense as to silence cavil 
 before it can be spoken. 
 
 The opening scene gives vividly a contrast between justification by faith and by 
 works, which is equal in. polemic power to a dozen controversial treatises. In the prog- 
 ress of the allegory all the great doctrines, from total depravity to the resurrection, are 
 clearly set forth, with the omission of scarcely a shade or a phase which has any prac- 
 tical adaptation or value. The reader is constantly stimulated by new discoveries. He 
 adds, from each page, something to his store of thought on the profoundest and mightiest 
 themes which can engage the human mind. He is not only entertained, but he is con- 
 scious of being instructed. His pleasure is accompanied with respect for the author, 
 for the work, for himself as engaged in the best culture both of mind and heart, and 
 for the system of Christian doctrine which shines out so clearly and gloriously from the 
 simple narrative he is reading. 
 
DfTRODUCTION TO THE COMPLETE WORKS OF JOHN BUNYAN. 7 
 
 In these particulars a marked similarity is to be traced between the writings of Bun- 
 yan and the teachings of the " Great Teacher." 
 
 Modem preachers who specially aim at popularity usually seek it Jesus a popular 
 by avoiding doctrine, especially in its more profound and analytic P''^*<=^er. 
 forms. Our Saviour, as we have seen, as well as the humble preacher of Bedford,, while 
 preaching the doctrines, attained an unparalleled degree and permanence of popiUarity. 
 
 How was this accomplished ? The inquiry is a vital one. Upon its solution the ques- 
 tion of the success of the Church in preaching the gospel to the world which lieth in 
 wickedness depends. 
 
 Kow, if we look at the manner of the teaching of Christ, as we 
 
 have already examined its matter, we shall observe, first, that the J^^^. ™^^^" "^ 
 
 ,, , . ., Christ s teachiug. 
 
 truth he uttered was spoken with, precision, so that he was never 
 
 obliged to retract or amend his words. It was spoken, also, plainly, ^^® manner of 
 
 except in cases when he chose to give an esoteric cast to his Ian- , /'! Precise, 
 
 . , . ,...., plain, impressive, 
 
 guage, m order to communicate to his disciples instructions which the 
 
 multitude were not prepared fo receive. Never was the apparatus of language so skil- 
 fully used to bring the conclusions of metaphysical philosophy and the direct revela- 
 tions of the heavenly Father within the reach of the humblest intellect. 
 
 It was spoken impressively also. The words which he uttered were words of grace, 
 of a rare and exceeding beauty — so that men "wondered at the gracious words which 
 proceeded out of his mouth." 
 
 They were concrete words. An abstract truth was seldom presented 
 alone, but generally in its combination with some familiar, every-day "^ ^ anguage 
 
 object. The definition of neighbour is the story, " A man went down 
 from Jerusalem to Jericho." Evil is tares; good is wheat. The great perplexing 
 problem of the permission of sin is solved by an ordinary farmer in an ordinary opera- 
 tion of agriculture. Instead of stating a philosophical problem and givinga philoso- 
 phical solution, he turns to his hearers, and with a " But what think ye f" he proceeds to 
 tell a simple story, in which the principle he would teach is involved, and then leaves 
 the conclusion to their own discernment, only adding the caution, " He that hath ears to 
 hear, let him hear." 
 
 But the great power of the preaching of Jesus was its personality. 
 It struck home. Men felt that they were dealing with one who under- / manner 
 
 •^ P personal. 
 
 stood them. The Pharisees very often "perceived -that he spake of 
 them." Sometimes a more promiscuous crowd were struck by a penetrative word as 
 with a shock from an electric battery, and, " being convicted by their own consciences, 
 went out, one by one, beginning at the oldest, unto the last." All his preaching 
 showed that " he knew what was in man." This personality was not only seen in appeals 
 to the conscience.. He touched the heart also. He was full of human sympathies. It 
 is true that his keen analysis delighted the perplexed intellect, and that his clear illus- 
 trations made even "wayfaring" men, though fools in ignorance, exult in the pos- 
 session of some grand truth which prophets and wise men had desired to see, but had 
 not seen it. But it was his love, or to express the thought more pre- 
 cisely, it was his broad, sympathetic humanity, that chiefly made great , ., 
 multitudes follow him in the city and upon the mountain, across the 
 sea and into the wilderness, held by a spell which they could hardly have defined, and 
 yet were unable to resist. The word humanity is used rather than the word hve, in this 
 connection, because something more is meant than a simple feeling of tenderness or a 
 desire to promote happiness. The word is used to designate sympathy with all human 
 
8 INTMOJDUGTION TO THE COMPLETE WORKS OF JOHN BUNYAN. 
 
 emotion and aspiration, as well as with men's modes of thought and habits of life. It is 
 the sentiment described by the heathen poet when he said : " I am human, and nothing 
 which is human is foreign to me." Jesus showed himself a man under all circum- 
 stances. He was tempted at all points as man is, and knew how to succour tempted 
 man. There was nothing regal or priestly or even sombre about him. The tradi- 
 tional^ assertion, " Our' Saviour wept, but was never known to smile," has more an- 
 tiquity than authenticity. He certainly never betrays any anxiety about his dignity. 
 He shows the most intense hatred of formality and of all the requirements of religious 
 etiquette. He can hardly conceal his contempt for the ecclesiastical martinets who 
 sought to stone him because he had made a man every whit whole on the Sabbath 
 day. He taught that the Sabbath, and so all God's institutions, was made for man, 
 whom God made, and as God made him. He preached a gospel which was antagonistic 
 to sin in man, but not antagonistic to man. His teaching and his life were full of this 
 beautiful and sympathetic humanity. Men instinctively felt that Jesus was their fellow, 
 a man indeed absolutely pure, and a being in some relations infinitely more than man, 
 but in his human relations a being on their level. While he sometimes drew from 
 them the adoring exclamation, "My Lord and my God!" at other times they hesi- 
 tated not to ask querulously, "Lord, carest thou not that we perish?" while provident 
 Martha, in the very tenderest mood of grief, reproached him, with the familiarity 
 of a sister, in the words, " Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died." 
 The scenes at the blessing of the children, at the grave of Lazarus, at the summary 
 ejection of the money-changers from the temple, are only excerpts from a life of intense 
 sympathy with all that is human in man. He was a stranger only to the sin of man, 
 alienated only from the progeny of evil in the soul — ^the works of those who are of their 
 father the devil, and who do his deeds. 
 
 This broad, deep humanity, tinging all the language of his teaching and interpene- 
 trating its very substance, seemed, when he spoke, to envelop speaker and hearers in one 
 comprehensive, magnetic atmosphere, and made their hearts beat together as one, till 
 the very life of Christ was communicated to those around him, and an all-enveloping 
 sympathy — which was more than a sympathy, which was a substance, unseen and ethe- 
 real, but potential and pervading — made the vastest multitude one intellectual and moral 
 being, thinking, feeling, moving with the one master spirit. It is no wonder they 
 were astonished at his power over them, or, that his bitterest enemies were compelled to 
 exclaim, "Never ttian spake like this man." 
 
 A discriminating and thorough analysis of the teaching and oratory 
 
 The same elements ^^ ^^^ gj,g^(. masters of eloquence will show that, in various propor- 
 
 ular'orators. tions, the elements of power now enumerated have been present in 
 
 their speech and writings. It will also be found that this power has 
 
 been just in proportion to the perfection they had attained in these various essentials 
 
 of true eloquence. 
 
 There may be profound thought which is yet not precise and clear, and the result will 
 be only bewilderment in the hearer. There may be clear thought which is not profound 
 or original or forcible, and the result will be, at the best, only a patient approval of 
 what is to the audience a very dull discourse. Or the thought may be both clear and 
 profound, while the words are anything but " gracious words." The rhetoric may be 
 rough or pedantic, or suggestive of disagreeable associations, or flighty with prettin^sses 
 or rotund with bombast. Or the composition may be faultless in thought and expres- 
 sion, and yet may be so abstract in form that the common people will be far from hear- 
 ing it gladly, while even the philosopher will experience a stir of the thoughts rather 
 
INTRODUCTION TO THE COMPLETE WORKS OF JOHN BUNYAN. 9 
 
 than a quickening of the conscience or a marshalling of the purposes to right action. Or 
 the preacher may have the clearness of Addison, the proiundity of Plato, the beautiful 
 diction of Vaughn, and the concreteness of Dean Swift, all combined, yet, if he be not 
 interpenetrated with humanity and surrounded with it as an atmosphere, he will never 
 do what Luther did, nor what Whitefield did, nor what Bunyan did, nor, even at a dis- 
 tant approximation, ,what Christ did. 
 
 Perhaps this analysis of manner in the successful religious teacher 
 will guide us to the secret, in part at least, of Bunyan's great and Bunyan's power 
 continued influence over all classes of men while teaching the whole 
 circle of Christian doctrine. 
 
 In the first place, then, every reader of Bunjan must have observed the precision and 
 clearness of his style and thought. The reader is never compelled to 
 go over a sentence the second time. The impression it makes upon earnesa o un- 
 
 i^, ^ yan s style. 
 
 his mind is clear, well-cut, and immediate. Occasionally he comes 
 upon a sentence whose quaintness gives him a moment's pause, as when Faithful com- 
 mences his defence before the court at Vanity Fair in this way: " That he had only set 
 himself against that which had set itself against Him that is higher than the highest." But 
 the delay reveals to him a pith and richness of meaning which will be likely to make 
 him linger upon the sentence till it is indelibly printed upon his memory. Generally, 
 however, the thought of the author is seized at once. The impression upon the imagina- 
 tion and feelings is not impaired by even the least perplexity of the intellect. Each sen- 
 tence is a nail fastened in a sure ^lace. 
 
 The suggestion that Bunyan is a profound writer will hardly, how- 
 ever, be so readily assented to. Certainly, if our idea of profundity "°yaii apro oun 
 in a writer is that he shall be shadowy and unintelligible, or that he 
 shall be abstract, or that he shall wander into the regions of the unknown and the un- 
 knowable, then Bunyan is not profound. Bunyan is no Ralph Waldo Emerson. He is 
 no German philosopher turned into a mere ghost of a man by the excessive subjectivity 
 ' of his speculations. He is no propounder of theories concerning matters which no theory 
 can explain. The theologians of all the evangelical schools accept the Pilgrim's Prog- 
 ress. It does not even enter their ancient battle-grounds. 
 
 But if to be profound is to go to the bottom of the subject in hand, if it is to follow 
 with a sharp analysis the dividing line between things that differ, if it is to search every 
 element that enters into a just and safe conclusion, then Bunyan is profound. 
 
 The wav of life is the subject of the Bible. To point out that way a certaiin number 
 of facts and truths are considered necessary by Infinite Wisdom. These, when arranged 
 systematically and discriminated from error, constitute our systems of theology. 
 
 The way of life is also the subject of Bunyan's allegories. It would 
 be a curious experiment should some constructive mind attempt to ^j. f^^J^^ ^^ ■ 
 draw from them a system of underlying doctrine, as theologians have 
 done from the Bible. If nothing were omitted which Bunyan uses, if all his qualifica- 
 tions were noted and all perversions guarded against, there can be little doubt that a 
 very complete body of divinity would be the result. It is this peculiarity which is the 
 basis of Bunyan's strength. The reader is gaining truth — the food of the soul — in every 
 
 line. 
 
 That Bunyan has the next requisite of a popular style is evident. 
 
 No reader doubts that he uses concrete rather than abstract terms, ""^^ 
 
 or, more precisely, that he individualizes rather than generalizes his 
 ideas. He invests the most abstract qualities with all the charm of a personal individ- 
 
10 INIBODUCTION TO THE COMPLETE WORKS OF JOHN BUNYAN. 
 
 uality. He turns a doctrine into an exciting adventure. He converts great moral facts 
 into solid existences, as a mountain, a burden on the back, a man in a cage, a giant's 
 castle, a celestial city. In tbis be closely follows tbe Bible, and never fails to appropri- 
 ate its imagery when it is possible to do so. There is nothing in Shakespeare more per- 
 fect than the impersonations of Obstinate and Pliable in the very beginning of hi? story. 
 The description of Vanity Fair, its streets, its rulers, its citizens, and its doings, makes 
 a group which the painter could transfer almost unchanged from the paper to the 
 canvas. In the Holy War the generalizations of mental philosophy in all their 
 multitude rise before us in the form of walls and gates and magistrates and armies, as 
 if "spirits from the vasty deep" had suddenly taken to themselves form and solidity, 
 and were lifting their huge proportions all around us. What a study is his nomencla- 
 ture alone ! Who but Bunyan would have concocted such a catalogue as this of the 
 court at Vanity Pair? 
 
 Judge, My Lord Hate-good. 
 
 Witnesses, Envy, Superstition, and Pick-thank. 
 
 The Prince of the Realm, Beelzebub. 
 
 The Nobility, Lord Oldman, Lord Carnal-delight Lord Luxurious, Lord Desire-of- 
 vain-glory. Lord Lechery, Sir Having-greedy. 
 
 The statutes are acts come down from Pharaoh, Darius, and Nebuchadnezzar! 
 
 The roll of the Jury puts a fitting climax upon this pyramid of personification : Mr. 
 Blindman, the foreman, Mr. No-good, Mr. Malice, Mr. Love-lust, Mr. Live-loose, Mr. 
 Heady, Mr. High-mind, Mr. Enmity, Mr. Liar, Mr. Cruelty, Mr. Hate-light, Mr. Im- 
 placable ! 
 
 What an immense acquisition of power would come to many of the 
 e eo o mo eiu g^j^jgg^. preachers of our era if they could learn Bunyan's art of giving 
 to their airy abstractions " a local habitation and a name," not by 
 descriptive appellations, but by descriptive impersonations ! The whole power of many 
 preachers, otherwise of very inferior abilities and attainments, lies in the possession of 
 this art. Let the philosopher and the scholar beware how they despise a gift which, 
 however unnecessary within the walls of the university, is one of the grand instrument- • 
 alities by which men are to be brought up from the East and the West and the North and 
 the South to sit down together in the kingdom of God. 
 
 Bunvaii's humanity, by which we mean, as before, a broad and deep 
 
 Bunyan's broad ■' -in,,, . , ^ , ■, „ ■, 
 
 humanity. Sympathy With all that belongs to men, is another or the chief ele- 
 
 ments of his power. He comes into contact with his readers at every 
 point. He is so guileless, so frank, so fearless, so kindly, so keen, so witty, so intensely 
 in earnest, that, before you are aware of it, he has thrown over you the spell of an en- 
 chanter. No man ever attained more perfectly the divine art of drawing human beings 
 "with the cords of love and the bands of a man." 
 
 The element of humour plays a very important part in this attract- 
 Bunyan s u- j^^ process — not less important because there is no open expression of 
 it. It would shock some persons to hear the intimation that our 
 Saviour ever indulged in humour. But a fair analysis would readily detect something 
 closely analogous to this fascinating quality in many passages, especially those of a con- 
 troversial character. The repartees made to the ecclesiastical lawyers who attempted to 
 "entangle him in his talk" had in them that sense of logical absurdity and that enjoy- 
 ment of deserved personal discomfiture which are important elements in the higher grades 
 of humour. The scene at Gadara, wheh the devils were taken at their word and sent 
 into a herd of swine is essentially ludicrous, and may have been intended to match the 
 
INTRODUCTION TC THE COMPLETE WORKS OF JOHN BUNT AN. 11 
 
 malignant design of these rampant spirits, of drawing Jesus into trouble with the Gad- 
 arene pork-merchants by bringing them and their boasted power into ridicule. 
 
 Bunyan is full of humour, though he is too serious and earnest to wish to employ it 
 except in his exposures of error and wickedness. What an exquisite bit of satire, for 
 example, is the conversation with By-ends, just after Christian leaves Vanity Fair, "the 
 parishioner of Mr. Two-tongues" and "the lineal descendant of a waterman yiho got his 
 living by rowing one way and looking the other," by which laudable occupation, remarks 
 Mr. By-ends, " I got most of my estate." 
 
 The same keen quick perception of the incongruities and contradictions, which are 
 the staple of all rhetorical retributions for folly and pretence, pervades all Bunyan'g 
 works, and constantly draws toward him the peculiar sympathy which the story-teller 
 and the wit are sure to awaken. Let not the Christian teacher who possesses this 
 charming gift consider it only a misfortune and an impediment. Carefully employed, 
 it will bring him, more quickly than any other, into a magnetic sympathy with men. 
 The most violent prejudices against an orator or his cause may often be dispelled by 
 a few pleasantries. Wit can give even to logic a finer edge and a sharper point. Hu- 
 mour may play over the surfl,ce of the most serious discourse, as heat-lightning over 
 the moonless sky, not obtrusively, yet lighting all the firmament of thought with a be- 
 witching iridescence. 
 
 Every page of Bunyan's allegories, and every verse of his quaint but rude poetry, 
 wavers in this magnetic atmosphere of humour. What, for example, could be more 
 suppressed, and yet efiective, than the sly sarcasm of the lines in which he describes the 
 reception of his Pilgrim's Progress by his immediate friends ? 
 
 "Then I set pen to paper with delight, 
 And quickly had my thoughts in black and white. 
 For having now my method by the end, 
 Still as I pulled, it came ; and so I penned 
 It down ; until it came at last to be, 
 For length and breadth, the bigness which you see. 
 
 " Well, when I had thus put my ends together, 
 I showed them others, that I might see whether 
 They would condemn them, or them justify ; 
 And some said, ' Let them live ;' some, ' Let them die ;' 
 Some said, ' John, print it ;' others said,.' Not so ;' 
 Some said it might do good ; others said, ' No.' " 
 
 Closelv connected with this quality of humour in Bunyan was that 
 
 ,„„ „ , 1 r. 1 1 ■ 1 i? Bunyan'a naiveta, 
 
 peculiar compound of self-forgetiulness and truthiumess which tor 
 want of an English name we have agreed to term naivete. This charming quality, 
 which opens men's hearts like the pressing of a secret spring in the iron door of a money- 
 vault, is conspicuous not only in the quotations just given, but in almost every sentence 
 Bunyan wrote. We feel at home as soon as we begin to read. In a very few minutes 
 we are on such terms of intimacy with the author that, while we are conscious of hia 
 access to the most secret places of our hearts, we feel that we have a free entrance to his 
 
 also. 
 
 If Bunyan preached as he wrote, as he undoubtedly did, he must in his very first sen- 
 tence have introduced himself to his hearers and drawn them into the sphere of his per- 
 sonal life. Edward Everett, when once asked how he gained the sympathy of a strange 
 audience in a strange place so uniformly and quickly, replied, " I always search out 
 some historical incident or some local association, through which I ingratiate myself with 
 the people I am to address." Without egotism, certainly without vanity, but with a self- 
 
12 INTRODUCTION TO THE COMPLETE WORKS OF JOHN BUNYAN. 
 
 forgetful ingenuousness that goes out in sympathy and confidence toward others, and loves 
 to make them sharers of his thoughts and hopes and joys, the preacher who partakes of 
 tiie spirit of Bunyan will envelop his audience with the atmosphere of his own personal- 
 ity. He will lay his heart upon the heart of each hearer till their beating is in unison. 
 Another element of this quality, which we have termed the human- 
 unyansric im- ^.. ^^ Bunyan, is iinaqinative in its character. It is a part of our 
 agination. j j > 3 i 1 u 
 
 humanity to love analogies. It impresses us much more to be told 
 
 " God is a rock " than to be assured, in literal phrase, " God is firm and strong." A 
 whole treatise upon conviction of sin cannot move us as does the picture of the Slough 
 of Despond, in which Pliable appears crawling out upon one side and Christian catching 
 the hand of Help on the other. The machinery of these allegories is certainly not elab- 
 orate. On the contrary, it is very simple, if not rude. Yet it may well be doubted 
 whether the most exquisite impersonations of Shakespeare or the grandest fancies of Mil- 
 ton really make so strong and permanent an impression upon us as the story of the town 
 of Mansoul, with its walls and its gates, its magistrates, its sovereigns, and its wars. Few 
 have ever looked on the picture of the land of Beulah, and the passage of the Pilgrims to 
 the Celestial City, without experiencing a glow of emotion such as even the masters of 
 romance'and song have seldom been able to inspire. The language of imagination was 
 natural to Bunyan, as it was to our Saviour. He was writing another book, supposed 
 to be "The Heavenly Footman," when, as he tells us, "before I was aware, I thus 
 began," and the result was — The Pilgrim's Progress! 
 
 " And thus it was : I, writing of the way 
 And race of saints in this our gospel day. 
 Fell suddenly into an allegory, 
 ' About their journey and the way to glory. 
 
 In more than twenty things, which I set down. 
 This done, I twenty more had in my crown ; 
 And they again began to multiply 
 Like sparks that from the coals of fire do fly." 
 
 Such labour is play, and such play of the finest faculties of the mind of man is power. 
 
 .No culture is complete which fails first to develop, then to regulate, the imagination, and 
 
 I no man is the full possessor of the "humanity" now under discussion who is not master 
 
 of' the "humanities" by which it is trained and strengthened. 
 
 In enumerating the various elements of Bunyan's power over men 
 Buayan's pathos. j. j. -i. ii j.- i? ji 
 
 we must not omit the mention 01 pathos. 
 We have already spoken of sympathy with our common humanity on the side of its 
 fancy, in its love of frankness, and in its appreciation of wit. But the human heart has a 
 tender- side also. Tears lurk close to smiles and fun frolics in the very arms of sadness. 
 The heart-stricken Cowper wrote "John Gilpin" out of the depths of a troubled spirit. 
 Gough, the orator of the heart, gives the warning, 
 
 " If you have tears, prepare to shed them now," 
 
 by a side-splitting joke, close upon which follows a picture of the drunkard's wife and 
 babes, the home laid desolate, the generous, loving heart made fiendish by drink, 
 which has the force of a thousand arguments to convince and persuade. 
 
 The preacher of the Gospel handles themes full of the tenderest pathos. Love is 
 the subject of the Gospel. Tenderness is its essential spirit. Ministration to the dis- 
 eases and sorrows of the human heart is its chief work. We plead for no sickly, cer- 
 tainly no sanctimonious, pathos. But when a man like Bunyan, full of vigour, with 
 DO- vaporish humours, alive to all pleasant fancies and all generous wit, tells us of hi? 
 
INTRODUCTION TO THE COMPLETE WORKS OF JOHN BUNYAJs 13 
 
 own jirotvacted mental sufferings, or pictures those scenes of gentleness which especially 
 abound in the narrative of Christiana and her children, he takes our hearts captive. 
 We are clay in his hands. He moulds us as he will. 
 
 This broad humanity in Bunyan is manifested still further in his 
 ready sympathy in all the forms of human feeling. It is especially ^unyan's ready 
 conspicuous in his charity of spirit, which even his twelve years of 
 imprisonment could not disturb so as to call out one sharp or bitter word toward 
 his enemies. It is manifested in that infectious enthusiasm which is a 
 prime element of power in every successful career, and which com- . ""y^" ° ®"* "' 
 municates to ordinary men an inspiration of hope and courage and 
 strength such as puts its author almost in the place of a deity among his followers. 
 
 It is the combination of these and kindred qualities in BuHVan, constituting si broad, 
 generous, well-developed humanity, which seems to have been the source of that peculiar 
 magnetism which is so perceptible in his writings, and which must have been still more 
 fully felt in his personal presence. 
 
 If our analysis is correct, and if this magnetic humanity is one great 
 source of the power which attained such development in Bunyan, and .'^ ™°',. , " 
 
 .11 f J ' mamty essential to 
 
 which IS seen m absolute perfection in Him who, five days before his suoceas. 
 crucifixion, could fill Jerusalem and even the very courts of the Tem- 
 ple with the hosannas of the populace, then every preacher of the gospel, whether by 
 tongue or pen, should give to its culture the most assiduous study. 
 It is not to be denied that a class of men who have none of the 
 
 higher qualities we have named, who, unlike Bunyan, have little or no , °:"'^ ° . ^ ^°^' 
 . . ■ J • ulanty ot sensa- 
 
 real instiaiction to give, who sneer at "theology" because they know tionai preachers, 
 nothing about it, and who are held in deserved contempt by scholarly 
 men, are notwithstanding getting and retaining the ear of the busy, mercurial, quick- 
 witted American people, not by any means on account of their emptiness, but wholly in 
 spite of it, and yet are wielding an amount of influence over public opinion and 
 character which is undoubtedly preparing the way, first, for loose doctrine, then for false 
 doctrine, and at last for a complete apostasy from Christ, both in opinion and life. 
 
 The secret of the power of these preachers is to be found in their intense sympathy 
 with men, and in the numerous points of contact with their audiences at which that 
 sympathy is evolved. It is simple slander upon the people to say, as is often done, 
 that they do not love thought. All men love thought, but they 
 love something else better. They love a man better than they love , ^ * ^^"^ * 
 
 Ills thoughts. He who shows himself to be a man, highly developed 
 in all the characteristics of a man as God made him, will be more to them than the 
 greatest philosopher or the profoundest theologian. " And I," says our Saviour — not 
 my doctrine, not my law, but I — "if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men 
 unto me." ' 
 
 BUNYAN' S WORKS A TRANSCRIPT OF HIS OWN EXPERIENCE. 
 
 It still remains that anotHer and a far more important secret of Bunyan's success should 
 be mentioned. He wrote what he had himself experienced. His " Grace Abounding to 
 the Chief of Sinners" is the " Pilgrim's Progress" and the "Holy War" in a subjective 
 form. It is easy to trace, in this account of his personal experience, the original of all 
 the chief scenes of his allegories. Here is the Slough of Despond, and a miry place it 
 was to poor Bunyan. The Interpreter's House stood hard by his home. The fight with 
 Apollyon was a real one. Vanity Fair and its courts were a transcript of the society 
 
14 INTMODUCTION TO THE COMPLETE WORKS OF JOBN BUNYAN. 
 
 and government of the times in England. Some of the characters can even now be 
 traced to the living men around him, and in Bunyan's day a large number must have 
 been capable of identification. 
 
 Without the terrible spiritual experience of-Bunyan and his protracted sufferings, 
 these immortal productions -would have been impossible. The seed of the plentiful har- 
 vest which they have brought into the kingdom of God was sown in anguish and tears. 
 The force of this personal experience threw, often into a single sentence, the results of 
 a lifetime of intense thought. It focalized under the eye of the reader the concentrated 
 vitality of Bunyan's whole physical, intellectual and spiritual energies for long years. 
 Here is the power of these works in one of its chief elements. While all the auxiliaries 
 which we have named, of defined doctrine, of clear speech, of beauty in expression, of cor- 
 rectness in conception, of 'personal application, of a large humanity in its humour, in its 
 frankness, in its fancy, in its pathos, in its sympathy, in its charity, and in its inspiring 
 enthusiasm, were present, yet none of them were present in such an eminent degree as 
 to place the author where he is— in the very front rank of literature. In fact, the critic 
 often feels that there is a deficiency in these particulars which suggests somewhat pain- 
 fully the idea of poverty in literary resources. Still, he is conscious of power. He feels 
 that the author has reached the end of writing, while he seems deficient in the qualities 
 by which that end is ordinarily gained. Like the famous sentence of Massillon at the 
 commencement of his sermon on the death of the' Duchess of Orleans, " God only is 
 great I" — which simple words caused a vast assembly to bow their heads in worehip and 
 awe — the words of Bunyan seem possessed of a power of which no critical account can 
 be given. The explanation is, in part at least, that these words were forged upon the 
 anvil of experience, and were ejected with the concentrated momentum of years of 
 emotion and thought. 
 
 So it has been with all great orators. The finest similes of Daniel 
 
 All real eloquence ^gbster were not wrought out at the moment when they leaped, as if 
 
 sonal experience. unbidden, ffom his lips. They were the fruit of hours of elevated 
 
 communion with nature and with truth, and when they were uttered 
 
 Webster. they were a lightning-stroke, because the massed electricity of vast 
 
 hidden regions of lofty emotion found vent in them. 
 
 Very simple were the words of Whitefield. Th'e rudest collier 
 among his audiences could have uttered them as easily as he. Yet 
 when he raised his hands and exclaimed, " Oh the wonderful love of Christ !" vast assem- 
 blies were bathed in tears, because these words, when uttered by Whitefield, meant vastly 
 more than when uttered by an ordinary man. 
 
 K leon Napoleon's charge at Lodi carried his troops victorious over bat- 
 
 teries which had mowed down the columns of every other French 
 general, because at the moment his whole military history was brought to the minds both 
 of friend and foe, and the united force of a hundred battle-fields s^ept over the bridge 
 of fire. The great chief himself recognized this principle of cumulation when he said 
 to his army in Egypt, "From the summit of those pyramids forty centuries look down 
 upon you." The deeds witnessed by those mute sentinels of history, during two-thirds 
 of the world's life,' commingled with the deeds of to-day, and every blow of the modern 
 army gathered into itself the combined energies of ages of heroism. 
 
 The words, as well as the deeds, of power which have moved the world have evei 
 
 been the voice of the accumulated experience of generations. So the words by which 
 
 one individual moves another must be the voice of accumulated personal experience. 
 
 Our Saviour ^"^' ^^'^^o"'' penetrated in an instant the hearts of all about him, 
 
 not only because he knew man, but because he had been tried as man 
 
INTRODUCTION TO THE COMPLETE WORKS OF JOHN BUNT AN. 15 
 
 Is. He paints heaven and the glory of his Father, he describes hell in language of fear- 
 ful power, because he speaks that which he knows and testifies that which he has seen. 
 John could not be commissioned to write the Apocalypse of the future until he had 
 been shown, amid the dark mountains of the isle of Patmos, the actual vision of the 
 supernatural world. Even Paul could not be entrusted with his great message until he 
 had been caught up in the third heaven and heard that " which it is not lawful for man 
 to utter." In ordinary speech, the words of an eye-witness, though they are the Same 
 words, are always uttered with a zest which the manufactured utterances of a mere in- 
 vestigator can never acquire. 
 
 Bunyan's rude and unfinished word-pictures stand before us in the 
 ■warm colours and sharp outlines which belong to ads rather than repre- 
 sentations. We do not read a biography. We see a life. Hence we are moved by Bun- 
 yan's words as by a cry of agony or a shout of joy uttered at our side. We are in no 
 mood to criticise the artistic execution, as if a dramatist were 'exhibiting before us. Here 
 is living suffering and actual happiness. A human heart is uttering itself, not a musi- 
 cal tone or an elocutionary inflection. This is the power of reality. All the rules of mere 
 representation here fail of application. 
 
 The preacher who speaks out his own experience has a power which transcends all the 
 canons of art. Art will unquestionably add to this power and bring it to a polished 
 perfection, but it will not create it. The preachei^ who moves men must learn to say, 
 not only " Thou art the man," but also, " I am the man." The former without the 
 latter will be scolding, not preaching. It may be very faithful and very just, but men 
 will grow worse under it rather than better. The latter without the former is simply 
 the egoistic form of the sensational style. It is the insufierable personality of a coarse, 
 vain man thrust between his hearers and the truth. But the two, united as they were in 
 Bunyan, cry to men to escape the city of Destruction, where J lived ; to roll off their bur- 
 dens at the cross, where I found pardon ; to avoid Doubting Castle, where I was ensnared ; 
 to resist the Devil, with whom I contended in the Valley of Humiliation ; to eschew 
 the allurements of Vanity Fair, which /have seen to " bite like a serpent and sting like 
 an adder;" to seek the instruction and delights of the Delectable Mountains, where I 
 have drunk of the river of God's pleasures. 
 
 There is a sense in which the true preacher can say, " We preach not ourselves, but 
 Christ Jesus, the Lord." There is another sense in which he can say, " We preach our- 
 selves as your servants, for Jesus' sake." 
 
 BUNYAN'S THOUGHTS AN INSPIRATION FROM GOD. 
 
 We shall detain the reader pnly to call attention to one more element of Bunyan's 
 power. He was a man in constant communion vfith God. His spiritual autobiography ie 
 not needed to assure us of this fact. All his writings bear testimony to it. Such a fact 
 is of course beyond the scope of ordinary literary criticism. The power of the men who 
 have received from God " a mouth and a wisdom which all their adversaries are not able 
 to gainsay or resist " is a mystery to the critics of the Schools. They find in it only a 
 new proof of the superstition of the ignorant masses, who can be so moved without any 
 apparent cause. But in this case, as in others, the foolishness of God is wiser than men. 
 One divine word, though it be ever so simple, is mighty to the pulling down of the 
 strongest holds. The man who utters that divine word possesses, it may be, not elo- 
 quence, not learning, not logic, not any of the ordinary forces of the orator, but he has 
 inspiration. In the highest spiritual sense, "the inspiration of the Almighty hath given 
 him understanding," and with understanding comes power. 
 
16 INTBODUOTION TO THE COMPLETE WORKS OF JOHN BUNYAN. 
 
 In using the word inspiration we have restricted it to ihought-m- 
 tion "d '°^j'y*]^ spiration. TTorc^-inspiration is confined to the superintendence of the 
 spiration. Spirit over those who spake " not in the words which man's wisdom 
 
 teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth." In the Holy Scrip- 
 tures both the thoughts and the language, so far as necessary, were directed from on 
 high. " Expressing things taught by the Spirit, in language taught by the Spirit," is 
 probably the idea intended in the words, " Comparing spiritual things with spiritual." 
 
 But there is no evidence that in our times any aid is given to utterance, except as it 
 is given through the thoughts, emotions and purposes which are created by the present 
 Spirit in the soul. That form of inspiration is still the privilege of every man who has 
 become united with God. 
 
 The original union of man with his Maker is a union of nature — a union which has 
 been broken by sin. But the union of the "new creature" with the Creator is a union 
 of thought, afiection and pvirpose. The soul experiences the modicum of truth which is 
 contained in the heathen idea of absorption into the deity. " It returns into th'e bosom of 
 Divinity," not to lose its conscious existence, but to become more active amid divine ac- 
 tivities, to become more loving with Him " who first loved us," to energize its will-power 
 by blending it with the will of God. Just in proportion to the perfection of this union 
 does the restored wanderer become " a partaker of the Divine nature ;" just in that 
 proportion he can say, "I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me;" and just in that 
 proportion does it remain true, as of old, that it is given him, at the hour of need, what 
 he ought to speak. The particular words will indeed be modified by the habits and 
 taste of the speaker. Here comes in the need and the duty of per- 
 
 e a ion o cu - gQjjg^j culture. But the thought or emotion will issue defined and 
 
 ture to inspiration. ,,. „ ,.-._,-,. -, ■ ^ 
 
 strong and gJowing irom the mmd oi God. in a real, m the most 
 important, sense, the words of the man of prayer are the words of God. 
 
 The itispiration of thoughts is a higher inspiration than that of words. The one im- 
 plies union with God in character and by constant communion. The other may be 
 granted to a Balaam who "loved the wages of unrighteousness." 
 
 The inspiration of Bunyan is the inspiration of a man who had become " the temple of 
 the living God." When this fact is fully comprehended, it ceases to be a mystery that 
 none of his adversaries were able to resist the wisdom and power with which he spake. 
 All the other sources of strength which we have enumerated sink into insignificance when 
 compared with this. 
 
 Let this unquestionable fact be a rebuke to the men of ambition who trust mainly in 
 the arts of popularity or in the forces of learning and culture, and convert their pulpits, 
 the one into an actor's stage, the other into a professor's chair. Let it be for the en- 
 couragement and joy of every man of faith who puts forth all his powers, however hum- 
 ble they may be, in close and constant sympathy with God. 
 
 Bunyan, like the woman who anointed the Saviour's feet, has done deeds by the sim- 
 ple power of faith which shall be told for a memorial of him wherever this gospel shall 
 be preached throughout the whole world. By the same faith may every man become a 
 chosen vessel to bear the name of Christ to the perishing millions of earth ! 
 
 " When one who holds communion with the skies 
 Has filled his urn where these pure waters rise. 
 And oncennore mingles with us meaner things, 
 'Tis e'en as if an angel shook his wings 1 
 Ambrosial fragrance fills the circuit wide, 
 That tells us whence his treasures are supplied /" 
 
CONTEN^TS. 
 
 Oracr abounding to the Chief of Sinners, in a Faithful 
 Account of the Life and Death of John Bunyan; 
 corrected and much enlarged by the author, for the 
 benefit of the Tempted and Dejected Christian, 
 
 An address to his spiritual children. His low origin 
 by birth. His ungodly childhood. Fears of future 
 retribution. Intense dislike of religious things. 
 Still, is greatly shocked at the sigiit of gross sin 
 in professed Christians. His narrow escape from 
 death. His wife and her marriage portion— a re- 
 ligious book and the memory of her godly father. 
 His superstitious reverence for priests and their 
 vestments. Is troubled because he is not a Jew. 
 Hears a sermon on sabbath-breaking. Convicttd 
 while playing a game of " Cat." Reproved by a 
 woman for swearing, and breaks it off. Reforms 
 generally, and is well pleased with lilmself. His 
 boll-ringing and dancing. Still ignorant of Christ. 
 The humble Christian women of Bedford, and 
 their tallt. He discovers his false position. A 
 profligate friend. Tlie sect of " Ranters." Relig- 
 ious people drawn away by them into open sin. 
 He begins to understand Paul's Epistles, and to 
 see that faith on the part of man is tlie condi- 
 tion of all blessings from God. Proposes to test 
 his faith by working a miracle. Remembers the 
 poor women of Bedford. Tiieyare seen in his ira- 
 aginatiOQ to occupy the bright side of a mountain, 
 while he is in the dark and frost. A great wall is 
 between them, witli a narrow opening, tlirough 
 whichhe vainly strives to enter. Is troubled witli 
 the doctri ne of election, but is comforted by learn- 
 ing that none are elected to be lost but those who 
 will not believe. Searches a year for a special 
 passage of Scripture, and finds it at last in the 
 Apocrypha. Then is troubled lest he has put olT 
 believing too long, but is comforted by the words, 
 "And yet there is room." Tempted to go back 
 into sin, but is restrained by fear. Faneilul sym- 
 bols interest him. Longs for a special call into 
 the kingdom. Love for the elect Pages 27-38 
 
 I» instructed by Rev. IVIr. Gifford of Bedford, prob- 
 ably the "Evangelist" of "Pilgrim's Progress." 
 Vivid experiences and sharp temptations. Fears 
 he has committed the unpardonable sin; After 
 a long and fearful struggle he looks away from 
 himself and his own character to Christ, and for 
 a twelvemonth is fully in the peace of God. ...38-60 
 
 His pi'ayer for his wife, and tire answer. His trials 
 in uniting with the visible Church. New tempta- 
 tions at a time of bodily weakness. Tlie final 
 triumph 60-63 
 
 A Brief Account of tlie Author's Call to the Work of 
 
 the Ministry. 
 [s urged to exhort,, then to attend meetings in. the 
 
 country. Finds men awakened and converted. 
 2 
 
 Preaches the terrors of t he Lord as he himself fell 
 them. Then preaches aesus Christ in ail his 
 ofllces, as he had discovered the plan of salva- 
 tion. Then, having learned the mystery of the 
 union of the believing soul to Christ, he preaches 
 that truth. This continues five years, till he Is 
 cast into prison, to bear testimony by sulR-ring 
 twice as long as he had by preaching. His expe- 
 riences and trials in the ministry Pages 64-69 
 
 A Brief Accoutit of the Author's Imprisonment. 
 
 Is arrested for holding unlawful assemblages and 
 conventicles, and lies in jail twelve years. The 
 trial of parting from his wife and childrcin. His 
 spiritual experiences in prison 70-73 
 
 A Continuation of Mr. Bunyan' s Life; beginning 
 where he left off, and concluding with the Time and 
 Manner of his Death and Burial ; together with his 
 True Character, tScc. 
 
 He is released from prison by the good offices of 
 Dr. Barlow, bishop of Lincoln. He continues his 
 labors as before, notwithstanding the law which 
 was still in force. Takes advantage of the law 
 giving liberty of conscience, though he pene- 
 trates its evil design. Builds a chapel in Bed- 
 ford, which is thronged. His political teaching. 
 Preaches often in London 74-76 
 
 Bunyan wa.s converted in 1055; was imprisoned 
 November liJ, 1660 ; was released in 1666, but again 
 imprisoned for six years, being arrested while 
 preaching from the words, " Dost thou believe on 
 tlie Son of God?" He was again arrested and 
 imprisoned for six months more. During the 
 last year he was elected pastor of a church in 
 Bedford. He never gave offence; never re- 
 proached or reviled any. His family discipline. 
 His last service. His sickness and death 76, 77 
 
 A Brief Character of Mr. John Bunyan 78 
 
 Mr. John Bunyan' s Dying Sayings. 
 
 Of sin 79 
 
 Of affliction 79 
 
 Of repentance and coming to Christ: 79, 80 
 
 Of prayer 80 
 
 Of the Lord's day, sermons, and week-days... 80 
 
 Of the love of the world 80 
 
 Of suffering 80,81 
 
 Of death and judgment 81 
 
 Of the joys of heaven 81 
 
 Of the torments of hell , 82 
 
 Postscript. By Bobert Philip. 
 
 His release. The deed of his property. The cause 
 
 of his death • 82, 88 
 
 17 
 
18 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 The Pilgrim's Progress from titis World to that which 
 is to Come, delivered under tlie Similitude 0/ a Dream. 
 Ill two parts. Part I, 
 
 1 HE AuTHOE's Apology (in verse). Unpremedi- 
 tated beginning of tlie allegory. Various opin- 
 ions of it among the author's friends. Defence of 
 the allegory as a mode of religious teaching, by 
 three arguments. The benefits of the work to the 
 careful reader Pages 85-87 
 
 Chap. I. The "den" where the book was written. 
 Cliristian's home and family in the City of De- 
 struction. Evangelist. Office of fear in the com- 
 mencement of a religious life 88, 89 
 
 Chap. II. The period 0/ conviction and inquiry. — 
 His neighbors Obstinate and Pliable, and their 
 characteristic talk and adventures. The Slougli 
 of Despond, Many are called, but few are chosen. 
 
 89-92 
 
 Chap. III. Justification by faith and by works.— Mr. 
 "Worldly-Wiseman and his preaching. Christian 
 tries to be saved by becoming good. Mr. Legality, 
 and Mount Sinai. Evangelist again 93-96 
 
 Chap. IV. The act 0/ comierston.— Christian enters 
 the wicket-gate through faith In the directions 
 of Evangelist, but is without the assurance of 
 forgiveness until he sees the cross of Christ. 
 Good-will the gate-keeper 97-99 . 
 
 Chap. V. The teachings of the Spirit.— The Interpre- 
 ter's house. The grave person. Tlie dusty room. 
 Passion and Patience. The oil of grace. The vic- 
 tor's courage 'and reward. The apostate profes- 
 sor. The vision of the Judgment day 99-103 
 
 Chap. VI. Faith before the c7-oss.— Christian gets 
 rid of his burden. The full joy of the convert. 
 The robe, the mark, and the sealed roll. Christ's 
 righteousness, the witness of the Spirit, and the 
 assurance of the promises 104 
 
 Chap. VII. Early Christian experience. — Simple, 
 Sloth, and Presumption asleep. Formalist and 
 Hypocrisy propound their theories of salvation. 
 The hill Difficulty reached. Christian goes up. 
 The ri tualists attempt to go around it, and perlfeh. 
 Christian sleeps in the arbour, halfway up, and 
 loses his roll. He gains the top of the hill, and 
 hears of lions in the way. Mistrust and Tim- 
 oi-ous. Having lost the promises, Christian is 
 full of fear and anguish. Returns for his roll, 
 and regains the top of the hill at nightfall. 
 
 105-108 
 
 Chap. VIII. He unites with the visible Church. — The 
 palace Beautiful. The lions lie at" the entrance. 
 They are found to be chained, and Incapable of 
 nV.jCliief. The Porter questions hlni concerning 
 the lateness of his arrival. Discretion farther 
 Interrogates him, when Piety, Prudence, and 
 Charity are appointed to examine hlra fully as 
 to his experience. The Lord's Supper, and the 
 discourse at the table. He lodges In the chamber 
 called Peace, which he terms the " next door to 
 heaven." The second day he is taught the life of 
 Christ, and the history of his Church. He is 
 shown the armour of God prepared for an innu- 
 merable number of future pilgrims, and also tha 
 weapons of ancient heroes. The third day he 
 has a view of the Delectable Mountains, where 
 pilgrims receive on eartli an antepast of heaven, 
 and whence the gate of the Celestial City Is dis- 
 tinctly seen 109-lU 
 
 Chap. IX. The ministers of the Church now har- 
 ness Christian with an armour of proof, and he 
 goes on his pilgrimage again. They carefully 
 conduct him down into the Valley of Humilia- 
 tion. His desnerate fight with the flend Apol- 
 
 lyon. He comes to the Valley of the Shadow 
 of Death Pages n4r-n» 
 
 Chap. X. He meets two renegades, who bring an 
 evil report of the way. He passes through the 
 valley in the night. At the farther end he comes 
 upon the cave of the giants Pope and Pagan. 
 
 118-120 
 
 Chap. XI. Fellowship within the Church. — Christian 
 overtakes Faithful, and, getting the start of him, 
 falls down. Faithful helps him up, and gives 
 him the news from their native city since he left 
 It. Pliable's reputation after he turned back. 
 Faithful's encounter with "Wanton. Adam the 
 First and his three daughters. Faithful is at- 
 tacked by Moses, and rescued by Christ. He 
 passes by the palace Beautiful Uc ?iis haste to 
 press on. Christian regrets that he did so, and 
 thinks he lost much good by neglecting to join 
 the visible Church. Meets Discontent and Shame. 
 
 121-125 
 
 Chap. XII. Intercourse with empty professors in the 
 Church. — The wonderful eloquence and ortho- 
 doxy of Talkative. Faithful is fascinated by 
 him; Christian exposes him. Faithful then 
 probes him by avoiding discussion and talking 
 of " heart- work." Talkative departs disgusted. 
 
 125-130 
 
 Chap. XIII. The martyr trial.— Their former pas- 
 tor and teacher. Evangelist, meets them. Their 
 joy. He warns them of coming persecutions. The 
 city of Vanity Fair. Its history. The way to the 
 Celestial City lies through the middle of it. The 
 people deride their pilgrim garb, their dialect, 
 and their contempt of the wares of the place. A 
 great hubbub. They are arrested, and put Into 
 a cage. They are beaten, led through the streets 
 In chains, and put into the stocks. Their trial. 
 Faithful Is burned at the stake. Christian escapes, 
 and goes on his way 131-136 
 
 Chap. XIV. Expediency in religion. — Christian has 
 a new companion in Hopeful, a citizen of Vanity 
 Fair, converted by the martyrdom of Faithful. 
 They encounter Mr. By-ends, who defends the 
 practice of prudence by pilgrims that they may 
 keep out of trouble. They refuse his company. 
 Mr. Hold-tbe-v.'orld, Mr. Money-love, and Mr. 
 Save-all appear, who succeed in proving, to the 
 full satisfaction of Mr. By-ends, that a man may 
 use a Christian profession as a means of making 
 money. They put the point to Christian, who 
 shows that their doctrine is heathenish, hypo- 
 critical, and devilish. The pilgrims leave them 
 again, and cross the plain Ease. Demas, and his 
 silver-mine. By-ends and his friends enter, ami 
 perish in the' pit. The monument of Lot's wife 
 hard by 137-142 
 
 Chap. XV. Wanderings from tlie way.— The river of 
 God and its delights. The way beyond It rough. 
 They turn into By-path Meadow. Valn-confl- 
 dence, and his fate. Captured by Giant Despair 
 Thrownintoadungeon. Cruelly beaten. Tempted 
 to suicide. Christian remembers the key called 
 Promise in his bosom, by which they escape. 
 The monument of warning 112-)17 
 
 Chap. XVI. Visions of eternity.— The fate of false 
 professors at the hill Error, the mountain Cau- 
 tion, and the by-way to Hell. The gate of the 
 Celestial City seen through the shepherds' glass, 
 but dimly from their want of skill. The shep- 
 herds warn them to beware of the Flatterer and 
 of sleeping on the Enchanted Ground, and give 
 them a note of the was'. Bunyan awakes, ard 
 for a time loses sight of his pilgrims 147-14S 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 19 
 
 Chap, XVII. Coi\flicts and dangers. — "When the 
 dream Is resumed the pilgrims are at the open- 
 ing of a crooked lane that came down from the 
 land of Conceit, through which Ignorance enters 
 the path. A dark lane. A man bound and borne 
 by seven devils to the Hypocrites' gat« to the pit. 
 Mr. Little-faith and the robbers. Faint-heart, 
 Mistrustand Guilt. The King's champion. Great- 
 grace. Sharp debate between Christian and 
 Hopeful. A black man clad in white entices 
 them from the way, and springs a net over them, 
 A shining one delivers them and chastises them. 
 
 Fagea 150-155 
 
 Ohap. XVIII. A final examination of fundamental 
 truths.— They meet a derisive Atheist, and Inquire 
 as to the truth of his assertions. They resist 
 drowsiness upon the Enchanted Ground by re- 
 viewing the doctrine of Justification by faith. 
 
 156-160 
 
 Chap. XIX. ZTie necessity of an intelligent faith.— 
 A discourse with Ignorance, and an exposure of 
 his follies. The office of fear In religion. The 
 causes of backsliding « 160-165 
 
 Chap. XX. The final consummalion. — FToai the 
 Enchanted Ground they enter the land of Beulah. 
 This lieth upon the borders of heaven, in sight 
 of the Celestial City. Its beauties and its fruits. 
 Two shining ones meet them. To their conster- 
 nation, they are led to a river which separates 
 them from the city. The shining ones assure 
 them that they must go tlarough it, and that only 
 Enoch and Elijah had found any other way to 
 the gate. They enter the river. Hopeful is calm, 
 but Christian Is almost in despair. The discovery 
 of Jesus reassures him, and lliey reach the far- 
 ther bank, leaving their mortal garments in the 
 river. A convoy of angels conducts tliem above 
 the regions of the air to tlie gate. They present 
 their credentials, and enter upon the Joy of their 
 Lord. Meanwhile, Ignorance crosses the river 
 witli ease, with the aid of a ferryman named 
 Vain-hope. He ascends unattended to tlie gate 
 and knocks for admittance. Having no creden- 
 
 . tials, he is rejected. Two shining ones are com- 
 manded to bear him through the air to the gate 
 of the pit In tlie hill side. Tliere they thrust him 
 in. .So there is a way to hell from the very gate 
 of heaven 160-170 
 
 The conclusion (in verse). The author's caution to 
 the reader 171 
 
 Tfie Pilgrim^s I^'ogress {Part II.), wherein is ^ei forth 
 the Manner of the Setiing out of Christian's Wife and 
 Children ; their dangerous Journey and Safe Arri- 
 vaZ at the Desired Country. 
 
 Introduction. A colloquy (in verse) with the 
 author's new book. He answers its objections to 
 going out into the world. He instructs it how 
 to introduce the various characters— CTu'Wiana, 
 Mercy, Honest, Fearing, Feeble-mind, Ready -to- 
 halt, Valiant-for-the-truih, Great-heart, Despond- 
 ency, Much-afraid 173-175 
 
 Chap. I. The author has occasion to visit the City 
 of Destruction, and again falls asleep and dreams. 
 Mr. Sa!,Mcity appears to him and delates the his- 
 tory of the wife and children of Christian after 
 his departure for the Celestial City. Christiana's 
 conviction of sin. A visit from one Secret, with 
 a leitcr from the King Inviting her to the Celes- 
 tial City. The visits of liei neighbours. She and 
 her children, witli a maiden named Mercy, com- 
 mence their pilgrimage 170-182 
 
 Chap. II. They warily cross the Slough of Dffspond. 
 
 Avoiding the doctrinal mistalces of Christian, 
 they make no attempt to be saved by works of 
 the law, but proceed at once to the wicket-gate, 
 wliere they are alarmed by the barking of a dog. 
 After much knocking, they are received, though 
 Mercy faints from fear of reJection...Paffes 183-186 
 
 Chap. III. They omit to ask at the gate for an es- 
 cort, and in consequence are assaulted by two 
 Ill-favoured ones, and barely escape. The boys 
 eat forbidden fruit. The teachings of the Spirit 
 at the Interpreter's house. Diverse experiences 
 of pilgrims 186-103 
 
 Chap. IV. The wa,shlng of regeneration and the 
 sealing of the Spirit. The robe of Christ's right- 
 eousness brought forth. The pilgrims put it on. 
 A pastor and guide granted them to attend them 
 In their Journey 103-197 
 
 Chap. V. The muddy teaching of unworthy min- 
 isters, and how to make it clear. They attempt 
 to enter the visible Churcli, but meet the lions, 
 backed by a giant, who declares that they shall 
 not enter. Mr. Great-heart, their guide, slays 
 the giant, and they are admitted to the palace 
 Beautiful with music and Joy. The boys are 
 carefully catechised, and commended to the far- 
 ther instructions of their mother, the works of 
 nature, the Bible, and the Church 197-203 
 
 Chap. VI. Mercy has a sui tor, who, upon discover- 
 ing that she leads a life of benevolence, retires in 
 disgust. Matthew made ill by the fruit he ate 
 near the gate. Dr. Sltill tries to cure him by re- 
 ligious rites, and falls. He then gives him the 
 flesh and blood of Ciirisfc — ^^carne et sanguine 
 ChrisU"—a,ni life returns to him. The boys re- 
 ceive special Instruction in the Churcli, and 
 Inspiriting visions are given to them all. Mr. 
 Great-heart returns to accompany them to their 
 Journey's end. Christiana leaves her contribu- 
 tion for the support of the Church with the Por- 
 ter, and tliey commence their Journey 203-207 
 
 Chap. VII. Their Joys in the communion of the 
 Church seem to be uttered by the birds about 
 them. Piety presents them with a scheme of the 
 Cliurch covenant and creed. They go down into 
 tlie Valley of HumiliaLion, tlie peculiarities of 
 which are described. They see the place of Cliris- 
 tian's encounter witli Apollyou, and the marks 
 of the figlit. They enter the Valley of the Shadow 
 of Death. The proper use of spirituous liquors— 
 as a medicine in an emergency, not as a beverage 
 habitually. Satan appears in front, but vanishes, 
 appears again as a lion in the rear, but retreats 
 Darkness falls upon them. They stand still and 
 praj' till it disappears. Samuel discovers the 
 difference between discipline and punishment. 
 Snares. Mr. Great-heart has a dispute wi th Giant 
 Maul, then a contest, and kills him 208-213 
 
 Chap. VIII. Tliey find a hero— one Honest by 
 name — "a cock of the right kind." The history 
 of Mr. Fearing 213-213 
 
 Chap. IX. The history of Mr. Self-will, who held 
 that a man might follow the vices as well as tho 
 virtues of pilgrims 218, 219 
 
 Chap. X. The inn of Gains ''mine host," and his 
 cordial welcome. Tlie duty of Christians to be 
 married and to raise up a godly seed. A speech 
 on the belialf of woman, showing that though 
 slie listened to Satan in Eden, she was the 
 mother of the Saviour. The supper at the inn, 
 and its courses. Gaius exhorts them to "drink 
 freely" of the "pure blood of tlie grape." but 
 says nothing in favour of u. beverage wliich if 
 used "freely" will produce the worst results 
 
20 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Matthew and Gaius fall into tlie common error 
 of supposing that the forbidden fruit of Eden 
 was the apple. The spiritual advantage of hav- 
 ing to orack " hard nuts " of doctrine. An after- 
 dinner riddle— how a man may give, and yet 
 have ten times more Pages 219-222 
 
 Ohap. XI. More riddles. The decays of nature in 
 the aged not to be confounded with the triumphs 
 of grace. An exercise in exegesis, Tiiey seek a 
 contest witli one Slay-good, a giant and a man- 
 eater, and kill him. Mr. Feeble-mind rescued, 
 and proves a man strong in faith. Not-right, his 
 f companion, killed by lightning. Matthew and 
 Mercy are married ; also James and Phebe, the 
 daughter of Gaius 222-225 
 
 Chap. XII. They resume their Journe.y. Mr. 
 Feeble-mind proposes to go on alone, on account 
 of various scruples and infirmities. Ready-to- 
 halt joins liim, and offers to lend him one of liis 
 crutches. Reminiscences. They reach the city 
 of Vanity, and lodge with Mr. Mnason of Cyprus. 
 Religion grown respectable in Vanity Fair since 
 the martyrdom of Faithful. The pilgrinrs re- 
 main a long time at Vanity Fair. Mr. Mnason 
 gives his daughter Grace to Samuel in marriage, 
 and Martha to Joseph, the sons of Christiana. 
 Roman Catholicism appears and slays many, 
 carrying off their children to be nursed by its 
 whelps. Great-heart and his friends attack and 
 cripple the monster 225-229 
 
 (^HAP. XIII. They journey on slowly on account 
 of the feebleness of the women and children. 
 They, enter the land described in tlie twenty- 
 third Psalm, and are led "into green pastures 
 and by the still waters." The young mothers 
 commit their infant children to One wlio prom- 
 ises "to gather the lambs with his arms and 
 carry them in his bosom." Other provisions of 
 this covenant with believing parents. Mr. Great- 
 heart, Old Honest, and the four sons of Christi- 
 ana kill Giant Despair and demolish his castle. 
 TIrey release Despondency and his daughter 
 Much-afraid. The pilgrims rejoice over tills vic- 
 tory, and the cripple. Ready-to-halt, and Miss 
 Much-afraid indulge in a dance on the occasion, 
 which seems, unlike modern dancing, to have 
 had nothing lascivious or indecent about it. They 
 arrive at the Delectable ]Mountains, and are wel- 
 comed by the shepherds. They are shown the 
 wonders of the place. Mercy receives the present 
 of a wonderful mirror 229-234 
 
 Chap. XIV. They encounter another hero, one Mr. 
 Valiant-for-truth st-U covered with blood from 
 a recent conflict. They arrive at the Enchanted 
 Ground, where the weariness of the journey in- 
 vites to fatal repose, the last danger of the Pil- 
 grims. Mr. Standfast joins them, who describes 
 the offers of Madam Bubble 234-210 
 
 1!hap. XV. The Land of Beulah, the place of 
 assured hope and constant peace. The summons 
 comes to Christiana to cross the river. She con- 
 fers with her pastor and takes leave of her com- 
 panions. Convoys of angels attend her to the 
 gate of the city. One^after another, her compan- 
 ions are summoned and enter upon tire joy of 
 their Lord 241-245 
 
 Christian Rehaviov-i\ being the Fruits of True Ciirisii- 
 anity ; teaching Husbands, Wives, Parents, Children, 
 Masters, Servan.ls, &c., hoiv to Walk so as to please 
 God ; with a Word of Direction to all Backsliders. 
 
 I'he epistle to the Reader. The Author writes to 
 show the relations of good works to faith, to 
 
 apply the doctrine to particular classes, to pre- 
 sent the subject in a compact form, to bear his 
 testimony to the power of faith to purify the 
 heart, and to induce Christiana to do well the 
 special work assigned them Pages 247, 248 
 
 Proposition I, Good works do flow from faith: 
 1. They can have no other source. 2. Faith re- 
 veals proportionately the truth which excites to 
 good works. 3. Faith lays hold of the strength 
 of Christ, which enables the soul to practice good 
 works. Objedion. Why is it so hard for men of 
 faith to practice good works? Answer. 1. Be- 
 cause they are weak in faith. 2. Faith sets up so 
 high a standard of good works that believers 
 undervalue their own attainments 249-252 
 
 Pboposition II. Every one that belleveth should 
 be careful that his works are good. Men have 
 erred extensively both in works of doctrine and 
 of worship. Tests of a, good work: 1. It must 
 have the word for its authority. 2. It must flow 
 from faith. 3. It must be rightly timed and 
 placed. 4. It must be done cheerfully 2j2-254 
 
 Good wtyrks in the master of a family. — These must 
 have respect to its spiritual and outward "wel- 
 fare. 1. He must rule it. 2. He milst lead it to 
 public worship. 3. He must call godly men into 
 it. 4. He must attend to family devotions. 5. 
 He must exclude ungodly books: 
 
 In temporal things. — 1. He must obtain a liveli- 
 hood for it. 2. He must be moderate in his labour. 
 
 3. He must insist upon harmony in the family, 
 not suffering children to domineer over servants 
 or over eaclr other, counting a personal injury as 
 slight, but an injury done to God of great impor- 
 tance. In case of a believing wife, treat her aa 
 Christ his Church. In case of an unbelieving 
 wife, with meekness instruct and recover her. 
 
 Qood worlcs in parents. — To instruct and correct 
 their children 254-257 
 
 Good works in masters. — Get servan ts that fear God 
 if possible; or, if not, seek their conversion; not 
 overtasking them, nor threatening them, nor de- 
 ceiving them, nor circumventing them 258, 259 
 
 Good works in a wife. — 1. She slionld look upon he^r 
 husband as her head. 2. She should be subject 
 to him. 3. She should shun gossip, an idle 
 tongue, not usurping authority over her hus- 
 band, avoiding immodest and .showj"- apparel. 
 
 4. Yet she is not to be a slave, but to be in author- 
 ity next to her husband. All this to be especially 
 observed toward an unbelieving husband, and 
 still more toward a froward husband 259-261 
 
 Good works in children.— 1o honour their parents, 
 to aid them to remember their love and care. 
 
 261-263 
 
 Good works in SCT-Dan?.?.— Faithfulness and obedi- 
 ence toward believing, unbelieving, and froward 
 masters , 263, 264 
 
 Good works in neighbours.— 1o be upright, kind, 
 meek, discountenancing sin in them, guarding 
 the tongue, and a headstrong, obstinate way, 
 and eschewing covetousness, are duties among 
 neighbours 264-270 
 
 Solomon's Temple Spiritualized, or Gospel Light 
 brought out of the Temple at Jerusalem, to let us 
 more fully into the Glory of New Testament Truths. 
 
 Introduction ini-^z 
 
 I. Where the temple was built 271 
 
 II. Who built the temple 274 
 
 III. How the temple was built 274 
 
 IV. Of what the temple was built 27? 
 
 V. Who was to fell those trees and 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 21 
 
 to dig those stones with which 
 Solomon built the temple. 
 
 Page 275 
 VI In what condition the timber 
 and stoneswhere when brought 
 to be laid In the building of the 
 
 temple 276 
 
 VII. Of the foundation of the temple... 276 
 VIII. Of the richness of the stones 
 which were laid for the founda- 
 tion of the temple 277 
 
 IX, Which way the face or front of 
 
 the temple stood 277 
 
 X. Of the courts of the temple 278 
 
 XI Of the great brazen altar that 
 stood in the inner court of the 
 
 temple 279 
 
 XII. Of the pillars that were before the 
 
 porch of the temple 279 
 
 XIII. Of the height of these pillars that 
 
 thus stood before the porch of 
 the door of the temple 280 
 
 XIV. Of (he chapiters of J,he pillars of 
 
 the temple 280 
 
 XV, Of the pciraegranates adjoined to 
 
 tliese nets on the chapiters 281 
 
 XVI. 6f the chai ns tliat were upon these 
 pillars that stood before the 
 
 teniple 281 
 
 XVII. Of the lily-work whicli was upon 
 the chapiters that were upon 
 
 these pillars of the temple 282 
 
 XVIIl. Of the fashion of the temple 282 
 
 XIX, Of the outward glory of the temple. 283 
 
 XX. Of the porch of the temple 284 
 
 XXI. Of the ornaments of the porch of 
 
 the temple 284 
 
 XXII. Of the ascent by which they went 
 
 up inio the porch of the temple.. 285 
 
 XXIII. Of the gates of the porch of the 
 
 temple 286 
 
 XXIV. Of the pinnacles of the temple 286 
 
 XXV. Of the porters of the temple 287 
 
 XXVI. Of the charge of the porters of the 
 
 temple more particularly 287 
 
 XXVII. Of the doors of the temple 288 
 
 XXVIII. Of the leaves of this gate of (he 
 
 temple 288 
 
 XXIX. What the doors of the temple 
 
 were made of ~ 289 
 
 XXX. How the doors of the temple were 
 
 adorned 289 
 
 XXXI. Of the wall of the temple 290 
 
 XXXII. Of the garnishing the temple with 
 
 precious stones 291 
 
 XXXIII. Of the windows of the temple 291 
 
 XXXIV. Of the chambers of the temple 292 
 
 XXXV. Of the stairs by whicli they went 
 
 up into the chambers of the 
 
 temple 292 
 
 XXXVI, Of the molten sea that was in the 
 
 temple 293 
 
 XXXVII, Upon what the molten sea stood 
 
 in the temple 294 
 
 XXXVIII, Of the la vers of the temple 295 
 
 XXXIX, Of the tables of the temple 295 
 
 XL. Of thelnstrumentswherewith this 
 sacrifice was slain, and of the 
 four tables they were laid on in 
 
 the temple 296 
 
 XLI, Of the candlesticlis of the temple.. 297 
 XLII, Of the lamps belonging to the 
 
 candlesticks of the temple 298 
 
 XLIII, Of the shew-bread on the golden 
 
 table in the temple Page 299 
 
 XLIV, Of the snuffers belonging to the 
 candlesticks and lamps of tlie > 
 
 temple 299 
 
 XLV, Of the snuff-dishes that were with 
 
 the snuffers in the temple 299 
 
 XLVI. Of the golden tongs belonging to 
 
 the temple 800 
 
 XLVII, Of the altar of incense in the 
 
 temple .' 301 
 
 XLVIII. Of tiie golden censers belonging 
 
 to the temple 302 
 
 XLIX. Of the golden spoons of the temple. 303 
 L. Of the bowls and ba.sons belong- 
 ing to the temple 304 
 
 LI. Of the flagons and cups of the 
 
 temple 303 
 
 LII. Of the chargers of the temple 305 
 
 LIII. or the goings out of the temple 306 
 
 LIV. Of the singers belonging to the 
 
 temple 307 
 
 LV. Of the union of the holy and most 
 
 holy temple 308 
 
 LVI. Of the holiest or inner temple 309 
 
 LVII. Of the veil of the temple 309 
 
 LVIII. Of the doors of the inner temple... 310 
 LIX. Of the golden nails of the inner 
 
 temple 311 
 
 LX. Of the floor and walls of the inner 
 
 temple 312 
 
 LXI. Of the ark of the covenant which 
 
 was placed in the inner temple.. 313 
 LXIL Of the placing of the ark in the 
 
 holiest or inner temple 314 
 
 LXIII. Of tlie meicy-seat, and how it was 
 
 placed in the holy temple 315 
 
 LXIV. Of the living waters of the inner 
 
 temple 316 
 
 LXV. Of the chains whicli were In the 
 
 oracle or inner temple 316 
 
 LXVI. Of the high priest, and of his office 
 
 In the inner temple 317 
 
 LXVII. Of the high priest's going into the 
 
 holiest alone 319 
 
 LXVIII. Of the high priest going in thither 
 
 but once a year 319 
 
 LXIX. Of the chernbiraSj and of their 
 being placed over the mercy- 
 seat in the inner temple 320 
 
 LXX. Of the figures that were upon the 
 
 walls of the inner temple 321 
 
 The Jerusalem Sinner Saved, or Good N'eivs for the 
 Vilest of Men : being an Help for Despairing Souls: 
 Shoiving that Jesus Christ would have Mercy in the 
 first place offered to t/ie Biggest Slnnei-s; to ivhich 
 is added an answer to those grand objections that lie 
 in the way of them that would believe, for the Com- 
 fort of those that fear they have sinned against the 
 Holy Ghost, 
 
 Introduction 323,324 
 
 The disciples were commanded to preacli, "begin- 
 ning at Jerusalem." By a Jerusalem sinner, 
 Bunyan means one who has had peculiar privi- 
 leges and has attained peculiar depravity. His 
 proposition is, that Olirist is willing to save the 
 biggest sinners 3'iT-S30 
 
 I, The reason is— 1. The biggest sinners have the 
 most need. 2. It redounds most to the fume 
 of his name. 3. It gives special encouragement 
 toothers, 4. It specially weakens the kingdom 
 of Satan. 5. Such sinners, when converted, are 
 
22 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 the best helps to the Church, because of the severe 
 contests with the devil they have in parting 
 from him, and because of their knowledge of his 
 secrets. 6. Such sinners are apt to love most. 
 The author here refers to a story that Mary of 
 Bethany was the same Mary who was a public 
 sinner, and who a*iointed Jesus' feet at the house 
 of Simon. 7. Because grace finds the best matter 
 to kindle upon in such sinners. 8. By saving 
 such sinners, others are left more completely 
 
 without excuse Pages 330-346 
 
 II. The application— 1. Such salvation shows the 
 heart of Christ. 2. It shows the sufficiency of 
 the merits of Christ. 3. It gives encouragement 
 to all to come to Christ 346-366 
 
 The Soly War, made by Shaddai upon Diabolus 
 for the Regaming the Metropolis of the World; 
 or the Losing and Taking again of the Town of 
 Mansoul, 
 The Author's Preface (in verse). Answer to the 
 charge of plagiarism in the " Pilgrim's Progress." 
 The history of Mansoul well known to many, 
 especially to the author. He knew Mansoul in 
 its sin and allegiance to Diabolus. He witnessed 
 the attack by Emmanuel, thei final capture, and 
 the blessedness introduced by the victory. He 
 also was present through the long struggle which 
 followed for the final possession. He Is then 
 
 uttering no fable, as many authors do 367-369 
 
 The continent of Universe. The fair and delicate 
 town of Mansoul— Its beauty, dominion, defences, 
 
 and entrances 3'", 871 
 
 The history of Diabolus, the enemy of Mansoul ; 
 his origin and fall. Diabolus has a consultation 
 with his officers, and it is agreed that Mansoul 
 shall be assaulted by Diabolus alone in the guise 
 of a familiar animal, concealing his intentions 
 by all manuer of deceit, while one Tlsiphone 
 should lie in ambuscade to shoot Captain Resist- 
 ance as soon as he should appear upon the walls. 
 
 371-373 
 Diabolus appears before Ear-gate and demands 
 audience of the chief men. While he is speak- 
 ing. Captain Resistance is shot. Ill-pause then 
 makes a speech. The people eat the forbidden 
 fruit, are made drunk thereby, and open the 
 gates to Diabolus and his crew. He is chosen 
 king. He deposes the Mayor, Lord Understand- 
 ing, and the Recorder, Mr. Conscience. He dark- 
 ens Understanding by building a wall before 
 the windows of his house. Debauches Con- 
 science, and then persuades Mansoul that the 
 
 Recorder is crazy 373-376 
 
 Diabolus next makes Lord Will-be-wiU his lieu- 
 tenant, with Mr. Vile-affections for his deputy. 
 The image of Shaddai defaced. Other officers of 
 
 Diabolus 376-378 
 
 A message sent to Shaddai concerning these trans- 
 actions, who forms a plan with his son for the 
 reoccupation of Mansoul. Diabolus endeavours 
 to conceal this plan from Mansoul, Induces them 
 to take a new oath of allegiance, proclaims un- 
 bounded liberty in all fleshly lusts, and arms the 
 people with an iron helmet to cover the head, a 
 breastplate to harden the heart, a tongue set on 
 fire of hell for a sword, the shield of unbelief, and 
 with a pecullarpiece called " a dumb and prayer- 
 less spirit." 378-383 
 
 Meanwhile, Shaddai organizes an army under 
 Captains Boanerges, Conviction, Judgment, 
 and Execution, stout, rough-hewn men, whom 
 Shaddai was accustomed to put In the van 
 
 of his armies. They entrench In front of Ear- 
 gate Pajres 383, 384 
 
 Diabolus makes a speech to the citizens which 
 sets them running about and crying, "The men 
 that have turned the world upside down are 
 
 come hither also." 384, 385 
 
 Boanerges utters his summons at Ear-gate, but 
 no one appears to listen. At last a conference 
 takes place, and each of the four captains de- 
 livers his message. They demand the imme- 
 diate surrender of Ill-pause. Their demands 
 refused by Mr. Incredulity, the mayor, who de- 
 clares his belief that they are no soldiers of the 
 
 King, but only vagabonds 385-389 
 
 The attack commences, directed chiefly against 
 Ear-gate, but is unsuccessful. Mr. Tradition, Mr. 
 Human-wisdom, and Mr. Man's-inventlon en- 
 list in the army of Shaddai, but are taken pris- 
 oners, and enter the army of Diabolus under 
 Captain Anything. The captains succeed in 
 tearing off the roof from the house of Mr. Under- 
 standing with their missiles, so that he had much 
 more light than heretofore. They also kill Mr. 
 Swearing, Mr. Whoring, Mr. Fury, Mr. Stand-to- 
 lies, Mr. Drunkenness, and Mr. Cheating, and 
 dismount two great guns at Ear-gate, called 
 Headj' and High-mind. Mansoul in constant 
 alarm day and night. Perplexed thoughts. Con- 
 science, the old recorder, utters words like great 
 claps of thunder, so that the town would have 
 surrendered had it not been for old Incredulity 
 
 and the fickleness of Lord Will-be-wiU 389-391 
 
 At last, Lord Will-be-wiU proposes a surrender 
 upon conditions drawn up bj' Mr. lU-pause, 
 which are indignantly -ejected. A mutiny in 
 Mansoul in consequence, convoked by Mr. Con- 
 science and Lord Understanding, who are cast 
 
 into prison by Diabolus 391-394 
 
 The captains send a petition to Shaddai for rein- 
 forcements. They are sent under command of 
 
 Prince Emmanuel 394-397 
 
 The town now completely invested. Mounts are 
 erected against it, as Mount Gracious, with its 
 white flag, and Mount Justice, with its red flag. 
 Mansoul is silent. A parley between Emmanuel 
 and Diabolus, but in a language which Mansoul 
 cannot understand. Emmanuel then addresses 
 Mansoul directly, but double guards are set at 
 
 Ear-gate, and nothing is heard 397-401 
 
 An attack is then prepared, when Mr. Loth-to- 
 stoop appears and proposes to surrender half 
 the town to Emmanuel. This rejected, he pro- ' 
 poses that Diabolus shall have a private place 
 within to live in, and Emmanuel all the rest. 
 This rejected, he proposes that Diabolus shall 
 enjoy the hospitalities of the town on an occa- 
 sional visit. This rejected, he proposes that the 
 Diabolonians of the town be allowed to renraiu 
 
 unmolested 401,402 
 
 Other similar propositions being rejected, a gene- 
 ral attack commences by all the captains. ..402-404 
 Diabolus then vainly proposes reformation instead 
 
 of surrender 404, 405 
 
 Ear-gate is broken down, and Emmanuel's forces 
 enter. They force the strong castle of Mr. Con- 
 science, who is full of fear and perplexity. Ill- 
 pause slain. A capitulation proposed. No answer 
 returned, since the proposal came only from 
 Lord Understanding and Mr. Conscience. The 
 castle of Diabolus forced. He Is summoned 
 from his den by Emmanuel in person, stripped 
 of his armour, and exhibited in the market-place, 
 and sent away into a salt desert, Mr. Conscience 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 23 
 
 Lord ITudorstandlng, and Lord WlU-be-wlU put 
 In prison. After penitent petitions on the part 
 of the town, the Prince summons the prisoners 
 before hlra, while the victory gained by Emman- 
 uel is proclaimed umld sounds of celestial music, 
 the prisoners shouting Amen Pages 405-114 
 
 ^fter this complete submission of the Will, the 
 Understanding, and the Conscience, a universal 
 and complete pardon is proclaimed in Mansoul, 
 and the town is filled with rejoicing 414-419 
 
 The puriflcation of the city. The trial of the Diab- 
 olonians remaining in it, and the execution of 
 the chief of them. The love of Emmanuel for 
 Mansoul and the banquets he gave continually. 
 
 419-429 
 
 Emmanuel commits Mansoul to the guidance of 
 the Holy Spirit, who as lord secretary is to take 
 of the things of Christ and to show unto them, 
 and to the teaching of Recorder Conscience In 
 all moral duties. "Warnings and Instructions of 
 Emmanuel 420-433 
 
 Mr. Carnal security and other Dlabolonlans seduce 
 the citizens with fair and deceptive words. Em- 
 manuel withdraws from them. The Dlabolonlans 
 petition their prince to return, and receive'from 
 him instructions how to do his work. Mr. Pry- 
 well discovers their plot, and announces that 
 Dlabolus is about to march against the city with 
 an army of Doubters, under the command of 
 General Incredulity. The corporation take meas- 
 ures of defence— viz., they close the gates; they 
 search for Dlabolonlans lurking in the city ; they 
 require of offenders public confession ; they ap- 
 point a day of fasting and prayer, and petition 
 Shaddal for help 433-449 
 
 They find Dlabolonlans who had changed their 
 names for concealment, as Lord Covetousness 
 was found hid in Mr. Mind's house under the 
 name of Prudent-tbrifty; in Lord Will- be- will's, 
 one Lascivlousness under the name of Harm- 
 less-mirth 449-450 
 
 Diabolus with his army invests the city. Mansoul 
 applies to Recorder Conscience for advice, but 
 gets little comfort till Lord Understanding ex- 
 amines and interprets his words, when tlie citi- 
 zens are aroused to more determined resistance. 
 Diabolus tries fawning and deceit. The contest 
 continues with great fury till the besieged engage 
 in a sally with slight success. Diabolus storms 
 Feel-gate and effects an entrance, driving the 
 forces of Emmanuel into the castle, filling the 
 streets with shouts of hell-fire. For two years 
 and a half the Diabolonians hold the town, 
 but can get no access to the castle. The peti- 
 tions of the citizens for aid receive no notice 
 from Shaddal, because they are not counter- 
 signed by the lord secretary, the indwelling 
 Spirit 451-459 
 
 Mr. Godly-fear shows them their error. They 
 apply to the lord secretary for aid, who Indites a 
 petition to which they all heartily assent. Cap- 
 tain CJ'Slence carries it to Emmanuel 459, 460 
 
 I'he rage of Diabolus, who demands the surrender 
 of Captain Credence 460, 461 
 
 The favourable reply of Emmanuel. Mansoul 
 discovers the wonderful power of faith at the 
 court of Emmanuel, and desires that Captain 
 Credence should thenceforth be their leader and 
 ruler 461,462 
 
 rhe council of Diabolus and his princes how they 
 may take the castle, which results In a plan to 
 Burfeit Mansoul with the things of this world, 
 that she may destroy herself. To this end they 
 
 determine to withdraw from thp town into the 
 open field Pages J62-4ty 
 
 While this diabolic council is In session, Captain 
 Credence receives an order from Emmanuel to 
 meet him on the third day In the field— an order 
 which he could not comprehend till he was in- 
 formed by the lord secretary of the plans of 
 Diabolus and of the coming of Emmanuel with 
 a great army. The joy of Mansoul and the con- 
 sternation of the enemy, wlio withdraw to the 
 open field. On the appointed day, Captain Cre- 
 dence makes a sally. A fierce battle ensues, the 
 Issue of which Is for a long time doubtful. Mr. 
 Speedy comes with the news that Emmanuel la 
 at hand. Diabolus and his army of Doubters 
 surrounded. He and his captains fiee. His whole 
 army put to the sword 464-166 
 
 The Prince enters Mansoul amid the rejoicings of 
 the people. They wash in the lountain set for 
 Judah and Jerusalem, and are cleansed from 
 their pollution. They search out and destroy all 
 lurking Dlabolonlans within the walls 406, 467 
 
 By order of Emmanuel they send a detachment to 
 bury the dead of the army of Dou bters, and leave 
 " not a bone nor a skull nor a piece of a bone." 
 
 467, 408 
 
 Diabolus having descended through Hell-gate to 
 his den, organizes another expedition against 
 Mansoul, consisting in part of Doubters and iu 
 part of Blood-men, still under the command of 
 old Incredulity. The army, twenty-five thousand 
 strong, beleaguer Mansoul. Their summons to 
 surrender is taken to Emmanuel, who forthwith 
 organizes the defence. The siege Is long and 
 severe, as a trial for the faith, hope, and love of 
 Mansoul. At last an attack Is ordered by the 
 Prince, which results In the entire rout of the 
 Doubters and the capture of the Blood-men in a 
 body 468-471 
 
 Four of the fugitive Doubters make their way Into 
 the town, where they hide in the house of a Dlab- 
 oloniau, Mr. Evil-questioning. They are cap- 
 tured, tried, and crucified 471-475 
 
 Other resident Diabolonians sought out and de- 
 stroj-'ed, but some remained to the time when 
 Mansoul ceased any longer to dwell in the king- 
 dom of Universe 475, 476 
 
 Emmanuel appoints a day when he holds a convo- 
 cation of the whole people of Mansoul. He then 
 proclaims many exceeding great and precious 
 promises; he expresses his great love for them; 
 he gives them solemn charges against sin; he 
 bids them be faithful unto death, that they may 
 receive the crown of life 476-479 
 
 The Life and Death of Mr. Badman, presented to tha 
 World in a Familiar Dialogue between Mr. Wise- 
 man and Mr. Attentive. 
 
 Introduction 481-186 
 
 This history, which is in striking contrast, in 
 point of vividness and dramatic power, with the 
 allegories of Bunyan, is given in the form of a 
 dialogue. In which the vices and crimes of a 
 thoroughly bad man are described, with the 
 comments of the narrator 487-556 
 
 Christ's sermon on the Mount (in verse) 557-560 
 
 Cxime and Welcome to Jesus Christ, or a Plain and 
 Profitable Discourse on John vi. 37; showing the 
 Cause, Truth, and Manner of the Coming of a Sin- 
 ner to Jesus Christ ; with his Sappy Reeepticn and 
 Blessed Entertainment. 
 
 This Is a most earnest and elaborate presentation 
 
24 
 
 CONTENTt 
 
 of the nature oi the duty of coming to Christ, of 
 the diflfcUiUes and objections of those who are 
 attemptina to come to Christ, of the nature of 
 the reward or those who accept Christ, and of the 
 doom of tnose who reject him. It gives an in- 
 sight, perhaps better than any other of Bun- 
 yan's extant works, into his chariicter as a 
 preacher and the sources of his remarliable 
 power Pages 561-626 
 
 The Barren Fig Tree, or the Doom and Downfall of the 
 F^'uitless Professor ; sJiowing that the Day of Grace 
 may be past with Mm long before his Life is ended: 
 the Signs, also, by which such Miserable Mortals 
 may be known. 
 
 To the Reader ;... 62r 
 
 This is an exegetical discourse, of a practical and 
 hortatory nature, concerning the cursing of the 
 fig tree on which our Lord found nothing but 
 leaves 628-653 
 
 A Discourse mi Prayer, wherein are briefly discovered — 
 I. What Prayer is.— II. What it is to Pray with the 
 , Spirit. — III. Wliat it is to Pray with the Spirit, and 
 with the Understanding also. 
 
 Definition of prayer , 655-659 
 
 Praying with the spirit 659-665 
 
 Praying with the understanding 665-670 
 
 A word of information, of encouragement, and of 
 rebulie 670-675 
 
 A Relation of the ImprisonTneni of Mr. John Bunyan, 
 Minister of the Gospel at Bedfcyrd, in November, 
 1660; his Fzamination before the Justices ; ?iis Con- 
 ference with the Clerk of the Peace; what parsed 
 between the Judges and his Wife when she Pi-esented 
 a Petition/or his Deliverance, &c. Written by Him- 
 self. 
 
 Arrested November 12, 1660, wliile preaching. Op- 
 portunity for escape. Reasons for neglecting it. 
 The examination before the justice, and a con- 
 versation witli one Dr. Lindale 677-681 
 
 Examination before the quarter sessions. Sentence 
 of banisliment or hanging 681-684 
 
 Co*iversation witli the clerli of the peace 684-687 
 
 The coronation of the king. Reasons why Bunyan 
 could not be pardoned. Interview of Bunyan's 
 wife with Sir Matthew Hale, and his treatment 
 of her. The temper of Justice Chester 687-690 
 
 Prison Meditations (in verse). Dedicated to the 
 heart of suffering saints and reigning sinners. 
 
 691-694 
 
 Reprobation Asserted, or the Doctrine of Eternal Elec- 
 tion and Reprobation promiscuously handled in 
 Eleven Chapters; wherein the most matei'ial objec- 
 tions made by the Opposers of this Doctrine are fully 
 tnswered, several doubts removed, and sundry cases 
 of Conscience resolved. 
 
 Reprobation is a reality 693-698 
 
 It is the negative of election 696, 697 
 
 It was fixed from before the foundation of the 
 
 world 697-699 
 
 Its causes 699-701 
 
 Its unchangeableness 701, 702 
 
 Reprobation not the same as appointing to eternal 
 
 condemnation, nor the cause of it 702-705 
 
 The reprobated have no cause of complaint agaifast 
 
 God 705-707 
 
 No hindrance In obtaining salvation 707-709 
 
 The offers of the gospel are made to the reprobated. 
 
 709, 710 
 
 These oflTers cannot be received by the reprobated, 
 
 nor Indeed by the elect, save by the special aid 
 
 of the Spirit, which Is given -to the latter and 
 
 witliheld from the former .Pages 7I0-71S 
 
 Still, the offers of g^aoe are made to the reprobated 
 in order to show, in various waj's, the nature of 
 sin, and the justice and mercy of God, and espe- 
 cially to command the assent of the intelligent 
 universe to the necessity of tlieir condemna- 
 tion 713-720 
 
 The Strait Gate, Cfr the Great Difficulty of Going to 
 ,IIeaven. 
 
 To the Reader , 721 
 
 This is a tractate containing practical directions 
 pointing out the entrance and the way of salva^ 
 tion 722-739 
 
 The Heavenly Eootman, or a Description of the Man 
 
 thai gets to Heaven; together with the way he rurxs 
 
 in, the marks he goes by; also some Directions how 
 
 to run so as to obtain. 
 
 An epistle to all the slothful and careless people. 
 
 741-743 
 This is a description of the Christian life under the 
 image of a journey. It is supposed to be the trea- 
 tise a-eferred to in the introduction to "Pilgrim's 
 Progress ": 
 
 '* I, writing of the way 
 And race of saints in tiiis our gospel day, 
 Fell suddenly into an allegory 
 About their journey and the way to glory." 
 
 744-758 
 
 Sighs from Hell, or the Groans of a Damned Soul, 
 discovering from Duke iv. the Lamentable Estate of 
 the Damned; and may fitly serve as a Warning 
 Word to Sinners, both Old and Young, by Faith in 
 Jesus Clirist to avoid the same place of Torment; 
 with a discovery of the usefulness of the Scriptures as 
 our safe conduct for avoiding tlie Torments of Hell. 
 
 The Author to the Reader 759, 760 
 
 This is an explanatory discourse upon tire parable 
 of tlie Rich Man and Lazarus 761-S14 
 
 A Confession of my Faith, and a Reason of my Prac- 
 tice ; &i', witli who, and who not, I can Jiold Church 
 fellowship or the Communion of Saints ; showing, by 
 divers arguments, that th-ough I dare not communi- 
 cate with the open profane, yet lean with those visi- 
 ble saints that differ about Water Baptism ; wherein 
 is also discoursed whether that be the entering ordi- 
 nance into fellowship or no. 
 
 To the Reader 815, 816 
 
 The nature of God. The Trinity. The resurreo- 
 tion. The divine and human nature of Christ. 
 The righteousness which saves the sinner is the 
 righteousness of Christ, gained by us as we are 
 united to him. His exaltation. The final judg- 
 ment 816-820 
 
 Chrisfs righteousness ours by grace. God only- 
 can impute this righteousness. This imputation 
 made on condition of faith, which faith puts it- 
 self forth in such acts as purely respect a gift- 
 viz., receiving, accepting, &c. This faith is the 
 •work of the Spirit, performed only in those who 
 were eternally ordained to life 820, 821 
 
 Election is free and permanent, made from eter- 
 nity, not upon the ground of foreseen good 
 works, but as itself the origin of such works, 
 the elect are chosen in Christ; nothing can hin- 
 der tlieir conversion and salvation. They know 
 of their election only by being actually called. 
 Election achieves its ends only throngli means. 
 
 821,822 
 
 Effectual calling is by the Holy Ghost atteudiiig 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 25 
 
 the word. It couvlots of sin, awakens fear of 
 punishment; It sanctifies, producing faith, hope, 
 vepentanee, and love Pages 822-824 
 
 Xhe Scriptiues are the word of God, able to make 
 man wise unto salvation without the aid of 
 any human Inventions. Their object to teach 
 what sin Is, and to lead us to Christ. They 
 will be surely fulfilled. Men will be Judged by 
 them 821 
 
 Humaitgovernraonts are of God's appointment. 824 
 
 A reason of my practice in worship. 
 
 \. With whom I dare not hold church communion. 
 1, With them that profess not failti and holiness, 
 excluding a real saint if lie be not visible by pro- 
 fession, and including even the secret hypocrite 
 if ho be hid by a credible profession, (a) Because 
 God hath Irom the beginning made this distinc- 
 tion. He banished Cain. When s^ed of Seth 
 commixed in worship, he sent Noah to preach 
 against It, and because they would not cease, 
 sent the flood to destroy them ; and so In many 
 other instances, (b) Because It is so commanded in 
 the Scriptures, especially in connection with the 
 ancient Churcli. (c) Because such is the example 
 of the New Testament churches, they being made 
 up of the "called of Christ"— those who have 
 drank into his Spirit— those In whom is God— 
 the partakers of the Joy of the gospel— the in- 
 wardly circumcised- tlie turned from idols— the 
 body of Christ, (d) Because separation from the 
 world is the duty and privilege of tiie Church, 
 (e) Because union with the world is incongruous, 
 OS the ploughing of the ox and the ass together. 
 (/) Because such union is pernicious and destruc- 
 tive, as Is shown especially in the history of 
 Israel. (,g) Because it provoketh God to severe 
 Judgments. The objection considered that there 
 have always been the openly profane In the 
 
 Church 825-828 
 
 il. With whom I dare to hold church communion. 
 Preliminary obsei'vaiions. There are but two 
 ordinances in the Christian Church- Baptism 
 and the Lord's Supper. Not fundamental nor 
 essential to Christian communion. To ascribe to 
 them an undue importance is to commit idolatry 
 with God's own institutions. Answer. I dare 
 have church communion with men of faith and 
 holiness who give a faithful and credible relation 
 thereof, corroborated by the testimony of others 
 to their consistent lives. This is the rule of 
 church fellowship and the only initiating ordi- 
 nance, and corresponds witli circumcision under 
 the ancient dispensation, being the circum- 
 cision of the heart. Question. Should they not 
 be received to church fellowship through water 
 baptism as the initiating ordinance? Answer. 
 Baptism was administered in time past upon 
 conversion, but, unlike circumcision, it is not 
 an initiating ordinance. 1. None are debarred 
 or out off from the Church for want of it. John, 
 the great baptizer, gathered no Church. The 
 eunuch, Cornelius, the Antioch converts, and 
 Lydia were received into no Church by their 
 baptism, for if they were, they must have Joined 
 some particular Church, since no other is visible. 
 Question. Why were they baptized, then ? Ans. 
 To strengthen their own faith. Question. By 
 what rule then would you admit to the Church 7 
 Ans. By the word of faith— 4. c, by faith uttered 
 In the life, through obedience to the royal law. 
 The ren commandments should be made the test 
 of faith. Objection. Yet In all cases water bap- 
 tism should precede church membership. Ans. 
 
 It has done so as a matter of fact, but it need not 
 as a. matter of necessity. Moreover, there Is 
 no proof that any were refused admission to 
 the Church who were in doubt about baptism. 
 There is, in fact, no proof that all communi- 
 cants were baptized. Three texts on this point. 
 
 Pages 828-832 
 
 The author now admits, for argument's sake, that 
 baptism 75 the initiatory ordinance of the Church, 
 according to the common belief, but even on that 
 ground affirms that a believing man may be re- 
 ceived without it. 1. Because he has something 
 better than baptism — he has faith; and having 
 this, you have no right to exclude iilm from the 
 Church because he does not agree with your 
 opinion about baptism. 2. Because they who 
 are " baptized by one Spirit Into one body " have 
 "one baptism," and that is all which is essential 
 In the case. 3. Because all such have the docirint 
 of baptism, though they come short in the prac- 
 tice. 4. Because God holds communion with 
 them. 5. Because failure in such an outward 
 ordinance does not unchristian us. 6. Because 
 edification Is of more concern than agreement in 
 externals. Scripture authorities for this view. 
 7. Because love is worth more than baptism. 8. 
 Attempts to exclude from communion on higher 
 grounds than this are condemned by the Bible. 
 9. This exclusion is an attempt to exclude from 
 the birth-right to which these non-conforming 
 Christians are born of God. 10. It sliows con- 
 tempt; it Implies the existence of some great 
 iniquity In them. The absurdity of hearing 
 them preach, and Joining with them in prayej, 
 while yet excluding them from the communion. 
 Objection. Would youthen hold communion witn 
 a Roman Catholic? Yes, if he be a visible sain' 
 as before defined. But suppose he retains hii. 
 connection with that Church? That is impos- 
 sible if he desires to join a Christian Church. 
 But suppose he retains some of the errors of that 
 Church? If they are fundamental errors, such 
 as eat out the very life of religion, exclude him 
 as not a visible saint, but If otherwise, receive lilm, 
 But this is receiving for opinion's sake, which 
 you condemn. No, because it is an opinion 
 which is a test of Christian character, not an 
 opinion in lesser matters 832-830 
 
 Practical application of the whole 840 
 
 Differences in Judgment about Water Baptism no Par 
 to Communion. To communicate with Saints, as 
 Saints, proved lawful, in answer to a book written by 
 the Baptists, and published by Mr. T. P. and Mr. 
 W. jr., entitled "SoTne Serious Reflections on thai 
 part of Mr. Bunyan's Confession of Faith touching 
 Church Communion with Vnbaptized Believers ;^* 
 wherein their objections and arguments are an- 
 swered, and the doctrine of Communion still asserted 
 and vindicated. Here is also Mr. Henry Jesse's 
 judgment in the case, fully declaring the doctrine 1 
 have asserted. 
 
 To the Reader 841 
 
 This is a polemic treatise, written in answer to an 
 opponent, and largely made up of exposures of 
 supposed misconception of the views of the 
 former treatise. It is valuable, not so much for 
 any views additional to those advanced in the 
 "Reasons for my Practice," as for giving an ad- 
 ditional exposition of those views 842-St>9 
 
 Mr. Henry Jesse's essay is an exegetical disoussiou 
 1 of certain passages bearing upon the question- 
 such as, " Him that is weak in the faith receive 
 
26 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 ye " (Rom. xiv. 1), and the clause, " one baptism." 
 Eph. Iv. 5 Pages 869-875 
 
 Peaceable Principles and True, or a Srief Answer to 
 Mr. Banvers' and Mr. Paul's books against my Con- 
 fession of Faith, and Differences in Judgment about 
 Water Baptism no Bar to Communion; wherein 
 their JScriptureless notions are overthrown and tny 
 peaceable principles still maintained. 
 
 This is also a controversial treatise, farther ex- 
 plaining and emphasizing the principles enunci- 
 ated in "Reasons of my Practice in Worship." 
 
 877-885 
 
 The conclusion 885-8S7 
 
 Questions about the, Nature and Perpetuity of the 
 Si^auh-Day Sabbath, and proof that the First Day 
 of the Week is the tribe Christian Sabbath. 
 
 In the introduction the author takes the ground 
 that while a sabbath— a day devoted to religious 
 duties and worship— is moral, and so perma- 
 nently obligatory, the particular day to be ob- 
 served Is a matter of special enactment... 889, 890 
 
 Argument. The seventh-day sabbath is not made 
 known by the light of nature, but only a sabbath. 
 
 891, 892 
 
 It was not enjoined by any positive precept from 
 Adam to Moses 892-895 
 
 The Gentiles were not included.with the Jews in 
 the Mosaic command 895, 896 
 
 It fell with the other Jewish rites, and was not 
 afterward improved by the apostles 896-900 
 
 The first day of the week is the time fixed upon in 
 the New Testament as the day of public worship. 
 
 900-916 
 
 Mr. Bunyan's Last Sermon, Preached July, 1688, on 
 the text from John 1. 13 : " Which were bom not of 
 blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of 
 man, but of God 917-920 
 
 Of the Trinity and a Christian : how a Young or Shaken 
 Christian should demean himself under the weighty 
 thoughts of the doctrine of the Trinity or Plurality of 
 Persons in the eternal Godhead 921,922 
 
 Of the Law and a Christian 923, 924 
 
 Instruction for the Ignorant; being a Salve to Cure 
 
 that great want of Knowledge in both Old and Young ; 
 
 prepared and presented to them in a plain and easy 
 
 ' Dialogue, fitted to the capacity of the weakest. * 
 
 To the Church of Christ In and about Bedford... 925 
 
 This is a statement of theological doctrines in the 
 
 form of a catechism 926-943 
 
 Of Justification by an Imputed Rigliteousness, or no 
 Way to Heaven but by Jesus Christ. 
 
 1. Definition of terms 945-917 
 
 SL Men are Justified while sinners in themselves. 
 
 947-964 
 
 3. M«n are Justified while sinners In themselves 
 only by the righteousness of Christ...Pa^e3 964-976 
 
 Poetical Pieces of Mr. John BuNyAir. 
 
 Fbal and Gerizim, or the Blessing and the Curse. 
 
 being a short exhortation to Sinners, by the Mercy 
 
 and Severity of God. 
 
 From Mount Gerizim 979-983 
 
 From Mount Ebal 983-985 
 
 One Thing is Needful, or Serious Meditations upon the 
 Four Last Things — Death and Judgment, Heaven 
 and Hell, 
 
 An Introduction to the ensuing discourse 987 
 
 Of death 987-989 
 
 Of Judgment 989-991 
 
 Of heaven 991-994 
 
 Of hell, and the estate of those that perish.. 994-997 
 
 A Caution to Stir up to Watch against Sin 999, 1000 
 
 Divine Firnblems, or Temporal Things Spiritualized — 
 
 fitted for the use of boys and girls. 
 
 To the Reader 1001,1002 
 
 Upon the lark and the fowler 1003 
 
 Meditations upon an egg 1003, 1004 
 
 Upon the flint in the water 1004 
 
 Upon the fish in the water 1004 
 
 Upon the swallow 1004 
 
 Upon the bee 1004 
 
 Upon overmuch niceness 1004 
 
 Meditations upon a candle 1005 
 
 Upon the sacraments 1005 
 
 Upon the sun's reflection upon the clouds in 
 
 a fair morning 1005, 1006 
 
 The sinner and the spider _ 1006-1008 
 
 Of the mole In the ground 1008 
 
 Of the cuckoo lOOS 
 
 Of the boy and the butterfly 1009 
 
 Of the fly at the candle 1009 
 
 On the rising of the sun 1009 
 
 Upon the promising fruitfulness of a tree.. 1009, 1010 
 
 Upon the thief lOlO 
 
 Of the child with the bird on the bush 1010, 1011 
 
 Of the rose bush loll 
 
 Upon the beggar lOll 
 
 Upon the horse and his rider 1011, 1012 
 
 Upon a penny loaf. 1012 
 
 The boyand watchmaker 1012 
 
 On the cackling of a hen 1012 
 
 Upon a snail 1013 
 
 Upon a skilful player on an instrument 1013 
 
 Of man by nature 1013 
 
 Upon the disobedient child 1013,1014 
 
 Upon a sheet of white paper 1014 
 
 Upon the frog 1014 
 
 On the barren flg tree in God's vineyard 1014 
 
 On the going down of the sun 1014, 1015 
 
GRACE ABOUNDING TO THE CHIEF OF SINNERS: 
 
 IN A FAITHFUL ACCOUNT OF 
 
 THE LIFE AND DEATH OF JOHN BUNYAN. 
 
 'CORRECTED AND MUCH ENLAEGED BY THE AUTHOR, FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE TEMPTED 
 
 AND DEJECTED CHRISTIAN. 
 
 Come and hear, all ye that fear Qod, and I vrill declare what he hath done for my soul, — Psalu Ixvi. 16. 
 
 PEBFACE. 
 
 WRITTEN BY THE AUTHOR, AND DEDICATED TO THOSE WHOM GOD HATH COUNTED HIM WORTHY TO 
 BEGET TO FAITH BY HIS MINISTRY IN THE WORD. 
 
 CHiLDEEiir, grace be with you. Amen. I being taken from you in presence, and so tied up 
 that I,cannot perform that duty, that from God doth lie upon me to youward for your further 
 edifying and building up in faith and holiness, &c., yet that you may see my soul hath fatherly 
 care and desire after your spiritual and everlasting welfare, I now once again, as before from 
 the top of Shenir and Herman, so now from the /iore's den, and from the mountains of the leopard, 
 do yet look after you all, greatly longing to see your safe arrival into the desired haven. 
 
 I have sent you here enclosed a drop of that honey that I have taken out of the carcass of a lion. 
 I have eaten thereof myself, and am much refreshed thereby. (Temptations, when we meet 
 them at first, are as the lion that roared upon Samson ; but if we overcome them, the next time 
 we see them, we shall find a nest of honey within them.) The Philistines understood me not. 
 It is something, a relation of the work of God upon my soul, even from the very first, till now, 
 wherein you may perceive my castings down, and risings up : for he woundeth, and his hands 
 make whole. It is written in the Scripture, " The father to the children shall make known the 
 truth of God." Yea, it was for this reason I lay so long at Sinai, to see the fire, and the cloud, 
 and the darkness, " that I might fear the Lord all the days of my life upon earth, and tell of his 
 wondrous works to my children." 
 
 Moses writ of the journeyings of the children of Israel from Egypt to the land of Canaan ; and 
 commanded also that they did remember their forty years' travel in the wilderness. " Thou shalt 
 remember all the ways which the Lord thy God leads thee these forty years in the wilderness, 
 to humble thee, and to prove thee, and to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldst 
 keep his commandments or no." Wherefore this I have endeavoured to do ; and not only so, 
 but to publish it also ; that, if God will, others may be put in remembrance of what he hath 
 done for their souls, by reading his work upon me. It is profitable for Christians to be often 
 calling to mind the very beginning of grace with their soula. "It is a night to be much 
 observed to the Lord for bringing them out of the land of Egypt. This is that night of the 
 Lord to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations." "My God, (saith David, 
 Psa. xlii. 6,) my soul is cast down within me, but I will remember thee from the land of Jordan 
 and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar." He remembereth also the lion and the bear, whei 
 he went to fight with the giant of Gath. 
 
 27 
 
28 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 It was Paul's accustomed manner, and that when tried for his life, ever to open before his 
 judges the manner of his conversion. He would think of that day, and that hour, in which he 
 first did meet with grace ; for he found it supported him. When God had brought the children 
 of Israel out of the Red Sea, far into the wilderness, yet they must turn quite about thither 
 again, to remember the drowning of their enemies there, for though they sang praises before, 
 yet they soon forgat his works. 
 
 In this discourse of mine, you may see much, much I say, of the grace of God towards me. 
 I thank God I can count it much ; for it was above my sins, and Satan's temptations too. I can 
 remember my fears and doubts, and sad months, with comfort ; they are as the head of Goliah 
 in my hand. There was nothing to David like Goliah's sword, even that sword that should 
 have been sheathed in his bowels ; for the very sight and remembrance of that did preach forth 
 God's deliverance to him. Oh ! the remembrance of my great sins, of my great temptations, and 
 of my great fear of perishing forever I They bring afresh into my mind the remembrance of my 
 great help, my great supports from heaven, and the great grace that God extended to such a 
 wretch as I. 
 
 I could have enlarged much in this my discourse, of my temptations and troubles for sin, aa 
 also of the merciful kindness and working of God with my soul. I could also have stepped into 
 a style much higher than this in which I have here discoursed; and could have adorned all 
 things more than here I seemed to do ; but I dare not. God did not play in tempting of me ; 
 neither did I play, when I sunk as into a bottomless pit, when the " pangs of hell caught hold 
 upon me ;" wherefore I may not play in relating of them ; but be plain and simple, and lay 
 down the thing as it was. He that Uketh it, let him receive it ; and he that doth not let him 
 produce a better. Farewell. 
 
 My dear Children : 
 
 The milk and honey is beyond this wilderness. God be merciful to you ; and grant that yon 
 be not slothful to go in to possess the land. * 
 
 JOHN BUNYAN. 
 
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GRACE ABOUNDING TO THE CHIEF OF SINNERS. 
 
 In this my relation of the merciful working 
 of God upon my soul, it ivill not be amiss, if, 
 in the first place, I do in a few words, give you 
 a hint of my pedigree, and. manner of bringing 
 up ; that thereby the goodness and bounty of 
 God towards me, may be the more advanced 
 and magnified before the sons of men. 
 
 For my descent then, it was, as is well 
 known to many, of a low and inconsiderable 
 generation ; my father's Jiouse being of that 
 rank that is meanest, and most despised of all 
 the families in the' land. Wherefore I have 
 not here, as others, to boast of noble blood, or 
 of any high-born state, according to the flesh ; 
 though, all things "considered, I -magnify the 
 heavenly Majesty, for that by this door he 
 brought me into the world, to partake of the 
 grace and life that is in Christ by the Gospel. 
 
 But yet notwithstanding the meanness and 
 inconsiderableness of my parents, it pleased 
 God to put it into their hearts to put me to 
 school, to learn me both to read and write; the 
 which I also attained, according to the rate 
 of other poor men's children, though to my 
 shame I confess, I did soon lose that little I 
 learnt, even almost utterly, and that long 
 before the Lord did work his gracious work 
 of conversion upon my soul. 
 
 As for my own natural life, for the time that 
 I was without God in the world, it was, in- 
 deed, " according to the course of this world, 
 and the spirit that now worketh in the chil- 
 dren of disobedience." It was my delight to 
 be " taken captive by the devil at his will ;" 
 being filled with all unrighteousness; the 
 which did also so strongly work, and put 
 forth itself, both in my heart and life, and 
 that from a child, that I had but few equals, 
 (especially considering my years, which were 
 tender, being few,) both for cursing, swearing, 
 lying, and blaspheming the holy name of God. 
 
 Yea, so settled and rooted was I in these 
 things, that they became as a second nature to 
 me J the .which, as I have also with soberness 
 
 considered since, did so ofiend the Lord, that 
 even in my childhood he did scare and 
 affrighten me with fearful dreams, and did 
 terrify me with fearful visions: For often, 
 after I had spent this and the other day in 
 sin, I have in my bed been greatly afflicted, 
 while asleep, with the apprehensions of devils 
 and wicked spirits, who still, as I then 
 thought, laboured to draw me away with 
 them, of which I could never be rid. 
 
 Also I should at these years, be greatly 
 afflicted and troubled with the thoughts of 
 the fearful torments of hell-fire ; still fearing 
 that it would be my lot to be found at last 
 among those devils and hellish fiends, who 
 are there bound down with the chains and 
 bonds of darkness, until the judgment of the 
 great day. 
 
 These things, I say, when I was but a child, 
 but nine or ten years old, did so distress my 
 soul, that then in the midst of my many sports 
 and childish vanities, amidst my vain com- 
 panions, I was often much east down, and 
 afflicted in my mind therewith, yet I could 
 not let go my sins : Yea, I was also then so 
 overcome with despair of life and heaven, 
 that I should often wish, either that there had 
 been no hell, or that I had been a devil ; sup- 
 posing they were, only tormentors ; that if it 
 must needs be, that I went thither, I might 
 be rather a torment«r, than be tormented 
 myself. 
 
 A while after those terrible dreams did leave 
 me, which also I soon forgot ; for my pleas- 
 ures did quickly cut off the remembrance of 
 them, as if they had never been : wherefore 
 with more greediness, according to the strength 
 of nature, I did still let loose the reins of my 
 lust, and delighted in all transgressions against 
 the law of God : so that until I came to the 
 state of marriage, I was the very ringleader of 
 all the youth that kept me company, in all 
 manner of vice and ungodliness. 
 
 Yea, such prevalency had the lusts and 
 
 29 
 
30 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 fruits of the flesli on this poor soul of mine, 
 that had not a miracle of precious grace pre- 
 vented, I had not only perished by the stroke 
 of eternal justice, but had also laid myself 
 open, even to the stroke of those laws which 
 bring some to disgrace and open shame before 
 the face of the world. 
 
 In these days the thoughts of religion were 
 very grievous to me; I could neither endure 
 it myself, nor that any other should ; so that 
 when I have seen some read in those books 
 that concerned Christian piety, it would be as 
 it were a prison to me. Then I said unto God, 
 " Depart from me, for I desire not the know- 
 ledge of thy ways." I was now void of all good 
 consideration, heaven and hell were both out 
 of sight and mind; and as for saving and 
 damning, they were least in my thoughts. " O 
 Lord, thou knowest my life, and my ways were 
 not hid from thee." 
 
 But this I well remember, that though I 
 could myself sin with the greatest delight and 
 ease, and also take pleasure in the vileness of 
 my companions ; yet, even then, if I had at 
 any time seen wicked things, by those who 
 professed goodness, it would make my spirit 
 tremble. As once above all the rest, when I 
 was in the height of vanity, yet hearing one 
 to swear, that was reckoned for a religious 
 man, it had so great a stroke upon my spirit, 
 that it made my heart ache. 
 
 But God did not utterly leave me, but fol- 
 lowed me still, not with convictions, but with 
 judgments ; yet such as were mixed with 
 mercy. For once I fell into a creek of the 
 sea, and hardly escaped drowning. Another 
 time I fell out of a boat into Bedford river, 
 but mercy yet preserved me alive. Besides, 
 another time, being in the iield with one of my 
 companions, it chanced that an adder passed 
 over the highway, so I having a stick in my 
 hand, struck her over the bade; and having 
 stunned her, I forced open her mouth with my 
 stick, and plucked her sting out with my fin- 
 gers ; by which act, had not God been merci- 
 ful unto me, I might by my desperateness, 
 bave brought myself to an end. 
 
 This also I have taken notice of, with 
 thanksgiving: When I was a soldier, I, with 
 others, were drawn out to go to such a place 
 to besiege it ; but when I was just ready to go, 
 one of the company desired to go in my room : 
 to which, when I had consented, he tjok my 
 place; and coming to the siege, as he stood 
 sentinel, he was shot in the head with a mus- 
 ket bullet, and died. 
 
 Here, as I said, were judgments and mercy, 
 but neither of them did awaken my soul to 
 righteousness; wherefore I sinned still, and 
 grew more and more rebellious against God, 
 an i careless of my own salvation. 
 
 Presently after this, I changed my condition 
 into a married state, and my mercy was, to 
 light upon a wife whose father was counted 
 godly ; this woman and I, though we came to- 
 gether as poor as poor might be, (not having so 
 much household stuff as a dish or a spoon be- 
 twixt us both,) yet this she had for her part, 
 "The Plain Man's Pathway to Heaven; the 
 Practice of Piety ;" which her father had left 
 her when he died. In these two books I 
 should sometimes read with her, wherein I 
 also found some things that were somewhat 
 pleasing to me ; but all this while I met with 
 no conviction. She also would be often tell- 
 ing me of what a godly man her father was, 
 and how he would reprove and correct vice, 
 both in his house, aod among his neighbours, 
 what a strict and holy life he led in his days, 
 both in word and deed. 
 
 Wherefore these books, with the relation, 
 though they did not reach my heart, to 
 awaken it about my sad and sinful state, yet 
 they did beget within me some desires to re- 
 form my vicious life,^and fall in very eagerly 
 with the religion of the times ; to wit, to go to 
 church twice a da;y, and that too with the fore- 
 most ; and there should very devoutly both say 
 and sing, as others did, yet retaining my wicked 
 life; but withal, I was so overrun with the 
 spirit of superstition, that I adored, and that 
 with great devotion, even all things (both the 
 high place, priest, clerk, vestment service, and 
 what else) belonging to the church ; counting 
 all things holy that were therein contained, 
 and especially, the priest and clerk most 
 happy, and without doubt greatly blessed, be- 
 cause they were the servants, as I then thought, 
 of God, and were principal in the holy temple 
 to do his work therein. 
 
 This conceit grew so strong in a little time 
 upon my spirit, that had I but seen a priest 
 (though never so sordid and debauched in his 
 life,) I should find my spirit fall under him, 
 reverence him, and knit unto him ; yea, I 
 thought, for the love I did bear unto them 
 (supposing they were the ministers of God) I 
 could have laid down at their feet and hav< 
 been trampled bn by them ; their name, their 
 garb, and work did so intoxicate and be- 
 witch me. 
 
 After I had been thus for some considerable 
 
GRACE ABOUNDING TO THE CHIEF OF SINNERS. 
 
 31 
 
 time, anotliei' thought came in my mind ; and 
 that was, whether we were of the Israelites or 
 no ? For finding in Scripture that they were 
 once the peculiar people of God, thought I, if 
 I were one of this race, my soul must needs he 
 happy. Now again, I found within me a great 
 longing to be resolved about this question, but 
 could not tell how I should : at last I asked my 
 father of it, who told me, no, we were not. 
 Wherefore, then I fell in my spirit, as to the 
 hopes of that, and so remained. 
 
 But all this while, I was not sensible of the 
 danger and evil of sin ; I was kept from con- 
 sidering that sin would damn me, what religion 
 soever I followed, unless I was found in Christ : 
 nay, I never thought of him, nor whether there 
 was such an one, or no. "Thus man while 
 blind doth wander, but weareth ^limself with 
 vanity, for he knoweth not the way to the city 
 of God." 
 
 But one day, amongst all the sermons our 
 parson made, his subject was to treat of the 
 sabbath-day, and of the evil of breaking that, 
 either with labour, sports, or otherwise : (now 
 I was, notwithstanding my^-eligion, one that 
 took much delight in all manner of vice, and 
 especially that was the day that I did solace 
 myself therewith:) wherefore I fell in my con- 
 science under this sermon, thinking and be- 
 lieving that he made that sermon on purpose 
 to show me my evil-doing. And at that time 
 I felt what guilt was, though never before, that 
 I can remember ; but then I was, for the pres- 
 ent, greatly loaded therewith, and so went 
 home when the sermon was ended, with a great 
 burthen upon my spirit. 
 
 This, for an instant, did benumb the sinews 
 of my best delights, and did embitter my for- 
 mer pleasures to me ; but hold, it lasted not ; 
 for before I had dined, the trouble began to go 
 off my mind, and my heart returned to its old 
 course. But oh! how glad was I, that this 
 trouble was gone from me, and that the fire 
 was put out, that I might sin again without 
 control! Wherefore, when I had satisfied 
 nature with my food, I shook the sermon 
 out of my mind, and to my old custom of 
 sports and gaming I returned with great 
 delight. ' 
 
 But the same day, as I was in the midst of a 
 game of Cat, and having struck it one blow 
 from the hole, just as I was about to strike it 
 the second time, a voice did suddenly dart from 
 heaven into my soul, which said, " Wilt thou 
 leave thy sins and go to heaven, or have thy 
 sins and go to hell?" At this I was put to an 
 
 exceeding amaze; wherefore, leaving my cat 
 upon the ground, I looked up to heaven, and 
 was, as if I had, with the eyes of my under- 
 standing, seen the Lord Jesus looking down 
 upon me, as being very hotly displeased with 
 me, and as if he did severely threaten me with 
 some grievous punishment for these and other 
 ungodly practices. 
 
 I had no sooner thus conceived in my mind, 
 but suddenly this conclusion was fastened on 
 my spirit, (for the former hint did set my sins 
 again before my face,) that I had been a great 
 and grievous sinner, and that it was now too 
 late for me to look after heaven; for Christ 
 would not forgive me, nor pardon my trans- 
 gressions. Then I fell to musing on this also ; 
 and while I was thinking of it, and fearing 
 lest it should be so, I felt my heart sink in 
 despair, concluding it was too late ; and there- 
 fore I resolved in my mind to go on in sin : 
 For, thought I, if the case be thus, my state is 
 surely miserable ; miserable if I leave my sins, 
 and but miserable if I follow them ; I can but 
 be damned, and if I must be so, I had as good 
 be damned for many sins, as be damned for a 
 few. 
 
 Thus I stood in the midst of my play, before 
 all that then were present ; but yet I told them 
 nothing ; but I say, having made this conclu- 
 sion, I returned desperately to my sport again ; 
 and I well remember, that presently this kind 
 of despair did so possess my soul that 1 was 
 persuaded I could never attain to other com- 
 fort than what I should get in sin ; for heaven 
 was gone already, so that on that I must not 
 think. Wherefore I found within me great 
 desire to have my fill of sin, still studying 
 what sin was yet to be committed, that I might 
 taste the sweetness of it ; and I made as much 
 haste as I could to fill my belly with its deli- 
 cacies, lest I should die before I had my de- 
 sires; for that I feared greatly. In theoe 
 things, I protest before God I lie not, neither 
 do I frame this sort of speech; these 'were 
 really, strongly, and with all my heart my de- 
 sires. The good Lord, whose mercy is un- 
 searchable, forgive my transgressions ! 
 
 And I am very confident that this termina- 
 tion of the devil is more usual among pool 
 creatures, than many are aware of, even to 
 overrun the spirits with a scurvy and seared 
 frame of heart, and benumbing of conscience ; 
 which frame he stilly and slyly supplieth with 
 such despair, that though not much guilt at- 
 tendeth souls, yet they continually have a 
 secret conclusion within them, that there is uc 
 
32 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 hopes for them; for they have loved sins, 
 therefore after them they will go. 
 
 Now therefore I went on in sin with great 
 greediness of mind, still grudging that I could 
 not be satisfied with it as I would. This did 
 continue with me about a month, or more; 
 but one day, as I was standing at a neighbour's 
 shop-window, and there cursing and swearing, 
 and playing the madman, after my wonted 
 jmanner, there sat within the woman of the 
 house, and heard me; who though she was a 
 very loose and ungodly wretch, yet protested 
 that I swore and cursed at the'most ungodly 
 rate, that she was made to tremble to hear me ; 
 and told me further, that I was the ungodliest 
 fellow for swearing, that she ever heard in all 
 her life ; and that I, by thus doing, was able 
 to spoil all the youth in the whole town, if 
 they came but in my company. 
 
 At this reproof I was silenced, and put to 
 secret shame; and that too, as I thought, be- 
 fore the God of heaven ; wherefore, while I 
 stood there, and hanging down my head, I 
 wished with all my heart that I might be a lit- 
 tle child again, that my father might teach me 
 to speak without this wicked way of swearing ; 
 for, thought I, I am so accustomed to it, that 
 it is in vain for me to think of a reformation, 
 for I thought that could never be. 
 
 But how it came to pass I know not ; I did 
 from this time forward, so leave my swearing, 
 that it was a great wonder to myself to observe 
 it; and whereas, before I knew not how to 
 speak unless I put an oath before and another 
 behind, to make my words have authority ; now 
 I could, without it, speak better, and with more 
 pleasantness than ever I could before. All this 
 while I knew not Jesus Christ, neither did I 
 leave my sports and plays. 
 
 But quickly after this, I fell into company 
 with one poor man that made profession of re- 
 ligion ; who, as I then thought, did talk pleas- 
 antly of the Scriptures, and of the matter of 
 religion ; wherefore, falling into some love and 
 liking to what he said, I betook me to my Bible, 
 and began to take great pleasure in reading, 
 but especially with the historical part thereof; 
 for as for St. Paul's Epistles, and suchlike 
 Scriptures, I could not away with them, being 
 as yet ignorant, either of the corruptions of my 
 nature or of the want and worth of Jesus Christ 
 to save us. 
 
 Wherefore I fell to some outward reformation 
 both in my words and life, and did set the com- 
 mandments before me for my way to heaven ; 
 which commandments I also did strive to keep. 
 
 and as I thought, did keep them pretty well 
 sometimes, and then I should have comfort; 
 yet now and then should break one, and so 
 afflict my conscience ; bu* then I should re- 
 pent, and say, I was soriy for it, and promised 
 God to do better next time, and there get help 
 again ; for then I thought I pleased God as well 
 as any man in England. 
 
 Thus I continued about a year; all which 
 time our neighbours did take me to be a very 
 godly man, a new and religious man, and did 
 marvel much to see such a great and famous 
 alteration in my life and manners; and indeed 
 so it was, though I knew not Christ, nor grace, 
 nor faith, nor hope ; for, as I have well since 
 seen, had I then died, my state had then been 
 most fearful. ' 
 
 But, I say, my neighbours were amazed at 
 this my great conversion, from prodigious pro- 
 faneness to something like a moral life ; and 
 truly, so they well might ; for this my conver- 
 sion was as great, as for Tom of Bedlam to be- 
 come a sober man. Now therefore they began 
 to praise, to commend, and to speak well of me, 
 both to my face, fnd behind my back. Now I 
 was, as they said, become godly ; now I was 
 become a right honest man. But oh ! when I 
 understood those were their words and opinions 
 of me, it pleased me mighty well. For though 
 as yet I was nothing but a poor painted hypo- 
 ci'ite, yet I loved to be talked of as one that 
 was truly godiy. I was proud of my godliness, 
 and indeed I did all I did, either to be seen of, 
 or to be well spoken of by men ; and thus I 
 continued fur about a twelvemonth, or more. 
 
 Now you must know, that before this I had 
 taken much deligiit in ringing the bell, but my 
 conscience beginning to be tender, I thought 
 such a practice was but vain, and therefore 
 forced myself to leave it ; yet my mind hank- 
 ered ; wherefore, I would now go to the steeple- 
 house and look on, though I durst not ring; 
 but I thought this did not become religion 
 neither ; yet I forced myself, and would look 
 on still ; but quickly after, I began to think, 
 how if one of the bells should fall ? Then I 
 chose to stand under a main beam, that lay 
 overthwart the steeple, from side to side, think- 
 ing here I might stand sure ; but ther( I thought 
 again, should the bell fall with a swing, it might 
 first hit the wall, and then rebounding upon 
 me, might kill me for all this beam. This made 
 me stand in the steeple door ; and now thought 
 I, I am safe enough ; for if the bell should 
 then fall, I can slip out between these thick 
 walls, and so be preserved notwithstanding. 
 
GRACE ABOUNDING TO THE CHIEF OF SINNERS. 
 
 33 
 
 So after this I would yet go to see them ring, 
 but would not go farther than the steeple door ; 
 but then it.came into my head, how if the stee- 
 ple itself should fall? And this thought (it 
 may for aught I know when I stood and looked 
 on) did continually so shake my mind,'that I 
 durst not stand at the steeple door any longer, 
 but was forced to flee, for fear the steeple should 
 fall upon my head. 
 
 Another thing was my dancing. I was full 
 a year before I could quite leave that ; but all 
 this while, when I thought I kept this or that 
 commandment, or did, by word or deed any 
 thing that I thought was good, I had great 
 peace in my conscience ; and should think with 
 myself, God cannot but be now pleased with 
 me ; yea, to relate it in mine own -way, I thought 
 no man in England could please God better 
 than I. 
 
 But poor wretch as I was, I was all this while 
 ignorant of Jesm Christ ; and going about to 
 establish my own righteousness ; and had per- 
 ished therein, had not God in mercy showed 
 me more of my state by nature. 
 
 But upon a day, the good providence of God 
 called me to Bedford, to work on my calling, 
 and in one of the streets of that town, I came 
 where there were three or four poor women sit- 
 ting at a door, in the sun, talking about the 
 things of God ; and being now willing to hear 
 their discourse, I (]rew near to hear what they 
 said, for I was now a brisk talker of myself, in 
 the matter of religion ; but I may say, " I heard, 
 but understood not ; " for they were far above, 
 out of my reach. Their talk was about a new 
 birth, the work of God in their hearts, as also 
 how they were convinced of their miserable 
 state by nature. They talked how God had 
 visited their souls with his love in the Lord 
 Jesus, and with what words and promises they 
 had been refreshed, comforted and 'supported 
 against the temptations of the devil ; moreover 
 they reasoned of the suggestions and tempta- 
 tions of Satan in particular; and told to each 
 other by what means they had been afflicted, 
 and how they were borne up under his assaults. 
 They also discoursed of their own wretchedness 
 of heart and of their uiibelief ; and did con- 
 temn, slight and abhor their own righteousness, 
 as filthy, and insufiicient to do them any good. 
 
 And methought they spake as if joy ■ did 
 make them speak; they spake with such 
 pleasantness of Scripture language, and with 
 such appearance of grace in all they said, 
 that they were to me, as if they had found a 
 new world; as if they were "people that 
 
 dwelt alone, and were not to be reckoned 
 among their neighbours.'' 
 
 At this I felt my own heart began to snake, 
 and inistrust my condition to be naught ; for I 
 saw that in all my thoughts about religion and 
 salvation, the new birth did never enter into 
 my mind ; neither knew I the comfort of the 
 word and promise, nor the deceitfulness and 
 treachery of my own wicked heart. As for 
 secret thoughts, I took no notice of them; 
 neither did I understand what Satan's temp- 
 tations were, nor how they were to be with- 
 stood and resisted, &c. 
 
 Thus, therefore, when I had heard and con- 
 sidered what they said I left them, and went 
 about my employment again, but their talk 
 and discourse went with me; also my heart 
 would tarry with them, for I was greatly af- 
 fected with their words, both because by them 
 I was convinced that I wanted the true tokens 
 of a truly godly man, and also because by 
 them I was convinced of the happy and 
 blessed condition of him that was such an 
 one. 
 
 Therefore I would often make it my busi- 
 ness to be going again and again into the 
 eompany of these poor people ; for I could not 
 stay away ; and the more I went among them 
 the more I did question my condition : and as 
 I still do remember, prfesently I found two 
 things within me, at which I did sometimes 
 marvel, (especially considering what a blind, 
 ignorant, sordid, and ungodly wretch but just 
 before I was.) The one was a very great soft- 
 ness and tenderness of heart, which caused me 
 to fall under the conviction of what by Scrip- 
 ture they asserted ; and the other, was a great 
 bending in my mind, to a continually meditat- 
 ing on it, and on all other good things which 
 at any time I heard or read of. 
 
 By these things my mind was now so turned*^ 
 that it lay like an horse-leech at the vein, still 
 crying out, Oive, give, which was so fixed on 
 eternity, and on the things about the kingdom 
 of heaven, (that is, so far as I knew, though 
 as yet, God knows I knew b>it little) that 
 neither pleasures, nor profits, nor persuasions, 
 nor threats could loose it, or make it let go its 
 hold, and though I may speak it with shame, 
 yet it is in very deed, a certain truth, it would 
 then have been as difficult for me to have 
 taken my mind from heaven to earth, as I 
 have found it often since, to get it again from 
 earth to heaveiS. 
 
 One thing I may not omit: there was a 
 young man in our town, to whom my heart 
 
34 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 before- was knit more than to any other, but 
 he being a most ■wicked creature for cursing, 
 and swearing, and whoring, I now shook him 
 off, and forsook' his company; but about a 
 quarter of a year after I had left him, I met 
 him in a certain lane, and asked him how he 
 did ; he, after his old swearing and mad way, 
 answered, he was well. But, Harry, said I, 
 "Why do you curse and swear thus? What 
 will become of you if you die in this condi- 
 tion?" He answered me in a great chafe, 
 " What would the devil do for company, if it 
 were not for such as I am?" 
 
 About this time I met with some Ranters' 
 books, that were, put forth by some of our 
 countrymen, which books were also highly 
 in esteem by several old professors; some of 
 these I read, but was not able to make a judg- 
 ment about them; wherefore as I read in 
 them, and thought upon them, seeing myself 
 unable . to judge, I would betake myself to 
 hearty prayer in this manner: "0 Lord, I am 
 a fool, and not able to know the truth from 
 error: Lord, leave me not to my own blind- 
 ness, either to approve of, or condemn this doc- 
 trine; if it be of God, let me not despise it; if 
 it be of the devil, let me not embrace it. Lord, 
 ■I lay my soul in this matter only at thy foot, let 
 me not be deceived, I humbly beseech thee." 
 I had one religious intimatd'companion all this 
 while, and that was the poor man I spoke of 
 before; but about this time, he also turned a 
 devilish Banter, and gave himself up to all 
 manner of filthiness, especially uncleanness. 
 He would also deny that there was a God, 
 angel, or spirit; and would laugh at all exhort- 
 ations to sobriety; when I laboured to re- 
 buke his wickedness, he would laugh the 
 more, and pretend that he had gone through 
 all religions, and could never hit upon the 
 right till now. He told me also, that in a 
 little time I should see all professors turn to 
 the ways of the Ranters. Wherefore abomi- 
 nating these cursed principles, I left his com- 
 pany forthwith, and became to him as great a 
 stranger, as I had been before a familiar. 
 
 Neither was this man only a temptation to 
 me, but my calling being in the country, I 
 happened to come into several people's com- 
 pany who, though strict in religion formerly, 
 yet were also drawn away by the- Ranters. 
 These would also talk with me of their ways, 
 and condemn me as legal and dark; pretend- 
 ing that they only had attained to perfection, 
 that could do what they would and not sin. 
 'Oh I these temptations were suitable to my 
 
 flesh, I being but a young man, and my nature 
 in its prime: but God, who had, as I hoped, 
 designed me for better things, kept me in the 
 fear of his name, and did not suffer me to ac- 
 cept such cursed principles. And blessed be 
 God. who put it into my heart to Cry to him 
 to be kept anddirected, still distrusting mine 
 own wisdom; for I have since seen even the 
 effects of that prayer, in his preserving me, 
 not only from Ranting errors, but from those 
 also that have sprung up since. The Bible 
 was precious to me in those days. 
 
 And now methought, I began to look into 
 the Bible with new eyes, and read as I never 
 did before, and especially the epistles of the 
 apostle St. Paul were sweet and pleasant to 
 me, and indeed then I was never out of the 
 Bible, either by reading or meditation; still 
 crying out to God that I might know the 
 truth, and way to heaven and glory. 
 
 And as I went on and read, I hit upon that 
 passage, "To one is given by the spirit the 
 word of wisdom, to another the word of 
 knov^ledge by the same spirit, and to another 
 faith," &c. And though, as I have since seen, 
 that by this Scripture the Holy Ghost intends, 
 in special things extraordinary, yet on me it 
 did then fasten with conviction, that I did 
 want things ordinary, even that understanding 
 and wisdom that other Christians had. On 
 this word I mused and could not tell what to 
 do, especially this word faith put me to it, for 
 I could not help it, but sometimes miist ques- 
 tion, whether I had any faith, or no: but I 
 was loth to conclude, I had no faith ; for if I 
 do so, thought I, then I shall count myself a 
 very castaway indeed. 
 
 No, said I, with myself,' though I am con- 
 vinced that I am an ignorant sot, and that I 
 want those blessed gifts of knowledge and 
 understariding that other people have ; yet at 
 a venture I will conclude, I am not altogether 
 faithless, though I know not what faith is ; for 
 it was shown me, and that too (as I have seen 
 since) by Satan, that those who conclude them- 
 selves in a faithless state, have neither rest nor 
 quiet in their souls; and I was loth to fall 
 quite into despair. 
 
 Wherefore by this suggestipn, I was for a 
 while, made afraid to see my want of faith ; 
 but God would not suffer me thus to undo and 
 destroy my soul, but did continually against 
 this my sad and blind conclusion, create still 
 within me such suppositions, insomuch that I 
 could not rest content, until I did now come 
 to some certain knowledge whether I had faith 
 
GRACE ABOVNMNO TO THE CHIEF OF SmNERS. 
 
 35 
 
 or no, this always running in my mind, "But 
 how if you want faitli indeed? But liow can 
 you tell you have faith ?" And besides, I saw 
 for certain, if I had not, I was sure to perish 
 for ever. 
 
 bo that though I endeavoured at the first to 
 look over the business of faith, yet in a little 
 time, I better considering the matter, was will- 
 ing to put myself upon the trial whether I 
 had faith or no. But alas, poor wretch, so 
 ignorant and brutish was I, that I knew not 
 to this day any more how to do it, than I 
 know how to begin and accomplish that rare 
 and curious piece of art, which I never yet 
 saw or considered. 
 
 Wherefore while I was thus considering, 
 and being put to a plunge about it, (for you 
 must know, that as yet I had not in this mat- 
 ter broken my mind to any one, only did hear 
 and consider,) the tempter came in with this 
 delusion, ",that there was no way for me to 
 know I had liiith, but 'By trying to work some 
 miracles ; urging those Scriptures that seem to 
 look that way, for the enforcing and strength- 
 ening his temptation. Nay, one day, as I was 
 between Elstow and Bedford, the temptation 
 was hot upon me, to try if I had faith, by 
 doing some miracle; which miracle at this 
 time was this, I must say to the puddles that 
 were in the horsepads, be dry ; and to the dry 
 places, be you puddles : and truly one time I 
 was going to say so indeed ; but just as I was 
 about to speak, tliis thought came into my 
 mind; "but go under yonder hedge and pray 
 first, that God will make you able." But 
 when I had concluded to pray, this came hot 
 upon me ; that if I prayed, and came again, 
 and tried to do it, and yet did nothing not- 
 withstanding, .then to be sure I had no faith, 
 but was a castaway, and lost, nay thought I, if 
 it be so, I will not try yet, but will stay a little 
 longer. 
 
 So I continued at a great loss ; for I thought, 
 if they only had faith, which could do so won- 
 derful things, then I concluded, that for the 
 present I neither had it, nor yet for the time 
 to come, were ever like to have it. Thus I 
 was tossed betwixt the devil and mine own 
 ignorance,"and so perplexed, especially at some 
 times, that I could not tell what to do. 
 
 About this time, the state and happiness of 
 those poor people at Bedford was thus, in a 
 kind of a vision, presented to me. I saw as 
 if they were on the sunny side of some high 
 mountain, there refreshing themselves with 
 the pleasant beams of the sun, while I was 
 
 shivering and shrinking in the cold, afflicted 
 with frost, snow, and dark clouds : methoug-ht 
 also, betwixt me and them, I saw a wall that 
 did compass about this mountain, now through 
 this wall, my soul did greatly desire to pass ; 
 concluding, that if I could, I would even go 
 into the very midst of them, and there also 
 comfort myself with the heat of their sun. 
 
 About this wall I bethought myself, to go 
 again and again, still praying as I went, tti see 
 if I could find some way or passage, by nhich 
 I might enter therein ; but none could I find 
 for some time ; at the last, I saw, as it were, a 
 narrow gap, like a little door-way in the wall, 
 through which I attempted to pass : now the 
 passage being very straight and narrow", I 
 made many offers to get in, but all in vain, 
 even until I was well nigh quite beat out, by 
 striving to get in ;• at last, with great striving, 
 methought I at first did get in my head, 
 and after that, by a sideling striving, my 
 shoulders, and my whole body : then I was 
 exceeding glad, went and sat down in the 
 midst of them, and so was comforted with the 
 light and heat of their sun. 
 
 Now this mountain, and wall, &c., was thus 
 made out to me : the mountain signified the 
 church of the living God ; the sun that shone 
 , thereon, the comfortable shining of his merci- 
 ful face on them Bfeat were therein ; the wall I 
 thought was the world, that did make separa- 
 tion between the Christians and the world; 
 and the gap which was in the wall, I thought, 
 was Jesus Christ, who is the way to God the 
 Father. (John xiv. 6. Matt. vii. 14.) But for- 
 asmuch as the passage was wonderfully nar- 
 row, even so narrow, that I could not, but with 
 great difiiculty enter in thereat, it showed me, 
 that none could enter into life, but those that 
 were in downright earnest, and unless also 
 they left that wicked world behind them ; for 
 here was only room for body and soul, but not 
 for body and soul, and sin. 
 
 This resemblance abode upon my spirit 
 many days : all which time I saw myself in a 
 forlorn and sad condition, but yet was pro- 
 voked to a vehement hunger and desire to be 
 one of that number that did sit in the sun- 
 shine: now also would I pray wherever I was; 
 whether at home or abroad ; in house or field ; 
 and would also often, with lifting up of heart 
 sing that of the fifty-first Psalm, " O Lord, con- 
 sider my distress," for as yet I knew not where 
 I was. 
 
 Neither as yet could I attain to any comfort- 
 able persuasion that I had faith in Christ ; but 
 
36 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WOBKS. 
 
 uislead of having satisfaction here I began to 
 find my soul to be assaulted with fr^sh doubts 
 about my future happiness; especially with 
 such as these, " whether I was elected ; but how 
 if the day of grace should be past and gone?" 
 
 By these two temptations I was very much 
 afllicted and disquieted; sometimes by one and 
 sonetimes by the other of them. And first, 
 to speak of that about my questioning my 
 election, I found at this time, that though I 
 was iu a flame to find the way to heaven and 
 glory, and thought nothing could beat me off 
 from this, yet this question did so offend and 
 discourage me, that I was, especially some- 
 times, as if the very strength of my body also 
 . had been taken away by the forfce and power 
 thereof. This Scripture did also seem to me 
 to trample upon all my desires : " it is neither 
 in him that willeth, nor in him that runneth ; 
 but in God that showeth mercy." 
 
 With this Scripture I could not tell what to 
 do ; for I evidently saw, unless that the great 
 God, of his infinite grace and bounty, had vol- 
 untarily chosen me to be a vessel of mercy, 
 though I should desire, and long, and labour 
 until my heart did break, no good could come 
 of it. Therefore this would stick with me, 
 "How can you tell that you are elected? And 
 what if you should not ? How then?" 
 
 Lord, thought I, what if I should not 
 indeed? It may be you are not, said the 
 tempter ; it may be so indeed, thought I. Why 
 then, said Satan, you had as good leave ofl', and 
 strive no farther ; for if indeed, you should not 
 be elected and chosen of God, there is no hope 
 of your being saved : " For it is neither in him 
 that willeth, nor in him that runneth ; but in 
 God that showeth mercy." 
 
 By these things I was driven to my wits-end, 
 not knowing what to say or how to answer 
 these temptations : indeed, I little thought that 
 Satan had thus assaulted me, but that rather it 
 was my own prudence thus to start the ques- 
 tion ; for that the elect only obtained eternal 
 Me ; that I without scruple did heartily close 
 witha} ; but that myself was one of them, there 
 lay the question. 
 
 Th js therefore, for several days, I was greatly 
 assaulted and perplexed, and was often, when 
 I have been walking, ready to sink where I 
 went, with faintness in my mind ; but one day, 
 after I had been so many weeks oppressed and 
 cast down therewith, as I was how quite giving 
 up the ghost of all my hopes of ever attaining 
 life, that sentence fell with weight upon my 
 Bpirit: "Look at the generations of old, and 
 
 see; did ever any trust in God, and were con- 
 founded?" 
 
 At which I was gieatly enlightened, and en- 
 couraged in my soul; for thus, at that ver;^ in- 
 stant, it was expounded to me: "begin at the 
 beginning of Genesis, and read to the end of 
 the Revelations, and see if you can find, that 
 there was ever any that trusted in the Lord 
 and was confounded." So conaing home, I 
 presently went to my Bible, to see if 1 could 
 find that saying, not doubting but to find it 
 presently, for it was so fresh, and with such 
 strength and comfort on my spirit, that it was 
 as if it talked with me. 
 
 Well, I looked, but I found it not; only it 
 abode upon me : then did I ask first this good 
 man, and then another, if they knew where it 
 was, but they knew no such place. At this I 
 wondered, that such a sentence should so sud- 
 denly, and with such comfort and strength, 
 seize and abide upon _my heart; and yet that 
 none could find it; for I doubted not but that 
 it was in the holy Scriptures. 
 
 Thus I continued above a year, and could 
 not find the place ; but at last, casting my^ eye 
 upon the Apocrypha books, I found it in Ec- 
 clesiasticus. (Eccles. ii. 16.) This, at the first, 
 did somewhat daunt me; but because by this 
 time I had got more experience of the love and 
 kindness of God, it troubled me the less, especi- 
 ally when I considered, that though it was not 
 in those texts that we call holy and canonical ; 
 yet, forasmuch as this sentence was the sum 
 and substance of many of the promises, it was 
 my duty to take the comfort of it; and I bless 
 God for that word, for it was of good to me ; — 
 that word doth still oft times shine before my 
 face. 
 
 After this, that other doubt liid come with 
 strength upon me : But how if the day of grace 
 should be past and gone? How if you have 
 overstood the time of mercy ? Now I remem- 
 ber that one day, as I was walking in the 
 country, I was much in the thoughts of this, 
 But how if the day of grace is past ? And to 
 aggravate my trouble the tempter presented to 
 toy mind those good people of Bedftjrd, and 
 suggested thus unto me, that these being con- 
 verted already, they were all that God would 
 save in those parts ; and that I came too late ; 
 for these had got the blessing before I came. 
 
 Now was I in great distress, thinking in very 
 deed that this might well be so ; wherefore I 
 went up and dow^n bemoaning my sad con- 
 dition ; counting myself far worse than a thou- 
 sand fools for standing off thus long, and 
 
GRACE ABOUNDING TO THE CHIEF OF SINNERS, 
 
 37 
 
 spending so many years in sin as I had done ; 
 still cryirg out, Oh ! that I had turned sooner ! 
 Oh ! that I had turned seven years ago ! It 
 made me also angry with myself, to think that 
 I should have no more wit, but to trifle away 
 my time, till my soul and heaven were lost. 
 
 But when I had been long vexed with this 
 fear, and was scarce able to take one step more, 
 just about the same place where I received my 
 other encouragement, these words broke in 
 upon my mind, "Compel them to come in, 
 that my house may be filled ; and yet there is 
 room." (Luke xiv. 22, 23.) These words, es- 
 pecially those, " And yet there is room," were 
 sW3ct words to me ; for truly I thought that by 
 them I saw there was place enough in heaven 
 for me; and moreover, that when the Lord 
 Jesus did speak these words, he theft did think 
 of me, and that he knowing that the time would 
 come, that I should be afflicted with fear that 
 there was no place left for me in his bosom, 
 did before speak this word, and leave it upon 
 record, that I might find help thereby against 
 this vile temptation. This I then verily be- 
 lieved. 
 
 In the light and encouragement of this word 
 I went a pretty while; and the comfort was 
 the more, when I thought that the Lord Jesus 
 should think on me so long ago, and that he 
 should speak those words on purpose for my 
 sake ; for I did think verily, that he did on 
 purpose speak them to encourage me withal. 
 
 But I was not without my temptations to go 
 back again ; temptations I say, both" from Sa- 
 tan, mine own heart, and carnal acquaintance; 
 but I thank God these were outweighed by 
 th.at sound sense of death, and of the day of 
 judgment, which abode, as it were, continually 
 in my view: I sliould often also think on 
 Nebuchadnezzar ; of whom it is said, " He had 
 given him all the kingdoms of the earth." 
 Yet, thcmght I, if this great man had all his 
 portion in this world, one hour in hell-fire 
 would ntake him forget all. Which consider- 
 ation wan a great help to me. 
 
 I was almost made, about this time, to see 
 Bomething concerning the beasts that Moses 
 counted clean and unclean : I thought those 
 beasts were types of men ; the clean, types of 
 them that were the people of God ; but the 
 unclean, types of such as were the children of 
 the wicked one. Now I read, that the clean 
 beasts " chewed the cud ;" that is, thought I, , 
 they show us we must feed upon the word of 
 God : they also " parted the hoof," I thought 
 tliat signified, we must part, if we would be 
 
 saved, with the ways of ungodly men. And 
 also, in further reading about them, 1 found; 
 that though we did chew the cud, as the hare; 
 yet if we walked with claws, like a dog, or if 
 we did part the hoof, like the swine, yet if we 
 did not chew the .cud, as the sheep, we are 
 still, for all that, but unclean ; for I thought 
 the hare to be a type of those that talk of the 
 word, yet walk in the ways of sin ; and that 
 th? swine was like him that parted with his 
 .outward pollution, but still wanted the word 
 of faith, without which, there could be no way 
 of salvation, let a man be ever so devout. 
 After this, I found by reading the word, that 
 those that must be glorified with Christ in an- 
 other world "must be called by him here;" 
 called to the partakine: of a §hare in his word 
 and righteousness, and to the comforts and 
 first fruits of his Spirit ; and to a peculiar in- 
 terest in all those heavenly things, which do 
 indeed prepare the soul for that rest, and 
 house of glory, which is in heaven above. 
 
 Here, again, I was at a very great stand, not 
 knowing what to do, fearing I was not called ; 
 for, thought I, if I be not called, what then 
 can do me good ? None but those who are ef- 
 fectually called, inherit the kingdom of heaven. 
 But oh ! how I loved those words that spake 
 of a " Christian's calling \" As when the Lord 
 said to one, "Follow me;" and to another, 
 " Come after me :" and oh, thought I, that he 
 would say so to me too, how gladly would I 
 run after him I 
 
 I cannot now express with what longings 
 and breathings in my soul, I cried to Christ to 
 call me. Thus I continued for a time, all on a 
 flame to be converted to Jesus Christ ; and .did 
 also see. at that day, such glory in a converted 
 state, that I could not be contented without a 
 share therein. Gold ! could it have been got- 
 ten for gold, what would I haye given for itl 
 Had I had a whole world, it had all gone ten 
 thousand times over for this, that my scul 
 might have been in a converted state. 
 
 How lovely now was every one in my eyes, 
 that I thought to be converted men and wo- 
 men I They shone, they walked like a people 
 that carried the broad seal of heaven about 
 them. Oh I 1 saw the lot was fallen to them 
 in pleasant places, and they had a goodly 
 heritage. (Psalm xvi.) But that which made 
 'me sick, was that of Christ, in St. Mark, "He 
 went up into a mountain, and called to him 
 whom he would, and they came unto him." 
 (Mark iii. 13.) 
 
 This Scripture made me faint and fear, yet it 
 
38 
 
 BVNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 kindled fire in my soul. That which made me 
 fear, was this ; lest Christ should have no lik- 
 ing to me, for he called whom he would. But 
 oh ! the glory that I saw in that condition, did 
 still so engage my heart, that I could seldom 
 read of any that Christ did call, but I presently 
 wished, "Would I had been born in their 
 clothes; would I had been born Peter; -vpould 
 I had been born John ; or, would I had been by 
 and had heard him when he called them, how 
 would I have cried, O Lord, call me also ! • 
 But, oh ! I feared he would not call me.'' 
 
 And truly, the Lord let me go thus many 
 months together, and showed me nothing, 
 either that I was already, or should be called 
 hereafter. But at last, after much time spent, 
 and many groans to God, that I might be a 
 partaker of the holy and heavenly calling; 
 that word ,came in upon me : " I will cleanse 
 their blood, that I have not cleansed, for the 
 Lord dwelleth in Zion." (Joel iii. 21.) These 
 words I thought were sent to encourage me to 
 wait still upon God ; and signified unto me, 
 that if I were not already, yet time might 
 come, I might be in truth converted unto 
 Christ. 
 
 About this time I began to break my mind 
 to those poor people in Bedford,- and to tell 
 them my condition ; which when they had 
 heard, they told Mr. Gifford of me, who him- 
 self took all occasion to talk with, me; and 
 was willing to be well persuaded of me, though 
 I think from little grounds : but he invited me 
 to his house, where I should hear him converse 
 with others, about the dealings of God with 
 their souls; from all which I still received 
 more conviction, and from that time began to 
 Bee something of the vanity and inward wick- 
 edness of my heart ; for as yet I knew no great 
 matter therein ; but now it began to be discov- 
 ered unto me, And also to work at that rate .as 
 it never did before. Now I evidently found, 
 that lusts and corruptions put forth themselves 
 within me, in wicked thoughts and desires, 
 which I did not regard before ; my desires also 
 for heaven and life began to fail ; I found also 
 that whereas before my soul was full of long- 
 ing after God, it now began to jianker after 
 eveiy foolish vanity; yea, my heart would not 
 be moved to mind that which was good; it 
 began to be careless, both of my soul and heav- 
 en ; it would now continually hang back, both 
 to, and in every duty ; and was as a clog on 
 the leg of a bird, to hinder him from flying. • 
 
 Nay, I thought, now I grow worse and 
 worse ; now I am farther from conversion than 
 
 ever I was before ; wherefore I began to sini 
 greatly in my soul, and began to entertain such 
 discouragement in my heart, as laid me as low 
 as hell. If now I should have burned at the 
 stake, I could not believe that Christ had a 
 love for me : alas I could neither hear him, nor 
 see him, nor feel him, nor savour any of his 
 things. I was driven as with a tempest, mj 
 heart would be unclean, and the Canaanites 
 would dwell in the land. 
 
 Sometimes I would tell my condition to the 
 people of God; which, when they heard, they 
 would pity me, and tell me of the promises ; 
 but they had as good have told me, that I must 
 reach the sun with my finger,' as have bidden 
 me receive or rely upon the promises ; and as 
 soon I should have done it : All my sense and 
 feeling was against me: and I saw I had a 
 heart that would sin, and that lay under a law 
 that would condemn. 
 
 These things have often made me think of 
 the child which the father brought to Christ, 
 " who while he was yet coming to him, was 
 thrown down by the devil, and also so rent and 
 torn by him, that he lay and wallowed foam- 
 ing." 
 
 Further, in these days, I should find my 
 heart to shut itself up against the Lord, and 
 against his holy word ; I have found my unbe- 
 lief to set, as it were, the shoulder to the dooi 
 to keep him out ; and that too even then, when 
 I have with many a bitter sfgh, cried, " Good 
 Lord, break it open : Lord, break these gates 
 of brass, and cut these bars of iron asunder." 
 (Psalm cvii. 16.) Yet that word would some^ 
 times create in my heart a peaceable pause, 
 " I girded thee, though thou hast not known 
 me." (Isaiah xlv. 5.) 
 
 But all this while, as to the act of sinning, I 
 was never more tender than now : I durst not 
 take a pin or stick, though but so big as a 
 straw; for my conscience now was sore and 
 would smart at every touch : I could not now 
 tell how to speak my words, for fear 1 should 
 misplace them. Oh, liow cautiously did I then 
 go in all I did or said ! I found myself in a 
 miry bog, that shook if I did but stir, and was, 
 as there left both of God and Christ, and the 
 Spirit, and all good things. 
 
 But I observed, though I was such a great 
 sinner before conversion, yet God never much 
 charged the guilt of the sins of my ignorance 
 upon me ; only he showed me, I was lost if I 
 had not Christ, because I had been a sinner ; I 
 saw that I wanted a perfect righteousness, to 
 present me without fault- lefore God, and thia 
 
GRACE ABOUNDING TO THE CHIEF OF SINNERS. 
 
 39 
 
 righteousness was nowhere to be found, but in 
 the person of Jesus Christ. 
 
 But my original and inward pollution ; that, 
 that was my plague and affliction, tliat I saw 
 at a dreadful rate, always putting forth itself 
 within me; that I had the guilt of, to amaze- 
 ment; by reasijn of that, I was more loathsome 
 in mine own eyes than a toad, and I thought I 
 was so in God's eyes too ; sin and corruption, I 
 ' said, would as naturally bubble out of my 
 heart, as water would bubble out of a fountain : 
 I thought now, that every one had a better 
 heai-* than I had ; I could have changed hearts 
 with anybody ; I thought none but the devil 
 himself could equalize me for inward wicked- 
 ness and pollution of mind. I fell therefore, 
 at the sight of my own vileness deeply into 
 despair, for I concluded that thte condition I 
 was in, could not stand with a state of grace. 
 Sure, thought I, I am forsalcen of God ; sure, I 
 am given up to the devil, and to a reprobate 
 mind; and thus I continued a long while, 
 even for some years together. 
 
 While I was thus aflElicted with the fears of 
 my own damnation, there were two .things 
 would make me wonder ; the one was, when I 
 saw old people hunting after the things of this 
 life, as if they should live here always : the 
 other was, when I found professors much dis- 
 tressed and cast down, wheh they met with 
 outward losses ; as of husband, wife, child, &c. 
 Lord, thought I, what ado is here about such 
 little things as these! What seeking after 
 carnal things by some, and what grief in others 
 for the loss of them I If they so much labour 
 after, and shed so many tears for the things of 
 this present life, how am I to be bemoaned, 
 pitied, and prayed for I My soul is dying, my 
 soul is damning. Were my soul but in a good 
 condition, and were I but sure of it, ah ! how 
 rich should I esteem myself, though blessed 
 but with bread and water 1 I should count 
 those but small afflictions, and should bear 
 them as little" burthens. "A wounded spirit 
 who can bear?" 
 
 And though I was much troubled, and tossed, 
 and afflicted, with the sight and sense and 
 terror of my own wickedness, yet I was afraid 
 to let this sight and sense go quite ofiTmy mind ; 
 for I found that unless guilt of conscience was 
 taken off the right way, that is, by the blood 
 df Christ, a man grew rather worse for the loss 
 of his trouble of mind, than better. Where- 
 fore, if my guilt lay hard upon me, then I 
 should cry that the blood of Christ might take 
 it oflf; and if it was going ofl' without it, (for 
 
 the sense of sin would be sometimes as if it 
 would die, and go quite away,) then I would 
 also strive to fetch it upon my heart again, by 
 bringing the i)uni8hment of sin into hell-lire 
 upon my spirits ; and would cry, " Lord, let it 
 not go off my heart, but by the right way, by 
 the blood of Christ, and the application of thy 
 mercy, through him, to my soul; for that 
 Scripture did lay much upon me, " Without 
 shedding of blood there is no redemption." 
 And that which made me the more afraid of 
 this, was, because I had seen some who, though 
 they were under the wounds of conscience, 
 would cry and pray ; yet feeling rather present 
 ease for their trouble, than pardon for their 
 sin, cared not how they lost their guilt, so they 
 got it out of tlieir mind : now having got it oflf 
 the wrong way, it was not sanctified unto them ; 
 but they grew harder and blinder, and v/ioie 
 wicked after their trouble. This made me 
 afraid, and made me cry unto God the more, 
 that it might not be so with me. 
 
 And now I was sorry that God had made me 
 man, for I feared I was a reprobate. I counted 
 man, as unconverted, the most doleful of all 
 creatures. Thus being afflicted and tossed 
 about my sad condition, I counted myself alone, 
 and above the most of men unblessed. 
 
 Yea, I thought it impossible that ever I 
 should attain to so much godliness of heart, 
 as to thank God that he had made me a man. 
 Man indeed is the most noble by creation, of 
 all creatures in the visible world ; but by sin 
 he has made himself the most ignoble. The 
 beasts, birds, fishes, &c. ; I blessed their con- 
 dition, for they had not a sinful nature ; they 
 were not obnoxious to the wrath of God ; they 
 were not to go to hell-fire after death ; I could 
 therefore have rejoiced, had my condition been 
 as any of theirs. 
 
 In this condition I went a great while ; but 
 when the comforting time was come, I heard 
 one preach a sei;mon on these words in tbe 
 Song, " Behold, thpu art fair, my love ; be- 
 hold, thou art fair." But at that time ho 
 made these two words, "my love," his chief 
 and subject-matter ; from which, after he had a 
 little opened the text, he observed these sev- 
 eral conclusions : " 1. That the church, and so 
 every saved soul, is Christ's love, when love- 
 less. , 2. Christ's love without a cause. 3. 
 Christ's love, which hath been hated of the 
 world. 4. Christ's love when under tempta- 
 tion and under destruction. 5. Christ's love, 
 from first to last." 
 
 But I got nothing from what he said at 
 
40 
 
 BUy TAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 present; only when he came to the applica- 
 tion of the fourth particular, this was the 
 word he said: "If it be so, that the saved 
 soul is Christ's love, when under temptation 
 and destruction; then poor tempted soul, 
 when thou art assaulted and afflicted with 
 temptations, and the hidings of face, yet 
 think on those two words, 'my love,' still." 
 
 So as I was going home, these w ords came 
 again into my thoughts ; and I well remember, 
 as they came in, I said thus in my heart, 
 " What shall I get by thinking on these two 
 words?" This thought had no sooner passed 
 through my heart, but these words began thus 
 to kindle in my spirit : " Thou art my love, 
 thou art my dovB," twenty times together; 
 and still as they ran in my mind, they waxed 
 stronger and warmer, and began to make me 
 look up; but, being as yet between hope and 
 fear, I still replied in my heart, " but is it true? 
 but is it true ?" at which that sentence fell upon 
 me, " He wist not that it was true, which was 
 come unto him of the angel." 
 
 Then I began to give place to the word 
 which with power, did over and over make 
 this joyful sound within my soul, "Thou art^ 
 my love, thou art my love, and nothing shall 
 separate thee from my love." And with that 
 my heart was filled full of comfort and hope, 
 and now I could believe that my sins would 
 be forgiven me ; yea, I was now so taken with 
 the love and mercy of God, that I remember I 
 could not tell how to contain till I got home : 
 I thought I could have spoken of his love, 
 and have told of his mercy to me, even to the 
 very crows that sat upon the ploughed lands 
 before me, had they been capable to have 
 understood me ; wherefore I said in my soul, 
 with much gladness, well, I would I had a 
 pen and ink here, I would write this down be- 
 fore I go any farther ; for surely I will not for- 
 get this forty years hence; but alas! within 
 less than forty days I began to question all 
 again, which made me begin to question all 
 still. 
 
 Yet still at times I was helped to believe, 
 th?,t it was a true manifestation of grace unto 
 my soul, though I had lost much of the life 
 and favour of it. Now about a week or fort- 
 night after this, I was much followed by this 
 Scripture; "§imon, Simon, behold Satan hath 
 desired to have you:'' and sometimes it would 
 sound so loud within me, yea, and as it were, 
 call so strongly after me;, that once, above all 
 the rest, I turned my head over my shoulder, 
 thinking verily that some man behind me, had 
 
 called me; being at a great distance, methonght 
 he called so loud; it came, as I have thought 
 since, to have stirred me up to prayer and to 
 watchfulness; it came to acquaint me, that a 
 cloud and a storm was coming down upon me; 
 but I understood it not. 
 
 Also, as- 1 remember, that time that it called 
 to me so loud, was the last time that it soundeii 
 in mine ears ; but methinks I hear still with 
 what a loud voice these words Simon, Simon, 
 sounded in my ears. I thought, verily, as I 
 have told you, that somebody had called aftei 
 me, that was half a mile behind me; and 
 although that was not my name, yet it made 
 me suddenly look behind me, believing that 
 he that called so loud meant me. 
 
 But so foolish was I, and ignorant, that I 
 knew not the reason of this sound, (which I 
 did both see and feel soon after, was sent from • 
 heaven as an alarm, to awaken me to provide 
 for what was coming;) only I should muse and 
 wonder in my mind, to think what should be 
 the reason of this Scripture, and that at this 
 rate, so often and so loud, it should still be 
 sounding and rattling in mine ears. But, as I 
 said before, I soon perceived the end of God 
 therein. 
 
 For, about the space of a month after, a 
 very great storm came down upon me, which 
 handled me twenty times worse than all I had 
 met with before; it came stealing upon me, , 
 now by one piece, then by another; first, all 
 my comfort was taken from me; then darkness 
 seized upon me; after which, whole floods of 
 blasphemies, both against God,- Christ, and 
 the Scriptures were poured upon my spirit, to 
 my great confusion and astonishment. These 
 blasphemous thoughts were such as stirred up 
 questions in me against the very being of God, 
 and of his only beloved Son ; as whether there 
 were in truth a God, or Christ? and whether 
 the holy Scriptures were not rather a fable 
 and cunnihg story, than the holy and pure 
 word of God. 
 
 The tempter would also much assault me 
 with this, "How can you tell but that the 
 Turks had as good Scriptures to prove their 
 Mahomet the Saviour as we have to 'jrove our , 
 Jesus? And, could I think, that so Many ten 
 thousands in so many countries and kingdoms, 
 should be without the knowledge of the right 
 way to heaven, (if there were indeed a heaven,) 
 and that we only, who live in a corner of the 
 earth, should alone be blessed therewith? 
 Every one doth think his own religion right- 
 est, both Jews and Moors, and Pagans; and 
 
P-EMHF.AllIJr Flli^ 
 
 '.li^-V-A-'KY' b\' A B"Vv1AI.TER.^r 
 
 fpnn.-CJ P' :; m's »< ip' eai 
 
GRACE ABOUNDING TO THE CHIEF OF SINNERS. 
 
 41 
 
 how if all our faith, and Christ, and Scrip- 
 tures, should be but a think so too?" 
 
 Sometimes I have endeavoured to argue 
 against these suggestions, and to set some of 
 the sentences of blessed Paul against them ; but 
 alas ! I quickly felt, when I thus did, such ar- 
 guings as these would return again upon me, 
 '■■ Though we made so great a matter of Paul 
 and of his words, yet how could I tell, that in 
 very deed, he being a subtle and cunning man, 
 may give himself up to deceive with strong de- 
 lusions ; and also take the pains and travel, to 
 undo and destroy his fellows." 
 
 These suggestions (with many other which 
 at this time I may not nor dare not utter, neither 
 by word or pen) did make such a seizure upon 
 my spirit, and did so overweigh my heart, both 
 with their number, continuance, and fiery force, 
 that I felt as if there Were nothing else but these 
 from morning to night within me; and as 
 though indeed there could be room for nothing 
 else : and also concluded, that God had, in very 
 wrath to my soul, given me up to them, to be 
 carried away with them, as with a mighty whirl- 
 wind. 
 
 Only by the distaste that they gave unto my 
 spirit, I felt there was something in me that re- 
 fused to embrace me. Efut this consideration I 
 then only had, when God gave me leave to 
 swallow my spittle; otherwise the noise, and 
 strength, and foree of these temptations would 
 drown and overflow, and as it were, bury all 
 such thoughts, or the remembrance, of any such 
 thing. AVhile I was in this temptation, I found 
 my mind suddenly put upon it to curse and 
 swear, or to speak some grievous thing against 
 Grod, or Christ his Son, and of the Scriptures. 
 
 Now I thought, surely I am possessed of the 
 de^il ; at other times, again I thought I should 
 be bereft of my wits ; for' instead of lauding 
 and magnifying God the Lord, with others, if 
 I have heard him spoken of, presently Some 
 most horrible blasphemous thought or other 
 would bolt out of my heart against him ; so 
 that whether I did think that God was, or again 
 did think there was no such thing, no love, nor 
 peace, nor gracious disposition could I feel 
 within me. 
 
 TheSe things did sink me into very great de- 
 spair ; for I concluded that such things could 
 not possibly be found amongst them that loved 
 God. • I often, when these temptations had been 
 with force upon me, did compare myself to the 
 case of such a child, whom some gipsy hath by 
 force took up in her arms, and is carrying from 
 friend and coUntiy ; kick sometimes I did, and 
 
 also shriek and'cry ; but yet I was buund in the 
 wings of temptation, and the wind would carry 
 me away. I thought also of Saul, and of the 
 evil spirit that did possess him ; and did greatly 
 fear that my condition was the same with that 
 of his. 
 
 In thpse days, when I have heard others talk 
 of what was the sin .against the Holy Ghost, 
 then would the tempter so provoke me to desire 
 to sin that sin, that I was as if I could not, 
 must not, neither should be quiet until I had 
 committed it ; now no sin would serve but that : 
 if it were to be committed by speaking of such 
 a word, then I have been as if my mouth would 
 have spoken that word, whether I would or no ; 
 and in so strong a measure was this temptation 
 upon me, that often I have been ready to clap 
 my hands under my chin, to hold my mouth 
 from opening ; and to that end also I have had 
 thoughts at other times, to leap with my head 
 downward, into some muck hole or other, to 
 keep my mouth from speaking. 
 
 Now again I beheld the condition of the dog 
 and toad, and counted the estate of everything 
 that God bad. made, far better than this dread- 
 ful state of mine, and such as my companions 
 was. Yea, gladly would I have been in the 
 condition of a dog or horse ; for I knew they 
 had no souls to perish under the everlasting 
 weight of hell, or sin, as mine was like to do. 
 Nay, andvthough I saw this, felt this, and was 
 broken to pieces with it, yet that which added 
 to my sorrow was that I could not find, that 
 with all my soul I did desire, deliverance. That 
 Scripture did also tear and rend my soul in the 
 midst of these distractions, " The wicked are 
 like the troubled sea, which cannot rest, whose 
 waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no 
 peace to the wicked, saith my God." 
 
 And now my heart was, at times, exceeding 
 hard ; if I would have given a thousand pounds 
 for a tear, I could not shed one ; no nor some- 
 times scarce desire to shed one. I was much 
 dejected, to think that this would be my lot 
 I saw some could mourn and lament tlieii sin, 
 and others again, could rejoice and bless God 
 for Christ ; and others again, could quietly talk 
 . of, and with gladness remember the word of 
 God, while I only was in a storm or tempest. 
 This much sunk me. I thought my condition 
 was alone, I should therefore much bewail my 
 hard hap, but get out of, or get rid of these 
 things, I could not. 
 
 While this temptation lasted, which was 
 about a year, I could attend upon none of the 
 ordinances of God, but with ' sore and great 
 
42 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 affliction. Yea, then was I most distressed 
 with blasphemies ; if I had been hearing the 
 word, then uncleanness, blasphemies and de- 
 spair would hold me a captive there ; if I have 
 been reading, then sometimes I had sudden 
 thoughts to question all I redd; sometimes 
 again, my mind would be so strangely snatched 
 away, and possessed with other things, that I 
 have neither linown, nor regarded, nor remem- 
 bered so much as the sentence that but now I 
 h?,Te heard. 
 
 Ill 1 rayer also I have been greatly troubled 
 at this time ; sometimes I have thought I have 
 felt b im behind me, pull my clothes ; he would 
 be klso Continually at me in time of prayer, to 
 have done, break off, make haste, you have 
 prayed enough, and stay no longer ; still draw- 
 ing my mind away. Sometimes also he would 
 cast in such wicked thoughts as these, that I 
 must pray to him, or for him ; I have thought 
 sometimes of that, "Fall down; or, if thou 
 wilt fall down and worship me." 
 
 Also, when because I have had wandering 
 thoughts in the time of this duty, I have 
 laboured to compose my mind, and fix it upon 
 God ; then with great force hath the tempter 
 laboured to distract me, and confound me, and 
 to turn away my mind, by presenting to my 
 heart and fancy, the form of a bush, a bull, a 
 besom, or the like, as if I should pray to these ; 
 to these he would also {at sometimes espe- 
 cially) so hold my mind, that I was aa if Icould 
 think of nothing else, or pray to nothing else 
 but to these, or such as they. 
 
 Yet at times I should have some strong and 
 heart-affecting apprehensions of God, and real- 
 ity of the truth of his Gospel ; but, oh ! how 
 would my heart, at such times, put forth itself 
 with inexpressible groanings. My whole soul 
 was then in every word; I should cry with 
 pangs after God, that he would be merciful 
 unto me ; but then I should be daunted again 
 with such conceits as these; I should think 
 that God did mock at these my prayers, say- 
 ing, and that in the audience of the holy an- 
 gels, " This poor simple wretch doth hanker 
 after n.e, as' if I had nothing to do with my 
 mercy but to bestow it on such as he. Alas, 
 poor soul, how art thou deceived ! It is not 
 for such as thee to have favour with the 
 Highest." 
 
 Then hath the tempter come upon me also 
 with such discouragements as these : " You 
 are very hot after mercy, but I will cool you ; 
 this frame shall not last always ; many have 
 been as hot aa you for a spirit, but I have 
 
 quenched their zeal," (and with this, such and 
 such who were fallen off would be set before 
 mine eyes.) Then I would be afraid that I 
 should do so too ; but thought I, I am glad this 
 comes into my mind ; well, I will watch, and 
 take what care I can. " Though you do, (said 
 Satan,) I shall be too hard for yon ; I will cool 
 you insensibly, by degrees, by little and little. 
 What care I, (saith he,) though I be seven 
 years in chilling your heart if I can do it at 
 last? Continual rocking will luU a crying 
 child asleep : I will ply it close, but I will have 
 my end accomplished. Though you be burn- 
 ing hot at present, yet I can pull you from 
 this fire; J shall have you cold before it be 
 long." 
 
 These things brought me into great straits ; 
 for aS I at present could not find myself fit for 
 present death, so I thought, to live long, would 
 make me yet more unfit; for time would make 
 me forget all, and wear even the remembrance 
 of the evil of sin, the worth of heaven, and 
 the need I had of the blood of Christ to wash 
 me, both out of mind and thought; but I 
 thank Christ Jesus, these things did not at 
 present make me slack my crying, but rather 
 did put me more upon it, (like her who 
 met with the adulterer, Deut. xsii. 26.) In 
 which days that was a good word to me, after 
 I had suffered these things a while: "I am 
 persuaded that neither height, nor death, nor 
 life, shall separate us from the love of God, 
 which is in Christ Jesus." And now I hoped 
 long life would not destroy me, nor make me 
 miss of heaven. 
 
 Yet I had some supports in this temptation, 
 though they were then all questioned by me. 
 That in Jer. iii. at the first was something to 
 me ; and so was the consideration of veise 5 
 of that chapter ; that though we have spoken 
 and done all the evil things as we could, yet 
 we should cry unto God, "My Father, thou 
 art the guide of my youth ;" and shall return 
 unto him. 
 
 I had also once a sweet glance from that, 
 " For he hath made him to be sin for us who 
 knew no sin, that we might be made the right- 
 eousness of God in him." I remember that 
 one day, as I was sitting in a neighbour's 
 house, and there very sad at the consideration 
 of my many blasphemies ; and as I was saying 
 in my mind, What ground have I to think 
 that I, who have been so vile and abominable, 
 should ever inherit eternal life? That word 
 came suddenly upon me, " What shall we say 
 to these things ? If God be for us, who can b* 
 
GRACE ABOUNDING TO THE CHIEF OF SINNERS. 
 
 43 
 
 »gainst us?'' That also was an help unto me, 
 " Because I live, ye shall live also.'' But these 
 words were but hints, touches, and short visits, 
 though very sweet when present; only they 
 lasted not; but like to Peter's sheet, of a 
 sudden were caught up from me to heaven 
 again. 
 
 But afterwards the Lord did more fully and 
 graciously discover himself unto me, and in- 
 deed did quite, not only deliver me from the 
 guilt, that by these things was laid upon my 
 conscience, but also from the very filth there- 
 of; for the temptation was removed and I was 
 put into my right mind again, as other Chris- 
 tians were. 
 
 I remember that one day, as I was travelling 
 into the country, and musing on the wicked- 
 ness and blasphemy of my hearty and consid- 
 ering the enmity that was in- me to God, that 
 Scripture came into my mind, "He hath made 
 peace by the blood of his cross." By which I 
 was made to see, both again, and again, that 
 day, that God and my soul wete friends by his 
 blood; yea, I saw that the justice of God and 
 my sinful soul. could embrace and kiss each 
 other through his blood. This was a good day 
 to me ; I hope I shall never forget it. 
 
 At another time, as I sat by the fire in my 
 house, and musing on my wretchedness, the 
 Lord made that also a precious word unto mc, 
 " Forasrau,ch ihen as children are partakers of 
 flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took 
 part of the same, that through death he might 
 destroy him that had the power of death, that 
 is, the devil ; and deliver those who through 
 the fear of death, were all their life subject to 
 bondage.'' I thought that the glory of these 
 words was then so weighty on me, that I was 
 both once and twice ready to swoon as I sat ; 
 yet not with grief and trouble, but with solid 
 joy and peace. 
 
 At this time also I sat under the ministry 
 of holy Mr. Gifford, whose, doctrine, by God's 
 grace, was much for my stability. This man 
 made it much his business to deliver the peo- 
 ple of God from all those hard and unsound 
 tssis, that by nature we are prone to. He 
 would bid us take special heed that we took 
 not up any truth upon trust; as from this, or 
 that, or any other man or men ; but cry might- 
 ily to God, that he would convince us of the 
 reality thereof, a,nd set us down therein by his 
 own Spirit in the holy word ; for, said he, if 
 you do otherwise, when temptation comes, if 
 strong'y upon you, you not having received 
 them with evidence from heai'en, will find you 
 
 want that help and strength now to resist, that 
 once you thought you had. 
 
 This was as seasonable to my soul as the 
 former and latter rain in their season ; for I had 
 found, and that by sad experience, the tnith of 
 his words : (for I had felt " no man can say," 
 especially when tempted by the devil, " that 
 Jesus Christ is Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.") 
 Wherefore I found my soul, through grace, 
 very apt to drink in this doctrine, and to incline 
 to pray to God, that in nothing that pertained 
 to God's glory, and my own eternal happiness, 
 he would suffer me to be without the confir- 
 mation thereof from heaven ; for now I saw 
 clearly, there was an exceeding difference be- 
 twixt the notion of the flesh and blood, and 
 the revelation of God in heaven : also a great 
 difference betwixt that faith that is feigned, and 
 according to man's wisdom, and of that which 
 comes by a man's being born thereto of God. 
 
 But, oh ! now hovir was my soul led from 
 truth to truth by God I Even from the birth 
 and cradle of the Son of God, to his ascension, 
 and second coining from heaven to judge the 
 world. 
 
 Truly, I then found upon this account, the 
 great God was very good unto me ; foi-, to my 
 remembrance, there was not any thing that I 
 then cried unto God to make known, and re- 
 veal unto me, but he was pleased to do it for 
 me ; I mean, not one part of the gospel of the 
 Lord Jesus, but I was orderly led into it ; me- 
 thought I saw with great evidence, from the 
 four evangelists, the wonderful words of God, 
 in giving Jesus Christ to save us, from his con- 
 ception and birth, even to his second coming 
 to judgment ; methought I was as if I had seen 
 him born, as if I had seen him grow up ; as if 
 I had seen him walk through the world, from 
 the cradle to the cross ; to which also, when he 
 came, I saw how gently he gave himself to be 
 hanged, and nailed on it for my sins and wicked 
 doing. Also as I was musing on this his prog- 
 ress, that dropped on my spirit, " He was or- 
 dained for the slaughter." 
 
 When I have considered also the truth of 
 his resurrection, and have remembered that 
 word, " Touch me not, Mary,'' &c., I have seen 
 as if he had leaped out of the grave's mouth, 
 for joy that he had risen again, and had got 
 the conquest over our dreadful foes. (John xx. 
 17.) I have also, in the spirit, seen him a man, 
 on the right hand of God the Father for me ; 
 and have seen the manner of his coming from 
 heaven, to judge' the world with glory, and 
 have been confirmed in these things by these 
 
44 
 
 bunyaN's complete works. 
 
 Scriiiures. (Acts i. 9, 10, and vii. 56, and x. 42. 
 Heb. vii. 24, and viii. 3, 8. Eev. i. 18. 1 
 Tliess.iv. 17, 18.)' 
 
 Once I was troubled to know whether the 
 Lord Jesus was a man as well as God, and God 
 as well as man ; and truly, in those days, let 
 men say what they would, unless I had it with 
 evidence from heaven, all was nothing to me ; 
 I counted myself not set down in any truth of 
 God. Well, I was much troubled about this 
 point, and could not tell how to be resolved; 
 at last, that in Eev. v. 6, came into my mind, 
 "And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the 
 throne, and of the four beasts, and in the midst 
 of the elders stood a Lamb." In the midst of 
 the chrOne, thought I, there is the Godhead ; 
 in the midst of the elders, there is his manhood ; 
 but oh ; methought this did glister ! it was a 
 goodly touch, and gave me sweet satisfaction. 
 That other Scripture also did help me much in 
 this, "To us a child is born, to us a Son is 
 given, and the government shall be upon his 
 shoulders : and his name shall be called Won- 
 derful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Ever- 
 lasting Father, the Prince of Peace." 
 
 Also besides these teachings of God in his 
 word, the Lord made use of two things to con- 
 firm me in this truth ; the One was the errors 
 of the Quakers, and the other was the guilt of 
 "sin ; for as the Quakers did oppose the truth, 
 so God did the more confirm me in it, by lead- 
 ing me into the Scripture that did wonderfully 
 maintain it. 
 
 The errors that these people then maintained 
 were: 
 
 1. That the Holy Scriptures were not the 
 word of God. 
 
 2. That every man in the world had the 
 Spirit of Christ, grace, faith, &c. , 
 
 3. That Christ Jesus, as crucified, and dying 
 sixteen hundred years ago, did not satisfy di- 
 vine justice for the sins of the people. 
 
 4. That Christ's flesh and blood was within 
 the saints. 
 
 5. That the bodies of the good and bad that 
 are buried in the churchyard, shall not rise 
 again. 
 
 6. That the resurrection is past with good 
 men already. 
 
 7. That that man Jesus, that was crucified 
 between two thieves, on Mount Calvary, in the 
 land of Canaan, by Judea, was not ascended 
 above the starry heavens. 
 
 8. That he should not, even the same Jesus 
 that died by the hands of the Jews, come again 
 the last day, and as man, judge all nations, &c. 
 
 Many more vile and abominable things were 
 in those days fomented by them, by which I 
 was driven to a more narrow search of the 
 Scriptures, and was through their light and 
 testimony, not only enlightened, but greatly 
 confirmed and comforted in the truth ; and, as 
 I said, the guilt of sin did help me much ; for 
 still as that would come upon me, the blood of 
 Christ did take it off again, and again; and 
 that too sweetly, according to the Scriptures. 
 
 friends ! cry to God to reveal Jesus Christ 
 unto you ; there is none teacheth like him. 
 
 It would be too long here to stay, to tell you 
 in particular, how God did set me down in all 
 the things of Christ, and how he did, that he 
 might do so, lead me into his words ; yea, and 
 also how he did open them unto me, and make 
 them shine before me, and cause them to dwell 
 with me, talk wij;h me, and comfort me over 
 and over, both of his own being, and the be- 
 ing of his Son, and Spirit, and Word, and 
 Gospel. 
 
 Only this, as I said before, I will say unto 
 you again, that in general, he was pleased to 
 take this course with me ; first, to sufler me to 
 be afiiicted with temptations concerning them 
 and then reveal them unto me ; as sometimes 
 
 1 should lie under great guilt for sin, even 
 crushed to the ground therewith ; and then the 
 Lord would show me the death of Christ ; ' yea, 
 so besprinkle my conscience with his blood, 
 that I should find, and that before I was aware, 
 that, in that conscience, where but just now 
 did reign and rage the law, even there would 
 rest and abide the peace and love of God 
 through Christ. 
 
 Now I had an evidence, as I thought, of my 
 salvation from heaven, with many golden seals 
 thereon, all hanging in my sight; now I could 
 remember this manifestation, and the other dis- 
 covery of grace and comfort; and should oftep 
 long and desire that the last day were come, 
 that I might be forever inflamed with the sight 
 and joy, and communion with him, whose 
 head w^s crowned with thorns, whose face was 
 spit upon, and body broken, and soul made an 
 offering for my sins. For whereas, before I lay 
 continually trembling at ihe mouth of hell; 
 now methought I was got so far therefrom, 
 that I could not, when I looked back, scarce 
 discern it; and oh! thought I, that I were 
 fourscore years old now, that I might die 
 quickly, that my soul might be gone to rest. 
 
 But before I had gone thus far out of these 
 my temptations, I did greatly long to see some 
 ancient godly man's experience, who had writ 
 
GRACE ABOUNDING TO THE CHIEF OF SINNERS. 
 
 45 
 
 some hundreds of years before I was born ; for 
 those who had writ in our days, I thought (but 
 [ desire them now to pardon me) that they had 
 writ only that which others fslt ; or else had, 
 through the strength of their wits and parts, 
 studied to answer such objections as they per- 
 ceived others were perplexed with, without 
 going down themselves into the deep. Well, 
 after many such longings in my mind, the 
 God, in whose hands are all our days and 
 ways, did cast into my hand, one day, a book 
 of Martin Luther's; it was his comment on 
 the Galatians ; it also was so old, that it was 
 ready to fall from piece to piece if I did but 
 turn it over. Now I was pleased much that 
 such an old book' had fallen into my hands, 
 the which when I had but a little way perused, 
 I found my condition in his d!xperience, so 
 largely and profoundly handled, as if his book 
 had been written out of my heart. This made 
 me marvel : for thus thought I, this man could 
 not know any thing of the state of Christians 
 now, but must needs write and speak the ex- 
 perience of former days. 
 
 Besides, he doth most gravely also in that 
 book, debate of the rise of these temptations, 
 namely, blasphemy, desperation, and the like ; 
 showing that the law of Moses, as well as the 
 devil, death, and hell, hath a very great hand 
 therein ; the which at first, was very strange 
 to me, butr considering and watching, I found 
 it so indeed. But of particulars here I intend 
 nothing; only this methinks I must let fall 
 before all men, I do prefer this book of Martin 
 Luther upon the Galatians (excepting the holy 
 Bible) before all the books ihat ever I have 
 seen, as most fit for a wounded conscience. 
 
 And now I found, as I thought, that I loved 
 Christ dearly : oh ! methought my soul cleaved 
 unto him, my affections cleaved unto him' ; I 
 felt my love to him as hot as fire, and now, as 
 Job said, I thought I should die in" my nest; 
 but I did quickly find, that my great love was 
 but little ; and that I who had, as I thought, 
 eucb burning love to Jesus Christ, could let 
 him go again for a very trifle: God can tell 
 how to abase us, and can hide pride from 
 man. Quickly after this my love was tried to 
 purpose. 
 
 For after the Lord had, in this manner, 
 thus graciously delivered me from this great 
 and sore temptation, and had set me down so 
 sweetly in the faith of his holy Gospel, and 
 had given me such strong consolation and 
 blessed evidence from heaven, touching my 
 interest in his love through Christ ; the tempter 
 
 came upon me again, and that with a more 
 grievous and dreadful temptation than before. 
 
 And that was, "to sell and part with this 
 most blessed Christ, to exchange him for the 
 things of this life, for any tiling." The temp- 
 tation lay upon me for the space of a year, and 
 did follow me so continually, that I was not 
 rid of it one day in a month : no, not some- 
 -times one hour in many days together, unless 
 when I was asleep. 
 
 And though in my judgment I was per- 
 suaded, that those who were once effectually 
 in Christ (as I hoped through his grace I had 
 seen myself) could never lose him for ever; 
 " For the land shall not be sold for ever, for 
 the land is mine," saith God: yet it was a 
 continual vexation to me, to think that I 
 should have so much as one such thought 
 within me against a Christ, a Jesus, that had 
 done for me as he had done ; and yet then I 
 had almost none others but such blasphemous 
 ones. 
 
 But it was neither my dislike of the thought, 
 nor yet any desire and endeavour to resist it, 
 that in the least did shake or abate the con- 
 tinuation or force and strength thereof; for it 
 did always, in almost whatever I thought, in- 
 termix itself therewith, in such sort, that I 
 could neither eat my food, stoop for a pin, 
 chop a stick, or cast mine eye to look on, this 
 or that, but still the temptation would come, 
 ■'sell Christ for this, or sell Christ for that; 
 sell him, sell him." 
 
 Sometirnes it would run in my thoughts, not 
 so little as a hundred times together, sell him, 
 sell him, sell him ; against which, I may say, 
 for whole hours together, I have been forced to 
 stand as continually leaning and forcing my 
 spirit against it, lest haply, before I were 
 aware, some wicked thought might arise in 
 my heart, that might consent thereto; and 
 sometimes the tempter would make me be- 
 lieve I had consented to it; but then I should 
 be, as tortured upon a rack, for whole days 
 together. 
 
 This temptation did put me in such scares 
 lest I should at some time, I say, consent 
 thereto, and be overcome therewith, that by 
 the very force of my mind, in labouring to 
 gainsay and resist this wickedness, my very 
 body would be put into action or motion, by 
 way of pushing or thrusting with my hands or 
 elbows ; still answering, as fast as the destroyer 
 said sell him; "I will not, I will not, I wiU 
 not ; no, not for thousands, thousands, thou- 
 sands of worlds;" thus reckoning, lest 1 
 
46 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Bhould, !n the midst of these assaults, set 
 too lb* a value on him; even until I scarce 
 well knew where I was, or how to be com- 
 posed again. 
 
 In these seasons he would not let me eat my 
 food in quiet ; but, forsooth, when I was set at 
 the table at any meat, I must go hence to pray, 
 I must leave my food now, and just now, so 
 counterfeit holy also would this devil be. When 
 I was thus tempted, I would say in myself, 
 "Now I am at moat, let me make an end." 
 
 "No, said he, you must do it now or you 
 will displease God, and despise Christ." Where- 
 fore I was much afflicted with these things ; 
 and because of the sinfulness of my nature 
 (imagining that these things were impulses 
 from God) I should deny to do it, as if I denied 
 God and then I should not be as guilty, be- 
 cause I did not obey a temptation of the devil, 
 as if I had broken the law of God indeed. 
 
 But to be brief: one morning as I did lie in 
 my bed, I was, as at other times, most fiercely 
 assaulted with this temptation, to sell and part 
 with Christ ; the wicked suggestion still run- 
 ning in my mind, " sell him, sell him, sell him, 
 sell him," as fast as man could speak : against 
 which also, in my mind, as at other times, I 
 answered, "No, no, not for thousands, thou- 
 sands, thousands," at least twenty times toge- 
 ther; but at last, after much striving, even 
 until I was almost out of breath, I felt this 
 thought to pass through my heart, " Let him 
 go if he will ;" and I thought also, that I felt 
 my heart freely consent thereto. Oh ! the dil- 
 igence of Satan! Oh! the desperateness of 
 man's heart ! 
 
 Now was the battle won, and down fell I, as 
 a bird that is shot from the top of a tree, into 
 great guilt, and fearful despair. Thus getting 
 out of my bed I went moping into the field ; 
 but God knows, with as heavy a heart as mor- 
 tal man, I think, could bear; where for the 
 space of two hours, I was like a man bereft of 
 life ; and, as now past aU recovery, and bound 
 over to eternal punishment. 
 
 And withal that Scripture did seize upon 
 my soul : " profane person, as Esau, who for 
 one morsel of meat, sold his birthright : For ye 
 know, how that afterwards, when he would 
 have inherited the blessing, he was rejected; 
 for he found no place of repentance, though he 
 Bought it carefully with tears." 
 
 Now I was as one bound, I felt myself shut 
 up unto the judgment to come ; nothing now 
 for two years together would abide with me 
 hut damnation, and an expectation of damna- 
 
 tion : I say, nothing now would abide with me 
 but this, save some few moments for relief, as 
 in the' sequel you will see. 
 
 These words were to my soul, like fetters of 
 brass to my legs, in the continual sound of 
 which I went for several months together. 
 But about ten or eleven o'clock on that day, 
 as I was walking under a hedge (full of sorrow 
 and guilt, God knows,) and bemoaning my-;elf 
 for this hard hap, that such a thought should 
 arise within me, suddenly this sentence rushed 
 in upon me, " The blood of Christ remits all 
 guilt." At this I made a stand in my spirit ■ 
 with that this word took hold upon me, "The 
 blood of Jesus Christ his own Son, cleanseth 
 us from all sin." 
 
 Now I began to conceive peace in my soul, 
 and methought I saw, as if the tempter did 
 leer and steal away from me, as being ashamed 
 of what he had done. At the same time also I 
 had my sin, and the blood of Christ thus repre- 
 sented to me, that my sin, when compared to 
 the blood of Christ, was no more to it, than 
 this little clod or stone before me, is to this 
 vast and wide field that here I see. This gave 
 me good encouragement for the space of two 
 or three hours ; in which time also, methought, 
 I saw, by faith, the Son of God, as suifering for 
 my sins ; but because' it tarried not, I therefore 
 sunk in my spirit, under exceeding guilt again. 
 
 But chiefly by the aforementioned Scripture 
 concerning Esau's selling his birthright; for 
 that Scripture would lie all day long in my 
 mind, and hold me down, so that I could by 
 no means lift up myself; for when I would 
 strive to turn to this Scripture or that, for re- 
 lief, still that sentence would be sounding in 
 me : " For ye know, how that afterwards when 
 he would have inherited the blessing, he found 
 no place of repentance, though he sought it 
 carefully with tears.'' 
 
 Sometimes, indeed, I should have a touch 
 from, that in Luke, "I have prayed for thee 
 that thy faith "fail not ;" but it would not abide 
 with me, neither could I, indeed, when I con- 
 sidered my state, find ground to conceive in 
 the least, that there should be the root of that 
 grace in me, having sinned as I had done. 
 Now was I tore and rent in a heavy case for 
 many days together. 
 
 Then began I with sad and careful heart, tc 
 consider of the nature and largeness of my sin, 
 and to search into the word of God, if I could 
 in any place espy a word of promise, or any 
 encouraging sentence, by which" I might take 
 relief. Wherefore I began to consider that of 
 
GRACE ABOUNDING TO. THE CHIEF OF SINNERS. 
 
 47 
 
 Mark, 'All manner of sins and blasphemies 
 shall be forgiven unto the sons of men where- 
 with soever they shall blaspheme." Which 
 place, methought, at a blush, did contain a large 
 and glorious promise for the pardon of high 
 oflFenees ; but considering the place more fully, 
 I thought it was rather to be understood, as 
 relating more chiefly to those who had, while 
 in a natural estate, committed such things as 
 there are mentioned ; but not to me, who had 
 not only received light and mercy, but that had 
 both after, and also contrary to that, so slighted 
 Christ as I had done. 
 
 I feared therefore that this wicked sin of 
 mine, miglit be that sin unpardonable, of which 
 he there thus speaketh, " But he that shall 
 blaspheme against the Holy Ghost, hath never 
 ' forgiveness, but is in danger of ete»nal damna- 
 tion." And I did the rather give credit to 
 this, because of that sentence in the Hebrews : 
 " For you know how that afterwards, when he 
 would have inherited the blessing, he was re- 
 jected ; for he found no place of repentance, 
 though he sought it carefully with tears." 
 And this stuck always with me. 
 
 And now was I both a burthen and a terror 
 to myself; nor did I soever know, as now what 
 it was to be weary of my life, and yet afraid to 
 die. Oh I how gladly now would I have been 
 anybody but myself 1 any thing but a man, and 
 in any condition but my own ! for there was 
 nothing did pass more frequently over my 
 mind, than that it was impossible for me to be 
 forgiven my transgression, and to be saved 
 from the wrath to come. 
 
 And now I began to labour to call again 
 time that was past ; wishing a thousand times 
 twice told, that the day was yet to come, when 
 I should be tempted to such a sin; concluding 
 with great indignation, both against my heart, 
 and all assaults, how I would rather have been 
 torn in pieces, than be found a consenter there- 
 to. But alas ! these thoughts, and wishings, 
 and resolvings, were now too late to help me ; 
 this thought had passed my heart, God hath 
 let me go and I am fallen. Oh! thought I, 
 " that it was with me as in months past, as in 
 the days when God preserved me!" 
 
 Then again being loth and unwilling to per- 
 ish, I began to compare my sin with others, to 
 see if I could find that any of those that were 
 saved had done as I had done. So I consid- 
 ered David's adultery, and murder, and found 
 them most heinous crimes ; and those too com- 
 mitted after light and grace received : but yet 
 by considering that his transgressions were 
 
 only such as were against the law of Moses, 
 from which the Lord Christ could, with the 
 consent of his word, deliver him : but mine 
 was against the gospel ; yea, against the Medi- 
 ator thereof, I had sold my Saviour. 
 
 Now again, should I be as if racked upon^ 
 the wheel, when I considered that, besides-the 
 guilt that possessed me, I should be so void of 
 grace, so bewitched ! What, thought I, must 
 it be no sin but this ? Must it needs be llis 
 " great transgression '?" Must that wicked one 
 touch my soul ? Oh I what sting did I find !n 
 all these sentences I 
 
 What, thought I, is there but one sin '.hat is 
 unpardonable ? But one sin that layeth the 
 soul without the reach of God's mercy; and 
 must I be guilty of that? Must it needs be 
 that? Is there but one sin among so many 
 millions of sins, for which there is no forgive- 
 ness ; and must I commit this ? Oh ! unhappy 
 sin ! Oh I unhappy man ! These things would 
 so break and confound my spirit, that I could 
 not tell what to do ; I thought at times they 
 would have broke my wits ; and still, to ag- 
 gravate my misery, that would run in my 
 mind, "You know how, that afterwards, 
 when he would have inherited the blessing, he 
 was rejected." Oh I no one knows the terrors 
 of those days but myself. 
 
 After this I began to consider of Peter's sin, 
 which he committed in denying his Master; 
 and indeed this came nighest to mine of any 
 that I could find, for he had denied his Sa- 
 viour, as I after light and mercy received ; yea, 
 and that too, after warning given him. I also 
 considered that he did it once and twice ; and 
 that after time to consider betwixt. But 
 though I put all these circumstances together, 
 that if possible I might find help, yet I con- 
 sidered again, that his was but a " denial of his 
 Master," but mine was a " selling of my Sa- 
 viour." Wherefore I thought with myself, 
 that I came nearer to Judas, than either to 
 David or Pefei: 
 
 Here again my torment would ilame out and 
 afflict me ; yea, it would grind me, as it were 
 to powder, to consider the preservation of God 
 towards others, while I fell into the snare; for 
 in my thus considering of other men's sins, 
 and comparing them with mine own, I could 
 evidently see, God preserved them, notwith- 
 standing their wickedness, and would not let 
 them, as he had let me, become a son of per- 
 dition. 
 
 But oh ! how did my soul at this time prize 
 the preservation that God didT set about his 
 
48 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMBLETE WORKS. 
 
 people. All how safelv did I see them walk, 
 whom God had hedgea in ! , They were within 
 hi^ care, protection, and special providence; 
 though they were full as had as I hy nature ; 
 yet because he loved them, he would not suffer 
 them to fall without the range of mercy : but 
 as ,for me, I was gone, I had done it ; he would 
 not preserve me, nor keep me; hut suffered 
 ine, because I was a reprobate, to fall as I had 
 done. Now did those blessed places that speak 
 of God's keeping his people, shine like the 
 sun before me, though not to comfort me, yet 
 to show me the blessed state and hferitage of 
 those whom the Lord had blessed. 
 
 Now I saw, that as God had his hand in all 
 the providences and dispensations that over- 
 took his elect, so he had his hand in all tlie 
 temptations that they had to sin against him ; 
 not to animate them to wickedness, but to 
 choose their temptations and troubles for 
 them; and also to leave them for a time, to 
 such things only that might not destroy, but 
 humble them ; as might not put them beyond 
 but lay them in the way of the renewing his 
 mercy. But oh ! what love, what care, what 
 kindness and mercy did I now see, mixing 
 itself with the most severe and dreadful of all 
 God's ways to his people ! He would let David, 
 Hezekiah, Solomon, Peter and others fall, but 
 he would not let them fall into sin unpardon- 
 able, nor into hell for sin. Oh ! thought I, 
 these be the men that God hath loved, these 
 be the men that God, though he chastiseth 
 them, keeps them in safety by him ; and them 
 whom he makes to abide under the shadow of 
 the Almighty. But all these thoughts added 
 sorrow, grief, and horror to me, as whatever I 
 now thought on, it was killing to me. If I 
 thought how God kept his own, that was kill- 
 ing to me ; if I thought how I was fallen my- 
 self, that was killing to me. As all things 
 wrought together for the best, and to do good 
 to them that were the called, according to his 
 purpose, so I thought that all things wrought 
 for damage, and for my eternal overthrow. 
 
 Then, again, I began to compare my sin with 
 the sin of Judas, that, if possible, I might find 
 if mine differed from that, which in truth is 
 unpardonable ; and oh I thought I, if it should 
 differ from it, though but the breadth of an 
 bair, what a happy condition is my soul in ! 
 And by considering, I found that Judas did 
 his intentionally, but mine was against my 
 prayer and strivings : besides, his was com- 
 mitted with much deliberation, but mine in a 
 fearful hurry on a sudden. All this while I 
 
 was tossed to and fro, like the locust, and 
 driven from trouble to sorrow ; hearing always 
 the sound of Esau's fall in mine ears, and of 
 the dreadful consequences thereof. 
 
 Yet this consideration about Judas's sin 
 was, for%while, some little relief to me ; for I 
 saw I had not, as to the circumstances, trans- 
 gresssed so fully as he. But this was quickly 
 gone again, for I thought with myself, there 
 might be more ways th^n one to commit this 
 unpardonable sin ; also I thought there might 
 be degrees of that, as well as of other trans- 
 gressions; wherefore, for aught I yet could 
 perceive, this iniquity of mine might be such, 
 as might never be passed by. 
 
 I was often now ashamed, that I should be 
 like such an ugly man as Judas : I thought 
 also, how loathsome I should be unto all the 
 saints in the day of judgment ; insomuch that 
 now I could scarce see a good man, that I be- 
 lieved had a good conscience, but I should feel 
 my heart tremble at him, while I was in his 
 presence. Oh ! now I saw a glory in walking 
 with God, and what a mercy it was to have a 
 good conscience before him. 
 
 I was much about that time tempted to con- 
 tent myself by receiving some false opinions ; 
 as, that there should be no such thing as a day 
 of judgment ; that we should not rise again ; 
 and that sin was no such grievous thing ; the 
 tempter suggesting thus : " For if these things 
 should indeed be true, yet to believe otherwise 
 would yield you ease for the present. If you 
 must perish, never torment, yourself so much 
 beforehand; drive the thoughts of damning 
 out of your mind by possessing your mind 
 with some such conclusions that Atheists and 
 Banters use to help themselves withal." 
 
 But oh ! when such thoughts have led 
 through my heart, how, as it were, within a 
 step, hath death and judgment been in my 
 view! IVIethought the Judge stood at the 
 door ; I was as if it were come already, so that 
 such things could have no entertainment. But 
 methinks I see by this, that Satan will use 
 any means to keep the soul from Christ ; he 
 loveth not an awakened frame of spirit; 
 security, blindness, darkness, and error, ia 
 the very kingdom and habitation of the 
 wicked one. 
 
 I found it a hard work now to pray to God, 
 because despair was swallowing me up; I 
 • thought I was as with a tempest driven away 
 from God ; for always when I cried to God for 
 mercy, this would come in : " 'Tis too late, I 
 am lost, God hath let me fall, not to my cor- 
 
GRACE ABOUNDING TO THE CHIEF OF SINNERS. 
 
 49 
 
 rection, but my condemnation ; my siu is un- 
 pardonable; and I know concerning Esau, 
 how that after he had sold his birthright, he 
 would have received the blessing, but was re- 
 jected." About this time I did light on a 
 dreadful story of that miserable mortal, Fran- 
 cis Spira; a book that was to my troubled 
 spirit, as salt when rubbed into afresh wound; 
 every sentence in that book, every groan of 
 that man, with all the rest of his actions in his 
 dolours, as his tears, his prayers, his gnashing 
 of teeth, his wringing of hands, his twisting, 
 and languishing, and pining away under that 
 mighty hand of God that was upon him, were 
 a!s knives and daggers in my soul ; especially 
 that sentence of his was frightful to me, " Man 
 knows the beginning of sin, but who bounds 
 the issues thereof?" Then woiild the former 
 sentence, as th( conclusion of all, rail like an 
 hot thunderbolt again upon my conscience: 
 " For you know how that afterwards, when he 
 would have inherited the blessing, he was re- 
 jected; for he found no place of repentance, 
 though he sought it carefully with tears." 
 
 Then would I be struck with a very great 
 trembling, insomuch that sometimes I could, 
 for whole days together, feel my very body, as 
 well as my mind, to shake and totter under the 
 sense of this dreadful judgment of God, that 
 should fall on those that have sinned that most 
 fearful and unpardonable sin. I felt also such 
 a clogging and heat at my stomach, by reason 
 of this my terror, that I was, especially at 
 sometimes, as if my breast-bone would split 
 asunder; then I thought concerning that of 
 Judas, "who by his falling headlong burst 
 asunder, and all his bowels gushed out." 
 
 I feared also that this was the mark that 
 G^jd did set upon Cain, even continual fear 
 and trembling, under the heavy load of guilt 
 that he had charged on him for the blood of 
 his brother Abel. Thus did I wind and twine, 
 and shrink under the burthen that was upon 
 me ; which burthen also did so oppress me, that 
 I could neither stand nor go, nor lie either at 
 r^t or quiet. 
 
 Yet that saying would sometimes come into 
 my mind, ""He hath received gifts for the re- 
 bellious:" the rebellious, thought II why 
 surely they are such as once were under sub- 
 jection to their prince ; even those who, after 
 they have once sworn subjection to his govern- 
 ment, have taken up arms against him ; and 
 this, thought I, is my very condition : I once 
 loved him, feared him, served him ; but now I 
 am a rebel; I have sold him, I have said, let 
 
 him go if he will; but yet he has gifts foi 
 rebels ; and then why not for me ? 
 
 This sometimes I thought on, and should la- 
 bour to take hold thereof, that some, though 
 small refreshment, might have been couceiTecf 
 by me ; but in this also I missed of my desire, 
 I was driven with force beyond it ; I was like 
 a man going to execution, even by that place 
 where he would fain creep in and hide him- 
 self, but may not. 
 
 Again, afteir I had thus considered the sins 
 of the saints in particular, and found laine 
 went beyond them, then I began to think with 
 myself, and set this case, should I put nil theirs 
 together, and mine alone against them, might 
 I not find encouragement? For if mine, 
 though bigger than any one, yet should be but 
 equal to all, then there is hopes ; for that blood 
 that hath virtue enough in it to wash away 
 theirs, hath virtue enough in it to wash away 
 mine, though this one be full as big, if not 
 bigger than all theirs. Here, again, I should 
 consider the sin of David, of Solomon, of Man- 
 asseh, of Peter and the rest of the great of- 
 fenders ; and should also labour, what 1 might 
 with fairness to aggravate and heighten their 
 sins by several circumstances. 
 
 I should think with myself that DaviJ shed 
 blood to cover his adultery, and that by the 
 sword of the children of Ammon ; a work that 
 could not be done, but by contrivance, which 
 was a great aggravation to his sin. But then 
 would this turn upon me : Ah ! but these were 
 but sins against the law, from which there was 
 a Jesus sent to save them : but yours is a sin 
 against the Saviour, and who shall save you 
 from that ? 
 
 Then I thought on Solomon, and how he 
 sinned in loving strange women, in falling 
 away to their idols, in building them temples, 
 in doing this after light in his old age, after 
 great mercy received ; but the same conclusion 
 that cut me ofl' in the former considerations, 
 cut me oflT as to this, namely, that all those 
 were but sins against the law, for which God 
 had provided a remedy ; but I had sold my Sa- 
 viour, and there remained no sacrifice for sin. 
 
 I would then add to these men's sins, the 
 sins of Manasseh ; how that he built altars for 
 idols in the house of the Lord ; he also ob- 
 served iimes, used enchantments, had to do 
 with wizards, was a wizard, had his familiar 
 spirits, burned his children in the fire in sacri- 
 fice to devils, and made the streets of Jerusa- 
 lem run down with the blood of innocents. 
 These, thought I, are great sins, sins of a bloOdy 
 
50 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 colour, but yet it would turn again upon me, 
 they are none of them of the nature of yours, 
 you have parted with Jesus, you have sold 
 your Saviour. 
 
 This one consideration would always kill my 
 heart, my sin was point blank against my Sa- 
 viour ; and that too at that height, that I had 
 in my heart said of him, let him go if he will. 
 Oh ! methought this sin was bigger than the 
 gins of a country, of a kingdom, or of the whole 
 world, no one unpardonable; nor all of them 
 together, was able to make mine; mine out- 
 went them every one. 
 
 Now I should find my mind to flee from God, 
 as from the faCe of a dreadful judge, yet this 
 was my torment, I could not escape his hand, 
 " It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of 
 the living God." But, blessed be his grace, 
 that Scripture, in these flying fits, would call, 
 as running after me, " I have blotted out, as a 
 thick cloud, thy transgressions, and' as a cloud 
 thy sins ; return unto me, for I have redeemed 
 thee." This, I say, would come in upon my 
 mind, when I was fleeing from the face of God ; 
 for I did flee from his face ; that is, my mind 
 and spirit fled before him ; by reason of his 
 highness, I could not endure ; then would the 
 text cry, " Return unto me ; " it would cry aloud 
 with a very great voice, " Return unto me, for 
 I have redeemed thee." Indeed, this would 
 make me make a little stop, and as it were, 
 look over my shoulder behind me, to see if I 
 could discern that the God of grace did follow 
 me with a pardon in his hand ; but I could no 
 sooner do that, but all would be clouded and 
 darkened again by that sentence, "For you 
 know, how that afterwards when he would have 
 inherited the blessing, he was rejected ; for he 
 found no place of repentance, though he sought 
 it carefully with tears." "Wherefore I could 
 not refrain, but fled, though at sometimes it 
 cried, " Return, return," as it did hollow after 
 me ; but I feared to close in therevi^ith, lest it 
 should not come from God ; for that other, as 
 I said, was still sounding in my conscience, 
 ' For you know how that afterwards, when he 
 would have inherited the blessing, he was re- 
 jected," &c. 
 
 Once as I was walking to and fro in a good 
 man's shop, bemoaning of myself in a sad and 
 doleful state, afliioting myself with setf-j-bhor- 
 rence for this wicked and ungodly thought, 
 lamenting also this hard hap of mine, for that 
 I should commit so great a sin, greatly fearing 
 that I should not be pardoned ; praying also in 
 mr heart, thai if this sin of mine did difier 
 
 from that against the Holy Ghost, the Lord 
 would show it me. And being now ready to 
 fear, suddenly there was, as if there had nished 
 in at the window, the noise of wind upon me, 
 but very pleasant, and as if I heard a voice 
 speaking, " Didst thou ever refuse to be justi- 
 fied by the blood of Christ ?" And withal, my ■ 
 whole life of profession past, was in a moment 
 opened to me, wherein I was made to see, that 
 designedly I had not ; so my heart answered 
 groaningly, " No." Then fell with pow er, that 
 word of God upon me, "See that ye refuse 
 not him that speaketh." This made a strange 
 seizure upon my spirit ; it brought light with 
 it, and commanded a silence in my heart, of" 
 all those tumultuous thoughts, that did before 
 use like masterless heU hounds, to roar and 
 bellow, and make an hideous noise within me. 
 It showed me also that Jesus CJirist had yet a 
 word of grace and mercy for me, that he had 
 not, as I had feared, quite forsaken and cast ofl 
 my soul ; yea, this was a kind of check for my 
 proneness to desperation; a kind of threat- 
 ening of me, if I did not, notwithstanding my 
 sins, and the heinousness of them, venture my 
 salvation upon the Son of God. But as to my 
 determining about this strange dispensation, 
 what it was, I know not; or from whence it 
 came, I know not; I have not yet in twenty 
 years' time been able to make a judgment of it ; 
 "I thought then what here I should be loth 
 to speak." But verily that sudden rushing 
 wind was, as if an angel bad come upon me, 
 but both it, and the salvation, I will leave until 
 the day of judgment ; only this I say, it com- 
 manded a great calm in my soul, it persuaded 
 me there might be hope ; it showed me, as 1 
 thought, what the sin unpardonable was, and 
 that my soul had yet the blessed privilege to 
 flee to Jesus Christ for mercy. But I say con- 
 cerning this dispensation, I know not what to 
 say unto it yet ; "which was also, in truth, the 
 cause that at first I did not speak of it in the 
 book ; I do now also leave it to be thought on 
 by men of sound judgment. I lay not the 
 stress of my salvation thereupon, but upon the 
 Lord Jesus in the promise; yet seeing I am 
 here unfolding of my secret things, I thought 
 it might not be altogether inexpedient to let 
 this also show itself, though I cannot now re- 
 late the matter as there I did experience it. 
 This l^ted in the savour of it for about three 
 or four days, and then I began to mistrust, and 
 to despair again. 
 
 Wherefore still my life hung in doubt before 
 me, not knowing which way I should go ; only 
 
GRACE ABOUNDING TO THE CHIEF OF SINNERS. 
 
 51 
 
 Ihia I found my soul desire, even, to cast itself 
 at the foot of grace, by prayer and supplica- 
 tion. But^ oh 1 it was hard for me now, to 
 have the face to pray to this Christ for mercy, 
 against whom I had thus vilely sinned : it was 
 hard work, I say, to offer to look him in the 
 face, against whom I had so vilely sinned; 
 and indeed I have found it as difficult to come 
 to God by prayer, after backsliding from him, 
 as to do any other thing. Oh ! the shame that 
 did now attend me 1 especially when I thbught, 
 I am now a-going to pray to him for mercy, 
 that I had so lightly esteemed but a while be- 
 fore! I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, 
 because this villainy had been committed by 
 me; but I saw that there was but one way 
 with me, I must go to him, and humble my- 
 self unto him, and beg that he, of lus wonder- 
 ful mercy, would show pity to me, and have 
 mercy upon my wretched sinful soul. 
 
 Which, when the tempter perceived, he 
 strongly suggested to me, "that I ought not to 
 pray to God, for prayer was not for any in my 
 case; neither could it do me good, because I 
 had rejected the Mediator, by whom all 
 prayers came with acceptance to God the 
 Father; and without whom, no prayer could 
 come into his presence. Wherefore now to 
 pray, is but to add sin to sin; yea, now to 
 pray, seeing God has cast you off, is the next 
 way to anger and offend him more than you 
 ever did before. \ 
 
 "For God," said he, "hath been weary of 
 you for these several years already, because 
 you are none of his ; your bawling in his ears 
 hath been no pleasant voice to him ; and there- 
 fore he let you sin this sin, that you might be 
 quite cut off; and will you pray still?" This 
 the devil urged, and set forth that in Num- 
 bers, when Moses said to the children of 
 Israel, "That because they would not go up 
 to possess the land, when God would have 
 them, therefore for ever did he bar them out 
 from thence, though they prayed they might 
 with tears." 
 
 As it is said in another place, "The man 
 that sins presumptuously shall be taken from 
 God's altar, that he may die ;" even as Joab 
 was by King Solomon, when he thought to 
 find shelter there. These places did pinch n\e 
 yery sore; yet my case being desperate, I 
 thought with myself, I can but die ; and if it 
 must be so, it shall once be said, " That sush 
 an one died at the foot of Christ in prayer." 
 This I did, but with great difficulty God doth 
 know; and that because, together n-ith this. 
 
 still that saying about Esau would be sec at 
 my heart, even like a flaming sword, to keep 
 the yay of the tree of life, lest I should take 
 thereof and live. Oh! who knows how hard 
 a thing I found it, to come to God in prayer I 
 
 I did also desire the prayers of the people 
 of God for me, but I feared that God would 
 give them no heart to do it; yea, I trembled 
 in my soul to think, that some or other of 
 them would shortly tell me, that God hath 
 said those words to them, that he once did ^ay 
 to the prophet, concerning the children of 
 Israel, "Pray not for this people, for I have 
 rejected them." So, "Pray not for him, for I 
 have rejected him." Yea, I thought he had 
 whispered this to some of them already, only 
 they durst not' tell me so; neither durst I ask 
 them of it, for fear if it should be so, it would 
 make me quite beside myself "Man knows 
 the beginning of sin, (said Spira;) but who 
 bounds the issues thereof?" 
 
 About this time I took an opportunity to 
 break my mind to an ancient Christian, and 
 told him all my case; I teld him also, that I 
 was afraid I had sinned the sin against the Holy 
 Ghost; and he told me, he thought so too. 
 Here, therefore, I had but cold comfort; but 
 talking a little more with him, I found him, 
 though a good man, a stranger to much com- 
 bat with the devil. Wherefore I went to God 
 again, as well as T could, for mercy still. 
 
 Now also did the tempter begin to mock me 
 in my misery, saying, " That seeing I had thus 
 parted with the Lord Jesus and provoked him 
 to displeasure, who wpuld have stood between 
 my soul and the flame of devouring fire, there 
 was now but one way, and that was, to pray 
 that God the Father would be a Mediator be- 
 twixt his Son and me ; that we might be recon- 
 ciled again, and that I might have that blessed 
 benefit in him, that his saints enjoyed." 
 
 Then did that Scripture seize upon my soul, 
 "He is of one mind, and who can turn him"" 
 Oh! I saw it was as easy to persuade him to 
 make a new world, a new covenant, or a new 
 Bible, besides that we have already, as to pray 
 for such a thing. This was to persuade him, 
 that what he had done already, was mere folly, 
 and persuade him to alter, yea to disannul the 
 whole waj of salvation ; and then would that 
 saying rend my soul asunder, "Neither is 
 there salvation in any other, for there is none 
 other name under heaven, given among men, 
 whereby we must be saved." 
 
 Now the most free, and full, and gracious 
 words of the Gospel, were the greatest torment 
 
52 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 to, me; yea, -nothing so, afflicted me, as the 
 thoughts of Jesus Christ, the remembrance of 
 a Saviour ; because I had cast him off, brought 
 forth the villainy of my sin, and my loss by it 
 to mind; nothing did twinge nay conscience 
 like this; everything that I thought of the 
 liOrd Jesus, of his grace, love, goodness, kind- 
 ness, gentleness, meekness, death, blood, prom- 
 ises, and blessed exhortations, comforts, and 
 consolations, it went to my soul like a sword ; 
 for still unto these my considerations of the 
 Lord Jesus, these thoughts would make place 
 for themselves in my heart. "Ay, this is the 
 Jesus, the loving Saviour, the Son of God, 
 whom you have parted with, whom you have 
 slighted, despised, and abused. This is the 
 only Saviour, the only EedeemerJ the only one 
 that could so love sinners, as to wash them 
 from their sins in his own most precious blood ; 
 but you have no part nor lot in this Jesus; 
 ' you have put him from you; you have said in 
 your heart, let him go if he will. Now there- 
 fore you are severed from him; you ha"ve 
 severed yourself from him: behold then his 
 goodness, but yourself to be no partaker of 
 it." Oh! thought I, what have I lost, whiat 
 have I parted with! What has disinherited 
 my soul ! Oh ! it is sad to be destroyed by the 
 grace and mercy of God; to have the Lamb, 
 the Saviour, turn lion and destroyer.' 
 
 I also trembled as I have said, at the sight of 
 the saints of God, especially at those" that 
 greatly loved him, and that made it their busi- 
 ness to walk continually with him in this world ; 
 for they did, both in their words, their carriage, 
 and all their expressions of tenderness and fear 
 to sin against their precious Saviour, condenin, 
 lay guilt upon, and also add continual affliction 
 and shame unto my sbul. " The dread of them 
 was upon me, and I trembled at God's " Samuels. 
 Now also the tempter began afresh to mock 
 my soul another way, saying " That Christ in- 
 deed did pity my case, and was sorry for my 
 loss ' but forasmuch as I had sinned and trans- 
 gres^ed as I had done, he could by no means 
 help me, nor save me from what I feared ; for 
 my sin was not of the nature of theirs, for 
 whom he bled and died ; neither was it counted 
 with those that were laid to his charge, when 
 he hanged on a tree ; therefore, unless he should 
 come down from heaven, and die anew for this 
 sin, though indeed he did greatly pity me, when 
 yet I could have no benefit of him." These 
 things may seem ridiculous to others, even as 
 ridiculous as they were in themselves, but to 
 me they were most tormenting cogitations; 
 
 every one of them augmented my misery, that 
 Jesus Christ should have so much love as to 
 pity me, when yet he could not help me ; nor 
 did I think that the reason why he could not 
 help me, was, because his merits were weak, or 
 his grace and salvation spent on others already, 
 but because his faithfulness to his threatenings 
 would not let him extend his mercy to me. 
 Besides, I thought, as I have already hintedj 
 that my sin was not within the bounds of that 
 pardon, that was wrapped up in a promise; 
 and if not, then 1 knew surely, that it was 
 more easy for heaven and earth to pass away, 
 than- for me to have eternal life. So that the 
 ground of all these fears of mine, did arise 
 from a steadfast belief I had of the stability of 
 the holy word of God, and also' from my being 
 misinformed of the nature of my sin. 
 
 But oh ! how this would add to my affliction, 
 to conceit that I should be guilty of such a sin, 
 for which he did not die. These thoughts did 
 so confound me, and imprison me, and tie me 
 up from faith, that I knew not what to do. 
 But oh 1 thought I, that he would come down 
 again ! Oh ! that the work of man's redemp- 
 tion was yet to be done by Christ ! how would 
 I pray him and entreat him to count and reckon 
 this sin among the rest for which he died! 
 But this Scripture would strike me down as 
 dead : " Christ being raised from the dead, 
 dieth no more ; death hath no more dominion 
 over him." 
 
 Thus, by the strange and unusual assaults of 
 the tempter, my soul was like a broken vessel, 
 driven as with the winds, and tossed sometimes 
 headlong into despair; sometimes upon ine 
 covenant of works, and sometimes to wish tnit 
 the new covenant, and the conditions thereof, 
 might so far forth as I thought myself ,cou- 
 cerned, be turned another way, and changed, 
 " But in all these, I was as those that jostle 
 against the rocks ; more broken, scattered and 
 rent.'' Oh! the unthought-of imaginations, 
 frights, fears, and terrors, that are affected tjy 
 a thorough application of guilt yielding to des- 
 peration! "This is the man that hath his 
 dwelling among the tombs with the dead ; that 
 is always crying out, and cutting himself with 
 stones." 'But I say, all in vain; desperation 
 will not comfort him, the old covenant will not 
 save him; nay, heaven and earth shall pass 
 away, before one jot or tittle of the woi'd and 
 law of grace will fail or be removed. This I 
 saw, this I felt, and under this I groaned ; yet 
 this advantage I got thereby, namely, a farther 
 confirmation of the certainty of the way of 
 
OBAOE ABOUNDING TO THE CHIEF OF SINNERS. 
 
 5'6 
 
 ealvation; and that the Scriptures were the 
 word of God. Oh ! I cannot now express what 
 I then saw and felt of the steadiness of Jesus 
 Christ, the rock of man's salvation ; what was 
 done could not be undone, added to, nor altered. 
 I saw, indeed, that sin might drive the soul be- 
 yond Christ, even the sin which is unpardon- 
 able ; but woe to him that was so driven, for 
 the word would shut him out. 
 
 Thus was I always sinking, whatever I did 
 think or do. So one day I walked to a neigh- 
 bouring town and sat down upon a settle in the 
 street, and fell into a very deep pause about the 
 most fearful state my sin had brought me to ; 
 and after long musing, I lifted up my head, but 
 methought I saw, as if the sun that shineth in 
 the heavens did grudge to give light ; and as 
 if the atones in the streets, and the tiles upon 
 the houses, did bend themselves against me. 
 Methought that they all combined together to 
 banish me out of the world. I was abhorred 
 of them, and unfit to dwell among them, or be 
 partaker of tlieir benefits, because I had sinned 
 against the Saviour. Oh how happy now was 
 every creature over I was I For they stood fast, 
 and kept theii* station, but I was gone and lost. 
 Then breaking out in the bitterness of my 
 Boul, I said to my soul, with a grievous sigh, 
 "How can God comfort such a wretch as I 
 am 1" I had no sooner said it, but this returned 
 Hpon me, as an echo doth answer a voice, 
 " This sin is not unto death." At which I was, 
 as if I had been raised out of the grave, and 
 cried out again, " Lord, how couldst thou find 
 out such a word as this?" For I was filled 
 with admiration at the fitness, and at the un- 
 expectedness of the sentence ; the fitness of the 
 word, the Tightness of the timing of it, the 
 power, and sweetness, and light, and glory, 
 that came with it also, was marvellous to me 
 to find ; I was now, for the time, out of doubt, 
 as to that about which I so much was in doubt 
 before ; my fears, before were, that my sin was 
 not pardonable, and so that I had no right to 
 pray, to repent, &c., or that if I did it would 
 be of no advantage or profit to me. But now, 
 thought I, if this sin is not unto death, then it 
 , is pardonable ; therefore from this I have en- 
 couragement to come to God by Christ for 
 mercy, to consider the promise of forgiveness, 
 as that which stands ^ith open arms to receive 
 me as well as others. This, therefore, was a 
 great easement to my mind, to wit, that my sin 
 was pardonable, that it was not the sin unto 
 death. None but those that know what my 
 trouble {by their own experience) was, can tell 
 
 what relief came to my soul by this cousider- 
 ation ; it was a release to me from my former 
 bonds, and a shelter from my furmer stoi-ms , 
 I seemed now to stand upon the same ground 
 with other sinners, and to have as good right 
 to the word and prayer as any of them. 
 
 Now, I say, I was in hopes that my sin was 
 not unpardonable, but that there might be 
 hopes for me to obtain forgiveness. But oh I 
 how Satan did now lay about him for to bring 
 me down again ! but he could by no means do 
 it, neither this day, nor the most part of the 
 next, for this sentence stood like a mill- pest at 
 my back ; yet towards the evening of the next 
 day, I felt this word begin to leave me, and to 
 withdraw its supportation from me, and so 1 
 returned to my old fears again, but with a 
 great deal of grudging and peevishness, for I 
 feared the sorrow of despair; nor could my 
 faith now long retain this word. 
 
 But the next day at evening, being under 
 many fears, I went to seek the Lord, and as I 
 prayed, I cried, and my soul cried to him in 
 these words, with strong cries, " Lord, I be- 
 seech thee, show me that thou hast loved me 
 with an everlasting love." I had no sooner 
 said it, but with sweetness this returned upon 
 me, as an echo, or sounding again, "I have 
 loved thee with an everlasting love." Now I 
 went to bed in quiet; also when I awaked the 
 next morning, it was fresh upon my soul, and 
 I believed it. 
 
 But yet the tempter left me not, for it could 
 not be so little as an hundred times, that he 
 that day did labour to break my peace. Oh I 
 the combats and conflicts that I did then meet 
 with ; as I strove to hold by this word, that of 
 Esau would fly in my face like lightning ; 1 
 should be sometimes up and down twenty 
 times in an hour ; yet God did bear me out, 
 and keep my heart upon this word ; from which 
 I had also, for several days together, very much 
 sweetness, and comfortable hopes of pardon ; 
 for thus it was made out unto me, "I loved 
 thee whilst thou wast committing this sin, J 
 loved thee before, I love thee still, and I wi'j 
 love thee forever." 
 
 Yet I saw my sin most barbarous, and a filthy 
 crime, and could not but conclude, with great 
 shame and astonishment, that I had horribly 
 abused the holy Son of God. Wherefore I fell 
 my soul greatly to love and pity him, and my 
 bowels yearn towards him : for I saw he was 
 still my friend, and did reward me good for 
 evil ; yea, the love and affection that then did 
 burn within me to my Lord and Saviour. Jpsus 
 
54 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Christ, did work at this time such a strong and 
 hot desire of revengement upon myself for the 
 sflbuse I had done unto him, that, to speak as I 
 then thought, had I a thousand gallons of 
 blood within jny veins, I could freely then 
 have spilt it all at the command and feet of 
 this my Lord and Saviour. 
 
 And as I was thus musing, and in my studies, 
 considering how to love the Lord, and to ex- 
 press my love to him, that saying came in 
 upon me, " If thou. Lord, shouldst mark in- 
 iquity, Lord, who should stand? But there 
 is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayst he 
 feared." These were good words to me, es- 
 pecially the latter part thereof; to wit, that 
 " There is forgiveness with the Lord that he 
 may be feared ;" that is, as I then understood 
 it, that he might be loved, and had in rever- 
 ence ; for it was thus made out to me, " That 
 the great God did set so high an esteem upon 
 the love of his poor creatures, that rather than 
 he would go without their love, he would par- 
 don their transgressions." 
 
 And now was that word fulfilled on me, and 
 I was also refreshed by it ; " Then shall they 
 be ashamed and confounded, and never open 
 their mouths any more, because of their shame, 
 when I am pacified towards them for all that 
 they have done, saith the Lord God." Thus 
 was my soul at this time (and as I then did 
 think, for ever) set at liberty from being 
 afflicted with my former guilt and amazement. 
 
 But before many weeks were gone, I be^an 
 to despond again, fearing, lest, notwithstanding 
 all that I had enjoyed, that I might be de- 
 ceived and destroyed at the last ; for this con- 
 sideration came strong into my mind, "That 
 whatever comfort and peace I thought I might 
 have from the word of the promise of life, yet 
 unless there could be found in my refreshment, 
 a concurrence and agreement in the Scrip- 
 tures, let me think what I will thereof, and 
 hold it never so fast, I should find no such 
 thing at the end ; for the Scriptures cannot be 
 broken." 
 
 Now began my heart again to ache, and fear 
 I might meet with a disappointment at last.- 
 Wherefore I began with all seriousness to ex- 
 amine my former comfort, ■ and to consider 
 whether one that had sinned as I had done, 
 might with confidence trust upon the faithful- 
 ness ,of God, laid down in these words, by 
 which I had been comforted, -and on which I 
 had leaned myself But now were brought to 
 my mind, " For it is impossible for those who 
 were once enlightened, and have tasted the 
 
 heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the 
 Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of 
 God, and the powers of the world to come, if 
 they shall fall away, to renew them again unto 
 repentance. For if we sin wilfully, and after 
 we have received the knowledge of the truth, 
 there remains no more sacrifice for sin, but 
 certain fearful looking-for of judgment, and 
 fiery indignation, which shall devour the ad- 
 versaries ; even as Esau, who for one morsel of 
 meat, sold his birthright. For ye know how 
 that afterwards, when he would have inherited 
 the blessing, he was rejected ; for he found no 
 place of repentance, though he sought it care- 
 fully with tears." 
 
 Now was the word of the Gospel forced from 
 my soul ; so that no promise or encouragement 
 was to be found in the Bible for me ; and now 
 would that saying work upon my spirit to 
 afflict me, " Rejoice not, O Israel, for joy as 
 other people." For I saw, indeed, there was 
 cause of rejoicing for those that held to Jesus ; 
 but for me, I had cut myself ofi" by my trans- 
 gressions, and left myself neither foot-hold nor 
 hand-hold, among all the stays and props in 
 the precious word of life. 
 
 And truly, I did now feel myself to sink into 
 a gulf, as an house whose foundation is de- 
 stroyed : I did liken myself in this condition, 
 unto the case of a child that was fallen into a 
 mill-pit, who though it could make some shift 
 to scrabble and sprawl in the water, yet be- 
 cause it could find neither hold for hand nor 
 foot, therefore at last it must die in that con- 
 dition. So soon as this fresh assault had fas- 
 tened on my soul, that Scripture came into my 
 heart, " This for many days." And indeed I 
 found it was so ; for I could not be delivered, 
 nor brought to peace again, until well nigh 
 two years and an half were completely finished. 
 Wherefore these words, though in themselves 
 they tended to no discouragement, yet to me, 
 who feared this condition would be eternal, 
 they were at sometimes as an help and refresh- 
 ment to me. 
 
 For, thoiight I, many days are not for ever, 
 many days will have an end ; therefore seeing 
 I was to be afflicted not a few, but many days, 
 yet I was glad it, was but for many days. 
 Thus, I say, I could recall myself sometimes 
 and give myself an help, for as soon as evei 
 the word came into my 'mind, at first I knew 
 my trouble would be long, yet this would bo 
 but sometimes; for I could not always think 
 on this, nor ever be helped by it, though ] 
 did. 
 
GRACE ABOUNDING TO THE CHIEF OF SINNEBS. 
 
 55 
 
 Now while the Scriptures lay before me, and 
 laid sin anew at my door, that saying in Luke 
 xviii. 1, with others, did encourage me to 
 prayer; then the tempter again laid at me 
 very sore, suggesting, " That neither the mercy 
 of God, nor yet the blood of Christ, did at all 
 concern me, nor could they help me for my 
 sin; therefore it was but in vain to pray." 
 Yet, thouglit I, " I will pray." " But, said the 
 tempter, your sin is unpardonable." "Well, 
 said I, I will pray." "It is to no boot, said 
 he." " Yel, said I, I will pray." So I went 
 to prayer with God; and while I was at 
 prayer, I uttered words to this eifect : " Lord, 
 Satan tells me, that neither thy mercy, nor 
 Christ's blood is sufficient to save my soul; 
 Lord, shall I honour thee most, by believing 
 thou wilt, and canst? or him, by believing 
 that thou neither wilt, nor canst? Lord, I 
 would fain honour thee, by believing that 
 thou wilt, and canst." 
 
 And as I was thus before the Lord, that 
 Scripture fastened on my heart, " O mSn, great 
 is thy faith :" even as if one had clapped me 
 on the back, as I was on my knees before 
 God : yet I was not able to believe this, that 
 this was a prayer of faith, till almost six 
 months after ; for I could not think that I 
 had faith, or that there should be a word for 
 me to act faith on; therefore I should still 
 be, as sticking in the jaws of desperation, 
 and went mourning up and down in a sad 
 condition. 
 
 There was nothing now that I longed for 
 more than 'to be put out of doubt, as to this 
 thing in question, and as I was vehemently 
 desiring to know, if there was indeed hope for 
 me, these words came rolling into my mind, 
 "Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he 
 be favourable no more? Is his mercy clean 
 gone for ever? Doth his promise fail for 
 evermore? Hath God forgotten to be gra- 
 cious ? Hath he in anger shut up his tender 
 mercies?" And all the while they run in my 
 mind, methought I had still this as the an- 
 swer, '"Tis a question whether he hath or no; 
 it may be he hath not." Yea, the interroga- 
 tory seemed to me to carry in it a sure affirma- 
 tion that indeed he had not, nor would so cast 
 off, but would be favourable ; that his promise 
 doth not fail, and that he hath not forgotten 
 to be gracious, nor would in anger shut up his 
 tender mercy. Something also there was upon 
 my heart at the same time, which I now can- 
 not call to mind, which' with this text did 
 sweeten my heart, and make me conclude, 
 
 that his mercy might not be quite gone, nor 
 gone for ever. 
 
 At another time I remembered, I was again 
 much under this question, "Whether the blood 
 of Christ was sufficient to save my soul?" in 
 which doubt I continued from morning, till 
 about seven or eight at night; and at last, 
 when I was, as it were, quite worn out with 
 fear, lest it should not lay hold on me, these 
 words did sound suddenly within my heart, 
 " He is able." But methought this word able, 
 was spoke so loud to me, it showed a great 
 word, it seemed to be writ in great letters, 
 and gave such a jostle to my fear and doubt, 
 (I mean for the time it tarried with me, which 
 was about a day,) as I never had from that, 
 all my life, either before or after. (Heb. 
 vii. 25.) 
 
 But one morning as I was again at prayer 
 and trembling under the fear of this, that no 
 word of God could help me, that piece of a 
 sentence darted in upon me, " My grace is suf- 
 ficient." At this methought I felt some stay, 
 as if there might be hopes ; but oh ! how good 
 a thing it is for God to send his word ! for 
 about a fortnight before, I was looking on this 
 very place, and then I thought it could not 
 come near my soul with comfort, therefore I 
 threw down my book in a pet ; then I thought 
 it was not large enough for me ; no, not large 
 enough, but now it was as if it had arms of 
 grace so wide, that it could not only enclose 
 me, but many more beside. 
 
 By these words I was sustained, yet not 
 without exceeding conflicts, for the space of 
 seven or eight weeks ; for my peace would be 
 in it, and out, sometimes twenty times a day, 
 comfort now, and trouble presently; peace 
 now, and before I could go a furlong, as full 
 of fear and guilt as ever heart could hold ; and 
 this was not gnly now and then, but my whole 
 seven weeks' experience. For this about the 
 sufficiency of grace, and that of Esau's parting 
 with his birthright, would be like a pair of 
 scales within my mind, sometimes one end 
 would be uppermost and s'ometimes again the 
 other ; according to which would be my peaCe 
 or troubles. 
 
 Therefore I did still pray to God, that he 
 would come in with his Scripture more iuUy 
 on my heart ; to wit, that he would help me 
 to apply the whole sentence, for as yet 1 
 could not; what he gave, that I gathered; 
 but further I could not go, for as yet it only 
 helped me to hope there might be mercy for 
 me, " My grace is sufficient :" and though it 
 
56 
 
 BUNYAN'S GOMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 came no farther, it answered my former ques- 
 tion ; to wit, that there was hope ; yet hecause 
 "for thee" was left out, I was not contented, 
 but prayed to God for that also. Wherefore, 
 one day, when I was in a meeting of God's 
 people, full of sadness and terror, for my fears 
 again were strong upon me, and as I was now 
 thinking my soul was never the better, but my 
 case most sad and fearful, these words did with 
 great power suddenly break in upon me, " My 
 power is sufficient for thee. My grace is suffi- 
 cient for thee. My grace is sufficient for thee," 
 three times together : and oh ! methought that 
 every word was a mighty word unto me; as 
 " my," and " grace," and " sufficient," and " for 
 thee ;" they were then, and sometimes are still, 
 far bigger than others be. 
 
 At which time my understanding was so en- 
 lightened, that I was as though I had seen the 
 Lord Jesus look down from heaven, through 
 the tiles upon me, and direct these words unto 
 me. This sent me mourning home ; it broke 
 my heart, and filled me full of joy, and laid 
 me low as the dust ; only it stayed not long 
 with me, I mean in this glory and refreshing 
 comfort ; yet it continued with me for several 
 weeks, and did encourage me to hope ; but as 
 Boon as that powerful operation of it was taken 
 from my heart, that other, abovit Esau, re- 
 turned upon me as before; so my soul did 
 hang as in a pair of scales again, sometimes 
 up, and sometimes down; now in peace, and 
 anon again in terror. 
 
 Thus I went on for many weeks, sometimes 
 comforted, and sometimes tormented ; and es- 
 pecially at some times my torment would be 
 very sore, for all those Scriptures aforenamed 
 in the Hebrews, would be set before me, as the 
 only sentences that would keep me out of 
 heaven. Then again I should begin to repent 
 that ever that thought went through me; I 
 should also think thus with myself: "Why, 
 how many Scriptures are there against me? 
 There are but three or four ; and cannot God 
 miss them, and save me for all them ? Some- 
 times again I should think, " Oh if it were not 
 for these three or four words, now how might 
 I be comforted !" And I could hardly forbear 
 at sometimes, to wish them out of the book. 
 
 Then methought I should see as if both St. 
 Peter and Paiil, and John, and all tfie writers, 
 did look with scorn' upon me, and hold me in 
 derision ; as if they had said unto me, " All 
 our words are truth, one of as much force as 
 the other ; it is not we that have cut you off, 
 but you have cast away yourself. There is 
 
 none of our sentences that you must take hold 
 upon, but these, and such as these ; it is im- 
 possible, there remains no sacrifice for sin. 
 ' And it had been better for them not to have 
 known the will of God, than after they had 
 known it to turn from the holy commandment 
 delivered unto them ; for the Scriptures cannot 
 be broken.' " 
 
 These, as the elders of the city of refuge, I 
 saw were to be judges both of my case and me, 
 while I stood with the "avenger of blood" at 
 my heels, trembling at their gate for deliver- 
 ance ; also with a thousand fears and mistrusts, 
 I doubted that he would shut me out for ever. 
 
 Thus was I confounded, not knowing what 
 to do, nor how to be satisfied in this question, 
 " Whether the Scripture could agree in the 
 salvation of my soul." I quaked at the apos- 
 tles. I knew their words were true, and that 
 they must stand for ever. 
 
 And I remember one day as I was in divers 
 frames of spirit, and considering that these 
 frames were accordiiig to the nature of several 
 Scriptures that came in upon my mind ; if this 
 of grace, then was I quiet, but if that of Esau, 
 then tormented. " Lord," thought I, "if both 
 these Scriptures should meet in my heart at 
 once, I wonder which of them would get the 
 better of me." So methought I had a longing 
 mind that they might come both together upon 
 me ; yea, I desired of God they might. 
 
 Well, about two or three days after, so they 
 did indeed; they bolted both upon me at a 
 time, and did work and struggle strongly in 
 me for awhile; at last that about Esau's birth- 
 right began to wax weak, and withdraw, and 
 vanish; and this, about the sufficiency of grace 
 prevailed with peace and joy. And as I was 
 in a muse about this thing, that Scripture came 
 in upon me, " Mercy rejoiceth over judgment." 
 
 This was a wonderment to me, yet truly I am 
 apt to think it was of God, for the word of the 
 law and wrath, must give plaice to the word of 
 life and grace; because though the word of 
 condemnation be glorious, yet the word of life 
 and salvation doth far exceed in glory. Also 
 that Moses and Ellas must both vanish and 
 leave Christ and his saints alone. 
 
 This Scripture did also most sweetly visit 
 my soul, "And him that cometh unto me, I 
 will in no wise cast out." Oh I the comfort I 
 had from this word "in nowise!" As who 
 should say, " By no means, for nothing what- 
 ever he hath done." But Satan would greatly 
 labour to pull this promise from me, telling of 
 me, " That Christ did not mean me, and such 
 
GRACE ABOUNDING TO THE CHIEF OF SINNERS. 
 
 57 
 
 us I, hct sinners of a lower rank, that had not 
 done as I had done." But I would answer him 
 again, "Satan, here is in these words no such 
 exception," but him that comes, him, any him : 
 " Him that coraeth unto me, I will in no wise 
 cast out." And this I well remember still, 
 that of all the slights that Satan used, to take 
 this Scripture from me, yet he never did so 
 much as- put this question, "But do you come 
 aright?" And I have thought the reason was, 
 because he thought I knew full well what com- 
 ing aright was ; for I saw that to come aright, 
 was to come as I was, a vile and ungodly sin- 
 ner, and so cast myself at the feet of mercy, 
 condemning myself for sin. If ever Satan 
 and I did strive for any word of God in all my 
 life, it was for this good word of Christ ; he at 
 one end, and I at the other : Oh, wtat work 
 we made ! It was for this in John, say, that 
 we did so tug and strive, he pulled, and I 
 pulled ; but God be praised, I overcame him ; 
 I got sweetness from it. 
 
 •But notwithstanding all these helps, and 
 blessed words of grace, yet that of Eaau's sell- 
 ing his birthright, would still, at times, distress 
 my conscience ; for though I had been most 
 sweetly comforted, and that but just before, yet 
 when that came into my mind, it would make 
 me fear again ; I conld not be quite rid thereof, 
 it would every day be with me. Wherefore 
 now I went another way to work, even to con- 
 sider the nature of this blasphemous thought ; 
 I mean, if I should take the words at the 
 largest, and give them their own natural force 
 and scope, even every word therein : so when I 
 had thus considered, I found, that if they were 
 fairly taken, they would amount to this : 
 " That I had freely left the Lord Jesus Christ 
 to his choice, whether he would be my Saviour 
 or no;" for the wicked words were these, "Let 
 him go if he will." Then that Scripture gave 
 me hope, " I will never leave thee nor forsake 
 thee." " O Lord, said I, but I have left thee." 
 Then it answered again, " But I will not leave 
 thee." For this I thanked God also. 
 
 Yet I was grievously afraid he should, and 
 found it exceeding hard to trust him ; seeing 
 I had so offended him ; I could have been ex- 
 ceeding glad that this thought had never be- 
 fallen ; foi then I thought I could with more 
 ease and freedom abundance, have leaned on 
 his grace. I see it was with me, as it was 
 with Joseph's brethren ; the guilt of their own 
 wickedness did often fill them with fears that 
 their brother would at last despise them. 
 
 Yet above ^ll the Scriptures that I yet did 
 
 meet with, that in Joshua xx. was the gieatest 
 comfort to me, which speaks of the slayer that 
 was to flee for refuge, " And if the avenger of 
 blood pursue the slayer, then, saith Moses, they 
 that are the elders of the city of refuge shall 
 not deliver him into his hands, because he smote 
 his neighbour unwittingly, and hated him not 
 aforetime." Oh I blessed be God for liis word ; 
 I was convinced that I was the slayer ; and that 
 the avenger of blood pursued me, I felt with 
 great terror ; only now it remained that I In- 
 quire, whether I have right to enter the city 
 of refuge : so I found that he must not, " who 
 lay in wait to shed blood." It was not the wil- 
 ful murderer, but he who .unwittingly did it, 
 he who did it unawares ; not out of spite, oi 
 grudge, or malice, he that shed it unwittingly : 
 even he who did not hate his neighbour before. 
 Wherefore, 
 
 I thought verily I was the man that must en- 
 ter, because I had slain my neighbour " unwit- 
 tingly, and hated hinl not aforetime." I hated 
 him not aforetime ; no, I prayed unto him, was 
 tender of sinning against him ; yea, and against 
 this wicked temptation I had strove for twelve 
 months before ; yea, and also when it did pass 
 through my heart, it did in spite of my teeth. 
 Wherefore I thought I had a right to enter this 
 city, and the elders, which are the apostles, 
 were not to deliver me up. This, therefore, 
 was great comfort to me, and gave me much 
 ground of hope. 
 
 Yet being very critical, for my smart had 
 made me that I knew not what ground was 
 sure enough to bear me, I had one question 
 that my soul did much desire to be resolved 
 about ; and that was, " Whether it be possible 
 for any soul that hath sinned the unpardonable 
 sin, yet after that to receive, though but the 
 least true spiritual comfort from God through 
 Christ?" The which, after I had much con- 
 sidered, I found the answer was, "No, they 
 could not ; " and that for these reasons : 
 
 First, Because those that have sinned that 
 sin, they are debarred a share of the blood of 
 Christ, and being shut out of that, they must 
 needs be void of the least ground of hope, and 
 so of spiritual comfcrt, " For to such there re- 
 mains no more sacrifice for sin." Secondly, 
 Because they are denied a share in the promise 
 of life : ".They shall never be forgiven, neither 
 in this world, nor in that which is to come." 
 Thirdly, The Son of God excludes them also 
 from a share in his blessed intercession, being 
 for ever ashamed to own tHem, both before his 
 holy Father and the blessed angels in heaven. 
 
58 
 
 JBUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 When I had with much deliberation consid- 
 ered of this matter, and could not but conclude 
 that the Lord had comforted me, and that too 
 after my wicked sin ; then methought I durst 
 venture to come nigh unto those most fearful 
 and terrible Scriptures, with which all this 
 while I had been so greatly affrighted, and on 
 whi(,h indeed, before I durst scarce cast mine 
 eye, (yea, had much ado an hundred times, to 
 forbear wishing them out of the Bible,) for I 
 thought they would destroy me ; but now, I say, 
 I began to take some encouragement, to come 
 close to them, to read them, and consider them, 
 and to weigh their scope and tendency. 
 
 The which when I began to do, I found my 
 visage changed ; for they looked not so grimly, 
 as before I thought they did ; and first I came 
 to the 6th of the Hebrews, yet trembling for 
 fear it should strike me; which when I had 
 considered, I found that the falling there in- 
 tended, was a falling quite away ; that is as I 
 conceived, a falling frofti, and absolutely de- 
 nying of the Gospel, of remission of sins by 
 Jesus Christ ; for, from them the apostle begins 
 this argument. Secondly, I found that this 
 falling away, must be openly, even in the view 
 of the world, even so as to " put Christ to an open 
 shame." Thirdly, I found that those he there 
 intended, were for ever shut up of God, both 
 in blindness, hardness and impenitency : " It is 
 impossible they should be renewed again unto 
 repentance.'' By all these particulars, I found 
 to God's everlasting praise, my sin was not the 
 sin intended. 
 
 First, I confessed I was fallen, but not fallen 
 away, that is, from the profession of faith in 
 Jesus unto eternal life. 
 
 Secondly, I confessed that I had put Jesus 
 Christ to shame by my sin, but not to open 
 shame; I did not deny him before men, nor 
 condemn him as a fruitless one before the 
 world. 
 
 Thirdly, Nor did I find that God had shut 
 me up, or denied me to come (though I find it 
 hard work indeed to come) to him by sorrow 
 and repentance ; blessed be God for unsearch- 
 able grace. 
 
 Then I considered that in the 10th chapter 
 of the Hebrews, and found that the wilful sin 
 there mentioned is not every wilful sin, but 
 that which doth throw ofi" Christ, and then his 
 commandments too. Secondly, that must be 
 done also openly, before two or three witnesses, 
 to answer that of the law. Thirdly, this sin 
 cannot be committed, but with great despite 
 done to the Spirit of grace ; despising both the 
 
 dissuasions from that sin, and the persuasions 
 to the contrary. But the Lord knows, though 
 this my sin was devilish, yet it did not amount 
 to these. 
 
 And as touching that in the 12th chapter of 
 the Hebrews, about Esau's selling his birth- 
 right ; though this was that which killed me, 
 and stood like a spear against me, yet now did 
 I consider. First, That his was not a hasty 
 thought against the continual labour of his 
 mind, but a thought consented to, and put in 
 practice likewise, and that after some deliber- 
 ation. Secondly, It was a public and open 
 action, even before his brother, if not before 
 many more ; this made his sin of a far more 
 heinous nature than otherwise it would have 
 been. Thirdly, He continued to slight hia 
 birthright; he did eat and drink, and went his 
 way : thus Esau despised his birthright ; yea, 
 twenty years after he was found to despise it 
 still. And Esau said,^"I have enough, my 
 brother, keep that thou hast thyself." 
 
 Now as touching this, that Esau sought a 
 place of repentance; this I thought: First, 
 This was not iJie birthright, but the blessing ; 
 this is clear from the apostle and is distin- 
 guished by Esau himself; "He hath taken 
 away my birthright, (that is, formerly,) and 
 now he hath taken away my blessing also." 
 Secondly, Now this being thus considered, I 
 came again to the apostle, to see what might 
 be the mind of God, in the New Testament 
 style and sense concerning Esau's sin ; and so 
 far as I can conceive, this was the mind of 
 God, that the birthright signified regeneration ; 
 and the blessing, the eternal inheritance ; for 
 so the apostle seems to hint : " Lest there be 
 any profane person, as Esau, who for a morsel 
 of meat sold his birthright ;" as if he should 
 say, that shall cast off all those blessed begin- 
 nings of God that at present are upon him, in 
 order to a new birth ; lest they become as 
 Esau, even be rejected afterwards, when they 
 should inherit the blessing. 
 
 For many there are, who in the day of grace 
 and mercy, despise those things which are in- 
 deed the birthright to heaven, who yet when 
 the declining days appear, will cry as loud as 
 Esau, " Lord, Lord, open unto us," but then, 
 as Isaac would not repent, no more will God 
 the Father, but will say, " I have blessed these, 
 yea, and they shall be blessed ;" but as for you, 
 " depart, you are workers of iniquity." 
 
 When I had thus considered these Scrip- 
 tures, and found that thus to understand them, 
 was not against, but according to other Scrip- 
 
GRACE ABOUNDING TO THE CHIEF OF SINNERS. 
 
 59 
 
 tures, tills still added further to my encourager 
 ment and comfort, and also gave a great blow 
 to that objection, to wit, " That tlie Scriptures 
 could not agree in the salvation of my soul." 
 And now remained only the hinder part of the 
 tempest, for the thunder was gone beyond me, 
 only some drops did still remain, that now and 
 then would fall upon me; but because my 
 former frights and anguish were very sore 
 and de»,p, therefore it oft befell me still, as' it 
 befiilleth those that have been scared with the 
 fire, I thought every voice was Fire I Fire I 
 Every little touch would hurt my tender 
 conscience. 
 
 But one day, as I was passing into the field, 
 and that too with some dashes on my con- 
 science, fearing lest yet all was not right, sud- 
 denly this sentence fell upon my ^ul, " Thy 
 righteousness is in heaven;" and methought 
 withal, J saw with the eyes of my soul, Jesus 
 Christ at God's right hand ; there, I say, as 
 my righteousness ; so that wherever I was, or 
 whatever I was doing, God could not say to 
 me, "He wants my righteousness," for that 
 was just before him. I also saw moreover, 
 that it was not my good frame of heart that 
 made my righteousness better, nor yet my 
 bad frame that made my righteousness worse ; 
 for my righteousness was Jesus Christ him- 
 self, "the same yesterday, to-day and for 
 ever," * , 
 
 Now did my chains fall off my legs indeed ; 
 I was loosed from my afflictions and irons ; my 
 temptations also fled away ; so that from that 
 time those dreadful Scriptures of God left off 
 to trouble me : now went I also home rejoicing, 
 for the grace and love of God ; so when I came 
 home, I looked to see if I could find that sen- 
 tence, " Thy righteousness is in heaven," but 
 could not find such a saying; wherefore my 
 heart began to sink again, only that was 
 brought to my remembrance, " He is ,made 
 unto us of God, wisdom, righteousness, sanc- 
 tification, and redemption." By this word I 
 saw the other sentence true. 
 
 Fctt: by this Scripture I saw that the man 
 •Christ Jesus, as he ia distinct from us, as 
 touching his bodily presence, so he is our 
 righteousness and sanctification before God. 
 Here therefore I lived, for some time, very 
 sweetly at peace with God through Christ. 
 Oh ! methought, Christ 1 Christ I there was 
 nothing but Christ that was before my eyes : I 
 was now only for looking upon this and the 
 other benefits of Christ apart, as of his blood, 
 burial, or his resurrection, but considering 
 
 him as a whole Christ! as he in whom all 
 these, and all other virtues, relations, offices, 
 and operations met together, and that he sat 
 on the right hand of God in heaven. 
 , 'Twas glorious to me to see his exaltation, 
 and the worth and prevalency of all his bene- 
 fits, and that because now I could look from 
 myself to him, and would reckon, that all 
 those graces of God that now were green on 
 me, were yet but like those cracked groats and 
 four-pence-half-pennies that rich men carry 
 in their purses, when their gold is in theii 
 trunks at home : Oh ! I saw my gold was in 
 my trunk at home! In Christ my Lord and 
 Saviour. Now Christ was all ; all my right- 
 eousness, all my sanctification, and all my 
 redemption. 
 
 Further, the Lord did also lead me into the 
 mystery of the union with the Son of God, 
 that I was joined to him, and that I was flesh 
 of his flesh, and bone of his bone, and now was 
 that a sweet word unto me, in Ephes. v. 30. 
 By this also was my faith in him, as my right- 
 eousness, the more confirmed in me ; for if ho 
 and I were one, then his righteousness was 
 mine, his merits mine, his victory also mine. 
 Now I could see myself in heaven and earth at 
 once, in heaven by my Christ, by my head, by 
 my righteousness and life, though on earth by 
 body or person. 
 
 Now I saw Christ Jesus was looked upon of 
 God; and should also be looked upon by us, 
 as that common or public person, in whom the 
 whole body of his elect are always to be con- 
 sidered and reckoned; that we fulfilled the law; 
 by him, died by him, rose from the dead by 
 him, got the victory over sin, death, and hell, 
 by him ; when he died, we died; and so of his 
 resurrection. "Thy dead men shall live to- 
 gether, with my dead body shall they arise," 
 saith he. And again, " After two days he will 
 revive us, and the third day we shall live in 
 his sight." Which is now fulfilled by the 
 sitting down of the Son of man on the right 
 hand of the Majesty in the heavens, according 
 to that of the Ephesians, "He hath raised us 
 up together, and made us sit together in 
 heavenly places in Christ Jesus." 
 
 Ah ! these blessed considerations and Scrip- 
 tures, with many others of like nature, were 
 in those days made to spangle in mine eye, so 
 that I have cause to say, "Praise ye the Lord 
 God in his sanctuary, praise him in the firma- 
 ment of his power': praise him for his mighty 
 acts; praise him according to his excellent 
 
60 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Having thus in a few words given you a taste 
 of tlie sorrow and affliction tliat my soul went 
 under, by tlie guilt and terror that these my 
 wicked thoughts did lay me under; and having 
 given you also a touch of my deliverance there- 
 from, and of the sweet and blessed comfort I 
 met with afterward, which comfort dwelt 
 above a twelve-month with my heart, to my 
 unspeakable admiration; I will now, (God 
 willing,) before I proceed any further, give 
 you in a word or two, what as I conceive, was 
 the eaise of this temptation; and also after 
 that, what advantage at the last, it became 
 onto my soul. 
 
 For the causes, I conceived they were princi- 
 pally two ; of which two also I was deeply con- 
 vinced all, the time this trouble lay upon me. 
 The first was, -for that I did not, when I was 
 delivered from the temptation that went before, 
 still pray to God to keep me from the tempta- 
 tions that were tp come ; for though, as I can 
 say in truth, my soul was much in prayer be- 
 fore this trial seized me; yet then I prayed oijly, 
 or at the most principally, for the removal of 
 present troubles, and for fresh discoveries of 
 his love in Christ, which I saw afterward was 
 not enough to do ; I also should have prayed 
 that the great God would keep me from the 
 evil that was to come. 
 
 Of this I was made deeply sensible by the 
 prayer of holy David, who, when he was under 
 present mercy, yet prayed that God would hold 
 him back from sin and temptation to come ; 
 "For then," said he, "shall I be upright, and 
 , I shall be innocent of the great transgression.'' 
 By this very word was I galled and condemned 
 quite through this long temptation. 
 
 That was also another word that did much 
 condemn me for my folly, in the neglect of 
 this duty : " Let us therefore come boldly unto 
 the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, 
 and find grace to help in time of need." This 
 I had not done, and therefore was suffered to 
 sin and fall, according to what is written, 
 " Pray that ye may not enter into temptation." 
 And truly this very thing is to this day of such 
 weight aijd awe upon me, that I dare not, when 
 I come before the Lord, go off my knees, until 
 I entreat him for help and mercy against the 
 temptations that are to come ; and I do beseech 
 thee, reader, that thou learn to beware of my 
 negligence, by the afflictions, that for this thing 
 I did for days, and months, and years, with 
 sorrow undergo. 
 
 Another' cause of this temptation was, that I 
 had tempted God; and on this manner did I do 
 
 it: Upon a time my wife was great with GtiiW, 
 and before her full time was come, her pangs, 
 as of a woman in travail, were fierce and strong 
 upon her, even as if she would have immedi 
 ately fallen in labour, and been delivered of 
 an untimely birth; now at this very time it 
 was, that I had been so strongly tempted to 
 question the being of God ; wherefore, as my 
 wife lay crying by me, I said, but with all 
 se?!recy imaginable, even thinking in my heart, 
 " Lord, if now thou wilt remove this sad afflic- 
 tion from my wife, and cause that she be trou- 
 bled no more therewith this night, (and now 
 were her pangs just upon her,) then I shall 
 know that thou canst discern the most secret 
 thoughts of the heart." 
 
 I had no sooner said it in my heart, but her 
 pangs were taken from her, and she was cast 
 into a deep sleep, and so continued till morn- 
 ing ; at this I greatly marvelled, not knowing 
 what to think : but after I had been awake a 
 good while and heard her cry no more, I fell 
 asleep also ; so when I awaked in the morning, 
 it came upon me again, even what I had said 
 in my heart the last night, apd how the Lord 
 had showed me, that he knew my secret 
 thoughts, which was a great astonishment unto 
 me for several weeks after. 
 
 Well, about a year and a half afterward, that 
 wicked and sinful thought, of which I have 
 spoken before, went through my wicked heart, 
 even this thought, "Let Christ go if he will:" 
 so when I had fallen under guilt for this, the 
 remembrance of my other thought, and of the 
 effect thereof, would also come upon me with 
 this retort, which also carried rebuke along 
 with it, "Now you may see that God doth 
 know the most secret thoughts of the heart." 
 
 And with this, that of the passages that 
 were betwixt the Lord and his servant Gideon 
 fell upon my spirit; how because, that Gideon 
 tempted God with his fleece, both wet and dry, 
 when he should have believed and ventured 
 upon his words; therefore the Lord did after- 
 ward so try him, as to send him against an in- 
 numerable company of enemies, and that too, 
 as to outward appearance, without any strengtK 
 or help. Thus he served me, and that justly; 
 for I should have believed his word, and not 
 have put an if upon the all-seeingness of God. 
 
 And now to show you something of the ad- 
 vantages that I also have gained by this temp- 
 tation: And, first, by this I was made con- 
 tinually to possess in my soul a very wonderful 
 sense both of the bjessing and glory of God, 
 and of his beloved Son ; in the temptation that 
 
a RACE ABOUNDING TO THE CHIEF OF SINNERS 
 
 Gl 
 
 went before, my soul was perplexed with un- 
 belief, blasphemy, hardness of heart, questions 
 about the being of God, Christ, the truth of 
 the word, and certainty of the world to come ; 
 I say, then I was greatly assaulted and tor- 
 mented with atheism, but now the case was 
 otherwise ; now was God and Christ continu- 
 ally before my face, though not in a way of 
 comfort, but in a way of exceeding dread and 
 terror. The glory of the holiness of God, did 
 at this time break me to pieces ; and the bowels 
 and compassion of Christ did break me as on 
 ' the wheel ; for I could not consider him but as a 
 lost and rejected Christ, the remembrance of 
 which was as the continual breaking of my 
 bones. 
 
 The Scriptures also were wonderful things 
 unto me ; I saw that the truth and veritv of them 
 were the keys of the kingdom of heaven ; those 
 that the Scriptures favour, they must inherit 
 bliss ; but those that they oppose and condemn, 
 must perish for evermore. Oh! this word, 
 " For the Scriptures cannot be broken," would 
 rend the caul of my heart; and so would that 
 other, " Whose sins ye remit, they are remitted; 
 but whose sins ye retain, they are retained." 
 Now I saw the apostles to be the elders of the 
 city of refuge, those that they were to receive 
 in, were received to life; but those that they 
 shut out were to be slain by the avenger of 
 blood. ^ 
 
 Oh I one sentence of the Scripture did more 
 afflict and terrify my mind, I mean those sen- 
 tences that stood against me, (as sometimes I 
 thought every one of them did,) more, I say, 
 than any army of forty thousand men that 
 might come against me. Woe be to him 
 against whom the Scriptures bend themselves ! 
 
 By this temptation I was made to see more 
 into the nature of the promises than ever I had 
 before; for I lay now trembling under the 
 mighty hand of God, continually torn and rent 
 by 'ize thundering of his justice; this made 
 me nith careful heart, and watchful eye, with 
 great fearfulness to turn over every leaf, and 
 with much diligence mixed with trembling, to 
 consider every sentence, together with its nat- 
 ural force and latitude. 
 
 By this temptation also I was greatly holden 
 off from my former foolish practice of putting 
 by the word of promise when it came into my 
 mind; for now, though I could not suck that 
 comfort and sweetness from the promise, as I 
 had done at other times, yet like to a man sink- 
 ing, I would catch at all I saw. Formerly I 
 thought I might not meddle with the promise. 
 
 unless I felt its comfort, but now It was time 
 thus to do; the avenger of blood too hardly 
 did pursue me. 
 
 Now therefore was I glad to catch at that 
 word, which yet I feared I had no ground or 
 right to own ; and even to leap into the bosom 
 of that promise, that yet I feared did shut ita 
 ^leart against me. Now also I would labour to 
 take the word as God hath laid it down, with- 
 out restraining the natural force of one syllable 
 thereof. Oh ! what did I see in that blessed 6th 
 chapter of St. John: "And him that comeih 
 unto, me, I will in no wise cast out." Now I 
 began to consider that God hath a bigger mouth 
 to speak with, than I had a heart to conceive 
 with ; I thought also with myself, that he spake 
 not his words in haste, or in an •unadvised 
 heat, but with infinite wisdom and judgment, 
 and in very truth and faithfulness. (2 Sam. iii. 
 28.) 
 
 I would in these days, often in my greatest 
 agonies, even flounce towards the promise, as 
 the horses do towards sound ground that yet 
 stick in the mire; concluding, though as one 
 almost bereft of his wits through fear, on this 
 will I rest and stay, and leave the fulfilling of 
 it to the God of heaven that made it. Ohl 
 many a pull hath my heart had with Satan, for 
 that blessed 6th chapter of St. John. I did not 
 now, as at other times, look princiijally for 
 comfort, though, oh, how welcome would it 
 have been unto me ! - But now a word, a word 
 to lean a weary soul upon, that it might not 
 sink for ever ! it was that I hunted for. 
 
 Yea, often when I have been making to the 
 promise, I have seen as if the Lord would re- 
 fuse my soul for ever, I was often as if I had 
 run upon the pikes, and as if the Lord had 
 thrust at me, to keep me from him, as with a 
 flaming sword. Then would I think of Esther, 
 who went to petition the king contrary to law. 
 (Esther iv. 16.) I thought also of Benhadad's 
 servants, who went with ropes upon their heads 
 to their enemies for mercy, (1 Kings xjx. 31.) 
 &c. The woman of Canaan also, that would 
 not be daunted, though called dog by Christ, 
 (Matt. XV. 22,) &c., and the man that went to 
 borrow bread at midnight, (L'uke i. 5, 6, 7, 8,) 
 &c., were also great encouragement to me. 
 
 I never saw those heights and depths in grace, 
 and love, and mercy, as I saw after this temp- 
 tation ; great sins do draw out great grace ; and 
 where guilt is most terrible and fierce, there 
 the mercy of God in Christ, when showed to 
 the soul, appears most high and mighty. When 
 Job had passed through his captivitv, he had 
 
62 
 
 SUNYAN'S COMPLETE WOBKS. 
 
 twice as mucli as lie had before. (Job xlii. 13.) 
 Blessed be God for Jesus Christ our Lord. 
 Many other things I might here make observa- 
 tion of, but I would be brief, and therefore 
 shall at this time omit them ; and do pray God 
 that my harms may make others fear to offend, 
 lest they also be made to bear the iron yoke as 
 I did. I had two or three times, at or about 
 my deliverance from this temptation, such 
 strange apprehensions of the grace of God, 
 that I could hardly bear up under it ; it was 
 BO out of measure amazing, when I thought it 
 could reach me, that I do think if that sense 
 had abode long upon me, it would have made 
 me incapable for business. 
 
 Now I shall go forward to give you a relation 
 of other of the Lord's dealings with me at 
 sundry other seasons, and of the temptations I 
 then did meet withal. I shall begin mth what 
 I met with when first I did join in fellowship 
 with the people of God in Bedford. After I 
 had propounded to the church, that my desire 
 was to walk in the order and ordinances of 
 Christ with them, and was also admitted by 
 them ; while I thought of that blessed ordi- 
 nance of Christ, which was his last supper 
 with his disciples before his death, that Scrip- 
 ture, " Do this in remembrance of me," was a 
 very precious word unto me; for by it the 
 Lord did come down upon my conscience with 
 the discovery of his death for my sins ; and as 
 I then felt, did as if he plunged me in the 
 virtue of the same. But behold, I had not 
 been long a partaker at that ordinance, but 
 such iie^rce and sad temptation did attend me 
 at all times therein, both to blaspheme the or- 
 dinance, and to wish some deadly thing to those 
 that then did eat thereof; that lest I should 
 at any time be guilty of consenting to these 
 wicked and fearful thoughts, I was forced to 
 bend myself all the while, to pray to God to 
 keep me from such blasphemies ; and also to 
 cry to God to bless the bread and cup to them, 
 as it were from mouth to mouth. The reason 
 of this temptation, I have thought since, 
 was because I did not with that reverence 
 that became me, at first approach to partake 
 thereof. 
 
 Thus I continued for three quarters of a 
 year, and could never have rest nor ease ; but 
 at last the Lord came in upon my soul with 
 that same Scripture, by which my soul was 
 visited before; and after that, I have been 
 usually very weU and comfortable in the par- 
 taking of that blessed ordinance ; and have, I 
 trust, therein discerned the Lord's body, as 
 
 broken for my sins, and that his preoioiis 
 blood had been shed for my transgressions. 
 
 Upon a time I was something inclining to a 
 consumption, wherewith about the spring I 
 was suddenly and violently seized, with much 
 weakness in my outward man ; insomuch that 
 I thought I could not live. Now began I 
 afresh to give myself up to a serious examina,- 
 tion after my state and condition for the 
 future, and of my evidences for that blessed 
 world to come ; for it hath, I blfess the name 
 of God, been my usual course, as always, so 
 especially in the day of affliction, to endeavour 
 to keep my interest in the life to come, clear 
 before mine eyes. 
 
 But I had no sooner began to recall to mind 
 my former experience of the goodness of God 
 to my soul, but there came flocking, into my 
 mind an innumerable company of my sins 
 and transgressions ; amongst which these were 
 at this time most to my affliction, namely, my 
 deadness, dulness, and coldness in my holy 
 duties; my wanderings of heart, my weari- 
 someness in all good things, my want of love 
 to God, his ways and people, with this at the 
 end of all, "Are these the fruits of Chris- 
 tianity? Are these the tokens of a blessed 
 man ?" 
 
 At the apprehensions of these things my 
 sickness was doubled upon me, for now I was ■ 
 sick in my inward man, my soul was clogged 
 with guilt; now also was my former experi- 
 ence of God's goodness to me, quite taken out 
 of my mind, and hid as if they had never been, 
 or seen; now was my soul greatly pinched 
 between these two considerations, "Live I 
 must not, die I dare not." Now I sunk and 
 fell in my spirit, and was giving up all for 
 lost; but as I was walking up and down in the 
 house, as a man in a most woeful state, that 
 word of God took hold of my heart, " Ye are 
 justified freely by his grace, through the re- 
 demption that is in Christ Jesus." But oh I 
 what a turn it made upon me I 
 
 Now was I as one awaked -out of some 
 troublesome sleep and dream; and listening 
 to this heavenly sentence, I was as if I had 
 heard it thus spoken to me: "Sinner, thou 
 thinkest, that because of thy sins and infirmi- 
 ties, I cannot save thy soul; but behold, my 
 Son is by me, and upon him I look, and not 
 on thee, and shall deal with thee according as 
 I am pleased with him." At this I was greatly 
 enlightened in my mind, and made to under- 
 stand, that if God could justify a sinner at any 
 time, it was but his looking upon Christ, and 
 
GRACE ABOUNDING TO THE CHIEF OF SINNERS. 
 
 63 
 
 Imputing of his benefits to us, and the work 
 was forthwith done. 
 
 And as I was thus in a muse, that Scripture 
 also came with great power upon my spirit, 
 " Not by the works of righteousness that we 
 have done, but according to his mercy he hath 
 saved us." Now was I got on high, I saw my- 
 self within the arms of grace and mercy; and 
 though I was before afraid to think of a dying 
 hour, yet, now I cried, " Let me die." Now 
 death was lovely and beautiful in my sight, 
 for I saw, " We shall never live indeed, till we 
 be gone to the other world." Oh I methought 
 this life is but a slumber, in comparison with 
 that above. At this time also I saw more in 
 these words, " Heirs of God," than ever I shall 
 be able to express while I live in this world. 
 " Heirs of God I" God himself is the portion 
 of the saints. This I saw and wondered at, 
 but cannot tell you what I saw. 
 
 Again, I was at another time very ill and 
 weak, all that time also the tempter did beset 
 me strongly, (for I find that he is much for 
 assaulting the soul when it begins to approach 
 towards the grave; then is his opportunity,) 
 labouring to hide from me my former experi- 
 ence of God's goodness : also setting before me 
 the terrors of death, and the judgment of God, 
 insomuch that at this time, through my fear 
 of miscarrying for ever, (should I now die,) I 
 was as one dead before death came, and was 
 as if I had felt myself already descending into 
 the pit ; methought I said, there was no way, 
 but to hell I must ; but behold, just as I was 
 in the midst of those fears, these words of the 
 angel's carrying Lazarus into Abraham's bosom 
 darted in upon me, as who should say, " So it 
 shall be with thee when thou dost leave this 
 world." This did sweetly revive my spirits, 
 and help me to hope in God ; which when I 
 had with comfort mused on a w hile, that word 
 fell with great weight upon my mind, "O 
 death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is 
 thy victory?" At this I became both well in 
 my body and • mind at once, for my sickness 
 did presently vanish, and I walked comfort- 
 ably in my work for God again. 
 
 At another time, though just before I was 
 pretty well and savoury in my spirit, yet sud- 
 denly there fell upon me a great cloud of 
 darkness, which did so hide from me the 
 things of God and Christ, that I was as if I 
 had never seen or known them in my life I 
 was also so overrun in my soul with a sense- 
 
 less, heartless frame of spirit, that I could nof 
 feel my soul to move or stir after grace and 
 life by Christ; I was as if my loins were 
 broken, or as if my hands and feet had been 
 tied or bound with chains. At this time also 
 I felt some weakness to seize upon my out- 
 ward man, which made stiU the other afflic- 
 tion the more heavy and uncomfortable to 
 me. 
 
 After I had been in this condition some 
 three or four days, as I was sitting by the fire, 
 I suddenly felt this word to sound in my heart, 
 " I must go to Jesus," at this my former dark- 
 ness and atheism fled away, and the blessed 
 things of heaven were set within my view. 
 While I was on this sudden thus overtaken 
 with surprise, " Wife,'' said I, " is there ever 
 such a Scripture, ' I must go to Jesus?' " She 
 said she could not tell; therefore I stood 
 musing still, to see if I could remember such 
 a place; I had not sat above two or three 
 minutes, but that came bolting in upon me, 
 " And to an innumerable company of angels ;" 
 and withal the 12th chapter of Hebrews, 
 about the Mount Sion was set before mine 
 eyes. 
 
 Then with joy I told my wife, " Oh ! now I 
 know, I know 1 " But that night was a good 
 night to me, I never had but few better ; I long- 
 ed for the company of some of God's people, 
 that I might have imparted unto them what 
 God had showed me. Christ was a precious 
 Christ to my soul that night; I could scarce lie 
 in my bed for joy, and peace, and triumph, 
 through Christ. This great glory did not con- 
 tinue upon me until morning, yet the 12th 
 chapter of the Hebrews was a blessed Scrip- 
 ture to me for many days together after this. 
 
 The words are these: "Ye are come to 
 Mount Sion, to the city of the living God, to 
 the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumer- 
 able company of angels, to the general assembly 
 and church of the first-born, which are written 
 in heaven ; to God the Judge of all, and to the 
 spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus, 
 the Mediator of the New Testament, and to 
 the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better 
 things than that of Abel." Through this sen- 
 tence the Lord led me over and over, first to 
 this word, and then to that; and showed me 
 wonderful glory in every one of them. These 
 words also have oft since that time, been great 
 refreshment to my spirit. Blessed be God for 
 having mercy on me I 
 
A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE AUTHOR'S CALL TO THE WORK 
 
 OF THE MINISTRY. 
 
 And now I am speaking my experience, I 
 will in this place thrust in a word or two con- 
 cerning my preaching the word, and of God's 
 dealing with me in that particular also. After 
 I had been about five or six years awakened, 
 and helped myself to see both the want and 
 worth of Jesus Christ our Lord, and also en- 
 abled to venture my soul upon him ; some of 
 the most able among the saints with us, I say, 
 the most able for judgment and holiness of life, 
 as they conceived, did perceive that God had 
 counted me worthy to understand something 
 of his will in his holy and blessed word, and 
 had given me utterance in some measure, to 
 express what I saw to others, for edification ; 
 therefore they desired me, and that with much 
 earnestness, that I would be willing at some- 
 times, to take in hand, in one of the meetings, 
 to speak a word of exhortation unto them. 
 
 To which, though at the first it did much 
 dash, and abash my spirit, yet being still by 
 them desired and entreated, I consented to 
 their request, and did twice, at two several as- 
 semblies, but in private, though with much 
 weakness and infirmity, discover my gift 
 amongst them ; at which they not only seemed 
 to be, but did solemnly protest, as in the sight 
 of the great God, they were both aflfected and 
 comforted ; and gave thanks to the Father of 
 mercies, for the grace bestowed on me. 
 
 After this, sometimes, when some of them 
 did go into the country to teach, they would 
 also that I should go with them ; where, though 
 as yet, I did not, nor durst not, make use of 
 my gift in an open way, yet more privately, 
 still, as I came amongst the good people in 
 those places, I did sometimes speak a word of 
 admonition unto them also, the which they, as 
 the other, received with rejoicing at the mercy 
 of God to me-ward, professing their souls were 
 edified thereby. 
 
 Wherefore to be brief, at last, being still de- 
 M 
 
 sired by the church, after some solemn prayer 
 to the Lord, with fasting, I was more particu- 
 larly called forth, and appointed to a more or- 
 dinary and public preaching of the word, not 
 only to and amongst them that believed, but 
 also to offer the Gospel to those who had not 
 yet received the faith thereof; about which 
 time I did evidently find in my mind a secret 
 pricking forward thereto ; though I bless God, 
 not for desire of vain glory, for at that time 1 
 was most sorely afilicted with the fiery darts of 
 the devil, concerning my eternal state. 
 
 But yet I could not be content, unless I was 
 found in the exercise of my gift, unto which 
 also I was greatly animated, not only by the 
 continual desires of the godly, but also by that 
 saying of Paul to the Corinthians : " I beseech 
 you, brethren, (ye know the household of Ste- 
 phanus, that it is the first fruits of Achaia, 
 that they have addicted themselves to the min- 
 istry of the saints,) that ye submit yourselves 
 unto such, and to every one that helpeth with 
 us, and laboureth." 
 
 By this text I was made to see that the Holy 
 Ghost never intended that men who have gifts 
 and abilities, should bury them in the earth, 
 but rather did command and stir up such to the 
 exercise of their gift, and also did commend _ 
 those that were apt and ready so to do. " They 
 have addicted themselves to the ministry (\f 
 the saints." This Scripture, in these days, did 
 continually run in my mind, to encourage me, 
 and strengthen me in this my work for God. 
 I have also been encouraged from several other 
 Scriptures and examples of the godly, both 
 specified in the word, and other ancient histo-, 
 ries. (Acts viii. 4, and xviii. 24, 25. 1 Peter 
 iv. 10. Kom. xii. 6. Fox's Acts and Monu- 
 ments.) 
 
 Wherefore, though of myself of all the saints 
 the most unworthy, yet I, but with great lear 
 and trembling at ^le sight of my own weak- 
 
ACCOUNT OF THE AUTHOR'S CALL TO THE MTNISTSY. 
 
 65 
 
 ness, did set upon the work, and did according 
 to my gift, and the proportion of my faith, 
 preach that blessed Gospel that God has 
 showed me in the holy word of truth ; which 
 when the country understood, they came in to 
 hear the word by hundreds, and that from all 
 parts, though upon divers and sundry accounts. 
 
 And I thank God, that he gave unto me 
 Bonie measure of bowels and pity for their 
 BOuls, which also did put me forward to labour, 
 with great diligence and earnestness, to find 
 out such a word as might, if God would bless 
 it, lay hold of, and awaken the conscience, in 
 which also the good Lord had respect to the 
 desire of his servant ; for I had not preached 
 long, before some began to be touched and 
 greatly afflicted in thcix jaiinas at me appre- 
 hension of the greatness of their sin, and ot 
 their need ofv Jesus Christ. 
 
 But I first could not believe that God should 
 speak by me to the heart of any man, still 
 counting myself unworthy ; yet those who were 
 thus touched, would love me, and have a par- 
 ticular respect for me ; and though I did put it 
 from me, that they should be awakened, by me, 
 still they would confess it, arid affirm it before 
 the saints of God ; they would also bless God 
 for me, (unworthy wretch that I am !) and 
 count me God's instrument that showed to 
 them the way of salvation. 
 
 Wherefore seeing them in both their words 
 and deeds to be so constant, and also in their 
 hearts so earnestly pressing after the know- 
 ledge of Jesus Christ, rejoicing that ever God 
 did send me where they were ; then began I to 
 conclude it might be so, that God had owned 
 in his work such a foolish one as I, and then 
 came that word of God to my heart, with much 
 sweet refreshment, " The blessing of them that 
 were ready to perish is come upon me ; yea, I 
 caused the widow's heart to sing for joy." 
 
 At this therefoKe, I rejoiced ; yea, the tears 
 of those whom God did awaken by my preach- 
 ing would be both solace and encouragement 
 to me ; I thought on those sayings, " Who is 
 he that maketh me glad, but the same that is 
 mad« sorry by me ?" And again, " Though I 
 be not an apostle to others, yet doubtless I am 
 unto you ; for the seal of my apostleship are 
 ye in the Lord." These things therefore, were 
 as another argument unto me, that God had 
 called me to, and stood by me in this work. 
 
 In my preaching of the word, I took special 
 notice of this one thing, namely, that the Lord 
 did lead me to begin where his word begins 
 with sinners ; that is, to condemn all flesh, and 
 
 to open and allege, that the curse of God by 
 the law, doth belong to, and lay hold on all 
 men as they come into the world, because of 
 sin. Now this part of my work I fulfilled 
 with great sense; for the terrors of the law, 
 and the guilt of my transgressions, lay' heavy 
 on my conscience ; I preached what I felt, what 
 I smartingly did feel ; even that under which 
 my poor soul did groan and tremble to aston- 
 ishment. 
 
 Indeed, I have been as one sent to them 
 from the dead; I went myself in chains, to 
 preach to them in chains ; and carried that fire 
 in my own conscience, that I persuaded them 
 to be aware of. I can truly say, and that with- 
 out dissembling, that when I have been to 
 preach, I have gone full of guilt and terror, 
 even to the pulpit door, and there it hath been 
 taken off, and I have been at liberty in mv 
 mind until I have done my work j and then 
 immediately, even before I could get down the 
 pulpit stairs, I have been as bad as I was be- 
 fore ; yet God carried me on, but surely with a 
 strong hand, for neither guilt nor heU could 
 take me off my work. 
 
 Thus I went on for the space of two years, 
 crj'ing out against men's sins, and their fear- 
 ful state because of them. After which the 
 Lopd came in upon my soul with some sure 
 peace and comfort through Christ ; for h^ did 
 give me many sweet discoveries of his blessed 
 grace through him. Wherefore now I altered 
 in my preaching, (for still I preached what I 
 saw and felt ;) now therefore I did much labour 
 to hold forth Jesus Christ in all his offices, re- 
 lations, and benefits unto the world, and did 
 strive also to discover, to condemn, and re- 
 move those false supports and props on which 
 the world doth lean, and by them fall and 
 perish. On these things also I stayed as long 
 as on the other. 
 
 After this, God led me into something of the 
 mystery of the union of Christ ; wherefore that 
 I discovered and showed to them also. And 
 when I had travelled through these three chief 
 points of the word of God, about the space of 
 five years or more, I was\caught in my present 
 practice, and cast into prison, where I have 
 lain above as long again to confirm the truth 
 by way of suffering, as I was before in testify- 
 ing of it according to the Scriptures, in a way 
 of preaching. 
 
 When I had been preaching, I thank God, 
 my heart hath often aU the time of this and 
 the other exercise, with great earnestness cried 
 to God that he would make the word effectual 
 
66 
 
 BVl^rAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 to the salvation of the soul ; still being grieved 
 lest the enemy should take the word away 
 from the conscience, and so it should become 
 unfruitful; wherefore I should labour so to 
 speak the word,, as that thereby, if it were pos- 
 sible, the sin and person guilty might be pai*- 
 ticularized by it. 
 
 Also when I have done the exercise, it hath 
 gone to my heart, to think the word should 
 now fall as rain on stony places; still wishing 
 from my heart. Oh, that Jihey who have heard 
 me speak this day, did but see as I do, what 
 sin, death, hell, and the curse of God is ; and 
 also what the grace, and love, and mercy of 
 God is, through Christ, to men in such a case 
 as they are, who are yet estranged from him. 
 And indeed I did often say in my heart before 
 the Lord, " That if to be hanged up presently 
 before their eyes, would be a means to awaken 
 them, and confirm them, in the truth, I gladly 
 should be contented." 
 
 For I have been in my preaching, especially 
 when I have been engaged in the doctrine of 
 life by Christ without works, as if an angel of 
 God had stood by at my back to encourage me. 
 Oh ! it hath been with such power and heav- 
 enly evidence upon my owa soul, while I have 
 been labouring to unfold it, to demonstrate it, 
 and to fasten it upon the consciences of others, 
 that I could not be contented with saying, " I 
 believe, and am sure ;" methought I was more 
 than sure, (if it be lawful to express myself,) 
 that those things which then I asserted, were 
 true. 
 
 When I first went to preach the word 
 ■ abroad, the doctors and priests of the country 
 did open wide against m(j; but I was per- 
 suaded of this, not to render railing for rail- 
 . ing ; but to see how many of their carnal pro- 
 fessors I could convince of their miserable 
 state by the law, and of the want and wprth 
 of Christ ; for, thought I, " This shall answer 
 for me in time to come, when they shall be for 
 my hire before their face." 
 
 I never cared to meddle with -things that 
 were controverted, and in dispute among the 
 saints, especially things of the lowest nature ; 
 yet it pleased me much to contend with great 
 , earnestness for the word of faith, and the re- 
 mission of sins by the death and sufferings of 
 Jesus 1 but I say, as to other things, I should 
 let them alone, because I saw they engendered 
 strife, and because that they neither in doing, 
 aor in leaving undone, did commend us to God 
 to be his ; besides, I saw my work before me 
 did run in another channel, even to carry au 
 
 awakening word ; to that therefore I did stick 
 and adhere. 
 
 I never endeavoured to, nor durst make use 
 of other men's lines, (Rom. xv. 18,) (though I 
 do not condemn all thai; do;) for I ' verily 
 thought, and found by experience, that what 
 was taught me by the word and Spirit of 
 Christ, could be spoken, maintained, and stood 
 to by the soundest and best-established con- 
 science ; and though I will not now speak all 
 that I know in this matter, yet my experience 
 hath more interest in that text of Scripture, 
 (Gal. i. 11, 12,) than many amongst men are 
 aware. 
 
 If any of those who were awakened by my 
 ministry, did after that fall back, (as some- 
 times too many did,) I can truly say, their loss 
 hath been more to me, than if my own chil- 
 dren, begotten of my own body, -had been go- 
 ing to the grave. I think verily, I may speak 
 it without any offence to the Lord, nothing has 
 gone so near me as that; unless it was the fear 
 of the loss of the salvation of my own soul. I 
 have counted as if I had goodly buildings and 
 lordships in those places where my children 
 were born: my heart hath been so wrapped 
 up in the glory of this excellent work, that I 
 counted myself more blessed and honoured of 
 God by this, than if he had made me emperor 
 of the Christian world, or the lord of all the 
 glory of the earth without it ! Oh these 
 words ! " He that converteth a sinner from 
 the error of his way, doth save a soul from 
 death. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of 
 life ; and he that winneth souls is wise. They 
 that be wise shall shine as the brightness of 
 the firmament, and they that turn many to 
 righteousness ^as the stars for ever and ever. 
 For what is our hope, our joy, or crown of re- 
 joicing? Are not ye even in the presence of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming ? For ye 
 are our glory and joy." These, I say, with 
 many others of a like nature, have been great 
 refreshments to me. 
 
 I have observed, that where I have had a 
 work to do for God, I have had first, as it were, 
 the going- of God upon my spirit, to desire I 
 might preach there : I have also observed, that 
 such and such souls in particular, have been 
 strongly set upon my heart, and I stirred up to 
 wish for their salvation ; and that these very 
 souls have, after this, been given in as the 
 fruits of my ministry. I have observed, that 
 a word cast in by the by, hath done more ex- 
 ecution in a sermon, than all that was spoken 
 besides ; sometimes also, when I have thought 
 
ACCOVNT OF THE AUTHOR'S CALL TO THE MINISTRY. 
 
 67 
 
 I did no good, then I did the most of all ; and 
 at other times, when I thought I should catch 
 them, I have fished for nothing. 
 
 I have also observed that where there has 
 been a work to do upon sinners, there the 
 devil hath begun to roar in the hearts and by 
 the mouths of his servants ; yea, often times, 
 when the wicked world hath raged most, there 
 hath been souls awakened by the word; I 
 could instance particulars, but I forbear. 
 
 My great desire in my fulfilling my ministry 
 was to get into the darkest places of the coun- 
 try, even amongst those people that were far- 
 thest off of profession ; yet not because I could 
 not endure the light, (for I feared not to show 
 ray Gospel to any,) but because I found my 
 spirit did lean most after awakening and con- 
 verting work, and the word that I carried did 
 lean itself most that way also : " Yea so have 
 I strived to preach the Gospel, not where 
 Christ was named, lest I should build upon 
 another man's foundation." 
 
 In my preaching I'have really been in pain, 
 and have as it were, travailed to bring forth 
 children to God ; neither could I be satisfied 
 unless some fruits did appear in my work. If 
 I were fruitless it mattered^ not who com- 
 mended me ; but if I were fruitful, I cared not 
 who did condemn. I have thought of that, 
 " Lo ! children are an heritage of the Lord ; 
 and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As 
 arrows in the hands of a mighty man, so are 
 children of the youth. Happy is the man 
 that hath filled his quiver full of them ; they 
 shalUnot be ashamed, but they shall speak 
 with the eneinies in the gate.'' 
 
 It pleased me nothing to see people drink in 
 my opinions, if they seemed ignorant of Jesus 
 Christ and the Worth of their own salvation, 
 sound conviction for sin,, especially unbelief, 
 and an heart set on fire to be saved by Christ, 
 with strong breathings after a truly sanctified 
 "iQul ; that it was that delighted me ; those were 
 the souls 1 counted blessed. 
 
 But in this work, as in all other, I had my 
 temptations attending me, and that of divers 
 kinds, as sometimes I should be assaulted with 
 great discouragements therein, fearing that I 
 should not be able to speak a word at all to 
 edification ; nay, that I should not be able to 
 sneak sense to the people ; at which times I 
 should have such a strange faintness and 
 strengthlessness seize upon my body, that my 
 'egs have scarce been able to carry me to the 
 place of exercise. 
 
 Sometimes again, when I have been preach- 
 
 ing, I have been violently assaulted with 
 thoughts of blasphemy, and strongly tempted 
 to speak the words with my mouth before the 
 congregation. I have also at sometimes, even 
 when I have begun to speak the word with 
 much clearness, evidence, and liberty of speech, 
 yet been before the ending of that opportunity, 
 so blinded and so estranged from the things I 
 have been speaking, and have been also so 
 sti'aitened in my speech, as to utterance before 
 the people, that I have been as if 1 had not 
 known, or remembered what I have been 
 about ; or as if my head had been in a bag all 
 the time of my exercise. 
 
 Again, when as sometimes I have been about 
 to preach upon some smart and searching por- 
 tion of the word, I have found the tempter 
 suggest, "What! will you preach this? This 
 condemns yourself; of this your own soul is 
 guilty ; wherefore, preach not of this at all ; 
 or if you do, so mince it as to make way for 
 your own escape ; lest instead of awakening 
 others, you lay that guilt upon your own soul, 
 that you will never get from under." 
 
 But I thank the Lord, I have been kept 
 from consenting to these so horrid suggestions, 
 and have, rather as Samson, bowed myself 
 with all my might, to condemn sin and trans- 
 gression wherever I found it; yea, though 
 therein also, I did bring guilt upon my own 
 conscience. Let me die, thought I, with the 
 Philistines, rather than deal corruptly with the 
 blessed word of God. " Thou that teachest 
 another, teachest not thou thyself?" It is far 
 better that thou do judge thyself, even by 
 preaching plainly to others, than thou, to save 
 thyself, imprison the truth in unrighteousness. 
 Blessed be God for help in this also. 
 
 'I have also, while found in this blessed 
 work of Christ, been often tempted to pride 
 and liftings up of heart ; and though I dare 
 not say I have not been affected with this, yet 
 truly the Lord, of his precious mercy, hath so 
 carried it towards me, that for the most part I 
 have had but small joy to give way to such a 
 thing ; for it hath been my every day's por- 
 tion, to be let into the evil of my own heart, 
 and still made to see such a multitude of cor- 
 ruptions and infirmities therein, that it hath 
 caused hanging down of the head, under all 
 my gifts and attainments. I have felt this 
 thorn in the flesh, the very mercy of God to 
 me. 
 
 I have had also together with this, some 
 notable place or other of the word presented 
 before me, which word hath contained in it 
 
68 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 some sliarp and piercing sentence concerning 
 tlie perishing of the soul, notwithstanding gifts 
 and parts ; as for instance, that hath been of 
 great use to me, " Though I speak with the 
 tongues of men and angels, and have not cha- 
 rity, I am become as a sounding brass and a 
 . tinkling cymbal." 
 
 A tinkling cymbal is an instrument of music 
 with which a skilful player can make such 
 melodious and heart-iniiaming music, that all 
 who hear him play, can scarcely hold from 
 dancing; and yet behold the cymbal hath not 
 life, neither comes the music from"~it, but be- 
 cause of the art of him that plays therewith ; 
 so then the instrument at last may come to 
 naught and perish, though in times past such 
 music hath been made upon it. 
 
 Just thus I saw it was, and will be, with 
 them that have gifts, but want saving grace ; 
 they are in the hand of Christ, as the cymbal 
 in the hand of David; and as David could 
 with the cymbal make that mirth in the ser- 
 vice of God, as to elevate the hearts of the 
 .worshippers, so Christ can use these gifted 
 men, as with them to affect the souls of his 
 people in his church ; yet when he hath done 
 all, hang them by, as lifeless, though sounding 
 cymbals. 
 
 This consideration therefore, together with 
 some others, were for the most part, as a maul 
 on the head of pride, and desire of vain glory. 
 What, thought I, shall I be proud because I 
 am a sounding brass ? Is it so much to be a 
 fiddle? Hath not the least creature that hath 
 life, mor§ of God in it than these ? Besides I 
 knew it was love should never die, but these 
 must cease and vanish ; so I concluded, a little 
 grace, a little love, a little of the true fear of 
 God, is better than all the gifts ; yea, and I am 
 fully convinced of it, that it is possible for 
 souls that can scarce give a man an answer, 
 but with great confusion as to method ; I say 
 it is possible for them to have a thousand times 
 more grace, and to be more in the love and fa- 
 Tcar of the Lord, than some who by the virtue 
 of the gift of knowledge, can deliver them- 
 selves like angels. 
 
 Thus therefore I came to perceive, that 
 though gifts in themselves were good, to the 
 thing for which they are designed, to wit, the 
 edification of others, yet empty, and without 
 power to save the soul of him that hath them 
 if they be alone. Neither are they, as so, any 
 sign of a man's state to be happy, being only 
 a dispensation of God to some, of whose im- 
 provement, or non-improvement, they must 
 
 when a little love more is over, give aj ac- 
 count to him that is ready to judge the quick 
 and dead. 
 
 This showed me too, that gifts being alone, 
 were dangerous, not in themselves, but because 
 of those evils that attend them that have them, 
 to wit, pride, desire of vain glory, self-conceit, 
 etc., all which are easily blovm up at the ap- 
 plause and condemnation of every unadvised 
 Christian, to the euclangering of a poor crea- 
 ture to fall into the condemnation of the devil. 
 
 I saw therefore, that he that hath gifts, had 
 need to be let into a sight of the nature of 
 them, to wit, that they come short of making 
 of him to be in a truly saved condition, lest he 
 rest in them, and so fall short of the grace of 
 God. 
 
 He hath cause also to walk humbly with 
 God and be little in his own eyes, and to re- 
 member withal, that his gifts are not his ow'n, 
 but the church's ; and that by them he is made 
 a servant to the church ; and he must give at 
 last an account of his stewardship unto the 
 Lord Jesus, and to give a good account will be. 
 a blessed thing. 
 
 Let all men therefore, prize a little with the 
 fear of the Lord, (gifts indeed are desirable ;) 
 but yet great grace and smaller gifts are better 
 than great gifts and no grace. It doth not say, 
 the Lord gives gifts and glory, but the Lord 
 gives grace and glory ; and blessed is such an 
 one, to whom the Lord gives gr.'ice, true grace, 
 for that is a certain forerunner of glory. 
 
 But when Satan perceived that his thus 
 tempting and assaulting me, would not answer 
 his design; to wit, to overthrow" the ministry, 
 and make it ineffectual, as to the ends thereof; 
 then he tried another way, which was, to stir 
 up the minds of the ignorant and malicious to 
 load me with slanders and reproaches: now 
 therefore, I may say, that what the devil could 
 devise, and his instruments invent, was whirled 
 up and down the country against me, thinking, 
 as I said, that by that means they should make 
 my ministry to be abandoned. 
 
 It began therefore to be rumoured up and 
 down among the people, that I was a witch, a 
 Jesuit, a highwayman, and the like. 
 
 To all which, I shall only say, God knows 
 that I am innocent. But as for mine accusers, 
 let them provide themselves to meet me before 
 the tribunal of the Son of God, there to an- 
 swer for all these things, with all the rest of 
 their iniquities, unless God shall give them re- 
 pentance for them, for the which I pray with 
 all my heart. 
 
ACCOUNl OF THF AUTHOR'S CALL TO THE MINISTRY. 
 
 69 
 
 But that which was reported with the boldest 
 confidence, was that I had rny misses, my 
 lv,hores, my bastards yea, two wives at once, 
 and the like. Now these slanders, with the 
 other, I glory in, because but slanders, foolish 
 or knavish lies, and falsehoods cast upon me 
 by the devil and his seed. And should I not 
 be dealt with thus \^ickedly by the world, I 
 should want one sign of a saint, and a child of 
 God. " Blessed are ye," said the Lord Jefeus, 
 "when men shall revile, and persecute you, 
 and shall say all manner of evil of you falsely 
 for my sake. Bejoice and be exceeding glad, 
 for great is your reward in heaven ; for so per- 
 secuted they the prophets which were before 
 you." 
 
 These things therefore, upon my own ac- 
 count troubled me not; no, though they were 
 twenty times more than they are. I have a 
 good conscience, and whereas they speak evil 
 of me, as an evil-doer, they shall be ashamed 
 that falsely accuse my good conversation in 
 Christ. 
 
 So then, what shall I say to those who have 
 
 thus bespattered me? Shall I threaten them? 
 Shall I chide them? Shall I flatter them? 
 Shall I entreat them to hold their tongues? 
 No, not I. Were it not for that these things 
 make them ripe for damnation that are the 
 authors and abettors, I would say unto them, 
 "Eeport it," because it will increase my glory. 
 
 Therefore I bind these lies and slanders fo 
 me as an ornament; it belongs to my Chris- 
 tian' profession to be vilified, slandered, re- 
 proached, and reviled; and since all this is 
 nothing else, as my God and my conscience do 
 bear me witness, I rejoice in reproaches for 
 Christ's sake. 
 
 Now, as Satan endeavoured, by reproaches 
 and slanders to make me vile among my 
 countrymen, that, if possible, my preaching 
 might be made of none efiect; so there was 
 added hereto a long and tedious imprisonment, 
 that thereby I might be frightened from the 
 service of Christ, and the world terrified and 
 made afraid to hear me preach. Of which I 
 shall in the next place give you a brief ac- 
 count. 
 
BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE AUTHOR'S IMPRISONMENT. 
 
 Hating made profession of the glorious 
 Gospel of Christ a lon^ time, and preached 
 the same about five years, I was apprehended 
 at a meeting of good people in the country; 
 among whom had they let me alone I should 
 have preached that day; but they took me 
 away from amongst them, and had me before 
 a justice; who, after I had offered security for 
 my appearing the next sessions, yet committed 
 me, because my sureties would not consent to 
 be bound, that I should preach no more to the 
 people. , 
 
 At the sessions after, I was indicted for an 
 upholder and maintainer of unlawful assem- 
 blies and conventicles, and for not conforming 
 to the national worship of the Church of 
 England; and aftfer some conference there 
 with the justices, they taking my plain deal- 
 ing with them for a confession, as they termed 
 it, of the indictment, did sentence me to a 
 perpetual banishment, because I refused to 
 conform. So being again delivered up to the 
 jailer's hands, I was had home to prison, and 
 there have lain now complete twelve years, 
 waiting to see what God would suffer these 
 men to do with me. 
 
 In which condition I have continued with 
 much content, through grace; hut have met 
 with many turnings and goings upon my heart, 
 both from the Lord, Satan, and my own cor- 
 I'uptions: by all which, glory be to Jesus 
 Christ, I have also received, among many 
 things, much conviction, instruction, and 
 understanding ; of which at large I shall not 
 here discourse ; only give you a hint or two, a 
 word that may stir up the godly to bless God 
 aud to pray for me ; and also to take encour- 
 agement, should the case be their own, not to 
 fear what man can do unto them. 
 
 I never had in all my life so great an inlet 
 into the word of God as now. Those Scrip- 
 tures that I saw nothing in before, are made 
 in this place and state to shine upon me. 
 
 Jesus Christ also was never more real and 
 apparent than now : here I have seen and felt 
 him indeed. Oh that word! "We have not 
 preached unto you cunningly devised fables ;" 
 and that, " God raised Christ from the dead, 
 and gave him glory, that your faith and hope 
 might be in God," were blessed words unto 
 me, in this my imprisoned condition. 
 
 These three or four Scriptures also have 
 been great refreshments in this condition to 
 me, (John xiv. 1, 2, 3, 4. John xvi. 33. Col. 
 iii. 3, 4. Heb. xii. 22, 23, 24.) So that some- 
 times, when I have been in the savour of 
 them, I have been able " to laugh at destruc- 
 tion, and to fear neither the 'horse nor his 
 rider." I have had sweet sights 6f the forgive- 
 ness of my sins in this place, and of my being 
 with Jesus in another world. Oh the Mount 
 Sion, the heavenly Jerusalem, the innumer- 
 able company of angels and God the Judge of 
 all, and the spirits of just men made perfect, 
 and Jesus, have been sweet unto me in this 
 place ! I have seen that here, which I am 
 persuaded I shall never, while in this world, 
 be able to express. I have seen a truth in , 
 this Scripture, "Whom having not seen ye 
 love ; in .whom, though now ye see him not, 
 yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable, 
 and full of glory." 
 
 r never knew what it was for God to stand 
 by me at all turns, and at every oner of Satan 
 to afflict me, &c., as I have found him since I 
 came in hither ; for look how fears have pre- 
 sented themselves, so have supports aud en- 
 couragements; yea, when I have started, even 
 as it were at nothing else but my shadow, yet 
 God, as being very tender of me, hath not suf- 
 fered me to be molested, but would, with one 
 Scripture or another, strengthen me against 
 all, insomuch that I have often said, " Were it 
 lawful, I could pray for greater trouble, &r the 
 greater comfort's sake." 
 
 Before I came to prison, I saw what was 
 
 * For a more particular account of his trial and imprisonment, see page 677, Vol. II. 
 
 70 
 
A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE AUTHOR'S IMPRISONMENT. 
 
 71 
 
 a-coming ; and had especially two considera- 
 tions warm upon my heart. , The first was, 
 how to be able to encounter death, should 
 that be here my portion. For the first of 
 these, that Scripture was great information to 
 me, namely, to pray to God " to be strength- 
 ened with all might, according to his glorious 
 power, unto all patience and long suffering 
 with joyfulness." I could seldom go to 
 prayer before I was imprisoned, but for not 
 80 Utile as a year together, this sentence, or 
 Bweet petition, would, as it were, thrust itself 
 into my mind, and persuade me, that if ever 
 I would go through long suffering I must 
 have patience, especially if I would endure it 
 joyfully. 
 
 As to the second consideration, that saying 
 was of great use to me, " But we had the sen- 
 tence of death iu ourselves that we 'might not 
 trust in ourselves, but in God that raiseth the 
 dead." By this Scripture I was made to see, 
 that if ever I would suffer rightly, I must first 
 pass a sentence of death upon every thing that 
 can properly be called a thing of this life; 
 even to reckon myself, my wife, my children, 
 my health, my enjoyments, and all as dead to 
 me, and myself as dead to them. 
 
 The second was, to live upon God that is in- 
 visible ; as Paul said in another place, the way 
 not to faint is, " to look not at the things which 
 are seen, but at the things which are not seen ; 
 for the things which are seen are temporal, but 
 the things which are not seen are eternal." 
 And thus I reasoned with mj'self : If I provide 
 only for a prison then the whip comes un- 
 awares; and so doth also the pillory. Again, 
 if I only provide for these, then I am not fit 
 for banishment. Furciier, if I conclude that 
 banishment is the worst, then if death come I 
 am surprised. So that I see the best way to 
 go through sufferings, is to trust in God 
 through Christ, as touching the world to 
 come ; and as touching this world, to " count 
 the gr.ave my housp, to make my bed in dark- 
 ness, and to say to corruption. Thou art my 
 father ; and to the wornl. Thou art my mother 
 and sister ;" that is, to familiarize thesQ things 
 to me. 
 
 But notwithstanding these helps, I found 
 myself a man encompassed with infirmities. 
 The parting with my wife and poor children 
 hath often been to me, in this place, as the 
 pulling the flesh from my bones; and that 
 not only because I am somewhat too fond of 
 these mercies, but also because T should have 
 often brous;ht to my mind the many hard- 
 
 ships, miseries, and wants that my poor 
 family was likewise to meet with ; especially 
 my poor blind child, who lay nearer my heart 
 than all I had beside. Oh I the thoughts 
 of the hardships I thought my blind one 
 might go under, would break my heart to 
 pieces. 
 
 Poor child, thought I, what sorrow art thou 
 like to have for thy portion in this world! 
 Thou must be beaten, must beg, suffer hunger, 
 cold, nakedness, and a thousand 'calamities, 
 though I cannot now endure the wind should 
 blow upon thee. But yet recalling myself, 
 thought I, I must venture you all with God, 
 though it goeth to the quick to leave you. 
 Oh ! I saw in tWs condition I was as a man 
 who was pulling down his house upon the 
 head of his wife and children ; yet thought I, 
 I must do it, I must do it. And now I thought 
 on those two milch kine that were to carry the 
 ark of God into another country, to leave their 
 calves behind them. 
 
 But that which helped me in this tempta 
 tion was divers considerations, of which three 
 in special here I will name. The "first' was, 
 the consideration of those two . Scriptures, 
 "Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve 
 them alive, and let thy widows trust in me :" 
 and again, "The Lord said, Verily, it shall 
 go well with thy remnant: verily, I will cause 
 the enemy to entreat thee well in the time of 
 evil," &c. 
 
 I had also this consideration, that if I 
 should now venture all for God, I engaged 
 God to take care of my concernments; but 
 if I forsook him and his ways, for fear of any 
 trouble that should come to me or mine, then 
 I should not only falsify my profession,' but 
 should count also that my concernments were 
 not so sure, if left at God's feet, whilst I stood 
 to and for his name, as they would be, if they 
 were under my own care, though with the de- 
 nial of the way of God. This was a smarting 
 consideration, and as spurs unto my flesh. 
 That Scripture also greatly helped it to fasten 
 the more upon me, where Christ prays against 
 Judas, that God would' disappoint him in his 
 selfish thoughts, which moved him to sell his 
 master. Pray read it soberly. (Ps. cix., 6, 7, 
 8, &c.) 
 
 I had also another consideration, arfd that 
 was, the dread of the torments of hell, which I 
 was sure they must partake of, that for fear (5f 
 the cross, do shrink from their profession of 
 Christ, his words and laws, before the sons of 
 men. I thought ^Iso uf the glory he had pre- 
 
72 
 
 BVNYAf H COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 pared for those that in faith, and love and 
 patience, stood to his ways before them. These 
 things, I say, have helped me, when the 
 thoughts of the misery that both myself and 
 mine, might for the sake of^my profession, 
 be exposed to, hath lain pinching on my 
 mind. 
 
 When I have indeed conceited, that I might 
 be banished for my profession, then I have 
 thought of that Scripture, "They were stoned, 
 they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were 
 slain with the sword: they wandered about 
 in sheepskins, and goatskins, being destitute, 
 afflicted, tormented ; of whom the world was 
 not worthy;'' for all they thought they were 
 too bad to dwell and abide amongst them. 
 I have also thought of that saying, " The 
 Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, that 
 bonds and afflictions abide me." I have 
 verily thought, that my soul and it have some- 
 times reasoned about the sore and sad estate 
 of a banished and exiled condition, how they 
 are exposed to hunger, to cold, to perils, to 
 nakedness, to enemies, and a thousand calami- 
 ties ; and at la^t, it may be to die in a ditch, 
 like a poor, forlorn, and desolate sheep. But 
 I thanked God, hitherto I have not been moved 
 by these most delicate reasonings, but rather 
 by them more approved my heart to God. 
 
 I will tell you a pretty business : I was once 
 above all the rest, in a very sad and low condi- 
 tion for many weeks, at which time also I being 
 but a young prisoner, and not acquainted with 
 the laws, had this lain much upon my spirit, 
 " That my imprisonment might end at the gal- 
 lows for aught that I could tell." Now there- 
 fore Satan laid hard at me, to beat me out of 
 heart, by suggesting thus unto me : " But how 
 if, when yon come indeed to die, you should be 
 in this condition ;- that is, as not to savour the 
 things of God, nor to have any evidence upon 
 . your soul for a better state hereafter?" for in- 
 deed at that time all the things of God were 
 hid from my soul. 
 
 Wherefore, when I at first began to think of 
 tliis, it was a great trouble to me ; for I thought 
 with myself, that in the condition I now was, I 
 was not fit to die ; neither indeed did think I 
 could, if I should be called to it ; besides, I 
 thought with myself, if I should make a scram- 
 bling shift to clamber up the ladder, yet I 
 should, either with quaking, or other symptoms 
 ' of fainting, give occasion to the enemy to re- 
 proach the way of God and^his people, for their 
 timorousness. This therefore lay with great 
 trouble upon me ; for methought I was asham- 
 
 ed to die with a pale face, and totiering knees 
 in such a case as this. 
 
 Wherefore I prayed to God, that he would 
 comfort me, and give strength to do and suffer 
 what he should call me to. Yet no comfort 
 appeared, but all continued hid. I was also at 
 this time so really possessed with the thought 
 of death; that oft I was as if on a ladder with 
 a rope about my neck. Only this was some 
 encouragement to me, I thought I might now 
 have an opportunity to speak my last words 
 unto a multitude which I thought would come 
 to see me die : and, thought I, if it mast be 
 so, if God will but convert one soul by my^last 
 words, I shall not count my life thrown away, 
 nor lost. 
 
 But yet all the things of God were kept out , 
 of my sight, and still the tempter followed me 
 with, "But whither must you go when you 
 die ? AVhat will become of you ? AYhere will 
 you be found in another world? What evi- 
 dence have you for heaven and giory, and an 
 inheritatice among them that are sanctified?" 
 Thus was I tossed for many weeks^ and knew 
 not what to do : at last this consideration fell 
 with weight upon me, " That it was for the 
 word and way of God that I was in this con- 
 dition ; wherefore I was engaged not to flinch 
 an hair's breadth from it." 
 
 I thought also, that God might choose whe- 
 ther he would give me comfort now, or at the 
 hour' of death ; but I might not therefore choose 
 whether I would hold my profession or no. I 
 was bound, but he was free; yea, it was my 
 duty to stand to his word, whether he would 
 ever look upon me, or save me at the last; 
 wherefore, thought I, save the point being thus, 
 I am for going on, and venturing my eternal 
 state with Christ, whether I have comfort here 
 or no. If God doth not come in, thought I, 
 " I will leap off the ladder, even blindfold into 
 eternity; sink or swim, come heaven, come 
 hell. Lord Jesus, if thou wilt catch me, do; 
 if not, I will venture for thy name." 
 
 I was no sooner fixed upon this resolution 
 but the word droppeS upon me, " Doth Job 
 serve God for naught ?" As if the accuser had 
 said, " Lord, Job is no upright man ; he serves 
 thee for by-respects: hast thou not made an 
 hedge about him?" &c. But put forth now 
 thine hand, and touch all that he hath, and he 
 will curse thee to thy face. How now, thought 
 I, is this the sign of a.renewed soul, to desire to 
 serve God when all is taken from him ? Is he 
 a godly man that will serve God for nothing 
 rather than give out? Blessed be God then, I 
 
A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE AUTHOR'S UIPRiSONMENT. 
 
 73 
 
 Qope I have an upright heart; for I am re- 
 solved, God giving me strength, never to deny 
 my profession, though I had nothing at all for 
 my pains. And as I was thus considering, 
 that Scripture was set before me, (Psalm xliv. 
 12, &c.) 
 
 Now was my heart full of comfort, for I 
 hoped it was sincere. I would not have been 
 without this trial for much ; I am comforted 
 every time I think of it ; and I hope I shall 
 bless God forever, for the teachings I have had 
 by it. Many more of the dealings of God to- 
 wards me I might relate, " but these out of the 
 spoils won in battle have I dedicated to main- 
 tain the house of God." 
 
 THE CONCLUSION. 
 
 Of all the temptations that ever I met with 
 in my life, to question the being of God, and 
 truth of his Gospel, is the worst, and the worst 
 to be borne. Wheil this temptation comes, it 
 taJjes away my girdle from me, and removeth 
 the foundation from under me. Oh ! I have 
 often thought of that word, " Have your loins 
 girt about with truth :" and of that, " When 
 the foundations are destroyed, what can the 
 righteous do ?" 
 
 Sometimes, when, after sin committed, I 
 have looked for sore chastisement from the 
 hand of God, the very next that I have had 
 from him hath been the discovery of his grace. 
 Sometimes, when I have been comforted, I 
 have called myself a fool for my so sinking 
 under trouble. And then again, when I have 
 been cast down, I thought I was not wise to 
 give such way to comfort. With such strength 
 and weight have both these been upon me. 
 
 I have wondered much at this one thing, 
 that though God doth visit my soul with never 
 so blessed a discovery of himself, yet I have 
 found again, that such hours have attended 
 
 me afterwards that I have/been in my spirit so 
 filled with darkness, that I could not so much 
 as once conceive, what that God, and \\hat that 
 comfort was, with which I have been refreshed. 
 
 I have sometimes seen more in a line of the 
 Bible, than I could well tell how to stand 
 under; and yet at another time the whole 
 Bible hath been to me as dry as a stick : or 
 rather, my heart hath been so dead and dry 
 unto it, that I could not conceive tlio least 
 dram of refreshment though I have looked it 
 all over. 
 
 Of all fears, they are best that are made, by 
 the blood of Christ : and of all joy, that is the 
 sweetest that is mixed with mourning over 
 Christ : Oh ! it ' is a goodly thing to be oh our 
 knees, with Chrv.i; in our arms, before God. I 
 hope I know something of these things. 
 
 I find to this day seven abominations in my 
 heart. 1. Inclining to unbelief. 2. Suddenly 
 to forget the love and mercy tliat Christ mani- 
 festeth. 3. A leaning to the works of the law. 
 4. Wanderings and coldness in prayer. 5. To 
 forget to watch for that I pray for. 6. Apt to 
 murmur because I have no more, and yet ready 
 to abuse what I have. 7. I can do none of 
 those things which God commands me, but my 
 corruptions will thrust in themselves. " When 
 I would do good, evil is present with me." 
 
 These things I continually see and feel, and 
 am afflicted and oppressed with ; yet the wis- 
 dom of God doth order them for my good. 
 1. They make me abhor myself 2. They 
 keep me from trusting my heart. 3. They 
 convince me of the insufficiency of all inherent 
 righteousness. 4. They show mo the necessity 
 of flying to Jesus. 5. They press me to pray 
 unto God. 6. They show me the need I have 
 to watch and be sober. 7. And provoke me 
 to pray unto God, through Christ, to heh' m«, 
 and carry me through this world. 
 
A CONTINUATION OF MR. BUNYAN'S LIFE , 
 
 BECilNNING WHERE HE LEFT OFF, AND CONCLUDING WITH THE TIME AND 
 MANNER OF HIS DEATH AND BUEIAL; TOGETHER WITH HIS TRUE CHARAO. 
 lER, &<J. 
 
 Reader, The painful and industrious author 
 of this book has already given you a faithful 
 and very moving relation of the beginning and 
 middle of the days of his pilgrimage on earth ; 
 and since there yet remains somewhat worthy 
 of notice and regard, which occurred in the 
 la?t scene of his life ; the which, for want of 
 ti)ae, or for fear some over-censorious people 
 should impute it to him as an earnest coveting 
 of praise from men, he has not left behind him 
 in writing; wherefore, as a true friend, and 
 long aoqtiaintance of Mr. Bunyan's, that his 
 good end may be known, as his evil beginning, 
 T have taken upon me, from my knowledge, 
 and the best account given by other of his 
 friends, to piece this to the thread too soon 
 broke off, and so lengthen it out to his enter- 
 ing upon eternity. 
 
 He has told you at large, of his birth and 
 education ; the evil habits and corruptions of 
 his youth ; the temptations he struggled and 
 conflicted so frequently with ; the mercies, com- 
 forts, and deliverances he found ; how he came 
 to take upon him the preaching of the Gospel ; 
 the slanders, reproaches, and imprisonments 
 that attended him, and the progress he not- 
 withstanding made, by the assistance of God's 
 grace, no -doubt to the saving of many souls. 
 Therefore take these things, as he himself has 
 methodically laid them down in the words of 
 verity ; ■ and so I pass on as to what remains. 
 
 After his being freed from his twelve years' 
 Imprisonment, and upwards, for nonconform- 
 ity, wherein he had time to furnish the world 
 with sundry good books, &c., and by his pa- 
 tience, to move Dr. Barlow, the then Bishop 
 of Lincoln, and other churchmen, to pity his 
 hard and unreasonable sufferings, so far as to 
 stand very, much his friends, in procuring his 
 enlargement, or there perhaps he had died, by 
 the noisomeness and ill usage of the place; 
 H ' 
 
 being now, I say, again at liberty, and having, 
 through mercy, shaken off his bodily fetters, 
 for those upon his soul were broken before, by 
 the abounding grace that filled his heart, he 
 went to visit those that had been a comfort to 
 him in his tribulation, with a Christian-like 
 acknowledgment of their kindness and en- 
 largement of charity; giving encouragement 
 by his example, if it happened to be their hard 
 haps to fall' into affliction or trouble, then to 
 suffer patiently for the sake of a good con- 
 science, and for the love of God in Jesus Christ, 
 towards their souls, and by manv cordial per- 
 suasions, supported some, whose spirits began 
 to siiik low, through the. fear of danger that 
 threatened their worldly concernment, so that 
 the people found a wonderful consolation in 
 his discourse and admonitions. 
 
 As often as opportunity would admit, he 
 gathered them together, though the law was 
 then in force agaipst meetings, in convenient 
 places, and fed them with the sincere milk of 
 the word, that they might grow in grace there- 
 by. To such as were any where taken and 
 imprisoned upon these accounts, he made it 
 another part of his business to extend his 
 charity, and gather relief for such of them as 
 wanted. 
 
 He took great care to visit the sick, and 
 strengthen them against the suggestions of the 
 tempter, which at such times are very preva- 
 lent ; so that they had cause for ever to bless 
 God, who had put it into his heart, at such a 
 time, to rescue them from the power of the 
 roaring lion, who sought to devour them. Nor 
 did he spare any pains or labour in travel, 
 though to the remote counties, where he knew, 
 or imagined any people might stand in need of 
 his assistance; insomuch that some of these 
 visitations that he made, which were two or 
 three every year, some (though in a jeering 
 
A CONTINVATION OF MR. BUNYAN'S LTFE. 
 
 lb 
 
 manner no doubt) gave liim the epithet of 
 Bishop Bunyan, whilst others envied him for 
 his so earnestly labouring in Christ's vineyard ; 
 yet the seed of the word he all this while sowed 
 in the hearts of his congregation, watered with 
 the grace of God, brought forth in abundance, 
 in bringing in disciples to the church of Christ. 
 
 Another part of his time he spent in recon- 
 ciling differences, by which he hindered many 
 mischiefs, and saved some families from ruin ; 
 and in some fallings-out, he was uneasy until 
 he found a means to labour a reconciliation, 
 and become a peace-maker, on whom a bless- 
 ing is promised in holy writ ; and Indeed, in 
 doing this good office he may be said to sum 
 up his days, it being the last undertaking of 
 his life, as will appear in the close of this 
 paper. 
 
 When in the late reign, liberty of conscience 
 was unexpectedly given and indulged to dis- 
 senters of all persuasions, his piercing wit pene- 
 trated the veil, and found that it was not for 
 the dissenters' sakes they were so suddenly 
 freed from the persecutions that had long lain 
 heavy upon them, and set in a manner, on an 
 equal foot with the church of England, which 
 the papists were undermining, and about to 
 subvert. He foresaw all the advantages that 
 could redound to the dissenters, would have 
 been no more than what Polyphemus, the mon- 
 strous giant of Sicily, would have allowed 
 Ulysses, viz., That he would eat his men first, 
 and do him the favour of being eaten last. 
 For although Mr. Bunyan, following the ex- 
 amples of others, did lay hold of this liberty, 
 as an acceptable thing in itself, knowing God 
 as the only Lord of conscience, and that it is 
 good at all times to do according to the dictates 
 of a good conscience, and that the preaching 
 the glad tidings of the Gospel is beautiful in 
 the preacher; yet in all this he moved with 
 caution and holy fear, earnestly praying for 
 aveiting the impendent judgments, which he 
 saw, like a black tempest, hanging over our 
 heads for our sins, and ready to break upon us, 
 and that the Ninevites' remedy was now highly 
 ne."essary. Hereupon he gathered his congre- 
 gation at Bedford, where he mostly lived, and 
 had lived and spent the greater part of his life ; 
 and there being no convenient place to be had 
 for the entertainment of so ^reat a confluence 
 of people as followed him, upon the account of 
 his teaching, he consulted with them for the 
 building of a meeting-house, to which they 
 made their voluntary contributions, with all 
 cheerfulness and alacrity ; and the first time he 
 
 appeared to edify, the place was so thronged, 
 that many were constrained to stay without, 
 though the house was very spacious, every one 
 striving > to partake of his instructions, that 
 were of his persuasion, and show their good 
 will towards him, by being present at the open- 
 ing of the place. And here he lived in peace 
 and quiet of mind, contenting himself with 
 that little God had bestowed upon him, and 
 sequestering himself from all secular employ- 
 ments to follow that of his call to the minis- 
 try ; for as God said to Moses, he that made the 
 lips and heart, can give eloquence and wisdom, 
 without extraordinary acquirements in an uni- 
 versity. 
 
 During these things there were regulators 
 sent into all cities and towns corpoTate, to new- 
 model the government in the magistracy, &c., 
 by turning out some, and putting in others. 
 Against this Mr. Bunyan expressed his zeal 
 with some warmness, as foreseeing the bad con- 
 ' sequence that would attend it, and laboured 
 with his congregation to prevent their being 
 imposed on in this kind : and when a great man 
 in those days coming to pedford upon some 
 such errand, sent for him, as it is supposed, to 
 give him a place of public trust, he would by 
 no means come at him, but sent his excuse. 
 
 When he was at leisure from writing and 
 teaching, he often came up to London, and 
 there went among the congregations of the 
 nonconformists, and used his talents to the 
 great good-liking of the hearers; and even 
 some, to whom he had been misrepresented, 
 upon the account of his education, were con- 
 vinced of his worth and knowledge in sacred 
 things, as perceiving him to be a man of sound 
 judgment, delivering himself plainly and pow- 
 erfully ; insomuch that many who came spec- 
 tators for novelty, rather than to be edified 
 and improved, went away well satisfied with 
 what they heard ; and wondered, as the Jews 
 did at the apostles, viz., whence this man should 
 have these things; perhaps not considering 
 that God more immediately assists those that 
 make it their business industriously and cheer- 
 fully to labour in his vineyard. 
 
 Thus he spent his latter years in imitation 
 of his great Lord and Master, the ever-blessed 
 Jesus; he went about doing good; so that the 
 most prying critic, or even malice herself, is 
 defied to find, even upon the narrowest search 
 or observation, any sully or stain upon his 
 reputation, with which he may be justly 
 charged ; and this we note, as a challenge to 
 those that have had the least regar I for him, 
 
76 
 
 SUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. ' 
 
 or them of liis persuasion, and have one way 
 or other appeared in the front of those that 
 oppressed him; and for the turning whose 
 hearts, in obedience to the commission and 
 commandment given him of God, he fre- 
 quently prayed, and sometimes sought a bless- 
 ing for them, even with tears ; the effects of 
 which, they may, peradventure, though unde- 
 servedly, have found in their persons, friends, 
 relations, estates ; for God will . hear the 
 prayers of the faithful, and answer them, 
 even for those that vex them, as it hap- 
 pened in the case of Job's praying for the 
 three persons that had been grievous in their 
 reproach against him, even in the day of his 
 sorrow. 
 
 But yet let me come a little nearer to par- 
 ticulars, and periods of time, for the better re- 
 freshing the memories of those that knew his 
 labour and sufferings, and for the satisfaction 
 of all that read this book. 
 
 After he was sensibly convicted of the 
 wicked state of his life, and converted, he 
 was baptized into the congregation, and ad- 
 mitted a member thereof, viz., in the year 
 1655, and became speedily a very zealous pro- 
 fessor. But upon the return of King Charles 
 to the crown in 1660, he was, on the 12th of 
 November, taken, as he was edifying some 
 good people that was got together to hear the 
 word, and confined in Bedford jail for the 
 space of six years, till the act of indulgence to 
 dissenters being allowed, he obtained his free- 
 dom by the intercession of some in trust and 
 power, that took pity of his sufferings. But 
 within six years afterwards, he was again 
 taken up, viz., in the year 1666, and was then 
 confined for six years more; when the jailer 
 took such pity of his rigorous sufferings, that 
 he did as the Egyptian jailer did to Joseph, 
 put all the care and trust in his hand. When 
 he was taken this last time he was preaching 
 on these words, viz., "Dost thou believe on 
 the Son of God?" And this imprisonment 
 continued six years ; and when this was over, 
 another short affliction, which was an impris- 
 onment of half a year, fell to his share. 
 During these confinements, he wrote these 
 following books, viz., "Of Prayer by the 
 Spirit," "The Holy City's Resurrection," 
 "Grace Abounding," "Pilgrim's Progress,'' 
 the first part. 
 
 In the last year of his twelve years' impris- 
 onment, the pastor of the congregation at 
 Bedford died, and he was chosen to that care 
 of souls, on the 12th of December, 1671. And 
 
 in this charge he often had disputes with 
 scholars that came to oppose him, as sup- 
 posing him an ignorant person ; and though 
 he argued plainly, and by Scripture, without 
 phrases and logical expressions, yet he non- 
 plussed one who came to oppose him, in his 
 congregation, by demanding. Whether or no 
 we had the true copies of the original Scrip- 
 tures? And another, when he was preaching 
 accused him of uncharitableness for saying, 
 " It was very hard for most to be saved :" say • 
 ing, by tha.t he went about to exclude most of 
 his congregation. But he confuted him, and 
 put him to silence, with the parable of the 
 stony ground, and other texts out of the 13th 
 of Matthew, in our Saviour's sermon out of a 
 ship; all his methods being to keep close 
 to the Scriptures, and what he found not 
 warranted there, himself would not warrant 
 nor determine, unless in such cases as were 
 plain, wherein no doubts nor scruples did arise. 
 But not to make any further mention of this 
 kind, it is well known that this person man- 
 aged all his affairs with such exactness as if 
 he had made it his study, above all other 
 things, not to give occasion of offence, but 
 rather suffer many inconveniences to avoid it, 
 being never heard to reproach or revile any, 
 what injury soever he received, but rather to 
 rebuke those that did. And as it was in his 
 conversation, so it is manifested in those books 
 he has caused to be published to the world ; 
 where, like the archangel disputingwith Satan 
 about the body of Moses, as we find it in the 
 Epistle of St. Jude, he brings no railing accusa- 
 tion, but leaves the rebukers, those that perse- 
 cuted him, to the Lord. 
 
 In his family he kept very strict discipline, 
 in prayer and exhortations, being in this like 
 
 • Joshua, as that good man expresses it, viz., 
 "Whatsoever others did, as for me and my 
 house, we will serve the Lord." And indeed 
 a blessing waited on his labours and en- 
 deavours ; so that his wife, as the Psalmist 
 says, "was' like a pleasant vine upon the wall 
 of his house, and his children like olive- 
 
 'branches round his table; for so shall it be 
 with the man that fears the Lord ;" and though 
 by reason of .the many losses he sustained by 
 imprisonment and spoil, of his chargeable 
 sickness, &c., his earthly treasure swelled not 
 to excess, he always had sufficient to live de- 
 cently and creditably ; and with that he had 
 the greatest of all treasures, which is content : 
 for as the wise man says, " that is a continual 
 feast." 
 
A CONTINUATION OF MB. BUNYAN'S LIFE. 
 
 77 
 
 But where content dwells, even a poor cot- 
 tage iri a kingly palace; and this happiness 
 he had all his life long, not so much mind- 
 ing this world, as knowing he was here as a 
 pilgrim and stranger, and had no tarrying 
 city, but looked for one not made with hands, 
 eternal in the highest heavens. But at length, 
 worn out with sufferings, age, and often teach- 
 ing, the day of his dissolution drew near; and 
 death, that unlocks the prison of his soul, to 
 enlarge it for a more glorious mansion, put a 
 stop to his acting his part on the stage of mor- 
 tality. Heaven, like earthly princes, When it 
 threatens war, being always so kind as to call 
 home its anibassadors before it be denounced. 
 And even the last act or undertaking of his 
 was a labour of love and charity : for it so fall- 
 ing out, that a young gentleman, a neighbour 
 of Jlr. Bunyan's, happening into the displeas- 
 ure of his father, and being much troubled in 
 his mind upon that account, as also for that 
 he had heard his father purposed to disin- 
 herit him, or otherwise deprive him of what 
 he had to leave, he pitched upon Mr. Bunyan 
 as a fit man to make way for his submission, 
 and prepare his father's mind to receive him ; 
 and he, as willing to do any good office as it 
 could be requested, as readily undertook it; 
 and BO riding to Reading in Berkshire, he 
 there used such pressing arguments and rea- 
 sons against anger and passion, as also for love 
 and reconciliation, that the father was molli- 
 fied, and his bowels yearned towards his re- 
 turning son. 
 
 But Mr. Bunyan, after he had disposed all 
 things to the best for accommodation, return- 
 
 ing to London, and being overtaken with ex- 
 cessive rains, coming to his lodging extremely 
 wet, fell sick of a violent fever; which he 
 bore with much constancy and patience, and 
 expressed himself as if he desired nothing 
 more than to be dissolved, and be with Christ, 
 in that case esteeming death, as gain, and life 
 only a tedious delaying felicity expected ; and 
 finding his vital strength decay, having settled 
 his mind and affairs, as well as the shortness 
 of time and the violence of his ^disease, would 
 admit, with a constant and Christian patience, 
 he resigned his soul into the hands of liis most 
 merciful Redeemer, following his pilgrimage 
 from the city of Destruction to the New Jeru- 
 salem, his better part having been all along 
 there, in holy contemplation, pantings and 
 breathings after the hidden manna, and water 
 of life, as by many holy and humble consola- 
 tions, expressed in his letters to several persons 
 in prison, and out of prison ; too many to be 
 here inserted at present. He died at the 
 house of one Mr. -Straddock, a grocer at the 
 Star on Snowhill, in the parish of St. Sepul- 
 chre, London, on the 12th of August, 1688, 
 and in the 60th year of his age, after ten days' 
 sickness; !and was buried in the new burying- 
 place near the Artillery Ground; where he 
 sleeps to the morning of the resurrection, in 
 hopes of a gloi'ious rising to an incorruptible 
 immortality of joy and happiness, where no 
 more trouble and sorrow shall afflict him, but 
 all tears be wiped away; when the just shall 
 be incorporated as members of Christ their 
 head, and reign with him as kings and priests 
 for ever. 
 
A BRIEF CHARACTER OF MR. JOHN BUNYAN. 
 
 He appeared in countenance to be of a stern 
 and rough temper; but in his conversation 
 mild and affable, not given to loquacity, or 
 much discourse in company, unless some 
 urgent occasion required it; observing never 
 to boast of himself, or his parts, but rather 
 seem low in his own eyes, and submit himself 
 to the judgment of others; abhorring lying 
 and swearing, being just in all that lay in his 
 power to his word; not seeming to revenge 
 injuries, loving to reconcile differences, and 
 make friendships with all. He had a sharp 
 quick eye, accomplished with an excellent 
 discerning of persons, being of good judg- 
 ment and quick wit. As for his person, he 
 was tall of stature, strong boned, though not 
 corpulent, somewhat of a ruddy face, with 
 sparkling eyes, wearing his hair on his upper 
 lip, after the old British faijhion; his hair 
 reddish, but in his latter days, time had 
 sprinkled it with grey ; his nose well set, but 
 not declining or bending, and his mouth mod- 
 erately large; his forehead something high, 
 and his habit always plain and modest. And 
 78 
 
 thus have we impartially described the internal 
 and external parts of a person whose death 
 hath been much regretted ; a person who had 
 tried the smiles and frowns of time, not puffed 
 up in prosperity, not shaken in adversity, 
 always holding the golden mean. 
 
 In him at once did three great worthies shine, 
 Historian, poet, and a choice divine; 
 Then let him rest in undisturbed dust, 
 Until the resurrection of the just. 
 
 P. S. In his pilgrimage God bles?ed him 
 with four children, one of which, named Mary^ 
 was blind, and died some years before. His 
 other children- are Thomas, Joseph, and Sarah ; 
 and his wife Elizabeth, having lived to see him 
 overcome his labour and sorrow, and pass from 
 this life to receive the reward of his works, 
 long survived him not; but in 1692 she died, ■ 
 to follow her faithful Pilgrim from this world 
 to the other, whither he was gone before her, 
 while his works remain for the edifying of the 
 reader, and praise of the author. Vaxe. 
 
MR. JOHN BUNYAN'S DYING SAYINGS. 
 
 OF SIN. 
 
 Sin is the great block and bar to our happi- 
 ness, the procurer of all miseries to man, both 
 here and hereafter. Take away sin, and noth- 
 ing can hurt us ; for death, temporal, spiritual 
 and eternal, is the wages of it. 
 
 Sin, and man for sin, is the objeQj; of the 
 wrath of God. How dreadful therefore must 
 his case be who continues in sin I for who can 
 bear or grapple with the wrath of God ! 
 
 No sin against God can be of little ; because 
 it is against the great God of heaven and 
 ' earth ; but if the sinner can find out a little 
 God, it may be easy to find out little sins. 
 
 Sill turns all God's grace into wantonness : 
 it is the dare of his justice, the rape of his 
 mercy, the jeer of his patience, the slight of 
 his power, and the contempt of his love. 
 
 Take heed of giving thyself liberty of com- 
 mitting one sin, for that will lead thee to 
 another, till by an ill custom it become nat- 
 ural. 
 
 To begin a sin is to lay a foundation for a 
 continuance: this continuance is the mother 
 of custom, and impudence at last the issue. 
 
 The death of Christ giveth us the best dis- 
 covery of ourselves, in what condition we were 
 in that nothing could help us but that; and 
 the most clear discovery of the dreadful nitture 
 of our sins : for if sin be so dreadful a thing 
 as to wring the heart of the Son of God, how 
 shall a poor wretched sinner be able to bear 
 it? 
 
 OF AFFLICTION. 
 
 NoTHixG can render affliction so insupport- 
 able as the load of sin. Would you therefore 
 be fitted for afiiictions? Be sure to get the 
 burden of your sins laid aside, and then what 
 afiiiction soever you may meet with will be 
 very easy to you. 
 
 If thou canst hear and bear the rod afflic- 
 tion which God shall lay upon thee, remember 
 this lesson. Thou art beaten -that thou mayest 
 be better. 
 
 The Lord useth his flail of tribulation, to 
 separate the chaff from the wheat. 
 
 The school of the cross is the school of light ; 
 it discovers the world's vanity, baseness, and 
 wickedness, and lets us see more of God's 
 mind. Out of dark affliction comes a spiritual 
 light. 
 
 In times of affliction we commonly meet 
 with the sweetest experiences of the love of 
 God. 
 
 Did we heartily renounce the pleasures of 
 this world, we should be very little troubled 
 for our afflictions : that which renders an af- 
 flicted state so insupportable to many, is be- 
 cause they are too much addicted to the pleas- 
 ures of this life, and so cannot endure that 
 which makes a separation between them. 
 
 OF REPENTANCE AND COMING TO CHRIST. 
 
 The end of affliction is the discovery of sin, 
 and of that to bring us to a Saviour. Let us 
 therefore, with the prodigal, return unto him, 
 and we shall find ease and rest. 
 
 A repenting penitent, though formerly as 
 bad as the worst of men, may by grace become 
 as good as the best. 
 
 To be truly sensible of sin, is to sorrow for 
 displeasing of God, to be afflicted that he is 
 displeased by us, more than that , he is dis- 
 pleased with us. 
 
 Your intentions to repentance, and the neg- 
 lect of that soul-saving duty, will rise up in 
 judgment against you. 
 
 Repentance carries with it a divine rhetoric, 
 and persuades Christ to forgive multitude of 
 sins committed against him. 
 
 Say not with thyself, to-morrow I will re- 
 pent ; for it is thy duty to do it daily. 
 
 The gospel of grace and salvation is above 
 all doctrines the most dangerous, if it be re- 
 ceived in word only by graceless men ; if it be 
 not attended with a sensible need of a Saviour, 
 and bring them to him. For such men as have 
 only the notion of it are of all men most mis- 
 
 79 
 
80 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 erable ; for by reason of their knowing more 
 than heathens, this shall only be their final 
 portion, that they shall have greater stripes. 
 
 or PEATEE. 
 
 Before you enter into prayer, ask thy soul 
 these questions : 1. To what end, my soul, 
 art thou retired into this place ? Art thou not 
 come to discourse the Lord in prayer ? Is he 
 present, will he hear thee? Is he merciful, 
 will he help thee? Is thy business slight, is it 
 not concerning the welfare of thy soul ? What 
 words wilt thou use to move him to compas- 
 sion? 
 
 To make thy preparation complete, consider 
 that thou art but dust and ashes, and he the 
 great God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 "that clothes himself with light as with a gar- 
 ment;" that thou art a»vile sinner, he a holy 
 God ; that thou art but a poor crawling worm, 
 he the omnipotent Creator. 
 
 In all your prayers forget not to thank the 
 Lord for his mercies. 
 
 When thou pray est, rather let thy heart 
 be without words, than thy words without a 
 heart. 
 
 Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or 
 sin will entice a man to cease from prayer. 
 
 The spirit of prayer is more precious than 
 treasures of gold and silver. 
 
 Pray often ; for prayer is a shield to the soul, 
 a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for Satan. 
 
 07 THE LORD'S DAY, SERMONS, AND WEEK-DAYS, 
 
 Have a special care to sanctify the Lord's 
 day ; for as thou keepest it, so will it be with 
 thee all the week long. 
 
 Make the Lord's day the market for thy 
 Boul, let the whole day be spent in prayer, rep- 
 etitions, ., or meditations; lay aside the affairs 
 the ather parln of the week : let the sermon 
 thoa hast heard be converted into prayer. 
 Shall God allow thee six days, and wilt not 
 thou afford him one ? 
 
 In the church be careful to serve God : for 
 thou art in his eyes, and not in man's. 
 
 Thou mayest hear sermons often, and do 
 well in practising what thou hearest ; but thou 
 must not expect to be told thee in a pulpit all 
 that thou oughtest to do, but be studious in 
 searching the Scriptures, and reading good 
 books. What thou hearest may be forgotten ; 
 but what thou readest may be better retained. 
 
 Forsake not the public worship of God, lest 
 
 God forsake thee, not only in public but in 
 private. 
 
 In the week-days when thou risest in the 
 morning, consider, 1. Thou must die. 2. Thou 
 mayest die that minute. 3. What will become 
 of thy soul. Pray often. At night consider, 
 1. What sins thou hast committed. 2. How 
 often thou hast prayed. 3. What hath thy 
 mind been bent upon 4. What hath been 
 thy dealing. 5. What thy conversation. 6. 
 If thou callest to mind the errors of the day, 
 sleep not without a confession to God, and a 
 hope of pardon. Thus, every morning and 
 evening, make up thy accounts with Almighty 
 God, and thy reckoning will be the less at 
 last. 
 
 OF THE LOVE OF THE WORLD. 
 
 Nothing more hinders a soul from coming 
 to Christ than a vain love of the world ; and 
 till a soul is freed from it, it can never have a 
 true love for God. 
 
 What are the honours and riches of this 
 world, when compared to the glories of a 
 crown of life ? 
 
 Love not the world ; for it is a moth in a 
 Christian's life. 
 
 To despise the world, is the way to enjoy 
 heaven ; and blessed are they who delight to 
 converse with God by prayer. 
 
 What folly can be greater than to labour for 
 the meat that perisheth, and neglect the food- 
 of eternal life ? 
 
 God or the world must be neglected at part- 
 ing-time ; for then is the time of trial. 
 
 To seek yourself in this world is to be lost; 
 and to be humble is to be exalted. 
 
 The epicure that delighteth in the dainties 
 of this world, little thinketh that those very 
 creatures will one day witness against him. 
 
 OF SUFFERINa. 
 
 It is not every suffering that makes a mar- 
 tyr, but suff'ering for the word of God after a 
 right manner : that is, not only for righteous- 
 ness, but for righteousness' sake ; not only for 
 truth, but out of love to truth ; not only for 
 God's word, but according to it ; to wit, in that 
 holy, humble, meek manner, as the word of 
 God requireth. 
 
 It is a rare thing to suffer aright, and to 
 have thy spirit in suff'ering bent only against 
 God's enemy, sin ; sin in doctrine, sin in wor- 
 ship, sin in life, and sin in conversation. 
 
 The devil, nor men of the world, can kill 
 
MR. JOHN HUNYAN'S DYING SAYINGS. 
 
 81 
 
 Wiy righteousness, or love to it; but by thy 
 own hand ; or separate that and thee asunder 
 witliout thy own act. Nor will he that doth 
 indeed suffer for the sake of it, or out of love 
 he bears thereto, be tempted to exchange it for 
 the good will of all the world. 
 
 I have often thought, that the best of Chris- 
 tians are found in the worst of times ; and I 
 have thought again, that one reason why we 
 are no better is because God purges us no more. 
 Nnah and Lot, who so holy as they in the time 
 of their afflictions? And yet who so idle as 
 they in the time of their prosperity ? 
 
 or BilAlH AND JUDGMENT. 
 
 Aa the devil labours by all means to keep 
 out other things that are good, so to keep out 
 of the heart as much as in him .lies, the 
 thoughts of passing from this life into another 
 world ; for he knows, if he can but keep them 
 from the serious thoughts of death, he shall 
 the more easily keep them in their sins. 
 
 Nothing will make us more earnest in 
 working out the work of our salvation, than a 
 frequent meditation of mortality ; nothing 
 hath greater- influence for the taking off our 
 hearts from vanities, and for the begetting in 
 us desires after holiness. 
 
 O sinner, what a condition wilt thou fall 
 into when thou departest this world, if thou 
 depart unconverted 1 Thou hadst better have 
 been smothered the first hour thou wast born ; 
 thou hadst better have been plucked one limb 
 from another; thou hadst better have been 
 made a dog, a toad, a serpent, than to die un- 
 converted : and this thou wilt find true if thou 
 repent not. 
 
 A man would be counted a fool to slight a 
 judge before whom he is to have a trial of his 
 whole estate. The trial we have before God is 
 of otherwise importance ; it concerns our eter- 
 nal happiness or misery ; and yet dare we af- 
 front him ? 
 
 The only way for us to escape that terrible 
 jxidgment, is to be often passing a sentence of 
 condemnation upon ourselves here. 
 
 "When the sound of the trumpet shall be 
 heard, which shall summon the dead to appear 
 before the tribunal of God, the righteous shall 
 hasten out of their graves, with joy, to meet 
 their Redeemer in the clouds ; others shall call 
 to the hills and mountains to fall upon them, 
 to cover them from the sight of their Judge. 
 6 
 
 Let us therefore in time be posing ourselves 
 which of the two we shall be. 
 
 OF THE JOTS OF HEAVEN. 
 
 There is no good in this life but what is 
 mingled with some evil. Honours perplex, 
 riches disquiet, and pleasures ruin health. But 
 in heaven we shall find blessings in their pur- 
 ity, without any ingredient to embitter, with 
 every thing to sweeten them. 
 
 Oh ! who is able to conceive the inexpress- 
 ible, inconceivable joys that are there? None 
 but they who have tasted of them. Lord, help 
 us to put such a value upon them here, that in 
 order to prepare ourselves for them, we may be 
 willing to forego the loss of all those deluding 
 pleasures here. 
 
 How will the heavens echo of joy, when the 
 bride, ^ the Lainb's wife, shall come to dwell 
 with her husband for ever 1 
 
 Christ is the desire of nations, the joy of an- 
 gels, the delight of the Father. What solace 
 then must that soul be filled with, that hath 
 the possession of him to all eternity ! 
 
 Oh I what acclamations of joy will there be 
 when all the children of God shall meet to- 
 gether, without fear of being disturbed by the 
 antichristian and Cainish brood ! 
 
 Is there not a time coming when the godly 
 may ask the wicked, What profit they have in 
 their pleasure? What comfort in their great- 
 ness ? And what fruit in all their labour ? 
 
 If you would be better satisfied what the 
 beatifical vision means, my request is, that you 
 live holUy, and go and see. 
 
 OF THE TORMENTS OF HELL. 
 
 Heaven and salvation is not surely more 
 promised to the godly, than hell and damnation 
 is threatened to, and shall be executed on, the 
 wicked. 
 
 When once a man is damned, he may bid 
 adieu to all pleasures. 
 
 Oh 1 who knows the power of God's wrath J 
 None but damned ones. 
 
 Sinners' company are the devil and his an- 
 gels, tormented in everlasting fire with a curse. 
 
 Hell would be a kind of paradise, if it were 
 no worse than the worst of this world. 
 
 As different as grief is from joy, as torment 
 from rest, as terror from peace, so different is 
 the state of sinners from that of saints in the 
 world to come. 
 
POSTSCRIPT. 
 
 BY ROBEET PHILIP. 
 
 BuxYiiN's liberation from prison was ob- 
 tained from Cliarles II. by Wliiteliead the 
 Quaker. This discovery was not made when 
 I published his life in 1839. On his release, 
 he soon became one of the most popular 
 preachers of the day, and was, if not the chap- 
 lain, "the Teacher" of Sir John Shorter, the 
 Mayor of London. — Soutliey's Life. 
 
 But although free and popular, Bunyan 
 evidently dreaded every new crisis in public 
 affairs. He had reason to do so. Venner's 
 conspiracy had increased the severity of his 
 first six years' imprisonment. On the occa- 
 sion of the Fire in London, he was thrown 
 into prison again. And soon after James II. 
 came to the throne, in 1685, Bunyan conveyed 
 the whole of his property to his wife, by a 
 singular Deed, which can only be accounted 
 for by his suspicions of James and Jeffreys, and 
 by liis horror at the revocation of the Edict of 
 Nantz. The asylum which the Refugees found 
 in England did not prove to him that he was 
 safe. No wonder. "Kirke and his lambs" 
 were abroad, and the Bedford justices still in 
 power. 
 
 It was under these suspicious circumstances 
 that he divested himself of all his property, in 
 order to save his family from want, should he 
 again be made a victim. These coincidences 
 give 'peculiar interest to the Deed of Con- 
 veya'Eice; a fac-simile of which, from the 
 original, is now presented to the public. The 
 history of its transmission I am unable to give. 
 There is, however, not the shadow of a doubt 
 resting upon its authenticity. Bunyan's own 
 signature is unquestionable. I have been able 
 also to ver.ify that by the Instrument in which 
 EufFhead conveyed to Bunyan the ground on 
 which his chapel was built. The original is 
 now endorsed on the back thus : " This Will is 
 left by indenture hereunto subscribed, to the 
 Rev. Samuel Hillyard, Minister of Bunyan's 
 Meeting, to be presented to the Trustees of the 
 said Meeting, to be held by them in continu- 
 
 ance. Dated this 26th day of October, 1832. > 
 Bedford. Witness, A. Brandram, Secretary of 
 the British and Foreign Bible' Society ; G. P. 
 Livius ; J. S. Grimshaw, Vicar of Biddenham.'' 
 " According to the above statement, this writ- 
 ing of John Bunyan's was put into my hand at 
 the death of Mrs. Livius, and it is my wish 
 that it should be attached to the Church Book. 
 Samuel Hillyard." " Witness, Robert Philip, 
 Author of the Life and Times of Bunyan ; 
 AVilliam White, Bookseller. - Bedford, October 
 30th, 1838." Mrs. Livius, if not a descendant, 
 was, I think, in some way related to the Bun- 
 yan family. 
 
 It will be seen that the Deed would not 
 have secured the entire property to Mrs. Bun- 
 yan. It shows, however, Bunyan's solicitude 
 for her comfort, and his confideuce in her pru- 
 dence. And his Elizabeth well deserved both ! 
 
 Whatever Bunyan may have feared when 
 he thus disposed of all the little property he 
 had, nothing befell him under James II. He 
 published "The Pharisee and Publican" in 
 1685, the year of the king's accession, and 
 in 1688, Charles Doe says, " he published six 
 Books (being the time of King James II. 's 
 Liberty of Conscience)." This appears from 
 Doe's List. It throws also much light upon 
 Bunyan's death. Such labour could not fail 
 to sap his strength, even if he did nothing but 
 carry the six books through the press; ,for 
 none of them are small except the last. The 
 usual account of Bunyan's death, is, that he 
 caught cold, whilst returning from Reading to 
 London on horseback. Violent fever ensued, 
 and after an illness of ten days, he resigned 
 his spirit. Now all this is as true as it is brief; 
 but it is not all the truth. "He was seized 
 with a sweating distemper," says Doe, "after 
 he published six books; which, after aonio 
 weeks' going about, proved his death." — Doe's 
 Circular. This fact was not known even to his 
 first biographer. The Sketch in the British 
 Museum states, that ' taking a tedious journcj 
 
POSTSCRIPT. 
 
 82 
 
 iu a slabby rainy day, and returning late to 
 London, he was entertained by one Mr. Strud- 
 wick, a grocer on Snow Hill, with all the kind 
 endearments of a loving friend ; but soon found 
 himself indisposed with a kind of shaking, as 
 it were an ague, which increasing to a kind of 
 fever, he took to his bed, where, growing worse, 
 he found he had not long to last in this world, 
 and therefore prepared himself for another, 
 towards which he had been journeying as a 
 Pilgrim and Stranger upon earth, the prime of 
 his days."— P. 35. 
 
 The occasion of his journey to Beading, 
 which has always been called " a labour of love 
 and charity," will now be more interesting 
 than it hitherto has been. It was not under- 
 taken by a man in health; but by an over- 
 wrought author, sinking under "a sweating 
 distemper." Mr. Ivimey's account of Bun- 
 yan's errand being the best, I quote it : 
 
 " The last act of his life was a labour of love 
 and charity. A young gentleman, a neighbour 
 of Mr. Bunyan, falling under his father's dis- 
 pleasure, and being much troubled in mind on 
 tiiat account, and also from hearing it was his 
 father's design to disinherit him, or otherwise 
 deprive him of what he had to leave, he pitched 
 upon Mr. Bunyan as a fit man to make way for 
 his submission, and prepare his mind to receive 
 him ; which he being willing to undertake any 
 good office, readily engaged in, and went to 
 Reading, in Berkshire^ for that purpose. There 
 he so successfully accomplished his design, by 
 
 using such pressing arguments and reason 
 against anger and passion, and also for love 
 and reconciliation, that the father's heart waa 
 softened, and his bowels yearned over his son. 
 " After Mr. Bunyan had disposed everything 
 in the best manner to promote an accommoda- 
 tion, as he returned to London on horseback, 
 he waa overtaken with excessive rains, and 
 coming to his lodgings extremely wet, he fell 
 sick of a violent fever, which he b.'ie with 
 much constancy and patience : and expressed 
 himself as if he wished nothing more than to 
 depart and to be with Christ, considering it as 
 gain, and life only a tedious delay of expected 
 felicity. Finding his strength decay, he settled 
 his wordly affairs as well as the shortness . of 
 the time and the violence of the disorder would 
 permit; and, after an illness of ten days, with 
 unshaken confidence, he resigned his soul, on 
 the 31st of August, 1688, being sixty years of 
 age, into the hands of his most merciful Re- 
 deemer ; following his Pilgrim from the City ^ 
 of Destruction to the New Jerusalem, his bet- 
 ter part having been all along there in holy 
 contemplations, pantings, and breathings after 
 the hidden manna and the water of life." His 
 tomb is in Bunhill Fields. Hfs cottage at 
 Elstow, although somewhat modernized, is 
 substantially as he left it. His chair, jug, Book 
 of Martyrs,' Church Book, and some other 
 relics, are carefully preserved at his chajiel in 
 Bedford ; and best of all, his catholic sjiirit also 
 is preserved there. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 FROM THIS WORLD TO THAT WHICH IS TO COME. 
 
 DELIVERED UNDER THE SIMILITUDE OF A DREAM. 
 
 IN TWO PARTS. 
 
 THE AUTHOR'S APOLOGY. 
 
 WiiEU at the first I took my pen in hand, 
 Thus f )r to write, I did not understand 
 Tliat I at all should make a little book 
 In such a mode ; nay, I had undertook 
 To make another ; which, when almost done, 
 Before I was aware, I thus begun. 
 
 And thus it was : I writing of the way 
 And race of saints in this our gospel-day, 
 Fell suddenly into an allegory, 
 About their journey, and the way to glory, 
 In more than twenty things, which I set down : 
 This done, I twenty more had in my crown. 
 And they again began to multiply, 
 Like sparks that from the coals of fire do ^y. 
 Nay then, thought I, if that you breed so fast, 
 I'll put you by yourselves, lest you at last. 
 Should prove ad infinitum, and eat out 
 The book that I already am about. 
 
 Well, so I did ; but yet I did not think 
 To show to all the world my pen and ink 
 In such a mode ; I only thought to make 
 I knew not what ; nor did I undertake 
 Thereby to please my neighbour ; no, not I, 
 I did it my own self to gratify. 
 
 Neither did I but vacant seasons spend 
 In this my scribble ; nor did I intend 
 But to divert myself in doing this. 
 From worser thoughts, which made me do amiss. 
 
 Thus I set pen to paper with delight. 
 And quickly had my thoughts in black and white. 
 For having now my method by the end. 
 Still as I pull'd it came ; and so I penn'd 
 It down, until at last it came to be. 
 For length and breadth, the bigness which you see. 
 
 Well, when I had put my ends together, 
 I show'd them others, that I might see whether 
 They would condemn them, or them justify ; 
 And some said, Let him live ; some. Let him die ; 
 
 Some said, John, print it; others said. Not so. 
 Some said, It might do good ; others said. No. 
 
 Now I was in a strait, and did not see 
 Which was the best thing to be done by me ; 
 At last I thought, since you are thus divided, 
 I print it will ; and so the case decided. 
 
 For thought I, some I see would have it done^ 
 Though others in that channel do not run. 
 To prove then who advised for the best. 
 Thus I thought fit to put it to the test. 
 I farther thought, if now I did deny 
 Those that would have it, to gratify, 
 I did not know, but hinder them I might 
 Of that which would to them be great delight; 
 For those which were not for its coming forth, 
 I said to them, OflTend you I am loth : 
 Yet since your brethren pleased with it be, 
 Forbear to judge till you do further see. 
 
 If that you would not read, let it alone ; 
 Some love the meat, some to pick a bone ; 
 Yea, that I might them better moderate, 
 I did too with them thus expcstulate. 
 May I not write in such a style as this ? j 
 In such a method too, and yet not missf 
 My end, thy good? Why may it not be 35ne? 
 Dark clouds bring waters, when the bright bring 
 
 none; 
 Yea, dark or bright, if they their silver drops 
 Cause to descend, the earth by yielding crops. 
 Gives praise to both, and carpeth not at either. 
 But treasures up the fruit they yield together ; 
 Yea, so commixes both, that in their fruit 
 None can distinguish this from that ; they suit 
 Her well, when hungry ; but if she be fuU, 
 She spews out both, and makes their blessing 
 null. 
 
 You see the ways the fisherman doth take 
 To catch the fish ? what engines doth he make 7 
 
 8S 
 
 be oone? 
 
86 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Behold I how he engageth all his wits ; 
 Also his snares, lines, angles, hooks and nets ; 
 Yet fish there be, that neither hook nor line. 
 Nor snares, nor net, nor engine can make thine : 
 They must be grop'd for and be tickled too. 
 Or they will not be catch'd, whate'er you do. 
 
 How does the fowler seek to catch his game 
 By divers means ? All which one cannot name : 
 His gun. Ills nets, his lime-twigs, light and bell ; 
 He creeps, he goes, he stands ; yea, who can tell 
 Of all Ids postures? yet there's none of these 
 Will make him master of what fowls he please. 
 Yea, he must pipe and whistle to catch this ; 
 Yet- if he does so, that bird he will miss. 
 
 If that a pearl may on a toad's head dwell, 
 And may be found too in an oyster shell ; 
 If things that promise nothing, do contain 
 Wliat better is than gold ; who will disdain, 
 That have an inkling of it, there to look 
 That they may find it I Now my little book 
 (Tho' void of all these paintings that may make 
 It with this or the other man to take) 
 Is not without these things that do excel. 
 What do in brave, but empty notions dwell. 
 
 Well, yet I am not fully satisfied. 
 That this your book will stand, when soundly 
 
 tried. 
 Why, what's the matter? It is dark. What 
 
 though ? 
 But it is feigned. ^Vhat of that? I trow. 
 Some men, by feigned words as dark as mine. 
 Make truth to spangle, and its rays to shine ! 
 But they want solidness : speak, man, thy mind ; 
 They drown the weak ; metaphors make us blind. 
 
 Solidity, indeed, becomes the pen 
 Of him that writeth things divine to men : 
 But must I needs want solidness, because 
 By metai)hors I speak ? Were not God's laws. 
 His gospel laws, in older times held forth 
 By shadows, types, and metaphors ? Yet loth 
 Will any sober man be to find fault 
 With them, lest he be found for to assault 
 Th^highest wisdom : No ; he rather stoops, 
 AndsfflKS to find out what by pins and loops, 
 By caWes and sheep, by heifers and by rams. 
 By birds and herbs, and by the blood of lambs, 
 God speaketh to him ; and full happy he 
 That finds the light and grace that in them be I 
 
 Be not too forward, therefore, to conclude 
 That I want solidness ; that I am rude ; 
 All things solid in show not solid be : 
 All things in parables despise not we. 
 Lest things most hurtful lightly we receive, 
 And things that good are of our souls bereave. 
 My dark and cloudy words they do but hold 
 The truth, as cabinets enclose the gold. 
 
 The prophets used much by metaphors 
 To set forth truth ; yea, whoso considers 
 
 Christ, his apostles too, shall plainly see, 
 That truths to this day in sucli mantles be. 
 
 I am afraid to say that Holy Writ, 
 Which for its style and phrase, puts down *11 
 
 wit. 
 Is every where so full of all these tilings, 
 (Dark figures, allegories,) yet tliere springs 
 From that same book, that lustre and those raya 
 Of light, that turn our darkest nights to days. 
 
 Come, let my carper to his life now look. 
 And find there darker lines than in my book 
 He findeth any ; yea, and let him know 
 That in his best things there are worse lines too. 
 
 May we, but stand before impartial men, 
 To his poor one, I dare adventure ten, 
 That they will take my meaning in these lines, 
 Far better than his lies in silver shrines. 
 Come. Truth, although in swaddling clouts, I find. 
 Informs the judgment, rectifies the mind ; 
 Pleases the understanding, makes the will 
 Submit, the memory also it doth fill 
 With what doth our imagination please : 
 Likewise it tends our troubles to appease. 
 
 Sound words, I know, Timothy is to use, 
 And old wives' fables he is to refuse ; 
 But yet grave Paul him no where did forbid 
 The use of parables ; in which lay hid 
 That gold, those pearls, and precious stones that 
 
 were 
 Worth digging for. and that with greatest care. 
 Let me add one word more : O man of God, 
 Art thou offended ?" Dost thou wish I had 
 Put forth my matter in another dress ? 
 Or that I had in things been more express ? 
 To those that are my betters, as is fit. 
 Three things let me propound, then I submit: 
 
 1. I find not that I am denied the use 
 Of this method, so I do not abuse 
 
 Put on the words, things, readers, or be rude 
 In handling figures or similitude. 
 In application ; but all that I may 
 Seek the advance of truth this or that way. 
 Denied, did I say? Nay, I have leave 
 (Examples to, and that from them that have 
 God better pleased, by their words or ways, 
 Than any man that breathes now in our days) 
 Thus to express my mind, thus to declare 
 Things unto thee that excellentest are. 
 
 2. I find that men (as high as trees) will write 
 Dialogue ways; yet no man doth them slight 
 For writing so : indeed if they abuse 
 
 Truth, cursed be they, and the craft they use 
 To that intent ; but yet let truth be free 
 To make her sallies upon thee and me. 
 Which way it pleases God ; for who knows how 
 Better than he that taught us first to plough. 
 To guide our minds and pens for his design ? 
 And he makes base things usher in divine. 
 
TEE PILGRIM'S PROORESS. 
 
 87 
 
 3. I find tliat Holy Wrh, in many places, 
 Hatli aenibhmce with this method, where the cases 
 Do call for one tiling to set forth another; 
 I'su it I may then, and yet nothing smother 
 Truth's golden heams ; nay, by this method may 
 Hake it cast forth its rays as light as day. 
 
 And now before I do put up my pen, 
 I'll show the profit of my book, and tlien ' 
 Cunnnit both thee and it into that hand 
 That pulls the strong down, and makes weak ones 
 stand. 
 This book, it chalketh out before thine eyes 
 The man that seeks the everlasting prize: 
 It shows you whence he comes, whither he goes: 
 What he leaves undone, also what he does : 
 It shows you bow he rims and runs, 
 Till he unto the gate of glory comes. 
 
 It shows, too, who set out for life amain, 
 As if the lasting crown they would obtain: 
 Here also you may see the reason why 
 They lose their labour, and like fools do die. 
 
 This book will make a traveller of thee, 
 If by its counsel thou wilt ruled be; 
 It will direct thee to the holy land, 
 If thou wilt its directions understand; 
 Yea, it will make the slothful active be; 
 The blind also delightful things to see. 
 
 Art thou for something rare and profitable? 
 Or wouldst thou see a truth within a fable? 
 Art thou forgetful ? or wouldst thou remember 
 From new-year's to the last of December? 
 Then read my fancies; they will stick like hurra, 
 And may be to the helpless comforters. 
 This book Is wrote in such a dialect. 
 As may the minds of listless men affect: 
 It seems a novelty, and yet contains 
 Nothing but sound and honest gospel strains. 
 
 Wouldst thou divert thyself from melancholy? 
 Wouldst thou be pleasant, yet be far from folly? 
 Wouldst thou read riddles, and their explanation? 
 Or else be drowned in thy contemjjlation ? 
 Dost thou love picking meat? Or wouldst thou 
 
 see 
 A man i' th' clouds, and hear him speak to thee ? 
 Wouldst thou be in a dream, and yet not sleep ? 
 Or wouldst thou in a moment laugh and weep? 
 Or wouldst thou lose thyself, and catch no harm 
 And find thyself again without a charm ? 
 Wouldst read thyself, and read thou know'st nc* 
 
 what, 
 And yet know whether thou art bless'd or not, 
 By reading the samB lines? Oh then come hither! 
 And lay my_book, tiiy head, and heart together. 
 JOHN BUNYAN. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The Author's imprisonment and dream — Christian convinced of sin, flies from the wrath to 
 come, and is directed by the Gospel to Christ. 
 
 As I walked through the wilderness of this 
 world, I lighted on a certain place where was 
 a den,* and laid me down in that place to 
 Bleep: and as I slept I dreamed a dream. I 
 dreamed ; and, behold, " I saw a man clothed 
 with rags, standing in a certain place, with his 
 face from his own house, a hook in his hand, 
 and a great burden upon his back.'' Isa. Ixiv. 
 6; Luke xiv. 33; Ps. xxxviii. 4; Heb. ii. 2; 
 Acts xvi. 31. I looked, and saw him open 
 the book and read therein; and as he read 
 he wept and trembled; and, not being able 
 longer to contain, he brake out with a lament- 
 able cry,t saying, "What shall I do?" Acts 
 ii.'37. 
 
 In this plight, therefore, he went home, and 
 refrained himself as long as he could, that his 
 wife and children should not perceive his dis- 
 tress; but he could not be silent long, because 
 
 * Mr. Bunyan wrote this precious book in Bedford 
 jail, where he was confiDed for preaching the Gospel, 
 as a nonconformist, or dissenter. To this he refers 
 when- he Hfoeaks of the " den." The Lord frequently 
 causi^jttttte wrath of man to praise him." The ser- 
 vants of Christ, when restrained by penal laws, from 
 publishing the word of life from the pulpit, have be- 
 come more abundantly useful by their writings. 
 
 Ii The cry of an awakened sinner, who sees his own 
 rig^iteousness to be as filthy rags, his soul in' a state 
 of wrath and wretchedness, exposed to everlasting 
 deetrnction, feeling the burden of his sins upon his' 
 back, he turns his face from his own house, from him- 
 self, from all his false hopes and vain confidences, for 
 refuge, and takes his Bible in his hand to direct him 
 where he shall flee for safety and salvation. The 
 more a sinner reads therein, the more he is convinced 
 of the wretched state and ruined condition of his 
 precious, immortal soul, and of his necessity of flee- 
 ing to Christ for eternal life and salvation. As he 
 88 
 
 that his trouble increased ; wherefore at length 
 he brake his mind to his wife and children ; and 
 thus he began to talk to them: "0 my dear 
 wife," said he, "and you, the children of my 
 bowels, I your dear friend am in myself undone 
 by reason of a burden that lieth hard upon me : 
 moreover I am certainly informed that this oui 
 city will be burned with fire from heaven : in 
 which fearful overthrow, both myself, with thee 
 my wife, and you my sweet babe's, shall miser- 
 ably come to ruin, except (the which yet I see 
 not) some way of escape may be found, whereby 
 we may be delivered." At this his relations- 
 were sore amazed ; X not for that they believed 
 that what he had said to them was true, but 
 beca,use they thought some frenzy distemper 
 had got into his head; therefore, it drawing 
 towards night, and they hoping that sleep 
 might settle his brains, with all haste they got 
 
 reads, he weeps and trembles to think what will be- 
 come of him. Reader, was this ever your case? Did 
 you ever see your sins, and feel the burden of them, 
 so as to cry out, in the anguish of your soul, "What 
 must I do to be saved? If not, you will look on this 
 precious book as a romance, or histoi-y, which no way 
 concerns you; you can no more understand the mean- 
 ing of it, than if it was wrote in an unknown lan- 
 guage : for you are yet carnal, dead in your sins, lying 
 in the arms of the wicked one in false security. But 
 this book is spiritual; it can only be understood by 
 spiritually quickened souls, who have experienced 
 that salvation in the heart which begins with a sight 
 of sin, a sense of sin, a fear of destruction, and dread 
 of damnation. Such, and only such, commence Pil- 
 grims from the city of Destruction to the heavenly 
 kingdom. 
 
 J Conviction of sin in the heart, will discover itself 
 to those about us, by the outward conduct and behn. 
 viour of the life. 
 

THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 89 
 
 him to bed ; * liut the night was as troublesome 
 to him as the day; wherefore, instead of sleep- 
 ing, he spent it in sighs a.nd tears. So when 
 the morning was come they would linow how 
 he did : he told them, " Worse and worse." 
 He also set to talking with them again, but 
 they began to be hardened. They also thought 
 to drive away his disteitiper by harsh and surly 
 carriage to him ; sometimes they would deride, 
 sometimes they would chide, and sometimes 
 they would quite neglect him. Wherefore he 
 began to retire himself to his chamber, to pray 
 for and pity them ; and also to condole his own 
 misery. He would also walk solitarily in the 
 fields, sometimes reading and sometimes pray- 
 ing; and thus for some days he spent his 
 time. 
 
 Now I saw, upon a time when he was walk- 
 ing in the fields, that he was (as he was wont) 
 reading in his book, and greatly distressed in 
 his mind ; and as he read, he burst out, as he 
 had done before, crying, " What shall I do to 
 be saved ?"t -Acts xvi. 30, 31. 
 
 I saw also that he looked this way and that 
 way, as if he would run; yet he stood still, 
 because (as I perceived) he could not tell 
 which way to go. I looked then, and saw a 
 man named Evangelist coming to him ; and he 
 asked, " Wherefore dost thou cry ?" % 
 
 He answered : Sir, I perceive by the book 
 in ijiy hand that I am condemned to die, and 
 
 after that to come to judgment; and I find 
 that I am not willing to do the first, nor able 
 to do the second. II Heb. ix. 27; Job xvi. 21, 
 22 ; Ezek. xxii. 14. 
 
 Then said Evangelist, Why not willing to 
 die, since this life is attended with so many 
 evils? The man answered, Because I fear that 
 this burden that is upon my back ? will sink 
 me lower than the grave, and I shall fall into 
 Tophet. Isa. xxx. 33. And, sir, if I be not fit 
 to go to prison, I am not fit to go to judgment, 
 and from thence to execution : and the thoughts 
 of these things make me cry. 
 
 Then said Evangelist, If this be thy condi- 
 tion, why standest thou still? He answered, 
 Because I know not whither to go. Then he 
 gave him a parchment roll; and there was 
 written within, " Flee from the wrath to 
 come." 1[ Matt. iii. 7. 
 
 The man therefore read it, and looking upon 
 Evangelist, very carefully, said. Whither must 
 I flee? Then said Evangelist, pointing with 
 his finger over a very wide field. Do you see 
 yonder Wicket-gate? Matt. vii. 13, 14. The 
 man said. No. Then said the other, Do you 
 see yonder shining light?** Ps. cxix. 105: 2 
 Pet. i. 16. He said, I think I do. Then said 
 Evangelist, Keep that light in thine eye, and 
 go up directly thereto, so shalt thou see the 
 gate ; at which when thou knockest, it shall be 
 told thee what thou shalt do. 
 
 CHAPTEK II. 
 
 Christian proceeds — Obstinate refuses to aecoinpany him — Pliable goes as far as the slouyh 
 
 and returns. 
 
 So I saw in my dream that the man began to 
 run. Now he had not run far from his own 
 door, l)ut his wife and children (perceiving it) 
 
 * When we begin to be wise unto salvation, carnal 
 friends pronounce us mad unto destruction; and ad- 
 minister carnal medicine for our sin-sick souls. 
 
 "I No soul was- ever in earnest for salvation, till there 
 is a cry in his heart to be saved from the wrath of an 
 offe-.ded God. 
 
 J Behold here the tender love and care of Jesus, the 
 great Shepherd and Bishop of souls to sin-distressed, 
 heavy-laden sinners, in sending Evangelist, that is, a 
 preacher of Gospel grace and glad tidings of salva- 
 tion, to them. 
 
 II A true confession of an enlightened, sensible sin- 
 ner. 
 
 J The convictions of the Spirit of God in the heart. 
 
 began to cry after him to return, (Luke xiv. 26 ; ) 
 but the man put his fingers in his ears, and ran 
 on crying, '"Lifel life! eternal life!" So he 
 
 make a man feel the insupportable burden of sin upon 
 his back, and to dread the wrath of God revealed from 
 heaven against sin. 
 
 ^ The Gospel never leaves the convinced sinner in 
 the miserable situation in which it finds him, witliout 
 hope and relief; but points him to Jesus for safety 
 and salvation, that he may fly from himself and the 
 wrath he feels in himself, to Ihe fulness of the grace 
 of Christ, signified by the Wicket-gate. 
 
 ** Christ, and the way to him, cannot be found with- 
 out the word. The word directs to Christ, and the 
 Spirit shines into the heart, whereby the sinner sc*3 
 Christ in the word. This makes God's word pre- 
 cious. 
 
90 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 looked nofbehind him, (Gen. xix. 17 ; 2 Cor. iv. 
 18,) but fled towards tlie middle of the plain.* 
 
 The neighbours also came out to seef him 
 run: and, as he run, some mocked, others 
 threatened, and some cried after him to return ; 
 and among those that did so, there were two 
 that were resolved to fetch him back by force. 
 The name of one was Obstinate, and the name 
 of the other Pliable. Now by this time the man 
 was got a good distance from them ; but, how- 
 ever, they were resolved to pursue him ; which 
 thoy did, and in a little time they overtook 
 him, Then said the man. Neighbours, where- 
 fore are ye come ? They said, To persuade you 
 to go back with us ; but he said, That can by 
 no means be ; you dwell, said he, in the city of 
 Destruction ; the place also where I was born ; 
 I see it to be so ; and dying there, sooner or 
 later, you will sink lower than the grave into a 
 place that burns with fire and brimstone : be 
 content, good neighbours, and go along with 
 me.J 
 
 What, said Obstinate, and leave our friends 
 and our comforts behind us ! 
 
 .Yes, said Christian, (for that was his name,) 
 because that all which you shall forsake is not 
 worthy to be compared with a little of that I am 
 seeking to enjoy, and if you will go along with 
 me, and hold it, you shall fare as I myself; for 
 there where I go is enough, and to spare, (Luke 
 XV. 17 ;) come away, and prove my words. 
 
 Obstinate. What are the things you seek, 
 since you leave all the world to find them ? 
 
 Christian. I seek an " inheritance incorrupt- 
 ible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away ; and 
 it is laid up in heaven," (1 Pet. i. 4, 6; Heb. 
 xi. 6, 16 ;) and safe there, to be bestowed at the 
 time appointed on them that diligently seek it. 
 Kead it so if you will in my book. 
 
 Tush ! said Obstinate ! away with your book; 
 will you go back with us or no ? 
 
 No, not I, said the other, because I have laid 
 my hand to the plough. Luke ix. 62. 
 
 Obstinate. Come then, neighbour Pliable, let 
 
 • When a giriner begins to fly from destruction, car- 
 nal relations will strive to prevent him ; but it is wiser 
 to stop our ears against the reasonings of flesh and 
 blood, than to parley with them. Carnal aflFeotions 
 cannot prevail over spiritual convictions. The sinner 
 who is in earnest for salvation, will be deaf to invita- 
 tions to go back. The more he is solicited by them, 
 the faster he will fly from them. 
 
 f He who flies from the wrath to come, and leads 
 4 life of righteousness, is a gazing stock to the 
 world. 
 
 J The genuine spirit of a sinner, convinced of sin 
 
 us turn again and go home without hiin; there 
 is a company of the.se Crazy-headed coxcombs, 
 that when they take a fancy by the end, are 
 ■wiser in their own eyes than seven men that 
 can render a reason. 
 
 Then said Pliable, Don't revile ; if what the 
 good Christian says is true, the things he looka 
 after are better than ours ; my heart inclines to 
 go with my neighbour. 
 
 Obstinate. What! more fools still? be ruled 
 by me, and go back ; who knows whither such 
 a brain-sick fellow will lead you? Go back, 
 go back, and be wise. II 
 
 Christian. Nay, but do thou come with thy 
 neighbour. Pliable ; there are such things to be 
 had which I spake of, and many more glories 
 besides ; if you believe not me, read here in 
 this book; and, for the truth of what is ex- 
 pressed therein, behold, all is confirmed by the 
 blood of him that made it. Heb ix. 17, 22. 
 
 Well, neighbour Obstinate, saith Pliable, 1 
 begin to come to a point; I intend to go along 
 with this good man, and to cast in my lot with 
 him ; but, my good companion, do you know 
 the way to tliis desired place ? 
 
 Christian. I am directed by a man, whose 
 name is Evangelist, to speed me to a little gate 
 that is before us, where we shall receive in- 
 structions about the way. 
 
 Pliable. Come then, good neighbour, let us 
 be going. Then they went both together. 
 
 And I will go back to my place, said Obsti- 
 nate; I will be no companion of such misled 
 fantastical fellows.^ 
 
 Now I saw in my dream, that when Obsti- 
 nate was gone back. Christian and Pliable went 
 talking over the plain ; and thus they began 
 their discourse. 
 
 Christian. Come, neighbour Pliable, how do 
 you do? I am glad you are persuaded to go 
 along with me ; had even Obstinate himself but 
 felt what I have felt of the powers and terrors 
 of what is yet unseen, he would not thus lightly 
 have given us the back. 
 
 and fleeing from destruction. He would gladly per- 
 suade other poor sinners to go jvith him. The least 
 spark of grace from God in the heart discovers itself 
 in good will to man. 
 
 II He who never' became a fool in the eyes of the 
 world for Christ, is not yet made wise unto salvation 
 through the faith of Christ. 
 
 I Here see the dilTerent nff'eots which Gospel truths 
 have upon natural men. Obstinate totally rejects 
 them. Pliable hears of them with joy, believes some- 
 what of them for a season, and accompanies Christian 
 a little way. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 91 
 
 Pliable. Come, neighbour Christian, since 
 there is none but us two here, tell me now fur- 
 ther what the things are, and how to be en- 
 joyed, whither we are going. 
 
 Christian. I can better conceive of them with 
 my mind than speak of them with my tongue ; 
 but yet since you are desirous to know, I will 
 read of them in my book. 
 
 Pliable. And do you think that the words 
 of your book are certainly true? 
 
 Christian. Yes, verily, for it was made by 
 him that cannot lie. Tit. i. 2. 
 
 Pliable. Well said ; what things are they ? 
 Christian. There is an endless kingdom to 
 be inhabited, and everlasting life to be given 
 us that we may inhabit that kingdom for ever. 
 Isa. xlv. 17 ; John x. 27, 29. 
 
 Pliable. Well said ; and what else? 
 Christian. There are crowns of gltiry to be 
 given us and garments that will make us shine 
 like the sun in the firmament of heaven. 2 
 Tim. iv. 8 ; Eev. xxii. 5 ; Matt. xiiK 43. 
 PUabk. This is very pleasant ; and what else? 
 Christian. There shall be no more crying nor 
 sorrow ; for he that is owner of the place will 
 wipe all tears from our eyes. Isa. xxv. 8; 
 Rev. vii. 16, 17 ; xxi. 4. 
 
 Pliable. And what company shall we have 
 there? "^ 
 
 Christian. There we shall be with seraphima 
 and cherubims, creatures that will dazzle your 
 eyes to look on them. Isa. vi. 2 ; 1 Thess. iv. 
 16, 17. There also you shall meet with thou- 
 sands and tens of thousands that have gone 
 before us to that place ; none of them are hurt- 
 ful, but loving and holy ; every one walking in 
 the sight of God, and standing in his presence 
 with acceptance for ever. In a word, there we 
 shall see the elders with their golden crowns, 
 (Rev. iv. 4;) there we shall see holy virgins 
 with their golden harps, (Rev. xiv. 1, 5;) there 
 we shall see men that by the world were cut 
 in pieces, burnt in flames, eaten of beasts, 
 drowned in the seas, for the love that they 
 bare to the Lord of the place, all well, and 
 
 * Here see the fleshly joys and flashy comforts of 
 temporary professors : he is too hot to hold : too light 
 (huTing never felt the burden of his sins) to travel 
 far. Our Lord describes such as the stony-ground 
 hearers. They receive the word with joy ; the word 
 hath no root in their hearts : they believe a while; but 
 in times of temptation fall away. Luke viii. 15. So 
 did Pliable at the slough of Despond. This signifies 
 those desponding fears, and despairing doubts which 
 beset us, arising from unbelief of Grod's word, the sug- 
 gestions of Satan, and the carnal reasonings of our 
 oorriipt nature, against the revealed truths, and pre- 
 
 clothed with immortality as with a garment. 
 John xii. 25 ; 2 Cor. v. 2, 4. 
 
 Pliable. The hearing of this is enough to 
 ravish one's heart; but are these things to be 
 enjoyed? how shall we get to be sharers thereof? 
 
 Christian. The Lord, the governor of the 
 country, hath recorded that in this book ; the 
 substance of which is, if we be truly willing to 
 have it, he will bestow it upon us freely. Isa. 
 Iv. 1, 8 ; John vi. 37 ; Kev. xxi. 6 ; xxii. 17. 
 
 Pliable. Well, my good companion, glad am 
 I to hear of these things ; come on, let us mend 
 our pace.* 
 
 Christian. I cannot go so fast as I would, by 
 reason of this burden that is on my back. 
 
 Now I saw in my dream, that just as they 
 had ended this talk, they drew nigh to a very 
 miry slough that was in the midst of the plain, 
 and they being heedless did both fall suddenly 
 /into the bog. The name of the slough was De- 
 spond. Here therefore they wallowed for a 
 time, being grievously bedaubed with dirt ; and 
 Christian, because of the burden that was on 
 his back, began to sink in the mire. 
 
 Then said Pliable, Ah! neighbour Christian, 
 where are you now ? 
 
 Truly, said Christian, I do not know. 
 
 At that Pliable began to be offended, and 
 angrily said to his fellow, Is this the happi- 
 ness you have told me all this while of? If 
 we have such ill speed at our first setting out, 
 what may we expect betwixt this and our jour- 
 ney's end? May I get out again with my life, 
 you shall ' possess the brave country alone for 
 me : And with that he gave a desperate strug- 
 gle or two, and got out of the mire on that 
 side of the slough which was next his own 
 house: so away he went and Christian saw 
 him no more.f 
 
 Wherefore Christian was left to tumble in 
 the slough of Despond alone ; but still he en- 
 deavoured to struggle to that side of the slough 
 that was furthest from his own horise, and next 
 to the Wicket-gate ; J the which he did, but 
 could not get out because of the burden that 
 
 cious promises of God. These try the reality of our 
 convictions, and the sincerity of our faith. 
 
 f It is not enough to be pliable -, for the firet trial 
 he met with cooled his courage, damped his joy, killed 
 his faith, and sent him back to the city of Destruc- 
 tion. 
 
 X Christian, in trouble, seeks still to get farther 
 from his own house. See the difference between a 
 truly convinced sinner, and a pliable, unconverted 
 professor ; one keeps his face towards Chris*, for hope 
 andvhelp; the other flics back for comfort to the oity 
 of Destruction. 
 
92 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 was upon his back. But I beheld, in my 
 dream, that a man came to him, whose name 
 was Help,* and asked him, What he did there? 
 
 Sir, said Christian, I was bid to go this way 
 by a man, called Evangelist, who directed me 
 also to yonder gate, that I might escape the 
 wrath to come:^ and as I was going thither I 
 fell in h jre. 
 
 Help. But why did you not look for the 
 Bteps ? t 
 
 Christian. Fear followed me so hard, that T 
 fled the next way and fell in. 
 
 Help. Then said he, Give me thy hand ; so 
 he gave him his hand, and he drew him out, 
 and set him upon sound ground, and bid him 
 go on his way. Ps. xl. 2. 
 
 Then I stepped to him that plucked him out 
 and said,: Sir, wherefore, since over this place 
 is the way from the city of Destruction to 
 yonder gate, is it that this plat is not mended, 
 that poor travellers might go thither with more 
 security? and he said unto me, This miry 
 slough is such a place as cannot be mended : it 
 is the descent whither the scum and filth that 
 attends conviction for sin doth continually run, 
 and therefore it was called the slough of De- 
 spond : for still as the sinner is awakened about 
 his lost condition, there arise in his soul many 
 fears and doubts, and discouraging apprehen- 
 sions, which all of them get together, and set- 
 tle in this place : And this is the reason of the 
 badness of this ground. 
 
 It is not the pleasure of the king that this 
 place should remain so bad, (Isa. xxxv. 3, 4;) 
 his labourers also have, by the direction of his 
 majesty's surveyors, been for above these six- 
 teen hundred years employed about this patch 
 
 * The aria of Christ's omnipotent grace, reacheth 
 forth to snatch poor sinners from destruction ; for he 
 says to thorn, " Tfiou hast destroyed thyself, but in me 
 is thine help." Hosea xiii. 9. 
 
 f The great and precious promises of God, which 
 are in Christ Jesus, to poor, needy and distressed sin- 
 ners. 
 
 J Signifying, that there is nothing but despondency 
 and despair in the fallen nature of sinful manj the 
 best that we can do, leaves us in the slough of De- 
 spond as to any hopes in ourselves. 
 
 of ground, if perhaps ii. might have been 
 mended : yea, and to m^ knowledge, said he, 
 here have been swallowed up at least twenty 
 thousand cart-loads; yea, millions of whole- 
 some instructions, that have at all seasons been 
 brought from all places of the king's domin- 
 ions, (and they that can tell, say, they are the 
 best materials to make good the ground of the 
 place,) if so be it might have been mended ; 
 but it is the slough of Despond still ; and so 
 will be, when they have done what they 
 can.t 
 
 True, there are, by the direction of the law- 
 giver, certain good and substantial steps placed 
 even through the very midst of this slough ; 
 but at such times as this place does much spew 
 out its filth, as it doth against change of 
 weather, these steps are hardly seen ; or if they 
 be, men through the dizziness of their heads 
 step beside ; and then they are bemired to pur- 
 pose, notwithstanding the steps be there : but 
 the groun(i is good when they are once got in 
 at the gate. II 1 Sam. xii. 22. 
 
 Now I saw in my dream, that by this time 
 Pliable was got home to his house. So his 
 neighbours came to visit him; and some of 
 them called him wise man for coming back ; 
 and some called him fool for hazarding him- 
 self with Christian^; others again did mock 
 at his cowardliness ; | saying, " Surely, since 
 you began to venture, I would not have been 
 so base to have given out for a few difficulties;" 
 so Pliable sat sneaking among them. But at 
 last he got more confidence ; and then they all 
 turned their tales, and began to deride poor 
 Christian behind his back. And thus much 
 concerning Pliable. 
 
 II That is the Lord Jesus Christ. We never find 
 good ground, nor safe sounding, nor comfortable walk- 
 ing till we enter into possession of Christ by faith, and 
 till our feet are set upon Him, who is the Rock of Ages. 
 
 g They who affect to despise real Christians, often 
 both express andf feel great contempt for those that 
 cast oif their profession : such men are unable, for • 
 time, to resume their wonted confidence among their 
 former companions ; and this excites them to pay 
 court to them by reviling and deriding those whom 
 they have forsaken. 
 
AJB^N■alte■c.lL■n^ 
 
 fiLCmsm SETTTOINKa ©UTON THIE J®U[RIMEY. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 93 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Chridian deceived, by the advice of Mr. Worldly-vdseman, turns out of the way, and it 
 greatly alarmed ; but happily meeting vdth Evangelist, returns to the right path, and pro- 
 ceeds on his journey. 
 
 Now as Christian was walking solitarily by 
 himself, he spied one afar off crossing over the 
 field to meet him ; and their hap was to meet 
 just as they were crossing the way to each 
 other. The gentleman's name that met him, 
 was Mr. Worldly-wiseman ; he dwelt in the 
 town of Carnal-policy ; a very great town, and 
 also hard by from whence Christian came. 
 This man, then meeting with Christian, and 
 Jiaving some inkling of him, (for Christian's 
 setting forth from the city of Destruction was 
 much noised abroad, not only in the town 
 where he dwelt, but also it began to be the 
 town-talk in some other places ;) Mr. Worldly- 
 wiseman, therefore, having some guess of 
 him, by beholding his laborious going, by 
 observing his sighs and groan?, and the like, 
 began th^is to enter into some talk with 
 Christian. 
 
 Worldly-wiseman. How now, good fellow, 
 whither away after this burdened manner ? 
 
 Christian. A burdened manner indeed, as 
 ever, I think, poor creature had 1 And where- 
 as you asked me, whither away? I tell you, 
 sir, I am going to yonder Wicket-gate before 
 me; for there, as I am informed, I shall be 
 put in a way to be rid of my heavy burden. 
 
 Worldly-wiseman. Hast thou a wife and 
 children ? 
 
 Christian. Yes ; but I am so laden with this 
 burden, that I cannot take that pleasure in 
 them as formerly : methinks I ain as if I had 
 none. 1 Cor. vii. 29. 
 
 Worldly-wiseman. Wilt thou hearken to me 
 if I give thee counsel ?, 
 
 Christian. If it be good, I will ; for I stand 
 in need of good counsel. 
 
 Worldly-wiseman. 1 would advise thee, then, ' 
 ' that thou with all speed get thyself rid of thy 
 burden ; for thou wilt never be settled in 'thy 
 mind till then, nor canst thou enjoy the bene- 
 fits of the blessings which God hath bestowed 
 upon thee till then. 
 
 Christian. That is that which I seek for, 
 even to be rid of this heavy burden ; but get 
 
 ■ i 
 
 * A glimpse of tho Wicket-gate, or of deliverance 
 *rom the guilt of sin by Christ, will make the sinner 
 reject all other ways, and press on towards Christ only. 
 
 it off myself I cannot ; nor is there any man 
 in our country that can take it off my shoul- 
 ders ; therefore am I going this way as I told 
 you, that I may be rid of my burden.* 
 
 Worldly-wiseman. Who bid you go this way 
 to be rid of your burden ? 
 
 Christian. A man that appeared to me to be 
 a very great and honourable person ; his name, 
 as I remember, is Evangelist. 
 
 Worldly-wiseman. Beshrew him for his coun- 
 sel ; there is not a more dangerous and trouble- 
 some way in the world than is that unto which 
 he hath directed thee ; and that thou shalt find 
 if thou wilt be ruled by his counsel. Thou hast 
 met with something, as I perceive, already ; 
 for I see the dirt of the slough of Despond is 
 upon thee; but that slough is the beginning 
 of the sorrows that do attend those that go on 
 in that way. Hear me ; I am older than thou ; 
 thou art like to meet with, on the way which 
 thou goest, wearisomeuess, painfulness, hun- 
 ger, perils, nakedness, sword, lions, dragons, 
 darkness, and, in a word, death, and what not ! 
 These things are certainly true, having been 
 confirmed by many testimonies. And why 
 should a man so carelessly cast away himself 
 by giving heed to a stranger? 
 
 Christian. Why, sir, this burden upon my 
 back is more terrible to me than are all these 
 things which you have mentioned ; nay, me- 
 thinks I care not what 1 meet with in my way, 
 if so be I can also meet with deliverance from - 
 my burden.f 
 
 Worldly-wiseman. How camest thou by the 
 burden at first ? 
 
 Christian. By reading this book in my 
 hand. 
 
 Worldly-wiseman.X I thought so ; and it has 
 happened unto thee as to other weak men, 
 who meddling with things too high for them, 
 do suddenly fall into thy distractions ; which 
 distractions do not only unman men, (as thine 
 I perceive have done thee,) but they run them 
 upon desperate ventures, to obtain they know 
 not what. 
 
 f Such is the frame of the heart of a real penitent. 
 { Mr. Worldly-wiseman does not like that men 
 should be serious in reading the Bible. 
 
94 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Christian. I know what I would obtain ; it 
 is ease from my heavy burden. 
 
 Worldly-wiseman. But why wilt thou seek 
 for ease this way, seeing so many dangers 
 attend it? Especially since, hadst thou but 
 patience to hear me, I could direct thee to 
 the obtaining of what thou desirest, without 
 th»' dangers that thou in this way wilt run 
 thyself into. Yea, and the remedy is at hand. 
 Besides I will add, that instead of these dan- 
 gers, thou shalt meet with much safety, friend- 
 ship, and content. 
 
 Chridi in. Sir, I pray, open this secret to me. 
 
 Worldly-wiseman. Why, in yonder village, 
 (the village is named Morality,) there dwells 
 a gentleman, whose name is Legality, a very 
 judicious man, and a man of very good name, 
 that has skill to help men off with such bur- 
 dens as thine is from their shoulders ; yea, to 
 my knowledge, he hath done a great deal of 
 good this way : ay, and besides, he hath skill 
 to cure those that are somewhat crazed in their 
 wits with their burdens.* To him, as I said, 
 thou mayest go, and be helped presently. 
 His house is not quite a mile from this place ; 
 and if he should not be at home himself, he 
 hath a pretty young man to his son, whose 
 name is Civility, that can do it (to speak on) 
 as well as the old gentleman himself There, 
 I say, thou mayest be eased of thy birrden; 
 and if thou art not minded to go back-to thy 
 former habitation, as indeed I would not wish 
 thee, thou mayest send for thy wife and chil- 
 dren to thee to this village ; where there are 
 houses now stand empty, one of which thou 
 mayest have at reasonable rates: provision is 
 there also cheap and good; and that which 
 will make thy life more happy, is to be sure, 
 there thou shalt live by honest neighbours, in 
 credit and good fashion. 
 
 Now was Christian somewhat at a stand; 
 but presently he concluded, if this be true 
 which this gentleman hath said, my wisest 
 course is to take his advice ; and with that he 
 thus further spake. 
 
 Christian. Sir, which is my way to this hon- 
 est man's house ? 
 
 • Mr. Worldly-wiseman prefers Morality to Christ, 
 tlie Strait Gate. This is the exact reasoning of the 
 flesh. Carnal reason ever opposes spiritual truth. 
 The notion of justification by our own obedience to 
 God's law, ever works in us, contrary to the law of 
 justification' by the obedience of Christ and living 
 faith in his blood; Self-righteousness is as contrary 
 to thn faith of Christ as indulging the lusts of the 
 flesh. 
 
 Worldly-wiseman. Do you see yonder high 
 hill? 
 
 Cliristian. Yes, very well. 
 
 Worldly-wiseman. By that hill you must go, 
 and the first house you come at is his. 
 
 So Christian turned out of his way to go to 
 Mr. Legality's house for help.f But behold, 
 when he was got now hard by the hill, it 
 seemed so high, and also that side of it that 
 was next the wayside did hang so much over, 
 that Christian was afraid to venture further, 
 lest the hill should fall on his head ; wherefore 
 there he stood still, and wotted not what to do. 
 Also his burden now seemed heavier to him 
 than while he was in the way. There came 
 also ilashes of fire out of the hill, that made 
 Christian afraid that he should be burned, 
 (Exod. xix. 16, 18 ; Heb. xii. 21 ;) here there- 
 fore he sweat and did quake for fear. And 
 now he began to be sorry that he had taken 
 Mr. Worldly-wiseman's counsel. And with 
 that he saw Evaijgelist t coming to meet him ; 
 at the sight also of whom he began to blush 
 for shame. So Evangelist drew nearer and 
 nearer : and, coming up to him, he looked upon 
 him with a severe and dreadful countenance, 
 and thus began to reason with Christian. 
 
 '\Vhat dost thou here. Christian? said he. 
 At which words Christian knew not what to 
 answer ; wherefore at present he stood speech- 
 less before him. Then said Evangelist further. 
 Art thou not the man that I found ciying 
 without the walls of the city of Destruc- 
 tion? 
 
 Christian. Yes, dear sir, I am the man. 
 
 Evangelist. Did not I direct thee the way to 
 the little Wicket-gate? 
 
 Yes, dear sir, said Christian. 
 
 Evangelist. How is it then that thou art so 
 quickly turned aside? for thou art now <jut of 
 the way. 
 
 Christian: I met with a gentleman, as soon aa 
 I had got over the slough of Despond, who 
 persuaded me that I might in the \-illage be- 
 fore me find a man that could take off my bur- 
 den. 
 
 Evangelist. What was he ? 
 
 •f- And a sad turn it proved to him ; for he turned 
 from the work of Christ, for his salvation, to his own 
 works and obedience; so did the Galatians of old 
 Mark the consequence : Christian is afraid that Jlount 
 Sinai, all the dreadful curses of the law, would fall 
 on his head. 
 
 J Evangelist findeth Christian under Mount Sinai, 
 and looketh severely upon him. See the effect of dis- 
 obeying the Gospel, 
 
TUE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 95 
 
 Christian. lie looked like a gentleman,* and 
 talked much to me, and got me at last to yield ; 
 BO I came hither: but when I beheld this hill, 
 and how it hangs over tlie way, I suddenly 
 made a stand, lest it should fall on my head. 
 
 Evangelb<t. AVhat said that gentleman to you ? 
 
 C/iiistian. He asked me if I had a family; 
 and I told him. But said I, I am so loaded 
 with the burden that is on my back, that I 
 cannot take pleasure in them as formerly. 
 
 Eranrjdist. And what said he then ? 
 
 Christian. He bid me with speed get rid of 
 my burden ; and I told him it was ease that I 
 soiijht. And, said I, I am therefore going to 
 yonder gate to receive further directions how . 
 I may get to the place of deliverance. So he 
 said that he would show me a better way, and 
 shorter, not sn attended with difficulties as the 
 way, sir, tli;\t you set me in ; which waf, said 
 he, will direct you to a gentleman's house that 
 has skill to take off these burdens : so I be- 
 lievrd him,t and turned out of that way into 
 this, if haply I miijht be soon eased of my 
 burden. But when I came to this place, and 
 beheld things as they are, I stojipcd for fear as 
 I said, of danger ; but now know not what to do. 
 
 Then, said Evangelist, staud still a little that 
 I may show thee the words of God. So he 
 stood trembling. Then said Evangelist, "See 
 that ye refuse not him that speaketh; for if 
 they escaped not who refused liim that spake 
 on earth, much more shall not we escajje if we 
 turn away from him that speaketh from heav- 
 en." Heb. xii. 25. He said, moreover, " Now 
 the just shall live by faith; but if any man 
 draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in 
 him.'' Heb. x. 38. He also did thus apply 
 them : Thou art the man that art running into 
 this misery ; thou hast begun to reject the 
 counsel of the ilost High, and to draw back 
 tliy foot from the way of peace ; even almost 
 to the hazarding of thy perdition. J 
 
 Then Christian fell down at his feet as dead, 
 
 * Beware of taking men by their looks. They may 
 look a.s gentle as lambs, while the poison of asps is 
 under their tongues ^ whereby they infect many souls 
 with pernicious errors, turning them from Christ and 
 the hope of justification and eternal life, through him 
 only, to look and rely upon their own works, in whole 
 or in part, for salvation. 
 
 f As the belief of truth lies at the foundation of the 
 hope of eternal life, and is the cause of any one be- 
 coming a pilgrim; so the belief of a lie is the cause 
 of any one's turning out of the way which leads to 
 glory. 
 
 J See the danger of turning from the faith of Christ 
 lo trust in any degree to our own works for justiflca- 
 
 crying, "AVoe is me, for I am undone!" At 
 the sight of which Evangelist caught him by 
 the rtglit hand, saying, " All manner of sin 
 and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men ;" 
 " Be not faithless, but believing." Then did 
 Christian again a little revive, and stood up 
 trembling, as at first, before Evangelist. || 
 
 Then Evangelist proceeded, saying, Give 
 more earnest heed to the things that I shall 
 tell thee of I will now show thee who it v, as 
 that deluded thee, and who it was also to whom 
 he sent thee. The man that met thee is one 
 AVordly-wiseman, and rightly he is so called; 
 partly because he savoureth only the doctrine 
 of this world, (John iv. f ,) therefore he always 
 goes to the town of Jlorality to church, and 
 partly because he loveth that doctrine best, 
 for it saveth him best from the cross, (Gal. vi. 
 12,) and because he is of this carnal temper, 
 therefore he seeketh to pervert my ways, though 
 right. Now there are three things in this 
 man's counsel that thou must utterly abhor: 
 his turning thee out of the way — his labouring 
 to render the cross odious to thee — and his 
 setting thy feet in that way that leadeth unto 
 the ministration of death. J 
 
 First. Thou must abhor his turning thee out 
 of the way, yea, and thine own consenting 
 thereto ; because this is to reject the counsel of 
 God for the sake of the counsel of a worldly- 
 wise man. The Lord says, "Strive to enter in 
 at the strait gate," (the gate to which I send 
 thee,) "for strait is the gate that leadeth unto 
 life and few there be that find it." Luke xiii. 
 25 ; Matt.' vii. 13, 14. From this little Wickets 
 gate, and from the way thereto, hath this 
 wicked man turned thee, to the bringing of 
 thee almost to destruction. Hate, therefore, 
 his turning thee out of the way, and abhor 
 thyself for hearkening to him. 
 
 Secondly. *rhou must abhor his labouring to 
 render the cross odious unto thee ; for thou art 
 
 tion and eternal life. Beware of legal teachers and 
 of thy own legal spirit. 
 
 II See the glory of Gospel grace to sinners. See 
 the amazing love of Christ in dying for sinners. Oh 
 remember the price with which Christ obtained the 
 pardon of your sins; at nothing less t>' n bis own 
 most precious blood ! Believe his won'ierful love. 
 Rejoice in his glorious salvajion. Live in the love of 
 him, in the hatred of your sins, and in humbleness 
 of mind before him. 
 
 I Gospel comfort cannot he enjoyed, till the soul is 
 convinced of the evil, and rejects the doctrine 6f le- 
 gality, or trusts in any dependence upon our i wn works 
 for justification. This detestable heresy abounds 
 grcal'.y in the present day. 
 
96 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 to " prefer it before the treasures in Egypt." 
 Ileb. xi. 25, 26. Besides, the King of Glory 
 hath told thee, that "he that will save hi* life 
 shall lose it ;" and, " He that comes after me, 
 and hates not his father, and mother, and wife, 
 and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, 
 and his own life also, cannot be my disciple." 
 Matt, X. 37, 39 ; Mark viii. 34, 35 ; Luke xiv. 
 26, 27 ; John xii. 25. I say, therefore, for a 
 man to labour to persuade thee that that shall 
 be thy death, without which the truth hath 
 said thou canst not have eternal life ; this doc- 
 trine thou must abhor. 
 
 Thirdly. Thou must hate his setting of thy 
 feet in the way that leadeth to the ministra- 
 tion of death. And for this thou must con- 
 sider to whom he sent thee, and also how 
 unable that person was to deliver thee from 
 thy burden. 
 
 He to whom thou wast sent for ease, being 
 by name Legality, is "the son of the bond- 
 woman which now is, and is in bondage with 
 her children," (Gal. iv. 21, 27;) and is, in a 
 mystery, this Mount Sinai which thou hast 
 feared will fall on thy head. Now if she with 
 her children are in bondage, how canst thou 
 expect by them to be made free ? This Legal- 
 ity therefore, is not able to set thee free from 
 thy burden. No man was as yet ever rid of 
 his burden by him ; no, nor ever is like to be. 
 " Ye cannot be justified by the works of the 
 law ; for by the deeds of the law no man living 
 can be rid of his burden :" therefore, Mr. 
 Worldly-wiseman is a liar, and Mr. Legality a 
 cheat : and for his son Civility, notwithstand- 
 ing his simpering looks, he is but a hypocrite, 
 and cannot help thee. Believe me, there is 
 nothing in all this noise that thou hast heard 
 of these sottish men, but a design to beguile 
 thee of thy salvation, by turning thee from the 
 way in which I had set thee.** After this 
 Evangelist called aloud to the heavens for 
 confirmation of what he had said; and with 
 that there came words and fire out of the 
 
 * The Gospel pays no respect to demure looks, and 
 a sanctified face ; but pronounces such cheats, hypo- 
 crites, and bcguilers, who -turn souls from the cross of 
 Christ, and the way of salvation by him, to ti-ust in 
 anywise to their own works for justification and sal- 
 vation. 
 
 •j- Legality is as great an enemy to the cross of 
 Christ, as lAcentiousness : for it keeps the soul from 
 coming to believing in, and trusting wholly to the 
 blood of Christ for pardon, and the righteousness of 
 Christ for justification ; so that it keeps the soul in 
 bondage, and swells the mind with pride, while Li- 
 centiousness br'-ngs a scandal on the cross. 
 
 mountain under which poor Christian stood, 
 that made the hair of his flesh stand up. The 
 words were thus pronounced : " As many as are 
 of the works of the law are under the curse : 
 for it is written. Cursed is every one that con- 
 tinueth not in all things which are written in 
 the book of the law to do them." f Gal. iii. 10. , 
 
 Now Christian looked for nothing but death, 
 and began to cry out lamentably; even cursing 
 the time in which he met with Mr. Worldly- 
 wiseman ; still calling himself a thousand fools 
 for hearkening to his counsel. He also was 
 greatly ashamed to think that this gentleman's 
 arguments, flowing only from the flesh, should 
 .have the prevalency with him as to cause him 
 to forsake the right way. This done, he applied 
 himself again to Evangelist in words and sense 
 as follows : 
 
 Sir,{ what think you? Is there any hope? 
 May I now go back, and go up to the Wicket- 
 gate ? Shall I not be abandoned for this, and 
 sent back from thence ashamed? I am sorry 
 I have hearkened to this man's counsel; but 
 may my sin be forgiven ? 
 
 Then said Evangelist to him, thy sin is very 
 great, for by it thou hast committed two evils : 
 thou hast forsaken the way that is good, to 
 tread in forbidden paths ; yet will the man at 
 the gate receive thee, for he has good will for 
 men ; only, said he, take heed that thou turn 
 not aside again, "lest thou perish from the 
 way when his wrath is kindled but a little.'' 
 Ps. ii. 12. Then did Christian address him- 
 self to go back, and Evangelist, after he had 
 kissed him, gave him one smile and bid him 
 God speed. || So he went on with haste, neither 
 spake he to any man by the way, nor if any 
 asked him would he vouchsafe them an an- 
 swer. He went like one that was all the while 
 treading on forbidden ground, and could by no 
 means think himself safe, till again he was got 
 into the way? which he left to follow Mr. 
 Worldly-wiseman's counsel. 
 
 if Christian inquires if he may yet be happy. Legal 
 hopes will bring on distress of soul, 'and despondency 
 of spirit, as well as outward sins; there is no hope of 
 a sinner's being comforted by the cross of Christ, ti'l 
 he is made sensible of this. 
 
 II Nothing but the Gospel of Christ can direct our 
 stops in the right way, and bring peace and comfort 
 to our souls. It salutes us with «> cheering smile, a 
 kiss of peace, and a blessing of consolation ; and henco 
 it wings our peace to Christ and holiness. 
 
 ^ The faithful minister must warn young converts 
 not to turn aside; nor can any soul ever find confi- 
 dence or comfort, |ill they are conscious of having 
 regained the way they had forgotten. 
 
THE PILQRm'S PROdSESS. 
 
 97 
 
 CHAPTER- IV. 
 
 Christian arrives at the Wicket-gate, ivhere he knocks, and is kindly received. 
 
 So in process of time Cliristian got up to 
 the gate. Now over tlie gate there was writ- 
 tun, " Knock, and it shall he opened unto 
 )i)u." Matt. vii. 7, 8. 
 
 He knocked, therefore, more than once or 
 twice,* sayings 
 
 "May I now enter here? Will he within 
 Open to sorry me, though I have been 
 An undeserving rebel ! Then shall I 
 Not fail to sing his lasting praise on high." 
 Matt. vii. 7, 8. 
 
 At last there came a grave person to the 
 gate, named Good-will, who asked him who 
 was there? and whence he came? and what 
 he would have? 
 
 Christian. Here is a poor hurdened sinner. 
 I come from the city of Destruction, but am 
 going to Mount Zion, that I may be delivered 
 from the wrath to come. I would, therefore, 
 sir, since I am informed that by this gate is 
 the way thither, know if you are willing to let 
 me in. 
 
 I am willing with all my heart,! said he. 
 And with that he opened the gate. 
 
 So when Christian was stepping in, the 
 other gave him a pull.J Then said Christian, 
 What means that ? The other told him, " A 
 little distance from this gate there is erected a 
 strong castle, of which Beelzehub is the cap- 
 tain ; from thence both he and they that are 
 with him, shoot arrows at those that come up 
 to this gate, if haply they may die before they 
 can enter in. 
 
 Then said Christian, I rejoice and tremble. 
 So when he was got in, the man of the gate 
 asked him who directed him thither. 
 
 Christian, Evangelist bid me come hither 
 and knock, as I did ; and he said that you, 
 sir) would tell me what I must do. 
 
 Good-will. "An open door is before thee, 
 and no man can shut it." 
 
 * This is praying and pleading in faith with God 
 for mercy and forgiveness of sin through the blood of 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 \ The gate will be open to broken-hearted sinners. 
 Here behold the love of Jesus, in freely and heartily 
 receiving every poor sinner who comes unto him. No 
 matter how vile they have been nor what things they 
 have committed: he loves them freely and receives 
 them graciously. For he has nothing but good-will 
 towards men. Luke ii. 14. 
 
 Christian. Now I begin to reap the benefits 
 of my hazards. 
 
 Qood-ioill. But how is it that you come 
 alone? 
 
 Christian. Because none of my neighbours 
 saw their danger, aa I saw mine. 
 
 Good-wilt. Did any of them know of youi 
 coming? 
 
 Christian. Yes, my wife and children saw 
 me at the first, and' called after me to turn 
 again; also some of my neighbours stood 
 crying and calling after me to return ; but I put 
 my fingers in my ears and so came on my way. 
 
 Good-will. But did nojie of them follow yon, 
 to persuade you to go back ? 
 
 Christian. Yes, both Obstinate and Pliable; 
 but when they saw that they could not pre- 
 vail, Obstinate went railing back, but Pliable 
 came with me a little way. 
 
 Good-will. But why did he not come through ? 
 
 Christian. We indeed came both together 
 until we came to the- slough of Despond, into 
 the which we also suddenly fell. And then 
 was my neighbour Pliable discouraged, and 
 would not adventure further. || Wherefore, 
 getting out again on that side next to liia own 
 house, he told me I should possess the brave 
 country alone for all him ; so he went his way, 
 and I came mine; he after Obstinate, and I to 
 this gate. 
 
 Then said Good- will, Alas, poor man! is 
 the celestial glory of so small esteem with 
 him, that he counteth it not worth running 
 the hazard of a few difficulties to obtain it? 
 
 Truly, said Christian, I have said the truth 
 of Pliable ; and if I should also say all the 
 truth of myself, it will appear there is no dif- 
 ference betwixt him and myself. It is true he 
 went back to his own house, but I also turned 
 aside to go into the way of death, being per- 
 suaded thereto by the carnal argument of one 
 Mr. Worldly-wiseman.g 
 
 J Every saved sinner is a brand plucked out of the 
 Are by the loving arm of Christ. Zeeh. iii. 2. 
 
 I] A man may have company when he sets out for 
 heaven, and yet go thither alone. ''Many be called 
 but few chosen." Matt. xx. 16. 
 
 g Where there is true grace in the heart, it will 
 take shame to itself, and give all the glory to God's 
 sovereign grace, for any difference there is between 
 us and others. Free grace destroys pride, and lays 
 the sinner low whilst it exalts Christ, and cause! 
 
98 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Good-will Oh! did he light upon you? 
 What, he would have had you have sought 
 for ease at the hands of Mr. Legality ! they 
 are hoth of them very cheats. But did you 
 take his counsel? 
 
 Christian. Yes, as far as I durst. I went to 
 find out Mr. Legality, until I thought that the 
 mountain thaj stands hyhis house would have 
 fallen on my head; wherefore there I was 
 forced to stop.* 
 
 Oood-will. That mountain has been the 
 death of many, and will be the death of many 
 more. It is well you escaped being dashed in 
 pieces by it. 
 
 Christian. Why, truly, I do not know, what 
 had become of me there, had not Evangelist 
 happily met me again as I was musing in the 
 midst of my dumps ; but it was God's mercy 
 that he came to me again, for else I had never 
 come hither. But now I am come, such a one 
 as I am, more fit indeed for death by that 
 mountain, than thus to stand talking with my 
 Lord. But, oh ! what a favour is this to me, 
 that yet I am admitted entrance here.f 
 
 Oood-will. We make no objections against 
 any, notwithstanding all that they have done 
 before they come hither. " They in no wise 
 
 the believer to triumph in his righteousness and 
 salvation. 
 
 * Though Jesus knows what is in man, and all his 
 ways, yet he will bring the soul to confession unto 
 him. See the loving heart of Christ to sinners, and 
 the free communications he admits them to with him- 
 self. yo his people, pour out. your hearts before 
 him : God is a refuge for us. Ps. Ixii. 8. 
 
 "I" It is a sure sign of a genuine work of grace, when 
 the heart ascribes all to grace. Here is no ascribing 
 any thing to his own wisdom or power j but-his escfCpe 
 from destruction, and being yet in the way of salva- 
 tion, are wholly resolved into the grace of the Gospel, 
 the mercy of God, and in his free favour, and almighty 
 power. Tt is sweet to converse with Jesus, of his f^"ee 
 grace to wretched and unworthy sinners. Do not you 
 find it so ? 
 
 J.Christian is afraid of losing his way; a blessed 
 sign of a gracious heart, when it possesses godly 
 jealousy. 
 
 [I Christian, being admitted at the strait gate, is di- 
 rected in the narrow way. In the broad road every 
 man may choose a path suited to his inclinations, shift 
 about to avoid diflficulties, or accommodato himself to 
 ciroumstances; and he will be sure of company agree- 
 able to his taste. But Christians must follow one an- 
 other, in the narrow way along the same track, sur- 
 mounting difiiculties, facing enemies, and bearing 
 hardships, without any room to evade them: nor is 
 any indulgence given to different tastes, habits, or 
 propensities. It is therefore a straitened, or as some 
 render the word, an afflicted loay — being indeed an 
 
 are cast out," {John vi. 27 ;) and therefore, 
 good Christian, come a little way with me, 
 and I will teach thee about the way thou 
 must go. Look before thee; dost thou see 
 this narrow way? that is the way thou must 
 go. It was cast up by the patriarchs, prophets, 
 Christ, and his apostles, and it is as straight 
 as a rule can make it ; this is the way thou 
 must go. 
 
 But, said Christian, J are there no turnings nor 
 windings, by which a stranger m ay lose his way ? 
 
 Oood-will. Yes, there are many ways butt 
 down upon this, and they are crooked and wide ; 
 but thus thou must distinguish the right from 
 the wrong, the right only being || strait and 
 narrow. Matt. vii. 13, 14. 
 
 Then I saw in my dream that Christian asked 
 him further, if he could not help him off with 
 the burden that was upon his back ; for as yet 
 he had not got rid thereof, nor could he by any 
 means get it off without help. 
 
 He told him. As to thy burden, be content 
 to bear it until thou comest to the place of de- 
 liverance ; § for there it will fall from thy back 
 of itself. 
 
 Then Christian began to gird up his loins, 
 and to address himself to his journey. So the 
 
 habitual course of repentance, faith, love, self-denial, 
 patience : in a word, a full conformity to th.e will of 
 ^God, according to the Scriptures. Christ himself is 
 the way, by which we come to the Father; and by 
 living faith which works by love, we are " set in the 
 way of his steps." This path is also straight, as op- 
 posed to the croohed ways of men ; for it consists in 
 an uniform regard to piety, integrity, sincerity, and 
 kindness, at a distance from all the hypocrisies, frauds, 
 and artifices, by which ungodly men wind about to 
 avoid detection, keep up their credit, deceive others, 
 or impose on themselves. The question proposed by 
 Christian implies that believers are more afraid of 
 missing the way than of encountering hardships in it; 
 and Good-will's answer, that many ways hutted down 
 on it, or opened into it, in various directions, shows 
 that the careless and self-willed are extremely liable 
 to be deceived ; but it follows that all these ways are 
 crooked and wide ; they turn aside from the direct line 
 of living faith and holy obedience, and are more 
 soothing, indulgent and pleasing to corrupt nature 
 than the path of life; which lies straight forward, and 
 is every where contrary to the bias of the carnal 
 mind. 
 
 § There is no deliverance fronj the guilt and burden 
 of sin, but by the death of Christ. Hero observe, that 
 though a sinner, at his Brst coming to Christ, find some 
 comfort and encouragement, yet he may not for some 
 time have a clear sense of pardon and assurance of the 
 forgiveness of his sins, but he may still feel the bur- 
 den of them. But by faith in Jesus he shall be adopted 
 into the family of heaven. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PBOOBESS. 
 
 99 
 
 othei told him that by that he was gone some 
 distance from the gate he would come at the 
 house of the Interpreter, at whose door he 
 
 should knock, and he would show him excel- 
 lent things. Then Christian took his leave of 
 his friend, and he again hid him God speed. 
 
 CfiAPTER V. 
 
 Chridian delightfully entertained at the Interpreter's hoxise. 
 
 Then Christian went on till he came to the 
 house of the Interpreter,* where he knocked 
 over and over ; at last one came to the door and 
 asked who was there ? 
 
 ChrUtian. Sir, here is a traveller, who was bid 
 by an acquaintance of the good man of this 
 house to call here for my profit ; I would there- 
 fore speak with the master of the house. So he 
 called for the master of the house, who after a 
 little time came to Christian, and asked him 
 what he would have ? 
 
 Sir, said Christian, I am a man that am come 
 from the city of Destruction, and am going to 
 the Mount Sion ; and I was told by the man 
 that stands at the gate at the head of this way, 
 that if I called here you would show me excel- 
 lent things, such as would be a help to me in 
 my journey. 
 
 Then said the Interpreter, Come in ; I will 
 show thee that which will be profitable to thee.f 
 So he commanded hi^ manj to light a candle, 
 and bid Christian to follow him : so he had him 
 into a private room, and bid his man open a 
 door ; the which when he had done. Christian 
 saw the picture of a very grave person hang up 
 against the wall ; and this was the fashion of 
 it : " it had eyes lifted up to heaven, the best 
 of books in its hand, the law of truth was writ- 
 ten upon its lips, the world was behind its 
 back ; it stood as if it pleaded with men, and 
 a crown of gold did hang oyer its head." 
 
 * Christian comes to the house of the Interpreter : 
 which means the Lord the Spirit, the teacher of his 
 people. The Interpreter is an emblem of the divine 
 teaching of the Holy Spirit, according to the Scrip- 
 tures, by means of reading, hearing, praying and medi- 
 tating, accompanied by daily experience and observa- 
 tion. Believers depend on this teaching, and are not 
 satisfied with human instruction, but look to the foun- 
 tain of wisdom, that they may be delivered from preju- 
 dice, preserved from error, and enabled to pVofit by 
 the ministry of the word. 
 
 •f Oh how loving, how condescending is the Spirit of 
 God to poor miserable sinners ! 
 
 X Illumination is here signified. 
 
 [This is a true picture of a Gospel minister; one 
 whom the Lord the Spirit has called and qualified for 
 
 Then said Christian, \Vhat meaneth this ? 
 
 Interpreter. The man whose picture this is, is 
 one of a thousand ; he can beget children, ( 1 Cor. 
 iv. 15,) travail in birth with children, (Gal iv. 
 19,) and nurse them himself when they are 
 born. And whereas thou seest him with his 
 eyes lifted up to* heaven, the best of books in 
 his hand, and the law of truth written on his 
 lips ; it is to show thee that his work is to know 
 and unfold dark things to sinners ; even as also 
 thou seest him stand as if he pleaded with 
 men ; and whereas thou seest the world as cast 
 behind him, and that a crown hangs over his 
 head ; that is to show thee, that slighting and 
 despising the things that are present, for the 
 love that he hath to his Master's service, he is 
 sure in the world that comes next to have glory 
 for his reward. Now, said the Interpreter, I 
 have showed thee this picture first, because the 
 man whose picture this is, is the only man 
 whom the Lord of the place whither thou art 
 going hath authorized to be tliy guide, in all 
 difficult places thou mayest meet with in the 
 way ; wherefore take good heed to what I have 
 showed thee, and bear well in thy mind what 
 thou hast seen ; lest in thy journey thou meet 
 with some that pretend to lead thee right, but 
 their way goes down to death. || 
 
 Then he took him by the hand, and led him 
 into a very large parlour that was full of dust, 
 because never swept ; the which, after he had 
 reviewed a little while, tl],e Interpreter called 
 
 preaching the everlasting Gospel, he is one who de- 
 spises the world, is de'ad to its pleasures and joys; his 
 fihiof aim is to exalt and glorify the Lord Jesus, his 
 atoning blood, justifyi^ig righteousnes.'!, and finishing 
 salvation; and his greatest glory is to bring sinners to 
 Christ, to point him out as the one way to them, and 
 to edify and build up saints in him; But there are 
 many who profess to do this, yet turn poor sinners out 
 of the way, and point them to a righteousness of thoii 
 own for justification, in whole or in part. Of these 
 the Spirit teaches us to beware ; the former, he leads 
 and directs souls to love and esteem him highly for 
 their labours "and faith in the Lord, and zeal for his 
 bonourand glory, and forthe salvation of souls. Take 
 heetj what you hear. Mark iv. 24. 
 
lOO 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 for a man to sweep. Now when he began to 
 sweep, the dust began so abundantly to fly 
 about, that Christian had almost therewith 
 been choked. Then said the Interpreter to a 
 damsel that stood by. Bring hither water and 
 sprinkle the room; the which when she had 
 done, it was swept and cleansed with pleasure. 
 
 Then said Christian, What means this? 
 
 The Ijiterpreter answered, This parlour is 
 Ihe heart of a man that was never sanctified by 
 tlie sweet grace of the Gospel ; the dust is his 
 original sin and inward corruptions, that have 
 defiled the whole man. He that began to sweep 
 at first is the law ; but she that brought water 
 and did sprinkle it is the Gospel. Now where- 
 as thou sawest that, so soon as the first began 
 to sweep, the dust did so fiy about, that the 
 room by him could not be cleansed, but that 
 thou wast almost choked therewith ; this is to 
 show thee, that the law, instead of cleansing 
 the heart, by its working, from sin, doth re- 
 vive, put strength into, and increase it in the 
 soul, even as it dotji discover and forbid it; for 
 it doth not give power to subdue it. Eom. v. 
 20; vii. 7, 11; 1 Cor. xv. 56. 
 
 Again as thou sawest the damsel sprinkle the 
 room with water, upon which it was cleansed 
 with pleasure ; this is to show thee, that when 
 •the Gospel comes in the sweet and precious in- 
 fluences thereof to the heart, then, I say, even 
 as thou sawest the damsel lay the dust by 
 sprinkling the floor with water, so is sin van- 
 quished and silbdued, and the soul made clean 
 through the faith of it, and consequently fit for 
 the King of Glory to inhabit.* John xiv. 21, 
 23; XV. 3; Acts xv. 9; Eom. xvi. 25, 26; Eph. 
 V. 26. 
 
 I saw moreover, in my dream, that the In- 
 terpreter took him by the hand, and had him 
 into a little room where sat two little children, 
 each one in his chair. The name of the eldest 
 was Passion, and the name of the other Pa- 
 tience. Passion seemed to be much discon- 
 tented, but Patience was very quiet. Then 
 
 * Noff judge by this, whether you are under the 
 law, or the Gospel. Have you ever found in yourself 
 what ia here described? 1st. Of the law, have you 
 ever felt your lusts and corruptions, irritated, and sin 
 made to abound in you, as to your perception and feel- 
 ing by the commandment working in you all manner 
 of concupiscence ? for without the law sin was dead. 
 Rom. vii. 8. Has the application of the law to your 
 conscience made sin to revive in you, so as that you 
 died to all your former hopes of being justified by your 
 obedience to the law 1 If not you are yet dead in sin, 
 and cleave to legal hopes and vain confidence. But if 
 throu!;h tiie buy you become dead to tlic l;nv, bus the 
 
 Christian asked. What is the reason of the 
 discontent of Passion? The Interpreter an- 
 swered. The governor of them would have him 
 stay for his best things till the beginning of the 
 next year : but he will have all now. But 
 Patience is willing to wait. 
 
 Then I saw that one came to Passion and 
 brought him a bag of treasure, and poured 
 down at his feet ; the which he took up and 
 rejoiced therein, and withal laughed Patience 
 to scorn. But I beheld but a while, and he 
 had lavished all away, and had nothing left 
 him but rags. 
 
 Then said Christian to the Interpreter, Ex- 
 pound this matter more fully to me. 
 
 So he said. These two lads are figures : Pas- 
 sion, of the men of this world ; and Patience, 
 of the men of that ydnoh is to come. For as 
 here thou seest Passion will have all now this 
 year, that is to say, in this world ; so are the 
 men of this world, they must have all their 
 good things now, they cannot stay till next 
 year — that is, until the next world, for their 
 portion of good. That proverb, " A bird in 
 the hand is worth two in the bush," is of more 
 authority with them than are all the divine 
 testimonies of the good of the world to come. 
 But as thou sawest that he had quickly lavished 
 all away, and had presently left him nothing 
 but rags ; so will it be with all such men at the 
 end of this world.f 
 
 Then said Christian, Now I see that Patience 
 has the best wisdom, and that upon many ac- 
 counts : — because he stays for the best things ; 
 and also because he will have the glory of his 
 when the other has nothing but rags. 
 
 Interpreiisr. Niiy, you may add another, to 
 wit — the glory of the next world will never 
 wear out, but these are suddenly gone. There- 
 fore Passion had not so much reason to laugh 
 at Patience because he had his good things 
 fir^t, as Patience will have to laugh at Passion 
 because he had his best things last; 'for first 
 must give place to last, because last must have 
 
 Gospel come to you with its reviving, comforting,, 
 sanctifying influence ? Has it made Christ's blood 
 and righteousness precious to your soul, and given 
 you the victoi-y of faith over the law, sin, and death ? 
 If so, go on yqur way rejoicing. 
 
 f Carnal men seek nothing more than the gratifica- 
 tion of their senses j their end will be the loss of all 
 things and the destruction of their own souls. But 
 the just live by faith on Jesus, and in hope of joys to 
 come ; their end will be glorious j for they shall re- 
 ceive the end of their faith, the salvation of thcii 
 souls, and the everlasting enjoyment of Christ ir 
 glory. ■ 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 101 
 
 its time to come ; but last gives place to notli- 
 ing, for there is not another to succeed : he, 
 therefore, that hath his portion _;?«< must needs 
 have a time to spend it; hut he that has his 
 portion last must have it lastingly ; therefore it 
 Is said of Dives, " In thy lifetime thou receiv- 
 edst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus 
 evil things ; but now he is comforted, and thou 
 art tormented." Luke xiv. 19, 31. 
 
 Christian. Then I perceive it is not best to 
 covet things that are now, but to wait for 
 things to come. 
 
 Interpreter. You say truth ; " For the things 
 that are seen are temporal; but the things that 
 are not seen are eternal," (2 Cor. iv. 18 ;) but, 
 though this be so, yet since things present and 
 our fleshly appetite are such near neighbours 
 one to another ; and again, because thJhgs to 
 come and carnal sense are such strangers one 
 to another ; tLerefore it is that th6 first of these 
 so suddenly fall into amitij, and that distance is 
 so continually between the second.* 
 
 Then 1 saw in my dream that the Interpre- 
 ter took Christian by the hand, and led him 
 into a place where was a fire burning against a 
 wall, and one standing by it always casting 
 much water upon it to quench it ; yet did the 
 fire burn higher and hotter. 
 
 Then said Christian, What means this ? 
 
 The Interpreter answered. This fire is the 
 work of grace that is wrought in the heart ; he 
 that casts water upon it to extinguish and put 
 it out, is the Devil ; but in that thou seest the 
 fire notwithstanding burn higher and, hotter, 
 thou shalt also see the reason of that. So he 
 had him about to the back side of the wall, 
 where he saw a man with a vessel of oil in his 
 hand, of which he did also continually cast, 
 but secretly, into the fire. i 
 
 Then said Christian, What means this ? 
 
 The Interpreter answered. This is Christ, 
 who continually with the oil of his grace main- 
 tains the work already begun in the heart; by 
 the means of which, notwithstanding what the 
 Devil can do, the souls of his people prove gra- 
 
 * Her© see the preciousness and glory of faith j it 
 oau&3th the soul to make a proper estimate, and set a 
 duo Ya!ae on things; it piereeth through the objects 
 of tlae and sense, and fixes upon glory and eternity. 
 This is the proper character of every heaven-born 
 loul; the just shall live by faith. Heb. ii. i. This is 
 B life of heaven upon earth.' 
 
 f It is plain Mr. Bunyan did not ascribe that glory 
 to the work and power of the creature, which is due 
 •olely to the Lord, who is the Alpha and Omega, the 
 First and the Last, the Beginner, the Carrier on, and 
 
 cious still. 2 Cor. xii. 9. And in that thnu 
 sawest that the man stood behind the wall to 
 maintain the fire ; this is to teach thee that it 
 is hard for the tempted to see how this work 
 of grace is maintained in the soul.f 
 
 I saw also, that the Interpreter took him 
 again by the hand, and led him into a pleasant 
 place, where was builded a stately palace, 
 beautiful to behold; at the sight of which 
 Christian was greatly delighted; he^saw also 
 upon the top thereof certain persons walking, 
 who were clothed all in gold. 
 
 Then said Christian, May we go in thither? 
 
 Then the Interpreter took him, and led him 
 up towards the door of the palace ; and be 
 hold, at the door stood a great company of 
 men, as desirous to go in, but durst not. There 
 also sat a man at a little distance from the 
 door, at a table side, with a book and his ink- 
 horn before him, to take the name of him that 
 should enter therein ; he saw also that in the 
 doorway stood many men in armour to keep 
 it, being resolved to do to the men that would 
 enter what hurt and mischief they could. Now 
 was Christian somewhat in amaze; at last, 
 when every man started back for fear of the 
 armed men. Christian saw a man of a very 
 stout countenance come up to the man that 
 sat there, saying, " Set down my name, sir ;' 
 the which when he had done, he saw the man 
 draw his sword, and put an helmet upon his 
 head, and rush toward the door upon the 
 armed men, who laid upon him with deadly 
 force ; but the man was not at all discouraged, 
 but fell to cutting and hacking most fiercely. 
 So after he had J received and given many 
 wounds to those that attempted to keep him 
 out, he cut his way through thein all and 
 pressed forward into the palace; at which 
 there was a pleasant voice heard from those 
 that were within, even of those that walked 
 upon the top of the palace, saying, 
 
 " Come in, come in ; 
 Eternal glory thou shalt win." 
 
 So he went in, and was clothed with such gar- 
 Finisher of his work in sinners' hearts; and never can 
 his work be extingnished there, till Satan's water is 
 more powerful to quench, than Christ's oil and grace 
 are to keep the fire burning. The instruction espe- 
 cially inculcated by this emblem is an entire reliance 
 on the secret but powerful influence of divine grnce, 
 to maintain and carry on the sanctifying work thii1 
 has been begun in the soul. 
 
 J We must through much tribulation enter into thf 
 kingdom of God. Acts xiv. 22. 
 
102 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 menls as they. Then Christian smiled, and said, 
 I think verily I know the meaninp; of this.* 
 
 Now, gaid Christian, let me go hence. Nay, 
 stay, said the Interpreter, till I have showed 
 thee a little more, and after that thou shalt go 
 on thy way. So he took him by the hand 
 again, and led him into a very dark room, 
 where thore sat a man in an iron cage. 
 
 Now the man to look on, seemed very sad. 
 He sat with his eyes looking down to the 
 ground, his hands folded together, and he 
 sighed as if he would break his heart. Then 
 said Christian, What means this ? At which 
 the Interpreter bid him talk with the man.f 
 
 Then,''said Christian to the man, What art 
 thou ? The man answered, I am what I was 
 not once. 
 
 Christian. What wert thou once? 
 
 The man said,J I was once a fair and flou- 
 rishing professor, b'oth in mine own eyes, and 
 also in the eyes of others ; I once was, as I 
 thought, fair for the Celestial City, (Luke viii. 
 13,) and had then even joy at the thoughts 
 that I should get thither. || 
 
 Christian. Well, but what art thou now ? 
 
 Man. I am now a man of despair, and am 
 shut up in it as in this iron cage. I cannot 
 get out; oh now I cannot. J 
 
 Christian. But how camest thou in this con- 
 dition ? 
 
 Man. I left off to watch and be sober ; I laid 
 the reins upon the neck of my lusts ; I sinned 
 against the light of the word, and the goodness 
 of .God ; I have grieved the Spirit, and he is 
 gone ; I tempted the Devil, and he is come to 
 me ; I have provoked God to anger, and he has 
 left me ; I have so hardened my heart that I 
 cannot repent. \ 
 
 * Such is the spirit and disposition of a soul who is 
 determined to win Christ, and to enjoy the kingdom 
 of glory. In spite of UU opposition he resolutely 
 forces his way, and presses towards the mark for the 
 prize of his high calling of God in Jesus Christ. 
 Phill iii. 14. He is not content with a few lazy wislies, 
 or languid hopes j for the kingdom of heaven suf- 
 foreth violence and the violent take it by force. Matt. 
 xi. 12. 
 
 ■| The Holy Spirit would have us take warning by 
 the sad examples of others. Hence he sets before us 
 in the Scripture, the dreadful things which have fallen 
 professors, that we may see our danger, be humble, 
 and watchful, and pray, to the Lord to keep us from 
 falling away. 
 
 J Most dreadful change ! Think of it with trem- 
 bling; thou standest by faith; he not high-minded, 
 but fear. 
 
 [] Soaring professors, beware. See how far thi.-* 
 
 Then said Christian to the Interpreter, Bnl 
 is there no hope for such a man as this? Ask 
 him, said the Interpreter. 
 
 Then said Christian, Is there no hope but 
 you must be kept in the iron cage of despair? 
 
 Man. No, none at all. 
 
 Christian. Why? The son of the Blessed is 
 very pitiful. 
 
 ■ Man. I have crucified him to myself afresh ; 
 I have despised his person, I have despised his 
 righteousness, I have counted his blood an un- 
 holy thing. I have done despite to the Spirit 
 of grace, (Luke six. 14; Heb. vi. 4, 6; x. 28, 
 29 ;) therefore I have shut myself out of all the 
 promises, and there now remains to me noth- 
 ing but threatenings, dreadful threatenings, 
 fearful threatenings, of certain judgment and 
 fiery indignation whicli shall devour me as an 
 adversary.** 
 
 Christian. For what did you bring yourself 
 into this condition ? 
 
 Man. For the lusts, pleasures, and profits of 
 this world ; in the enjoyment of which I did 
 then promise myself much delight ; but now 
 every one of those things also bite me and 
 gnaw me like a burning worm. 
 
 Christian. But canst thou not repent and 
 turn? 
 
 Man. God hath denied me repentance. His 
 word gives me no encouragement to believe ; ■ 
 yea, himself hath shut me up in this iron cage; 
 nor can all the men in the world let me out. 
 O eternity ! eternity ! how shall I grapple with 
 the misery that I must meet with in eternity ? 
 
 Then said the Interpreter to Christian, Let 
 this man's misery be remembered by thee, and 
 be an everlasting caution to thee. 
 
 Well, said Christian, this is fearful! God 
 
 man went; see what he thought of himself; see ichat 
 others thought of him ; yea, he felt great joy in him- 
 self at the thoughts of getting to heaven; but yet 
 through unfaithfulness despair seized on him. " Let 
 us watch and be sober." 1 Thess. v. 6. 
 
 § A more dreadful state on this side of hell cannot be. 
 , f An awful warning to professors. Oh take heed of 
 trifling with the God of truth, and the truths of God ! 
 he is a jealous God ! jealous of his honour and glory. 
 Yea, our God is a consuming fire. Heb. xii. 29. 
 
 ** It is exceeding difBcult to draw the line here, so 
 as not to encourage in sin, or not discourage broken- 
 hearted sinners from entertaining hope in Christ. 
 Many have written the same bitter things against 
 themselves as here, but to whom they have in nowise 
 belonged. A siglit of sin, a sense of sin, and sorrow 
 for sin, with a desire to bo saved by Jesus from all 
 sin, as well as from wrath, do really bespeak the work- 
 ings of the grace of Christ in the heart. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 103 
 
 help me to watch and be sober, and to pray 
 that I may shun the cause of this man's misery.* 
 Sir, is it not time for me to go on my way now ?t 
 
 Interpreter. Tarry, till I shall show thee one 
 thing more, and then thou shalt go on thy way. 
 
 So he took Christian by the hand again, and 
 led him into a chamber where there was one 
 rising out of bed ; and as he put on his raiment 
 he shook and trembled. Then said Christian. 
 Why doth this man thus tremble? The In- 
 terpreter then bid him tell to Christian the 
 reason of his so doing. So he began and said. 
 This night as I was in my sleep I dreamed, 
 and, behold the heavens grew exceeding black ; 
 also it thundered and lightened in most fear- 
 ful wise, that it put me into an agony ; so I 
 looked up in my dream, and saw the clouds 
 rack at an unusual rate ; upon which, I l»eard a 
 great sound of a trumpet, and saw also a man 
 sit upon a cloud, attended with the thousands 
 of heaven ; they were all in flaming fire, also 
 the heavens were on a bui'ning flame. I heard 
 then a voice saying, " Arise, ye dead, and come 
 to judgment ;" and with that the rocks rent, 
 the graves opened, and the dead that were 
 therein came forth, (John v. 28, 29 ; 1 Cor. xv. 
 51, 58 ; 2 Thess. i. 7, 10 ; Jude 14, 15 ; Eev. xx. 
 11, 15;) some of them were exceeding glad, 
 and looked upwards : and some sought to hide 
 themselves under the mountains, (Ps. ii. 1, 3, 
 22; Isa. xxvi. 20, 21; Mic. vii. 16, 17;) then I 
 saw the man that sat upon the cloud open the 
 book and bid the world draw near. Yet there 
 was, by reason of a fierce flame which issued 
 out and came before hiin, a convenient dis' 
 tance between him and them, as betwixt the 
 judge and the prisoners at the bar. Dan. vij. 9, 
 10 ; Mai. iii. 2, 3. I heard it also proclaimed 
 to them that attended on the man that sat on 
 the cloud, "Gather together the tares, the 
 chaflf, and stubble, and cast them into the 
 burning lake ;" and with that the bottomless 
 pit opened just whereabout I stood ; out of the 
 
 * Reader, tboa hast constant need to put np this 
 prayer for thyself. Thou art in a body of sin, hast a 
 mrst deceitful and desperately wicked lieart, and 
 arc exposed to the world's snares, and Satan's de- 
 vices. 
 
 f Why in sucl^haste, Christian? Poor soul, he had 
 yet got the burden of his sins upon his back; this 
 urged his speed. He wanted to get to the cross, to be 
 delivered of his burden ; but the Spirit had many things 
 to show him first, which would be profitable to him 
 
 mouth of which there came in an abu.adant 
 manner, smoke, and coals of fire, with hideous 
 noises. It was also said to the same persons, 
 " Gather my wheat into the garner." Mai. iv. 
 1 ; Matt. iii. 12 ; xiii. 30 ; Luke iii. 17. And 
 with that I saw many catched up and carried 
 away in the clouds, (1 Thess. \\. 13, 18,) but I 
 was left behind. I also sought to hide myself, 
 buj I could not, for the man that sat upon the 
 cloud still kept his eye upon me ; my sins also 
 came in my mind, and my conscience did ac- 
 cuse me on every side. Eom. ii. 14, 15. Upon 
 this I awaked from my sleep. 
 
 Christian. But what was it that made you so 
 afraid of this sight? 
 
 Man. Why I thought that the day of judg- 
 ment was come, and that I was not ready for 
 it ; but this frighted me most, that the angels 
 gathered up several and left me behind ; also 
 the pit of hell opened her mouth just where ] 
 stood. My conscience too afflicted me ; + and, 
 as I thought, the judge had always his eye 
 upon me, showing indignation in his counte- 
 nance. 
 
 Then said the Interpreter to Christian, Hast 
 thou considered all these things ? 
 
 Christian. Yes; and they put me in hope 
 and fear. II 
 
 Interpreter. Well, keep all things so in thy 
 mind that they may be as a goad in thy sides, 
 to prick thee forward in the way thou must go.- 
 Then Christian began to gird up his loins, and 
 to address himself to his journey. Then said 
 the Interpreter, The Comforter be always with 
 thee, good Christian, to guide thee in the way 
 that leads to the city. So Christian went on 
 his way, saying : 
 
 " Here I have seen things rare and profitable," 
 Things pleasant, dreadful, things to make me stable 
 In what I have begun to take in band j 
 Then let me think on them and understand 
 Wherefore they showed me were ; and let me I* 
 Thankful, good Interpreter, to thee." 
 
 hereafter. " He who believeth shall not make haste." 
 Isa. xxviii. 16. 
 
 t Natural men's consciences are often alarmed and 
 terrified, when there are no spiritual -onviotidns ; but 
 such fears and terrors soon wear away, and do not 
 generally issue in conversion." 
 
 II Where there is a Gospel hope, there will be a 
 godly fear; both are necessary; both are the graces 
 of the Holy Spirit. Fear makes us cautious; hops 
 animates us. 
 
104 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 Christian loses his burden at the cross. 
 
 Now I saw in my dream, that the higliway, 
 np which Christian was to go, was fenced on 
 either side with a wall, and that wall was call- 
 ed Salvation. Isa. xxvi. 1. Up this way there- 
 fore did burdened Christian run, but not with- 
 out great difficulty, because of the load on his 
 back.* 
 
 He ran thus till he came at a place somewhat 
 ascending, and upon that place stood a Cross 
 and a little below, in the bottom, a Sepulchre. 
 So I saw in my dream, that just as Christian 
 came up with the cross, his burden loosed from 
 off his shoulder, and fell from off" his back, and 
 began to tumble, and so continued to do till it 
 came to the mouth of the sepulchre, where it 
 fell in, and I saw it no more.j 
 
 Then was Christian glad and lightsome, and 
 said with a merry heart, " He hath given me 
 rest by his sorrow, and life by his death." 
 Then he stood still awhile to look and wonder ; 
 for it was very surprising to him, that the sight 
 of the cross should thus ease him of his bur- 
 den. He looked, therefore, and looked again, 
 
 * Our uphill difficulty is the way to the greatest 
 comforts. Burdens are more felt when comforts are 
 Hear at hand. 
 
 f Christian bad faith j he believed that there was 
 redemption in the blood of Christ, even forgiveness 
 af sins, before he came up to the cross, but now he finds 
 and feels the comfort of it: He has 'now the joy of 
 faith, the^uilt of his sins is taken off his conscience, 
 and he is filled with joy and peace in believing. You 
 who believe Christ to be the only Saviour, go on be- 
 lieving till you • experience the comfort of knowing 
 that he is your Saviour, and feel pardon in his blood; 
 for when God releases us of our guilt and burden, we 
 are as those that leap for joy ; but you cannot have 
 this till you come to the cross, and rest all your hopes 
 upon it. 
 
 { Here is the love and grace of God the Father, God 
 ^he Son, and God the Holy Ghost. Pray mind; when 
 Sod pardons the sinner through the blood of Christ, 
 he also clothes him with the righteousness of Christ. 
 Those who deny Christ's righteousness, never saw the 
 purity of the aw, their ow - nakedness, nor abhorred 
 
 eveu till the springs that were in his head sent 
 the waters down his cheeks. Zech. xii. 10. 
 Now as he stood looking and weeping, behold 
 three shining ones came to him, and saluted 
 him with, " Peace be to thee :" so the first said 
 to him, " Thy sins be forgiven thee,'' (Mark ii. 
 5;) the second stripped him of his rags and 
 clothed him with a change of raiment; the 
 third also set a mark t on his forehead, and ' 
 gave him a roll with a seal upon it, (Zech. iii. 
 4; Eph. i. 13,) which he bid him look on as 
 he ran, and that he should give it in at the 
 celestial gate ; so they went their way. Then 
 Christian gave three leaps for joy, and went on 
 singing : 
 
 " Thus far did I co.me laden with my sin, 
 Nor could aught ease the grief that I was in. 
 Till I came hither; what a place is this ! 
 Must here be the beginning of my bliss ? 
 Must here the burden fall from off my back ? 
 Must here the strings that bind it to me crack ? 
 Blest cross ! blest sepulchre ! blest rather be 
 The Man that there was put to shame for me !" 
 
 the filthy rags of their own righteousness: The 
 aiithor's uniform doctrine sufficiently shows, that he 
 considered spiritual apprehensions of the nature of 
 the atonement as the only source of genuine peace 
 and .comfort. And as the "mark in the forehead" 
 plainly signifies the renewal of the soul to holiness, 
 so that the mind of Christ may appear in the outward 
 conduct, connected with an open profession of faith, 
 while the roll with a seal upon it, denotes such an as- 
 surance of acceptance, as appears most clear and sat- 
 isfactory, when the believer most attentively compares 
 his views, experiences, desires, and purposes, with the 
 Holy Scriptures, so he could not possibly intend to as- 
 cribe such effects to any other agent than the Holy 
 Spirit, who, by enabling a man to exercise all filial 
 affections towards God in an enlarged degree, as .the 
 " Spirit of adoption bears witness " with his conspienc« 
 that God is reconciled to him, having, pardoned all his 
 sins; that he is justified by faith, through the blood 
 of Christ; and that he is a child of God, and an heir 
 of heaven. These things are clear and intelligille to 
 those who have experienced this happy changa. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROOBESS. 
 
 105 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Chfiitian finds Simple, Sloth, and Presumption, fast asleep — is despised hy Formalist and 
 Hypocrisy — ascends the hill Difficulty — loses his roll, and finds it again. 
 
 I SAW then in my dream, that he went on 
 thus even until he came at the bottom, where 
 he saw, a little out of the way, three men fast 
 asleep, with fetters upon their heels. The 
 name of the one was Simple, another Sloth, 
 and the third Presumption.* 
 
 Christian then seeing them lie in this case 
 went to them, if peradventure he might awake 
 them ; and cried. You are like to them that 
 sleep on the top of a mast, (Prov. xxiii. 34,) 
 for the dead sea is under you, a gulf that hath 
 no bottom ; awake, therefore, and come ^way ; 
 be willing also and I will help you off with 
 your irons. He. also told them, If he that 
 goeth about like a roaring lion comes by, you 
 will certainly become a prey to his teeth. 1 
 Pet. v.^ 8. With that they looked upon him, 
 and began to reply in this sort : Simple f said, 
 "I see no danger;" Sloth said, "Yet a little 
 more sleep:" and Presumption said, "Every 
 tub must stand upon its own bottom." And 
 so they laid down to sleep again, and Christian 
 went on his way. 
 
 Yet was he troubled to think that men in 
 that danger should so little Esteem the kind- 
 ness of him that so freely offered to help them, 
 both by the awakening of them, counselling 
 of them, and proffering to help them off with 
 their irons.J And as he was troubled there- 
 about, he spied two men come tumbling over 
 the wall on the left hand of the narrow way ; 
 and they made up apace to tim. The name 
 of the one was Formalist, and the name of the 
 other Hypocrisy. So as I said, they drew up 
 unto him, who thus entered with" them into 
 discourse. 
 
 Christian. Gentlemen, whence come you, 
 and whither go you? 
 
 Formalist and Hypocrisy. We were born in 
 the land of Vain-Glory, and are going for 
 praise to Mount Zion. 
 
 * The Lord shows us the misery and danger of other 
 professors, to give us warnings by the way, and to stir 
 us up to watchfulness. 
 
 ■f- There is no persuasion will do, if God openeth not 
 the eyes. Remember all is of grace. It is God's 
 grace that quickens, enlightens, converts, justifies, 
 preserves, sanctifies, and glorifies. Well may pilgrims 
 iing ei ery step : 
 
 Oh to gr]}.oe what mighty delators, 
 Daily, hourly. Lord, are we 1 
 
 Christian. Why came you not in at the gate 
 which statideth at the beginning of the way? 
 Know you not that it is written, "He that 
 Cometh not in by the door, but climbeth up 
 some other way, the same is a thief and a 
 robber?" John x. 1. 
 
 They said, that to go to the gate for entram 9 
 was by all their countrymen counted too far 
 about; and that, therefore, their usual way 
 was to make a short cut of it, and do climb 
 over the wall, as they had done. 
 
 Christian. But will it not be counted a ties- 
 pass against the Lord of the city whither 
 we are bound, thus to violate his revealed 
 will? 
 
 They told him,|| that, as for that, he needed 
 not trouble his head thereabout ; for what they 
 did, they had custom for: and could produce, 
 if need were, testimony that would witness it 
 for more than a thousand years. 
 
 But, said Christian, will your practice stand 
 a trial at law? 
 
 They told him, that custom, it being of so 
 long standing as above a thousand years, 
 would doubtless now be admired as a thing 
 legal by an impartial judge, and besides, say 
 they, if we get into the way, what's the matter 
 which way we get in? If we are in, we are 
 in : thou art but in the way, who, as we per- 
 ceive, came in at the gate ; and we are also in 
 the way, that came tumbling over the wall: 
 wherein now is thy condition better than 
 ours? 
 
 Christian. I walk by the rule of my Master, 
 you walk by the rude working of your fancies. 
 You are counted thieves already by the Lord 
 of the way, therefore I doubt you will not be 
 found true men at the end of the way, "You 
 came in by yourselves without his direction, 
 and shall go out by yourselves without His 
 mercy. § 
 
 { A Christian spirit feeKs for others' dangers, and 
 aims and strives to be profitable to them. 
 
 II They that come into the way, but not by the door, 
 think that they can say something in vindication of 
 their own practice. 
 
 g Here is the essential difi'erenoe between a real 
 Christian and formal hypocrites : he takes the word 
 of God for the warrant of his faith, and the rule of 
 his conduct, which they reject; for they are left under 
 the power of their natural will aod carnal reason, and 
 
106 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 To this they made but little answer; only 
 they bid him look to himself. Then T saw 
 that they went on, every man in his way, 
 without much conference one with another ; 
 pave that these two men told Cliristian, that, 
 as to laws and ordinances, they doubted not but 
 that they should as conscientiously do them as 
 he; therefore, said they, we see not wherein 
 thou difierest from us, but by the coat that is 
 on thy back, which was, as we trow, given thee 
 by some of thy neighbours, to hide the shame 
 of thy nakedness.* 
 
 Christian. By laws and ordinances you will 
 not be saved, (Gal. ii. 16,) since you came not 
 in by the door. And as for this coat that is 
 on my back, it was given me by the Lord of 
 the place whither I go ; and that as you say, 
 to cover my nakedness with. And I take it as 
 a token of kindness to me; for I had nothing 
 but rags before: and besides, thus I comfort 
 myself as I go; surely, think I, when I come 
 to the gate of the city, the Lord thereof will 
 know me for good, since I have his coat on my 
 back I a coat that he gave me freely in the day 
 that he stripped me of my rags. I have, more- 
 over, a mark in my forehead, of which per- 
 haps you have taken no notice, which one 
 of my Lord's most intimate associates fixed 
 there in the day that my burden fell off my 
 shoulders. I will tell to you, moreover, that I 
 had then given «ie a roll sealed, to comfort me 
 by reading as I go on the way; I was also bid 
 to give it in at the celestial gate, in token of 
 my certain going in after it; all which things 
 I doubt you want, and want them because you 
 came not in at the gate.f 
 
 To these things they gave him no answer ; 
 only they looked upon each other and laughed. J 
 Then I saw that they went on all, save that 
 
 hence they brave it out for a season, with vain hopes 
 and confidences. 
 
 * The glorious robe of Christ's righteousness, which 
 ifl put upon every believer, is sneered at and held in 
 contempt by formal professors who see not their naked- 
 ness and want of covering. 
 
 ■f Where there is the witness of the Spirit, and the 
 seal of the Spirit, that soul will also glory in the right- 
 eousness of Christ; for this is the joy of faith, that 
 Christ is the Lord our righteousness. Jer. xxiii. 6. In 
 vain do men talk of inward joy, who reject the cloth- 
 ing of Christ's righteousness. 
 
 J Vain-glorious fools laugh at Christ's humble pil- 
 grims. 
 
 II What! sighing already, and just pardoned? One 
 ihould expect that he was all joy; nothing but joy. 
 Oh these are sighs of love, which strangers to spiritual 
 joy know nothing of. 
 
 Christian kept before, who had no more talk 
 but with himself, and that soiaetimes sigh- 
 ingly, |I and sometimes comfortably: also he 
 would be often reading in the roll ^ that one 
 of the shining ones gave him, by which he 
 was refreshed. 
 
 I beheld then that they all went on till they 
 came to the foot of the hill Difficulty; f at the 
 bottom of which was a spring. There were 
 also in the same place two other ways besides 
 that which came straight from the gate, one 
 turned to the left hand and the other to the 
 right, at the bottom of the hill; but the narrow 
 way lay right up the hill, and the name of the 
 way is called Difficulty. Christian went now 
 to the spring, and drank thereof to refresh 
 himself, (Isa. xlix. 10,) and then began to go 
 up the hill, saying — 
 
 " The hill, though high, I covet to ascend, 
 The difficulty will not me offend ; 
 For I perceive the way to life lies here ; 
 Come, pluck up heart, let's neither faint nor fear. 
 Better, though diificult, the right way to go, 
 Than wrong, though easy, where the end is woe."** 
 
 The other two also came to the foot of the 
 hill; but when they saw that the hill was 
 steep and high, and that there were two other 
 ways to go ; and supposing also that these two 
 ways might rneet again with that up which 
 Christian went, on the other side of the hill, 
 therefore they were resolved to go into those 
 ways. Now the name of one of those ways 
 was Danger, and the name of the other De- 
 struction. So the one took the way which is 
 called Danger, which did lead him into a 
 great wood, and the other took directly up the 
 way to Destruction, which4ed him into a wide 
 field, full of dark mountains, where he stum- 
 bled and fell, and rose no more.ft 
 
 § This means the assurance which he had from the 
 Spirit, of the free love, free grace, free pardon, free 
 justification, of Christ to his soul. 
 
 \ He came to the hill Difficulty ; a way unpleasiug to 
 flesh and blood, which proves and tries the sincerity 
 of our faith, and the earnestness of our souls, in our 
 pilgrimage. 
 
 *■* Depend upon it, pilgrim, some great blessing is at 
 hand, when thou hast some great diiEculty to grapple 
 with and to overcome. The believer's state on earth 
 is a state of trial : he must meet with difSculties to 
 prove his faith and love. The hill Difficulty repre- 
 sents those circumstances which require self-denial 
 and exertion, and may signify whatever in our walk 
 proves irksome to flesh and blood. 
 
 j-f Formalists and hypooviles, as they come easy intc 
 the way of profession, without any .convictions of sin 
 to cause them to fly to Christ the Wickct-gate, so they 
 
THE PILOBIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 107 
 
 I looked then after Christian, to see him go 
 up the hill, where I perceived he fell from run- 
 ning to going, and from going to clamhering 
 upon his hands and knees, because of the steep- 
 ness of the place. Now about the midway to 
 the top of the hill was a pleasant arbour .made 
 by the Lord of the hill for the refreshing of 
 weary travellers; thither, therefore, Christian 
 got, where also he sat down to rest him : then 
 he pulled his roll out of his bosom, and read 
 therein to his comfort; he also now began 
 afresh to take a review of the coat or garment 
 that was given him as he stood by the cross. 
 Tlius pleasing himself awhile he at last fell 
 into i slumber, and thence into a fast sleep, 
 which detained him in that place until it was 
 almost night ; and in his sleep his roll fell out 
 of his hand.* Now as he was sleeping; there 
 came one to him and awaked him, saying, 
 " Go to the ant, thou sluggard : consider her 
 ways, and be wise." Prov. vi. 6. And with 
 that Christian suddenly started up, and sped 
 him on his way, and went apace till he came 
 to the top of the hill.f > 
 
 Now when he was got up to the top of the 
 hill there came two men running to meet him 
 amain; the name of the one was Timorous, 
 and of the other Mistrust:! to whom Chris- 
 tian said. Sirs, what is the matter you run 
 the wrong way? Timorous answered, that 
 they were going to the city of Zion, and had 
 got up that difficult place ; but said he, tiie 
 further we go, the more danger we meet with ; 
 wherefore we turned, and are going back again. 
 
 Yes, said Mistrust, for just before us lies a 
 couple of lions in the way, (whether sleeping 
 or waking we know not;) and we could not 
 
 find the easiest path to flesh and blood, and often 
 perish in the end. ^ 
 
 * Happy for Christian that he did not fall into 
 the dream of Autinomian notions, so as to sleep in a 
 false security without his roll. The best of bless- 
 ings, even spiritual comforts from the God of grace, 
 throng"! the infection of our nature, (if we do not watch 
 Ani p'^iy in faith,) are liable to be aVused, so as to 
 BAXxii iiS to sleep when we should he active and dili- 
 gent in ruiining the heavenly race, looking unto Jesus. 
 
 f Tho Lord loves his people, nor will he suffer them 
 to sleep the sleep of death; HE will, on their stirring 
 up his gift within them, shine upon, and revive his 
 gracious work. 
 
 \ Tirooruus and Mistrust are great enemies to the 
 Christian's faith, and bring up an evil report of his 
 way. Listen not to them, but look to God's truth and 
 faithfulness; rely on his precious promises, and have 
 yiiur feet shod with the Gosnel of peace. Who or what 
 shall barm you ifye he followers of thatwhich is good? 
 
 think, if we came within reach, but they would 
 presently pull us in pieces. 
 
 Then said Christian, You make me afraid ; 
 but whither shall I flee to be safe? If I go 
 back to my own country, that is prepared foi 
 fire and brimstone, and I shall certainly perish 
 there; if I can get to the Celestial City, I am 
 sure to be in safety there :|| I must venture: 
 to go back is nothing but death : to go forward 
 is fear of death, and life everlasting beyond it : 
 I will yet go forward. So Mistrust and Timor 
 ous ran down the hill, and Christian went on 
 his way. But thinking again of what he liad 
 ■heard from the men, he felt in his bosom for 
 his roll, that he might read therein and be 
 comforted; but he felt and found it not. 
 Then was Christian in great distress, and 
 knew not what to do; for he wanted that 
 which used to relieve him, and that which 
 should have been his pass into the Celestial 
 City. Here therefore he began to be much 
 perplexed,^ and knew not what to do. At 
 last he bethought himself that he had slept in 
 the arbour that is on the side of the hill ; and 
 falling down upon his knees he asked God 
 forgiveness for that foolish act, and then went 
 back to look for his roll. But all the way he 
 went back, who can sufficiently set forth the 
 sorrow of Christian's heart? Sometimes he 
 sighed, sometimes he wept, and oftentimes he 
 chid himself for being so foolish to fall asleep 
 in that place, which was erected only for a 
 little refreshment for his weariness. Thus, 
 therefore, he went back, carefully looking on 
 this side and on that, all the way as he went, 
 if happily he might find the roll that had been 
 his comfort so many times in his journey. He 
 
 II Christian shakes off fear by sound Scripture rea- 
 soning : even the reasoning of faith, against the fear 
 of the flesh, and mistrust or unbelief. We have 
 always a sure word of prophecy, whereunto we shall 
 do well to take heed. When dangers beset, and fears 
 assault, remember whose ye are, and whom you serve; 
 look to the way you are in, and the end of your faith, 
 even the salvation of your soul. Study the word of God 
 and obey it. 
 
 ? He is perplexed for his roll ; this is Tight. If we 
 suffer spiritual loss, and are easy and unconcerned 
 about it, it is a sure sign that we indulge carnal 
 security and vain confidence. Many go on so till 
 they sink into a downright Antinomian spirit. Oh 
 beware of this; for many there are who abhor the 
 name, yet have drunk into the spirit of it, and hence 
 live and walk without spiritual communion with God 
 the Father, and his Son Jesus Christ, and rest con- 
 tented without the witness of the Spirit with theii 
 spirits, that they are the children of God. 
 
108 
 
 BUA'YAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 went thus till he came again in sight of the 
 arbour where he sat and slept ; but that sight 
 renewed his sorrow the more, by bringing again,- 
 eveu afresh, his evil of sleeping into his mind.* 
 Thus therefore he now went on bewailing his 
 sinful sleep, saying, " wretched man that I 
 am! that I should sleep in the, day-time! 
 (1 Thess. V. 7, 8; Rev. ii. 4, 5,) that I should 
 sleep in the midst of difficulty ! that I should 
 BO indulge the flesh, as to use that rest for ease 
 to my flesh, which the Lord of the hill hath 
 erected only for' the relief of the spirits of pil- 
 grims ! How many steps have I took in vain ! 
 Thus it happened to Israel, for their sin they 
 were sent back again by the way of the Eed 
 Sea ; and I am made to tread those steps with 
 sorrow, which I might have trod with delight, 
 had it not been for this sinful . sleep. How 
 : far might I have been on my way by this time ! 
 I am made to tread those steps thriCe over, 
 which I needed to have trod but once : f yea, 
 now also I am like to be benighted, for 
 the day is almost spent ; oh that I had not slept ! 
 Now by this time he was come to the arbour 
 again, where for a while he sat down and wept ; 
 but at last, (as God would have it,) looking 
 sorrowfully down under the settle, there he 
 spied his roll; the which he with trembling 
 and haste catched up and put in his bosom. 
 But who can tell how joyful this man was 
 
 * Look to your spirits, Christians. See if you have 
 not after-sorrow for former indulgences. But it is far 
 better to be crying, " wretched man that I am," than 
 to be alive to carnal confidences, and dead to the desire 
 of spiritual comforts. 
 
 j" Christian's perplexity, fear, sorrow, remorse, re- 
 doubled earnestness, complaints, and self-reproach- 
 ings, when he misstid his roll, and went back to seek 
 it, exactly suit the experience of numbers, who through 
 unwatchfulness, are -brought into a state of uncer- 
 tainty. Nothing can afford comfort to a mind that 
 has enjoyed an assurance of the favour of God, but 
 that lo/e which is "better th^n life j" and such is the 
 abundant mercy of Jehovah, that he imparts light 
 and power to the humble soul, who, by means of ex- 
 traordinary diligence, with renewed application to the 
 blood of Jesus, will in time recover his warranted 
 confidence which he lost, and God will "restore to 
 him the joy of his salvation j" but he must as it were, 
 pass repeatedly over the same ground with sorrow, 
 which had it not been for his negligence, he might 
 have passed at once with comfort. 
 
 \ This means a fresh sense of the love and peace of 
 God, and joy in the Holy Ghost, through faith in 
 Christ Jesus. Mind with what alacrity and speed 
 Pilgrim now pursues his journey. Oh this rich bless- 
 ing of assurance is not enough prized, and too little 
 sought for by professors. But how can any be fion- 
 
 when he had gotten his roll again ? For this 
 roll was the assurance of his life^ and accept- 
 ance at the desired haven. Therefore he laid 
 it up in his bosom, gave God thanks for direct- 
 ing his eye to the place where it lay, and with 
 joy and tears betook himself again to his jour- 
 ney.J But oh how nimbly now did he go up 
 the rest of the hill ! — Yet before he got up, 
 the sun went down upon Christian ; and this 
 made him again recall the vanity of his sleep- 
 ing to his remembrance; and thus he again 
 began to condole with himself: " O thou sin- 
 ful sleep ! how for thy sake am I like to be be- 
 nighted in my journey! I must walk without 
 the sun, darkness must cover the path of my 
 feet, and I must hear thfe noisa of doleful 
 creatures, because of my sinful sleep !" Now 
 also he remembered the story that Mistrust and 
 Timorous told hi)n of, how they were fright- 
 ened with the sight of the lions. Then said 
 Christian to himself again, These beasts range 
 in the night for their prey ; and if they should 
 meet with me in the dark, how should I shift 
 them? how should I escape being by them 
 torn in pieces ? Thus he went on. But while 
 he was bewailing his unhappy miscarriage, he 
 lifted up his eyes; and, behold, there was a 
 very stately palace before him, the name of 
 which was Beautiful, |1 and it stood by the 
 highway side. . 
 
 tent without it ? It is impossible for them to be happy, 
 and to rejoice in the Lord, without a real, scriptural 
 assurance of his love and favour. It is this which 
 adds wings to faith, liveliness to hope, joy to love, and 
 cheerfulness to obedience. Plead the precious prom- 
 ises: be not content without the enjoyment of the 
 blessings contained in them. Says our Lord, "Ask 
 and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full." 
 John xvi. 24. 
 
 II Hitherto Christian has been a solitary p'.grim ; 
 hut we must next consider him as admitted to the 
 communion of the faithful, and joining with them in 
 the most solemn public ordinances. This is repre- 
 sented under the emblem of the House Beatjtifi;!*, 
 and the Pilgrim's entertainment in it, as described in 
 the subsequefit pages. Mr. Bunyan here manifests 
 much candour and liberality of sentiment; and hi« 
 representations may suit the admission of any new 
 members into the society of professed Christians-in any 
 communion, where a serious regard to spiritual relig- 
 ion Is in this respect maintained. 
 
 It certainly would be very desirable, that Christian 
 societies should be formed according to the principles 
 here exhibited ! such would indeed be very beautiful, 
 honourable to God, conducive to mutual edification, 
 and examples to the world around them. Different 
 expedients have been adopted for thus promoting the 
 communion of saints ; the ady-antages resulting there* 
 
CM KDSTDAf! [PAS©DI?silQ THE [LD®MS. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 109 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Uhristwn safely passes the lions, and arrives at the house called Beautiful, where lie is kindly 
 received, and agreeably entertained. 
 
 So T saw in my dream, that he made haste 
 and went forward, that if possible he might 
 get lodging there. Now before he had gone 
 far he entered into a very narrow passage, 
 which was about a furlong off the Porter's 
 lodge ; and looking yery narrowly before him 
 as he went, he spied two lions in the way.* 
 Now, thought he, I see the danger that Mis- 
 trust and Timorous were driven back by. (The 
 lions were chained, but he saw not the chains.) 
 Then he was afraid, and thought also himself 
 to go back after them ; for he thought nQj;hing 
 but death was before him. But the Porter at 
 the lodge, whose name is Watchful, perceiving 
 that Christian made a halt, as if he would go 
 back, cried unto him, saying, " Is thy strength 
 so small? Mark iv. 40. Fear not the lions, for 
 they are chained, and are placed there for trial 
 of faith wherg it is, and for discovery of those 
 that have none; keep in the midst of the path 
 and no hurt shall come unto thee." 
 
 Then I saw that he went on trembling for 
 fear of the lions ; but taking good heed to the 
 directions of the Porter, he heard them roar, 
 but they did liim no harm. Then he clapped 
 his hands, and went on till he came and stood 
 before the gate where the Porter was.f Then 
 said Christian to the Porter, Sir, what house is 
 this? and, may I lodge here to-night? The 
 Porter answered. This house was built by the 
 Lord of the hill, and he built it for the relief 
 and security of pilgrims. The Porter also asked 
 whence he was ? and whither he was going ? 
 
 Chruiian. I am come from the city of De- 
 struction, and am going to Mount Zion : but, 
 because the sun is now set, I desire, if I may, 
 to lodge here to-night. 
 
 from have been incalculable j but surely even more 
 might be done, than is at present, perhaps any where, 
 wore all concerned to attempt it boldly, earnestly, and 
 with united efforts. 
 
 * The tiv; lions may signify to us, the roaring of 
 the devil and the world against us; but both are 
 chained, they cannot go one link beyond what our 
 God permits. Sometimes we may not Bee the chain, 
 and unscriptnral fears may beset us. But this is the 
 watch-word of our Lord, FEAR NOT. 
 
 f A minister of Christ, one who is watchful for the 
 good of souls. Oh how precious are they to pilgrims' 
 hearts ! See the sweet encotragement and blessed ad- 
 vioo Pilgrim obtained from him. 
 
 Porter. What is your name ? 
 
 Christian. My name is now Christian, but 
 my name at the first was Graceless '.J I cams 
 of the race of Japheth, whom God will per 
 suade to dwell in the tents of Shem. Gen. 
 ix. 27. 
 
 Porter. But how doth it happen that you 
 come so late? The -sun is set. 
 
 Christian. I had been here sooner, but that, 
 wretched man that I am ! I slept in the arbour 
 that stands on the hill side. Nay, I had, not- 
 withstanding that, been here much sooner, but 
 that in my sleep I lost my evidence, || and came 
 without it to the brow of the hill ; and then 
 feeling for it, and finding if not, I was forced, 
 with sorrow of heart, to go back to the place 
 where I slept my sleep ; where I found it, and 
 now I am come.^ 
 
 Porter. Well, I will call out one of the vir- 
 gins of this place, who will, if she like your 
 talk, bring you in to the rest of the family, ac- 
 cording to the rules of the house. So Watch- 
 ful the Porter rang a bell, at the sound of 
 which came out at the door of the house a 
 grave and beautiful damsel, named Discre- 
 tion,1[ and asked why she was called ? 
 
 The Porter answered. This man is in a jour- 
 ney from the city of Destruction to Mount 
 Zion; but being weary and benighted, he 
 asked me if he might lodge here to-night : so 
 I told him I would call for thee, who after 
 discourse had with him, mayest do as seemeth 
 thee good, even according to the law of the 
 house. 
 
 Then she asked Jiim,~ whence he was? 
 and whither he was going? and he told her. 
 She asked him also how he got in the way ? 
 
 J soul, did you ever know that this was your 
 name ? Hast thou tasted that the Lord is rich in grace 
 to graceless sinners? Oh then sing of free grace and 
 unmerited love, every step of thy pilgrimage. 
 
 II Look well to your roll. Beware of losing your as- 
 surance. See the evil of it; it keeps the soul back. 
 Many have lost it and have never found it. 
 
 2 None ought to be admitted into the church of 
 Christ, but such as can give good evidence that they 
 are the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus, and 
 are sincere pilgrims in the way to the heavenly 
 city. 
 
 fl Admitting members Into churches, si ould be dona 
 with discretion. 
 
no 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 and lie told her. Theu she asked him what he 
 had seen and mpt with in the way? and he 
 told her. And at last she asked his name. So 
 he said, It is Christian ; and I have so much 
 tlie more a desire to lodge here to-night, be- 
 cause, by what I perceive, this place was built 
 by the Lord of the hill for the relief and se- 
 curity of pilgrims. So she smiled, but the 
 water stood in her eyes; and after a little 
 pause she said, I will call forth two or three 
 more of the family. So she ran to the door, 
 and called out Prudence, Piety and Charity, 
 who, after a little more discourse with him, 
 had him into the family ;. and many of them 
 meeting him at the threshold of the house 
 said, " Come in, thou blessed of the Lord ; 
 'this house was built by the Lord of the hill, 
 on purpose to entertain such pilgrims , in.' ^' 
 Then he bowed his head, and followed them 
 into the house. So when he w-as come in and 
 sat down, they gave him something to drink, 
 and consented together that, until supper was 
 ready, some of them should have some partic- 
 ular discourse with Christian, for the best im- 
 provement of time ; and they appointed Piety, 
 and Prudence, and Charity, to discourse with 
 him : and thus they began.* 
 
 Piety. Come, good Christian, since we have 
 been so loving to you to receive you into our 
 house this night, let us, if perhaps we may 
 better ourselves thereby, talk v/ith you- of all 
 things that have happened to you in your pil- 
 grimage. 
 
 Christian. With a very good will ; and I am 
 glad that you are so well disposed. 
 
 Piety. What moved you at first to betake 
 yourself to a pilgrim's life? ' 
 
 Christian. I was driven out of my native 
 country by a dreadful sound that was in mine 
 ears ; to wit, that unavoidable destruction did 
 attend me if I abode in that place where I was. 
 
 Piety. But how did it happen that you came 
 out of your country this way? 
 
 Christian. It was as God would have it ; for 
 when I was under the fears of destruction, I did 
 not know whither to go ; but by chance there 
 came a man, even to me as I was trembling 
 
 * The blessedness of savoury, experimental con- 
 versation -with fellow-pilgrims. 
 
 f Hope and fear should accompany us every step on 
 our journey. Without true piety there can be no real 
 Christianity. The Lord shows us many things in our 
 way concerning the cases of others, to make us fear 
 falling away ; while he displays the glory of his grace 
 in keeping his saints, to animate our hope on his 
 power, and trust in his grace. Look unto Jesus. 
 
 and weeping, whose name is Evangelist, and he 
 directed me to the Wicket-gate, which else I 
 should never have found and so set me into the 
 way that hath led me directly to this house. 
 
 Piety. But did not you come by the house 
 of the Interpreter? 
 
 Christian. Yes, and did see such things 
 there, the remembrance of which will stick by 
 me as long as I live ; especially three things ; to 
 wit, how Christ, in despite of Satan, maintains 
 his work of grace in the heart ; how the man 
 had sinned himself quite out of hopes cf God's 
 mercy ; and also the dream of him that thought 
 in his sleep the day of judgment was come.f 
 
 Piety. Why, did you hear him tell his dream ? 
 
 Christian. Yes, and a dreadful one it was, I 
 thought;' it made my heart ache as he was 
 telling of it ; but yet I am glad I heard it. 
 
 Piety. Was this all you saw at the house of 
 the Interpreter? 
 
 Christian. No ; he took me and had me where 
 he showed me a stately palace, and how the 
 people were clad in gold that were in it; and 
 how there came a venturous man and cut his 
 way through the armed men that stood in the 
 door to keep him out ; and how he was bid to 
 come in and win eternal glory ; methought those 
 things did ravish my heart. I would have stayed 
 at that good man's house a twelve-month, but 
 that I knew I had further to go. 
 
 Piety. And what saw you else in the way? 
 
 Christian. Saw! Why,, I went but a little 
 further, and I saw one, as I thought in my 
 mind, hang bleeding upon a tree ; and the very 
 sight of him made my burden fall ofi" my back, 
 (for I groaned under a very heavy burden, but 
 then it fell down from off me.) It was a 
 strange thing to me, for I never saw such a 
 thing before; yea, and while I stood looking 
 up (for then I could not forbear looking) three 
 shining ones came to me ; one of them testified 
 that my sins were forgiven me ; another stripped 
 me of my rags, and gave me this embroidered 
 coat which you see ; and the third set the mark 
 which you see in my forehead, and gave me 
 this sealed roll, (and with that he plucked il 
 out of his bosom.) % 
 
 \ A blessed scriptural experience of what th« Lord 
 had done for his soul; c^uite necessary for every one, 
 before admission into the church of Christ. For want 
 of this, many who are joined, prove of no profit to 
 other souls, and get no good to their own. A mere 
 profession of Christ, without an experience of his lovey 
 grace, and peace, being sealed i.ipon the heart by the 
 Spirit the Comforter, is nothing but empty specula- 
 tion. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 in 
 
 Piety. But you safl more than this, did you 
 not? 
 
 C/iristian. The things that I have told you 
 were the best ; yet some other matters I saw ; 
 as,diamely, I saw three men, Simple, Sloth and 
 Presumption, lie asleep a little way out of the 
 way as I came, with irons" upon their heels ; 
 but do you think I could not awake them I I 
 also saw Formality and Hypocrisy come tum- 
 bling over the wall, to go, as they pretended, to 
 Zion, but they were quickly lost; even as I my- 
 self did tell them, but they would not believe. 
 But, above all, I found it hard work to get up 
 this hiU, and as hard to come by the lions' 
 mouths ; and truly, if it had not been for the 
 good man, the Porter, that stands at the gate, 
 I do not know but that, after all, I might have 
 gone back again ; but now, I thank God^I am 
 here ; and I thank you for receiving of me. 
 
 Then Prudence thought good to ask him a 
 few questions, and desired his answers to 
 them. » 
 
 Prudence. Do you not think sometimes of the 
 country from whence you came? 
 
 Christian. Yes, but with much shame and 
 detestation ; truly, if I had been mindful of 
 that country from whence I came out, I might 
 have had an opportunity to have returned; 
 but now I desire a better country, that is an 
 heavenly one. Heb xi. 16. 
 
 Prudence. Do you not bear away with you 
 some of the things that then you were conver- 
 sant withal ? * 
 
 Christian. Yes, but greatly against my will; 
 especially my inward and carnal cogitations, 
 with which all my countrymen, as well as my- 
 self were delighted ; but now all those things 
 are my grief; and might I but choose mine 
 own things, I would choose never to think of 
 those things more; but when I would be a 
 doing of that which is best, that which is worst 
 is with me. Eom. vii. 19. 
 
 Prudence. Do you not find sometimes as if 
 those things were vanquished, which at other 
 times are your perplexity ? 
 
 Christian. Yes, but that is but seldom ; but 
 
 * Prudence must be joined to piety. Christian pru- 
 dence should be visible in every step of the professor, 
 for says Solomon, " I, Wisdom, dwell with Prudence," 
 (ProT. viii. 12,) and " the wisdom of the prudent is to 
 understand his way,'' (xir. 8.) His path is peace and 
 his end salvation. 
 
 f Mind this. By believing his pardon by the blood 
 of Christ, the love of God to him, by the witness of 
 his Spirit and the glory of heaven, to which he is 
 going, are what strengthens the Christian's heart 
 igainst all oppositions. 
 
 they are to me golden hours in which such 
 things happen to me. 
 
 Prudence. Can you remember by what means 
 you find your annoyances at times as if they 
 were vanquished? 
 
 Christian. Yes ; when I think on what I saw 
 at the cross, that will do it ; and when I look 
 upon my embroidered coat, that will do it; 
 and when I look into the roll that I carry in 
 my bosom, that -will do it; and when vyj 
 thoughts wax warm about whither lam going, 
 that will do it.f 
 
 Prudence. And what is it that makes you so 
 desirous to go to Mount Zion ? 
 
 Christian. Why there I hope to see him alive 
 that did hang dead on the cross ; and there I 
 hope to be rid of ^11 those things, that to this 
 day are in me, an annoyance to me ; there, they 
 say, there I is no death, (Isaiah xxv. 8; Eev. 
 xxi. 4 ;) and there shall I dwell with such com- 
 pany as I like best. For, to tell you the truth, 
 I love him because I was by him eased of my 
 burden ; and I am weary of my inward sick- 
 ness. I would fain be where I shall die no 
 more, and with the company that shall con- 
 tinually cry, " Holy, holy, holy I " J 
 
 Then said Charity to Christian, Have you a 
 family ? are you a married man ? 
 
 Christian. I have a wife and four small chil- 
 dren. 
 
 Charity. And why did you not bring tliem 
 along with you ? 
 
 Then Christian wept, and said, Ohl how 
 willingly would I have done it 1 but they were 
 all of them utterly averse to my going on my 
 pilgrimage.il 
 
 Charity. But you should have talked to them, 
 and have endeavoured to have shown them the 
 danger of being left behind. 
 
 Christian. So I did : and told them also what 
 God had showed to me of the destruction of 
 our city ; but I seemed to them as one that 
 mocked, and they believed me not. Gen. xix. 4. 
 
 Charily. And did you pray to God that he 
 would bless your counsel to them ? 
 
 Christian. Yes, and that with much afieotion ; 
 
 j^ A sight of Christ by faith, begets longing of soul 
 to see him in glory. A sense of his pardoning love 
 makes us long to be with him ; a desire of being per- 
 fectly freed from the very being of sin, ever accompa- 
 nies a true and lively faith in him, and manifests that 
 we profess a most holy faith. Jude 20, 
 
 II So the spirit of a pilgrim manifests itself in love 
 to those of his own house, by earnestly wishing, striv- 
 ing, and praying, if by any means he can prevail on 
 them to flee from destruction, and come to Je5us fot 
 salvation. 
 
112 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 for you must think that my wife and poor 
 children were very dear unto me. 
 
 Charity. But did you tell them of your own 
 sorrow, and fear of destruction ? for I suppose 
 that destruction was visible enough to you. 
 
 Christian. Yes, over, and over, and over. 
 They might also see my fears in my counte- 
 nance, in my tears, and also in my trembling 
 under the apprehension of the judgments that 
 did hang over our heads; but all was not 
 sufficient to prevail with them to come with 
 me. 
 
 Charity. But what could they say for them- 
 selves why they came not ? 
 
 Christian. Why, my wife was afraid of losing 
 
 this world: and my children were given to the 
 
 foolish delights of youth: so, what by one 
 
 thing and what by another, they left me to 
 
 ' wander in this manner alone. 
 
 Charity. But did you not with your vain life 
 damp all that you by words used by way of 
 persuasion to bring them away with you?* 
 
 Christian. Indeed I cannot commend my 
 life ; for I am conscious to myself of many fail- 
 ings therein : I know also, that a man by his 
 conversation may soon overthrow what by 
 argument or persuasion he doth labour to 
 fasten upon others for their good. Yet this I 
 can say, I was very wary of giving them occa- 
 sion, by any unseemly action, to make them 
 averse to going on pilgrimage. Yea,, for this 
 very thijig, they would tell me I was too pre- 
 cise ; and that I denied myself of things, for 
 their sakes, in which they saw no evil. Nay, 
 I think, I may say, that if what they saw in 
 me did hinder them, it was my great tender- 
 ness in sinning against God, or of doing any 
 wrong to my neighbour. 
 
 Charity. Indeed Cain hated his brother, "be- 
 cause his own works were evil, and his broth- 
 er's righteous," (John iii. 12 ;) and if thy wife 
 and children have been offended with thee for 
 this, they thereby show themselves to be im- 
 
 *• soul, consider this deeply ; it is the life of a 
 Cbrif^tian, that carries more conviction and persuasion 
 than his words. Though like an angel you talli of 
 Christ, of the Gospel, of the doctrines of grace, and of 
 heaven, yet if you indulge evil tempers, and live under 
 the power of any sinful lusts and passions, you will 
 hereby harden others against the things of God, and 
 prevent their setting out in the ways of God, and are 
 in danger of finally perishing. Study and pray to be 
 a constant walker in the way of holiness, else all is 
 but windy profession, and airy talk. Oh how much 
 harm is done to Christ's cause by the unholy walk of 
 many professors ! 
 
 placable to good ; and thou hast delivered thy 
 soul from their blood.f Ezek. iii. 19. 
 
 Now I saw in my dream, that thus they sat 
 talking together until supper was ready. So 
 when they had made ready, they sat down "to 
 meat.t Now the table was furnished with fat 
 things and with wine that was well refined ;, 
 and all their talk at the table was about the 
 Lord of the hill ; as, namely, about what he 
 had done, and wherefore he did what he did, 
 and why he had builded that house : and, by 
 what they said, I perceived that he haa oeen a 
 great warrior, and had fought with, and slain 
 him that had the power of death, (Heb. ii. 14, , 
 15,) but not without great danger to himself; 
 which made me love him the more. , 
 
 For, as they said, and, as I believe, said 
 Christian, he did it with the loss of blood. But 
 that which put glory of grace into all he did, 
 was, that he did it out of pure love to his 
 country. And besides, there were some of 
 them of the household that said they had been, 
 and spoke with him, since he did die on the 
 cross ; and they have attested, that they had it 
 from his own lips, that he is such a lover of 
 poor pilgrims, that the like is not to be found 
 from the east to the west. 
 
 They, moreover, gave an instance of what 
 they affirmed, and that' was, he had stripped 
 himself of his glory that he might do this for 
 the poor; and that they heard him say and 
 affirm, that he would not dwell in the mountain 
 of Zion alone. They ^aid moreover, that he 
 had made many pilgrims princes, though by 
 nature they were beggars born, and their origi- 
 nal had been the dunghill. ' 1 Sam. ii. 8 ; Ps. 
 cxiii. 7. 
 
 Thus they discoursed together till late at 
 night; and after they had committed them 
 selves to their Lord for protection, they betook 
 themselves to rest. The pilgrim they laid ii\ 
 a large upper chamber, whose window opened 
 towards the sun-rising : the name of the cham- 
 
 ■j- Hence see the necessity of a Christian's giving 
 good evidence, that he is really possessed of those 
 graces of piety, prudence, and charity or love, befcre 
 he can enjoy the communion of saints. True faith in 
 Jesus is never alone, but is always attended with a 
 train of Christian graces. j 
 
 \ This means the Lord's supper ; where Christians 
 in common feed on Jesus by faith, and dwell in con- 
 templation, with wonder, love a.nd praise, for what 
 Jesus had done for them, is in them, and is now doing 
 for them at the right hand of God. Thus Christians 
 feed on him by faith, and are nourished up by hiio 
 unto eternal life. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 113 
 
 ber was Peace, where he slept till break of day, 
 and then he awoke and sang : 
 
 "Where am I now? Is tliis the love and care 
 Of JoBus, fur the men that pilgrima are ; 
 Thus to provide, that I Bhould be forgiven, 
 And dwell already the next door to heaven ?"* 
 
 So in the morning they all got up ; and, after 
 Borae more discourse, they told him that he 
 should not depart till they had showed him the 
 rarities of that place. And first they had him 
 into the study,! where they showed him records 
 of the greatest antiquity : in which, as I re- 
 member my dream, they showed him, first, the 
 pedigree of the Lord of the hill, that he was 
 the Son of the Ancient of days, and came by 
 that eternal generation : here also were more 
 fully recorded the acta that he had done, and 
 the names of many hundreds that he had taken 
 into his service ; and how he had placed them 
 in such habitations that could neither by length 
 of days, nor decay of nature, be dissolved. 
 
 Then they read to him some of the worthy 
 acts that some of his servants liad done; as 
 how they had "subdued kingdoms, wrought 
 righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the 
 mouths of lions, quenched the violence of 
 fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of 
 weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in 
 fight, and turned to flight the armies of the 
 aliens." Heb. xi. 33, 34. 
 
 Then they read again in another part of the 
 records of the house, where it was showed how 
 willing the Lord was to receive into his favour 
 any, even any, though tliey in time past 'had 
 offered great alfronts to his person and pro- 
 ceedings. Here also were several other his- 
 tories of many other famous things, of all 
 
 * A sinner cannot sleep safely and comfortably till 
 ho has found peace with God, But, *' being justified 
 by faith, we have peace with God [and peace in our 
 consciences] through our Lord Jesus Christ." Rom. v. 
 1. But all unbelievers of the grace of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ are under the curse of the law, and condemna- 
 tion for sin, and are at enmity against God. 
 
 •j* Christ, and meditation on Christ, on his birth, his 
 person, his life, his works, his death, his atonement, 
 righteousness, and salvation, are the delight of Chris- 
 tian souls. Siiys David, " My meditation of him shall 
 be sweet : I will be glad in the Lord." Psal. civ. 34. 
 A lively Christian cannot live without spiritual med- 
 itation. 
 
 J The provision which is made in Christ, and his 
 fulness for maintaining and increasing in the hearts 
 of his people, those holy dispositions and affections 
 by the vigorous exercise of which, victory is obtained 
 over all their enemies, is here represented by the 
 8 
 
 which Christian had a view : as of things both 
 ancient and modern ; together with prophecies 
 and predictions of things that have their cer- 
 tain accomplishment, both to the dread and 
 amazement of enemies, and the comfort ind 
 solace of pilgrims. 
 
 The next day they took him, and had him 
 into the armoury, J where they showed him all 
 manner of furniture which their Lord had 
 provided for pilgrims, as sword, shield, helmet, 
 breastplates, all-prayer,' and shoes that would 
 not wear out. And there was here enough of 
 this to harness out as many men, for the service 
 of their Lord, as there be stars in the heaven 
 for multitude. 
 
 They 'also showed him some-of the engines, 
 with which some of his servants had done 
 wonderful things. They sho<Ved him Moses' 
 rod; the hammer and nail with which Jael 
 slew Sisera; the pitchers, trutnpets, and lamps 
 too, with which Gideon put to flight the armies 
 of Midian. Then they showed him the ox- 
 goad, wherewith Shamgar slew six hundred 
 men. They showed him also the jaw-bohe 
 with "which Samson did such mighty feats; 
 they showed him moreover the sling and stone 
 with which David slew Goliah of Gath; and 
 the sword also with which their Lord will kill 
 the man of sin, in the day that he shall rise 
 up to the prey. They showed him besides 
 many excellent things with which Christian 
 was much delighted.! This done they went to 
 their rest again. 
 
 Then I saw in my dream, that on the morrow 
 he got up to go forwards, but they desired him 
 to stay till the next day also; and then, said 
 they, we will, if the day be clear, show you 
 the Delectable Mountains ; | which, they said, 
 
 armoury. This suffices for all who may seek to be 
 supplied from it, how many soever they be. AVe 
 ought, therefore, to "take to ourselves the whole 
 armour of God," and "put it on" by diligently using 
 all the means of grace, and we should assist others, 
 by our exhortations, counsels, •Examples, and prayers, 
 in doing the same. 
 
 II Contemplations on the things of old, recorded in 
 the word of God, is the joy and glory of faith, ani- 
 mates hope, and causeth the soul to press forward in 
 the Christian race. 
 
 g The Delectable Mountains, as seen at a distance, 
 represent those distinct views of the privileges and 
 consolations attainable in this life, with which be- 
 lievers are sometimes favoured, when attending on 
 divine ordinances: or diligently making a subsequent 
 improvement of them, by means whereof they are ani- 
 mated to "press forward toward the mark, for the 
 prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus," 
 
114 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 would' yet fui'ther add to liis comfort, because 
 they were nearer the desired haven than the 
 place where at present he was; so he con- 
 sented and stayed. When the morning was up, 
 they had him to the top of the house, and bid 
 him look south; so he did; and behold, at a 
 great distance, (Isa. xxxiii. 16, 17,) he saw a 
 most plesisant mountainous country, beautified 
 with woods, vineyards, fruits of all sorts, 
 
 flowers also, with springs and fountains, very 
 delectable to behold. Then he asked the name 
 of the country. They said, It was Immanuel's 
 Land ; and it is as common, say they, as this 
 hill is, to and for all the pilgrims.. And 
 when thou comest there, from thence thou 
 mayest see the gate to the Celestial City, as 
 the shepherds that live there will make ap 
 pear. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Christian enters the Valley of Humiliaiion, where he is fiercely attacked by ApoUyon, htd 
 
 ' overcomes him. 
 
 Now Christian bethought himself of setting 
 forward, and they were willing he should. But 
 first, said they, let uS|go again into the armoury. 
 So they did; and when he came there, they 
 harnessed him from head to foot with what was 
 of proof, lest perhaps he should meet with as- 
 saults in the way. He being therefore thus 
 accoutred,* walked out with his friends to the 
 gate, and there he asked the Porter, if he saw 
 any pilgrim pass by? Then the Porter an- 
 swered, Yes. 
 
 Christian. Pray did you know him? 
 
 Porter. I asked his name, and he told me it 
 was Faithful. 
 
 Oh, said Christian, I know him : he is my 
 townsman, my near neighbour, he comes from 
 the place where I was born : how far do you 
 j;hink he may be before? 
 
 Porter. He has got by this time below the 
 ■hill. 
 
 Well, said Christian, good Porter, the Lord 
 be with thee, and add to all thy blessings much 
 increase, for the kindness that thou hast showed 
 to me. I 
 
 Then he began to go forward ; but Discre- 
 tion, Piety, Charity, and Prudence, would ac- 
 company him down to the foot of the hill. So 
 
 Great is the Lord our God, 
 
 And let his praise be great; 
 He makes his churches his abode, 
 , His raost delightful seat. 
 
 These temples of his grace, 
 
 How beautiful they stand! 
 The honours of our native place. 
 
 And bulwarks of our land. 
 
 * See what this Christian armour is in Eph. vi. 
 18, Ac. 
 ■\ Thus it is after a pilgrim has been favoured with 
 
 they went on together, reiterating their former 
 discourses, till they came to go down the hilL 
 Then said Christian, As it was difficult coming 
 up, so far as I can see, it is dangerous jgoing 
 down. Yes, said Prudence, so it is; for it is 
 an hard matter for a man to go down into the 
 Valley of Humiliation as thou art now, and to 
 catch no slip by the way ; therefore, said they, 
 are we come out to accompany thee down the 
 hill. So he began to -go down, but very warily, 
 yet he caught a slip or two.f 
 
 Then I saw in my dream, that these good 
 companions, when Christian was gone down to 
 the bottom of the hill, gave hira a loaf of 
 bread, a bottle of wine, and a cluster of raisins; 
 and then he went on his way. 
 
 But now, in this Valley of Humiliation, 
 poor Christian was hard put to it ; for he had 
 gone but a little way, before he spied a foul 
 fiend coming over the field to meet him ; his 
 name is Apollyon.J Then did Christian begin 
 to be afraid, and to cast in his mind whether 
 to go back or stand his ground. But he con- 
 sidered again that he had no armour for his 
 back, and therefore thought that to turn the 
 back to him might give him greater advantage, 
 with ease to pierce him with his darts ; there- 
 many special and peculiar blessings, there is dangei 
 of his being puffed up and exalted nu iooount ef 
 them ; so did even holy Paul express it : therefore the 
 messenger of Satan was permitted to buffet him. 2 
 Cor. xii. 7. In our present mixed state, the Lord 
 knows, it would not be best for us always to dwell on 
 the mount of (ipiritual joy; therefore, for the good of 
 the soul, the flesh must be humbled and kept low, lest 
 spiritual pride prevail. It is hard going down into 
 the Valley of Humiliation, without slipping into mur- 
 muring and discontent, and calling in question the 
 dealings of God with us. 
 
 t Apollyon signifies the deatroye-. See Rev. ix. U. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S FROGEESS. 
 
 115 
 
 fore he resolved to venture, and stand his 
 ground ; for, thought he, had I no more in 
 my eyes than the saving of my life, it would 
 be the best way to stand. 
 
 So he went on, and ApoUyon met him. Now 
 the monst(fr was hideous to behold: he was 
 clothed with scales like a fish, (and they are 
 his pride;) he had wings like a dragon, feet 
 like a bear, and out of his belly came fire and 
 smoke, and his mouth was as the mouth of a 
 lion. When he was come up to Christian, he 
 beheld him with a disdainful countenance, and 
 thus begiin to question with him.* 
 
 ApoUyon. Whence came you? and whither 
 are you bound ? 
 
 Christian. I am come from the city of De- 
 struction, which is the place of all evil, and am 
 going to the city of Zion. « 
 
 Apollijon. By this I perceive thou art one of 
 my subjects ; for all that country is mine, and 
 I am the prince and god of it. How is it then 
 that thou hast run away from thy king ? Were 
 it not for that I hope thou mayest do me more 
 service, I would strike thee now at one blow 
 to the ground. 
 
 Christian. I was born indeed in your domin- 
 ions, but your service was hard, and your 
 wages was such as a man could not live on ; 
 "for the wages of sin is death," (Rom. vi. 23;) 
 therefore when I was come to years, I did as 
 other considerate persons do, look out if per- 
 haps I might mend myself.f 
 
 ApoUyon. There is no prince that will tfius 
 lightly lose his subjects, neither will I as yet 
 lose thee; but since thou complainest of thy 
 service and wages, be content, to go back ; what 
 our country will afford, I do here promise to 
 give thee. 
 
 Christian. But I have let myself to another, 
 even to th,e king of princes ; and how can I 
 with fairness go back with thee ? 
 
 ApoUyon. Thou hast done in ' this according 
 to the proverb :^" Change a bad for a worse:" 
 
 * Do not be terrified though you meet Satan, and he 
 assaults 3'OU in the most terrible form ,* but mind this, 
 before Satan is suffered to attack Christian, his Lord 
 had provided and fitted him with armour; the armour 
 of God, wherewith he could stand his ground, conquer 
 Satan, r-r.d repel all his fiery darts. In every conflict 
 with Sdtan, the battle is the Lord's ; His strength is 
 engaged for our victory j therefore fight the good fight 
 of faith. 
 
 f All this is the effect of believing God's word, and 
 the conviction which it brings to the mind, of the evil 
 of sin, of the deplorable state the sinner finds himself 
 in, and of the grace and salvation of the Son of God. 
 As soon as a man believes these truths, he quits the 
 
 but it is ordinary for those that have professed 
 themselves his servants, after a while to give 
 him the slip, and return again to me. Do thou 
 so too, and all shall be well.J 
 
 Christian. I have given him my faith, and 
 sworn my allegiance to him ; how then can I 
 go back from this, and not be hanged as a 
 traitor ? 
 
 ApoUyon. Thou didst the same to me, and 
 yet I am willing to pass by all, if now thou 
 wilt yet turn again and go back. 
 
 Christian. What I promised thee was in my 
 nonage ; and besides I count that the prinee 
 under whose banner I now stand is able to ab- 
 solve me; yea, and to pardon also what I did 
 as to my compliance with thee : and besides, 
 O thou destroying ApoUyon, to speak truth, I 
 like his service, his wages, his servants, his 
 government, his company and country, better 
 than thine ; and therefore leave off to persuade 
 me further ; I am his servant, and I will follmv 
 him. 
 
 ApoUyon. . Consider again, when thou art in 
 cool blood, what thou art like to me'et with in 
 the way that thou goest. Thou knowest that 
 for the most part, his servants come to an ill 
 end, because they are transgressors against me 
 and my ways. How many of them have' been 
 put to shameful deaths? And besides thoa 
 countest his service better than mine, whereas 
 he never came yet from the place where he is, 
 to deliver any that served him out of their 
 hands : but, as for me, how many times, as all 
 the world very well knows, have I delivered, 
 either by power or fraud, those that have faith- 
 fully served me, from him and his, though 
 taken by them : and so I will deliver thee.|| 
 
 Christian. His forbearing at present to de- 
 liver them is on purpse to try their love, whe- 
 ther they will cleave to him to the end ; and, 
 as for the ill end thou sayest they come to, 
 that is most glorious in their account ; for, for 
 present deliverance, they do not much expeet 
 
 service of the father of lies ; and by the faith of the 
 truth, he is armed to resist Satan j for it is the glory 
 of faith to draw all its reasonings from divine truth. 
 \ Here the father of lies delivers a most awful truth, 
 , but like himself backs it with a lying promise. Most 
 dreadful to think of, to set out in the profession of 
 Jesus, and again to turn back to the service of Satan, 
 yet how common is this! Such reject Christ's truth, 
 and believes the devil's lie " that all shall be well." 
 But their end is ill, and their death damnation. 
 
 II Mark the many subtle ways, and artful reasonings 
 of Satan to prevent pilgrims from persevering in the 
 ways of the Lord. Happy for us not to bo ignorant 
 of Satan's devices. 
 
116 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 it ; for they stay for their glory, and then they 
 shall have it, when their Prince comes in his 
 and the glory of the angels.* 
 
 Apollyon. Thou hast already been unfaithful 
 in thy service to him ; and how dost thou hope 
 to receive wages of him ?- 
 
 ChrisLian. Wherein, Apollyon, have I been 
 unfaithful to him ? 
 
 Apollyon. Thou didst faint at first setting 
 out, when thou wast almost choked in the gulf 
 of Despond : thou didst attempt wrong ways to 
 be rid of thy burden, whereas thou shouldest 
 have stayed till thy Prince had taken it off; 
 thou didst sinfully sleep, and lose thy choice 
 things : thou wast almost persuaded to go back 
 at the sight of the lions : and when thou talk- 
 est of thy journey, and of what thou hast 
 heard and seen, thou art inwardly desirous of 
 vain-glory in all that thou sayest or doest.f 
 
 Ghristian. All this is true, and much more 
 which thou hast left out ; but the Prince, whom 
 I serve and honour, is merciful and ready to 
 forgive. But besides, these infirmities pos- 
 sessed me in thy country : for three I sucked 
 them in, and I have groaned under them, being 
 sorry for them, and have' obtained pardon of 
 my Prince.J 
 
 Then Apollyon broke out into a grievous 
 rage, saying, I am an enemy to this Prince ; I 
 hate his person, his laws, and people; I am 
 come out on jjurpose to w-itlistand thee. 
 
 Christian. Apollyon, beware what you do ; 
 for I am in the king's highway, the way of 
 holiness : therefore take heed to yourself. 
 
 Then Apollyon straddled quite over the 
 whole breadth of the way, and said, I am void 
 of fear in this matter; prepare thyself to die; 
 
 ^•" Here is the precious reasoning of faith. Well 
 mif^ht Paul say, " Above all (or over all) taking the 
 shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench 
 all the fiery darts of the wicked one." Eph. vi. 16. 
 
 f Satan is justly styled the accuser of the brethren 
 of Chrisii, (Rev. xii. 10,) for he accuseth thorn before 
 God, and to their own consciences. "But they over- 
 come him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word 
 of their testimony, (Rov. xii. 11,) namely, "that they 
 have redemption in the blood of Christ, even thp for- 
 giveness of their sins." Eph. i. 7. 
 
 J That is the best way to own Satan's charges if 
 they be true, yea, to exaggerate them also, to exalt the 
 riches of the grace of Christ above all, in pardoning 
 all of them freely. By thus humbling ourselves, and 
 exalting Christ, Satan can get no advantage over us, 
 though this will put him into a rage against us. 
 
 II The shield of faith : the belief of vrhat Christ had 
 done for him, and in him, and what he was in Christ, 
 justified and sanctified. This glorious confession of 
 
 for I swear by my infernal den that thou shalt 
 go no further : here will I spill thy soul. 
 
 And with that he threw a flaming dart at his 
 breast ; but Christian had a shield in his hand, 
 with which he caught it, and so prevented.the 
 danger of that.j] 
 
 Then did Christian draw ; for he saw it was 
 time to bestir him ; and Apollyon as fast made 
 at him, throwing darts as thick as hail ; by the 
 which, notwithstanding all that Christian could 
 do to avoid it,§ Ap611yon wounded him in his 
 head, his hand, and foot. This made Christian 
 give a little back: Apollyon, therefore, fol- 
 lowed his work amain, and Christian again took 
 courage, and resisted as manfully as he could. 
 This sore combat lasted for above half a day, 
 even till Christian was almost quite spent ; foj 
 you must know that Christian, by reason of 
 his wounds, must needs grow weaker and 
 weaker.1[ 
 
 Then Apollyon, spying his opportunity, be- 
 gan to gather up close to Christian, and wrest- 
 ling with him, gave him a dreadful fall ; and 
 with that Christian's sword flew out of hi& 
 hand. Then said Apollyon, I am sure of thee 
 now : and with that he had almost pressed him 
 to death; so that Christian began to despair 
 of life. But, as God would have it,** while 
 Apollyon was fetching his last blow, thereby 
 to make a full end of this good man, Chiistian 
 nimbly stretched out his hand for his sword, 
 and caught it, saying, "Eejoice not against 
 me, mine enemy ! when I fall, 1 shall arise," 
 (Mic. vii. 8,) and with that gave him a dreadful 
 thrust, which made him give back as one that 
 had received hisv. mortal wound. Christian 
 perceiving that, made at him again, saying, 
 
 faith honours Christ, repels and quenches all the fiery 
 darts of Satan, and gets the victory over him. This 
 is what Peter exhorts to : " Resist the devil, steadfast 
 in faith." 1 Pet. v. 9. 
 
 g Christian wounded in his understanding, fsith, 
 and conversation. 
 
 t We may think this is hard work; why should a 
 Christian be so severely attacked by Satan ? Tho 
 Lord does not give us an armour to be useless, but to 
 fight with, and prove its exoelleticy, and in the uss 
 of it to experience his almighty power and unchange- ' 
 able love : for though we are weak, he is almighty to 
 strengthen us, therefore we are called upon to be 
 " strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might." 
 Eph. vi. 10. 
 
 *-» Observe that the Lord does not look on as a men 
 spectator of our conflicts, but he strengthens us in 
 every evil day, and in every fight of faith, and brings 
 us off at Iast,,more than conquerors throa^h hil 
 love. 
 
THE PILGRUrS mOGRESS. 
 
 Ill 
 
 "Nny, in all these things we are more than 
 conquerors, through him that loved us," 
 (Horn. viii. 37, 39; James iv. 7 ;) and with that 
 Apollyon spread fortli his dragon wings and 
 sped liim away, that Christian saw him no 
 more. 
 
 In this combat no man can imagine, unless 
 ho had seen and heard, as I did, what yelling 
 and hideous roaring Apollyon made all the 
 time of the figlit; he spalce like a dragon: 
 and, on tlie otlier side, what sighs and groans 
 burst from Christian's heart. I never saw him 
 all the while give so much as one pleasant look, 
 till he perceived he had wounded Apollyon 
 with his two-edged sword ; then indeed he did 
 smile and look upward ! * Biit it was the 
 drc:vdfulest fight that ever I saw. 
 
 So when the battle was over, Christifn said, 
 I will here give thanks to him that hath de- 
 livered me out of the mouth of the lion, to him 
 that did help me against Apollyon. And so 
 he did ; saying : 
 
 " Great Bclzcbub, the captain of this fiend, 
 Design'd my ruin ; therefore to this end 
 lie sent him harnoss'd out; and he with rage 
 That hellish was, did fiercely mo engage ; 
 
 * Nut a vain-glorious, but an humble, thankful 
 Bmilo. Ho looked up and smilingly gave the Lord all 
 the glory of his victory. 
 
 f No matter what wounds we get in our conflicts 
 with Satan, for Jesus will heal them all. But who 
 will heal those which wo get by complying with the 
 devil instead of resisting him? 
 
 X Cunfliets with Satan make Christians wary, and 
 value their sword, so as to walk with the sword of the 
 spirit, the word of God, in their hands. As fa.ith in 
 that word prevails, the power of temptation declines, 
 and the Christian becomes victorious; yea, more than 
 a conqueror through the blood of Jesus. 
 
 II " Many are the afflictions of the righteous;" so 
 Christian foundi it. He came off conqueror in the 
 Valley of Humiliation, his wounds were healed by the 
 tree of life, and his soul rejoiced in God his Saviour. 
 But new trials awaited him; he expected them. He 
 heard a dismal account of the valley before him; but 
 as his way lay through it, no persuasions would stop 
 his progress. 
 
 The Valle'y'of the Shadow of Death seems intended 
 to represent a variation of inward distress, conflict 
 and alarm, which arise from unbelief, and a supposi- 
 tion that God has withdrawn the light of his coun- 
 tenanee, and is accompanied by manifold apprehen- 
 sions and' temptations. Most Christians know some- 
 thing of this, but perhaps very few are acquainted 
 with that great degree of horror and fear which are 
 here represented. The words quoted from the prophet, 
 describe the waste bowling wilderness through which 
 Iirael journeyed to Canaan; which typified the be- 
 
 But blessed ^lichacl helped me, and I, 
 By dint of sword, did quickly make him fly : 
 Therefore to him let me give lasting praise 
 And thanks, and bless his holy name always." 
 
 Then there came to him an hand with some 
 of Ih^ leaves of the tree of life, the which 
 Christian took and applied to the wounds that 
 he had received in the battle, and was healed 
 immediately.! He also sat down in that place 
 to eat bread, and to drink of that bottle that 
 was given him a little before : so being re- 
 freshed, he addressed himself to his journey 
 with his sword J drawn in his hand; for he 
 said, I know not but some other enemy may 
 be at hand. But he met with no other 
 affront from Apollyon quite through the 
 valley. 
 
 Now at the end of this valley was another, 
 called the Valley of the Shadow of Death,| 
 and Christian must needs go through it, be- 
 cause the way to the Celestial City lay through 
 the midst of it. Now this valley is a very soli- 
 tary place. The prophet Jeremiah thus de- 
 scribes it: "A wilderness, a Lind of deserts 
 and of pits ; a land of drought, and of the 
 shadow of death; a land that no man (but a 
 
 lievcr's pilgrimage through this world to heaven. 
 Low-spiritcil persons, of a gloomy turn, or under the 
 power of some nervous disorder, are more usually ex- 
 ercised in this manner than others; for the subtle 
 enemy knows how to take advantage of our weak- 
 ness, and to impress, if possible, distressing ideas on 
 the mind, when it is most disposed to receive them. 
 At such times the imagination is crowded with terri- 
 ble ideas, every thing looks black and big with dan- 
 ger, reason itself is disturbed in its exercises, and no 
 feal relief can be gained till the great Physician be 
 pleased to restore health, bcth to body and soul. 
 
 In addition to the foregoing, let it be observed, that 
 we must not suppose our author intended to convey 
 an idea, that all experience these trials in the same 
 order and degree as Christian did. Evil spirits never 
 fail, when not resisted by faith, to mislead, entangle, 
 or perplex the soul, and many,^ not knowing fully 
 Satan's devices, are apt, in the trying hour, to ascribe 
 such a state wholly to desertion, which exceedingly 
 enhances their distress; and as Bunyan had been 
 greatly harassed in this way, he has given us a Larger 
 proportion of this shade than is met with by consistent 
 believers, or than the Scriptures by any moans give 
 us reason to expect; and probably he meant hereby 
 to state the outlines of his own experience in the pil- 
 grimage of Christian ; all due honour must be given 
 to the words of Christ, who has declared, " He that 
 followeth me (Christ) shall not walk in darkness." 
 Let ua be found in a constant exercise of faith in the 
 great and precious promises, then shall we rejoice 
 evermore, and in every thing give thanks. 
 
118 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Christian) passqth through, and where no man 
 dwelt." Jer. ii. 6. 
 Now here Christian was worse put to it 
 
 than in his fight with Apollyon; as by the 
 sequel you shall see. 
 
 CHAPTEE X. 
 
 CSvristian sorely distressed in the Valley of the Shadow of Death, through which, however., he 
 
 passes unhurt. 
 
 ]. SAW then in my dream, that when Chris- 
 tian was got on the borders of, the Shadow of 
 Death, there met him two men, children of 
 them that brought up an evil report of the 
 good land, (Num. xiii.,) making haste to go 
 back ;* to whom Christian spoke as follows : 
 
 Whither are you going? 
 
 They said. Back ! back I and we would have 
 you to do so too, if either life or peace is 
 prized by you. 
 
 Why, what's the matter? said Christian. 
 
 Matter ! said they : we were going that way 
 as you are going, and went as far as we durst ; 
 and indeed we were almost past coming back : 
 for had we gone a little further, we had not 
 been here to bring the news to thee. 
 
 But what have you met with ? said Chris- 
 tian. 
 
 3fen. Why, we were almost in the Valley of 
 the Shadow of Death, {Ps.xliv. 19;) but that 
 by good hap we looked before us, and saw the 
 danger before we came to it. 
 
 But what have you seen ? said Christian. 
 
 Men. Seen? Why the Valley itself, which 
 is as dark as pitch :__we also saw there the hob- 
 goblins, satyrs, and dragons of the pit: we 
 heard also in that Valley a continual howling 
 and yelling, as of people under unutterable 
 misery, who there sat bound in affliction and 
 irons ; and over that Valley hang the discour- 
 aging plouds of confusion : death also doth 
 always spread his wings over it. Job iii. 5 ; x. 
 
 ' Such we frequently meet with j who set out with- 
 out a sense of sin, true faith, real hope, and sincere 
 lovo to Christ; and as sure as they go bacli from a 
 profession, they bririg up an evil report of the way to 
 the kingdom of Christ. 
 
 ■j See what it is, when men are left to will and 
 choose for themselves, they prefer their own ways, 
 though it be to destruction j their wills are averse to 
 God's, and they choose death in the .error of their 
 life ; but the faithful soul is under the reign of grace, 
 and he chooses to obey the will of G-od, and to walk 
 in the ways of God, though they are not pleasing to 
 flesh and blood, hence true faith is tried, and a mere 
 empty profession made manifest. 
 
 22. In a word, it is every whit dre iidful, being 
 utterly without order. 
 
 Then said Christian, I perceive not yet, by 
 what you have said, but that this is my way to 
 the desired haven. 
 
 Men. Be it thy way ; we will not choose it 
 for ours.f 
 
 So they* parted ; and Christian went on his 
 way, but still with his sword drawn in hia 
 hand, for fear lest he should be assaulted. 
 
 I saw then in my dream,f so far as this Val- 
 ley reached there was on the right hand a very 
 deep ditch ; that ditch is it' unto which the 
 blind have led the blind in all ages, and'havb 
 both there miserably perished. J Again, be- 
 hold, on the left hand there was a very dan- 
 gerous quag, into which if even a good man 
 falls he finds no bottom for his foot to stand 
 on : into this quag King David once did fall, 
 and had, no doubt, therein been smothered, 
 had not he that is able plucked him- out. 
 Ps. Ixix. 14. 
 
 The pathway was here also exceeding nar- 
 row, and therefore good Christian was the 
 more put to it ; for when he sought in the dark 
 to shun the ditch on the one hand, he was 
 ready to tip over into the mire on the other : also 
 when he sought to escape the mire, without 
 great carefulness he would be ready to fall into 
 the ditch. II Thus he went on, and I heard him 
 here sigh bitterly : for besides the danger men- 
 tioned above, the pathway was here so dark, 
 that ofttimes when he lifted up his foot to go 
 
 J The ditch on the right hund is error in principle, 
 into which 'the blind (as to spiritual truths, blind 
 guides) lead the blind, who are not spiritually en- 
 lightened. The quag on the left hand, means outward 
 sins and wickedness, which many fall into. Both are 
 alike dangerous to pilgrims ; but the Lord will keep 
 the feet of his saints. 1 Sam. ii. 9., 
 
 II A tender conscience is as much afraid of corrupt 
 principles, as of sinful practices. This raanife&ts tha 
 sincerity of the soul, even when a Christian is as- 
 saulted by the most violent and complicated tempta- 
 tions. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 118 
 
 forward, he knew not where, nor upon what 
 he should set it next. 
 
 Ahout the midst of the Valley, I perceived 
 the mouth of hell to be, and it stood also hard 
 by the way-side: Now, thought Christian, 
 what shall I do? And ever and anon the 
 flame and smoke would come out in such 
 abundance with sparks and hideous noises, 
 (things that cared not for Christian's sword, 
 as did Apollyon before,) that he was force;! to 
 put up his sword, and betake himself to another 
 weapon, called all-prayer: so he cried in my 
 hearing, "O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my 
 Boul. ' Ps. cxvi. 4; Eph. vi. 18. Thus he 
 went on a great while, yet still the flames 
 would be reaching towards him : also he heard 
 doleful voices, and rushing to and fro, so that 
 sometimes he thought he should beotorn to 
 pieces, or trodden down like mire in the streets. 
 This frightful sight was seen, and these dread- 
 ful noises were heard by him for several miles 
 together : and coming ' to a place where he 
 thought he heard a company of fiends* com- 
 ing forward to meet him, he stopped, and be- 
 gan to muse what he had best to do : some- 
 times he had half a thought to go back ; then 
 again he thought he might be half way 
 through the Valley : he remembered also how 
 he had already vanquished many a danger: 
 and that the danger of going back might be 
 much more than for to go forward. So he re- 
 solved to go on: yet the fiends seemed to come 
 nearer and nearer : but when they were come 
 even almost at him, he cried out with a most 
 vehement voice, " I will walk in the strength 
 of the Lord God;" so they gave back, and 
 came no further. 
 
 One thing I would not let slip: I took no- 
 tice that now poor Christian was so confounded 
 that he did not know his own voice ; and thus 
 I perceiveid it ; just when he was come over 
 against the mouth of the burning pit, one of 
 the wicked ones got behind him, and stepped 
 up softly to him, and whisporingly suggested 
 many grievous blasphemies to him, which he 
 
 ♦ Ui.t it may bfi asked. Why doth tho Lord suffer 
 his ohildreu to be so afflicted? It is for his glory; it 
 tries their faith in him, and excites prayer to him; 
 but his love abates not in the least towards them, 
 since he lovingly inquires after them, "Who is there 
 among you that feareth the Lord, and walketh in 
 darkness, and hath no light V Then he gives most 
 precious advice to them. Let him trust in the Lord, 
 and stay himself upon his God. Isa. i. 10. 
 
 f Now here the conscience manifests its tenderness 
 by abhorring the evil of Satan's suggestions. Oh 
 
 verily thought had proceeded from his own 
 mind I This put Christian more to it than any 
 thing that he met with before, even to thmk 
 that he should now blaspheme him that he 
 loved so much before ; yet if he could have 
 helped it he would not have done it : but he 
 had not the discretion either to stop his ears 
 or to know from whence those blasphemies 
 came.f 
 
 Whe(n Christian had travelled in this dis- 
 consolate condition some considerable time, he 
 thought he heard the voice of a man as going 
 before him, saying, " Though I walk through 
 the Valley of the Shadow of Death I will fear 
 no ill, for thou art with me." { Ps. xxiii. 4. 
 
 Then was he glad, and that for these rea- 
 sons : first, because he gathered from thence, 
 that some who feared God were in this Valley 
 as well as himself : —secondly, for that he per- 
 ceived God was with them, thou^ in that dark 
 and dismal state: and why not, thought he, 
 with me? though, by reason of the imped- 
 iment that attends this place I cannot per- 
 ceive it: (Job ix. H) — thirdly, for that he 
 hoped (could he overtake them) to have com- 
 pany by and by. So he went on, and called to 
 him that was before ; but he knew not what to 
 answer, for that he also thought himself to be 
 alone. And by and by the day broke : then 
 said Christian, He hath "turned the shadow 
 of death into the morning." || Amos v. 8. 
 
 Now morning being come, he looked hack, 
 not out of desire to return, but to see by the 
 light of the day what hazards he had gone 
 through in the dark : so he saw more perfectly 
 the ditch that was on the one hand, and the 
 quag that was on the other ; alsp how narrow 
 the way was which led betwixt them both: 
 also now he. saw the hobgoblins, and satyrs, 
 and dragons of the pit, but all afar off, for 
 after break of the day they came not nigh : yet 
 they were discovered to him according to that 
 which is written, " He discovereth deep things 
 out of darkness, and bringeth to light the 
 shadow of death." Job xii. 22. 
 
 what nigh access has the enemy to our hearts! But 
 the Lord is also nigli, to save to the uttermost all who 
 trust in him ; he will hear their cry, and save them. 
 Ps. xxiii. 4. 
 
 J The experience of other saints is very encour- 
 aging, for the soul finds that others have gone before 
 in dreadful and dreary paths. 
 
 11 To walk in darkness, and not to be distressed for 
 it, argues stupidity of soul. To have the light of 
 God's countenance shine upon us, and not to rejoioe 
 and be thankful, is impassible. 
 
120 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Now was Christian much affected with his 
 deliverance from all the dangers of his solitary 
 way; which dangers, though he feared them 
 more before, yet he saw them more clearly now, 
 because the light of the day made them con- 
 spicuous to him. And about this time the sun 
 was rising; and this was another mercy to 
 Christian : for you must note, that though the 
 first part of the Valley of the Shadow of Death 
 was dangerous ; yet this second part, which he 
 was yet to go, was, if possible, far more dan- 
 gerous:* for, from the place where he now 
 stood, even to the end of the Valley, the way 
 was all along set so full of snares, traps, gins, 
 and nets, here, and so full of pits, pitfalls, deep 
 holes, and shelvings down there ; that had it 
 been dark, as it was when he came the first 
 part of the way, had he had a thousand souls, 
 they had in reason been cast away : but, as I 
 said just now, the sun was rising. Then said 
 he, "His candle shineth on my head, and by 
 his light I go through darkness." Job xxix. 3. 
 
 In this light therefore he came to the end of 
 the Valley. Now I saw in my dream, that at 
 the end of this Valley lay blood, bones, ashes, 
 and mangled bodies of men, even of pilgrims 
 that had gone this way formerly ; and while I 
 was musing what should be the reason, I spied 
 a little before me, a cave, where two giants. 
 Pope and ragan,t dwelt in old time ; by whose 
 p6\ver and tyi'anny the men, whose bones, 
 
 * This means tbe raging of persecution for the 
 */ruth's sake, and those dreadful deaths which the mar- 
 tyrs suffered in the cause of Christ and his glorious 
 Gospel and precious salvation. But here Christian 
 had the blessed light of the glorious Gospel. 
 
 ■(■ The inhabitants of this kingdom are not thought 
 to be in any immediate danger, either from Pope or 
 Pagan. Yet something like the philosophical part of 
 Paganism seems to be rising from the dead, while 
 Popery grows more infirm than ever : and as, even by 
 the confession of the late king of Prussia, who was a 
 steady friend to the philosophical infidels, " they are 
 by no means favourable to general toleration ;" it is 
 not improbable, (says the Rev. Mr. Scott,) but Pagan 
 persecution may also in due time revive. Our author, 
 hotrerer, bas described no other persecution than what 
 
 blood, ashes, &c., lay there were cruelly put to 
 death. But by this place Christian went with- 
 out much danger, whereat I .somewhat won- 
 dered ; but I have learnt since, that Pagan has 
 been dead many a day; and, as for the other, 
 though he be yet alive, he is, by reason of age, 
 and also of the many shrewd brushes that he 
 met with in his younger days, grown so crazy 
 and stiff in his joints, that he now can do littlo 
 more than sit in his cave's mouth, grinning at 
 pilgrims as they go by, and biting his nails 
 because he cannot come at them. 
 
 So I saw that Christian went on his way: 
 yet at the sight of the old man that sat in the 
 mouth of the cave, he could not tell what to 
 think; especially because he spoke to him, 
 though he could not go after him, saying, 
 "You will never mend till more of you be 
 burned." But he held his peace, and set a 
 good face on it, and so went by and catched no 
 hurt.J Then sang Christian, 
 " Oh world of wonders ! (I can say no less) 
 That I should be preserv'd in that distress 
 That I have met with here ! Oh blessed be 
 That hand that from it hath deliver'd me. 
 Dangers in darkness, dcvjis, bell, and sin. 
 Did compass me while I this vale was in : 
 Yea, snares, and pits, and traps, and nets did He 
 My path about, that worthless, silly I 
 Might have been cateh'd, entangled, and cast down : 
 But since I live, let Jesus wear the crown." 
 
 Protestants in his time carried on against each-other 
 with very great alacrity. 
 
 \ Nothing shall harm us while we are followers of 
 that which is good. This every faithful soul can tes- 
 tify ; for the Lord will give grace and glory, and no 
 good thing will be withheld from those who walk up- 
 rightly. Such are the inestimable blessings conse- 
 quent on steadfastly fighting the good fight of faith. 
 The real Christian, amidst all his temptations, shall 
 hold on his way, while his whole soul sings, "Let 
 Jesus wear the crown." 
 
 Then let my soul arise, 
 
 And tread the tempter down : 
 My Captain leads me forth 
 To conquest and a crown. 
 A feeble saint shall win the day, 
 Tho' death and hell obstruct the way, FTaH*. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 121 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Clwristian meets with an excellent companion in Faithful, with whom he has much profitable 
 
 conversation. 
 
 Now as Christian went on his way, he came 
 to a little ascent, which was cast up on pur- 
 pose that pilgrims might see before them.* 
 Up there,, therefore. Christian went , and look 
 ing forward, he saw Faithful before him upon 
 his journey. Then said Christian aloud, "Ho, 
 ho! so ho! stay, and I will be your compan- 
 ion." At that Faithful looked behind him ; to 
 whom Christian cried, " Stay, stay, till I come 
 to you ;" but Faithful answered, " No, I am 
 upon my life, and the avenger of blood is be- 
 hind me."-t , 
 
 At this Christian was somewhat moved, and 
 putting to all his strength, he quickly got up 
 with Faithful, and did also overrun liim ; so the 
 last was first. Then did Christian vain-glor- 
 iously smile, because he had gotten the start of 
 his brother : but not taking good heed to his 
 feet; he suddenly stumbled and fell, and could 
 not rise again until Faithful came up to help 
 him.J 
 
 Then I saw in my dream they went very 
 lovingly on together, and had sweet discourse 
 of all things that had happened to them in 
 their pilgrimage : and thus Christian began : 
 
 My honoured and well-beloved brother Faith- 
 ful, I am glad that I have overtaken you : and 
 that God has so tempered our spirits that we 
 can walk as companions in this so pleasant a 
 path. II 
 
 Faithful. I had thought, dear friend, to have 
 had your company quite from our town, but you 
 did get the start of me; wherefore I was forced 
 to come thus much of the way alone. 
 
 Christian. How long did you stay in the city 
 of Destruction, before you set out after me on 
 your pilgrimage? 
 
 Faithful. Till I could stay no longer;? for 
 there was great talk presently after you were 
 gine out, that our city would, in a short time, 
 
 • The L:rd cares for his people : he has cast up, by 
 means of his word and promises, many a little bill of 
 prospect and comfort in their way, that they may look 
 forward with pleasure and delight, 
 
 •f It is good to beware and be jealous of what com- 
 pany we fall into. Many have joined hurtful profes- 
 sors instead of pro6table pilgrims. 
 
 J How soon doth spiritual pride show its cursed 
 head, in thinking we have outstripped another ! Then 
 danger it) near, a fall is at hand, if we humble not our- 
 eelves before *.he Lord . Tbo very person's hand we 
 
 with fire from heaven be burned down to the 
 ground. 
 
 Christian. What! and did your neighbours 
 talk so ? 
 
 Faithful, Yes, it was for a while in every body's 
 mouth. 
 
 Christian. What! and did no more of them 
 but you come out to escape the danger? 
 
 Faithful. Though there was, as I said, a great 
 talk thereabout, yet I do not think they did 
 firmly believe it. For, in the heat of the dis- 
 course, I heard some of them deridingly speak 
 of you and your desperate journey ; for so they 
 called this your pilgrimage. But I did believe, 
 and do still, that the end of our city will bfl 
 with fire and brimstone from above ; and there- 
 fore I have made my escape. 
 
 Christian. Did you hear no talk of neighbour 
 Pliable? 
 
 Faithful. Yes, Christian, I heard that he fol- 
 lowed you till he came to the slough of De- 
 spond : where, as some said, he fell in ; but he 
 would not 'be known to have so done ; but I am 
 sure he was soundly bedaubed with that kind 
 of dirt. 
 
 Christian. And what said the neighbours to 
 him? 
 
 Faithful. He hath since his going back been 
 had greatly in derision, and that among all 
 sorts of people; some do mock and despise 
 him, and scarce will any set him on work. He 
 is now seven times worse than if he had never 
 gone out of the city. 
 
 Christian. But why should they be so set 
 against him, since" they also despised the way 
 that he forsook ? 
 
 Faithful. Oh, they say, " Hang him ; he is a 
 turncoat I he was not true to his profession :" 
 I think God has stirred up even his enemies tc 
 
 need' to help us, whom we had frequently under- 
 valued. 
 
 II This episode, so to speak, with others of the same 
 kind, gives our author a happy advantage of varying 
 the characters and experiences of Christians, as found 
 In real life; and of thus avoiding the common fault of 
 making one man a standard for others, in.the circum- 
 stances of his religious progress. 
 
 § This is the case with every pilgrim. From the 
 powerful convictions which he has from above, of his 
 state and danger, he is urged by necessity to flee from 
 the wrath to come. 
 
122 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 hiss at him, ^.nd make him a proverb, because 
 he hath forsaken the way. Jer. xxix. 18, 19. 
 
 Ch-istian. Had you no talk with him before 
 you came out? 
 
 FaUhftil. I met him once in the streets, but he 
 leered away on the other side, as one ashamed 
 of what he had done : so I spake not to him.* 
 
 Christian. Well, at my first setting out, I had 
 hopes of that man; but now I fear he will 
 perish in the overthrow of the city: for "it 
 hath happened to him according to the true 
 proverb. The dog is turned to his vomit again ; 
 and the sow that was washed,'to her wallowing 
 in the mire." 2 Pet. ii. 22. 
 
 Faithful. They are my fears of him too : but 
 who can hinder that whicji will be ? 
 
 Well, neighbour Faithful, said Christian, let 
 us leave him, and talk of things that more im- 
 mediately concern ourselves. Tell me now 
 what you have met with' in the way as you 
 came: for I know you have met with some 
 things, or else it may be writ for a wonder. 
 
 Faithful. I escaped the slough that I perceived 
 you fell into, and got up to the gate without 
 that danger ; f only I met with one, whose name 
 was Wauton, that had like to have done me a 
 mischief. 
 
 Christian. It/was well you escaped her net ; 
 Joseph was hard put to it by her, and he es- 
 caped her as you did ; but it had like to have 
 ' cost him his life. Gen. xxxix. 11, 13. But 
 what did she say to you ? 
 
 Faithful. You cannot think, but that you know 
 something, what a flattering tongue she had ; 
 she lay at me hard to turn aside with her, prom- 
 ising me all manner of content.J 
 
 Christian. Nay, she did not promise you the 
 content of a good conscience. 
 
 Faithful. You know that I mean all carnal 
 and fleshly content. 
 
 Christian. Thank God you have escaped her : 
 " the abhorred of the Lord shall fall into her 
 ditch." Prov. xxii. 14. 
 
 Faithful. Nay, I know not whether I did 
 wholly escape her or no.|| 
 
 * Apostates from the profession of Christ cannot 
 Jook his followers boldly in the face; some convictions 
 will follow them, till their hearts are hardened, and 
 their consciences seared. 
 
 •j" Though no sinner will flee from the wrath to come 
 to Christ for salvation, till the Spirit has convinced of 
 Bin, and deserved wrath and destruction : yet all do 
 not fall under the like despondency of soul, at first 
 Betting out. 
 
 J Fleshly lusts will plead hard, and promise fair. 
 Happy those who look to the Lord for power against 
 
 Christian. Why, I trow you did not consent 
 to her desires. 
 
 Faithful. No, not to defile myself; for I re- 
 membere(i an old writing that I had seeji which 
 said, " her steps take hold on hell." Prov. v. 5 ; 
 Job xxxi. 1. So I shut mine eyes, because I 
 would not be bewitched with her looks : then 
 she railed on me and I went my way. 
 
 Christian. Did you meet with no other as- 
 sault as you came? 
 
 ' Faithful. When I came to the foot of the hUl 
 called DifBculty, I met with a very aged man, 
 who asked me what I was, and whither bound? 
 I told him that I was a pilgrim to the Celestial 
 City. Then said the old man. Thou lookest 
 like an honest fellow; wilt thou be content to 
 dwell with me, for the wages that I shall give 
 thee ? Then I asked him his name, and where 
 he dwelt? He said his name was Adam the 
 first,5 and that he dwelt in the town of Deceit. 
 Eph. iv. 22. I asked him then what was his 
 work? and what the wages he would give? 
 He told me, that his work was many delights ; 
 and his, wages, that I should be his heir at last 
 I further asked what house he kept, and what 
 other servants he had ? So he told me that his 
 house was maintained with all the dainties in 
 the world, and that his servants were those of 
 his own begetting. Then I asked how many 
 children he had? He said, that he had but 
 three daughters, " the Lust of the Flesh, the 
 Lust of the Eyes, and the Pride of Life," (1 
 John ii. 16 ;) and that I should marry them if 
 I would. Then I asked how long time he 
 would have me to live with him ? And he told 
 me, as long as he lived himself. 
 
 Christian. Well, and what conclusion came 
 the old man and you to at last? 
 
 Faithful. Why, at first I found myself some- 
 what inclinable to go with the man, for I 
 thought he spake very fair ; but looking in his 
 forehead as I talked with him, I saw there 
 written, "Put ofi' the old man with hia 
 deeds." f 
 
 Christian. And how then? 
 
 theni, and eye his precious promises, that we may es- 
 cape them. 
 
 II A jealous conscience is grieved fortemptations of the , 
 flesh to lust, and can hardly quit itself of guilt. This 
 makes the cleansing blood of Christ exceeding precious, 
 while the soul is sunk into humility and self-loathing, 
 
 § That is original sin, and inward corruption, which 
 has infected our whole nature. 
 
 f Blessed is the man who does not consult with flesh 
 and blood, but looks to and obeys what is written by 
 the Lord, 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROOBESS. 
 
 123 
 
 Faithful. Then it came burning hot into my 
 mind, whatever he said and however he flat- 
 tered, when he got me home to his house he 
 would sell me for a slave. So I bid him for- 
 bear to talk, for I would not come near the 
 door of his house. Then he reviled me, and 
 told me, that he would send such a one after 
 me, that should make my way bitter to my 
 soul. So I turned to go away from him ; but 
 just ss I turned myself to go thence I felt 
 him take hold of my flesh, and give me such 
 a deadly twitch back, that I thought he had 
 pulled part of me after himself:* this made 
 me cry, " wretched man !" Rom. vii. 24. So 
 I went on my way up the hill. 
 
 Now, when I had got about half-way up I 
 looked behind me, and saw one coming after 
 me, swift as the wind; so he overtook me just 
 about the place where the settle stands. 
 
 Just there, said Christian' did I sit down to 
 rest me; but being overcome with sleep, I 
 there lost this roll out of my bosom. 
 
 Faithful. But, good brother, hear me out : so 
 soon as the man overtook me, he was but a 
 word and a blow; for down he knocked me, 
 and laid me for dead. But when I was a little 
 come to myself again, I asked him wherefore 
 he served me so? He said. Because of thy 
 secret inclination to Adam the first: t and with 
 that he struck me another deadly blow on the 
 breast, and beat me down backward : so I lay 
 at his foot as dead as before. When I came to 
 myself again I cried to him for mercy : but he 
 said, I know not how to show mercy: and 
 with that knocked tae down again. He had 
 doubtless made an end of me but that one 
 came by and bid him forbear. 
 
 Christian. Who was it that bid him forbear? 
 
 Faithful. I did not know him at first, but as 
 he went by I perceived the holes in his hands 
 and his side : then I concluded that he was our 
 Lord. So I went up the hill. 
 
 Christian. The man that ovOTtook you was 
 
 • Though original sin is hard to be borne, it is good 
 t ) bo sensible of its evil. Though it makes us cry, 
 "0 wretched!" yet it tends to Icfeep up a sense of our 
 want of Christ, and of the worth of him, and that 
 nothing less than being delivered by the blood of 
 Christ, will perfect cut salvation. 
 
 f This is afterwards explained to be Moses, or the 
 jaw of God. Think not that the law reacheth only to 
 outward actions: na}', but it reacheth to the thoughts 
 and intents of the heart. It knocks a man's hopes 
 down and curses him to death, even only for sbcretly 
 tnolining to sin. So strict, so spiritual, so pure, is the 
 holy law of God. Henoe none but self-righteous, vain- 
 glorious souls can place the least confidence in their 
 
 Moses. He spareth none, neither knowcth he 
 how to show mercy to those that transgress his 
 law. 
 
 Faithful. I know it very well ; it was not the 
 first time that he has met with me. It was he 
 that came to' me when I dwelt securely at 
 home, and told me he would burn my house 
 over my head if I stayed there.J 
 
 Christian. But did you not see the house 
 that stood there on the top of the hill on'the 
 side of which Moses met you? 
 
 Faithful. Yes, and the lions too, before I came 
 at it: — but, for the lions, I think they were 
 asleep ; for it was about noon ; — and because I 
 had so much of the day before me, I passed by 
 the Porter, and came down the hill. 
 
 Christian. He told me, indeed, that he saw 
 you go by; but I wish you had called at the 
 house, for they would have showed you so 
 many rarities, that you would scarce have 
 forgot them to the day of your death. But 
 pray tell me, did you meet nobody in the valley 
 of Humility? 
 
 Faithful. Yes, I met with one Discontent, who 
 would willingly have persuaded me to go back 
 again with him: his reason was, for that the 
 valley was altogether without honour. He 
 told me moreover, that there to go was the 
 way to disoblige all my friends, as Pride, Ar- 
 rogancy, Self-Conceit, Worldly-Glory, with 
 others, who he knew, as he said, would be 
 very much offended if I made such a fool of 
 myself as to wade through this valley. || 
 
 Christian. Well, and how did you answer 
 him? 
 
 Faithful. I told him. That although all these 
 that he named might claim kindred of me, 
 and that rightly, (for indeed they were my re- 
 lations according to the flesh;) yet since I be- 
 came a pilgrim, they have disowned me, and I 
 also have rejected them; and therefore they 
 are to me now no more than if they had never 
 
 obedience to the law, and trust in their own righteous- 
 ness for justification. 
 
 { That Sinner who never -had a threatening fiery 
 visit from Moses, is yet asleep in his sins, and secure 
 in his soul, though under the curse and wrath of the 
 fiery law of God. 
 
 1] Here observe the difi'erent experience of Chris- 
 tians, in regard to the enemies they meet with. We 
 do not read that Christian was attacked by Discon- 
 tent, as Faithful was: but yet Faithful reasoned, and 
 got the better of this enemy. Many pilgrims go on 
 much more contented than others. The rsasoning of 
 faith will ever prevail over that discontent which 
 springs from pride, arrogancy, self-oonoeit, and a 
 thirst for worldly glory, riches, and pleasure. 
 
124 
 
 SUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 been of my lineage. I tol3 him, moreover, 
 that as to this valley, he had quite misrepre- 
 sented the thing; for "before honour is hu- 
 mility," "and a haughty spirit before a fall." 
 Therefore, said I, I had rather go through this 
 valley to the honour that was so accounted by 
 the wisest, than choose that which he esteemed 
 most worthy our affections. 
 
 Christian. Met you with nothing else in that 
 valley ? 
 
 Faithful. Yes, T met with Shame ; but of all 
 the men that I met with in my pilgrimage, he, 
 I think, bears the wrong name. The other 
 would be said nay, after a little argumentation 
 and somewhat else, but that bold-faced Shame 
 would never have done. 
 
 Christian. Why, what did he say to you ? 
 
 Faithful. What! why he objected against re- 
 ligion itself; he said, it was a pitiful, low, 
 sneaking business for a man to mind religion ; 
 he said that a tender conscience was an un- 
 manly thing; and that for a man to watch 
 over his words and ways, so as to tie up him- 
 self from that hectoring liberty that the brave 
 spirits of the times accustomed themselves 
 unto, would make him the ridicule of the 
 times. He objected also, that but few mighty, 
 rich, or wise, were ever of my opinion ; nor 
 any of them neither, before they were per- 
 suaded to be fools, and to be of a voluntary 
 fondness to venture the loss of all for nobody 
 knows what. John vii. 48 ; 1 Cor. i. 26 ; iii. 
 18; Phil. iii. 7, 9. He moreover objected the 
 base and low estate and condition of those that 
 were chiefly the pilgrims of the times in which 
 they lived ; also their ignorance, and want of 
 understanding in all natural science. Yea, he 
 did hold me to it at that rate also, about a great 
 many more things than here I relate ;^ as, that 
 it was a shame to sit whining and mourning ■ 
 under a sermon, and a shame to come sighing 
 and groaning home: that it was a shame to 
 ask my neighbour forgiveness for petty faults, 
 or to make restitution where I have taken 
 from any. He said also, that religion made a 
 man grow strange to the great, because of a 
 few vices, which are called by finer names ; 
 md made him own and respect the base, be- 
 
 * Nofhing can be a stronger proof that we hare lost 
 the image of God, than that shame which is natural 
 to us, concerning the things of God. This, joined to 
 the shame of man, is a very powerful enemy to God's 
 truths, Chrifat's glory, and our soul's comfort. Better 
 at once get rid of our apprehensions, by declaring 
 boldly for Christ and his cause, than stand shivering 
 •n the brink of profession, ever dreading the loss of 
 
 cause of the same religious fraternity; and m 
 not this, said he, a shame?* 
 
 Christian. And what did you say to him? 
 
 Faithful. Say ! why I could not t^ll what to 
 say at first. Yea, he put me so to it, that my 
 blood came up in my face : even this Shame 
 fetched it up, and had almost beat me quite 
 off. But at last I began to consider that " that 
 which is highly esteemed among men is had 
 in abomination with God." I.uke xvi. 15. 
 And I thought again. This Shame tells me 
 what men are ; but it tells me nothing what 
 God, or the word of God is. And I thought 
 moreover, that at the day of doom we shall 
 not be doomed to death or life, according to 
 the hectoring spirits of the world, but accord 
 ing to the wisdom and law of the Highest 
 Therefore, thought I, what God says is best, 
 though all the men in the world are against 
 it : seeing then that God prefers his religion ; 
 seeing God prefers a tender conscience ; seeing 
 they that make themselves fools for the king- 
 dom of heaven are wisest ; and that the poor 
 man that loves Christ is richer than the greatest 
 man in the world that hates him — Shame, de- 
 part, thou art an enemy to my salivation ; shall 
 I entertain thee against my sovereign Lord? 
 how then shall I look him in the face at hia 
 coming? Should I now be ashamed of hia 
 ways and servants, how can I expect the bless- 
 ing? Mark viii. 38. But indeed this Shame 
 was a bold villain ; I could scarce shake him 
 out of my company : yea, he would be haunt- 
 ing of me, and continually whispering me in 
 the ear, with some one or other of the in- 
 firmities that attend religion : but at last I 
 told him, it was but in vain to attempt further 
 in this business ; for those things that he dis- 
 dained, in those I did see most glory : aud so 
 at last I got past this importunate one. And 
 when I had shaken him ofi" then I began to sing : 
 
 " The trials that those men do meet withal, 
 That are obedient to the- heavenly call, • 
 
 Are manifold, and suited to the flesh, 
 And come, and come, and come again afresh, 
 That now, or sometimes else, we by them may 
 Be taken, overcome, and cast away. 
 Oh let the pilgrims, let the pilgrims, then 
 Be vigilant, and 'quit themselves like men." 
 
 our good name and reputation : for Christ says, (awful 
 words,) " Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of 
 my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of 
 him also shall the Son of man be ashamed when he 
 Cometh in the glory of his Father." Mark viii. 36. It 
 is one thing to be attacked by shame: and another 
 thing to be conquered by it. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 125 
 
 Christian. I am glafl, my brother, that thou 
 didst withstand this villain so bravely; for of 
 all, as thou sayest, I think he had the wrong 
 name: ftr he is so bold as to follow us in the 
 streets and to attempt to put us to shame 
 before all men : that is, to make us ashamed 
 of that which is good.* But if he was not 
 himself audacious, he would never attempt to 
 ■ do as he does : but let us still resist him ; for, 
 notwithstanding all his bravadoes, he pro- 
 moteth the fool, and none else. "The wise 
 bhall inherit glory," said Solomon, " but 
 shame shall be the promotion of fools." 
 Piov. iii. 35. 
 
 Faithful. I think we must cry to him, for help 
 against Shame, that would have us be valiant 
 for truth upon the earth. 
 
 Christian. You say true : but did yoi^ meet 
 nobody else in that valley ? 
 
 Faithful. No, not I, for I had sunshine all the 
 
 rest of the way through that, an J also through 
 the Valley of the Shadow of Death. 
 
 Christian. It was well for you ; I am sure it 
 fared far otherwise with me : I had for a long 
 season, as soon as almost I entered into that 
 valley, a dreadful combat with that foul fiend 
 Apollyon; yea, I thought verily he would 
 have killed me, especially when he got me 
 down, and crushed me under him, as if he 
 would have crushed me to pieces: for as he 
 threw me, my sword flew out of my hand; 
 nay, he told me he was sure of me ; but I 
 cried to God, and he heard me, and delivered 
 me out of all my troubles. Then I entered 
 into the Valley of the Shadow of Death, and 
 had no light for almost half the way through 
 it. I thought I should have been killed there 
 over and over : hut at last day brake, and the 
 sun arose, and I went through that which was 
 behind with far more ease and quiet. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The picture of an empty professor accurately drawn in the character of Talkative, son of 
 
 Mr. Say-well, of Prating-row. 
 
 Moreover I saw in my dream, that as they 
 went on. Faithful, as he chanced to look on 
 one side, saw a man, whose name is Talkative, 
 walking at a distance besides them;t for in 
 this place there was room enough for them all 
 to walk. He was a tall man, and something 
 more comely at a distance than at hand. To this 
 man Faithful addressed himself in this manner : 
 
 Friend, whither away? are you going to the 
 heavenly country? 
 
 Talkative, I am going to the same place. 
 
 Faithful. That is well : then I hope we may 
 have your good company. 
 
 Talkative. With a very good will will I be 
 ysur companion. 
 
 ' Faithful. Come on then, and let us go to- 
 gether, and let us spend our time in discoursing 
 of things that are profitable. 
 
 * Christian experiences perfectly agree in regard to 
 shame. No one ever set out for glory, but he was 
 attacked by shame in the way. Giving way to 
 shame, prevents much glory being brought to our 
 Jesus, who is not ashamed to call us brethren. Heb. 
 ii. 11. Alas I wo are prone to be ashamed of Christ, 
 of his words, and of his ways, which should be our 
 greatest glory. Oh "let us cry for more boldness for 
 Christ, our best friend, that shame may hi4e its pitiful 
 head, and skulk away from us as our greatest enemy. 
 
 Talkative. To talk of things that are good, to 
 me is very acceptable, with you or with any 
 other; and I am glad that 1 have met with 
 those that incline to so good a work ; for, to 
 speak the truth, there are but few that care 
 thus to spend their time as they are in their 
 travels ; but choose much rather to be speak- 
 ing of things to no profit : and this hath been 
 a trouble to me. 
 
 Faithful. That is indeed a thing to be la-' 
 mented ; for what thing so worthy of the use 
 of the tongue and mouth of men on earth, as 
 are the things of the God of heaven ? 
 
 Talkative. I like you wonderful well, for 
 your sayings are full of conviction : and, I will 
 add, what things are so pleasant, and what so 
 profitable, as to talk of the things of God? 
 
 What things so pleasant? that is, if a man 
 
 Asham'd of Jesus ! yes we may. 
 When we've no sin to wash away. 
 No tears to wipe, no joys to crave, 
 Or no immortal soul to save. 
 
 f There is a grea.t difference between having notions 
 in the Tiead, and being able to talk of doctrines of 
 grace, and experiencing the grac& and power of those 
 doctrines in the heart. Look to yourselves. 2 
 John 8. 
 
126 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 hath any delight in things that are wonderful : 
 for instance, if a man doth delight to talk of 
 the history or the mystery of things ; or if a 
 man doth love to talk of miracles, wonders, or 
 signs, where shall he find things recorded so 
 delightful, and so sweetly penned, as in the 
 Holy Scripture? 
 
 Faithful. That's true : but to be profited by 
 such things in our talk be our chief design. 
 
 Talkative. 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 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 consola- 
 tions of the Gospel, to his own comfort. Fur- 
 ther, by this a man may learn to refute false 
 opinions, to vindicate the truth, and also to 
 instruct the ignorant.* 
 
 Faithful. All tliis is tfue, and glad am I to 
 hear these things from you. 
 
 Talkative. Alas ! the want of this is the cause 
 that so few understand the need of faith, and 
 the necessity of a work of grace in their souls, 
 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. 
 
 Faithful. But, by your leave, heavenly know- 
 ledge of these is tlie gift of God ; no man at- 
 taineth to them by human industry, or only by 
 the talk of them. 
 
 Talkative. All that 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 an hundred Scriptures for the 
 confirmation of this. 
 
 Well then, said Faithful, what is that one 
 thing that we shall at this time fouhd our dis- 
 course upon ? 
 
 Talkative. What you will: I will talk of 
 things heavenly, or things earthly; things 
 moral, or things evangelical; things sacred, 
 
 '^ Is not here the very standard of orthodoxy ? 
 Hence observe, a mere professor ma,y learn, like a 
 parrot, to talk of sound doctrines, and may have a 
 sound judgment concerning them; while his heart is 
 rotten, as to any experience of them, love to them, 
 and the power and influence of them upon his affec- 
 tions and his life. Many own Christ for their master 
 now, wbom as their judge he will condemn hereafter. 
 
 or things profane; things past, or things to 
 come ; things foreign, or things at home ; things 
 more essential, or things circumstantial; pro- 
 vided that all be done to our profit. 
 
 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. 
 
 At this Christian modestly smiled, and said, 
 This man, with whom you are so taken, will 
 beguile with this tongue of his twenty of them 
 who know him not. 
 Faithful. Do you know him then ? 
 Christian. Know him? yes, better than he 
 knows himself. 
 Faithful. Pray what is he ? 
 Christian. Hisname is Talkative; hedwelleth 
 in our town ; I wonder that you should be a 
 stranger to him ; only I consider that our town 
 is large. 
 
 Faithful. Whose son is he? and whereabouts 
 doth he dwell? 
 
 Christian. He is the son of one Say-well, he 
 dwelt in Prating-row ; and is ]s:nown, of all that 
 are acquainted with him, by the name of Talk- 
 ative in Prating-row ; and, notwithstanding his 
 fine tongue, he is but a sorry fellow.f 
 
 Faithful. Well, he seems to be a very pretty 
 man. 
 
 Christian. That is, to them that have not 
 a thorough acquaintance with him ; for he is 
 the 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 dis- 
 tance, but very near more unpleasing. 
 
 Faithful. I am ready to think you do but 
 jest, because you smiled. 
 
 Christian. God forbid that I should jest 
 (though 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 
 
 f Are we not forbid to speak evil .of any man? Ti- 
 tus iii. 2. Xs not Christian guilty of this? No; for 
 where the glory of God, and honour of the Gospel is 
 at stake, and there is danger of a brother's being de- 
 ceived by a mere talkative, loose, wicked professor, 
 here it is right, and the nature of things require it, 
 that we should detect and expose such in a bet*.oming 
 spirit. 
 
TEE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 127 
 
 house, or convdreation ; all he hath lietK in his 
 tongue, and his religion is to make a noise 
 therewith.* 
 
 Faithful. Say you so? then I am in this man 
 greatly deceived. 
 
 Christian. Deceived 1 you may be sure of it : 
 remember the proverb, "They say, and do 
 not ;" but " the kingdom of God is not in word, 
 but in power." Matt, xxiii. 3 ; 1 Cor. iv. 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, re- 
 proach, and* shame of redigion, to all that! know 
 him, (Rom. ii. 23, 24;) it can hardly have a 
 good word in all that end of the town where 
 he dwells, through him. Thus say the com- 
 mon 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 dealings they shall have at their hands. 
 This Talkative, if it be possible, will go beyond 
 them, defraud, beguile, and over-reach them. 
 Besides, he brings up his sons to follow his 
 steps : and if he finds in any of them a "foolish 
 limorousness,'' (for so he calls the first appear- 
 ance of a tender conscience,) he calls them 
 fools and blockheads, and by no means will 
 employ them ii^ much, or speak to their com- 
 mendation 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 
 prevents not, the ruin of many more.f 
 
 * Such professors there are noy, as , there always 
 were. The blessed cause is wounded bj them, and 
 the most glorious truths through them are brought 
 into contempt. There is more hurt to be got by them, 
 than from the utterly ignorant and profane. Shun 
 and avoid such. 
 
 f Read this and tremble, ye whose profession lies 
 only on your tongue, but who never experienced the 
 love and grace of Christ in your souls. Oh how do 
 yo'u trifle with the grace of God, and with the holy 
 word of truth ! Oh what an awful account have you 
 to give hereafter to a holy, heart-searching God ! Ye 
 true pilgrims of Jesus, read this, and give glory to 
 your Lord, for saving you from resting iu barren no- 
 
 Faithful. Well, my brother, I am bound to 
 believe you; not only because you say you 
 know him, but also because like a Chrigtian 
 you make your reports of men. For I cannot 
 think that you speak those things of ill will, 
 but because it is even so as you say. 
 
 Christian. Had I known him no more than 
 you, I might perhaps have thought of him as 
 at the first you did : yea, had I 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 profes- 
 sions:) 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. 
 
 Faithful. Well, I see that saying and doing 
 are two things, and hereafter I shall better ob- 
 serve this distinction. 
 
 Christian. 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 car- 
 cass, so saying, if it be alone, is but a dead 
 carcass also. The soul of religion is the prac- 
 tical part : " pure religion and undefiled, before 
 God and the Father, is this : to visit the father- 
 less and widows in their affliction, and to keep 
 himself unspotted from the world." James i. 
 22, 27. 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, 
 xiii. 23;) it will not be said then, "Did you 
 believe?" but "Were you doers, or talkers 
 only?" J and accordingly shall they be judged. 
 
 tions, and taking up with talking of truths: and that 
 he has given you to know the truth in its power, to 
 embrace it in your heart, and to live and walk un- 
 der its sanctifying influences. Who made you to 
 differ? 
 
 f Though sinners are redeemed, and their sins 
 washed away by the blood of Christ— though by faith 
 they are fully justified — though the gift of God is 
 eternal life through Jesus Christ; yet none are par- 
 takers of these invaluable blessings, but those who 
 have living faith in Christ. And this faith, which is 
 the gift of God, manifests itself by its obedience to the 
 will of God, and in bringing forth fruits to the glory 
 of God. Therefore let no one deceive himself; for 
 
128 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 The end of the world is compared to our har- 
 vest ; 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 sliow you liow insignificant the profession of 
 Talkative will be at that day. 
 
 Faithful. This brings to my mind that of 
 Moses, by which he described the beast that is 
 clean, (Lev. xi ; Deut. xiv.) — he is such an one 
 that parteth the hoof and cheweth the cud; 
 not that parteth the hoof only, or that chew- 
 eth 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, but 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. 
 
 Christian. 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. 
 xiii. 1, 3. "Things without life ;" that is, with- 
 out 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 it were the tongue 
 or voice of an angel. 
 
 Faithful. Well, I was not so fond of his 
 company at first, but am as sick of it now. 
 What shall we do to be rid of him? 
 
 Christian. 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. 
 
 Faithful. What would you have me to do ? 
 
 Christian. Why, go to him, and enter into 
 some sorious discourse about th.Q power of re- 
 ligion; and ask him plainly, when he^has ap- 
 proved of it, (for that he will,) whether this 
 thing be set up in his heart, house, or conver- 
 sation?* 
 
 Then Paithful stepped- forward again, and 
 said to Talkative, Coine, what cheer? how is it 
 now ? 
 
 faith without works is dead, and a dead faith never 
 begets living hppe upon arisen Savioiir; nor will it 
 avail, when he shall appear as the Judge. 
 
 * Without this, all is empty notion, mere sound, and 
 unavailing profession. Men only take up fancy for 
 faith; the form of godliness, instead of the power: 
 
 Talkative. Thank you, well; I thought W9 
 should have had a great deal of talk by this 
 time. 
 
 Faithful. 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 sav- 
 ing grace of God discover itself when it is in 
 the heart of man ? 
 
 Talkative. I perceive, then, that our talk 
 must be about the power of things : well, it is 
 a very good question, and I shall be willing to 
 answer you; and take my answer in brief 
 thus : — ^first, where the grace of God is in the 
 heart, it causeth there a great outcry against 
 sin. Secondly — 
 
 Faithful. Nay, hold, let us consider of one 
 at once; I think you should rather say, It 
 shows itself by inclining the soul to abhor its 
 sin. 
 
 Talkative. Why, what difference is there 
 between crj'ing out against, and abhorring of, 
 sin? 
 
 Faithful. Oh ! a great deal. A man may 
 cry out against sin, of policy, but he cannot 
 abhor it but by virtue of a godly antipathy 
 against it : I have heard many cry out against 
 sin in the pulpit, who yet can abide it well 
 enough in the heart, house, and conversation. 
 Joseph's mistress cried with a loud voice, as if 
 she had been very holy ; but she would will- 
 ingly, notwithstanding that, have committed 
 uncleanness with him. Gen. xxxix. 11, 15. 
 Some cry out against sin, even as the mother 
 cries out against her child in her lap, when she 
 calleth it siut, and naughty girl, and then falls 
 to hugging and kissing it. 
 
 Talkative. You lie at the catcji, I perceive. 
 
 Faithful. No, not I ; I am only for setting 
 things right. But what is the second thing 
 whereby you will prove a discovery of a work 
 of grace in the heart? 
 
 Talkative. Great knowledge of Gospel mys- 
 teries. 
 
 Faithful. This sign should have been first; 
 but, first or last, it is also false ; for knowledge, 
 great knowledge, may be obtained in th'e mys- 
 teries of the gospel, and yet no work of grace 
 in the soul. 1 Cor. xiii. Yea, if a man have 
 all knowledge, he may yet be nothing, and so, 
 consequently be no child of God. When 
 
 and the old nature is dressed up in the specious ap- 
 pearance of new pretensions. True faith will ever 
 show itself by its fruits ; a real conversion, by the 
 life and conversation. Be not deceived : God is not 
 mocked with the tongue, if the heart, is not right to- 
 wards him in lore and obedience. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 129 
 
 Christ said, " Do ye know all these things ?" 
 and the disciples bad answered, Yes.-r-he 
 added, " Blessed are ye if ye do them." He 
 doth not lay the blessing in the knowing of 
 tliem, but in tlie doing of them. For there is 
 a knowledge that is not attended with doing : 
 " he that knoweth his master's will, and doeth 
 it not." A mail may know like an angel, and 
 yet be no Christian : therefore your sign, of it 
 is not true. Indeed, to know, is a thing that 
 pleaseth talkers and boasters ; but to do, is that 
 which pleaseth God. Not that the heart can 
 be good without knowledge ; for without that 
 the heart is naught. There are therefore two 
 sorts of knowledge : knowledge that resteth in 
 the bare speculation of things, and knowledge 
 that is accompanied with the grace of faith 
 and love, which puts a man upon doing even 
 the will of God from the heart : the Urst of 
 these will serve the talker; but without the 
 other, the true Christian is not content : " Give 
 me understanding, and I shall keep thy law ; 
 yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart." 
 Ps. cxix. 3i. 
 
 Talkative. You lie at the catch again ; this 
 is not for edification. 
 
 Faithful. Well, if you please, propound 
 another sign how this work of grace discover- 
 eth itself where it is. 
 
 Talkative. Not I ; for I see we shall not 
 agree. 
 
 Faithful. Well, if you will not, will you give 
 me leave to do it? 
 
 Talkative. You may use your liberty. 
 Faithful. A work of grace in the soul dis- 
 covereth itself either to him that hath it, o^'to 
 stauders by. 
 
 To him that hath it, thus : it gives him con- 
 viction of sin, especially of the defilement of 
 his nature, and the sin of unbelief for the sake 
 of which he is sure to be damned, if he findeth 
 not mercy at God's hand, by faith in Jesus 
 Christ. Mark xvi. 16 ; John svi. 8, 9 ; Eom. 
 vii. 24. This sight and sense of things worketh 
 in him sorrow and shame for sin ; he findeth, 
 moreover, revealed in him the Saviour of the 
 world, and the absolute necessity of closing 
 with him for life; at the which he findeth 
 hungerings and thirstings after him ; to which 
 hungerings, &c., the promise is made. Ps. 
 
 * Thi?, and this only, is what will evidence that ire 
 are real disciples of Christ, honour his name and his 
 truths, and recommend his religion in the world. 
 Without this power of godliness, we have only a name 
 to live, while we are dead to the power of the Gospel. 
 Examine yourself: look to your ways. 
 
 xxxviii. 18; Jer. xxxi. 19; Matt. v. 6 ; Acts iv. 
 12; Gal. i. 15, 16; Rev. xxi. 6. Now accord- 
 ing to the strength or weakness of his faith in 
 his Saviour, so is his joy and peace, so is his 
 love to holiness, so are his desires to know him 
 more, and also to serve him in this world.' But 
 though, I say, it discovereth itself thus unto 
 him, .yet it is but seldom that he is able to 
 conclude that this is a work of grace : because 
 his corruptions now, and his abused reason, 
 make his mind to misjudge in this matter: 
 therefore in .him that hath his work, there is 
 required a very sound judgment, before he can 
 with steadiness conclude that this is a work 
 of grace. 
 
 To others it is thus discovered: — 1. By an 
 experimental confession of his faith in Christ. 
 2. By a life answerable to that confession ; to 
 wit, a life of holiness, heart-holiness : family- 
 holiness, (if he hath a family,) and by conver- 
 sation-holiness in the world; which in the 
 general teacheth him inwardly to abhor his 
 sin, and himself for that in secret ; to suppress 
 it in his family, and to promote holiness in the 
 world: not by talk only, as an hypocrite or 
 talkative person may do, but by a practical 
 subjection in faith and love to the power of 
 the word.* Ps. 1. 23; Ezek. xx. 43 ; Matt. v. 8 ; 
 John xiv. 15 ; Rom. x. 9, 10 ; Phil. iii. 17, 20. 
 And now, sir, as to this brief description of 
 the work of grace, and also the discovery of it, 
 if you have aught to object, object ; if not, 
 then give me leave to propound to you a 
 second question. 
 
 Talkative. Nay, my part is not now to object, 
 but to hear : let me therefore have your second 
 question. 
 
 Faithful. It is this: Do yoa experience this 
 first part of the description of it; and doth 
 your life and conversation testify the same? or 
 standeth your religion in word or tongue, and 
 not in deed and truth ? Pray, if you incline to 
 answer me in this, say no more than you know 
 the God above will say Amen to; and also 
 nothing but what your conscience can justify 
 you in : " for not he who commendeth himself 
 is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth." 
 Besides, to say I am thus and thus, when my 
 conversation and all my neighbours tell me I 
 lie, is great wickedness.t 
 
 Then Talkative at first began to blush ; but 
 recovering himself, thus he replied : You come 
 
 f Blessed, faithful dealing ! Oh that it was more 
 practised in the world and in the church ! How then 
 would vain talkers be detected in the one, and driven 
 out of the other ! 
 
130 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 now to experience, to conscience, and Godjj 
 and to appeal to him for justification of what 
 is spoken : this kind of discourse I did not ex- 
 pect ; nor am I disposed to give an answer to 
 such questions; because I count not myself 
 bounfl thereto, unless you take upon you to be 
 a catechiser: and though you should so do, yet 
 I may refuse to make you my judge. But I 
 pray, will you tell me why you ask me such 
 questions?* 
 
 Faithful. Because I saw you forward to talk, 
 and because I knew not that you had aught 
 else but notion. Besides, to tell you all the 
 truth, I have heard of you, that you are a man 
 whose religion lies in talk, and that your con- 
 versation gives this your profession the lie. 
 They say you are a spot among Christians; 
 and that religion fareth the worse for your un- 
 godly conversation; that some already have 
 stumbled at your wicked ways, and that more 
 are in danger of being destroyed thereby ; your 
 religion, and an ale-houae, and covetousness, 
 and uncleanness, and swearing, and lying, and 
 vain company-keeping, &'c., will stand to- 
 gether. The proverb is true of you, which is 
 said of a harlot, to wit, that "she is a shame 
 to all women ;" so you are a shame to all pro- 
 fessors. 
 
 Talkative. Since you are ready to take up re- 
 ports, and to judge so rashly as you do, I can- 
 not but conclude you are some peevish or mel- 
 ancholic man, not fit to be discoursed with: 
 and so adieu.f 
 
 Then came up Christian, and said to his 
 brother, I told you how it would happen ; your 
 words and his lusts could not agree. He had 
 rather leave your company than reform his 
 life ; but he is gone, as I said : let him go, the 
 
 * Heart-seaiching, soul-examining, and close ques- 
 tioning of the conduct of life, will not do with talk- 
 ative professors. King a peal on the doctrines of 
 grace, and many will chime ia with you j but speak 
 closely how grace operates upon the heart, and in- 
 fluences the life to follow Christ in self-denying obe- 
 dience, they cannot bear it: they are offended with 
 you, and will turn away from you, and call you 
 legal. 
 
 ■j" "Where the heart is rotten, it will ward off convic- 
 tion, turn from a faithful reprover, condemn him, and 
 justify itself. Faithful dealing will not do for un- 
 
 less is no man's but his own : he has saved ua 
 the trouble of going from him ; for, he contin- 
 uing (as I suppose he will do) as he is, he 
 would have been but a blot in your company : 
 besides, the apostle says, " From such with- 
 draw thyself." 
 
 Faithful. But I am glad we had this little 
 discourse with him ; it may happen that he 
 will think of it again : however, I have dealt 
 plainly with him, and so am clear of his blood 
 if he perisheth.J 
 
 Christian.- You did well to talk so plainly 
 to him as you did ; there is but little of this 
 faithful dealing with men now-a-days, and that 
 makes religion to stink so in the nostrils of 
 many as it doth : for there are these talkative 
 fools, whose religion is only in words, and are 
 dA)auched and vain in their conversation, that, 
 being so much admitted into the fellowship of 
 the godly, do puzzle the world, blemish Chris- 
 tianity, and grieve the sincere. I wish that all 
 men would deal with such as you have done ; 
 then should they be either made more com- 
 formable to religion, or the company of saints 
 would be too hot for them. Then did Faithful 
 say — 
 
 " How Talkative at first lifts np his plumes ! 
 How bravely doth he speak 1 How he presumes 
 To drive down all before him ! But so soon 
 As Faithful talks of hearf-work, like the moon 
 That's past the full, into the wane he goes : 
 And so will all but he that heart-work knows." 
 
 Thus they went on talking of what they had 
 seen by the way, and so made that way easy 
 which would otherwise no doubt have been 
 tedious to them : for now they went through 
 a wilderness.il 
 
 faithful souls. Mind not that, but be faithful to the 
 truth. 
 
 J Mind this. These are right principles to act from, 
 and right ends to have in view, in faithful reproving, 
 or .aiming to convict our fellow-sinners. Study and 
 pursue these. 
 
 II Spiritual observations and conferences on past ex- 
 periences are very enlivening to the soul. They very 
 often change the wilderness of dejection into a gar.doc 
 of delights ; and so beguile the weary steps of pil- 
 grims through tedious paths. Christians, look 
 more to Christ, and talk more to each other of hll 
 love to you, and dealings with you. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 13] 
 
 CHAPTER Xin. 
 
 Persecution exhibited, in the treatment of Christian and Faithful in Vanity Fair. 
 
 Now when Christian and Faithful were got 
 almost quite out of this wilderness, Faithful 
 chanced to cast his eye back, and spied one 
 coming after them, and he knew him. Oh I 
 said Faithful to his brother, who comes yon- 
 der? Then Christian looked, and said, It is 
 my good friend Evangelist. Ay, and my 
 good friend too, said Faithful ; for it was he 
 that set me in the way to the gate. Now as 
 Evangelist came up unto them, he thus 
 saluted them : 
 
 Peace be with you, dearly beloved ; and 
 peace be to your helpers. . 
 
 Christian. Welcome, welcome, my good 
 Evangelist, the sight of thy countenance 
 brings to my remembrance thy ancient kind- 
 ness ^nd unwearied labours for nly eternal 
 good. 
 
 And a thousand times welcome, said good 
 Faithful; thy company, O sweet Evangelist, 
 how desirable is it to us poor pilgrims ! * 
 
 Then said Evangelist, How hath it fared 
 witli you, my friends, since the time of our 
 last parting? what have you met with, and 
 how have you behaved yourselves ? f 
 
 Then Christian and Faithful told him of all 
 things that had happened to them in the way ; 
 and how, and with what difficulty, they had 
 arrived to that place. 
 
 Eight glad am I, said Evangelist, not that 
 you have met with trials, but that you have 
 been victors, and for that you have, not- 
 withstanding many weaknesses, continued in 
 the way to this very day. I say, right glad 
 am I of this thing, and that for my own sake 
 and yours. I have sowed and you have reaped; 
 and the day is coming, when " both he that 
 sowed and they that reaped shall rejoice to- 
 gether ;" that is, if you hold out ; " for in due 
 time ye shall reap, if you faint not." John iv. 
 36 ; Gal. vi. 9. The crown is before you, and 
 it is an uncorruptible one ; '' so run that you 
 may obtain it." Some there be that set out 
 
 * A sincere and cordial love for Gospel ministers, 
 under a sense of their being made instrumental to our 
 soul's profit, is a sure and a blessed sign of a pilgrim's 
 spirit. 
 
 f To inquire after the concerns and prosperity of the 
 goal, should always be the business of faithful ministers 
 of Christ ; but is not this sadly neglected ? Oh how 
 often do ministers risit and depart, without close ex- 
 
 for this crown, and after they have gone far 
 for it, another comes in and takes it from 
 them ; " hold fast therefore that you have, let 
 no man take your crown," (1 Cor. iv. 24, 27 ; 
 Kev. iii. 1 :) you are not yet out of the gun- 
 shot of the devil : "you have not resisted unto 
 blood, striving against sin :" let the kingdom 
 be always before you, and believe steadfastly 
 concerning things that are invisible : let noth- 
 ing that is on this side the other world get 
 within you: and, above all, look well to your 
 own hearts, and to the lusts thereof, for they 
 are "'.deceitful above all things, and desperately 
 wicked :" set your faces like a flint ;' you have 
 all power in heaven and earth on your side.J 
 
 Then Christian thanked him for his ex- 
 hortation ; but told him withal, that they 
 would have him speak further to them for 
 their help the rest of the way ; and the rather, 
 for that they well knew that he was a prophet, 
 and could tell them of things that might 
 happen unto them, and how they might resist 
 and overcome them. To which request Faith- 
 ful also consented. So Evangelist began aa 
 followeth : 
 
 My sons, you have heard in the words of the 
 truth of the Gospel, that " you must through 
 many tribulations enter into the kingdom of 
 heaven." And again, that " in every city, 
 bonds and afflictions abide on you;" and 
 therefore you ' cannot expect that you should 
 go long on your pilgrimage without them, in 
 some sort or other. You have found some- 
 thing of the truth of these testimonies upon 
 you already, and more will immediately fol- 
 low : for now, as you see, you are almost out 
 of this wilderness, and therefore you will soon 
 come into a town, that you will by and by see 
 before you ; and in that town you will be 
 hardly beset with enemies, who will strain 
 hard but they will kill you ; and be you sure 
 that one or both of you must seal the testi- 
 mony which you hold with blood: but "be 
 
 perimental converse with their people ! Hence both 
 suffer present loss, and much harm is the consequence. 
 J Here is a blessed word of encouragement, of warn- 
 ing and of exhortation, to be steadfast in faith, joyful 
 in hope, watchful over our hearts, and to abound in 
 the work of the Lord. All this is constantly necessary 
 for pilgrims. Faithful ministers will give advice, and 
 pilgrims will be thankful for such. 
 
132 
 
 SUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 you faithful unto death, and the King will 
 give you a crown of life." He that %hall die 
 there, although his death will be unnatural, 
 and his pains perhaps great, he will yet have 
 the better of his fellow, not only because he 
 will be arrived at the Celestial City soonest, 
 but because he will escape many miseries that 
 the other will meet with in the rest of his 
 journey. But when you are come to the town, 
 and shall find fulfilled what I have here re- 
 lated, then remember your friend, and 'quit 
 yourselves like men; and commit the keeping 
 of your souls to your God in " well-doing, as 
 unto a faithful Creator.",* 
 
 Then I saw in my dream, that when they 
 were got out of the wilderness, they presently 
 saw a town before them ; the name of that 
 town is Vanity; and at that town there is a 
 • fair kept, called Vanity Fair: it is kept all 
 the year long : it beareth the name of Vanity 
 Fair, because the town where it is kept is 
 "lighter than vanity," and also, because all 
 that is there sold, or that cometh thither, is 
 vanity. As is the saying of the wise, "All 
 that cometh is vanity." Eccles. i. 2, 14; ii. 17; 
 xi. 8; Isa. xl. 17. 
 
 This fair is no new-erected business, but a 
 -thing of ancient standing : I will show you the 
 original of it. 
 
 Almost five thousand years agone, there were 
 pilgrims walking to the Celestial City, as these 
 two honest persons are : and Beelzebub, Apol- 
 lyon, and Legion, with their companions, per- 
 ceiving, by the path that the pilgrims made, 
 that their way to their city lay through this 
 town of Vanity, they contrived- here to set up 
 a fair ; a fair, wherein should be sold all sorts 
 of vanity ; and that it should last all the year 
 long: therefore, at this fair, are all such mer- 
 chandise sold, as houses, lands, trades, places, 
 honours, preferments, titles, countries, king- 
 doms, lusts, pleasures; and delights of all 
 sorts, as whores, bawds, wives, husbands, chil- 
 
 * Woe unto them that fold their hands, and fall 
 asleep in strong confidenee! You see what hard work 
 yet lay before these pilgrims. Let us ever remember, 
 this is not our rest. We must be pressing forward, 
 fighting the good fight of faith, labouring to enter 
 into that rest which remaineth for the people of God: 
 looking diligently, lest we fail of the grace of God. 
 Heb. xii. 6. 
 
 ■j" A just description of this wicked world. How 
 many, though they profess to be pilgrims, have never 
 yet' set one foot out of this fair, but live in it all the 
 year round ! They walk according to the course of 
 this world. Eph. ii. 2. For the god of this world hath 
 blinded their mind. 1 Cor. iv. 4. You cannot be a 
 
 dren, masters, servants, lives, blood, bodies, 
 souls, silver, gold, pearls, precious stoi.es, and 
 what not ! 
 
 And moreover, at this fair there is at all 
 times to be seen jugglings, cheats, games, 
 plays, fools, apes, knaves and rogues, and that 
 of every kind. 
 
 Here are to be seen too, and that for nothing, 
 thefts, murders, adulteries, false-swearers, and 
 that of a blood-red colour, f 
 
 And as in other fairs of less moment, there 
 are several rows and streets undeY- their proper 
 names, where such wares .are vended, so here 
 likewise you have the proper places, rows, 
 streets, (viz. countries' and kingdoms,)' where 
 the wares of this fair are soonest to be found. 
 Here is the Britain row, the French row, the 
 Italian row, the Spanish row, the German row, 
 where several sorts of vanities are to be sold. 
 But as in other fairs some one commodity is 
 as the chief of all the fair, so the ware of Rome 
 and her merchandise is greatly promoted in 
 this fair: only our English nation, with some 
 others, have taken a dislike thereat.J 
 
 Now, as I said, the way to the Celestial City 
 lies just through the town where this lusty 
 fair is kept: and he that will go to the city, 
 and yet not go through this town " must needs 
 go out of the world." The Prince of princes 
 himself, when here, went through this town to 
 his own country, and that upon a fair day too : 
 yea, and as I think, it was Beelzebub, the chief 
 lord of this fair, that invited him to buy of his 
 vanities; yea, would have made him lord of 
 the fair, would he but have done him reverence 
 as he went through the town : yea, because he 
 was such a person of honour, Beelzebub had 
 him from street to street, and showed him 
 all the kingdoms of the world in a little time, 
 that he might, if possible, allure that Blessed 
 One to cheapen and buy some of his vanities ; 
 but he had no mind to the merchandise, and 
 therefore left tjie town without laying out so 
 
 pilgrim, if you are not delivered from this world »nd 
 its vanities ; for if you love the world, if it has yonr 
 snpreme affections, the love of God is not in you. 1 
 John ii. 15. You have not one grain of faith in 
 Jesus. 
 
 J The doctrine of the Church of Eome. It is much 
 to be wished, that the vile presumption of man's bar- 
 tering with God, and purchasing a title to heaven, by 
 his performing terms and conditions of salvation, 
 meriting heaven by his good works, and procuring 
 justification by his own obedience, to the exalting bis 
 pride, and the debasing the work and glory of Christ, 
 was totally rejected by us. But alas ! these proud; 
 unscriptural "notions too much prevail 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROOBESS. 
 
 133 
 
 much as one farthing upon these vanities. 
 Matt. iv. 8, 9; Lulce iy. 5, 7. This fair, there- 
 fore, is an ancient thing, of long standing, and 
 a very great fair. 
 
 Kow these pilgrims, as I said, must needs go 
 through this fair. Well, so they did ; but, be- 
 hold, even as they entered into the fair, all the 
 people in the fair were moved, and the town 
 itself, as it were, in a hubbub about them : and 
 that for several reasons : for. 
 
 First, The pilgrims were clothed with such 
 Ijind of raiment, as was diverse from the rai- 
 ment of any that traded in that fair. The 
 people, therefore, of the fair, made a great 
 gazing upon them : some said they were fools, 
 (1 Cor. iv. 9, 10;) some, they were bedlams; 
 and some, they were outlandish men. 
 
 Secondly, And, as they wondered at their 
 apparel, so they did likewise at their speech ; 
 for few could understand what they said : they 
 naturally spoke the language of Canaan; but 
 they that kept the fair, were the men of this 
 world : so that from one end of the fair to the 
 other, they seemed barbarians each to the 
 other. 
 
 Thirdly, But that which did not a little 
 amuse the merchandisers was, that these pil- 
 grims set very light by all their wares; they 
 cared not so much as to look upon them ; and 
 if they called upon them to buy, they would 
 put their fingers in their ears, and cry, " Turn 
 away mine eyes from beholding vanity," (Ps. 
 cxix. 37;) and look upwards, signifyingj that 
 their trade and traffic was in heaven. 
 
 One chanced, mockingly, beholding the car- 
 riages of the men, to say unto them, " What 
 will ye buy?" but they looking gravely upon 
 him, said, We " buy the truth !" * Prov. xxiii. 
 29. At that, there was an occasion taken to 
 despise the men the more : some mocking, some 
 taunting, some speaking reproachfully, and 
 some calling upon others to smite them. At 
 last, things came to a hubbub and great stir in 
 
 * An odd reply. What do they mean ? That they 
 are neither afraid nor ashamed to own, what was the 
 one object of their soul's pursuit — the Truth. Under- 
 stand hereby that the whole world, which lieth in 
 wickedness, suffer themselves to be deceived by a lie, 
 and are under the delusion of the father of lies. In 
 opposition to this, all believers in Christ are said to 
 be of the truth. 1 John iii. 19. They know and be- 
 lieve that capital truth with which God speaks from 
 heaven, " This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well 
 pleased." Matt. iii. 17. This truth, that Jesus is the, 
 Son of God, and our only Saviour, lies at the founda- 
 tion of all their hope; and to get more acquainted 
 with him, is the grand object of their pursuit. For 
 
 the fair, insomuch that all order was con- 
 founded. Now was word presently brought to 
 the great one of the fair, who quickly came 
 down, and deputed some of his most trusty 
 friends to take those men into examination, 
 about whom the fair was almost overturned. 
 So the meii were brought to exa,mination ; and 
 they that sat upon them, asked them whence 
 they came, whither they went, and what they 
 did there in such an unusual garb? The men 
 told them that they were pilgrims and strangers 
 in the world ; and that they were going to thqir 
 own countiy, which was the heavenly Jeru- 
 salem, (Heb. xi. 13, 16 ;) and that they had 
 given no occasion to the men of the town, nor 
 yet to the merchandisers, thus to abuse them, 
 and to stop them in their journey ; except it 
 was for that, when one asked them what they 
 would buy, they said they would buy the 
 truth. But they that were appointed to exam- 
 ine tliem, did not believe them to be any other 
 than bedlams and mad, or else such as came to 
 put all things into confusion in the fair. There- 
 fore they took them and beat them, and be- 
 smeared them with dirt, and then put them 
 into the cage, that they might be made a spec- 
 tacle to all the men in the fair.f Therefore 
 they lay for some time, and were made the 
 objects of any nwn's sport or malice, or revenge ; 
 the great one of the fair laughing still at all 
 that befell them. But the men being patient, 
 and " not rendering railing for railing, but 
 contrariwise, blessing," and giving good words 
 for bad, and kindness for injuries done, some 
 men in the.fair that were more observing and 
 less prejudiced than the rest, began to check 
 and blame the baser sort, for their continual 
 abuses done by them to the men: they there- 
 fore in angry manner let fly at them again, 
 counting them as bad as the men in the cage, 
 and telling them, that they seemed confede- 
 rates, and should be made partakers of their 
 misfortune. The others replied, that, for auglit 
 
 this the world hates them ; and Satan, who is an 
 enemy to this truth, stirs up the world against 
 them. *' For, (says our Lord,) they are not of the 
 world, even as I am not of the world." John xvii, 
 16. • 
 
 'f If we possess nothing to distinguish us from the 
 rest of the world, which Ireth in wickedness, and for 
 which they will hate and despise us, we Have no 
 reason to conclude that we are new creatures in Christ 
 Jesus. If we are Christ's, we must become fools for 
 Christ, and be counted as mad by those who know not 
 Christ ; for if alive to Christ, we shall be crucified to 
 the world, "Woe be unto you, if all men speak well 
 of you I" saith Christ. Luke vi. 26. 
 
134 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS 
 
 they could see, the men were quiet and sober 
 and intended nobody any harm : and that there 
 were many that traded in their fair, that were 
 more worthy to be put into the cage, yea, and 
 pillory too, than were the men that they had 
 abused. Thus after divers words had passed 
 on both sides, (the men behaving 'themselves 
 all the while very wisely and soberly before 
 them,) they fell to some blows among them- 
 selves, and did harm one to another.* Then 
 were these two poor men brought before their 
 examiners again, and there charged as being 
 guilty of the late hubbub that had been in the 
 fair. So they beat them pitifully and hanged 
 irons upon.them, and led them in chains up 
 and down the fair, for an example and terror 
 to others, lest any should speak in their be- 
 half, or join themselves unto them. But Chris- 
 tian and Faithful behav jd themselves yet more 
 wisely, and received the ignominy and shame 
 that was cast upon them, with so much meek- 
 ness and patience, that itf won to their side 
 (though but few in comparison of the rest) 
 several of the men in the fair. This put the 
 other party yet into a greater rage, inso- 
 much that they concluded the death of these 
 two men. Wherefore they threatened, that 
 neither cage nor irons should serve their 
 turn, but that they should die for the abuse 
 they had done, and for deluding the men of 
 the fair. 
 
 Then they were remanded to the cage again, 
 until further order should be taken with them. 
 So they put them in, and made their feet fast 
 in the stocks. 
 
 Here, therefore, they called again to mind, 
 whit they had heard from their faithful friend 
 E\angelist, and were the more confirmed in 
 their ways and sufferings by what he told them 
 would happen to them. They also now com- 
 forted each other, that whose lot it was to 
 gdffer, even he should have the best of it ; there- 
 fore each man secretly wished that he might 
 liave that preferment; but committing them- 
 selves to the all-wise disposal of Him that 
 ruleth all things, with much content they 
 
 * It is., common for the world to be divided in 
 ILeir opinions' about pilgrims. A Christian conduct 
 And behaviour will put to silence the gainsayui" 
 cf some wicked men j and sometimes win others' 
 to become followers of Christ. pilgrims, look 
 well to your spirit, temper and conduct, towards 
 the men of this world, who keep vanity fairs all the 
 year. 
 
 ■f It is acting in the spirit and temper of Christ, 
 Ihat will gaia adversaries over to him; whereas a eon- 
 
 abode in the condition in which they were, 
 until they should be otherwise disposed of. 
 
 Then a convenient time being appointed, 
 they brought them forth to their trial, in ordei 
 to their condemnation. When the time was 
 come, the/ were brought before their enemies, 
 and arraigned. The judge's name was Lord 
 Hate-good ; their indictment was one and the 
 same in substance, though somewhat varying 
 in form; the contents whereof was this: 
 
 " That they were enemies to, and disturbers 
 of their trade ; that they had made commotions 
 and divisions in the town, and had won a party 
 to their own most dangerous opinions, in con- 
 tempt of the law of their prince." t 
 
 Then Faithful began to answer that he had 
 only set himself against that which had set 
 itself against Him that is higher than the 
 highest. And, said he, as for disturbance I make 
 none, being myself a man of peace ; the par- 
 ties that were won to us, were won by behold- 
 ing our truth and innocence, and they are only 
 turned from the worse to the better. And as 
 to the king you talk of, since he is Beelzebub, 
 the enemy of our Lord, I defy him and all his 
 angels. 
 
 Then proclamation was made, that they that 
 had aught to say for their lord the king, against 
 the prisoner at the bar, should forthwith appear 
 and give in their evidence. So there came in 
 three witnesses, to wit, En^-y, Superstition, and 
 Pickthank : they were then asked, if they knew 
 the prisoner at the bar ; and what they had to 
 say for their lord the king against him ? 
 
 Then stood forth Envy, and said to this effect : 
 My lord, I have known this man a long time, 
 and will attest upon my oath before this hon- 
 ourable bench, that he is — 
 
 Judge. Hold, give him his oath. 
 
 So they sware him. Then he said, My lord, 
 this man, notwithstanding his plausible name, 
 is one of the vilest men in our country ; he 
 neither regardeth prince nor people, law nor 
 custom ; but doeth all that he can to possess 
 all men with certain of his disloyal notions, 
 which he in the general calls "principles 
 
 ! ' 
 
 trary spirit is a dishonour to Christ, a reproach to his 
 cause, never did good to others, nor left the soul in 
 the solid possession of the peace of God. 
 
 { You see your calling, brethren. Has no such in- 
 dictment been ever brought against you ? Then it ia 
 to be feared, what Pharaoh said to the Israelites may 
 be said to you : Ye are idle, ye are idle, in the ways 
 of the Lord ; ye want love to his name, fervency for 
 his truth, and zeal for his glory, and the good of pre- 
 cious souls. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 135 
 
 of faitli and holiness." And, in particular, I 
 iieard him once myself affirm, that Christianity 
 and tlie customs of our town of Vanity were 
 diametrically opposite, and could not be recon- 
 ciled. By which saying, my lord, he doth at 
 once not only condemn all our laudable doings, 
 but us in the doing of them. 
 
 Then said the judge unto him, Hast thou any 
 more to say? 
 
 Enrtj. My lord, I could say much more, only 
 I would not be tedious to the court. Yet, if 
 need be, when the other gentlemen have given 
 in their evidence, rather than any thing shall 
 be wanting that will despatch him, I will en- 
 large my testimony against him. So he was 
 bid to stand by.* 
 
 Then they called Superstition, and bid him 
 look upon the prisoner : they also askecj, what 
 he could say for their lord the king against 
 him ? Then they sware him ; so he began : 
 
 My lord,. I have no great acquaintance with 
 this man, nor do I desire to have further know- 
 ledge of him ; however, this I know, that he is 
 a very pestilent fellow, from some discourse 
 that the other day I had with him in this town ; 
 for then, talking with him, I heard him say 
 iaat our religion was naught, and such by which 
 a man could by no means please God. Which 
 saying of his, my lord, your lordship very well 
 knows, what necessarily thence will follow, to 
 wit, that we still do worship in vain, are yet in 
 our sins, and finally will be damned; and this 
 is that which I have to say.f 
 
 Then was Pickthank sworn, and bid say what 
 he knew in behalf of their lord the king against 
 the prisoner at the bar. 
 
 My lord, and you, gentlemen all, this fellow 
 I have known of a long time, and have heard 
 him speak things that ought not to be spoken ; 
 for he hath railed on our noble prince Beelze- 
 bub, and hath spoken contemptibly of his hon- 
 ourable friends, whose names are the Lord Old- 
 
 * The spirit of wisdom asks, " Who is able to stand 
 before envy?" Prov. xxvii. 4. Envy is the very tem- 
 per of the devil. It is natural to us all. But why 
 should the children of this world envy God's children ? 
 for they are strangers to the spiritual good things they 
 enjoy. They neither seek them, nor care for them, but 
 laugh and deride them. Herein the very spirit of Sa- 
 tan is manifest. He envied Christ, being the Son of 
 God : he stirred up Judas to betray him, and the Jews 
 for envy delivered him, (Matt, xxxvii. 18;) and the 
 same spirit works in all the children of Satan against 
 the children of God. 
 
 *j" Superstition, or false devotion, is a most bitter ene- 
 my to Christ's truths and to his followers. This fel- 
 low's evidence is true; for as the lawyers said of 
 
 man, the Lord Carnal-delight, the Lord Luxu- 
 rious, the Lord Desir,e-of-vain-glory, my old 
 Lord Lechery, Sir Having-greedy, with all the 
 rest of our nobility : and he hath said, more- 
 over, that if all men were of his mind, if pos- 
 sible there is not one of these noblemen should 
 have any longer a being in this town. Besides, 
 he hath not been afraid to rail on you, my lord, 
 who are now appointed to be his judge, calling 
 you an ungpdly villain, with many other such- 
 like vilifying terms, with which he hath be- 
 spattered most of the gentry of our town.J 
 
 When this Pickthank had told his ta'e, the 
 judge directed his speech to the prisoner at the 
 bar, saying, Thou renegade, heretic and triiitor, 
 hast thou heard what these honest gentlemen 
 have witnessed against thee ? 
 
 Faithful. May I speak a few words in my own 
 defence ? 
 
 ■• Judge. Sirrah, sirrah, thou deservest to live 
 no longer, but to be slain immediately upon the 
 place ; yet, that all men may see our gentleness 
 towards thee, let us hear what thou, vile rene- 
 gade, hast to say. 
 
 Faithful. I say then, in answer to what Mr. 
 Envy hath spoken, I never said aught but this, 
 that what rule, or laws, or custom, or people, 
 were flat against the word of God, are diamet- 
 rically opposite to Christianity. If I have said 
 amiss in this, convince me in my error, and I 
 am ready here before you to make my recanta- 
 tion. ' 
 
 As to the second, to wit, Mr. Superstition, 
 and his charge against me, I said only this, 
 that in the worship of God there is required a 
 divine faith ; but there can be no divine faith 
 without a divine revelation of the will of God 
 Therefore, whatever is thrust into the worship 
 of God, that is not agreeable to divine revela- 
 tion, cannot be done but by an human faith, 
 which faith will not be profitable to eternal life. 
 
 As to what Mr. Pickthank hath said, (say I 
 
 Christ's doctrine, "Master, thus saying thou reproaoh- 
 est us also." Luke xi. 45. So false worshippers, who 
 rest in forms, and rites, and shadows, are stung to the 
 quick at those who worship God in the spirit, rejoice in 
 Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Such 
 a conduct pours the utmost contempt upon all the doc- 
 trines and superstitions of carnal men. 
 
 \ As soon as the poor sinner says, " Lord our God, 
 other lords besides thee have had the dominion over 
 me, but by thee alone will I make mention of thy 
 name," (Isa. xxvi. 13,) your officious Pickthanks are 
 always ready to bear testimony against him ; and a 
 blessed testimony this is, it is well worth living to gain, 
 and dying in the cause of. If we are real disciples of 
 Christ the world will hate us for his sake. John vii. 7. 
 
136 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 avoiding terms, as that 1 am said to rail, and 
 tlie like,) that the prince of this town, with all 
 the rabblement, his attendants, by this gentle- 
 man named, are more fit for being in hell than 
 •in this town and country; and so the Lord 
 have mercy upon me.* 
 
 Then the judge called to the jury, (who all 
 this while stood by to hear and observe,) Gen- 
 tlemen of the jury, you see this man, about 
 whom so great an uproar hath been made in 
 this town; you have also heard, what those 
 worthy gentlemen have witnessed against him ; 
 also you have heard his reply and confession ; it 
 lieth now in your breasts to hang him, or save 
 his life ; but yet I think meet to instruct you 
 in our law. 
 
 There was an act made in the days of Pha- 
 raoh the Great, servant to our prince, that, lest 
 those of a contrary religion should multiply 
 and grow too strong for him, their males should 
 be thrown into the river. Ex. i. There was an 
 act also made in the days of Nebuchadnezzar 
 the Great, another of his servants, that whoever 
 would not fall down and worship his golden 
 image, should be thrown into the fiery furnace. 
 Dan. iii. , There was also an act made in the 
 days of Darius, that whoso for some time called 
 upon any God but him should be cast into the 
 lions' den. Dan. vi. Now the substance of 
 these laws this rebel has broken, not only in 
 thought, (which is not to be borne,) but also in 
 word and deed; which must therefore needs 
 be intolerable. 
 
 For that of Pharaoh: his law was made 
 upon suspicion, to prevent mischief, no crime 
 yet being apparent; but here is a crime ap- 
 parent. For the second and third: you see he 
 disputeth against our religion; and for the 
 treason he hath confessed he deserveth to die 
 the death. 
 
 Then went the jury .out, whose names were 
 Mr. Blindman, Mr. No-good, Mr. Malice, Mr. 
 Love-lust, Mr. Live-loose, Mr. Heady, Mr. 
 High-mind, Mr. Enmity, Mr. Liar, Mr. Cruelty, 
 Mr. Hate-light, and Mr. Implacable ; who every 
 one gave in his private verdict against him 
 among themselves, and afterwards unanimously 
 concluded to bring him in guilty before the 
 judge. And first among themselves — Mr. 
 
 * This ia the Christian's plea and his glory : While 
 he knows the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel, 
 (Prov. xii. 10,) yet he also knows that the merciful 
 kindness of the Lord is great, and the truth of the 
 Lord endureth for ever. Ps. cxvii. 2: 
 
 t A blessed verdict ' well worthy of every pilgrim 
 
 Blindman, the foreman, said, I see clearly that 
 this man is an heretic. Then said Mr. No- 
 good,' away with such a fellow from the earth. 
 Ay, said Mr. Malice, for I hate the very looks 
 of him. Then said Mr. Love-lust, I could 
 never endure him! Nor I, said Mr. Live-loose, 
 for he would always be condemning my way. 
 I-Iang him, hang him, said Mr. Heady. A 
 sorry scrub, said Mr. High-mind. My heart 
 riseth against him, said Mr. Enmity. He is a 
 rogue, said Mr. Liar. Hanging is too good for 
 him, said Mr. Cruelty. Let us despatch him 
 out of the way, said Mr. Hate-light. Then 
 said Jlr. Implacable, might I have all the w jrld 
 given me, I could not be reconciled to him : 
 therefore let us forthwith bring him- in guilty 
 of death.f And so they did ; therefore he was 
 presently condemned to be had from the place 
 where he was, to the place from whence he 
 came, and there to be put to the most cruel 
 death that could be invented. 
 
 They therefore brought him out, to do with 
 him according to their law; and first they 
 scourged him, then they bufieted him, then 
 they lanced his flesh with knives ; after they 
 had stoned him with stones, they pricked him 
 with their swords ; and laslj of all they burned 
 him to ashes at the stake. Thus came Faithful 
 to his end. 
 
 Now I saw that there stood behind the mul- 
 titude a chariot and a couple of horses waiting 
 for Faithful, who, as soon as his adversaries had 
 despatched him, was taken up into it, and 
 straightway was carried up through the clouds, 
 with sound of trumpet, the nearest way to the 
 celestial gate. But as for Christian, he had 
 some respite, and was remanded back to prison ; 
 so he there remained for a space ; but Ho that 
 overrules all thiiigs, having the power of their 
 rage in his own hand, so brought it about that 
 Christian for that time escaped them, and 
 went his way. And as he went he sung, say- 
 ing: 
 
 " Well, Faithful, thou hast faithfully profest 
 Unto thy Lord, of whom thou shalt be bleot; 
 y^hfin faithless ones, with all their vain delightSj 
 Are crying out under their hellish plights : 
 Sing, Faithful, sing, and let thy name survive; 
 For though they kill'd thee, thou art yet alive." 
 
 to obtain. Reader, do you profess to be one? See 
 then that you study to act so as to gain such a verdict 
 from such a jury! and then be sure that Christ will 
 pronounce, " Well done, thou good and faithful ser- 
 vant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." Matt 
 XXV. 21. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PEOGBESS. 
 
 137 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Chridian Meets with another excellent companion in Hopeful — Dialogues between thmn, By- 
 ends, Money-love, and Demos. 
 
 Now I saw in my dream that Christian went 
 cot forth alone ; for there was one whose name 
 was Hopeful, (being so made by the beholding 
 of Christian and Faithful, in their words and 
 behaviour in their sufferings at the fair,) who 
 joined himself unto him ; and, entering into a 
 brotherly covenant, told him that he would be 
 his companion. Thus one died to bear testi- 
 mony to the truth, and another rises out of his 
 ashes to be a companion with Christian in his 
 pilgrimage.* This Hopeful also told Christian 
 that there were many more of the men ^n the 
 fair, that would take their time and follow 
 after. 
 
 So I saw that quickly after they were got 
 out of the fair, they overtook one that was 
 going before them, whose name was By-ends : 
 so they said to him, What countryman, sir? 
 and how far go you this way ? He told them 
 that he came from the town of Fair-speech, 
 and he was going to the Celestial City, but told 
 them not his name. 
 
 From Fair-speech I said Christian : is there 
 any good that lives there? Prov. xxvi. 23. 
 
 Yes, said By-ends, I hope. 
 
 .Pray, sir, what may I call you ? said Chris- 
 tian. 
 
 By-ends. I am a stranger to you, and you to 
 me : if you be going this way, I shall be glad 
 of your company ; if not, I must be content. 
 
 This town of Fair-speech, said Christian, I 
 have heard of, and as I renaember, they say it 
 is a wealthy place. 
 
 By-ends. Yes, I will assure you that it is ; 
 and I have very many rich kindred there. 
 
 Christian. Pray who are your kindred there, 
 if I may be so bold? 
 
 By-ends. Almost the whole town; and in 
 particular, my Lord T-urn-about, my Lord 
 Time-server, my Lord Fair-speech, from whose 
 ancestors that town first took its name ; also 
 Mr. Smooth-man, Mr. Facing-both-ways, Mr. 
 
 * I have often recorded it with thankfulness, 
 (observes the Rev. Mr. Mason,) that though in 
 the dreary day of my pilgrimage, the Lord hath 
 taken away a dear and faithful Christian friend, yet 
 he has always raised up another. A very great 
 blessing this, for which Christians can never be 
 thankful enough. 
 
 f Is not this too much the case with professors of 
 
 Any-thing : and the parson of our parish, Mr. 
 Two-tongues, was my mother's own brother by 
 father's side : and, to tell you the truth, I am 
 become a gentleman of good quality, yet my 
 great-grandfather was but a waterman, looking 
 one way and rowing another, and I got most 
 of my estate by the same occupation. 
 
 Christian. Are you a married man ? 
 
 By-ends. Yes, and my wife is a very virtu- 
 ous woman, the daughter of a virtuous womanj 
 she was my Lady Feigniug's daughter, there- 
 fore sne came of a very honourable family, and 
 is arrived to such a pitch of breeding, that 
 she knows how to carry it to all, even to prince 
 and peasant. It is true we somewhat differ in 
 religion from those of the stricter sort, yet but 
 in two small points : First, w'e never strive 
 against wind and tide: secondly, we are al- 
 ways most zealous when Religion goes in his 
 silver . slippers ; we love much to walk with 
 him in the street, if the -sun shines, and the 
 people applaud him.f 
 
 Then Christian stepped a little aside to his 
 fellow Hopeful, saying. It runs in my mind, 
 that this is one By-ends, of Fair-speech ; and 
 if it be, we have as very a knave in our com- 
 pany as dwelleth in these parts. Then said 
 Hopeful, Ask him ; methinks he should not 
 be ashamed of his name. So Christian came 
 up with him again, and said, Sir, you talk as 
 if you knew something more than all the 
 world doth ; and, if I take not my mark amiss, 
 I deem I have half a guess of you : is not your 
 name Mr. By-ends, of Fair-speech ? 
 
 By-ends. That is not my name ; but indeed 
 it is a nick-name that is given me, by some 
 that Qannot abide me, and I must be content 
 to bear it as a reproach, as other good men 
 have borne theire before me. 
 
 Christian. But did you never give an occa- 
 sion to men to call you by this name ? 
 
 By-ends. Never, never ! the worst that ever I 
 
 this day ? The Spirit of truth says, " All who live 
 godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution." 2 Tim. 
 iii. 2. But how many act as if they had found the art 
 of making the Spirit of truth a liar! for they can so 
 trim and shape their conduct, as they vainly think, to 
 follow Christ, and yet to keep in with the world which 
 is at enmity against him. A most fatal, soul-deceiv- 
 ing error ! 
 
138 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 did to give tliem an occasion to give me this 
 name was, tliat I liad always the luck to jump 
 in my judgment with the present way of the 
 times, whatever it was, and my chance was to get 
 thereby. But if things are thus cast upon me, 
 let me count them a biessing ; but let not the 
 malicious load me therefore with reproach.* 
 
 Christian. I thought indeed that you were 
 the man I heard of; and to tell you what I 
 tliiuk, I fear this name belongs to you more 
 properly than you are willing we should think 
 it doth. 
 
 By-ends. Well, if you will thus imagine, I 
 cannot help it: you will find me a fair com- 
 pany-keeper, if you will still admit me your 
 associate. 
 
 Christian. If you will go with us, you must 
 go against wind and tide; the which, I per- 
 ceive, is against your opinion : you must also 
 own Religion in his rags, as well as when in 
 his silver slippers ; and stand by him too when 
 bound in irons, as well as when he walketh 
 the streets with applause. 
 
 By-ends. You must not impose, nor lord it 
 over my faith ; leave me to my liberty, and let 
 me go with you. 
 
 C/irktian. Not a step further, unless you will 
 do in what 1 propound as we. 
 
 Then said By-ends, I shall never desert my 
 old principles, since they are harmless and 
 profitable. If I may not go with you, I must 
 do as I did before you overtook me : even go 
 by myself, until some overtake me that wilPbe 
 glad of my company .f 
 
 Then I saw in my dream, that Christian and 
 Hopeful forsook him, and kept their distance 
 before him; but one of them looking back, 
 saw three men following Mr. By-ends, and be- 
 hold, as they came up with him, he made them 
 a very low congee ; and they also gave him a 
 compliment. The men's names were, Mr. 
 Hold -the -world, Mr. Money -love, and Mr. 
 Save-all ; men that Mr. By-ends had formerly 
 been acquainted with ; for in their minority 
 they were school-fellows, and were taught by 
 one Mr. Gripe-man, a schoolmaster in Love- 
 
 * How artful, how delusive, are the reasonings of 
 such men *! Oh beware of this spirit. In opposition to 
 this, watch and pray ' earnestly, that ye may not 
 be double-minded, but sincere until the day of ■ 
 Christ. 
 
 f Mind how warily these pilgrims acted towards 
 this deceitful professor. They did not too rashly take 
 up an ill opinion 'against him; but when they had 
 fall proof of wha,t ho was, they did not hesitate one 
 moment, but dealt faithfully with him, and conscien- 
 
 gain, which is a market-town in the county of 
 Coveting, in the north. This schoolmaster 
 taught them the art of getting, either ,by vio- 
 lence, cozenage, flattery, lying, or by putting 
 on a guise of religion ; and these four gentle- 
 men had attained much of the art cf their 
 master, so that they could each of them have 
 kept such a school themselves. 
 
 Well, when they had, aa I said, thus saluted 
 each other, Mr. Money-love said to Mr. By- 
 ends, Who are they i).pon the road before us ? 
 .for Christian and Hopeful were yet within 
 view. 
 
 By-ends. They are a couple of far country- 
 men, that after their mode are going on pil- 
 grimage. 
 
 Money- love. Alas! why did they not stay, 
 that we might have had their good company? 
 for they, and we, and you, sir, I hope, are 
 going on pilgrimage. 
 
 By-ends. We are so indeed ; but the men be- 
 fore us are so rigid, and love so much their own 
 notions, and do also so lightly esteem the opin- 
 ion of others, that let a man be never so godly, 
 yet if he jumps not with them in all things) 
 they thrust him quite out of their company. 
 
 Save-all. That's bad: but we read of some 
 that are righteous overmuch, and such men's __ 
 rigidness prevails with them to judge and con- 
 demn all but themselves ; but I pray, what 
 and how many were the things wherein you 
 difiered? 
 
 By-ends. Why they, after their headstrong 
 manner, conclude, that it is their duty to rush 
 on their journey all weathers ; and I am for 
 waiting for wind and tide. They are for haz- 
 arding all for God at a clap, and I am for taking 
 all advantages to secure my life and estate. 
 They arfe for holding their notions, though all 
 other men be against them ; but I am for re- 
 ligion in what, and so far, as the times and my 
 safety will bear it. They are for Religion when 
 in rags and contempt; but I am for him when 
 he walks in his golden slippers in the sunshine, 
 and with applause. J 
 
 Hold-the-world. Ay, and hold you there still, 
 
 tiously withdrew from him. Love should always 
 move slowly in receiving a report, but ever deal faith- 
 fully when it is plain that men are not what they 
 profess to be. 
 
 X Notwithstanding, By-ends could be reserved and 
 upon his guard with faithful pilgrims, yet he can 
 speak out boldly to those ot his own spirit and cha- 
 racter. Oh the treachery of the desperate wicked 
 heart ! Who can know It 1 No one, but the heart- 
 searching God. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 139 
 
 good Jlr. By-ends : for my part, I can count 
 him but a fool, that having the liberty to keep 
 what he has, shall be so unwise as to lose it. 
 Let us be wise as serpents ; it is best to make 
 hay while the sun shines ; you see how the bee 
 lieth still in winter, and bestirs her only when 
 she can have profit with pleasure. God sends 
 sometimes rain and sometimes sunshine: if 
 they be such fools to go through the first, yet 
 let us be content to take fair weather along 
 with us. For my part, I like that religion 
 best, that will stand with the security of God's 
 good blessings unto us : for who can imagine, 
 that is ruled by his reason, since God has be- 
 stowed upon us the good things of this life, but 
 tliat he would have ua keep them for his sake? 
 Abraham and Solomon grew rich in religion. 
 And Job says that a good man " shall lay up 
 gold as dust." But he must not be such hs the 
 men before us, if they be as you have described 
 them. 
 
 Save-all. I think that we are all agreed in 
 this matter, and therefore there needs no more 
 words about it. 
 
 Money-love. No, there needs no more words 
 about this matter indeed : for he that believes 
 neither Scripture nor reason, (and you see we 
 have both on our side,) neither kpows hJs Ofvn 
 liberty, nor seeks his own safety. 
 
 By-ends. My brethren, we are, as you see, 
 going all on pilgrimage, and for our better di- 
 version from things that are bad, give me leave 
 to propound unto you this question : 
 
 Suppose a man, a minister or a tradesman, 
 &c., should have an advantage lie before him 
 to get the good blessings of tnis life, yet so as 
 that he can by no means come by them, except 
 in appearance at least, he becomes extraordi- 
 nary zealous in some points of religion that he 
 meddled -not with before — may he not use this 
 means to attain his end, and yet be a right hon- 
 est man ? 
 
 Money-love. I see the bottom of your ques- 
 tion ; and, with these gentlemen's good leave, 
 I will endeavour to shape you an answer. And 
 first, to speak to your question, as it concerns 
 a minister himself. Suppose a minister, a 
 worthy man, possessed but of a very small 
 benefice, and has in his eye a greater, more fat 
 and plump by far : he has also an opportunity 
 
 *Here is worldly wisdom, infernal logic, and the 
 sophistry of Satan. We hear this language daily from 
 mouoy-loring professors, who are destitute' of the 
 power of faith, and the reasoning of godliness. But 
 in opposition, to all this, the Holy Ghost testifies, "The 
 love of money is the root of all evil," (1 Tim. vi. 10,) 
 
 of getting it, yet so as by being more studious, 
 by preaching more frequently and zealously 
 and, because the temper of the people requires 
 it, by altering some of his principles : for my 
 part, I see no reason but a man may do this, 
 provided he has a call, aye, and more a great 
 deal besides, and yet be an honest man. Fof 
 why? 
 
 1. His desire of a greater benefice is lawful ; 
 this cannot be contradicted, since it is set be- 
 fore him by* Providence ; so then he may get 
 it if he can, making no question for con- 
 science' sake. 
 
 2. Besides, his desire after that benefice 
 makes him more studious, a more zealous 
 preacher, &c., arid sq makes him a better man, 
 yea, makes him better improve his parts, 
 which is according to the mind of God. 
 
 3. Now, as for the complying with the tem- 
 per of his people by deserting, to serve them, 
 some of his principles, this argueth that he ia 
 of a self-denying temper, of a sweet and win- 
 ning deportment; and so more fit for the min- 
 isterial function. 
 
 4. I conclude, then, that a minister that 
 changes a small for a great, should not, for so 
 doing, be judged as covetous ; but rather, since 
 he is improved in his parts and industry there- 
 
 .by, be counted as one that pursues his call and 
 the opportunity put into his hand to do good. 
 And now to the second part of the question, 
 which concerns the tradesman you mentioned ; 
 suppose such an one to have but a poor employ 
 in the world; but by becoming religious he 
 may mend his market, perhaps get a rich wife, 
 or more and far better customers to his shop. 
 For my part, I see no reason but this may be 
 lawfully done. For wl|y ? 
 
 1. To become religious is a virtue, by what 
 means soever a man becomes so. 
 
 2. Nor is it unlawful to get a rich wife, or 
 more custom to my shop. 
 
 3. Besides, the man that gets these by be- 
 coming religious, gets that which is good, of 
 them that are good, by becoming good him- 
 self; so then here is a good wife, and good cus- 
 tomers, and good gain, and all these by be- - 
 coming religious, which is good : therefore, to 
 become religious to get all these is a good and 
 profitable design.* 
 
 " and a covetous man is an idolater.Y Col. iii. 5. 
 Hear this and tremble, ye avaricious professors. Re- 
 member, ye followers of the Lamb, ye are called to let 
 your conversation be without covetousness. Heb. xiii, 
 5. Your Lord testifies, ye cannot serve Goi and mam- 
 mon. Luke xvi. 13. \ 
 
J 40 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 This answer, thus made by this Mr. Money- 
 love to Mr. By-ends' question, was highly ap- 
 plauded by them all ; wherefore they concluded 
 upon the whole that it was most wholesome 
 and advantageous. And because, as they 
 thought, no man was able to contradict it, and 
 because Christiari and Hopeful were yet with- 
 in call, they jointly agreed to assault them 
 with this question as soon as they overtook 
 them: and the rather, because they had op- 
 - posed Mr. By-ends before. So they called 
 after them, and they stopped, and stood still 
 till they came up- to them: but they concluded, 
 as they went, that not Mr. By-ends, but old 
 Mr. Hold-the-world, should propound the ques- 
 tion to them ; because, as they supposed, their 
 answer to him would be without the remainder 
 of that heat that was kindled between Mr. By- 
 ends and them at their parting a little before. 
 
 So they came up to each other, and after 
 a short salutation Mr. Hold-the-World pro- 
 pounded the question to Christian and his 
 fellow, and bid them to answer it if they could. 
 
 Then said Christian, Even a babe in re- 
 ligion may answer ten thousand such ques- 
 tions. For if it be unlawful to follow Christ 
 for loaves, as it is, (John vi.,) how much more 
 is it abominable to make of him and '■"ligion 
 a stalking-horse, to get and enjoy the world?- 
 Nor do we find any other than heathens, 
 hypocrites, devils, and witches, that are of 
 this opinion. 
 
 Heathens: for when Hamor and Shechem 
 had a mind to the daughter and cattle of 
 Jacob, and saw that there were no ways for 
 them to come at them, but by becoming cir- 
 cumcised, they say to their companions, "If 
 every male of us be circumcised, as they are 
 circumcised, shall not their cattle, and their 
 substance, and evei-y beast of theirs, be ours ?" 
 Their daughters and their cattle were that 
 which they sought to obtain, and their relig- 
 ion the stalking-horse they made use of to 
 come at them. Eead the whole story, Genesis 
 xxiv. 22, 24. 
 
 The hypocritical Pharisees were also of this 
 religion ; long prayers were their pretence ; 
 but to get widows' houses was their intent, 
 and greater damnation was from God their 
 judgment. Luke xx. 46, 47. 
 
 Judas the devil was also of this religion : 
 
 * Here see the blessedness of being mighty in the 
 Scripture, and the need of that exhortation, " Let the 
 word of Christ dwell in you richly." Col. iii. 16.i For 
 the wori of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper 
 than a two-edged sword, it pierces through all the 
 
 he was religious for the bag, that he might be 
 possessed of what was therein; but he was 
 lost, a cast-away, and the very son of perdition, 
 
 Simon the witch was of this religion too; 
 for he would have had the ' Holy Ghost, that 
 he might have got money therewith ; and his 
 sentence from Peter's mouth was accordingly. 
 Acts viii. 18, 23. 
 
 Neither wall it go out of my mind, but tliat 
 that man that takes up religion for the world, 
 will throw away religion for the world; for 
 so surely as Judas designed the world in be- 
 coming religious, so surely did he also sell 
 religion and his Master for the same. To 
 answer the question therefore affirmatively, as 
 I perceive you have done, and to accept of, as 
 authentic, such answer, is both heathenish, 
 hypocritical, and devilish; and your reward 
 will be according to your works. Then they 
 stood staring one upon another, but had not 
 wherewith to answer Christian. Hopeful also 
 appro\ed of the soundness of Christian's an- 
 swer; so there was a great silence among 
 them. Mr. By-ends and his company also 
 staggered, and kept behind, that Christian 
 and Hopeful might outgo them Then said 
 Christian to his fellow. If these men cannot 
 stand before the sentence of men, what will 
 they do with the sentence of God? And if 
 they are mute when dealt with by vessels of 
 clay, what will they do when they shall be 
 rebuked by the flames of a devouring fire ? * 
 
 Then Christian and Hopeful outwent them 
 again, and went till they came to a delicate 
 plain, called Epse; where they went with 
 much content : but that plain was but narrow, 
 so they were quickly got over it. Now at the 
 further side of that plain was a little hill, 
 called Lucre, and in that hill a silver mine, 
 which some of them that had formerly gone 
 that way, because of the rarity of it, had turned 
 aside to see ; but going too near the brim of 
 the pit, the ground, being deceitful under 
 them, broke, and they were slain : some also 
 had been maimed there, and could not, to 
 their dying day, be their own men again. ' 
 
 Then I saw in my dream, that a little off the 
 road, over against the silver mine, stood Demas, 
 (gentlemanlike,) to call passengers to come 
 and see ; who said to Christian and his fellow, 
 Ho ! turn aside hither, and I will show you i 
 thing. 
 
 subtle devioSs of Satan, and the cunning craftiness of 
 carnal professors, and divideth asunder the oarna' 
 reasonings of the flesh, and the spitiiual wisdom 
 which Cometh from above. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 Ul 
 
 Christian. What thing so deserviug as to 
 turn us out of the way to see it? 
 
 Bemaa. Here is a silver mine, and some 
 digging in it for treasure; if you will come, 
 with a little pains you may richly provide for 
 yourselves. 
 
 Then said Hopeful, Let us go. 
 
 Not I, said Christian ; I have heard of this 
 place before now, and how many have been 
 slain there; and besides, that treasure is a 
 snare to those that seek it ; for it , hindereth 
 them in their pilgrimage.* 
 
 Tlien Christian called to Demas," saying. Is 
 not the place dangerous 7 hath it not hindered 
 many in their pilgrimage? 
 
 Demos. Not very dangerous, except to those 
 that are careless. But withal he blushed as 
 he spake. 
 
 Then said Christian to Hopeful, Let us not 
 stir a step, but still keep on our way. 
 
 Hopeful. I will warrant you, when By-ends 
 comes up, if he hath the same invitation as we, 
 he will turn in thither to see. 
 
 Chrlitlan. No doubt thereof, for his princi- 
 ples lead him that way, and a hundred to one 
 but he dies there. 
 
 Then Demas called again, saying. But will 
 you not come over and see ? 
 
 Then Christian roundly answered, saying, 
 Demas, thou art an enemy to the right ways 
 of the Lord of this way, and hast been already 
 condemned, for thine own turning aside, by 
 one of his Majesty's judges, (2 Tim. iv. 10;) 
 and why seekest thou to bring us into the like 
 condemnation ? Besides, if we at all turn aside, 
 our Lord the King will certainly hear thereof, 
 and will there put us to shame, where we 
 should stand with boldness before him. 
 
 Demas cried again, that he also was one of 
 their fraternity, and that if they would tariy a 
 little, he also himself would walk with them. 
 
 Then said Christian, What is thy name? Is 
 it not the same by the which I have called 
 thee? 
 
 Denias. Yes, my name is Demas ; I am the 
 son of Abraham. 
 
 Ckristian. I know you; Gehazi was your 
 great-grandfather, and Judas your father, and 
 
 * See the value of a faithful friend. But how few 
 act 80 faithfully ! I-Iow few professors will bear it ! 
 AVhat ! hold a man back from getting money ! Oh 
 how few are aware that covetousness is idolatry ! and 
 attend to our Lord's double caution, "Take heed and 
 Dcware of covetousness." Luke xii. 1.3. 
 
 f Here you see the end of double-minded men, who 
 rainly attempt to unite the love of money with the 
 
 you have trod in their steps ; it is but a devil- 
 ish prank that thou usest: thy father was 
 hanged for a traitor, and thpu deservest no 
 better reward. 2 Kings v. 20, 27 ; Matt. xxvi. 
 14, 15 ; xxvii. 3, 5. Assure thyself, that when 
 we come to the King, we will tell him of this 
 thy behaviour. Thus they went their way. 
 
 By this time By-ends and his companions 
 were come again within sight, and they at the 
 first beck went over to Demas. Now, whether 
 they fell into the pit by looking over the brink 
 thereof, or whether they went down to dig, or 
 whether they were smothered in the bottom by 
 the damps that commonly arise, of these things 
 I am not certain ; but this I observed, that they 
 never were seen again in the way.f Then 
 sang Christian : 
 
 "By-ends and silver Demas did ngVee; 
 One calls, the other runs, that he may be 
 A sharer in his lucre ; so these do 
 Take up in this world, and no further go." 
 
 Now I saw that, just on the other side of 
 this plain, the pilgrims came to a place where 
 stood an old monument, hard by the highway 
 side, at the sight of which they were both con- 
 cerned, because of the strangeness of the form 
 thereof, for it seemed to them as if it had been 
 a woman transformed into the shape of a pillar. 
 Here therefore they stood looking, and looking 
 upon it: but could not for a time tell what 
 they should make thereof: at last Hopeful 
 spied written upon the head thereof, a writing 
 in an unusual hand ; but he, hm\g no scholar, 
 called to Christian (for he was learned) to see 
 if he could pick out the meaning ; so he came, 
 and after a little laying of the letters together, 
 he found the same to be this, "Remember 
 Lot's wife." So he read it to his fellow; after 
 which they both concluded, that this was the 
 pillar of salt into which Lot's wife was turned, 
 for looking back with a covetous heart, when 
 she was going from Sodom for safety. Gen. 
 xix. 26. Which sudden and amazing sight 
 gave them occasion of this discourse. 
 
 Christian. Ah, my brother, this is a season- 
 able sight : it came opportunely to us after the 
 invitation which Demas gave us to come over 
 
 love of Christ. They go on with their art for a season, 
 but the end makes it manifest what they were. Take 
 David's advice, "Fret not thyself because of evil- 
 doers." Ps. xxxvii. 1. " Be not thou afraid when one 
 is made rich, and the glory of his house is increased." 
 Ps. xUx. 16. But go thou into the sanctuary of thy 
 God, read his word, and understand the end of these 
 men. 
 
142 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 to riew the till Lucre ; and had we gone over, 
 IS he desired us, and as thou wast inclined to 
 do, my brother, we had, for aught I know, been 
 made like this woman, a spectacle for those 
 that shall come after to behold. 
 
 Hopeful. I am sorry that I was so fooligh, 
 and am made to wonder that I am not now as 
 Lot's wife; for wherein was the difference be- 
 tween her sin and mine? she only looked back, 
 and I had a desire to go see: let grace be 
 adored, and let me be ashamed that ever such 
 a thing should be in mine heart.* 
 
 Clivistian. Let us take notice of what we see 
 here for our help for time to come : This woman 
 escaped one judgment ; for she fell not by the 
 destruction of Sodom, yet she was destroyed 
 by another, as we see she is turned into a 
 pillar of salt. 
 
 Hopeful. True, and she may be to us both 
 caution and example ; caution, that we should 
 shun her sin ; or a sign of what judgment will 
 overtake such as shall not be prevented by 
 such caution ; so Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, 
 with the two hundred and fifty men that per- 
 ished in their sin, did also become a sign or 
 example to beware. Num. xxvi. 9, 10. But 
 above all, I muse at one thing, to wit, how 
 Demas and his fellows can stand so confidently 
 yonder to look for that treasure, which this 
 woman, but for looking behind her after, (for 
 we read not that she stept one foot out of the 
 way,) was turned into a pillar of salt; especially 
 
 since the judgment which overtook her, did 
 make her an example within sight of where 
 they are : for they cannot but choose to see her, 
 did they but lift up their eyes. 
 
 Christian. It is a thing to be wondered at, 
 and it argueth that their hearts are grown des- 
 perate in that case; and I cannot tell whom to 
 compare them to so fitly, as to them that pick 
 pockets in the presence of the judge, or that 
 will cut purses under the gallows. It is said 
 of the men of Sodom, that "they were sinners 
 exceedingly," because they were sinners "be- 
 ' fore the Lord," that is, in his eye-sight, and 
 notwithstanding the kindness that he had 
 showed them ; for the land of Sodom was now 
 like the garden of Eden heretofore. Gen. xiii. 
 10, 13. This therefore provoked him the more 
 to jealousy, and made their plague as hot as 
 the fire of the Lord out of heaven could 
 make it. And it is most rationally to be con- 
 cluded, that such, even such as these are, 
 who shall sin in the sight, yea, and that 
 too in despite, of such examples as are set 
 continually before them, to caution them to 
 the contrary, must be partakers of the severest 
 judgments, v 
 
 Hopefil. Doubtless thou hast said the truth ; 
 but what a mercy is it, that neither thou, but 
 especially I, am not made myself this ex- 
 ample! This ministereth occasion to u^ to 
 thank God, to fear bfefore him, and always to 
 " remember Lot's wife." 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 ^ 
 Christian and Hopeful mistahe their way, and fall into the hands of Giant Despair. 
 
 I SAW then, that they went on their way to 
 a pleasant river, which David the king called 
 
 * Such is the effect of the grace of God in the heart 
 of a pilgrim ; while on the one hand he sees many pro- 
 pensities of his evil nature to every sin which has 
 been committed by others, and is grieved, he also con- 
 fesses that by no power of his own he is preserved, but 
 ever gives all the glory to the God of all grace, by 
 who?e power alone he is kept from falling. "Thou 
 etandest by faith, be not high-minded, but fear." Rom. 
 X.I 20. 
 
 f By this river, which is called "a pure river of 
 the water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of 
 the throne of God and the Lamb," (Rev. xxii. 1,) we 
 cay understand the clear and comfortable views with 
 which they were favoured of God's love and grace. 
 This river of God, this water of life, was clear as 
 
 "the river of God;" but John, "the river of 
 the water of life." f i*s. Ixv. 9 ; Ezek. Ixvii. 1 ; 
 
 crystal: They could see'in it God*s glory, shining in 
 the face of Jesus Christ, and view their own faces in 
 it to their own inexpressible joy. This is the river, 
 "the streams whereof make glad the city of God." 
 Ps. xlvi. 4. The streams which flow from this river 
 of love, are justification by faith in Christ, sanotifi- 
 cation, and all joy and peace in believing, from the 
 Spirit of Christ. All this these pilgrims now enjoyed, 
 and all this every fellow-citizen of the saints are called 
 to enjoy, in their pilgrimage to Zion. This river of 
 life proceedeth out of the throne of God and the 
 Lamb. For God hath chosen those (who have fled for 
 refuge) in Christ, and blessed us with all spiritual 
 blessings in himj and they are all freely communi- 
 cated to us out of Christ's fulness. Oh how Kapp^i 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROORESS. 
 
 143 
 
 Rev. xxii 1 Now their way lay just upon 
 the bank of the river: here, therefore, Chris- 
 tian and his companion walked with great de- 
 light: they drank also of the water of the 
 river, whicli was pleasant, and enlivening to 
 their weary spirits. Besides, on the banks of 
 this river, on either side, were green trees, for 
 all manner of fruit ; and the leaves they ate to 
 prevent surfeits, and other diseases that are in- 
 cident to those that heat their blood by foavels. 
 On either side of the river was also a meadow, 
 curiously beautified with liMes; and it was 
 greoii all the year long. In this meadow they 
 lay down and slept: for here they might lie 
 down safely. Ps. xxiii. ; Isa. xiv. 30. When 
 tliey awoke, they gathered again of the fruits 
 of the trees, and drank again of the water of 
 the river, and then lay down again to sleep. 
 Thus they did several days and nights. Then 
 " they sang : 
 
 "Behold ye how those orystal streams do glide, 
 To comfort pilgrims by the highway side. 
 The meadows green, besides the fragrant smell. 
 Yield dainties for them: And he that can toll 
 What pleasant fruit, yea, leaves, those trees do yield. 
 Will soon soirall, that he may buy this field." 
 
 So when they were disposed to go on (for 
 ihey were not as yet at their journey's end) 
 ■,hey ate, and drank, and departed. 
 
 Now I beheld in my dream that they had 
 not journeyed far, but the river and the way 
 for a time parted ; at which they were not a 
 little sorry, yet they durst not go out of the 
 way. Now the way from the river was rough, 
 and their feet tender by reason of their travels ; 
 so the souls of the pilgrims were much dis- 
 couraged because of the way. Num. xxi. 4. 
 Wherefore still as they went on, they wished 
 for a better way.* Now a little before them, 
 
 peaceful, and joyful are pilgrims, when the Spirit 
 takes of the things of Christ, shows them to us, and 
 blesses us with a constant sense of, and interest in, the 
 lore of God, and salvation of Jesus ! ' 
 
 * Pilgrims have their discouragements as well as 
 their joys: yet they should take their way as they 
 find it, sometimes rough, at others smooth; they may 
 at times be sorry to part with their comforts, and wish 
 the way was smoother: so they did hero. Lo, their 
 wishes were answered; but mark the consequences. 
 Lord, lead me in the way everlasting! 
 
 t Beware of this By-path Meadow, it is on the left 
 hand. Oh how many are walking securely, confi- 
 dently, and comfortably in it, while every stop they 
 take endangers their destruction I The transition into 
 it is easy, for it lies olose to the right way, only you 
 must get over a stile; that is, you must quit Christ's 
 
 there was on the left hand o' the road a 
 meadow, and a stile to go over into it; and 
 that meadow ia called By-path Meadow, t 
 Then said Christian to his fellow. If this 
 meadow lieth along by our way-side let us go 
 over into it. Then he went to the stile to see, 
 and behold, a path lay along by the way on 
 the other side of the fence. 'Tis according to 
 my wish, said Christian; here is the easiest 
 going; come, good Hopeful, and let us go 
 over. X 
 
 Hopeful. But how if this path should lead 
 us out of the way? 
 
 That's not likely, said the other. Look, 
 doth it not go along by the way-side? So 
 Hopeful, being persuaded by his fellow, went 
 after him over the stile. When they were gone 
 over, and were got into the path, they found 
 it very easy "for their feet; and withal, they 
 looking before them, spied a man walking as 
 they did, and his name was Vain-confidence, 
 so they called after him, and asked him whither 
 that way led? He said, to the celestial gate. 
 — Look, said Christian, did I not tell you so? 
 by this you may see we are right: so they fol- 
 lowed, and he went before them. But, behold, 
 the night came on, and it grew very dark ; so 
 that they that went behind lost the sight of 
 him that went before. 
 
 He therefore that went before, (Vain-confi- 
 dence by name,) not seeing the way before 
 him, fell into a deep pit, (Isa. ix. 16,) which 
 was on purpose there made by the prince of 
 those grounds, to catch vain-glorious fools 
 withal, and was dashed in pieces with his 
 fall. II 
 
 Now Christian and his fellow heard him fall: 
 so they called to know the matter ; but there 
 was none to answer, only they heard a groan- 
 ing. Then said Hopeful, Where are we now ? 
 
 protection, trust in your own wisdom, and then you 
 are in By-path Meadow directly. 
 
 \ Ah ! how easy are our eyes deceived, our hearts 
 mistaken, and our feet perverted from the right way I 
 Shepherd of Israel, thou knowest, to err is human, 
 keep us from erring, guide us continually, and when 
 we do stray. Lord, reclaim us. 
 
 II "There is a way that seems right unto a man, but 
 the end thereof are the ways of deatfj." Prov. xiv. 12. 
 Vain confidence is this very way. Oh how easy do pro- 
 fessors get into it ! yea, pilgrims are prone also to take 
 up with it, owing to that legality, pride and self-right- 
 eousness, which work in their fallen nature, till cleansed 
 by the blood of Jesus. See the end of it and tremble ; 
 for it leads to darkness and ends in death. Lord, hum- 
 ble our proud hearts, and empty us of 8elf-righte(m>- 
 ness, pride and vain -confidence. 
 
144 
 
 SUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Then was liis fellow silent, as mistrusting that 
 he had led him out of the way. And now it 
 began to rain, and thunder, and lighten, in a 
 most dreadful manner; and the waters rose 
 amain.* 
 
 Then Hopeful groaned in himself, saying, 
 " Oh that I had kept on my way !" 
 
 Christian. Who could have thought this path 
 should have led us out of the way ? 
 
 Hopeful. I was afraid on't at the very first, 
 and therefore gave you that gentle caution. I 
 would have spoken plainer, but that you are 
 older than I. 
 
 Christian. Good brother, be not offended ; I 
 am sorry I have brought thee out of the way, 
 and that I have put thee into such imminent 
 danger : pray, my brother, forgive me ; I did 
 not do it of an evil intent.f 
 
 Hopeful. Be comforted, my brother, for I 
 forgive thee ; and believe too, that this shall 
 be for good. 
 
 Christian. I am glad I have with me a mer- 
 ciful brother ; but we must not stand thus ; let 
 us try to go back again. 
 
 Hopeful. But, good brother, let me go before. 
 
 Christian. No, if you please, let me go first, 
 that if there be any danger I may be first 
 therein ; Because by my means we are both 
 gone out of the way. ' 
 
 No, said Hopeful, you shall not go first ; for 
 your mind being troubled, may lead you out 
 of the way again. Then, for their encourage- 
 ment, they heard the voice of one saying, " Let 
 thine heart be towards the highway ; even the 
 way that thou wentest turn again."t Jer. xxxi. 
 21. But by this time the waters were greatly 
 risen, by reason of which, the way of going back 
 was very dangerous. (Then I thought that it 
 is easier going out of the way when we are in, 
 than going in when we are out.) Yet they 
 adventured to go back ; but it was so dark and 
 the flood was so high, that in their going back 
 they had like to have been drowned, nine or 
 ten times. 
 
 * Getting into By-path Meadow, and walking in 
 vain-confidence, will surely bring on terrors, thunder- 
 ings and lightnings from Mount Sinai. 
 
 "j" Here. see, that as Christians are made helpful, so 
 also they are liable to prove hurtful to each other. 
 But observe how grace works ! it humbles, it makes 
 the soul confess and be sorry for its misfortunes ; here 
 is no reviling one another, but a tender sympathy and 
 feeling concern for each other. Oh the mighty power 
 of that grace and truth which came by Jesus Christ ! 
 how does it cement souls in the fellowship of love t 
 
 \ This is Christ : he is the way, the only way, the 
 highway of justification and holiness. 
 
 Neither could they with all the skill they 
 had, get again to the stile that night. Where- 
 fore at last, lighting under a little shelter, they 
 sat down there, till the day -break ; but being 
 weary, they fell asleep. Now there was, not 
 far from the place where they lay, a castle, 
 called Doubting Castle, the owner whereof 
 was Giant Despair : || and it was in his grounds 
 they were now sleeping. Wherefore he getting 
 up in the morning early, and walking up and 
 down in his fields, caught Christian and Hope- 
 ful asleep in his grounds. Then with a grim 
 and surly voice, he bid them awake, and asked 
 them whence they were, and what they did in 
 his grounds? They told him they were pil- 
 grims, and that they had lost their way. Then 
 said the giant. You have this night trespassed 
 on me, by trampling in, and lying on my ground, 
 and therefore you must go along with me. So 
 they were forced to go, because he was stronger 
 than they. They also had but little to say; 
 for they knew themselves in a fault. The 
 giant, therefore, drove them before him, and 
 put them into his castle in a very dark dun- 
 geon, nasty and stinking to the spirits of these 
 two men. Here then they lay from Wednes- 
 day morning till Saturday night, without one 
 bit of bread, or drop of drink, or light, or any 
 to ask how they did ; they were, therefore, here 
 in evil case, and were far from friends and ac- 
 quaintance. Ps. Ixxxviii. 8. Now in this place 
 Christian had double sorrow, bfecause it was 
 through his unadvised counsel that they were 
 brought into this distress.^ 
 
 Now Giant Despair had a wife, and her name 
 was Diffidence ; so when he was gone to bed, 
 he told his wife what he had done ; to wit, that 
 he had taken a couple of prisoners, and cast 
 them into his dungeon, for trespassing on his 
 grounds. Then he asked her also what he had 
 best do further to them. So she asked what 
 they were, whence they came, and whither 
 they were bound — and he told her. Then she 
 counselled him that when he arose in the 
 
 II Sooner or later Doubting Castle will be the prison, 
 and Giant Despair the keeper of all those who turn 
 aside from Christ, to trust in any wise in themselves. 
 " God is a jealous God;" ever jealous of his own glory, 
 and of the honour of his beloved Son. 
 
 \ What ! so highly-favoured Christians in Doubting 
 Castle ? Is it possible, after having travelled so far in 
 the way of salvation, seen so many glorious things in 
 that way, experienced so much of the grace and love 
 of their Lord, and having so often proved his faithful- 
 ness, yet after all this to get into Doubting Castle? 
 Surely it is not the will of God but the effects of un- 
 belief. 
 
THB. PILGRIMS PROGRESS. 
 
 116 
 
 morning, he should beat thorn withoui mercy. 
 So when ho arose, he getteth a grievous crab- 
 tree cudgel, and goes down into the dungeon 
 to them, and there first falls to rating of them 
 as if they were dogs, althougl;i they gave him 
 never a word of distaste: then he falls upon 
 them, and beat them fearfully, in such sort 
 that they were not able to help themselves, or 
 t\irn them upon the floor. This done, he with- 
 di aws, and leaves them there to condole their 
 misery, and to mourn under their distress : so 
 all that day they spent their time in nothing 
 but sighs and bitter lamentations. The next 
 night she talked with her husband about them 
 further, and understanding that they were yet 
 alive, did advise him to counsel them to make 
 away with themselves : so when morning -yvas 
 come, he goes to them in a surly manner as be- 
 fore, and, perceiving them to be very sorewith 
 thestripes that he had given them the day before, 
 he told them that since they were never like to 
 come out of that place, their only way would 
 be forthwith to make an end of themselves, 
 oithcr with knife, halter, or poison : for why, 
 said he, should you choose life, seeing it is at- 
 tended with so much bitterness? But they 
 desired him to let them go. With that he 
 looked ugly upon them ; and rushing to them, 
 had doubtless made an end of them himSelf, 
 but that he fell into one of his fits, (for he some- 
 times in sunshiny weather fell into fits,) and lost 
 for a time the use of his hand. Wherefore he 
 withdrew, -and left them as before to consider 
 what to do. Then did the prisoners consult 
 between themselves, whether it was best to take 
 his counsel or no ; and thus they began to dis- 
 course:* 
 
 Brother, said Christian, what shall we do? 
 The life that we now live is miserable ; for my 
 part, I know not whether it is best to live thus, 
 or die out of hand ; " my sOul chooseth strang- 
 ling rather than life," (Job. vii. 15,) and the 
 grave is more easy for me than this dungeon ! 
 Shall we be ruled by the giant ?t 
 
 Hopeful. Indeed our present condition is 
 dreadful, and death would be far more welcome 
 
 • See the working of Despair. Where is now their 
 fivith in, lovo to, and dependence upon their Lord? 
 Alas ! all seems as at the last gasp. But observe, 
 under their prevailing distress and black despondency, 
 even when despair had almost made an end of thein, 
 thoj- had a lucid interval when (riant Despair is seized 
 with a fit, so tnat God's mercy is great: for, aajs 
 Paul, " We are perplexed, but not in despaii," 2 Cor. 
 iv. 1 
 
 \ Poor Christian ! what ! tempted to destroy thy- 
 
 10 
 
 to me, than thus forever to abide : but yet let 
 us consider ; the Lord of the country to which 
 we are going, hath said, "Thou shalt do no 
 murder ;" no, not to another man's person ; 
 much more, then, are we forbidden to take the 
 giant's counsel to kill ourselves. Besides, he 
 that kills another, can but commit muvdi i- upon 
 his body : but, for one to kill himself, is to kill 
 body and soul at once. And moreover, my 
 brother, thou talkest of ease in the grave, but 
 hast thou forgotten the hell whither for certain 
 the mtirderers go ? " for no murderer hath 
 eternal life,'' etc. And let us consider ajrain, 
 that all the law is not in the hand of Giant 
 Despair: others, so far as I can understand, 
 have been taken by him as well as we, and yet 
 have escaped out of his hands. AVho knows 
 but that God, who made the world, may cause 
 that Giant Despair may die, or that at some 
 time or other he may forget to lock us in ; or 
 that he may in a short time have another of 
 his fits before us, and may lose the use of his 
 limbs ? and if ever that should come to pass 
 again, for my part I am resolved to pluck up 
 the heart of a man, and to try my utmost to 
 get from under his hand. J I was a fool that I 
 did not try to do it before ; but however, my 
 brother, let us be patient and endure a while; 
 the time may come that may give us a happy 
 release : but let us not be our own murderers. 
 With these words. Hopeful at present did 
 moderate the mind of his brother; so they 
 continued together in the dark that day in 
 their sad and doleful condition. 
 
 Well, towards evening, the giant goes down 
 into the dungeon again, to see if his prisoners 
 had taken his counsel: but when he came 
 there, he found them alive; and truly, alive 
 was all ; for now, what for want of bread and 
 water, and by reason of the wounds they re- 
 ceived when he ^eat them, they could do little 
 but breathe. But, I say, he found them alive ; 
 at which he fell into a grievous rage, and told 
 them that, seeing they had disobeyed his 
 counsel, it should be worse with them than if 
 they had never been born. 
 
 self! Lord, what is man! But mark the truth of 
 that word, " There hath no temptation taken you, but 
 such as is common to man :" but God is faithful, who 
 will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are 
 able ; but will, with the temptation, also make a way 
 to escape, that we may be able to bear it. 1 Cor. x. 13. 
 J Perceive how a fit of despair robs a Christian of 
 his courage, reason, and grace. But one single 
 thonght of the love, power, and grace of Qod in 
 Christ, elevate the Christian's mind with hope. 
 
146 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 At this they tremhled greatly, and I think 
 that Christian fell into a swoon ; but coming a 
 little to himself again, they renewed their dis- 
 course about the giant's counsel, and whether 
 yet they had best take it or no. Now Chris- 
 tian again seemed to be for doing it, but 
 Hopeful made his second reply as foUoweth : 
 
 My brother, said he, rememberest thou not 
 how valiant thou hast been heretofore ? Apol- 
 lyon could not crush thee, nor could all that 
 thou couldst hear, or see, or feel, in the Valley 
 of the Shadow of Death ; what hardship, ter- 
 ror, and amazement, hast thou already gone 
 through, and art thou now nothing but fears ? 
 Thou seest that I am in the dungeon with thee, 
 a far weaker man by nature than thou art; also 
 the giant has wounded me as well as thee, and 
 hath also cut off the bread and water from my 
 mouth, and with that I mourn without the 
 light. But let us exercise a little more pa- 
 tience : remember how thou playedst the man 
 at Vanity Fair, and was neither afraid of the 
 chain or cage, nor yet of bloody death ; where- 
 fore, let us, at least, to avoid the shame that 
 becomes not a Christian to be found in, bear 
 up with patience as well as we can.* 
 
 Now night being come again, and the giant 
 and his wife being in bed, she asked, him con- 
 cerning the prisoners, and if they had taken 
 his counsel: to which he replied, They are 
 sturdy rogues ; they choose rather to bear all 
 hardship than to make away with themselves. 
 Then said she, Take them into the castle-yard 
 to-morrow, and show them the bones and skulls 
 of those thOu hast already despatched, and 
 make them believe, ere a week comes to an 
 end, thou also wilt tear them in pieces,- as thou 
 hast done their fellows before them. 
 
 * Here is the blessing of a hopeful companion. Here 
 is excellent counsel. Let vain professors say what 
 thoy may against experience, and looking back to 
 past experiences : It is most certainly goodf and right 
 so to do; not to encourage present sloth andpVesump- 
 tion, but to excite fresh confidence of hope in the 
 Lord. We have David's example, and Paul's word to 
 encourage us to this : says David, " The Lord who 
 delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of 
 the paw of the bear, he will deliver ine out of the 
 hand of the uncircumcised Philistine." 1 Sam, xvii. 
 37. And says Paul, " We have the sentence of death 
 in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but 
 in God who raiseth the dead." There, mind the alone 
 object of faith and hope, and see the reasoning on 
 past experience of God's meroy ; for it is he " who 
 delivers us from so great a death, and doth deliver; 
 in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us." 2 Cor. 1. 
 
 So when the morning was come, the giant 
 goes to them again, and takes them into the 
 castle-yard, and shows them as his wife had 
 bidden him : These, said he, were pilgrims, as 
 you, once; and they trespassed in my grounds 
 as you have done ; and when I thought fit I 
 tore them in pieces, and so within ten days- I 
 will do you; get you down into your deri 
 again : and with that he beat them all the 
 way thither. They lay therefore all day on 
 Saturday in a lamentable case, as before. 
 Now, when night was come, and when Mrs. 
 Diffidence and her husband the giant were 
 got to bed, they began to renew their discourse 
 of their prisoners ; and, withal, the old giant 
 wondered that he could neither by his blows 
 nor counsel bring them to an end. And with 
 that his wife replied, I fear, said she, that 
 they live in hopes that some will come to re- 
 lieve them, or that they have picklocks about 
 them, by the means of which they hope to 
 escape. And sayest thou so, my dear? said 
 the giant ; I will therefore search them in the 
 morning. 
 
 Well, , on Saturday about midnight, they 
 began to pray, and continued in prayer, till 
 almost break of day.f 
 
 Now a little before it was day, good Chris- 
 tian, as one half amazed, did break out in 
 this passionate speech : What a fool, quoth 
 he, am I, thus to lie in a stinking dungeon, 
 when I may as well walk at liberty I I have 
 a key in my bosom called Promise, that will, 
 I am persuaded, open any lock in Doubting 
 Caatle. Then, said Hopeful, that's good news, 
 good brother, pluck it out of thy bosom and 
 try.t 
 
 Then Christian pulled it out of his bosom, 
 
 f What! Pray in custody of Giant Despair, in tta 
 midst of Doubting Castle, and when their own folly 
 brought them there too ! Yes, mind this, ye pilgrims ; 
 ye are exhorted, " I will that men pray every where, 
 .without doubting." 1 Tim. ii. S. We can be in no 
 place but God can hear, nor in any circumstance, but 
 God is able to deliver from. And be assured when 
 the spirit of prayer comes, deliverance is nigh at 
 hand. So it was here. 
 
 X Precious promise! The promises of God in 
 Christ, are the life of faith, and the quiokencrs of 
 prayer. Oh how oft do we neglect Sod's great and 
 precious promises in Christ Jesus, while doubts and 
 despair keep us prisoners ! So it was with these pil- 
 grims; they were kept under hard bondage cf soul 
 for four days. Jlence see what it is to grieve the 
 Spirit of God, and dread it. For he only is the Com- 
 forter. And if we cause him to withdraw his influ- 
 eBce, who or what can comfort us ?^ Though precious 
 
THE PILOBIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 147 
 
 end began to try at the dungeon door: whose 
 holt, as he turned the key, gave back, and the 
 door flew open with ease, and Christian and 
 Hopeful both came out. Then he went to the 
 outward door that leads into the castle-yard, 
 and flith this key opened that door also. 
 After, he went to the iron gate, for that must 
 be opened too, but that lock went very hard ; 
 yet the key did open it. Then they thrust 
 open the gate to make their escape with speed, 
 but that gate as it opened, made such a crack- 
 ing that it waked Giant Despair, who hastily' 
 rising to pursue his prisoners, felt his limbs 
 to fail, for his fits took him again, so that he 
 could by no means go after them. Then they 
 went on, and came to the king's highway, and 
 BO were safe, because they were out of his 
 jurisdiction.* . > 
 
 Now when they were gone over the stik, 
 they began to contrive with themselves what 
 they should do at that stile, to prevent those 
 ,that should come after from falling inlo the 
 hand of Giant Despair. So they consented to 
 erect there a pillar, and to engrare upon the 
 side thereof this sentence, " Over this stile is 
 the way to Doubting Castle, which is kept by 
 Giant Despair, who despiseth the king of the 
 Celestial Country, and seeks to destroy th« 
 holy pilgrians." Many therefore that followed 
 after, read what was written-, and escaped tia 
 danger.t This doiffi they sang as follows : 
 
 " Out of the way we went, and then we found 
 What 'twas to tread upon forbidden ground; 
 And let them that come after have a eare 
 Lest they for trespassing, his pris'ners are, 
 Whose castle's Doubting, and whose name's Despair.'' 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 The Pilgrims entertained by the Shepherds on the Delectable Mountains. 
 
 They went then till they came to the De- 
 tectable Mountains ; which mountains belong 
 to the Lord of that hill of which we have 
 spoken before: so they went up the moun- 
 tains, to behold the gardens and orchards, the 
 vineyards, and fountains of water; where also 
 they drank and washed themselves, and did 
 
 promises are revealod in tho word, yet we can get 
 no comfort from them, but by the grace of the 
 Spirit. 
 
 • Mind, though tho Spirit works deliverance and 
 brings comfort, yet it is by means of the word of prom- 
 ise ; for as we depart from and dishonour God by un- 
 belief, so we come back to, and honour him, by be- 
 lieving his word of grace to us through his beloved 
 Son. In this way the Spirit brings deliverance. 
 
 f Recording our own observations, and the experi- 
 ence we have had of God's dealing with our souls, are 
 made of special and peculiar use to our fellow-Chris- 
 tians. But let us ever take heed of self-exalting : ever 
 remembering that all Christian experience is to hum- 
 ble the soul, and exalt the Saviour. As here these 
 tTW pilgrims, by their own folly, got into Doubting 
 Castle ; so it was by faith in the promise that they 
 escaped from it. This pillar was a memento to their 
 shame, while it was a monument of God's free favour 
 in Christ to them. 
 
 Reader! have you through nnbelief been brought 
 into do\ibte? and has the Lord in his great mercy sent 
 deliverance to your soul ? Keep then your faith in 
 ountinual exercise, while you take up the following 
 linei 
 
 freely eat of the vineyards. Now there were 
 on the tops of these mountains, shepherds 
 feeding their flocks, and they stood by the 
 highway side. T'he pilgrims therefore went 
 to them, and leaning upon their staves, (as 
 is common with weary pilgrims when they 
 stand to talk with any by the way,) they 
 
 Son of God, if thy free grace. 
 
 Again hath rais'd me up, 
 Call'd me still to seek thy face, 
 
 And given me back my hope : 
 Still thy timely help afford, 
 
 And all thy loving-kindness show; 
 Keep mo, keep me, gracious Lord, 
 
 And never let me go. 
 
 By me, my Saviour, stand 
 
 In sore temptation's hour, 
 Save me with thine outstretoh'd hand, 
 
 And show forth all thy power ; 
 Oh be mindful of thy word ; 
 
 Thy all-sufficient grace bestow ; 
 Keep me, keep me, gracious Lord, 
 
 And never let me go. 
 
 Give me. Lord, a holy fear, 
 
 And fix it in my heart ; 
 That I may when doubts appear 
 
 With timely care depart; 
 Sin be more than hell abhorr'd, 
 
 Till thou destroy the tyrant foe : 
 Keep me, keep me, gracious Lord, 
 
 And never let me go. 
 
148 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 asked, " Whose Delectable Mountains are 
 these? and whose are the sheep that feed 
 upon them ?" * 
 
 Shepherds. The mountains are Emmanuel's 
 Land, and they are within sight of his city ; 
 and the sheep also are his, and he laid his life 
 down for them. 
 
 Christian. Is this the way to the Celestial 
 City? 
 
 ShepJwrds. You are just in the way. 
 
 Clirhllan. How far is it thither ? 
 
 Shepherds. Too. far for any but those that 
 shall get thither indeed.f 
 
 Christian. Is the way safe or dangerous? 
 
 Shepherds. Safe for those for whom it is to 
 be safe ; " but transgressors shall fall therein." 
 Hos. xiv. 9. 
 
 Cliristian. Is there in this place any relief 
 for pilgrims that are weary and faint in the 
 way? 
 
 Shepherds. The Lord of these mountains 
 hath given us a charge " not to be forgetful to 
 entertain strangers," (Heb. xiii. 1, 2;) there- 
 fore the good of the place is before you. 
 
 I also saw in my drea,m, that when the shep- 
 herds perceived that they were wayfaring men, 
 they also put questions to them, (to which they 
 made answer, as in other places,) as, Whence 
 came you? and. How got you into the way? 
 andj By what means have you so persevered 
 therein? for but few of them that begin to' 
 c6me hither do show their faces on this moun- 
 tain. But when the shepherds heard their an- 
 swers, being pleased therewith, they looked 
 very lovingly upon them, and said, Welcome 
 to the Delectable Mountains. 
 
 The shepherds, I say, whose names .were 
 Knowledge, Experience, Watchful, and Sin- 
 cere, took them by the hand, and had them to 
 
 * See the iips and downs, and sunshine and clouds, 
 the prosperity and adversity, which Christians go 
 through in their way to the promised land. Lately, 
 these two pilgrims were bewailing their state in 
 Bouhting Castle, under jjiant Despair j now they are 
 come to Delectable Mountains, where all is clear, per- 
 fect, and joyful hope. So that God's word is now 
 comfortably fulfilled upon them. See Isa. xlix. 9, 10, 
 11. " I will make all my mountains a way, and my 
 highways shall be exalted," Ac. 
 
 f Oh how many professors grow weary of the way, 
 fall short, and fail of coming to the end ! Though the 
 way appears too far, too strait, and too narrow for 
 many who set out," and never hold out to the end ,• yet, 
 all who are begotten by the word of grace, and born 
 of the Spirit of truth, being kept by the mighty power 
 of God, through an exercise of living faith, unto^eter- 
 nal ^alvation, shall succeed. 1 Pet. i. 5. 
 
 their tents, and made the n partake of that 
 which was ready at present. J They said, more- 
 over. We would that you should stay here 
 awhile to be acquainted with us, and yet more 
 to solace yourselves with the good of these -De- 
 lectable Mountains. They then told them that 
 they were content to stay : so they went to their 
 rest' that night, because it was very late. 
 
 Then I saw in my dream, that in the morn- 
 ing the shepherds called up Christian and 
 Hopeful, to walk with, them upon the moun- 
 tains: so they, went forth with them, and 
 walked awhile, having a pleasant prospect on 
 every side. Then' said the shepherds one to 
 another. Shall we show these pilgrims some 
 wonders ? So, when they had concluded to do 
 it, they had them first to the top of an hill, 
 called Error, which was very steep on the furth- 
 est side, and bid them look down to the bottom. 
 So Christian and Hopeful looked down, and 
 saw at the bottom several men dashed to pieces, 
 by a fall that they had from the top. Then said 
 Christian, What meaneth this? The shep- 
 herds answered. Have you not heard of them 
 that were made to err by hearkening to Hy- 
 meneus and Philetus, (2 Tim. ii. 17, 18,) as con- 
 cerning the faith of the resurrection of the 
 body? They answered. Yea. Then said the 
 shepherds, Those that you see lie dashed to 
 pieces at the bottom of this mountain are they ; 
 and they have continued to this day unburied, 
 as you see, for example to others to take heed 
 how they clamber too high, or how they come 
 too near the brink of this mountain. {| 
 
 Then I saw they had them to the top of 
 another mountain, and the name of that is 
 Caution, and bid them look afar otf: § which 
 when they did, they perceiyed, as they thought, 
 several men walking up and down among the 
 
 X Precious names ! what is a pilgrim without know- 
 ledge ? what is head-knowledge without heart-experi- 
 ence ? And watchfulness and sincerity ought to at- 
 tend us every step. 'When these graces are in us 
 and abound, they make delectable mountains in- 
 ,deed. 
 
 I] Fine-spun speculations, and curious reasonings, 
 lead men from simple truth and implicit faith into 
 many dangerous and destructive errors. The wcri 
 records many instances of such for our caution^ Be 
 warned to study simplicity and godly sincerity. 
 
 § It is well for us to be 'much on this mount. "We 
 have constant need of caution. Paul takes the Corin- 
 thians up to this Mount Caution, and shows them what 
 awful things have happened to professors of old : and 
 he leaves this solemn word for us j " 'Wherefore let him 
 who thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall." 1 Cor. 
 X. 12. 
 
IM 
 
 m 
 
 H 
 
 P 
 
 P 
 
 © 
 
 e 
 
THE PILGRIM'S FBOOBESS. 
 
 149 
 
 tombs that were there: and thej- perceived 
 that the men were blind, because they stum- 
 liled sometimes uijon the tombs, and because 
 they could not get out from among them. Then 
 said Ghristiivn, What means this ? 
 
 Tlie shepherds then answered. Did you not 
 see a little below these mountains, a stile that 
 leads into a meadow, on the left hand of this 
 way? They answered, Yes. Then said the 
 shepherds. From that stile there goes a path,' 
 thit leads directly to Doubting Castle, which 
 is kept by Giant Despair, and these men (point- 
 ing to them among the tombs) came once on 
 pilgrimage, as you do now, even till they ca,me 
 to that same stile. And because the right way 
 w^as rough in that place they chose to go out 
 of it into that meadow, and there were taken 
 by Giant Despair, and cast into Doubting Cas- 
 tle; where, after they had a while been' kept 
 in the dungeon, he at last did put out their 
 eyes, and led them among those tombs, where 
 he haa left them to wander to this very day, 
 that the saying of the wise man might be ful- 
 filled, " He that waudereth out of the way of 
 understanding, shall remain in the congrega- 
 tion of the dead." Prov. xxi. 16. Then Chris- 
 tian and Hopeful looked upon one another, 
 with tears gushing out, but yet said nothing to 
 the shepherds.* 
 
 Then I saw in my dream, that the shepherds 
 had them to another place in a bottom, where 
 was a door in the side of an hill, and they 
 opened the door, and bid them look in. They 
 looked in therefore, and saw that within it 
 was very dark and smoky ; they also thought 
 that they heard there a rumbling noise, as of 
 fire, and a cry of some tormented ; and that 
 they smelt the scent of brimstone. Then said 
 Christian, What means this? The shepherds 
 told them. This is a by-way to hell, a way that 
 hypocrites go in at : namely, such as sell their 
 birthright, with Esau ; such as sell their Mas- 
 ter, with Judas ; such as blaspheme the gospel, 
 with Alexander; and that lie and dissemble, 
 with Ananias, and Sapphira his wife. 
 
 • Do we see others fall into perdition by the very 
 same sins and follies from which God has reclaimed 
 US ? What must we resolve this into, but his super- 
 abounding mercy to us ! And surely it is enough to 
 make one's eyes gush out with tears, and to melt our 
 hard hearts into fervent love, to look back upon the 
 uany singular instances of God's distinguishing favour 
 to us. Oh call them to mind and be thankful. 
 
 ■f Thus wo read of some being once enlightened, and 
 having tasted of- the heavenly gift, and were made 
 pirtakcrs of the world to come. Ueb. vi. It is hard I 
 
 ■ Then said Hopeful to the shepherds, I per- 
 ceive that these had on thein, even every one, 
 a show of pilgrimage, as we have now ; had 
 they not? 
 
 Shepherds. Yea, and held it a long time too. 
 
 Hopeful. How far might they go on in pil- 
 grimage in their days, since they notwithstand- 
 ing were thus miserably cast away ? 
 
 Shepherds. Some further, and some not so 
 far as these mountains.! 
 
 Then said the pilgrims one to another. We 
 had need to cry to the strong for strength. 
 
 Shepherds. Ay^ and you will have need to use 
 it when you have it, too. 
 
 By this time the pilgrims had a desire to go 
 forward, and the shepherds a desire they should ; 
 so they walked together towards the end of the 
 mountains. Then said the shepherds one to 
 another. Let us here show the pilgrims the 
 gates of the Celestial City, if they have skill 
 to look through our perspective glass. The 
 pilgrims then lovingly accepted the motion : 
 so they had them to the top of an high hill, 
 called Clear, and gave them the glass to 
 look. 
 
 Then they essayed to look, but the remem- 
 brance of that last thing that the shepherds 
 had showed them, made their hands shake ; by 
 means of which impediment, they could not 
 look steadily through the glass ;t yet they 
 thought they saw something like the gate, and 
 also some of the glory of the place. Then they 
 went away, and sang this song : 
 
 " Thus by the shepherds secrets are reveal'd. 
 Which from all other men are kept conceaJ'd ; 
 Come to the shepherds then, if you would see 
 Things deep, things hid, and that mysterious be," 
 
 When they were about to depart, one of the 
 shepherds gave them a note of tl^e way. An- 
 other of them bid them beware of the flatterer. 
 'JThe third bid them take heed that they sleep) not 
 upon the enchanted ground. And the fourth 
 bid them God speed. So I awoke from my 
 dream. 
 
 to say how far, or how long «■ person may follow 
 Christ, and because of unfuithfulness, yet fall away, 
 and come short of the kingdom at last. This should 
 excite to diligence, humility, and circumspection, ever 
 looking to Jesus to keep us from falling. 
 
 J The glass of God's word of grace and truth, held 
 up by the liand of faith to ihe eye of the soul. So 
 Paul speaks : beholding as in a glass (the Gospel) the 
 glory of the Lord, &c. 2 Cor. iii. 15. But unbelieving 
 doubts and feUrs will make the hand tremble and th» 
 sight dim. 
 
i50 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Tlie Pilgrims meet with Ignorance. — The Rohhery of Little-faith related. — Christian and 
 
 Hopeful caught in the net. 
 
 And I slept and dreamed again, and saw the 
 Bame two pilgrims going down the mountains, 
 along the highway towards the city. Now a 
 little before these mountains on the left hand, 
 lieth the country of Conceit,* from which 
 ( ouutry there comes into the way in which the 
 ^lilgrims walked, a little crooked, lane. Here 
 therefore they met with a very brisk lad, that 
 came out of that country, and his name was 
 Ignorance. So Christian asked him from what 
 parts he came, and whither he was going. 
 
 Ignorance. Sir, I was born in the country 
 that lieth off there a, little on the left hand, 
 and am going to the Celestial City. 
 
 Christian. But how do you think to get in at 
 the gate ? for you may find some difficulties 
 there. 
 
 As other good people do, said he. 
 
 Christian. But what have you to show at 
 that gate, that may cause that gate to be opened 
 to you? 
 
 Ignorance. I know my Lord's will, and have 
 been a good liver ; I pay every man his own ; 
 I pray, fast, pay tithes, and give alms, and have 
 ■ left my country for whither I am going.f 
 
 Christian. But thou earnest not in at the 
 Wicket-gate that is at the head of this way ; 
 thou camest in hither through that same 
 crooked lane, and therefore I fear, however 
 thou mayest think of thyself, when the reckon- 
 ing-day shall come, thou wilt have laid to thy 
 charge, that thou art a thief and a robber, in- 
 stead of getting admittance into the city. 
 
 Ignorance. Gentlemen, ye be utter strangers 
 to me, I know you not; be content to follow 
 the religion of your country, and I will follow 
 the religion of mine. I hope all will be well.' 
 And, as for the gate you t-alk of, all the world 
 knows, that that is a great way off of our coun- 
 try. I cannot think that any nien in all our 
 
 * This pountry we were all born in j and are all by 
 nature darkness. Some live long in the country of 
 Conceit, and many end their days in it. Are you 
 come out of it ? So was Ignorance ; but he breathed 
 his native air. So long as any sinner thinks he can 
 do anything towards making himself righteous before 
 God, his name is Ignorance, he is full of self-conceit, 
 and destitute of the faith of Christ. 
 
 •f Is it not very common to hear professors thus ex- 
 prosff themselves ? Yes, and many who make a very 
 
 parts do so much as know the way to it, nor 
 need they matter whether they do or no; since 
 we have, as you see, a fine pleasant green lane, 
 that comes down from our country the nearest 
 way. 
 
 When Christian saw that the man was wise 
 in his own conceit, he said to Hopeful whis- 
 peringly, " There is more hope of a fool than 
 of him," (Prov. xxvi. 12;) and said moreover, 
 " When he that is a fool walketh by the way, 
 his wisdom faileth him, and he saith to every 
 one that he is a fool." Eccles. x. 2. What, 
 shall we talk further with him, or outgo him 
 at present, and so leave him to think of what 
 he hath heard already, and then stop again for 
 him afterwards, and see if by degrees we can 
 do any good by him ? Then said Hopeful, 
 
 *'Let Ignorance a little while now muse 
 On what is said, and let him not refuse 
 Crood counsel to embrace, lest he remain 
 Still ignorant of what's the chiefest gain. 
 God saith, those that no understanding have. 
 Although he made them, them will he not save.". 
 
 He further added. It is not good, I think, to 
 say to him all at once ; let us pass him by, if 
 you will, and talk to him anon, even as he la 
 able to bear it." 
 
 So they both went on, and Ignorance he 
 came after. Now when they had passed him 
 a little way, they entered into a very dark lane, 
 where they met a man whom seven devils had 
 bound with seven strong cords, and were car- 
 rying him back to the door that they saV pn 
 the side of the hill. Matt. xii. 45 ; Prov. v. 22. 
 Now good Christian began to tremble, and so 
 did Hopeful his companion ; yet as the devils 
 led away the man. Christian looked to see^if 
 he knew him ; and he though it might be one 
 Turn-away, that dwelt in the town of Apos- 
 J—— 
 
 high profession too ; their hopes are plainly grounded 
 upon what they are in themselves, and how they differ 
 from their former selves and other sinners, instead of 
 what Christ has made us, and what we are in Christ. 
 But the profession of such is begun with an ignorant, 
 whole, self-righteous heart; it is continued in pride, 
 self-seeking, and self-exalting, and ends in awful dis- 
 appointment. For such are called by our Lord thievei 
 and robbers ; they rob him of the glory of his graj^ 
 and the efl&oaoy of his precious blood. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 15] 
 
 lACf. But he did not perfectly see his face ; 
 for he' did hang his head like a thief that is 
 found. But being gone past, Hopeful looked 
 after him, and espied on his back a paper with 
 this inscription, " Wanton professor and dam- 
 nable apostate." * Then said Christian to his 
 fellow. Now, I call to remembrance that which 
 Wiis told me, of a thing that happened to a 
 good man hereabout. The name of the man 
 was Little-faith, but a good man, and he dwelt 
 in the town of Sincere. The thing was this : 
 — ^At ihe entering in at this passage, there 
 cornea down from Broad-way gate, a lane, 
 called Dead-man's lane; so called, because of 
 the murders that are commonly done there; 
 , and this Little-faith, going on pilgrimage, as 
 we do now, chanced to sit down, there and 
 slept; now there happened at that time to 
 come down the lane from Broad-way gate, 
 three sturdy rogues, and their names were 
 Faint-heart, Mistrust, and Guilt, three broth- 
 ers; and they espying Little-faith where he 
 was, came galloping up with speed. Now the 
 good man was just awake from his sleep, and 
 was getting up to go on his journey. So they 
 all came up to him, and with threatening lan- 
 guage bid him stand. At this Little-faith 
 looked as white as a clout, and had neither 
 power to fight nor flee. Then said Faint-heart, 
 " Deliver thy purse ;" but he making no haste 
 to do it, (for he was loth to lose his money,) 
 Mistrust run up to him, and thrusting his hand 
 into his pocket, pulled out thence a bag of sil- 
 ver. Then he cried out, " Thieves 1 thieves !" 
 With that Guilt, with a great club thkt was in 
 his hand, struck Little-faith on the head, and 
 with that blow felled him flat to the ground ; 
 wliere he lay bleeding, as one that would bleed 
 to death. All this while the thieves stood by. 
 But at last, they hearing that some were upon 
 
 * Oh beware of a light, trifling spirit, and a wanton 
 behaviour. It is often the forerunner of apostaoy 
 from God. It makes one tremble to' hear those who 
 profess to follow Christ in the regeneration crying, 
 What harm is there in this game, and the other diver- 
 iiuD ? They plainly discover what spirit they are got 
 iato. The warmth of love is gone, and they are be- 
 come cold, dead, and carnal. Oh how many instances 
 3f these abound ! 
 
 •j* Where there is a faint heart in God's cause, and 
 mistrust of God's truths, hero will be guilt in the con- 
 science, and a dead faith in the heart; and these 
 rogues will prevail over, and rob such souls of the 
 comforts of God's love and of Christ's salvation. Oh 
 how many are overtaken by these in sleepy fits and 
 careless frames, and plundered! Learn to be wise 
 from the things others have suffered. 
 
 the road, and fearing lest it sh(,uid lie one 
 Great-grace, that dwells in the city of Good- 
 confidence, they betook themselves to their 
 heels, and left this good man to shift for him- 
 self, who, getting up, made shift to scramble 
 on his way. This was the story .f 
 
 Hopefid. But did they take from him all that 
 ever he had ? 
 
 Christian. No : the place where his jewels 
 were, they never ransacked ; so those he kept 
 still. But, as I was told, the good man was 
 much afflicted for his loss ; for the thieves got 
 most of his spending-money. That which 
 they got not, as I said, were jewels; also, he 
 had a, little odd money left, but scarce enough 
 to bring him to his journey's end, (1 Pet. iv. 
 18 ;) nay, if I was not misinformed, he was 
 forced to beg as he went, to keep himself alive, 
 (for his jewels J he 'might not sell.) But beg 
 and do what he could; "he went,'' as we say, 
 " with many a h^ungry belly," the most part of 
 the rest of the way. 
 
 Hopeful. But is it not a wonder they got not 
 from him his certificate by which he was to re- 
 ceive his admittance at the celestial gate ? 
 
 Christian. It is a wonder : but they got not 
 that ; though they missed it not through any 
 good cunning of his ; for he, being dismayed 
 with their coming upon him, had neither 
 l^ower nor skill to hide anything, so it was 
 more by good providence than by his endeav- 
 our, that they Inissed of that good thing. || 
 2Tim. i. 14; 2 Pet. ii. 9. 
 
 Hopeful. But it must needs be a comfort to 
 him, that they got not his jewels from him ? 
 
 Christian. It might have been great comfort 
 to him, had he used it as he should ; but they 
 who told me the story, said, that he made but 
 little use of it all the rest of the way; and 
 that, because of the dismay that he had in the 
 
 |,By his jewels we may understand those imparted 
 graces of the Spirit, Faith, Hope, and Love. By his 
 spending-money, understand the sealing and earnest 
 of the Spirit in his heart. 2 Cor. i. 22. Of this divine 
 assurance and the sense of the peace and joj of the 
 Holy Ghost, he was robbed, so that, though he still 
 went on in the ways of the Lord, yet he dragged on 
 but heavily and uncomfortably; and was not hap- 
 py in himself. Oh how much evil and distress 
 are brought upon us by neglecting to watch and 
 pray! 
 
 II What was this good thing ? His faith, whoss 
 author, finisher, and object is Jesus. And where ha 
 gives this gift of faith, though it be but little, even as 
 a grain of mustard-seed, if exercised by the possessor, 
 not all the powers of earth and hell can rob the heart 
 of it. 
 
152 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WOUKS. 
 
 taking a\vay his money Indeed he forgot it a 
 greater part of the res . of his journey ; and, 
 besides, wlien at any lime it came into his 
 mind, and he began to be comforted therewith, 
 then would fresh thoughts of his loss come 
 again upon him, and those thoughts would 
 swallow up all. 
 
 Hopeful. Alas, poor man ! this could not but 
 be a great grief unto him? 
 
 Claistian. Grief ! ay, a grief indeed. Would 
 it not have been so to any of us, had we been 
 used as he, to be robbed and wounded too, and 
 that in a strange place, as he was? It is a 
 wonder he did not die with grief, poor heart : 
 I was told he scattered almost all the rest of 
 the way, with nothing but doleful and bitter 
 complaints: telling. also to all" who overtook 
 him, or that he overtook in the way as he 
 went, where he was robbed, and how; who 
 they were that did it, and what he lost; how 
 he was wounded, and that he. hardly escaped 
 with his life.* 
 
 Hupefid. But it is a wonder that his neces- 
 sity did not put him upon selling or pawning 
 some of his jewels, that he might have where- 
 with to relieve himself in his journey. 
 
 Christian. Thou talkest like one upon whose 
 head is th^ shell to this very day: for what 
 should he pawn' them? or to whom should he 
 sell them? In all that country where he was 
 robbed, his jewels were not accounted of; nor 
 did he want that relief which could from 
 thence be administered to him. Besides, had 
 his jewels been missing at the gate of the 
 Celestial City, he, had (and that he knew well 
 enough) been excluded from an inheritance 
 there, and that v/ould have been worse to him 
 than the appearance and villainy of ten thou- 
 sand thieves. 
 
 Hopeful.. Why art thou so tart, my brother? 
 Esau sold his birthright, and that for a mess 
 of pottage, (Heb. xii. 16;) and that birthright 
 was his greatest jewel : and, if he, why might 
 not Little-faith do so too ? 
 
 Christian. Esau did sell his birthright in- 
 deed, and so do many besides, and by so doing, 
 exclude themselves from the chief blessing: 
 as also that caitiff did: but you must put a 
 difi'erence betwixt Esau and Little-faith, and 
 also betwixt their estates. Esau's birthright 
 was typical, but Little-faith's jewels were not 
 
 * Here is a discovery of true, though it be but little 
 faith. It mourns its loss of God's presence, and the 
 comforts of his Spirit, and laments its folly for sleep- 
 ing, when it should have been watching and praying. 
 He that pines under the sense of the loss of Christ's 
 
 SO. Esau's belly was his god, but Little-faith'g 
 belly was not so. Esau's want lay in his fleshly 
 appetite. Little-faith's did not so. Besides, 
 Esau could see no further than to the fulfilling 
 of his lust: "For«I am at the point to die," 
 said he, "and what good will this birthright 
 do me?" Gen. xxv. 29, 34. But Little-faith, 
 though it was his lot to have but 'a little faith, 
 was by his little faith kept from -such extrava- 
 gancies, and made to see and prize his jewels 
 more than to sell them as Esau did his birth- 
 right. You read not anywhere that Esau had 
 faith, no, not so much as a little; therefore no 
 marvel, if where the flesh only bears sway, (a* 
 it will in that man where no faith is, to resist,) 
 if he sells his birthright and his soul and all, 
 and that to the devil of hell: for it is with 
 such as it is with the ass, •' who in her occa- 
 sions cannot be turned away," (Jer. ii. 24;) 
 when their minds are set upon their lusts, they 
 will have them, whatever they cost. But Little- 
 faith was of another temper, his mind was on 
 things divine; his livelihood was upon things 
 that were spiritual and from above ; therefore, 
 to what end should he that is of such a temper 
 sell his jewels (had there been any that would 
 have bought them) to fill his mind with empty 
 things! Will a man give a penny to fill his 
 lielly witb hay? or can you persuade the 
 turtle-dove to live upon carrion like the crow? 
 Though faithless ones can, for carnal lusts, 
 pawn or mortgage, or sell what they have, and 
 themselves outright to boot, yet they that have 
 faith, saving faith, though but little of it, can- 
 not do so. Here, therefore, my brother, is thy 
 mistake. 
 
 Hopeful. I acknowledge it; but yet your 
 severe reflections had almost made me angry. 
 
 Christian. Why I did but compare thee to 
 some of the birds that are of the brisker sort, 
 who will run to and fro in untrodden paths, 
 with the shell upon their heads ; but pass by 
 that, and consider the matter under debate 
 and all shall be well betvpixt thee and me. ' 
 
 Hopeful. But, Christian, these three fellows, 
 I am persuaded in my heart, are but a company 
 of cowards; would they have ran else, think 
 you, as they did, at the noise of one that was 
 coming on the road? Why did not Little- 
 faith pluck up a greater heart? he might, 
 methinks, have stood one brush with them, 
 
 love, has faith in his heart, and a measure of love to 
 Christ in his soul; though he goes on his way weep- 
 ing) y^t he shall find joy in the end. Sou', be on thy 
 watch-tower, lest thou ■ sleep the sleep of eternal 
 death. 
 

 TTMEW S*1I' ¥MIE SHIEirKlEIRDS OWE TO AWOTMER lETT US HERE 8MEW:' THiE PILCRIMS 
 ITME GATES OF TME CEIESTIAB. CITY. If TMEY HAVE SKILILTO LOOK TOR-CSUCH OUB 
 PROSPECTIVE class" 
 
TITE PILGBUPS PBOORESS. 
 
 153 
 
 and have yielded, when there had been no 
 remedy. * 
 
 Chrigtian. That they are cowards many have 
 said, but few have found it so in the time of 
 trial. As for a great heart, Little-faith had 
 none; and I perceived by thee, my brother, 
 hadst thou been the man concerned, thou art 
 but for a brush, and ihen to yield. And verily, 
 since this is the height of thy stomach, now 
 they are at a distance from us, should they ap- 
 pear to thee, as they did to him, they might 
 put thee to second thoughts.^ 
 
 But consider again, they are but journeymen 
 thieves, they serve under the Icing of the bot- 
 tomless pit; who, if need be, will come to 
 their aid himself, and his voice is as the roar- 
 ing of a lion. 1 Pet. v. 8. I myself have been 
 engaged as this Little-faith was; and I found 
 it a terrible thing. These three villaftis set 
 upon me, and I beginning like a Christian to 
 resist, they gave out a call, and in came their 
 master: I would, as the saying is, have given 
 my life for a penny; but that, as God would 
 have it, I was clothed with armour of proof 
 Ay, and ' yet though I was so harnessed, I 
 found it hard work to quit myself like a man : 
 no man can tell what in that combat attends 
 us, but he that hath been in the battle him- 
 
 selft 
 
 Hopeful. Well, but they ran, you see, when 
 they did but suppose that one Great-grace was 
 in the way. 
 
 Christian. True, they have often fled, both 
 they and their master, when Great-grace hath 
 appeared; and no marvel, for he is the King's 
 champion ; but, I trow, you will put some dif- 
 ference between Little-fiiith and the King's 
 champion. All the King's subjects are not his 
 
 * Ah ! how easy is it to talk when enemies are out 
 of Bight ! We too often wax valiant in our own esteem, 
 when wc have constant need to humbje ourselves under 
 the mighty hand of God, knowing what mere nothings 
 wo are of ourselves. It makes a Christian speak tartly 
 when one sees self-cxaltings in another. Paul fre- 
 quently speaks thus, fropi warm zeal for Christ's glory, 
 and strong love to the truth as it is in Jesus. 
 
 I Who can stand in the evil day of temptation, 
 when beset with Faint-heart, Mistrust, and Guilt, 
 backed by the power of their master, Satan ? No one, 
 unless armed with the whole armour of God: even 
 then the power of such infernal foes makes it a hard 
 fight to the Christian. But this is our glory, the 
 Lord shall fight for us, and we shall hold our peace; 
 we shall be silent as to ascribing any glory to our- 
 eelves, knowing our very enemies are part of our- 
 selves, and that we are more than conquerors over all 
 tlese (only) hrough H'v who loved us. Rom. viii. 27. 
 
 champions; nor can they, when tried, do such 
 feats of war as he. Is it meet to think that a 
 little child should handle Goliah as David 
 did? or that there should be the strength of an 
 ox in a wren? Some are strong, some are 
 weak : some have great faith, some have little; 
 this man was one of the weak, and therefore 
 he went to the wall.J 
 
 Hopeful. I would it had been Great-gtace 
 for his sake. 
 
 Chrigtian. If it had been he, he might have 
 had his hands full :' for I must tell you, that 
 though Great-grace is excellent good at his 
 weapon, and has, and can, so long as he keeps 
 them at sword's point, do well enough with 
 them, yet if they get within him, even Faint- 
 heart, Mistrust, or the other, it will go hard 
 but that they will throw up his heels: and 
 when a man is down, you know, what can he 
 do? 
 
 Whoso looks well upon Great-grace's face, 
 shall see those scars and cuts there that shall 
 easily give demonstration of whp,t I say. 
 Yea, once I heard that he should say, {and 
 that when he was in the combat.) " We de- 
 spaired even of life." || How did these sturdy 
 rogues and their fellows make David groan, 
 mourn, and roar ? Yea, Heman and Hezekiah 
 too, though champions in their days, were 
 forced to bestir them when by these assaulted ; 
 and yet, notwithstanding, they had their coats 
 soundly brushed by them. Peter, upon a time, 
 would go try what he could do; but, though 
 some do say of him that he is the prince of 
 the apostles, they handled him so, that they 
 made him at last afraid of a sorry girl. 
 
 Besides, their king is at their whistle; he is 
 never out of hearing ; and if at any time they 
 be put up to the worst, he, if possible, comes 
 
 J Pray mind this, ye lambs of the flock, whose 
 knowledge is small, and whose faith is weak ; oh never 
 think the God ye believe in, the Saviour ye follow, is 
 an austere master, who expects more from you th.in 
 ye are able. When he calls for your service, look to 
 him for strength; expect all power and strength for 
 every good work out of the fulness of Christ; the 
 more you receive from him, the more you will grow up 
 in him, and be devoted to him. 
 
 II Now here you see what is meant by Great-grace, 
 who is so often mentioned in this book, and" by whom 
 so many valiant things were done. We read, " With 
 great power the apostles witnessed of the resurrec- 
 tion of Jesus." Why was it ? Because " Great graco 
 was upon them all." Acts iv. 33. So you .see all is of 
 grace, fronj first to last, in salvation. If we do great 
 things for Christ, yet not unto us, but unto the greal 
 grace of our Lord be all the glory. 
 
154 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 in to help them : and of him it is said, " The 
 BwOrd of him that layeth at him cannot hold ; 
 ^ the spear, the dart, nor the habergeon ; he 
 esteemeth iron as straw, and brass as rotten 
 wood : the arrow cannot make him flee, sling- 
 stones are turned with hira into stubble ; darts 
 are counted as stubble; he laugheth at the 
 shaking of the spear." Job xli. 26-29. What 
 can a man do in this case ? It is true, if a man 
 cc^uld at every turn have Job's horse, and had 
 skill and courage to ride him, he might do 
 notable things : for " his neck is clothed with 
 thunder ; he will not be afraid as a grasshop- 
 per ; the glory of his nostrils is terrible ; he 
 paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his 
 strength, he goeth on to meet the armed men : 
 he mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted, 
 neither turneth he back from the sword ; the 
 quiver rattleth against him, the glittering spear 
 and the shield : he swalloweth the ground with 
 fierceness and rage, neither believeth he that 
 it is the sound of the trumpet. He saith 
 among the trumpets, Ha, ha ; and he smelleth 
 the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains 
 and the shoutings." Job xxxix. 19-25. 
 
 But for such footmen as thee and I are, let 
 us never desire to meet with an enemy, nor 
 vaunt as if we could do better, when we hear 
 of others that they have been foiled ; nor be 
 tickled at the thought of our own manhood, 
 for such commonly come by the worst when 
 tried. Peter, of whom I made mention before, 
 he would swagger, ay, he would ; he would, as 
 his vain mind prompted him to say, do better, 
 and stand more for his Master than all men : 
 but who so foiled and run down by those vil- 
 lains as he?* 
 
 When therefore we hear that such robberies 
 are done on the King's highway, 'two things 
 become us to do : first, to go out harnessed, and 
 to be sure to take a shield with us ; for it was 
 for want of that, that he that laid so lustily at 
 Leviathan, could not make him yield ; for, in- 
 deed, if that be wanted, he fears us not at all. 
 
 ^* From this sweet and edifying conversation, learn 
 not to think more highly of yourself than you ought 
 to think ; but to think soberly, according to the meas- 
 ure of faith which God hath dealt to you. Rom. xii. 3. 
 Now it is of the very essence of faith to lead us out 
 of all self-confidence and vain vaunting. For we 
 know not how soon Faint-heart, Mistrust, and G-uilt, 
 may spring up in us, and if not found in the exercise 
 of faith, will rob us of our comforts, and spoil our joys, 
 
 j- But how contrary to this, is the walk and conduct 
 of some who profess to be pilgrims, and yet can wil- 
 fully and deliberately go upon the devil's ground, 
 and indulge themselves in carna' pleasures and sinful 
 
 Therefore, he that had skill hath said, "alove 
 all, take the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall 
 be able to quench all the fiery darts of the 
 wicked." Eph. vi. 16. 
 
 It is good also that we desire of the King a 
 convoy, that he will go with us himself. This 
 made David rejoice when in the Valley of the 
 Shadow of Death ; and Moses was rather for 
 dying where he stood, than to go on one 
 step without his God. Ex. xxxiii. 15. O my 
 brother, if he will but go along with us, what 
 need we be afraid of ten thousand that shall 
 set themselves against us? but without him 
 " the proud helpers fall under the slain." f Ps 
 iii. 5, 8 ; xxxvii. 1, 3; Isa. x. 4. 
 
 I for my part, have been in the fray before 
 now ; and though through the goodness of Him 
 that is best, I am, as you see, alive, yet I can- 
 not boast of my 'manhood. GJad shall I be if 
 I meet with no more such brunts ; though I 
 fear we are not got beyond all danger. How- 
 ever, since the lion and the bear have not as 
 yet devoured me, I- hope God will deliver Tia 
 from the next uncircumcised Philistines. Then 
 sang Christian : 
 
 " Poor Little-faith ! hast been among the thieves j 
 "V^ast robb'd : Remember this, whoso believes, 
 And get more faith, then shall you victors be 
 Over ten thousands, else scarce over three." 
 
 So they went on, and Ignorance followed. 
 They went then till they came at a place where 
 they saw a way put itself intb their way,J and 
 seemed withal to lie as straight as the way 
 which they should go ; and here they knew not 
 which of the two to take, for both seemed 
 straight before them ; therefore here they stood 
 still to consider. And as they were thinking 
 about the way, behold, a man of black flash, 
 hut covered with a very light robe, came to 
 them, and asked them why they stood there? 
 They answered. They were a-going to the 
 Celestial City, but knew not which of these 
 ways to take. "Follow me," said the man, 
 
 diversions ! Such evidently declare in plain language, 
 that they desire not the presence of God, but that he 
 sbouldsdepart from them; but a day will come, which 
 will burn as an oven, when suoh professors, if they 
 repent not, shall become stubble, and be consumed by 
 the fire of God. 
 
 J By this way and a way, it is plain the author means 
 the way of self-righteousness, and the way of the im- 
 puted righteousness of Christ. Whenever we turn 
 aside to the former, we get out of the way to the 
 city ; yea, we see by degrees the pilgrims' faces were 
 turned away from it, and they were entatjgled in th« 
 net of pride and folly. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROOBESS. 
 
 J 55 
 
 "it ia thither that I am going." So they fol- 
 lowed him in the way that but now came into 
 the road, which by degrees turned, and turned 
 them 80 from the city that they desired to go 
 to that in a little time their faces were turned 
 away from it : yet they followed him. But by 
 and by, before they were aware, he led them 
 both within the compass of a net, in which 
 they were both so entangled, that they knew 
 not what to do ; and with that the white robe 
 fell off from the black man's back : they then 
 saw where they were. Wherefore there they 
 lay crying some time, for they could not get 
 themselves out.* 
 
 Then said Christian to his fellow; Now do I 
 see myself in an error. Did not the shepherds 
 bid us beware of the flatterer? ? As is the say- 
 ing of the wise man, so have we found it this 
 day, "A man that flattfereth his neigtbour, 
 spreadeth a net for his feet." Prov. xxix. 5. 
 
 Hopeful. They also gave us a note of direc- 
 tions about the way, for our more sure finding 
 thereof; but herein we have also forgotten to 
 read, and have not kept ourselves from the 
 "paths of the destroyer." Here David was 
 wiser than we ; for saith he, " concerning the 
 works of men, by the word of thy lips, I have 
 kept me from the paths of the destroyer." Ps. 
 xvii. 4. Thus they lay bewailing themselves 
 in the net. At last they spied a shining onef 
 coming towards them, with a whip of small 
 cord in his hand. When he was come to the 
 place where they were, he asked them whence 
 they came, and what they did there ? They 
 told him, that they were poor pilgrims going 
 to Zion, but were led out of their way by a 
 black man clothed in white, who bid us, said 
 they, follow him, for he was going thither too. 
 
 * Luthor was wont to caution against the white 
 devil, as much as the blacli one ; for Satan transforms 
 himself into an angel of light, and his ministers as 
 ministers of righteousness. 2 Cqr. jci. H, 15. And 
 how do they ruin souls? By flattery, deceiving the 
 ignorant, and beguiling the unstable. These are 
 black men clothed in white, 
 
 f By this shining one understand the Holy Ghost, 
 the leader and guide of all who believe. When they 
 err and stray from Jesus the way, and are drawn from 
 him as the Truth, the Spirit comes with his rod of 
 conviction aud chastisement, to whip them from their 
 self-righteousness and folly, back to Christ, to trust 
 wholly in him, to rely only on him, and to walk in 
 fellowship with him. So he acted by the Galatian 
 Church, who was flattered into a notion of self-right- 
 
 Then said he with the whip. It is a Ilatterer, 
 " a false apostle, thst hath transformed himself 
 into an angel oTliglt." 2 Cor. xi.l3, 14; Dan 
 xi. 32. So he rent the net, and let the men 
 out. Then said he to them. Follow me, that I 
 may set you in the way again : so he led them 
 back to the way which they had left to follow 
 the Flatterer. Then he asked them, saying, 
 Where did you lie the last night? They said, 
 With the shepherds upon the Delectable Moun- 
 tains. He asked them then, if they had not a 
 note of direction for the way ? They answered. 
 Yes. But did you, said he, when you were at 
 a stand, pluck out and read your note ? They 
 answered. No. He asked them, Why ? They 
 said, they forgot. He asked, moreover, If the 
 shepherds did not bid them beware of the Flat- 
 terer ? They answered, Yes ; but we did not 
 imagine, said they, that this fine-spoken man 
 had been he. Eom. xvi. 17, 18. 
 
 Then I saw in my dream, that he com- 
 manded them to lie down, (Deut. xxix. 2,) 
 which when they did, he chastised them sore, 
 to teach them the good way wherein they 
 should walk, (2 Chron. vi 26, 27,) and as he 
 chastised them, he said, " As many as I love, I 
 rebuke and chasten ; be zealous, therefore, and 
 repent." Rev. iii. 19. This done, he bid them 
 go on their way, and take good heed to the 
 other directions of the shepherds. So they 
 thanked him for his kindness, and went softly 
 along the right way, singing : 
 
 " Come hither, you that walk along the way, 
 See how the pilgrims fare that go astray : 
 They catohed are in an entangling not, 
 
 ' 'Cause they good counsel lightly did forget; 
 *Tis true, they, rescu'd were; but yet you see. 
 They're scourg'd to boot : let this your caution be.'' 
 
 eousness and self-justification. David also, when' he 
 found himself near lost, cries out, — *' He restoreth 
 my soul, he Icadoth me in paths of righteousness for 
 his name's salce." Ps. xxiii. 3. 
 
 The following lines are very expressive of the state 
 of mind of any who, by giving place to unbelief, may 
 have turned aside from the narrow way : — 
 
 Often thus, through sin's deceit. 
 Grief, and shame, and loss I meet 
 Like a fish, my soul mistook. 
 Saw the bait, but not the hook. 
 Made by past experience wise, 
 Let me learn thy word to prize; 
 Taught by what I've felt before, 
 Satan's flattery to abhor. 
 
156 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 The Pilgmns meet with Atheist, and pass over the Enchanted Ground. 
 
 Now after a while, they perceived afar off, 
 one coming softly, and alone, all along the 
 highway, to meet them. Then said Christian 
 to his fellow, Yonder is a man with his back 
 towards Zion, and he is coming to meet us. 
 
 Hopeful. I see him; let us take heed to 
 ourselves now, lest he should prove a flat- 
 ' teref also. So he drew nearer and nearer, 
 and at last came up to them. His name was 
 Atheist: and he asked them whither they 
 were going? 
 
 Christian. We are going to. Mount Zion. 
 
 Then Atheist fell into a very great laughter. 
 
 Christian. What is the meaning of your 
 laughter? 
 
 'Atheist. I laugh to see what ignorant per- 
 sons you are, to take upon you so ridiculous a 
 journey ; and yet are like to have nothing but 
 your travel for your pains. 
 
 Christian. Why, man, do you think we shall 
 not be received ? 
 
 Atheist. Received ! there is no such place as 
 you dream of in all this world. 
 
 Chrhtian. But there is in the world to come. 
 
 Atheist. When I was at home, in mine own 
 country, I heard as you now affirm, and from 
 that hearing went out to see, and have been 
 seeking this city twenty years, but find no 
 more of it than I did the first day I set out. 
 Eccles. X. 15 ; Jer. xvii. 15. 
 
 Christian. We have both heard and believe ■> 
 that there is such a place to be found. 
 
 Atheist. Had not I, when at home, believed, 
 I had not come thus far to seek ; but finding 
 none, (and yet I should, had there been such 
 a place to be found, for I have gone to seek it 
 further than you,) I am going back again, and 
 will seek to refresh myself with the things that 
 I tnen cast away for hopes of that which I 
 now see is not. 
 
 Then said Christian to Hopeful, his com- 
 panion. Is it true which this man hath said ? 
 
 Hopeful. Take heed, he is one of the flat- 
 terers: remember what it hath cost us once 
 
 * See how we are surrounded with different ene- 
 mies. No sooner have they escaped the self-righteous 
 flatterer, but they meet with the openly profane and 
 licentious mocker. Ay, and he set out, and went far 
 too, yea, farther than they ; hut behold, he has 
 tamed his back upon all, and though he bad been 
 twenty years a seeker, yet now he proves he has 
 
 already, for our hearkening to such kind of 
 fellows. What! no Mount Zion? did we not 
 see from the Delectable Mountains the gate 
 of the city ? Also, are we not now to walk by 
 faith ? 2 Cor. v. 7. Let us go on, said Hope- 
 ful, lest the man with the whip overtake us 
 again.* You should have taught me that les- 
 son which I will sound in thy ears withal : 
 " Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that 
 causeth to err from the words of knowledge," 
 (Prov. xix. 27 ; Heb. x. 39 ;) I say, my brother, 
 cease to hear him, and let us believe to the 
 saving of the soul. 
 
 Christian. My brother, I did not put the 
 question to thee, for that I doubted of the 
 truth of your belief myself, but to prove thee, 
 and to fetch from thee a fruit of the honesty 
 of thy heart. As for this man, I know that 
 he is blinded by the god of this world. Let 
 thee ai]d 1 go on, knowing that we have belief 
 of the truth ; and " no lie is of the truth." 
 1 John ii. 21. 
 
 Hopeful. Now I do rejoice in the hope of the 
 glory of God. So they turned away from the 
 man, and he, laughing at them, went his way. 
 
 I saw then in my dream, that they went till ' 
 they came into a certain country, whose air 
 naturally tended to make one drowsy, if he 
 came a stranger into it. And here Hopeful be- 
 gan to be very dull and heavy of sleep : where- 
 fore he said unto Christian, I now begin to grow 
 so drowsy, that I can scarcely hold up mine 
 eyes ; let us lie down here and take one nap. 
 
 By no means, said the other; lest sleeping, 
 we never wake more. 
 
 Hopeful. Why, my brother? sleep is sweet 
 to the labouring man: we may be refreshed 
 if we take a nap. 
 
 Christian. Do you not remember that one 
 of the shepherds bid us beware of the Kn- 
 chanted Ground ? He meant by that, that we 
 should beware of sleeping ; " wherefore let us 
 not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be 
 sober." f 1 Thess. v. 6. 
 
 neither faith nor hope, hut ridicules all as delusion. 
 Awful to think of! Oh what a special mercy to be 
 kept believing and persevering, not regarding the 
 ridicule of apostates ! 
 
 f Christian, beware of sleeping on this en. 
 chanted ground !' When all things go easy, smooth, 
 and well, we are prone to grow drowsy in soul. How 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 157 
 
 Hopeful. I acknowledge myself in a fault; 
 and, hill I 1 been here alone, I had by sleeping 
 run the danger of death. I see it is true that 
 the wise man saith, " Two are better than one.'' 
 Eccles. iv. 9. Hitherto hath thy company been 
 my mercy ; and thou shalt '' have a good re- 
 ward for thy labour." 
 
 Now tl en, said Christian, to prevent drow- 
 uiness it this place, let us fall into good 
 discourse. 
 
 With all my heart, said the other. 
 
 Chrixtian. Where shall we begin? 
 
 Hop-ful. Where God began with us : but do 
 you begin if you please. 
 
 Christian. I will sing you first this song — 
 
 " When saints do eloepy grow, let them come hither, 
 And hear how these two pilgrims talk tog^her. 
 Yea, let them learn of them in any wise, 
 Thus to keep opo their drowsy, slumbering eyes. 
 Saints' fellowship, if it be manag'd well. 
 Keeps them awake, and that in spite of hell."* 
 
 Then Christian began, and said, I will ask 
 you a question : .How came you to think at first 
 of doing what you do now? 
 
 Hopeful Do you mean, how came I at first 
 to look after the good of my soul ? 
 
 Chris/ inn. Yes, that is my meaning. 
 
 ILip<f:il. I continued a great while in the de- 
 light of those things which were seen and sold 
 at our fiiir ; things which I believe now would 
 have, had I continued in them still, drowned 
 me ill perdition and destruction. 
 
 Chrisfian. What things are they? 
 
 Hopeful. All the treasures and riches of the 
 world. Also, I delighted much in rioting, 
 revelling, drinking, swearing, lying, unclean- 
 ness, sabbath-breaking, and what not, that 
 tended to destroy the soul. But I found, at 
 last, by hearing and considering of things that 
 are divine, which indeed I heard of you, as 
 also of beloved Faithful, who was put to death 
 
 many are the calls in the world, against spiritual 
 slumber ! and yet how many profe.^'sors, through the 
 enchanting air of this world, are fallen into the deep 
 sleep of formality ! Be warned by them to cry to thy 
 Lord to keep thee awake to righteousness, and be vig- 
 orous in the ways of thy Lord. 
 
 * Observation fully evinces this truth, and when the 
 BOul slumbers, the tongue is mute to spiritual converse, 
 and the truths of Jesus freeze on the lips, while the 
 man is all car to hear, and all tongue to talk, of vain, 
 worldly, and trifling things. Beware of such sleepy 
 professors. You are in danger of catching the infec- 
 tion ; you are sure to get no spiritual edification from 
 thorn ; but he sure to be faithful in reproving them, 
 and prize the company of lively Christians. 
 
 for his faith and good living in Vanity Fair, 
 that " the end of these things is death ; " and 
 that " for these things' sake the wrath of God 
 Cometh upon the children of disobedience." 
 Eom. vi. 21, 23 ; Eph. v. 6. 
 
 Christian. And did you presently fall under 
 the power of this conviction ? 
 
 Hopeful. No ; I was not willing presently to 
 know the evil of sin, nor the damnation that 
 follows upon the commission of it, but endeav- 
 oured, when my mind at first began to be 
 shaken with the word, to shut mine eyes against 
 the light thereof. 
 
 Christian. But what was the cause of your 
 carrying of it thus to the first workings of God'a 
 blessed Spirit upon you ? 
 
 Hopeful. The causes were — 1. I was ignorant 
 that this was the work of God upon me. I 
 never thought that by awakenings for sin God 
 at first begins the conversion of a sinner. 2. 
 fciin was yet very sweet to my flesh, and I was 
 loth to leave it. 3. I could not tell how to part 
 with iny old companions, their presence and 
 actions were so desirable unto me. 4. The 
 hours in which convictions were upon me, were 
 such troublesome and such heart-affrighting 
 houra, that I could not bear, no, not so much 
 as the remembrance of them upon my heart.f 
 
 Christian. Then it seems, sometimes you got 
 relief of your trouble? 
 
 Hopeful. Yes, verily, but it would come into 
 my mind again, and then I would be as bad, 
 nay, worse than I was before. 
 
 Christian. Why, what was it that brought 
 your sins to mind again ? , 
 
 Hopeful. Many things : as, if I did but meet 
 a good man in the street ; or if I have heard 
 any read in the Bible ; or if mine head did 
 begin to ache ; or if I were told that some of 
 •my neighbours were sick; or if I heard the 
 bell toll for some that were dead ; or if I thought 
 of dying myself; or if I heard that suddeq 
 
 f Ilerffyou see, as our Lord says, "It is the Spirit 
 who quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing.'' John vi. 
 63. The flesh, or our carnal nature, is so far from 
 profiting in the work of conversion to Christ, that it is 
 at enmity against him, and counteracts and opposes 
 the Spirit's work in showing us our want of him, and 
 bringing us to him. , Man's nature and God's gi-ace 
 are two direct ojiposites. Nature opposes, but graca 
 subdues nature, and brings it to submission and sub- 
 jection. Are we truly convinced of sin and converted 
 to Christ ? This is a certain and sure evidence of it, — ■* 
 we shall say from our hearts, Not unto us, not unto 
 any yieldings and compliances of oar nature, free- 
 will, and power, but unto thy name, Lord, be all tbo 
 glory. 
 
158 
 
 bunyaN's complete works. 
 
 death happened tu others ; but especially when 
 1 thought of myself that I must quickly come 
 to judgment. 
 
 Christian. And could you at any time, with 
 ease, get off the guilt of sin, when by any of 
 these ways it came upon you ? 
 
 Hopeful. No, not I ; for then they got faster 
 hold of my conscience : and then, if I did but 
 think of going back to sin, (though my mind 
 was turned against it,) it would be double tor- 
 ment to me. 
 
 Christian. And how did you do then ? 
 
 Hopeful. I thought I must endeavour to mend 
 my life ; for else, thought I, I am sure to be 
 damned. 
 
 Christian. And did you endeavour to amend ? - 
 
 Hopeful. Yes; and fled from, not only my 
 sins, but sinful company too, and betook me to 
 religious duties, as praying, reading, weeping 
 for sin, speaking truth to my neighbours, &c. 
 These things did I, with many others, too much 
 here to relate. 
 
 Christian. And did you think yourself well 
 then? 
 
 Hopeful. Yes, for a while ; but at the last my 
 trouble came tumbling upon me again, and that 
 over the neck of all my reformation. 
 
 Christian. How came that about, since you 
 were now reformed ? 
 
 Hopeful. There were several things brought 
 it upon me ; especially such sayings as these : 
 "All our righteousnesses areas iilthy rags:" 
 " By the works of the law no man shall be jus- 
 tified : " " When ye have done all these things, 
 say. We are unprofitable,'' (Isa. Ixiv. 6 ;■ Luke 
 xvii. 10; Gal. ii. 16;) with many more such 
 like.» From whence I began to reason with 
 myself thus : If all my righteousnesses are as 
 filthy rags ; if by the deeds of the law no man 
 can be justified; and if, when we have done 
 all, we are unprofitable — then it is but a folly 
 to think of heaven by the . law. I further 
 thought thus : If a man runs a hundred pounds 
 into a shop-keeper's debt, and after that shall 
 pay for all that he shall fetch — ^yet, if this old 
 iebt stands still in the book uncrossed, for that 
 
 * Thus you see in conversion, the Lord does not act 
 upon T}S by force and compulsion, as though we were 
 inanimate stocks or stones, or irrational animals, or 
 mere machines. No. We have understanding. He 
 enlightens it. Then we come to a sound mind : we 
 think right, and reason justly. We have wills : what 
 the understanding judges best the will approves, and 
 then the affections follow after; and thus we choose 
 Christ for our Saviour, and glory only in his mercy 
 and salvation. When the heavenly light of truth 
 makes manifest what we are, and the danger we are 
 
 the shop-keeper may sue him, and cast him 
 into prison till he shall pay the debt. 
 
 Christian. Well, and how did you apply tnia 
 to yourself? 
 
 Hopeful. Why, I thought thus with myself: 
 I have by my sins run a great way into God's 
 book, and that my now reforming will not pay 
 off that score ; therefore I should think still, 
 under all my present amendments, " But how 
 Shall I be freed from that damnation that I 
 brought myself in danger of by my fcrniel 
 transgressions ?" 
 
 Christian. A very good application : but pi ay 
 go on. 
 
 Hopeful., Another thing that hath troubled 
 me, even since my late amendment, is, that if 
 I look narrowly into the best of what I now 
 do, I still see. sin, new sin, mixing itself with 
 the best of that I do : so that now I am forced 
 to conclude that, notwithstanding my former 
 fond conceits of myself and duties, I have 
 committed sin enough in one day to send me 
 to hell, though my former life had been fault- 
 less.* 
 
 Christian. And what did you do then ? 
 
 Hopeful. Do ! I could not tell What to do, 
 till I broke my mind to Faithful ; for he and I 
 were well acquainted: and he told- me, that 
 unless I could obtain the righteousness of a 
 man that' never had sinned, neither my own, 
 nor all the righteousness of the world could 
 save me.f 
 
 Christian. And did you think he spake true? 
 
 Hopeful. Had he .told me so when I was 
 pleased and satisfied with mine own amend- 
 ment, I had called hirn fool for his pains ; but 
 now, since I see mine own infirmity, and the 
 sin which cleaves to my best performance, I 
 have been forced to be of his opinion. 
 
 Christian. But did you thiilk, when at first 
 he suggested it to you, that tliere was such a 
 man- to be found, of whom it might justly be 
 said, that he never committed sin ? 
 
 Hopeful. I must confess tlie words at first 
 sounded strangely : but after a little more talk 
 
 in, then wo should flee from the wrath to come, to 
 Christ the refuge set before us. 
 
 ■f Here is the touchstone,-to try whether conviction 
 and conversion are from the Spirit of truth or not. 
 Many talk of conviction and conversion, who are yet 
 unchanged in heart, and strong in confidence of a 
 righteousness of their own, or of being made righteous 
 in themselves, instead of looking solely to, and trust- 
 ing wholly in, the infinite mercy and blood of Christ 
 Jesus, and desiring to be found in him. All convic- 
 tion and conversion short of this, leaves the soul short 
 of Christ's righteousness, of hope, and of heaven 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROORESS. 
 
 159 
 
 and company with hira, I had full conviction 
 about it. 
 
 Christian. And did you ask him what man 
 this was, and how you must be justified by 
 him 7 Rom. iv. ; Col. i. ; Heb. x. ; 2 Pefj i. 
 
 Hopeful. Yes, and he told me it was the 
 Lord Jesus, that dwelleth on the right hand of 
 the Most High. And thus, said he, you must 
 be justified by him — even by trusting to what 
 he hath done by himself in the days of his 
 flesh, and suffered when he did hang on the 
 tree. I asked him further, how that man's 
 righteousness could be of that efficacy to justify 
 another before God ? And he told me, He was 
 the mighty God, did what he did, and died the 
 death also, not for himself, but for me, to whom 
 his doings and the worthiness of them should 
 be imputed, if I believed on him. • 
 
 Christian. And what did you do then ? 
 
 Hopeful. I made my objections against my 
 believing, for that I thought he was not willing 
 to save me. 
 
 Christian. And what said Faithful to you 
 then? 
 
 Hopeful. He bid me go to him and see. 
 Then I said it was presumption. He said. No, 
 for I was invited to come. Matt. xi. 28. Then 
 he gave me a book of Jesus' inditing, to en- 
 courage me the more freely to come : and he 
 said, concerning that book, that every jot and 
 tittle thereof stood firmer than heaven and 
 earth. Matt. xxiv. 35. Then I asked him what 
 I must do when I came. And he told me, I 
 must entreat upon my knees, (Ps. xcv. 6; Jer. 
 xxix. 12, 13 ; Dan. vi. 10,) with all my heart 
 and soul, the Father to reveal him to me. 
 Then I asked him further, how I must make 
 my application to him ? And he said. Go, and 
 thou shalt find hira upon a mercy-seat, (Ex. 
 XXV. 22; l/cv. xvi. 2; Heb. iv. 16,) where he 
 sits, all the year long, to give pardon and for- 
 giveness to them that come. I told him that I 
 knew not what to say when I came. And he 
 bid me say to this effect — " God, beimerciful to 
 me a sinner," and make me to know and be- 
 
 * Pray mind this. Tile grand object of a sensibie 
 BiDner is rigtitcousncss, (or holiness.) He has it not 
 in himself. This he knows. "Where is it to be found ? 
 In Christ only. This is a revealed truth ; and without 
 faith in this, every sinner must be lost. Consider, it 
 is at the peril of your souls, (hat you reject the right- 
 eousness of Christ, and do not believe that God imparts 
 it for the justification of the ungodly. ye stout- 
 hearted, self-righteous sinners, ye who are far from 
 righteousness, know this and tremble. 
 
 ■f There may be, and often are, very great discour- 
 agements found in every sinner's heart, when he first 
 
 lieve in Jesus Christ: for I see, that if his 
 righteousness had not been, or I have not faith 
 in that righteousness, I am utterly cast away.* 
 Lord, \ have heard that thou art a merciful 
 God, and hast ordained that thy son Jesus 
 Christ should be the Saviour of the world: 
 and, moreover, that thou art willing to bestow 
 him upon such a poor sinner as I am, (and I 
 am a sinner indeed I) Lord, take therefore this 
 Oppoi-tunity, and magnify thy grace in the sal- 
 vation of my soul, through thy son Jesua 
 Christ. Amen, 
 
 Christian. And did you do as you were bid- 
 den? 
 
 Hopeful Yes, over, and over, and over. 
 
 Christian. And did the Father reveal the Son 
 to you? 
 
 Hopeful. Not at first, nor second, nor third, 
 nor fourth, nor fifth, no, nor sixth time either.f 
 
 Christian. What did you do then ? 
 
 Hopeful. What? why I could not tell what 
 to do. 
 
 Christian. Had you not thoughts of leaving 
 off' praying? 
 
 Hopeful. Yes, and a hundred times twice told. 
 
 Christian. And what was the reason you did 
 not? 
 
 Hopeful. I believed that that was true which 
 had been told me, to wit, that without the 
 righteousness of this Christ, all the world 
 could not save me; and therefore, thought I 
 with myself. If I leave off' I die, and I can but 
 die at the throne of grace. And withal this 
 capie into my mind, " If it tarry, wait for it ; 
 because it will surely come, and will not tarry." 
 Hab. ii. 3. So I continued, until the Father 
 showed me his Son. J 
 
 Christian. And how was he revealed unto 
 you? 
 
 Hopeful. I did not see him with my bodily 
 eyes, but with the eyes of my understanding, 
 (Eph. i. 18, 19,) and thus it was : — One day I 
 was very sad, I think sadder than at any one 
 time of my life; and this sadness was through 
 a fresh sight of the greatness and vileness of 
 my sins. And as I was then looking for DOth- 
 
 begins to seek the Lord. But he has Christ's faithful 
 word of promise, " Seek and ye shall find," &o. Luke 
 xi. 9. 
 
 J The true nature of faith is, to believe and rest 
 upon the word of truth, and wait with humble fer- 
 vency of so»I for the promised eomfort. That faith 
 which is the gift of God, leads the soul to wait upon 
 and cry to God, and not to rest till it has some blessed 
 testimony from God, of interest in the love and favour 
 of God in Jesus Christ. But oh, how many professori 
 rest short of this ! 
 
160 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 ing but hell, and the everlasting damnation of 
 my soul, suddenly, as I thought, I saw the 
 Lord Jesus look down from ■ heaven upon me, 
 and saying, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 and thou shalt be saved." Acts xvi. 30, 31. 
 
 But I replied, " Lord, I am a great, a very 
 great sinner :" and he answered, " My grace is 
 sufficient for thee." Then I said, " But, Lord, 
 what is believing?" And then I saw from that 
 saying, "He that cometh to me shall never 
 hunger, and he that believeth on me shall 
 never thirst," (John vi. 35,) that believing and 
 coming was all one ; and that he that came, 
 that is, ran out in his heart and affection after 
 salvation by Christ, he indeed believed in 
 Christ. Then the water stood in mine eyes, 
 and I asked further, " But, Lord, may such a 
 great sinner as I am be indeed accepted of 
 thee, and be saved by thee?" And I heard 
 him say, " And him that cometh to me, I will 
 in no wise cast out." John vi. 37. Then I 
 said, " But how, Lord, must I consider of thee 
 in my coming to thee, that my faith may be 
 placed aright upon thee? Then he said, 
 " Christ came into the world to save sinners :" 
 " he is the end of the law for righteousness to 
 every one that believeth :" " he died for our 
 sins, and rose again for our justification :" "he 
 loved us, and washed us from our sins in his 
 own blood :" he is Mediator betwixt God and 
 
 us : "he ever liveth to make intercession for 
 us." 1 Tim. i. 15; Rom. x. 4; Heb. vii. 24, 25. 
 From all which I gathered, that I must look 
 for righteousness in his person,* and for satis- 
 facti|in for my sins by his blood ; that which 
 he did in obedience to his Father's law, and in 
 submitting to the penalty thereof, was not for 
 himself, but for him that will accept it for his 
 salvation, and be thankful. And now was my 
 heart full of joy, mine eyes full of tears, and 
 mine affections running over with love to the 
 name, people, and ways of Jesus Christ. 
 
 Christian. This was a revelation of Christ to 
 your soul indeed: but tell me particularly 
 what effect this had upon your spirit. . 
 
 Hopeful. It made me see that all the world, 
 notwithstanding all the righteousness thereof, 
 is in a state of condemnation : it made me see 
 that God the Father, though he be just, can 
 justly justify the coming sinner: it made me 
 greatly ashamed of the vileness of my former 
 life, and confounded me with the sense of mine 
 own ignorance ; for there never came thought 
 into my heart, before now, that showed me so 
 the beauty of Jesus Christ ; it made me love a 
 holy life, and long to do something for the 
 honour and glory of the Lord Jesus : yea, I 
 thought that, had I now a thousand gallons of 
 blood in my body, I could spill it all for the 
 sake of the Lord Jesus 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 The Pilgrims Jiave another conference with Ignorance. 
 
 I SAW then in my dream, that Hopeful looked 
 back and saw Ignorance, whom they had left 
 behind, coining after : took, said he to Chris- 
 tian, how far yonder youngster loitereth behind. 
 
 Christian. Ay, ay, I see him : he careth not 
 for our company. 
 
 Hopeful. But I trow it would not have hurt 
 him, had he kept pace with us hitherto. 
 
 Christiav) That is true ; but I'll warrant you 
 he thinketh otherwise. 
 
 Hopeful. That I think he doth : but, how- 
 ever, let us tarry for him. So they did. 
 
 Then Christian said to him, Come away, 
 man : why do you stay so behind ? 
 
 * Reader, never think that yoxi are fully convinced 
 of the whole truth; nor believe fully on Christ accord- 
 ing to the Scriptures, unless you have seen as much 
 need of Christ's glorious righteousness to justify, as 
 of his precious blood to pardon you. Both are re- 
 
 Ignorance. I take my pleasure in walking 
 alone, even more a great deal than in com- ' 
 pany ; unless I like it better. 
 
 Then said Christian to Hopeful, (but softly,) 
 Did not I tell you he cared not for our com- 
 pany, but, however, said he, Come up, and let 
 us talk away the time in this solitary place. 
 Then, directing his speech to Ignorance, he 
 said. Come, how do you? how stands it be- 
 tween God and your soul now? 
 
 Ignorance. I hope well, for I am always full 
 of good motions, that come into my mind to 
 comfort me as I walk.f 
 
 Christian. What good motions ? pray tell us. 
 
 voaled in the Gospel; both are the objects of faith ; by 
 both is the conscience pacified, the heart purified, the 
 soul justified, and Jesus glorified, in the heart, lip and 
 life, 
 ■j- Many sincere souls are often put to a stand, whiJ« 
 
THE PILORIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 161 
 
 Ifjiiornnce. Why I think of God and heaven. 
 
 Christian. So do the devils and damned souls. 
 
 Ignorance. But I tliink of them and desire 
 them. 
 
 Christian. So do many that are never like to 
 come there. " The soul of the sluggard desires, 
 and hath nothing." Prov. xiii. 4. 
 
 Ignorance. But I think of them, and leave 
 all for them. 
 
 Christian. That I doubt : for leaving of all 
 is an hard matter ; yea, a harder matter than 
 many are aware of. But why, or by what, art 
 thou persuaded that thou hast left all for God 
 and heaven? 
 
 Ignorance. My heart tells me so. 
 
 Chriatian. The wise man says, "He that 
 trusts his own heart is a fool." Prov. xxviii. 26. 
 
 Ignorance. This is spoken of an evil Ijeart ; 
 but mine is a gdbd one. 
 
 Christian. But how dost thou prove that? 
 
 Ignorance. It comforts me in hopes of heaven. 
 
 Christian. That may be through its deceit- 
 fulness; for a man's heart may minister cniu- 
 /ort to him in the hopes of that thing for 
 which he has yet no ground to hope. 
 
 Ignorance.. But my heart and life agree to- 
 gether; and therefore my hope is well grounded. 
 
 Christian. Who told thee that thy heart and 
 life agree together ? 
 
 Ignorance. My heart tells me. 
 
 Christian. "Ash my fcUow if I be a thief." 
 Thy heart tells thee so ! Except the v.'ord of 
 God beareth witness in this matter, other tes- 
 timony is of no value. 
 
 Ignorance. But is it not a good heart that 
 has good thoughts? and is not that a good life 
 that is according jLo God's commandments? 
 
 Chi-istian. Yes, that is a good heart that hath 
 good thoughts, and that is a good life that is 
 according to God's commandments ; but it is 
 one thing indeed to have these, and another 
 thing only to lli'ink sn. 
 
 Ignorance. Pray, what count you good 
 thoughts, and a life according to God's com- 
 mandments ? 
 
 they find and foci the workings of corruption in their 
 nature, and when they hear others tallc so highly of 
 thomselvcs without any complainings of the plague 
 of their hearts. But all this is from the ignorance of 
 their own hearts; and pride and self-righteousness 
 harden tEam against feeling its desperate wickedness. 
 But divine teaching causes a Christian to see, know, 
 and feel the worst of himself, that ho may glory of 
 nothing in or of him^f, but that all his glorying 
 should be of what precious Christ is to him, and what 
 be is in Christ. See the contrary of all this oxempli- 
 11 
 
 CItristian. There are good th. ughts of divem 
 kinds ; some respecting ourselves ; some, God ; 
 some, Christ ; and some, other things. 
 
 Ignorance. What be good thoughts respecting 
 ourselves ? 
 
 Christian. Such as agree with the word of 
 God. 
 
 Ignorance. When do our thoughts of our- 
 selves agree with the word of God ? 
 
 Christian. When we pass the same judgment 
 upon ourselves which the word passes. To 
 explain myself: the. word of God saith of per- 
 sons in a natural condition, "There is none 
 righteous, there is none that ddeth good." It 
 saith also, that " every imagination of the heart 
 of a man is only evil, and that continually." 
 Gen. vi. 5 ; Rom. iii. And again, " The im- 
 apritiation of man's heart is evil from his youth." 
 Now then, when we think thus of ourselves, 
 having spnse thereof, then are our thoughts 
 good ones, because according to the word of 
 God. 
 
 Ignorance. I will never believe that my heart 
 is thuK bad.* 
 
 Christian. Therefore thou never hadst one 
 good thought concerning thyself in thy life. 
 But let me go on. As the word passeth a 
 jurl'i-ment upon our heart, so it passeth a 
 jufl!j;ment upon our ways; and when the 
 tho\ights of our hearts and ways agree with the 
 judgment which the word giveth of both, then 
 are both good, because agreeing thereto. 
 
 Ignorance. Make out your meaning. 
 
 Christian. Why the word of God saith, that 
 man's ways are crooked ways, not good, but 
 perverse : it saith, they are naturally out of 
 the good way, that they have not known it. 
 Ps. cxxv. 5; Prov. ii. 15. Now when a man 
 thus tliinketh of his ways ; I say, when he doth 
 sensibly, and with heart-humiliation, thus 
 think, then hath he good thoughts of his own 
 ways, because his thoughts now. agree with the 
 judgment of the word of Ged. 
 
 Ignorance. What are good thoughts concern- 
 ing God? 
 
 ficd in Ignorance, in whom we behold, as in a mirror, 
 ma.ny professors who are strangers to their own hearts; 
 hence are deceived into vain self-conficenee. 
 
 * No ; no man naturally can. But this is a sure 
 sign that the light from heaven hath not yet shineii 
 into the heart, and made it manifest, how superla- 
 tively wicked 'the heart is, and consequently, how it 
 deceives ignorant professors with a notion of being 
 good in themselves, and keep? them from wholly rely- 
 ing upon Christ's atonement for pardon and juBtifie*- 
 tion unto life. 
 
162 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Christian. E.ven, as I have said concerning 
 ourselves, when our thoughts of God do agree 
 with what the word saith of him ; andithat is, 
 when we think of his heing and attributes as 
 the word hath taught ; of which I cannot now 
 discourse at large. But to speak of him in 
 reference to us ; then we have right thoughts 
 of God, when we think that he knows us better 
 than, we know ourselves, and can see sin in us, 
 when and where we can see none in ourselves : 
 when we think he knows our inmost thoughts, 
 and that our heart, with .all its depths, is al- 
 ways open unto his eyes : also when we think 
 that all our righteousness stinks in his nostrils, 
 and that therefore he cannot abide to see us 
 stand before him in any confidence, even in all 
 our best performances. 
 
 Ignorance. Do you think that I am such a 
 fool as to think God can see no further than I? 
 or that I would come to God in the best of my 
 performances? 
 
 Christian. Why, how dost thou think in this 
 matter ? 
 
 Ignorance. Why, to be short, I think I must 
 believe in Christ for justification. ' 
 
 Christian. How ? think thou must believe in 
 Christ when thou seest not thy need of him I 
 Thou neither seest thy original nor actual in- 
 . firmities ; but hast such an opinion of thyself, 
 and of what thou doest, as plainly renders 
 ■ thee to be one that did never see a necessity 
 of Christ's personal righteousness to justify 
 thee before God.* How then dost thou say, I 
 believe in Christ? 
 
 Ignorance. I believe well enough for all that. 
 
 Christian. How dost thou believe ? 
 
 Ignorance. I believe that Christ died for sin- 
 ners; and that I shall be justified before God 
 from the curse, through his gracious acceptance 
 
 ^ Here we see how naturally the notion of man's 
 righteousness blinds his eyes to, and keeps his heart 
 from believing, that Christ aloTie justifies a sinner in 
 the sight of God: and yet such talk of believing, but 
 their faith is only fancy. They do not believe unto 
 righteousneas, but i^lagine they have now, or shall get 
 a righteousness of their own, some how or other. 
 Awful delusion ! 
 
 t Here is the very essence of that delusion which 
 works by a lie, and so much prevails, and keeps up an 
 unsoriptural hope in the hearts of so many profes- 
 sors. Do, reader, study this point well j for here 
 seems to be a show of scriptural truth, while the 
 rankest poison lies concealed in it. For it is ut- 
 terly subversive of, and contrary to, the faith and 
 hope of the Gospel. 
 
 X Under these four heads, we have a most excellent 
 detection of a presumptive and most dangerous error 
 
 of my obedience to his laws. Or thus, Christ 
 makes my duties, that are religious, acceptable 
 to his Father by virtue of his merits, and so 
 shall I be justified.! 
 
 Christian. Let us give an answer to this 
 confession of thy faith. 
 
 1. Thou believest with a fantastical faith, 
 for this faith is no where described in the 
 word. / 
 
 2. Thou believest with a false faith; be- 
 cause thou takest justification from the per- 
 sonal righteousness of Christ, and appliest it 
 to thy own. 
 
 3. This faith maketh not Christ a justifier 
 of thy person, but of thy actions ; and of thy 
 person for thy actions' sake, which is false. 
 
 4. Therefore this faith is deceitful, even 
 such as will leave thee under wrath in the 
 day of God Almighty: for true justifying 
 faith puts the soul, as sensible of its lost con- 
 dition by the law, upon fleeing for refuge 
 unto Christ's righteousness, (which righteous- 
 ness of his is not an act of grace, by which he 
 maketh for justification, thy obedience accepted 
 pi God, but his personal obedience to the law, 
 in doing and sufiering for us what that re- 
 quired at our hands:) this righteousness, I 
 say, true faith accepteth ; under the skirt of 
 which the soul being shrouded, and by it pre- 
 sented as spotless before God, it is accepted, 
 and acquitted from condemnation.! . 
 
 Ignorance. What ! would ye have us trust to 
 what Christ in his own person hath done 
 without us? This conceit would loosen the 
 reins of our lust, and tolerate us to live as we 
 list : for what matter how we live, if we may 
 be justified by Christ's personal righteousness 
 from all, when we believe it? |t 
 
 Christian. Ignorance is thy name; and as 
 
 vrhich now greatly prevails ; as well as a scriptural 
 view of the nature of true faith, anfl the object it fixes 
 on wholly and solely for justification before God, Bad 
 acceptance with God. Reader, for thy soul's sake look 
 to thy foundation. See that you build upon nothing 
 in self, but all upon that' sure foundation which God 
 hath laid, even his beloved Son. 
 
 |[ No sooner can you propose to an ignorant pro- 
 fessor, Christ's righteousness alone for justification 
 but he instantly displays his ignorance of the powei 
 of the truth, and the influence of faith, by crying out, 
 "Antinomianism ! Oh, you are for 'destroying holi- 
 ness at the root, and for bringing in licentiousnesc 
 like a flood !" Thus pride works by a lie, and is sup- 
 ported by self-righteousness, in opposition to God'a 
 grace, and submission to Christ's righteousness. This 
 is a spreading heresy of the flesh, which most ^T^&d 
 fully prevails at this day. Be not deceiyed. 
 
TEE PILGRIM'S PROdBESS. 
 
 163 
 
 thy name is, so art thou ; even this thy an- 
 swer demonstrateth what I say. Ignorant 
 thou art of what justifying righteousness is, 
 and as ignorant how to secure thy soul, through 
 the faith of it, from the heavy wrath of God. 
 Yea, thou also art ignorant of the true effect 
 of saving faith in this righteousness of Christ, 
 which is to how and win over the heart to 
 God in Christ, to love his name, his word, 
 ways and people, and npt as thou ignorantly 
 imaginest. 
 
 Hopeful. Ask him if ever he had Christ re- 
 vealed to him from heaven.* 
 
 Ignorance. What! you are a man for rpv- 
 elations ! I do believe that what both you 
 and all the rest of you say about that matter 
 is but the fruit of distracted brains. 
 
 Hopeful. Why, man I Christ is so h.\^ in 
 God from the natural apprehensions of the 
 flesh, that he cannot by any man b^ savingly 
 known, unless God the Father reveals him to 
 them. 
 
 Ignorance. That is your faith, but not mine : 
 yet miqe, I doubt not, is as good as yours, 
 though I have not in my head so many whim- 
 sies as you. 
 
 ClirUtian. Give me leave to put in a word : 
 You ought not to speak so slightly of this mat- 
 ter : for this I boldly affirm, (even as my good 
 companion hath done,) that no man can know 
 Jesus Christ but by the revelation of the 
 Father; yea, and faith too, by which the soul 
 layeth hold upon Christ, (if it be right,) must 
 be wrought by the exceeding greatness of his 
 mighty power, (Matt. xi. 27 ; 1 Cor. xiii. 3 ; 
 Eph. i. 18, 19;) the working of which faith, I 
 perceive, poor Ignorance, thou art ignorant of. 
 
 * This, by natural men, is deemed the very height 
 of enthusiasm; but a spiritual man knows the blessed- 
 ness, and rejoices in the comfort of this. It is a close 
 question: what may we understand by it? Doubtless 
 what Paul means, when he says, " It pleased God to 
 fovea] his Son in me," (Gal. i. 16;) that is, he had 
 such an internal, spiritual, experimental sight and 
 knowledge of Christ, and of salvation by him, that 
 his heart embraced him, his soul cleaved to him, his 
 cpirit rejoiced in him ; his whole man was swallowed 
 np with the loTo of him, so that he cried out in the 
 joy of his soul. This is my beloved and my friend — 
 ray Saviour, my God, and my salvation. He is the 
 chief of ten thousand, and altogether lovely. We 
 know nothing of Christ savingly, comfortably, and 
 ^experimentally, till he is pleased thus to reveal him- 
 self to US. Matt. xi. 27. This spiritual revelation of 
 Chriut to the heart, is a blessing and comfort agree- 
 able to, jind consequent upon, believing on Christ, as 
 revealed outwardly in the word. Therefore every sin- 
 
 Be awakened then, see thine own wretched- 
 ness, and flee to the Lord Jesus ; and by hia 
 righteousness, which is the righteousness of 
 God, (for he himself is God,) thou shalt be 
 delivered from condemnation.! 
 
 Ignorance. You go so fast, I cannot keep 
 pace with you : do you go on before : I must 
 stay a while behind.J 
 
 Then they said — 
 
 " Well, Ignorance, wilt thou yet foolish be 
 To slight good counsel, ten times given thee f 
 And if thou yet refuse it, thou shalt know, 
 Ere long, the evil of thy doing so. 
 Remember, man, in time; st!)p, do not fear; 
 Good counsel taken well, saves ; therefore hear. 
 But if thou yet shalt slight it, thou wilt be 
 The loser, Ignorance, I'll warrant thee." 
 
 Then Christian addressed himself thus to 
 his fellow : 
 
 Christian. Well, come, my good Hopeful, I 
 perceive that thou and I must walk by our- 
 selves again. 
 
 So I saw in my dream, that they "went on 
 apace before, and Ignorance ho came hobbling 
 after. Then said Christian to his companion, 
 It pities me much for this poor man : it will 
 certainly go ill with him at last. 
 
 Hopeful. Alas ! there are abundance in our 
 town in this condition, whole fainilies, yea, 
 whole streets, and that of pilgrims too ; and 
 if there be so many in our parts, how many, 
 think you, must there be in the place where 
 he was born ? || 
 
 Christian. Indeed, the word saith, " He hath 
 blinded their eyes, lest they should see," etc. 
 
 But, now we are by ourselves, what do you 
 
 cere soul should wait and look, and long and pray for 
 it. Beware you do not despise it; if you do, you will 
 betray your ignorance of spiritual things, as Ignorance - 
 did. 
 
 f That sinner is not thoroughly awakened, who does 
 not see his need of Christ's righteousness to be im- 
 parted to him. Nor is he quicken'ed who has not fled 
 to Christ as the end of the law for righteousness te 
 every one who believes. Rom. x. 4. 
 
 J Ignorant professors cannot keep pace with i%\i- 
 itual pilgrims, nor can they relish the doctrines of 
 Christ being all in all, in the matter of justificatioa 
 and salvation. 
 
 I Ignorance had just the same natural notions of 
 salvation which he was born with, only he had been 
 taught to dress them up by the art of sophistry. 
 Hence it is they have so much abounded among pro- 
 fessors in every age. Oh what a mercy to be delivered 
 from them, to be spiritually enlightened and taught 
 the truth as it is in Jesus \ 
 
164 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 think of such, men? have they at no time, 
 think you, convictions of sin, and so conse- 
 quently fear that their state is dangerous ? 
 
 Hopeful Nay, do you aqswer the question 
 yourself, for you are the elder man. 
 
 Christian. Then I say, sometimes {as I 
 think) ihey may ; but they, being naturally 
 ignorant, understand not that such convictions 
 tend to their good; and therefore they do 
 desperately seek to stifle them, and presump- 
 tuously continue to flatter themselves in the 
 way of their own hearts. 
 
 Hopeful. I do believe, as you say, that fear 
 tends much to men's good, and to make them 
 right at their beginning to go on pilgrimage. 
 
 Christian. Without all doubt it doth, if it be 
 right : for so says the word, " The fear of the 
 Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Job xxviii.. 
 28; Ps. cxi. 10; Prov. i. 7; ix. 10. 
 
 Hopeful. How will you describe right fear? 
 
 Christian. True or right fear is discovered by 
 three things: 1. By its rise: it is caused by 
 saving convictions for sin. 2. It driveth the 
 soul to lay fast hold of Christ for salvation. 
 3. It begetteth and continueth in the soul a 
 great reverence of God, his word and ways; 
 keeping it tender, and making it afraid to turn 
 from them to the right hand or the left ; to any 
 thing- that may dishonour God, break its 
 peace, grieve the Spirit, or cause the enemy to 
 speak reproachfully. 
 
 Hopeful. Well said ; I believe you have said 
 the truth. Are we now almost got past the 
 Enchanted Ground ? 
 
 Christian. Why? art thou weary of this 
 discourse ? 
 
 Hopeful. No, verily, but that I would know 
 where we are. 
 
 Christian. We have not now above two miles 
 further to go thereon. But let us return to our 
 matter : Now the ignorant know not that such 
 convictions, that tend to put them in fear, are 
 for their good, and therefore they seek to stifle 
 them. 
 
 Hopeful How do they seek to stifle them ? 
 
 * Pitiful ij'd jielf- koliveas. Mind this phrase. Far 
 was it from the heart of good Mr. Bunyan to decry real 
 holiness. I suppose he was never charged with it; if 
 he was, it must be by such who strive to exalt their 
 own holiness more than Christ's righteousness ; if so, 
 it is pitiful indeed. It is nothing but eelf-holinena, or 
 the holiness of the old man of sin : for true holiness 
 springs from the belief of, and love to, the truth. All 
 besides this only tendi to self-confidence and self-ap- 
 plause. 
 
 f It is profitable to call to mind one's own ignor- 
 ance and natural depravity when in our unrenewed 
 
 Christian. 1. They think that those fears are 
 wrought by the devil,, (though indeed they are 
 wrought by God;), and thinking so, they resist 
 them, as things that directly tend to their 
 overthrow. 2. They also think that these 
 fears tend to the spoiling of their faith ; when, 
 ala.s for them, poor men that they are ! they 
 have none at all, and therefore they harden 
 their hearts against them. 3. They presume 
 they ought not to fear, and therefore in despite 
 of them wax presumptuously confident. 4. 
 They see that those fears tend to take away 
 from them their pitiftjl old self-holiness,* 
 and therefore they resist them with all their 
 might. 
 
 Hopeful. I know something of this myself: 
 before I knew myself it was so with me.f 
 
 Christian. Well, we will leave at this time 
 our neighbour Ignorance by himself, and fall 
 upon another profitable question. 
 
 Hopeful. With all my heart : but you shall 
 still begin. 
 
 Christian. Well, then, did- you know about 
 ten years ago, one Temporary, in your parts, 
 who was a forward man in religion then ? 
 
 Hopeful. Know him ! yes ; he dwelt in Grace- 
 less, a town about two miles off of Honesty, 
 and he dwelt next door to one Turnback. 
 
 Christian. Right ! he dwelt under -the same 
 roof with him. Well, thatj man was much 
 >awakene^ once; I believe that then he had 
 some sight of his sins, and of the wages that 
 were due thereto. 
 
 Hopeful. I am of your mind, for (my house 
 not being above three miles from him) he 
 would ofttimes come to me, and that with 
 many tears. Truly I pitied the man, and was 
 not altogether without hope of him ; but one 
 may see it is not every one that cries. Lord, 
 Lord. 
 
 Christian. He told me once, that he was re- 
 solved to go on a pilgrimage, as we go now; 
 but all of a sudden he grew acquainted with 
 one Saveself,t and then he became a stranger 
 to me. 
 
 estate, to excite humility of heart, and thankfulness 
 to God, who made ua to differ, and to excite pity to- 
 wards those who are walking in nature's pride, self- 
 righteousness, and self-confidence. 
 
 \ Saveaelf. This generation greatly abounds among 
 us. Those who are under this spirit are strangers to 
 themselves, to the truths of God's law and the prom- 
 ises of his Gospel, and so consequently are strangers 
 to those who know themselves to be totally lost; are 
 dead to every hope of saving themselves, and look only 
 to, and,glory only in, salvation by Jesus. " Two can- 
 not walk together except they be agreed." Amos iii. 3. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S FBOGBESS. 
 
 165 
 
 Hopfful. Now, since we are talking about 
 him, let us a little inquire into the reason of 
 the sudden backsliding of him and some 
 others. 
 
 Christian. It may be very profitable; but do 
 you begin. 
 
 Hopeful. Well then, there are in my judg- 
 ment four reasons for it : 
 
 1. Though the consciences of such men are 
 awakened, yet their minds are not changed : 
 therefore, when the power of guilt weareth 
 away, that which provoketh them to be relig- 
 ious ceaseth : wherefore they naturally return 
 to their old course again ; even as we see the 
 dog that is sick of what ho has eaten, so long 
 as his sickness prevails he vomits and casts up 
 all : not that he doeth this of free mind, (if we 
 must say a dog hath a mind,) but becajise it 
 troubleth his stomach; but now, when his 
 sickness is over, and so his stomach eased, his 
 desires being not at all alienated from his 
 \omit,"he turns him about, and licks up all; 
 aad so is it true which is written, " The dog is 
 turned to his own vomit again." 2 Pet. ii. 22. 
 Thus, I say, being hot for heaven, by virtue 
 only of the sense and fear of the torments of 
 hell, as their sense of hell and fear of dam- 
 nation chills and cools, so • their desires for 
 heaven and salvation cool also. So then it 
 comes to pass, that when their guilt and fear 
 is gone, their desires for heaven and happiness 
 die, and they return to their course again.* , 
 
 2. Another reason is, they have slavish fears 
 that do overmaster them : I speak now of the 
 fears that they have of men ; " for the fear of 
 man bringeth a snare." Prov. xxix. 25. So 
 then, though they seem to be hot for heaven 
 BO long as the flames of hell are about their 
 ears, yet, when that terror is a little over, they 
 betake themselves to second thoughts, namely, 
 that it is good to be wise, and not to run (for 
 they know not what) the hazard of losing all, 
 or at least of bringing themselves into un- 
 avoidable and unnecessary troubles: and so 
 th^ fall in with the world again. 
 
 3. The shame that attends religion lies also 
 as a block in their way: they are proud and 
 haughty, and religion in their eye is low and 
 contemptible: therefore when they have lost 
 their sense of hell and wrath to come, they re- 
 turn again to their former course. 
 
 4. Guilt, and to meditate tierror, are griev- 
 
 * A true description of the state of too many pro- 
 fessors. Here see the reason why so many saints, as 
 tbe7 are called, fall away. 
 
 t See how gradually, step by step, apostates go back. 
 
 ous'to them; they like not to see their miserv 
 before they come into it; though perhaps the 
 sight of it first, if they loved that sight, might 
 make them flee whither the righteous flee and 
 are safe; but because they do as I hinted be- 
 fore, even shun the thoughts of guilt and 
 terror, therefore, when once they are rid of 
 their awakenings about the terrors and wrath 
 of God, they hairden their hearts gladly, and 
 choose such ways as will harden them more 
 and more. 
 
 Christian. You are pretty near the business ; 
 for the bottom of all is, for want of a change 
 in their mind and will. And therefore they 
 are but like the felon that standeth before the 
 judge; he quakes and trembles, and seems to 
 repent most heartily : but the bottom of all is, 
 the fear of the halter ; not that he hath any 
 detestation of the ofience; as is evident, be- 
 cause, let but this man have his liberty, and 
 he will be a thief, and so a rogue still ; whereas, 
 if his mind was changed he would be otherwise. 
 
 Hopeful. Now I have showed you the reasons 
 of their going back, do you show me the man- 
 ner thereof. 
 
 Christian. So I will willingly. They draw 
 ofi' their thoughts, all that they may, from the 
 remembrance of God, death, and judgment to 
 come : — then they cast off by degrees private 
 duties, as closet-prayer, curbing^ their lusts, 
 watching, sorrow for sin, &c. ; — ^then they shun 
 the company of lively and warm Christians ; — 
 after that they grow cold to public duty; as 
 hearing, reading, godly conference, and the 
 like; — then they begin to pick holes, as we 
 say, in the coats of some of the godly, and 
 that devilishly, that they may have a seem- 
 ing colour to throw religion (for the sake of 
 some infirmities they have spied in them) be- 
 hind their back ; — then they begin to adhere 
 to, and associate themselves with carnal, loose, 
 and wanton men ; — then they give way to car- 
 nal and wanton discourses in secret; and glad 
 are they if they can see such things in any that 
 are counted honest, that they may the more 
 boldly do it through their example; after 
 this, they begin to play with little sins openly: 
 and then, being hardened, they show them- 
 selves as they are. Thus being launched 
 again into the gulf of misery, unless a miracle 
 of grace prevent it, they everlastingly perish 
 in their own deceivings.f 
 
 It begins in the unbelief of the heart, and ends in 
 open sins in the life. Why is the love of this wqrld 
 so forbidden? why is covetousness called idolatry? 
 Because whatever drawa away the heart from God 
 
166 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 The Pilgrims travel the pleasant country of Beulah, safely pass the river of Death, and 
 are admitted into the glorious city of God. 
 
 Now .1 saw in my dream, that by this time 
 the pilgrims were got over the Enchanted 
 Ground, and entering into the country of 
 Beulah,, (Sol. Song ii. 10, 12; Isa. Ixii. 4, 12,) 
 whose air was very sweet and pleasant: the 
 way lying directly through it,- they solaced 
 themselves there for a season. Yea, here they 
 heard continually the singing of birds, and 
 saw every day the flowers appear in the earth, 
 and heard the voice of the turtle in the land. 
 In this country the sun shineth night and day :- 
 wherefore this was beyond the Valley of the 
 Shadow of Death, and also out of the reach of 
 Giant Despair; neither could they from this 
 place so much as see Doubting Castle.* Here 
 they were within sight of the city they were 
 going to: also here met them some of the in- 
 habitants thereof: for in this land the shining 
 ones commonly walked, because it was upon 
 the borders of heaven. In this land also the 
 contract between the bride and the bridegroom 
 was renewed: yea, here, "as the bridegroom 
 rejoiceth over the bride, so did their God re- 
 joice over them." Here they had no want Of 
 corn and wine; for in the place they met with 
 abundance of what they had sought for in all 
 their pilgrimage. Here they heard voices from 
 out of the city, loud voices, saying, " Say ye to 
 the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy Salvation 
 Cometh! Behold, his reward is with him!" 
 Here all the iiihabitants of the country called 
 them, "The holy people, the Redeemed of the 
 Lord, sought out," &c. 
 
 Now, as they walked in this land, they had 
 more rejoicing than in parts more remote from 
 the kingdom to which they were bound; and 
 
 and prevents enjoying close fellowship with him, 
 naturally tends to apostaoy from him. Look well to 
 your heaits and affections. Daily learn to obey that 
 command, " Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out 
 of it ire the issues of life." Prov. iv. 23. If you neglect 
 to watch, you will be sure to smart under the sense 
 of sin on earth or its curse in hell. "See then that ye 
 walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, re- 
 deeming the time because the days are evil." Eph. 
 V. 15. ^ , 
 
 * Oh what a blessed state! what a glorious frame 
 of the soul is this! Job speaks of it as the candle of * 
 th« Lord shining upon his head. Ch. xxix. 3. the 
 eburch, in a rapture cries out, "Sing, heavens, and 
 
 drawing near to the city they had yet a more 
 perfect view thereof. It was builded of pearls 
 and precious stones, also the streets thereof 
 were paved with gold ; so that, by reason of the 
 natural glory of the city, and the reflection of 
 the sun-beams upon it. Christian with desire 
 fell sick. Hopeful also had a fit or two of the 
 same disease : wherefore here they lay by it a 
 while, crying out, because of their pangs, " If 
 you see my beloved, teU him that I am sick of 
 love.t" 
 
 But, being a 'little strengthened, and better 
 able to bear their sickness, they walked on their 
 way, and came yet nearer and nearer, where 
 were orchards, vineyards and gardens, and their 
 gates opened into the highway. Now, as they 
 came up to these places, behold the gardener 
 stood in the way ; to whom the pilgrims said, 
 "Whose goodly vineyards and gardens are 
 these ?" He answered, " They are the King's, 
 and are planted here for his own delight, and 
 also for the solace of pilgrims." So the gar- 
 dener had them into the vineyards, and bid them 
 refresh themselves with the dainties, (Deut. 
 xxiii. 24:) he also showed them there the 
 King's walks and arbours, where he delighted 
 to be : and here they tarried and slept. 
 
 Now I beheld in my dream, that they talked 
 more in their slepp at this time than ever they 
 did in all their journey : and, being in a muse 
 thereabout, the gardener said even to me, 
 "Wherefore musest thoji at the matter? It 
 is the nature of the grapes of these vineyards, 
 to go down so sweetly as to cause the lips of 
 them that are asleep to speak." 
 
 So I saw that when they awoke, they ad- 
 be joyful, earth ; break forth into singing, miun- 
 tains, for the Lord hath comforted his people." Isaf 
 x.xix. 13. Paul calls this " the fulness of the blessing 
 of the Gospel of peace." Rom. xv. 29. Oh rest not short 
 of enjoying the full blaze of Gospel peace and spir- 
 itual joy. 
 
 f See what it is to long for the full fruition of Jesus 
 in glory. Some have been so overpowered hereby, 
 that their earthen vessels were ready to burst : their 
 /rail bodies have been so overcome, that they have 
 cried, Lord, hold thine hand, I faint, I sink, I die, with 
 a full sense of thy precious, precious love. Covet earn- 
 estly this best gift, Love. Lord, shed it more abund 
 antly abroad in these cold hearts of ours 1 
 
Dravvn by H ll'^'r.nlle 
 
 TME [LAS^ID ©r tBEWQ-AM. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 1(J7 
 
 dressed themselves to go up to the city. But, 
 as I said, the reflection of the sun upon the 
 city, for the city was pure gold, (Rev. xxi. 18 ; 
 2 Cor. iii. 18,) was so extremely glorious, that 
 they could not as yet with open face behold it, 
 but through an instrument made for that pur- 
 pose. So I saw that as they went on there met 
 them two men in raiment that shone like gold, 
 alai) thci: faces shone as the light. 
 
 These men asked the pilgrim's whence they 
 came? and they told theml They also asked 
 them where they had lodged, what difficulties 
 and dangers, what comforts and pleasures, they 
 had met with in the way ? and they told them. 
 Then said the men that met them, " You have 
 but two difficulties more to meet with and then 
 you are in the city." * 
 
 Christian then and his companion asked the 
 men to gp along with them : so they told them 
 they would : But, said they," you must obtain it 
 by your own faith. So I saw in my dream that 
 they went on together tiil they came in sight 
 of the gate. 
 
 Now I further saw, that betwixt them and 
 the gate was a riyer ; but there was no bridge 
 to go over : the river was very deep. At the 
 sight therefore of this river, the pilgrims were 
 much stunned ; but the men that went with 
 them, said, " You must go through, or you can- 
 not come at the gate." f 
 
 The pilgrims then began to inquire, if there 
 was no othor way to the gate ? to which they 
 answered, " Yes ; but there hath not any, save 
 two, to wit, Enoch and Elijah, been permitted 
 to tread that path, since the foundation of the 
 world, nor shall until the last trumpet shall 
 sound." The pilgrims then (especially Chris- 
 tian) began to despond in their minds, and 
 looked this way and that, but no way could be 
 
 * What are these two difficulties ? are they not death 
 without, and unhelief within ? It is through the lat- 
 ter that the former is at all distressing to us. Oh for 
 a strong world-conquering, sin-subduing, death-over- 
 ooming faith, in life and death ! Jesus, Master, speak 
 tho word, unbelief shall flee, oar faith shall not fail, 
 and our hope shall be steady. * 
 
 ■f Well, now the pilgrims must meet with, and en- 
 oo\inter their last enemy, death. When he stares them 
 in the face, their fears arise. Through the river they 
 mu?t go. What have they to look at? what they are 
 in Ihemselvos, or what they have done and been 1 Noj 
 only the same Jesus who conquered death for us, and 
 Ban and will overcome the fear of death in us. 
 
 % Faith builds a bridge across the gulf of death ; 
 Death's terror is the mountain faith removes, 
 'Tis faith disarms destruction ; and absolves 
 From every clamorous charge the guiltless tomb. 
 
 found by them, by which they might escape 
 the river. Then they asked the men, " If the 
 waters were all of a depth?" they said, "No ;" 
 yet they pould not help them in that case; 
 " For (said they) you shall find it deeper or 
 shallower, as you believe in the King of the 
 place." X 
 
 They then addressed themselves to the water, 
 and entering, Christian began to sink, and cry- 
 ing out to his good friend Hopeful, he said, " I 
 sink in deep waters ; billows go over my head, 
 all his waves go over me. Selah." 
 
 Then said the other, " Be of good cheer, my 
 brother, Ifeel the bottom, and it is good." Then 
 said Christian, " Ah I my friend, the sorrow of 
 death hath compassed me about, I shall not see 
 the land that flows with milk and honey." And 
 with that a great darkness and horror fell upon 
 Christian, so that he could not see bffore him. 
 Also he in a great measure lost his senses, so 
 that he could neither remember nor orderly 
 talk of any of those sweet refreshments that 
 he had met with in the way of his pilgrimage. 
 But all the words that he spake still tended to 
 discover that he had hoi-ror of mind, and heart- 
 fears that he should die in that river, and never 
 obtain entrance in at the gate. Here also, as 
 they that stood by perceived, he was much in 
 the troublesome thoughts of the sins that he 
 had committed, both since and before he began 
 to be a pilgrim. It was also observed, that he 
 was troubled with apparitions of hobgoblins 
 and evil spirits; for fever and anon he would, 
 in,timate so much by words. || Hopeful there- 
 fore here had much ado to keep his brother's 
 head above water ; yea, sometimes he would be 
 quite gone down, and then, ere a while, would 
 rise up again half dead. Hopeful did also en- 
 deavour to comfort him, saying, " Brother, 1 
 
 For faith views, trusts in, and relies upon, the word of 
 Christ, for salvation in the victory of Christ over sin, 
 death and hell. Therefore, in every thing we shall 
 always prove the truth of our Lord's words, "Accord- 
 ing to your faith be it unto you." Matt. ix. 29. Oh 
 what support in death, to have Jesus our triumphant 
 conqueror to look unto, who has disarmed death of his 
 sting, and swallowed up death in his victory! 
 
 II What ! after all the past blessed experience that 
 Christian had enjoyed of his Lord's peace, love, joy, 
 and presence with him, his holy transports and heav- 
 enly consolations, is all come to this at last? You 
 know " the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." 
 1 Cor. XV. 26. Satan is sometimes suffered to be very 
 busy with God's people in their last moments, but hfl 
 too, like death, is a conquered enemy by our Jesus; 
 therefore amidst all his attacks, they are safe. For ho 
 is faithful to them, and almighty to save them. 
 
168 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 see the gate, and men standing by to receive 
 us;'' but Christiaa would answer, "It is you, 
 it is you they wait for; you have been Hope- 
 ful ever since I knew you.'i "And so have 
 you," said he to Christian. " Ah, brother," said 
 he, " surely if I was right he would now rise 
 to help me ; but for my sins be hath brought 
 me into the snare, and hath left me." Then 
 said Hopeful, " My brother, you have quite for- 
 gdt the text, where it is said of the wicked, 
 ' There are no bands in their death, but their 
 strength is firm; they are jiot troubled as 
 othei men, neither are they plagued like other 
 men.' These troubles and distresses that you 
 go through in these waters, are no sign that 
 God hath forsaken you; but are sent to try 
 you, whether you will call to mind, that which 
 heretofore you have received of his goodness, 
 and live upon him in your distresses." 
 
 Then I saw in my dream that Christian was 
 in a muse a while. To whom Hopeful added 
 these words, " Be of good cheer, Jesus maketh 
 thee whole." * And with that Christian brake 
 out with a loud voice, " Oh, I see him again ! 
 and be tells me, ' When thou passest through 
 the waters, I will be with thee ; and through 
 the rivers, they shall not overflow thee.' " Isa. 
 xliii. 2. Then they both took courage, and the 
 enemy was after that as still as a stone, until 
 they were gone over. Christian therefore 
 presently found ground to stand upon, and so 
 it followed that the rest of the river was but 
 shallow ; but thus they got over. Now upon 
 tha bank of the river, on the other side, they saw 
 the two shining men again, who there waited 
 for them. Wherefore being come out of the 
 river, they saluted them, saying, "We are 
 ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to 
 those that shall be heirs of salvation." Thus 
 they went along towards the gate. Now you 
 must note, that the city stood upon a mighty 
 hill, but the pilgrims went up the hill with 
 ease, because they had these two men to lead 
 them up by the arms ; also they had left their 
 mortal garments behind them in the river ; for 
 though they went in w^th them, they came out 
 without them. They therefore went up here 
 with much agility and speed, though the foun- 
 
 * Jesus Christ ; he is indeed the' Alpha and Omega, 
 the first and the last, the beginning of our hope, and 
 the end of our confidence. We begin and end the 
 Christian pilgrimage with him ; a.nd all our tempta- 
 tions and trials speak loudly, and fully confirm to us 
 that truth of our Lord, " Without me ye can do noth- 
 ing." John XV. 5. 
 
 f Ah, childreuj none can conceive or describe what 
 
 dation upon which tne city was framed waa 
 higher than the clouds: they therefore went 
 up through the region of the air, sweetly talk- 
 ing as they went, being comforted, because 
 they safely got over the river, and had such 
 glorious companions to attend them.f 
 
 The talk that they had with the shiniflg 
 ones was about the glory of the place ; who 
 told them, that the beauty and glory of it waa 
 inexpressible. There, said they, is "Mount 
 Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, the innumer- 
 able company of angels, and the spirits of just 
 men made perfect." Heb. xii. 22, 24. You 
 are going now, said they, to the Paradise of 
 God, wherein you shall see the tree of life, and 
 eat of the never-fading fruits thereof: and 
 when you come there, you shall have white 
 robes given you, and your walk and talk shall 
 be every day with the King, even all the days 
 of eternity. Rev. ii. 7 ; iii. 4 ; xxii. 5. There 
 you shall not see again such things as you saw 
 when you were in tiae lower region upon the 
 earth, to wit, sorrow, sickness, affliction, and 
 death ; " for the former things are passed away." 
 Isa. Ixv. 16. You are'now gsing to Abraham, 
 to Isaac, and to Jacob, and to the prophets, 
 men ttat God hath taken away from the evil 
 to come, and that are now " resting upon their 
 beds, each one walking in his righteousness." 
 The men then asked. What must we do in the 
 holy place? To whom it was answered. You 
 must there receive the comforts of all your toil, 
 and have joy for all your sorrow ; you must 
 reap what you have sown, even the fruit of all 
 your prayers, and tears, and sufferings for the 
 King by the way. Gal. vi. 7, 8. In that place 
 you must wear crowns of gold, and enjoy the 
 perpetual sight and vision of the Holy One ; 
 for " there you shall see him as he is." 1 John 
 iii. 2. There also you shall serve Him contin- 
 ually with praise, with shouting and thanks- 
 giving, whom you desired to serve in the 
 world, though with much diiSculty, because 
 of the iniirmity of your flesh. There your 
 eyes shall be delighted with seeing, and your 
 ears with hearing, the pleasant voice of the 
 Mighty One. There you shall enjoy your 
 friends again that are gone thither before you ; 
 
 it is to live in a state free from the body of sin and 
 death. Some in such happy, highly-favoured mo- 
 ments, have had a. glimpse, a foretaste of'this, and 
 could realize it by faith. Oh for more and more of 
 this, till we possess and enjoy it in all its fulness! If 
 Jesus be so sweet by laith below, who can tell what he 
 is in full fruition above? This we must die to 
 know. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROQREaS, 
 
 169 
 
 and tlicre you sliall with joy receive, even 
 every one that followeth into the holy place 
 after you. There also you shall be clothed 
 with glory and majesty, and put into an equip- 
 age fit to ride out with the King of Glory. 
 "When he shall come with sound of trumpe); in 
 the clouds, as upon the wings of the wind, you 
 shall come with him : and when he shall sit 
 upon the throne of judgment, you shall sit by 
 him ; yea, and when he shall pass sentence 
 upon all the workers of iniquity, let them be 
 angels or men, you also shall have a voice in 
 that judgment, because they were his and your 
 enemies. Also when he shall again return 
 to the city, you shall go too with sound of 
 trumpet, and be ever with him. 1 Thess. iv. 
 13, 17 ; Jude 14, 15; Dan. vii. 9, 10; 1 Cor. 
 vi. 2, 3. 
 
 Now, while they were thus drawing Awards 
 the gate, behold, a company of the heavenly 
 host came out to meet them ; to whom it was 
 said by the other two shining ones, " These are 
 the men that have loved our Lord when they 
 were in the world, and that have left all for 
 his holy name, and he hath sent us to fetch 
 them, and we liave brought them thus far on 
 their designed journey, that they may go in 
 and look their Redeemer in the face with joy." 
 Then the heavenly host gave a great shout, 
 saying, " Blessed are they that are called to the 
 marriage-supper of the Lamb." Rev. xix. 9. 
 There came out also at this time to meet them 
 several of the King's trumpeters, clothed in 
 white and shining raiment, wlio, with melodi- 
 ous noises, and loud, made even the heavens 
 to echo with their sound. These trumpeters 
 saluted Christian and his fellow with ten thou- 
 sand welcomes from the world ; and this they 
 did with shouting, and sound of trumpet. 
 
 This done, they compassed them round on 
 every side; some went before, some behind, 
 and some on the right hand, some on the left, 
 (as it were to guard them through the upper 
 regions,) continually sounding as they went, 
 
 * Though Mr. Bunyan has been very happy in this 
 spirited description, (observes the Rev. Mr. Mason,) 
 yet wore ho alive, I am sure he would not be offended, 
 though I were to say, it il short and faint, infinitely 
 so, of the reality: and were he permitted to come in 
 person, and give another description, he could only 
 say, what the prophet and apostle tell us, " Eye hath 
 not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the 
 heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for 
 them who love him." Isa. Ixiv. 4 ; 1 Cor. ii. 9. Oh for 
 the increase of faith, to behold more clear the heavenly 
 vision ; and, for love to Jesus, the God of our salvation, 
 that we may have more of heaven in our souls, even 
 
 with melodious noise, in notes on high ; so that 
 the very sight was to them that could behold 
 it, as if heaven itself was come down to meet 
 them. Thus therefore they walked on together ; 
 and, as they walked, ever and anon these 
 trumpeters, even with joyful sound, would, by 
 mixing their music with looks and gestures, 
 still signify to Christian and his brother how 
 welcome they were into their company, and 
 with what gladness they came to meet them. 
 And now were these two men, as it were, in 
 heaven before they came at it, being swallowed 
 up with the sight of angels, and with hearing 
 their melodious notes. Here also they had the 
 city itself in view; and they thought they 
 heard all the bells therein to ring, to welcome 
 them thereto. But, above all, the warm and 
 joyful thoughts, that they had about their own 
 dwelling there with such company, and that 
 for-ever and ever. Oh 1 by what tongue or pen 
 can their glorious joy be expressed I * Thus 
 they came up to the gate. 
 
 Now, when they were come up to the gate 
 there was written over it, in letters of gold 
 ' " Blessed are they that do his commandments, 
 that they may have right f to the tree of life, 
 and may enter iri through the gates into the 
 city." Rev. xxii. 14. 
 
 Then I saw in my dream, that the shining 
 men bid them call at the gate ; the which when 
 they did, some from above looked over the gate, 
 to wit, Enoch, Moses, and Elias, &c., to whom 
 it was said, " These pilgrims are come from the 
 city of Destruction, for the love that they bear 
 to the King of this place ;'' and then the pil- 
 grims gave in unto them each man his certifi- 
 cate, which they had received in the beginning : 
 those therefore were carried in unto the King, 
 who, when he had read them, said, "AVhere 
 are the men?" To whom it was answered, 
 "They are standing without the gate." The 
 King then commanded to open the gate, "that 
 the righteous nation, (said he,) that keepeth 
 truth may enter in."t Isa. xxvii. 2. 
 
 while we are pilgrims here on the earth. For none but 
 those who love him on earth, can enjoy him in 
 heaven. ' 
 
 f Eight here signifies power or privilege, as in John 
 i. 12. " To as many as receive Christ, to them gave 
 he power, right, or privilege, to become the sons of 
 God, even to them who believe in his name.*' 
 
 J The righteous nation, who are they ? Oh, say the 
 self-righteous pharisees of the day, they are those who 
 by their good works and righteous actions have made 
 themselves to differ from others, and are thus beoome 
 righteous before God. To whom shall the Lord com- 
 mand the gate of glory to be opened but to these good 
 
170 
 
 BUNYAN'b COMPLETE WORKi, 
 
 Now I saw in my dream, that these two men 
 went in at the gate, and lo ! as they entered, 
 they were transfigured ; and they had raiment 
 put on that shone like gold. There were also 
 that met them with harps and crowns, and gave 
 thfem to th«m ; the harps to praise withal, and 
 the crowns iu token of honour. Then I heard 
 in my dieam, that all the bells in the city rang 
 again, for joy, and that it was said unto them, 
 ' Enter ye into the joy of your Lord." I also 
 heard the men themselves, that they sang with 
 a loud voice, saying, " Blessing, and honour, 
 and glory, and power, be to him that sitteth 
 upon the throne, and to the Lamb for ever and 
 ever." Rev. v. 13, 14. 
 
 Now, just as the gates were opened to let in 
 tlie men, I looked in after them, and behold, 
 the city shone like the sun; -the streets also 
 were paved with gold, and in them walked 
 many men with crowns on their heads, palms 
 in their hands, and golden harps to sing praises 
 withal. 
 
 There were also of them that had wings, and 
 they answered one another without intermis- 
 sion, saying, " Holy, holy, holy is the Lord." 
 And after that they shut up the gates : which 
 when I had seen, I wished myself among them. 
 
 Now, while I was gazing upon all these 
 things, I turned my head to look back, and 
 saw Ignorance come up to the river side : but 
 he soon got over, and that without half that 
 difficulty which the two other men met with. 
 
 righteous people ? But Peter tells us, " the righteous 
 nation is a chosen generation" from among the world, 
 and of a different generation to them. They see no 
 righteousness in themselves, and therefore are little, 
 low, and mean in their own eyes; being begotten by 
 the word of truth, and born again of the Spirit, they, 
 receive and love the truth as it is in Jesus. By this 
 truth they regulate their life and walk ; and this truth 
 they hold fast in life, and keep unto death ; and thus 
 living and dying in the belief of the truth, they can 
 say with Paul : " I have kept the faith, and henceforth 
 there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which 
 the Lord the righteous Judge will give to me and to 
 all who love his appearing." 
 
 * Vain hope ever dwells in the bosom of fools, and 
 ie ever ready to assist Ignorance. He wanted him at 
 the last, and he found him. He had been his com- 
 panion through life, and will not forsake him in the 
 hour of death. You see Ignorance had no bands in 
 his death ; no fears, doubts, and sorrows, no terror 
 from the enemy, but all appeared serene and happy. 
 Vain-hope was his ferry-man, and he, as the good 
 folks say, died like a lamb ; ah, but did such lambs 
 see what was to follow, when Vain-hope had wafted 
 them over the river, they would roar like lions. 
 
 f Hence see, that ignorant, vaiii-confldent pro- 
 
 For it happened that there was then in' that 
 place one Vain-hope,* a ferry-man, that with 
 his boat helped him over : so he, as the other 
 I saw, did ascend the hill, to come up to the 
 gate; only he came alone, neither did any 
 man meet him with the least encouragement. 
 When he was come up to the gate, he looked 
 up to the writing that was above, and then 
 began to knock, supposing that entrance should 
 have been quickly administered to him : but 
 he was asked by the men that looked over the 
 top of the gate, "Whence come you? and 
 what would you have?" He answered, "I 
 have eat and drank in the presence of the 
 King, and he has taught in our' streets." 
 Then they asked him for his certificate, that 
 they might go in and show it to the King: So 
 he fumbled in his bosom for one, and found 
 none. Then said they. You have none: but 
 the man answered never a word.f So they 
 told the King, but he would not come down to 
 see him, but commanded the two shining ones 
 that conducted Christian and Hopeful to the 
 city, to go out and takg Ignorance, and bind 
 him hand and foot, and have him away. 
 Then they took him up, and carried him 
 through the air to the door that I saw in the 
 side of the hill, and put him in there. Then 
 I saw that there was a way to hell, even from 
 the gates of heaven, as well as from the city 
 of Destruction. t So I woke, and behold, it 
 was a dream. 
 
 fessors may keep up a profession, even unto the 
 end J yea, and maintain u> self-righteous hope to the 
 very last, without any internal operation of the Spirit 
 upon their hearts, quickening them to a life of faith 
 on the Son of &od. Such, when they are called upon 
 for their certificate, find themselves destitute of one. 
 They set out in nature, and have nothing more about 
 them than what their natural notions furnish them 
 with. Spiritual revelations of Christ to the heart, 
 through faith in his word, they despised : and there- 
 fore, when searched to the bottom, behold they are 
 speechless. They could talk of their moral powers, 
 faithfulness in life, but they have not one word to say 
 of precious Christ, and his full salvation; what ho 
 hath wrought in them, whereby he becomes altogether 
 lovely in their eyes ; and his truths, promises, and 
 commands, the choice, the*delight, and the glory of 
 their hearts. Oh without this the profession of being 
 .a pilgrim will end in awful delusion ! 
 
 J This is a most awful conclusion. Consider it 
 deeply. Weigh it attentively, so as to get good sat- 
 isfaction from the word, to these important questions: 
 Am I in Christ the way, the only way to the kingdom, 
 or not? Do I see that all other ways, whether of siii 
 oy self-righteousness, lead to hell ? Does Christ dwel] 
 in my heart by faith ? Am I a new creature in himt 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PBOGBESS. 
 
 171 
 
 THE CONCLUSION. 
 
 Now, Keader, I hare tol(J my dream to tliee, 
 
 See if thou canst interpret it to me, 
 
 Or to thyself, or neighbour ; but take heed 
 
 Of misinterpreting ; for that, instead 
 
 Of doing good, will but thyself abuse; 
 
 By misinterpreting evil ensues. 
 
 Take heed also that thou be not extreme 
 
 In playing with the outside of my dream : 
 
 Nor let my figure or similitude 
 
 Put thee Into a laughter, or a feud ; 
 
 Leave this for boys and fools ; but as for thee. 
 
 Do I renounce my own righteousness, as well as abhor 
 my sins ? Do I look to Christ alone for mercy, and 
 depend only on him for holiness? Is ho the only 
 hope of my soul, and the only confidence of my heart? 
 And do I desire to be foimd in him, knowing by the 
 word, and feeling by the teaching of his Spirit, that 
 I am totally lost in myself? Thus is Christ formed 
 ID me, the only hope of glory ? Do I study to please 
 
 Do thou the substance of my matter see. 
 
 Put by the curtains, look within my veil, 
 
 Turn up my metaphors, and do not fail ; 
 
 There, if thou seekest them, such things thou'lt find. 
 
 As will be helpful to an honest mind. 
 
 What of my dross thou findest here, be bold 
 
 To throw away, but yet preserve the gold. 
 
 What if my gold be wrapped up in ore ? 
 
 None throw away the apple for the core. 
 
 But if thou shalt cast all away as vain, 
 
 I know not but 'twill make me dream again. 
 
 him, as well as hope to enjoy him ? Is fellowship 
 with Grod the Father, and his Son Jesus Christ, so 
 prized by me, as to seek it and esteem it abovo all 
 things ? If so, though I may find all things in nature, 
 in the world, and from Satan, continually opposing 
 this, yet I am in Christ the way, and he is in me the 
 truth and the li/e. I am one with him, and he is ou« 
 with me. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 PAET II. 
 
 WHEREIN IS SET POETH THE MANNER OF THE SBTTINa OtTT OF 
 
 CHRISTIAN'S WIFE AND CHILDREN; 
 
 THEIR DANGEROUS JOURNEY AND SAFE ARRIVAL AT THE DESIRED COUNTRY. 
 
 THE AUTHOE'S PEEFACE 
 
 TO THE SECOND PART. 
 
 Go now, my little book, to every place, 
 Where ray First Pilgrim has but shown his face; 
 Call at their door ; if any say, Who's there ? 
 Then answer thou, Christiana is here. 
 If they bid thee come in, then enter thou, 
 With all thy boys ; and then, as thou knowest how, 
 Tell who they are,- also from whence they came ; 
 Perhaps they know them by their looks pr name ; 
 But if they should not, ask them yet again, 
 If formerly they did not entertain. 
 . One Christian, a Pilgrim ? If they say 
 They did, and were delighted in his way. 
 Then let them know, that these related were 
 Unto him ; yea,, his wife and children are. 
 Tell them, that they have left their house and 
 home, ^ 
 
 Are turned Pilgrims ; seek a world to come ; 
 That they have met with hardships in the way ; 
 That they do meet with troubles night and day : 
 Tliat they have trod on serpents, fought with 
 
 devils ; 
 Have also overcome a many evils. 
 Yea, tell them also of the next who have. 
 Of love to pilgrimage been stout and brave 
 Defenders of that way ; and how they still 
 Refuse this world, to do their Father's will. 
 Go tell them also of those dainty things. 
 That pilgrimage unto the Pilgrim brings : 
 Let them acquainted be too, how they are 
 Beloved of their King, under his care; 
 What goodly mansions he for them provides. 
 Though they meet with rough winds and swelling 
 
 tides ; 
 How brave a calm they will enjoy at last. 
 Who to the Lord, and to his ways hold fast. 
 
 Perhaps with heart and hand they will embrao* 
 Thee, as they did my firstling, and will grace 
 Thee and thy fellows with such cheer and fare, 
 As show well they of Pilgrims lovers are. 
 
 OBJECTION I. 
 
 But how, if they will- not believe of me 
 That I am truly thine ; 'cause some there be 
 That counterfeit the Pilgrim and his name. 
 Seek, by disguise, to seem the very same ; 
 And, by that means, have brought themselvei 
 
 into 
 The hands and houses of I know not who. 
 
 'Tis true, some have, of late, to coimterfeit 
 My Pilgrim, to their own my title set ; 
 Yea, others half my name, and title too, 
 Have stitched to their books, to make them do , 
 But yet they, by their featm-es, do declare 
 Themselves not mine to be, whose e'er they are. 
 
 If such thou meef st with, then thine only way 
 Before them all, is to say out thy say 
 In thine own native language, which no man 
 Now useth, or with ease dissemble can. 
 If, after aU, they still of you shall doubt. 
 Thinking that you like gypsies go about, 
 In naughty-wise, the country to defile ; 
 Or that you seek good people to beguile 
 With things unwarrantable, send for me, 
 And I will testify you Pilgrims be ; 
 Yea, I will testify that only you 
 My Pilgrims are, and that alone will do. 
 
 17i! 
 
174 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 OBJECTION n. 
 
 But yet, perhaps, I may inquire for him. 
 Of those who wish him damned life and limb : 
 What shall I do, when I at such a door 
 For Pilgrims ask, and they shall rage the more ? 
 
 ANSWER. 
 
 Fright not thyself, my book ; for such hug-bears 
 Are nothing else but ground for groundless fears ; 
 My Pilgrim's book has travelled sea and land, 
 Yet could I never come to understand 
 That it was slighted or turn'd out of door. 
 By any kingdom, were they rich or poor. 
 
 In France and Flanders, where men kill each 
 other. 
 My Pilgrim is esteem' d a friend, a brother. 
 In Holland too, 'tis said, as I am told. 
 My Pilgrim is, with some, worth more than gold ; 
 Highlanders and wild Irish can agree 
 My Pilgrim should familiar with them be. 
 'Tis in New England under such advance, 
 Keceives there so much loving countenance, 
 As to be trimm'd, new cloth'd, and deck'd with 
 
 gems. 
 That it may show its features and its limbs. 
 Yet more ; so fcdmely doth my Pilgrim walk, 
 That of him thousands daily sing and talk. 
 
 If you draw nearer home, it will appear. 
 My Pilgrim knows nb ground of shame or fear : 
 City and country will him entertain, 
 With, Welcome, Pilgrim ; yea, they can't refrain 
 From smiling, if my Pilgrim be but by. 
 Or shows his head in any company. 
 
 Brave gallants do my Pilgrim hug and love, 
 Esteem it much : yea, value it above 
 Things of a greater bulk ; yea, with delight 
 Say, my lark's leg is better than a kite. 
 
 Young ladies, and young gentlemen too. 
 Do no small kindness to my Pilgrim show : 
 Their cabinets, their bosoms, and their hearts. 
 My Pilgrim has, 'cause he to them imparts 
 His pretty riddles, in such wholesome strains, 
 As yields them profit double to their pains 
 Of reading ; ye^, I think I may be bold 
 To say, some prize him far above their gold. 
 
 The very children that do walk the street, 
 If they do but my holy Pilgrim meet, 
 Balute him will ;■ will wish him well and say. 
 He i- the only stripling of the day. 
 
 They that have never seen him, yet admire 
 What they have heard of him, and much desire 
 To have his company, and hear him tell 
 Those pilgrim stories which he knows so well. 
 
 Yea, some that did not love him at the first. 
 But call'd him fool and noddy, say they must. 
 Now they have seen and heard him, him com- 
 mend, 
 
 And to those whom they love, they do him send. 
 Wherefore, my Second Part, thou need'st no! 
 be 
 Afraid to show thy head : none can hurt thee. 
 That wish but well to him that went before : 
 'Cause thou com'st after with a second store 
 Of things as good, as rich, as profitable, 
 For young, for old, for stagg'ring, an^ for stable. 
 
 OBJECTION in. 
 
 But some thei-e be that say, he laughs too loud; 
 And some do say, his head is in a cloud, 
 Some say, hLs words and stories are so dark. 
 They know not how by them to find his mark. 
 
 One may (I think) say, both his laughs and 
 cries 
 May well be guess' d at by his waf ry eyes^ 
 Some things are of that nature as to make 
 One's fancy chuckle while his heart doth ache; 
 When Jacob saw his Eachel with the sheep. 
 He did at the same time both kiss and weep. 
 
 Whereas some say, A cloud is in his head, 
 That doth but show his wisdom's covered 
 With his own mantle ; and to stir the mind 
 To search well after what it fain would find. 
 Things that seem to be hid in words obscure, 
 Do but the godly mind the more allure. 
 To study what those sayings should contain, 
 That speak to us iu such a cloudy strain. 
 
 I also know, a dark similitude 
 Will on the curious fancy more intrude, 
 And will stick faster in the heart and head, ^ 
 
 Than things from simUes not borrowed. 
 
 AVherefore, my Book, let no discouragement 
 Hinder thy travels : behold ! thou art sent 
 To friends, not foes; to friends that will give 
 
 place 
 To thee, thy Pilgrims, and thy words embrace. 
 
 Besides, what my first Pilgrim left conceal'd, 
 Thou, my brave second Pilgrim, hast reveal'd : 
 What Christian left lock'd up, and went his way, 
 Sweet Christiana opens with her key. 
 
 OBJECTION 17. 
 
 But some love not the method of your first : 
 Romance they count it, throw't away as dust. 
 If I should meet with such, what should I say ? 
 Must I slight them as they slight me, or nay ? 
 
 ANSWER. 
 
 My Christiana, if with such thou meet. 
 By aU means, in all loving wise, them greet ; 
 Kender them not reviling for revile ; 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PBOOBESS. 
 
 175 
 
 But if lliey frown, I pr'ythee on them smile ; 
 Perhaps 'tis nature, or some ill report, 
 Has made them thus despise, or thus retort. 
 Some love no fish, some love no cheese; and 
 ■orae 
 Love not their friends, nor their own house or 
 
 home J 
 Some stiirt at pig, slight chicken, love not fowl, 
 More than they love a cuckoo or an owl. 
 Leave such, my Christiana, to their choice, 
 And seek those who to find thee will rejoice: 
 By no means strive, bnt in most humble wine, 
 I'rpsent thee to them in thy Pilgrim's guise. 
 
 Go then, my little Book, and show to all 
 That entertain, and bid thee welcome shall, 
 What thou shalt keep close shut up from the rest : 
 And wish that thou shalt show them may be bless'd 
 To them for good, and make them choose to be 
 Pilgrims by better far than thee and me. , 
 Go then, 1 say, tell all men who thou art, 
 Say, I am Christiana, and my part 
 ,Is now .with my four sons, to tell you what 
 It is for men to take a I^ilgrim's lot. 
 Go, also, tell them who and what they be 
 That now do go on pilgrimage with thee'; 
 Say, Here's , my neighbour Mercy ; she is one 
 That has lolig time with me a pilgrim gone : 
 Come, see her in her virgin face, and learn 
 'Twixt idle ones and Pilgrims to discern. 
 Yea, let young damsels learn of her to prize 
 The world which is to come, in any wise. 
 When little tripping maidens follow God, 
 And leave old doating sinners to his rod, 
 'Tis like those days, wherein the young ones cried, 
 Hosanna ! when the old ones did deride. 
 
 Next, tell them of old Honest, whom you found. 
 With his white hairs, treading the Pilgrim's 
 
 ground ; 
 Yea, tell them how plain-hearted this man was ; 
 How after his good Lord he bare the cross. 
 Perhaps with some grey head this may prevail 
 Wifli Christ to fall in love, and sin bewail. 
 
 Tell them also, how Mr. Fearing went 
 On pilgrimage ; and how the time he spent 
 In solitariness, with fears and cries: 
 A.nd how, at last, he won the joyful priza. 
 
 He was a good man though much down in spirit; 
 He is a good man, and doth life inherit. 
 
 Tell them of Mr. Feeble-min'd also, 
 Who not before, but still behind would go : 
 Show them also, how he'd like t'have been slain, 
 And how one Great-heart did his life regain. 
 This man was tme of heart, though weak in grace; 
 One might true godliness read in his face. 
 
 Then tell them of Mr. Iteady-to-halt, 
 A man with crutches, but much without fault : 
 Tell them how Mr. Feeble-mind and he 
 Did love, and in opinion much agree ; 
 And let all know, though weakness was their 
 
 chance. 
 Yet sometimes one could sing, the other dance. 
 
 Foi-get not Mr. Valiant-for-the-truth, 
 That man of courage, though a very youth. 
 Tell every one his spirit was so stout 
 No one could ever make him face aboui ; 
 And how Great-heart and he could not forbear 
 But pull down Doubting Castle, slay Despair. 
 
 .Overlook not Mr. Daspondency, 
 Nor Much-afraid, his daughter, though they lie 
 Under such mantles as may make them look 
 (With some) as if their God had them forsook 
 They softly went, but sure ; and at the end, 
 Found that the Lord of Pilgrims was their friend. 
 
 When thou hast told the world of all these 
 things, , 
 Then turn about, my Book, and touch these strings, 
 Which if but touched, will such music make. 
 They'll make a cripple dance, a giant quake. 
 
 Those riddles that lie couch'd within thy breast, 
 Freely propound, expound, and for the rest 
 Of my mysterious lines, let them remain 
 For those whose nimble fancies shall them gain. 
 
 Now may this little book a blessing be 
 To those who love this little Book and me, 
 And may its buyer have no cause to say, 
 His money is but lost or thrown away. 
 Yea, may this second Pilgrim yield that fruit 
 As may with each good Pilgrim's fancy suit, 
 And may it some persuade that go astray, 
 ^To turn their feet and heart to the right way. 
 Is the hearty prayer of the Author, 
 JOHN EUNYAN. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 piRr II. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Christiana, vdth her four Sons and a Neighbour, sets out on Pilgrimage. 
 
 • CdTJETEOus Companions : 
 
 Some time since, to tell you a dream tliat I 
 had of Christian the Pilgrim,* and of his dan- 
 gerous journey towards the Celestial Country, 
 was pleasant to me and profitable to you. I 
 told you then also what I saw concerning his 
 wife and children, and how unwilling they 
 were to go with him on pilgrimage : insomuch 
 that he was forced to go on his progress with- 
 out them ; for he durst not run the danger of 
 that destruction, which he feared would come 
 by staying with them in the city of Destruc- 
 tion : wherefore, as I then showed you, he left 
 them, and departed. 
 
 Now it has so happened, through the mul- 
 tiplicity of business, that I have been much 
 hindered and kept back from my wonted 
 travels into those parts where he went, and so 
 could not, till now, obtain an opportunity to 
 make further inquiry after whom he left be- 
 hind, that I might give you an account of 
 them. But having had some concerns that 
 way of late, I went down again thitherward. 
 Now, having taken up my lodging in a wood, 
 about a mile off the place, as I slept I dreamed 
 again. 
 
 And, as I was in my dream, behold an aged 
 gentleman came by where I lay ; and because 
 he was to go some part of the way that I was 
 
 * Though the second part of the Pilgrim's Progress 
 will not strike the reader' with the novelty of the first, 
 because the same scenes are repeated j yet they are 
 presented with such agreeable variations, as make it 
 an equal source of profit and delight. The author ex- 
 plains in this part, what was left more dark in the 
 first, as he tells us in his Preface. On this account 
 the Explanatory Notes will be brief on those parts 
 already noticed, while the newer matter will be more 
 176 
 
 travelling, methought I got up and went with 
 him. So, as we walked, and as travellers uau- - 
 ally do, I was as if we fell into a discourse, 
 and our talk happened to be about Christian 
 and his travels : for thus I began with the old 
 man: 
 
 Sir, said I, what town is that there below, 
 that lieth on the left hand of our way? 
 
 Then said Mr. Sagacity, (for that was his 
 name,) It is the city of Destruction, a popu- 
 lous place, but possessed with a very ill-con- 
 ditioned and idle sort of people. 
 
 I thought that was that city, quoth I; I 
 went once myself through that town; and' 
 therefore I know that this report you give of 
 it is true. 
 
 Sagacity. Too true! I wish I could speak 
 truth in speaking better of them that dwell 
 th'erein. 
 
 Well, sir, quoth I, then I perceive you to be 
 a well-meaning man, and so one that takes 
 pleasure to hear and tell of that which is good • 
 pray did you never hear what happened to a 
 man so'me time ago in this town, (whose name 
 was Christian,) that went on a pilgrimage up 
 towards the higher regions ? 
 
 Sagacity. Hear of him ! Ay, and I also 
 heard of the molestations, "troubles, wars, cap- 
 tivities, cries, groans, frights, and fears, that he 
 
 largely improved. The second part is peculiarly 
 adapted to direct and encourage female Christians 
 and young persons ; and it is hoped, will be particu- 
 larly attended to by such. It is perhaps needless to 
 remark, that no reasonable doubt can be entertained 
 as to the authenticity of this work : Mr. Bunyan can- 
 not bo imitated : and the sweet simplicity that cha- ■ 
 raoterizes the first part, is equally obvious in the 
 second. i 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PBOGBESS. 
 
 177 
 
 met with and had on his journey. Besides, I 
 must tell you, all our country rings of him ; 
 there are hut few houses, that have heard of 
 him jind his doings, but have sought after 
 and got the records of his pilgrimage: yea, I 
 think I may say, that this hazardous journey 
 has got many well-wishers to his ways ; for, 
 though when he was here, he wan fool m every 
 man's mouth, yet now lie is gone, he is highly 
 commended of all. For it is said he lives 
 bravely where he is : yea, many of them that 
 are resolved never to run his hazards, yet have 
 their mouths water at his gains.* 
 
 They may, quoth I, well think, if they think 
 any thing that is true, that he liveth well where 
 he is ; for he now lives at and in the Fountain 
 of life, and has what he has without labour 
 and sorrow ; for there is no grief mixed here- 
 with. But pray, what talk have the people 
 about him? 
 
 Sagacity. Talk ! the people talk strangely 
 about him; some say, that he now walks in 
 white, (Rev. iii. 4; vi. 11;) that he has a 
 chain of gold about his neck ; that he has a 
 crown of gold, beset with pearls, upon his 
 head : others say, that the shining ones that 
 sometimes showed themselves to him in his 
 journey, are become his companions, and that 
 he is as familiar with them in the place where 
 he is, as here one neighbour is with another. 
 Zech. iii. 7. Besides, it is confidently afBrmed 
 concerning him, that the King of the place 
 where he is, has bestowed upon him already a 
 very rich and pleasant dwelling at court, and 
 that he every day eateth, and drinketh, and 
 walketh, and talketh with him, and receiveth 
 the smiles and favours of him that is Judge of 
 all there. Moreover, it is expected of some, 
 that his Prince, the Lord of that country, will 
 shortly come into these parts, and will know 
 the reason, if they can give any, why his 
 neighbours set so little by him, and had him so 
 much in derision, when they perceived that he 
 would be a pilgrim. Jude 15. 
 
 For they say, that now he is so in the af- 
 fections of his Prince,! and that his Sovereign 
 is so much concerned with the indignities that 
 
 * This is quite nai^rai and very common. The 
 men of this world will canonize those for saints when 
 dead whomthey stigmatized with the rileat names when 
 living. Oh let us leave our characters to Him who died 
 for our sins, and to whom we can commit our souls. 
 
 ■f- Christian's King will take Christian's part. 
 pilgrim, write this upon the table of thine heart, and 
 read it every step of thy journey. 
 
 J Mark this well. No matter what profession we 
 12 
 
 were cast upon Christian when he became a 
 pilgrim, that he will look upon all as if done 
 to himself: and no marvel, for it was for the 
 love that he had to his Prince that he ven- 
 tured as he did.J Luke x. 16. 
 
 I dare say, quoth I — I am glad of it ; I am 
 glad for the poor man's sake, for that now he 
 has rest from his labour, (Rev. xiv. 13,) and 
 for that now he reaps the benefits of his tears 
 with joy, (Ps. cxxvi. 5, 6.) and for that he has 
 got beyond the gun-shot of his enemies, and is 
 out of the reach of them that hate him. I 
 also am glad, for that a rumour of these things 
 is noised abroad in this country ; who can tell 
 but that it may work some good effect on some 
 that are left behind ? But pray, sir, while it is 
 fresh in my mind, do you hear any thing of 
 his wife and children ? Poor hearts I I won- 
 der in my mind what they do. 
 
 Sagacity. Who? Christiana and her sons? 
 They are like to do as well as did Christian 
 himself; for though they all played the fool at 
 first, and would by no means be persuaded by 
 either the tears or entreaties of Christian, yet 
 second thoughts have wrought wonderfully 
 with them: so they have packed up, and are 
 also gone after him.|| 
 
 Better and better, quoth I : but what ! wife, 
 and children, and all ? 
 
 Sagacity. It is true: I can give you an ac- 
 count of the matter, for I was upon the spot at 
 the instant, and was thoroughly acquainted 
 with the whole afiair. 
 
 Then, said I, a man may report it for the 
 truth ? 
 
 Sagacity. You need not fear to affirm it; I 
 mean that they are all gone on pilgrimage, 
 both the good woman and her four boys. And 
 being we are, as I perceive, going some con- 
 siderable way together, I will give you an ac- 
 count of the whole matter. 
 
 This Christiana, (for that was her name 
 from the day that she with her children be- 
 took themselves to a pilgrim's life,) after her 
 husband was gone over the river, and she could 
 hear of him no more, her thoughts began to 
 work in her mind. First, for that she had lost 
 
 make, if the love of Christ be not its foundation. All 
 is nothing without this love. It is this love in the 
 heart, that, like oil in the lamp, keeps the profession 
 of Christ burning bright. 
 
 II Though moral persuasions, and all the alFectionate 
 arguments from a tender husband or an affectionate 
 parent, may appear to prove ineffectual for the present, 
 yet let us not neglect our duty, but be earnest in it, 
 and leave the event to sovereign grace. 
 
178 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 her husband, and for that the loving bond of 
 that relation was utterly broken betwixt them. 
 For you know, said he to me, nature can do 
 no less but entertain the living with many a 
 heavy cogitation, in the remembrance of the 
 loss of loving relations. This, therefore, of her 
 husband, did cost her many a tear. But this 
 was not all ; for Christiana did also begin to 
 consider with herself, whether her unbecoming 
 behaviour towards her husband was not one 
 cause that she saw him no more ; and that in 
 such sort he was taken away from her. And 
 upon this came into her mind by swarms, all 
 her unkind, unnatural, and ungodly carriage 
 to her dear friend; which also clogged her 
 conscience, and did load her with guilt. She 
 was moreover, much broken with calling to 
 remembrance the restless groans, the brinish 
 tears, and self-bemoaning of her husband, and 
 how she did harden her heart against all his 
 entreaties and loving persuasions of her and 
 her sons to go with him ; yea, there was not 
 any thing that Christian either said to her or 
 did before her, all the while that his burden 
 did hang on his back, but it returned upon 
 her like a flash of lightning, and rent the caul 
 of her heart in sunder; especially that bitter 
 outcry of his, " What shall I do to be saved ?" 
 did ring in her ears most dolefully.* 
 
 Then said she to her children, " Sons, we 
 are all undone. I have sinned away your 
 father, and he is gone: he would have had 
 us with him, but I would not go myself: I 
 also have hindered you of life." With that 
 the boys fell into tears, and cried to go after 
 their father. " Oh !" said Christiana, " that it 
 had been but our lots to go with him ; then it 
 had fared well with us, beyond what it is like 
 to do now. For though I formerly foolishly 
 imagined concerning the troubles of your 
 father, that they proceeded of a foolish fancy 
 that he had, or for that he was overrun with 
 melancholy humours ; yet now it will not out 
 of my mind, but that they sprang from an- 
 other cause; to wit, for that the light of life 
 
 * Here see, what those who cruelly and unkindly 
 treat their godly relations and friends on account 
 of their religion, must come to feel, in the hittcrness 
 of their spirit, and groan under in the sorrow of their 
 soul, if ever the Lord grants them repentance unto life. 
 
 f Is it any marvel, that a quickened, enlightened 
 sinner should be judged by those around him, who 
 are yet dead in their sins, to he full of whims and 
 melancholy? No; it is very natural for them to 
 think us fools and mad ; but we know that they 
 really are so. 
 
 was given him, (John viii. 12 ;) by the help 
 of which, as I perceive, he has escaped the 
 snares of death." f Then they wept all 
 again, and cried out, " Oh 1 woe worth the 
 day 1" 
 
 The next night Christiana had a dream; 
 and behold -she saw as if a broad parchment 
 was opened before her, in which were re- 
 corded the sum of her ways ; and the crimes, 
 as she thought, looked very black upon her, 
 Then she cried out aloud in her sleep, " Lord, 
 have mercy upon me a sinner,"}: (LukexviiL 
 13 :) and the little children heard her. 
 
 After this, she thought she saw two very 
 ill-favoured ones standing by her bed side, 
 and saying, "What shall we do with this 
 woman? for she cries out for mercy waking 
 and sleeping : if she be suffered to go on as 
 she begins, we shall lose her as we have lost 
 her husband. Wherefore we must, by some 
 way, seek to take her off from the thoughts 
 of what shall be hereafter, else all the world 
 cannot help but she will become a pilgrim." 
 
 Now she awoke in a great agony; also a 
 trembling was upon her ; but after a while she 
 fell to sleeping again. And then she thought 
 she saw Christian her husband in a place of 
 bliss, among many immortals, with an harp in 
 his hand, standing and playing upon it before 
 One that sat on a throne, with a rainbow about 
 his head. She saw also, as if he bowed his 
 head with his face towards the paved work 
 that was under his Prince's feet, saying, " I 
 heartily thank my Lord aijd King for bring- 
 ing me into this place." Then -shouted a com- 
 pany of them that stood round about, and 
 harped with their harps: but no man living 
 could tell what they said but Christian and 
 his companions. 
 
 Next morning, when she was up, had prayed 
 to God, and talked with her children awhile, 
 one knocked hard at the door ; to ■5\(hom she 
 spoke out, saying, " If thou comest in God's 
 name, come in." So he said, " Amen ;" and 
 opened the door, and saluted her with, "Peace 
 
 \ This is the very first cry of an awakened sinner, 
 mercy for the lost and miserable : and no sooner are 
 the sinner's eyes opened to see his ruined, desperate 
 state, and to cry for mercy, but the god of this world, 
 who hitherto had blinded the eyes, and kept the heart 
 secure by presumption, now opposes the sinner's prog- 
 ress to a throne of grace, to a God of mercy, and to 
 the Saviour of the lost. Satan does not easily part 
 with his prey. But Jesus, the strong man armed 
 with almighty power and everlasting love, will c m- 
 t(uor and cast him out. 
 
THE PILOBIM'S PBOOMESS. 
 
 179 
 
 on this house." The which when he had 
 done, he said, " Christiana, knowest thou 
 wherefore I am come?" Then she blushed 
 and trembled; also her heart began to wax 
 warm with desires to know from whence he 
 came, and what his errand was to her. So he 
 said unto her, " My name is Secret; * I dwell 
 with those that are high. It is talked of, 
 where I dwell, as if thou hadst a desire to go 
 thither: also there is a report, that thou art 
 aware of the evil thou hast formerly done to 
 thy husband, in hardening of thy heart against 
 his way, and in keeping of these babes in their 
 ignorance. Christiana, the Merciful One has 
 sent me to tell thee, that he is a God ready to 
 forgive, and that he taketh delight to multiply 
 the pardon of offences. He also would have 
 thee to know that he inviteth thee to" come 
 into his presence, to his table, and that he 
 will feed thee with the fat of his house, and 
 with the heritage of Jacob thy father. 
 
 " There is Christian, thy husband that was, 
 with legions more, his companions, ever be- 
 holding that face that doth minister life to the 
 beholders : and they will all be glad, when 
 they shall hear the sound of thy feet step over 
 thy father's threshold." 
 
 Christiana at this was greatly abashed in her- 
 self, and bowed her head to the ground. This 
 Vision proceeded, and said, " Christiana, here 
 is also a letter for thee, which I have brought 
 from thy husband's King ; " so she took it, and 
 opened it, but it smelt after the manner of the 
 best perfume. Sol. Song i. 3. Also it was 
 written in letters of gold. The contents of the 
 letter were these : " that the King would have 
 her do as did Christian her husband ; for that 
 was the only way to come to his city, and to 
 dwell in his pr^ence with joy for ever." At 
 this the good woman was quite overcome : so 
 she cried out to her visitor, "Sir, will you carry 
 me and my children with you, that we may 
 also go and worship the King ? " 
 
 Then said the visitor, " Christiana, ' the bit- 
 ter is before the sweet;' thou must through 
 troubles, as he did that went before thee, enter 
 this Celestial City. Wherefore I advise thee to 
 do as did Christian thy husband: go to the 
 
 *■ " The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wis- 
 dom," (Ps. oxi. 10;) and "The secret of the Lord is 
 with them who fear him." Ps. xxv. 14. The Spirit 
 the Comforter never convinces the soul of sin, but he 
 also revives and comforts the sincere heart with glad 
 tidings of free and full pardon of sin, through the 
 blood of the LAMB. 
 
 t Says our Lord, " When tte Spirit is come, he shall 
 
 Wicket-gate yonder over the plain; for that 
 stands in the head of the way up which thou 
 must go, and I wish thee good speed. Als- I 
 advise thee that thou put this letter in thy 
 bosom; that thou read therein- to thyseli; and 
 to thy children, until they have got it by heart ; 
 for it is one of the songs that thou must sing 
 while thou art in this house of thy pilgrimage, 
 (Ps. cxix. 54;) also this thou must deliver in 
 at the far gate." f 
 
 Now I saw in my dream, that this old gen- 
 tleman, as he told me this story, did himself 
 seem to be~greatly affected therewith. He 
 moreover proceeded, and said. So Christiana 
 called her sons together, and began thus to ad- 
 dress herself unto them : " My sons, I have, as 
 you may perceive, been of late under much 
 exercise in my soul about the death of your 
 father ; not for that I doubt at all of his hap- 
 piness ; for I am satisfied now that he is well. 
 I have been also much affected with the 
 thoughts of mine own estate and yours, which 
 I verily believe is by nature miserable. My 
 carriage also to your father in his distress is a 
 great load to my conscience: for I hardened 
 both my heart and yours against him, and re- 
 fused to go with him on pilgrimage. 
 
 " The thoughts of these things would now 
 kill me outright, but for that a dream which I 
 had last night, and but that for the encourage- 
 ment this stranger has given me this morning. 
 Come, my children, let us pack up, and be gone 
 to the gate that leads us to that celestial coun- 
 try, that we may see your father, and be with 
 him and his companions in peace, according to 
 the laws of that land." , 
 
 Then did her children burst out into tears, 
 for joy that the heart of their mother was so 
 inclined. So the visitor bid them farewell ; 
 and they began to prepare to set out for their 
 journey. 
 
 But, while they were thus about to be gone, 
 two of the women that were Christiana's neigh- 
 bours came up to her house, and knocked at 
 her door. To whom she said as before. At 
 this the women were stunned ; for this kind of 
 language they used not to hear, or to porcei re 
 to drop from the lips of Christiana. J Yet they 
 
 testify of me — he shall lead you into all truth — he 
 shall show you things to come." All this the con- 
 vinced sinner finds true in experience. As the Spirit 
 testifies of Christ, so he leads the soul to Christ, that 
 he may be the sinner's only hope, salvation and 
 strength. Thus he glorifies Christ. 
 
 J Reader, stop and examine ! did ever any of youi 
 former friends and carnal acquaintances take know. 
 
180 
 
 SUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 eame in : but, behold, they found the good wo- 
 man preparing to be gone from her house. 
 
 So they began, and said, " Neighbour, pray 
 what is your meaning by this?" 
 
 Christiana answered, and said to the eldest 
 of them, whose name was Mrs. Timorous, " I 
 am preparing for a journey.'' (This Timorous 
 was daughter to him that met Christian upon 
 the hill of Difficulty, and would have had him 
 go back for fear of the lions.) 
 
 Timorous, For what journey, I pray you? 
 
 Christiana. Even to go after my old husband. 
 And with that she fell a weeping. 
 
 Timorom. I hope not so, good neighbour; 
 pray, for your poor children's sake, do not so 
 unwomanly cast away yourself. 
 
 Christiana. Nay, my children shall go with 
 me : not one of them is willing to stay behind. 
 
 Timorous. I wonder in my heart, what or 
 who has brought you into this mind ! 
 
 Christiana. Oh, neighbour, knew you but as 
 much as I do, I doubt not but that you would 
 go along with me. 
 
 Timorous. Pr'ythee, what new knowledge 
 hast thou got, that so worketh off thy mind 
 from thy friends, and that tempteth thee to go 
 nobod!y knows where ? 
 
 Then Christiana replied, I have been sorely 
 afflicted since my husband's departure from 
 me ; but especially since he went over the river. 
 But that which troubleth me most, is my churl- 
 ish carriage to him, when he was under his 
 distress. Besides, I am now as he was then ; 
 nothing will serve me but going on pilgrimage. 
 I was a dreaming last night that I saw him. 
 ,0h that my soul was with him I He dwelleth 
 in the presence of the King of the country ; 
 he sits and eats with him at his table ; he is 
 become a companions of immortals, and has a 
 house .now given him to dwell in, to which the 
 best palaces on earth, if compared, seem to me 
 
 ledge of a difference in your language and conduct? 
 Do they still approve of yom as well as ever? What 
 reason, then, have you to think yourself a pilgrim ? 
 for no sooner does any one commence a pilgrim, but 
 thai Tsord is fulfilled, " For then I will turn to the peo- 
 ple a pure language." Zeph. iii. 7. If the heart be 
 ever so little acquainted with the Lord, the tongue will 
 discover it, and the carnal and profane wil.l ridicule 
 and despise you for it. 
 
 * This was a letter full of the love of Jesus, and the 
 precious invitation of his loving heart to all sinners to 
 come udto him, as recorded in this blessed word. 
 Happy sinners, whose eyes are opened to read them: 
 but this the world calls madness. 
 
 f The Lord, who quickens us by his Spirit, and calls 
 us by his word, well knows the carnal enemies who will 
 
 but as a dung-hill. 2 Cor. v. 1-4. The Prince of 
 the palace has also sent for me, with promises 
 of entertainment, if I shall come to him ; his 
 messenger was here even now, and brought me 
 a letter, which invites me to come. And with 
 that she plucked out her letter, and read il , and 
 said to them,* What now will you say to this ? 
 
 Timorous. Oh the madness that hath pos- 
 sessed thee and thy husband I to run yourself 
 upon such difficulties ! You have heard, I an. 
 sure, what, your husband did meet with, even 
 in a manner, at the first step that he took on 
 his way, as our neighbour Obstinate can yet 
 testify, for he went along with him ; yea, and 
 Pliable too, until they, like wise men, were 
 afraid to go any further. We also heard, over 
 and above, how he met with the lions, Apol- 
 lyon, the Shadow of Death, and many other 
 things. Nor is the danger that he met with at 
 Vanity Fair to be forgotten by thee. For if 
 he, though a man, was so hard put to it, what 
 canst thou, being but a poor woman, do ? Con- 
 sider also, that these four sweet babes are thy 
 children, thy flesh, and thy bones. Therefore, 
 though thou shouldst be so rash as to cast away 
 thyself; yet for the sake of the fruit of thy 
 body, keep them at home.f ' 
 
 But Christiana said unto her. Tempt me not, 
 my neighbour : I have now a price put into my 
 hand to get a gain, and I should be a fool of 
 the greatest sort, if I should have no heart to 
 strike in with the opportunity. And for that 
 you tell me of all these troubles that I am like 
 to meet with in the way, they are so far from 
 being to me a discouragement, that they show 
 I am in the right. The bitter must come be- 
 fore the sweet, and that also will make the 
 sweet the sweeter. Wherefore, since you came 
 not to my house in God's name, as I said, I 
 pray you be gone, and do not disquiet me fur- 
 ther.J 
 
 oppose our progress in the divine life : therefore he 
 tells us, " If thy brother, or the wife of thy bosom, or 
 thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee se- 
 cretly from the Lord, thou shalt not hearken unto him," 
 Ac. Deut. xiii. 6. Let the word of God oe the rule, 
 and Christiana's conduct ah example to all who are 
 setting their faces Zion-ward. Oh beware of the rea- 
 soning of the flesh. Dread to look back. Tremble at 
 the thought of going backj for the Lord hath no 
 pleasure in such. Heb. x. 38. 
 
 J That is right. It is well to be bold in the name 
 of the Lord with those who seek to turn us away from 
 following on to know the Lord; for nothing less than 
 life and salvation, or death and damnation, will be the 
 issue of it. pilgrims, beware ! beware of parleying 
 with the carnal. Ever remember, you have a nature 
 
THE PILGRIM'S FB06BESS. 
 
 181 
 
 Then Timorous ako reviled her, and said to 
 her fellow, "Come, neighbour Mercy, let us 
 leave her in her own hands, since she scorns 
 our counsel and company." But Mercy was at 
 a stand, and could not so readily comply with 
 her neighbour ; and that for a two-fold reason: 
 Ist. Her bowels yearned over Christiana. So 
 she said within herself, " If my neighbour will 
 needs be gone, I will go a little way with her, 
 and help her.'' 2dly. Her bowels yearned 
 over her own soul; for what Christiana had 
 said, had taken some hold upon her mind. 
 Wherefore she said within herself again, " I 
 will yet have more talk with this Christiana; 
 and if I find truth and life in what she shall 
 say, myself with my heart shall also go with 
 her." Wherefore Mercy began thus to reply 
 to her neighbour Timorous. 
 
 Mercy. Neighbour, I did indeed come with 
 you to see Christiana this morning ; and, since 
 she is, as you see, a taking her last farewell of 
 the country, I think to walk this sunshiny 
 morning a little with her, to help her on her 
 way. But she told her not of her second reason, 
 but kept it to herself. 
 
 Timorous. Well, I see you have a mind to go 
 a fooling too : but take heed in time, and be 
 wise ; while we are out of danger, we are out ; 
 but when we are in, we are in. So Mrs. Tim- 
 orous returned to her house, and Christiana 
 betook herself to her journey.* But when 
 Timorous was got home to her house, she sends 
 for some of her neighbours, to wit, Mrs. Bat's- 
 eyes, Mrs. Inconsiderate, Mrs. Light-mind, and 
 Mrs. Know-nothing. So, when they were come 
 to her house, she falls to telling the story of 
 Christiana, and of her intended journey. And 
 thus she began her tale : 
 
 Neighbours, having but little to do this 
 morning, I went to give Christiana a visit; 
 and when I came at the door, I knocked, as 
 you know it is our custom : and she answered, 
 " If you come in God's name, come in." So 
 in I went, thinking all was well: but, when 
 I came in, I found her preparing herself to 
 depart the town : she, and also her children. 
 So I asked her, what was her meaning by that? 
 And she told me in short, that she was now of 
 a mind to go on pilgrimage, as did her husband. 
 She told me also a dream that she had, and 
 
 prone to catch the falling spark from their flint and 
 iteel, and tinder about you ever ready to take the fire. 
 
 • Here we sea our Lord's word verified : " The one 
 ihall be taken and the other left." Matt. zxiv. 41. 
 Heroy obeys the call — Timorous perversely rejects it. 
 
 f Oh how do such carnal wretches sport with their 
 
 how the King of the country wh«re her hus- 
 band was, had sent her an inviting letter tu 
 come thither. 
 
 Then said Mrs. Know-nothing, And what, 
 do you think she will go? 
 
 Timorous. Ay, go she will, whatever come 
 on't: and methinks, I know it by this; for 
 that which was my great argument to persuadfl 
 her to stay at home, (to wit, the troubles she 
 was like to meet with in the way,) is one great 
 argument with her, to put her forward on her 
 journey. For she told me in so many words, 
 "The bitter goes before the sweet: yea, and 
 forasmuch as it doth, it makes the sweet the 
 sweeter." 
 
 Mrs. Bat's-eyes. Oh this blind and foolish 
 woman 1 and will she not take warning by her 
 husband's afflictions ? For my part, I see, if 
 he were here again, he would rest him content 
 in a whole skin, and never run so many hazards 
 for nothing. 
 
 Mrs. Inconsiderate also replied, saying. Away 
 with such fantastical fools from the town; a 
 good riddance for my part, I say of her ; should 
 she stay where she dwells, and retain this mind, 
 who could live quietly by her? for she will 
 either be dumpish or unneighbourly, to talk 
 of such matters as no wise body can abide; 
 wherefore, for my part, I shall never be sorry 
 for her departure; let her go, and let better 
 come in her room : it was never a good world 
 since these whimsical fools dwelt in it.f 
 
 Then Mrs. Light-mind added as foUoweth. 
 Come, put this kind of talk away. I was yes- 
 terday at Madam Wanton's, where we were as 
 merry as the maids. For who do you think 
 should be there, but I and Mrs. Love-the-flesh, 
 and three or four more, with Mrs. Lechery, 
 Mrs. Filth, and some others : so there we had 
 music and dancing and what else was meet to 
 fill up the pleasure. And, I dare say, my lady 
 herself is an admirable well-bred gentlewoman, 
 and Mr. Lechery is as pretty a fellow. 
 
 By this time Christiana was got on her way, 
 and Mercy went along with her: so, as they 
 went, her children being there also, Christiana 
 began to discourse. "And, Mercy," said 
 Christiana, " I take this as an unexpected fa- 
 vour, that thou shouldest set foot out of doors 
 with me, to accompany me a little in my way.'' 
 
 own damnation, while they despise the precious truths 
 of God, and ridicule his people; But it was in the be- 
 ginning, he who was born after the flesh persecuted 
 him who was born after the Spirit ; so it will be as 
 long as the seed of the woman and the seed of the 
 serpent are upon the earth. 
 
182 
 
 JBUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Then said young Mercy, (for she was but 
 young,) If I thought it would be to purpose to 
 go with you, I would never go near the town. 
 
 Well, Mercy, said Christiana, cast in thy 
 lot with me; I well know what will be the end 
 of our pilgrimage : my husband is where he 
 would not but be for aU the gold in the Span- 
 ish mines. Nor shalt thou be rejected, though 
 thou goest but upon my invitation. The King, 
 who hath sent for me and my children, is one 
 that delighteth in mercy. Besides, if thou wilt, 
 I will hire thee, and thou shalt go along with 
 me as my servant. Yet we will have all thiijgs 
 in common betwixt thee and me ; only go along 
 with me.* 
 
 Mercy. But how shall I be ascertained that 
 I also shall be entertained ? Had I this hope 
 from one that can tell, I would make no stick 
 at all, but would go, being helped by him 
 that can help, though the way was never so 
 tedious.f 
 
 Christiana. Well, loving Mercy, I will tell 
 thee what thou shalt do : go with me to the 
 Wicket-gate, and there I will further inquire 
 for thee; and if there thou shalt not meet with 
 encouragement, I will be content that thou 
 shalt return to thy place ; I also will pay thee 
 for thy kindness which thou showest to me 
 and my children, in the accompanying of us 
 on our way as thou dost. 
 
 Mercy. Then will I go thither, and will take 
 what shall follow: and the Lord grant that 
 my lot may there fall, even as the King of 
 heaven shall have his heart upon me.J 
 
 Christiana was then glad at heart ; "not only 
 that she had a companion ; but also for that she 
 had prevailed with this poor maid to fall in 
 love with her own salvation. So they went on 
 
 *" Such is the true spirit of all real pilgrims. They 
 wish others to know Christ, and to become followers of 
 him with themselves. Oh how happy are they when 
 the Lord is pleased to draw the hearts of any of their 
 fellow-sinners to himself! 
 
 t Though Christiana clearly saw and knew her call- 
 ing of God, yet Mercy did not; therefore she is in 
 doubt about it. Just so it is with many at their first 
 Mtting out. Hence they are ready to say, that they 
 pould eren wish to have had the most violent convio- 
 ticns of sin, and to have been as it were, shook over 
 the mouth of hell, that they might have had a greater 
 certainty of their being called of God. But this is 
 speaking unadvisedly. Better to take the apostle's 
 
 together, and Mercy began to weep. Iben 
 sa,id Christiana, " Wherefore weepeth my sis- 
 ter so ?" 
 
 Alasl said she, who can but lament, that 
 shall but rightly consider what a state and 
 condition my poor relations are in, that yet 
 remain in our sinful town? and that which 
 makes my grief the more is, because they 
 have no instruction, nor any to tell them what 
 is to come. II 
 
 Christiana. Bowels become pilgrims: and 
 thou doest for thy friends, as my good Chris- 
 tian did for^me when he left me : he mourned 
 for that I would not heed nor regard him ; but 
 his Lord and ours did gather up his tears, and 
 put them into his bottle ; and now both I and 
 thou, and these my sweet babes, are reaping 
 the fruit and benefit of them. I hope, Mercy, 
 that these tears of thine will not be lost ; for 
 the truth hath said, that "they that sow in 
 tears shall reap in joy and singing." And "he 
 that goetb forth and weepeth, bearing precious 
 seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, 
 bringing his sheaves with him." Ps. cxxvi. 5, 
 6. Then said Mercy— 
 
 " Let the most blessed be my guide, 
 If 't he his blessed will. 
 Unto his gate, into his fold, 
 Up to his holy hill : 
 
 " And let him never suffer mo 
 To swerve or turn aside 
 From his free grace and holy ways, 
 Whatever shall me betide. 
 
 " And lot him gather them of mine, 
 That I have left behind : 
 Lord, make them pray they may be thine, 
 With all their heart and mind." 
 
 advice ; " Give all diligence to make your calling 
 sure." 
 
 J Here is a blessed discovery of a heart divinely in 
 struoted. Mind, here is no looking to anything Mercy 
 was in herself, nor to anything she could do for her- 
 self, but all is resolved into this, all is cast upon this, 
 even the love of the heart of the King of heaven. 
 Reader, can you be content with this lot? Can you 
 cast all, and rest all, upon the love of Christ ? Then 
 bless his loving name for giving you a pilgrim's heart. 
 
 II This is natural; when we know the worth of our 
 souls and the value of Christ's salvation, and weep for 
 our ^ins, also to mourn and weep for our carnal rela- 
 tives, lest they should ho eternally lost. 
 
THE PILQ RIM'S PROQBESS. 
 
 183 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Ckngtiana, Merey, and the Children pass the Shugh with safety, and are hindly recevoed at 
 
 the Wicket-gate. 
 
 Now, my old friend proceeded and said : 
 But when Christiana came to the slough of 
 Despond, she began to be at a stand ; " For," 
 said she, " this is the place in which my dear 
 husband had like to have been smothered with 
 mud." She perceived also, that, notwithstand- 
 ing the command of the King to make this 
 place for pilgrims good, yet it was rather worse 
 than formerly. So I asked if that was true ? 
 Yes, said the old gentleman, too true: for 
 many there be, that pretend to be the King's 
 labourers, and say they are for mending the 
 King's highways, that bring dirt and dung in- 
 stead of stones, and so mar, instead of mend- 
 ing.* Here Christiana, therefore, and her 
 boys, did make a stand: but, said Mercy, 
 " Come, let us venture ; only let us be wary." 
 Then they looked well to their steps, and made 
 a shift to get staggering over. 
 
 Yet Christiana had like to have been in, and 
 that not once or twice. Now they had no 
 sooner got over, but they thought they heard 
 words that said unto them, " Blessed is she 
 that believeth, for there shall be a perform- 
 ance of what has been told her from the 
 Lord." 
 
 Then they went on again ; and said Mercy 
 to Christiana, Had I as good ground to hope 
 for a loving reception at the Wicket-gate, as 
 you, I think no slough of Despond could dis- 
 courage me. 
 
 Well, said the other, you know your sore, 
 and I know mine ; and, good friend, we shall 
 all have enough evil before we come to our 
 journey's end. For it cannot be imagined, 
 that the people that design to attain such ex- 
 cellent glories as we do, and that are so envied 
 that happiness as we are, but that we shall 
 meet with fears and snares, with what troubles 
 
 * But instead of being what they profess, the King's 
 labourers, Pahl calls them Gospel-perverters and soul- 
 troublers, Gal. t. 10. For instead of preaching a free 
 and full salvation, graciously bestowed upon poor sin- 
 ners, who can do nothing to entitle themselves to it, 
 or to gain an interest in it,- behold, those wretched 
 daubers set forth salvation to sale upon certain terms 
 and conditions, which sinners are to perform and ful- 
 fil. Thus they distress the upright and sincere, and 
 deceive the self-righteous and wary into pride and de- 
 hiaion. Thus they mar, instead of mend the way; 
 
 and afflictions they can possibly assault us 
 with that hate us. 
 
 And now Mr. Sagacity left me to dream out 
 my dream by myself. Wherefore, methought 
 I saw Christiana, and Mercy, and the boys, go 
 all of them up to the gate : to which when they 
 came they betook themselves to a short debate, 
 about how they must manage their calling at 
 the gate : and what should be said unto him 
 that did open unto them : so it was concluded, 
 since Christiana was the eldest, that she should 
 knock for entrance, and that she should speak 
 to him that did open for the rest. So Chris- 
 tiana began to knock, and, as her poor hus- 
 band did, she knocked and knocked again. 
 But instead of any that answered, they all 
 thought that they heard as if a dog came bark- 
 ing upon them; a dog, and a great one too; 
 and this made the women and children afraid. 
 Nor durst they for a while to knock any more, 
 for fear the mastiff should fly upon them. Now 
 therefore they were greatly tumbled up and 
 down in their minds, and knew not what to do : 
 knock they durst not, for fear of the dog ; go 
 back they durst not, for fear the keeper of that 
 gate should espy them as they so went, and be 
 offended with them : at last they thought of 
 knocking again, and knocking more vehe- 
 mently than they did at first. 
 
 Then said the keeper of the gate, " Who is 
 there?" So the dog left off to bark, and he 
 opened unto them.f 
 
 Then Christiana made a low obeisance, and 
 said, Let not our Lord be offended with his 
 hand-maidens, for that we have knocked at his 
 princely gate." Then said the keeper, " Whence 
 come ye ? And what is it that you would have?" 
 
 Christiana answered. We are come from 
 whence Christian did come, and upon the same 
 
 and bring dirt and dung, instead of stones, to make 
 the way sound and safe for pilgrims. Beware of the 
 sophistry of such professors. 
 
 f No sooner does a poor sinner open his lips in 
 prayer to Jesus, but the devil will bark and roar at 
 him, and by all means try to terrify and discourage 
 him. Do you find this? What is your remedy? 
 Resist the devilj and he will fly from you. James iv. 
 7. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. 
 James iv. 8. Oh ever remember our Lord's word, men- 
 should pray always and not faint. Luke sviii. 1. 
 
184 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 errand Jis he, to wit, to be, if it shall please 
 you, graciously admitted, by this gate, into the 
 way that leads unto the Celestial City. And 
 I answer, my Lord, in the next place, that I 
 am Christiana, once the wife of Christian, that 
 now is gotten ahove. 
 
 • With that the keeper of the gate did marvel, 
 saying, " W'lat, is she now become a pilgrim, 
 that but f. while ago abhorred that life?" 
 Then she bowed her head, and said, "Yea; 
 and so are these my sweet babes also." 
 
 Then he took her by the hand, and led her 
 in, and said also, " Suffer the little children to 
 come unto me ;" and with that he shut up the 
 gate. This done, he called to a trumpeter that 
 was above, over the gate, to entertain Chris- 
 tiana wiih shouting, and sound of trumpet, for 
 joy. So he obeyed, and sounded, and filled 
 the air with his melodious notes. 
 
 Now all this while poor Mercy did stand 
 without, trembling and crying for fear that she 
 was rejected. But when Christiana had gotten 
 admittance for herself and her boys, then she 
 began to make intercession for Mercy. 
 
 And she said. My Lord, I have a companion 
 of mine that stands yet without, that is come 
 hither upon the same account as myself: one 
 that is much dejected in her mind, for that she 
 comes, as she thinks, without being sent for ; 
 whereas I was sent to by my husband's King to 
 come. 
 
 Now Mercy began to be very imp.atient, and 
 each minute was as long to her as an hour; 
 wherefore she prevented Christiana from a 
 fuller interceding for her, by knocking at the 
 gate hersel£ And she knocked then so loud, 
 that she made Christiana to start. Then said 
 the keeper of the gate, " Who is there?" And 
 Christiana said, " It is my friend." 
 
 So he opened the gate and looked out, but 
 Meroy was fallen down without in a swoon ; 
 for she fainted, and was afraid that no gate 
 would be Opened to her. 
 
 Then he took her by the hand, and said, 
 '• Damsel, I bid thee arise." 
 
 "Oh, sir, (said she,) I am faint; there is 
 scarce life left in me." But he answered, that 
 
 » Mercy's case is not singular. Many have set out 
 just as she did, and have been discouraged by the 
 same reason as she was. She, as many have been, 
 was encouraged to set out in the ways of the Lord by 
 her neighbour and friend. Hence she thought there 
 was no cause to conclude that she was called by the 
 Lord, but that it was only the effect of human power 
 or moral persuasion, and therefore doubted and fainted 
 left she should not meet with acceptance. But her 
 
 one said, " When my- soul fainted within me, 
 I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came 
 unto thee, into thy holy temple." Jonah ii. 7. 
 Fear not, but stand upon thy feet, and tell me 
 wherefore thou art come. 
 
 Mercy. I am come for that unto which I was 
 never invited, as my friend Christiana was. 
 Hers was from the King, and mine was but 
 from her. Wherefore I fear I presume.* 
 
 Oood-wiU. Did she desire thee to come with 
 her to this place ? 
 
 Mercy. Yes; and, as my Lord sees, I am 
 come; and if there is any grace and for- 
 giveness of sins to spare, I beseech that thy 
 poor handmaid may be partaker thereof. 
 
 Then he took her again by the hand, and 
 led her gently in, and said, "I pray for all 
 them that believe on me, by what means so- ' 
 ever they come unto me." Then said he to 
 those that stood by, ".Fetch something, and 
 give it Mercy to smell on, thereby to stay her 
 faintings."' So they fetched her a bundle of 
 myrrh. A while after she was revived. 
 
 And now was Christiana, and her boys, 
 and Mercy, received of the Lord at the head 
 of the way, and spoke kindly unto by him. 
 Then said they yet further unto him, " We are 
 sorry for our sins, and beg of our Lord his 
 pardon, and further information what we must 
 do." 
 
 I grant pardon, said he, by word and deed: 
 by word, in the promise of forgiveness; by 
 deed, in the way I obtained it. Take the first 
 from my lips with a kiss, and the other as it 
 shall be revealed. Song Sol. i. 2 ; John xx. 19. 
 
 Now I saw in my dream, that he spake 
 many good words unto them, whereby they 
 were greatly gladdened. He also had them up 
 to the top of the gate, and showed them by 
 what deed they were saved; and told them 
 withal, that that sight they would have again 
 as they went along in the way, to their com- 
 fort. 
 
 So he left them awhile in a summer parlour 
 below, where they entered into talk by them- 
 selves : and thus Christiana began : " Lord, 
 how glad am I that we are got in hither !" 
 
 very doubts, fears, and distress, proved the earnest- 
 ness of her heart, and the desire of her soul after the 
 Saviour; and also, that his meroy, love, and gracious 
 power, had a hand in the work. Mark this, ye 
 poor, doubting, fearful, trembling souls, who are 
 halting every step, and fearing you fiave not set 
 out aright, bear what Christ's angel said, and b^ not 
 discouraged. Fear npt, for ye seek Jesus. Matt 
 xxviii^ 5. 
 
.SMIS IPEILOMHSffi 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROOBESS. 
 
 185 
 
 Mercy. So you well say : but I of all have 
 cause to leap for joy. 
 
 ChfisUana. I thought one time as I stood at 
 the gate, (because I had knocked, and none 
 did answer,) that all our labour had been lost, 
 especially when that ugly cur made such a 
 hoavy barking at us.* 
 
 Mercy. But my worst fear was, after I saw 
 that you was taken into his favour, and that 
 I was left behind. Now, thought I, it is ful- 
 filled which is written, " Two women shall be 
 grinding together, the one shall be taken and 
 the other left." Matt. xxiv. 41. I had much 
 ado to forbear crying out, Undone! And 
 afraid I was to knock any more : but when I 
 looked up to what was written over the gate, I 
 took courage. I also thought, that I must 
 either knock again or die : t so I knocked, but 
 I cannot tell how, for my spirit now stru^led 
 between life and death. 
 
 Christiana. Can you not tell how you 
 knocked? I am sure your knocks were so 
 earnest, that the very sound made me start : I 
 thought I never heard such knocking in all 
 my life ; I thought you would come in by a 
 violent hand, or take the kingdom by storm. 
 Matt. xi. 12. 
 
 Mercy. Alas, to be in my case I who that so 
 was, could have but done so ? You saw that 
 the door was shut upon me, and that there was 
 a most cruel dog thereabout. Who, I say, 
 that was so faint-hearted as I, would not have 
 knocked with all their might? But pray, 
 what said my lord unto my rudeness ? Was 
 he not angry with me ? 
 
 Christiana. When he heard your lumbering 
 noise, he gave a wonderful innocent smile : I 
 believe what you did pleased him well, for he 
 showed no sign to the contrary. But I marvel 
 in my heart why he keeps such a dog: had I 
 known that before, I should not have had 
 heart enough to have ventured myself in this 
 manner. But now we are in, we are in, and I 
 am glad with all my heart. . 
 
 Mercy. I will ask, if you please, next time 
 he comes down, why he keeps such a filthy 
 cur in his yard : I hope he will not .take it 
 amiss. 
 
 Do so, said the children, and persuade him 
 to hang him ; for we are afraid he will bite us 
 when we go hence. 
 
 • The devil often barks most at us, and brings his 
 heaviest aoousations against us, when mercy, peace, 
 ocmfort, and salvation are nearest to us. 
 " Press on, nor fear to win the day. 
 Though earth and hell obstruct the way.'' 
 
 So at last he came down to them again, and 
 Mercy fell to the ground on her face before 
 him, and worshipped, and said, " Let my Lord 
 accept the sacrifice of praise which I now offer 
 unto him with the calves of my lips." 
 
 So he said unto her, "Peace be to thee; 
 stand up." But she continued upon her face, 
 and said, " Righteous art thou, Lord, when 
 I plead with thee, yet let me talk with thee of 
 thy judgments," (Jer. xii. 1, 2;) wherefore 
 dost thou keep so cruel a dog in thy yard, at 
 the sight of which, such women and childien 
 as we, are ready to flee from the gate with 
 fear? 
 
 He answered and said. That dog has another 
 owner : he is also kept close in another man's 
 ground, only my pilgrims hear his barking; 
 he belongs to the castle which you see there at 
 a distance, but can come up to the walls of 
 this place. He has frightened many an honest 
 pilgrim from worse to better, by the great voice 
 of his roaring. Indeed, he' that owneth him 
 doth not keep him out of any good-will to me 
 or mine, but with intent to keep the pilgrims 
 from coming to me, and that they may be 
 afraid to come and knock at this gate for en 
 trance. Sometimes also he has broken out, 
 and has worried some that I loved ; but I take 
 it all at present patiently. I also give my pil- 
 grims timely help, so that they are not deliv- 
 ered up to his power to do them what his dog- 
 gish nature would prompt him to. But what I 
 my purchased one, I trow, hadst thou known 
 never so much before-hand, thou wouldst not 
 have been afraid of a dog. The beggars that 
 go from door to door, will rather than they 
 will lose a supposed alms, run the hazard of 
 the bawling, barking, and biting too of a dog ; 
 and shall a dog in another man's yard, a dog 
 whose barking I turn to the profit of pilgrims, 
 keep any from coming to me? I deliver thein 
 from the lions, and "my darling from tlie 
 power of the dog." 
 
 Then said Mercy, I confess my ignorance : 
 I speak what I understand not: I acknowledge 
 that thou doest all things well. 
 
 Then Christiana began to talk of their jour- 
 ney, and to inquire after the way. So he fed 
 them, and washed their feet, and set them in 
 the way of his steps, according as he had dealt 
 with her husband before. 
 
 So I saw in my dream that they went on 
 
 ■\ Here is a blessed example of deep humility, and 
 of holy boldness, excited by the divine word. Go, 
 thou ruined sinner, and do likewise. 
 
186 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 their way ; and the weather was comfortable 
 to them. 
 Then Christiana began to sing, saying — 
 
 " Bless'd be the day that I began 
 A pilgrim for to be ;, 
 And blessed also be that man 
 That thereunto mov'd me. 
 
 "*Tis true 'twas long ere I began 
 To seek to live forever : * 
 But now I run fast as I can ; 
 'Tis better late than never. 
 
 "Our tears tQJoy, our fears to faith. 
 Are turned as we see ; 
 That our^eginning (as one saith) 
 Shows what our end will be." 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Pilgrims are assaulted, but relieved — Are entertained at the Interpreter's Souse. 
 
 Now there was on the other side of the 
 wall, that fenced in the way up which Chris- 
 tiana and her companions were to go, a gar- 
 den, and that belonged to him, whose was 
 that barking dog, of whom mention was made 
 before. And some of the fruit trees that grew 
 in the garden, shot their branches over the 
 wall ; and being mellow, they that found them 
 did gather them up, and eat of them to their 
 hurt. So Christiana's boys (as boys are apt to 
 do) being pleased with the trees, and with the 
 fruit that did hang thereon, did pluck them, 
 and began to eat. Their mother did also 
 chide them for so doing, but still the boys 
 went on.f 
 
 " Well," said she, " my sons, ypu transgress ; 
 for that fruit is none of ours :" but she did not 
 know that they did belong to the eneriiy : I'll 
 warrant you, if she had, she would have been 
 ready to die for fear. But that passed, and 
 they went on their way. Now, by that they 
 were gone about two bows' shot from the 
 place that led them into the way, they espied 
 two very ill-favoured ones coming down apace 
 to meet them.J With that Christiana and 
 Mercy her friend covered themselves with 
 their veils, and kept also on their journey : 
 the children also went on before: so that at 
 last they met together. Then they that came 
 down to meet them, came just up to the women, 
 as if they would embrace them ; but Christiana 
 said, "Stand back, or go peaceably as you 
 should." Yet ' these two, as men that are 
 deaf, regarded not Christiana's words, but 
 began to lay hands upon them : at that Chris- 
 
 » Matt. XX. 16. 
 
 f What is the garden hut the world? What is the 
 fruit they here found? The lust of the flesh, the lust 
 of the eye, and the pride oi life. 1 John ii. 16. 
 
 j: What are these ill-favoured ones? Such as you 
 will be sure to meet with in your pilgrimage; some 
 
 tiana waxed very wroth, and spurned at them 
 with her feet. Mercy also, as well as she 
 could, did what she could to shift them. 
 Christiana again said to them, "Stand back 
 and be gone, for we have no money to lose, 
 being pilgrims as you see, and such too as live 
 upon the charity of our friends." 
 
 Then said one of the two men : We make no 
 assault upon your money, but are come out to 
 tell you, that if you will but grant one small 
 request which we shall ask, we will make 
 women of you for ever. 
 
 Now Christiana, imagining what they should 
 mean, made answer again, " We will neither 
 hear, nor regard, nor yield to what you shall 
 ask. We are in haste, and cannot stay : our 
 business is of life and death." So again she 
 and her companions made a fresh essay to 
 go past them; but they letted them in their 
 way. 
 
 And they said, We intend no hurt to your 
 lives ; 'tis another thing we would have. 
 
 " Ay," quoth Christiana, " you would have 
 us body and soul, for I know 'tis for that you 
 are come; but we will die rather upon the 
 spot, than to suffer ourselves to be brought 
 into such snares as shall hazard our well- 
 being hereafter." And with that they both 
 shrieked out, and cried Murder I Murder ! and 
 so put themselves under those laws that are 
 provided for the protection of women. Deut. 
 xxii. 23, 27. But the men still made their 
 approach upon them, with design to pre- 
 vail against them. They therefore cried out 
 again. II 
 
 vile lusts, or cursed corruptions, which are suited to 
 your carnal nature. These will attack yon, strive to 
 prevail against you, and overcome you. Mind how 
 these pilgrims acted, and follow their example. 
 
 II Here we see that the most violent temptations to 
 the greatest evil is not sin, if resisted and not com- 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 187 
 
 Now they being, as I said, not far from the 
 ?ate, in at which they came, their voice was 
 heard from where they were thither; where- 
 fore some of the house came out, and knowing 
 that it was Christiana's tongue, they made 
 haste to her relief. But by that they were got 
 within sight of them, the women were in a 
 very great scuffle : the children also stood cry- 
 ing by. Then did he who came in for their 
 relief call out to the ruffians, saying, " What 
 is that thing you do ? Would you make my 
 Lord's people to transgress?" He also at- 
 tempted to take them; but they did make 
 their escape over the wall into the garden of 
 the man to whom the great dog belonged : so 
 the dog became their protector. This Be- 
 liever then came up to the women, and asked 
 them how they did. So they answered, " We 
 thank thy Prince, pretty well ; only we Tiave 
 been somewhat affrighted : we thank thee also, 
 that thou camest in to our help, for otherwise 
 we had been overcome." 
 
 So after a few more words, this Believer said 
 as folio weth: I marvelled much, when you 
 were entertained at the gate abo-ve, seeing ye 
 knew that ye were but weak women, that you 
 petitioned not the Lord for a conductor ; then 
 might you have avoided these troubles and 
 dangers : he would have granted you one.* 
 
 Alas! said Christiana, we were so taken 
 with our present blessing, that dangers to 
 come were forgotten by us: besides, who could 
 have thought, that so near the King's palace, 
 there should have lurked such naughty ones? 
 Indeed it had been well for us, had we asked 
 our Lord for one ; but since our Lord knew it 
 would be for our profit, I wonder he sent not 
 one along with us. f 
 
 Believer. It is not always necessary to grant 
 things not asked for, lest by so doing they be- 
 come of little esteem: but when the want of a 
 thing is felt, it then comes under, in the eyes 
 
 plied with. Our Lord himself was tempted in all 
 things like as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, ye 
 foUowo.T of him, don't be dejected and cast down, 
 though you should be exercised with temptations to 
 the blackest crimes, and the most heinous sins. 
 Christ is faithful, and he will not suffer us to be 
 tempted above that we are able; but will, with the 
 temptation, also make a way to escape, that we may 
 be able to bear it. 1 Cor. x. 13. 
 
 * Let this convince us of our backwardness to prayer, 
 and make us attend to that Scripture, " Ye have not, 
 because ye ask not." James iv. 2. 
 
 f It is well to value present blessings, to be joyful 
 in them, and thankful for them ; but it is wrong to 
 forget our dangers and grow secure. 
 
 of him that feels it, tnat estimate that properly 
 is its due ; and so consequently wiU be here- 
 after used. Had my Lord granted you a con- 
 ductor, you would not, neither, so have be- 
 wailed that oversight of yours in not asking 
 for one, as now you have occasion to do. So 
 all things work for good, and tend to make you 
 more wary. % 
 
 Christiana. Shall we go back again to my 
 Lord, and confess our folly and ask one? 
 
 Believer. Your confession of your folly I will 
 present him with : to go back again, you need 
 not; for in all places where you shall come 
 you wiU find no want at all ; for at every of 
 my Lord's lodgings, which he has prepared for 
 the reception of his pilgrims, there is sufficient 
 to furnish them against all attempts whatso- 
 ever. But as I said, "he will be inquired of 
 by them, to do it for them." Ezek. xxxvi. 37. 
 And it is a poor thing that is not worth asking 
 for. When hq had thus said, he went back to 
 his place, and the pilgrims went on their way. 
 
 Then said Mercy, What a sudden blank is 
 here 1 I made account we had been past all 
 danger, and that we should never sorrow more. 
 
 Thy innocency, my sister, said Christiana to 
 Mercy, may excuse thee much ; but as for me, 
 my fault is so much the greater, for that I saw 
 this danger before I came out of the doors, 
 and yet did not provide for it where provision 
 might have been had. I am much to be 
 blamed. || 
 
 Then said Mercy, How knew you this before 
 you came from home? Pray open to me this 
 riddle. 
 
 Christiana. Why, I will tell you: Before I 
 set foot out of doors, one night, as I lay in my 
 bed, I had a dream about this : for methought 
 I saw two men, as like these as ever the world 
 they could look, stand at my bed's feet plotting 
 how they might prevent my salvation. I will 
 tell you their very words: they said, (it was 
 when I was in my troubles,) " What shall we 
 
 J What loving, what precious reasoning is this ! 
 With what tender affection does our Lord reprove ! 
 See how kindly it works upon a pilgrim's soul. Poor 
 Christiana was going back to confess her folly, and 
 make her request to her Lord. But she is forbidden, 
 and encouraged and comforted to go on. Oh how does 
 our Lord bear, and what pains does he take with us, 
 poor awkward creatures, who are ever prone to act 
 amiss! Let us ever think most lowly of ourselves, 
 and most highly of him. 
 
 II Here is the display of a truly Christian spirit, in 
 that open and ingenuous confession of her fault, 
 taking all the blame upon fierself, exaggerating it, 
 and excusing Mercy. 
 
188 
 
 £UNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 do with this woman? for she cries out waking 
 and sleeping for forgiveness : if she be suffered 
 to go on as she begins, we shall lose her as we 
 have lost her husband." This, you know, might 
 have made me take heed, and have provided 
 when provision might have been had. 
 
 Well, said Mercy, as by this neglect we have 
 an occasion ministered unto us to behold our 
 imperfections, so our Lord has taken occasion 
 tliereby, to make manifest the riches of his 
 grace ; for he, as we see, has followed us with 
 unasked kindness, and has delivered us from 
 their hands that were stronger than we, of his 
 mere good pleasure. 
 
 Thus now, when they had talked away a 
 little more time, they drew near to an house 
 that stood in the way ; which house was built 
 for the relief of pilgrims, as you will find 
 more fully related in the first part of the rec- 
 ords of the Pilgrim's Progress. So they drew 
 on toward the house, (the house. of the Inter- 
 preter,) and when they came to the door, they 
 heard a great talk in the house: then they 
 gave ear, and heard, as they thought, Chris- 
 tiana mentioned by name. For you must 
 know, that there went along, even before her, 
 a talk of her and her children going on pil- 
 grimage. And this was the more pleasing to 
 them, because they had heard that she was 
 Christian's wife, that woman who was some 
 time ago so unwilling to hear of going on pil- 
 grimage. Thus, therefore, they stood still, and 
 heard the good people within commending her, 
 who they little thought stood at the door. At 
 last Christiana knocked as she had done at the 
 gate before. Now, when she had knocked, 
 there came to the door a young damsel, named 
 Innocent, and opened the door, and looked, 
 and behold two women were there. 
 
 Then said the damsel to them, " With whom 
 would you speak in this place?" 
 
 Christiana answered, "We understand that 
 this is a privileged place for those that are be- 
 come pilgrims, and we now at this door are 
 such : wherefore we pray that we may be par- 
 takers of that for which we at this time are 
 come; for the day, as thou seest, is very, far 
 spent, and we are loth to-night to go any 
 further." 
 
 * Here see how the experience of true grace works 
 in the heart, by keeping the subject of it low iu their 
 own eyes, and cutting off all self-exaltings. " I am that 
 hard-hearted woman,'' <fco. This ever dwelt upper- 
 most in Christiana's heart. soul, if thou truly 
 knowest thyself, thou wilt ever bo sinking into noth- 
 ing, because a sinner before the Lord, and confessing 
 
 Damsel. Pray what may I call your name, 
 that I may tell it to my Lord within? 
 
 Christiana. My name is Christiana; I was 
 the wife of that pilgrim that some years ago 
 did travel this way; and these be his four 
 children. This maiden is also my companion, 
 and is going on pilgrimage too. 
 
 Then ran Innocent in, and said to those 
 within, "Can you think who is at the door? 
 There is Christiana, and her children, and her 
 companion, all waiting for entertainment 
 herel" Then they leaped for joy, and went 
 and told their Master. So he came to the door, 
 and looking upon her, he said, Art thou that 
 Christiana whom Christian the good man left 
 behind him, when he betook himself to a pil- 
 grim's life? 
 
 Christiana. I am that woman that was so 
 hard-hearted as to slight my husband's troubles, 
 and that left him to go on his journey alone, 
 and these are his four children ; but now I also 
 am come, for I am convinced that no way ia 
 right but this.* 
 
 Interpreter. Then is fulfilled that which is 
 written of the man that said to his son, " Go 
 work to-day in my vineyard; and he said to 
 his father, I will not ; but afterwards repented 
 and went." Matt. xxi. 28, 29. 
 
 Then said Christiana, So be it ; Amen. God 
 make it a true saying upon me, and grant that 
 I may be found at the last " of him in peace, 
 without spot and blameless !" 
 
 Interpreter. But why standest thou at the 
 door ? Come in, thou daughter of Abraham : 
 we were talking of thee but now, for tidings 
 have come to us before, how thou art become 
 a pilgrim. Come, children, come in: come, 
 maiden, come. So he had them all into tlie 
 house. 
 
 So when they were within, they were bidden 
 to sit down and rest them; the which when 
 they had done, those that attended upon the 
 pilgrims in the house came into the room to 
 see them. And one smiled, and another smiled, 
 and they all smiled for joy that Christiana was 
 become a pilgrim : they also looked upon the 
 boys ; they stroked them over their faces with 
 their hands, in token of their kind reception 
 of them : they also carried it lovingly to Mercy, 
 
 thy vileness unto him, acknowledge if he had left thee 
 to thyself, destruction must have been thy inevitable 
 doom. And see how confident divine teaching makes 
 us. Under its power and influence we can say with 
 Christiana, "I am convinced that no way is right but 
 this," even to be a pilgrim of the Lord, and a sojour 
 ner upon the earth. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PBOORESS. 
 
 189 
 
 and ■bid Lhein all welcome into their Master's 
 house.* 
 
 After a while, because supper was not ready, 
 the Interpreter took them into his significant 
 rooms, and showed them what Christian, Chris- 
 tiana's husband, had seen some time before. 
 Here, therefore, they saw the man in the cage, 
 the man and his dream, the man that cut his 
 way through his enemies, and the picture of 
 the greatest of all ; together with the rest of 
 those things that were then so profitable to 
 Christian. 
 
 This done, and after those things had been 
 somewhat digested by Christiana and her com- 
 pany, the Interpreter takes them apart again, 
 and has them first into a room, where was a 
 man that could look no way but downwards, 
 with a muck-rake in his hand : there stood also 
 one over his head with a celestial crown in his 
 hand, and proffered him that crown for his 
 muck-rake ; but the man did neither look up 
 nor regard, but raked to himself the straws, 
 the small sticks, and dust of the floor. 
 
 Then said Christiana, I persuade myself that 
 I know somewhat the meaning of this ; for this 
 is the figure of a man in this world : is it not, 
 good sir ? 
 
 Thou hast said right, said he, and his muck- 
 rake doth show his carnal mind. And whereas 
 thou seest him rather give heed to rake up 
 straws and sticlcs, and the dust of the floor, 
 than do what he says that calls to him from 
 above, with the celestial crown in his hand ; it 
 is to show that heaven is but as a fable to some, 
 and that things here are counted the only 
 things substantial. Now whereas it was also 
 showed thee, that the man could look no way 
 but downwards, it is to let thee know, that 
 
 * Here is joy indeed, which strangers to the love of 
 Christ intermeddle not with. Believer, did you never 
 partake of this pleasing, this delightful sensation, on 
 seeing other poor sinners, like thyself, called to know 
 Jesus and follow him ? Surely this is the joy of heaven : 
 and if thou hast this joy, thou hast the love that reigns 
 in heaven. Oh for a spread and increase of this spirit 
 among Christians of all denominations I 
 
 ■(■ The emblematical instruction at the Interpreter's 
 house, in the former part, was so important and com- 
 prehensive, that no other selection equally interesting 
 could be expected : some valuable hints, however, are 
 here adduced. The first emblem is very plain, and so 
 apposite, that it is a wonder any person should read 
 it, without lifting up a prayer to the Lord, and saying, 
 " Oh ! deliver me from this muck-rake !" Yet alas, it 
 is to be feared, such prayers are still little used, even 
 by professors of the Gospel ; at least they are contra- 
 dicted by the h-vbitual conduct of numbers among 
 
 earthly things, when they are with power upon 
 men's minds, quite carry their hearts away 
 from God. 
 
 Then said Christiana, Oh I deliver me from 
 this muck-rake I 
 
 That prayer, said the Interpreter, has lain 
 by till it is almost rusty : " Give me not riches," 
 is scarce the prayer of one of ten thousand. 
 Prov. XXX. 8. Straws, and sticks, and dust, 
 with most, are the things now looked after. 
 
 With that Mercy and Christiana wept, and 
 said, " It is, alas ! too true." f 
 
 When the Interpreter had showed them this, 
 he had them into the very best room in the 
 house, (a very brave room it was:) so he bid 
 them look round about, and see if they could 
 find any thing profitable there. Then they 
 looked round and round ; for there was nothing 
 to be seen but a very great spider on the wall: 
 and that they overlooked. 
 
 Then said Mercy, Sir, I see nothing: but 
 Christiana held her peace. 
 
 But said the Interpreter, " Look again :" she 
 therefore looked again, and said, " Here is not 
 any thing but an ugly spider, who hangs by 
 her hands upon the wall." 
 
 " Then," said he, " is there but one spider in 
 all this spacious room ?" Then the water stood 
 in Christiana's eyes, for she was a woman quick 
 of apprehension : and she said, " Yes, Lord, 
 there is more here than one : yea, and spiders 
 whose venom is far more destructive than that 
 which is in her." The Interpreter then looked 
 pleasantly on her, and said, " Thou hast said 
 the truth.'' This made Mercy blush, and the 
 boys to cover their faces ; for they all began 
 now to understand the riddle, t 
 
 Then said the Interpreter again, " The spider 
 
 them, and this should very properly lead us to weep 
 over others, and tremble over ourselves. Reader, 
 didst thou, like these pious pilgrims, never shed a 
 generous tear for thy base and disingenuous conduct 
 towards thy Lord, in preferring the sticks and straws 
 of this world to the unsearchable riches of Christ, and 
 the salvation of thy immortal soul ? 
 
 if The author did not mean by the emblem of the 
 spider that the sinner might confidently assure him- 
 self of salvation, by the blood of Christ, while he 
 continued full of the poison of sin, without experien- 
 cing and evidencing any change; but only that no 
 consciousness of actual guilt and inward pollution 
 need discourage any one from applying to Christ, and 
 fleeing for refuge, " to lay hold on the hope set before 
 them," that thus the sincere soul may be delivered 
 from condemnation, cleansed fully from pollution, and 
 so made meet for those blessed mansions into which 
 no unclean thing can find admission. 
 
190 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 lateth. hold with her hands, (as you see,) and 
 is in kings' palaces." And wherefore is this 
 recorded, but to show you, that how full of the 
 venom of sin soever you be, yet you may, by the 
 hand of faith, lay hold of, and dwell in, the best 
 room that belongs to the King's house above I 
 
 I thought, said Christiana, of something of 
 this ; but I could not imagine it all. I thought 
 that we were like spiders, and that we looked 
 like ugly creatures, in what fine rooms soever 
 we were ; but that by this spider, this venom- 
 ous and ill-favoured creature, we were to learn 
 how to act faith, that came not into my 
 thoughts. She worketh with hands, and, as 
 I see, dwells in the best room in the house. 
 God has made nothing in vain. 
 
 Then they seemed all to be glad ; but the 
 water stood in their feyes : yet they looked one 
 upon another, and also bowed before the In- 
 terpreter. 
 
 He had them then into another room, where 
 was a hen and chickens, and bid them observe 
 a while. So one of the chickens went to the 
 trough to drink, and every time she drank she 
 lifted up her head and her eyes towards heaven. 
 " See," said he, " what this little chick doeth, 
 and learn of her to acknowledge whence your 
 mercies come, by receiving them with looking 
 up. Yet again," said he, " observe and look :" 
 so they gave heed, and perceived that the hen 
 did walk in a fourfold method towards her 
 chickens : 1. She had a common call; that she 
 had all the day long. 2. She had a fecial call; 
 and that she had but sometimes. 3. She had 
 a brooding note. And, 4. She had an outcry. 
 Matt, xxiii. 37. 
 
 * Our Lord hath, in immense condescension, em- 
 ployed this emhlem, to represent his tender love to 
 siiiners, for whom he hare the storm of wrath himself, 
 that by flying to him, they might be safe and happy 
 ui.der the shadow of his wing. Matt. xiii. 37. The 
 common call signifies the general invitations of the 
 Gospel, which should he addressed without restriction 
 to every creature within the sound thereof : "preach 
 fchis my G-ospel to every creature :" " as many as ye 
 find bid to the marriage." In proportion as sinners 
 obey what Mr. Bunyan termed a common call, so shall 
 thoy feel what he styles a special call ; when God be- 
 stows the grace, peace, and pardon of the G-ospel of 
 Christ upon those who believe with an heart unto 
 righteousness. The brooding note is when he gathers 
 them under his wings, warms their hearts with the 
 comforts of his love, nourishes their souls with clo?e 
 fellowship with himself, and refreshes their spirits 
 with the overflowings of joy in the Holy Ghost. "In 
 the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice," says David. 
 Ps. Ixii. 7. " I sat under his shadow with great de- 
 
 Now, said he, compare this hen to your 
 King, and these chickens to his obedient ones. 
 For, answerable to her, himself has his meth- 
 ods, which he walketh in towards his people : 
 by his common call he gives nothing ; by his 
 special call he always has something to give ; 
 he has also a brooding voice for them that are 
 under his wing ; and he has an outcry, to give 
 the alarm when he seeth the enemy ccme. I 
 choose, my darlings, to lead you into the rotm 
 where such things are, because you are Bremen, 
 and they are easy for you.* 
 
 "And, sir," said Christiana, "pray lat ua 
 see some more." So he had them into the 
 slaughter-house, where was a butcher killing 
 a sheep : and behold, the sheep was quiet, and 
 took her death patiently. "Then," said the 
 Interpreter, " you must learn of this sheep to 
 suffer, and to put up with wrongs without 
 murmurings and complaints. Behold how 
 quietly she takes her death, and, without ob- 
 jecting, she suffereth her skin to be puUed 
 over her ears. Your King doth call you his 
 sheep." t 
 
 After this he led them into his garden, where 
 was great variety of flowers : and he said, " Do 
 you see aU these ?" So Christiana said, " Yes." 
 Then said he again, " Behold the flowers are 
 divers in stature, in quality, and colour, and 
 smeU. and virtue: and some are better than 
 some ; also where the gardener hath set them, 
 there they stand, and quarrel not one with an- 
 other." t 
 
 Again, he had them into his field, which he 
 had sown with wheat and corn : but, when 
 they beheld, the tops of all were cut off, only 
 
 light, and his fruit was sweet unto my taste." Song ii. 
 3. Oh for more of these precious, brooding notes, to 
 be gathered under the wings of our Immanuel ! But 
 be our frames and experiences what they may, still 
 we are ever in danger; for our enemies surround ns 
 on every side. Therefore our Lord has an outcry ; he 
 gives the alarm, calls upon us, and warns us of dan- 
 ger. Why ? that we should flee to him, and run int^j 
 him. For " the name of the Lord is a strong tower : the 
 righteous runneth into it, and is safe." Prov. xviii. 10. 
 
 ■f Were we as sheep going astray ? Are we now 
 returned to thee, Christ, the great Shepherd and 
 Bishop of our souls ? Lord, give us more and more of 
 thy meek and lowly spirit ! 
 
 J Christ's church is his garden; believers are planted 
 in it by the power of his grace, and they shall soon be 
 transplanted into his kingdom of glory. Though there 
 may be little non-essential differences of judgment, 
 yet why should they fall out ? Oh for more love and 
 peace from Jesus, and then there will bff more amutig 
 each other. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROOBESS. 
 
 191 
 
 the straw remained. He said again, "This 
 ground was dunged, and ploughed, and sowed; 
 but what shall we do with the crop ?" Then 
 said Christiana, " Burn some, and make muck 
 of the rest." Then said the Interpreter again, 
 " Fruit, you see, is that thing you look for, and 
 for want of that you condemn it to the fire, 
 and to be trodden under foot of men : beware 
 that in this you condemn not yourselves." * 
 
 Then, as they were coming in from abroad, 
 they espied a robin with a great spider in his 
 mouth ; so the Interpreter said, " Look here." 
 So they looked, and Mercy wondered; but 
 Christiana said, " What a disparagement it is 
 to such a little pretty bird as the robin redr 
 breast is I he being also a bird above many, 
 that loveth to maintain a kind of sociableness 
 with men: I had thought they had lived %pon 
 crumbs of bread, or upon other such harmless 
 matter : I like him worse than I did." 
 
 The Interpreter then replied, This robin is 
 an emblem, very apt to set forth some pro- 
 fessors by ; for to sight they are, as this robin, 
 pretty of note, colour, and carriage; they 
 seem also to have a very great love for pro- 
 fessors that are sincere; and above all other 
 to desire to associate with them, and to be in 
 their' company; as if they could live upon the 
 good man's crumbs. They pretend also, that 
 therefore it is that they frequent the house of 
 the godly, and the appointments of the Lord : 
 but when they are by themselves, as the robin, 
 they can catch and gobble up spiders, they can 
 change their diet, drink and swallow down sin 
 like water.-f- 
 
 So when they were come again into the 
 house, because supper as yet was not ready, 
 Christiana again desired that the Interpreter 
 would either show or tell some other things 
 that are profitable. 
 
 Then the Interpreter began, and said : The 
 fatter the sow is, the more she desires the 
 mire; the fatter the ox is, the more game- 
 comely he goes to the slaughter, and the more 
 healthy the lustful man is, the more prone is 
 he unto evil. 
 
 There is a desire in women to go neat and 
 
 * A precious caution. See to it, Christian, that you 
 avoid those things which cause deadness and unfruit- 
 fulness, and follow those things wliich tend to quiolten 
 and make your souls fruitful in good works, to the 
 glory of Old. 
 
 f Reader, a very striking emblem this, and most 
 pertinently applied: and if your soul is sincere, it 
 will cause a holy fear, create a godly jealousy, put 
 you upon self-examining, and make vou sigh out in 
 
 fine, and it is a comely thing to be adorned 
 with that which in God's sight is of great 
 price. , 
 
 'Tis easier watching a night or two, than to 
 sit up a»whole year together : so 'tis easier for 
 one to begin to profess well, than to hold out 
 as he should to the end. 
 
 Every shipmaster, when in a storm, will 
 willingly cast that overboard that is of the 
 smallest value in the vessel; but who will 
 throw the best out first? None but he that 
 feareth not God. 
 
 One leak will sink a ship ; and one sin Trill 
 destroy a sinner. 
 
 He that forgets his friend is ungrateful unto 
 him : but he that forgets his Saviour is unmer- 
 ciful to himself. 
 
 He that lives in sin, and looks for happi- 
 ness hereafter, is like him that soweth cockle, 
 and thinks to fill his barn with wheat and 
 barley. 
 
 If a man would live well, let him fetch his 
 last day to him, and make it always his com- 
 pany-keeper. 
 
 Whispering and change of thoughts prove 
 that sin is in the world. 
 
 If this world, which God sets light by, i^ 
 counted a thing of that worth with men, whav 
 is heaven, that God commendeth it? 
 
 If the life that is attended with so many 
 troubles, is so loth to be let go by us, what ii. 
 the life above ? 
 
 Every body will cry up the goodness of 
 men ; but who is there that is, as he should 
 be, affected with the goodness of God? 
 
 We ,seldom set down to meat but we eat 
 and leave: so there is in Jesus Christ more 
 merit and righteousness than the whole world 
 has need of. 
 
 When the Interpreter was done, he takes 
 them out into his garden again, and had them 
 to a tree, whose inside was all rotten and 
 gone, and yet it grew and had leaves. Then 
 said Mercy, "What means this?" "This 
 tree," said he, "whose outside is fair, and 
 whose inside is rotten, is it, which may be 
 compared to them that are in the garden : I 
 
 some such words as David : " Search me, God, and 
 know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts : and 
 see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in 
 the way everlasting." Ps. cxxxix. 23, 24. Oh what will 
 it avail in a dying hour, or in the judgment-day, that 
 we have worn the mark of profession, and seemed to 
 man what we were not in heart and reality of life 
 before God? From all self-deceiving, good Lord, ie 
 liver us ! for we are naturally prone to it. 
 
192 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 God; who witli their mouths speak high in 
 behalf of God, but in deed will do nothing for 
 him ; whose leaves are fair, but their heart 
 good for nothing but to be .tinder for the 
 devil's tinder-box." 
 
 Now supper was ready, the table spread, 
 and all things set on board; so they sat down 
 and did eat, when one had given thanks. 
 And the Interpreter did usually entertain 
 those that lodged with him, with music at 
 meals : so the minstrels played. There was 
 also one that did sing, and a very fine voice he 
 had. His song was this — 
 
 " The Lord is only my support, 
 And he that doth me feed; 
 How can I then want any thing 
 Whereof I stand in need?" 
 
 When the song and music were ended, the 
 Interpreter asked Christiana, What it was 
 that at first did move her thus to betake her- 
 self to a pilgrim's life ? Christiana answered : 
 First, the loss of my husband came into my 
 mind, at which I was heartily grieved; but 
 all that was but natural affection. Then, after 
 that, came the troubles and pilgrimage of my 
 husband into mind, and also how like a churl 
 I had carried it to him as to that. So guilt 
 took hold of my mind, and would have drawn 
 me into the pond ; but that opportunely I had 
 a dream of the well-being of my husband, 
 and a letter sent me by the King of that 
 country where my husband dwells, to come to 
 him. The dream and the letter together so 
 wrought upon my mind, that they forced me 
 to this way. 
 
 Interpreter. But met you with no opposition 
 before you set out of doors? 
 
 Christiana. Yes, a neighbour of mine, one 
 Mrs. Timorous, (she was kin to him that would 
 have persuaded my husband to go back, for 
 fear of the lions,) she also befooled me* for, 
 as !'he called it, my intended desperate ad- 
 venture ; she also urged what she could to dis- 
 hearten me from it ; the hardships and trou- 
 bles that my husband met with in the way : 
 
 ^- Ah, Mrs. Timorous I How many professed pil- 
 grims hast thou befooled and turned back! How 
 often does she attack and afTright many real pil- 
 grims ! Oh may we say to every incitement to sclf- 
 oomplaconoy in our Lord's words, " Get thee behind 
 me, Satan ; thou savourest not the things that be of 
 God, bat those that be of men." Matt. xvi. 23. 
 
 f A very simple and artless confession. The Lord 
 works very differently upon the heai-ts of sinners, but 
 always to one and the same end — namely, to cause us 
 
 but all this I got over pretty well. But a 
 dream that I had of .two ill-looking ones, that 
 I thought did plot how to make me miscarry 
 in my journey, that hath troubled me: yea, it 
 still runs in my mind, and makes me afraid of 
 every one that I meet, lest they should meet 
 me to do me a mischief, and to turn me out 
 of my way. Yea, I may tell my Lord, though 
 I would not have every body know it, that 
 between this and the gate by which we got into 
 the way, we were both so sorely assaulted, that 
 we were made to cry out murder; and the two 
 that made this assault upon us were like the 
 two that I saw in my dream. 
 
 Then said the Interpreter, " Thy beginning 
 is good, thy latter end shall greatly increase." 
 So he addressed him to Mercy, and said unto 
 her, " And what moved thee to come hither, 
 sweetheart?" 
 
 Then Mercy blushed and trembled, and for 
 a while continued silent. 
 
 Then said he. Be not afraid, only believe and 
 speak thy mind. 
 
 Then she began and said. Truly, sir, my 
 want of experience is that which makes me 
 covet to be in silence, and that also that fiUeth 
 me with fears of coming short at last. I can- 
 not tell of visions and dreams, as my friend 
 Christiana can; nor know I what it is to 
 mourn for my refusing of the counsel of those 
 that were good relations.! 
 
 Interpreter. What was it then, dear heart, 
 that hath prevailed with thee to do as thou 
 hast done ? 
 
 Mercy. Why, when our friend here was pack- 
 ing up to be gone from our town, I and another 
 went accidentally to see her. So we knocked 
 at the door, and went in. When we were 
 within, and seeing what she was doing, we 
 asked her what she meant? She said, she was 
 sent for to go to her husband, and then she up 
 and told us how she had seen him in a dream, 
 dwelling in a curious place, among immortals, 
 wearing a crown, playing upon a harp, eatinf 
 and drinking at his Prince's table, and singing 
 praises to him for the bringing him thither, 
 
 to prize Christ, his salvation, and his ways, and to ab- 
 hor ourselves, the paths of sin, and to cast off all self- 
 righteous hopes. If this is effected in thy heart, 
 reader, no matter whether thou canst tell of visions 
 and dreams, and talk high of experiences. Many are, 
 and have been deceived by these things, and come to 
 nothing. But where the soul is rooted and grounded 
 in the knowledge of precious Christ, and love to his 
 ways, though there may be many fears, yet this is an 
 indubitable proof of a real and sincere pilgrim. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 193 
 
 Ac. Now methought while she was telling 
 these things unto us, my heart hurned within 
 me. And I said in my heart, If this he true, 
 I will leave my father and my mother, and the 
 land of my nativity, and will, if I may, go 
 along with Christiana. 
 
 So I asked her further of the truth of these 
 things, and if she would let me go with her; 
 for I saw now, that there was no dwelling, but 
 with the danger of ruin, any longer in our 
 town. But yet I came away with a heavy 
 heart ; not for that I was unwilling to come 
 away, but for that so many of my relations 
 were loft behind. And I am come with all my 
 heart, and will, if I may, go with Christiana 
 to her husband and his King. 
 
 Interpreter. Thy setting out is good, for thou 
 
 hast given credit to the truth;* thou art a 
 Ruth, who did, for the love she 'bare to 
 Naomi, and to the Lord her God, leave father 
 and mother, and the land of her nativity, to 
 come out and go with a people that she knew 
 not before. " The Lord recompense thy work, 
 and a full ireward be given thee of the Lord 
 God of Israel, under whose wings thou art 
 come to trust." Ruth ii. 11, 12. 
 
 Now supper was ended, and preparation was 
 made for bed; the women were laid singly 
 alone, and the boys by themselves. Now when 
 Mercy was in bed, she could not sleep for joy, 
 for that now her doubts of missing at last were 
 removed farther from her than ever they were 
 before. So she lay blessing and praising God, 
 who had such favour for her.f 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Pilgrims, conducted by Oreat-heart, proceed on their journey. 
 
 Ix the morning they arose with the sun, and 
 prepared themselves for their departure ; but 
 tlie Interpreter would have them tarry awhile, 
 " for (said he) you must orderly go from 
 hence." Then said he to the damsel that first 
 opened unto them, "Take them and have 
 them into the, garden to the bath, and there 
 wa-;li them and make them clean from the 
 soil which they have gathered by travelling." 
 Then Innocent the damsel took them, and led 
 them into the garden, and brought them to 
 the bath; so she told them that there they 
 
 "'^ " Thou hast given credit to the truth." "What is 
 this but faith ; the faith of the operation of God ? But 
 some may ask what is justifying, saving faith; noth- 
 ing more than a belief of the truth? If so, the very 
 devils beliovo ; yea, more, they tremble also. True : 
 but mind how Mercy's faith wrought by her works. 
 True, she did not tremble, like a devil, without hope, 
 but she fled for refuge to the hope set before her in the 
 Gospel. She fled from sin, from the city of Destruc- 
 tion, to Christ for salvation. Though she had not the 
 /i^ of faith, yet she followed on to know the Lord, 
 walking in his ways, and hoping for comfort from the 
 Lord in his duo time. Oh how are many poor pil- 
 grims* hearts dejected and distressed about the faith 
 of the Gospel, by the strange-, perplexing, unscriptural 
 definitions which have been given of it ! whereas faith 
 is the most simple thing in the world ; it is the belief of 
 the truth as it is in Jesus, that we are lost sinners in 
 ourselves, and that there is salvation for us in him. 
 Whore this is believed in the heart, it causes a sinner 
 to become a pilgrim ; believing the exceeding sinful- 
 ness of sin, the perfect purity of God's law, his own 
 13 
 
 must wash and be clean, for so her Mn-Aer 
 would have the women to do that called at 
 his house as they were going on pilgrimage. 
 Then they went in and washed, yea, they and 
 the boys and all; and they came out of that 
 bath not only sweet and clean, but also much 
 enlivened and strengthened in their joints. 
 So when they came in, they looked fairer a 
 deal than when they went out to the wash- 
 ing.! 
 
 When they were returned out of the garden 
 from the bath, the Interpreter took them, and 
 
 ruined state, the preoiousuess of Christ, the glory of his 
 salvation, the necessity of holiness, and the hope of 
 glory; this faith will influence the conduct, bring love 
 into the heart, and cause the soul to persevere looking to 
 Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. reader, 
 if thou hast n> grain of this precious faith in thy 
 heart, bless Jesus for it, and go on thy way rejoicing. 
 
 ■j* Here now is the comfort of faith. As by constant 
 exercise of our faith, it grows strong, so it expels our 
 doubts, enlivens our hearts, and sets our souls a bless- 
 ing and praising our Immanuel. This prayer, "Lord, 
 increase our faith !" is ever needful for God's glory 
 and our soul's comfort. 
 
 if There are no pilgrims but daily need to h.ave re- 
 course to this bath. What may we understand by it"? 
 The blood of Jesus which cleanses us from all sin, 
 1 John i. 7. Christ is the fountain opened for sin and 
 for unclcanness. Zcch. xiii, 1. Christ is the soul's 
 only bath. The Holy Spirit, the San^tifier, leads us 
 to the blood of the Lamb, The Spirit bears witness to 
 this blood, and purifies and comforts by the applica* 
 tion of this blood only 
 
194 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 looked upon them, and said unto them, " Fair 
 as the moon.'' Then he called for the seal 
 wherewith they used to be sealed that were 
 washed in his bath. So the" seal was brought, 
 and he set his m,ark uppn them, that they might 
 be known in the places whither they were yet to 
 go. Now the seal was the contents and sum of 
 the passover which the children of Israel did 
 eat when they came out of the land of Egypt, 
 (Ex. siii. 8, 10;) and the mark was set be- 
 1 weeu their eyes. This seal greatly added to 
 their beauty, for it was an ornament to their 
 faces ; it also added to their gravity, and made 
 tlieir countenances more like those of angels.* 
 
 Then said the Interpreter again to the dam- 
 sel that waited upon the women, " Go into the 
 vestry, and fetch out garments for these peo- 
 ple." So she went and fetched out white rai- 
 ment, and laid it down before him : so he com-- 
 manded them to put it on : f it was " fine linen, 
 white and clean." When the women were thus 
 adorned, they seemed to be a terror one to the 
 other ; for that they could not see that glory, 
 each one in herself, which they could see in 
 each other. Now therefore they began to es- 
 teem each other better than themselves : " For 
 you are fairer than I am*," said one ; and " You 
 are more comely than I am," said another. 
 The children also gtood amazed, to see into 
 what fashion they were brought. 
 
 The Interpreter then called for a man-ser- 
 vant of his, one Great^heart,J and bid him 
 take a sword, and helmet, and shield ; " And 
 take these my daughters (said he,) conduct 
 them to the house called Beautiful, at which 
 place they will rest next." So he took his 
 weapons, and went before them ; and the In- 
 terpreter said, " God speed." Those also that 
 belonged to the family sent them away with 
 many a good wish. So they went on their way, 
 and sang — 
 
 " This place has been our second stage, 
 Here we have heard and seen 
 
 * This means' the sealing of the Spirit. Bph. iv. 30. 
 Oh this is blessed sealing ! None know the comfort 
 ftnd joy of it but those who have experienced it. It 
 confirms our faith, establishes our hope, and inflames 
 our affections to God the Father, for his love, to G-od 
 the Son, for his gracious atonement and righteousness, 
 and to Q-od the Spirit for his enlightening mercy, re- 
 generating grace, quickening, sanctifying, testifying 
 and assuring influences, whereby we know that we are 
 the children of God, for "the Spirit itself beareth wit- 
 ness with our spirits that we are the children of God." 
 Rom. viii. 16. Therefore grieve not the Holy Spirit. 
 
 "{• Mind, they are commanded to put it on. Though 
 Ood imparts the righteousness of his beloved Son to 
 
 Those good things, that from age to age 
 
 To others hid have been. 
 The dunghill-raker, spider, hen, 
 
 The chicken too, to me 
 Have taught a lesson ; let me then 
 
 Conformed to it bew 
 
 The butcher, garden, and the field. 
 
 The robin and his bait, 
 Also the rotten tree, do yield 
 
 Me argument of weight. 
 To move me for to watch and pray. 
 
 To strive to be sincere : 
 To take my cross up day by day. 
 
 And serve the Lord with fear." 
 
 Now I saw in my dream that those went on, 
 and Great-heart before them ; so they went and 
 caine to the place where Christian's burden fell 
 off his back, and tumbled into a sepulchre. 
 Here then they made a pause. Here also they 
 blessed God., Now, said Christiana, it comes 
 to my mind what was said to us at that gate, 
 to wit, that we should have pardon by word 
 and deed; by word, that is, by the promise ; 
 by deed, to wit, in the way it was obtained. 
 What the promise is, of that I know some- 
 thing : but what it is to have pardon by deed, 
 or in the way that it was obtained, Mr. Great- 
 heart, t suppose you know, which, if you 
 please, let us hear you discourse thereof. 
 
 Great- heart. Pardon by the deed done, is 
 pardon obtained by some one, for another that 
 hath need thereof; not by the person pardoned, 
 but in "the way (saith another) in which I 
 have obtained it." So then, (to speak to the 
 question more at large,) the pardon that you 
 and Mercy, and these boys, have attained by 
 another ; to wit, by him that led you in at that 
 gate ; and he hath obtained it in this double 
 way : he hath performed righteousness to cover 
 you, and spilt blood to wash you in. || 
 
 Christiana. But if be parts with his. right- 
 eousness to us, what will he have for himself? 
 
 Oreat-heart. He hath more righteousness 
 
 sinners, yet it is received and put on by faith. Hence 
 it is called -the righteousness of God, (2 Coi'. t 21 j) 
 and the righteousness of faith. Kom. x. 6. , 
 
 \ Great-heart may represent the stated pastoral cnfe 
 of a vigilant minister, who is strong in the faith, ard 
 courageous in the cause of God. How thankful/should 
 we be for a pure ministry, and carefully improve all 
 the blessings consequent thereupon ! 
 
 II This, this is the comfort, joy, and glorifying of a 
 pilgrim's heart. Hath Jesus performed righteousness 
 to cover us, and spilt blood to wash us ? Have we faith 
 in him ? Oh how ought we to love him, glory in 
 him, rejoice in him, and study to glorify him in every 
 step of our pilgrimage ! 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROaEESS. 
 
 195 
 
 'Jian you Lave need of, or than lie needeth 
 himself. 
 
 Christiana. Pray make that appear. 
 
 Great-heart. With all my heart : but first I 
 must premise, that, he, of whom we are now 
 about to speak, is one that has not his fellow. 
 He has two natures in one person, plain to be 
 distinguished, impossible to be divided. Unto 
 each of these natures a righteousness belong- 
 eth, and each righteousness is essential to that 
 nature. So that one may as easily cause the 
 natures to be extiuct, as to separate its justice 
 or righteousness from it. Of these righteous- 
 nesses, therefore, we are not made partakers, 
 so that they, or any of them, should be put 
 upon us, that we might be made just, and live 
 thereby. Besides these, there is a righteous- 
 ness which this Person-has, as these two na- 
 tures are joined in one. And this is not the 
 righteousness of the Godhead, as distinguished 
 from the manhood ; nor the righteousness of 
 the manhood, as distinguished from the God- 
 head ; but a righteousness which standeth in the 
 union of both natures, and may properly be 
 called the righteousness that is essential to his 
 being prepared of God to the capacity of the 
 mediatory office, which he was entrusted with. 
 If he parts with his first righteousness, he parts 
 with his Godhead: if he parts with his second 
 righteousness, he parts with the purity of his 
 manhood : if he parts with his third, he parts 
 with that perfection which capacitates him to 
 the office of mediation. He has therefore 
 another righteousness, which standeth in per- 
 formance, or obedience to a revealed will : and 
 that is what he puts upon sinners, and that by 
 which their sins are covered. Wherefore he 
 saith, "As by one man's disobedience, many 
 were made sinners, so by the obedience of one, 
 shall many be made righteous." * Eom. v. 19. 
 Christiana. But are the other righteousnesses 
 of no use to us? 
 
 Oreat-heart. Yes: for though they are es- 
 sential to his natures and office, and cannot be 
 communicated unto another, yet it is by virtue 
 of them that the righteousness that justifies is 
 for that purpose efficacious. The righteous- 
 ness of his Godhead gives virtue to his obedi- 
 ence ; the righteousness of Kis manhood giveth 
 
 * Hero Mr. Bunyan gives a very clear and distinct 
 aoeouiit of that righteousness of Christ, as mediator, 
 which he wrought out by his perfect obedience to the 
 law of God, for and in behalf of all believers : and 
 which righteousness is imparted to them by God the 
 Father, through faith and in this righteousness; bo- 
 C«*-ers It Christ arc made perfectly righteous before 
 
 capability to his obedience to justify ; and the 
 righteousness that standeth in the union of 
 these two natures to his office giveth authority 
 to that righteousness to do the work for which 
 it was ordained. 
 
 So then here is a righteousness that Christ, 
 as God, has no need of; for he is God without 
 it: here is a righteousness that Christ, as 
 man, has no need of to make' him so, for he is 
 perfect man withoiit it: again, here is a right- 
 eousness that Christ, as God-man, has no need 
 of, for he is perfectly so without it. Here then 
 is a righteousness that Christ, as God, and as 
 God-man, has no need of, with reference to 
 himself, and therefore he can spare it; a jus- 
 tifying righteousness, that he for himself 
 wanteth not, and therefore giveth it away. 
 Hence it is called " the gift of righteousness." 
 Eom. V. 17. This righteousness, since Christ 
 Jesus the Lord has made himself under the 
 law, must be given away ; for the law doth not ' 
 only bind him that is under it to do justly, but 
 to use charity. Wherefore he must, or ought 
 by the law, if he hath two coats, to give one to 
 him that hath none. Now our Lord indeed 
 hath two coats, one for himself, and one to 
 spare : wherefore he freely bestows one upon 
 those that have none. And thus, Christiana 
 and Mercy, and the rest of you that are here, 
 doth your pardon come by deed or by the work 
 of another man ? Your Lord Christ is he that 
 worked, and hath given away what he wrought 
 for, to'the next poor beggar he meets. 
 
 But again, in order to pardon by deed, there 
 must something be paid to God as a price, as 
 vtbW as something prepared to covei; us withal. 
 Sin has delivered us up to the just curse of a 
 righteous law ; now from this curse we must 
 be justified by way of redemption, a price be- 
 ing paid for the harms we have done ; and this 
 is by the blood of your Lord, who came and 
 stood in your place and stead, and died your 
 death for your transgressions. Thus has he 
 ransomed you from your transgressions by 
 blood, and covered your polluted and deformed 
 souls with righteousness, (Rom. viii. 34; Gal. 
 iii. 13 ;) for the sake of which, God passeth by 
 you, and will not hurt you, when he comes to 
 judge the world.f 
 
 God. Of this righteousness, therefore, they glory, and 
 their souls make their boast of it, saying. In the LovU 
 Jehovah Jesus, have I righteousness. Isa. xiv. 24. 
 
 f Thus we see what God hath joined together, the 
 life and death, the atonement and righteonsness of 
 his beloved Son, for the salvation of our souls. Both 
 enter into the essence of the faith of the Gosrei 
 
196 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS 
 
 Christiana. This is brave: now I see- that 
 there was something to be learned by our being 
 pardoned. by word and deed. Good Mercy, let 
 us labour to keep this in mind ; and, my chil- 
 dren, do you remember it also. But, sir, was 
 not (ihis it that made my good Christian's bur- 
 den fall from off his shoulder, and that made 
 him give three leaps for joy ? 
 
 Great-heart Yes, it was the belief of this 
 that cut off those strings that could not be cut 
 by other means ; and it was to give him a 
 proof of the virtue of this, that he was suf- 
 fered to carry his burden to the cross. 
 
 Christiana. I thought so ; for though my 
 heart was lightful and joyous before, yet it is 
 ten times more lightsome and joyous now. 
 And I am persuaded by what I have felt, 
 (though I have felt 'but little as yet,) that if 
 the most burdened man in the world was here, 
 and did see and believe as I now do, it would 
 make his heart the more merry and blithe. 
 
 Oreat-heart. There is not only one comfort, 
 and the ease of a burden brought to us, by the 
 sight and consideration of these, but an en- 
 deared affection- begot to us by it ; for who can 
 (if he does but once think that pardon comes 
 not only by promise, but thus) but be affected 
 with the way and means of redemption, and 
 so with the man that hath wrought it for 
 him?* 
 
 Christiana. True : methinks it makes my 
 heart bleed to think that he should bleed for 
 me. Oh ! thou loving One ! Oh ! thou blessed 
 One! Thou deservest to-^have me; thou hast 
 bought me ; thou deservest to have me all ; 
 thou hast, paid for me ten thousand times 
 more than I am worth ! No marvel that this 
 made the water stand in my husband's eyes, 
 and that it made him trudge so nimbly on ; I 
 am persuaded he wished me with him ; but, 
 
 Let us beware never to separate them in our views. 
 We want both" his blood to atone for our sins, and his 
 righteousness to be imparted to our souls. 
 
 * Come hither, ye sons of the sorceress, who make 
 sport of holy raptures and heavenly ecstacy, begotten 
 in the soul by the knowledge of redemption in the 
 blocd of Christ, the forgiveness of our sins. Laugh 
 on till ye howl in destruction for despising salvation 
 by tho blood of the Lamb. 
 
 f brave Christians ! See what it is to have one's 
 heart inflamed with a sense of the love of Christ. 
 Here observe two things : 1st. That when the affec- 
 tions are thus powerfully carried out, it is no uncom- 
 mon thing to believe that all may thus come toa 
 saving knowledge of the truth! 2dly. Beware of 
 thinking slightly of having the affections thus divinely 
 inflamed. Many poor, dry, formal professors are 
 
 vile wretch that was! I let him come all 
 alone. Mercy, that thy father and mother 
 were here ! yea, and Mrs. Timorous also ; nay, 
 I wish now with all my heart that here was 
 Madam Wanton too. Svirely, surely their 
 hearts would be affected; nor could the fear 
 of the one, nor the powei'ful lusts of the other, 
 prevail with them to go home again, and re- 
 fuse to become good pilgrims.f 
 
 Qredt-heart. You speak now in the warmth 
 of your affections : will it, think you, be always 
 thus with you? Besides, this is not communi- 
 cated to every one, nor to every one that did 
 see your Jesus bleed. There were that stood 
 by and that saw the blood run from his heart 
 to the ground, and yet were so far off this, 
 that, instead of lamenting, they laughed at 
 him; and instead of becoming his disciples, 
 did harden their hearts against him. So that 
 all that you have, my daughters, you have by 
 peculiar impression, made by a divine con- 
 templating upon what I have spoken to you. 
 Remember that it was told you that the hen, 
 by her common call, gives no meat to her 
 chickens. This you have therefore by a 
 special grace. % 
 
 Now I saw still in my dream that they went 
 on until they were come to the place that Sim- 
 ple, and Sloth, and Presumption, lay and slept 
 in, when Christian went by on pilgrimage: and 
 behold they were hanged up in irons a little 
 w(iy off on the other side. 
 
 Then said Mercy to him that was their guide 
 and conductor, "What are these three men? 
 and for what are they hanged there?" 
 
 Great-heart These three men were men of 
 bad qualities; they had no mind to be pil- 
 grims themselves, and whomsoever they could 
 they hindered : they were for sloth and folly 
 themselves, and whomsoever they could per- 
 
 contcnt with the cold light of the moon, without the 
 genial warmth of the sun ; with clear notions of 
 truth in their heads, without their hearts being warmed 
 and their affections carried out by the powerful influ- 
 ences of the love of Jesus, who says, " Ask, and you 
 shall receive, that your joy may be full." John xvi. 
 24. 
 
 \ Mind how tenderly <^reat-heart deals with Chris- 
 tiana. He does not attempt to damp her joy and 
 throw cold water upou the fire of her affections, bjit 
 gently insinuates — 1st. The peculiar frame of mind 
 she speaks from. 2dly. By a gentle hint, suggests, 
 that her indulgences were of a peculiar nature, be- 
 stowed upon the faithful in Christ only. And that 
 therefore amidst all her joyful feelings, she should 
 know to whom she was indebted for them, and giv« 
 all the glory to the God of all gtace, 
 
THE PILO RIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 197 
 
 sunde, they made so too: and withal taught 
 them to presume that they should do well at 
 last. They were asleep when Christian went 
 by, and now you go by they are hanged* 
 
 Mtrcij. But could they persuade any one to 
 be of their opinion? 
 
 Qrcat-hcart. Yes, they turned several out of 
 the way. There was Slow-pace, they persuaded 
 to do as they. They also prevailed with one 
 Short-wind, with one No-heart, with oneLinger- 
 al'ter-lust, and with one Sleepy-head, and with 
 a young woman, her name was Dull, to turn 
 out cf the way and become as they. Besides, 
 they brought up an ill report of your Lord, 
 persuading others that he was a hard task- 
 master. They also brought up an evil report 
 of the good land, saying it was. not half so good 
 as some pretending it was. They also began 
 to vilify his servants and to count the best of 
 ■ them meddlesome, troublesome bu.sy-bodies : 
 further, they would CiJll the bread of God, 
 husks; the comforts of his children, fancies; 
 the travail and labour of pilgrims, things to 
 BO purpose.f 
 
 Nay, said Christiana, if they were such, they 
 should never be bewailed by me: they have . 
 but what they deserve; and I think it well 
 that they stand so near the highway, that 
 others may seeand take warning. But had it 
 not been well if their crimes had been en- 
 graven on some pillar of iron or brass, and 
 left here where they did their mischiefs, for a 
 caution to other bad men? 
 
 Oreat-heart. So it is, as you may well per- 
 ceive, if you will go a little to the wall. 
 
 Mercy. No, no; let them hang, and theii 
 names rot, and their crimes live for ever against 
 them : I think it is a high favour that they are 
 hanged before we came hither ; who knows else 
 what they might have done to such poor women 
 as we are? Then she turned it into a song, 
 saying— 
 
 " Now then, you three, hang there, and be a sign 
 To all that shall against the truth combine. 
 And let him that comes after fear this end, 
 If unto pilgrims he is not a friend. 
 And thou, my soul, of all such men beware. 
 That unto holiness opposers are." 
 
 CHAPTER -v. 
 
 The Pilgrims ascend the hill Difficulty, pass the Lions, and arrive at the house Beautiful 
 
 Thus they went on till they came to the foot 
 of the hill Difficulty, where again their good 
 friend ]Mr. Great-heart took an occasion to tell 
 them what happened there when Christian 
 himself went by. So he had them first to the 
 spring: Lo, saith he, this is the spring that 
 Christian drank of before he went up this hill ; 
 and then it was clear and good, but now it is 
 dirty with the feet of some that are not de- 
 sirous that pilgrims here should quench their 
 thirst. Ezek. xxxiv. 18. Thereat Mercy said, 
 
 * God, as it were, gibbets some profe'ssors, and 
 causes their names and characters to be publicly ex- 
 hibited, as a terror to others. 
 
 f Let ua consider the characters of these three pro- 
 fessors — 1st. Here is Simple,, who, as Solomon says, 
 belioveth every word, (Prov. xiv. 15 ;) a foolish, credu- 
 lous professor, who is easily led away and beguiled by 
 flmooth words and fair pretences of others j ever learn- 
 ing, but never coming to the knowledge of the truth, 
 «o as to believe it, love it, and be established on it : 
 hence liable to bo carried away by every wind of doc- 
 trine. 2d. Sloth, a quiet, easy professor, who never 
 disturbs any one by his diligence in the word of God, 
 nor his zeal for the truths and glory of God. Hence 
 all men speak well of him ; but Christ denounces a 
 9rve against all such. Luke vi. 6. 3diy, Presumption, 
 
 And why so envious, trow ? But, said the guide, 
 it will do, if taken up and put into a vessel that 
 is sweet and good; for then the dirt will sink, 
 to the bottom, and the water come out by itself 
 more clear. Thus therefore Christian and her 
 companions were compelled to do. They took 
 it up, and put it into an earthen pot, and so let 
 it stand till the dirt had gone to the bottom, 
 and then they drank thereof, t 
 
 Next he showed them the two by-ways that 
 were at the foot of the hill, where Formaliry 
 
 one who presumes to find favour with God, in a way 
 which his word does not promise, or expects salvation 
 at i!he end, without the means prescribed by jrod fo! 
 attaining it. Oh beware of these three sorts of pro- 
 fessors, for they turn many aside. Real Christians 
 are in danger of being seduced by them, if net of 
 total destruction through their means. 
 
 J This represents to us, that some preachers, as the 
 prophet says, foul the water with their feet, (Ezek. 
 xxxiv. 18;) that is, though they preach somewhat 
 about Christ, and salvation by him, yet they so clog, 
 mire, and pollute the stream of free grace, with pre- 
 requisites, that a poor, thirsty soul cannot drink the 
 water, nor allay his thirst with it; but is forced 
 to let it stand, till these gross dregs sink to th« 
 bottom. 
 
198 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 and Hypocrisy lost themselves. And, said lie, 
 these are dangerous paths : two were here cast 
 away when Christian came by. ,,And although 
 you see these two ways are since stopped up 
 with cjiains, posts, and a ditch, yet they are 
 they which will choose to adventure here, 
 rather than take the pains to go up this hill. 
 
 Christiana. "The way of transgressors is 
 hard," (Prov. xiii. 15 ;) it is a wonder that they 
 can get into these ways without danger of 
 bieaking their necks. 
 
 Great-heart. They will venture; yea, if at 
 any time any of the King's servants do happen 
 to see them and doth call upon them, and tell 
 them that they are in the wrong ways, and do 
 bid them beware of the danger, then they 
 railingly return them answer, and say, " As for 
 the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the 
 name of the King, we will not hearken unto 
 thee; but we will certainly do whatsoever 
 thing goeth out of our mouths." Jer. xliv. 16, 
 17. Nay, if you look a little further, you shall 
 see that these ways are made cautionary enough, 
 not only by these posts and ditch and chain, 
 but also by being hedged up; yet they will 
 choose to go there.* 
 
 Christiana. They are idle ; they love not to 
 take paina ; uj)hill way is unpleasant to them. 
 So it is fulfilled unto them as it is written, 
 " The way of the slothful man is an hedge of 
 thorns." Prov. xv. 19. Yea, they will rather 
 choose to walk upon a snare, than to go up 
 this hill and the rest of this way to the city^" 
 
 Then they set forward, and began to go up 
 the hill, and up the hill they went ; but before 
 they got up to the top, Christiana began to 
 pant, and ,said, I dare say this is a breathing 
 hill; no marvel if they that love their ease 
 more than their souls, choose to themselves a 
 smoother way. Then said Mercy, I must sit 
 down ; also the least of the children began to 
 cry: Come, come, said Great-heart, sit not 
 down here, for a little above is the Prince's 
 arbour. Then he took the little boy by the 
 hand, and led him thereto.! 
 
 When they were come to the arbour, they 
 were very willing to sit down, for they were all 
 in a pelting heat.' Then said Mercy, " How 
 
 * Examine, whicli do you like best, self-soothing or 
 foul-searching doctrine ? Formalists a.nd hypocrites 
 love the former, and hate the latter. But the sincere 
 and upright are discovered by desiring to have their 
 hearts searched to the quick, and their ways tried to 
 the uttermost. 
 
 f He who is vs, stranger to self-denial, knows not 
 what this hill Difficulty means; for the nearer to the 
 
 sweet is rest to them that labour ! Matt. xi. 2S. 
 And how good is the Prince of- pilgrims, to 
 , provide such resting-places for them ! Of this 
 arbour I have heard much ; but I never saw it 
 before. But here let us beware of sleeping 
 for as I have heard, it cost poor Christian dear. 
 
 Then said Mr. Great-heart to the little ones, 
 Come, my pretty boys, how do you do ? What 
 think you now of going on -pilgrimage? Sir, 
 said the least, I was almost beat out of heart : 
 but I thank you for lending me a hand at my 
 need. And I remember now what my mother 
 hath told me, namely, that the way to heaven 
 is as a ladder, and the way to Iiell is as down 
 a hill. But I had rather go up the ladder to 
 life, than down the hill to death. 
 
 Then said Mercy, But the proverb is. To go 
 down the hill is easy : but James said, (for that 
 was his name,) The day is coming when, in my 
 opinion, going down the hill will be the hard- 
 est of all. 'Tis a good boy, said his master; 
 thou hast given her a right answer. Then 
 Mercy smiled, but the little boy did blush.J 
 
 Come, said Christiana, will you eat a bit, to 
 sweeten your mouths, while you sit here tci 
 rest your legs ? For I have here a piece of 
 pomegranate, which Mr. Interpreter put into 
 my hand just when I came out of his doors ; 
 he gave me also a piece of an honeycomb, and 
 a little bottle of spirits. " I thought he gave 
 you something," said Mercy, "because he 
 called you aside.'' " Yes, so he did," said the 
 other. "But," said Christiana, "it shall be 
 still as I said it should, when at first we came 
 from home ; thou shalt be a sharer in all the 
 good that I have, because thou so willingly 
 didst become my companion." Then she gave 
 to them, and they did eat, both Mercy and the 
 boys. And said Christiana to Mr. Great-heart, 
 "Sir, will you do as we?" But he answered, 
 "You are going on pilgrimage, and presently 
 I shall return ; much good may what you have 
 do to you! At home I eat the same eveiy 
 day." Now when they had eaten and drank, 
 and had chatted a little longer, their guide said 
 to them, "The dayNwears away; if you think 
 good, let us prepare to be going." So they got 
 up to go, and the little boys went before : but 
 Christiana forgot to take her bottle of spirits 
 
 arbour of Jesus' rest, the more difficulties in the way; 
 but the sweeter it is when attained. 
 
 J This is right; when we are praised, tolave a con- 
 scious blush, well Ijnowing how much we have to ba 
 ashamed of. Oh cry to the Lord continually against 
 spiritual pride, and for an humble heart, knowing 
 thyself to be a poor sinner. 
 
THE PILOHUI'S PROGRESS. 
 
 199 
 
 with her; so she sent her little boy back to 
 fetch it. Then said Mercy, " I think this is a 
 losing place. Here Christian lost hia roll, 
 and here Christiana left her bottle behind her; 
 sir, what is the cause of this?" 80 their 
 ^ide made answer, and said, " The cause is 
 sleep or forgetfulness : some sleep when they 
 should keep awake, and some forget when 
 they should remember; and this is the very 
 cause, why often at the resting-places some 
 pilgrims in some things come off losers. ' Pil- 
 grims should watch and remember what they 
 have already received under their greatest en- 
 joyments ; but for want of doing so, oftentimes 
 their rejoicing ends in tears, and their sun- 
 shine in a cloud : witness the story of Christian 
 at this place." * 
 
 When they were come to the place where 
 Mistrust and Timorous met Christian to per- 
 suade him to go back for fear of the lions, 
 they perceived as it were a stage, and before 
 it, towards the road, a broad plate, with a 
 copy of verses written thereon, and under- 
 neath, the reason of raising up of that stage 
 in that place rendered. The verses were — 
 
 " Let him that sees that stage take heed, 
 Upon hia heart and tongue : 
 Lest if he do not, here ho speed 
 As some have long agone." 
 
 The words underneath the verses were — 
 " This stage was built to punish some upon, 
 who, through iimorousness or mistrust, shall be 
 afraid to .go further on pilgrimage : also on 
 this stage both Mistrust and Timorous were 
 burnt through the tongue with a hot iron, 
 for endeavouring to hinder Christian on his 
 journey." t 
 
 Then said Mercy, This is much like to the 
 saying of the Beloved, "What shall be given 
 unto thee ; or what shall be done unto thee, 
 thou false tongue ; sharp arrows of the mighty, 
 with coals of the juniper." Ps. cxx. 3, 4. 
 
 So they went on till they came within sight 
 of the lions. Now Mr. Great-heart was a 
 strong man, so he was not afraid of a lion: 
 but yet when they were come up to the place 
 
 * Reader, mind this well ; remember it often ; and it 
 will do thoe good. 
 
 f Christians, take heed to your tongues. Oh beware, 
 beware, lest in any wise, you make a false report of 
 the good land, through fear or mistrust ! The Lord 
 notes what you boldly speak for his ways, and to his 
 glory; and he marks your words whieh in any wise 
 have a contrary tendency. The tongue is an unruly evil. 
 
 J Who is this Giant (Jrim, who backs the lions, and 
 
 where the lions were, the boys that went 
 before were glad to cringe behind, for they 
 were afraid of the lions ; so they stept back 
 and went behind. At this their guide smiled, 
 and said, " How now, my boys ; do you love 
 to go before when no danger doth approach, 
 and love to come behind so soon as the lions 
 appear?" 
 
 Now as they went on, Mr. Great-heart drew 
 his sword, with intent to make a way for the 
 pilgrims in spite of the lions. Then there 
 appeared one, that it seems had taken upon 
 him to back the lions ; and he said to the pil- 
 grims' guide, "What is the cause of your 
 coming hither ?" Now the name of that man 
 was Grim, or Bloody-man, because of his slay- 
 ing of pilgrims ; and he was of the race of the 
 giants.t 
 
 Then said the pilgrims' guide, These women 
 and children are going on pilgrimage: and 
 this is the way they must go, and go it they 
 shall, in spite of thee and the lions. 
 
 Orim. This is not their way, neither shall 
 they go therein. I am come forth to with- 
 stand them, and to that end will back the 
 lions. 
 
 Now, to say the truth, by reason of the 
 iierceness of the lions, and of the grim car- 
 riage of him that did back them, this way had 
 of late lain much unoccupied, and was almost 
 all grown over with grass. 
 
 Then said Christiana, Though the highways 
 have been unoccupied heretofore, and though 
 the travellers have been made in times past to 
 walk through by-paths, it must not be so now 
 I am risen ; " Now I am risen a mother in 
 Israel." Judges v. 6, 7. 
 
 Then he swore by the lions, but it should : 
 and therefore bid them turn aside, for they 
 should not have passage there. But their 
 guide made first his approach unto Grim, and 
 laid so heavily on him with his sword, that he 
 forced him to retreat. 
 
 Then said he that attempted to back the 
 lions, " Will you slay me upon mine own 
 ground ?" 
 
 Oreai-heart. It is the King's highway that 
 
 terrifies the hearts of pilgrims, with a sense of danger 
 in the right way to the kingdom? It is an evil heart 
 of unbelief. This Great-heart will fight with, and 
 conquer. Oh how does unbelief multiply dangers, 
 and magnify difficulties, call up fear, and deject 
 our hearts ! Unbelief makes every danger wear a 
 grim and terrible aspect. The only weapon to slay 
 this enemy is the sword of the Spirit, which is th« 
 word of God. Eph. vi. 17. 
 
200 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 we are in, and in this way it is that thou hast 
 placed the lions ; but these women and these 
 children, though weak, shall hold on their 
 way in- spite of the lions. And with that he 
 gave him again a downright blow, and brought 
 him upon his knees. With this blow he also 
 broke his helmet, and with the next cut off an 
 arm. Then did the giant roar so hideously, 
 that bis voice frighted the women; and yet 
 they were glad to see him lie sprawling upon 
 the .ground. Now the lions were chained, and 
 so of themselves could do nothing.* Where- 
 fore, when old Grim that intended to back 
 them, was dead. Great-heart said to the pil- 
 grims, " Come now, and follow me, and no 
 hurt shall happen to you from 'the lions." 
 They therefore went on, but the women trem- 
 bled as they passed by them; the boys also 
 looked as if they would die, but they all got 
 by without further hurt. 
 
 Now, when they were within sight of tlie 
 porter's lodge, they soon came up unto it; but 
 they made the more haste after this to go 
 thither, because it is dangerous travelling there 
 in the night. So when they were come to the 
 gate, the guide knocked, and the porter cried, 
 "Who is there?" But as soon as the guide 
 had said, "It is I," he knew his voice, and 
 came down, (for the guide had oft before that 
 come thither as a conductor of pilgrims.) 
 When he was come down, he opened the gate, 
 and seeing the guide standing just before it, 
 (for he saw not the women, for they were be- 
 hind him,) he said unto him, How now, Mr. 
 Great-heart, wliat is your business here so late 
 at night? "I have brought," said he, "some 
 pilgrims hither, where, by my Lord's com- 
 mandment, they must lodge : I had been here 
 some time ago, had I not been opposed by the 
 giant that used to back the lions. But I, after 
 a long and tedious combat with him, have cut 
 him off, and have brought the pilgrims hither 
 in safety." f 
 
 Porter. Will not you go in, and stay till 
 morning? 
 
 Oreat-lieari. No. I will return to my Lord 
 to-night. 
 
 Christiana. Oh, air, I know not how to be 
 
 * How often, after we have fought with the courage 
 of faith and the resolution of hope, and have over- 
 come a grim enemy, have we seen the fiercest of our 
 enemies chained by the power of Grod, so as not to 
 have the leas't power to hurt us ! pilgrim ! it is 
 sweet to reflect, that every lion-like foe is under the 
 control of thy God, and cannot come one link of their 
 chain nearer to thee than thy Lord will permit. 
 
 willing you should leave us in our pilgrimage : 
 you have been so faithful and so loving to us 
 you have fought so stoutly for us, you have 
 been so hearty in counselling of us, that I shall 
 never forget your favour towards us. 
 
 Then said Mercy, Oh that we might have 
 thy company to our journey's end. How can 
 such poor women as we hold out in a way so 
 full of troubles as this way is, without a friend 
 or defender ? 
 
 " Then said James, the youngest of the boys, 
 Pray, sir, be persuaded to go with us, and help 
 us, because we are so weak, and the way so 
 dangerous as it is. 
 
 Great-heart. I am at my Lord's command- 
 ment: if he shall allot me to be your guide 
 quite through, I will willingly wait upon you. 
 But here you failed at first : for when he bid 
 me come thus far with you, then you should 
 'have begged me of him to have gone through 
 with you, and he would have granted your re- 
 quest. However, at prteent I must withdraw ; 
 and so, good Christiana, Mercy, and my brave 
 children, adieu. 
 
 Then the portei:,-Mr. Watchful, asked Chris- 
 tiana of her country, and of her kindred : and 
 she said, " I came from the city of Destruction ; 
 I am a widow woman, and my husband is dead ; 
 his name was Christian, the pilgrim." " How !'•' 
 said the porter, " was he your husband ?" 
 " Yes," said she, " and these his children ; and 
 this (poiutiug to Marcy) is one of my towns- 
 women." Then the porter rang his bell, as at 
 such time he is wont, and there came to the 
 door one of the damsels, whose name was 
 Humble-pind. And to her the porter said 
 "Go tell it within, that Christiana, the wife of 
 Christian, and her children, are oome hither 
 on pilgrimage." Sl>e went in, therefore, and 
 told it. But oh, what noise for gladness was 
 therein when the damsel did but drop that out 
 of her mouth ! 
 
 So they came with haste to the porter, for 
 Christiana stood still at the door. Then some 
 of the most grave said unto her, " Come in, 
 Christiana, come in, thou wife of that good 
 man ; come in, thou blessed woman, come in, 
 with all that are with thee." So she went in, 
 and they followed her that were her children 
 
 f Plow mindful is our Lord of us ! How gracious is 
 he to us ! What blessed provisions doth he make for 
 us! If pilgrims are attacked by Giant Grim, and ter- 
 rified with the sight of lions, they may be sure that it 
 is only a prelude to some sweet enjqymont of the Lord's 
 love, and that they are near to some sweet asylum, 
 some sanctuary of rest, peace, and comfort. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 201 
 
 and her companions. Now wlien tlicy were 
 gone in, tlicy were liad into a large room, and 
 bid to sit down; so thdy sat down, and tlie 
 chief of the house were called to see and wel- 
 come the guests. Then they came in, and, 
 understanding who they were, did salute each 
 other with a kiss, and said " Welcome, ye ves- 
 sels of the grace of God, welcome unto us who 
 are your faithful friends." * 
 
 Now, because it was somewhat late, and 
 because the pilgrims were weary with their 
 journey, and also made faint with the sight of 
 the fight and the terrible lioHS, they desired, as 
 soon as might be, to prepare to go to rest. 
 "Nay," said those of the family, "refresh 
 yourselves with a morsel of meat :" for they 
 had prepared for them a lamb, with the ac- 
 customed sauce thereto.! Ex. xii. 6. For the 
 porter had heard before of their coming, and 
 had told it to them within. So when they had 
 supped, and ended their prayer with a psalm, 
 they desired they might go to rest. "'But let 
 us," said Christiana, " if we may be so bold as 
 to choose, be in that chamber that was my 
 husband's when he was here." So they had 
 them up thither, and they all lay in a room. 
 John i. 29. AV'hen they were at rest, Christiana 
 and Mercy entered into discourse about things 
 that were convenient. 
 
 Christiana. Little did I think once, when my 
 husband went on pilgrimage, that I should 
 ever have followed him. 
 
 Mercy. And you as little thought of lying 
 in his bed and in his chamber to rest, as you 
 do now.t 
 
 Christiana. And much less did I ever think 
 of seeing his face with comfort, and of wor- 
 shipping the Lord tlie King with him; and 
 yet now I believe I shall. 
 
 Mercy. Hark I don't you hear a noise ? 
 
 Christiana. Yes, 'tis, as I believe, the noise 
 jf music, for joy that we are here. 
 
 *• Here is a blessed mark of being vessels of tbe 
 grace of God, when we delight in the sight of, salute, 
 and welcome others in the way to Zion, and mutually 
 have our hearts and affections drawn out to each other 
 in love. Oh how sweet is the fellowship of pilgrims 
 below ! what must it be above ! Infinitely above con- 
 coption. Lord, fire our souls with the thought of ever 
 being with thee and each other in thy kingdom. 
 
 ■f The Lamb is the food of pilgrims, and the end of 
 thoir conversation. Reader, can you feed upon Christ 
 by faith ? Is the Lamb the nourishment of thy soul, 
 and the portion of thy heart? Canst thou say, from 
 Bweet and blessed experience, His flesh is meat indeed, 
 knd hia blood is drink indeed? Is it thy delight to 
 kbink of him^ hoar of him, speak of him, abide in 
 
 Mercy. WonderfuM Music in the louse, 
 music in the heart, and music also in heaven, 
 for joy that we are here ! || 
 
 Thus they talked awhile, and then betook 
 themselves to sleep. So in the morning when 
 they were awaked, Christiana said to Mercy, 
 " What was the matter that you did laugh in 
 your sleep to-night? I suppose you were in a 
 dream." 
 
 Mercy. So I was, and a sweet dream it was ; 
 but are you sure I laughed ? 
 
 Christiana. Yes, you laughed heartily; but 
 pr'ythee, Mercy, tell me thy dream. 
 
 Mercy. I was a-dreaming that 1 sat all alone 
 in a solitary place, and ^yas bemoaning the 
 hardness of my heart. Now I had not sat 
 there long, but methought many were gathered 
 about me to see me, and to hear what it was 
 that I said. So thoy hearkened, and I went on 
 bemoaning the hardness of my heart. At this, 
 some of them laughed at me, some called me 
 fool, and some began to thrust me about. 
 With that, ipethought I looked up, and saw 
 one coming with wings towards me. So he 
 came dirSctly to me, and said, "Mercy, what 
 aileth thee?" Now when he had heard me 
 make my complaint, he said, "Peace be to 
 thee:" he also wiped mine eyes with his 
 handkerchief, and clad me in silver and gold., 
 He put a chain upon my neck, and ear-rings 
 in mine ears, and a beautiful crown upon my 
 head. Ezek. svi. 8, 13. Then he took me by 
 the hand, and said, "Mercy, come after nie." 
 So he went up, and I followed till we came at 
 a "golden gate. Then he knocked : and when 
 they within had opened the man went in, and 
 I followed him up to a throne upon which One 
 sat, and he said to me, " Welcome, daughter." 
 The place looked bright and twinkling, like 
 the stars, or rather like the sun, and I thought 
 that I saw your husband there. So I 'awoke 
 from my dream. But did I laugh ?§ 
 
 him, and live upon him ? Oh bless him, and praise 
 him for his mercy ! 
 
 J Pray, mind the above sweet note, " Christ's bosom 
 is for all pilgrims.'' It is there the weary find rest 
 and the burdened soul ease. Oh for more reclinings 
 oT soul upon the precious bosom of our dear Lord. 
 We can be truly happy nowhere else. 
 
 II Oh what precious harmony is this! how joyful to 
 be tbe subjects of it, and to join in it! The free 
 sovereign grace of God is the delightful theme j and 
 glory to God in the highest the universal chorus. It 
 is the wonder and joy of sinners on earth, and of 
 angels in heaven. 
 
 § Pray observe this dream ; it is a most precioua 
 one indeed. We find it true in the broad day of sweet 
 
202 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKK 
 
 ■ Chrisiiana. Laugh ! ay, and well you might 
 to see yourself so welh For you must give me 
 leave to tell you, that it was a good dream; 
 and that as you have hegun to find the first 
 part true, so you shall find the second at last. 
 " God speaks once, yea, twice, yet man per- 
 ceiveth it not; in a dream, in & vision of the 
 night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in 
 slumbering upon the bed." Job xxxiii. 14-16. 
 We need not, when abed, to lie awake to talk 
 with God; he' can visit us while we sleep, and 
 cause us then to hear his voice. Our heart 
 oftnmes wakes when we sleep ; and God can 
 speak to that, either by words, by proverbs, by 
 signs and similitudes, as well as if one was 
 awake.* 
 
 Meroy. Well, I am glad of my dream, for I 
 hope, ere long, to see it, fulfilled, to the making 
 of me laugh again. 
 
 Christiana. I think it is now high time to 
 rise, and to know what we must do. 
 
 Mercy. Pray, if they advise us to stay awhile, 
 let us willingly accept of the profier. I am 
 the willinger to stay awhile here, to grow bet- 
 ter acquainted with these maids; methinks. 
 Prudence, Piety, and Charity have very comely 
 and sober countenances. 
 
 Christiana. We shall see what they will do. 
 oo when they were up and ready, they came 
 down, and they asked one another of their rest, 
 and if it was comfortable or not. 
 
 Very good, said Mercy; it was one of the 
 best night's lodgings that ever I had in my life. 
 
 Then said Prudence and Piety, If you will 
 be persuaded to stay here awhile, you shall 
 have what the house will afford. 
 
 Ay, and that with a very good will, said 
 Charity. So they consented, and stayed there 
 about a month or above, and became very 
 profitable one to another; And because Pru- 
 dence would see how Christiana had brought 
 up her children, she asked leave of her to cat- 
 echise them; so. she gave her free consent. 
 Then she began with the youngest, whose 
 name was James. And she said, "Come, 
 James, canst thou tell me who made thee?" 
 
 James. God the Father, God the Son, and 
 God the Holy Ghost. 
 
 experience; for then it ia wo get the most blessed vis- 
 its from our Lord, when we get by ourselves and be- 
 moan the dcadness of our poor hearts. True, we may 
 be laughed .at, called foois, and despised by the pro- 
 fane and self-righteous, who do not feel the hardness 
 of their hearts, nor bemoa*^ themselves for it; yet the 
 loving, compassionate, tender-hearted Saviour is ever 
 Bear to as, he feels for us, sympathizes with us, will 
 
 Prudence. Good boy. And canst thou tell 
 who saved thee? 
 
 James. God the Father, God the Son, and 
 God the Holy Ghost. 
 
 Prudence. Good boy still. But how dotl» 
 God the Father save thee ? 
 
 James. By his grace. 
 
 Prudence. How doth God the Son save thee? 
 
 James. By his righteousness, and blood, and 
 death, and life. 
 
 Prudence. And how doth God the H9ly 
 Ghost save thee ? 
 
 James. By his illumination, by his renova- 
 ,tion, and by his preservation. , 
 
 Then said Prudence to Christiana, You are 
 to be commended for thus bringing up your 
 children. I suppose I need not ask the rest 
 these qitestions, since the youngest of them 
 can answer theda so well. I will therefore now 
 apply myself to the next youngest. 
 
 Then she said. Come, Joseph, (for his name 
 was Joseph,) will you let me catechise you? 
 
 Joseph. With, all my heart. 
 
 Prudence. What is man ? 
 
 Joseph. A reasonable creature, made so by 
 God, as my brother said. 
 
 Prudence. What is supposed by this word — 
 
 Joseph. That ipan by sin has brought him- 
 self into a state of captivity and misery. 
 
 Prudence. What is supposed by, his being 
 saved by the Trinity? 
 
 Joseph. That sin is so great and mighty a 
 tyrant, that none can pull us out of its 
 clutches but God : and that God is S(4 good and 
 loving to man, as to pull him indeed out of 
 this miserable state. 
 
 Prudence. What is God's design in saving 
 poor man? 
 
 Joseph. The glorifying of his name, of his 
 grace, and justice, etc., and the everlasting 
 happiness of his creature. 
 
 Prudence. Who are they that must be saved? 
 
 Joseph. Those that accept of his salvation. 
 
 Prudence. Good boy, Joseph; thy mother 
 hath taught thee well, and thou hast hearkened 
 to what she has said unto thee. 
 
 Then said Prudence to Samuel, (who. was 
 
 manifest himself to ua, and revive us with the sense of 
 peace, the joy of hope, and the comforts of love. 
 
 * Oh how blessed are they who are watching and 
 waiting continually to hear the small still voice of the 
 Spirit speaking rest and peace to their souls by the 
 blood of the Lamb ! Oh how condescending is oui 
 Lord, thus to visit us, and converse with us in the waj 
 to his kingdom ! 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROORESS. 
 
 203 
 
 the oldest son but one,) Come, Samuel, are you 
 willing that I should catechise you also? 
 
 Samuel. Yes, forsooth, if you please. 
 
 Prudence. What is heaven ? 
 
 Samuel. A place and state most blessed, be- 
 cause God dwelleth there. 
 
 Prudence. What is hell ? 
 
 Samuel. A place and state most woefiil, be- 
 cause it is the dwelling-place of sin, the devil, 
 and death. 
 
 Prudence. Why wouldst thou go to heaven ? 
 
 Samuel. That I may see Ood, and serve him 
 without weariness ; that I may see Christ, and 
 love him everlastingly ; that I may have that 
 fulness of the Holy Spirit in me that I can by 
 no means here enjoy. 
 
 Prudence. A very good boy, and one that 
 has learned well. Then she addressed ^efself 
 to the eldest, whose name was Matthew ; and 
 she said to him. Come, Matthew, shall I also 
 catechise you ? 
 
 Matthew. With a very good will. 
 
 Prudence. I ask, then, if there was ever any- 
 thing that had a being antecedent to or before 
 God? 
 
 Matthew. No ; for God is eternal ; nor is there 
 anything, excepting himself, that had a being 
 until the beginning of the first day : " For in 
 six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the 
 sea, and all that in them is." 
 
 Prudence. What do you think of the Bible ? 
 
 Matthew. It is the holy word of God. 
 
 I\udence. Is there nothing written thexe but 
 what you understand ? 
 
 Matthew. Yes, a great deal. 
 
 Prudence. What do you do when you meet 
 with places therein that you do not under 
 stand ? 
 
 Matthew. I think God is wiser than I. I 
 pray also that he will please to let me know aU 
 therein that he knows will be for my good.* 
 
 Prudence. How believe jou as touching the 
 resurrection of the dead ? 
 
 Matthew. I believe, they shall rise, the same 
 that was buried ; the same in nature, though 
 not in corruption. And I believe this upon a 
 double account : First, because God has prom- 
 ised it ; secondly, because he is able to per 
 form it.f 
 
 Then said Prudence to the boys. You must 
 still hearken to your mother, for she can learn 
 you more. You must also diligently give ear 
 to what good talk you shall hear from others: 
 for your sake do they speak good things. Ob- 
 serve also, and that with carefulness, what the 
 heavens and the earth do teach you : but es- 
 pecially be much in the meditation of that 
 book that was the cause of your father's be- 
 coming a pilgrim. I, for my part, my chil- 
 dren, will teach you what I can while you are 
 here, and shall be glad if you will ask me 
 questions that tend to godly edifying. 
 
 CilAPTEE VI. 
 Mr. Brisk pays his addresses to Mercy. — Matthew taken ill, but recovers, &e. 
 
 Now by that these pilgrims had been at this 
 place a week, Mercy had a visitor that pre- 
 tended some good-will unto her, and his name 
 was Mr. Brisk, a man of some breeding, and that 
 pretended to religion : but a man that stuck 
 very close to the world. So he came once or 
 twice, or more, to Mercy, and offered love unto 
 her. Now Mercy was of a fair countenance, 
 and therefore the more alluring. Her mind 
 also was, to be always busying of herself in 
 doing; for when she had nothing to do for 
 herself, she would be making of hose and gar- 
 
 * Though this is answered with the simplicity of a 
 child, yet it is, and ever will be, the language of every 
 father in Christ. Happy those whose spirits are oast 
 into this bumble, blessed mould ! Oh that this spirit 
 may accompany us in all our researobos, in all our 
 ways, and through all our days I 
 
 ments for others, and would bestow them upon 
 them that had need. And Mr. Brisk, not 
 knowing where or how she disposed of what 
 she made, seemed to be greatly taken, for th^t 
 he found her never idle. " I will warrant her 
 a good housewife," quoth he to himself. 
 
 Mercy then revealed the business to the 
 maidens that were of the house, and inquired 
 of them concerning him ; for they did know 
 him better than she. So they told her, that 
 he was a very busy young man, and one that 
 pretended to religion ; but was, as they feared, 
 
 I Here is the foundation of faith and the triumph 
 of hope, God's faithfulness to his promise, and his 
 power to perform. Having these t)> look to, what 
 should stagger our faith or deject our hope ? We 
 may, we ought to smile at all carnal objections, and 
 trample upon all corrupt reasonings. 
 
204 
 
 BVNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 a stranger to the power of that which is 
 good. 
 
 Nay then, said Mercy, I will look no more 
 on him ; for I purpose never to have a clog 
 to my soul.* 
 
 Prudence then replied, that there needed no 
 great matter of discouragement to be given to 
 him ; for continuing so as she had begun, to do 
 for the poor, would quickly cool his courage. 
 
 So the next time he comes, he finds her at 
 her old work, a-making of things for the poor. 
 Then said he, " What, always at it?" "Yes," 
 said she, " either for myself or for others." 
 "And what canst thou earn a day?" quoth he. 
 " I do these things," said she, " that I may be 
 rich in good works, laying a good foundation 
 against the time to come, that I may lay hold 
 of eternal life." 1 Tim. vi. 17, 19. " Why, 
 pr'ythee, what dost thou do with them ?" said 
 he. " Clothe the naked," said she. With that 
 his countenance fell. So he forbore to come 
 at her again. And when he was asked the 
 reason why, he said that Mercy was a pretty 
 lass, but troubled with ill conditions.f 
 
 When he had left her, Prudence said, Did I 
 not tell thee that Mr. Brisk would soon forsake 
 thee? yea, he will raise up au ill report of 
 thee : for, notwithstanding his pretence to re- 
 ligion, and his seeming love to mercy, yet 
 mercy and he are of tempers so different, that 
 I believe they will never come together. 
 
 Mercy. I might have bad husbands before 
 now, though I spoke not of it to any; but 
 they were such as did not like my conditions, 
 though never did any of them find fault with 
 my person. So they and I could not agree. 
 
 Prudence. Mercy in our days is but little set 
 by, any further than as to its name ; the prac- 
 tice which is set forth by thy conditions there 
 are but few that can abide. 
 
 Well, said ilercy, if nobody will have me, I 
 will die a maid, or my conditions shall be to 
 
 * Most blessed resolution ! Ah, pilgrims, if you 
 were more wary, how many troubles would you escape, 
 and how much mo.ro happy would you be in your pil- 
 grimage ! It is for want of this wisdom that many 
 bring evil upon themselves. 
 
 f How easily are the best of characters traduced, 
 and false constructions put upon the best of actions ! 
 Reader, is this your lot also? Mind your duty. Look 
 to your Lord. Persevere in his works and ways : and 
 leave your character with Him to whom you can trust 
 your soul. For if God be for us, who shall be against 
 us ? What shaH, harm us, if we be followers of that 
 which is good? 
 
 j; Though we are to beware of a censorious spirit in 
 regard to professors, yet when they, give evidence by 
 
 me as a husband,- for I cannot change my na- 
 ture ; and to have one that lies cross to me in 
 this, that I purpose never to admit of as long 
 as I live. I had a sister, named Bountiful, 
 that was married to one of these churls, but he 
 and she could never agree; but because my 
 sister was resolved to do as she had begun — 
 that is, to show kindness to the poor — there- 
 fore her husband first cried her down at the 
 cross, and then turned her out of his doors. 
 
 Prudence. And yet he was a professor, I 
 warrant you ! 
 
 MerciJ. Yes, such a one as he was, and of 
 such as the world is now full ; but I am for 
 none of them all.J 
 
 Now Matthew, the eldest son of Christiana, 
 fell sick, and his sickness was sore upon him, 
 for he was much pained in his bowels, so that 
 he was with it, at times, pulled, as it were, 
 both ends together. || There dwelt also not fai 
 from thence one Mr. Skill, an ancient and 
 well-approved physician. So Chfristiana de- 
 sired it, and they sent for him, and he came : 
 when he was entered the room, and had a little 
 observed the boy, he concluded that he was 
 sick of the gripes. Then he said to his mother, 
 " What diet has Matthew of late fed upon ?" 
 " Diet !" said Christiana, " nothing but w]iat is 
 wholesotae." The physiciiin answered, " This 
 boy has been tampering with something that 
 lies in his maw undigested, and that will not 
 away without means. And I tell you he must 
 ,be purged, or else he will die." 
 
 Then said Samuel, Mother, what was that 
 which my brother did gather up and eat so soon 
 as we were come from the gate that is at the 
 head of this way ? You know that there was 
 an orchard on the left hand, on the other side 
 of the wall, and some 0|f the trees hung over 
 the wall, and my brother did pluck and eat.J 
 
 True, my child, said Christiana, he did take 
 thereof and did eat, naughty boy as he was. I 
 chid him, and yet he would eat thereof. 
 
 their walk that they are not what they profess to be, 
 holy followers of the Lamb, we are by no means to be 
 deceived by them. For we have an unerring rule laid 
 down by our ~Lord to judge of them, "Ye shall know 
 them by their fruits," (Matt. vii. 16 ;) yea, and we 
 ought to be faithful to them too, by reproving them in 
 the spirit of humility and love. 
 
 II See the effects of sin. It will pinch and gripe the 
 conscience and make the heart sick. 
 
 g Observe how useful pilgrims are to each other in 
 faithfully reminding them of their conduct. Though 
 this sin was committed some time past, and neither 
 Matthew nor his mother thought of it, yet it must bo 
 brought to light and repented of. 
 
THE PILQ RIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 205 
 
 SJdll. I knew he had eaten something that 
 was not wholesome food ; and that food, to wit, 
 that fruit, is even the most hurtful of all. It 
 is the fruit of Boelzebuh's orchard. I do mar- 
 vel that none did warn you of it ; many have 
 died thereof.* 
 
 Then Christiana began to cry ; and she said, 
 " O naughty boy ! and O careless mother ! what 
 thall I do for my son ?" 
 
 SHU. Come, do not be too much dejected ; 
 the boy may do well again, but he must purge 
 and vomit. 
 
 Christiana. Pray, sir, try the utmost of your 
 skill with him, whatever it costs. 
 
 S/.-ill. Nay, I hope I shall be reasonable. So 
 he liiade him a purge, but it was too weak ; it 
 was said it was made of the blood of a goat, 
 the ashes of a heifer, and with som* of the 
 juice of hyssop, &c. Heb. ix. 13, ]9; x. 1, 4. 
 When Mr. Skill had seen that that purge was 
 too weak, he made him one to the purpose : it 
 was made ex came ei sanguine Chridi,\ (John 
 vi. 54, 57; Heb. ix. 14;) you know physicians 
 give strange medicines to their patients : and it 
 was made up into pills, with a promise or two, 
 and a proportionable quantity of salt. Mark 
 ix. 49. Now he was to take them three at a 
 time, fasting, in half a quarter of a ]<iiit of the 
 tears of repentance. Zech. xii. 10. When this 
 potion was prepared and brought to the boy, 
 he was loth to take it, though torn with the 
 gripes as if he should be pulled in pieces. 
 "Come, come," said the physician, "you must 
 take it." " It goes against my stomach," said 
 the boy. " I must have you take it," said his 
 mother. " I shall vomit it up again," said the 
 boy. " Pray, sir," said Christiana to Mr. Skill, 
 "how 'does it taste?" "It has no ill taste," 
 says the doctor ; and with that she touched one 
 of the pills! with the tip of her tongue. " Oh, 
 Matthew," said she, " this potion is sweeter 
 
 • Hero is conviction for the mother in not warning 
 ef sin and chiding for it. She talies it home, falla 
 niider the sense of it, and is grieved for it. A tender 
 ocnsoicnce is a blessed sign of a gracious heart. Ye 
 parents who Icnow the love of Christ, watch over your 
 children j see to it lost ye smart for their sins in not 
 warning and teaching them that the fear of the Lord 
 is to depart frona all evil ; yea, to abstain from the 
 very appearance of it. 
 
 •j" Mr. Bunyan's great modesty and humility are 
 truly admirable : though he quotes Latin, yet, as he 
 did not understand it, he tells us in the margin, "The 
 Latin I borrow." The English is, "Of the flesh and 
 of the blood of Christ." This is the only potion for 
 sin-sick souls. Feeding upon Christ's flesh and blood 
 by faith keeps us from sinning, and irhen sick of sin 
 
 than honey. If thou lovest thy mother, if 
 thou lovest thy brothers, if thou lovest Mercy^ 
 if thou lovest thy life, take it." So with muck 
 ado, after a short prayer for the blessing of 
 God upon it, he took it, and it wrought kindly 
 with him. It caused him to purge, it caused 
 him to sleep, and to rest quietly ; it put him 
 into a fine heat and breathing sweat, and it 
 quite rid him of his gripes.J 
 
 So in a little time he got up and walked 
 about with a stafi", and would go from room to 
 room and talk with Prudence, Piety, and Cha- 
 rity of his distemper, and how he was healed. 
 
 So, when the boy was healed, Christiana 
 asked Mr. Skill, saying, "Sir, what will con- 
 tent you for your pains and care to and of my 
 child?" And he said, "You must pay the 
 Master of the College of Physicians according 
 to rules made in that case and provided." 
 Heb. xiii. 11-15. 
 
 But, sir, said she, what is this pill good for 
 else? 
 
 Skill. It is an universal pill; it is good 
 against all diseases that pilgrims are incident 
 to; and when it is well prepared will keep 
 good time out of mind. 
 
 Christiana. Pray, sir, make me up twilt^e 
 boxes of them; for if I can get these I will 
 never take other physic. 
 
 Skill. These pills are good to prevent dis- 
 eases, as well as to cure when one is sick.|| 
 Yea, I dare say it, and stand to it, that if a_ 
 man will but use" this physic as he should, it 
 will make him dive for ever. John vi. 58. But, 
 good Christiana, thou must give these pills no 
 other way but as I have prescribed ; for if you 
 do they will do no good. So ,he gave unto 
 Christiana physic for herself and her boys, 
 and for Mercy,' and bid Matthew take heed 
 how he ate any more green plums, and kissed 
 him and went his way. 
 
 these, and nothing but these, can heal and restore us. 
 Yet there is in our nature an unaccountable reluctance 
 to receive these through the unbelief which works in 
 us. So Matthew found it. 
 
 :j: See the blessed effects of receiving Christ when 
 under the sense of sin and distress for sin. Oh what 
 a precious Saviour is Jesus! what efficacy is there in 
 his blessed flesh and precious blood to purge the con- 
 science from guilt 1 It is this sense of Christ's love 
 and grace which heals, restores, and makes our hearts, 
 happy and joyful in God. 
 
 II pilgrims ! let not a day pass without having re- 
 course to the life and death of the Son of God, and 
 live by faith upon Ilim who shed his blood to save us, 
 and gives his flesh to nourish us, and who says, " My 
 flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed." 
 
206 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 It was told you before that ' Prudence bid 
 the boys that if at any time they would they 
 Bhoulcl ask her some questions that might be 
 profitable, and she would say something to 
 them. 
 
 Then Matthew, who had been sick, asked 
 her, Why, for the most part, physic should be 
 bitter to our palates 1 
 
 Prudence. To show how unwelcome the word 
 of, God, and the effects thereof, are to a carnal 
 heart. 
 
 Matthew. Why does physic, if it doe^good, 
 purge and cause to vomit? 
 
 Prudence. To show that the word, when it 
 works effectually, cleanseth the heart and 
 mind. For look, what the one doth to the 
 body the other doth to the soul. 
 
 Matthew. What should we learn by seeing 
 the flame of our fire go upwards, and by see- 
 ing the beams and sweet influences of the sun 
 strike downwards? 
 
 Prudence. By the going up of the fire we are 
 taught to ascend to heaven by fervent and hot 
 desires. And by the sun sending his heat, 
 beams, and sweet influences downwards we are 
 taught that the Saviour of the world, though 
 high, reaches down with his grace and love to 
 us belovf. 
 
 Matthew. Whence have the clouds their 
 water? 
 
 Prudence. Out of the sea. 
 
 Matthew. What may we learn from that? 
 
 Prudence. That ministers should fetch their 
 doctrine from God. 
 
 Matthew. Why do they empty themselves 
 upon the earth? / 
 
 Prudence. To show that ministers should 
 give out what they know of God to the 
 world. 
 
 Matthew. Why is the' rainbow caused by the 
 sun? 
 
 Prudence. To show that the covenant of 
 Gbd's grace is confirmed to us in Christ. 
 
 Matthew. Why do the springs come from the 
 gea to us through the earth? 
 
 Prudence. To show that the grace of God 
 comes to us through the body of Christ. 
 
 Matthew. Why do some of the springs rise 
 out of the top of high hills? 
 
 Prudence. To show that the spirit of grace 
 shall spring up in some that are great and 
 mighty, as well as in many that are poor and 
 low. 
 
 Matthew. Why doth the fire fasten upon the 
 candlewick? 
 
 Prudence. To show that unless grace doth 
 
 kindle upon the heart there will be no trne 
 light of life in us. 
 
 Matthew. Why is the wick, and tallow, and 
 all spent to maintain the light of the can- 
 dle? 
 
 Prudence. To show that body, and soul, and 
 all should be at the service of, and spend them- 
 selves to maintain in good condition, that grace 
 of God that is in us. 
 
 Matthew. Why doth the pelican pierce her 
 own breast ivith her bill? 
 
 Prudence. To nourish her young ones 
 with her blood, and thereby to show that 
 Christ the blessed so loved his young, his 
 people, as to save them from death by his 
 blood. 
 
 Matthew. What may one learn by hearing 
 the cock to crow? 
 
 Prudence. Learn to remember Peter's sin 
 and Peter's repentance. The cock's crowing 
 shows also that day is coming on ; let then the 
 crowing of the cock put thee in mind of that 
 last and terrible day of judgment. 
 
 Now about this time their month was out, 
 wherefore they signified to those of the house 
 that it was convenient for them to up and be 
 going. Then said Joseph to his mother, " It 
 is proper that you forget not to send to the 
 house of Mr. Interpreter, to pray him to grant 
 that ' Mr. Great-heart should be sent unto us, 
 that he may be our conductor for the rest of 
 the way." "Good boy!" said she, "I had al- 
 most forgot." So she drew up a petition, and 
 prayed Mr. Watchful, the porter, to send it by 
 some fit man to her good friend Mr. Interpre- 
 ter ; who, when it was come and he had seen 
 the contents of the petition, said to the mes- 
 senger, "Go tell them that I will send 
 him." 
 
 When the family where Christiana was saw 
 that they had a purpose to go forward, they 
 called the whole house together to give thanks 
 to their King for sending of them such profit- 
 able guests as ,these. Which done, they said 
 unto Christiana, "And shall we not show thee 
 something, as our custom is to do to pilgrims, 
 on which thou mayest meditate when thou art 
 on the way?" So they took Christiana, her 
 children, and Mercy into the closet and showed 
 them one of the apples that Eve ate of, and 
 that she also did give to her husband, and that ' 
 for the eating of which they were both turned 
 out of Paradise, and asked her what she 
 thought that was. Then Christiana said, " It 
 is food or poison, I know not which." So 
 they opened the matter to her, and she held 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROOEESS. 
 
 207 
 
 up her hands aijd wondered.* Gen. iii. 1, 6 ; 
 Rom. vii. 24. 
 
 Then they had her to a place and showed 
 her Jacob's ladder. Now at 'that time there 
 were some angels ascending upon it. So 
 Christiana looked and looked to see the angels 
 go up ; so did the rest of the company. Gen. 
 xxviii. 12. Then they were going into an- 
 other place to show them something else ; hut 
 James said to his mother, "Pray bid them 
 stay here a little longer, for this is a curious 
 sight." So they turned again, and stood-feed- 
 ing their eyes with this so pleasant a prospect. 
 After this they had them into a place where 
 did hang up a golden anchor ; so they hid 
 Christiana take it down ; for, said they, you 
 shall have it with you, for it is of absolute 
 necessity that you should, that you may lay 
 hold of that within the veil and stauS stead- 
 fast in case you should meet with turbulent 
 weather : so they were glad thereof.! Joel iii. 
 16 ; Heb. vir. 19. Then they took them, and 
 had them to the mount upon which Abraham, 
 our father, ofl'ered up Isaac his son, and showed 
 them the altar, the wood, the fire, and the 
 knife; for they remain to be seen to this very 
 day. When they had seen it they held up 
 their hands and blessed themselves, and said, 
 " Oh what a man for love to his Master and 
 for denial to himself was Abraham !" After 
 they had showed them all these things. Pru- 
 dence took them into a dining-room, where 
 stood a pair of" excellent virginals; so she 
 played upon them, and turned what she had 
 showed them into this excellent song, saying — 
 
 " Eve's apple we have showed you; 
 
 Of that be you aware; 
 Tou have seen Jacob's ladder too. 
 
 Upon which angels are : 
 An anchor you received have; 
 
 But let nc[t these suffice, , 
 
 Until with Abra'm you have gave 
 
 Your best for sacrifice.'' 
 
 Now about this time one knocked at the 
 
 * It is not enough that the Holy Spirit convinces us 
 of sin previous to our first setting out on pilgrimage, 
 and make^ us sensible of our want of Christ, but he 
 also keeps up a sight and a sense of the evil of sin in 
 Its original nature, as well as our actual transgressions. 
 This often makes us wonder at sin, at ourselves, and 
 at the love of Christ in becoming a sacrifice for our sins. 
 
 f Thi? is the anchor of hope. This keeps the soul 
 safe and steady to Jesus, who is tlie only object of our 
 hope. Hope springs from faith. It is an expectation 
 of the fulfilment of those things that are promised in 
 the word of truth by the God of all graoe. Faith re- 
 wives them, trusts in them, relies upon them, and 
 
 door : so the porter opened, and behold, "Mr. 
 Great-heart was there. But when he was 
 come in, what joy was there ! for it came now 
 afresh again into their minds how but a 
 while ago he had slain old Grim Bloody-raan, 
 the giant, and had delivered them from the 
 lions. 
 
 Then said Mr. Great-heart to Christiana 
 and to Mercy, My Lord has sent each of you 
 a bottle of wine, and also some parched corn, 
 together with a couple of pomegranates; he 
 has afeo sent the boys • some figs and raisins ; 
 to refresh you in your way.J 
 
 Then they addressed themselves to theii 
 journey, and Prudence and Piety went along 
 with them. When they came at the gate, 
 Christiana asked the porter if any of late 
 went by. He said. No, only one, some time 
 since, who also told me that of late there had 
 been a great robbery committed on the King's 
 highway as you go; but, said he,'the thieves 
 are taken, and will shortly be tried, for their 
 lives. Then Christiana and Mercy were afraid, 
 but Matthew said, Mother, fear nothing as 
 long as Mr. Great-heart is to go with us and 
 to he our conductor. 
 
 Then said Christiana to the porter. Sir, I 
 am much obliged to you for all the kindnesses 
 that you have showed to me since I came 
 hither; and also for that you have been so 
 loving and kind to my children ; I 'know not 
 how to gratify your kindness : wherefore pray, 
 as a token of my respects to you, accept of this 
 small mite, So she put a gold angel || in his 
 hand, and he made her a low obeisance and 
 said, "Let thy garments be always white, and 
 let thy head want no ointment. Let Mercy 
 live and not die, and let not her works be 
 few.'.' And to the hoys he said, " Do you fly 
 youthful lusts, and follow after godliness with 
 them that are grave and wise ; so shall you 
 put gladness into your mother's heart, and 
 obtain praise of all that are sober-minded," 
 So they thanked the porter and departed. 
 
 Hope waits for the full accomplishment and enjoy- 
 ment of them. 
 
 J Oh how reviving and refreshing are those love ■ 
 tokens from our Lord! Great-heart never comes 
 empty-handed. He always inspires with courage 
 and oonfl(}enoe. 
 
 [I No wonder that the pilgrims were thankful for 
 their kind entertainment, or that they testified their 
 esteem of the Gospel and its glorious Author by the 
 present they made to the porter; for says St. Paul, in 
 behalf of the ministers of the word, "If we have sowu 
 unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if w« 
 shall reap your carnal things 1" 
 
208 
 
 SUNYAN'S qOMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 CIIAPTEK VII. 
 
 The Pilgrims pursue their journey, and pass through the Valley of ffumiliation and ef ffte 
 
 Shadow of Death. 
 
 Now I saw in my dream that they went for- 
 ward until they were come to the brow of the 
 hill, where Piety, bethinking herself, cried 
 out, Alas! I have forgot _ what 'I intended 
 to bestow upon Christiana and her compan- 
 ions : I will go back -and fetch it. So she 
 ran and fetched it. While she was gone, 
 Christiana thought she heard in a grove, a 
 little way off, on the right, a most curious 
 melodious note, with words much like these : 
 
 " Through all my life thy favour is 
 So frankly show'd to me 
 That in thy house for evermore 
 My dwelling-place shall he." * 
 
 And listening still she thought she heard 
 another answer it, saying, 
 
 ''For why? The Lord our God is good, 
 His mercy is forever sure : 
 His truth at all times firmly stood, 
 And shall from age to age endure.*' 
 
 1 
 So Christian asked Prudence what it was 
 
 that made those curious notes. They are, said 
 she, our country birds : they sing these notes 
 but seldom, except it be at the spring, when 
 the flowers appear and the sun shines warm, 
 and then you hear them all the day long. I 
 often, said she, go to hear them : we also oft- 
 times keep them tame in our house. They are 
 very fine company for us when we are melan- 
 choly ; also they make the woods, and groves, 
 and solitary places, places desirous to be in.* 
 Sol. Song ii. 11, 12. 
 
 By this time Piety was come again ; so she 
 said to Christiana, Look here, I have brought 
 thee a scheme of all those things that thou hast 
 
 * You see these joyful notes spring from a sense of 
 Tiearnoss to the Lord and a firm confidence in his di- 
 vine truth and everlasting mercy. Oh when the Sun 
 of righteousness shines warmly on the soul and gives 
 us clearly to see these, it makes th-e pilgrims sing most 
 sweetly and shout most joyfully indeed. These songs 
 approach very nearly to the heavenly music in the 
 realms of glory. 
 
 f After being thus highly favoured with sensible 
 comforts in the views of faith, the comforts of hope, 
 and the joys of love, see the nest step those pilgrims are 
 to take ; it is down the hill Difiieulty, into the Valley 
 lOf Humiliation. What doth this place signify? A 
 
 seen at our house, upon which thou mayest 
 look when thou findest thyself forgetful, and 
 call those things again to remembrance for thy 
 edification and comfort. 
 
 Now they began to go down the hill to the 
 Valley of Humiliation. It was a steep hill 
 and the way was slippery, but they were very 
 careful ; so they got down pretty well. When 
 they were down in the valley,! Piety said to 
 Christiana, This is the place where your hus- 
 band met the foul fiend Apollyon, and where 
 they had the great fight that they had : I know 
 you cannot but have heard thereof. But be of 
 good courage ; as long as you have Mr. Great- 
 heart here to be your guide and conductor, we 
 hope you will fare the better. So when these 
 two had committed the pilgrims unto the con- ' 
 duct of their guide, he went forward and they 
 went after. 
 
 Then said Mr. Great-heart, We need not-be 
 so afraid of this valley, for here is nothing to 
 hurt us unless we procure it ourselves. It is 
 true Christian did meet here with Apollyon, 
 with whom he had also a sore combat; but 
 that fray was the fruit of those slips that he 
 got in going down the hill, for they that get 
 slips there must look for combats here. And 
 hence it is that this valley has got so hard 
 a name. For the common people, when they 
 hear that some frightful thing has befallen such 
 an one in such a place, are of opinion that that 
 place is haunted with some foul fiend or evil 
 spirit ; when, alas I it is for the fruit of their 
 doing that such things do befall them there.| 
 
 This Valley of Humiliation is of itself as 
 fruitful a place as any the crow flies over ; and 
 I am persuaded, if we could hit upon it, we 
 might find somewhere hereabout something 
 
 deep and abiding sight and sense of ourselves, of our 
 ruined state, lost condition, and desperate circum- 
 stances as fallen sinners. 
 
 J What a great blessing it is- to have Great-heart in 
 the Valley of Humility ! How sad it is for pilgrims to 
 procure evils for themselves by their sin and folly ] 
 How joyful is it to know that " like as-a father pitietb 
 his children, so the Lord pitietb them who fear him !" 
 Ps. oiii. 13. Yet if we slip we shall, be sure to smart. 
 If we do not bold fast faith, hope, love, and obedience, 
 Satjtn, will attack, distress ua in some sort, and prevail 
 against us, and then we shall bring up an evil report 
 of the safe and fruitful yalley of Humiliation. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 209 
 
 that might give us an account why Christian 
 was so hardly beset in this place. 
 
 Then James said to his mother, " Lo, yon- 
 der stands a pillar, and it looks as if something 
 was written thereon ; let us go and see what it 
 is." So they went and found there written, 
 " Let Christian's slips before he came hither, 
 and the burden that he met with in this place, 
 be a warning to those that come after." " Lo," 
 Biiid their guide, " did I not tell you that there 
 was something hereabouts that would give in- 
 timation of the reason why Christian was so 
 hard beset in this place ?" Then, turning to 
 Christian.a, he said. No disparagement to Chris- 
 tian, more than to many others whose hap and 
 lot it was. For it is easier going up than down 
 this hill, and that can be said but of few hills 
 in all these parts of the world. But we will 
 leave the good man : he is at rest ; he also had 
 a brave victory over his enemy : let Him that 
 dwelleth above grant that we fare no worse 
 when we come to be tried than he ! 
 
 But we will come again to this Valley of Hu- 
 miliation. It is the best and most fruitful piece 
 of ground in all these parts. It is a fat ground, 
 and, as you see, consisteth much in meadows ; 
 and if a man was to come here in the summer- 
 time, as we do now, if he knew not any thing 
 before thereof, and if he also delighted himself 
 in the sight of his eyes, he might see that which 
 would be delightful to him. Behold how green 
 this valley is, also how beautiful with lilies. 
 Sol. Song ii. 1 ; James iv. 6 ; 1 Pet. v. 5. I 
 have also known many labouring men that 
 have got good estates in "this Valley of Hu- 
 miliation, (for "God re^isteth the proud, but' 
 giveth more grace to the humble,") for indeed 
 it is a very fruitful soil, and doth bring forth 
 by handfuls. Some also have wished that the 
 next way to their Father's house were here, 
 that they might be troubled no more with 
 either hills or mountains to go over : but the 
 way is the way, and there is an end.* 
 
 Now, as they were going along and talking, 
 they espied a boy feeding his father's sheep. 
 The boy was in very mean clothes, but of a 
 
 * Though this Valley of Humiliation may be very 
 terrifying to pilgrims after they have been favoured 
 with peace and joy, and comforted by the views of 
 faith and hope, yet it is a very safe place ; and th6ugh 
 at first entering into it, and seeing more of themselves 
 than was ever before showed them, they may fear and 
 tremble, yet after some time continuing here they are 
 more reconciled and contented ; for here they find the 
 visits of their Lord, and in the depths of their hu- 
 mility they behold the heights of his love and the 
 depths of his mercy, and cry out, Though I am emptied 
 14 
 
 fresh and well-favoured countenance ; and as he 
 sat by himself he sang. Hark, said Mr. Great- 
 heart, to what the shepherd's boy saith. So 
 they hearkened, and he said — 
 
 " lie that is down needs fear no fall j 
 He that is low, no pride: 
 He that is humble ever shall 
 Have God to be his guide. 
 
 "I am content with what I have, • 
 Little be it or much : 
 And, Lord, contentment still I crave. 
 Because thou savest such. 
 
 " Fulness to such a burden is 
 That go on pilgrimage : 
 Here little, and hereafter bliss, 
 Is best from age to agc."f 
 
 Then said the guide. Do you hear him ? 1 
 will dare to say this boy lives a merrier life, and 
 wears more of the herb called heart's ease in 
 his bosom, than he that is clad in silk and vel- 
 vet. But we will proceed in our discourse. 
 
 In this valley our Lord formerly had his 
 country-house ; he loved inuch to be here : he 
 loved also to walk in these meadows, and he 
 found the air was pleasant. Besides, here a 
 man shall be free from the noise and from tht 
 hurryings of this life; all states are full of 
 noise and confusion, only the Valley of Hu- 
 miliation is that empty and solitary place. 
 Here a man shall not be let and hindered in 
 his contemplation, as in other places he is apt 
 to be. This is a valley that nobody walks in but 
 those that love a pilgfim's life. And though 
 Christian had the hard hap to meet with Apol- 
 lyon and to enter with liim a brisk encounter, 
 yet I must tell you that in former times men 
 have met with angels here, have found pearls 
 here, and have in this place found the words 
 of life.t Hos. ii. 4, 5. 
 
 Did I say our Lord had here in former days 
 his country-house, and that he loved here to 
 walk? I will add in this place, that to the 
 people that love and trace these grounds he has 
 left a yearly revenue, to be faithfully paid them 
 
 of all, yet I have an inexhaustible fulness in Jesus, to 
 supply me with all I want and all I hope. 
 
 f Heb. xiii. 5. 
 
 J Ever remember the word of our gracious Lord, " It 
 is enough for the disciple that he be as his Master." 
 If your Lord made it his chief delight to be in this 
 Valley of Humiliation, learn from his example to prize 
 this valley. Though you may meet with an Apollyon or 
 a destroyer here, yet you are safe in the arms and under 
 the fiower of your all-conquering Lord ; for though th» 
 Lord is high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly. 
 
210 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 at certaiu seasons for their maintenance by the 
 way, and for their further encouragement to 
 go on their pilgrimage. 
 
 Now, as they went on, Samuel said to Mr. 
 Great-heart, " Sir, I perceive that in thisTalley 
 my father and Apollyon had their battle, but 
 whereabout was the fight ? for I perceive this 
 valley is large." 
 
 Great-heart. Your father had the battle with 
 Apollyon -at a place yonder before us, in a nar- 
 row passage, just beyond Forgetful Green. 
 And indeed that place is the most dangerous 
 place in all these parts, for if at any time pil- 
 grims meet with any brunt, it is when they 
 forget what favours they have received and 
 how unworthy they are of them.* This is the 
 place also where others have been hard put to 
 it. But more of this place when we are come 
 to it ; for I persuade myself that to this day 
 there remains either some sign of the battle, 
 or some monument to testify that such a battle 
 was there fought. 
 
 Then said Mercy, 1 think I am as well in 
 this valley as I have been anywhere else in all 
 our journey : the place, methinks, suits with 
 my spirit. I love to be in such places where 
 there is no rattling with coaches, nor rumbling 
 with wheels ; methinks, here one may, with- 
 out much molestation, be thinking what he 
 is, whence he came, what he has done, and to 
 what the King has called him : here one may 
 think, and break at heart and melt in one's 
 spirit, until one's eyes become as "the fish- 
 pools of Heshbon." They that go rightly 
 through this "valley of Bacca'' make it a 
 well; the rain (-that God sends down from 
 heaven upon them that are here) " also filleth 
 the pools." This valley is that from whence 
 also the King will give to them their vineyards, 
 (Song Sol. vii. 4; Psalm Ixxxiv. 6; Hos. ii. 
 15 ;) and they that go through it shall sing as 
 Christian did, for all he met with Apollyon. 
 
 Itis true, said their guide, I have gone through 
 this valley many a time, and never was better 
 than when here. I have also been a conductor 
 to several pilgrims, and they have confessed 
 the same. "To this man will I look, (saith 
 the King,) even to him that is poor and of a 
 
 * pilgrims, attend to this. Pride and ingratitude 
 go hand in hand. Study, ever study, the favours of 
 your Lord, how freely they are bestowed upon you, 
 and how utterly unworthy you are of the least of them. 
 Beware of Forgetful Green. 
 
 ■j- If Satan be driven back from one attack, prepare 
 for another. Bless God for your armour. Never put 
 it off. 
 
 contrite spirit, and that trembleth at my 
 word." 
 
 Now they were come to the place where the* 
 aforementioned battle was fought. Then said 
 the guide to Christiana, her children, and 
 Mercy, This is the place : on this ground Chris- 
 tian stood, and up there came Apollyon against 
 him: and look (did not I tell you?) here is 
 some of your husband's blood upon these 
 stones to this day : behold, also, how here and 
 there are yet to be seen upon the place some 
 of the shivers of Apollyon's broken darts: see 
 also how they did beat the ground with feet as 
 they fought, to make good their places against 
 each other ; how also, with their by-blows, they 
 did split the very stones in pieces'; verily 
 Christian did here play the man, ajid showed 
 himself as stout as Hercules could, had he been 
 there, even he himself. When Apollyon was 
 beat, he made his retreat to the next valley, 
 that is called the Valley of the Shadow of 
 Death, unto which we shall come anon.f Lo, 
 yonder also stands a monument, on which is 
 engraven this battle and Christian's victory, to 
 his fame throughout all ages. 
 
 So because it stood just on the wayside be- 
 fore them, they stepped to it and read the 
 writing, which word for word was this : 
 
 " Hard by here was a battle fought. 
 
 Most strange and yet most ti'ue j 
 Christian and Apollyon sought 
 
 Each other to subdue. 
 The man so bravely play'd the man 
 
 He made the fiend to flyj 
 Of which a monument I stand, 
 
 The same to testify !" J ■ 
 
 When they had passed by this place they 
 came upon the borders of the Shadow of 
 Death, and this valley was longer than the 
 other — a place also most strongly hani;ited with 
 evil things, as many are able to testify ; but 
 these women and children went the better 
 through it because they had daylight, and be- 
 cause Mr. Great-heart was their conductor. 
 
 When they were entered upon this valley 
 they thought that they heard a groaning as of 
 dead men — a very great groaning. They 
 thought also that they did hear words of lam- 
 entation, spoken as of some in extreme torment. 
 These things made the boys to quake, the 
 
 X Monuments of victory over Satan are to God'a 
 glory, and are very animating and encouraging to 
 those who come after. Proclaim, Christians, your 
 mercies with thankfulness, and ^our victories with 
 shouts of humility, to the honour of the Captain of 
 our salvation. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 211 
 
 women alao looked pale and wan, but their 
 guide bid them be of good comfort. 
 
 So they went on a little farther, and they 
 thought that they felt the ground begin to 
 shake under them, as if some hollow place was 
 there ; they heard also a kind of hissnng, as of 
 serpents, but nothing as yet appeared. Then 
 said the boys, " Are we not yet at the end of 
 this doleful place 1" But the guide bid them 
 be of good courage and look well to their feet, 
 lest haply, said he, you be taken in some snare.* 
 
 Now James began to be sick, but I think 
 the cause thereof was fear ; so his mother gave 
 him some of that glass of spirits that she had 
 given her at the Interpreter's house, and three 
 of the pills that Mr. Skill had prepared, and 
 the boy began to revive. Thus they went on 
 till they came to about the middle of *he val- 
 ley, and then Christiana said, " Methinks I see 
 something yonder upon the road before us — a 
 thing of a shape such as I have not seen.'' 
 Then said Joseph, " Mother, what is it?" " An 
 ugTy thing, child, an ugly thing," said she. 
 " But, mother, what is it like ?" said he. " 'Tis 
 like I cannot tell what," said she. " And now 
 it is but a little way off." Then said she, " It 
 is nigh." 
 
 " Well, (said Mr. Great-heart,) let them that 
 are most afraid keep close to me.'' So the 
 fiend came on and the conductor met it ; but 
 when it was just come to him it vanished to 
 all their sights. Then remembered they what 
 had been said some time ago: "Kesist the 
 devil aud he will flee from you." f 
 
 They went therefore on, as being a little 
 refreshed; but they had not gone far before 
 Jlercy, looking behind her, saw, as she thought, 
 something almost like a lion, and it came a 
 great padding pace after ; and it had a hollow 
 voice of roaring, and at every roar that it gave 
 it made the valley echo and all their hearts to 
 ache, save the heart of him that was their 
 
 * None know the distress, anguish, and fear that 
 ;iaunt pilgrims in this valley but those who have been 
 in it. The hissings, revilings, and injections of that 
 old serpent, with his infernal malice, seem to be let 
 loose upon pilgrims in this valley. Asaph seems to 
 be walking in this valley when he says, " As for me, 
 my feet were almost gone : my steps had wellnigh 
 slipt." Ps. Ixxiii. 7. 
 
 + Let Satan appear in what shape he will, we ought 
 eycr to put on great heart and good courage, for the 
 faith of what Jesus is to us will inspire with these. 
 Let us ever look to Christ our conqueror, and ever re- 
 sist our adversary. 
 
 J Satan is often most dreadful at a distance, and 
 l^niigeously resisted when advanced nearer. This 
 
 guide. So it came up, and Mr. Great-heart 
 went behind and put the pilgrims all before 
 him. The lion also came on apace, and Mr. 
 Great-heart addressed himself to give him bat- 
 tle. But when he saw that it was determined 
 that resistance should be made, he also drew 
 back and came no further.J 1 Pet. v. 8. 
 
 Then they went on aga.n, and their con- 
 ductor did go before them, till they came at a 
 place where was cast up a pit the whole 
 breadth of the way ; and before they could be 
 prepared to go over that a great mist and 
 darkness fell upon them, so that they could 
 not see. Then said the pilgrims, " Alas ! now 
 what shall we do?" But their guide made 
 answer, " Fear not, stand still, and see what an 
 end will be put to this also." So they stayed 
 there, because their path was marred. They 
 then also thought they did hear more appa- 
 rently the noise and rushing of the enemies; 
 the fire also and smoke of the pit was much 
 easier to be discerned. || Then said Christiana 
 to Mercy, Now I see what my poor husband 
 went through; I have heard much of this 
 place, but I never was here before now. Poor 
 man ! he went here all alone in the night ; he 
 had night almost quite through the way ; also 
 these fiends were busy about him as if they 
 would have torn him in pieces. Many have 
 spoke of it, but none could tell what the Valley 
 of the Shadow of Death should mean until 
 they come in themselves. " The heart knows 
 its own bitterness ; astranger intermeddleth not 
 with its joy." To be here is a fearful thing.? 
 
 Oreat-heart. This is like doing business in 
 great waters, or like going down into the deep ; 
 this is like being in the heart of the sea, and 
 like going down to the bottoms of the moun- 
 tains ; now it seems as if the earth with its bars 
 were about us for ever. " But let them that 
 walk in darkness and have no light trust in the 
 name of the Lord and stay upon, their God." If 
 
 advice is ever needful : " Be sober, be vigilant." These 
 pilgrims did keep up their watch; Sitan did not coma 
 upon them unawares : they heard his approach ; thej 
 were prepared for his attack : lo, Satan drew back. 
 
 jl Awful walking, with a pit before us and darkness 
 around, and hell seeming to move from beneath to 
 meet us ! Oh what an unspeakable mercy, in such a 
 distressing season, to have an almighty Saviour to 
 look to and to call upon for safety and salvation ! 
 For "he will hear our cry, and save us." 
 
 ^ To hear of the soul-distresses of others is one 
 thing; to experience them ourselves, is very difl'erent. 
 
 ^ This precious text (Isa. 1. 10) has been a sheet- 
 anchor to many a soul under darkness and distress. 
 Study it deeply. 
 
212 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 For my part, as I have told you already, I 
 have gone often through this valley, and have 
 been much harder put to it than now I am ; 
 and yet you see I am alive. I "would not 
 boast, for that I am not my own saviour, but I 
 trust we shall have a good deliverance. Come, 
 pray for light to Him that can lighten our 
 ■jarkness, and can rebuke not only these, but 
 all the devils in hell. 
 
 So they cried and prayed, and God sent 
 light and deliverance, for there was now no 
 let in their way ; no, not there where but now 
 they wore stopped with a pit. Yet they were 
 not goj through the valley ; so they went on 
 still, and behold, great stinks and loathsome 
 smells, to the great annoyance of them. Then 
 said Mercy to Christiana, There is not such 
 pleasant being here as at the gate, or at the 
 Interpreter's, or at the house where we lay last. 
 
 Oh but (said one of the boys) it is not so 
 bad to go through here as it is to abide here 
 always ; and, for aught I know, one reason why 
 we must go this way to the house prepared for 
 us is that our home might be made the sweeter 
 to us.* 
 
 Well said, Samuel, quoth the guide; thou 
 hast now spoken like a man. Why, if ever I 
 get out here again, said the boy, I think I 
 shall prize light and good way better than ever 
 I did in my life. Then said the guide. We 
 shall be out by and by. . 
 
 So on they went, and Joseph said, Cannot 
 we see to the end of this valley as yet? Then 
 said the guide, Look to your feet, for we shall 
 presently be among the snares. So they 
 looked to their feet, and went on, but they 
 were troubled much with the snares. Now 
 when they were come among the snares they 
 espied a man cast into the ditch on the left 
 hand, with his flesh all rent and torn. Then 
 said the guide, That is one Heedless, that was 
 going this way; he has lain there a great 
 while.f There was one Take-heed with him 
 when he was taken and slain, but he escaped 
 their hands. You cannot imagine how many 
 are killed hereabouts, and yet men are so fool- 
 
 * Precious thought under the worst and most dis- 
 tressing circumstances ! Think of this. Their con- 
 tinuance is short. Their appointment, love. And 
 their end shall he crowned with glory. 
 
 f Heedless professors, be warned. The doctrines of 
 grace were never intended to lull any to sleep in car- 
 nal security. If they do so by you, it is a sure sign 
 that what should have been for your health proves an 
 occasion of your falling. 
 
 J How many such giants have we in the present 
 
 ishly venturous as to set out lightly on pil- 
 grimage, and to come without a guide. I'oor 
 Christian! it was a wonder that he here es- 
 caped, but he was beloved of his G9d : also he 
 had a good heart of his own, or else he could 
 never have done it. Now they drew towards 
 the end of their way, and just there where 
 Christian had seen the cave when he went by, 
 out thence came forth Maul, a giant. This 
 Maul did used to spoil young pilgrims with 
 sophistry, and he called Great-heart by Ma 
 name, and said unto him, How many times 
 have you been forbidden to do these things? 
 Then said Mr. Great-hearts, What things? 
 What things ! quoth the giant ; you know what 
 things; but I will put an end to your trade.J 
 But pray, said Mr. Great-heart, before we fall 
 to it let us underhand wherefore we must 
 fight. (Now the women and children stood 
 trembling, and knew not what to do.) Quoth 
 the giant. You rob the country, and rob it with 
 the worst of thieves. These are but generals, 
 said Mr. Great-heart; come to particulars, 
 man. 
 
 Then said the giant, Thou practisest the 
 craft of a kidnapper, thou gatherest up women 
 and children, and carriest them into a strange 
 country, to the weakening of my master's 
 kingdom. But now Great-heart replied, 1 am 
 a servant of the God of heaven : my business 
 is to persuade sinners to repentance: I am 
 commanded to do my endeavour to turn men, 
 women, and children from darkness to light, 
 and from the power of Satan to God ; and if 
 this be indeed the ground of thy quarrel, let 
 us fall to it as soon as thou wilt.|| 
 
 Then the giant came up, and Mr. Great- 
 heart went to meet him, and as he went he 
 drew his sword, but the giant had a club. So 
 without more ado they fell to it, and at ths 
 first blow the giant struck Mr. Great-heart 
 down upon one of his knees ; with that the 
 women and children cried: so Mr. Great-heart 
 recovering himself, laid about him in full lusty 
 manner, and gave the giant a wound in his 
 arm ; thus he fought for the space of an hour, 
 to that height of heat that the breath came 
 
 day, who deceive and beguile precious souls into a 
 false ,and fatal security by their smooth lectures on 
 morality and their avowed opposition to the Gospel of 
 Christ and the way to his kingdom ! 
 
 II To awaken our souls and lead them to Christ for 
 life and salvation is the blessed work of faithful min- 
 isters. In the spirit of love and meekness they will 
 contend for tho faith, however they may be ill-treated 
 for their work. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 213 
 
 ont of the giant's nostrils as the heat doth out 
 of a boiling caldron. 
 
 Then they sat down to rest them, but Mr. 
 Great-heart betook himself to prayer; also 
 the women and children did nothing but 
 sigh and cry all the time that the battle did 
 last* 
 
 When they had rested them and taken 
 breath, they both fell to it again, and Mr. 
 Great-heart with a full blowf fetched the giant 
 down to the ground. Nay, hold, let me re- 
 cover, quoth he. So Mr. Great-heart let him 
 fairly get up : so to it they went again, and the 
 giant missed but a little of breaking Mr. 
 Great-heart's skull with his club. 
 
 Mr. Great-heart, seeing that, runs to him in 
 the full heat of his spirit, and pierced him 
 under the fifth rib ; with that the giaiit began 
 
 to faint, and could hold up his club no longer. 
 Then Mr. Great-heart seconded his blow, and 
 smote the head of the giant from his shoulders. 
 Then the women and children rejoiced, and 
 Mr. Great-heart also praised God for the de- 
 liverance he had wroughtf 
 
 When this was done they among themselves 
 erected a pillar, and fastened the giant's head 
 thereon, and wrote under it, in letters th it 
 passengers might read. 
 
 He that did wear this h«ad wag one 
 
 That pilgrims did misuse,* 
 He stopped their way, he spared noa«, 
 
 But did them all abase, 
 Until that I, Great-heart, arose. 
 
 The pilgrims* guide to be. 
 Until that I did him oppose 
 
 That was their enemy. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The Pilgrims overtake Mr. Honed, who relates his own experience and that of Mr. Fearing. 
 
 Now I saw that they went to the ascent 
 that was a little way off, cast up to be a pros- 
 pect for pilgrims, (that was the place from 
 whence Christian had the first sight of Faith- 
 ful his brother.) Wherefore here they sat 
 down and rested ; they also here did eat and 
 drink and make merry for that they had 
 gotten deliverance from this so dangerous an 
 enemy. As they sat thus and did eat Chris- 
 tiana asked the guide. If he had caught no 
 hurt in the battle ? Then said Mr. Great- 
 heart, No, save a little on my flesh ; yet that 
 also shall be so far from being to my detri- 
 ment that it is at present a proof of my love 
 to my Master and you, and shall be a means, 
 by grace, to increase my reward at last. 
 
 * The greatest heart cannot withstand without 
 prayer, ^or conquer without the almighty power of 
 Qod. The belief of this will excite prayer. 
 
 ■j" Many such a battle has been fought, and many 
 guch a victory obtained, since the Reformation, over 
 the enemies of our most holy faith. 
 
 The furious attack made by Maul the giant on the 
 oonductor is to show us that lively and active minis- 
 ters of the Gospel who are zealous to win souls must 
 expect the opposition of Satan and his emissaries. 
 But must they therefore desist? Qod forbid! The 
 Lord is on their side. Let them be accounted " kid- 
 nappers," and treated as enthusiasts : the Master 
 whom they serve will give success to their endeavours, 
 bear the prayers of his people, and make them more 
 than conquerors. Thus wero the pilgrims brought out 
 
 But was you not afraid, good sir, when you 
 saw him come with his club? % 
 
 It is mly duty, said he, to mistrust my own 
 ability, that I may have reliance on Him 
 that is stronger than all. But what did you 
 think when he fetched you down to the 
 ground at the first blow? Why, I thought, 
 quoth he, that so my Master himself was 
 served, and yet he it was that conquered at 
 last. 2 Cor. iv. 
 
 Matthew. When you have all thought what 
 you please, I think God has been wonderful 
 good unto us, both in bringing us out of this 
 valley and delivering us out of the hand of 
 this enemy ; for my part, I see no reason why 
 we should distrust our God any more, since 
 
 of the valley, while danger and darkness rendprej 
 returning light and the thoughts of heaven the 
 sweeter, and many thanksgivings redounded to the 
 glory of God. 
 
 By glimm'ring hopes and gloomy fears 
 
 We trace the sacred road ; 
 Through dismal deeps and dangerous snares 
 
 "W^ make our way to God, 
 Long nights and darkness dwell below, 
 
 With scarce a twinkling ray ; 
 But the bright world to which we go 
 Is everlasting day. 
 J This club we may suppose to mean human power 
 under which many godly ministers in the last century 
 suffered greatly. Blessed be God, we have nothing of 
 this to fear in our day. 
 
214 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 he has now, and in such a place as this, given 
 us such testimony of his love as this. 
 
 Then they got up and went forward : now 
 a little before them stood an oak, and under 
 it, when they came to it, they found an old 
 pilgrim fast asleep : they knew that he was a 
 pilgrim by his clothes, and his staff, and his 
 girdle. 
 
 So the guide, Mr. Great-heart, awaked him ; 
 and the old gentleman, as he lifted up his 
 eyes, cried out. What's the matter? Who 
 are yf u ? And what is your business here 1 * 
 
 Ortai-heart. Come, man, be not so hot: 
 here is none but friends. Yet the old man 
 gets up and stands .upon his guard, and will 
 know of them what they were. Then said 
 the guide, My name is Great-heart. I am a 
 guide of these pilgrims, which are going to 
 the Celestial Country. 
 
 Then said Mr. Honest, I cry you mercy ; 
 J feared that you had been of the company 
 of those that some time ago did rob Little- 
 faith of his money, but now I look better 
 about me, I perceive you are honester people. 
 
 Oreat-heart. Why, what would or could you 
 have done to have helped yourself if we in- 
 deed had been of that company? 
 
 Honest. Done ! Why I would have fought 
 as long as breath had been in me ; and had I 
 80 done, I am sure you could never have 
 given me the worst on't ; for a Christian can 
 never be overcome unless he should yield of 
 himself.f 
 
 Oreat-heart. Well said, father Honest, quoth 
 the guide; for by this I know that thou art a 
 cock of the right kind, for thou hast said the 
 truth. 
 
 Honest. And by this also I know that thou 
 knowest what true pilgrimage is, for all others 
 do think that we are the soonest overcome of 
 any. 
 
 Great-heart. Well, now we are happily met, 
 pray let me crave your name and the name of 
 the place you came from? 
 
 Honest My name I cannot, but I came from 
 
 ^ A blessed sign of a watchful heart, ever alarmed 
 at the fear of danger. Though he was found sleeping, 
 yet he could say with the Church, " My heart waketh." 
 Song V. 2. 
 
 ■j- Mind this — a' Christian can never he overcome 
 unless he yields of himself. Then be most jealous 
 over yourself, and most watchful against giving 
 way ic carnal reasonings, natural fears, and fleshly 
 lusts. 
 
 \ Every Christian is the subject of honesty and 
 justice, ui^rightncss and sincerity; yet when we come 
 
 the town of Stupidity; it lieth about foul 
 degrees beyond the city of Destruction. , 
 
 Great-heart. Oh ! are you that countryman ? 
 Then I deem I have half a guess of you ; your 
 name is Old Honest, is it not? 
 
 So the old gentleman blushed, and said, 
 Not honest in the abstract,! but Honest is 
 my name, and I wish that my nature ma) 
 agree to what I am called. Put, sir, . said 
 the old gentlema«, how could you guess that 
 I am such a man, since I came from such a 
 place ? 
 
 Great-heart. I had heard of you before, bj 
 my Master, for he knows all things that are 
 done on the earth. But I have often won- 
 dered that any should come from your place, 
 for your town is worse thau is the city of 
 Destruction itself. 
 
 Honest. Yea, we lie more off from the sun, 
 and so are more cold and senseless ; but was a 
 man in a mountain of ice, yet if the Sun of 
 righteousness will arise upon him, his frozen 
 heart shall feel a thaw ; and thus it has been 
 with me. II 
 
 Great-heart. I believe it, fathe* Honest, I 
 believe it, for I know the thing is true. 
 
 Then the old gentleman saluted all the pil- 
 grims with a holy kiss of charity, and asked 
 them of their names, and how they had fared 
 since they set out on their pilgrimage. 
 
 Christiana. Then said Christiana, My name, 
 I suppose, you have heard of: good Christian 
 was my husband, and these four were his chil- 
 dren. But can you think how the old gentle- 
 man was taken when she told him who she 
 was ! He skipped, he smiled, and blessed them 
 with a thousand good wishes, saying, I have 
 heard much of your husband, and of his travels 
 and wars which he underwent in his days. Be 
 it spoken to your comfort, the name of your 
 husband rings all over these parts of the world ; 
 his faith, his courage, his enduring, and his sin- 
 cerity under all have made his name fariious. 
 
 Then he turned to the boys and asked them 
 of their names, which they told him: and 
 
 to describe these virtues in the ahairact, or what they 
 really are in their strict purity and utmost perfection, 
 where is the Christian but must wear the conscien- 
 tious blush as Honest did under a sense of his 
 imperfections ? 
 
 II This is the confession of an honest heart. It is 
 never afraid of ascribing too much to the sovereignty 
 of grace, nor of giving all the glory to the Sun of 
 righteousness, for shining upon, and melting down its 
 hard, frozen soul. Here is no trimming between graa« 
 and nature. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 215 
 
 .L 
 
 then said he unto them, Matthew, be thou like 
 Matthew the publican, not in vice, but in vir- 
 tue. Matt. X. 3. Samuel, saitli he, be thou like 
 Samuel the prophet, a man of faith and prayer. 
 Ps. xcix. 6. Joseph, saith he, be thou like 
 Joseph in Potiphar's house, chaste, and one 
 that fleeth from temptation. Gen. xxxix. And, 
 James, he thou like James the Just, and like 
 James the brother of our Lord. Acts i. 13, 14. 
 Then they told him of Mercy, and how she 
 Lad left her town and her kindred to come 
 along with Christiana (Ruth i. 16, 17) and 
 with her sons. At that the old honest man 
 said, Mercy is thy name : by merwj shalt thou 
 be sustained and carried through all those dif- 
 ficulties that shall assault thee in thy way, till 
 thou shalt come thither where thou shalt look 
 the Fountain of mercy in, the face wi|h com- 
 fort. 
 
 AH this while the guide, Mr. Great-heart, 
 was very well pleased, and smiled upon his 
 companions. 
 
 Now as they walked together the guide asked 
 the old gentleman if he did not know one Mr. 
 Fearing, that came on pilgrimage out of his 
 parts? 
 
 Honest. Yes, very well, said he. He was. a 
 man that had the root of the matter in him ; 
 but he was one of the most troublesome pil- 
 grims that I ever met with in all my days.* 
 
 Oreat-lieart. I perceive you knew him, for 
 you have given a very right character of him. 
 
 Honest. Knew him I I was a great com- 
 panion of his : I was with him most an end ; 
 when he first began to think of what would 
 come upon us hereafter I was with him. 
 
 Oreat-heart. I was his guide from my Mas- 
 ter's house to the gate of the Celestial City. 
 
 Honest. Then you knew him to be a trouble- 
 some one. 
 
 Qreai-heart. I did so ; but I could very well 
 bear it, for men of my calling are oftentimes 
 entrusted with the conduct of such as he was. 
 
 Honest. Well, then, pray let i^s hear a little 
 of him, and how he managed himself under 
 your conduct. 
 
 Oreit-hearl. Why he was always afraid he 
 should come short whither he had a desire to 
 go. Every thing frighted him that he heard 
 any body speak of that had but the least ap- 
 pearance of opposition in it. I heard that he 
 lay roaring at the slough of Despond for above 
 
 * Fearing pilgrims, though perplexed in themselves 
 and troublesome to others, are yet to be cherished 
 and encouraged, as they have the root of the matter 
 in them — faith in Jesus, hope towards. God, fear of 
 
 a month together: nor durst 1 e, for all he saw 
 several go over before him, (venture, though 
 they, many of them, offered to lend him their 
 hand. He would not go back again neither, 
 The Celestial City! He said he should die if 
 he came not to it, and yet was dejected at every 
 difficulty, and stumbled at every straw that 
 any body cast in his way. Well, after he had 
 lain at the slough of Despond a great while, 
 as I have told you, one sunshiny morning, I 
 don't know how, he ventured, and so got over; 
 but when he was over he would scarce believe 
 it. He had, I think, a slough of despond in his 
 mind — a slough that he carried every where 
 with him, or else he could never have been aa 
 he was. So he came up to the gate (you know 
 what I mean) that stands at the head of this 
 way; and there also he stood a good while be- 
 fore he would venture to knock. When the 
 gate was opened he would give back and give 
 place to others, and say that he was not worthy ; 
 for all he got before some to the gate, yet many 
 of them went in before him. There the poor 
 man would stand shaking and shrinking; I 
 dare say it would have pitied one's heart to 
 have seen him ; nor would he go back again. 
 At last he took the hammer that hanged at the 
 gate in his hand, and gave a small rap or two ; 
 then one opened to him, but he shrunk back 
 as before. He that opened stepped out after 
 him and said, "Thou trembling one, what 
 wantest thou?" With that he fell to the 
 ground. He that spake to him wondered to 
 see him so faint. He said to him, " Peace be 
 to thee; up, for I have set open the door to 
 thee; come in, for thou art blessed." With 
 that he got up and went in trembling; and 
 when that he was in he was ashamed to show 
 his face. Well, after that he had been enter- 
 tained there awhile, (as you know how the 
 manner is,) he was bid to go on his way, and 
 also told the way he should take. So he went 
 till he came to our house, but as he behaved 
 himself at the gate, so he did at my Master the 
 Interpreter's door. He lay thereabout in the 
 cold a good while before he would venture to 
 call, yet he would hot go back ; and the nights 
 were long and cold then. Nay, he had a note 
 of necessity in his bosom to my Master, to re- 
 ceive him and grant him the comfort of his 
 house, and also to allow him a stout and valiant 
 conductor, because he was himself so chicken- 
 hearted a man; and yet for all that he was 
 
 offending him, and a desire to walk in his ways ana 
 please him. We must bear the burdens of such, and 
 so fulfil the law of Christ. Gal. vi. 2. 
 
216 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 afraid to call at the door. So lie lay up and 
 down thereabouts, till, poor man ! he was al- 
 most starved: yea, so great was his dejection 
 that, though he saw several others for knock- 
 ing get in, yet he was afraid to venture. At 
 last, I think, I looked out of the window, and, 
 perceiving a man to be up and down about the 
 door, I went out to him and asked what he was ; 
 but, poor man ! the water stood in his eyes : so 
 I perceived what he wanted. I went therefore 
 in and told it in the house, and we showed the 
 things to our Lord ; so he sent me out again to 
 entreat him to come in ; but I dare say I had 
 hard work to do it. At last he came in ; and I 
 will say that for my,Lord, he carried it won- 
 derful loving to him. There were but a few 
 good bits at the table but some of them was 
 laid upon his trencher. Then he presented 
 the note; and my Lord looked thereon and 
 said his desire should be granted. So, when 
 he had been there a good while, he seemed to 
 get some heart and to be a little more com- 
 forted. For my Master, you must know, is 
 one of very tender bowels, especially to them 
 that are afraid : wherefore he carried it so to- 
 wards him as might tend most to his encour- 
 agement. Well, when he had a sight of the 
 things of the place, and was ready to take his 
 journey to go to the city, my Lord, as he did to 
 Christian before, gave him a bottle of spirits 
 and some comfortable things to eat. Thus we 
 set forward, and I went before him; but the 
 man was but of few words, only he would sigh 
 aloud. 
 
 When we were come to where the three fel- 
 lows were hanged, he said that he doubted 
 that that would be his end also. Only he 
 seemed glad when he saw the Cross and the 
 Sepulchre. There, I confess, he desired to stay 
 a little to look, and he seemed for a while after 
 to be a little comforted. When we came at 
 the hill Difliculty he made no stick at that, 
 nor did he much fear the lions: for you must 
 know that his trouble was not about such 
 things as these ; his fear was about his accept- 
 ance at last.* 
 
 I got him in at the house Beautiful, I think, 
 before he was willing ; also when he was in I 
 brought him acquainted with the damsels that 
 were of the place, but he was ashamed to make 
 
 * See all through this character what a conflict there 
 was between fear and the influence of grace. Though 
 it may not be the most comfortable, yet the end of Mr. 
 Fearing was very joyful. . Oh what a godly jealousy 
 displayed itself all through his life ! Better this than 
 proud, vain-glorious confidence. 
 
 himself much for Company ; he desired much 
 to be alone, yet he always loved good talk, and 
 often would get behind the screen to hear it: 
 he also loved much to see ancient things and 
 to be pondering them in his mind. He told 
 me afterward that he loved to be in those two 
 houses from which we came last — ^to wit, at the 
 gate and that of the Interpreter — but that he 
 durst not be so bold as to ask. 
 
 When he went also from the house Beauti- 
 ful down the hill into the Valley of Humiliar 
 tion, he went down as well as ever I saw a man 
 in my life ; for he cared not how mean he was, 
 so he might be happy at last. Yea, I think 
 there v/as a kind of sympathy betwixt that 
 valley and him, for I never saw him better in 
 all his pilgrimage than he was in that valley .t 
 
 Here he would lie down, embrace the 
 ground, and kiss the very flowers that grew in 
 this valley. Lam. iii. 27, 29. Ha would now 
 be up every morning by break of day, tracing 
 and walking to and fro in the valley.t 
 
 But when he was come to the entrance of 
 the Valley of the Shadow of Death I thought 
 I should have lost my man : not for that he 
 had inclination to go back, (that he always ab- 
 horred,) but he was ready to die for fear. " Oh, 
 the hobgoblins will have me ! the hobgoblins 
 will have me !" cried he : and I could not beat 
 him out on't. He made such a noise and such 
 an outcry here that, had they but heard him, 
 it was enough to encourage them to come and 
 fall upon us. But this I took very great no- 
 tice of, that this valley was as quiet when we 
 went through it as ever I knew it, before or 
 since. I suppose those here had now a spe- 
 cial check from our Lord, and a command not 
 to meddle until Mr. Fearing was passed over 
 it. 
 
 It would be too tedious to tell you of all ; we 
 will therefore only mention a passage or two 
 more. When he was come to Vanity Fair I 
 thought he would have fought with all the men 
 in the fair : I feared there we both should have 
 been knocked on the head, so hot was he 
 against their fooleries. 1| Upon the Enchanted 
 Ground he also was very wakeful. But when 
 he was come at the river where was no bridge, 
 there again he was in a heavy case: "Now, 
 now," he said, "he should be drowned for 
 
 f The Valley of Humiliation suits well with fearing 
 hearts. 
 
 X Fearing souls dwell inuoh, early and late, in the 
 Valley of Meditation. > 
 
 II Here is a glorious display of a fearing heart. Full of 
 courage against evil, and fired with zeal for Hod's glory. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 217 
 
 ever, and so never see that face with comfort 
 that he had come so many miles to behold." 
 And here also I took notice of what was very 
 remarkable — the water of that river was lower 
 at this time than ever I saw it jn all my life : 
 80 he went over at last not much above wet- 
 shod.* When he was going up to the gate I 
 began to take my leave of him, and to wish 
 him a good reception above; so he said, "I 
 shall, I shall." Then parted we asunder, and 
 I saw him no more. 
 
 Honest. Then it seems he was well at 
 last. 
 
 Great-heart. Yes, yes. I never had a doubt 
 about him : he was a man of a choice spirit ; 
 only he was always kept very low, and that 
 made his life so burdensome to himself and so 
 very troublesome to others. Ps. Ixxxviji. He 
 was, above many, tender of sin ; he was so 
 afraid of doing injuries to others that he would 
 often deny himself of that which was lawful, 
 because he would not ofFend.f Eom. xiv. 11 ; 
 1 Cor. viii. 13. 
 
 Honest. But what should be the reason that 
 such a good man should be all his days so 
 much in the dark ? 
 
 Great-heart. There are two sorts of reasons 
 for it : one is. The wise God will have it so ; 
 some must pipe, and some must weep, (Matt. 
 xi. 16, 18 ;) now Mr. Fearing was one that 
 played upon the bass. He and his fellows 
 sound the sackbut, whose notes are more dole- 
 ful than the notes of other music are ; though 
 indeed some say the bass is the ground of 
 music. And for my part, I care not at all for 
 that profession that begins not in heaviness of 
 mind. The first string that the musician 
 usually touches is the bass when he intends to 
 put all in tune: God also plays upon this 
 string first when he sets the soul in tune for 
 himself. Only, there was this imperfection of 
 Mr. Fearing — he could play upon no other 
 music but this till towards his latter end. 
 
 [I make bold to talk thus metaphorically for 
 the ripening of the wits of young readers ; and 
 because in the book of Revelations the saved 
 are compared to a company of musicians, that 
 
 * Oh how glorious is our Lord ! As thy day is, 
 pilgrim, so shall thy strength be. Even the river of 
 death, though there bo no bridge to go over, yet faith 
 makes one : and the Lord of faith makes the waters 
 low, to suit the state of his beloved ones. 
 
 I Oh this is a blessed spirit ! Yg who are strong in 
 the Lord, and in the power of his might, study to ex- 
 cel herein. 
 
 j: Here iB a very striking lesson for pro fessors. Talk 
 
 play upon their trumpets and harps and sing 
 their songs before the throne.] 
 
 Honest. He was a very zealous man, as one 
 may see by what relation you have given of 
 him. Difficulties, lions, or Vanity Fair he 
 feared not at all : it was only sin, death, and 
 hell that were to him a terror ; because he had 
 some doubts about his interest in that Celestial 
 Country.^ 
 
 Great-heart. You say right ; those were thfe 
 things that were his troubles ; and they, as you 
 have well observed, arose from the weakness of 
 his mind thereabout, not from weakness of spirit 
 as to the practical part of a pilgrim's life. I 
 dare believe that as the proverb is, " He could 
 have bit a fire-brand, had it stood in his way ; " 
 but those things with which he was oppressed 
 no man ever yet could shake oif with 
 ease. 
 
 Then said Christiana, This relation of Mr. 
 Fearing has done me good : I thought nobody 
 had been like me ; but I see there was some re- 
 semblance betwixt this good man and I ; only 
 we differ in two things : his troubles weie so 
 great that they brake out, but mine I kept 
 within. His also lay so hard upon him they 
 made him that he could not knock at the houses 
 provided for entertainment; but my troubles 
 were always such as made me knock the 
 louder. 
 
 Mercy. If I might also speak my mind, I 
 must say that something of him has also dwelt 
 in me ; for I have ever been more afraid of the 
 lake and the loss of a place in paradise than I 
 have been at the loss of other things. Oh, 
 thought T, may I have the happiness to have a 
 habitation there, it is enough though I part 
 with all the world to win it. 
 
 Then said Matthew, Fear was one thing that 
 made me think that I was far from having that 
 within me that accompanies salvation ; but if 
 it was so with such a good man as he, why may 
 it not also go well with me ? 
 
 No fears, no grace, said James. Though 
 there is not always grace where there is the 
 fear of hell, yet, to be sure, there is no grace 
 where there is no fear of God. 
 
 not of your great knowledge, rich experience, (som- 
 fortable frames and joyful feelings ; all are vain and 
 delusive if the Gospel has not a holy influence upon 
 your practice. On the other hand, be not dejected if 
 you are not as yet favoured with these; for if a holy 
 fear of God and a godly jealousy over yourselves pos- 
 sess your heart, verily you are a partaker of the 
 grace of Christ, and if faithful, soon you shall czult 
 in the sunshine of his love. 
 
218 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Chreat-heart. Well said, James ; thou hast hit 
 the mark ; for " the fear of God is the begin- 
 ning of wisdom ; " and, to be sure, they that 
 want the beginning have neither middle nor 
 end. But we will here conclude our discourse 
 of Mr. Fearing, after we have sent after him 
 this farewell : 
 
 " Much, Master Fearing, thou didst Tear 
 
 Thy God, and wast afraid 
 Of doing any thing, while here. 
 
 That would have thee betray'd : 
 And didst thou fear the lalj:e and pit? 
 
 Would ^others did so tool 
 For as for them that want tby wit. 
 
 They do themselves undo." 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The Character of Mr. Self-will. 
 
 Now I saw that they all went on in their 
 talk,' for, after Mr. Great-heart had made an 
 end with Mr. Fearing, Mr. Honest began to 
 tell them of another, but his name was Mr. 
 Self-will. He pretended himself to be a pil- 
 grim, said Mr. Honest ; but I persuade myself 
 he never came in at the gate that stands at the 
 head of the way. 
 
 Oreai-heart. Had you ever any talk with him 
 about it ? 
 
 Honest. Yes, more than once or twice: but 
 he would always be like himself, self-willed. 
 He neither cared for man, nor argument, nor 
 example; what his mind prompted him to, 
 that he would do, and nothing else could he be 
 got to.* 
 
 Oreat-heart. Pray, what principles did he 
 hold ? for I suppose you can tell. 
 
 Honest. He held that a man might follow the 
 vices as well as the virtues of the pilgrims, and 
 that if he did both he should be certainly 
 saved. 
 
 Oreat-heart. How, if he had said. It is pos- 
 sible for the best to be guilty of the vices as 
 well as partake of the virtues of pilgrims, he 
 could not much have been blamed. For in- 
 deed we are exempted from no vice absolutely, 
 but on condition that we watch and strive.t 
 But this, I perceive, is not the thing : but if I 
 understand you right, your meaning is that he 
 was of that opinion that it was allowable so 
 to be. 
 
 Honest. Ay, ay, so I mean; and so he be- 
 lieved and practised. 
 
 ^ Self-will ever accompanies ignorance of ourselves 
 and of the truth, and is generally attended with licen- 
 tious principles and practices. 
 
 •f" This is a solid scriptural definition j pray mind it. 
 Here, it is evident, a condition must be admitted; and 
 happy is the Christian who keeps closest to these con- 
 ditions, in order to enjoy peace of conscience and joy 
 of heart in Christ. 
 
 Oreat-heart. But what grounds had he for so 
 saying ? 
 
 Honest. Why, he said he had the Scripture 
 for his warrant. 
 
 Oreat-heart. Pr'ythee, Mr. Honest, present 
 us with a few particulars. 
 
 Honest. So I will. He said to have to do 
 with other men's wives had been practised by 
 David, God's beloved ; and therefore he could 
 do it. He said to have more women than one 
 was a thing that Solomon practised ; and there- 
 fore he could do it. He said that Sarah and 
 the godly midwives of Egypt lied, and so did 
 Eahab ; and therefore he could do it. He said 
 that the disciples went at the bidding of their 
 Master and took away the owner's ass; and 
 therefore he could do so too. He said that 
 Jacob got the inheritance of his father in a 
 way of guile and dissimulation ; and therefore 
 he could do so too. J 
 
 Oreat-heart. High base indeed! and are 
 you sure he was of this opinion ? 
 
 Honest. I have heard him plead for it, bring 
 Scripture for it, bring arguments for it, &c. 
 
 Great-heart. An opinion that is not fit to be 
 with any allowance in the world ! 
 
 Honest. You must understand me rightly; 
 he did not say that any man might do this ; 
 but that those that had the virtues of those 
 that did such things might also do the same. 
 
 Great-heart. But what more false than such 
 a conclusion? for this is as much as to say, 
 that because good men heretofore have sinned 
 of iniirmity, therefore he had allowance to do 
 it of a presumptuous mind ; or if because a 
 child, by the blast of wind or for that it stum- 
 
 J That heart which is under the teaching and influ- 
 ence of the grace of God will detest such horrid no- 
 tions, and cry out against them. God forbid that ever 
 I should listen one moment to such diabolical senti- 
 ments ! for they are hatched in hell and propagated 
 on earth by the father of lies. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 219 
 
 bled at a stone, fell down and defiled itself in 
 mire, therefore he might wilfully lie down and 
 wallow like a boar therein. Who could have 
 thought that any one could so far have been 
 blinded by the power of lust? But what is 
 written must be true : " They stumbled at the 
 word, being disobedient ; whereunto also they 
 were appointed." 1 Pet. ii. 8. His supposing 
 that such may have the godly man's virtues 
 who addict themselves to his vices, is also a 
 delusion as strong as the other. "To eat up 
 the sin of God's people" (Hos. iv. 8) is no 
 sign of one that is possessed with their virtues. 
 Nor can I believe that one that is of this opm- 
 ion can at present have faith or love in him. 
 But I know you have made strong objections 
 against him ; pr'ythee what can he say for him- 
 self? 
 
 Honest. Why, he says, to do this by way of 
 opinion seems abundantly more honest than to 
 do it and yet hold contrary to it in opinion. 
 
 Oreat-heart. A very wicked answer; for, 
 though to let loose the bridle to lusts while 
 our opinions are against such things is bad, yet 
 to sin and plead a toleration so to do is worse : 
 the one stumbles beholders accidentally, the 
 other leads them into the snare. 
 
 Honest. There are many of this man's mind 
 that have not this man's mouth; and that 
 makes going on pilgrimage of so little esteem 
 as it is. 
 
 Great-heart. You have said the truth, and it 
 is to be lamented ; but he that feareth the King 
 of paradise shall come out of them all. 
 
 Christiana. There arc strange opinions in 
 the world : I know one that ^aid it was time 
 enough to repent when he came to die. 
 
 Great-heart. Such are not over-wise : that 
 man would have been loth, might he have had 
 a week to run twenty miles for his life, to have 
 deferred that journey to the last hour of that 
 week. 
 
 Honest. You say right ; and yet the general- 
 ity of them that count themselves pilgrims do 
 indeed do thus. I am, as you see, an old man, 
 and have been a traveller in this road many a 
 day, and I have taken notice of many things.* 
 
 I have seen some that set out as if they 
 would drive all the world afore them, who yet 
 have, in a few days, died as they in the wilder- 
 ness, and so never got sight of the promised 
 laud. I have seen some that have promised 
 nothing at first setting out to be pilgrims, and 
 that one would have thought could not have 
 lived another day, that have yet proved very 
 good pilgrims. I have seen some who have 
 run hastily forward, that again have, after a 
 little time, run just hs fast back again. I have 
 seen some who have spoken very well of a pil- 
 grim's life at first, that, after a while, have 
 spoken as much against it. I have heard some, 
 when they first s^t out for paradise, say posi- 
 tively, "There is such a place," who, when 
 they have been almost there, have come Lack 
 again and said, " There is none." I have hjard 
 some vaunt what they would do in case they 
 should be opposed, that have, even at i. false 
 alarm, fled faith, the pilgrim's way, and uU. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The Pilgrims arrive at the house of Gains, where they are hospitably entertained. 
 
 Now as they were thus in their way there 
 came one running to meet them, and said, 
 " Ger^tlemen, and you of the weaker sort, if you 
 love life shift for yourselves, for the robbers 
 are before you." 
 
 Then said Mr. Great-heart, They be the 
 three that set upon Little-faith heretofore. 
 Well, said he, we are ready for them. So they 
 went on tlieir way. Now they looked at every 
 turning when they should have met with the 
 
 * Pray, attentively mind and deeply consider the 
 iix following observations: they are just; they are 
 daily confirmed to our observations in the conduct of 
 different professors. Study and pray to improve them 
 to your soul's profit. 
 
 villains, but whether they heard of Mr. Great- 
 heart, or whether they had some other game, 
 they came not up to the pilgrims.f 
 
 Christiana then wished for an inn for herself 
 and her children, because they were weary. 
 Then said Mr. Honest, " There is one a little 
 before us, where a very honourable disciple, 
 one Gains, dwells." Eom. xvi. 23. So they all 
 concluded to turn in thither, and the rather 
 because the old gentleman gave him so good a 
 report. So when they came to the door they 
 
 f It is a blessed thing to take every alarm and to be 
 on our guard. Hereby many dangers are avoided 
 and many evils prevented. Watch ! is the word of th« 
 Captain of our salvation. 
 
220 
 
 BVNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 went in, not knocking, for folks use not to 
 knock at the door of an inn. Then they called 
 for the master of the house, and he came to 
 them. So they asked if they might lie there 
 that night? 
 
 Oaius. Yes, gentlemen, if you be true men, 
 for my house is for none but pilgrims. Then 
 was Christiana, Mercy, and the boys more glad, 
 for that the inn-keeper was a lover of pilgrims. 
 So they called for rooms, and he showed them 
 one for Christiana and her children and Mercy, 
 and another for Mr. Great-heart and the old 
 gentleman. 
 
 Then said Mr. Great-heart, Good Gains, what 
 hast thou for supper ? for these pilgrims have 
 come far to-day and are weary. 
 
 It is late, said Gaius, so we cannot conveni- 
 ently go out to seek food, but such as I have 
 you shall be welcome to, if that will content 
 you. 
 
 Great-heart. We will be content with what 
 thou hast in the house, for, as much as I have 
 proved thee, thou art never destitute of that 
 which is convenient. 
 
 Then he went down and spake to the cook, 
 whose name was Taste-that-which-is-good, to 
 get ready supper for so many pilgrims. This 
 done, he comes up again, saying. Come, my 
 good friends, you are welcome to me, and I am 
 glad that I have a house to entertain you ; and 
 while supper is making ready, if you please, 
 let us entertain one another with some good 
 discourse : so they all said content.* 
 
 Then said Gaius, Whose wife is this aged 
 matron? and whose daughter is this young 
 damsel? 
 
 Oreat-heart. The woman is the wife of one 
 Christian, a pilgrim in former ximes ; and these 
 are his four children. The maid is one of her 
 acquaintance — one that she hath persuaded to 
 come with her on pilgrimage. The boys take 
 all after their father, and covet to tread in his 
 steps : yea, if they do but see any place where 
 the old pilgrim hath lain or any print of his 
 foot, it ministereth joy to their hearts, and 
 they covet to lie or tread in the same. 
 
 Then said Gaius, Is this Christian's wife? 
 and are these Christian's children? I knew 
 your husband's father, yea, also his father's 
 father. Many have been good of this stock; 
 their ancestors first dwelt at Antioch. Acts xi. 
 26. Christian's progenitors (I suppose' you 
 have heard your husband talk of them) were 
 
 * How does this reprove many professors of this 
 day, who frequently meet together, and that about 
 
 very worthy men. They have, above any thai 
 I know, showed themselves men of great virtue 
 and courage for the Lord of the pilgrims, his 
 ways, and them that loved him. I have heard 
 of many of your husband's relations that have 
 stood all trials for the sake of the truth. 
 Stephen, that was one of the first of the family 
 from whence your husband sprang, was knocked 
 on the head with stones. Acts vii. 59, 60. 
 James, another of this generation, was slain 
 with the edge of the sword. Acts xii. 2. To 
 say nothing of Paul and Peter, men anciently 
 of the family from whence your husband came, 
 there was Ignatius, who was cast to the lions ; 
 Eomanus, whose flesh was cut by pieces from 
 his bones ; and Polycarp, that played the man 
 in the fire. There was he that was hanged up 
 in a basket in the sun for the wasps to eat; 
 and he whom they put in a sack and cast him 
 into the sea to be drowned. It would be im- 
 possible utterly to count up all that family that 
 have suffered injuries and death for the love of 
 a pilgrim's life. Nor can I but be glad to see 
 that thy husband has left behind him four such 
 boys as these. I hope they will bear up their 
 father's name, and tread in their father's steps, 
 and come to their father's end. 
 
 Qreat-heart. Indeed, sir, they are likely lads; 
 they seem to choose heartily their father's 
 ways. 
 
 Garni. That is it that I said: wherefore 
 Christian's family is like still to spread abroad 
 -upon the face of the ground: therefore let 
 Christiana look out some damsels for her sons, 
 to whom they, may be betrothed, &c., that the 
 name of their father and the house of his pro- 
 genitors may never be forgotten in the world. 
 
 Honest. It is a pity his family should fall 
 and be extinct. 
 
 Gaius. Fall it cannot, but be diminished it 
 may ; but let Christiana take my advice, and 
 that's the way to uphold it. 
 
 And, Christiana, said this inn-keeper, I am 
 glad to see thee and thy friend Mercy together 
 here, a lovely couple. And if I may advise, 
 take Mercy into a nearer relation to thee ; if 
 she will, let her be given to Matthew, thy 
 eldest son : it is the way to preserve a posterity 
 in the earth. So this match was concluded, 
 and in process of time they were married ; but 
 more of that hereafter. 
 
 Gaius also proceeded, and said, I will now 
 speak on the behalf of women, to take away 
 
 every trifle, but have not one word to speak for pre* 
 cious Christ, his glorious truths and holy ways ? 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROQRESS. 
 
 221 
 
 their reproach. For as death and the curse 
 came into the world hy a woman, so also did 
 life and health : " God sent forth his Son, made 
 of a woman." Gen. iii. ; Gal. iv. 4. Yea, to 
 show how much those that came after did ab- 
 hor the act of the mother, this sex in the Old 
 Testament coveted children, if happily this or 
 that woman might he the mother of the Saviour 
 of the world. I will say again, that when the 
 Saviour was come, women rejoiced in him, be- 
 fore either man or angel. Luke ii. I read not 
 that ever man did give unto Christ so much as 
 one groat : but the women followed him and 
 ministered to him of their substance. It was 
 a woman that washed his feet with tears, and 
 a woman that anointed his body to the burial. 
 They were women that wept when he was 
 going to the cross, and women that followed 
 him from the cross, and that sat by his sepul- 
 chre when he was buried. They were women 
 that were first with him at his resurrection- 
 morn ; and women that brought tidings first to 
 his disciples that he was risen from the dead, 
 Luke vii. 37, 50 ; viii. 2, 3 ; xxiii. 27 ; xxiv. 
 22, 23 ; John ii. 3 ; xi. 2 ; Matt, xxvii. 55, 61. 
 Women therefore are highly favoured, and show 
 by these things that they are sharers with us 
 in the grace of life. 
 
 Now the cook sent up to signify that supper 
 was almost ready, and sent one to lay the cloth 
 and the trenchers, and to set the salt and bread 
 in order. 
 
 Then said Matthew, The sight of this cloth, 
 and of this forerunner of the supper, begetteth 
 in me a greater appetite to my food than I had 
 before. 
 
 Oaiw^. So let all ministering doctrines in 
 this life beget in thee a greater desire to sit at 
 the supper of the great King in his kingdom ; 
 for all preaching, books, and ordinances here 
 are but as the laying of the trenchers and as 
 setting of salt upon the board, when compared 
 with the feast that our Lord will make us 
 when we come to his house. 
 
 So supper came up; and first a heave- 
 thohlder and a wave-breast were set on the 
 table before them; to show them that they 
 must begin the meal with prayer and praise 
 to God. Lev. vii. 32, 34; x. 14, 15 ; Ps. xxv. 1 ; 
 Heb. xiii. 15. The heave-shoulder David lifted 
 his heart up to God with ; and with the wave- 
 breast, where his heart lay, with that he used 
 
 » Observe here the feast of pilgrims was attended 
 with joy. Christians may, they ought, yen, they 
 have the greatest reason to, rejoice; but then it 
 should hi sjiiritual joy, which springs from spiritual 
 
 to lean upon his harp whtn he played. These 
 two dishes were very fresh and good, and they 
 all ate heartily thereof. 
 
 The next tliey brought up was a bottle of 
 wine as red as blood. So Gains said to them, 
 Drink freely : this is the true juice of the vine 
 that makes glad the heart of God and man. 
 So they drank and were merry. Deut. xxxii. 11 ; 
 Judg. ix. 13; Johnxv. 5. The next was a dish 
 of milk well crumbled: but Gaius said, Let 
 the boys have that, that they may "grow 
 thereby." 1 Pet. ii. 1, 2. Then they brought 
 Tap in course a dish of butter and honey, 
 Then said Gaius, Eat freely of this, for this is 
 good to cheer up and strengthen your judg- 
 ments and understandings. This was our 
 Lord's dish when he was a child : " Butter 
 and honey shall he eat, that he may know to 
 refuse the evil and choose the good." Isa. vii, 
 17. Then they brought them up a dish of 
 apples, and they were very good-tasted fruit. 
 Then said Matthew, "May we eat apples, 
 since they were fcuch by and with v/hich tl.e 
 serpent beguiled our first mother?" 
 
 Then said Gaius, 
 
 "Apples were they with which we were bcguil'd. 
 Yet .sj)t, not apples, hath our souls defil'd ; 
 Apples forbid, if eat, corrupt the blood; 
 To eat such when commanded does us good ; 
 Drink of his flagons, then, thou Church, his dove, 
 And eat his apples who are sick of love." 
 
 Then said Matthew, I made the scruple be- 
 cause, a while since, I was sick with eating of 
 fruit. 
 
 Gains. Forbidden fruit will make you sick, 
 but not what our Lord has tolerated. 
 
 While they were thus talking they were 
 presented with another dish, and it was a dish 
 of nuts. Sol. Songs vi. 11. Then said some at 
 the table, " Nuts spoil tender teeth, especially 
 the teeth of the children." Which, when 
 Gaius heard, he said, 
 
 " Hard texts are nuts (I will not call them cheaters). 
 Whose shells do keep the kernels from the eaters : 
 Open then the shells, and you shall have the meat 
 They here are brought for you to craok and eat." 
 
 Then they were merry, and sat at the table 
 a long time, talking of many things.* Then 
 said the old gentleman. My good landlord, 
 
 views and spiritual conversation. Let our speech be 
 thus seasoned and our feasts thus tempered, and wo 
 shall find increasing joy and gladness of heart in tUt 
 Lord. 
 
222 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 while ye are cracking your nuts, if you please, 
 do ye open this riddle : 
 
 "A man there was, (though some did count him mad,) 
 The more he cast away, the more he had." 
 
 Then they all gave good heed, ^TOndering 
 what good Gains would say; so he sat still 
 awhile, and then thus replied : 
 
 "He who thus bestows his goods upon the poor 
 Shall have as much again, and ten times more." 
 
 Then said Joseph, I dare say, sir, I did not 
 think you could have found it out. 
 
 Oh ! said Gaius, I have been trained up in 
 this way a great while ; nothing teaches like 
 experience : I have learned of my Lord to be 
 kind, and have found by experience that I 
 have gained thereby. " There is that scatter- 
 
 eth, yet increaseth; and there is that with- 
 holdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to 
 poverty ;" " There is that maketh himself rich, 
 yet hath nothing ; there is that maketh him- 
 self poor, yet hath great riches." Prov. xi. 24; 
 xiii. 7. 
 
 Then Samuel whispered to Christiana his 
 mother, and said. Mother, this is a very good 
 man's house; let us stay here a good while, 
 and let my brother Matthew be married here 
 to Mercy, before we go any further.* 
 
 The which Gaius the host overhearing, said, 
 With a very good will, my child. 
 
 So they stayed here more than a month, and 
 Mercy was given to Matthew to wife. 
 
 While they stayed here, Mercy, as her cus- 
 tom was, woold be making coats and garments 
 to give to the poor, by which she brought » 
 very good report upon pilgiims. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 The Pilgrims continue at the house of Gaius; from whence they sally out and destroy Giant 
 Slay-good, a cannibal, and rescue Mr. Feeble-mind. 
 
 But to return again to our story. After 
 supper the lads desired a bed, for they were 
 wea.ry with travelling: then Gaius called to 
 show them their chamber: but said Mercy, 
 I will have them to bed. So she had them to 
 bed, and they slept well : but the rest sat up 
 all night, for Gaius and they were such suit- 
 able company that they could not tell how to 
 part. Then after much talk of their Lord, 
 themselves, and their journey, old Mr. Honest 
 (he that put forth the riddle to Gaius) began 
 to nod. Then said Great-heart, What, sir, 
 you begin to be drowsy ! come, rub up : now 
 here is a riddle for you.f Then said Mr. 
 Honest, Let us hear it. 
 
 Then said Mr. Great-heart, 
 
 " He that will killTnust first be overcome : 
 Who live abroad would, first must die at home." 
 
 Ha ! said Mr. Honest, it is a hard one — hard 
 to expound, and harder to practise. But come, 
 landlord, said he, I will, if you please, leave 
 
 * Here is a genuine discovery of a gracious heart, 
 when it is delighted with spiritual company and con- 
 versation and longs for its continuance. Is it so with 
 you, reader? 
 
 f Mind this: when one pilgrim observes that a 
 brother is inclined to be drowsy, it is his duty, and 
 should be bis practice, to endeavour to awaken, 
 quickeu, enliven, and stir up such by spiritual hints. 
 
 my part to you ; do you expound it, and I will 
 hear what you say. 
 
 No, said Gaius, it was put to you, and it is 
 expected you should answer it. 
 
 Then said the old gentleman, 
 
 " He first by grace must conquer'd be 
 That sin would mortify: ,. 
 Who that he lives would convince me, 
 Unto himself must die." J 
 
 It is right, said Gaius; good doctrine and 
 experience teach this. For, until grace dis- 
 plays itself, and overcomes the soul with its 
 glory, it is altogether without heart to oppose 
 sin : besides, if sin is Satan's cords by which 
 the soul lies bound, how should it make resist- 
 ance before it is loosed from that infirmity? 
 Nor will any that knows either reason or grace 
 believe that such a man can be a living mon- 
 ument of grace that is a slave to his own cor- 
 ruption. And, now it comes in my mind, 1 
 will tell you a story worth the hearing : There 
 
 Oh that this was more practised ! Many blessings 
 would be consequent upon it. 
 
 J Oh this dying to self, to self-righteous pride, vain- 
 confidence, self-love, and self-complacency, is hard 
 work to the old man j yea, it is both impracticable and 
 impossible to him. It is only grace yielded to that 
 can conquer and subdue him. And where grace reigni 
 this work is carried on day by day. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 223 
 
 were two men that went on pilgrimage; the 
 one began when he was young, the other when 
 he was old; the young man had strong corrup- 
 tions to grapple with, the old man's were weak 
 with the decays of nature: the young man 
 trod his steps as even as did the old one, and 
 was every way as light as he: who now, or 
 which of them, had their graces shining clear- 
 est, since both seemed to be alike? 
 
 Honest. The young man's, doubtless. For 
 that which heads it against the greatest oppo- 
 sition gives best demonstration that it is 
 strongest; especially when it also holdeth pace 
 with that that meets not, with half so much, as 
 to be sure old age does not. Besides, I have 
 observed that old men have blessed themselves 
 with this mistake — namely, taking the decays 
 of nature for a gracious conquest over"corrup- 
 tiona, and so have been apt to beguile them- 
 selves. Indeed, old men that are gracious are 
 best able to give advice to them that are young, 
 because they have seen most of the emptiness 
 of things ; but yet, for an old and a young 
 man to* set out both together, the young one 
 has the advantage of the fairest discovery of a 
 work of grace within him, though the old 
 man's corruptions are naturally the weakest. 
 
 Thus they sat talking till break of day. 
 Now when the family was up, Christiana hid 
 her son James that he should read a chapter : 
 so he read the fifty-third of Isaiah. When he 
 had done, Mr. Honest asked why it was said 
 that the Saviour is said to come " out of a dry 
 ground," and also that he had "no form of 
 comeliness in him?" 
 
 Then said Mr. Great-heart, To the first I an- 
 swer. Because the church of the Jews, of which 
 Christ came, had then lost almost all the sap 
 and spirit of religion. To the second I say. 
 The words are spoken in the person sf unbe- 
 lievers, who, because they want the eye that 
 can see into our Prince's heart, therefore judge 
 of him by the meanness of his outside. Just 
 like those that know not that precious stones 
 are covered over with a homely crust, who, 
 when they have found one, because they know 
 not what they have found, cast it again away, 
 as men do a common stone. 
 
 Well, said Gaius, now you are here, and 
 since, as I know, Mr. Great-heart is good at 
 his weapons, if you please, after we have re- 
 freshed ourselves, we will walk into the fields, 
 
 ♦ After feeding, pilgrims are to prepare for fighting, 
 Thoy are not to eat in order to pamper tlieir lusts, but 
 to strengthen their bodies and souls, that they may be 
 
 to see if we can do any good. About a mile 
 from hence there is one Slay-good, a giant, 
 that does much annoy the King's highway in 
 these parts, and I know whereabout his haunt 
 is : he is master of a number of thieves. It 
 would be well if we could clear these parts of 
 him.* 
 
 So they consented and went, Mr. Great-heart 
 with his sword, helmet, and shield, and the 
 rest with spears and staves. 
 
 When they came to the place where he was, 
 they found him with one Feeble-mind in hia 
 hand, whom his servants had brought unto 
 him, having taken him in the way ; now the 
 giant was rifling him, with a purpose, after 
 that, to pick his bones, for he was of the na- 
 ture of flesh-eaters. 
 
 Well, so soon as he saw Mr. Great-heart and 
 his friends at the mouth of his cave with their 
 weapons, he demanded what they wanted. 
 
 Oreat-heart. We want thee, for we are come 
 to revenge the quarrels of the many that thou 
 hast slain of the pilgrims, when thou hast 
 dragged them out of the King's highway, 
 wherefore come out of thy cave. So he armed 
 himself and came out ; and to the battle they 
 went, and fought for above an hour, and then 
 stood still to take wind. 
 
 Then said the giant. Why are you here on 
 my ground ? 
 
 Oreat-heart. To revenge the blood of pil- 
 grims, as I also told thee before. So they went 
 to it again, and the giant made Mr. Great-heart 
 give back ; but he came up again, and in the 
 greatness of his mind he let fly with such 
 stoutness at the giant's head and sides that he 
 made him let his weapon fall out of his hand ; 
 so he smote and slew him, and cut off" his head 
 and brought it away to the inn. He also took 
 Feeble-mind, the pilgrim, and brought him 
 with him to his lodgings. When they were 
 come home they showed his head to the fam- 
 ily, and set it up, as they had done others be- 
 fore, for a terror to those that shall attempt to 
 do as he hereafter. 
 
 Then they asked Mr. Feeble-mind how he 
 fell, into his hands ? 
 
 Then said the poor man, I am a sickly man; 
 as you see, and because death did usually once 
 a day knock at my door, I thought I should 
 never be well at home ; so 1 betook myself to 
 a pilgrim's life, and have travelled hither from 
 the town of Uncertain, where I and my father 
 
 stronger in the Lord, and in the power of his might t» 
 fight and conquer every enemy 
 
224 
 
 SUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 were born. I am a man of no strength at all 
 of- body, nor yet of mind ; but would, if I 
 fiould, though I can but crawl, spend my life 
 in a pilgrim's way.* When I came at the- 
 gate that is at the head of the way, the Lord 
 of that place did entertain me freely ; neither ^ 
 objected he against my weakly looks nor 
 against my feeble mind, but gave me such 
 things as were necessary for my journey, and 
 bid me hope to the end. When I came to the 
 house of the Interpreter, I received much 
 kindness there ; and because the hill of Diffi- 
 culty was judged too hard for me, I was carried 
 up that^by one of his servants. Indeed, I have 
 found much relief from pilgrims, though none 
 were willing to go softly as I am forced to do ; 
 yet still, as they came on, they bid me be of 
 good cheer, and said that it was the will of 
 their Lord that "comfort" should be given _to 
 the "feeble-minded," (1 Thess. v. 14,) and so 
 went on their own pace. When I was come to 
 Assault-lane, then this giant met with me and 
 bid me prepare for an encounter ; but, alas ! 
 feeble one that I was, I had more need of a 
 cordial : so he came up and took me. I con- 
 ceited he should not kill me. Also, when he 
 had got me into his den, since I went not with 
 him willingly, I believed I should come out 
 alive again; for I have heard that not any 
 pilgrim that is taken captive by violent hands, 
 if he keeps heart-whole towards his Master, is, 
 by the laws of providence, to die by the hand 
 of the enemy. Robbed I looked to be, and 
 robbed to be sure I am ; but I am, as you see, 
 escaped with life, for the which I thank my 
 King as author and you as the means. Other 
 brunts I also look for, but this I have resolved 
 on — to wit, to run when I can, to go wlien I 
 cannot run, and to creep when I cannot go. 
 As to the main, I thank Him that loved me, 
 I am fixed ; my way is before me, my mind is 
 beyond the river that has no bridge, though I 
 am, as you see, but of a feeble mind.f 
 
 Then said old Mr. Honest, Have not you 
 some time ago been acquainted with one Mr. 
 Fearing, a pilgrim ? 
 
 * All pilgrims are not alike vigorous, strong, and 
 lively. Some are weak, creep and crawl on in the 
 ways of the Lord. No matter; if there be but a pil- 
 grim's heart, all shall be well at last, for Omnipotence 
 itself is for us ; and then we may boldly ask while 
 wo are obedient to the truth, Who shall be against 
 us? ' 
 
 f What a sweet, simple relation is here ! doth it not 
 suit many a feeble-minded Christian? Poor soul, weak 
 as he was, yet his Lord provided against his danger. 
 He sent some strong ones to his deliverance and to 
 
 Feeble-mind. Acquainted with him I yes : he 
 came from the town of Stupidity, which lies 
 four degrees northward of the city of Destruc- 
 tion, and as many off of where I was born ; 
 yet we were well acquainted, for indeed he waa 
 my uncle, my father's brother ; he and I have 
 been much of a temper : he was a little shorter 
 than Ij but yet we were much of a complex- 
 ion. 
 
 Honest. I perceive you know him ; and I am 
 apt to believe also that you are related one to 
 another, for you have his whitely look, a cast 
 like his with your eye, and your speech is 
 much alike. 
 
 Feeble-mind. Most have said so that have 
 known us both; and, besides, what I have 
 read in him I have for the most part found in 
 myself. 
 
 Come, sir, said good Gains, be of good 
 cheer; you are welcome to me and to my 
 house, and what thou> hast a mind to, call for 
 freely; and what thou wouldst have my serv- 
 ants do for thee, they will do with a ready mind. 
 
 Then said Mr. Feeble-mind, This is an un- 
 expected favour, and as the sun shining out of ' 
 a very dark cloud. Did Giant Slay-good in- 
 tend me this favour when he stopped me and 
 resolved to let me go no further? Did he in- 
 tend that after he had rifled my pocket I should 
 go to " Gaius mine host?" Yet so it is.J 
 
 Now, just as Mr. Feeble-mind and Gaius 
 were thus in talk, there comes one running 
 and called at, the door, and told that about a 
 mile and a half off there was one Mr. Not- 
 right, a piigrim, struck dead upon the place 
 where he was, witli a thunderbolt. 
 
 Alas! said liir. Feeble-mind, is he slain? 
 He overtook me some days before I came so 
 far as hither, and would be my company- 
 keeper;- he also was with me when Slay-good 
 the giant took me, but he was nimble of his 
 heels and escaped : but it seems he escaped to 
 die, and I was taken to live.|| 
 
 " What one would think doth seek to slay'outright 
 Oft-times delivers from the saddest plight. 
 
 slay his' enemy. Mind his belief, even in his utmost 
 extremity. I'rtarn somewhat from this Feeble-mind. 
 
 J Oh how sweet to reflect the most gigantic enemies 
 shall be conquered, and their most malicious designs 
 shall be overruled for our good ! Yea, what they in- 
 tend for our ruin shall be made to work for our health 
 and prosperity. 
 
 II See the various dealings of God, and more and 
 more adore him in all his ways of providence and grace. 
 " Know all the ways of God to men are just; 
 And where you can't unriddle learn to trust," 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PR06BESS. 
 
 225 
 
 That very providcuvse whose face is death 
 
 Doth ofttiracs to the lowly life bequeath. 
 
 I taken was, he did escape and flee; 
 
 Hands oross'd gave death to him and life to me." 
 
 Now about this time Matthew and "Mercy 
 were married : * also Gaius gave his daughter 
 Phebe to James, Matthew's brother, to wife. 
 After which time they stayed about ten days 
 at Gaius's house, spending their time and the 
 seasons like as pilgrims used to do. 
 
 When they were to depart, Gaius made them 
 a feast, and they did eat and drink and were 
 merry. Now the hour was come that they 
 mast be gone; wherefore Mr. Great-heart 
 called for a reckoning. But Gaius told him 
 that at his Louse it was not the custom of pil- 
 
 grims to pay for their entertainment. He 
 boarded them by the year, but looked for his 
 pay from the Good Samaritan, who had prom- 
 ised him, at his return, whatsoever charge he 
 ' was at with them, faithfully to repay him. 
 Luke. X. 34, 35. Then said Mr. Great-heart to 
 him, "Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatso- 
 ever thou doest to the brethren and to stran- 
 gers, which have borne witness of thy charity 
 before the Church, whom if thou yet brinf; 
 forward on their journey after a godly soil, 
 thou shalt do well." 3 John 5, 6. 
 
 Then Gaius took his leave of them all anJ 
 his children, and particularly of Mr. Feeble- 
 mind: he also gave him something to drink 
 by the way. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The Pilgrims are joined by Mr. Ready-to-halt, and proceed to the town of Vanity, where 
 they are agreSably lodged by Mr. Mnason, and meet with agreeable company. — They en- 
 counter a formidable Monster. 
 
 Now Mr. Feeble-mind, when they were go- 
 ing out at the door, made as if he intended to 
 linger. The which when Mr. Great-heart es- 
 pied, he said, " Come, Mr. Feeble-mind, pray 
 do you go along with us. I will be your con- 
 ductor, and you shall fare as the rest." 
 
 Feeble-mind. Alas! I want a suitable com- 
 panion; you are all lusty and strong; but I, as 
 you see, am weak. I choose therefore rather 
 to come behind, lest by reason of my many in- 
 firmities, I should be both a burden to myself 
 and to you. I am, as I said, a man of a weak 
 and feeble mind, and shall be offended and 
 made weak at that which others can bear. I 
 shall like no laughing; I shall like no gay at- 
 tire; I shall like no unprofitable questions. 
 Nay, I am so weak a man as to be offended at 
 that which others have a liberty to do. I do 
 not know all the truth : I am a very ignorant 
 CJiristian man : sometimes, if I hear some re- 
 joice in the Lord, it troubles me, because I 
 cannot do so too. It is with me as it is with a 
 weak man among the strong,, or as a lamp de- 
 spised. He that is ready to slip with his feet 
 
 * The reader may remember that Mercy had some 
 time before refused the addresses of Mr. Brisk, alleg- 
 ing that she was determined not to have a clog to her 
 soul; but now the Lord provides an helpmeet for her 
 in Matthew, a sincere young pilgrim. Happy is the 
 match which is made in the Lord, and the partners 
 who are united in eternal bonds ! 
 
 f What an open, ingenuous confession is here ! 
 13 
 
 is as a lamp despised in the thought of him that 
 is at ease, (Job xii. 5;) so that I know not 
 what to do.f 
 
 But, brother, said Mr. Great-heart, I have it 
 in commission to '' comfort the feeble-minded " • 
 and to support the weak. You must needs go 
 along with us: we will wait fdr you, we will 
 lend you our help, we will deny ourselves of 
 some things, both opinionative and practical, 
 for your sake; we will not enter into "doubt- 
 , ful disputations " before you ; we will be made 
 all things to you rather than you shall be left 
 behind.! Rom. xiv.; 1 Cor. viii. 9, 13; ix. 
 32. 
 
 Now all this while they were at Gains'^ door ; 
 and behold, as they were thus in the heat of 
 their discourse, Mr. Ready-to-halt came by 
 with his crutches in his hand, and he also waa 
 going on pilgrimage. Ps. xxxviii. 17. 
 
 Then said Mr. Feeble-mind to him, How 
 camest thou hither? I was but now complain- 
 ing that I had not a suitable companion, but 
 thou art according to my wish. Welcome, 
 welcome, good Mr. Ready-to-halt: I hope Jiow , 
 and I may be some help. 
 
 Though feeble in mind, he was strong in wisdom and 
 sound judgment. 
 
 I Oh that this were more practised among Chris- 
 tians of different standing, degrees, and judgment ! 
 If they who are strong were thus to hear with the 
 weak, as they ought, how much more love, peace, and 
 unanimity would prevail ! 
 
226 
 
 BVNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Readij'to-halt I shall be glad of thy com- 
 pany, said the other; and, good Mr. Feeble- 
 mind, rather than we will part, since we are 
 thus happily met, I will lend thee one of my 
 crutches. * 
 
 Feeble-mind. Nay, said he, though I thank 
 thee for thy good-will, I am not inclined to 
 halt before I am lame. Howbeit, I think, 
 when occasion is, it may help me against a dog. 
 I Ready-lo-halU If either myself or my crutches 
 uan do thee a pleasure, we are both at thy com- 
 mand, good Mr. Feeble-mind. 
 
 Thus therefore they went on : Mr. Great- 
 heart and Mr, Honest went before, Christiana 
 and her children went next, and Mr. Feeble- 
 mind and Mr. Eeady-to-halt came behind with 
 his crutches. Then said Mr. Honest, Pray, 
 sir, now we are upon the road, tell us some 
 profitable things of some that are gone on pil- 
 grimage before us. 
 
 Oreat-heart. With a good will. I suppose 
 you h^ve heard how Christian of old did meet 
 with Apollyon in the Valley of Humiliation, 
 and also what hard work he had to go through 
 the Valley of the Shadow of Death. Also, I 
 think you cannot but have heard how Faithful 
 was put to it by Madam Wanton, with. Adam 
 the First, with one Discontent, and Shame; 
 four as deceitful villains as a man can meet 
 with upon the road. 
 
 Honest. Yes, I believe I heard of all this : 
 but indeed good Faithful was hardest put to it 
 by Shame; he was an unwearied one. 
 
 Cheat-heart. Ay; for, as the pilgrim well 
 said, he of all men had the wrong name. 
 
 Honest. But pray, sir, where was it that 
 Christian and Faithful met Talkative? That 
 same was a notable one. 
 
 Oreat-heart. He was a confident fool; yet 
 manyfollow his ways. 
 
 Honest. He had like to have beguiled Faith- 
 ful. 
 
 Oreat-heart. Ay, but Christian put him into 
 a way quickly to find him out. 
 
 Thus they went on till they came to the 
 place where Evangelist met with Christian 
 and Faithful, and prophesied to them what 
 they should meet with at Vanity Fair. 
 
 * Excellent ! See the nature of Christian love; evei- 
 to bo ready to spare to a brother what we ourselves 
 have occasion for. Love looketh not at the things of 
 our own, but to provide for the wants of others. 
 
 t Nothing more profitable than conversing on the 
 faith, valour and success of those who have gone be- 
 fore us, with their trials, enemies, and dangers, yet 
 bow gloriously they fought thoir way through all, and 
 
 Then said their guide. Hereabouts dia 
 Christian and Faithful meet with Evangelist, 
 who prophesied to them of what troubles thsy 
 should meet with at Vanity Fair. 
 
 Honest. Say you so? I dare say it was a 
 hard chapter that then he did read unto them. 
 
 Oreat-heart. It was so, but then he gave them 
 encouragement withal. But what do we talk 
 of them ? they were a couple of lion-like men ; 
 they had set their faces like flints. Do not you 
 remember how undaunted they were when they 
 stood before the judge? 
 
 Honest. Well, Faithful bravely suffered. 
 
 Oreat-heart. So he did, and as brave things 
 came on't : for Hopeful and some others, as the 
 story relates, were converted by his death. 
 
 Honest. Well, but pray go on ; for you are 
 well acquainted with things.f 
 
 Oreat-heart. Above all that Christian met 
 with after he had passed through Vanity Fair, 
 one By-ends was the arch one. 
 
 Honest. By-ends ! What was he ? 
 
 Oreat-heart. A very arch fellow, a down- 
 right hypocrite ; one that would be religious 
 which way ever the world went : but so cun- 
 ning that he would be sure never to lose or 
 suffer for it. He had his mode of religion for 
 every fresh occasion, and his wife was as good 
 at it as he. He would turn and changg from 
 opinion to opinion : yea, and plead for so doing 
 too. But, as far as I could lea.rn, he came to 
 an ill end with his by-ends ; nor did I ever hear 
 that any of his children were ever of any es- 
 teem with any that truly fear God. 
 
 Now by this time they were come within 
 sight of the town of Vanity, where Vanity 
 Fair is kept. So when they saw that they were 
 so near the town, they consulted with one an- 
 other how they should pass through the town, 
 and some said one thing, and some another. 
 At last Mr. G?6at-heart said, I have, as you 
 may understand, often been a conductor of 
 pilgrims through this town: now I am ac- 
 quainted with one Mr. Mnason, a Cyprusian 
 by nation, and an old disciple, at whose house 
 we may lodge. If you think good, said he, we 
 will turn in there. J 
 
 Content, said' old Honest; Content, said 
 
 came off more than conquerors over all. Pilgrims 
 love to hear these things. 
 
 \ How happy to find a house in Vanity Fair whose 
 Master will receive and entertain pilgrims ! Blessed 
 he God for the present revival of religion in our day, 
 and for the many houses that are open to the friends 
 of the Lamb ! The hearts of the masters of which h» 
 opens. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 227 
 
 Christiana; Content, said Mr. Feeble-mind; 
 and 80 they said all. Now you must think it 
 was eventide by that they got to the outside of 
 the town, but Mr. Great-heart knew the way to 
 the old man's house. So thither they came ; 
 and he called at the door, and the old man 
 within knew his tongue as soon as ever Tie 
 heard it ; so he opened and they all came in. 
 Then said Mnason their host, " How far have 
 ye come to-day?" So they said, "From the 
 house of Gaius our friend." " I promise you," 
 said he, " you have gone a good stitch ; you 
 may well be weary ; sit do wu ." So they sat down. 
 
 Then said their guide, " Come, what cheer, 
 good airs ? I dare say you are welcome to my 
 friend." 
 
 I also, said Mr. Mnason, do bid you wel- 
 come : and whatever you want do but say, and 
 we will do what we can to get it for you. 
 
 Honest. Our great want, a while since, was 
 harbour and good company ; and now I hope 
 we have both.* 
 
 Mnason. For harbour, you see what it is ; 
 but for good company, that will appear in the 
 trial. 
 
 Well, said Mr. Great-heart, will you have 
 the pilgrims into their lodgings? 
 
 I will, said Mr. Mnason. So he had them 
 to their respective places : and also showed 
 them a very fair dining-room, where they 
 might be and sup together, until time was 
 come to go to rest. 
 
 Now when they were set in their places, and 
 were a little cheery after their journey, Mr. 
 Honest asked his landlord if there were any 
 store of good people in the town ? 
 
 Mnason. We have a few, for indeed they are 
 but a few when compared with them on the 
 other side. 
 
 Honest. But how shall we do to see some of 
 them ? for the sight of good men to them that 
 are going on pilgrimage is like to the appear- 
 ing of the moon and stars to them that are 
 going a journey.f 
 
 Then Mr. Mnason stamped with his foot, 
 and his daughter Grace came up; so he said 
 unto her, Grace, go you, tell my friends, Mr. 
 Contrite, Mr. Holy-man, Mr. Love-saints, Mr. 
 
 * Under all our wants may we not say, with our 
 Father Abraham, God will provide? Gen. xxii. 8, 
 ' t The inquiry of disciples after suitable com^tany 
 disoovers tha:t they, with Pavid, love the Lord's saints, 
 and in the ezoellent of the earth is all their delight. 
 Ps. xvi. 3. A genuine discovery this of a gracious 
 heart. 
 
 J A precious prayer for the best of blessings. 
 
 Dare-not-lie, and Mr. Penitent, that I have a 
 friend or two at my house that have a mind 
 this evening to see them. 
 
 So Grace went to call them, and they came , 
 and, after salutation made they sat down to- 
 gether at the table. 
 
 Then said Mr. Mnason, their landlord, My 
 neighbours, I have, as you see, a company pf 
 strangers come to my house: they are pilgrims; 
 they come from afar and are going to Mount 
 Zion. But who, quoth he, do you think this 
 is? (pointing his fingers at Christiana.) It is 
 Christiana, the wife of Christian, that famous 
 pilgrim, who, with Fflithful his brother, were 
 so shamefully handled in our town. At that 
 they stood amazed, saying. We little thougl^t 
 to see Christiana when Grace came to call us : 
 wherefore this is very comfortable surprise. 
 Then they asked her about her welfare, and if 
 these young men were her husband's sons. 
 And when she told them they were, they said 
 to the lads, " The King whom you love and 
 serve make you as your father, and bring you 
 where he is in peace." J 
 
 Then Mr. Honest, when they were all sat 
 down, asked Mr. Contrite and the rest in what 
 posture their town was at present. 
 
 Contrite. You may be sure we are full of 
 hurry in fair-time. It is hard keeping our 
 hearts and spirits in good order, when we are 
 in a cumbered condition. He that lives in 
 such a place as this, and that has to do with 
 such as we have, has need of an item, to cau- 
 tion him to take heed every moment of the day. || 
 
 Honest. But how are your neighbours now 
 for quietness ? 
 
 Contrit-e. They are much more moderate now 
 than formerly. You know how Christian and 
 Faithful were used at our town ; but of late, I 
 say, they have been far more moderate. I think 
 the blood of Faithful lieth with a load upon 
 them till now, for since they burned him they 
 have been ashamed to burn any more ; in those 
 days we were afraid to walk the streets, but 
 now we can show our heads. Then the name 
 of a professor was odious : now, especially in 
 some parts of our town, (for you know cur 
 town is large,) religion is counted honourable. | 
 
 11 Mind this hint. May it kindle a sense of danger, 
 and excite caution. 
 
 3 It is a merey, when open persecution for the word 
 abates and religion is more respected; but how do pro- 
 fessors in such times get cold and dead, grow formal 
 and worldly ! The smiles of the town of Vanity often 
 prove more injurious than its frowns. Be )n your 
 guard, pilgrims .' 
 
228 
 
 BUNYAN'S C03IPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Then said M'r. Contrite to them, Pray how 
 fareth it with you in your pilgrimage ? How 
 stands the country affected towards you? 
 
 Honest. It happens to us as it happeneth to 
 wayfaring men : sometimes our way is clean, 
 sometimes foul, sometimes up hill, sometimes 
 down hill ; we are seldom at a certainty ; the 
 wind is not always on our backs, nor is every 
 one a friend that we meet with in the way. We 
 have met with some notable rubs already, and 
 what are yet behind we know not ; but for the 
 most part we find it true that has been talked 
 of old : " A good man must suffer troable." 
 
 Contrite. You talk of rubs : what rubs have 
 you met withal ? 
 
 t Honest. Nay, ask Mr. jGreat-heart, our guide, 
 for he can give the best account of that. 
 
 Great-heart. We have been beset two or three 
 times already. First, Christiana and her chil- 
 dren were beset with two ruffians that they 
 feared would take away their lives. We were 
 beset with Giant Bloody-raan, Giant Maul, and 
 Giant Slay-good. Indeed, we did rather beset 
 the last than were beset of him. And thus it 
 was : After we had been some time at the house 
 of Gains, "mine host, and of the whole 
 Church," we were minded upon a time to take 
 our weapons with us, and to go see if we could 
 light upon any of those that were enemies of 
 pilgrims ; for we heard that there was a nota- 
 ble one thereabouts. Now Gains knew his 
 haunt better than I, because he dwelt there- 
 about ; so we looked and looked, till at last we 
 discerned the mouth of his cave; then were 
 we glad and plucked up our spirits. So we ap- 
 proached up to his den : and, lo, when we came 
 there he had dragged by mere force into his 
 net this poor man, Mr. -Feeble-mind, and was 
 about to bring him to his end. But when he 
 saw us, supposing, as we thought, he had an- 
 other prey, he left the poor man in his house 
 and came out. So we fell to it full sore, and 
 he lustily laid about him, but in conclusion he 
 was brought down to the ground and his head 
 cut off, and set up by the wayside for a terror 
 to such as should after practise such ungodli- 
 ness. That I tell you the truth here is the 
 man himself to affirm it, who was as a lamb 
 taken out of the mouth of the lion. 
 
 Then said Mr. Feeble-mind, I found this 
 true to my cost and comfort — to my cost, when 
 he threatened to pick my bones every moment ; 
 and to my comfort, when I saw Mr. Great-heart 
 
 '*' This is a sound speech. Lord, grant th'at we, who 
 profpss thy huly name, may take good heed to this. It 
 is a word of conviction to many. 
 
 and his friends, with their weapons, approach 
 so near for my deliverance. 
 
 Then said Mr. Holy-man, There are two 
 things that they have need to be possessed of 
 that go on pilgrimage — courage and an unspotted 
 life. If they have not courage, they can never 
 hold on their way ; and if their lives be loose, 
 they will make the very name of a pilgrim 
 stink.* 
 
 Then said Mr. Love-saint, I hope this cau- 
 tion is not needful among you : but truly there 
 are many that go upon the road that rather de- 
 clare themselves strangers to pilgrimage than 
 strangers and pilgrims in the earth. 
 
 Then said Mr. Dare-not-lie, It is true, they 
 neither have the pilgrim's weed nor the pil- 
 grim's courage : they go not uprightly, but all 
 awry with their feet : one shoe goeth inward, 
 another outward, and their hosen out behind, 
 here a rag and there a rent, to the disparage- 
 ment of their Lord.f 
 
 These things, said Mr. Penitent^ they ought 
 to be troubled for ; nor are the pilgrims like to 
 have that grace upon them and their pilgrim's 
 progress as they desire until the way is cleared 
 of such spots and blemishes. 
 
 Thus they sat talking and spending the 
 time until the supper was set upon the table. 
 Upon which they went and refreshed their 
 weary bodies ; so they went to rest. Now they 
 stayed in the fair a great while at the house 
 of Mr. Mnason, who in process of time gave 
 his daughter Grace unto Samuel, Christiana's 
 son, and his daughter Martha to Joseph. 
 
 The time, as I said, that they lay here was 
 long, for it was not now as in former times. 
 Wherefore the pilgrims grew acquainted with 
 many of the good people of the town, and did 
 them what service they could. Mercy, as she 
 was wont, laboured much for the poor ; where- 
 fore their bellies and backs blessed her, and she 
 was there an ornament to her profession. And 
 to say the truth for Grace, Phebe, and Martha, 
 they were all of a very good nature, and did 
 much good in their places. They were also all 
 of them very fruitful ; so that Christian's name 
 as was said before, was like to live in the world 
 
 While they lay here there came a monster 
 out of the woods and slew many of the people 
 of the town. It would also carry away their 
 children and teach them to suck its whelps. 
 Now no man in the town durst so much as face 
 this monster, but all men fled when they heard 
 the noise of his coming. The monster was 
 
 f An excellent observation and a just reproof. May 
 it carry conviction to the heart of those it suits 1 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 229 
 
 like unto one beast upon the earth : its body 
 was " like a dragon, and it had seven heads and 
 ten horns." Eev. xii. 3. It made great havoc 
 of children^ and yet it was governed by a wo- 
 man. This monster propounded conditions to 
 men, and such men as loved their lives more 
 than their souls accepted of those conditions. 
 • Now Mr. Great-heart, together with those 
 who came to visit the pilgrims at Mr. Mnason's 
 house, entered into a covenant to go and en- 
 gage this beast, if perhaps they might deliver 
 the people of this town from the paws and 
 mouth of this so devouring a serpent. 
 
 Then did Mr. Great-heart, Mr. Contrite, Mr. 
 Holy-man, Mr. Dare-not-lie, and Mr. Peni- 
 tent, with their weapons, go forth to meet 
 him. Now ,the monster, at first, was very 
 rampant, and looked upon these 'enemies 
 ' with great disdain ; but they so belaboured 
 him, being sturdy men-at-arms, that they 
 made him make a retreat ; so they came home 
 to Mr. Mnason's house again. 
 
 The monster,* you must know, had his cer- 
 tain seasons to come out in and to make his 
 attempts upon the children of the people of 
 the town : also these seasons did these valiant 
 worthies watch him in, and did continually 
 assault him; insomuch that, in process of 
 time, he became not only woilnded, but lame ; 
 also he had not made the havoc of the towns- 
 men's 'Children as formerly he had done. And 
 it is verily believed by some that this beast 
 will certainly die of his wounds. This there- 
 fore made Mr. Great-heart and his fellows of 
 great fame in this town ; so that many of the 
 people that wanted their taste of things yet 
 had a reverent esteem and respect for them. 
 Upon this account therefore it was that these 
 pilgrims got not much hurt here. True, 
 there were some of the baser sort that conld 
 see no mo£e than a mole nor understand no 
 more than a beast, — ^these had no reverence 
 for these men, nor took notice of their valour 
 and adventures. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 The Pilgrims hill Giant Despair and his wife, and totally demolish his castle.- 
 
 ceed to the Delectable Mountains. 
 
 - They pro- 
 
 Wkll, the time drew on that the pilgrims 
 must go on their way ; therefore they prepared 
 for their journey. They sent for their friends ; 
 they conferred with them ; they had some time 
 set apart therein to commit each other to the 
 protection of their Prince. There were again 
 that brought them of such things as they had 
 that were fit for the weak and the strong, for 
 the women and the men, and so laded them 
 with such things as were necessary. Acts 
 xxviii. 10. Then they set forward on their 
 way, and their friends accompanying them so 
 far as was convenient, they again committed 
 each other to the protection of their King, 
 and departed. 
 
 They, therefore, that were of the pilgrims' 
 company went on, and Mr. Great-heart went 
 before them; now the women and children 
 being weakly, they were forced to go as they 
 
 * Tliii refers (observes the Kev. Mr. Scott) to the 
 prevalence of popery for some time before the Revo- 
 lution in 1688, by which many nominn.1 Protestants 
 were drawn aside, and numbers of children educated 
 ta the principles of darkness and superstition. The 
 favour and frown of the prince and his party operated 
 M powerfully that worldly men in general yielded to 
 
 could bear ; by this means Mr. Eeady-to-halt 
 and Mr. Feeble-mind had more to sympathize 
 with their condition. 
 
 When they were gone from the townsmen, 
 and when their friends had bid them farewell, 
 they quickly came to the place where Faithful 
 was put to death : therefore they made a stand, 
 and thanked Him that had enabled him to 
 bear his cross so well; and the rather because 
 they now found that they had a benefit by 
 such a man's sufferings as he was. They 
 went on, therefore, after this, a good way 
 further, talking of Christian and ^Faithful, 
 and how Hopeful joined himself to Christian 
 and that Faithful was dead. 
 
 Now they were come up the hill Lucre, 
 where the silver mine was which took Demas 
 off from his pilgrimage, and into which,^ as 
 some thinls. By-ends fell and perished : where- 
 
 the imposition ; but several persons among the Non- 
 conformists, as well as in the Established Church, did 
 eminent service at this crisis by their preaching and 
 writings, in exposing the delusions and abominations ot 
 the adherents to the papal see : and these endeavours 
 were eventually the means of overturning the plus 
 formed for the re-establishment of popery in Britain. 
 
230 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 fore they considered that. But when they 
 were come to the old monument that sto9d 
 over against the hill Lucre — to wit, to the 
 pillar of salt that stood also within the view 
 of Sodom and its stinking lake — they mar- 
 velled, as did Christian before, that men of 
 that knowledge and ripeness of wit, as they 
 were, should be ao blind as to turn aside here. 
 Only they considered again that nature is not 
 affected with the harms that others have met 
 with, especially if that thing upon which they 
 look has nn attracting virtue upon the foolish 
 eye. 
 
 I saw now that they went on till they came 
 to the river that was on this side of the De- 
 lectable Mountains — to the river where the 
 fine trees grow on both sides, and whose leaves, 
 if taken inwardly, are good against surfeits, 
 (Ps. xxiii. ;) where the meadows are green all 
 the year long and where they might lie down 
 safely. By this river side, in the meadows, 
 there were cotes and folds for sheep, a house 
 built for the nourishing and bringing up those 
 lambs, the babes of those women that go on 
 pilgrimage. Also there was here one that was 
 entrusted with them, who could have compas- 
 sion and could gather these Iambs with, his 
 arm and carry them in his bosom, and that 
 eould gently lead those that were with young. 
 Heb. V. 2 ; Isa. Ixiii. Now to the care of this 
 man Christiana admonished her four daugh- 
 ters to commit their little ones, that by these 
 waters they might be housed, harboured, suc- 
 coured, and nourished, and that none of them 
 might be lacking in time to come. This man, 
 if any of them go astray or be lost, will bring 
 them back again; he will also bind up that 
 which was broken and will strengthen them 
 that are sick. Jer. xiii.4; Ezek. xxxiv. 11, 16. 
 Here they will never want meat, drink, and 
 clothing ; here they will be kept from thieves, 
 and robbers ; for this man will die before one 
 of those committed to his trust shall be lost. 
 Besides, here they shall be sure to have good 
 nurture and admonition : and shall be taught 
 to walk in right paths ; and that, you know, is 
 a favour of no small account. 
 
 Also here, as you see, are delicate waters, 
 pleasant meadows, dainty flowers, variety of 
 trees, and such as bear wholesome fruit — fruit 
 not like that which Matthew eat of, that fell over 
 tlie waU out of Beelzebub's garden ; but fruit 
 
 * Here we frequently find our author speaking of 
 our Lord and Saviour as Man. He excels in this. It 
 were to be wished that authors and preachers wrote 
 
 that procureth health where there is none, and 
 that continueth and increaseth where it is.* 
 
 So they were contetnt to commit their little 
 ones to him ; and that which was also an en- 
 couragement to them so to do was, that all this 
 was to be at the charge of the King ; and so 
 was an hospital to young children and orphans. 
 
 Now they went on: and wheh they werfi 
 come to By-path Meadow, to the stile over 
 which Christian went with his fellow Hopeful, 
 when they were taken by Giant Despair and 
 put into Doubting Castle, they sat down and 
 consulted what was best to be done; to wit, 
 now they were so strong, and had got such a 
 man as Mr. Great-heart for their conductor, 
 whether they had not best to make an attempt 
 upon the giant, demolish his castle, and if 
 there were any pilgrims in it.to set them at 
 liberty, before they went any farther. So one 
 said one thing, and another said to the contrary. 
 One questioned if it was lawful to go upon un- 
 consecrated ground ; another said they might, 
 provided their end was go'od. But Mr. Great- 
 heart said. Though that assertion offered last 
 cannot be universally true, yet I have a com- 
 mandment to resist sin^ to overcome evil, to 
 fight the good fight of faith : and, I pray, with 
 whom should I fight this good fight if not with 
 Giant Despair? I will therefore attempt the 
 taking away of his life and the demolishing of 
 Doubting Castle. Then said he, "Who will 
 go with me ?" Then said old Honest, " I will." 
 "And so we will too," said Christiana's four 
 sons, Matthew, Samuel, James, and Joseph, 
 for they were young men and strong. 1 John 
 ii. 13, 14. 
 
 So they left the women on the road, and 
 with them Mr. Feeble-mind and Mr. Keady-to- 
 halt with his crutches, to be their guard until 
 they came back; for in that place, though 
 Giant Despair dwelt so near, they keeping in 
 the road, " a little child might -lead them." 
 I^. xi. 6. 
 
 So Mr. Great-heart, old Honest, and the four 
 young men went to go up to Doubting Castle 
 to look for Giant Despair. When they came 
 at the castle gate they knocked for entrance 
 with an unusual noise. With that the old 
 gian,t comes to the gate, and Diffidence his wife 
 follows. Then said he, " Who and what is he 
 that is so hardy as after this manner to molest 
 the Giant Despair? Mr. Great-heart replied, 
 
 and spake more frequently of the manhood of Jesna, 
 who was a perfect Man, like unto us in all things ex- 
 cept sin. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PBOORESS. 
 
 231 
 
 "It is I, Great-heart; one of the King of the 
 Celestial Country's conductors of pilgrims to 
 their place ; and I demand of thee that thou 
 open thy gates for my entrance ; prepare thy- 
 self also to fight, for I am come to take away 
 thy head and to demolish Doubting Castle." 
 
 Now Giant Despair, because he was a giant, 
 thought no man could overcome him; and 
 again thought he, "Since heretofore I have 
 made a conquest of angels^^all Great-heart 
 make me afraid?" So he harnessed himself 
 and went out : he had a cap of steel upon his 
 head, a breastplate of fire girded to him, and 
 he came out in iron shoes with a great club in 
 his hand. Then these six men made up to 
 him, and beset him behind and before: also 
 when Difiidenee, the giantess, came up to help 
 him, old Mr. Honest cut her down at one blow. 
 Then they fought for their lives, and Giant 
 Despair was brought down to the ground, but 
 was very loth to die; he struggled hard, and 
 had, as they say, as many lives as a CEtt ; hut 
 Great-heart was his death, for he left him not 
 till he had severed his head from his shoulders.* 
 
 Then they fell to demolishing Doubting 
 Castle ; and that, you know, might with ease 
 be done, since Giant Despair was dead. They 
 were seven days in destroying of that: and in 
 it, of pilgrims, they found one Mr. Despond- 
 ency, almost starved to death, and one Much- 
 afraid, his daughter; these two they saved 
 alive. But it would have made you wonder to 
 have seen the dead bodies that lay here and 
 there in the castle-yard, and how full of dead 
 men's bones the dungeon was. 
 
 When Mr. Great-heart and his companions 
 ha^ performed this exploit, they took Mr. De- 
 spondency, and his daughter Much-afraid into 
 their protection ; for they were honest people, 
 though they were prisoners in Doubting Castle 
 to that Giant Despair. They therefore, I say, 
 took with them the head of the giant, (for his 
 body they had buried under a heap of stones,) 
 and down to the road and to their companions 
 they came, and showed them what they had 
 done. Now when Feeble-mind and Eeady-to- 
 halt saw that it was the head of Giant Despair 
 
 * What cannot Great-heart do ? What feata not 
 perform ? What victories not gain ? Who can stand 
 before Oreat-heart? Diffidence shall fall and Giant 
 Despair ha slain hy the power of Great-heart with 
 the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God ; 
 (Eph. vi. 17;) even Despondency, though almost 
 starred, shall be delivered, and his daughter, Much- 
 afraid, shall be rescued. Oh for more of Great-heart's 
 eompany ! 
 
 indeed, they were very jocund and merry 
 Now Christiana, if need was, could play upon 
 the viol, and her daughter Mercy upon the 
 lute; so, since they were so merry disposed, 
 she played them a lesson, and Ready -to-halt 
 would dance. So he took Despondency's 
 daughter, named Much-afraid, by the hand, 
 and to dancing they went in the road. True, 
 he could not dance without one crutch in hLs 
 hand; but I promise you he footed it well; 
 also, the girl was to be commended, for she 
 answered the music handsomely. 
 
 A<! for Mr. Despondency, the musio was not 
 much to him; he was for feeding rather than 
 dancing, for that he was almost starved. So 
 Christiana gave him some of her ooHle of 
 spirits for present relief, and then prepared 
 him something to eat ; and in a little tiu^e the 
 old gentleman came to himself, and begraji to 
 be finely revived. 
 
 Now I saw in my dream when all these 
 things were finished Mr. Great-heart took the 
 head of Giant Despair and set it upon a jpole by 
 the highway side, right over against a pillar 
 that Christian erected for a caution to pilgrims 
 that came after to take heed of entering into 
 his grounds. 
 
 Then he writ under it, upon a marble p+'^ne. 
 these verses following : 
 
 '^ This is the head of him whose name only 
 In former time did pilgrims terrify. 
 His castle's down,']' and Diffidence, his wife. 
 Brave Master Great-heart has bereft of life. 
 Despondency, his daughter Much-afraid, 
 Great-heart for them also the man has play'd 
 Who hereof doubts, if he'll but cast his eye 
 Up hither, may his scruples satisfy. 
 This head also, when doubting cripples dance, 
 Doth show from fear they hare deliverance." 
 
 When those men had thus bravely showed 
 themselves against Doubting Castle and had 
 slain Giant Despair, they went forward, and 
 went on till they came to the Delectable Moun- 
 tains, where Christian and Hopeful refreshed 
 themselves with the varieties of the place. 
 They also acquainted themselves with the 
 shepherds there, who welcomed them, as they 
 
 f The following lines contain an important truth, 
 and deserve particular regard :_ i 
 
 Though Doubting Castle be demolished, 
 And the Giant Despair hath lost his head, 
 Sin can rebuild the castle, make't remain, 
 And make Despair the giant lire again. 
 
 Excellent remark ! pray mind it. 
 
232 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 had done Christian before, uii'-,o the Delectable 
 Mountains. 
 
 Now the shepherds seeing so great a train 
 follow Mr. Great-heart, (for with him they 
 were well acquainted,) they said unto him, 
 "Good sir, you have got a goodly company 
 here; pray where did you find all these ?" 
 
 Great-heart. 
 
 " First, here is Cliristiana and her train, 
 Her sons and her sons' wives, who, like the wain 
 Keep by the Poll and do by compass steer 
 From sin to grace, else they had not been here. 
 Next here's old Honest come on pilgrimage; 
 Eeady-to-halt too, who, I dare engage. 
 True-hearted is, and so is Feeble-mind, 
 Who willing was not to be left behind. 
 Despondency,' good man, is coming after, 
 And so also is Much-afraid, his daughter; 
 May we have entertainment here, or must 
 We further go ? Let's know whereon to trust." 
 
 Then said the shepherds. This is a comfort- 
 able company ; you are welcome to us, for we 
 have for the feeble as for the strong: our 
 Prince has an eye to what is done to the least 
 of these, (Matt. xxv. 40;) therefore infirmity 
 must not be a block to our entertainment. So 
 they had them to the palace doors, and then 
 said unto them, "Come in, Mr. Feeble-mind; 
 come in, Mr. Eeady-to-halt ; come in, Mr. De- 
 spondency, and Miss Much-afraid, his daughter. 
 These, Mr. Great-heart," said the shepherds to 
 the guide, " we call in by name, for that they 
 are most subject to draw back; but as for yon 
 and the rest that are strong, we leave you to 
 your wonted liberty." Then said Mr. Great- 
 heart, " This day I see that grace doth shine 
 in your faces, and that you are my Lord's 
 shepherds indeed: for that you have not 
 pushed these diseased neither with side nor 
 shoulder, but have rather strewed their way 
 into the palace with flowers, as you should." 
 Ezek. xxxiv. 21. 
 
 So the feeble and weak went in, and Mr. 
 Great-heart and the rest did follow. When 
 they were also set down, the shepherds said to 
 those of the weaker sort, What is that you 
 would have ? For, said they, all things must 
 be managed here to be the supporting of the 
 weak as well as the warning of the unruly. 
 
 So they made them a feast of things easy of 
 digestion and that were pleasant to the palate 
 and nourishing ; the which when they had re- 
 ceived, they went to their rest, each one re- 
 spectively unto his proper place. When morn- 
 ing was come, because the mountains were 
 high and the day clear, and because it was the 
 
 'custom of the shepherds to show the pilgrims, 
 before their*ieparture, some rarities, therefore, 
 after they were ready and had refreshed them- 
 selves, the shepherds took them out into the 
 fields and showed them first what they iad 
 showed to Christian before. 
 
 Then they had them to some new plac^es. 
 The first was Mount Marvel, where they looked 
 knd beheld a man at a distance that tumbled 
 the hills about with words. Then they asked 
 the shepherds what that, should mean ? so they 
 told them that this man was the son of one Mr. 
 ■Great-grace, [of whom you read in the first 
 part of the records of the Pilgrim's Progress,} 
 and he is set there to teach pilgrims how to 
 believe down or to tumble out of their way 
 what difficulties they should meet with, by 
 faith. Mark xi. 23, 24. Then said Mr. Great- 
 heart, "I know him; he is a man above many.'' 
 
 Then they had them to another jJace, called 
 Mount Innocence : and there they saw a man 
 clothed in white, and two men, Prejudice and 
 Ill-will, continually casting dirt upon him. 
 Now, behold the dirt, whatsoever they cast 
 at him, would in a little time fall off again, 
 and his garment would look as clear as if no 
 dirt had been cast thereat. Then said the pil- 
 grims, What means this? The sbepberds 
 answered. This man is named Godly-man, and 
 the garment is to show the innocency of his 
 life. Now, those that tbrow dirt at him are 
 such as hate his well-doing ; but as you see the 
 dirt will not stick upon his clothes, so it shall 
 be with him that lives truly innocent in the 
 world. Whoever they be that would make 
 such inen dirty, they labour all in vain ; for 
 God, by that a little time is spent, will cause 
 that their innocence shall break forth as the 
 light and their righteousness as the noonday. 
 
 Then they took them and had them to 
 Mount Charity, where they showed them a 
 man that had a bundle of cloth lying before 
 him, out of which he cut coats and garments 
 for the poor that stood about him; yet his 
 bundle or roll of cloth was never the less. 
 Then said they. What should this be? This 
 is, said the shepherds, to show you that he that 
 has a heart to give of his labour to the pooi 
 shall never want wherewithal. "He that 
 watereth shall be watered himself." And the 
 cake that the widow gave to the prophet did not 
 cause that she had ever the less in her barrel. 
 
 They had them also to the place where they 
 saw one Fool and one Want-wit washing of 
 an Ethiopian, with an intention to make him 
 white; but the more they washed him the 
 
=! 
 
 H 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 R 
 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 233 
 
 MacliL'i- he was. They then asked the shep- 
 herds what that should mean? So they lold 
 them, saying, Thus shall it be with the vile 
 person ; all means used to get such a one a 
 good name shall in conclusion tend but to 
 make him more abominable. Thus it was 
 with th« Pliarisees, and ko it shall be with all 
 hypocrites. 
 
 Then said Mercy, the* wife of Matthew, to 
 Christiana her mother, I would, il it might be, 
 ftee the hole in the hill, or that commonly 
 called the by-way to hell. So her mother 
 brake her mind to the shepherds. Then they 
 went to the door, (it was on the side of an hill,) 
 and they opened it and bid Mercy hearken 
 awhile. So she hearkened and heard one say- 
 ing, " Cursed be my father for holding of my 
 feet back from the way of peace an4 life!" 
 And another said, " Oh that I had been torn 
 in pieces before I had, to save my life, lost my 
 soul !" And another said, " If I were to live 
 again, how would I deny myself rather than 
 come to this place !" Then there was as if the 
 very earth groaned and quaked under the feet 
 of this young woman for fear, so she looked 
 white arid came trembling away, saying, 
 " Blessed be he and she that is delivered from 
 this place !" 
 
 Now when the shepherds had shown them 
 all these things, then they had them back to 
 the palace, and entertained them with what 
 the house would afford: but Mercy, being a 
 young and breeding woman, longed for some- 
 thing that she saw there, but wm ashamed to 
 ask. Her mother-in-law then asked what she 
 ailed, for sh^ looked as one not well. Then 
 said Mercy, There is a looking-glass hangs up 
 in the dining-room, off which I cannot take 
 my mind ; if therefore I have it not, I think I 
 shall miscarry. Then said her mother, I will 
 mention thy wants to the shepherds, and they 
 will not deny it thee. But she said, I am 
 ajhamed that these men should know that I 
 longed. Nay, my daughter, said she, it is no 
 shame, but a virtue, to long for such a thing as 
 that. So Mercy said, Then, mother, if you 
 please, ask the shepherds if they are willing 
 to sell it. 
 
 Now the glass was one of a thousand. ' It 
 would present a man, one way, with his own 
 features exactly ; and turn it but another way, 
 and it would show onj the very face and si- 
 
 • Oh what a blessed thing it is to long for the word 
 of Qod, so as not to be satisfied without it, and to 
 priie it above and beyond all other things ! Love to 
 Ibe word excites the soul to say with D irid, '* I have 
 
 militude of the Prince of the pilgrims himself 
 Yes, I have talked with them that can tell, and 
 they have said that they have seen tho very 
 crown of thorns upon his head by looking in 
 that glass; they have therein also seen the 
 holes in his hands, in his feet, and his side. 
 Yea, such an excellency is there in that glass 
 that it will show him to one where they ha ye 
 a mind to see him, whether living or dead, 
 whether in earth or in heaven, whether in a 
 state of humiliation, or in his exaltation, 
 whether coming to suffer or coming to reign.* 
 James i. 23-25 ; 1 Cor. xiii. 12; 2 Cor. iii. 13. 
 
 Christiana therefore went to the shepherds 
 apart, (now the names of the shepherds were 
 . Knowledge, Experience, Watchful, and Sin- 
 cere,) and said unto them. There is one of my 
 daughters, a breeding woman, that, I think, 
 doth long for something that she hath seen in 
 this house, and she thinks she should miscarry 
 if she should by you be denied. 
 
 Experience. Call her, call her: she shall 
 assuredly have what, we can help her to. So 
 they called her, and said to her, Mercy, what 
 is that thing thou wouldst have? Then she 
 blushed and said. The great glass that hangs 
 up in the dining-room. So Sincere ran and 
 fetched it, and with a joyful consent it was 
 given her. Then she bowed her head and 
 gave thanks, and said, By this I know that I 
 have obtained favour in your eyes. 
 
 They also gave to the other young women 
 such things as they desired, and to their hus- 
 bands great commendations for that they had 
 joined with Mr. Great-heart to the slaying of 
 Giant Despair and the demolishing of Doubt- 
 ing Castle.f About Christiana's neck the 
 shepherds put a bracelet, and so they did 
 about the necks of her four daughters ; also 
 they put earrings in their ears and jewels on 
 their foreheads. 
 
 When they were minded to go hence they let 
 them go in peace, but gave not to then: those 
 certain cautions which before were given to 
 Christian and his companion. The reason was 
 for that these had Great-heart to be theii 
 guide, who was one that was well acquainted 
 with things, and so could give them their 
 cautions more seasonable; to wit, even then 
 when the danger was nigh the approaching. 
 What cautions Christian and his compan- 
 
 longed for thy salvation, Lord." Ps. cxix. 174. This 
 is a special mark of a gracious soul. , 
 
 f No good thing, done in the name and to the glory 
 of Christ, shall be forgotten of him, nor go unrewarded 
 by him. 
 
234 
 
 BUNrAN'S COMPLETE WOMiS. 
 
 ion had received of tlie sliepherds they had 
 also lost by that the time was come that they 
 had need to put them in practice. Wherefore, 
 here was the advantage that this company had 
 over the other. 
 
 From hence they went on singing, and they 
 said — 
 
 " Behold, how fiOy are the stages set 
 
 For their relief that pilgrims are bdomo, 
 And how they us receive without one let, 
 
 That make the other life the mark and home f 
 What novelties they have to us they give. 
 That we, though pilgrims, joyful lives may live. 
 They do upon us, too, such things bestow 
 That show wc pilgrims are where'er we go," 
 
 CHAPTEE XlV. 
 
 Tlie company joined by Mr. Valiant-for-truth and Mr. Standfast. — They pass over tht 
 Enchanted Ground. — A description of Madam Bvbhle. 
 
 When they were gone from the shepherds 
 they quickly came to the place where Chris- 
 tian met with one Turn-away, that dwelt in 
 the town of Apostacy. Wherefore of him Mr. 
 Great-heart, their guide, did now put them in 
 mind, saying. This is the place where Chris- 
 tian met with one Turn-away, who carried 
 with him the character of his rebellion at his 
 back. And this I have to say concerning this 
 man — he would hearken to no counsel, but 
 once a-falling, persuasion could not stop him. 
 When he came to the place where the cross 
 and the sepulchre was, he did meet with one 
 that did bid him look there, but he gnashed 
 with his teeth and stamped, and said he was 
 resolved to go back to his own town. Before 
 he came to the gate he met with Evangelist, 
 who offered to lay hands on him to turn him 
 into the way again. But this Turn-away re- 
 sisted him, and having done much despite unto 
 him, he got away over the wall, and so escaped 
 his hand. 
 
 Then they went on ; and just at the place 
 where Little-faith formerly was robbed there 
 stood a man with his sword drawn and his face 
 all bloody. Then said Mr. Great-heart, What 
 art thou? The man .made answer, saying, I 
 am one whose name is Valiant-for-truth ; I am 
 a pilgrim, and am going to the Celestial City. 
 Now, as I was .on my way there were three 
 men that did beset me, and propounded unto 
 me these three things: Whether I would be- 
 come one of them, or go back from whence I 
 came, or die upon the place ? To the first I 
 answered, I had been a true man a long season, 
 and therefore it could not be expected that I 
 should jiow cast in my lot with thieves. Prov. 
 i. 10, 19. Then they demanded what I would 
 
 * Truth will make a man valiant j and valour for 
 truth will make a pilgrim fight with wild-headed, in- 
 Bonsiderate, and pragmatic opposers. The blood he 
 
 say to the second? So I told them of the place 
 from whence I came ; had I not found incom- 
 modity there, I had not forsaken it at all ; but 
 finding it altogether unsuitable to me and very 
 unprofitable for me, I forsook it for this way. 
 Then they asked what I said to the third? 
 And I told them my life cost more dear fai 
 than that I should lightly give it away. Be- 
 sides, you have nothing to do to put things to 
 my choice ; wherefore at your peril be it if yon 
 meddle. Then these three — ^to wit. Wild-head, 
 Inconsiderate, and Pragmatic — drew upon me, 
 and I also drew upon them. So we fell to it, 
 one against three, for the space of three hours. 
 They have left upon me, as you see, some of 
 the marks of their valour, and have also car- 
 ried away with them some of mine. They are 
 but just now gone : I suppose they might, as 
 the saying isj> hear your horse dash, and so 
 they betook themselves to flight. 
 
 Qreat-heart. But here was great odds, three 
 against one. 
 
 Valiant-for-truth. 'Tis true: but little or 
 more are nothing to him that has the truth on. 
 his side; "Though an host should encamp 
 against me," said one^ "my heart shall not 
 fear : though war shall rise against me, in this 
 will I be confident," &c. Besides, said he, I 
 haye read in some records that one man has 
 fought an army : and how many did Samson 
 slay with the jawbone of an ass?* 
 
 Then said the guide. Why did you not cry 
 out, that some might have come in for your 
 succour ? 
 
 Valiant-for-truth. So I did to my King, who 
 I knew could hear me and afford invisible 
 help, and that was enough for me.f 
 
 loses in such a battle is his honour, the sfiars he gets 
 are his glory. 
 
 -j- Enough indeed. He who is engaged for God*l 
 truth shall never want Sod's help. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROOBESS. 
 
 235 
 
 Then said Great-heart to Mr. Valiant-for- 
 truth, Thou hast worthily behaved thyself; let 
 me see the sword. So he showed it him. 
 When he had taken it into his hand and 
 looked thereon a while, he said, Ha, it is a 
 right Jerusalem blade. 
 
 Valianl-for-truth. It is so. Let a man have 
 one of these "blades, with a hand to wield it 
 and skill to use it, and he may venture upon 
 an angel with it. He need not fear its holding 
 if he can but tell how to lay on. Its edge will 
 never blunt. It will cut flesh and bones, and 
 Boul and spirit, and all. 
 
 Oreai-heart. But you fought a great while ; 
 I wonder you were not weary. 
 
 Valiani-for-iruth^l fought till my sword did 
 cleave to my hand, and then they were joined 
 together, as if a sword grew out of my arm : 
 and when the blood run through my fingers, 
 then I fought with most courage.* 
 
 Oreai-heart. Thou hast done well ; thou hast 
 " resisted unto blood, striving against sin ;" 
 thou shalt abide by us and come in and go out 
 with us, for we are thy companions. 
 
 Then they took him and washed his wounds, 
 and gave him of what they had to refresh him, 
 and so they went together. Now as they went 
 on, because Mr. Great-heart was delighted in 
 him, (for he loved one greatly that he found to 
 be a man of his hands,) and because there 
 were in company them that were feeble and 
 weak, therefore he questioned with him about 
 many things ; as, first, what countryman he 
 was? 
 
 Valiant-for-iruih, I am of Dark-land, for 
 there I was born, and there my father and 
 mother are still. 
 
 Dark-land ! said the guide; doth not that lie 
 on the same coast with the city of Destruc- 
 tion? 
 
 Valiant-for-truth. Yes it doth. Now that 
 which caused me to come on pilgrimage was 
 this : we had Mr. Tell-true come into our 
 parts, and he told us about what Christian had 
 done that went from the city of Destruction — 
 namely, how he had forsaken his wife and 
 children, and had betaken himself to a pil- 
 
 • Blessed fighting, when hand and heart are en- 
 gaged, and the sword grows united to both ! ye 
 trimmers and lukewarm professors, who will tamely 
 give up or meanly compound for peace by the barter 
 of truth, let this shame and confound you ! 
 
 t The reason why so many professors who set out 
 go on for a season, but fall away and come to nothing 
 at last, is because they do not enter into the pilgrim's 
 path by Christ, wti is the gate. They do n'-t see 
 
 grim's life. It was also confidently reported 
 how he had killed a serpent that did come out 
 to resist him in his journey, and how he got 
 through to whither he L".tended. It was also 
 told what welcome he had to all his Lord's 
 lodgings, especially when he came to the gates 
 of the Celestial City; for there, said the man, 
 he was received with sound of trumpet, by a 
 company of shining ones. He told it also how 
 all the bells in the city did ring for joy at his 
 reception, and what golden garments be was 
 clothed with; with many other things that 
 now I shall forbear to relate. In a word, that 
 man so told the story of Christian and his 
 travels that my heart fell into a burning heat 
 to be gone after him: nor could father or 
 mother stay me. So I got from them, and am 
 come thus far on my way. 
 
 Great-heart. You came in at the gate, did 
 you not? # 
 
 Valiant-for-truth. Yes, yes; for the same 
 man also told us that all would be nothing if 
 we did not begin to enter this way at the gate.f 
 
 Look you, said the guide to Christiana, the 
 pilgrimage of your husband, and what he has 
 gotten thereby, is spread abroad far and near. 
 
 Valiant-for-truth. Why, is this Christian's 
 wife? 
 
 Qreal-heart. Yes, that it is; and these are 
 also her four sons. 
 
 Valiant-for-truth. Whatl and going on pil- 
 grimage too? 
 
 Great-heart. Yes verily, they are following 
 after. 
 
 Valiant-for-truth. It glads me at heart; good 
 man ! how joyful will he be when he shall see 
 them that would not go with him to enter be- 
 fore him at the gates into the Celestial City ! 
 
 Cheat-heart. Without doubt it would be a 
 comfort to him; for, next to the joy of seeing 
 hipiself there, it will be a joy to meet there 
 his wife and children. 
 
 Valiant-for-truth. But, now you are upon 
 that, pray let me hear your opinion about it. 
 Some make a question whether we shall know 
 one another when we are there. 
 
 Oreat-heart. Do they think they shall know 
 
 themselves quite lost, ruined, hopeless and wretched; 
 their hearts are not broken for sin; therefore they do 
 not begin by receiving Christ as the only Saviour of 
 such miserable sinners. But they set out in nature's 
 strength, and not receiving nor living upon Christ, 
 they soon fall away. This is the reason of this in- 
 quiry, Did you come in at the gat© ? A question we 
 ought to put to ourselves and be fully satisfied 
 about. 
 
236 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 tlaemselves then, or that they shall rejoice to 
 Bee themselves in that bliss? and if they think 
 they shall know and do these, why not know 
 others, and rejoice in their welfare also? Again, 
 since relations are our second self, though that 
 state will be dissolved, yet why may it not be 
 rationally concluded that we shall be more 
 glad to see them there than to see they are 
 wanting? 
 
 Valiant-for-truth. Well, I perceive where- 
 abouts you are as to this. Have you any more 
 things to ask me about my beginning to come 
 on pilgrimage?* 
 
 Great-Iieart, Yes: was your father and 
 mother willing that you should become a pil- 
 grim? 
 
 Valiant-for-truth. Oh no; they used all 
 means imaginable to persuade me to stay at 
 home. 
 
 Oreat-heart. What could they^say against 
 it? 
 
 Valiant-for-truth. They said it was an idle 
 life ; and, if I myself were not inclined to sloth 
 and laziness, I would never countenance a pil- 
 grim's condition. 
 
 Great-heart. And what did they say else? 
 
 Valiant-for-truth. Why, they told me that it 
 was a dangerous way : yea, the most dangerous 
 way in the world, say they, is that which the 
 pilgrims go. 
 
 Great-heart. Did they show you wherein this 
 way is dangerous? 
 
 Valiant-for-truth. Yes; and that in many 
 particulars. ' 
 
 Great-heart. Name some of them. 
 
 Valiant-for-truth. They told me of the slough 
 of Despond wherein Christian was wellnigh 
 smothered. They told me that there were, 
 archers standing ready in Beelzebub Castle to 
 shoot them who should knock at the Wicket- 
 gate for entrance. They told me also of the 
 wood and dark mountains, of the hill Diffi- 
 culty, of the lions, and also of the three 
 giants. Bloody-man, Maul, and Slay-good; 
 they said, moreover, that there was a foul 
 fiend haunted the Valley of Humiliation ; and 
 that Christian was by him almost bareft of 
 life. Besides, said they, you must go over the 
 Valley of the Shadow of Death, where the 
 hobgoblins are, where the light is darkness, 
 where the way is full of snares, pits, traps, 
 and gins. They told me also of Giant De- 
 spair, of Doubting Castle, and of the ruin the 
 pilgrims met with there. Further, they said 
 
 •*" A sound Christian is not afraid to be examined 
 ».u4 sifted to the bottom, for he can give a reason of. 
 
 I must go over the Enchanted Ground, 
 which was dangerous. And that after al! 
 this I should find a river, over which I 
 should find no bridge; and that that riyer 
 did lie betwixt me and the Celestial Country. 
 
 Great-heart. And was this all? 
 
 Valiant-for-truth. No : they also told me that 
 this way was full of deceivers, and of persons 
 that lay in wait there to turn good men out of 
 their path. 
 
 Great-heart. But how did they make that 
 out? 
 
 Valiant-for-truth. They told me that Mr. 
 Worldly-wiseman did lie there in wait to de- 
 ceive. They also said that there were For- 
 mality and Hypocrisy continually on the road. 
 They said also that By-ends, Talkative, or De- 
 mas would go near to gather me up ; that the 
 Flatterer would catch me in his net; or that, 
 with green-headed Ignorance, I would presume 
 to go on to the gate, from whence he .was sent 
 back to the hole that was in the side of the 
 hill, and made to go the by-way to hell. 
 
 Great-heart. I promise you this was enough 
 to discourage thee. But did they make an end 
 there? 
 
 Valiant-for-truih. No — stay. They told me 
 also of many that tried that way of old, and 
 that had gone a great way therein, to see if 
 they could find something of the glory there 
 that so many had so much talked of from time 
 to time ; and how they came back again and 
 befooled themselves for setting a foot out of 
 doors in that path, to the satisfaction of the 
 country. And they named several that did so, 
 as Obstinate and Pliable, Mistrust and Timor- 
 ous, Turn-away and old Atheist, with several 
 more; who, they said, had some of them gone 
 far to see what they could find, but not one of 
 them found so much advantage by going as 
 amounted to the weight of a feather. 
 
 Great-heart. Said they any thing more to 
 discourage you? 
 
 Valiant-for-truth. Yes: they told me of one 
 Mr. Fearing, who was a pilgrim : and how he 
 found his way so solitary that he never had a 
 comfortable hour therein; also that Mr. De- 
 spondency had like to have been starved 
 therein; yea, and also (which I had almost 
 forgot) Christian himself, about whom there 
 has been such a noise, after all his ventures 
 for a celestial crown, was certainly drowned in 
 the black river, and went never a foot further, 
 however it was smothered up. 
 
 the hope that is in him. He knows why and where- 
 fore he commenced a pilgrim. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 237 
 
 Great-heart. And did none of these things 
 discourage you ? 
 
 Valiant-foT-truth. No : they seemed as so 
 many nothings to me. 
 
 Great-heart How came that nhout 7 
 
 Valiant-foT-truth. Why, I still helieved what 
 Mr. Tell-true had said, and that carried me 
 beyond thom all. 
 
 Great-heart. Then this was your victory, 
 even your faith. 
 
 Valiant-for-truth. It was so : I believed, and 
 therefore came out, got into the way, fought 
 all that set themselves against me, and by be- 
 lieving am come to this place.* 
 
 " Who would true valour see. 
 
 Let him come hither ; 
 One here will constant be, , 
 
 Come wind, come weather j 
 There's no discouragement 
 Shall make him once relent 
 His first avow'd intent 
 
 To be a pilgrim. 
 
 " Whoso beset him round 
 
 With dismal stories. 
 Bo \>ut themselves confound— 
 
 His strength the more is; 
 No lion can him fright. 
 He'll with a giant fight. 
 But he will have a right 
 
 To be a pilgrim, 
 
 " Hobgoblin nor foul fiend 
 
 Can dannt his spirit; 
 He knows he at the end 
 
 Shall life inherit. 
 Then, fancies, fly away, 
 He'll not fear what men say. 
 He'll labour night and day 
 
 To be a pilgrim." 
 
 By this time they were got to the En- 
 chanted Ground, where the air naturally 
 tended to make one drowsy: and that place 
 was all grown over with briers and thorns, 
 excepting here and there where was an en- 
 chanted arbour, upon which if a man sits, or 
 in which if a man sleeps, 'tis a question, say 
 some, whether ever he shall rise or wake again 
 in this world. Over this forest, therefore, they 
 went, both one and another : and Mr. Great- 
 
 * Here we see that valiant soldiers of Christ ascribe 
 all to the exercise of faith. They set out with faith, 
 and they hold on and hold out by believing. Thus 
 they give all .the glory to Christ, who is the object, 
 author, and finisher of faith. 
 
 f Old pilgrims, ye who have set out well and go on 
 Well for a long season, consider yo are yet in the 
 
 heart went before, for that ho was the guide^ 
 and Mr. Valiant-for-truth came behind, being 
 rear-guard, for fear lest peradventure soma 
 fiend, or dragon, or giant, or thief should fall 
 upon their rear, and so do mischief. They 
 went on here, each man with his sword drawn 
 in his hand, for they knew it was a dangerous 
 place. Also they cheered up one another as 
 well as they could; Feeble-mind, Mr. Great- 
 heart commanded, should come up after him, 
 and Mr. Despondency was under the eye of 
 Mr. Valiant.t 
 
 Now they had not gone far but a great mist 
 and darkness fell upon them all, so that they 
 could scarce, for a great while, one see the 
 other; wherefore they were forced for some 
 time to feel for one another by words, for they 
 walked not by sight.J But any one must 
 think that here was but sorry going for the 
 best of them all, but how much the worse was 
 it for the women and children, who both of 
 feet and heart were also but tender! Yet 
 nevertheless so it was that through the en- 
 couraging words of him that led in the 
 front, aod of him that brought them up be- 
 hind, they made a pretty good shift to wag 
 along. 
 
 The way was also here very wearisome, 
 through dirt and slabbiness.. Nor was there 
 on all this ground so much as one inn or vic- 
 tualling-house wherein to refresh the feebler 
 sort. Here therefore was grunting, and puff- 
 ing, and sighing : while one tumbleth over a 
 bush, another sticketh fast in the dirt; and 
 the children, some of them, lost their shoes in 
 the mire : while one cries out, " I am down ;'' 
 and another, " Ho I where are you ?" and a 
 third, " The bushes have got such fast hold 
 on me, I think I cannot get away from 
 them." 
 
 Then they came to an arbour, warm and 
 promising much refreshing to the pilgrims, for 
 it was finely wrought above head, beautified 
 with greens, furnished with benches and set- 
 tles. It had in it a soft couch where the weary 
 might lean. This, you must think, all things 
 considered, was tempting, for the pilgrims 
 already began to be foiled with the badness 
 of the way ; but there was not one of them 
 
 world, which is enchanted ground. Know your dan- 
 ger of seeking rest here or sleeping in any of its en- 
 chanting arbours. 
 
 { Though feelings may be lost, light seem to fail, 
 and comforts forsake us, yet faith shall supply the 
 want of all. Like Moses, we shall endure, Seeing him 
 who is invisible. Ileb. xi. 27. 
 
238 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WOMKS. 
 
 tliat made so much as a motion to stop there. 
 Yea, for aught I could perceive, they contin- 
 ually gave so good heed to the advice of their 
 guide, and he did so faithfully tell them of 
 dangers, and of the nature of dangers when 
 they were at them, that usually, when they 
 were nearest to them, they did most pluck up 
 their spirits and hearten one another to deny 
 the flesh.* The arbour was called the Sloth- 
 ful's Friend, on purpose to allure, if it might 
 be, some of the pilgrims there to take up their 
 rest when weary. 
 
 I saw then in my dream that they went on 
 in this their solitary ground till they came to 
 a place at which a man is apt to lose his way. 
 Now, though when it was light their guide 
 could well enough tell how to miss those ways 
 that led wrong, yet in the dark he was put to 
 a stand : but he had in his pocket a map of all 
 ways leading to or from the Celestial City; 
 wherefore he struck a light, (for he never goes 
 also without his tinder-box,) and takes a view 
 of his book or map,' which bids him be careful 
 in that place to turn to the right hand. A.nd 
 had he not here been careful to loot 'n his 
 map they had in all probability been :!moth- 
 ered in the mud ; for just a little bef&xie them, 
 and that at the end of the cleanest way too, 
 was a pit, none knows how deep, full of noth- 
 ing but mud, there made on purpose to destroy 
 the pilgrims in. i 
 
 Then thought I with myself. Who that goeth 
 on pilgrimage but would have one of these 
 maps about him, that he may look when he is 
 at a stand which is the way he must take ? 
 
 They went on, then, in this Enchanted 
 Ground till they came to where there was an- 
 other arbour, and it was built by the highway 
 side. And in that arbour there lay two men, 
 whose natnes were Heedless and Too-bold. 
 These two went thus far on pil^image; and 
 here, being wearied with their journey, sat 
 down to rest themselves, and so fell fast asleep. 
 When the pilgrims saw them they stood still 
 and shook their heads, for they knew that the 
 sleepers were in a pitiful case. Then they con- 
 sulted what to do, whether to go on and leave 
 them in their sleep, or step to them and try 
 to awake them. So they concluded to go to 
 
 * " Deny yourselves," is the word of Christ. The 
 slothfulness, ease, and desires of the flesh must be de- 
 nied, or danger will inevitably ensue. To gratify the 
 flesh is to destroy the Spirit's comfort, if not the soul's 
 salvation. 
 
 f It is the duty, and will be the practice, of pil- 
 grims to strive to be insti imental to the good of others. 
 
 them and awake them — that is, if they could ; 
 but with this caution, namely, to take heed 
 that themselves did not sit down nor embrace 
 the offered benefit of that arbour.t 
 
 So they went in and spake to the men, and 
 called each by his name, (for the guide, it 
 seems, did know them,) but there was no voice 
 nor answer. Then the guide did shake them 
 and do what he could to disturb them. Then 
 said one of them, " I will pay you when I take 
 my money." At which the guide shook his 
 head. " I wiU fight so long as I can hold my 
 sword in my hand," said the other. At that 
 one of the children laughed. 
 . Then said Christiana, What is the meaning 
 of this? Then the guide said. They talk in ' 
 their sleep; if you do strike them, or beat 
 them, or whatever else you do unto them, they 
 will answer you after this fashion ; or, as one 
 of them said in old time, when the waves of 
 the sea did beat upon him, and he slept as one 
 upon the mast of a ship, " When I do awake, 
 I will seek it yet again." Prov. xxiii. 34, 35. 
 You know when men talk in their sleep they 
 say any thing, but their words are not gov- 
 erned either by faith or reason. There is an 
 in coherency in their words now, even as there 
 was before betwixt their going on pilgrimage 
 and their sitting down here. This then is the 
 mischief on't when heedless ones go on pil- 
 grimage, twenty to one but they are served 
 thus. For this Enchanted Ground is one of 
 the last refuges that the enemy to pilgrims has ; 
 wherefore it is, as you see, placed almost at the 
 end of the way, and so it standeth against us 
 with the more advantage. For when, thinks 
 the enemy, will these fools be so desirous to sit 
 down as when tljey are weary ? And at what 
 time so likely for to be weary as when they are 
 almost at their journey's end ? Therefore it is, 
 I say, that the Enchanted Ground is placed so 
 nigh to the land of Beulah, and so near the t nd 
 of their race. Wherefore, let pilgrims look to 
 themselves, lest it happens to them as it hatly 
 done to these, that, as you see, are fallen asleep, 
 and none can awake them.J 
 
 Then the pilgrims desired, with trembling, 
 to go forward ; only they prayed their guide to 
 strike a light, that they might go the rest of 
 
 But at the same time it behooves them to take heed to 
 themselves and watch, lest they catch harm from them 
 and their conduct. 
 
 J What a sound sleep of infatuation hath this en- 
 chanting world cast many a professor into ! They are 
 proof against all warnings, and dead as to any meant 
 of arousing them. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PR0QBES8. 
 
 239 
 
 their way by the help of the light of a lantern. 
 So he struck a light, and they went by the help 
 of that through the rest of this way, though the 
 darkness was very great.* 2 Pet. i. 19. 
 
 But the children began to be sorely weary, 
 and they cried out unto Him that loveth pil- 
 grims to make their way more comfortable. 
 Bo, by that they had gone a little further, a 
 wind arose that drove ^way the fog ; so the air 
 became more clear. Yet they were not off, by 
 much, of the Enchanted Ground, but only now 
 they could see one another better, and also the 
 way wherein they should walk. 
 
 Now, when they were almost at the end of 
 this ground they perceived that a little before 
 them was a solemn noise of one that was much 
 concerned. So they went on and looked before 
 them ; and behold, they saw, as they thought, 
 a man upon his knees, with hands and eyes 
 lifted up, and speaking, as they thought, earn- 
 estly to one that was above. They drew nigh, 
 but could not tell what he said ; so they went 
 softly till he had done. When he had done, 
 he got up and began to run towards the Celes- 
 tial City. Then Mr. Great-heart called after 
 him, saying, "Soho, friend, let us have your 
 company, if you go, as I suppose you do, to 
 the Celestial City." So the man stopped, and 
 they came up to him : but so soon as Mr. Hon- 
 est saw him he said, I know this man. Then 
 said Mr. Valiant-for-truth, " Pr'ythee, who is 
 it ?" " 'Tis one (said he) that comes from where- 
 abouts I dwelt ; his name is Standfast ; he is 
 certainly a right good pilgrim." 
 
 So they came up one to another ; and pres- 
 ently Mr. Standfast said to old Honest, " Ho I 
 father Honest, are you there?" "Ay, (said 
 he,) that I am, as sure as you are there." 
 " Eight glad am I (said Mr. Standfast) that I 
 have found you on this road." "And as glad 
 am I (said the other) that I espied you on your 
 knees." Then Mr. Standfast blushed and said, 
 "But why, did you see me?" "Yes, that I 
 did, (quoth the other,) and with my heart was 
 I glad at the sight." "Why, what did you 
 think?" said Standfast. "Think! (said old 
 Honest,) what should I think? I thought we 
 had an honest man upon the road, therefore 
 we should have his company by and by." " If 
 you thought not amiss, how happy am I ! but 
 if I be not as I should, 'tis I alone must bear 
 :t." " That is true, (said the other,) but your 
 
 * The word of God is the only light to direct our 
 steps. He who nogleots this is a fool. He who sets 
 up and \o6ka for any other light to direct him is mad, 
 and kDo\fS not what he docs. 
 
 fear doth further confirm me that things are 
 right betwixt the Prince of pilgrims and your 
 soul : for he saith, ' Blessed is the man that fear- 
 eth always.' " f 
 
 Valiant-for-truth. Well but, brother, I pray 
 thee tell us what was it that was the cause of 
 thy being upon thy knees even now ? Was it 
 for some obligations laid by special mercies 
 upon thee, or how? 
 
 Standfast. Why, we are, as you see, upon 
 the Enchanted Ground ; and as I was coming 
 along I was musing wjith myself of what a dan- 
 gerous nature the road in this place was, and 
 how many that had come even thus far on 
 pilgrimage had here been stopped and been 
 destroyed. I thought also of the manner of 
 death with which this place destroyeth men. 
 Those that die here die of no violent distem- 
 per : the death which such do die is not grievous 
 to them ; for he that goeth away in a sleep be- 
 gins that journey with desire and pleasure: 
 yea, such acquiesce 'in the will of that 
 disease. 
 
 Then Mr. Honest, interrupting of him, said, 
 Did you see the two men asleep in the 
 arbour ? 
 
 Standfast. Ay, ay, I saw Heedless and also 
 Too-bold there; and for aught I know, that 
 there they will lie until they rot, (Prov. x. 7 ;) 
 but let me go on with my tale : As I was thus 
 musing, as I said, there was one in pleasant 
 attire, but old, who presented herself unto me, 
 and offered me three things-.— to .wit, her body, 
 her purse, and her bed. Now thfe truth is, I 
 was both weary and sleepy : I am also as poor 
 as an owlet, and that perhaps the witch knew. 
 Well, I repulsed her once and twice ; but she 
 put by my repulses and smiled. Then I began 
 to be angry, but she mattered that nothing at 
 all. Then she made offers again, and said. If 
 I would be ruled by her she would make me 
 great and happy : for, said she, I am the mis- 
 tress of the world, and men are made happy 
 by me. Then I asked her name, and she told 
 me it was Madam Bubble. This set me fur- 
 ther from, her, but she still followed me with 
 enticements. Then I betook me, as you see, 
 to my knees, and with hands lifted up and 
 cries, I prayed to Him that had said he would 
 help. So j ust as you came up the gentlewoman 
 went her way. Then I continued to give 
 thanks for this great deliverance, for I verily 
 
 -|- He who feareth always will pray evermore. The 
 fear of the heart will bring pilgrims on their knees. 
 He who fears to be or go wrong will pray to be set 
 right. 
 
240 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 believe she intended no good, but rather sought 
 to make a stop of me in my journey.* 
 
 Honest. Without doubt lier designs were 
 bad. But stay, now you talk of her methinks 
 I either have seen her or have read some story 
 of her. 
 
 Standfast. Perhaps you have done both. 
 
 Honest. Madam Bubble! is she not a tall, 
 comely dame, something of a swarthy com- 
 plexion ? 
 
 Standfast. Right, you hit it ; she is just such 
 an one. 
 
 Honest. Doth she not speak very smoothly, 
 and give you a smile at the end of every sen- 
 tence ? 
 
 Standfast. You fall right upon it again, for 
 these are her actions. 
 
 Honest. Doth she not wear a great purse by 
 her side? and is not her hand often in it finger- 
 ing her money, as if that was her heart's de- 
 light? 
 
 Standfast. 'Tis just so : had she stood by all 
 this while you could not more amply have set 
 her forth before me and have better described 
 her features. 
 
 Honest. Then he that drew her picture was a 
 good limner, and he that wrote of her said true. 
 
 Qreat-heart. This woman is a witch ; and it 
 is by virtue of her sorceries that this ground is 
 enchanted : whoever doth lay their head down 
 in her lap had as good lay it down upon that 
 block over which the axe doth hang ; and who- 
 ever lays their eyes upon her beauty are 
 counted the enemies of God. James iv. 4; 1 
 John ii. 14, 15. This 'is she that maintaineth 
 in their splendour all those that are the ene- 
 mies of pilgrims. Yea, this is she that hath 
 brought off many a man from a pilgrim's life. 
 She is a great gossipper ; she is always, both 
 she and her daughters, at one pilgrim's heels 
 or another, now commending and then pre- 
 ferring the excellencies of this life. She is a 
 bold and impudent slut ; she will talk with any 
 man. She always laughs poor pilgrims to 
 scorn, but highly commends the Hch. If there 
 be one cunning to get money in a .place, she 
 will speak well of him from house to house. 
 She loveth banquetting and feasting mainly 
 
 * pilgrims ! beware of this Madam Bubble. Know 
 and consider well that ye have a nature exactly suited 
 to accept of her offers and to fall in lovo with her 
 promises. The riches, honours, and pleasures of the 
 world, what mortal can withstand or who can forego 
 them? No one hut he who sees more charms in Jesus, 
 more glory in his cross, and more comfort in the en- 
 joyment of his love and presence, and therefore is 
 continually looking and crying to him, " Turn away 
 
 well ; she is always at one full taole or another, 
 She has given it out in some places that she is 
 a goddess, and therefore some do worship her. 
 She has her time and open places of cheating ; 
 and she will say, and avow it, that none can 
 show a good comparable to hers. She prom- 
 iseth to dwell with children's children if they 
 would but love and make much of her. She 
 will cast out of her purse gold like dust in 
 some places and to some p'ersons. She loves to 
 be sought after, spoken well of, and to lie in 
 the bosoms of men. She is never weary of 
 commending her comnjodities, and she loves 
 them most that think best of her. She will 
 promise crowns and kingdoms if they will but 
 take her advice ; yet many hath she brought to 
 the halter, and teil thousand times more to hell. 
 
 Oh ! said Standfast, what a mercy it is that 
 I did resist her ! for whither might she have 
 drawn me?t 
 
 Qreat-heart. Whither! nay none but God 
 knows. But, in general, to be sure she would 
 have drawn thee into " many foolish and hurt- 
 ful lusts, which drown men in destruction and 
 perdition." 1 Tim. vi. 9. It was she that set 
 Absalom against his father, and Jeroboam 
 against his master. It was she that persuaded 
 Judas to sell his Lord, and that prevailed with 
 Demas to forsake the godly pilgrim's life : none 
 can tell of the mischief that she doth. She 
 makes variance betwixt rulers and subjects, 
 betwixt parents and children, betwixt neigh- 
 bour and neighbour, betwixt a man and his 
 wife, between a man and himself, betwixt the 
 flesh and the spirit. Wherefore, good master 
 Standfast, be as your name is, and " when you 
 have done all, stand." 
 
 At this discourse there was among the pil- 
 grims a mixture of joy and trembling; but at 
 length they brake out and sang— 
 
 ""What danger is the pilgrim in! 
 
 How many are his foes ! 
 How many ways there are to sin 
 
 No living mortal knows. 
 Some in the ditch spoil'd are, yea can 
 
 Lie tumbling in the mire I 
 Some, though they shun the frying-pan. 
 
 Do leap into the fire." 
 
 mine eyes from beholding vanity. Instruct my soul 
 in thy way. Keep me closely following thee. Lord, 
 thou art the portion of my soul !" 
 
 t In the experience of this most excellent man wa 
 Bee verified God's faithfulness in upholding and bring 
 ing off more than conquerors all who "call upon him 
 in the day of trouble !" Oh for an increase of precious 
 faith, to overcome the world, and to pass through it, in 
 pursuit of a nobler portion, as strangers and pilgrims! 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PROORESS. 
 
 241 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Tlie Pilgrims arrive at tlis Land of Beulah, where they wait for the summons of their 
 King. — Christiana and several of her companions pass the river, and are admitted into 
 the City of God. 
 
 After this I belield until they were come 
 onto the land of Beulah, where the sun shineth 
 E ight and day. Here, because they were weary, 
 thay b6took themselves a while to rest: and 
 because this country was common for pilgrims, 
 and because these orchards and vineyards that 
 ^^■ere here belonged to the King of the Celestial 
 Country, therefore they were licensed to make 
 bold with any of his things. But a little 
 while soon refreshed them here, for the bells 
 did so ring, and the trumpets continually 
 sounding so melodiously, that they could not 
 sleep; and yet they received as much ref: ash- 
 ing as if they slept their sleep never so soundly. 
 Here also all the noise of them that walked in 
 the streetshvas, " More pilgrims are to corae to 
 town." And another would answer, saying, 
 " And so many went over the water and were 
 let in at the golden gates to-day." They would 
 cry again, " There is now a legion of shining 
 ones just come to town, by which we know 
 that there are more pilgrims upon the road; 
 for here they come to wait for them and com- 
 fort them after their sorrow." Then the pil- 
 grims got up and wallced to and fro : hut how 
 were their eyes now filled with celestial visions I 
 In this land they heard nothing, saw nothing, 
 felt nothing, smelt nothing, tasted nothing that 
 was offensive to their stomach or mind ; only 
 when they tasted of the water of the river over 
 which they were to go they thought that tasted 
 a little bitterish to the" palate, but it proved 
 Bweet when it was down. 
 
 In this place there was a record kept of the 
 names of them that had been pilgrims of old, 
 and a history of all the famous acts that they 
 had done. It was here also much discoursed 
 how the river to some has its flowings, and 
 what ebbings it has had while others have gone 
 over. It has been in a manner dry for some, 
 while it has overflowed its banks for others. 
 
 In this place the children of the town would 
 go into the King's gardens and gather nosegays 
 for the pilgrims, and bring them to them with 
 affection. Here also grew camphire, and spike- 
 nard, saffron, calamus, and cinnamon, with all 
 the trees of frankincense, myrrh, and aloes, 
 with all chief spices. With these the pilgrims' 
 chambers were perfumed while they stayed 
 
 here, and with these were their bodies anoint- 
 ed to prepare them to go over the river when 
 the time appointed was come. 
 
 Now while they lay here and waited for the 
 good hour there was a noise in the town that 
 there was a post come from the Celestial City 
 with matters of great importance to one Chris- 
 tiana, the wife of Christian the pilgrim. So 
 inquiry was made for her, and the house was 
 found out where she was ; so the post presented 
 her with a letter; the contents were, "Hail, 
 good woman ! I bring thee tidings that the 
 Master calleth for thee, and expecteth tliat 
 thou shouldest stand in his presence in clothes 
 of immortality within these ten days." 
 
 When he had read this letter to her he gave 
 her therewith a sure token that he w;is a true 
 messenger, and was come to bid her make haste 
 to be gone. The token was an arrow sharp- 
 ened with love, let easily into her heart, which 
 by degrees wrought so effectually with her that 
 at the time appointed she must be gone. 
 
 When Christiana saw that her time was 
 come, and that she was the first of this com- 
 pany that was to go over, she called for Mr. 
 Great-heart, her guide, and told him how 
 matters were. So he told her he was heartily 
 glad of the news, and could have been glad 
 had the post come for him. Then she bid that 
 he should give advice how all things should be 
 prepared for her journey. So he told her, 
 saying. Thus and thus it must be, and we that 
 survive will accompany thee to the river-side. 
 
 Then she called "for her children and gave 
 them her blessing, and told them that she had 
 read with comfort the mark that was set in 
 their foreheads, and was glad to see them with 
 her there, and that they had kept their gar- 
 ments so white. Lastly, she bequeathed to tho 
 poor that little she had, and commanded her 
 sons and daughters to be ready against the 
 messenger should come for them. 
 
 When she had spoken these words to her 
 guide and to her children, she called for Mr. 
 Valiant-for-truth and said unto him, " Sir, you 
 have in all places showed yourself true-hearted : 
 be faithful unto death, and my King will give 
 you a crown of life. I would also entreat you 
 to have an eye to my children, and if at any 
 
242 
 
 BVNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 time you see them faiat, speak comfortably to 
 them. For my daughters, my sons' wives, they 
 have been faithful, and a fulfilling of the pro- 
 mise upon them^will be their end." But she 
 gave Mr. Standfast a ring. , 
 
 Then she called for old Mr. Honest, and 
 Baid of him, "Behold an Israelite indeed, in 
 whom is no guile." Then said he, "I wish 
 you a fair day when you set out for Mount 
 ZioB, and shall be glad to see that you go over 
 the river dry-shod." But she answered, " Come 
 wet, come dry, I long to be gone, for however 
 the weather is in my journey, I shall have time 
 enough when I come there to sit down and rest 
 me and dry me." 
 
 Then came in that good man, Mr. Eeady-to- 
 halt, to see her. So she said to him, "Thy 
 travel hitherto has been with difficulty, but 
 tliat will make thy rest the sweeter. But 
 watch and be ready, for at an hour when thou 
 thinkst not, the messenger may come." 
 
 After him came in Mr. Despondency and 
 his daughter Much-afraid; to whom she said, 
 "You ought with thankfulness for ever to re- 
 member your deliverance from the hand of 
 Giant Despair and out of Doubting Castle. 
 The effect of that mercy is that you are brought 
 with safety hither. Be yet watchful and cast 
 away fear ; be sober and hope to the' end." 
 
 Then she said to Mr. Feeble-mind, "Thou 
 wast delivered from the mouth of Giant Slay- 
 good that thou mightest live in the light of 
 the living for ever, and see the King with com- 
 fort : only I advise thee to repent thee of thy 
 aptness to fear and doubt of his goodness, be- 
 fore he sends for thee, lest thou shouldst, when 
 he comes, be forced to stand before him for 
 that fault with blushing." 
 
 Now the day drew on that Christiana must 
 be gone. So the road was full of people to 
 see her take her journey. But behold all the 
 banks beyond the river were full of horses and 
 chariots, which were come down from above to 
 accompany her to the city gate. So she came 
 forth, and entered the river with a beckon of 
 farewell to those that followed her to the river- 
 side. The last words that she was heard to 
 Bay were, " I come, Lord, to be with thee, and 
 bless thee." 
 
 So her children and friends returned to their 
 
 * Oh ho w blessed is the death of the righteous who 
 dio in the Lord ! Even a wicked Balaam could wish 
 for this. But it will be granted to none but those who 
 have lived in the Lord, whose souls have been quick- 
 ened by his Spirit, to come unto Jesus, believe in him, 
 and glory of biui as their righteousness and salvation, 
 
 place, for that those that waited for Chris- 
 tiana had carried her out of their sight. So 
 she went and called, and entered in at the 
 gate with all the ceremonies of joy that her 
 husband Christian had entered with before 
 her. 
 
 At her departure the children wept. But 
 Mr. Great-heart and Mr. Valiant-for-truth 
 played upon the well-tuned cymbal and harp 
 for joy. So all departed to their respective 
 places.* 
 
 In process of time there came a post to the 
 town again, and his business was with Mr. 
 Eeady-to-halt. So he inquired him out, and 
 said, " I am come to thee in the name of Him 
 whom thou hast loved and followed, though 
 upon crutches ; and my message is to tell thee 
 that he expects thee at his table, to sup with 
 him in his kingdom, the next day after Easter; 
 wherefore prepare thyself for thy journey." 
 Then he also gave him a token that he was a 
 true messenger, saying, "I have broken the 
 golden bowl and loosed the sil^'er cord." 
 Eccles. xii. 1, 7. 
 
 After this Mr. Keady-to-halt called for his 
 fellow-pilgrims, and told them, saying, " I am 
 sent for, and God shall surely visit you also." 
 So he desired Mr. Valiant-for-truth to make 
 his will; and because he had nothing to be- 
 queath to them that should survive him but 
 his crutches and his good wishes, therefore 
 thus he said, "These crutches I bequeath to. 
 my son that shall tread in my steps, with an 
 hundred warm wishes that he may prove better 
 than I have been." 
 
 Then he thanked Mr. Great-heart for his 
 conduct and kindness, and so addressed him- 
 self to his journey. When he came to the 
 brink of the river, he said, " Now I shall have 
 no more need of these crutches, since yonder 
 are chariots and horses for me to ride on." 
 The last words he was heard to say were, 
 " Welcome, life 1" t So he went his way. 
 
 After this Mr. Feeble-mind had tidings 
 brought him that the post sounded his horn at 
 his chamber door. Then he came in and told 
 him, saying, "I am come to tell thee that thy 
 Master hath need of thee, and that in a very 
 little time thou must behold his face in bright- 
 ness. And take this as a token of the truth 
 
 and desire to be found in him, in life, in death, and at 
 the bar of judgment. Oh may we cry to the Lord to 
 make us of the happy number ! 
 
 f See the joyful end of one ready to halt at every 
 step. Take coiirage hence, ye lame, halting pil- 
 grims. 
 
Danial Huritinjiilon. P^inLpr 
 
 CMIRIISTIIAMA AM© MEReY DM TIME VAiiEY ©F TME SMAE'^r-"^^- ®F ©EATIKl, 
 
 B Vv alter. ±,rig. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PBOGBESS. 
 
 243 
 
 of my message: 'Those that look out at the 
 windows, shall be darkened.'" 
 
 Then Mr. Feeble-mind called for his friends, 
 and told them what errand had been brought 
 unto him, and what token he had received of 
 the truth of the message. Then he said, 
 "Since I have nothing to bequeath to any, to 
 what purpose should I make a will? As for 
 my feeble mind, that I will leave behind, for 
 that I have no need of it in the place whither 
 I go, nor is it worth bestowing upon the poorest 
 pilgrim ; wherefore when I am gone I desire 
 that you, Mr. Valiant-for-truth, would bury it 
 in a dunghill." This done, and the day being 
 come in which he was to depart, he entered 
 the river as the rest: his last words were, 
 "Hold out, faith and patience." So he went 
 over to the other side. 
 
 When days had many of them passed away, 
 Mr. Despondency was sent for; for a post was 
 come, a,nd brought this message to him: 
 "Trembling man, these are to summon thee 
 to be ready to be with the King by the next 
 Lord's day, to. shout for joy for thy deliverance 
 from all thy doubtings." And, said the mes- 
 senger, that my message is true, take this for 
 a proof: so he gave "a grasshopper to be a 
 burden unto him." Now Mr. Despondency's 
 daughter, whose name was Much-afraid, said, 
 when she had heard what was done, that she 
 would go with her father. Then Mr. Despond- 
 ency said to- his friends, "Myself and my 
 daughter, you know what we have been, and 
 how troublesomely we have behaved ourselves 
 in every company ; my will and my daughtSr's 
 is, that our desponds and slavish fears be by 
 uo man ever received from the day of our 
 departure for ever ; for I know that after my 
 death they will offer themselves to Others. 
 For, to be plain with you, they are guests 
 which we entertained when we first began to 
 be pilgrims, and could never shake them off 
 after ; and they will walk about and seek en- 
 tertainment of the pilgrims ; but for our sakes 
 ahut the doors upon them."* 
 
 When the time was come for them to depart 
 they went up to the brink of the river. The 
 last words of Mr. Despondency were, " Fare- 
 
 * Pilgrims, mind this. It is as muoh your duty to 
 strive in the strength of the Lord against unreason- 
 able doubts as slavish fears against sin. Nay, are 
 they not, in their own nature, the worst of sins, as 
 they spring from infidelity, and dishonour God's pre- 
 cious truth, glorious grace, and everlasting salvation ? 
 Never, never, then, cherish or give way to them, but 
 resist and shut the door of your hearts against them. 
 
 well, night I Welcome, day !" His daughter 
 went through the river singing, but none could 
 understand' what she said. 
 
 Then it came to pass a while after that there 
 was a post in the town that inquired for Mr. 
 Honest. So he came to his house where he 
 was, and delivered to his hands these lines: 
 "Thou art commanded to be ready against 
 this day se'n-night, to present thyself before 
 thy Lord at his Father's house. And, for a 
 token that my message is true, 'AH the 
 daughters of music shall be brought low.'" 
 Then Mr. Honest called for his friends, and 
 said unto them, " I die, but shall make no will. 
 As for my honesty, it shall go with me ; let him 
 that comes after be told of this." 
 
 When the day that he was to be gone was 
 come he addressed himself to go over the river. 
 Now the river at that time overflowed the 
 banks in some places ; but Mr. Honest in his 
 lifetime had spoken to one Good-conscience to 
 meet him there; the which he also did, and 
 lent him his hand, and so helped him over. 
 The last words of Mr. Honest were, " Grace 
 reigns." So he left the world.f 
 
 After this it was noised about that Mr. Val- 
 iant-for-truth was taken with a summons by 
 the same post as the other, and had this for a 
 token that the summons was true, that "his 
 pitcher was broken at the fountain." When 
 he understood it he called for his friends and 
 told them of it. Then said he, " I am going 
 to my Father's ; and though with great difh- 
 culty I got hither, yet now I do not repent me 
 of all the trouble I have been at to arrive where 
 I am. My sword I give to him that shall suc- 
 ceed me in my pilgrimage, and my courage and 
 skill to him that can get them. My marks and 
 soars I carry with me, to be a witness for me 
 that I have fo'ught His battles who will now be 
 my rewarder." 
 
 When the day that he must go hence was 
 come many aecompanied him to the river-side, 
 into which as he went he said, " Death, where 
 is thy sting?" and as he went down deeper, he 
 said, "Grave, where is thy victory?" So he 
 passed over, and all the trumpets sounded for 
 him on the other side.J 
 
 f Oh hofr happy to die under a sweet sense of the 
 reign of grace ! Such have their consciences purified 
 by the blood and made good by the faith of the res- 
 urrection of Jesus. And they shall reign with him in 
 his kingdom. 
 
 i In the truth of Jesus is victory. He who is most 
 valiant for it shall share the most of its comforts in 
 life and in death. Lord, increase our faith in the 
 
244 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Tlien there came forth a summons for Mr. 
 Standfast. This Mr. Standfast was he that the 
 pilgrims found upon his knees in the En- 
 chanted Ground, and the post brought it him 
 open in his liands : the contents whereof were, 
 that he must prepare for a change of life, for 
 his Master was not willing that he should be 
 BO far from him any longer. At this, Mr. 
 Standfast was put into a muse. " Nay," said 
 the messenger, "you need not doubt of the 
 truth of my message, for here is a token of the 
 truth thereof: 'Thy wheel is broken at the 
 cistern.' " Then he called to him Mr. Great- 
 heart, who was their guide, and said unto him, 
 " Sir, although it was not my hap to be much 
 in your good company in the days of my pil- 
 grimage, yet since the time I knew you you 
 have been profitable to me. When I came 
 from home I left behind me a wife and five 
 small children ; let me entreat you at your re- 
 turn (for I know that you go and return to 
 your Master's house, in hopes that you may be 
 a conductor to more of his holy pilgrims) that 
 you send to my family and let them be ac- 
 quainted mth all that hath and shall happen 
 unto me. Tell them, moreover, of my happy 
 arrival at this place, and of the_ present and 
 late blessed condition that I am in. Tell them 
 also of Christian and Christiana his wife, and 
 how she and her children came after her hus- 
 band. Tell them also of what a happy end 
 she made, and whither she is gone. I have 
 little or nothing to send to my family, except 
 it be my prayers and tears for them ; of which 
 it will sufiice if you acquaint them, if perad- 
 venture thfey may prevail." 
 
 When Mr. Standfast had thus set things in 
 order, and the time being come for him to haste 
 him away, he also went down to the river. Now 
 there was a great calm at that time in the river; 
 wherefore Mr. Standfast, when he was about 
 half-way in, stood awhile and talked to his 
 companions that had waited upon him thither; 
 and he said, " This river has been a terror to 
 many ; yea, the thoughts of it also have fright- 
 ened me ; now, methinks, I stand easy ; my 
 foot is fixed upon that on which the feet of the 
 
 never-failing word of truth and grace, for tliy glory 
 and our soul's triumph, 
 
 * Oh the hlessedness and joy of faith ! How does 
 it bring near and realize a view of Christ in glory ! 
 Do we indeed see Christ by the eye of faith ? Is he 
 the one chief object of our soula ? Is he precious to 
 us ? Verily, then, we shall count our days on earth 
 toilsome ones, and long for the full fruition of him in 
 riory I* will be our great glory to see Him whose 
 
 priests that bare the ark of the covenant stood 
 while Israel went over this Jordan. Josh. iii. 
 17. The waters, indeed, are to the palate bit- 
 ter and to the stomach cold ; yet the thought 
 of what I am going to, and of the conduct that 
 waits for me on the other side, does ■ lie as a 
 glowing coal at my heart. I see myself now 
 at the end of my journey : my toilsome days 
 are ended. I am going to see that head that 
 was crowned with thorns, and that face that 
 was spit upon for me.* I have formerly lived 
 by hearsay and faith, but now I go where I 
 shall live by sight, and shall be with Him in 
 whose company I delight myself. I have 
 loved to hear my Lord spoken of, and where- 
 ever I have seen the print of his shoe in the 
 earth, there I have coveted to set my foot too.'f 
 His name has been to me as a civet-box; yea, 
 sweeter than all perfumes. His voice to^me 
 has been most sweet, and his countenance I 
 have more desired than they that have most 
 desired the light of the sun. His words I did 
 use to "gather for my food, and for antidotes 
 against my faintings. He has held me and 
 hath kept me from mine iniquities; yea, 
 my steps have been strengthened in his 
 way." 
 
 Now, while he was thus in discourse his 
 countenance changed ; his " strong man bowed 
 under him :" and after he had said, "Take me, 
 for I am come unto thee," he ceased to be seen 
 of them. 
 
 But glorious it was to see how the open re- 
 gion was filled with horses and chariots, with 
 trumpeters and pipers, with singers and 
 players on stringed instruments, to welcome 
 the pilgrims as they went up and followed 
 one another in at the beautiful gate of the 
 city. 
 
 As for Christiana's children, the four boys 
 that Christiana brought, with their wives 
 and children, I did not stay where I was 
 till they were gone over. Also since I came 
 away I heard one say they were yet alive, 
 and so would be for the increase of the 
 Church in that place where they were for a 
 time. 
 
 blessed head was crowned with thorns, and whose 
 lovely face was spit upon for us j till then, let us live 
 by faith in him, constantly crying, " Come, Lord Je- 
 sus, come quickly." 
 
 j" Can you say this ? Bo you love to hear of the 
 precious name of Jesus ? Do you covet to follow him 
 and to tread in his steps ? Oh what has grace 
 wrought! Be humble before Jesua. Be joyful in 
 him and thankful to him. 
 
THE PILGRIM'S PBOGEESS, 
 
 245 
 
 Shall it be my lot to go that way again, I 
 may give those that desire it an account of 
 
 ♦Who can read this chapter (observes the Rev. Mr. 
 Burder) without exclaiming in words once received 
 from heaven, '' Blessed are the dead which die in the 
 Lord: yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from 
 their labours !" In the important;, article of death the 
 privileges of believers appear distinguishing indeed. 
 To human nature, unassisted by grace, death, the 
 awful punishment of sin, is "the king of terrors." 
 Bitter indeed, and insupportably painful, are the 
 thoughts of death to men who have their "portion in 
 this life" and who are at case in their possessions. 
 How horrible to be torn away from all they love, and 
 plunged at once into the unutterable miseries of the 
 damned ! How enviable, even to such, is the calm and 
 Bsreno frame of a dying saint! Here the monster 
 Bcems to have lost his sting, having left it in the 
 bleeding body of Jesus. Death has changet^its na- 
 ture and its name. Call it no more death; it is the 
 sweet sleep of the body, deposited in its earthly bed, 
 under the eye of the Kedeemor, till the morning of the 
 r«siirre«tioa. 
 
 what I am here silent about; 
 my reader 
 
 mean time, I bid 
 Farewell.* 
 
 At the close of this excellent book (says the excel- 
 lent Mr. Mason) let me address one word, reader, to 
 your soul and mine. What think we of a pilgrim's 
 life and a pilgrim's death? His life begins with the 
 knowledge of Christ, and ends by dying in him 
 and eternally enjoying of him. And all through 
 life the pilgrim looks to and lives upon Christ. 
 Blessed beginning! comfortable living! joyful dy- 
 iiig! 
 
 Now, have we part and lot in this matter? Is Christ 
 our life — the life of our souls ? If be is, we shall live 
 by faith upon him, rely on his atonement, glory in hla 
 righteousness, rejbice in his salvation, have done with 
 all sin, and be dead to all self-righteous confidence, 
 and in heart, lip, and life study to glorify him by de- 
 voting ourselves to him, looking, longing, and waiting 
 for his coming to receive us to himself, that where he 
 ,is there we may be al^o. 
 
 As many as live by this faith and walk according to 
 this rule, peace be on them from the holy, blessed, 
 and glorious Trinity ! Amen. 
 
CHRISTIAN BEHAVIOUR: 
 
 THE FKUITS OF TKUE CHEISTIANITY. 
 
 HUSBANDS, WIVES, PARENTS, CHILDREN, MASTERS, SERVANTS, ETC., HOW TO WALK SO AS 
 
 TO PLEASE GOD. 
 
 A WORD OF DIRECTION TO ALL BACKSLIDERS. 
 
 THE EPISTLE TO THE READER. 
 
 Courteous Reader : 
 
 Having formerly writ some small matter 
 teaching the doctrine of faith, as justification 
 by grace through the faith of Christ's blood, 
 &c., I do here, as the second to that doctrine, 
 present thee with a few lines touching good 
 works, that I might, as at first I showed thee 
 the good and glory of the one, now show thee 
 tlie beauty and excellency of the other : " For 
 though we are justified (Rom. iii. 24, &c.) 
 freely by grace through Christ before God ; yet 
 we are justified before men (James ii. 18) by 
 our works.'' Nay, a life of holiness, flowing 
 from faith in us that are saved by grace, it 
 doth justify that grace before the world that 
 justifies us before God. 2 Cor. vi. 2, 3 ; ix. 12, 
 13; 1 Pet. ii. 11, 12. 
 
 I have here not only in general treated of 
 this doctrine of good works, but particularly 
 (after some discourse about works flowing from 
 faith, and what makes it true and gospelly 
 good) I discourse of them as we stand under 
 our several relations in this world among men. 
 
 As first. The duty of the master of a family ; 
 of the husband to his wife, and of hers to 
 him ; of the duty of parents to their children, 
 md of children to their parents ; of masters 
 also to their servants, and of the servant 
 again to his master; with a brief touch 
 upon good neighbourhood, and a discovery 
 of (ovetousness, pride, and uncleanness, which 
 
 are great obstructions to a truly gospel con- 
 versation. 
 
 I know there are many that have treated of 
 good works in large and learned discourses; 
 but I doubt all have not so gospelized their 
 discourse as becomes them, and as the doctrine 
 of the grace of God calleth for. 
 
 However, I thought it my duty to add this 
 discourse to all that are past; and that for 
 these reasons : 
 
 1. To take away those aspersions that the 
 adversaries cast upon our doctrine, (Rom. iii. 
 8, as also in the days of Paul,) that because 
 we preach justification without the works of 
 the law, therefore they pretend we plead for 
 looseness of life, whose damnation is just. 
 
 2. Because, though there be much discourse 
 about works in general, yet a particular dis- 
 course of them, as before is touched, is too 
 much neglected ; and by this means every one 
 too much left at uncertainties (as from them) 
 of their several works under their particular 
 relations ; which I think is one reason of that 
 disorder in families and places where God's 
 people live, to their shame and the dishonour 
 of God. 
 
 3. Because these few books that do par- 
 ticularly treat thus of good works are, I 
 think, now so scarce or so big that but few 
 have them and few buy them, if they may be 
 had, especially our new converts, for whose 
 
 247 
 
248 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 sakes principally this short discourse is in- 
 tended ; and indeed, this is one reason of my 
 brevity, that the price might neither be burden- 
 some, nor the reading long and tedious. Mul- 
 titude of words drown the memory; and an 
 exhortation in few words may yet fee so full 
 that the reader may find that in the side of a 
 sheet which some are forced to hunt for in a 
 whole quire, &c. The Lord teach us this 
 wisdom. 
 
 4. I have written this book to show that I 
 bear a fellow testimony and witness (with all 
 that know God) of the operation that grace 
 hath and will have in the heart that hath 
 savingly received it. 
 
 Lastly. I have thus written because it is 
 amiable and pleasant to God when Christians 
 keep their rank, relation, and station, doing 
 all as become their quality and calling. When 
 Christians stand every one in their places, 
 and do the work of their relations, then they 
 are like the flowers in the garden, that stand 
 
 and grow where the gardener liath plantei 
 them, and then they shall both' honour the 
 garden in which they are planted, and the 
 gardener that hath so disposed of them. Froir 
 the hyssop in the wall to the cedar in Leb- 
 anon their fruit is their glory. And Seeing 
 the flock into which we are planted is the 
 fruitfullest flock, the sap conveyed thereout 
 the fruitfullest sap, and the dresser of our 
 souls the wisest husbandman (John xv. 1), 
 how contrary to nature, to example, and ex- 
 pectation should we be if we should not be 
 rich in good works ! 
 
 Wherefore take heed of being painted fire 
 wherein is no warmth, and painted flowers 
 which retain no smell, and of being painted 
 trees whereon is no fruit; "Whoso boasteth 
 himself of a false gift is like clouds and wind 
 without rain.'' Prov. xxv. 14. Parewell. 
 
 The Lord be with thy spirit, that thou 
 mayst profit for time to come. 
 
 JOHN BDNYAN. 
 
CHRISTIAN BEHAYIOUR 
 
 Th.it being justified by li.is grace, wo should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 
 This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou atErm constantly, that they which have leUeTfcd 
 In God might be careful to maintain good works : these things are good and profitable unto men. — Tit. iii. 7, 8. 
 
 I SHALL not at tliis time discourse of every 
 particular at large included in these words, but 
 shall briefly fall upon those things thjt I judge 
 most necessary for the people of God. Neither 
 shall I need to take any great preamble to the 
 words for their explication, they themselves 
 being plain, and without that ambiguity that 
 calleth for such a thing; the general scope 
 being this. That they which have believed in 
 God should be careful to maintain good works. 
 
 But yet, to prosecute what I intend with 
 what clearness I may, I shall in a word or two 
 make way for what is to be the main of this 
 book. 
 
 "This is a faithful saying.'' This — which? 
 Wliy, that which goeth before, namely, " That 
 being justified by grace, we should be made 
 heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 
 This is a faithful saying, and these things I 
 will that thou affirm constantly." 
 
 Why so ? 
 
 AVhy, "That they which have believed in 
 God might be careful to maintain good works." 
 
 The meaning is, that the way to provoke 
 others to good works is constantly (in the evi- 
 dence and demonstration of the Spirit) to show 
 them the certainty of their being by grace 
 made heirs of eternal life. 
 
 From this Scripture I do gather these things 
 observable : 
 
 1. That good works do flow from faith. Yea, 
 2. That "every one that believeth should be 
 careful that their works be good. 3. That 
 every believer should not only be careful that 
 their works be good, and for the present do 
 them, but should also be careful to maintain 
 them ; that is, they should carefully study to 
 keep in a constant course of good works. 
 
 And lastly, that the best way to provoke 
 both ourselves and others to this work is to be 
 often affirming to others the doctrine of justi- | 
 
 fication by grace, and to believe it ourselves . 
 " This is a faithful saying, and these things I 
 will (saith Paul) that thou affirm constantly, 
 that they who have believed in God might bo 
 careful to maintain good works." 
 
 I. I begin with the first: That good works 
 do flow from faith. 
 
 This is evident divers ways: 1. From the 
 impossibility of their flowing from any other 
 thing — they must either flow from faith or not 
 at all ; " For whatsoever is not of faith is sin." 
 And again, " Without faith it is impossible to 
 please him.'' Every man by nature, before 
 faith, is an evil and a corrupt tree ; and a cor- 
 rupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit : " Do 
 men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of this- 
 tles?" Now a man is made good by faith, and 
 by that bringeth forth the fruits that are ac- 
 ceptable to God. 
 
 Wherefore sinners, before faith, are com- 
 pared to the wilderness, whose fruits are briers 
 and thorns ; and whose hearts are the habita- 
 tion of dragons — that is, of devils. 
 
 And hence again it is that they are said to 
 be Godless, Christless, Spiritless, faithless, 
 hopeless; without the covenant of grace, with- 
 out strength ; enemies in their minds by wicked 
 works, and possessed by the spirit of wicked- 
 ness as a castle by a conqueror. 
 
 Now, these things being thus, it is impossi- 
 ble that all the men under heaven that are un- 
 converted should be able to bring forth one 
 work rightly good ; even as impossible as for 
 all the briers and thorns under heaven to bring 
 forth one cluster of grapes or one bunch of 
 figs; for indeed they want the qualification. 
 A thorn bringeth not forth figs, because it 
 wanteth the nature of the fig tree ; and so doth 
 the bramble, the nature of the vine. Good 
 works must come from a good heart. 
 
 Now, this the unbeliever wanteth because 
 
 219 
 
250 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMIIETE WORKS. 
 
 he wanteth faith ; for it is that which purifieth 
 tlie heart. Good works must come from love 
 to the Lord Jesus; but this the unbeliever 
 wanteth also, because he wanteth faith : " For 
 faith worketh by love, and by that means doth 
 good." 
 
 And heuce again it is that though the carnal 
 man doth never so much which he caUeth good, 
 yet it is rejected, slighted, and turned as dirt 
 in his face again : his prayers are abominable, 
 his ploughing is sin, and all his righteous- 
 nesses as filthy rags. Thus you see that with- 
 out faith there are no good works. 
 
 Now then to show you that they flow from 
 faith. And that, 
 
 For that faith is a principle of life, by which 
 a Christian lives — a principle of motion, by 
 which he walks towards heaven in the way of 
 holiness. It is also a princii^le of strength, by 
 which the soul opposeth its lust, the devil, and 
 this world, and overcomes them : " This is your 
 victory, even your faith." Faith in the heart 
 of a Christian is like the salt that was thrown 
 into the corrupt fountain, that made the 
 naughty waters good and the barren land fruit- 
 ful. Faith, when it is wrought in the heart, is 
 like leaven hid in 'the meal, or like perfume 
 that lighteth upon stinking leather, turning 
 the smell of the leather into the savour of the 
 perfume ; it being then planted in the heart 
 and having its natural inclination to holiness. 
 Hence it is that there foUoweth an alteration 
 of the life and conversation, and so bringeth 
 forth fruit accordingly : " A good man, out of 
 the good treasure of his heart, bringeth forth 
 good fruit." , Which treasure, I say, is this 
 faith, and therefore it is that faith is called the 
 faith according to godliness and the most holy 
 faith. 
 
 Good works must needs flow from faith or 
 no way, because that alone carrieth in it an 
 argument sufficiently prevalent to win upon 
 our natures, to make them comply with holi- 
 ness. 
 
 Faith showeth us that God loveth us, that 
 he forgiveth us our sins, that he accounteth us 
 for his children, having freely justified us 
 through the blood of his Son. 
 
 Faith receiveth the promise, embraceth it, 
 and comforteth the soul unspeakably with it. 
 
 Fadth is so great an artist in arguing and 
 reasoning with the soul that it will bring over 
 the hardest heart that it hath to deal with. It 
 will bring to my remembrance at once both 
 my vileness against God and his goodness to- 
 wards me; it will show me that though I 
 
 deserve not to breathe in the air, yet that God 
 will have me an heir of glory. 
 
 Now, there is no argument greater than 
 this. I This will make a man run through ten 
 thousand difficulties to answer God (though he 
 never can) for the grace he hath bestowed on 
 him. 
 
 Further, faith will show me how distin- 
 guishingly this love of God hath set itself upon 
 me: it will show me that though Esau was 
 Jacob's brother, yet he loved Jacob; that 
 though there were thousands more besides me 
 that were as good as me, yet I must be the 
 man that must be chosen. 
 
 Now this, I say, is a marvellous argument, 
 and unspeakably prevaileth with the sinner, 
 as saith the apostle : " For the love of Christ 
 constrains us, because we thus judge, That if 
 one died for all, then were all dead ; and that 
 he died for all, that they which live (that is, 
 by faith) should not henceforth live unto 
 themselves, but to Him that died for them and 
 rose again.'' " Love (saith the wise man) is 
 strong as death ; many waters cannot quench 
 love, neither can the floods drown it. If a man 
 would give all the substance of his house for 
 love, it would be utterly contemned." 
 
 Oh! when the broken, dying, condemned 
 soul can but see, by faith, the love of a tender- 
 hearted Saviour, and also see what he under- 
 went to deliver it from under that death, guilt, 
 and hell that now it feels and fears, which also 
 it knoweth it hath most justly and highly de- 
 served, "Then bless the Lord, O my soul ; and 
 what shall I render unto the Lord for all his 
 benefits?" 
 
 Thus faith is a prevailing argument to the 
 sinner, whereby he is fetched off from what he 
 was, and constrained to bend and yield to what 
 before he neither would nor could. 
 
 And hence it is that gospel-obedience is 
 called the obedience of faith, as well as obe- 
 dience^ to the faith. Eom. xvi. 26. For it must 
 be by the faith of Christ in my heart that I 
 submit to the word of faith in the Bible, other- 
 wise all is to no profit ; as saith the apostle : 
 "The word preached did not profit them, il 
 not being mixed with faith in them that heard 
 it." Heb. iv. 2. For faith alone can see the 
 reality of what the Gospel saith, and so, I say, 
 argue over the heart to the embracing of it. 
 
 8. Faith is such a grace as will represent to 
 the soul all things in their proper colours. Ii 
 doth not (as doth unbelief and ignorance) 
 show us all things out of order, putting dark- 
 ness for light, and bitter for SAveet, but will set 
 
CHRISTIAN BEHA VIO UB. 
 
 251 
 
 everything in its proper place before our eyes: 
 God and Christ shall be with it the chiefest 
 good, the most lovely and amiable ; a heavenly 
 life shall be of greater esteem and more desir- 
 able than all the treasures of Egyjt. Eight- 
 eousness and sanctification will be the thing 
 after which it will most vehemently press, be- 
 cause it seeth not only death and damnation 
 as the fruits of sin, but sin also in itself, dis- 
 tinct from the punishment belonging to it, a 
 detestable, horrible, and odious thing. 
 
 Hy faith we see this world hath no abiding 
 in it for us, nor no satisfaction if it were other- 
 wise ; and hence it is that the people of God 
 have groaned to be gone from hence into a 
 state that is both sinless and temptationless ; 
 and hence it is again that they have run 
 through so many trials, afflictions, and adver- 
 sities, even because of that love to holiness of 
 life that faith being in their hearts did prompt 
 them to, by showing them the worth and dur- 
 ableness of that which was good, and the irk- 
 someness and evil of all things else. 
 
 4. Faith layeth hold of that which is able to 
 help the soul to bring forth good works: it 
 layeth hold of and engageth the strength of 
 Christ, and by that overcometh that which op- 
 presseth : " I can do all things through Christ 
 that strengtherieth me." 
 
 In a word, a life of holiness and godliness in 
 this world doth so inseparably follow a prin- 
 ciple of faith that it is both monstrous and 
 ridiculous to suppose the contrary. What! 
 shall not he that hath life have motion ? 
 
 He that hath by faith received the spirit of 
 holiness, shall not he be holy? (Gal. iii. 2;) 
 and he that is called to glory and virtue, shall 
 not he add to his faith virtue ? 2 Pet. i. 4, 5. 
 We are by faith made good trees, and shall not 
 we bring forth good fruit ? Luke vi. 43. They 
 that believe are created in Christ Jesus unto 
 good works ; and God hath, before the world 
 was, ordained that we should walk in them : 
 and shall both our second creation and God's 
 foreordi nation be made frustrate? Besides, 
 the children of faith are the children of light 
 and r f the day — lights upon a hill and candles 
 OQ a candlestick — and shall not they shine? 
 They are the salt of the earth, shall not they 
 be seasoning? 
 
 The believer is the alone man by whom 
 God showeth to the world the power of his 
 grace, the operation of his people's faith, &c. 
 The unbelievers read indeed of the poorer of 
 grace, of the faith, hope, love, joy, peace, and 
 uanotification of the heart of the Christian, 
 
 but they feel nothing of that sin-killing oper- 
 ation that is in these things : these are to 
 them as a story of Rome or Spain. Where- 
 fore, to show them in others what they find 
 not in themselves, God worketh faith, hope, 
 love, &c., in a generation that shall serve him ; 
 and by them they shall see what they cannot 
 find in themselves, and by this means they 
 shall be convinced that though sin and the 
 pleasures of this, life be sweet to them, yet 
 there is a people otherwise minded, even such 
 a people that do indeed see the glory of that 
 which others read of, and from that light take 
 pleasure in those things which they are most 
 averse unto. To this, I say, are Christians 
 called; herein is God glorified; hereby are 
 sinners convinced, and by this is the world 
 condemned. 
 
 Objection. But if faith doth so naturally 
 cause good works, what then is the reason 
 that God's people find it so hard a matter to 
 be faithful in good works? 
 
 I answer — 1. God's peopld* are fruitful in 
 good works according to the proportion of 
 their faith ; if they be slender in good works, 
 it is because they are weak in faith. Little 
 faith is like small candles or weak fire, which, 
 though they shine and have heat, yet have 
 but dim shining and small heat when com- 
 pared with bigger candles and greater fire. 
 The reason why Sardis had some in it whose 
 works were not perfect before God was, be- 
 cause they did not hold fast by faith the word 
 that they had formerly heard and received. 
 
 2. There may be a great mistake in our 
 judging of our own fruitfulness. The soul 
 that indeed is candid and right at heart is 
 taught by grace to judge itself, though fruit- 
 ful, yet barren upon two accounts : 1. When it 
 comparetJi its life to the mercy bestowed upon 
 jt; for when a soul doth indeed consider the 
 greatness and riches of the mercy bestowed 
 upon it, then it must needs cry out, " O 
 wretched man that I am 1" for it seeth itself 
 wonderfully to fall short of a conversation be- 
 coming one who hath received so great a bene- 
 fit. 2. It may also judge itself barren because 
 it falleth so far short of that it would attain 
 unto; it cannot do the thing that it would. 
 The heart of a Christian is naturally very 
 barren ; upon which, though the seed of grace 
 (that is, the fruitfuUest of all seeds) be sown, 
 yet the heart is naturally subject to bring forth 
 weeds. 
 
 Now, to have a good crop upon such 
 ground doth argue the fruitfulness of the 
 
252 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 seed. Wherefore I conclude upon these three 
 things : 
 
 I. That the seed of faith is a very fruitful 
 seed, in that it will he fruitful in so barren a 
 soil. 2. That faith is not beholden to the 
 heart, but the heart to it, for all its fruit- 
 fulness. 3. That therefore the way to be a 
 more fruitful Christian is to be stronger in 
 believing. 
 
 II. Now for the second thing : to wit, That 
 everyone that believeth should be careful that 
 their works be good. This foUoweth from 
 what went just before: to wit, That the heart 
 of a Christian is a heart subject to bring forth 
 weeds. 
 
 There is flesh as well as spirit in the best 
 of saints ; and as the spirit of grace will be 
 always putting forth something that is good, 
 so the flesh will be putting forth continually 
 that which is evil. 
 
 " For the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and 
 the spirit against the flesh.'' 
 
 Now, this considered, is the cause why you 
 find so often in the Scriptures so many items 
 and cautions to the Christians to look to their 
 lives and conversation. As, " Keep thy heart 
 with all diligence;" "Watch ye, stand fast 
 in the faith ; 'quit you like men ; be strong ;" 
 " Be not deceived, God is not mocked ; for 
 whatever a man soweth, that shall he reap : 
 for he that soweth to the flesh shall of the 
 flesh reap corruption ; but he that soweth 
 to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life 
 everlasting." 
 
 All woi-ks are not good that seem to be so. 
 It is one thing for a man's ways to be right in 
 his own eye, and another for them to be right 
 in God's. Often that which is in high estima- 
 tion with men is abomination in the sight of 
 God. 
 
 Seeing corruption is not yet out of ouj* 
 natures, there is a proneness in us to build 
 upon the right foundation, wood, hay and 
 stubble, instead of gold, and silver, and pre- 
 cious stones. How was David the king, 
 Nathan the prophet, and Uzza the priest de- 
 ceived touching good works 1 Peter also, in 
 both his defending his Master in the garden 
 and in dissuading him from his sufferings, 
 though both out of love and affection to his 
 Mister, was deceived touching good works. 
 
 Many have miscarried both as to doctrine, 
 worship, and the prosecution of each. 
 
 1. For doctrine. Christ tells the Jews that 
 they taught for the doctrines of God the doc- 
 trines and traditions of men : aa also, saith the 
 
 apostle, "They teach things they ought not, 
 for filthy lucre's sake." 
 
 2. Also touching worship, we find how 
 frequently men have mistaken, both for time, 
 place, and matter, with which they wor- 
 shipped. 
 
 (1.) For time. It hath been that which man 
 hath devised, not that which God hath com- 
 manded. They change the ordinances, saith 
 Isaiah ; they change God's judgments into 
 wickedness, saith Ezekiel. 
 
 (2.) For place. When they should have 
 worshipped at Jerusalem, they worshipped at 
 Bethel, at Gilgal, and Dan, in gardens, under 
 poplars and elms. 
 
 (3.) For the matter with which they wor- 
 shipped. Instead of bringing according to 
 the commandment, they brought the lame, 
 torn, and the sick ; they would sanctify them- 
 selves in gardens with swine's flesh and mice, 
 when they should have done it at Jerusalem 
 with bullocks and lambs. 
 
 Again, touching men's prosecuting their zeal 
 for their worship, &c., that they do think right 
 how hot hath it been, though with no reason 
 at all. Nebuchadnezzar will have his fiery 
 furnace and Darius his lions' den for non-con- 
 formists. 
 
 Again, they have persecuted men even to 
 strange cities, have laid traps and snares in 
 every corner to entrap and to entangle their 
 words ; and if they could at any time but kill 
 the persons that dissented from them, they 
 would think they did God good service. But 
 what need we to look so far from home, {were 
 it not that I would seal my sayings with truth?) 
 We need look no farther, to affirm this position, 
 than the papists and their companions. How 
 many have they in all ages hanged, burned, 
 starved, drowned, racked, dismembered, and 
 murdered, both openly and in secret ! and all 
 under a pretence of God, his worship, and 
 good works.' 
 
 Thus you see how wise men and fools, saints 
 and sinners. Christians and heathen, have eired 
 in the business of good works ; wherefore every 
 one should be careful to see that their works 
 be good. 
 
 Now, then, to prevent, if God will, miscar- 
 riage in this matter, I shall propound unto you 
 what it is for a work to be rightly good : 
 
 1. A good work must have the word for its 
 authority. 2. It must, as afore was said, flow 
 from ^ith. 8. It must be both rightly timed 
 and rightly placed. 4. It must be done will- 
 ingly, cheerfully, &c. 
 
CHRISTIAN BEHAVIOVR. 
 
 253 
 
 1. It must have the word for its authority. 
 Zeal without knowledge is like a mettled 
 
 horse without eyes or like a sword in a mad- 
 man's hand, and there is no knowledge v/here 
 there is not the word : for if they reject the 
 word of the Lord, and act not by that, what 
 wisdoui is in them ? said the prophet. Jer. viii. 
 9; Isa. Tiii.,20. Wherefore see thou have the 
 word for what thou dost. 
 
 2. As there must be the word for the author- 
 ising of what thou dost, so there must be faith, 
 from which it must flow, as I showed thee be- 
 fore ; " for whatever is not of faith is sin : and 
 without faith it is impossible to please God." 
 Now I say without the word there is no faith, 
 (Eom. X. 17,) as without faith there is no good, 
 let men's pretences be what they will. 
 
 3. As it must have these two aforenfcied, so 
 also it must have — 1. right time ; and 2. right 
 place. 
 
 1st. It must be rightly timed. Every work 
 is not to be done at the same time, every time 
 not being convenient for such a work : " There 
 is a time for all things, and every thing is 
 beautiful in its time." Eocles. iii. 11. There 
 is a time to pray, a time to hear, a time to read, 
 a time to confer, a time to meditate, a time to 
 do, and a time to suffer. Now, to be hearing 
 when wo should be preaching and doing — ^that 
 is, yielding active obedience to that under 
 which we ought to suffer — is not good. Christ 
 was very wary that both his doings and suffer- 
 ings were rightly timed. John ii. 3, 4 and xiii. 
 1, 2. And herein we ought to follow his steps. 
 To be at plough in the field when I should be 
 hearing the word is not good ; and to be talk- 
 ing abroad when I should be instructing my 
 family at home is- as bad: "Whoso keepeth 
 the commandment shall feel no evil thing: 
 and a wise man's heart discerneth both 
 time and judgment." Eecles. viii. 5. Good 
 things mistimed are fruitless, unprofitable, and 
 vain. 
 
 2dly. As things must have their right time, 
 eo they must be rightly placed ; for the mis- 
 placing of any work is as bad as the mistiming 
 of it. 
 
 When I say things if good must be rightly 
 placed, I mean we should not give to any work 
 more than the word of God alloweth it, neither 
 should we give it less. Mint, anise, and cum- 
 min are not so weighty matters as faith and 
 the love of God, as in Matt. xxii. 23. For a 
 pastor to be exercising the office of a deacon 
 instead of the office of a pastor, it is mispla- 
 cing of works. Acts vi. 2. For Martha to be 
 
 making outward provision for Christ when she 
 should have set at his feet to hear his word 
 was the misplacing a work : and her sister to 
 have done it at her request (though the thing 
 in itself was good) had been her sin also. 
 
 Farther, there are three things that a man 
 should have in his eye in every work he doth : 
 
 1st. The honour of God. 2dly. The edifica- 
 tion of his neighbour. 3dly. The expediency 
 or inexpediency of what I am to do. And 
 always observe it that the honour of God ia 
 wrapped up in the edification of thy neigh- 
 bour ; and the edification of thy neighbour in 
 the expediency of what thou dost. 
 
 Again, if thou wouldst walk to the edifica- 
 tion of thy neighbour, and so to God's honour 
 in the midst of thy observers, beware — 
 
 1st. That thou in thy words and carriages 
 dost so demean thyself that Christ in his pre- 
 cious benefits may be with clearness spoken 
 forth by thee; and take heed that thou dost 
 not enter into doubtful points with them that 
 are weak, but deal chiefly, lovingly, and wisely 
 with their consciences about those matters that 
 tend to their establishment in the faith of their 
 justiflcation and deliverance from death and 
 hell : " Comfort the feeble-minded, confirm the 
 weak." 
 
 2dly. If thou be stronger than thy brother, 
 take heed that thou do not that before him 
 that may offend his weak conscience ; I mean 
 things that to themselves may be lawful : " All 
 that is lawful is not expedient ; all that is law- 
 ful edifieth not." Wherefore here is thy wis- 
 dom and love, that thou in some things deny 
 thyself for thy brother's sake. " I will not eat 
 meat while the world standeth, (said Paul,) 
 lest I make my brother to offend. Wherefore 
 have this faith to thyself before God." But if 
 thou walk otherwise, know thou walkest not 
 charitably, and so not to edification, and so 
 not to Christ's honour, but dost sin against 
 Christ and wound thy weak brother, for whom 
 Christ died. 
 
 But I say all this while keep thy eye upon 
 the word : take heed of going contrary to that 
 under any pretence whatever ; for without the 
 word there is nothing to God's glory nor thy 
 brother's edification. Wherefore, walk wisely 
 in a perfect way. 
 
 Having thus, in few words, showed you 
 what are works rightly good, I beseech you in 
 the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that you 
 put yourselves into a conscientious perform- 
 ance of them, that you may, while you live 
 here, be vessels of honour, fit for the Mastei'i 
 
254 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 use and prepared to every good work. Study 
 to approve things that are excellent, that you 
 may be sincere and without offence until the 
 day of Christ: covet communion with God, 
 covet earnestly the best gifts. Ah! we that 
 are redeemed from amopg men, and that re- 
 joice in the hope of the glory of God — we that 
 look, I say, for the blessed hope and the glori- 
 ous appearing of the great God and our Saviour 
 Jesus Chrisl^what manner of persons should 
 we be in all holy conversation and godliness ! 
 
 To conclude, for your further edification, 
 take a plain rehearsal of your several general 
 duties and works, to .which God engageth you 
 in his word, according to your places, callings, 
 and relations in this world. 
 
 TOUCHING THE MASTER Or A FAMILY. 
 
 If thou have under thee a family, then thou 
 art to consider the several relations thou stand- 
 est under, and art to know that thou in each 
 of them hast a work to do for God, and that he 
 expecteth thy faithful deportment under every 
 one of them. As, 
 
 First, then, in general: He that is the 
 master of a family hath, as under that rela- 
 tion, a work to do for God ; to wit, the right 
 governing of his own family. And his work 
 ig twofold. 
 
 1. Touching the spiritual state thereof. 2. 
 Touching the outward. 
 
 As touching the spiritual state of his family, 
 he ought to be very diligent and circumspect, 
 doing his utmost endeavour both to increase 
 faith where it is begun and to begin it where 
 it is not. 
 
 Wherefore, to this end, he ought diligently 
 and frequently to lay before his household such 
 things of God, out of his word, as are suitable 
 for each particular. And let no nian question 
 his rule in the word of God for such a prac- 
 tice ; for if the thing itself were but of good 
 report and a thing tending to civil honesty, it 
 is within the compass and bounds even of na- 
 ture itself, and ought to be done, much more 
 things of a higher nature ; besides, the apostle 
 exhorts us to "whatever things are honest, 
 whatever things are true, just, and of good re- 
 port," to think of them, that is, to be mindful 
 to do them ; but to be conversant in this godly 
 exercise in our family is very worthy of praise, 
 and doth much become all Christians. This is 
 one of the things for which God so highly com- 
 mended his servant Abraham, and that with 
 which his heart was so much affected: "I 
 know Abraham," saith God ; " I know him to 
 
 be a good man in very deed, for he will com- 
 mand his children, and his household after 
 him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord." 
 This was a thing also which good Joshua de- 
 signed should be his practice as long as he had 
 a breathing-time in this world : " As for me, 
 (saith he,) I and my household, we will serve, 
 the Lord." 
 
 Further, we find also in the New Testament 
 that they are looked upon as Christians of an 
 inferior rank that have not a due regard to 
 this duty; yea, so inferior as not fit to be 
 chosen to any office in the Church of God. A 
 pastor must be one that ruleth well his own 
 house, having his children in subjection with 
 all gravity : For if a man knoweth not how to 
 rule his own house, how shall ' he take care of 
 the Church of God? " The deacon also (saith 
 he) must be the husband of one wife," ruling 
 their children and their own house well. Mark 
 a little, the apostle seems to lay down thus 
 much, that a man that governs his family well 
 hath one qualification belonging to a pastor or 
 deacon in the house of God, (for he that know- 
 eth not how to rule his own house, how shall 
 he take care of the Church of God?) which 
 thing considered, it giveth us light into the 
 work of the master of a family touching the 
 governing of his house. 
 
 1. First, then, a pastor must be sound and 
 uncorrupt in his doctrine ; and indeed so must 
 the master of a family. 
 
 2. A pastor should be apt to teach, to reprove, 
 and to exhort ; and so should the master of a 
 family. 
 
 3. A pastor must himself be exemplary in 
 faith and holiness ; and so also should the mas- 
 ter of a family. "' I (saith David) will behave 
 myself in a perfect way ; I will walk in (or 
 before) my house in a perfect way." 
 
 4. The pastor is for getting the church to- 
 gether ; and when they are so come together, 
 then to pray among them and to preach unto 
 them: this is also commendable in Christ' au 
 masters of families. 
 
 Objection. But my family is ungodly and 
 unruly touching all that is good : what shall 
 I do? 
 
 Answer. I answer — 1. Though this be true, 
 yet thou must rule them, and not they thee. 
 Thou art set over them of God, and thou art to 
 use the authority which God hath given thee, 
 both to rebuke their vice and to show them the 
 evil of their rebelling against the Lord. This 
 did Eli, though not enough; and thus did 
 David. 
 
CHRISTIAN BEHAVIOUR. 
 
 255 
 
 Also, thou must teli them how sad thy state 
 was when thou wast in their condition, and so 
 labour to -scover them out of the snare of the 
 devil. 
 
 2. Thou oughtest also to labour to draw 
 them forth to God's public fvorship, if perad- 
 venture God may convert their souls. Saith 
 Jacob to his household, and to all that were 
 about him, " Let us arise and go to Bethel, and 
 I will make there an altar to God, that an- 
 s\i-ered me in the day of my distress," 
 
 Hannah would carry Samuel to Shiloh, that 
 he might abide with God for ever. Indeed a 
 soul rightly touched will labour to draw not only 
 their families but a whole city after Jesus Christ. 
 
 3. If they are obstinate, and will not go forth 
 witli, thee, then do thou get godly and sound 
 men to thy house, and there let the ■^^ord of 
 ^od be preached, when thou hast, as Cornelius, 
 gathered thy family and friends together. 
 
 You know that the jailer, Lydia, Crispus, 
 Gains, Stephanus, and others had not only 
 themselves but their families made gracious by 
 the word preached, and that some of them, if 
 not all, by the word preached in their houses. 
 And this, for aught I know, might be one 
 reason among many why the apostles taught 
 in their day, not only publicly, but from house 
 to house : I say, that they might, if possible, 
 bring in those in some family which yet re- 
 mained unconverted and in their sins; for 
 some, you know, how usual it was in the day 
 of Christ to invite him to their house if they 
 had any afflicted that either would not or 
 could not come unto him. 
 
 If this be the way with those that have out- 
 ward diseases in their families, how much more 
 then where there are souls that have need of 
 Christ to save them from death and eternal 
 damnation ? 
 
 4. Take heed that thou dost not neglect fam- 
 ily duties among them thyself, as reading the 
 word and prayer ; if thou hast one in thy fam- 
 ily that is gracious, take encouragement ; nay, 
 if thou art alone, yet know that thou hast both 
 liberty to go to God through Christ, and also 
 art at that time in a capacity of having the 
 universal Church join with thee for the whole 
 number of those that shall be saved. 
 
 5. Take heed that thou sufier not any un- 
 godly, profane, or heretical books or discourse 
 in thy house : " Evil communications corrupt 
 good manners.'' I mean such profane or he- 
 retical books, &c., as either tend to provoke to 
 looseness of life or such as do oppose the fun- 
 damentals of the Gospel. 
 
 I know that Christians must be allowed 
 their liberty as to things indifferent ; but for 
 those things that strike either at faith or holi- 
 ness, they ought to be abandoned by all Chris- 
 tians, and especially by the pastors of churches 
 and masters of families; which practice was 
 iigured out by Jacob's commanding his house 
 and all that was with him to put away the 
 strange gods from among them and to change 
 their garments. 
 
 All those in the Acts set a good example for 
 this, who took their curious books and burned 
 them before all men, though they were worth 
 five thousand pieces of silver. 
 
 The neglect of this fourth particular hath 
 occasioned ruin in many families both among 
 children and servants. It is easier for vain 
 talkers and their deceivable works to subvert 
 whole households than many are aware of. 
 
 Thus much touching the spiritual state of 
 thy household. And now to its outward. 
 
 Touching the outward state of thy family, 
 thou art to consider these three things : 
 
 1. That it lieth upon thee to care for them 
 that they have a convenient livelihood : " If 
 any man provide not for his own, and espe- 
 cially for those of his house, he hath denied 
 the faith and is worse than an infidel." But 
 mark when the word said, " Thou art to pro- 
 vide for thy house,'' it giveth thee no license 
 to distracting carefulness ; neither doth it al- 
 low thee to strive to grasp the world in thy 
 heart or coffers, nor to take care for years 
 or days to come, but so to provide for them 
 that they may have food and raiment ; and if 
 either they or thou be not content with that, 
 you launch out beyond the rule of God. 
 This is to labour that you may have where- 
 
 , with to maintain good works for necessary 
 uses. 
 
 And never object that unless you reach 
 farther it will never do ; for that is but unbe- 
 lief. The word saith, "That God feedeth the 
 ravens, careth for sparrows, and clotheth the 
 grass ; in which three, to feed, clothe, and care 
 for, is as much as heart can wish. 
 
 2. Therefore, though thou shouldst provide 
 for thy family, yet let all thy labour be mixed 
 with moderation: "Let your moderation be 
 known unto all men." Take heed of driving 
 so hard after this world as to hinder thyself 
 and family from those duties towards God 
 which thou art by grace obliged to, as private 
 prayer, reading the Scriptures, and Christian 
 conference. It is a base thing for men so to 
 spend themselves and families after this world 
 
258 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 as that they disengage their heart to God's 
 worship. 
 
 Christians, " the time is short. It remaineth 
 tlien that they that have wives be as those 
 that have none ; and they that weep, as though 
 they wept not ; and they that rejoice, as those 
 that rejoice not ; and they that use this world, 
 as not abusing it ; for the fashion of this world 
 passeth away." 
 
 Many Christians live and do in this world as 
 if religion was but a by-business, and this 
 world the one thing necessary ; when indeed 
 all the things of this world are but things by 
 the by, and religion only the one thing need- 
 ful. 
 
 3. If thou wouldst be such a master of a 
 family as becomes thee, thou must see that 
 there be that Christian harmony among those 
 under thee as becomes that house where one 
 ruleth that feareth God. 
 
 (1.) Thou must look that thy children and 
 servants be under subjection to the word of 
 God ; for though it is of God only to rule the 
 heart, yet he expecteth that thou shouldst rule 
 their outward man ; which, if thou doest not, 
 he may in a short time cut off all thy stock. 
 See therefore that thou keep them temperate 
 in all things, in apparel, in language, that they 
 be not gluttons nor drunkards ; nor suffering 
 either thy children vainly to domineer over 
 thy servants, nor they again to carry them- 
 selves foolishly towards each other. 
 
 (2.) Learn to distinguish between that in- 
 jury that in thy family is done to thee and 
 that which is done to God; and though thou 
 oughtest to be very zealous for the Lord, and to 
 bear nothing that is open transgression to him, 
 yet here will be thy wisdom — to pass by per- 
 sonal injuries and to bury them in oblivion : 
 " Love covereth a multitude of sins." Be not 
 then like those that will rage and stare like 
 madmen when they are injured, and yet either 
 laugh, or at least not soberly rebuke and warn, 
 when God is dishonoured. 
 
 Bule thy own house well, having thy chil- 
 dren (with others in thy family) in subjection 
 with all gravity. 
 
 Solomon was so excellent, sometimes, this 
 way that he made the eyes of his beholders to 
 dazzle. 
 
 But to break off from this general and come 
 to particulars : 
 
 First, Hast thou a wife? Thou must con- 
 sider how thou oughtest to behave thyself 
 under that relation; and to do this aright 
 thou must consider the cop^ition of thy wife, 
 
 whether she be one that indeed belie veth oi 
 not. If she believeth, then, 
 
 1. Thou art engaged to bless God for her; 
 " For her price is far above rubies, and she is 
 the gift of God unto thee, and is for thy adorn- 
 ing and glory. Favour is deceitful, and beauty 
 is vain ; but a woman that feareth the Lord, 
 she shall be praised." 
 
 2. Thou oughtest to love her under a double 
 consideration : 1. As she is thy flesh and thy 
 bone; "For never man yet hated his own 
 flesh." 2. As she is together with thee an heir 
 of the grace of life. This, I say, should en- 
 gage thee to love her with Christian love ; to 
 love her as believing you both are dearly be- 
 loved of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, and 
 as those that must be together with him in 
 eternal happiness. 
 
 8. Thou oughtest so to carry thyself to an^ 
 before her as doth Christ to and before his 
 Church; as saith the apostle: "So ought men 
 to love their wives, even as Christ loved the 
 Church and gave himself for it." When hus- 
 bands behave themselves like husbands indeed, 
 then will they be not only husbands, but such 
 an ordinance of God to the wife as will preach 
 to her the carriage of Christ to his. spouse. 
 There is a sweet scent wrapped up in the rela- 
 tions of husbands and wives that believe ; the 
 wife, I say, signifying the Church, and the 
 husband the head and Saviour thereof. " For 
 the husband is the head of the wife, even as 
 Christ is the head of the Church ;" and he is 
 the Saviour of the body. 
 
 This is one of God's chief ends in instituting 
 marriage, that Christ and his Church, under a 
 figure, might be wherever there is a couple 
 that believe through grace. 
 
 Wherefore that husband that carrieth it un- 
 discreetly towards his wife, he doth not only 
 behave himself contrary to the rule, but also 
 maketh his wife lose the benefit of such an 
 ordinance, and crosseth the mystery of his re- 
 lation. Therefore, I say, "So ought men to 
 love their wives as their own bodies : he that 
 loveth his wife, loveth himself; for no man 
 ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth 
 and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the 
 Church." Christ laid out his life for hi» 
 Church, covereth her infirmities, communicates 
 to her his wisdom, protecteth her and belpetb 
 her in her employments in this world; and so 
 ought men to do for their wives. 
 
 Solomon and Pharaoh's daughter had the 
 art of thus doing, as you may see in the boolr 
 of the Canticles. 
 
CEEISTIAN BEHAVIOUR. 
 
 257 
 
 Wherefore bear with their weaknesses, help 
 their infirmities, and honour them as the 
 weaker vessels and as bo.ng of a frailer con- 
 stitution. 
 
 In a word, be such a husband to thy believ- 
 ing wife that she may say, God hath not only 
 given me a husband, but such a husband as 
 pnacheth to me every day the carriage of 
 Christ to his Church. 
 
 • Secondly, If thy wife be unbelieving or car- 
 nal, then thou hast also a duty lying before 
 thee, which thou art engaged to perform under 
 a double engagement: 1. For that she lieth 
 liable every moment to eternal damnation : 2. 
 That she is thy wife that is in this evil case. 
 
 Oh how little sense of the worth of souls is 
 there in the hearts of some husbands, as is 
 manifest by their unchristian carriage pi and 
 before their wives I 
 
 Now, to qualify thee for a carriage suitable, 
 
 1. Labour seriously after a sense of her 
 miserable state, that thy bowels may yearn 
 towards her soul. 
 
 2. Beware that she take no occasion from 
 any unseemly carriage of thine to proceed in 
 evil. And here thou hast need to double thy 
 diligence, for she lieth in thy bosom, and 
 therefore is capable of espying the least mis- 
 carriage in thee. 
 
 3. If she behave herself unseemly and un- 
 ruly, as she is subject to do, being Christless 
 and graceless, then labour thou to overcome 
 her evil with thy goodness, her frowardness with 
 thy patience and meekness. It is a shame for 
 thee, who hast another principle, to do as 
 she. 
 
 '4. Take fit opportunities to convince her. 
 Observe her disposition, and when she is most 
 likely to hear, then speak to her very heart. 
 
 5. When thou speakest speak to purpose. 
 It is no matter for many words, provided they 
 be pertinent. Job in a few words answers his 
 wife, and takes her off from her foolish talk- 
 ing: "Thou speakest (saith he) like one of 
 the foolish women : shall we receive good at 
 the hands of God, and shall we not receive 
 evil •?" 
 
 6. Let all be done without rancour or the 
 li;ast appearance of anger : " With meekness 
 instruct those that oppose themselves, if per- 
 adventure they may recover themselves out of 
 the snare of the devil who are taken captive 
 by him at his will." 
 
 " And knowest thou, man, but thou may- 
 eat save thy wife ?" 
 
 TOUCHING PAUENTS. 
 
 If thou art a parent, a father or a mother, 
 then thou art to consider thy calling under 
 this relation. 
 
 Thy children have souls, and they must be 
 begotten of God as well as of thee, or they 
 perish. 
 
 And know also that unless thou be very cir- 
 cumspect in thy behaviour to and before them, 
 they may perish through thee ; the thoug'hts 
 of which should provoke thee both to ins.iuct 
 and'also to correct them. 
 
 1. To instruct them as the Scripture saith, 
 and to bring them up in the nurture and 
 admonition of the Lord; and to do this 
 diligently when thou sittest in thy nouse, 
 when thou liest down, and when thou risest 
 up. 
 
 Now to do this to purpose, 
 
 1. Do it in terms and words easy to be un- 
 derstood : affect not high expressions, they will 
 drown your children. Thus God spake to his 
 children, and Paul to his. 
 
 2. Take heed of filling their heads with 
 whimsies and unprofitable notions, for this 
 will sooner learn them to be malapert and 
 proud than sober and humble. Open there- 
 fore to them the state of man by nature ; dis- 
 course with them of sin, of death, and hell; 
 of a crucified Saviour, and the promise of life 
 through faith : "Train up a child in the way 
 he should go, and when he is old he will not 
 depart from it." 
 
 3. There must be much gentleness and 
 patience in all thy instructions, lest they be 
 discouraged. 
 
 4. Labour to convince them by a conversa 
 tion answerable that the thirl^s of which thou 
 instructest them are not fables, but realities, 
 yea, and realities so far above what can be 
 here enjoyed that all things, were they a thou- 
 sand times better than they are, are not worthy 
 to be compared with the glory and worthiness 
 of these things. 
 
 Isaac was so holy before his children that 
 when Jacob remembered God, he remembered 
 that he was the fear of his father Isaac. 
 
 Ah ! when children can think of their 
 parents, and bless God for that instruction 
 and good they have received from them, this 
 is not only 'profitable for children, but hon 
 ourable and comfortable to parents: "The 
 father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice ; 
 and he that begetteth a wise child shall have 
 joy of him.'' 
 
258 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 TOUCHING CORRECTION. 
 
 1. See if fair words will win them from 
 evil. This is God's way with his children. 
 
 2. Let those words you speak to them in 
 your reproof be both sober, few, and perti- 
 nent, adding always some suitable sentence of 
 the Scripture therewith; as, if they lie, then 
 such as Eev. xxi. 8, 27 ; if they refuse to hear 
 the word, such as 2 Chron. xxv. 14^16. 
 
 3. Look tc them that they be not compan- 
 ions with those that are rude and ungodly, 
 showing with soberness a continual dislike of 
 their naughtiness; often crying out to them, 
 as God did of old unto his, " Oh do not this 
 abominable thing that I hate." 
 
 Let all this be mixed with such love, pity, 
 and compunction of spirit that if possible they 
 may be convinced you dislike not their per- 
 sons, but their sins. This is God's way. 
 
 5. Be often endeavouring to fasten on their 
 consciences the day of their death and judg- 
 ment to come. Thus also God deals with 
 his. 
 
 6. If thou art driven to the rod, then — 1. 
 Strike advisedly, in cold blood, and soberly 
 show them — 1. their fault ; 2. how much it is 
 against thy heart thus to deal with them ; 3. 
 and that what thou dost thou dost in con- 
 science to God and love to their souls; 4. 
 and tell them that if fair means would have 
 done, none of this severity should have been. 
 This, I have proved it, will be a means to 
 afflict their hearts as well as their bodies; 
 and it being the way that God deals with 
 his^ it is the most likely to accomplish its 
 end. 
 
 7. Follow all this with prayer to God for 
 them, and leave the issue to him : " Folly is 
 bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod 
 of correction will fetch it out." 
 
 Lastly, observe these cautions : 
 
 (1.) Take heed that the misdeeds for which 
 thou correctest thy children be not learned 
 tliem by thee. Many children learn that 
 wickedness of their parents for which they 
 beat and chastise them. 
 
 (2.) Take heed thou smile not upon them 
 to encourage them in small faults, lest that 
 thy carriage to them be an encouragement to 
 them to commit greater. 
 
 (3.) Take heed thou use not unsavoury and 
 unseemly words in thy chastising of them, as 
 railing, miscalling, and the like. This is 
 devilish. 
 
 (4.) Take heed thou do not use them to 
 many chiding words and threatenings, mixed 
 
 with lightness and laughter; this will harden. 
 Speak not much, not often, but pertinent to 
 them, with all gravity. 
 
 OP MASTERS TO SERVANTS. 
 
 Masters also have a wort to do as they 
 stand related to their servants. And, 
 
 1. If possibly they can, to get them that fear 
 God : " He that worketh deceit (said David) 
 shall not dwell within my house; and he that 
 telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight.'' 
 
 2. But if none at the present but unbelievc r» 
 can be got to do thy labour, then, 
 
 (1.) Know that it is thy duty so to behave 
 thyself to thy servant that thy service may 
 not only be for thy good, but for the good of 
 thy servant, and that both in body and soul. 
 Wherefore deal with him, as to admonition, as 
 with thy children; give him the same bread 
 of God thou givest to them ; and who knows 
 but that if thou with spiritual delicates bring- 
 est up thy servant, he may become thy spir- 
 itual son in the end. 
 
 (2.) Take heed thou do not turn thy ser- 
 vants into slaves, by overcharging them in thy ■ 
 work through thy greediness. To make men 
 serve with rigour is more like to Israel's en- 
 emies than Christian masters. 
 
 (8.) Take heed thou carry not thyself to thy 
 servant as he of whom it is said, " He is such 
 a man of Belial that his servants could not 
 speak to him." 
 
 And the apostle bids you forbear to threaten 
 them, " because you also have a Master in 
 heaven." As who should say, Your servants 
 cannot be guilty of so many miscarriages 
 against you as you are guilty of against 
 Christ: wherefore do with and to your ser- 
 vants as you would have your Master do 
 with you. 
 
 (4.) Take heed that thou neither circum- 
 vent him at his coming to thy service nor at 
 his going out. 
 
 Servants at their going into service may be 
 beguiled two ways : 
 
 1st. By their masters lying unto ihem, say- 
 ing thei'r work i^ so small and so easy, when it 
 is indeed, if not ,too burdensome, yet far l*- 
 yond what at first was said of it. This is be- 
 guiling of them. 
 
 2dly. The other way is when masters greed- 
 ily seek to wire-draw their servants to such 
 wages as indeed is too little and inconsider- 
 able for such work and labour. Both these 
 the apostle opposeth where he saith, "Masters, 
 give to your servants that which is just— just 
 
CHRISTIAN BEHAVIOUR. 
 
 259 
 
 labour and just wages — knowing that you also 
 have a Master in heaven." 
 
 As servants may be circumvented at their 
 coming into their labour, so also they may be 
 at their going out; which is done by masters 
 that either change their wages, like heai^enish 
 Laban, or keep it back, like those against whom 
 Grod will be a swift witness. 
 
 (3.) Take heed that thou make not a gain 
 of tliy place, because thou art gracious or 
 livest conveniently for the means of grace. 
 
 Servants that are truly godly, they care not 
 how cheap they serve their masters, provided 
 they may get into private families, or where 
 they may be convenient for the word. But 
 now, if a master or mistress should take this 
 opportunity to make a prey of their servants, 
 this is abominable, this is making a gain of 
 godliness and merchandise of the things of 
 God and of the soul of thy brother. 
 
 I have heard some poor servants say that in 
 some ca,rnal families they have had more lib- 
 erty to God's things and more fairness of deal- 
 ing than among professors ; but this stinlceth. 
 And as Jacob said concerning the cruelty of 
 his two sons, so may I say of such masters, 
 they make religion stink before the inhabitants 
 of tlie land. 
 
 In a word, learn of the Lord Jesus to carry 
 youi'selves well to your servants, that your ser- 
 vants also may learn something of tlie kind- 
 ness of Christ by your deportment to them. 
 Servants are goers cis well as comers ; take heed 
 that thou give them no occasion to scandal the 
 Gospel when they are gone for what they ob- 
 served thee unrighteously to do when they 
 were witli thee. Tlien masters carry it riglitly 
 tinvard their servants when they labour both 
 in word and life to convince them that the 
 tilings of God are the one thing necessary. 
 That which servants are commanded to do 
 touching their fear, their singleness of heart, 
 their doing what they do as to the Lord, and 
 not to men, tlie master is commanded to do the 
 same things unto them. 
 
 THE DUTY OF WIVES. 
 
 But, passing the master of the family, I shall 
 Bpeak a word or two to those that are under him. 
 
 And first to the wife. The wife is bound by 
 the law to her husband so long as her htlsband 
 liveth, wherefore she also hath her work and 
 place in the family, as well as the rest. 
 
 Now there are these things considerable in 
 the carriage of a Wife toward her husband, 
 which she ought-conscientiously to observe : 
 
 1. That she look upon him as her head and 
 lord. The head of the woman is the man, 
 and so Sarah called Abraham lord. 
 
 2. She should therefore be subject to him, 
 as is fit in the Lord. The apostle saith, "That 
 the wife should submit herself to her hiisband, 
 as to the Lord." I told you before that if the 
 husband doth walk towards his wife as becomes 
 him, he will therein be such an ordinance of 
 God to her, besides the relation of an husband, 
 that shall preach to her the carriage of Christ 
 to his Church. And now I say also that the 
 wife, if she walk with her husband aa becomes 
 hpr, she shall preach the obedience of the 
 Church to her husband. Therefore as the 
 Church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be 
 to their own husbands in every thing. 
 
 Now, for thy performing of this work, thou 
 must first shun these evils: 
 
 1. The evil of a wandering and a gossiping 
 spirit; this is evil in the Church, and is evil 
 also in a wife, who is the figure of a Church. 
 Christ loveth to have his spouse keep at home ; 
 that is, to be with him in the faith and prac- 
 tice of his things, not ranging and meddling 
 with the things of Satan; no more should 
 wives be given to wander and gossip abroad. 
 You know that Prov. vii. 11 saith, " She is 
 loud and stubborn, her feet abide not in her 
 house." 
 
 Wives should be about their own husband's 
 business at liome; as the apostle saith, "Let 
 them be discreet, chaste,, keepers at liome, 
 good, obedient to their own husband." And 
 why? Because otherwise the word of God 
 will be blasphemed. 
 
 2. Take heed of an idle, talking, or wrang- 
 ling tongue. This also is odious, either in 
 maids or wives, to be like parrots, not bridling 
 their tongue; whereas the wife should know, 
 as I said before, that her husband is her lord, 
 and is over her, as Christ is over the Church. 
 Do you think it is seemly for the Church 'o 
 parrot it against hei husband? Is she not tc 
 be silent before him, and to look to his la-ns 
 rather than her own fictions? Why so, saith 
 the apostle, ought the wife to carry it towards 
 her husband. Let the woman, saith Paul, 
 learn in silence with all subjection ; bui I su f- 
 fer not a woman to teach or to usurp authority 
 over the man, but to be in silence. 
 
 It is an unseemly thing to see a woman so 
 much as once in all her lifetime to ofier to 
 overtop her husband ; she ought in every thing 
 to be in subjection to him and in all she doth, 
 as having her warrant, license, and aiithority 
 
2G0 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 from him. And indeed here is her glory, even 
 to be under him, as the Church is under Christ: 
 '"Ni-w she openeth her mouth in wisdom, and 
 her tongue is the law of kindness." 
 
 3. Take heed of affecting immodest apparel 
 or a wanton gait ; this will be evil both abroad 
 and at home ; abroad, it will not only give ill 
 example, but also tend to tempt to lust and 
 lasci\ iousness; and at home it will give an of- 
 fence '.-■> a godly husband, and be cankering to 
 ungodly children, &c. Wherefore, as saith the 
 apostle, "Let women's apparel be modest, as 
 beeometh women professing godliness with 
 good works," " not with broidered hair, or gold, 
 or pearls, or costly array." And as it is said 
 again, " Whose adorning, let it not be that out- 
 ward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wear- 
 ing gold, and of putting on of apparel ; but let it 
 be the hidden man of the heart, in that which 
 is not corruptible, even the ornament of a 
 meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of 
 God of great price; for after this manner in 
 old time the holy women also, who trusted in 
 God, adorned themselves, being in subjection 
 to their own husbands.'' 
 
 But yet do not think that by the subjection 
 I have here mentioned I do intend women 
 should be their husbands' slaves. Women are 
 their husbands' yoke-fellows, their flesh and 
 their bones ; and he is not a man that hateth 
 his own flesh or that is bitter against it. 
 Wherefore let every man love his wife as him- 
 self, and the wife see that she reverence her 
 husband. 
 
 The wife is master next her husband, and is 
 to rule all in his absence : yea, in his presence 
 she is to guide the house, to bring up the chil- 
 dren, provided she so do it as the adversary have 
 no occasion to speak reproachfully. "Who 
 cau find a virtuous woman ? For her price is 
 far above rubies. A gracious woman retain- 
 eth honour, and guideth her affairs with dis- 
 cretion." 
 
 Objection. But my husband is an unbeliever : 
 nbat shall I do ? 
 
 Answer. If so, then what I have said before 
 lieth upon thee with an engagement so much 
 Ihe stronger. For — 1. Thy husband being in 
 this condition, he will be watchful to take thy 
 slips and infirmities, to throw them as dirt in 
 the face of God and thy Saviour. 2. He will 
 be apt to make the worst of every one of thy 
 wo rds, carriages, and gestures. 3. And all this 
 doth tend to the possessing his heart with 
 more hardness, prejudice, and opposition to his 
 own salvation. Wherefore, as Peter saith, 
 
 " Ye wives, be in subjection to your own hus- 
 bands ; that if any obey not the word, they may 
 also without the word be won by the conversa- 
 tion of their wives, while they behold your 
 chaste conversation, coupled with fear." Thy 
 husband's salvation or damnation lieth much 
 in thy deportment and behaviour before him ; 
 wherefore, if there be in thee any fear of God 
 or love to thy husband, seek by a carriage full 
 of meekness, modesty, and holiness, and an 
 humble behaviour before him, to win him to 
 the love of his own salvation; and by thus 
 doing, how knowest thou, O woman, but thou 
 shalt save thy husband? 
 
 Objection. But my husband is not only an 
 unbeliever, but one very froward, peevish, and 
 testy ; yea, so froward, &c., that I know not 
 how to speak to him, to behave myself before 
 him. 
 
 Answer. Indeed there are some wives in 
 great slavery by reason of their ungodly hus- 
 bands, and as such should be pitied and prayed 
 for; so they should be so much the more 
 watchful and circumspect in all their ways. 
 
 1. Therefore be thou very faithful to him 
 in all the things of this life. 
 
 2. Bear with patience his unruly and un- 
 converted behaviour; thou art alive, he is 
 dead : thou art principled with grace, he with 
 sin. Now then, seeing grace is stronger than 
 sin, and virtue than vice, be not overcome 
 with his vileness, but overcome that with thy 
 virtues. It is a shame for those that are gra- 
 cious to be as lavishing in their words, &e., as 
 those that are graceless : " They that are slow 
 to wrath are of great understanding ; but they 
 that are hasty in spirit exalt folly." 
 
 3. Thy wisdom, therefore, if at any time 
 thou hast desire to speak to thy husband for 
 his conviction concerning any thing, either 
 good or evil, it is to observe convenient times 
 and seasons. 
 
 " There is a time to keep silence and a time 
 to speak." 
 
 Now for the right timing thy intentions, 
 
 1. Consider his disposition, and take him 
 when he is farthest off of those filthy passions 
 that are thy afilictions. Abigail would not 
 speak a word to her churlish husband till his 
 winp was gone from him and he in a sober 
 temper. The want of this observation is the 
 cause why so much is spoken and so little 
 effected. 
 
 2. Take him at those times when he hath 
 his heart taken with thee, and when he show- 
 eth tokens of love and delight in thee. Thus 
 
CHRISTIAN BEHA VIOUR. 
 
 261 
 
 dil Esther with the king her husband, and 
 prevailed. 
 
 3. Observe when convictions seize his con- 
 science, and then follow them with sound and 
 grave sayings of the Scriptures. Somewhat 
 like to this dealt Manoah's wife with her hus- 
 band. Yet then, 
 
 1. Let thy words be few. 
 
 2. And none of them savouring of a lording 
 it over him, but speak thou still to thy head 
 and lord by way of entreaty and beseeching. 
 
 3. And (hat in such a spirit of sympathy 
 and bowels of affection after his good that the 
 manner of thy speech and behaviour in speak- 
 ing may be to him an argument that thou 
 Bpeakest in love, as being sensible of his mis- 
 ery and inflamed in thy soul with desire after 
 his conversion. * 
 
 4. And follow thy words and behaviour with 
 prayers to God for his soul. 
 
 5. Still keeping thyself in a holy, chaste, 
 and modest behaviour before him. 
 
 Objection. But my husband is a sot, a fool, 
 and one that hath not wit enough to follow his 
 outward employment in the world. 
 
 Answer. 1. Though all this be true, yet thou 
 must know he is thy head, thy lord, and thy 
 husband. 
 
 2. Therefore thou must take heed of desiring 
 to usurp authority over him. He was not 
 made for thee — that is, for thee to have domin- 
 iOiU over him — ^but to be thy husband and to 
 rule over thee. 
 
 3. Wherefore, though in truth thou must 
 have more discretion than he, yet thou ought- 
 est to know that thou, with all that is thine, is 
 to be used as under thy, husband, even every 
 thing. 
 
 Take heed therefore that what thou dost 
 goes not in thy name, but his ; not to thy ex- 
 altation, but his ; carrying all things so, by thy 
 dexterity and prudence, that not one of thy 
 husband's weaknesses be discovered to others 
 by thee : " A virtuous woman is a crown to her 
 husband ; but she that causeth shame is a rot- 
 tenness to his bones." For then, as the wise 
 man saith, she will do him good, and not evil, 
 all the days of her life. 
 
 4. Therefore act, and do still, as being under 
 the power and authority of thy husband. 
 
 Now, touching thy carriage to thy children 
 %nd servants. 
 
 Thou art a parent and a mistress, and so 
 thou oughtest to demean thyself. 
 
 And besides, seeing the believing woman is 
 a. figure of the Church, she ought, as the 
 
 Church, to nourish and instruct her children 
 and servants as the Church, that she may an- 
 swer in that particular also ; and truly, the 
 wife being always at home, she hath great ad- 
 vantage that way; wherefore do it, and the 
 Lord prosper your proceeding. 
 
 OF CIIILDKEN TO PARENTS. 
 
 There lieth also a duty upon children to theii 
 parents, which they are bound by the law of 
 God and nature conscientiously to observe; 
 " Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for 
 this is right." And again, " Children, obey 
 your parents in all things, for this is well pleas 
 ing to the Lord." 
 
 , There are these general things in which chil 
 dren should show forth that honour that is due 
 to their parents from them : 
 
 1. They should always count them better 
 than themselves. I observe a vile spirit among 
 some children, and that is, they are apt to look 
 over their parents and to have slighting and 
 scornful thoughts of them. This is worse than 
 heathenish ; such a one hath got just the heart 
 of a dog or a beast, that will bite those that be- 
 got them and her that brought them forth. 
 
 Objection. But my father, &c., is now poor and 
 I am rich, and it will be a disparagement, or 
 at least a hindrance to me, to show that respect 
 to him as otherwise I might. 
 
 Answer. I tell thee that thou arguest like an 
 atheist and a beast, and standest in this full 
 flat against the Son of God. 
 
 Must a gift and a little of the glory of the 
 butterfly make thee that thou shalt not do for 
 and honour to thy father and mother? "A 
 wise son maketh a glad father, but a foolish 
 son despiseth his mother." Though thy pa- 
 rents be never so low, and thou thyself never 
 so high, yet he is thy father and she thy mother, 
 and they must be in thy eye in great esteem : 
 " The eye that mocketh at his father, and that 
 despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the 
 valley shall pick it out and the young eagles 
 shall eat it." 
 
 2. Thou oughtest to show thy honour to Ihy 
 parents by a willingness to help them with 
 suchi necessaries and accommodations which 
 they need. If any have nephews or children 
 let them learn to show pity at home, and to re- 
 quite their parents, saith Paul, for that is good 
 and acceptable before God. 
 
 And this rule Joseph observed to his poor 
 .father, though he himself was next the king 
 in Egypt. 
 
 But mark, let them requite their parents. 
 
262 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 There are three things for which, as long as 
 thou livest, thou wilt be a debtor to thy pa- 
 rents: 
 
 (1.) For thy being in this world; they are 
 they from whom immediately, under God, thou 
 didst receive it. 
 
 (2.) For their care to preserve thee when 
 thou wast helpless and couldst neither care for 
 nor regard thyself. 
 
 (3 ) For the pains they have taken with thee 
 to bring thee up. Until thou hast children of 
 thy osvn thou wilt not be sensible of the pains, 
 watchings, fears, sorrows, and aflBiction that 
 tLey have gone under to bi'ing thee up ; and 
 when thou knowest it thou wilt not easily yield 
 that thou haat recompensed them for their 
 favour to thee. How often have they sus- 
 tained thy hunger, clothed' thy nakedness! 
 What care have they taken that thou mightest 
 have wherewith to live and do well when they 
 were dead and gone ! They possibly have 
 spared it from their own belly and back for 
 thee, and have also impoverished themselves 
 that thou mightest live like a man. All these 
 things ought duly, and like a man, to be con- 
 sidered "by thee; and care ought to be taken 
 on thy part to requite them. The Scripture 
 saith so, reason saith so, and there be none but 
 dogs and beasts that deny it. It is the duty of 
 parents to lay up for their children, and the 
 duty of children to requite their parents. 
 
 3. Therefore show by all huihble and son- 
 like carriage that thou dost to this day, with 
 thy heart, remember the love of thy parents. 
 
 Thus much for obedience to parents in 
 general. 
 
 Again, if thy parents be godly and thou 
 wicked, (as thou art if thou hast not a second 
 work or birth from God upon thee,) then thou 
 art to consider that thou art more strongly en- 
 gaged to respect and honour thy parents ; not 
 now only as a father in the flesh, but, as godly 
 parents, thy father and mother are now made 
 of God thy teachers and instructors in the way 
 of righteousness. Wherefore, to allude to that 
 of Solomon, " My son, hearken to the law of 
 A'-j father, and forsake not the law of thy 
 mdllier; bind them continually upon thy heart 
 and tie them about thy neck." 
 
 N ow to provoke thee hereto, consider — 
 
 1. That this hath been the practice always 
 of those that are and have been obedient chil- 
 dren: yea, of Christ himself to Joseph and 
 Mary, though he himself was God blessed for. 
 ever. 
 
 2. Thou hast also the severe judgments of 
 
 God upon those that have been disobedient to 
 awe thee; as, 
 
 (1.) Ishmael, for but mocking at one good 
 carriage of his father and mother, was both 
 thrust out of his father's inheritance and the 
 kingdom of heaven, and that with God's ap- 
 probation. 
 
 (2.) Hophni and Phineas, for refusing the 
 good counsel of their father, provoked the 
 great God to be their enemy : " They heark- 
 ened not to the voice of their father, because 
 the Lord would slay them." 
 
 (3.) Absalom was hanged, as I may say, by 
 God himself for rebelling against his father. 
 
 Besides, little dost thou know how heart- 
 aching a consideration it is to thy parents wher 
 they do but suppose thou mayest be damned — 
 how many prayers, sighs, and tears are there 
 wrung from their hearts upon this account. 
 
 Every miscarriage of thine goeth to their 
 heart, for fear God should take an occasion 
 thereat to shut thee up in hardness for ever. 
 
 How did Abraham groan for Ishmael ? " Oh 
 (saith he to God) tha,t Ishmael might live be- 
 fore thee!" » 
 
 How was Isaac and Rebekah grieved for the 
 miscarriage of Esau ! 
 
 And how bitterly did David mourn for his 
 son, who died in his wickedness ! 
 
 Lastly, And can any imagine but that all 
 these carriages of thy godly parents will be to 
 thee the increase of thy torments in hell, if 
 thou die in thy sins notwithstanding? 
 
 Again, If thy parents and thou also be godly, 
 how happy a thing is this ! How shouldst thou 
 rejoice that the same faith should dwell both 
 in thy parents and thee ! Thy ■ conversion, 
 possibly, is the fruits of thy parents' groans 
 and prayers for thy soul, and they cannot 
 choose but rejoice ; do thou rejoice with them. 
 It is true it is the salvation of a natural son 
 which is mentioned in the parable: "This 
 my son was dead, and is alive again : was 
 lost, and is found: and they began to be 
 merry." 
 
 Let therefore the consideration of this, that 
 thy parents have grace as well as thee, engage 
 thy heart so much the more to honour, re'.vr- 
 ence, and obey them. 
 
 Thou art better able now to consider the 
 pains and care that thy friends hath been at, 
 both for thy body and soul ; wherefore strive 
 to requite them. Thou hast strength to answer 
 in some measure the command ; wherefore do 
 not neglect it. 
 
 It is a double sin in a gracious son not to 
 
CHRISTIAN BEHAVIOUR. 
 
 263 
 
 remember the commandment — yea, the first 
 commandment with promise. 
 
 Take heed of giving thy sweet parents one 
 snappish word or one unseemly carriage. Love 
 them because they are thy parents, because they 
 are godly, and because thou must be in glory 
 with them. 
 
 Again, if thou be godly and thy parents 
 wicked, as often it sadly falls out, then, 
 
 1. Let thy bowels yearn towards them; it is 
 thy parents that are going to hell. 
 
 2 As I said before to the wife touching her 
 unbelieving husband, so now I say to thee. 
 Take heed of a parroting tongue : speak to 
 them wisely, meekly,, and humbly ; do for them 
 faithfully without repining, and bear with all 
 child-like modesty their reproaches, their rail- 
 ing, and evil-speaking. Watch fit opportuni- 
 ties to lay thoir condition before them. Oh I 
 how happy a thing would it be if God should 
 use a child to beget his father to the faith I 
 Then indeed might the father say. With the 
 fruit of my own bowels hath God converted 
 my soul. The Lord, if it be his will, convert 
 our poor parents, that they, with us, may be 
 the children of God. 
 
 CONCERNINO SERVANTS. 
 
 Servants also, they have a work to do for 
 God in their place and station among men. 
 
 The apostles assert masters under a threefold 
 consideration : 
 
 1. The believing master. 2. The unbeliev- 
 ing master. 3. The froward master. 
 
 For all which servants are furnished with 
 counsel and advice in the. word, for the de- 
 meaning of themselves under each of them. 
 
 But before I spfeak in particular to any of 
 these, I will in general show you the duty of 
 servants: 
 
 1. Thou art to look upon thyself as thou art, 
 that is, as a servant, riot a child nor a wife; 
 thou art inferior to these; wherefore count 
 thyself under them, and be content with that 
 station: "For three things the earth is dis- 
 quieted, and for four which it cannot bear : one 
 is a servant when he reigpeth." 
 
 It is out of thy place either to talk or do as 
 one that reigneth. 
 
 2. Consider that thou being a servant, what 
 is under thy hand is not thine own, but thy 
 master's. Now, because it is not thy own, thou 
 oughtest not to dispose of it, but because it is 
 thy master's, thou oughtest to be faithful. 
 Thus it was with Joseph. Gen. xxxix. 7, 8, 9. 
 But if thou do otherwise, know that thou shalt 
 
 receive of God for the wrong that thou dost, 
 and there is with God no respect of persons. 
 
 '3. Touching thy work and employment, thou 
 art to do it as unto the Lord, and not for man 
 and indeed then servants do their business as 
 becomes them when they do all in obedience 
 to the Lord, as knowing that the place in which 
 they now are is the place where Christ hath 
 put them, and in which he expecteth they 
 should be faithful. 
 
 Servants, (saith Paul,) be obedient to them 
 that are your masters — with fear and trembling, 
 in singleness of heart, as unto Christ; not with 
 eye-service as men-pleasers, but as the servants 
 of Christ, doing the will of God from the 
 heart. 
 
 Observe a little the word of God to servants: 
 
 1. Servants must be obedient ; yea, 
 
 2. Not with that obedience that will serve 
 man only ; servants must have their eye on the 
 Lord in the work they do for their masters. 
 
 3. That their work in this service is the will 
 and ordinance of God. 
 
 From which I conclude that thy work in thy 
 place and station, as thou art a servant, is as 
 really God's ordinance and as acceptable to 
 him, in its kind, as is preaching or any other 
 work for God, and that thou art as sure to re- 
 ceive a reward for thy labour as he that hangs 
 or is burnt for the Gospel. Wherefore, saith 
 the apostle to servants, " Whatsoever ye do, do 
 it heartily, as to the Lord, and not to men, 
 knowing that of the Lord you shall receive 
 the reward of inheritance; for ye serve the 
 Lord Christ." 
 
 And now touching the three sorts of masters 
 mentioned before. 
 
 1. For the believing masters. Saith Paul, 
 " They that have believing masters, let them 
 not despise them because they are brethren, 
 but rather do them service because they are 
 faithful and beloved, and partakers (with the 
 servants) of the heavenly benefits.'' (Servants, 
 if they have not a care of their hearts, will be 
 so much in the consideration of the relation 
 that is betwixt their masters and they as breth- 
 ren, that they will forget the relation that is 
 between them as masters and servants. Now, 
 though they ought to remember the one, yet 
 let them take heed of not forgetting the other. 
 Know thy place as a servant while thou con- 
 siderest that thy master and thee are brethren : 
 do thy work for him faithfully and humbly, 
 and with meekness, because he is a master 
 faithful and beloved, and partaker of the 
 heavenly benefit.) "If any man teach other- 
 
264 
 
 BVNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 wise, (saith tlie apostle Paul,) and consent not 
 to wholesome words, even the words of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ and the doctrine which is 
 according to godliness, he is proud, knowing 
 nothing, but doatiug about questions and strife 
 of words ; whereof cometh envy, strife, rail- 
 ings, evil surmisings, perverse disputings of 
 men of corrupt minds and destitute of the 
 truth, supposing that gain is godliness : from 
 such withdraw thyself." 
 
 2. For the unbelieving masters, (for of them 
 Paul speaks in the first verse of the 6th of 
 Timothy.) "Let as many servants (saith he) 
 as be under the yoke count their own masters 
 worthy of all honour, that the word of God 
 and his doctrine be not blasphemed." 
 
 Servants living with unbelieving masters 
 are greatly engaged to be both watchful, 
 faithful, and trusty. Engaged, I say — (1.) 
 From the consideration of the condition of 
 their master; for he, being unbelieving, will 
 have an evil eye upon thee and upon thy 
 doings, and so much the more because thou 
 professest; as in the case of Saul and David. 
 1 Sam. xviii. 
 
 (2.) Thou art engaged because of the pro- 
 fession thou makest of the word of God ; for 
 by thy profession thou dost lay both God and 
 his word before thy master, and he hath no 
 other wit but to blaspheme th'em if thou be- 
 have thyself unworthily. Wherefore Paul bids 
 Titus, " Exhort servants to be obedient to their 
 own ma-3ters, and to please them well in all 
 things, not answering again, (not giving par- 
 roting answers or such as are cross or pro- 
 voking,) not purloining, but showing all good 
 fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of 
 God our Saviour in all things." 
 
 That servant who in an unbeliever's family 
 doth his work before God as God's ordinance, 
 he shall adorn the doctrine of God, if not save 
 his master, by so doing ; but if he doth other- 
 wise, he shall both stumble the unbeliever, 
 dishonour God, offend the faithful, and bring 
 guilt upon his own soul. 
 
 3. For the froward master, (though I distin- 
 guish him from the unbeliever, yet it is not be- 
 cause he may not be such, but because every 
 believer doth not properly go under that name.) 
 Now, with this froward and peevish fellow 
 thou art to serve as faithfully for the time 
 thou standest bound as with the most pleasant 
 and rational master in the world. " Servants, 
 (saith Peter,) be subject to your masters, with 
 all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but 
 also to the froward." And if thy peevish 
 
 master will still be froward, either out of 
 spite to thy religion or because he is without 
 reason concerning thy labour, (thou to the 
 utmost of thy power labouring faithfully,) 
 God then reckoneth thee a sufferer for well- 
 doing, as truly as if thou wert called upon the 
 stage of this world before men for the matters 
 of thy faith. Wherefore Peter adds this en- 
 couragement to servants to the exhortation 
 he gave them before: "This is thankworthy, 
 (saith he,) if a man for conscience toward 
 God endureth grief, suffering wrongfully ; foi 
 what glory is it if, when ye be buffeted for 
 your faults, you take it patiently? But if, 
 when you do well and suffer for it, you take it 
 patiently, this is acceptable with God." 
 
 Whei'efore be comforted concerning thy 
 condition, with considering that God looks 
 upon thee as on Jacob in the family of Laban, 
 and will right all thy wrongs, and recompense 
 thee for thy faithful, wise, and godly be- 
 haviour before and in the service of thy 
 froward master. 
 
 Wherefore, be patient, I say, and abound 
 in faithfulness in thy place and calling, till 
 God make a way fc(r thy escape from this 
 place; and when thou mayest be made free, 
 use it rather. 
 
 OF NEIGHBOUKS EACH TO OTHER. 
 
 Having thus in few words showed yon 
 what is duty under your several relations, I 
 shall now at last speak, in a word or two, 
 touching good neighbourhood, and then draw 
 towards a conclusion. 
 
 Touching neighbourhood, there are these 
 things to be considered and practised if thou 
 wilt be found in the practical part of good 
 neighbourhood : 
 
 1. Thou must be of a good and sound con- 
 versation in thy own family, place, and station, 
 showing to all the power that the Gospel ai d 
 the things of another world have in thy heaft, 
 " that ye may be blameless and harmless, the 
 sons of God, without rebuke in the midst of a 
 crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye 
 shine as lights in the world." 
 
 2. As persons must be of good behaviour at 
 home that will be good neighbours, so they 
 must be full of courtesy and charity to them 
 that have need about them. 
 
 Right good neighbourhood is for men read- 
 ily to communicate, as of their spirituals, so 
 of their temporalities, as food, raiment, and 
 help, to those that have need; to be giving to 
 the poor as thou seest them go by thee, or to 
 
CHRISTIAN BEHAVIOUR. 
 
 265 
 
 inquire after their condition, and according to 
 thy capacity to send unto them. 
 
 3. Th(5u must be always humble and meek 
 among them, as also grave and gracious; not 
 light and frothy, but by thy words and car- 
 riage ministering grace to the hearera. 
 
 Thus also Job honoured God among his 
 neighbour. 
 
 4. Thy wisdom will be rightly to discoun- 
 tenance sin and to reprove thy neighbour for 
 the same, denying thyself in some things for 
 the preventing an injury to thy neighbour, 
 that thou mayest please him for his edi- 
 fication. 
 
 5. If thou wouldst be a good neighbour, 
 take heed of thy tongue upon two accounts : 
 
 (1.) That thou with it give no offensive lan- 
 guage to thy neighbour, to the provoking of 
 him to anger. Bear much, put up with 
 wrongs, and say little : " It is an honour for 
 a man to cease from strife, but every fool will 
 be meddling." And again, "He loveth trans- 
 gression that loveth strife." 
 
 (2.) And as thou shouldst take heed that 
 thou be not the original of contention and 
 anger, so also take heeo that thou be not an 
 instrument to beget it between parties by a 
 tale-bearing and gossiping spirit: "He that 
 passeth by and meddleth with strife belonging 
 not to him is like one that taketh a dog by 
 the ears. As coals are to burning coals, and 
 wood to fire, so is a contentious man to kindle 
 strife." 
 
 I do observe two things very odious in many 
 professors : the one is a headstrong and stiff- 
 necked spirit, that will have its own way; and 
 the other is a great deal of tattling and talk 
 about religion, and but a very little, if any 
 thing, of those Christian deeds that carry in 
 tliem the cross of a Christian in the doing 
 thereof and profit to my neighbour. 
 
 (1.) When I say a headstrong and stiff- 
 necked spirit, I mean they are for pleasing 
 themselves and their own fancies in things of 
 no weight, though their so doing be as the 
 very slaughter-knife to the weak conscience 
 of a brother or neighbour. Now this is fcase. 
 Christians, in all such things as entrench not 
 ou matters of faith and worship, should be full 
 of self-deuial, and seek to please others rather 
 than themselves; "giving none offence to the 
 Jew, nor to the Greek, nor to the Church of 
 God; not seeking thoir own profit, but the 
 profit of many, that they may be saved." 
 
 (2.) And the second is as bad, to wit, when 
 professors are great prattleis, and *^alkers, and 
 
 disputers, but do little of any thing that be- 
 speaketh love to the poor or self-denial in out- 
 ward things. Some people think religion is 
 made up of words; a very wide mistake. 
 Words without deeds is but a half-faced re- 
 ligion. "Pure religion and undefiled before 
 God and the Father is this: To visit the 
 fatherless and widows in their afiliction, and 
 to keep thyself unspotted from the world." 
 Again, "If a brother or a sister be destitute 
 of daily food, and one of you say unto them. 
 Depart in peace, be warmed and filled, (which 
 are very fine words,) yet if you give them not 
 those things that are necessary to the body, 
 whafdoth it profit?" 
 
 Now, then, before I go any further, I will 
 here take an occasion to touch a little upon 
 those sins that are so rife in many professors 
 in this day; and they are covetousness, pride, 
 and uncleanness. I would speak a word to 
 them in this place the rather because they are 
 they which spoil both Christian brotherhood 
 and civil neighbourhood in too great a meas- 
 ure. 
 
 First, for covetousness. 
 
 1. Covetousness, it is all one with desire; he 
 that desires covets, whether the thing he de- 
 sires be evil or good. Wherefore that which 
 is called coveting in Ex. xx. 17 is called desire 
 in Deut. v. 21. As the apostle also saith, "I 
 had not known lust except the law had said, 
 Thou shalt not covet." Eom. vii. 7. That is, I 
 had not known lust to be a sin unless the law 
 had forbid it. Wherefore, though lawful de- 
 sires are good (1 Cor. xii. 31) and to be com- 
 mended, yet covetousness, as commonly under- 
 stood, is to be fled from and abhorred, as of the 
 devil. 
 
 2. Covetousness, or evil desire, it is the first 
 mover, and giveth to every sin its call, as I 
 may say, both to move and act ; as was said 
 before. The apostle had not known sin except 
 the law had said. Thou shalt not desire, or 
 covet, for where there is no desire to sin there 
 appears no sin. 
 
 3. Therefore covetousness carrieth in it every 
 sin, (we speak of sins against the second table,) 
 even as a serpent carrieth her young ones in 
 her belly. This the Scripture affirms where it 
 saith, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's 
 wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-ser- 
 vant, nor his "^ ox, nor his ass, nor any thing 
 that is thy neighbour's." Covetousness will 
 meddle with any thing. 
 
 Now, there are in my mind at present these 
 eight notes of covetousness, which hinder good 
 
266 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 works and a Christian conversation among 
 men wherever they are harboured : 
 
 1. When men to whom God hath given a 
 comfortable livelihood are yet not content 
 therewith. ■ This is against the apostle, where 
 he saith, "Let your conversation be without 
 covetousness, and be content with such things 
 as ye have, for he hath said, I will never leave 
 thc« nor forsake thee." 
 
 2. It is covetousness in the seller that puts 
 him to say of his traffic it is better than it is, 
 that he may heighten the price of it; and 
 covetoujness in the buyer that prompts him to 
 say worse of the thing than he thinks in his 
 conscience it is, and that for an abatement of 
 a reasonable price. This is that which the 
 apostle forbids under the name of defraud, and 
 that which Solomon condemns. 
 
 3. It is through covetousness that men think 
 much of that which goeth beside their own 
 mouth, though possibly it goeth to those that 
 have more need than themselves, and also that 
 
 )etter deserve it than they. 
 
 4. It argueth covetousness when men will 
 deprive themselves and those under them of 
 the piivileges of the Gospel for more of this 
 world, and is condemned by Christ. 
 
 5. It argueth covetousness when men that 
 have it can go by or hear of the poor, and 
 shut up their bowels of compassion from them. 
 
 6. Also, when men are convinced it is their 
 duty to communicate to such and such that 
 have need, yet they defer it, and if not quite 
 forget it, yet linger away the time, as being 
 loth to distribute to the necessities of those in 
 want. This is forbidden by the Holy Ghost: 
 " Withhold not good from them to whom it is 
 due, when it is in the power of thy hand to do 
 it." Now, it is due from thee to the poor by 
 the commandment of God, if they want and 
 thou hast it: "Say not then to thy neighbour. 
 Go, and come again to-morrow, and I will give, 
 when thou hast it by thee." 
 
 7. It argueth a greedy mind also when, after 
 men have cast in their minds what to give, 
 they -then from that will be pinching and 
 clipping and taking away; whereas the Holy 
 Ghost saith, "Every one as he purposeth in 
 his heart so let him give, not grudgingly, nor 
 of necessity; for God loveth a cheerful giver." 
 
 L.i.tstly. It argueth a filthy, greedy heart also 
 when a man, after he hath done any good, 
 then in his heart to repent and secretly wish 
 that he had not so done, or at least that he had 
 not done so much : this is to be weary of well- 
 doing, (I speak now of communicating,) and 
 
 carrieth in it two evils : First, it spoileth the 
 work done; and, secondl_r, it {if entertained) 
 spoileth the he3,rt for doing any more so. The 
 vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor 
 the churl said to be bountiful ; for the liberal 
 deviseth liberal things, and by liberal things 
 he shall stand. 
 
 Now, then, to dissuade all from this poison- 
 ous sin, observe that above all sins in the New 
 Testament this is called idolatiy. And there 
 fore God's people should be so far from being 
 taken with it that they should be much afraid 
 of the naming of it one among another, lest it 
 should, as adulterous thoughts, infect the heart 
 by talking of it. 
 
 Question. But why is covetousness called 
 idolatry ? 
 
 Answer. Because it engageth the very heart 
 of man in it ; to mind earthly things it gets 
 our love, which should be set on God, and sets 
 it upon poor empty creatures ; it puts our af- 
 fections out of heaven, where they should be, 
 and sets them on earth, where they should not 
 be. Thus it changeth the object on which the 
 heart sliould be set, and setteth it on that on 
 which it should not. If makes a man forsake 
 God, " the fountain of living water, and caus- 
 eth him to hew to himself cisterns, broken 
 cisterns, which can hold no water." 
 
 For, 2. It rejecteth the care, government, 
 and providence of God towards us, and causeth 
 us to make of our care and industry a god, to 
 whom, instead of God, we fly continually, both 
 for the keeping what we have and for getting 
 more. 
 
 This was Israel's idolatry of old, and the 
 oi-iginal of all her idolatrous practices. Hos. ii. 
 5. " For their mother hath played the harlot, 
 (that is, committed idolatry :) she that con- 
 ceived them hath done shamefully; for she 
 said, I will go after my lovers, that gave me 
 my bread and waters, my wool and my flax, 
 my oil and my drink." 
 
 3. It disalloweth of God's way of disposing 
 his creatures, and would have them ordered 
 and disposed of otherwise than to his heavenly 
 wisdom seemeth meet; and hence ariseth all 
 discontents about God's dealings with us. 
 Covetousness never yet said. It is the Lord, let 
 him do what he pleaseth ; but is ever object- 
 ing, like a god, against every thing that goeth 
 against it ; and it is that which, like a god, 
 draweth away the heart and soul from the true 
 God and his Son Jesus Christ : " And he went 
 away sorrowful, for he had great possessions." 
 Now, then, that which engageth the heart, that 
 
CHRISTIAN BEHAVIOUR. 
 
 267 
 
 rejecteth the providence of God, and that is 
 for ordering and disposing of things contrary 
 to God, and for breaking with God upon these 
 terms is idolatry ; and all. these do covetoiis- 
 ness : " The wicked boasteth of his heart's de- 
 sire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the Lord 
 abhorreth." Ps. xx. 3. Now the way to rem- 
 edy this disease is to learn the lesson which 
 Paul had got by heart ; to wit, " In whatsoever 
 state you are, therewith to be contisnt.'' 
 
 1 come, in the second place, to speak a word 
 of pride and loftiness of heart and life. 
 
 1. Pride in general it is which causeth a 
 man to think of man and his things above 
 what is written. 1 Cor. iv. 6. 
 
 2. It hath its seat in the heart among these 
 enormities : fornications, adulteries, lascivious- 
 ness, murders, deceit, etc., and showeth itself 
 in these following particulars : 
 
 (1.) When you slight this or that person, 
 though gracious — that is, look over them and 
 shun them for their poverty in this world, and 
 choose rather to have converse with others that 
 possibly are less gracious, because of their 
 greatness in this world — this the apostle James 
 writes against under the name of partiality : 
 " for indeed the fruits of a puffed-up heart is 
 to deal in this manner with Christians.'' 
 
 Now this branch of pride floweth from ig- 
 norance of the vanity of the creature and of 
 the worth of a gracious heart : wherefore get 
 more of the knowledge of these two, and, 
 this sprig will be nipped in the head, and 
 you will learn to condescend to men of low 
 degree. 
 
 (2.) It argues pride of heart when men will 
 not deny themselves in things that they may, 
 for the good and profit of their neighbours. 
 And it arguelh now that pride has got so much 
 up into self-love and self-pleasing that they 
 little care who they grieve or offend, so they 
 may have their way. 
 
 (3.) It argueth pride of heart when sober 
 reproofs for sin and unbeseeming carriages will 
 not down with thee, but that rather thou snuff- 
 est, and givest way to thy spirit to be peevish, 
 and to retain prejudice against those that thus 
 reprove thee.* Saith the prophet, "Hear ye 
 and give ear, Be not proud, for the Lord hath 
 spoken ;" that is, hear the reproofs of God for 
 your sins, and break them off by reperftance: 
 " But if you will not hear, my soul shall weep 
 in secret for your pride,'' etc, So also in 
 Hosea, " They will not -frame their doing to 
 turn unto their God, for the spirit of whoredom 
 is in the midst of them : thev have not known 
 
 the Lord, and the pride of Israel doth testLfj 
 to his face." 
 
 This argueth great senselessness of God and 
 a heart greatly out of frame. 
 
 Pride also there is in outward carriage, be- 
 haviour, and gesture, which is odious for 
 Christians to be tainted with ; and this pride 
 is discovered by mincing words, a made car- 
 riage, and an affecting the toys and baubles 
 that Satan and every light-hearted fool bring- 
 eth into the world. As God speaketh of 
 the daughters of Zion, "They walked with 
 stretched-out necks, wanton eyes, mincing as 
 they go, and making a tinkling with their 
 feet." A very unhandsome carriage for peo- 
 ple that profess godliness, and that used to 
 come before God to confess their sins, and to 
 bemoan themselves for what they have done. 
 How can a sense of thy own baseness, of the 
 vileness of thy heart, and of the holiness of 
 God stand with such a carriage? 
 
 From this I gather that this sin is a very 
 predominant and master sin, easy to overtake 
 the sinner, as being one of the first that is 
 ready to offer itself at all occasions to break 
 the law of God. 
 
 2. I observe that this sin is committed un- 
 awares to many, even so soon as a man hath 
 but lo9ked upon a woman: "I say unto you, 
 (saith Christ,) that whosoever looketh on a 
 woman to lust or desire after her, he hath 
 already committed adultery with her in his 
 heart." 
 
 This sin, I say, is a very taking sin ; it is 
 natural above all sins to mankind ; as it is 
 most natural, so it wants not tempting occa- 
 sions, having objects foi" to look on in every 
 corner: wherefore there is need of a double 
 and treble watchfulness in the soul against it. 
 It is better here to make a covenant with our 
 eyes, like Job, than to let them wander to 
 God's dishonour and our own discomfort. 
 
 My friends, I am here treating of good 
 works, and persuading you to fly those things 
 that are hindrances to them ; wherefore bear 
 with my plainness when I speak against sin. 
 I would strike it through with every word, be- 
 cause else it will strike us through with many 
 Sbrrows. 
 
 I do not treat of good works as if the doing 
 of them would save us, (for we are justified by 
 his grace, according to the hope of eternal 
 life ;) yet your sins and evil works will lay us 
 obnoxious to the judgments both of God and 
 man. He that walketh not uprightly, accord- 
 ing to the truth of the Gospel, is like to have 
 
268 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 his peace assaulted often, both by the devil, 
 the law, death, and hell ; yea, and is like to 
 have God hide his face from him also for the 
 iniquity of his covetpusness. 
 
 How can he that carrieth himself basely in 
 the sight of men think he yet well behaveth 
 himself in the sighl of God ? and if so dim a 
 light as is in man can justly count thee a trans- 
 gressor, how shall thy sins be hid from Him 
 whose eyelids try the children of men? 
 
 It is true, faith without works justifies us be- 
 fore God : yet that faith that is alone will be 
 found to leave us sinners in the sight both of 
 God and man. Rom. iii. 28. And though 
 thou addest nothing to that which saveth thee 
 by what thou canst do, yet thy righteousness 
 may profit the son of man, as also saith the 
 text ; but if thou shalt be so careless as to say, 
 What care I for being righteous to profit 
 others? I tell thee that the love of God is not 
 in thee. 
 
 Walk therefore in God's ways, and do them, 
 for this is your wisdom and your understand- 
 ing in the sight of the nations which shall 
 bear of all these statutes, and say, " This great 
 nation is a wise and understanding people.'' 
 
 III. Every believer should not only take 
 heed that his works be good, and so for the 
 present do them, but should carefully study to 
 maintain them ; that is, to keep in a continual 
 exercise of them. 
 
 It is an easier matter to begin to do good 
 than it is to continue therein ; and the reason 
 is, there is not so much of a Christian's cross 
 in the beginning of a work as there is in a 
 continual, hearty, conscientious practice there- 
 of. Therefore Christians have need, as to be 
 pressed to do good, so to continue the work. 
 Man, by nature, is rather a hearer than a doer 
 — Athenian-like, continually listening after 
 some new thing ; seeing many things, but ob- 
 serving nothing. It is observable that after 
 Christ had divided his hearers into four parts, 
 he condemned three of them for fruitless 
 hearers. Luke viii. 5-8. Oh it is hard contin- 
 uing believing, continuing loving, continuing 
 resisting all that opposeth; we are subject to 
 be weary of well-doing. To pluck out right 
 eyes, to cut off right hands and feet, is no 
 pleasant thing to flesh and blood ; and yet 
 none but these shall have the promise of life, 
 because none but these will be found to have 
 the effectual work of God's grace in their 
 gouls : " If ye continue in my word, then are 
 you my disciples [indeed."] And hence it is, 
 Jfaat you find so many ifs in the Scripture 
 
 about men's happiness ; as, " if you be sons, 
 then heirs ;" and " if you continue in the 
 faith ;'' and " if .we hold the Deginning of our 
 confidence steadfast to the e)id." Not that 
 their continuing in the way of God is the 
 cause of the work being right, bul the work 
 being right causeth the continuance theiein. 
 As John saith in another place, " Thty wenl 
 out from us, because they were not of us ; for 
 had they been of us, no doubt, saith he, they 
 would have continued with us." But, I say, 
 where the work of God indeed is savingly be- 
 gun, even there is flesh, corruption, and the 
 body of death to oppose it : therefore should 
 Christians take heed, and look that against 
 these opposites they maintain a continual 
 course of good works among men. 
 
 Besides, as there is that in our own bowels 
 that opposeth goodness, so there is the tempter, 
 the wicked one, both to animate these lusts 
 and to join with them in every assault against . 
 every appearance of God in our souls. And 
 hence it is that he is called the devil, the 
 enemy, the destroyer, and him that seeks con- 
 tinually to devour us. I need say no more but 
 this : He that will walk like a Christian in- 
 deed, as he shall find it is requisite that he 
 continue in good works, so his continuing 
 therein will be opposed ; if therefore he will 
 continue therein, he must make it his business 
 to study how to oppose those that oppose such 
 a life, that he may continue therein. 
 
 IV. Now, then, to help in this, here fitly 
 comes in the last observation, to wit : That the 
 best way both to provoke ourselves and others 
 to good works is to be often affirming to others 
 the doctrine of justification by grace, and to 
 believe it ourselves. This is a faithful saying, 
 " And these things I will that thou affirm con- 
 stantly, that those which have believed in God 
 might be careful to maintain good^works." 
 
 I told you before that good works must flow 
 from faith ; and now I tell you that the best 
 way to be fruitful in them is to be much in Ihe 
 exercise of the doctrine of justification by 
 grace, and they both agree ; for as faith ani- 
 mates to good works, so the doctrine of grace 
 animates faith. Wherefore, the way to be rich 
 in good works is to be rich in faith ; and the 
 way to be rich in faith is to be conscientiously 
 affirming the doctrine of grace to others, and 
 believing it ourselves. 
 
 First, To be constantly affirming it to others. 
 Thus Paul tells Timothy that if he put the 
 brethren in mind of the truths of the Gospel, 
 he himself should not only be a good minister 
 
CHRISTIAN BEHAVIOUR. 
 
 269 
 
 >f Christ, but shoald be nourished up in the 
 words of faith and of good doctrine. 
 
 It is the ordinance of God that Christians 
 should be often asserting the things of God 
 each to others, and that by their so doing they 
 shoulJ edify one another. 
 
 The doctrine of the Gospel is like the dew 
 and the small rain that distilleth upon the 
 tender grass, wherewith it doth flourish and is 
 ,ke]it green. 
 
 Christians are like the several flowers in a 
 garden, that have upon each of them the dew 
 of heaven, which being shaken with the wind, 
 they let fall their dew at each other's roots, 
 whereby they are jpintly nourished»and be- 
 come nourishers of one another ; for Christians 
 to commune savourly of God's matters one 
 with another is as if they opened to each 
 other's nostrils boxes of perfume. Saith Paul 
 to the church at Rome, " I long to see you, 
 that I may impart unto you some spiritual 
 gift, to the end you may be established ; that 
 is, that I may be comforted together with you 
 by the mutual faith both of you and me." 
 
 Christians should be often affirming the 
 doctrine of grace and justification by it one to 
 another. 
 
 Secondly. As they should be thus doing, so 
 they should live in the power of it themselves ; 
 they should by faith suck and drink in this 
 doctrine as the good ground receivcth the 
 rain; which being done, forthwith there is 
 proclaimed good works. Paul to the Colos- 
 sians said thus, " We give thanks to God, and 
 the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying 
 always for youj since we heard of your faith in 
 the Lord Jesus and love to all the saints ; for 
 the hope which is laid up in heaven for you, 
 whereof ye heard before in the word of the 
 truth of the Gospel, which is c6me unto you, 
 as it is also in all the world, and bringeth forth 
 fruit, as it doth also in you." But how long 
 ago? Why, since the day ye heard it, saith 
 he, and knew the grace of God in truth. 
 
 Apples and flowers are not made by the 
 gardener, but are an efiect of the planting and 
 watering. Plant in the sinner good doctrine, 
 and let it be watered with the word of grace ; 
 and as the eflfect of that there is the fruits of 
 holiness and the end everlasting life. 
 
 Good doctrine is the doctrine of the Gospel, 
 which showeth to men that God clothed Uiem 
 with the righteousness of his Son freely, md 
 niaketh him with all his benefits over to them, 
 by which free gift the sinner is made righteous 
 hel'ore God; and because he is so, therefore 
 
 there is infused a principle of grace into the 
 heart, whereby it is both quickened and bring- 
 eth forth fruit. 
 
 Now, then, seeing good works do flow from 
 faith, and seeing faith is nourished by an 
 afiirming of the doctrine of the Gospel, &c., 
 take here these few considerations from the 
 doctrine of the Gospel for the support of thy 
 faith, that thou mayest be indeed fruitful and 
 rich in good works : 
 
 1. The whole Bible was given for this very 
 end, that thou shouldst both believe this doc- 
 trine, and live in the comfort and sweetness of 
 it ; for whatever things were written aforetime 
 were written for our learning, that we through 
 patience and comfort of the Scriptures might 
 have hope. 
 
 2. That therefore every promise in the Bible 
 is thine, to strengthen, quicken, and encourage 
 thy heart in believing. 
 
 3. Consider that there is nothing that thou 
 dost can so please God as believing: "The 
 Lord takes pleasure in them that fear him, in 
 them that hope in his mercy." 
 
 They please him, because they embrace his 
 righteousness, &c. 
 
 4. Consider that all the withdrawings of 
 God from thee are not for the weakening, but 
 for the trial of thy faith ; and also that what- 
 ever he suffers Satan or thy own heart to do, it 
 is not to weaken faith. 
 
 5. Consider that believing is that which will 
 keep in thy view the things of heaven and 
 glory, and that at which the devil will be dis- 
 couraged, sin weakened, and the heart quick- 
 ened and sweetened. 
 
 Lastly. By believing the love of God is kept 
 with warmth upon the heart, and that this will 
 provoke thee continually to bless God for 
 Christ, for grace, for faith, hope, and all these 
 things, either in God or thee, that doth accom- 
 pany salvation. 
 
 1. The doctrine of the forgiveness of sins 
 received by faith will make notable work in 
 the heart of a sinner to bring forth good works. 
 
 But, secondly : Forasmuch as there Ls a body 
 of death and sin in every one that hath the 
 grace of God in this world, and because this 
 body of death will be ever opposing that which 
 is good, as the apostle saith, therefore take 
 these few particulars further for the suppress- 
 ing that which will hinder a fruitful life : 
 
 1. Keep a continual watch over the wretch- 
 edness of thy own heart, (not to be discouraged 
 at the sight of thy vileness,) but to prevent its ' 
 wickedness ; for that will labour either to hin- 
 
270 
 
 SUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 der thee from doing good works, or else will 
 hinder thee in the doing thereof; for evil is 
 present with thee for both these purposes. 
 Take heed, then, that thou do not listen to 
 that at any time, but deny, though with much 
 struggling, the workings of sin to the contrary. 
 
 2. Let this be continually before thy heart, 
 that God's eye is upon thee, and seeth every 
 secret turning of thy heart, either to or from 
 him : " All things are naked and bare before 
 the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.'' 
 
 3. If thou deny to do that good which thou 
 oughtest with what thy God hath given thee, 
 then consider that though he love thy soul, 
 yet he can chastise — first, thy inward man 
 with such troubles that thy life shall be rest- 
 less and comfortless ; secondly, and can also so 
 blow upon thy outward man that all thou get- 
 test shall be put in a bag with holes. And 
 should he license but one thief among thy 
 substance, or one spark of fire among thy 
 barns, how quickly might that be spent ill and 
 against thy will which thou shouldst have 
 spent to God's glory and with thy will ! And 
 I tell thee further, that if thou want a heart to 
 do good when thou hast about thee, thou may- 
 est want comfort in such things thyself from 
 others when thine is taken from thee.- 
 
 4. Consider that a life full of good works is 
 the only way, on thy part, to answer the mei^cy 
 of God extended to thee ; God hath had mercy 
 on thee, and hath saved thee from all thy dis- 
 tresses ; God hath not stuck to give thee his 
 Son, his Spirit, and the kingdom of heaven. 
 Saith Paul, " I beseech you therefore, by the 
 mercies of God, that you present your bodies a 
 living sacrifice to God, holy, acceptable, which 
 is your reasonable service." ' 
 
 5. Consider that this is the way to convince 
 all men that the power of God's things hath 
 taken hold of thy heart, (I speak to them that 
 hold the head ;) and say what thou wilt, if thy 
 faith be not accompanied with a holy life thou 
 shalt be judged a withered branch, a wordy 
 professor, salt without savour, and as lifeless 
 as a sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. 
 For, eay they, show us your faith by your 
 works, for we cannot see your hearts. But I 
 say or thsficontrary, if thou walk as becomes 
 one vho art saved by grace, then thou wilt 
 witness in every man's conscience that thou art 
 
 a good tree ; now thou leavest guilt on the 
 heart of the wicked ; now thou takest off" oc- 
 casion from them that desire occasion; and 
 now thou art clear from the blood of all men. 
 This is the man also that provoketh others to 
 good works : The ear that heareth such a man 
 shall bless him, and the eye that seeth him 
 shall bear witness to him. "Surely (saith 
 David) he shall never be moved: the right- 
 eous shall be had in everlasting remembrance." 
 
 6. Again, The heart that is fullest of good 
 works hath in it least room for Satan's tempta- 
 tions ; and this is the meaning of Peter where 
 he saith, " Be sober, be vigilant : " that is, be 
 busying thyself in faith and holiness, " for the 
 devil, your adversary, goeth about like a roar- 
 ing lion, seeking whom he may devour." He 
 that walketli uprightly walketh safely ; and he 
 that adds to faith, virtue ; to virtue, knowledge ; 
 to knowledge, temperance; to temperance, 
 brotherly kindness ; and to these charity, and 
 that abounds therein, he shall neither be bar- 
 ren nor unfruitful, (he shall never fall,) but so 
 an entrance shall be ministered to him abund- 
 antly into the everlasting kingdom of our 
 Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 
 
 7. The man who is fullest of good works is 
 fittest to live and fittest to die : " I am now (at 
 any time) ready to be ofiered up," saith fruitful 
 Paul. Whereas he that is barren is neither fit 
 to live nor fit to die : to die, he himself is con- 
 vinced he is not fit : and to live, God himself 
 saith he is not fit ; " cut him down, why doth 
 he cumber the ground ?" 
 
 Thus have I, in few words, written to you 
 (before I die) a word to provoke you to faith 
 and holiness, because I desire that you may 
 have the life that is laid up for all them that 
 believe in the Lord Jesus and love one another, 
 when I am deceased. Though there I shall 
 rest frpm my labours, and be in paradise, as 
 through- grace I comfortably believe, yet it 
 is not there, but here, I must do you good. 
 Wherefore, I, not knowing the shortness of my 
 life, nor the hindrance that hereafter I may 
 have of serving my God and you, have take a 
 this opportunity to present these few lines unto 
 you for your edification. 
 
 Consider what hath been said, and the Lird 
 give you understanding in all things. 
 
 Farewell. 
 
SOLOIOFS TEMPLE SPIRITUALIZED; 
 
 OB, ^ 
 
 GOSPEL LIGHT BROUGHT OUT OF THE TEMPLE AT JERUSALEM, 
 
 TO LET US MOKE FULLY INTO THE GLORY 01? 
 
 NEW TESTAMENT TEUTHS. 
 
 Ihou son of man, show the house to the house of Israel — show the form of the house, and the fashion there- 
 of, and the goings out thereof, and the coAings in thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the ordinances 
 thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof.— Ezek. xliii. 10, 11. 
 
 TO THE CHRISTIAN EEADER. 
 
 Courteous Christian Eeadee : 
 
 I HAVE, as thou by tliis little book mayest 
 Bee, adventured, at this time, to do my en- 
 deavour to show thee something of the gospel- 
 glory of Solomon's Temple : that is, of what 
 it, with its utensils, was a type of; and, as such, 
 how instructing it was to our fathers, and also 
 is to us their children. The which, that I 
 might do the more distinctly, I have hapdled 
 particulars one by one, to the number of three- 
 score and ten ; namely, all of them I could call 
 to mind : because, as I believe, there was not 
 one of them but had its signification, and so 
 something profitable for us to know. 
 
 For, though we are not now to worship God 
 in these methods, or by such ordinances as 
 once the old church did, yet to know their 
 methods, and to understand the nature and 
 signification of their ordinances, when com- 
 pared with the Gospel, may, even now, when 
 themselves, as to what they once enjoined on 
 others, are dead, minister light unto us. And 
 hence the New Testament ministers, as the 
 apostles, made much use of Old Testament 
 language and ceremonial institutions as to 
 their signification, to help the faith of the godly 
 in their preaching of the Gospel of Christ. 
 
 I may say that God did in a manner tie up 
 the church of the Jews to types, figures, and 
 similitudes; I mean, to be butted and bounded 
 by them in all external parts of worship. Yea, 
 not only the Levitical law and temple, but as 
 
 it seems to rne the whole land of Canaan, the 
 place of their lot to dwell in, was to them a 
 ceremonial or a figure. Their land was a type 
 of heaven, their passage over Jordan into it a 
 similitude of our going to heaven by death. 
 The fruit of their land was said to be uncir- 
 cumcised, as being at their first entrance 
 thither unclean ; in which their land was also 
 a figure of another thing, even as heaven was 
 a type of grace and glory. 
 
 Again, the very land itself was said to 
 keep sabbath, and so to rest a holy rest even 
 then when she lay desolate, and not possessed 
 of those to whom she was given for them to 
 dwell in. 
 
 Yea, many of the features of the then 
 Church of God were set forth, as in figures 
 and shadows, so by places and things, in that 
 land. 
 
 1. In general, she is said to be beautiful 
 as Tirzah, (Song vi. 4,) and to be comely m 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 2. In particular, her neck is compared to 
 the tower of David, builded for an armoury, 
 (Song iv. 4;) her eyes to the fishnools of Hesh- 
 bon, by the gate of Bethrabbim,^chaf. vii. 4;) 
 her nose is compared to the tower of Lebanon, 
 which looketh toward Damascus, (chap. iv. 1 ;}. 
 yea, the hair of her head is compared to a 
 flock of^oats which come up from Mount 
 Gilead, and the smell of her 'garments to the 
 smell of Lebanon. Verse 11. 
 
 271 
 
272 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Nor was this land altogether void of shadows 
 oven of her Lord and Saviour. Hence he says 
 of himself, "I am the rose of Sharon and the 
 lily of the valleys." Song ii. 1. Also she, his 
 beloved, saith of him, " His countenance is as 
 Lebanon, excellent "as the cedars." What 
 shall I say? The two cities, Sion and Jeru- 
 iialem, were such as sometimes set forth the 
 t«eo churches, (Gal. iv.,) the true and the false, 
 .and their seed, Isaac and Ishmael. 
 
 I might also here show you that even -the 
 gifts and graces of the true Church were set 
 forth by the spices, nuts, grapes, and pome- 
 granates that the land of Canaan brought 
 forth; yea, that hell itself was set forth 
 by the valley of the sons of Hinnom and 
 Tophet, places in this country. Indeed, the 
 whole, in a manner, was 'a. typical and fig- 
 urative thing. 
 
 But I have, in the ensuing discourse, con- 
 fined myself to the temple, that immediate 
 place of God's worship, of whose utensils in 
 • particular, as I have said, I have spoken, 
 (though to each with what brevity I could,) 
 for that none of them are without a spiritual, 
 and so a profitable, signification to us. 
 
 And here we may behold much of the rich- 
 ness of the wisdom and grace of God ; namely, 
 that he, even in the very place of worship of 
 old, should ordain visible forms and repre- 
 sentations for the worshippers to learn to 
 worship him by; yea, the temple itself was, 
 as to this, to them a good instruction. 
 
 But in my thus saying I give no encourage- 
 ment to any now to fetch out of their own 
 fancies figures of similitudes to worship God 
 by. What God provided to be an help to the 
 weakness of his people of old was one thing, 
 and what they invented without his com- 
 mandment was another. For though they 
 had his blessing when they worshipped him 
 with such types, shadows, and figures which 
 he had enjoined them for that purpose, yet he 
 aOiely punished and plagued them when they 
 niiuld add to these inventions of their own. 
 Yea, he, in the very act of instituting their 
 way of worshipping him, forbade their giving 
 (in any thing) way to their own humours or 
 fancies, and bound them strictly to the orders 
 of heaven. 
 
 "Look," said God to Moses, their first great 
 legislator, "that thou make all things ac- 
 cording to the pattern showed thee in the 
 mount." * 
 
 Nor doth our apostle but take the same 
 measures when he saith, " If any man think- 
 
 eth himself a prophet or spiritual, let him 
 acknowledge that the things that I write unto 
 you are the commandments of the Lord." 
 
 When Solomon also was to build this tem- 
 ple for the worship of God, though he was 
 wiser than all men, yet God neither trusted to 
 his wisdom, nor memory, nor to any immedi- 
 ate dictates from heaven to him, as to how he 
 would have him build it. No ; he was to re- 
 ceive the whole platform thereof in writing by 
 the inspiration of God. Nor would God give 
 this platform of the temple and of the utensils 
 immediately to this wise man, lest perhaps by 
 others his wisdom should be idolized, or that 
 some should object that the whole fashion 
 thereof proceeded of his fancy, only he made 
 pretensions of divine revelation as a cover for 
 his doings. 
 
 Therefore, I say, not to him, but to hi= 
 father David, was the whole pattern of it 
 given from heaven, and so by David to Solo- 
 mon his son in writing. " Then David," says 
 the text, "gave to Solomon his son, the pat- 
 tern of the porch, and of the houses thereof, 
 and of the treasures thereof, and of the upper 
 chambers thereof, and of the inner parlours 
 thereof, and of the place of the mercy-seat. 
 And the pattern of all that he had by the 
 Spirit, of the courts of th& house of the Lord, 
 and of all the chambers round about, and of 
 the treasuries of the house of God, and of the 
 treasuries of the dedicated things, also for the 
 courses of the priests and Levites, and for all 
 the work of the service of the house of the 
 Lord, and ibr all the vessels of service in the 
 house of the Lord." 
 
 Yea, moreover, he had from heaven, or by 
 divine revelation, what the candlesticks must 
 be made of, and also how much was to go to 
 each; the same order and commandment he 
 also gave for the making of the tables, flesh- 
 hooks, cups, basons, altar of incense, with the 
 pattern for the chariot of the cherubims, &c 
 " All this," said David, " the Lord made me 
 understand by writing his hand upon me, 
 even all the work of this pattern." So, I 
 say, he gave David the pattern of the tem- 
 ple; so David gave Solomon the pattern 
 of the temple; and according to that pat- 
 tern did Solomon build the temple, and not 
 otherwise. 
 
 True, all these were but figures, patterns, and 
 shadows of things in the heavens, and not the 
 very image of the things : but, as was said be- 
 fore, if God was so circumspect and exact in 
 these as not to leave any thing to the dictates 
 
SOLOMON'S TEMPLE SPIRITUALIZED. 
 
 273 
 
 of tho gudly and wisest of men, what ! can we 
 su))pose he will now admit of the wisdom and 
 contrivance of men in those tilings that are, in 
 comparison to them, the heavenly things them- 
 selves ? 
 
 It is also to be concluded that since those 
 shadows of things in the heavens are already 
 committed by God to sacred story, and since 
 Ihat sacred story is said to be able to make the 
 man of God perfect in all things, (2 Tim. iii. 
 15, 16, 17,) it is duty in us to leave off to lean 
 to common understandings, and to inquire and 
 Bearch out by that very holy writ, and naught 
 else, by what and how we should worship God. 
 David was for inquiring in his temple. Ps. 
 xxvii. 4. 
 
 And although the old church way of worship 
 is laid aside as to us in New Testament times, 
 yet since those very ordinances were figures of 
 things and methods of worship, now we may — 
 yea, we ought to — search out the spiritual mean- 
 ing of them, because they serve to confirm and 
 illustrate matters to our understanding. Yea, 
 they show us 'the more exactly how the New 
 and Old Testament, as to the spiritualness of 
 the worship, were one and the same ; only the 
 old was clouded with shadows, but ours is with 
 more open face. 
 13 
 
 Features to the life, as we say, set out by a 
 picture, do excellently show the skill of the 
 artist. The Old Testament had but the shadow, 
 nor have we but the very image; both, then, 
 are but emblems of what is yet behind. We 
 may find our Gospel clouded in their ceremo- 
 nies, and our spiritual worship set out some- 
 what by their carnal ordinances. 
 
 Now because, as I said, there lies, as wrapt up 
 in a mantle, much of the glory of our gospel- _ 
 matters in this temple which Solomon built, 
 therefore I have made, as well as I could, by 
 comparing spiritual things with spiritual, this 
 book upon this subject. 
 
 I dare not presume to say that I know I have 
 hit right in eveiy thing, but this I can say, I 
 have endeavoured so to do. True, I have not 
 for these things fished in other men's waters; 
 my Bible and Concordance are my only library 
 In my writings. Wherefore, courteous reader, 
 if thou findest any thing, either in word or 
 matter,'that thou shalt judge doth vary from 
 God's truth, let it be counted no man's else but 
 mine. Pray God also to pardon my fault : do 
 thou also lovingly pass it by; and receive what 
 thou findest will do thee good. 
 
 Thy servant in the Gospel, 
 
 JOHN BUNYAN. 
 
THE GLORY OF THE TEMPLE; 
 
 OR, 
 
 SOLOMOiN'S TEMPLE, AND THE MATERIALS THEREOF, SPIRITUALIZED. 
 
 ■ I. Where the Temple was Built. 
 
 The temple was built at Jerusalem, on Mount 
 Moriah, in the threshing-floor of Arnon the 
 Jebusite; whereabout Abraham offered up 
 Isaac ; there where David met the angel of the 
 Lord when he came with his sword drawn in 
 his hand to cut off the people of Jerusalem 
 for the sin which David committed in his dis- 
 orderly numbering of the people.. Gen. xxii. 
 3, 4, 5 ; 1 Chron. xxi. 15 ; ch. xxii. 1 ; 2 Chron. 
 iii. 1. 
 
 There Abraham received his son Isaac from 
 the dead; there the Lord was entreated by- 
 David to take away the plague, and to return 
 to Israel again in mercy: from whence also 
 David gathered that there God's temple must 
 be built. " This," saith he, " is the house of 
 the Lord God, and this is the' altar of the 
 burnt-offering for Israel." 
 
 This Mount Moriah, therefore, was a type 
 of the Son of God, the mountain of the Lord's 
 house, the rock against which the gates of hell 
 cannot prevail. 
 
 II. Who Built the Temple. 
 
 The temple was built by Solomon, a man 
 peaceable and quiet; and that in name, by 
 nature, and in governing. For so God before 
 told David — namely, that such a one the build- 
 er of the temple should be. 
 
 ■'Behold," saith he, "a^son shall be born 
 unto thee, who shall be a man of rest ; and I 
 will give him rest from all his enemies round- 
 about : for his name shall be called Solomon, 
 and 1 will give peace and quietness to Israel in 
 his days. He shall build an house for my name, 
 and he shall be my son. I will be his father." 
 
 As, therefore, Mount Moriah was a type of 
 
 Christ as the foundation, so Solomon was a 
 
 fvpe of him as the builder of his Church. The 
 
 mount was signal, for that thereon, the Lord 
 
 274 
 
 God, before Abraham and David, did display 
 his mercy. And as Solomon built this temple, 
 so Christ doth build his house ; " Yea, ye shall 
 build the everlasting temple, and ye shall bear 
 the glory." 
 
 And in that Solomon was called peaceable, 
 it was to show with what peaceable doctrine 
 and ways Christ's house and Church should be 
 built. Isa. ix. 6 ; Mic. vii. 2, 3, 4. 
 
 III. ITmv the Temple was Built. 
 
 The temple was built not merely by the dic- 
 tates of Solomon, though he was wiser than 
 Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol, and Darda, 
 and all men, (1 Kings iv. 31,) but it was built 
 by rules prescribed by or in a written word, 
 and as so delivered to him by his father 
 David. 
 
 For when David gave to Solomon his son a 
 charge to build the temple of God, with that 
 charge he gave him also the pattern of all in 
 writing; even a pattern of the porch, house, 
 chambers, treasuries, parlours, &c., and of the 
 place for the mercy-seat, which pattern David 
 had of God, nor would God trust his memory 
 with it. "The Lord made me," said he, "ub- 
 derstand in writing, by his hand upon me, 
 even all the work of this pattern." Thus 
 therefore David gave to Solomon his son the 
 pattern of all ; and thus Solomon his son built 
 the house of God. See 1 Chron. xxviii. 9-20, 
 
 And answerable to this, Christ Jesus, the 
 Builder of his own house, whose house are we, 
 doth build his holy habitation for him to 
 dwell in, even according to the commandmenf 
 of God the Father ; for, saith he, " I have 
 not spoken of myself, but the Father which 
 sent me. He gave a commandment what 1 
 should speak." And hence it is said Got? 
 gave him the revelation ; and again, that he 
 took the book out of the hand of Him thai 
 
SOLOMON'S TEMPLE SPIRITUALIZED. 
 
 275 
 
 sat on the throne, and so acted, as to the 
 building up of his Church. John xii. 40, 41 ; 
 Rev. i. 1 ; chap. v. 5. 
 
 IV. 0/ what the Temple was Built. 
 
 The materials with which the temple was 
 built were such as were in their own nature 
 common to that which was left behind — things 
 that naturally were not fit, without art, to be 
 laid in so holy a house. And this shows that 
 those of whom Christ Jesus designs to build 
 his Church are by nature no better than 
 others ; but as the trees and stones of which 
 the temple was built were first hewed and 
 squared before they were fit to be laid in that 
 house, so sinners, of which the Church is to be 
 built, must first be fitted by the word and doc- 
 trine, and then fitly laid in their place fn the 
 Church. 
 
 For though, as to nature, there is no differ- 
 ence betwixt those made use of to build God's 
 house, yet by grace they differ from others ; 
 even as those trees and stones that are hewed 
 and squared for building by art are made to 
 differ from those which abide in the wood or 
 pit. 
 
 The Lord Jesus, therefore, while he seeketh 
 materials wherewith to build his house, he 
 flndeth them the clay of the same lump that 
 he rejecteth and leaveth behind. "Are we bet- 
 ter than they ? No, in nowise." Nay, I think 
 if any be best, it is they which are left be- 
 hind : " He came not to call the righteous, but 
 sinners to repentance." And indeed in this 
 he doth show both the greatness of his grace 
 and workmanship — his grace in taking such, 
 and his workmanship in that he makes them 
 meet for his holy habitation. 
 
 This the current of Scripture maketh man- 
 ifest, wherefore it is needless now to cite par- 
 ticulars; only we must remember that none 
 are laid in this building as they come out of 
 the wood or pit, but as they first pass under the 
 hand' and rule of this great Builder of the 
 temple of God. 
 
 V. Who was to Fell those Trees and to Dig those 
 St-ones with which Solomon Built the Temple. 
 As the trees were to be felled and stones to 
 
 be digged, so there was for that matter select 
 
 workmen appointed. 
 These were not of the sons of Jacob nor of 
 
 the house of Israel ; they were the servants of 
 
 Hiram, king of Tyre, and the Gibeonites; 
 
 namely, their children that made a league with 
 
 Joshraa in the day that God gave the land of 
 
 Canaan to his people. Josh, is, 22, 29 ; 1 Kings 
 V. ; 2 Chron. xxvii. 28. 
 
 And these were types of our Gospel minis- 
 ters, who are' the men appointed by Jesus 
 Christ to make sinners, by their preaching, 
 meet for the house of God. Wherefore, as he 
 was famous of old who was strong to lift up 
 his axe upon the thick boughs, to square wood 
 for the building of the temple, so a minister o( 
 the Gospel now is also famous if much used by 
 Christ for the converting of sinners to himself, 
 that he may build him a temple with them. 
 Ps. vii. 4, 5, 6 ; Eom. xvi. 7. 
 
 But why, some may say, do you make so 
 homely a comparison? I answer. Because I 
 believe it is true ; for it is grace not gifts that 
 makes us sons and the beloved of God. Gifts 
 make a minister ; and as a minister one is but 
 a servant to hew wood and draw water for the 
 house of my God. Yea Paul, though a sc n, 
 yet counted himself not a son, but a servant, 
 purely as he was a minister — a servant of God, 
 a servant of Christ, a servant of the Church, 
 and your servant for Jesus' sake. Tit. i. 1: 
 Rom. i. 1; 2 Cor. iv. 5. 
 
 A man then is a son as he is begotten and 
 born of God to himself, and a servant as he ia 
 gifted for work in the house of his Father ; and 
 though it is truth the servant may be a son, 
 yet he is not a son because he is a servant. 
 Nor doth it follow that because all sons may 
 be servants, therefore all servants are sons ; no, 
 all the servants of God are not sons; and there- 
 fore when time shall come he that is only a 
 servant here shall certainly be put out of the 
 house, even out of that house himself did help 
 to build. "The servant abideth not in the 
 house for ever ;" the servant, that is, he that is 
 only so. 
 
 So, then, as a son thou art an Israelite ; as a 
 servant, a Gibeonite. The consideration of 
 this made Paul start ; he knew that gifts made 
 him not a son. 1 Cor. xii. 28, 29, 30, 31 ; and 
 xiii. 1, 2. 
 
 The sum, then, is, a man may be a servant 
 and a son— a servant, as he is eniployed by 
 Christ in his house for the good of others; and 
 a son, as he is a partaker of the grace of 
 adoption : but all servants are not sons ; and 
 let this be for a caution and a call to ministers 
 to do all acts of service for God and in his 
 house with reverence and godly fear ; and with 
 all humility let us desire to be partakers our- 
 selves of that grace we preach to others. 1 
 Cor. ix. 25. 
 
 This is a great saying, and written perhaps 
 
276 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 to keep ministers humble: "And strangers 
 shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons 
 of the alien shall be your ploughmen and your 
 vine -dressers." 
 
 To be a ploughman here is to be a preacher; 
 and to be a vine-dresser here is to be a 
 preacher. 
 
 And if he does this work willingly he has a 
 reward ; if not, a dispensation of the Gospel 
 was committed to him, and that is all. 1 Cor. 
 ix. 17. 
 
 VI. In what condition the Timber and Stones 
 were tuhen brought to be laid in the Building 
 of the Temple. 
 
 The timber and stones with which the tem- 
 ple was built were squared and hewed at the 
 wood or pit, and so there made every way fit 
 for that work, even before they were brought 
 to the place where the house was set up. " So 
 that neither hammer, nor axe, nor any tool of 
 iron, was heard in the house while it was in 
 building.'' 
 
 And this shows, as was said before, that the 
 materials of which the house was built were 
 (before the hand of the workmen touched 
 them)- as unfit to be laid in the building as 
 were those that were left behind ; conse- 
 quently, that themselves none otherwise but 
 by the art of others were made fit to be laid 
 in this building. 
 
 To this our New Testament temple answers. 
 For those of the sons of Adam who are counted 
 worthy to be laid in this building are not by 
 nature, but by grace, made meet for it ; not by 
 their own wisdom, but by the word of God. 
 Hence he saith, " I have hewed them by the 
 prophets.'' And again, ministers are called 
 God's builders and labourers even as to this 
 work. Hos. vi. 5 ; 1 Cor. iii. 10 ; 2 Cor. vi. 1 ; 
 Col. i. 28. 
 
 No man will lay trees as they come from the 
 wood for beams and rafters in his house, nor 
 stones as digged in the walls. No, the trees 
 must be hewed and squared, and the stones 
 sawn and made fit, and so be laid in his 
 house. 
 
 Yea, they must be so sawn and so squared 
 that in coupling they may be joined exactly ; 
 else the building will not be good, nor the 
 workman have credit of his doings. 
 
 Hence our Gospel Church, of which the 
 temple was a type, is said to be fitly formed, 
 and that there is a fit supply of every joint for 
 the securing of the whole. 1 Pet. iii. 4; Eph. 
 iv. 20, 21; iv. 16; Col. ii. 19. 
 
 As they therefore build -ike children thai 
 build with wood as it comes from the wood or 
 forest, and with stones as they come from the 
 pit, even so do they who pretend to build God 
 a house of unconverted sinners, unhewed, un- 
 squared, unpolished. Wherefore God's work- 
 men, according to God's advice, prepare their 
 work without, and make it fit for themselves 
 in the field, and afterwards buifd the house. 
 Prov. xxiv. 27. 
 
 Let ministers therefore look to this, and 
 take heed Jest instead of making their notions 
 stoop to the word, they make the Scriptures 
 stoop to their notions. 
 
 VII. Of the Foundation of the Temple. 
 
 The foundation of the temple is that upon 
 which it stood : and it was twofold — ^first, the 
 hill Moriah, and then those great stones upon 
 which it was erected. The hill Moriah, as 
 was said afore, did more properly typify Christ. 
 Hence Moriah is called " the mountain of the 
 house," it being the rock on which it was built. 
 Those great stones, called "foundation stones," 
 were types of the prophets and apostles. Matt, 
 xvi. 18; Eph. ii. 20, 21 ; Heb. xi. 10. 
 
 Wherefore these stones were stones of the 
 biggest size, stones of eight cubits and stones 
 of ten cubits. 1 Kings vii. 10. 
 
 Now, as the temple had this double founda- 
 tion, so we must consider it respectively and 
 distinctly; for Christ is the foundation one 
 way, the prophets and apostles a foundation 
 another. Christ is the foundation personally 
 and meritoriously, but the prophets and apos- 
 tles, by doctrine, ministerially. The Church 
 then, which is God's New Testament temple, 
 is said to be built on Christ the foundation ; so 
 none other is the foundation but he. 1 Cor. iii. 
 11. But as it is said to be built upon the 
 apostles, so it is said to have twelve founda- 
 tions, and must have none but they. Eev. xsi. 
 14. 
 
 What is it, then ? Why, we must be build- 
 ing upon Christ, as he is our priest, sacrifice, 
 prophet, king, and" advocate, and upon tho 
 others, as they are infallible instructors and 
 preachers of him ; not that any may be an 
 apostle that so shall esteem himself, nor that 
 any other ,doctrine be administered but what 
 is the doctrine of the twelve; for they are sc-i 
 forth as the chief and last. These are also 
 they, as Moses, which are to look over all the 
 building, and to see that all in this house be 
 done according to the pattern showed them \\\ 
 the mount. 
 
SOLOMON'S TEMPLE SPIRITUALIZED. 
 
 277 
 
 Let us, tUen, keep these distinctions clear, 
 and not put an apostle in the room of Christ, 
 nor Christ in the place of one of those apos- 
 tles. Let none but Christ be the high priest 
 and sacrifice for your souls to God ; and none 
 but that doctrine which is apostolical be to 
 you as the mouth of Christ for instruction to 
 prepare you, and to prepare materials for this 
 temple of God, and to build them upon this 
 foundation. 
 
 VTTI. 0/ the Sickness of the Stones which were 
 laid for the Foundation of the Temple. 
 
 These foundation stones, as they were great, 
 so they were costly stones ; though, as I said, 
 themselves of no more worth than they of 
 their nature that were left behind. Their 
 costliness, tlierefore, lay in those additions 
 which they received from the king's charge. 
 
 First, in that labour which was bestowed 
 upon them in sawing, squaring, and carving. 
 For the servants, as they were cuiming at this 
 work, so they bestowed much of their art and 
 labour upon them, by which they put them 
 into excellent form, and added to their big- 
 ness, glory and beauty, fit for stones upon 
 which a goodly fabric was to be built. 
 
 Secondly, these stones as they were thus 
 wrought within and without, so, as it seems to 
 me, they were inlaid with other stones more 
 precious than themselves. Inlaid, I say, with 
 stones of divers colours, according as it is 
 written, " I will lay thy foundation with sap- 
 phires." Not that the foundations were sap- 
 phires, but they were laid inlaid with them ; or, 
 as he saith in another place, "They were 
 adorned with goodly stones and gifts.'' 
 
 This is still more amplified where it is writ- 
 ten of the New Jerusalem, (which is still the 
 testament Church on earth, and so the same in 
 substance with what is now,) " The foundations 
 of the wall of the city,'' saith he, " were gar- 
 nished with all manner of precious stones." 
 True, these there are called "the foundations of 
 the wall of the city," but it has respect to the 
 matter in hand; for that which is before called 
 a temple, for its comparative smallness, is here 
 cal led a city, for or becaiLse of its great increase ; 
 an 1 both the foundations of the wall of the city, 
 as well as of the temple, " are the twelve apos- 
 tles of the Lamb ;" for these carvings and inlay- 
 ings, with all other beautifications, were types 
 of the extiaordinary gifts and graces of the apos- 
 tles. Hence the apostle calls such gifts signs 
 of apostleship. Rom. xv. 19 ; 2 Cor. xii. 21 ; 
 Heb. ii. 4. Ff r as the found.ation stones of 
 
 the temple were thus garnished, so were the 
 apostles beautified with a call, gifts, and gr.-ices 
 peculiar to themselves. Hence he says, "First 
 apostles," for that they were first and chief in 
 the Church of Christ. 1 Cor. xii. 28. 
 
 Nor were these stones only laid for a founda- 
 tion for the temple; for the great court, the 
 inner court, as also the porch of the teinple, 
 had round about them "three rows of these 
 stones for their foundation." 
 
 Signifying, as seems to me, that the more 
 outward and external part, as well as that more 
 internal worship to be performed to God, should 
 be grounded upon apostolical doctrine and ap- 
 pointments. 1 Cor. iii. 10, 11, 12 ; 2 Thess, ii. 
 15 ; iii. 6 ; Heb. vi. 1-5. 
 
 IX. Which way the Face or Front of the Temple 
 stood. 
 
 The temple was built with its face or front 
 towards the east, and that, perhaps, because the 
 glory of the God of " Israel was to come from 
 the way of the east unto it." Wlicrelbre, in that 
 its front stood towards the east, it may be to 
 show that the true Gospel Church would have 
 its eye to and expectation from the Lord. We 
 look, said Paul, but whither? " We have our 
 conversation," said he, " in heaven, from " 
 whence our expectation is. 
 
 2. It was set also with its face towards the 
 east to keep the people of God from commit- 
 ting of idolatry — to wit, from worshipping the 
 host of heaven and the sun, whose rising is 
 from the east. For since the face of the temple 
 stood towards the east, and since the worship- 
 pers were to worship at or with their faces 
 towards the temple, it follows that both in 
 their going to and worshipping God towards 
 that place their faces must be from and their 
 backs towards the sun. The thus building of 
 the temple, therefore, was a snare to idolaters, 
 and a proof of the zeal of those 1 liat were the 
 true worshippers, as also to this day the true 
 Gospel-instituted worship of Jesus Christ is. 
 Hence he is said to idolaters to be a snare and 
 a trap, but to the godly a glory. Isa. \i\i H ; 
 ix. 19. 
 
 3. Do but see how God catched tue idola- 
 trous Jews, by this means, in their naughti- 
 ness : " And he brought me," said the prophet, 
 " into the inner court of the Lord's house, and 
 behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, 
 even between the porch and the altar, were 
 about five and twenty men, with their backs 
 towards the temple of the Lord and their faces 
 towards the east." 
 
278 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 It was therefore, as I said, set with its face 
 towards the east to prevent false worships and 
 detect idolaters. 
 
 4. From the east also came the most blasting 
 winds — winds that are destructive to man and 
 beasts, to fruit and trees, and ships at sea. 
 Ex. X. 13 ; Job xsvii. 21 ; Ezek. xvii. 10 ; and 
 six. 12 ; Ps. xlviii. 7 ; Ezek. xxvii. 26. 
 
 I say the east wind, or that which comes from 
 thence, is the most hurtful ; yet you see the 
 temple hath, set her face against it to show that 
 the true Church cannot be blasted or made 
 turn back by any affliction. It is not the east 
 winds, nor none of their blastings, that can 
 make the temple turn about. Hence he saith 
 that Jacob's face shall not wax pale. And 
 again, " I have made thy face strong against 
 their faces, and that the gates of hell shall not 
 prevail against it." Isa. xxix. 22; Ezek. iii. 8; 
 Matt. xvi. 18. 
 
 5. It might be also built with its face to- 
 wards the east to show that the true Church 
 looketh, as, afore I hinted, for her Lord and 
 King from heaven, knowing that at his com- 
 ing he will bring healing in his wings; for 
 from the east he will appear when he comes 
 the second time without sin unto salvation, of 
 which the sun gives us a memento in his rising 
 there every morning. " For as the lightning 
 Cometh out of the east, and shineth unto the 
 west, so shall also the coming of the Son of 
 Man be." 
 
 6. Christ, as the north pole, draws those 
 touched with the loadstone of his word, with 
 the face of their souls towards him, to look for 
 and hasten to his coming. And this also is 
 signified by the temple standing with its face 
 towards the east. 
 
 X. Of the Courts of the Temple. 
 I perceive that there are two courts belong- 
 mg to the temple. The first was called the 
 outward court. Ezek. xl. 17 ; xlvi. 21. 
 
 1. This was that into which the people of 
 necessity first entered when they went to wor- 
 ghip in the temple ; consequently that was it in 
 and by whi(h the people did first show their 
 desires to be the worshippers of God. And 
 this answers to those badges and signs of love 
 to religion that people have in face or out- 
 ward appearance. Matt. xxv. 27 ; 2 Cor. x. 7. 
 
 2. In this, though here may sometimes be 
 truth, yet oftener lies and dissimulation; 
 wherefore commonly an outward appearance 
 is set in opposition to faith and truth, as the 
 (\utw!ird is in opposition to the inner court, 
 
 and outward to the inner man; aud that is 
 when it is by itself, for then it profits nothing. 
 
 3. Hence, though the outward court wa* 
 something to the Jews, 'because by outward 
 bodies they were distinguished from the Gen- 
 tiles, yet to us it is little, for now he is not a 
 Jew who is one only outwardly. Therefore all 
 the time of the beast's reign this court is given 
 to be trodden under foot; for, as I said, out- 
 ward show will avail nothing when the beast 
 comes to turn and toss np professors with his 
 horns. Eev. xi. 12. 
 
 4. But as there was an outwa,rd, so there was 
 an inner court — a court that stood nearer to 
 the temple, and so to the true practical part of 
 worship, than that outward court did. 
 
 5. This inner court is that which is called 
 '•' the court of the priests," because it was it in 
 which they boiled the trespass-offering, and in 
 which they prepared the sin-ofiering for the 
 people. 
 
 6. This court, therefore, was the place of 
 practice and of preparation to appear before 
 God, which is the first true token of a sincere 
 and honest mind. Wherefore here, and not in 
 the outward court, stood the great brazen altar, 
 which was a type of Christ, by whom alone 
 true worshippers make their approach with 
 acceptance unto God. Also here stood the 
 great brazen scafibld, on which the king 
 kneeled when he prayed for the people, a type 
 of Christ's prayers for his when he was in the 
 world. 2 Chron. vi. ; John xiii. 17. 
 
 7. Wherefore this court was a type of prac- 
 tical worship, and so of our praying, hearing, 
 and eating before God. There belonged to 
 this court several gates, an east, a south, and 
 a north gate ; and when the people of the land 
 went into this court to worship, they were not 
 to go out at the gate by which they came in, 
 but out of the gate over against it, to show 
 that true Christians should persevere right on, 
 and not turn back, whatever they meet with 
 in the way. "He that entereth in by the way 
 of the north gate to worship shall go out by 
 the way of the soiith gate; and he that en- 
 tereth in by the way of the north gate' he shall 
 not return by the way of the gate whereby he 
 came in, but shall go forth over against it." 
 
 8. These courts were places of great delight 
 to the Jews, as both feigned and sincere 
 profession is to those that practise therein. 
 Wherefore, when the Jews did enter into these, 
 they did use to do it with praise and pipe, as do 
 both hypocrites and sincere ones. So then, 
 when a man shall tread in both these courts, 
 
SOLOMON'S TEMPLE SPIRITUALIZED. 
 
 279 
 
 iind shall turn what he seems to be into what 
 he should be in reality, then, and not till then, 
 lie treads them as he should ; for then he makes 
 the outward court, and his treading there, but 
 a passage to that which is more inward and 
 sincere. But he that stays in the outward one 
 is but such an one as pleases not God, for that 
 he wants the practice of what he professes with 
 hi5 mouth. 
 
 XI, Of the great Brazen Altar that stood in the 
 Inner Court of the Temple. 
 In the inner court stood the great brazen 
 altar which Solomon made. This is evident, 
 for that when he kneeled upon the scaffold to 
 pray he kneeled before this altar. See Ex. xl. 
 6, 29. 
 
 2. This altar seems to be placed abojit the 
 middle of this court, over against the porch of 
 the house; and between it and the temple was 
 the place where Zechariah was slain. This 
 altar was called "the altar of burnt-offering," 
 and therefore it was a type of Christ in his 
 dignity. For Christ's body was our true burnt- 
 offering, of which the bodies of the sacrificed 
 beasts were a type : now that altar upon which 
 his body was offered was his divinity or God- 
 head, for that, and that only, could bear up 
 that offering in the whole of its sufferings: 
 and that therefore, and that only, w.is to re- 
 ceive the fat, the glory. Hence it is said, " He 
 through the eternal Spirit offered himself with- 
 out spot to God." 
 
 3. For Christ is priest, and sacrifice, and 
 altar, and all. And as a priest he offered, as a 
 sacrifice he suffered, and as God he supported 
 his humanity in that suffering of all the pains 
 it underwent. Gal. i.4; ch. ii. 20; 1 Pet. iii. 18; 
 Heb. ix. 14. 
 
 4. It was then Christ's Godhead, not the tree, 
 that was the altar of burnt-offering, or that by 
 which Christ offered himself an offering and a 
 sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour. 
 
 5. That it was not the tree is evident, for 
 that could not sanctify the gift, to wit, his 
 body; but Christ affirmeth "that the altar 
 s^nctifieth the gift;" and by sc saying he af- 
 firmeth that the altar on which he offered his 
 offeiing was greater than th& offering itself, 
 ilatt. xxiii. 19. 
 
 Now the body of Christ was the gift; for so 
 he saith, " I give my flesh for the life of the 
 world." 
 
 But now what thing is that which is greater 
 than his body save the altar, his divinity, on 
 which it was offered? The tree, then, was not 
 
 the altar which sanctifieth this gift to make it 
 of virtue enough to make reconciliation for in- 
 iquity. John vi. 15. 
 
 Now, since this altar of burnt-offering was 
 thus placed in the inner court, it teaches us 
 several things : 
 
 First. That those that come oiily into the 
 outward court, or rest in a bare appearance of 
 Christianity, do not, by so doing, come to Jesua 
 Christ ; for this altar stands not there. Hence 
 John takes notice only of the temple and this 
 altar, and them that worship therein, and leaves 
 out the outward court, and so them that como 
 no farther. Rev. xi. 1, 2. 
 
 Secondly. This teaches us also that we are 
 to enter into that temple of God by blood. 
 The altar, this altar of burnt-offering, stood as 
 men went into the temple; they must go by 
 it; yea, there they must leave their offering, 
 and so go in and worship, even as a token that 
 they came thither by sacrifice and by blood. 
 
 Thirdly. Upon this altar Solomon at the 
 dedication of the temple offered thousands 
 both of oxen and of sheep, to signify surely the 
 abundant worth and richness that would be in 
 the blood of Christ to save when it should be 
 shed for us. " For" his blood is spoken of with 
 an " how much more." " For if the blood of 
 bulls and goats, and the ashes of an heifer 
 sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the puri- 
 fying of the flesh, how much more shall the 
 blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit 
 offered himself without spot to God, purge 
 your conscience from dead works, to serve the 
 living God!" 
 
 Let them not dare to stop or stay in the out- 
 ward court, for there is not this altar. Nor let 
 us dare, when we come into this court, to be 
 careless whether we look to this altar or no. 
 For it is by blood we must enter ; for without 
 shedding of blood is no remission. Let us 
 always then, when we come hither, wash our 
 hands in innocency, and so compass this holy 
 altar, for that by Christ, who is the altar in- 
 deed, we are reconciled to God. This is look- 
 ing unto Jesus ; this is coming to God by him, 
 of whom this altar and the sacrifice thereon 
 was a type. 
 
 XII. Of the Pillars that were before the Porch 
 of the Temple. 
 
 There were divers pillars belonging to the 
 temple, but in this place we are confined to 
 speak of only two — namely, those which stood 
 before the temple. 
 
 These pillars stood before the porch or en- 
 
280 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 trance into the temple, looking towards the 
 altar, the court, and them that were the wor- 
 shippers taere. also they were a grace and a 
 beauty to tue front of the house. 
 
 1. ihese pillars stood, one on the right hand 
 and the other on the left, at the door of the 
 porch of the temple, and they had names given 
 them (you may be~sure) to signify something. 
 The name of that on the right hand was called 
 " Jachin," (God shall establish ;) and the name 
 of that on the left hand was " Boaz," (in it is 
 strength.) 1 Kings vii. 21 ; 2 Chron. iii. 17. 
 
 2. These two pillars were types of Christ's 
 apostles — of the apostles of circumcision, and 
 of the uncircumcision. Therefore the apostle 
 Paul also calleth them pillars, (Gal. ii.,) and 
 saith that the pillar on the right hand was a 
 type of himself and his companions, who were 
 to go to theuncircumcised and teach the Gen- 
 tiles the way of life. When James, Cephas, 
 and John saith, " Ye who seemed to be pillars 
 perceived the grace that was given unto me; 
 they gave unto me and Barnabas the right 
 hand of fellowship, that we should go unto the 
 heathen, and they unto the circumcision." 
 
 So, then, these two pillars were types of these 
 two orders of the apostles in this their divers 
 service for God. 
 
 3. And that Paul and Barnabas were signi- 
 fied by those on the right hand — to wit, to be 
 the apostles of the Gentiles — he showeth again 
 where he saith, " I am the minister of Christ 
 to the Gentiles, ministering the grace of God, 
 that the offering up of the Gentiles might 
 .be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy 
 Ghost." 
 
 4. And since the name of this pillar was 
 "Jachin," (God shall establish,) as it showeth 
 that opposition shall aftend it, so also that God 
 would bless his word preached by them to the 
 Gentiles, to the conversion of numbers of them, 
 maugre all the opposition of the enemy. 
 
 5. This is further implied for that they were 
 made of brass ; as he saith of the prophet, " I 
 have made thee a fenced brazen wall, an iron 
 pillar; and their fighting against thee shall 
 nothing at all prevail." Wherefore Paul says 
 of himself, " I am set for the defence of the 
 Gospel, that the truth thereof might continue 
 with you." Phil. i. 17 ; Gal. ii. 5. 
 
 XIII. 0/ the Height of these Pillars that thus 
 stood before the Porch of the Boor of the Tem- 
 ple. 
 The pillars were eignteen cubits high apiece, 
 
 and that is as high, yea, as high again, as the 
 
 highest giant that ever we read of in the world ; 
 for the highest of which we read was but six 
 cubits and a span. 
 
 True, the bedstead of Og was nine cubits 
 long, but I trow the giant himself was shorter. 
 Deut. iii. 11 ; 2 Chron. iii. 15. But put the 
 longest to the longest, and set the one upon 
 the shoulders of the other, and yet each pilla,r 
 was higher than they. 
 
 We have now, as I know of, but few that re- 
 main of the remnant of the giants ; and though 
 they boast as if they were higher than Anak, 
 yet these pillars are higher than they. 
 
 These pillars are the highest; you may 
 equal them, and an inch above is worth an ell 
 below. The height, therefore, of these pi.lars 
 is to show us what high dignity God did put 
 upon those of his saints whom he did call to 
 be apostles of the Lamb ; for their ofiice and 
 call thereto is the highest in the Church of 
 God. These men, I say, were made thus high 
 by their being cast in such a mould. Of that 
 which added yet further to their height we will 
 speak anon : we only speak now of the high call 
 by which they, and only they, were made capa- 
 ble of apostoljcal authority. The apostles were 
 sent immediately, their call was extraordinary, 
 their office was universal, they had alike power 
 in all churches, and their doctrine was ijifal- 
 lible. 
 
 And what can our pretended giants do or 
 say in comparison of these? The truth is, all 
 other men to these are drawfs, are low, dark, 
 weak, and beneath them, not only as to call 
 and ofiice, but also as to gifts and grace. This 
 sentence, " Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ," 
 drowneth all. What now are all other titles of 
 grandeur and greatness when compared with 
 this one sentence ? 
 
 True, the men were but mean in themselves ; 
 for what is Paul or ApoUos, or what was James 
 or John ? Yet by their call to that oflace they 
 were made highest of all in the Church. Christ 
 did raise them eighteen cubits high, not in con- 
 ceit — for so there are many higher than they — 
 but in office, and calling, and divine authority. 
 
 And observe it, these stand at the door, at 
 the entering into the temple of God, at which 
 they enter that go in thither to worship God, to 
 show that all right worship, and that which 
 will be acceptable to God, is by, or according 
 to, their doctrine. 
 
 XIV. Of the Chapiters of the Pillars of the 
 
 Temple. 
 There were also two chapiters made for the 
 
SOLOMON'S TEMPLE SPIRITUAL! \:eD. 
 
 281 
 
 pilhrs of the temple — for each one; and they 
 were five cubits high apiece. Tlieae were for 
 the adiorning of tlae pilhvrs, and therefore were 
 types and shadows of that abundance of grace 
 which God did put upon the apostles after the 
 resurrection of our Lord. Wherefore, as he 
 saith here the chapiters were upon the pillars, 
 so it saith that great grace was upon all the 
 apostles. Acts iv. 33. 
 
 These chapiters had belonging to them a 
 bowl, made pumil-fashion, and it was placed 
 upon the head of them, perhaps to signify 
 their aptness to receive and largeness to con- 
 tain of the dow of heaven, that shadow of the 
 doctrine of the Gospel, which doctrine the 
 apostles, as the chief, were to receive and 
 hold forth to the world for their conversion. 
 Hence, as the bowls were capable to rtceive 
 the dew of heaven, these are said to receive 
 grace, an apostleship for obedience to the faith 
 among all nations for his name. 
 
 There was also upon these chapiters a net- 
 work, or nets like unto chequer-work, which 
 still added to their lustre. These nets were 
 they which showed for what intent the apos- 
 tolical office was ordained ; namely, that by 
 their preaching they might bring many souls 
 to God. And hence Christ calls them fisher- 
 men, saying, " Ye shall catch men." 
 
 The world is compared to a sea, men to 
 fishes, and the Gospel to a net. As therefore 
 men catch fish with a net, so the apostles 
 caught men by their word ; which word, as I 
 told you, to me is signified by this net-work 
 upon the top of these pillars. See therefore 
 the mystery of God in these things. 
 
 XV. Of the Pomegranates adjoined to these 
 Nets on the Chapiters. 
 
 There were also joined to these nets upon' 
 the top of the pillars pomegranates in abun- 
 dance, four hundred for the net-work. Pome- 
 granates, you know, are beautiful to look on, 
 pleasant to the jjalate, comfortable to the 
 stomach, and cheering by their juice. There 
 were to be two rows of these pomegranates for 
 one net-work, and so two rows of them for the 
 other. 
 
 A nd this was to show that the net of the 
 Gospel is not an empty thing, but is suffi- 
 ciently baited with such varieties as are apt to 
 allure the world to be catched by them. The 
 law is but a sound of words, but the Gospel is 
 not so ; that is baited with pomegranates, with 
 variety of excellent things. Hence it is called 
 "the Gospel of the kingdom, and the Gospel 
 
 of the grace of God," because it is, as it were 
 baited with grace and glory, that sinners may 
 be'allured and may be taken with it, to their 
 eternal salvation. Matt. xxiv. 14 ; Acts xx. 24. 
 
 Grace and glory, grace and glory ! these are 
 the pomegranates with which the word of the 
 Gospel is baited, that sinners may be taken 
 and saved thereby. The argument of old was 
 milk and honey; that was, I say, the alluring 
 bait with which Moses drew six hundred 
 thousand out of Egypt into the wilderness of 
 old. Ex. iii. 8. But behold, we have pome- 
 granates, two rows of pomegranates, grace and 
 a kingdom, as the bait of the holy Gospel ; no 
 wonder then if, when men of skill did cast 
 this net into the sea, such numbers of fish 
 have been catched even by one sermon. Acts 
 ii. They baited their nets with taking things 
 — things taking to the eye and taste. 
 
 Nets are truly instruments of death, but the 
 net of the Gospel doth catch to draw from 
 death ; wherefore this net is contrary ; life 
 and immortality is brought to light through 
 this. No marvel then if men are so glad, and 
 that for gladness they leap like fishes in a net, 
 when they see themselves catched in this drag 
 of the holy Gospel of the Son of God. They 
 are catched from death and hell, catched to 
 live with God in glory. 
 
 XVI. Of the Chains that were upon these Pillars 
 thai stood before the Temple. 
 
 As there were nets to catch, and pome- 
 granates to bait, so there were chains belong- 
 ing to these chapiters on these pillars. And 
 he made chains, as in the oracle, and put 
 them upon the head of the chapiters. 2 Chron. 
 iii. 16. 
 
 But what were these chains a type of"? 1 
 answer. They were perhaps a type of those 
 bonds which attend the Gospel, by which 
 souls are taken and tied fast to the horns of 
 the altar. Gospel grace and Gospel obliga- 
 tions are ties and binding things: they Citn 
 hold those that are entangled by the word 
 Love is strong as death — bands of love and. 
 the cords of a man, and chains take holl on 
 them that are taken by the Gospel. Hos. xi. ; 
 Song viii. 6. 
 
 But this strength to bind lieth not in out- 
 ward force, but in a sweet constraint by virtue 
 of the displays of undeserved love. " The love 
 of Christ constraineth us." Wherefore as you 
 find the nets, so the chains had pomegranates 
 on them. " And he made an hundred pome- 
 granates, and put them upon the chains.'' 
 
282 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 The chains, then, had baits, as well as the 
 nets, to show that the bands of the Gospel 
 are unresistible goodnesses, such with which 
 men love to be boiind, and such as they pray 
 they nray hold fast by. He binds his foal to 
 the vine, his saint unto this Saviour. Gen. 
 xlix. 11. 
 
 By these chains there is therefore showed 
 what strength there is in Gospel charms, if 
 once the adder doth but hear them ; never man 
 yet was able to resist them that well did know 
 the meaning of them ; they are mighty to make 
 poor men obedient, and that in word and deed. 
 
 These chains were such as were in the 
 oracle, to show that Gospel bonds are strong 
 as the joys of heaven, and as the glories there 
 can mate them chains as in the oracle, as in 
 the most holy place. It is heaven that binds 
 sinners on earth to the faith and hope of the 
 Gospel of Christ. 
 
 XVII. 0/ the Lily-work which was upon the 
 
 Chapiters that were upon these Pillars of the 
 
 Temple. 
 
 These pillars were also adorned with lily- 
 work, as well as with pomegranates and chains. 
 "Chapiters also which were upon the top of 
 the pillars were of lily-work : so was the work 
 of the pillars finished." 
 
 This lily-work is here put in on purpose, 
 even to show us how far oiT those that were to 
 be the true apostles of the Lamb should be 
 from seeking carnal things, or of making their 
 preaching a stalking-horse to worldly greatness, 
 and that preferment. There was lily-work 
 upon them ; that is, they lived upon the bounty 
 and care of God, and were content with that 
 glory which he had put upon them. "The 
 lilies," saith Christ, " they toil not, neither do 
 they spin, and yet Solomon in all his glory 
 was not arrayed like one of these." 
 
 Thus, therefore, these pillars show that as 
 the apostles should be fitted and qualified for 
 their work, they should be also free from cares 
 nrd worldly cumber; they should be content 
 with God's providing for them, even as the 
 goodly lilies are. And as thus prepared they 
 were set in the front of the house for all min- 
 isters to see and learn, and take examples of 
 them how to behave themselves as to this world 
 in the performing of their office. 
 
 And that which gives us further light in this 
 is, that this lily- work is said, by divine insti- 
 tution, to be placed " over against the belly," 
 the belly of the pillars, a type of ours. 1 Kings 
 vii. 20. 
 
 The belly is a craving thing ; and these 
 things, saith the text, were placed over against 
 the belly, to teach that they should cot hu- 
 mour, but put check unto the desires and crav- 
 ings of the belly, or to show that tley need 
 not do it, for that he that calls to his work will 
 himself provide for the belly. It is said of the 
 Church that " her belly is as a heap of wheal 
 set about with lilies," to show that she should, 
 without covetousness, have sufficient, if she 
 would cast all her care upon God, her great 
 provider. This the apostles did, and this is 
 their glory to this day. 
 
 " So was the work of the pillars finished." 
 To live lily-lives, it seems, is the glory of an 
 apostle, and the completing of his office and 
 service for God. But this is directly opposite 
 to the belly, over against the belly, and this 
 makes it the harder work. But yet so living 
 is the way to make all that is done sweet- 
 scented to those that be under this care. Cov- 
 etousness makes a minister smell frowish, and 
 look more like a greedy dog than an apostle 
 of Jesus Christ: Judas had none of this lily- 
 work; so his name stinks to this day. "He 
 that grows like the lily shall cast forth his 
 scent like Lebanon, his branches shall spread, 
 and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and 
 his smell as Lebanon." 
 
 Thus lived Christ first ; and thus the apostles 
 next ; nor can any other, as to this, live like or 
 be compared to them. They coveted no man's 
 silver or gold or apparel. They lived like lilies 
 in the world, and did send forth their scent as 
 Lebanon. 
 
 Thus you see of whom these pillars were a 
 shadow, and what their height, their chapiters, 
 their bowls, their nets, their chains, their 
 pomegranates, and their lily-work did signify, 
 and how all was most sweetly answered in the 
 antitype. These were men of the first rate; 
 the apostles, I mean, were such. 
 
 XVIII. Of the Fashion of the Temple. 
 Of the length and breadth of the temple I 
 shall say nothing, but as to the height thereof 
 there, methinks, I see something. The temple 
 was higher than the pillars, and so is the 
 Church than her officers ; I say, consider them 
 singly as officers, though inferior ss to gifts 
 and office ; for as I said before of ministers in 
 general, so now I say the same of the apostles, 
 though as to office they were the highest, yet 
 the temple is above them. Gifts and office 
 make no men sons of God, as so they are but 
 servants of the highest form. It is the Church, 
 
SOLOMON'S TEMPLE SPIRITUALIZED. 
 
 283 
 
 as such, that ia the lady, a queen, the bride, 
 the Lamb's wife ; and prophets, apostles, aud 
 ministers, &c., are but servants, stewards, la- 
 bourers for her good. 
 
 As, therefore, the lady is above the servant, 
 the queen above the steward, or the wife above 
 all her husband's officers, so is the Church, as 
 Bucli, above these officers. The temple was 
 higher than the pillars. 
 
 2. Again, as the temple was highest, so' it 
 enlarged itself still upward ; for as it ascended 
 in height, so it still was wider and 'wider, even 
 from the lowest chambers to the top. 
 
 The first chambers were but five cubits broad, 
 the middle ones were six, but the highest were 
 seven cubits. 1 Kings vi. 5, 6. The temple 
 therefore was round about some cubits wider 
 than it was below ; for there was an enlsyjging 
 and an ascending about still upward to the 
 side chambers, for the winding about was still 
 upward round about the house ; therefore the 
 breadth of the house was still upward, and so 
 increased from the lowest chamber to the high- 
 est, by the midst. 
 
 And this was to show us that God's true 
 Gospel temple, which is his Church, should 
 have its enlargedness of heart still upwards, or 
 most for spiritual and eternal things ; where- 
 fore he saith, " Thy heart shall fear and be en- 
 larged :" that is, be most affected with things 
 above, " where Christ sitteth at the right hand 
 of God." Indeed, it is the nature of grace to 
 enlarge itself still upward, and to make the 
 heart widest for the things that are above. 
 
 The temple, therefore, was narrowest down- 
 wards, to show that a little of earth, or this 
 world, should serve the Church of God. And 
 having food and raiment, let us be therewith 
 content. 
 
 But now, upwards and as to heavenly things, 
 we are commanded to be covetous as to them, 
 and after them to enlarge ourselves, both by 
 the fashion of the temple as well as by express 
 words. 
 
 Since then the temple was widest upward, 
 let us imitate it and have our conversation in 
 heaven. Let our eyes, our ears, our hands, 
 and hearts, our prayers, and groans, be most 
 for things above. Let us open our mouths as 
 the ground that is chapt doth for the latter 
 rain, for the things that are eternal. Job xxix, 
 23 ; Ps. Ixxxi. 10. 
 
 Observe again that the lowest parts of the 
 temple were the narrowest parts of the temple; 
 so tliose in the Church who are nearest or most 
 concerned with earth are the most narrow- 
 
 spirited as to the things of God. But now let 
 even such a one be taken up higher, to above, 
 to the uppermost parts of the temple, and there 
 he will be enlarged and have his heart stretched 
 out. For the temple you see was widest up- 
 wards; the higher the more it is enlarged. 
 Paul being once caught up into paradise, 
 could not but be there enlarged. 2 Cor. xii. 
 
 One may say of the fashion of the temple, 
 as some say of a lively picture, It speaks. I 
 say, its form and fashion speaks ; it says to all 
 saints, to all the churches of Christ, Open your 
 hearts for heaven, be ye enlarged upwards. 
 
 I read not in Scripture of any house but 
 this that was thus enlarged upwards ; nor is 
 there anywhere, save only in the Church of 
 God, that which doth answer this similitude. 
 
 All other are wWest downward, and have 
 the largest heart for earthly things : the Church 
 only is widest upwards, and has its greatest 
 enlargements towards heaven. 
 
 XIX. 0/ the Outward Olory of the Temple. 
 
 I do also think that as to this there was a 
 great expression in it: I mean, a voice of God, 
 a voice that teacheth the New Testament 
 Church to carry even conviction in her out- 
 ward usages, that, I say, might give conviction 
 to the world. And besides this of its enlarging 
 upwards, there was such an outward beauty 
 and glory put upon it as was alluring to be- 
 holders. The stones were curiously carved 
 and excellently joined together ; its outward 
 show was white and glittering, to the dazzling 
 of the eyes of the beholders ; yea, the disciples 
 themselves were taken with it, it was so ad- 
 mirable to behold. Hence it is said they came 
 to Christ to show him the building of the 
 temple : " Master," said they, " see what man- 
 ner of stones and what buildings are here." 
 And hence it is said that kings and the mighty 
 of the earth were taken with the glory of it : 
 "Because of thy temple at Jerusalem shall 
 kings bring presents unto thee ;" as it is, Ps. 
 Ixviii. 29, 31. 
 
 Kings, Gentile kings, they shall be so taken 
 with the sight of the outward glory of it, for 
 they were not suffered to go into it ; no uncir- 
 cumcised were admitted in thither. It was, 
 therefore, with the outward glory of it with 
 which the beholders were thus taken. 
 
 Her enlarging upward, as that was to show 
 us what the inward affections of Christiana 
 should be, (Col. iii. 1, 2, 3,) so her curious out- 
 ward adorning and beauty was a figure of the 
 beauteous and holy conversation of the godly 
 
284 
 
 SUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 And it is brave wlien the world are made to 
 say of tlie lives and conversation of the saints, 
 as they were made to say of the stones and 
 outward building of the temple, Behold what 
 Christians and what goodly conversations are 
 here ! I say it is brave when our light so shines 
 before men that they, seeing our good works, 
 shall be forced to glorify our Father which is 
 in heaven. Matt. v. 16. 
 
 Hence this is called our adorning wherewith 
 we adorn the Gospel, and that by which we 
 beautify it. Tit. ii. 10. 
 
 This, I say, is taking to beholders, as was 
 this goodly outside of tire temple. And with- 
 out this, what is to be seen in the Church of 
 God? I-Ier inside cannot be seen by the 
 world, but her outside may. Now, her out- 
 side is very homely and without all beauty 
 save that of the holy life ; this only is her vis- 
 ible goodliness. This puts to silence the ignor- 
 ance of foolish men. This allures others to 
 fall in love with their own salvation, and 
 makes them fall in with Christ against the 
 devil and his kingdom. 
 
 XX. Of the Porch of the Temple. 
 We come next to the porch of the temple 
 that is commonly called Solomon's. 
 
 1. This porch was in the front of the house, 
 and so became the common way into the tem- 
 ple. 1 Kings vi. 8 ; 2 Chron. iii. 4. 
 
 2. This porch, therefore, was the place of 
 reception in common for all, whether Jews or 
 religious proselytes, who came to Jerusalem to 
 worship. 
 
 3. This porch had a door or gate belonging 
 to it, but such as was seldom shut, except in 
 declining times, or when men put themselves 
 into a rage against those better than them- 
 selves. 
 
 4. This gate of this porch was called " Beau- 
 tiful," even the beautiful gate of the temple, 
 and was that at which the lame man lay to 
 beg for an alms of them that went in thither 
 to worship. Acts iii. 1, 2, 10. 
 
 Now, then, since this porch was the common 
 place of reception for all worshippers, and the 
 place also where they laid the beggars, it looks 
 as if it were to be a type of the Church's 
 bosom for charity. Here the proselytes were 
 entertained, here the beggars were relieved 
 and received alms. These gates were seldom 
 shut ; and the houses of Christian compassion 
 should be always open. This, therefore, beau- 
 tified this gate, as charity beautifies any of the 
 churches. Largeness of heart and tender com- 
 
 passion at the church door is excellent ; it is 
 the bond of perfectness. 1 Cor. xii. and xiii. 
 
 The church porch to this day is a place for 
 beggars, and perhaps this practice at first was 
 borrowed from the beggars lying at the temple 
 gate. This porch was large, and so should the 
 charity of the churches be. It was for length 
 the breadth of the temple, and of the iame 
 size with the holiest of all. 
 
 The first might be to teach us in charity we 
 should not be niggardly ; according to the 
 breadth of our ability we should extend it to 
 all the house ; and that in pur so doing the 
 very emblem of heaven is upon us, of which 
 the holiest was a figure ; as therefore we have 
 opportunity, let us do good to all, &c. 
 
 It is a fine ornament to a true church to 
 have a large church porch, or a wide bosom, 
 for reception of all that come thither to wor- 
 ship. This was commanded to the Jews, and 
 their glory shone when they did accordingly : 
 " And it shall come to pass, in what place the 
 stranger sojourneth, there shall }'e give him 
 his inheritance, saith the Lord God." 
 
 This porch was, as I said, not only for • 
 length the breadth of the temple, and so the 
 length and breadth of the holiest, but it was,- \ 
 if I mistake not, for height far higher than 
 them both ; for the holy place was but thirty 
 cubits high, and- the most holy but twenty, but 
 the porch was in height an hundred and twenty : 
 cubits. This beautiful porch, therefore, was 
 four times as high as the temple itself 
 
 One excellent ornament, therefore, of this 
 temple was for that it had a porch so high — 
 that is, so famous for height — so high as to be 
 seen afar off. Charity, if it be rich, runs up 
 from the church like a steeple, and will be 
 seen afar off, I say, if it be rich, large, and 
 abounds. Christ's charity was blazed abroad ; 
 it was so high no man could hide it: and the 
 charity of tlie churches will be seen from 
 church to church, yea, and will be spoken of 
 to their commendation in every place, if it be ' 
 warm, fervent, and high. Mark vii. 8(i 
 
 XXI. Of the Ornaments of. the Porch of ih! 
 Temple. 
 
 There were three things belonging to tha 
 porch, besides its height, that was an orna- 
 ment unto it : 
 
 1. It was overlaid within with gold. 
 
 2. It had the pillars adjoined unto it. 
 
 3. It was the inlet into the temple. 
 
 First, it was overlaid with gold. Gold oft- 
 times was a type of grace, and particularly of 
 
SOLOMON'a TEMPLE SPIRITVALIZED. 
 
 285 
 
 the grace of love. That in Solomon's chariot 
 called "gold" is yet again mentioned by the 
 name " love." Song iii. 9, 10. As it is in the 
 Church, the grace of love is as gold. It is the 
 greatest, the richest of graces, and that which 
 abides for ever. Hence they that show much 
 love to saints are said to be rich. 1 Tim. vi. 17, 
 18, 19. And hence charity is called a treas- 
 ure, a treasure in the heavens. Luke xii. 33, 34. 
 Love is a golden grace; let then the churches, 
 as the jiorch of the temple was, be inlain with 
 love as gold. 
 
 Secondly, it had the pillars adjoined to it, 
 the which, besides their stateliness, seem to be 
 there typically to teach example. For th^re 
 was seen, by the space of four cubits, their 
 lily-work in the porch. 1 Kings vii. 19. 
 
 Of their lily- work I spake before. Now that 
 they were so placed that they might be seen 
 in the porch of the house, it seems to be for 
 example to teach the Church that she should 
 live without worldly care, as did the apostles, 
 the first planters of the Church. And let 
 ministers do this : they are now the pillars of 
 the churches, and they stand before the porch 
 of the house; let them also show their lily- 
 work to the house, that the Church may learn 
 of them to be without carefulness as to worldly 
 things, and also to be rich in love and charity 
 towards the brethren. 
 
 A covetous minister is a base thing, a pillar 
 Tiore symbolizing Lot's wife than an holy 
 ipostle of Jesus Christ; let them, since they 
 stand at the door, and since the eyes of all in 
 the porch are upon them, be patterns and ex- 
 amples of good works. 1 Tim. vi. 10, 11, 12; 
 Tit. ii. 7. 
 
 Thirdly, another ornament unto this porch 
 B'as, that it was an inlet into the temple. 
 
 Charity is it which receiveth orphans, that 
 receivelh the poor and afflicted into the 
 Church. Worldly love, or that which is 
 carnal, shuts up bowels, yea, and the church 
 doors too, against the poor of the flock ; 
 (Therefore look that this kind of love be never 
 countenanced by you. Crave that rather 
 which is a fruit of the Spirit. 
 
 churches, let your ministers be beautified 
 with your love, that they may beautify you 
 with their love, and also be an ornament unto 
 you and to that Gospel they minister to you, 
 for Jesus Christ's sake. 
 
 XXII. Of the Ascent by which they went up 
 
 into the Porch of the Temple. 
 1. This porch also had certain steps, by 
 
 which they went up into the house of- thu 
 Lord. I know not directly the number of 
 them, though Ezekiel speaks something aboul; 
 it. Ezek. xl. 38, 39. Hence, when men went 
 to worship into the temple they were said 
 to go up in the house of the Lord. Isa. 
 xxxviii. 22. 
 
 These steps, which were the ascent to the 
 temple, were so curiously set and al?o finely 
 wrought that they were amaziug to behold. 
 Wherefore, when the queen of Sheba, who 
 came to prove Solomon's wisdom, saw the 
 house which he had built, and his ascent by 
 which he went up into the house of the Lord, 
 she had no more spirit in her. She was by 
 that sight quite drowned and overcome. 1 
 Kings X. 4, 5. 
 
 2. These steps, whether cedar, gold, or 
 stone, yet that which added to their adorn 
 ment was the wonderment of a queen. And 
 whatever t^ey were made of, to be sure they 
 were a shadow of those steps which we should 
 take to and in the house of God. Steps of 
 God. Ps. Ixxxv. 18. Steps ordered by him. 
 Ps. xxxvii. 22. Steps ordered in his word. 
 Ps. cxix. 133. Steps of faith. Rom iv. 12. 
 Steps of the Spirit. 1 Cor. xii. 18. Steps of 
 truth. 3 John 4. Steps washed with butter. 
 Job xxix. 6. Steps taken before or in the 
 presence of God. Steps butted and bounded 
 by a divine rule. These are steps indeed. 
 
 3. There are, therefore, no such steps as 
 these to be found anywhere in the world. A 
 step to honour, a step to riches, a step to 
 worldly glory, these are everywhere; but 
 what are these to the steps Ipy which men do 
 ascend or go up to the house of the Lord I 
 
 He, then, that entereth into the house of the 
 Lord is an ascending man; as it is said of 
 Moses, he went up into the mount of Gotl. II 
 is ascending to go into the house of God. The 
 world believe not this ; they think it is going 
 downward to go up to the house of God, but 
 they are in a horrible mistake. 
 
 The steps, then, by which men went up into 
 the temple are, and ought to be, opposed to 
 those which men take to their lusts and emptv 
 glories. Hence, such steps are said not only 
 to decline from God, but to take hold of the 
 path to death and hell. 
 
 The steps, then, by which men went up to 
 the house of the Lord were significative of 
 those steps which men take when they go to 
 God, to heaven, and glory ; for these steps were 
 the way to God, to God in his holy temple. 
 
 But how few are there that, as the queen of 
 
286 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 ttie South, are taken with these goodly steps ! 
 Do not most rather seek to push away our feet 
 from taking hold of the path of life, or else 
 lay snares for us in the way ? But, all these 
 notwithstanding, the Lord guide us in the 
 way of his steps : they are goodly steps, they 
 are the best. 
 
 I 
 XKIII. Of the Gates of the Porch of the 
 Temple. 
 
 1 . The porch, at which was an ascent to the 
 temple, had a gate belonging to it. This gate, 
 according to the prophet Ezekiel, was six 
 cubits wide. The leaves of this gate were 
 double, one folding this way, the other folding 
 that. Ezek. xl. 48! 
 
 Now here some may object and say, Since 
 the way to God by these doors was so wide, 
 why doth Christ say the way and gate is 
 narrow ? 
 
 Answer. The straitness, the narrowness must 
 not be understood of the gate simply, but be- 
 cause of that cumber that some men carry with 
 them that pretend to be going to heaven. Six 
 cubits! What is sixteen cubits to him who 
 would enter in here with all the world on his 
 back? The young man in the Gospel, who 
 made such a noise for heaven, might have 
 gone in easy enough, for in six cubits' breadth 
 there is room ; but, poor man, he was not for 
 going in thither, unless he might cany in his 
 houses upon his shoulder too, and so the gate 
 was strait. Mark x. 17-23. 
 
 Wherefore he that will enter in at the gate 
 of heaven, of which this gate into the temple 
 was a type, must go in by himself, and not with 
 his bundles of trash on his back ; and if he will 
 go in thus, he need not fear there is room. 
 "The righteous nation that keep the truth, 
 they shall enter in;" 
 
 2. They that fnter at the gate of the inner 
 eourt must be clothed in fine linen ; how, then, 
 shall .they go into the temple that carry the 
 clogs of the dirt of this world at their heels ? 
 Thus saith the Lord, " No stranger uncircum- 
 cised in heart or uncircumcised in flesh shall 
 enter into my sanctuary." 
 
 3. The wideness therefore of this gate is for 
 this cayise here made mention of — to wit, to 
 encourage them that would gladly enter there- 
 at according to the mind of God, and not to 
 flatter them that are not for leaving of all for 
 God. 
 
 4. Wherefore let such as would go in re- 
 member that here is room, even a gate to enter 
 in at, eix cubits wide. We have beeji all this 
 
 while but on the outside of the temple, even 
 in the courts of the house of the Lord, to see 
 the beauty and glory that is there. The 
 beauty hereof made men cry out, and say, 
 " How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of 
 hosts ! my soul longeth, yea fainteth, for the 
 courts of the Lord ;" and to say, " A day in 
 thy courts is better than a thousand." 
 
 XXIV. Of the Pinnacles of the Temple. 
 
 1. There were also several pinnacles belong- 
 ing to the temple. These pinnacles stood on 
 the top aloft in the air, and were sharp, and so 
 difficult to stand upon : what men say of their 
 number and length I waive, and come directly 
 to their signification. 
 
 2. I therefore take these pinnacles to be 
 types of those lofty, airy notions with which 
 some men delight themselves while they hover 
 like birds above the solid and godly truths of 
 Christ. Satan attempted to entertain Christ . 
 Jesus with this type and antitype at once when 
 he set him on one of the pinnacles of the 
 temple, and offered to thrust him upon a false 
 confidence in God by a false and unsound in- 
 terpretation of a text. Matt. iv. 5, 6; Luke 
 iv. 9, 10, 11. 
 
 3. You have some men who cannot be con- 
 tent to worship in the temple, but must be aloft ; 
 no place will serve them but pinnacles, pinna- 
 cles, that they may be speaking in and to the 
 air, that they may be promoting their heady no- 
 tions, instead of solid truth ; not considering 
 that now they are where the devil would have 
 them be, they strut upon their points, their 
 pinnacles; but, let them look to it, there is 
 difficult standing upon pinnacles; their neck, 
 their soul, is in danger. We read, God is in 
 his temple, not upon these pinnacles. Ps. xi. 
 4 ; Hab. ii. 20. 
 
 4. It is true, Christ was once upon one of 
 these, but the devil set him there, with intent 
 to dash him in pieces by a fall ; and yet even 
 then told him if he would venture to tumble 
 down he should be kept from dashing his foot 
 against a stone. To be there, therefore, was 
 one of Christ's temptations, consequently one 
 of Satan's stratagems; nor went he thither 
 of his own accord, for he knew that there 
 was danger; he loved not to clamber pin- 
 nacles. 
 
 5. This should teach Christia~ns to be low 
 and little in their own eyes, and to forbear to 
 intrude into airy and vain speculations, and to 
 take heed of being puffed up with a foul and 
 empty mind. 
 
SOLOMON'S TEMPLE SPIRITUALIZED. 
 
 287 
 
 XXV. Of the Porters of the Temple. 
 
 1. There were porters belonging to the tem- 
 ple. In David's time their number was four 
 thousand men. 1 Chron. xxiii. 5. 
 
 2. The porters were of the Levites, and 
 their work was to watch at every gate of the 
 house of the Lord — at the gate of the outer 
 court, at the gales of the inner court, and at 
 the door of the temple of the Lord. 
 
 3. The work of the porters, or rather the 
 reason of their watching, was to look that none 
 not d'oly qualified entered into the house of the 
 Lord. " He set," saith the text, " porters at 
 the gates of the house of the Lord, that none 
 which waa unclean in any thing should enter 
 in." 
 
 4. The excellency of the porters lay in these 
 three things : their watchfulness, diligence, 
 and valour to make resistance to those that as 
 unfit would attempt to enter those courts and 
 the house of God. 
 
 5. These porters were types of our Gospel 
 ministers, as they are set to be watchmen in 
 and over the Church and the holy things of 
 God. Therefore, as Christ gives to every man 
 in the Church his work, " so he commands the 
 porter to watch." Isa. xxi. 11. 
 
 6. Sometimes every awakened Christian is 
 said to be a porter, and such at Christ's first 
 knock open unto him immediately. Luke xii. 
 36, 37, 38, 39. 
 
 7. The heart of a Christian is also sometimes 
 called the porter, for that when the true Shep- 
 herd comes to it, to him this porter opfeneth also. 
 John X. 3. 
 
 8. This last has the body for his watch-house ; 
 the eyes and ears for his portholes ; the tongue 
 wherewith to cry, Who comes there? as also to 
 call for aid when any thing unclean shall at- 
 tempt with force and violence to enter in to de- 
 file the house. 
 
 XXVL Of the Charge of the Porters of the 
 Temple more particularly. 
 
 1. The charge of the porters was, to keep 
 their watch in four square even round about 
 the temple of God. Thus it was ordained by 
 David, before him by Moses, and after him by 
 Solomon his son. 
 
 2. The porters had, some of them, the charge 
 of the treasure-chambers; some of them had 
 the charge of the ministering vessels, even to 
 bring them in and out by tale ; also the open- 
 ing and shutting of the gates of the house of 
 the Lord was a part of their calling and office. 
 
 1. I told you the porters were types of our 
 
 Gospel ministers, as they were watchmen in 
 and over the house of God; and therefore in 
 that they were thus to watch round about the 
 temple, what is it but to show how diligent 
 Satan is, to see if he may get in somewhere, 
 by some means, to defile the Church of God. 
 He goes round and round us, to see if he can 
 find a hoghole for that purpose. 
 
 2. This also showeth that the Church itself, 
 without its watchmen, is a weak, feeble, and 
 very helpless thing. What can the lady oi 
 mistress do to defend herself against thieves 
 and sturdy villains if there be none but she 
 
 .at home? It is said, When the Shepherd ia 
 smitten the sheep will be scattered. What 
 could the temple do without the watchmen? 
 
 3. Again, in that the porters had charge of 
 the treasure-chambers, (as it is 1 Chron. ix. 
 26,) it is to intimate that the treasures of the 
 Gospel are with the ministers of our God, and 
 that the Church, next to Christ, should seek 
 them at the mouth. " We have this treasure 
 in earthen vessels," saith Paul, and they are 
 stewards of the "manifold mysteries of God." 
 
 4. These are God's true scribes, and bring 
 out of their treasury things new and old; or, 
 as he saith in another place, "At our gates" — 
 that is, where our porters watch — "are all 
 manner of pleasant fruit, which I have laid up 
 for thee, my beloved." 
 
 5. Further, some of them had charge of the 
 ministering vessels, and they were to bring 
 them in and out by tale. 1 Chron. ix. 18. 
 
 1. If by ministering vessels you understand 
 Gospel ordinances, then you see who has the 
 charge of them — ^to wit, the watchmen and 
 ministers of the word. 
 
 2. If by ministering vessels you mean the 
 members of the Church, for they are also 
 ministering vessels, then you see who has the 
 care of them — to wit, the pastors, the Gospel 
 ministers. Therefore "obey them that have 
 the rule over you, for they watch for , your 
 souls as they that must give an account; that 
 they may do it with joy, and not with grief, 
 for that is unprofitable to you.'' 
 
 3. The opening of the gates did also belong 
 to the porter, to show that the power of the 
 keys — to wit, of opening and shutting, of let- 
 ting in and keeping out of the Church- -doth 
 ministerially belong to these watchmen. 
 
 4. The conclusion is, then. Let the churches 
 love their pastors, hear their pastors, be ruled 
 by their pastors, and sufler themselves to be 
 watched over, and to be exhorted, counselled, 
 and if need be reproved and rebuked, by their 
 
288 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 pastors. And let the ministers not sleep, but 
 be watchful, and look to the ordinances, to the 
 souls of the saitits, and the gates of the churches. 
 Watchmen, watchmen, watch! 
 
 XXVII. Of tlie Doors of the Temple. 
 Now we come to the gate of the temple — 
 namely, to that which led out of the porch 
 into the holy place. 
 
 1. These doors or gates were folding, and 
 they opened by degrees. First, a quarter, and 
 then a half, after that three quarters, and last 
 of all the whole. These doors also hanged 
 upon hinges of gold, and upon posts made of 
 the goodly olive tree. 1 Kings vi. 38, 34 ; Ezet. 
 xli. 23, 24. 
 
 2. These doors did represent Christ, as he is 
 the way to the Father, aa also did the door of 
 the tabernacle, at which the people were wont 
 to stand when they went to inquire of God. 
 Wherefore, Christ saith, "I am the door, 
 (alluding to this:) by me, if any man enter, he 
 shall be saved, and shall go iu and out and 
 find pasture." 
 
 1. "I am the door." The door into the 
 court, the door into the porch, the door into 
 the temple, the door into the holiest, the door 
 to the Father. But now we are at the door of 
 the temple. 
 
 2. And observe it, this door by Solomon was 
 not measured, as the door of the porch was ; 
 for though the door into the court and the 
 door into the porch were measured, to show 
 that the right to ordinances and the inlet into 
 the Church are to be according to a prescript 
 rule, yet this door was not measured, to show 
 that Christ, as he is the inlet to saving 
 grace, is beyond all measure and unsearchable. 
 Hence his grace is called unsearchable riches, 
 and that above all we can ask or think, for 
 that it passeth knowledge. Eph. iii. 8, 19, 20. 
 
 3. It is therefore convenient that we put a 
 jiote upon this, that we may distinguish rule 
 s.'id duty from grace and pardoning mercy; 
 for, as I said, though Christ, as the door to out- 
 ward privileges, is set forth by rule and meas- 
 ure, yet, as he is the door to grace and favour, 
 never a creature, as yet, did see the length and 
 breadth of him. Eph. iii. 17, 18, 19. 
 
 4. Therefore, I say, this gate was not meas- 
 ured, for what should a rule do here where 
 things are beyond all measure? 
 
 5. This gate being also to open by degrees 
 is of signification to us ; for it will be opening 
 fii'st by one fold, then by another, and yet will 
 never be set wide open until the day of judg- 
 
 ment. For then, and not till then, will the 
 whole of the matter be open. " For now we see 
 through a glass darkly, but then face to face ; 
 now we know but in part, but then shall we 
 know even as we are known." 
 
 XXVIII. Of the Leaves of this Gate of the 
 Temple. 
 The leaves of this gate or door, as I tolJ you 
 before, were folding, and so, as was hinted, 
 have something of signification in them. For 
 by this means a man, especially a young disci- 
 ple, may easily be mistaken, thinking that the 
 whole passage, when yet but a part, was open, 
 whereas three parts might yet be kept undis- 
 covered to him. For these doors, as I said be- 
 fore, were never yet so wide open, I mean in 
 the antitype ; never ipan yet saw all the riches 
 and fulness which is in Christ. So that, I say, 
 a newcomer, if he judged by present sight, es- 
 pecially if he saw but little, might easily be mis- 
 taken ; wherefore such, for the most part, are 
 most horribly afraid that they shall never get 
 in thereat. 
 
 How sayest thou, young comer ? — is not this 
 the case with thy soul ? So it seems to thee 
 that thou art too big, being so great,_^so tun- 
 bellied a sinner. But, O thou sinner, fear 
 not : the doors are folding doors, and may be 
 opened wider and wider again after that; 
 wherefore when, thou comest to this gate, and 
 imaginest there is not space enough for thee to 
 enter, knock, and it shall be wider opened unto 
 thee, and thou shalt be received. Luke xi. 9 ; 
 John ix. 37. So, then, whoever thou art that 
 art come to the door of which the temple door 
 was a type, trust not to thy first conceptions of 
 things, but believe there is grace abundant: 
 thou knowest not yet what Christ can do. The 
 doors are folding doors : he can do exceeding 
 abundantly above all that we can ask or think. 
 Eph. iii. 20. 
 
 The hinges on which these doors do hang 
 were, as I told you, gold, to signify that tbey 
 both turned upon motives and motions of love, 
 and also that the openings thereof were rich. 
 Golden hinges the gate to God doth turn upon. 
 
 The posts upon which these doors did hang 
 were of the olive tree, that fat and oily tree, 
 to show that they do never open with lothness 
 or sluggishness, as doors do whose hinges 
 wanteth oil. They are always oily, and so 
 open easily and quickly to those who knock at 
 them. Hence you read that he that dwells 
 in this house gives freely, loves freely, and 
 doeth us good with all his heart. Yea, saith he. 
 
SOLOMON'S TEMPLE SPIRITUALIZED. 
 
 289 
 
 " I will rejoice over them to do them good, and 
 I will plant them in this land assuredly with 
 my whole heart and with my whole soul." 
 
 Wherefore the oil of grace, signified by this 
 oily tree or these olive posts on which these 
 doors do hang, causes that they open glibly or 
 frankly to the soul. 
 
 XJflX. What the Doors of the Temple were 
 made of. 
 
 1. The doors of the temple were made of 
 fir, that is so sweet-scented and pleasant to the 
 smell. 
 
 2. Iilankind is also often compared to the fir 
 tree, as Isa. xli. 19. 
 
 3. Now, since the doors of the temple were 
 made of the same, doth it not show that the 
 way into God's house and into his favour is by 
 the same nature which they are of that thither 
 enter, even through the veil " his flesh 1" Heb. 
 X. For this door, I mean the antitype, doth 
 even say of himself, " I am as a green fir tree, 
 from me is thy fruit found." 
 
 4. This fir tree is Christ^— Christ as man, and 
 BO as the way to the Father. The doors of the 
 temple are'also, as you see here, made of the 
 fir tree, even of that tree which was a type of 
 the humanity of Jesus Christ. 
 
 5. The fir tree is also the house of the stork, 
 that unclean bird, even as Christ is the harbour 
 and shelter for sinners. As for the stork, saith 
 the text, the fir tree is her house : and Christ 
 saith to the sinners that see their want of shel- 
 ter. Come unto me and I will give you rest. 
 lie is a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in 
 time of trouble. 
 
 He is, as the doors of fir of the temple, the 
 inlet to God's house, to God's presence, and to 
 a partaking of his glory. Thus God did of old 
 by similitudes teach his people his way. 
 
 XXX. How the Doors of the Temple were 
 Adorned. 
 And Solomon carved upon the doors cheru- 
 I'ims, palm trees, and open flowers, and over- 
 laid them all with gold. 1 Kings vi. 35 ; Ezek. 
 xli. 15. 
 
 He carved cherubims thereon. These cheru- 
 bims were figures or types of angels.; and for- 
 asmuch as they were carved here upon the 
 door, it was to show- 
 First, What delight the angels take in wait- 
 ing upon the Lord, and in going at his bidding, 
 at his beck. They are always waiting servants 
 at the door of their Lord's house. 
 Secondly, It may be also to show how much 
 19 
 
 pleased they are to be where they may see sin-, 
 ners come to God. Fo» there.is joy in the pres- 
 ence of the angels of God over one sinner that 
 repenteth and comes to God by Christ for mer- 
 cy. Luke XV. 10. 
 
 Thirdly. They may be also placed here to be- 
 hold with what reverence, or irreverence, those 
 that come hither to worship do behave them- 
 selves. Hence Solomon cautions those that 
 come to God's house to worship that they take 
 heed to their feet, because of the angels. Paul 
 also says women must take heed that they be- 
 have themselves in the church as they should, 
 and that because of the angels. 
 
 !l?'ourthly. They may also be carved upon the 
 temple door, to show us how ready they are, 
 so soon as any poor creature comes to Christ 
 for life, to take the care and charge of its con- 
 duct through this miserable world. " Are they 
 not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minis- 
 ter for them who shall be heirs of salvation ?" 
 
 Fifthly. They may also be carved here to 
 show that they are ready, at Christ's command, 
 to take vengeance for him upon those that de- 
 spise his people and hate his person. Hence 
 he bids the world take heed what they do to 
 his little ones, for their angels behold the face 
 of their Father which is in heaven, and are 
 ready at the door to run at his bidding. Matt, 
 xviii. 10. 
 
 Sixthly, or lastly. They may be carved upon 
 these doors to show that Christ Jesus is the 
 very supporter and upholder of angels, as well 
 as the Saviour of sinful man ; for as he is be- 
 fore all things, so by him all things consist : 
 angels stand by Christ, men are saved by 
 Christ, and therefore the vei-y cherubims 
 themselves were carved upon these doors, to 
 show they are upheld and subsist by him. 
 
 Secondly. Again, as the cherubims are 
 carved here, so there were palm trees carved 
 here also. The palm tree is upright, it twiat- 
 eth not itself awry. Jer. x. 5. 
 
 1. Apply this to Christ, and then it shows us 
 the uprightness of his heart, word, and ways 
 with sinners. " Good and upright is the Lord, 
 therefore will he teach sinners in the way" — 
 in at the door to life. 
 
 2. The palm or palm tree is also a token of 
 victory, and as placed here it betokeneth the 
 conquest that Christ, the door, should get over 
 sin, death, the devil, and, hell for us. Eom. vii. 
 24. 
 
 3. If we apply the palm tree to the Church 
 — as we may, for she is also compared thereto, 
 (Song vii. 8, 9, 10,) — then the palm tree may 
 
290 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPXETE WOBKS. 
 
 be carved here to show that none but such as 
 are upright of heart ancJ life shall dwell in the 
 presence of God. " The hypocrite," says Job, 
 " shall not come before him." " The upright," 
 Bays David, " shall dwell in thy presence." 
 
 They are they that are clothed in white 
 robes, which signifies uprightness of life, that 
 stand before the Lamb with palms in their 
 hands. Rev. vii. 9. 
 
 Thirdly. There were also carved upon these 
 doors open flowers ; and that to teach us that 
 here is the sweet scent and fragrant smell, 
 and that the coming soul will iind it so in 
 Christ this door. " I am," saith he, " the rose 
 of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys." And 
 again, " His cheeks are as beds of spices, as 
 sweet flowers, his lips like lilies drop sweet- 
 smelling myrrh." 
 
 > Open flowers. Open flowers are the sweetest, 
 because full grown, and because, as such, they 
 yield their fragrancy most freely. Wherefore, 
 when he saith, " upon the doors are open 
 flowers," he setteth Christ Jesus forth in his 
 good savours as high as by such similitudes he 
 could, and that both in name and office, for 
 open flowers lay, by their thus opening them- 
 selves before us, all their beauty also most 
 plainly before our faces. There are varieties 
 of beauty in open flowers, the which they also 
 commend to all observers. Now upon these 
 doors, you see, are open flowers, flowers ripe, 
 and spread before us to show that his name 
 and offices are savoury to them that by him do 
 enter his house to God his Father. Song i. 1, 
 2, 3, 4. 
 
 "All these were overlaid with fine gold." 
 Gold is the most rich of all metals ; and here 
 it is said the doors, the cherubims, the palm 
 trees, and open flowers were overlaid there- 
 with. And this shows that as these things are 
 rich in themselves, even so they should be to 
 
 OS. 
 
 We have a golden door to go to Gt)d by, and 
 golden angels to conduct us through the world : 
 we have golden palm trees as tokens of our 
 victory, and golden flowers to smell on all the 
 way to heaven. 
 
 XXXI. Of the Wall of the Temple. 
 
 The wall of the temple was " ceiled with fir, 
 which he overlaid with fine gold; and set 
 thereon palm trees and chains." 
 
 The walls were as the body of the house, 
 unto which Christ alluded when he said, "De- 
 stroy this temple, and in three days I will raise 
 it up." 
 
 Hence to be and worship in the temple was 
 a type of being in Christ and worshipping God 
 by him. For Christ, as was said, is the great 
 temple of God, in the which all the elect meet, 
 and in whom they do service to and for his 
 Father. 
 
 Hence again, the true worshippers are said 
 to be in him, to speak in him, to walk in him, 
 to obey him. 2 Cor. ii. 14; chap. xii. 19; CoL 
 ii. 6. For as of old all true worship was to be 
 found at the temple, so now it is only found 
 with Christ and with them that are in him. 
 The promise of old was made to them that 
 worshipped within these walls. " I will give," 
 saith he, "to thgm in my house and within my 
 walls (to them that worship there in truth) a 
 place and a name better than that of sons and 
 daughters." 
 
 But now, in New Testament times, " all the 
 promises in him are yea, and in him amen," 
 to the glory of God by us. 
 
 This is yet further hinted to us in that it ia 
 said these walls are ceiled with fir ; which, as 
 was showed before, was a figure of the hu- 
 manity of Jesus Christ. 
 
 A wall is for defence, and so is thfe humanity 
 of Jesus Christ. It is, was, and will be our 
 defence for ever. For it was that which un- 
 derwent and overcame the curse of the law, 
 and that in which our everlasting righteous- 
 ness is found. Had he not in that interposed 
 we had perished for ever. Hence we are said 
 to be reconciled to God in the body of his flesh 
 through death. 
 
 Now, this wall was overlaid with fine gold. 
 Gold here is a figure of the righteousness of 
 Christ, by which we are justified in the sight 
 of God. Therefore, you read that his Church, 
 as justified, is said to stand at his right hand 
 in cloth of gold. " Upon the right hand did 
 stand the queen in gold of Ophir." Aud 
 again, "Her clothing is of wrought gold." 
 This the wall was overlaid with, this the 
 body of Christ was filled with. Men, while in 
 the temple, were clothed with gold, even with 
 the gold of the temple ; and men in Christ arc 
 clothed with righteousness, the righteousness 
 of Christ. Wherefore this consideration doth 
 yet more illustrate the matter. 
 
 In that the palm trees were set on this wall, 
 it may be to show that the elect are fixed in 
 Jesus, and so shall abide for ever. 
 
 Chains were also carved on these walls, yea, 
 and they were golden chains : there were chains 
 on the pillars, and now also we find chains 
 upon the walls. Phil. i. 12, 13. 
 
SOLOMON'S TEMPLE SPIRITUALIZED. 
 
 291 
 
 1. Chains were used to hold captives, and 
 such Paul did wear at Rome, but he called 
 them " his bonds in Christ." 
 
 2. Chains sometimes signify great afflictions, 
 which God lays on us for our sins. Ps. cvii. 9, 
 10, 11. 
 
 3. Chains also may be more mystically un- 
 deratood as of those obligations which the love 
 of God lays upon ua to do and suffer for him. 
 Acts XX. 22. 
 
 4. Chains do sometimes signify beautiful 
 and comely ornaments. "Thy neck," saith 
 Christ to his spouse, " is comely with chains 
 of gold." And again, " I put bracelets upon 
 thy hands, a chain about thy neck." Song i. 10. 
 
 5. Chains also do sometimes denote great- 
 ness and honour, such as Daniel had when the 
 king made him the third ruler in the kingdom. 
 Dan. V. 7, 16, 29. 
 
 Now all these are temple-chains, and are 
 put upon us for good — some to prevent our 
 ruin, some to dispose our minds the better, and 
 some to dignify and make us noble. Temple- 
 chains are brave chains. None but temple- 
 worshippers must wear temple-chains. 
 
 XXXII. Of the Oamishing the Temple with 
 Precious Stones. 
 " And he garnished the house with precious 
 stones for beauty." 2 Chron. iii. 6, 7. 
 
 1. This is another ornament to the temple 
 of the Lord ; wherefore, as he saith, it was gar- 
 nished with them, he saith it was garnished 
 with them for beauty. The line saith garnished, 
 the margin saith covered. 
 
 2. Wherefore, I think, they were fixed as 
 stars, or as the stars in the firmament, so they 
 were set in the ceiling of the house as in the 
 heaven of the holy temple. 
 
 3. And thus fixed, they do the more aptly 
 tell us of what they are a figure ; namely, of 
 the ministerial gifts and officers in the Church. 
 For ministers, as to their gifts and office, are 
 called stars of God, and are said to be in the 
 hand of Christ. Eev. i. 20. 
 
 4. Wherefore, as the stars glitter and twinkle 
 in the firmament of heaven, so do true minis- 
 ters in the firmament of his Church. 
 
 5. So that it is said again these gifts come 
 down from above, as signifying they distil 
 their dew from above. And hence, again, the 
 ministers are said to be set over us in the 
 Lord, as placed in the firmament of his heaven 
 to give a light upon his earth. " There is gold 
 a)\d a multitude of rubies, but the lips of 
 knowledge are a precious jewel." 
 
 Verily, it is enough to make a man in his 
 house look always upwards, since the ceiling 
 above head doth thus glitter with precious 
 stones. 
 
 Precious stones, all manner of precious 
 stones, stones Df all colours : " For there are 
 divers gifts, differences of administrationa, and 
 diversities of operations : but it is the same 
 God which worketh all in all."* 
 
 Thus had the ceiling of this house a pear) 
 here, and there a diamond ; here a jasper, and 
 there a sapphire; here a sardius, and there a 
 jacinth ; here a aardonius, and there an ame 
 thyst. " For to one is given by the Spirit the 
 word of wisdom, to another the word of know- 
 ledge ; to one the gift of healing, to anothei 
 faith ; to this man to work miracles, to that a 
 spirit of prophecy ; to another the discerning 
 of spirits, to another divers kinds of tongttes." 
 
 He also overlaid the house, beams, posts, 
 walls, doors, &c., and all with gold. Oh what 
 a beautiful house the temple was ! how full of 
 glory was it ! and yet all was but a shadow, a 
 shadow of things to come, and which was to 
 be answered in the Church of the living God, 
 the pillar and ground of truth, by better things 
 than these. 
 
 XXXIII. Of the Windows of the I'emple. 
 
 "And for -the house he made windows of 
 narrow lights." 1 Kings vi. 4. There were 
 windows of this house, windows for the cham- 
 bers, and windows round about. Ezek. iv. 
 
 These windows were of several sizes, but all 
 narrow — narrow without, but wide within; 
 they also were finely wrought and beautified 
 with goodly stones. Isa. liv. 14. 
 
 1. Windows, as they are to an house an 
 ornament, so also to it they ai-e a benefit. 
 " Truly the light is good, and a pleasant thing 
 it is for the eye to behold the sun." The win- 
 dow is that which Christ looks forth at, the 
 window is that which the sun looks in at. 
 Song ii. 9. 
 
 2. By the light which shines in at the win- 
 dow we also see to make and keep the house 
 clean, and also to do what business is neces- 
 sary there to be done. " In thy light we see 
 light" — light to do our duty, and that both tn 
 God and man. 
 
 3. These windows, therefore, were figures of 
 the written word, by and through which Christ 
 shows himself to his, and by which also we 
 apprehend him. And hence the word of God 
 is compared to a glass, through which the 
 light doth come, and by which we see not only 
 
292 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 the beams of the sun, but our own smutches 
 also. 
 
 4. The lights indeed were narrow, where- 
 fore we see also through their antitype but 
 darkly and imperfectly. " Now we see through 
 a glass darkly," or as in a riddle ; " now we 
 know but in part." 
 
 5. Their windows and their light are but of 
 little service to those that are without; the 
 world sees but little of the beauty of the 
 Church by the light of the written word, 
 though the Church by that light can see the 
 dismal state of the world, and also how to 
 avoid it. 
 
 XXXrV. 0/ the Chambers of the Temple. 
 In the temple Solomon made chambers. 1 
 Kings yi. 5. 
 
 1. The chambers were for several, sizes — 
 some little, some large; some higher, some 
 lower ; some more inward, and some outward. 
 
 2. These chambers were for several services : 
 some were for rest, some to hide in, some to 
 lay up treasure in, and some for solace and de- 
 light. 
 
 1. They were for resting-places: here the 
 priests and porters were wont to lodge. 
 . 2. They were for hiding-places : here Jeho- 
 shebah hid Joash from Athaliah the term of 
 years. 
 
 3. They were also to lay the temple-treasure 
 or dedicated things in, that they might be 
 safely kept there for the worshippers. 
 
 ' 4. And some of them were for solace and 
 delight, and, I must add, some for durable 
 habitation. Wherefore in some of them some 
 dwelt always, yea, their names dwelt there 
 when they were dead. 
 
 1. Those of them which were for rest were 
 types of that rest which by faith we have in 
 the Son of God, (Matt, xi.,) and of that eternal 
 rest which we shall have in heaven by him. 
 Heb. iv. 3. 
 
 2. Those chambers which were for hiding 
 and sec'irity were types of that safety which 
 we have in Christ from the rage of the world. 
 Isa. xxyi. 20. 
 
 3. Those chambers which were for the re- 
 ception oi the treasure and dedicated things 
 were types of Christ, as he is the common 
 storehouse of believers. " For it pleased the 
 Father that in him should all fulness dwell, 
 and of his 'fulness we all receive, and grace for 
 grace." 
 
 4. Those chambers that were for solace and 
 , delight were types of those retirements and 
 
 secret meetings of Christ with the soul, where 
 he gives her his embraces and delights her with 
 his bosom and ravishing delights. " He brought 
 me," said she, "into his chambers, into the 
 chamber of her which conceived me," and there 
 he gave me his love. The chambers which were 
 for durable dwelling-places were types of those 
 eternal dwelling-places which are in the heav- 
 ens, prepared of Christ and the Father for them 
 that shall be saved. John xiv. 1-4 ; 2 Cor. v, 
 1-4. 
 
 This is to dwell on high and to be safe from 
 fear of evil. Here therefore you see are cham- 
 bers for rest, chambers for safety, chambers for 
 treasure, chambers for solace, and chambers for 
 durable habitations. Oh the rest and peace 
 that the chambers of God's high house will 
 yield to its inhabitants in another world! 
 Here they will rest from their labours, rest 
 upon their beds, rest with God, rest from sin, 
 temptation, and all sorrow. 
 
 God, therefore, then shall wipe all tears from 
 our eyes, even when he comes out of his cham- 
 bers as a bridegroom to fetch his bride, his 
 wife, unto him thither, to the end they may 
 have eternal solace together. 
 
 Oh these are far better than the chambers of 
 the south. 
 
 XXXV. Of the Stairs, by which they went up 
 info the Chambers of the Temple. 
 There were stairs by which men went up 
 into these chambers of the temple, and they 
 were but one pair, and they went from below 
 to the first, and so to the middle, and thence 
 to the highest chambers in the temple. 1 Kings 
 vi. 8 ; Ezek. xli. 7. 
 
 1. These stairs were winding, so that they 
 turned about that did go up them. So, then, 
 he.that essayed to go into these chambers must 
 turn with the stairs, or he could not go up, no 
 not into the lowest chambers. 
 
 2. These stairs therefore were a type of a 
 twofold repentance, that by which we turn 
 from nature to grace, and by which we turn 
 from the imperfections which attend a state of 
 grace to glory. Hence true repentance, or the 
 right going up these turning stairs, is called 
 repentance to salvation; for true repentance 
 stoppeth not at the reception of grace, for that 
 is but a going up these stairs to the middle 
 chambers. 2 Cor. vii. 10. 
 
 Thus, therefore, the soul, at its going up 
 these stairs, turns and turns till it enters -the 
 doors of the highest chambers. 
 
 It groans though in a state of grace, because 
 
SOLOMON'S TEMPLE SPIRITUALIZED 
 
 293 
 
 that is not the state of glory. I count, t^en, 
 that from the first to the middle chambers may 
 be a type of turning from nature to grace. 
 But from the middle to the highest these stairs 
 may signify a turning still from the imperfec- 
 tions and temptations that attend a state- of 
 grace to that of immortality and glory. 2 Cor. 
 V. 1, 10. 
 
 For as +here are turning stairs from the low- 
 est to the middle chanibers, so the stairs from 
 thence still turn, and so will do, till you come 
 to tbe highest chambers. I do not say that 
 they that have received grace do repent they 
 have received grace, but I say that they that 
 have received grace are yet sorry that grace is 
 not consummate in glory, and hence are for 
 going up thither still by these turning stairs ; 
 yea, they cannot rest below, as they would, till 
 they ascend to the highest chambers. "0 
 wretched man that I am! And in this we 
 groan earnestly," is the language of gracious 
 souls. 
 
 True, every one doth not do thus that comes 
 into the temple of God; many rest below 
 stairs; they lilce not to go turning upward. 
 Nor do I believe that all that bid fair for as- 
 cending to the middle chambers get up to the 
 highest stories, to his stories in the heavens. 
 Many in churches, who seem to be turned from 
 nature to grace, have not the grace to go up 
 turning still, but rest in that show of things, 
 and so die below a share in the highest cham- 
 bers. 
 
 All these things are true in the antitype, 
 and, as I think, prefigured by these turning 
 stairs to the chambers of the temple. But this 
 turning and turning still displeases some much ; 
 they say it makes them giddy ; but I say there 
 is no way like this to make a man stand steady, 
 steadfast in the faith, and with boldness in the 
 day of judgment. For as he has this seated in 
 his heart, I went up the turning stairs till I 
 came to the highest chambers. A straight pair 
 of stairs are like that ladder by which men as- 
 cend to the gallows ; they are the turning ones 
 that lead us to the heavenly mansion-houses. 
 Look, therefore, you that come into the temple 
 of God to worship, that you stay not at the 
 foot of these turning stairs, but go up thence ; 
 yea, up them, and up them, and up them, till 
 you come to the view of the heavens ; yea, till 
 you are possessed of the highest chambers. 
 How many times has God, by the Scripture, 
 called upon you to turn, and told you you 
 must turn or die I and now here he has added 
 to his call a figure, by placing a pair of turn- 
 
 ing stairs in his temple, to convict your very 
 senses that you must tubx if you mean to go 
 up into his holy chambers, and so into his eter- 
 nal mansion-houses ; and look that you turn tc 
 purpose, for every turning wiU not serve. 
 Some turn, but not to the Most Higli, and so 
 turn to no purpose. 
 
 XXXVI. 0/ the Molten Sea that was in the 
 Temple. 
 
 There was also a molten sea in the temple ; 
 it was made of brass, and contained three 
 thousand baths. 2 Chron. iv. 2-9. 
 
 This sea was for the priests to wash in 
 when they came into the temple to accom- 
 plish the service of God — to wash their hands 
 and feet at, that they might not when they 
 came thither die for their unpreparableness. 
 The laver also which v?as in the wilderness 
 was of the same use there. Ex. xxviii. 
 
 1. It was, as may be supposed, called a sea, 
 for that it was large to contain, and a sea of 
 brass, for that it was made thereto. It is 
 called in Eevelations " a sea of glass," alluding 
 to that in the wilderness, which was made of 
 the brazen looking-glasses of the women that 
 came to worship at the door of the tabernacle. 
 Rev. iv. 6. 
 
 2. It was also said to be molten, because it 
 was made of that fashion by fire, and its anti- 
 type is therefore said to be a sea of glass min- 
 gled with fire. Eev. xv. 2. 
 
 1. This sea was a figure of the word of the 
 Gospel in the cleansing virtue of it, which 
 virtue then it has when mingled with the 
 fire of the Holy Ghost. And to this Christ 
 alludes when he saith, " Now ye are clean 
 through the word which I have spoken unto 
 you." 
 
 2. It was a figure of the word without mix- 
 ture of men's inventions: hence it is called 
 pure water. Having your "bodies washed 
 with pure water." And again, "He sanc- 
 tifies and cleanseth his Church with the wash- 
 ing of water by the word." 
 
 All these places are an allusion to the 
 molten sea at which of old they washed wl en 
 they went into the temple to worship. " There- 
 fore," saith he, " being washed, let us draw near 
 to God." ■ 
 
 3. This sea from brim to brim was complete 
 ten cubits; perhaps to show there is as much 
 in the word of the Gospel to save as there is in 
 the ten words to condemn. 
 
 4. From under this sea round about ap- 
 peared oxen, ten in a cubit did compass it 
 
2&4 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 round about. 2 Cliron iv. 3. Understand by 
 tliese oxen ministers, for to them they are 
 compared in 1 Cor. ix. 9. And then we are 
 taught whence true ministers come — to wit, 
 from under the power of the Gospel, for this 
 Bca breeds Gospel ministers as the water breeds 
 fish. 
 
 1. It is also said in the text that these oxen 
 were cast when the sea was cast; insinuating 
 that wlien God ordained a word of grace to 
 gavp us, he also in his decree provided minis- 
 ters to preach it to us to that end. Paul tells 
 us that he was made a minister of thp Gospel 
 " according to God's eternal purpose, which 
 he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord." 
 Eph. iii. 
 
 6. This sea is said to have a brim like the 
 brim of a cup, to invite us as well to drink 
 of its grace as to wash in its water. For the 
 word of the Spirit when mixed had not only 
 a cleansing but a saving quality in it. 2 
 Chron. iv. 
 
 7. This brim was wrought with lilies, or was 
 like a lily-flower, to show how they should 
 grow and flourish, and with what beautiful 
 robes they should be adorned, who were 
 washed and did drink of this holy water; 
 yea, that God would take care of them, as 
 he also did of lilies, and would not fail to 
 bestow upon them what was necessary for 
 the body as well as for the soul. Matt. vi. 
 28-34. 
 
 XXXVII. Upon what the Molten Sea stood in 
 the Temple. 
 
 1. This molten sea stood upon the backs of 
 twelve brazen bulls or oxen. 2 Chron. iv. 4. 
 
 2. These oxen, as they thus stood, looked 
 three towards the north, three towards the 
 west, three towards the east, and three to- 
 wards the south. 
 
 3. These twelve oxen were types of the 
 twelve apostles of the Lamb, who, as these 
 beasts, stood looking into the four corners of 
 the earth, and were bid to go preach the Gos- 
 pel in all the world. 
 
 4. They were compared to oxen, because 
 they were clean, for the ox was a clean 
 beast. Hence the apostles are called holy. 
 They were compared to oxen, because the ox 
 is strong ; and they also were mighty in the 
 word. 
 
 5. The ox will not lose what he has got by 
 drawing ; he will not let the wheels go back ; 
 so the apostles were set to defend, and not let 
 that doctrine go back which they had preached 
 
 to others ; nor did they; they delivered it pure 
 to us. 
 
 6. One of the cherubs, of which you read 
 in the vision, had a face like an ox, to show 
 that the apostles, these men of the first 
 order, are most like the angels ■ of God. Ezek. 
 i. 10. 
 
 7. In that they stood with their faces every • 
 way, it was, as I said, to show how the apos- 
 tles should carry the Gospel into all the 
 world. Matt, xxviii. 19. 
 
 8. And observe, just as these oxen were 
 placed, looking in the temple every way, even 
 so stand open the gates of the New Jeru- 
 salem to receive those that by their doctrine 
 should be brought into it. "And they shall 
 come from the east, and from the west, and 
 from the north, and from the south, and shall 
 sit down in the kingdom of God." 
 
 9. These oxen bear this molten sea upon 
 their backs, to show that they should be the 
 foundation workmen of the Gospel, and that it 
 ought not to be removed, as was the molten 
 sea of old, from that basis to another. 
 
 10. It is also said concerning those oxen 
 that thus did bear this molten sea that all 
 their hinder parts were inwards — that is, cov- 
 ered by that sea that was set upon their backs ; 
 their hinder parts, or, as the apostle has it, 
 " our uncomely parts." 
 
 11. And indeed it becomes a Gospel minis- 
 ter to have his uucomely parts covered with 
 that grace which by the Gospel he preacheth' 
 unto others. As Paul exhorts Timothy to 
 take heed unto himself and to his doctrine. 1 
 Tim. iv. 6. 
 
 12. But, alas I there are too many who, can 
 they but have their heads covered with a few 
 Gospel notions, care not though their hinder 
 parts are seen of all the world. But such are 
 false ministers ; the prophet calls them the tail. 
 The prophet that speaketh lies, either by word 
 or with his feet, he is the tail. Isa. ix. 1. 
 
 13. But what a shame is it to hide his head 
 under this molten sea while his hinder parts 
 hang out! Such an one is none of Christ's 
 oxen ; for they, with honour to their Master, 
 show their heads before all the world, for that 
 their hinder parts are inward, covered. 
 
 14. Look to thy hinder parts, minister, lest 
 while thy mouth doth preach the Gospel thy 
 nakedness and shame be seen of those which 
 hear thee. 
 
 For they that do not observe to learn this 
 lesson themselves will not teach others to be- 
 lieve the word nor to live a holy Ufe; they will 
 
SOLOMON'S TEMPLE SPIRITUALIZED. 
 
 295 
 
 learn of them to show their shame, instead 
 of learning to be holy. 
 
 XXXVIII. Of the Laveri of the Temple. 
 Besides this molten sea#there were ten la- 
 yers in the temple, five of which were put on 
 the right side, and five on the left. 1 Chron. 
 iv. 6. 
 
 1. Of their fashion and their furniture you 
 may see in 1 Kings vii. These lavers, as the 
 molten sea, were vessels which contained water, 
 but they were not of the same use with it. 
 True, they were both to wash in, the sea to 
 wash the worshippers, but the lavers to wash 
 the sacrifice. " He made the ten lavers to wash 
 in them such things as they ofiered for burnt- 
 offering, but the sea was for the priests to wash 
 in." 
 
 2. The burnt-offering was a type of the 
 body of Christ which he once offered for our 
 sins ; and the fire on which the sacrifice was 
 burned a type of the curse of the law, which 
 seized on Christ when he gave himself a ran- 
 som for us. For, therefore, that under the 
 law was called the burnt-oflfering because of 
 the burning upon the altar. Lev. vi. 8. 
 
 But what then must we understand by these 
 lavers, and by this sacrifice being washed in 
 them in order to its being burned upon the 
 .altar ? 
 
 I answer, verily I think that the ten lavers 
 were a figure of the ten commandments: in 
 the purity and perfection of Christ's obedience 
 to which he became capable of being made a 
 burnt-ofl'ering acceptable to God for the sins 
 of the people. Christ was made under the 
 law, and all his acts of obedience to God for 
 us were legal; and his living thus a perfect 
 legal life was his washing his offering in these 
 ten lavers, in order to his presenting it upon 
 the altar for our sins. The lavers went upon 
 wheels,' to signify walking feet; and Christ 
 walked in the law, and so became a clean off"- 
 ering to God for us. The wheels were of the 
 very same as were the lavers, to show that 
 Christ's obedience to the law was of the same, 
 as to length and breadth, with its commands 
 and demands, to their utmost tittle and extent. 
 The inwards and legs of the burnt-offering 
 were to be washed in these lavers, to show that 
 Christ should be pure and clean in heart and 
 life. 
 
 We know that obedience, whether Christ's 
 01 ours, is called "a walking in the way," typ- 
 ified by the lavers walking upon their wheels. 
 But I mean not by Christ, his washing of his 
 
 bffering, that he had any filthiness cleaving to 
 his nature or obedience ; yet this 1 say, that so 
 far as our guilt laid upon him could impede, so 
 far he wiped it off' by washing in these lavers. 
 For his offering was to be without bleuu;>li and 
 without spot to God. Hence it is said he 
 sanctified himself in order to his suffering; 
 "and being made perfect, he became the 
 author of eternal salvation to all them that 
 obey him.'' 
 
 For, albeit he came holy into the world, yet 
 that holiness was but preparatory to that by 
 which he sanctified himself in order to his 
 suffering for sin. That, then, which was his 
 immediate preparation for his sufferings was 
 his obedience to the law, his washing in these 
 lavers. He then first yielded complete obedi- 
 ence to the law on our behalf, and then, as so 
 qualified, offered his washed sacrifice for oui 
 sins without spot to God. 
 
 Thus, therefore, he was our burnt-offering 
 washed in the ten lavers, that he might, ac- 
 cording to law, be accepted of the Lord. 
 
 " And he set five of the lavers on the right 
 side of the house, and five of them on the 
 left." Thus were the ten divided, as the tables 
 of the law ; one showing our duty towards our 
 God, and the other our duty towards our 
 neighbour; in both which the burnt-offering 
 was washed, that it might be clean in both 
 respects. 
 
 They might also be thus placed the better 
 to put the people in mind of the necessity of 
 the sanction of Christ according to the law, in 
 order to his offering of himself an offering to 
 God for us. 
 
 XXXIX. Of the Tables in the Temple. 
 
 " He made also ten tables, and placed them 
 in the temple, five on the right hand, and five 
 on the left." 
 
 Some, if not all of these tables, so far as I 
 can see, were they on which the burnt-offering 
 was to be cut in pieces, in order to its burning. 
 
 These tables were made of stone, of hewn 
 stones, on which this work was done. Ezek. 
 xl. 40-44. 
 
 Now since the burnt-offering was a figure of 
 the body of Christ, the tables on which this 
 sacrifice was slain must needs, I think, be a 
 type of a heart, the stony heart of the Jews ; 
 for had they not had hearts as hard as ada- 
 mant they could not have done that thing. 
 
 Upon these tables, therefore, was the death 
 of Christ contrived and this horrid mwdef 
 acted, even upon these tables of stone. 
 
296 
 
 SUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 In that they are called tables of hewn stone 
 it may be to show that all this cruelty was 
 acted under smooth pretences, for hewn stones 
 are smooth. The tables were finely wrought 
 with tools, even as the hearts of the Jews were 
 wi^h hypocrisy. But, alas! they were stone 
 . still — that is, hard and cruel— else they could 
 not have been an anvil for Satan to forge such 
 horrid barbarisms upon. The tables were in 
 number the same with the lavers, and were set 
 by them, to show what are the fruits of being 
 devoted to the law, as the Jews were in oppo- 
 sition to Christ and his holy Gospel : there 
 flows nothing but hardness and a stony heart 
 from thence. This was showed in its first 
 writing ; it was writ on the tables of stone, 
 figures of the heart of man ; and on the same 
 tables, or hearts, was the death of Jesus Christ 
 compassed. 
 
 One would think that the meekness, gentle- 
 ness, or good deeds of Jesus Christ might 
 have procured in them some relentings when 
 they were about to take away his life; but, 
 alas ! their hearts were tables of stone. What 
 feeling or compassion can a stone be sensible 
 of 7 Here were stony hearts, stony thoughts, 
 stony counsels, stony contrivances, a stony law, 
 and stony hands ; and what could be expected 
 hence but barbarous cruelty indeed? " If I ask 
 you," said Christ, "you will not answer me, 
 neither will you let me see." 
 
 In that the stony tables were placed about 
 the temple, it supposeth that they were temple- 
 men, priests, scribes, rulers, lawyers, &c., that 
 were to be the chief on whose hearts this 
 murder was to be designed, and by them en- 
 acted to their own damnation without repent- 
 ance. 
 
 XL. 0/ the Instrumenis wherewith this Sacrifice 
 
 was slain, and of the Four Tables they were laid 
 
 on in the Temple, 
 
 The instruments that were laid upon the 
 tables in the temple were not instruments of 
 music, but those with which the burnt-offering 
 was slain. 
 
 "And the four tables were of hewn stone 
 for the burnt-ofiering: whereon also they laid 
 the instruments wherewith they slew the burnt- 
 offering and the sacrifice." 
 
 1. Here we are to take notice that the tables 
 were the same, and some of them of which we 
 spake before. 
 
 2. That the instruments with which they 
 »lew the sacrifice were laid upon these tables. 
 
 The instruments with which they slew the 
 
 sacrifices, what were they but a bloody aie, 
 bloody knives, bloody hooks, and bloody hands f 
 For these we need no proof— matter of fact de- 
 .clares it. 
 
 But what wera" those instruments a type 
 of? 
 
 Answer. Doubtless they were a type of our 
 sins. They were the bloody axe,' the knife, 
 and bloody hands that shed his precious bloc d. 
 They were the meritorious ones without which 
 he could not have died. When I say ours, I 
 mean the sins of the world. Though then the 
 hearts of the Jews were the immediate con- 
 trivers, yet they were our sins that were the 
 bloody tools or instruments which slew the 
 Son of God. 
 
 " He was wounded for our transgressions, he 
 died for our sins." Isa. liii. 
 
 Oh the instruments of us churls, by which 
 this poor man was taken from ofi" the earth I 
 Isa. xxxii. 7. 
 
 The whip, the buffetings, the crown of thorns, 
 the nails, the cross, the spear, with the vinegar 
 and gall, were all nothing in comparison to our 
 sins. "For the transgressions of my people 
 was he stricken." Nor were the flouts, taunts, 
 mocks, scorns, derisions, &c., with which they 
 followed him from the garden to the cross such 
 cruel instruments as these. They were our sins, 
 then, our cursed sins, by, with, and for the sake 
 of which the Lord Jesus became a bloody sac- 
 rifice. 
 
 But why niust the instruments be laid upon 
 the tables? 
 
 1. Take the tables for the hearts of the mur- 
 derers and the instruments for their sins, and 
 what place more fit for such instruments to be 
 laid upon? It is God's command that these 
 things should be laid to heart, and he complains 
 of those that do not do it. 
 
 2. Nor are men ever like to come to good 
 until these instruments with which the Son of 
 God was slain indeed be laid to heart. A nd 
 they were eminently laid to heart even by 
 them soon after; the efiect of which was '.he 
 conversion of thousands of them. Acts. ii. 3'j, 
 37. 
 
 3. Wherefore when it says these instruments 
 must be laid upon the stony tables, he insinu- 
 ates that God would take a time to charge the 
 murder of his Son home upon the consciences 
 of them that did the murder, eithei; to conver- 
 sion or condemnation. And is it not reason 
 that they who did this horrid villainy should 
 have their doings laid before their faces upou 
 the tables of their heart, "that they may look 
 
SOLOMON'S TEMPLE SPIRITUALIZED. 
 
 297 
 
 npon him whom they have pierced, and 
 mourn ?" 
 
 4. But these inatruments were laid but upon 
 some of the tables, and not upon all the ten, 
 to show that not all, but some of those so 
 horrid, should find mercy of the Lord. 
 
 5. But we must not confine these tables only 
 to the hearts of the bloody Jews ; they were 
 our sins for the which he died. Wherefore 
 the instruments should be laid upon our tables 
 too, and the Lord lay them there for good, 
 that we also may see our horrid doings and 
 come bending to him for forgiveness. 
 
 6. These instruments thus lying on the ta- 
 bles in the temple became a continual motive 
 to God's people to repentance; for so oft as 
 they saw these bloody and cruel instruments 
 ihey were put in mind how their sins "should 
 be the cause of the death of Christ. 
 
 7. It would be well also if these instruments 
 were at all times laid upon our tables, for our 
 more humbling for our sins in every thing we 
 do, especially upon the Lord's table when we 
 come to eat and drink before him. I am sure 
 the Lord Jesus doth more than intimate that 
 he expects that we should do so, where he 
 saith, "When ye eat that bread, and drink 
 that cup, do this in remembrance of me" — in 
 remembrance that I died for your sins, and 
 consequently that they were the meritorious 
 cause of the shedding of my blood. 
 
 To conclude: Let all men remember that 
 these cruel instruments are laid upon, the table 
 of their hearts, whether they see them or no. 
 " The sin of Judah is written with a pen of 
 iron and with the point of a diamond upon the 
 tables of their heart." 
 
 A pen of iron will make letters upon a table 
 made of stone, and the point of a diamond 
 will make letters upon glass. Wherefore in 
 this saying God informs us that if we shall 
 forbear to read these lines to our conversion, 
 God will one day read them against us to our 
 condemnation. 
 
 XLL Of the Candlesticks of the Temple. 
 " And he made ten candlesticks of gold, ac- 
 cording to the form, and he set them in the 
 temple, five on the right hand, and five on 
 the left." 
 
 1. These candlesticks were made of gold, to 
 show the worth and value of them. 
 
 2. They were made after the form or exact, 
 according to rule, like those that were made 
 in the tabernacle, or according to the pattern 
 which David pave to Solomon to make them 
 
 by. Observe, there was great exactness in 
 these ; and need there was of this hint, that 
 men might see that every thing will not pass 
 for a right-ordered candlestick with God. 
 
 These candlesticks are said sometimes to be 
 ten, sometimes seven, and sometimes one : ten 
 here, seven in Eev. i., and one in Zech. iv. 
 Ten is a note of multitude, and seven a note 
 of perfection, and one a note of unity. 
 
 Now as the precious stones with which the 
 house was garnished were a type of minis- 
 terial gifts, so these candlesticks were a type 
 of those that were to be the churches of the 
 New Testament; wherefore he says, "The 
 candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven 
 churches." 
 
 1. The candlesticks were here in number 
 ten, to show that Christ under the New Testa- 
 ment would have many Gospel churches. 
 " And I, if I be lifted up from the earth,'' 
 saith he, "will draw all men unto me;" that 
 is, abundance. "For the children of the 
 desolate" — that is, of the New Testament 
 Church — " shall be many more than they of 
 the Jews were." 
 
 2. In that the candlesticks were set by the 
 lavers and stony tables, it might be to show 
 us that Christ's churches should be much in 
 considering that Christ, though he was right- 
 eous, yet died for our sins ; though his life was 
 according to the holy law, yet our stony hearts 
 caused him to die. Yea, and that the candle- 
 sticks are placed there, it is to show us also 
 that we should be much in looking on the sins 
 by which we caused him to die ; for the can- 
 dlesticks were set by those tables whereon they 
 laid the instruments with which they slew the 
 sacrifice. 
 
 3. The candlesticks being made according 
 to form, seems not only to be exact as to 
 fashion, but also as to work ; for that in Ex- 
 odus,^.with its furniture, was made precisely 
 of one talent of gold, perhaps to show that 
 Christ's true spouse is not to be a grain more 
 nor a dram less, but just the number of God's 
 elect. This is Christ's completeness, his ful- 
 ness ; one more, one less, would make his body 
 a monster. 
 
 4. The candlesticks were to hold the light, 
 and to show it to all the house ; and the 
 Church is to let her light shine that they 
 without may see the light. " v 
 
 5. To this end the candlesticks were sup- 
 plied with oil-olive, a type of the supply that 
 the Church hath, that her light may shine^ 
 even of the Spirit of grace. 
 
298 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 XLII. Of. the Lamps belonging to the Candle- 
 sticks of the Temple. 
 To these candlesticks belonged several 
 lamps, with their flowers and their knops. 
 2 Chrbn. v. 21. 
 
 1. These lamps were types of that pro- 
 fession that the members of the Church do 
 make of Christ, whether such members have 
 saving grace or not. Matt. xxv. 1-7. 
 
 2. These lamps were beautified with knops 
 and flowers, to show how comely and beautiful 
 that professor is that adorns his profession 
 with a suitable life and conversation. 
 
 3. We read that the candlestick in Zecha- 
 riah had seven lamps belonging to it, and a 
 bowl of golden oil on the top; and that by 
 golden pipes this golden oil emptied itself into 
 the lamps, and all, doubtless, that the lamps 
 might shine. Zech. iv. 
 
 4. Christ, therefore, who is the high priest, 
 and to whom it belongs to dress the lamps, 
 doth dress them accordingly. But now there 
 are lamp-carriers of two sorts — such as have 
 only oil in their lamps, and such as have 
 oil in their lamps and vessels too ; and both 
 these belong to the Church, and in both these 
 Christ will be glorified; and they should 
 have their proper places at last. They that 
 have the oil of grace in their hearts, as well as 
 a profession of Christ in their hands, they 
 shall go in with him to the wedding ; but they 
 who only make a profession, and have not oil 
 in their vessels, will surely miscarry at last. 
 Matt. xxv. 
 
 5. Wherefore, thou professor ! thou lamp- 
 carrier! have a care and look to thyself; con- 
 tent not thyself with that only that will main- 
 tain thee in a profession, for that may be done 
 without saving grace. But I advise thee to go 
 to Aaron, to Christ, the trimmer of our lamps, 
 and beg thy vessel full of oil of him, (that is 
 grace,) for the seasoning of thy heart, that 
 thou mayest have wherewith not only to bear 
 thee up now, but at the day of the Bride- 
 groom's coming, when many a lamp will go 
 out and many a professor be left in the dark ; 
 for that will to such be a woeful day. 
 
 Some there are that are neither for lamps 
 nor oil for themselves, neither are they pleased 
 if they think they see it in others. But they 
 that have lamps, and they that have none, 
 and they which blow out other folks' light, 
 must shortly appear to give an account of all 
 their doings to God. And then they shall see 
 what it is to have oil in their vessels and 
 lamps, and what it is to be without it in their 
 
 vessels, though it is in their lamps, and what 
 a dismal thing it is to be a malignant to 
 either; but at present let this sufiice. 
 
 XLIII. Of the Shew-bread on the Oolden Table 
 in the Temple. 
 
 There was also shew-bread set upon a 
 golden table in the temple. 1 Kings vii. 48. ' 
 
 The shew-bread consisted of twelve cakes 
 made of fine flour ; " two tenths deals were to 
 go to one cake, and they were to be set in 
 order in two rows upon the pure table.'' Ex. 
 xxix. 33. 
 
 These twelve loaves to me do seem to be 
 a type of the twelve tribes under the law, and 
 of the children of God under the Gospel, as 
 they present themselves before God, in and 
 by his ordinances through Christ. Hence 
 the apostle says, "For we being many are 
 one bread," &c. For so were the twelve 
 cakes, though twelve; and so are the Gospel 
 saints, though many : " for we being many 
 are one body in Christ." 
 
 2. But they were a type of the true Church, 
 not of the false. For Ephraim, who was the 
 head of the ten tribes in their apostacy, is re- 
 jected as a cake not turned. Indeed he ia 
 called a cake, as a false church may be called 
 a church ; but he is called a cake not turned, 
 as a false church is not prepared for God, nor 
 fit to be set on the golden table before him. 
 Hos. vii. 8. 
 
 3. These cakes or shew-bread were to have 
 frankincense strewed upon them as they stood 
 upon the golden table, which was a type of the 
 sweet perfumes of the sanctification of the 
 Holy Ghost; to which I think Paul alludes 
 when he says, "The offering up of the Gentiles 
 is acceptable to God, being sanctified by the 
 Holy Ghost." 
 
 4. They were to be set upon the pure table 
 new and hot, to show that God delighteth in 
 the company of new and warm believers. " I 
 remember thee, the kindness of thy youth; 
 when Israel was a child I loved him." Men 
 at first conversion are like to a cake well baked 
 and new taken from the oven ; they are warm 
 and cast forth a very fragrant scent, especially 
 when as warm sweet incense is strewed upon 
 them. Jer. ii. ; Hos. xi. 
 
 5. When the shew-bread was old and stale 
 it was to be taken away and new and warm 
 put in its place, to show that God has but little 
 delight in the service of his own people when 
 their services grow stale and mouldy. There- 
 fore he removed his old, stale, mouldy Church 
 
SOLOMON'S TEMPLE SPIRITUALIZED. 
 
 299 
 
 of the Jews from before him, and set in their 
 rooniji upon the golden table the warm Church 
 of the Gentiles. 
 
 6. The shew-bread, by an often remove and 
 renewing, was continually to stand before the 
 Lord in his house, to show us that always, as 
 long as ordinances shall be of use, God will 
 have a new, warm, and sanctified people to 
 worship him. 
 
 7. Aaron and his sons were to eat the old 
 «hew-bread, to show that when saints have 
 lived in the world as long as living is good for 
 them, and when they can do no more service 
 for God in the world, they shall yet be ac- 
 cepted of Jesus Christ ; and that it shall be as 
 meat and drink to him to save them from all 
 their unworthiness. 
 
 8. The new shew-bread was to be se* even 
 on the sabbath before the Lord, to show with 
 what warmth of love and affection Gcid's ser- 
 vants should approach his presence upon his 
 holy day. 
 
 XLIV. Of the Snuffers belonging to the Candle^ 
 sticks and Lamps of the Temple. 
 As there were candlesticks and lamps, so 
 there were snuffers also prepared for these in 
 the temple of the Lord. "And the snuffers 
 were snuffers of gold." 
 
 1. Snuffers. The use of snuffers is to trim 
 the lamps and candles, that their lights may 
 shine the brighter. 
 
 2. Snuffers, you know, are biting, pinching 
 things, but use them well, and they wiU prove 
 uot only beneficial to those within the house, 
 but profitable to the lights. 
 
 Snuffers, you may say, of what were they a 
 type? 
 
 Answer. If our snuffs are our superfluities of 
 naughtiness, our snuffers, then, are those right- 
 eous reproofs, rebukes, and admonitions which 
 Christ has ordained to be in his house for good ; 
 or, as the apostle hath it, for our edification ; 
 and perhaps Paul alludes to these when he bids 
 as rebuke the Cretans sharply, that they 
 might be found in the faith. Tit. i. 12, 13. 
 
 As who should say. They must use the snuf- 
 fers of the temple to trim their lights withal, 
 if they burn not well. These snuffers, there- 
 fore, are of great use in the temple of God, 
 only, as I said, they must needs be used wisely. 
 It is not for every fool to handle snuffeia at or 
 about the candles, lest perhaps, instead of 
 mending the light he put the candle out. And 
 therefore Paul bids them that are spiritual do 
 it Gal. vi. i. 
 
 My reason tells me that if I use these snuf- 
 fers as I should, I must not only endeavour to 
 take the superfluous snuff away, but so to do it 
 that the light thereby may be mended ; which 
 then is done if, as the apostle saith, " I use 
 sharpness to edification, and not for destruc- 
 tion." 
 
 Are not the seven churches in Asia called by 
 the name of candlestick ? And why candle- 
 stick if they were not to hold the candles? And 
 candles must have snuffers therewith to trim 
 the lights. And Christ, who is our true Aaron, 
 in those rebukes which he gave those churches, 
 alluding to these snuffers, did it that their 
 lights might shine the brighter. Eev. ii. 3. 
 
 Wherefore, as he used them, he did it still 
 with caution to their light, that it might not 
 be impaired. For, as he still thus trimmed 
 these lamps, he yet encouraged what he saw 
 would shine if helped. He only nipped the 
 snuff away. , 
 
 Thus therefore he came to them with these 
 snuffers in his hand, and trimmed their lamps 
 and candlesticks. Eev. ii. 4, 20 ; chap. iii. 2, 15. 
 
 This should teach ministers, to whom it be- 
 longs under Christ, to use these snuffers well. 
 Strike at the snuff, not at the light, in all your 
 rebukes and admonitions ; snuff not your lamps 
 of a private revenge, but of a design to nourish 
 grace and gifts in churches. Thus our Lord 
 himself says he did in his using of these snuf- 
 fers about these candlesticks. "As many," 
 saith he, " as I IBve, I rebuke and chasten ; be 
 zealous, therefore, and repent." 
 
 To conclude: Watchmen, watch, and let not 
 your snuffs be too long, nor puU them off with 
 your fingers or carnal reasonings, but with 
 godly admonitions, &c. Use your snuffers 
 graciously, curb vice, nourish virtue ; so you 
 will use them well, and so your light will shine 
 to the glory of God. 
 
 XLV. Of the .Snuff-dishes that were with the 
 Snuffers in the Temple. 
 As therS were snuffers, so there were also 
 snuff-dishes in the temple; "and they were 
 also made of "gold." Ex. xxv. 28; xxxvii. 23; 
 Num. iv. 9. The snuff-dishes were those in 
 which the snuffs were put when snuffed off, 
 and by which they were carried forth of the 
 temple. They, therefore, as the snuffers are, 
 are of great use in the temple of God. 
 
 1. By them the golden floor of the temple is 
 kept from being daubed by the snuffs. 
 
 2. By them also the clean hands of those 
 that worship there are kept from being defiled. 
 
300 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 3. By them also the stinks of the snuflFs are 
 soomjst suppressed in the temple, and conse- 
 quently the tender noses of them that worship 
 there preserved from being offended. 
 
 Snuffs, you know, are daubing things, stink- 
 ing things, nauseous things ; therefore we must 
 take heed that they touch not this iioor on 
 which we walk, nor defile the hands which we 
 lift up to God when we come to worship him. 
 But how must this be done but as we take 
 them off with the snuffers and put them in 
 their snuff-dishes ? 
 
 Some are for being at the snuffs with their 
 fingers, and will also cast them at their feet, 
 and daub the floor of God's holy house ; but 
 usually such do burn as well as defile them- 
 selves. But is it not a shame for a 'man to 
 defile himself with that vice which he rebuketh 
 in another ? Let us, then, while we are taking 
 away the snuffs of others, hate even the gar- 
 ment spotted by the flesh, and labour to carry 
 such stink with the snuff-dishes out of the 
 temple of God. 
 
 Snuff-dishes, you may say, what are they ? 
 
 I answer, if sins are the snuffs, and rebukes 
 and admonitions the snuffers, then methinks 
 repentance — or, in case that be wanting, the 
 censures of the Church — should be the snuff- 
 dishes. 
 
 Hence repentance is called a Church-cleans- 
 ing grace, and the censures of the Church a 
 purging out of the old leaven and making it a 
 new lump. 
 
 Ah ! were these snuff-dishes more of use in 
 the churches, we should not have this man's 
 snuff defile that man's fingers as it doth. Nor 
 would the temple of God be so besmeared with 
 these snuffs and be daubed as it is. 
 
 Ah ! snuffs pulled off lie still in the temple 
 floor, and there stink and defile both feet and 
 fingers, both the callings and conversations of 
 temple-worshippers, to the disparaging of re- 
 ligion and the making of religious worship but 
 of low esteem with men ; and all, I say, for 
 want of the due use of these snuffers and their 
 snuff-dishes there. 
 
 Nay, are not whole churches now defiled 
 with those very snuffs that long since were 
 plucked off, and all for want of the use of these 
 gnuff-dishea according to the Lord's command- 
 ment? For you must know that reproofs and 
 admonitions are but of small use where repent- 
 ance or Church censures are not thereto an- 
 nexed. When ministers use the snuffers the 
 people should hold the snuff-dishes. 
 
 Bound reproofe for sin, when they light 
 
 upon penitent hearts, then brave woik ia 
 done in the Church; then the snuff is not only 
 pulled away, but carried out of the temple of 
 God aright, &c. 
 
 And now the worship and worshippers shine 
 like gold. "As an earring of gold and an 
 ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover 
 upon an obedient ear. " 
 
 Ministers, it appertains to you to use the 
 snuffers, and to teach the people to hold .he 
 snuff-dishes right. Acts xx. 20, 21 ; 1 Tim iv. 
 2. We must often be snuffed with those snuf- 
 fers, or our light will burn but dimly, our 
 candle will also waste : pray, therefore. Omen 
 of God, look diligently to your people. Snuff 
 them as you see there is need, but touch not 
 their snuff with your white fingers; a little 
 smutch on you will be seen a great way. Ect 
 member also that you leave them nowhere 
 but with those snuff-dishes^ that the temple 
 may be cleared of them. 
 
 Do with the snuff as the neat housewife doth 
 with the toad which she finds in her garden. 
 She takes the fork or a pair of tongs, and 
 therewith doth throw it over the pales. Cast 
 them away, I say, with fear, zeal, care, revenge, 
 and with great indignation. 2 Cor. vii. 11. 
 And then your Church, your conversation, 
 your fingers, and all will be kept white and 
 clean. 
 
 XLVL Of the Golden Tongs belonging to the 
 I Temple. 
 
 There were also tongs of gold used in the 
 temple of old. 1 Kings vii. 49. 
 
 1. These tongs were used about the altar to 
 order the fire there. 
 
 2. They were used too about the candlestick, 
 and therefore called his tongs. 
 
 3. Perhaps there were tongs for both these 
 services, but of that the word is silent. 
 
 But what were they used about trie candle- 
 stick to do ? 
 
 Answer. To take holy fire from off the altar 
 to light the lamps withal. For the fire of the 
 temple was holy fire, such as at first was kin- 
 dled from heaven, and, when kindled, main- 
 tained by the priests, and of that the lamps 
 were lighted. Lev. ix. 24. 
 
 Nor was there upon pain of death any other 
 fire to be used there. Lev. x. 1. These tongs, 
 there^re, were used to. take fire from off the 
 altar to light the lamps and candlesticks withal. 
 For to trim the lights and to dress the lamps 
 was Aaron's work day by day. "He shall 
 Ught and order the lamps upon the piu'e can- 
 
SOLOMON'S TEMPLE SPIRITUALIZED. 
 
 301 
 
 dlestick before the Lord, and Aaron did so : 
 he lighted the seven lamps thereof, as the 
 Lord commanded Moses." 
 
 What is a lamp or candlestick to ua if there 
 be not light thereon ? and how lighted without 
 fire ? and how shall we take up coals to light 
 the lamps withal if we have not tongs pre- 
 pared for that purpose ? 
 
 With these tongs fire also was taken from off 
 the altar and put into the censers to burn sweet 
 incense with before the Lord. The tongs, 
 then, were of great use in the temple of the 
 Lord. 
 
 But what were the tongs a type of? 
 
 The altar was a type of Christ, the fire of 
 the Holy Ghost ; and these tongs weie a type 
 of that holy hand of G od's grace by which the 
 coals, or several dispensations and gifts of this 
 Holy Ghost, are taken and given to the Church 
 and to her members for her work and profit in 
 this world. 
 
 Tongs, we know, are used instead of fingers ; 
 wherefore Aaron's golden tongs were a type of 
 Christ's golden fingers. Song v. 14. 
 
 Isaiah saith, That one of the seraphims flew 
 to him with a live coal in his hand, which he 
 had taken with the tongs from off the altar. 
 Here the type and antitype — to wit, tongs and 
 hand — are put together. Isa. vi. But the 
 prophet Ezekiel, treating of like matters, quite 
 waives the type, the tongs, and speaketh only 
 of this holy hand. " And he spake to the man 
 clothed with linen, and said. Go in between 
 the wheels under the cherub, (where the mer- 
 cy-seat stood, where God dwelt,) and fill thy 
 hand with coals of fire from between the cheru- 
 bims." 
 
 Thus you see our golden tongs are now turned 
 into a golden hand — into the golden hand of 
 the man clothed in linen, which is Jesus Christ, 
 who at his ascension received of God the Father 
 the Spirit in all fulness, to give, as his divine 
 wisdom knew was best, the several coals or 
 dioj)ensations thereof unto this Church, for his 
 piaise and her edification. Matt. iii. 11 ; Acts ii. 
 
 It is by this hand also that this holy fire is 
 put into our censers. It is this hand also that 
 takes this coal wherewith to touch the lips of 
 ministers that their words may warm like fire ; 
 and it is by this hand that the Spirit is given 
 to tlie churches as returns of their holy prayers. 
 
 It was convenient that fire in the temple 
 should be disposed, of by golden tongs, by the 
 Holy Ghost, by the golden hand of Christ's 
 grace, for that can wittingly dispose of it, ac- 
 cording as men and things are placed, and to 
 
 do and be done in the churches. WhereforG he 
 adds, "And one cherub stretched forth his 
 hand from between the cherubims unto the 
 fire that was between the cherubims, and took 
 thereof and put it into the hands of him that 
 was clothed with linen, who took it and went 
 out." 
 
 By this hand, then, by this man's hand, the 
 coals of the altar are disposed of, both to the 
 lamps, the candlesticks, the censers, and the 
 lips of ministers according to his own good 
 pleasure. And of all this were the tongs in 
 the temple a type. 
 
 XL VII. Of the Altar of Incense in the Temple, 
 The altar of incense was made first for the 
 tabernacle, and that of shittim wood, but it 
 was made for the temple of cedar ; and it was 
 to be set before the veil, that is, by the ark 
 of the testimony, before the mercy-seat, that 
 is, at the entering of the holiest, but not with- 
 in. And the priest was to approach it every 
 morning, which, as to the holiest, he might not 
 do. Besides, when he went in to make an atone- 
 ment, he was to take fire from off" that altar to 
 burn his incense within the holy place. Ex. 
 XXX. 4-11. 
 
 It was called the "golden altar," because it 
 was overlaid with pure gold. This altar was 
 not for burnt-oflfering, as the brazen altar was, 
 not for the meat-ofiering, nor the drink-oflfer- 
 ing,buttoburn incense thereon, (ver. 7,) which 
 sweet incense was a type of the grace of prayer. 
 Ps. cxii. 2. 
 
 2. Incense, or that called incense here, was 
 not a simple, but a compound, made up of 
 sweet spices called " Stacte," " Ouycha," and 
 "Galbanum.'' These three may answer to 
 these three parts of this duty — to wit, prayer, 
 supplication, and intercession. 
 
 3. This incense was to be burned upon the 
 altar every morning — upon that altar which 
 was called " the altar of incense," which wa.s 
 before the veil — to show that it is our duty 
 every morning to make our prayer to God by 
 Jesus Christ before the veil — that is, before the 
 door of heaven, and there to seek, knock, and 
 ask for what we need, according to the word. 
 Luke xi. 
 
 4. This incense was to be kindled every 
 morning, to show how he continueth interced- 
 ing for us, and also that all true praise of men 
 to God is by the work, the renewed work, of 
 the Holy Ghost upon our hearts. Eom. viii. 26, 
 
 5." Incense, as you sec, was made of sweel 
 apices, such as were gummy, and so apt t< Imrn 
 
302 
 
 EUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 with a smoke, to show that not cold and flat, 
 but hot and fervent, is the prayer that flows 
 from the Spirit of faith and grace. 
 
 6. The smoke of this incense was very sweet 
 and savoury, like pleasant perfume, to show 
 how delightful and acceptable the very sound 
 and noise of right prayer is unto the nostrils 
 of the living God, because from a broken heart. 
 Ps. li. 17; Songii. 14. 
 
 7. This incense was to be ofiered upon the 
 golden altar, to show us that no prayer is ac- 
 cepted but what is directed to God in the name 
 of his holy and blessed Son our Saviour. 1 Pet. 
 ii. 5; Heb. xiii. 15. 
 
 8. They were commanded to burn incense 
 every morning upon this altar, to show that 
 God is never weary of the godly prayers of his 
 people. It also showeth that we need every 
 day to go to God for fresh supplies of grace to 
 carry us through this evil world. 
 
 9. This altar, though it stood without the 
 veil, to teach us to live by faith, and to make 
 use of the name of Christ, as we find it re- 
 corded in the first temple, yet was placed so 
 nigh unto the holiest that the smell of the 
 smoke might go in thither, to show that it is 
 not distance of place that can keep the voice 
 of true prayer from our God, the God of heav- 
 en, but that he will be taken with what we ask 
 for according to his word. 
 
 It stood, I say, nigh the veil, nigh the holi- 
 est ; and he that burnt incense there did make 
 his approach to God. Hence the Psalmist, 
 when he speaks of praying, saith, " It is good 
 for me to draw nigh unto God." 
 
 10. This altar thus placed, did front the ark 
 within the veil, to put us in mind that the law 
 is kept therein from hurting us ; to let us know 
 also that the mercy-seat is above, upon the 
 ark, and that God doth sit thereon, with his 
 pardon in his hand to save us. Oh what speak- 
 ing things are types, shadows, and parables, had 
 we but eyes to see, had we but ears to hear I 
 
 He that did approach the altar with incense 
 of old aright (and then he did so when he ap- 
 proached it by Aaron, his high priest) pleased 
 God ; how much more shall we have both per- 
 son and prayers accepted, and a grant of \Yliat 
 we need, if indeed we come as we should to 
 God by Jesus Christ ! 
 
 But take heed you approach not to a wrong 
 altar ; take heed also that you come not with 
 strange fire, for they are dangerous things, and 
 cause the worshippers to miss of what they 
 would enjoy. But more of this in the next 
 particular. 
 
 XL VIII. Of the Golden Censers belonging to 
 the Temple. 
 
 There was also golden censers belonging 
 to the temple, and they were either such aa 
 belonged tO' the sons of Levi in general, or 
 that were for Aaron and his sons in special, as 
 Num. xvi. 16, 17, 18. 
 
 The censers of the Levites were a type of 
 ours, but the censer of Aaron was a type of 
 Christ's. 
 
 The censers, as was hinted before, were for 
 this use in the temple : namely, to hold the 
 holy fire in on which incense was to be burned 
 before the Lord. Lev. x. 1. 
 
 The censers were then types of hearts. 
 Aaron's golden one was a type of Christ's 
 golden heart, and the censers of the Levites 
 were types of other worshippers' hearts. 
 
 The fire also which was put therein was a 
 type of the spirit by which we pray, and the 
 incense that burnt thereon a type of our desires. 
 
 Of Christ's censer we read in Eev. viii., 
 which is always filled with much incense — ^that 
 is, with continual intercessions which he ofiereth 
 to God for us; and from whence also there 
 always goes a cloud of sweet savour, covering 
 the mercy-seat. 
 
 But to speak of the censers, and fire, and in- 
 cense of the worshippers ; for albeit they were 
 all put under one rule, that is, to be according 
 to law ; yet oftentimes as were the worshippers 
 such were the censers, fire, and incense. 
 
 1. Hence the two hundred and fifty censers 
 with which Korah and his company ofiered 
 are called the censers of sinners : for they came 
 with wicked hearts there to burn incense be- 
 fore the Lord. Num. xvi. 17, 87. 
 
 2. Again, as the censers of these men were 
 called the censers of sinners, showing they 
 came at that time to God with naughty hearts, 
 so the fire that was in Nadab and Abihu's ten- 
 sers is called strange fire, which the Lord com- 
 manded them not. Lev. x. 1. 
 
 3. This strange fire was a type of that strange 
 spirit, opposed to the Spirit of God, in and by 
 which, notwithstanding, some adventure to 
 perform worship to God. 
 
 4. Again, as these censers are called the cen- 
 sers of sinners, and this fire called strange fire, 
 so the incense of such is also called strange, 
 and it is said to be an abomination unto God. 
 Ex. XXX. 9. 
 
 Thus you see that both the censers, fire, and 
 incense of some is rejected, even as the heart, 
 spirit, and prayer of sinners are an abomina- 
 tion unto God. 
 
SOLOMON'S TEMPLE SPIRITVALIZED. 
 
 303 
 
 But there were besides these, true censers, 
 holy fire, and sweet incense among the wor- 
 shippers in the temple, and their service was 
 accepted by Aaron their high priest ; for that 
 was through the faith of Christ, and these were 
 a type of our true Gospel worshippers, who 
 come with holy hearts, the holy spirit, and 
 holy desires before their God by their Eedeem- 
 er. These are a perfume in his nose. " The 
 prayers of the upright is his delight. David's 
 prayer went up like incense, and the lifting up 
 of his hands as the evening sacrifice." 
 
 Let them, then, that pretend to worship be- 
 fore God in his holy temple, look to it that 
 both their censers, fire, and incense, heart, 
 spirit and desires be such as the word requires, 
 lest, instead of receiving of gracious returns 
 from the God of heaven, their censers be laid 
 up against them ; lest the fire of God devour 
 them, and their incense become an abomina- 
 tion to him, as it happened to those made 
 mention of before. 
 
 But it is said the censers of Korah and his 
 company were hallowed. 
 
 Answer. So is God's worship, which is so his 
 by ordination, yet even that very worship may 
 be spoiled by man's transgressions. Prayer is 
 God's ordinance, but all prayer is not accepted 
 of God. We must then distinguish between 
 the thing commanded and our using of that 
 thing. The temple was God's house, but was 
 abused by the irreverence of these that wor- 
 shipped there, even to the demolishing of it. 
 
 A golden censer is a gracious heart, heavenly 
 fire is the Holy Ghost, and sweet incense the 
 effectual, fervent prayer of faith. Have you 
 these ? These God expects, and these you must 
 have if eVer your persons or performances be 
 of God accepted. 
 
 XLIX. Of the Oolden Spomi of the Temple. 
 
 1. The golden spoons belonging to the tem- 
 ple were in number, according to Moses, twelve, 
 answering to the twelve tribes. But when the 
 temple was built I suppose there were more, 
 because of the number of the basons. Num. 
 vii. 
 
 2. These spoons, as I suppose, were for the 
 worshippers in the temple to eat that broth 
 withal wherein the trespass-offerings were boil- 
 ed ; for which purpose there were several cal- 
 drjns hanged in the cornere of that court called 
 the priests' to boil them in. 
 
 S. Now in that he saith here were spoons, 
 what is it but that there are also babes in the 
 temple of the Lord.' There was broth for babes 
 
 as well as meat for men, and spoons to eat the 
 broth withal. 
 
 4. True, the Gospel being more excellent 
 than the law, doth change the term, and, in- 
 stead of broth, saith there is milk for babes. 
 But in that he saith milk, he insinuates '.here 
 are spoons for children in the Church. 
 
 5. "I could not," saith Paul to them at 
 Corinth, " speak to you as unto spiritual, but 
 as unto carnaj, even as unto babes in Christ, 
 I have fed you with milk and not with meat ; 
 for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither 
 yet now are ye able." 
 
 6. See, here were need of spoons. Milk ia 
 spoon meat; for here were those which could 
 not feed themselves with milk,; let them then 
 that are men eat the strong meat. " For every 
 one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of 
 righteousness, for he is a babe. For strong 
 meat belongeth to them that are of full age, 
 who by reason of use have their senses exer- 
 cised to discern both good and evil." 
 
 7. Spoons, you know, are to feed us with 
 weak and thin food, even with that which 
 best suiteth with weak stomachs or with a 
 babyish temper. Hence as the strong man is 
 opposed to the weak, so the milk is opposed to 
 the strong meat. 
 
 8. So, then, though the babe in Christ is 
 weaker than the man in Christ, yet is he not 
 by Christ left unprovided for ; for here is milk 
 for babes, and spoons to eat it with. All this 
 is taught us by the spoons ; for what need is 
 here of spoons where there is nothing to eat 
 but strong meat? 
 
 9. Babes, you know, have not only babyish 
 stomachs, but also babyish tricks, and must be 
 dealt withal as babes ; their childish talk and 
 froward carriages must be borne withal. 
 
 10. Sometimes they cry for nothing, yea, 
 and count them for their foes which rebuke 
 their childish toys and ways. All which the 
 Church ,must bear, because they are God's 
 babes; yea, they must feed them too: for if he 
 has found them milk and spoons, it is tliat 
 they may be fed therewith, and live: yea, 
 grown ministers are God's nurses, wherefore 
 they must have a lap to lay them in, and knees 
 to dandle them upon, and spoons to feed them 
 with. 
 
 11. Nor are the babes without their use in 
 the Church of God; for he commands that 
 they be brought to cry with the congregation 
 before the Lord for mercy for the land. Joel 
 ii. 16. 
 
 12. Incense, I told you, was a type of 
 
304 
 
 JBVNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 prayers, and the spoons, in the time of Moses, 
 were presented at the temple full of it; per- 
 haps to show that God will, with the milk 
 which he has provided for them, give it to 
 them as a return for their crying to him, even 
 as the nurse gives the child the teat and milk. 
 
 13. You know the milk is called for when 
 the child is crying, as we say to stop its mouth 
 with it. babes, did you but cry soundly, 
 God would give you yet more milk. 
 
 14. But what were these golden spoons a 
 type of? 
 
 I answer. If the milk is the juice and con- 
 solation of the word, then the/poons must be 
 those soft sentences and golden conclusions 
 with which the ministers feed their souls by 
 it. I have fed you, saith Paul, with the milk 
 of the word: saith Peter, even as you have 
 been able to bear it. \ 
 
 15. And this is the way to strengthen the 
 weak hands and to confirm the feeble knees. 
 This is the way to make them grow to be men 
 who now are but as infants of days. Thus a 
 little one may become a thousand, and a small 
 one a strong nation. Yea, thus in time you 
 may make a little child to jostle it with a 
 leopard, yea, to take a lion by the head ; yea, 
 thus you may embolden him to put his hand 
 to the hole of the asp and to play before the 
 den of the cockatrice. Isa. xi. 6, 7, 8. 
 
 "Who is most stout was once a babe; he that 
 can now eat meat was sometimes glad of milk 
 and to be fed with the spoon. ■ Babes in Christ 
 therefore must not be despised nor overlooked ; 
 God has provided them milk and spoons to eat 
 it with, that they may grow up to be men be- 
 fore him. 
 
 L. Of the Bowk and Basons belonging to the 
 Temple. 
 As there were spoons, so there were bowls 
 and basons belonging to the temple: some of 
 these were of gold and some of silver; and 
 when they were put together their number was 
 four hundred and forty. These you read of in 
 Ezra i. 10. The bowls or basons were not to 
 wash in, as was the sea and lavers of the tem- 
 ple; they were ratlier to hold the messes in 
 which the priests at their holy feasts did use 
 to set before the people. This being so, they 
 were types of that portion of faith by which, 
 or by the measure of which, every man re- 
 ceives of the holy food for the nourishment 
 of his soul. For as a man, had he a thousand 
 messes set before him, he eating for his health, 
 (iannot go beyond what his stomach will bear, 
 
 so neither can the child of God, when he corae 
 to ivorship in the temple of God, receive the 
 good things that are there beyond the "por- 
 tion of his faith," or, as it is in another place, 
 "according to the ability which God giveth." 
 
 And hence it is at the selfsame ordinance 
 some receive three times as much as others do. 
 for that their bowl — I mean their faith — is 
 able to receive it. Yea, Benjamin's mess was 
 five times as big as was the mess of any of his 
 brethren; and so it is with some saints while 
 they eat with their brother Joseph in the 
 house of the living God. 
 
 There are three go to the same ordinance, 
 and are all of them believers, who, when they 
 come and compare notes, do find their receiv- 
 ings are not of the same quantity. 
 
 One says, I got but little.; the other says. It 
 was a pretty good ordinance to me; the third 
 says, I was exceeding well there. Why to be 
 sure, he that had but little there had there but 
 little faith, but great faith in him would have 
 received more. lie had it then according to 
 the largeness of his bowl, even "according to 
 his faith, even as God hath dealt to every man 
 the measure of faith." Mark, faith is a cer- 
 tain measure, and that not only as to its de- 
 gree, but for that it can receive, retain, or hold 
 what is put in it. 
 
 So, then, here it is no matter how much milk 
 or holy broth there is, but how big is thy bowl, 
 thy faith. Little bowls hold but little, nor 
 canst thou receive but as thy faith will bear, 
 (I speak now of God's ordinary dealing with 
 his people;) for so he saith in his word, "Ac- 
 cording to thy faith be it unto thee.'' 
 
 If a man goeth to the ocean for water, let 
 him carry but an egg-shell with hira, and with 
 that he shall not bring a gallon home. I know 
 indeed that our little pots have a promise of 
 being made like the bowls of the altar; but 
 still our mess must be according to our meas- 
 ure, be that small or be it great. The same 
 prophet saith again. The saints shall be filled 
 like bowls, as the corners of the altar ; which, 
 though it supposes an enlargement, yet it must 
 be confined to the measure of faith which is 
 provided for its reception. Zech. ix. 15 ; xiv. 2. 
 And suppose these bowls should signify the 
 promises, though the saints, not the promises, 
 are compared to them, because they, not prom- 
 ises, are the subjects of faith; yet it is the 
 promise by our measure of faith in that that is 
 nourishing to our souls. 
 
 When Ahasuerus made a feast to his sub- 
 jects they drank their wine in bowls. Thej 
 
SOLOMON'S TEMPLE SPIRITUALIZED. 
 
 305 
 
 did not drink it by the largeness of the vessel 
 whence they drew it, but according to their 
 health and as their stomachs would so receive 
 it. Esth. i. 
 
 Thy faith, then, is one of the bowls or basons 
 of the temple, by, or according to which, thou 
 receivedst thy mess when sitting feasting at 
 the table of God. 
 
 And observe, all the bowls were not made of 
 gold, as all faith is not of a saving sort. It is 
 the golden faith that is right ; the silver bowls 
 were of an inferior sort. Eev. iii. 18. 
 
 Some, I say, have golden faith ; all faith is 
 not so. Wherefore look to it, soul, that thy 
 bowl, thy faith, be golden faith, or of the best 
 kind. Look, I say, after a good faith and 
 great, for a great faith receives a great mess. 
 
 Of old, beggars did use to carry th^ bowls 
 in their laps when they went to a door for 
 alms. Consequently, if their bowls were but 
 little, they ofttimes came off by the loss, though 
 the charfty of the giver was large. Yea, the 
 greater the charity the larger the loss, because 
 the beggar's bowl was too little. Mark it well, 
 it is ofttimes thus in the matters of our God. 
 
 Art thou a beggar, a beggar at God's door, 
 be sure thou gettest a great bowl, for as thy 
 bowl is, so will be thy mess. " According to 
 thy faith,'' saith he, "be it unto thee." 
 
 LI. Of the Flagons and Oups of the Temple. 
 The next things to be considered are the 
 flagons and cups of the temple ; of these we 
 read in 1 Cliron. xxviii. 17 ; Jer. Hi. 19. 
 
 These were of great use among the Jews, 
 especially on their feasting-days, as their sab- 
 baths, new moons, and the like. Lev. xxiii. 13. 
 For instance, the day that David danced be- 
 fore the ark he dealt among all the people, 
 even to the whole multitude of Israel, as well 
 to the women as to the men, to every man a 
 cake of bread, a good piece of flesh, and a 
 flagon of wine. 2 Sam. vi. 19. 
 
 "In this mountain" — that is, in the temple 
 typically — saith the prophet, "shall the Lord 
 of ho.st3 make unto all people a feast of fat 
 things, a fnast of wine on the lees, of fat things 
 full of marrow, of wine on the lees well re- 
 fined." 
 
 These are feasting-times, the times in which 
 our Lord used to have his spouse into his wine 
 cellar, and in which he used to display with 
 delight his banner over her head in love. 
 Song ii. 5. 
 
 The Church of Christ, alas ! is of herself a 
 very sickly, puling thing, a woman, a weaker 
 20 
 
 vessel ; but how much more must she needs be 
 so weak when she is sick of love ! Then she 
 indeed has need of a draught, for she now 
 sinks, and will not else be supported : " Stay 
 me with flagons," saith she, " and comfort me 
 with apples, for I am sick of love." 
 
 These flagons, therefore, were types of those 
 feastings and of those large draughts of divine 
 love that the Lord Jesus draweth for and 
 giveth to his spouse in those days that he feast- 
 eth with her ; for then he saith, " Drink, yea, 
 drink abundantly, O beloved." This he does 
 to cheer her up under the hours of sadness and 
 dejection; for now "new corn makes young 
 men cheerful, and new wine the maids." Prov. 
 xxxi. 6, 7. 
 
 As there were flagons, so there were cups ; 
 and they are called cups of consolation and 
 cups of salvation, because, as I said, they were 
 they by which God, at his feastings with his 
 people, or when he suppeth with them, giveth 
 out the more large draughts of his love unto 
 his saints, to revive the spirits of the humble 
 and to revive the hearts of the contrite ones. 
 At these times God made David's cup run 
 over. For we are now admitted, if our faith 
 will bear it, to drink freely into his grace, and 
 to bo merry with him. Ps. xxiii. 5 ; Luke xv. 
 22, 24. 
 
 This is that to which the apostle alludeth 
 when he saith, " Be not drunk with wine, 
 wherein is excess, but be ye filled with the 
 Spii'it ; speaking to yourselves in psalms and 
 hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making 
 melody in your hearts unto the Lord." 
 , For the cups, as to their use in the general, 
 understand them as of the bowls made mention 
 of before. For assurances are the blooms and 
 flowers of faith, not always on it, though 
 usually on feasting-days it is so. So the de- 
 grees of the one is still according to the meas- 
 ure of the other. Eph. v. 18 ; James v. ; Rom. 
 XV. 13. 
 
 LII. Of the Chargers of the Temple. 
 
 In the tabernacle they had but twelve of 
 them, and they were made of silver ; but in the 
 temple they had in alia thousand and thirty. 
 The thirty were made of gold, and the rest 
 were made of silver. Num. vii. 7. 
 
 These chargers were not for uses common or 
 profane,, but, as I take it, they were those in 
 which the passover and other meat-offerings 
 were dressed up when the people came to eat 
 before God in his holy temple. 
 
 The meat, you know, I told you, was oppo- 
 
306 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 site to milk ; and so are these chargers to the 
 bowls, and cups, and flagons of the temple. 
 
 The meat was of two sorts, roast or boiled. 
 Of that which was roasted was the passover ; 
 and of that which was boiled were the trespass- 
 offerings. Wherefore, concerning the pass- 
 over he saith, " Eat not of it raw, nor sodden 
 at all in water, but roast with fire ; his head 
 with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof." 
 
 This x'oast meat was a type of the body of 
 C!hrist as suffering for our sins, the which, 
 when it was roast, was and is dressed up in 
 chargers, and set before the congregations of 
 the saints. 
 
 But what were the chargers a type of? 
 
 I also ask, In what chargers our Gospel 
 passover is now dressed up and set before the 
 people? Is it not in the evangelists, the 
 prophets, and epistles of the apostles? They 
 therefore are the chargers and the ordinance 
 of the supper ; in these also are the trespass- 
 offerings, with what is fried in pans, mystically 
 prepared for the children of the Plighest. 
 
 And why might they not be a type of Gos- 
 pel sermons ? I answer, I think not so fitly, 
 for, alas ! the best of sermons in the world are 
 but as thin slices cut out of those large dishes. 
 Our ministers are the carvers, good doctrine is 
 the meat, and the chargers in which this meat 
 is found are the lioly canonical Scriptures, &c., 
 though, as I said, most properly the New Tes- 
 tament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 
 
 There is in these chargers not only meat, 
 but sauce (if you like it) to eat the meat 
 withal ; for the passover there are bitter herbs 
 or sound repentance; and for other, as the 
 thank-offerings, there is holy cheerfulness and 
 prayers to God for grace. All these are set 
 forth before in the holy Scriptures, and pre- 
 sented to us thereby as in the golden chargers 
 of the temple. He that will scoff at this, let 
 him scoff. The chargers were a type of some- 
 thing ; and he that can show a fitter antitype 
 than is here proposed to consideration, let him 
 do it and I will be thankful to him. 
 
 Christians, here is your meat before you; 
 and this know, the deeper you dip it in the 
 sauce the better it will relish. But let not un- 
 belief teach you such manners as to make you 
 leave the best bits behind you. For your lib- 
 erty is to eat freely of the best, of the fat, and 
 of the sweet. 
 
 LIII. 0/ the Ooings Out of the Temple. 
 As to the comings into the temple, of them 
 we have spoken already — namely, of the outer 
 
 and inner court, as also of the doors of tha 
 porch and temple. The coming in was but 
 one strait course, and that a type of Jesus 
 Christ, but the goings out were many. John x. 
 9; xiv. 6. 
 
 Now, as I said, it is insinuated that the 
 goings out are many, answerable to the many 
 ways which the children of men have invented 
 to apostatize in from God. Christ is the way 
 into, but sin the way out of, the temple of 
 God. True, I read not of a description of the 
 goings out of his house as I reatl of the 
 comings in. Only when they had Athaliah 
 out thence, she is said to go out by the way 
 by which horses come into the king's stables, 
 and there she was slain, as it were upon the 
 horse dunghill. 
 
 When Uzziah also went out of his house for 
 his transgression, he was cast out of all society, 
 and made to dwell in a kind of pest-house 
 even to the day of his death. 2 Chron. xxvi. 
 20, 21. 
 
 Thus, therefore, though these goings out 
 are not particularly described, the judgments 
 that followed them that have for their trans- 
 gressions been thrust out thence have been 
 both remarkable and tremendous; for to die 
 upon a dunghill or in a pest-house, and that 
 for wicked actions, is a shameful, a disgrace- 
 ful thing. And God will still be spreading 
 dung upon the faces of such; no greatness 
 shall prevent it; "Yea, and will take them 
 away with it. I will drive them out of my 
 house,'' says he; "I will love them no more." 
 
 But what are we to understand in Gospel 
 days by going out of the house of the Lord for 
 or by sin? 
 
 I answer. If it be done voluntarily, then 
 sin leads you out : if it be done by the holy 
 compulsion of the Church, then it is done by 
 the judicial judgment of God : that is, they 
 are cut off and cast out from thence as a just 
 reward for their transgressions. 
 
 Well, but whither do they go that are 
 thus gone out of the temple or Church of 
 God? 
 
 I answer, Not to the dunghill with Athaliah, 
 nor to the pest-house with Uzziah, but to the 
 devil; that is the first step, and so to hell 
 without repentance. But if their sin be not 
 unpardonable, they may by repentance be re- 
 covered and in mercy tread these courts again. 
 Now the way to this recovery is to think seri- 
 ously what they have done, or by what way 
 they went out of the house of God. Hence 
 the prophet is bid to show to the rebel)ioui> 
 
SOLOMON'S TEMPLE SPIRITUALIZED. 
 
 307 
 
 house first the goings out of the house, and 
 then the goings in. But, I say, first he bids 
 show them the goings out thereof. Ezek. xliii. 
 10, 11. 
 
 And this is of absolute necessity for the 
 recovering of tba sinner; for until he that 
 haa sinned himself out of God's house shall 
 see what danger he has incurred to himself by 
 Uiis his wicked going out, he will not unfeign- 
 edly desire to come in thither again. 
 
 There is another thing as to this point to 
 be taken notice of. There is a way by which 
 Grod also doth depart from this house, and 
 that also by sin as the occasion. The sin of a 
 man will thrust him out, and the sin of men 
 will drive God out of his own house. Of this 
 you read in Ezek. xi. 22, 23. For this he 
 saith, "I have forsaken mine house, I have 
 • • left mine heritage. I have given the dearly 
 beloved of my soul into the hand of her 
 enemies." 
 
 And this also is dreadful : the great sen- 
 tence of Christ upon the . Jews lay much in 
 these words : " Your house is left unto you 
 desolate;" that is, God has left you to bare 
 walls and to lifeless traditions. 
 
 Consider, therefore, of this going out also. 
 Alas! a church, a true church, is but a poor 
 thing if God leaves, if God forsakes it. By a 
 true church I mean one that is congregated 
 according to outward rule, that has sinned 
 God away, as she had almost quite done that 
 was of Laodicea. Eev. iii. 
 
 He that sins himself out can find no good 
 in the world; and they that have sinned God 
 out can find no good in the Church. A church 
 that has sinned God away from it is a sad 
 lump indeed. You, therefore, that are ii3 
 God's Church take heed of sinning yourselves 
 out thence ; also take heed that while you 
 keep in you sin not God away, for henceforth 
 no good is there. " Yea, woe unto them when 
 I depart from them," saith God. 
 
 LIV. Of the Singers belonging to the Tempk. 
 Having thus far passed through the temple, 
 I come now to the singers there. The singers 
 were many, but all of the Church, either Jews 
 or proselytes ; nor was there any, as I know 
 of, under the Old Testament worship, admitted 
 to sing the songs of the Church, and to cele- 
 brate that part of worship with the saints, but 
 they who, at least in appearance, were so. The 
 songs of Moses, of Deborah, and of those who 
 danced before David, with others that you 
 read of, they were all performed, either by 
 
 Jews by nature or by such as were proselyted 
 to their religion. Ex.xv. 1. And such worship 
 then was occasioned by God's appearance for 
 them against the power of the Gentiles, their 
 anemies. 
 
 But we are confined to the songs of the tem- 
 ple, a more distinct type of ours in the Church 
 under the Gospel. 
 
 1. The singers then were many, but the 
 chief of them in the days of David were — 
 David himself, Asaph, Jeduthan, and Heman, 
 and their sons. 
 
 2. In David's time the chief of these singers 
 were two hundred three score and eight. 
 1 Chron XXV. 
 
 These singers of old were to sing their songs 
 over the burnt-offering, which was a type of 
 the sacrificed body of Christ ; a memorial of 
 which offering we have at the Lord's table, the 
 consummation of which Christ and his disci- 
 ples celebrated with a hymn. Matt. xxvi. 30. 
 
 And as of old they were the Church that did 
 sing in the temple, according to institution, to 
 God, so also they are by God's appointment to 
 be sung by the Church in the new. Hence, 
 
 1. They are said to be the redeemed that 
 sing. 
 
 2. The songs that they sing are said to be 
 the " songs of their redemption." Rev. v. 9, 10. 
 
 3. They were and are songs that no man can 
 sing but they. 
 
 But let us run a little in the parallel : 
 
 1. They were of old appointed to sing that 
 were cunning and skilful in songs. And an- 
 swerable to that it is said that no man could 
 learn our New Testament songs but the hun- 
 dred and forty and four thousand which were 
 redeemed from the earth. 
 
 2. These songs were sung with harps, psal- 
 teries, cymbals, and trumpets — a type of our 
 singing with spiritual joy from grace in our 
 hearts. 1 Chron. xxv. 6. 
 
 3. The singers of old were to be clothed in 
 fine linen, which fine linen was a type of in- 
 nocency and an upright conversation. Hencf 
 the singers under the New Testament are said 
 to be virgins, such in whose mouth was no 
 guile, and that wei-e without fault before the 
 throne of God. 1 Chron. xv. 27 and Eev. xi v. 
 1-6. 
 
 4. The songs sung in the temple were new, 
 or such as were compiled after the manner of 
 repeated mercies that the Church of God has 
 received or were to receive. And answerable 
 to this is the Church to sing now new songs, 
 with new hearts, for new mercies. 
 
308 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 New sougs, I say, are grounded on new mat- 
 ter, new occasions, new mercies, new deliver- 
 ances, new discoveries of God to the soul, or 
 for new frames of heart ; and are such as are 
 most taking, most pleasing, and most refresh- 
 ing to the soul. 
 
 5. These songs of old, to distinguish them 
 from heathenish ones, were called God's songs, 
 the Lord's songs, because taught by him and 
 kamed of him, and enjoining them to be sung 
 to his praise. Hence David said, " God had 
 put a new song into his mouth, even praises to 
 our God." 
 
 6. These songs also were called songs of Sion 
 and the songs of the temple. Ps. cxxxvii. 3. 
 
 And they are so called as they were theirs to 
 sing there, I say, of them of Zion and the wor- 
 shippers of the temple — I say, to sing in the 
 Church, by the Church, to him who is the God 
 of the Church, for the mercies, benefits, and 
 blessings which she has received from him. 
 Sion songs,, temple songs, must be sung by 
 Sion's sons and temple-worshippers. 
 
 " The redeemed of the Lord shall return and 
 come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy 
 upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and 
 gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee 
 away. Therefore they shall come a^id sing in 
 the height or upon .the mountains of Zion ; 
 and shall flow together thither, to the goodness 
 of the Lord. Break forth into singing, ye 
 mountains, and let the inhabitants of the rock 
 sing." 
 
 To sing to God is the highest worship we 
 are capable of performing in heaven ; and it is 
 much if sinners on earth, without grace, 
 should be capable of performing it, according 
 to his institution, acceptably. I pray God 
 it be done by all those that now-a-days get 
 into churches, in spirit and with understand- 
 ing. 
 
 LV, Of the Union of the Holy and Most Holy 
 Temple. 
 
 That commonly called the temple of God at 
 Jerusalem, considered as standing of two parts, 
 was called the outward and inward temple, or 
 the holy and most holy place. They were 
 built upon one and the same foundation ; 
 neither could one go into the holiest but as 
 through the holy place. 1 Kings iii. 1. 
 
 The first house — namely, that which we 
 have been speaking of — was a type of the 
 Church militant, and the place most holy a 
 type of the Church triumphant — I say of the 
 Church triumphant, as it is now. 
 
 So, then, the house standing of these two 
 parts was a shadow of the Church both in 
 heayen and earth. And for that they are 
 joined together by one and the same founda- 
 tion, it was to show that they above and we be- 
 low are yet one and the selfsame house of God, 
 Hence they and we together are called "the 
 whole family in heaven and earth." 
 
 And hence it is said again that we who be- 
 lieve on earth " are come to Mount Sion, to the 
 city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusa- 
 lem, and to an innumerable company of angeh. 
 To the general assembly and Church of the 
 first-born, which are written in heaven, and to 
 the spirits of just men made perfect, and to 
 God the judge of all, and to Jesus the media- 
 tor of the new covenant, and to the blood of 
 sprinkling, that speaketh better things than 
 that of Abel." 
 
 The difference, then, betwixt us and them is, 
 not that we are really two, but, one body in 
 Christ in divers places. True we are below 
 stairs, and they above ; they in their holiday, 
 and we in our working-day clothes; they in 
 harbour, but we in the storm ; they at rest, but 
 we in the wilderness ; they singing, as crowned 
 with joy ; we crying, as crowned with thorns. 
 Bht I say, we are all of one house, one family, 
 and are all the children of one Father. 
 
 This therefore we must not forget, lest we 
 debar ourselves of much of that which other- 
 wise, while here, we have a right unto. Let 
 us therefore, I say, remember, that the temple 
 of God is but »ne, though divided, as one may 
 say, into kitchen and hall, above and bdow, 
 or holy and most holy place. For it stands 
 .upon the same foundation, and is called but 
 one, the temple of God, which is built upon 
 the Lord our Saviour. 
 
 I told you before that none of old could go 
 into the most holy but by the holy place, even 
 by the veil that made the partition between. 
 Ex:, xxvi. 33. 
 
 Wherefore, they are deceived that think to 
 go into the holiest, which is in heaven, when 
 they die, who yet abandon and hate the holy 
 place while they live. 
 
 Nay, sirs, the way into the holiest is through 
 the holy place ; the way into heaven is through 
 the Church on earth, for that Christ is there 
 by his word to be received by faith before he 
 can by us in person be received in the bea- 
 tifical vision. The Church on earth is as the 
 house of the women spoken of in the book of 
 Esther, where we must be dieted, perfumed, 
 and made fit to go into the Bridegroom's 
 
SOLOMON'S TEMPLE SPIRITUALIZED. 
 
 309 
 
 diamber, or, as Paul says, " made meet to be 
 partakers of tbe inheritance of the saints in 
 light.". Esth. iii ; Col. i. 12. 
 
 LVI. 0/ the Soliest or Inner Temple. 
 
 The most holy place was, as I said, a figure 
 of heaven itself, consequently a type of that 
 where the most special presence of God is, and 
 where his face is most clearly seen and the 
 glances of his countenance most enjoyed. 
 Heb. ix. 23, 24; Ex. xxv. 22; Num. vii. 89. 
 
 The most holy place was dark : it had no 
 windows in it, though there were such round 
 the chambers; the more special presence of 
 God too on Mount Sinai was in the thick dark- 
 ness there. 
 
 1. This holiest therefore being thus made, 
 was to show that God, as in heaven, to us on 
 earth is altogether invisible, and not to be 
 reached otherwise than by faith. For I say 
 in that this house had no windows, nothing 
 therein could be seen by the highest light of 
 this world. Things there were only seen by 
 the light of the fire of the altar, which was a 
 type of the shinings of the Holy Ghost. 1 
 Cor. ii. And hence it is said, notwithstanding 
 the darkness, " He dwelleth in the light which 
 no man can approach unto ; none but the 
 high prie.st, Christ." 1 Tim. vi. 16 ; 1 Pet. iii. 
 21, 22. 
 
 2. Theholiest therefore was thus built to show 
 how difierent our state in heaven will be from 
 this our state on earth. We walk here by our 
 light, by the light of a written word ; for that 
 is now a light to our feet and a lantern to our 
 path. But th.it place, where there will be no 
 written word nor ordinances as here, will yet 
 to us shine more light and clear than if all the 
 lights that are in the world were put together 
 to light one man : " For God is light, and in 
 him is no darkness at all ;" and in his light, 
 and in the light of the Lamb immediately, we 
 shall live and walk and rejoice all the days of 
 eternity. 
 
 3. This also was ordained thus, to show that 
 we, while in the first temple, should live by 
 faith as to what there was or as to what was 
 done in the second. Hence it is said as to 
 that we walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Cor. 
 V. 9. 
 
 The things that are there we are told of, 
 even of the ark of the testimony, and niercy- 
 Beat, and the cherubims of glory, and the 
 presence of Christ and of God ; we are, I say, 
 told of them by the word, and believe, and are 
 taken therewith, and hope to go to them here- 
 
 after ; but otherwise we see them not. There- 
 fore we are said to "look not at the things 
 which are seen, but at the things which are 
 not seen ; for the things that are seen are tem- 
 poral, but the things that are not seen are 
 eternal." 
 
 4. The people of old were not to look into 
 the holiest, lest they died, (Num. xvii. 13,) 
 save only their high priest, he might go into 
 it; to show that we while here must have a 
 care of vain speculations, for there is nothing 
 to be seen by us, while here, in heaven, other- 
 wise than by God's eternal testament: true, 
 we may now come to the holiest, even as nigh 
 as the first temple will admit us to come, but 
 it must be by blood and faith, not by vain im- 
 agination, sense, or carnal reason. 
 
 5. This holiest of all was four square every 
 way, both as to the height, length, and breadth. 
 To be thus is a note of perfection, as I showed 
 elsewhere ; wherefore it was on purpose thus 
 built to show us that all fulness of blessedness 
 is there, both as to the nature, degree, and 
 duration. " So when that which is perfect is 
 come, that which is in p^rt shall be done 
 away.'' 
 
 LVII. Of the Veil of the Temple. 
 The veil of the temple was a hanging made 
 of " blue, and purple, and crimson, and white 
 linen, and there were cherubims wrought 
 thereon." 
 
 1. This veil was one partition betwixt the 
 holy and most holy place ; and I take it it was 
 to keep from the sight of the worshippers the 
 things most holy when the high priest went in 
 thither to accomplish the service of God. Ex. 
 xxvi. 33. 
 
 2. The veil was a type of two things. 
 
 1. Of the visible heavens through which 
 Christ passed when he went to make an inter- 
 cession for us. And as by the veil the high 
 priest went out of the sight of the people 
 when he went into the holiest of all, so Jesus 
 Christ, when he ascended, was by the heavens, 
 that great and stretched-out curtain, received 
 out of the sight of his people here. Also by 
 the same curtain, since it is become as a tent 
 for him to dwell in, he is still received, and 
 still kept out of our sight ; for now we see him 
 not, nor shall until these heavens be rolled to- 
 gether as a scroll and pass away like a thing 
 rolled together. Isa. xl. 22. 
 
 3. This is that veil through which, the apos- 
 tle saith, Jesus, as the forerunner for us, en- 
 tered into the presence of God. For by th« 
 
310 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WOBKS. 
 
 veil here also must be meant tlie heavens or 
 the outspread firmament thereof; as both Mark 
 and Peter say, " He is gone into heaven, and 
 is on the right hand of God." 
 
 3. The veil of the temple was made of blue, 
 the very colour of the heaven — of purple, and 
 crimson and scarlet also, which are the colour 
 of many of the clouds, because of the reflec- 
 tions (if the sun. But again : 
 
 4. The veil was also a type of the body of 
 Christ For as the veil of the temple when 
 wh(.Ie kept the view of things of the holiest 
 froi.1 us, but when rent gave place to man to 
 look into them, even so the body of Christ 
 while whole kept the things of the holiest 
 from that view we, since he was pierced, have 
 of them. Hence we are said to enter into the 
 holiest by faith through the veil — that is to 
 say, his flesh. Heb. x. 
 
 But yet, I say, all is by faith ; and indeed 
 the rending of the veil that day that Christ 
 was crucified did loudly preach this to us. For 
 no sooner was the body of Christ pierced but 
 the veil of the temple rent in twain from the 
 top to the bottom ; and so a way was made for 
 a clearer sight of what was there beyond it, both 
 in the type and antitype. 
 
 Thus you see that the veil of the temple was 
 a type of these visible heavens, and also of the 
 body of Christ ; of the first, because he passed 
 through it unto the Father ; of the second, be- 
 cause we by it have boldness to come to the 
 Father. 
 
 I read also of two other veils, as of that 
 spread over the face of Moses, to the end that 
 the children of Israel should not steadfastly 
 behold, and of the first veil of the tabernacle. 
 But of these I shall not in this place speak. 
 
 Upon the veil of the temple there were also 
 the figures of cherubims wrought, that is, of 
 angels ; to show, that as the angels are with us 
 here, and wait upon us all the days of our pil- 
 grimage in this world, so when we die they 
 stand ready, even at the veil, at the door of 
 these heavens, to come, when bid, to fetch ua 
 and carry us away into " Abraham's bosom." 
 Luke xvi. 22. 
 
 The veil, then, thus understood, teaches us 
 first where Jesus is — namely, not here, but gone 
 into heaven, from whence we should wait for 
 him. It also teaches us that if we would even 
 now discern the glories that are in the holiest 
 of all, we must look through Jesus to them, 
 even through the veil — that is to say, "his 
 flesh." Yea, it teaches us that we may, by 
 faith through him, attain to a kind of a pres- 
 
 ence, at least, of the beauty and sweetness of 
 them. 
 
 LVIII. Of the Boors of the Inner Tempk. 
 
 1. Besides the veil, there was a door to the 
 inner temple, and that door was made of olive 
 tree ; " and for the entering in of the oracle, 
 he made doors of olive tree. The two doors 
 also of the olive tree, and he carved upon them 
 cherubims, and palm trees, and flowers, and 
 overlaid them with gold, and spread gold upon 
 the cherubims and upon the palm tree." 
 
 2. These doors were a type of the gate of 
 heaven, even of that which lets into the eter- 
 nal mansion-house that is beyond that veil. I 
 told you before that the veil was a type of the 
 visible heavens which God spread out as a cur- 
 tain, and through which Christ went when he 
 ascended to the right hand of the Father. 
 
 3. Now, beyond this veil, as I said, I find a 
 door, a gate opening with two leaves, as afore 
 we found at the door of the outward temple. 
 These are they which the Psalmist calls to 
 when he saith, " Lift up your beads, O ye gates, 
 and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the 
 King of glory shall come in." 
 
 4. The doors of the temple were made of fir, 
 but these, as you see, were made of olive, to 
 show us by that fat tree, that rich type, with 
 what gloiy we shall meet who shall be counted i^ 
 worthy to enter at these gates. The olive tree 
 has its name from the oil and fatness of its na- 
 ture, and the doors that let into the holiest 
 were made of this olive tree. 
 
 5. Cherubims were also carved upon these 
 doors, to show that as the angels met us at the 
 temple door, and as they wait upon us in the 
 temple, and stand also ready at the veil, so 
 even at the gate of the mansion-house they 
 will be also ready to give us a welcome thither, 
 and to attend us into the presence-chamber. 
 
 6. Palm trees also, as they were carved upen 
 the temple doors, so we also find them here be- 
 fore the oracle, upon the doors that let in 
 thither, to show that as Christ gave us the vic- 
 tory at our first entering into faith, so he will 
 finish that victory by giving of us eternal sal- 
 vation. Thus he is the author and finisher of 
 our faith. For as sure as at first we received 
 the palm branch by faith, so surely shall we 
 wear it in our hands, as a token of his faith- 
 fulness in the heaven of heavens, for ever. 
 Rev. vii. 9. 
 
 7. Open flowers are also carved here, to show 
 that Christ, who is the door to glory as well aa 
 the door to grace, will be precious to us at out 
 
SOLOMON'S TEMPLE SPIRITUALIZED. 
 
 311 
 
 entering in thitlier, as well as at the first step 
 we took thitherward in a sinful, miserable 
 world. Christ will never lose his sweet scent 
 in the nostrils of his Church. He is most 
 Bweet now, will be so at death, and sweetest of 
 aU when by him we shall enter into that man- 
 sion-house prepared for us in heaven. 
 
 8. The palm tree and open flowers may also 
 be a type of the precious ones of God who 
 shall be counted worthy of his kingdom — the 
 one of ihe uprightness of their hearts, the other 
 of the good savour of their lives. " The up- 
 right sliall dwell in thy presence ; and to him 
 that ordereth his conversation aright I will 
 show the salvation of God." Ps. cxl. 13. 
 
 9. Thus sweet in earth, sweet jn heaven ; 
 and he that yields the fruit of the Gospel here 
 shall find it for himself and his eternal com- 
 fort at the gates of glory. 
 
 10. All these were overlaid with gold, as you 
 may say, and so they were at the door of the' 
 first house. True, but observe here we have 
 an addition. Here is gold "upon gold. Gold 
 laid on them, and then gold spread upon that. 
 He overlaid them with gold, and then spread 
 gold upon them. The Lord gives grace and 
 glory. Ps. Ixxxiv. 11. Gold and gold. Gold 
 spread upon gold. Grace is gold in the leaf, 
 and glory is gold in plates. Grace is thin gold, 
 glory is gold that is thick. Here is gold laid 
 on, and gold spread on that, and that both 
 upon the palm trees and the cherubims. Gold 
 upon the palm trees — that is, on the saints ; 
 gold upon the cherubims — that is, upon the 
 angels. For, I doubt not but that the angels 
 themselves shall receive additional glory for 
 the service with which they have served Christ 
 and his Church on earth. 
 
 11. The angels are God's harvest-men, and 
 doubtless he will give them good wages, even 
 ^ry upon their glory then. Matt. xiii. 38, 39 ; 
 xxiv. 31 ; John iv. 36. 
 
 12. You know harvest-men used to be paid 
 well for gathering in the corn, and I doubt not 
 but so shall these when the great ingathering 
 is ovei*. B"'t what an entrance into life is 
 here I Here is gold upon gold at the door, at 
 our first step into the kingdom. 
 
 LIX. 0/ t/ie Oolckn Nails of ihe Inner Temple. 
 I shall not concern myself with all the nails 
 of the temple, as of those made with iron, &c., 
 (1 Chron. xxii. 3,) but only with golden ones, 
 of which you read, (2 Chron. iii. 4,) where he 
 saith, "And the weight of the nails was fifty 
 shekels of gold." These nails, as I conceive, 
 
 were all fastened to the place most l.oly, and 
 of form most apt to that of which they were a 
 figure. 
 
 1. Some of them represented Christ Jesus 
 our Lord as fixed in his mediator,- office in the 
 heavens ; wherefore in one place, when the 
 Holy Ghost speaks of Christ as he sprang from 
 Judah to be a mediator, saith, "Out of him 
 came the corner, (the corner-stone,) out of him 
 the nails." 
 
 Now, since he is here compared to a nail, a 
 golden nail, it is to show that as a nail, by 
 driving, is fixed in his place, so Christ by God's 
 oath is made an everlasting priest. Heb. vii. 
 25. Therefore, as he saith again, the nail, the 
 Aaronical priesthood, that was fastened in a 
 sure place, should be removed, be cut down, 
 and fall, so he who has the key of David, 
 which is Christ, (Rev. iii. 7,) shall by God, 
 "as a nail fastened in a sure place, abide;" 
 therefore he says again, "And he shall be for 
 a glorious throne or mercy -seat to his Father's 
 house." And moreover, "That they shall 
 hang on him," as on a nail, " all the glory of 
 his Father's house, the offspring, and the issue, 
 all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels 
 of cups, even to the vessels of flagons ;" accord- 
 ing to that which is written, " And they sang 
 a new song to the Lamb that was slain, saying, 
 Thou art worthy," &c. 
 
 And therefore it is again that Christ, undei 
 the similitude of a nail, is accounted by saints 
 indeed their great pledge or hope, as he is in 
 heaven, of their coming thither. Hence they 
 said of old, "God has given us a nail in his 
 holy place" — "a nail," says the line; "a pin, 
 a constant and sure abode," says the margin. 
 Now, this nail in his holy place, as was showed 
 before, is Christ — Christ as possessed of heaven, 
 and as abiding and ever living therein for us. 
 
 Hence he is called, as there, our head, our 
 life, and our salvation ; and also we are said 
 there to be set down together in him. Eph. i. 
 23; Col. iii. 3; Eph. ii. 5, 6. 
 
 2. Some of these nails were types of the holy 
 words of God, which for ever are settled in 
 heaven. Types, I say, of their yea and amen. 
 Hence Solomon, in another place, compares 
 the words of the wise God, to "goads and nails 
 fastened by the masters of the assemblies which 
 are given from one shepherd." 
 
 They are called "goads," because as such 
 prick the oxen on in their drawing, so God's 
 words prick Christians on in their holy duties. 
 They are called "nails" to show that as nails, 
 when fastened well in a sure place, are nol 
 
312 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 easily removed, so God's words by his will 
 stand firm for ever. Tlie masters of the asseni- 
 blies are, first, the apostles. The one Shepherd 
 is Jesus Christ. Hence the Gospel of Christ 
 is said to be everlasting, to abide for ever, and 
 to be more steadfast than heaven and earth. 
 
 The Lord Jesus then, and his holy words, 
 are the golden nails of the temple, and the 
 fixing of these nails in the temple was to show 
 that Christ is the same to-day, yesterday, and 
 for ever, and that his words abide and remain 
 the same for ever and ever. He then that 
 hath Christ hath a nail in the holiest : he that 
 hath a promise of salvation hath also a nail in 
 heaven, a golden nail in heaven. 
 
 ■ LX. Of the Floor and Walk of the Inner 
 Terruph. 
 
 1. The fioor of the oracle was overlaid with 
 cedar, and so also were the walls of this house. 
 " He built twenty cubits on the sides of the 
 house, both the fioor and the walls with boards 
 of cedar. He even built for it within, for the 
 oracle, for the most holy place." 
 
 2. In that he doth tell us with what it was 
 ceiled, and doth also thus repeat, saying, " for 
 the oracle, for it within, even for the most holy 
 place," it is because he would have it noted 
 that this only is the place that thus was done. 
 
 3. Twenty cubits — that waS the length, and 
 breadth, and height of the house ; so that by 
 his thus saying he teacheth that thus it was 
 built round about. 
 
 4. The cedar' is, if I mistake not, the highest 
 of the trees. Ezek. xsxi. 3-8. 
 
 Now in that it is said the house, the oracle, 
 " was ceiled round about therewith," it may 
 be to show that in heaven, and nowhere else, 
 is the height of all perfection. 
 
 Perfection is in the Church on earth, but 
 not such as is in heaven. 
 
 1. There is a natural perfection, and so a 
 penny is as natural silver as is a shilling. 
 
 2. There is a comparative perfection, and so 
 one thing may be perfect and imperfect at the 
 same time, as a half crown is more than a 
 shilling, yet less than a crown. 
 
 3. There is also that which we call the ut- 
 most perfection, and that is it which cannot be 
 added to or taken from him ; and so God only 
 is perfect. 
 
 Now heavenly glory is that which goes be- 
 J'ond all perfection on the earth, as the cedar 
 goes beyond all trees for height. Hence God, 
 when he speaks of his own excellency, sets it 
 forth by its .heights -the high God, the most 
 
 High, and the high and lofty one, and the 
 Highest. 
 
 These terms also are ascribed to this house, 
 for that it was the place where utmost perfec- 
 tion dwelt. 
 
 I take, therefore, the cedar in this place to 
 be a note of perfection, even the cedar with 
 which this house was ceiled. 
 
 For since it is the wisdom of God to speak 
 to us ofttimes by trees, gold, silver, stones, 
 beasts, fowls, fishes, spiders, ants, frogs, flics, 
 lice, dust, &c., and here by wood, how should 
 we by them understand his voice if we count 
 there is no meaning in them ? 
 
 "And the cedar of the house within was 
 carved with knops and flowers." All was 
 cedar j there was no stone seen. 1 Kings 
 ix. 18. 
 
 Knops and flowers were they with which the 
 golden candlestick was adorned, as you read 
 in Ex. XXV. 
 
 The candlestick was a type of the Church, 
 and the knops an(i flowers a type of her orna- 
 meiiits. But whatl must heaven be hanged 
 round about with the ornaments of saints, 
 with the fruits of their graces? Well, it is 
 certain that something more than ordinary 
 must be done with them, since they are 
 " admitted to follow them into the holy place," 
 and since it is said they shall have a far more 
 exceeding and eternal weight of glory be- 
 stowed on them for them in the heavens. 2 
 Cor. iv. 16, 17. 
 
 " All was cedar ; there was no stone seen." 
 Take stone in the type for that which was 
 really so, and in the antitype for that which is 
 so mystically, and then it may import to us 
 that in hearven, the antitype of this .holiest, 
 there shall never be any thing of hardness of 
 heart in them that possess it for ever. All 
 imperfection ariseth from the badness of tlft 
 heart, but there will be no bad hearts in glory. 
 No shortness in knowledge, no crossness of dis- 
 position, no workings of lusts or corruptions 
 will be there — no, not throughout the whole 
 heavens. Here, alas ! they are seen, and that 
 in the best of saints, because here our light is 
 mixed with darkness; but there will be no 
 night nor any stone seen. 
 
 " And the floor of the house was overlaid 
 with gold." 1 Kings vi. 30. This is like that 
 of which we read of the New Jerusalem that 
 is to come from God out of heaven — says the 
 text, "The street of the city was pure gold"— 
 and like that of which you ];ead in Exodus. 
 " They saw under the feet of the God of Israel 
 
SOLOMON'S TEMPLE SPIRITUALIZED. 
 
 313 
 
 as il wore a ]i;ived work of sapphire stone, 
 and as it wore the body of the heaven in its 
 clearness." 
 
 All the visions were rich, but this the 
 richest, that the floor of the house should be 
 covered or overlaid with gold. The floor and 
 street are walking-places, and how rich will 
 our steps be then! Alas! here we sometimes 
 step into the mire, and then again stumble 
 upon blocks, and stones. Here we sometimes 
 fell into the holes, and have our heel often 
 catched in a snare; but there, there will be 
 none of these ! Gold ! gold ! all will be gold 
 and golden perfections when we come into the 
 holy place ! Job at best took but his steps in 
 butter, but wo then shall take all our steps in 
 the gold of the sanctuary. 
 
 • 
 LXI. Of the Arh of the Covenant which was 
 placed in the Inner Temple. 
 In the word I read of three arks: to wit, 
 Noah's ark, that in which Moses was hid, and 
 the ark of the covenant of God. Gen. vi. 14 ; 
 Ex. ii. 3, 5. But it is the ark of the covenant 
 of which I shall now speak. 
 
 " The ark was made of shittim wood ; two 
 cubits and a half was the length thereof, and 
 one cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and 
 a cubit and a half the height thereof. It was 
 overlaid with pure gold within and without, 
 and a crown of gold was made for it round 
 about." 
 
 1. This ark was called " the ark of the 
 covenant," as, the first that you read of was 
 called Noah's, because as he in that was kept 
 from being drowned, so the tables of the cove- 
 nant were kept in this from breaking. 
 
 2. This ark in this was a type of Christ, for 
 that in him only, and not in the hand of 
 Moses, these tables were kept whole. Moses 
 brake them, the ark keeps them. 
 
 3. Not only that wrote on two tables of 
 stone, but that also called " the ceremonial," 
 was put into the ark' to be kept. The two 
 tables were put into the midst of the ark to 
 answer to this. Thy law is within my heart to 
 do it. But the ceremonial was put into the 
 SIDE of the ark, to show that out of the side 
 of Christ must come that which must answer 
 that; for out thence came blood and water — 
 blood, to answer the purifyings and rinsings 
 of that law. 
 
 Tlie ceremonies therefore were lodged in the 
 side of the ark, to show that they should be 
 answered out of the side of Jesus Christ. Ex. 
 XXV. 16, 17, 
 
 4. The ark had the name of God put upon 
 it; yea, it was called "the strength of God 
 and his glory," though made of wood. And 
 Christ is God both in name and nature, though 
 made flesh ; "yea more, made to basin for us." 
 2 Sam. vii. 2. 
 
 5. The ark was carried upon men's shoulders 
 this way and that, to show how Christ should 
 be carried and preached by his apostles and 
 ministers into all parts of the world. Ex. 
 XXV. 14. 
 
 6. The ark had these testimonies of God's 
 presence accompanying it, as had no other 
 ceremony of the law; and Christ had those 
 signs and tokens of his presence with him, as 
 never had man either in Law or Gospel. This 
 is so apparent it needs no proof. And now for 
 a few comparisons more : 
 
 1. It was at that that God answered the 
 people when they were wont to come to in- 
 quire of him ; and in these last days God has 
 spoken to us by his Son. 
 
 2. At the presence of the ark the waters of 
 Jordan stood still till Israel, the ransomed of 
 the Lord, passed over from the wilderness to 
 Canaan ; and it is by the power and presence 
 of Christ that we pass over death, Jordan's 
 antitype, from the wilderness of this world to 
 heaven. 
 
 3. Before the ark the walls of Jericho fell 
 down; and at the presence of Christ shall all 
 high towers, and strongholds, and hiding-places 
 for sinners be razed and dissolved at his com- 
 ing. Isa. vi. 20. 
 
 4. Before the ark Dagon foil, that idol of 
 the Philiptines ; and before Christ Jesus devils 
 fell, those gods of all those idols. And he 
 must reign till all his enemies be put under 
 his feet, and until they be made his footstool. 
 1 Sam. V. 1-4. 
 
 . 5. The Philistines, were also plagued for 
 meddling with the ark while they abode un- 
 circumcised; and the wicked will one day be 
 most severely plagued for their meddling with 
 Christ with their uncircumcised hearts. 1 Sam. 
 V. e-13. 
 
 6. God's blessing was upon those that enter- 
 tained the ark as they should ; and much more 
 is and will his blessing be upon those that so 
 embrace and entertain his Christ and profess 
 his name sincerely. 2 Sam. vi. 11. 
 
 7. When Uzza put forth his hand to stay the 
 ark when the oxen shook it, as despairing of 
 God's protection of it without a human help, 
 he died before the Lord ; even so will all those 
 do (without repentance) who use ualawfuJ 
 
814 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 means to promote Christ's religion and to sup- 
 port it in the world. 1 Chron. xiii. 9, 10. 
 
 8. The ark, though thus dignified, was of 
 itself but low — ^but a cubit and a half high: 
 also Christ, though he was the glory of heaven 
 and of God, yet made himself of no reputa- 
 tion and was found in the likeness of a man. 
 
 9. The ark had a crown of gold round about 
 upon it, to show how Christ is crowned by his 
 saints by faith, and shall be crowned by them 
 ill glory, for all the good he hath done for 
 them; as also how all crowns shall one day 
 stoop to him and be set upon his head. This 
 n showed in the type (Zeeh. vi. 11, 14) and in 
 the antitype. Eev. iv. 10. 
 
 10. The ark was overlaid with gold within 
 fcnd without, to show that Christ was perfect 
 in inward grace and outward life, in spirit and 
 righteousness. John i. 
 
 11. The ark was placed under the mercy- 
 seat, to show that Jesus Christ, as Redeemer, 
 brings and bears^ as it v.'ere upon his shoulders, 
 the mercy of God to men, even "in the body 
 of his flesh, through death." 
 
 12. Wlien the ark was removed far from the 
 people the godly went mourning after it; and 
 when Christ is hid or taken from us, "then we 
 mourn in those days." 
 
 13. All Israel had the ark again after their 
 mourning time was over; and Christ, after his 
 people have sorrowed for him a while, will see 
 them again, "and their hearts shall rejoice." 
 
 By all these things, and many more that 
 might be mentioned, it is most evident that 
 the ark of the testimony was a type of Jesus 
 Christ; and take notice a little of that which 
 follows, namely, that the ark at last arrived at 
 the place most holy. Heb. ix. 3, 4. 
 
 That is, after its wanderings; for the ark was 
 first made to wander like a non-inhabitant 
 from place to place; now hither, and then 
 thither; now in the hands of enemies, and 
 then abused by friends ; yea, it was caused to 
 rove from place to place, as that of which the 
 world was weary. I need instance to you, for 
 proof, none other place than the 5th, 6th, and 
 7th chapters of the first book of Samuel ; and, 
 answerable to this, was our dear Lord Jesus 
 posted backwards and forwards hither and 
 thither, by the force of the rage of his ene- 
 mies. 
 
 1. He was hunted into Egypt so soon as he 
 was born. Matt. ii. 
 
 2. Then he was driven to live in Galilee fhe 
 space of many years. 
 
 3. Also, when he showed himself to Israel, 
 
 they drove him sometimes into the wildetneas, 
 sometimes into the desert, sometimes into the 
 sea, and sometimes into the mountains; and 
 still in every one of these places he was either 
 haunted or hunted by new enemies. 
 
 And, last of all, the Pharisees plot for his 
 life; Judas sells him, the priests buy him, 
 Peter denies him, his enemies mock, scourge, 
 bufiet, and much abuse him. In fine, they get 
 him condemned, and crucified, and buried; 
 but, at last, God commanded and took him to 
 his place, even within the veil, and sets him 
 to bear up the mercy-seat, where he is to this 
 very day ; being our ark to save us, as Noah's 
 did him, as Moses' did him; yea, better, as 
 none but Christ doth save his own. 
 
 LXII. Of the placing of (he Ark in the Soliesi or 
 Inner Temple. 
 
 1. The ark, as we have said, and as the text 
 declares, when carried to its rest, was placed 
 in the inner temple, or in the most holy place, 
 even under the "wings of the cherubims." 
 "And the priests brought in the ark of the 
 covenant of the Lord unto his place, to the 
 oracle of the house, unto the most holy placet, 
 even under the wing of the cherubims." 
 
 2. Before this, as was said afore, the ark was 
 carried from place to place, and caused to 
 dwell in a tent under curtains, as all our 
 fathers did; to show that Christ, as we, was 
 made for a time to wander in the world, in 
 order to his being possessed of glory. 
 
 3. But now, when the ark was brought into 
 the holiest, it is said to be brought into its 
 place. This world, then, was not Christ's 
 place ; he was not from beneath, he came from 
 his Father's house; wherefore while here he 
 was not at his place, nor could be until he as- 
 cended up where he was before. John viii. 23. 
 
 4.1 Christ's proper place, therefore, is the 
 holiest — ^his proper place as God, as Priest, as 
 Prophet, as King, and as the Advocate of his 
 people. Here, with us, he has no more to do, 
 in person, as nfediator. If he were on earth 
 he should not be a priest, &c. His place and 
 work is now above with his Father and before 
 the angels. 
 
 5. It is -said the ark was brought to the 
 oracle of the house; Solomon was content to 
 say it was brought into the holiest; but he 
 s,aith his place was the oracle, the holy oracle 
 — that is, the place of hearing : for he, when 
 he ascended, had somewhat to sd,y to God on 
 the behalf of his people. To the ora( le — that 
 is, to the place of revealing; for he also wa« 
 
SOLOMON'S TEMPLE SPIRITUALIZED. 
 
 315 
 
 there to receive, and from thence to reveal to 
 hig Church oa earth, something that could not 
 be made manifest but from this holy oracle. 
 There, therefore, he is with the two tables of 
 testimony in his heart, as perfectly kept; he 
 also is there with the whole fulfilling of the 
 ceremonial law in his side, showing and plead- 
 iiig the perfection of his righteousness and the 
 merit of his blood vfith his Father; and to re- 
 ceiVL' and to do us good, who believe in him, 
 how well pi iased the Father is with what he 
 has done in our behalf. 
 
 6. " Into the most holy place." By these 
 words is showed whither also the ark went when 
 it went to take up its rest. And in that this 
 ark was a type of Christ in this, it is to show 
 or further manifest that what Christ doth now 
 in heaven, he doth it before his FatBer's face. 
 Yea, it intimates that Christ even there makes 
 his appeals to God concerning the worth of 
 what he did on earth — to God the Judge' of all : 
 I say, whether he ought not, for his suffering's 
 sake, to have granted to him his whole desire 
 as Priest and Advocate for his people. 
 
 " ^Vilt thou," said Festus to Paul, "go up to 
 Jerusalem, and there be judged of these things 
 before ihe ?" Why, this our blessed Jesus was 
 willing, when here, to go up to Jerusalem to 
 be judged; and being misjudged there, he 
 made his appeal to God; and is now gone 
 thither, even into the holy place, even to him 
 that is judge of all, for his verdict upon his 
 doing, and whether the souls for wlioin he be- 
 came undertaker, to bring them to glory, have 
 not by him a right to the kingdom of 
 heaven. 
 
 7. " Under the wings of the cherubims." 
 This doth further confirm our words; for, 
 having appealed from earth to heaven, as the 
 ark was set under the wings of the cherubims, 
 80 he, in his interceding with God and pleading 
 his merits for us, doth it in the presence and 
 hearing of all the angels in heaven. 
 
 And thus much of the ark of the covenant 
 and of its antitype. We come next to speak 
 of the mercy-seat. 
 
 LXIII. 0/ the Mercij-Seat, and how it was placed 
 in the Holy Temple. 
 
 The mercy-seat was made in the wilderness, 
 but brought up by Solomon after the temple 
 was built, with the rest of the holy things. 2 
 Chrori. V. 2-10. 
 
 The mercy-seat, as I have showed of the 
 ark, was but low : " Two cubits and a half was 
 the length, and a cubit and a half the breadth 
 
 thereof;" but the height thereof "was without 
 measure." 
 
 1. The length and breadth of the mercy-seat 
 is the same with that of the ark, perhaps to 
 show us that the length and breadth of the 
 mercy of God to his elect is the same with the 
 length and breadth of the merits of Christ, 
 Ex. XXV. 10, 17. 
 
 Therefore, we are said to be justified in him, 
 blessed in him, even according to the purpose 
 which God purposed in him. 
 
 2. But in that the mercy-seat is without 
 measure as to the height, it is to show that 
 would God extend it, it is able to reach even 
 them that fall from heaven, and to save all that 
 ever lived on earth, even all that are now in 
 hell. For there is not only bread enough for 
 them that shall be saved, but bread enough 
 and to spare. Luke xv. 17. 
 
 " And thou shalt," says God, " put the mercy- 
 seat above upon the ark," Thus he said to 
 Moses, and this was the place which David as- 
 signed for it. 
 
 Now, its being by God's ordinance placed 
 thus, doth teach us many things : 
 
 1. That mercy's foundation to us is Christ. 
 The mercy-seat was set upon the ark of the 
 testimony, and there it rested to us-ward. 
 Justice would not, could not, have suffered us 
 to have had any benefit by mercy had it not 
 found an ark, a Christ, to rest upon. " Deliver 
 them," saith God, " from going down into the 
 pit : I have found a ransom." 
 
 2. In that it was placed above it doth show 
 also that Christ was of mercies ordaining a 
 fruit of mercy. Mercy is above, is the ordain- 
 er ; God is love, and sent of love his Son to be 
 the Saviour and propitiation for our sins. John 
 iii. 16 ; 1 John iv. 10. 
 
 3. In that the mercy-seat and ark were thus 
 joined together, it also shows that without 
 Christ mercy doth not act. Hence, when the 
 priest came of old to God for mercy, he did 
 use to come into the holy place with blood; 
 yea, and did use to sprinkle it upon the mercy- 
 seat, and before it, seven times. Take away 
 the ark, and the mercy-seat will fall, or come 
 greatly down at least; so take away Christ, 
 and the floodgate of mercy is let down and the 
 current of mercy stopt. This is true ; for so 
 soon as Christ shall le.ive off to media re will 
 come the eternal judgment. 
 
 4. Again, in that the mercy-seat was set 
 above upon the ark, it teacheth us to know th.at 
 mercy can look down from heaven, though the 
 law stand by and looks on ; but then it must 
 
316 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 be in Christ, as kept there and fulfilled by him 
 for us. Thp law out of Christ is terrible as a 
 lion ; the law in him is meek as a lamb. The 
 reason is for that it finds in him enough to an- 
 swer for all their faults that come to God for 
 mercy by him. " Christ is the end of the law 
 for righteousness ;'' and if that be true, the law 
 for that can look no further, whoever comes to 
 God by him. The law did use to sentence 
 terribly, until it was put into the ark to be 
 kept ; but after it was said, " It is there to be 
 kept," we. read not of it as afore. 
 
 5. Let them then that come to God for mercy 
 be sure to come to him by the ark, Christ. For 
 grace, as it descends to us from above the 
 mercy-seat, so that mercy-seat doth rest upon 
 the ark. Wherefore, sinner, conje thou for 
 mercy that way, for there, if thou meetest with 
 the law, it can do thee no harm; nor can 
 mercy, shouldst thou elsewhere meet it, do thee 
 good. 1 
 
 Come, therefore, and come boldly to the 
 throne of grace, this mercy-seat, thus borne up 
 by the ark, and " obtain mercy, and find grace 
 to help in time of need." 
 
 Wherefore, the thus placing of things in the 
 ■ holiest is admirable to behold in the word of 
 God ; for that indeed is the glass by and through 
 which we must behold this glory of the Lord. 
 Here we see the reason of things ; here we see 
 how a just God can have to do, and that in a 
 way of mercy, with one that has sinned against 
 him: it is because the law has been kept by 
 the Lord Jesus Christ; for, as you see, the 
 mercy-seat stands uj)on the ark of the cove- 
 nant, and there God acts in a way of grace to- 
 wards us. 
 
 LXIV. Of the Living Waters of the Lnner 
 Temple. 
 
 Although, in the holy relation of the build- 
 ing of the temple, no mention is made of these 
 waters, but only of the mount on which, and 
 of the materials with which, the king did build 
 it, yet it seems to me that in that mount, and 
 there too where the temple was built, there was 
 a spring of living water. This seems more 
 than probable by Ezek. .xlvii. 1, where he 
 saith, " He brought me to the door of the 
 house, and behold waters issued out from 
 under the threshold of the house eastward; 
 for the fore-front of the house stood toward 
 the east, and the waters came down from 
 under, from the right side of the house, at the 
 south side of the altar." 
 
 £o again Joel iii. 18 : " And a fountain shall 
 
 come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall 
 water the valley of Shittim." N.or was the 
 spring, wherever was the first appearance of 
 these holy waters, but in the sanctuary, which 
 is the holiest of all, (Ezek. xlvii. 12,) where 
 the mercy-seat stood, which in Revelations ia 
 called " The throne of God and of the Lamb." 
 Ch. xxii. 1, 2. 
 
 This also is that which the prophet Zeca- 
 ariah means when he says, " Living waters 
 shall go forth from Jerusalem, half of them 
 toward the former sea, and half of tljem toward 
 the hinder sea," &c. They are said to go forth 
 from Jerusalem, because they came down to 
 the city from out of the sanctuary, which stood 
 in Jerusalem. 
 
 This is that which, in another place, is called 
 a river of water of life, because it comes forth 
 from the throne, and because it was at the 
 head of it, as I supposed, used in and about 
 temple worship. It was with this, I think, 
 that the molten sea and the ten lavers were 
 filled, and in which the priests washed their 
 hands and feet when they went into the temple 
 to do service; and that also in which they 
 washed the sacrifices before they ofiered them 
 to God ; yea, I presume all the washings and 
 rinsings about their worship was with this 
 water. ' 
 
 This water is said, in Ezekiel and Revela- 
 tion^, to have the tree of life grow on the banks 
 of it, (Ezek. xlvii. ; Rev. xxii.,) and was a tyi)e 
 of the Word and Spirit of God, by which both 
 Christ himself sanctified himself in order to 
 his worship as high priest ; and also this water 
 is that which heals all those that shall be saved, 
 and by which, they being sanctified thereby 
 also, do all their works of worship and service 
 acceptably, through Jesus Christ 'our Lord. 
 
 This water, therefore, is said to go forth into 
 the sea, the world, and to heal its fish, the sin- 
 ners, therein ; yea, this is that water of which 
 Christ Jesus our Lord saith, " Whosoever shoill 
 drink thereof shall live for ever." 
 
 LXV. Of the Chains which were '.n trie Oro/iU 
 or Lnner Temple. 
 
 As there were chains on the pillars that 
 stood before the porch of the temple and in 
 the first house, so like unto them there were 
 chains in the holiest, here called the oracle. 
 
 These chains were not chains in show, or as 
 carved on wood, &c., but chains indeed, and 
 that of gold ; and they were prepared to make 
 a partition " before the oracle within." 1 Kings 
 vi. 21 ; 2 Ohron. iii. 16. 
 
SOLOMON'S TEMPLE SPIRITUALIZED. 
 
 317 
 
 I told you before that the holiest was called 
 the oracle ; not becuuse, in a strict sense, the 
 whole of it was so, but because such answer of 
 God was there as was not in the outward tem- 
 ple ; but I think that the ark and mercy -seat 
 was, indeed, more especially that called the 
 oracle ; " for there will I meet with thee," saith 
 God, "and from above that will I commune 
 with thee.'' When David said, "I lift my 
 hands towards thy holy oracle," he meant not 
 BO much towards the holiest house as towards 
 the. mercy-scat that was therein. Or, as he 
 saith in the margin, " Toward the oracle of thy 
 sanctuary." 
 
 1. When, therefore, he saith " before the or- 
 acle," he means these chains were put in the 
 most holy place, before the ark and mercy-seat, 
 to give Aaron and his p-jns to unders^^nd that 
 an additional glory was there ; for the ark and 
 mercy-seat were preferred before that holy 
 house itself, even as Christ and the grace of 
 God is preferred before the highest heavens. 
 "The Lord is high above all nations, and his 
 glory is above the heavens." 
 
 So, then, the partition that was made in this 
 house by these chains, these golden chains, 
 was not so much to divide the holy from the 
 place most holy, as to show that there is in the 
 holiest house that which is yet more worthy 
 than it. 
 
 The holiest was a type of heaven, but the 
 ark and mercy-seat were a type of Christ, and 
 of the mercy of God to us by him ; and I trow 
 any man will conclude, if he knows what he 
 siiys, that the God and Christ of heaven are 
 more excellent than the house they dwell in. 
 Heme David said again; " Whom' have I in 
 heaven but thee?" For thou art more excel- 
 lent than they. 
 
 For though that which is called heaven 
 would serve some, yet, though God himself 
 was out of it, yet none but the God of heaven 
 will s.atisfy a truly gracious man : it is God 
 thai tlie soul of this man thirsteth for; it is 
 God that is his exceeding joy. 
 
 These chains, then, as th«y made the parti- 
 tion in the most holy place, may teach us that 
 when we shall be glorified in heaven we shall 
 yet, even then and there, know that there will 
 continue an infinite disproportion between God 
 and us. The golden chains that are there will 
 then distinguish the Creator from the creature. 
 
 For we, even we which shall be saved, shall 
 yet retain our own nature, and shall still con- 
 tinue finite beings; yea, and shall there also 
 see a disproportion between our Lord, our 
 
 head, and us ; for though now we are, and also 
 then shall be, like him as to his manhood, yea, 
 and shall be like him also as being glorified 
 with his glory, yet he shall transcend, and go 
 beyond us, as to degree and splendour, as far 
 as ever the highest king on earth did shine 
 above the meanest subject that dwelt in his 
 kingdom. 
 
 Chains have of old been made use of as 
 notes of distinction, to show us who are bond- 
 men and who free ; yea, they shall at the day 
 of judgment be a note of distinction of bad and 
 good, even as here they will distinguish the 
 heavens from God, and the creature from the 
 Creator. 2 Pet. ii. 4 ; Jude 6. 
 
 True, those are chains of sin and wrath, but 
 these chains of gold; yet these chains, even 
 these chains also, will keep creatu'rcs in their 
 place, that the Creator may have his gloiy, 
 and receive those acknowledgments there from 
 them which is due unto his majesty. Eev. iv. ; 
 V. 11-15. 
 
 LXVI. Of the High Priest, and of his Office in 
 the Inner Temple. 
 
 When things were thus ordained in the 
 house most holy, then went the high priest in 
 thither, according as he was appointed to do 
 his ofiice, which was to burn incense in his 
 golden censer, and to sprinkle with his finger 
 the blood of his sacrifice for the people upon 
 and above the mercy-seat. Ex. xxx. 7, 10. 
 
 Now for this special work of his he had pe 
 culiar preparations: 
 
 1. He was to be washed in water. 
 
 2. Then he was to put on his holy garments. 
 
 3. After that he was to be anointed with 
 holy oil. 
 
 4. Then tin offering was to be offered for 
 him, for the further fitting of him for his ofiice. 
 
 5. The blood of this sacrifice must Ije put, 
 some of it upon his right ear, some on the 
 thumb of his right hand, and some on the 
 great toe of his right foot. 
 
 This done, some more of the blood, with the 
 anointing oil, must be sprinkled upon him and 
 upon his garment, for after this manner must 
 he be consecrated to his work as high priest. 
 Ex. xxix. 
 
 His being washed in water was to show the 
 purity of Christ's humanity. 
 
 His curious robes were a type of all the per- 
 fections of Christ's righteousness. 
 
 The holy oil that was poured on his head 
 was to show how Christ was anointed with the 
 Holy Ghost unto his work as priest. 
 
318 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 The sacrifice of his consecration was a type 
 of that offering Christ offered in the garden, 
 when he mixed his sweat with his own blood, 
 and tears, and cries— when " he prayed to Him 
 that was able to save him, and was heard in 
 that he feared;" for with his blood, as was 
 Aaron with the blood of the bullock that 'was 
 slain for him, was this blessed one besmeared 
 from he^-d to foot, when his sweat, as great 
 drops or dodders of blood, fell down from head, 
 and face, and whole body to the ground. 
 Luke xxii. 44 ; Heb. x. 20. 
 
 AVhen Aaron was thus prepared, then he 
 offered his offering for the people and carried 
 the blood within the veil. Lev. xvi. The which 
 Christ Jesus also answered when he offered his 
 own body without the gate, and then carried 
 his blood into the heavens and sprinkled it 
 before the mercy-seat. Heb. jciii. 11, 12. 
 
 For Aaron wa.s a type of Christ ; his offering 
 a type of Christ's offering his body ; the blood 
 of the sacrifice, a type of the blood of Christ ; 
 his garments, a type of Christ's righteousness ; 
 the mercy-seat, a type of the throne of gi'ace ; 
 the incense, a type of Christ's praise ; and the 
 sprinkling of the blood of the sacrifice upon 
 the mercy-seat, a type of Christ's pleading the 
 virtue of his sufferings for us in the presence 
 of God in heaven. 
 
 " Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the 
 heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high 
 priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; and 
 seeing we have a great high priest, that is 
 passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, 
 let us hold fast our profession ; for we have'not 
 an high priest which cannot be touched with 
 the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all 
 points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 
 Let us, therefore, come boldly to the throne 
 of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find 
 grace to help in time of need. For every high 
 priest taken from among men is ordained for 
 men in things pertaining to God, that he may 
 offer both gifts and sacrifices for sin ; who can 
 have compassion on the ignorant and on them 
 that are out of the way, for that he himself 
 also is compassed with infirmity. 
 
 " This then is our high priest ; and he was 
 made so, not after the law of a carnal com- 
 mandment, but after the power of an endless 
 life : for Aaron and his sons were made priests 
 without an oath, but this with an oath by Him 
 that said unto him. The Lord sware and will 
 not repent : thou art a priest for ever after the 
 order of Melchisedec. 
 
 " By so much was Jesus made the surety of 
 
 a better testament ; and they truly were many 
 priests, because they were not suffered to con- 
 tinue by reason of death, but this man, be- 
 cause he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable 
 priesthood. Wherefore he is able to save them 
 to the uttermost that come to God by him, 
 seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for 
 them. 
 
 " For such an high priest became us, T\ho is 
 holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sin- 
 ners, and made higher than the heavens ; who 
 needeth not daily, as those high priests, to 
 offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, 'and 
 then for the sins of the people ; for this he did 
 once when he offered up himself. For the law 
 maketh men high priests which have infirm- 
 ities ; but the word of an oath, which was since 
 the law, maket'c the Son, who is consecrated 
 for evermore. 
 
 " Now of the things which we have spoken 
 this is the sum : We have such an high priest 
 who is set down on the right hand of the 
 throne of the Majesty in the heavens ; a minis- 
 ter of the sanctuary and of the new tabernacle, 
 which the Lord pitched, and not man. For 
 every high priest is ordained to offer sacrifices ; 
 wherefore it is of necessity that this man have 
 somewhat also to offer. For if he were on 
 earth, he should not be an high priest ; seeing 
 that there are priests that offer gifts according 
 to the law, who serve unto the example and 
 shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was ad- 
 monished when he was about to make the 
 tabernacle : for, See, saith he, that thou make 
 all things according to the pattern showed 
 thee in the mount. 
 
 "But Christ being an high priest of good 
 things to come by a greater and more perfect 
 tabernacle, that is to say, not of this building, 
 neither by the blood of bulls and calves, but 
 by his own blood, he entered, in once into the 
 holy place, having obtained eternal redemp- 
 tion for us. For if the blood of goats, bulls, 
 and ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, 
 sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh, how 
 much more shall the blood of Christ, who 
 through the eternal Spirit offered himself 
 without spot to God, purge your consciences 
 from dead works to serve the living God ? 
 
 "For Christ is not entered into the holy 
 places made with hands, which are the figures 
 of the true ; but into heaven itself, now to ap- 
 pe£^r in the presence of God for us. Nor yet 
 that he should offer himself often, as the high 
 priest entered into the holiest every year with 
 the blood of others, for then must he often 
 
SOLOMON'S TEMPLE SPIRITUALIZED. 
 
 319 
 
 have suffered since the foundation of the 
 world ; but now once in the end of the world 
 hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacri- 
 fice of hiinat'lf. And as it is appointed to 
 men once to die and after this the judgment, 
 BO Christ was once offered to bear the sins of 
 many. And to them that look for him shall 
 he appear the second time without sin unto 
 salvation." 
 
 LXVII. Of the High Priests going into the 
 Holiest alone. « 
 
 As it was the privilege of the high priest to 
 go into the holiest alone, so there was some- 
 thing of mystery also, to which I shall speak 
 a: little: "There shall," saith God, "be no 
 man in the tabernacle of the congregation 
 when Aaron goeth in to make an atonement 
 in the holy place, until he comes out and 
 have made an atonement for himself, and for 
 his household, and for all the congregation of 
 Israel." 
 
 The reason is, for that Christ is mediator 
 alone ; he trod the wine-press alone ; and of 
 the people there was none with him to help 
 him there. Isa. Ixiii. ; 1 Tim. ii. 5. 
 
 Of the people there was none to help him 
 to bear his cross, or in the management of the 
 first part of his priestly ofiice; why then 
 should there be any share with him in his 
 executing of the second part thereof? Be- 
 sides, he that helps an intercessor must him- 
 self be innocent, or in favour upon gome 
 grounds not depending on the worth of the 
 intercessor. But as to the intercession of 
 Christ, who can come in to help upon the 
 account of such innocency or worth ? Not the 
 highest angel, for there is none such but one, 
 wherefore he must do that alone. Hence it is 
 said he went in alone, is there alone, and there 
 intercedes alone. And this is manifest not 
 only in the type Aaron, but in the antitype 
 Christ Jesus. 
 
 I do not say there is no man in heaven but 
 JTesus Cbi'ist, but I say he is there to make in- 
 tercession for us alone. Yea, the holy text says 
 more. 
 
 " I go," saith Christ, " to prepare a place for 
 you ; and if I go and prepare a place for you, 
 [ will come again and take you to myself, that 
 where I am, there ye may be also." This text 
 seems to insinuate that Christ is in the holiest 
 or highest heavens alone; and that he there 
 alone must be until he has finished his work 
 of intercession ; for not till then he coilies 
 again to take us to himself. 
 
 Let us grant Christ the pre-eminence in 
 this, as also in all other things, for h *is inter- 
 cessor tor his Church, and makes it for them 
 in the holiest alone. 'Tis said he is the light 
 that no man can approach jnto. 
 
 LXVIII. Of the High Priest going in thither 
 but Once a Year. 
 
 As the high priest went int:o the holiest, 
 when he went in thither, alone, so to do that 
 work he went in thither but once a year. 
 " Thou shalt not come at all times," saith God 
 to him, "into the holy place within the veil, 
 before the mercy-seat, which is upon the ark 
 that thou die not." 
 
 And as he was to go in thither but once a 
 year, so not then, neither, unless clothed and 
 adorned with his Aaronical holy robes. Then 
 he was to be clothed, as I hinted before, with 
 the holy robes, the frontlet of gold upon his 
 forehead, the names of the twelve tribes upon 
 his breast, and the jingling bells upon the 
 skirts of his garment ; nor would all this do 
 unless he went in thither with blood. Ex. 
 xxviii. ; Lev. xvi. 
 
 Now, this once a year the apostle taketh 
 special notice of and makes great use of it. 
 " Once- a year," saith he, " this high priest 
 went in thither ; once a year — that is, to show 
 that Christ should once in the end of the 
 world go into heaven itself to make interces- 
 sion there for us. For by this word "year" 
 he shows the term and time of the world is 
 meant; and by "once" in that year he means 
 once in the end of the world. 
 
 "Not," saith he, "that he should offer him- 
 self often, as the high priest entered into the 
 holy place every year with the blood of 
 others; for then must he often have suf- 
 fered since the foundation of the world. But 
 now once in the end of the world hath he 
 appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of 
 himself." 
 
 And having thus once offered his sacrifice 
 without the veil, he is now gone into the 
 holiest to perfect his work of mediation for 
 us ; not in the holy places made with hands, 
 which are the figures of the true, but into 
 heaven itself, noV to appear in the presence 
 of God for us. 
 
 Now, if our Lord Jesus is gone indeed now 
 to appear in the presence of God for us, and 
 if this now be the once a year that the type 
 speaks of, the once, in the end of the world, as 
 our apostle says, then it follows that the people 
 of God should all. stand waiting for his bene 
 
320 
 
 SUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 diction,J;hat to them he shall bring with him 
 when he shall return from thence. Where- 
 fore he adds, " Christ was once offered to hear 
 the sins of many, and to them that look for 
 him shall he appear the second time without 
 sin unto salvation." 
 
 This therefore shows us the greatness of the 
 work that Christ has to do at the right hand 
 of God, for that he stays there so long. He 
 accomplished all the first part of his priest- 
 hood in less than forty years, if you take in 
 the making of his holy garments and all ; but 
 about this second part thereof he has been 
 above in heaven above sixteen hundred years, 
 and yet has not done. 
 
 This therefore calls for faith and patience in 
 saints, and by this he also tries the world ; so 
 that they, in mocking manner, begin to say 
 already, " Where is the promise of his com- 
 ing?" 
 
 But I say again, "We must look and wait." 
 
 If the people waited for Zecharias, and 
 wondered that he stayed so long, because he 
 stayed in the holy place somewhat longer than 
 they expected, no marvel if the faitli of the 
 world about Christ's coming is fled and gone 
 long ago, yea, and that the children also are 
 put to wait, since a Scripture " little while " 
 doth prove so long. For that which the apos- 
 tle saith, " yet a little while," doth prove to 
 some to be a very long while. 
 
 True, Zecharias had then to do with angels, 
 and that made him stay so long. Oh, but Je- 
 sus is with God, before him, in his. presence, 
 talking with him, swallowed up in him and 
 with his glory, and that is one cause he stays 
 so long. He is there also pleading his blood 
 for his tempted ones, and interceding for all 
 his elect, and waits there till all his be fitted 
 for and ready to enter into glory. I say he is 
 there, and there must be till then ; and this is 
 another reason why he doth stay the time we 
 count so long. 
 
 And indeed it is a wonder to me that Jesus 
 Christ our Lord should once think, now he is 
 there, of returning hither again, considering 
 the ill-treatment he met with here before. But 
 what will not love do? Surely he would never 
 touch the ground again had he not a people 
 here that cannot be made perfect but by his 
 coming to them. He also is made judge of 
 quick and dead, and will get him glory in the 
 ruin of them that hate him. 
 
 His people are as himself to him. Can a 
 loving husband abide to be always from a be- 
 loved spouse 7 Besides, as I said, he is to pay 
 
 the wicked off for all their wickedness, and 
 that ill that very plat where they have com- 
 mitted it. Wherefore the day appointed for 
 this is set, and he will and shall come quickly 
 to do it. 
 
 For however the time may seem long to us, 
 yet, according to the reckoning of God, it is 
 but a little while since he went into the holiest 
 to intercede. "A thousand years with the 
 Lord is but as one day ;" and after this man- 
 ner of counting he has not been gone yet full 
 two ifays into the holiest. " The Lord is not 
 slack concerning his promise, as some men 
 count slackness; he will come quickly, and 
 will not tarry." 
 
 LXIX. Of the CheruUms, and of (heir being 
 placed over the Mercy-seat in the Inner Tem- 
 ple. 
 
 There were also cherubims in the most holy 
 place, which were set on high above the mercy- 
 seat. See 1 Kings vi. 
 
 1. These are called by the apostles "the 
 cherubims of glory, covering the mercy-seat." 
 Heb. ix. 5. 
 
 2. These cherubims were figures of the 
 angels of God, as in other places we have 
 proved. 
 
 3. It is said these cherubims were made of 
 image-work, and that in such a manner as that 
 they could, as some think, move their wings 
 by art, wherefore it is said th'ey stretched forth 
 their wings ; the wings of the " cherubims 
 spread themselves ;" and that the " cherubims 
 spread forth their wings over the place of the 
 ark, and the staves thereof above." 
 
 4. I read also of these cherubims that they 
 had chariots and wheels, by which is taught 
 us how ready and willing the angels are to 
 fetch us when commanded unto the paradise 
 of God ; for these chariots were types of the 
 bosoms of the angels, and these wheels of the 
 quickness of their motion to come for us when 
 sent. "The chariots of God are twenty 
 thousand, even thousands of angels ; the Lord 
 is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place." 
 1 Chron. XX. 48 ; Ezek. xvi. 9. 
 
 5. What difference, if any there is, between 
 cherubims and seraphims, into that I shall now 
 inquire, though I believe that there are diverse 
 orders and degrees of angels in the heavens, as 
 there are degrees and diverse orders among 
 men in the world. But that these cherubims 
 were figures of the holy angels their being 
 thus placed in the holy oracle doth declare; 
 for their dwelling-place is in he'ilven, though 
 
SOLOMON'S TEMPLE SPIRITUALIZED. 
 
 321 
 
 they, for our sakes, are conversant in the 
 world. Heb. i. 
 
 (5. It is said that these cherubims in this holy 
 place did stand upon their feet, to show — 
 
 1. That the angels of heaven are not fallen 
 from their station, as the other angels are. 
 
 2. To show also that they are always ready, 
 at God's bidding, to run with swiftness to do 
 his pleasure. 
 
 3. To show also that they shall continue in 
 their station, being therein confirmed by Jesus 
 Christ, " by whom all things exist." 
 
 7. It is said their faces were inward, looking 
 one to another, yet withal somewhat ascend- 
 ing, to show that the angels both behold and 
 wonder at the mysteries of grace as it is dis- 
 played to US-ward from off the mercy-seat. 
 " The faces of the cherubims shall looK one to 
 another ; toward the mercy-seat shall the faces 
 of the cherubims be." 
 
 1. "Towards the mercy-seat." They are 
 desirous to see it, and how from hence, I say, 
 mercy doth look towards us. 
 
 2. "They look one towards another," to 
 show that they agree to rejoice in the salva- 
 tion of our souls. Luke xx. 10. 
 
 3. They are said to stand above the mercy- 
 seat, perhaps to show that the angels have not 
 need of those acts of mercy and forgiveness as 
 we have, who stand below and are sinners. 
 They stand above it — they are holy. I do not 
 say they have no need that the goodness of 
 God should be extended to them, for it is by 
 that they have been and are preserved ; but 
 they need not to be forgiven, for they have 
 committed no iniquity. 
 
 4. They stand there also with wings stretched 
 out, to show how ready, if need be, the angels 
 are to come from heaven to preach this Gos- 
 pel to the world. Luke ii. 9-14. 
 
 5. It is said in this that, thus standing, their 
 wings did reach from wall to wall, from one 
 side of this holy house to the other, to show 
 that all the angels within the boundaries of the 
 heavens, with one consent and one mind, are 
 ready to come down to help, and serve, and do 
 for God's elect at his command. 
 
 It is said also that their wings are stretched 
 out on high, to show that they are only delighted 
 in those duties which are enjoined them by 
 the high and lofty One, and not inclined, no 
 not to serve the saints in their sensual or fleshly 
 designs. It may be also to show that they are 
 willing to take their flight from one end of 
 heaven to the other, to serve God and his 
 Church for good. Matt. xiii. 48, 49 ; xxiv. 81. 
 21 
 
 LXX. Of the Figures that were upon the Walls 
 of the Inner Temple. 
 The wall of the inner temple, which was a 
 type of heaven, was, as I have already told you, 
 ceiled with cedar from the bottom to the top. 
 Now by the vision of Ezekicl it is said this 
 wall was carved with cherubims and palm trees. 
 " So that a palm tree was between a cherub, and 
 every cherub had two faces ; so that the face of 
 a man was toward the palm tree on the one 
 side, and the face of a young lion toward the 
 palm tree on the other side. It was made 
 through all the house round about; from the 
 ground to above the door were the cherubims 
 and the palm trees made." 
 
 1. As to these cherubims and palm trees, I 
 have already told you what I think them to be 
 figures of. The cherubims are figures of the 
 holy angels and the palm trees of upright ones : 
 we therefore here are to discourse only of the 
 placing of them in the heavens. 
 
 2. Now you see the palm trees in the holiest 
 are placed between a cherub and a cherub, 
 round about the house, which methinks should 
 be to signify that the saints shall not there live 
 by faith aiid hope, as here, but in the imme- 
 diate enjoyment of God ; for to be placed be- 
 tween the cherubims is to be placed where God 
 dwells, for holy writ says plainly. He dwells 
 between the cherubims, even where, here it is 
 said, these palm trees or upright ones are 
 placed. 
 
 The Church on earth is called God's house, 
 and he will dwell in it for ever, and heaven 
 itself is called God's house, and we shall dwell 
 in it for ever, and that between the cherubims. 
 This is more than grace: this is gjrace and 
 glory, glory indeed. 
 
 3. To dwell between the cherubims may also 
 be to show that there we shall be equal to the 
 angels. Mark, here is a palm tree and a 
 cherub, a palm tree and a cherub. Here we 
 are a little lower, but there we shall not be a 
 whit behind the very chief of them. A palm 
 tree and a cherub, an upright one between the 
 cherubs, will then be round about the house ; 
 we shall be placed in the same rank ; " neither 
 can they die any more, for they are equal to 
 the angels." 
 
 4. The palm trees thus placed may be also 
 to show us that the elect of God shall there 
 take up the vacancies of the fallen angels; 
 they for sin were cast down from the holy 
 heavens, and we by grace shall be caught up 
 thither, and be placed between a cherub and a 
 cherub. When I say their places,' I do not 
 
322 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WOMKS. 
 
 mean the fickleness of that state that they for 
 want of electing love did stand in while in 
 glory ; for the heavens by the blood of Christ 
 are now to us become a purchased possession ; 
 wherefore, as we shall have redeeming blood, 
 we shall there abide, and go no more out, for 
 by that means that kingdom will stand to us 
 unshaken. 
 
 5. These palm trees, I say, seem to take their 
 places who for sin were cast from thence. The 
 elect therefore take that place in possession, 
 but a better crown for ever. Thus " Israel pos- 
 sessed that of the Canaanites," and David, 
 Saul's kingdom, and Matthias the apostleship 
 of Judas. Acts i. 22-26. 
 
 6. Nor were the habitations which the fallen 
 angels lost, excepting that which was excepted 
 before, at all inferior to theirs that stood ; for 
 their captain and prince is called son of the 
 morning, for he was the antitype thereof. Isa. 
 xiv. 12. 
 
 7. Thus you see they were placed from the 
 ground up to above the door ; that is, from the 
 lowest to the highest angel there ; for as there 
 are great saints and small ones in the Church 
 on earth, so there are angels of divers degrees 
 in heaven, some greater than some; but the 
 smallest saint, when he gets to heaven, shall 
 have an angel's dignity, an angel's place ; from 
 the ground you shall find a palm tree between 
 a cherub and a cherub. ^ 
 
 8. And every cherub had two faces ; so here, 
 but I read in chapter x. that they had four 
 faces apiece : the first was the face of a cheru- 
 bim, the second the face of a man, the third 
 the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an 
 eagle. 
 
 9. They had two faces apiece ; not to show 
 tliat they were of a double heart, " for their 
 
 appearance and themselves was the same, and 
 they went every one straight forward." 
 
 These two faces, then, were to show here the 
 quickness of their apprehension and their ter- 
 ribleness to execute the mind of God. The 
 face of a man signifies them masters of reason , 
 the face of a lion, " the terribleness of their 
 presence.'' 
 
 In another placed read of their wheels ; yea, 
 that themselves, their whole bodies, their backs, 
 their hands, their wings, and their wheels 
 " were full of eyes round about." 
 
 And this is to show us how knowing and 
 quicksighted they are in all providences and 
 dark dispensations, and how nimble in appre- 
 hending the mischievous designs of the ene- 
 ,.mies of God's Church, and so how able they 
 are to undermine them. And forasmuch also 
 as they have the face of a lion, we by that are 
 showed how full of power they are to kill and 
 to destroy when God says, Go forth and do so. 
 
 Now with these we must dwell and cohabit, 
 a palm tree and a cherub : a palm tree and a 
 cherub must be from the ground to above the 
 door, round about the house, the heavens. 
 
 " So that the face of a man was toward the palm 
 tree on the one side, and the face of a young 
 lion toward the palm tree on the other side." 
 
 By these two faces may also be showed that 
 we in the 'heavens shall have glory sufBicient 
 to familiarize us to the angels. Their lion- 
 like looks, with which they used to fright the 
 biggest saint on earth, as you have it, (Gen. 
 xxxii. 30 ; Judg. xiii. 15, 22,) shall then be 
 accompanied with the familiar looks of a man. 
 Then angels and men shall be fellows, and 
 have to do with each as such. 
 
 Thus you see something of that little I. have 
 found in the temple of God. 
 
THE 
 
 JERUSALEM SINNER SAVED; 
 
 OR, 
 
 GOOD NEWS FOR THE VILEST OF MEN. 
 
 BEING AN HELP FOR DESPAIRING SOULS: SHOWING THAT JESUS CHRIST 
 WOULD HAVE MERCY IN THE FIRST PLACE OFFERED TO THE BIGGEST 
 
 SINNERS. 
 
 TO WHICH IS ADDED, 
 
 AN ANSWEE TO THOSE GRAND OBJECTIONS THAT LIB IN THE WAT OF THEM THAT WOULD 
 BELIEVE, IfOR THE COMFORT OF THOSE THAT FEAR THEY HAVE SINNED AGAINST THE 
 HOLY GHOST. 
 
 TO THE EEADEE. 
 
 Courteous Reader: 
 
 One reason whicli moved me to write and 
 print this little book was, because though 
 there are many excellent, heart-affecting dis- 
 courses in the world that tend to convert the 
 Rinner, yet I had a desire to try this simple 
 method of mine ; wherefore I make bold thus 
 to invite and encourage the worst to come to 
 Christ for life. 
 
 I have been vile myself, but have obtained 
 mercy ; and I would have my companions in 
 sin partake of mercy too, and therefore I have 
 writ this little book. 
 
 The nation doth swarm with vile ones now, 
 as ever it did since it was a nation. My little 
 book in some places can scarce go from house 
 to house but it will find a suitable subject to 
 apend itself upon. Now, since Christ Jesus is 
 willing to save the vilest, why should they not 
 by name be somewhat acquainted with it, and 
 bid come to him under that name ? 
 
 A great sinner when converted seems a 
 booty to Jesus Christ he gets by saving such 
 an one : why, then, should Jesus lose his glory 
 and the sinner lose his soul at once, and that 
 for want of an invitation ? 
 
 I have found, through God's grace, good 
 success in preaching upon this subject, and 
 perhaps so I may in writing upon it too. I 
 have, as you see, let down this net for a draught ; 
 
 the Lord catch some great fishes by it for the 
 magnifying of his truth! There are some 
 most vile in men's eyes, and some are so in 
 their own eyes too ; but some have their paint- 
 ings to shroud their vileness under, yet they 
 are naked and open unto the eyes of Him with 
 whom we have to do ; and for all these God 
 hath sent a Saviour Jesus, and to all these the 
 door is opened. 
 
 Wherefore, prithee, profane man, give this 
 little book the reading. Come, pardon and a 
 part in heaven and glory cannot be hurtful 
 to thee. Let not thy lustg and folly drive 
 thee beyond the door of mercy, since it is not 
 locked nor bolted up against thee. Manasseh 
 was a bad man, and Magdalen a bad woman, 
 to say nothing of the thief upon the cross or 
 of the murderers of Christ, yet they obtained 
 mercy : Christ willingly received them. 
 
 And dost thou think that those, once so bad, 
 now they are in heaven repent them there be- 
 cause they left their sins for Christ when they 
 were in the world ? I cannot believe but that 
 thou thinkest they have verily got the best of 
 it. Why, sinner, do thou likewise. Christ, at 
 heaven's gate, says to thee. Come hither ; and 
 the devil, at the gates of hell, does call thee to 
 come to him. Sinner, what sayest thou? 
 whither wilt thou go ? Don't go into the fire ; 
 there thou wilt be burned. Do not let Jesus 
 
 323 
 
324 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 lose his longing, since it is for thy salvation ; 
 but come to him and ive. 
 
 One word more, and so I have done. Sin- 
 ner^ here thou dost hear of love; prithee, do 
 not provoke it by turning it into wantonness. 
 He that dies for slighting love sinks deepest 
 
 * Tho unbelieving and the abominable, who refuse 
 to accept the loving invitation of the heavenly Charm- 
 K, tho meek Lamb of God, now, will ere long be 
 
 into hell, and will there be tormented by the 
 remembrance of that evil, more than by the 
 deepest cogitation of all his, other sins.* Take 
 heed, therefore; do not make love thy tor- 
 mentor, sinner. 
 
 Farewell. 
 
 forced to endure his wrath, when he puts on the fierce, 
 ness of a roaring lion at the great and terrible day of 
 his appearing. 
 
THE JERUSALEM SINNER SAVED; 
 
 GOOD NEWS FOR THE VILEST' OF MEN. 
 
 Beginning at Jerusalem. — LuKE.zziT. 47. 
 
 The whole verse runs thus : " And that re- 
 pentance and remission of sins should be 
 preached in his name among all nations, be- 
 ginning at Jerusalem." 
 
 The words were spoken by Christ after he 
 rose froAi the dead, and they are here rehearsed 
 after an historical manner, but do contain in 
 them a formal commission, with a special clause 
 therein. The commission is, as you see, for 
 the preaching of the Gospel, and is very dis- 
 tinctly inserted in the, holy record by Matthew 
 and Mark : " Go teach all nations," &c. ; " Go 
 ye into all the word, and preach the Gospel to 
 every creature." Matt, xxviii. 19; Mark xvi. 
 15. Only this clause is in special mentioned 
 by Luke, who saith that as Christ would have 
 the doctrine of repentance and remission of 
 sins preached in his name, among all nations, 
 so he would have the people of Jerusalem to 
 have the first profier thereof. Preach it, saith 
 Christ, in all nations, but begin at Jerusalem. 
 
 The apostles, then, though they had a com- 
 mission so large as to give them warrant to go 
 and preach the Gospel in all the world, yet by 
 this clause they were limited as to the begin- 
 ning of their ministry : they were to begin this 
 work at Jerusalem. "Beginning at Jerusa- 
 lem." 
 
 Before I proceed to an observation upon 
 these words, I must (but briefly) touch upon 
 two things, namely — 
 
 1. Show you what Jerusalem now was. 
 
 2. Show what it was to preach the Gospel to 
 them. 
 
 I. For the first, Jerusalem is to be considered 
 either — 
 
 * The Jews, now dispersed throughout the whole 
 earth, as foretold, are standing monuments of God's 
 dreadful rengeanco against sin, and particularly the 
 dunning sin of unbelief in rejecting the Lord Christ, 
 
 1. With respect to the descent of her peo- 
 ple; or, 
 
 2. With respect to her preference of exalta- 
 tion; or, 
 
 3. With respect to her present state, as to 
 her decays. 
 
 1. As to her descent. She was from Abra- 
 ham, the sons of Jacob, a people that God 
 singled out from the rest of the nations to set 
 his love upon them. 
 
 2. As to her preference of exaltation, she 
 was the place of God's worship, and that which 
 had in and with her the special tokens and 
 signs of God's favour and presence above any 
 other people in the world. Hence the tribes 
 went up to Jerusalem to worship ; there was 
 God's house, God's high priest, God's sacrifices 
 accepted, and God's eye and God's heart per- 
 petually. Ps. Ixxvi. 1, 2 ; cxxii. 1, 9 ; 1 Kings 
 ix. 3. But, 
 
 * 3. We are to consider Jerusalem also in her 
 •decays ; for as she is so considered she is the 
 proper object of our text, as will be further 
 showed by and by. 
 
 Jerusalem, as I told you, was the place and 
 seat of God's worship, but now decayed, de- 
 generated, and apostatized.* The word, the . 
 rule of worship, was rejected of them, and in 
 its place they had put and set up their own 
 traditions; they had rejected also the most 
 weighty ordinances, and put in the room 
 thereof their own little things. Matt. xv. ; 
 Mark vii. Jerusalem was therefore now great- 
 ly backslidden, and become the place where 
 truth and true religion was much defaced. 
 
 It was also now become the very sink of sin 
 and seat of hypocrisy, and gulf where true re- 
 in whom alone is salvation. The Lord give us grace 
 to prize and improve Gospel privileges, lest wo alse 
 be out off through unbelief! 
 
 S^25 
 
826 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 ligion wag drowned. Here ako now reigned 
 presumption and groundless confidence in God, 
 which is the bane of souls. Amongst its rulers, 
 doctors, and leaders, envy, malice, and blas- 
 phemy vented themselves against the power 
 of godliness in all places where it was espied, 
 as also against the promoters of it : yea, their 
 Lord and Maker could not escape them. 
 
 In a word, Jerusalem was now become the 
 shambles, the very slaughter-shop for saints. 
 This was the place wherein the prophets, 
 Christ, and his people were most horribly per- 
 secuted and murdered. Yea, so hardened at 
 this time was this Jerusalem in her sins that 
 she feared not to commit the biggest, and to 
 bind herself by wish under the guilt and 
 damning evil of it; saying, when she had 
 murdered the Son of God, "His blood be 
 up&n us and our children." 
 
 And though Jesus Christ did, both by doc- 
 trine, miracles, and holiness of life, seek to 
 put a stop to their villainies, yet they shut 
 their eyes, stopped their ears, and rested not 
 till, as was hinted before, they had driven him 
 out of the world. Yea, that they might, if 
 possible, have extinguished his name and ex- 
 ploded his doctrine out of the world, they, 
 against all argument and in despite of Heaven, 
 its mighty hand, and undeniable proof of his 
 resurrection, did hire soldiers to invent a lie, 
 saying, "His disciples stole him away from 
 the grave," on purpose that men might not 
 count him the Saviour of the world, nor trust 
 in him for the remission of sins. 
 
 They were, saith Paul, contrary to all men ; 
 for they did not only shut up the door of life 
 against themselves, but forbad that it should 
 be opened to any else. " Forbidding us," saith 
 he, "to preach to the Gentiles that they might 
 be saved, to fill up their sin always." Matt, 
 xxiii. 35; xv. 7-9; Markvii. 6-8; Matt. iii. 7- 
 9; John viii. 33-il ; Matt, xxvii. 18 ; Mark iii. 
 30; Luke ii. 5, 6; Matt, xxiii. 37; Luke xiii. 
 33, 34; Ps! ii. 22, 23; iv. 10; Matt, xxvii. 25; 
 XX. 11-16; 1 Thess. ii. 14-16. 
 
 This is the city and these are the people; 
 this is their character and these are their sins ; 
 nor can there be produced their, parallel in all 
 this world. Nay, what world, what people, 
 what nation, for sin and transgression could or 
 can be compared to Jerusalem,* especially if 
 you join to the matter of fact the light they 
 sinned against and the patience which they 
 
 * God's ancient people were favoured with high pre- 
 rogatives and advantages above any other nation under 
 heaven j to tjiem "pertained the adoption, the glory, the 
 
 abused? Infinite was the wickedness upon 
 this account which they committed. 
 
 After all their abusings of wise men and 
 prophets, God sent unto them John Baptist to 
 reduce them, and then his Son to redeem them, 
 but they would be neither reduced nor re- 
 deemed, but persecuted both to the death. 
 Nor did they, as I said, stop here; the holy 
 apostles they afterwards persecuted ■ also to 
 death, even so many as they could; the rest 
 they drove from them unto the utmost comerg. 
 
 II. I come now to show you what it was to 
 preach the Gospel to them. It was, saith 
 Luke, to preach to them "repentance and re- 
 mission of sins in Christ's name;" or, as Mark 
 has it, "to bid them repent and believe the 
 Gospel." Mark i. 15. Not that repentance is a 
 cause of remission, but a sign of our hearty 
 reception thereof. Eepentance is therefore 
 here put to intimate that no pretended faith 
 of the Gospel is good that is not accompanied 
 with it; and this he doth on purpose, because 
 he would not have them deceive themselves; 
 for with what faith can he expect remission of 
 sins in the name of Christ that is not heartily 
 sorry for them? Or how shall a man be able 
 to give to others a satisfactory account of his 
 unfeigned subjection to the Gospel that yet 
 abides in his impenitency? 
 
 Wherefore repentance is here JQined with 
 faith in the way of receiving the Gospel. 
 Faith is that without which it cannot be re- 
 ceived at all, and repentance that without 
 which it cannot be received unfeignedly 
 When therefore Christ says he would have 
 repentance and remission of sins preached in 
 his name among all nations, it is as much as 
 to say, "I will that all men everywhere be 
 sorry for their sins, and accept of mercy at 
 God's hand through me, lest they fall under 
 his wrath in the judgment." For, as I had 
 said, without repentance what pretence soever 
 men have of faith, they cannot escape the 
 wrath to come. Wherefore Paul saith, "God 
 commands all men everywhere to repent" in 
 order to their salvation, "because he hath ap- 
 pointed a day in- the which he will judge the 
 world in righteousness by that Man whom he 
 hath ordained." Acts xvii. 30. 
 
 And now we come to this clause: "Begin- 
 ning at Jerusalem ;" that is, that Christ would 
 have Jerusalem have the first ofier of the 
 Gospel. 
 
 covenants, the law, the service of God,the.proinises, the 
 fathers, yea, Christ himself;" but, alas ! the glory is now 
 departed. Professors, "be not high-minded, but fear." 
 
THE JERUSALEM SINNER SAVED. 
 
 327 
 
 1. This. cannot be so commanded, because 
 they had not now any more right of themselves 
 thereto than had any of the nations of the 
 world, for their sins had divested them of all 
 self-deservings. 
 
 2. Nor yet because they stood upon the ad- 
 vance ground with the worst of the sinners of 
 the nations ; nay, rather the sinners of the na- 
 tions had the advanced ground of them. For 
 Jerusalem was, long before she had added this 
 iniquity to her sin, worse than the very na- 
 tions that God cast out before the children of 
 Israel. 2 Chroh. xxxiii. 
 
 3. It must therefore follow that this clause, 
 "Begin at Jerusalem," was put into his com- 
 mission of mere grace and compassion, even 
 from the overflowings of the bowels of mercy ; 
 for indeed they were the worst, and 39 in the 
 most deplorable condition of any people under 
 the heavens.* 
 
 Whatever, therefore, their relation was to 
 Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob, however they for- 
 merly had been the people among whom God 
 had placed his name and worship, they were 
 now degenerated from God more than the na- 
 tions were from their idols, and were become 
 guilty of the highest sius which the people of 
 the world were capable of committing. Nay, 
 none can be capable of committing of such un- 
 pardonable sins as they committed against their 
 God when they slew his Son and persecuted his 
 lame and word. 
 
 From these words, therefore, thus explained, 
 we gain this observation : 
 
 That Jesus Christ would have mercy offered 
 in the first place to the biggest sinners. 
 
 That these Jerusalem sinners were the big- 
 gest sinners that ever were in the world I 
 think none will deny that believes that Christ 
 was the best man that ever was in the world, 
 and also was their Lord God. And that they 
 were to have the first offer of his grace the text 
 is as clear as the sun ; for it saith, " Begin at 
 Jerusalem." "Preach," said he, "repentance 
 and remission of sins to the Jerusalem sin- 
 ners;" to the Jerusalem sinners in the first 
 place. 
 
 One woul8 have thought, since the Jeru- 
 salem sinners were the worst and greatest sin- 
 
 • The higher a people rise under the means, the lower 
 will be their fall if they slight them ; they that have 
 been nearest to conversion, and yet not converted, 
 ■hall have the greatest condemnation when judged. 
 highly-favoured England ! Tyre and Sidon, Sodom and 
 Gomorrah, will have a milder hell than thy carnal, 
 bypocritioal, Christless children. 
 
 ners, Christ's greatest enemies, and those that 
 not only despised his person, doctrine, and 
 miracles, but that a little before had had their 
 hands up to the elbows in his heart-blood, that 
 he should rather have said. Go into all the 
 world, and preach repentance and remission 
 of sins afnong all nations ; and after that offer 
 the same to Jerusalem. Yea, it had been in- 
 finite grace if he had said.so. But what giace 
 is this, or what name shall we give it, when he 
 commands that this repentance and remission 
 of sins, which is designed to be preached 
 in all nations, should first be offered to Jeru- 
 salem — in the first place to the worst of 
 sinners? 
 
 Nor was this the first time that the grace 
 which was in the heart of Christ thus showed 
 itself to the world. For while he was yet 
 alive, even while he was yet in Jerusalem, 
 and perceived even among these Jerusalem 
 sinners which was the most vile amoilgst 
 them, he still in his preaching did signify 
 that he had a desire that the worst of these 
 worst should in the first place come unto 
 him.f The which he showeth where he saith 
 to the better sort of them, "The publicans 
 and harlots enter into the kingdom of God 
 before you." Matt. xxi. 81. 
 
 Also, when he compared Jerusalem with 
 the sinners of the nations, then he commands 
 that the Jerusalem sinners should have the 
 Gospel at present confined to them. "Go 
 not," saith he, " into the way of the Gentiles, 
 and into any of the cities of the Samaritans 
 enter ye not; but go rather to the lost sheep 
 of the house of Israel," (Matt. x. 5, 6 ; xxiii. 
 37;) but go rather to them, for they were in 
 the most fearful plight. 
 
 These, therefore, must have the cream of 
 the Gospel — namely, the first offer thereof in 
 his lifetime. Yea, when he departed out of 
 the world he left this as part of his last will 
 with his preachers, that they also should offer 
 it first to Jerusalem. He had a mind, a care- 
 ful mind, as it seems, to privilege the w orst of 
 sinners with the first offer of mercy, and tc 
 take from among them a people to be the flrat- 
 fruits unto God and to the Lamb. 
 
 The 15th- of Luke also is famous for this, 
 where the Lord Jesus takes more care, as 
 
 f The grace of Christ is sovereign and almighty; 
 and his Gospel is infinitely valuable and excellent, in- 
 asmuch as it proclaims pardon to condemned malefac- 
 tors, peace to proclaimed and avowed enemies, liberty 
 to enslaved captives, cure to diseased sinners. Blessed 
 be God for Jesus Christ ! 
 
328 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 appears there by three parables, for the lost 
 sheep, lost groat, and the prodigal son, than 
 for the other sheep, the other pence, or for 
 the son that said he had never transgressed. 
 Yea, he shows that there is joy in heaven 
 among the angels of God at the repentance 
 of one sinner, more than over ninety and 
 nine just persons which need no repentance. 
 Lulje XV. 
 
 After this manner, therefore, the mind of 
 Christ was set on the salvation of the biggest 
 sinners in his lifetime. But join to this this 
 clause, which he carefully put into the apos- 
 tles' commission to preach when he departed 
 hence to the Father, and then you shall see 
 that his heart was vehemently set upon it, for 
 these were part of his last words with them : 
 " Preach my Gospel, to all nations, but see 
 that you begin at Jerusalem." 
 
 Nor did the apostles overlook this clause 
 when their Lord was gone into heaven. They 
 went first'to them of Jerusalem, and preached 
 Christ's Gospel to them : they abode also there 
 for a season and time, and preached it to no- 
 body else, for they had regard .to the com- 
 mandment of their Lbrd. 
 
 And it is to be observed — namely, that the 
 first sermon which they preached after the 
 ascension of Christ, it was preached to the 
 very worst of these Jerusalem sinners, even to 
 those that were the murderers of Jesus Christ, 
 (Acts ii. 23;) for these are part of the. ser- 
 mon: "Ye took him, and by wicked hands 
 have crucified and slain him." Yea, the next 
 sermon, and the next, and also the next to 
 that, was preached to the self-saipe mur- 
 derers, to the end they might be saved. 
 Acts iii. 14, 15, 16; iv. 10, 11; v. 30; vii. 52. 
 
 But we will return to the first sermon that 
 was preached to these Jerusalem sinners, by 
 which will be manifest more than great grace 
 if it be duly considered. 
 
 For after that Peter and the rest of the 
 apostles had, in their exhortation, persuaded 
 these wretches to believe that they had killed 
 the Prince of life, and after they had duly 
 fallen under the guilt of their murder, saying, 
 " Men and brethren, what shall we do ?" he 
 replies, by an universal tender to" them all in 
 general, considering them as Christ's killers, 
 that if they were sorry- for what they had 
 done,* and would be baptized for the re- 
 
 * Evangelical repentance is a gift and grace of the 
 Spirit of God, it consists of godly sorrow for sin, flee- 
 ing to Christ asthe only refuge from its guilt, power 
 and condemnation, and is accompanied with belief in 
 
 jnission of their sins in his name, they should 
 receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Acts'ii. 
 37, 38. 
 
 This he said to them all, though he knew 
 that they were such sinners. Yea, he said it 
 without the least stick, or Stop, or pause of 
 spirit, as 'te whether he had best to say so or 
 no. Nay, so farofi" was Peter from making an 
 objection against one of them that by a par- 
 ticular clause in his exhortation he endeavours 
 that not one of them may escape the salvation 
 Ofiered. "Eepent," saith he, "and be bap- 
 tized, every one of- you." I shut out never a 
 one of you. For I am commanded by my 
 Lord to deal with you, as it were, one by one, 
 by the word of his salvation. But why speaks- 
 he so particularly ? Oh I there was reason for 
 it. The people with whom the apostles were 
 now to deal, as they were murderers of otir 
 Lord and' to be charged in the general with 
 his blood, so they had their various and par- 
 ticular acts of villainy in the guilt thereof now 
 lying upon their consciences. And the guilt 
 of these their various and particular acts of 
 wickedness could not perhaps be reached to a 
 removal thereof but by this particular appli- 
 cation. Eepent, every one of you; be bap- 
 tized, every one of you, in his pame for the re- 
 mission of sins, and you shall, every one of 
 you, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 Objection. But I was one of them that plotted 
 to take away his life : May I be saved by him? 
 
 Peier. Every one of you. 
 
 Objection. But I was one of them that bare 
 false witness against him: Is there grace for 
 me? 
 
 Peter. For eveiy one of you. 
 
 Objection. But I was one of them that cried 
 out. Crucify, crucify him; and that desired 
 that Barabbas the murderer might live, rather 
 than him : What will become of me, think you? 
 
 I am to preach repentance and remission of 
 sins to every one of you, says Peter. 
 
 Objection, 'But I was one of them that, did 
 spit in his face ^hen he stood before his ac- 
 cusers ; I also was one' that mocked him when 
 in anguish he hanged bleeding on the tree : Is 
 there room for me? 
 
 For every one of you, says Peter. 
 
 Objection. But I was one of them that in his 
 extremity said. Give him gall and vinegar to 
 drink i Why may I not expect the same when 
 anguish and guilt is upon me? 
 
 him, and life-living virtue from him ; all which if 
 evident by bringing forth much rich and ripfe fruit to 
 the glbry of God's grace. 
 
THE JERUSALEM SINNER SAVED. 
 
 329 
 
 Peter. Repent of these your wickednesses, 
 and here is remission of sins for every one of 
 you. 
 
 Objection. But I railed on him, I reviled him, 
 I hated him, I rejoiced to see him rtjocked at 
 by others : Can there be hopes for me ? 
 
 Peter. There is for every one of you.* . "Re- 
 pent and be baptized, every one of you, in the 
 name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, 
 and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy 
 G host." Oh 1 what a blessed Every one of you 
 io here I How willing wa.s Peter, and the Lord 
 Jesus by his ministry, to catch these murder- 
 ers with the word of tile Gospel, that they 
 might be made monuments of the grace of 
 God ! How unwilling, I say, was he that any 
 of these should escape the hand of mercy 1 
 Yea, what an amazing wonder is it to^hink 
 that, above all the world and abqve everybody 
 in it, these should have the first offer of mercy 1 
 " Beginning at Jerusalem." 
 . But was there not something of moment in 
 this clause of the commission? Did not Peter, 
 think you, see a great deal in it, that he should 
 thus begin with these men, and thus offer, so 
 particularly, this grace to each particular man 
 of them? 
 
 But, as I have told you, this is not all ; these 
 Jerusalem sinners must have this offer again 
 and again ; every one of them must be offered 
 it over and over. Christ would no* take their 
 first rejection for a denial, nor their second 
 repulse for a denial, but he will have grace 
 offered once, and twice, and thpice to these 
 Jerusalem sinners. Is not this'amazing grace? 
 Christ will not be put off; these are the sinners 
 that are sinners indeed. They are sinners of 
 the biggest sort ; consequently such as Christ 
 can, if they convert and be saved, best serve 
 his ends and designs upon. Of which more 
 anon. 
 
 But what a pitch of grace is this I Qhrist 
 is minded to amaze the world, and to show 
 that he acteth . not like the children of men. 
 Thig is that which he said of old, " I will not 
 execute the fierceness of wrath, I will not re- 
 turn to destroy Ephraim ; iot I am God and 
 not man." Hos. xi. 9. This is not the manner 
 of men ; men are shorter-winded ; men are soon 
 moved to take vengeance, and to right them- 
 
 * All the objections are on the sinner's side, through 
 onbelicf. Christ, in his Gospel of peace, answers 
 them all in one word, " Whosoever will, let him oome 
 and take of the water of life freely;'' and "whosoever 
 eometh I will in nowise cast out." Lord, put forth 
 thy power and give the will. • 
 
 selves in a way of wrath and indignation. 
 But God is full of grace, full of patience, ready 
 to forgive, and one that deljghts in mercy. 
 All this is seen in our text. The biggest sin- 
 nets must first'be offered mercy ; they must, I 
 say, have, the cream of the Gospel offered unto 
 them. 
 
 But we will a little proceed. " In the third 
 chapter we find that they who sscaped con- 
 verting by the first sermon are called upon 
 again to accept of grace and forgiveness for 
 their murder committed upon the Son of God, 
 You have killed, yea, '' you have denied, the 
 Holy One and the Just, and desired a mur- 
 derer to be granted unto you ; and killed the 
 Prince of life." Mark, he falls again upon the 
 very men that actually were, as you have it in 
 the chapters following, his very betrayers and 
 murderers,! (Acts iii. 14, 15,) as being loth 
 that they should escape the mercy, of forgive- 
 ness, and exhorts them again to repent, " that 
 their sins might be blotted out." Ver. 19, 20. 
 
 Again, in the fourth chapter he charges them 
 afresh- with this murder, (ver. 10,) but withal 
 tells them, " Salvation is in no other." Then, 
 like a heavenly decoy, he puts himself also 
 among them-, to dra^n; them the better under 
 the net of the Gospel, laying, " There is none 
 other name under heaven given among men 
 whereby we must be saved." Ver. 12. 
 
 ' In the fifth chapter you find them- railing at 
 .him because he continued preaching among 
 them salvation in the name of Jesus. But he 
 tells them that that very Jesus whom they had 
 slain and hanged on a tree, him God had 
 raised up and exalted to be a Prince and a 
 Saviour, to give repentance to Israel and for- 
 giveness of sins. Ver. 29, 30, 31. Still insinu- 
 ating that though they had killed him, and to 
 this day rejected him, yet his business was to 
 bestow upon them repentance and forgiveness 
 of sins. 
 
 It is true, after they began to kill again, and 
 when nothing but killing would serve their 
 turn, then, they that were scattered abroad 
 went everywhere preaching the word. Yet 
 even some of them so hankered after the con- 
 version of the Jews that they preached the 
 Gospel only to' them. Also the apostles still 
 
 ■\ This is the awful case of every unconverted pei- 
 son : we are all born in sin, children of wrath, and 
 heirs of hell ; like silly sheep gone astray, we know not 
 which way to return till we hear the Shepherd's voioe. 
 " Can these dry bones live ?" Lord, put life and spirit 
 into them. Raise the dead, be eyes to the blind, eui 
 to the deaf, and feet to the lame. 
 
330 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 made their abode at Jerusalem, in hopes that 
 they might yet let down their net for another 
 draught of the?e Jerusalem sinners. Neither 
 did Paul and Barnabas, who were the minis- 
 ters of God to the Gentiles, biit offer the Gos- 
 pel, in the first place, to those of them that for 
 their wickedness were scattered Uke vagabonds 
 among the nations : yea, and when they ren- 
 dered rebellion and blasphemy for their service 
 and love, they replied, " It was necessary that 
 the word of God should first have been spoken 
 to them." Acts i. 8; xiii. 46, 47. 
 
 Nor was this their preaching unsuccessful 
 among these people; but the Lord Jesus so 
 wrought with the word thus spoken that thou- 
 sands of them came flocking to him for mercy. 
 Three thousand of them closed with him at 
 the first, and afterwards two thousand more ; 
 &r now they were in number about five thou- 
 sand ; whereas before sermons were preached 
 to these murderers the number of the disciples 
 " was not above a hundred and twenty." Acts 
 i. 15 ; ii. 41 ; iv. 4. 
 
 Also among these people that thus flocked 
 to him for mercy there was a " great company 
 of priests." Acts vi. 7. Now the priests were 
 they that were the greatest of these biggest 
 sinners ; they were the ringleaders, they were 
 the inventors and ringleaders in the mischief. 
 It was they that, set the people against the 
 Lord Jesus, and that was the cause why the 
 uproar increased until Pilate had given sen- 
 tence upon him. "The chief priests and 
 elders," says the text, " persuaded (the people) 
 the multitude that they should ask Barabbas 
 and destroy Jesus." Matt, xxvii. 20. And 
 yet behold the priests, yea a great company of 
 the priests, became obedient to the faith.* 
 
 Oh the greatness of the grace of Christ, 
 that he should be thus in love with the souls 
 of Jerusalem sinners 1 that he should be thus 
 delighted v/ith the salvation of the Jerusalem 
 sinners ! that he should not only will that his 
 Gospel should be offered them, but that it 
 should be offered unto them first, and before 
 other sinners were admitted to a hearing of it ! 
 " Begin at Jerusalem." 
 
 Was this doctrine well believed, where would 
 ihere he a place for a doubt or a fear of the 
 damnation of the soul if the sinner be peni- 
 
 * The truth of God, when clothed with his divine 
 Spirit and power, is irresistible ; having the strength 
 of God in it, armed error must fall before it. This 
 was exemplified in the conversion of many of those 
 bitter enemies to Christ, the priests. An arrow dipt 
 
 tent, how bad a life soever he has lived, Bow 
 many soever in number are his sins? 
 
 But this grace is hid from the eyes of men; 
 the devil hides it from them, for he knows it 
 is alluripg, he knows it has an attracting vir- 
 tue in it; for this is it that above all argu- 
 ments can draw the soul to God. 
 
 I cannot help it, but must let drop another 
 word. The first Church, the Jerusalem Church, 
 from whence the Gospel was to be sent into aU 
 the world, was a church made up of Jerusa- 
 lem sinners. These great sinners were here 
 the most shining monuments of the exceeding 
 grace of God. 
 
 Thus you see I have proved the doctrine, 
 and that not only by showing you that this 
 was the practice of the Lord Jesus Christ in 
 his lifetime, but his last will when he went up 
 to God, saying, " Begin to preach at Jerusa- 
 lem." 
 
 Yea, it is yet further manifested in that 
 when his ministers first began to preach there 
 he joined his power to the word, to the con- 
 verting of thousands of his betrayers and 
 murderers, and also many of the ringleading 
 priests to the faith. 
 
 I shall now proceed, and shall show you — 
 
 1. The reason of the point; 
 
 2. And then make some application of the 
 whole. 
 
 The observation, you know, is this: Jesus 
 Christ would have mercy offered in the first 
 place to the biggest sinners, to the Jerusalem 
 sinners. "Preach repentance and remission 
 of sins in my name among all nations, begin- 
 ning at Jerusalem." 
 
 The reasons of the points are — 
 
 First, Because the biggest sinners have most 
 need thereof. He that has the most need, 
 reason says, should be helped first. I mean 
 when a helping hand is offered, and now it is, 
 for the Gospel of the grace of God is sent to 
 help the world. Acts xvi. 9. But the biggest 
 sinner has niost need: therefore, in reason, 
 when mercy is sent down from heaven to men, 
 the worat of men should have the first offer of 
 it. " Begin at Jerusalem." This is the reason 
 which the Lord Christ himself renders why in 
 his lifetime he left the best and turned him 
 to the worst — why he sat so loose from the 
 righteous and stuck so close to the wicked.t 
 
 in the blood of Jesus will subdue the most obdurate 
 heart it reaches. ' 
 
 f The soul is mortally wounded by sin j happy only 
 they who both know and feel it ! Christ is appointed 
 in the council of heaven for the cure of it ; but suet 
 
THE JERUSALEM SINNER SAVED. 
 
 331 
 
 " The whole," saith he, " have no need of the 
 physician, hut the sick. I came not to call 
 the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." 
 Mark ii. 15, 16, 17. 
 
 Above you read that the scribes and Phari- 
 sees said to his disciples, " How is it that he 
 eateth and drinketh with publicans and sin- 
 ners?" Alas 1 they did not know the reason ; 
 but the Lord renders them one, and such an 
 one as ia both natural and cogent, saying, 
 These have need, most need. Their great ne- 
 cessity requires that I should be most friendly 
 and show my grace first to them. 
 
 Not that the others were sinless, and so had 
 no need of a Saviour, but the publicans and 
 their companions were the biggest sinners; 
 they were, as to view, worse than the scribes, 
 and therefore in reason should be helped first, 
 because they had most need of a.Saviour. 
 
 Men that are at the point to die have more 
 need of the physician than they that are but 
 now and then troubled with an heart-fainting 
 qualm. The publicans and sinners were, as it 
 were, in the mouth of death ; death was swal- 
 lowing of them down, and therefore the Lord 
 Jesus receives them first, ofiers them mercy 
 first " The whole have no' need of the physi- 
 cian, but the sick. I came not to call the right- 
 eous, but sinners, to repentance." The sick, 
 as I said, is the biggest sinner, whether he sees 
 his disease or not. He is stained from head to 
 foot, from heart to life and conversation. This 
 man, in every man's judgment, has most need 
 of mercy. There is nothing attends him from 
 bed to board, and from board to bed again, but 
 the visible characters and obvious symptoms 
 of eternal damnation. This therefore is the 
 man that has need, most need, and therefore 
 in reason should be helped in the first place. 
 Thus it was with the people concerned in the 
 text ; they were the worst of sinners, Jerusa- 
 lem sinners, sinners of the biggest size, and 
 therefore such as had the greatest need ; where- 
 fore they must have mercy offered to them be- 
 fore it be offered anywhere else in the world. 
 " Begin at Jerusalem," offer mercy first to a 
 Jerusalem sinner. This man has most need, 
 he is &rthest from God, nearest to hell, and so 
 one that has most need. This man's sins are 
 in number the most, in cry the loudest, in 
 
 sinners as think themselves in a healthy state will 
 desire no physician's help. "Jesus came not to 
 oall the (opinionatire) righteoas, but the (sensible) 
 sinner to repentance." His blood oleanseth from all 
 ■in. 
 • Such were Darid, Uanasseh, Magdalen, Peter, 
 
 weight the heaviest, and consequently will sink 
 him soonest ; wherefore he has most need of 
 mercy. This man is shut up in Satan's hand, 
 fastest bound in the cords of his sins, one that 
 justice is whetting his sword to cut off, and 
 therefore has most need, not only of mercy, 
 but that it should be extended to him in the 
 first place. 
 
 But a little farther, to show you the true na- 
 ture of this reason — ^to wit, that Jesus Christ 
 would have mercy offered in the first place to 
 the biggest sinners.* 
 
 First, Mercy ariseth from bowels and com- 
 passion, from pity, and from a feeling of the 
 condition of those in misery. "Li his love 
 and in his pity he saveth us." And again, 
 " The Lord is pitiful, very pitiful, and of great 
 mercy." Isa. Ixiii. 9 ; James v. 11. 
 
 Now, where pity and compassion is, there is 
 yearning of the bowels ; and where there is 
 that, there is readiness to help. And I say 
 again, the more deplorable and dreadful the 
 condition is,, the more directly doth bowels and . 
 compassion turn themselves to such and offer 
 help and deliverance. All this flows from our 
 first Scripture proof, " I came to call them that 
 have need ;" to call them first, while the rest 
 look on and murmur. 
 
 "How shall I give thee up, Ephraim?" 
 Ephraim was a revolter from God, a man 'that 
 had given himself up to deyUism — a company 
 of men, the ten tribes, that had worshipped 
 devils, while Judah kept with his Grod. "But 
 how shall I give thee up, Ephraim? How 
 shall I deliver thee, Israel? How shall I 
 make thee as Admah? How shall I set thee 
 as Zeboim? (and yet thou art worse than they; 
 nor has Samaria committed half thy sins.)" 
 Ezek. xvi. 46,. 51. " My heart is turned with- 
 in me, and my repentings are kindled to 
 gether." Hos. xi. 8. 
 
 But where do you find that ever the Lord 
 did thus rowl in his bowels for and after any 
 self-righteous man? No, no; they are the 
 publicans and harlots, idolaters and Jerusalem 
 sinners, for whom his bowels yearn and thus 
 tumble about within hjm; for, alas I poor 
 worms, they have most need of mercy. 
 
 Had not the good Samaritan more compas- 
 sion for that man that fell among thieves 
 
 Paul, and many others, who, having been grievons of- 
 fenders, blasphemers, and persecutors, became at 
 length eminent examples of Christ's clemency, grace 
 and pardoning mercy : and (blessings on him !) he ia 
 still able and willing to save to the uttermost all wbe 
 come unto (Sod by him. 
 
332 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WOBKS. 
 
 (though, that fall was occasioned by his going 
 from the place where they worshipped God to 
 Jericho, the cursed city) than we read he had 
 •for any other besides ? His wine was for him, 
 his oil was for him, his beast for him; his 
 penny, his care, and ihis swaddling-band for 
 him: for, alas I wretch, he had most need. 
 Luke X. 30-35. 
 
 Zaccheus the publican, the chief of the pub- 
 licans, one that had made himself the richer 
 by wronging of others, — the Lord at that time 
 singleth him out from all the rest of his 
 brother publicans, and that in the face of 
 many Pharisees, and proclaimed in the aud- 
 ience of them all that that day salvation was 
 come to his house. Luke xix. 1-8. 
 
 The woman also that had been bound down 
 by Satan for eighteen years together, his com- 
 panions putting him upon it he loosed her, 
 though those that stood by snarled at him for 
 80 doing. Luke iii. 11-13. 
 
 And why the woman of Sarepta, and why 
 
 . Naaman the Syrian, rather than widows and 
 
 lepers in Israel, but because their conditions 
 
 were more deplorable,* for that they were most 
 
 forlorn and farthest from help ? Luke iv. 25, 27. 
 
 But, I say, why all these thus named? Why 
 have we not a catalogue of some holy men that 
 were so in their own eyes and in the judgment 
 of the world? Alas! if at any time any of 
 them are mentioned, how seemingly coldly 
 doth the I ecord of Scripture present them to 
 us ? Nicodemus, a night professor, and Simon 
 the Pharisee with his fifty pence, and their 
 great ignorance of the methods of grace, we 
 have now and then touched upon. 
 
 Mercy seems to be out of its proper channel 
 when it deals with self-righteous men ; but 
 then it runs with a fuU stream when it extends 
 itself to the biggest sinners. As God*s mercy 
 is not regulated by man's goodness, nor ob- 
 tained by man's worthiness, so not much set 
 out by saving of any such. But more of this 
 anon. 
 
 And here let me ask my readers a question : 
 Suppose that, as thou art walking by some 
 pond side, thou shauldst espy in it four or 
 five children all in danger of drowning, and 
 one in more danger than all the rest ; judge 
 
 , -L 
 
 * These were the objeots of discriminating grace j 
 by divine illumination they saw and groaned under 
 their ignorance, rebellion, apostacy, and uttor in- 
 ability to return to G-od : this being humbly confessed, 
 Christ steps in to their relief with, "I will; be thou 
 clean." Luke v. 13. Then follows peace and joy in 
 believing. 
 
 which has most need to behe-ped out first f 
 I know thou wilt say, He that is nearest 
 drowning. Why, this is the case : the bigger 
 sinner, the nearer drowning ; therefore the 
 bigger sinner, the more need of mercy; yea, 
 of help by mercy in the first place. And to 
 this our text agrees when it saith, " Beginning 
 at Jerusalem." Let the Jerusalem sinner, says 
 Christ, have the first offer, the first invitation, 
 the first tender of my grace and mercy, for 
 he is the biggest sinner, and so has most need 
 thereof. 
 
 Secondly, Christ Jesus would h.-ive mercy 
 offered in the first place to the biggest sin- 
 ners, because when they, any of them, re- 
 ceive it, it redounds most to the. fame of his 
 name. 
 
 Christ Jesus, as you may perceive, has put 
 himself under the term of a physician, a doc- 
 tor for curing of diseases ; and you know that 
 applause and a fame is a thing that physicians 
 much desire. That is it that helps them to 
 patients, and that also that will help their 
 patients to commit themselves to their skiU 
 for cure with the more confidence and repose 
 of spirit. And the best way for a doctor or 
 physician to get themselves a name is, in the 
 first place, to take in hand and cure some 
 such as all others have given up for lost and 
 dead. Physicians get neither name nor fame 
 by pricking of wheals, or picking out thistles, 
 or by laying of plasters to the scratch of a 
 .pin : every old woman can do this. But if 
 they would have a name and a fame, if they 
 will have it quickly, they must, as I said, do 
 some great and desperate cures. Let them 
 fetch one to life that was dead ; let them re- 
 cover one to his wits that was mad ; lei them 
 make one that was born blind to see ; or let 
 them give ripe wits to a fool : these are notable 
 cures, and he that can do thus, and if he doth 
 thus first, he shall have the name and fame he 
 desires ; he may lay abed till noon. 
 
 Why, Christ Jesus forgiveth sins for a 
 name, and so begets of himself a good report 
 in the hearts of the children of men.f And 
 therefore in reason he must be willing, as also 
 he did command, that his mercy should be 
 offered first to the biggest sinners. 
 
 "I will forgive their sins, iniquities, and 
 
 f Such as truly know Christ, and have tasted sweet- 
 ness in him, will count all things else but dung and 
 dross in comparison of his love; they will moreover 
 be forward to invite and draw others to a saving 
 acciuaintance with Him whom they esteem altogether 
 lovely. 
 
THE JERUSALEM SINNER SAVED. 
 
 333 
 
 transgressions," says he; "and it shall turn 
 to me for a name of joy, and a praise, and an 
 honour before all the nations of the earth.'' 
 Jer. xxxiii. 8, 9. 
 
 And hence it is that at his first appearing 
 he took upon him to do such mighty works : 
 he got a fame thereby ; he got a name thereby. 
 Matt. iv. 23, 24. 
 
 When Christ had cast the legion of devils 
 out of the man of whom you read in Mark v., 
 he bid him go home to his friends and tell it. 
 " Go home," saith he, "to thy friends, and tell 
 them how great things God has done for thee, 
 and ha^t had compassion on thee." Mark v. 
 19. Christ Jesus seeks a name and desireth 
 a fame in the world ; and therefore, or the 
 better to obtain that, he commands that 
 mercy should first be proffered to the biggest 
 sinners, because by the saving of one of them 
 he makes all men marvel, as it is said of the 
 man last mentioned, whom Christ cured to- 
 wards the beginning of his ministry. " And 
 he departed," says the text, " and began to 
 publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus 
 had done for him ; and all men did marvel." 
 Ver. 20. 
 
 When John told Christ that they saw one 
 casting out devils in his name, and they for- 
 bade him, because he followed not with them, 
 what is the answer of Christ? "Forbid him 
 not, for there is no man which shall do a mira- 
 cle in my name that can lightly speak evil of 
 me." No: they will rather cause his praise 
 to be heard and his name to be magnified, and 
 BO put glory on the head of Christ. 
 
 But we will follow a little our metaphor. 
 Christ, as I said, has put himself under the 
 term of a physician ; consequently ho desireth 
 that his fame as to the salvation of sinners 
 may spread abroad, that the world may see 
 what he can do. And to this end he has not 
 only commanded that the biggest sinners 
 should have the first ofler of his mercy, but 
 has, as physicians do, put out his bills and 
 published his doings, that things may be read 
 and talked of. Yea, he has moreover, in these 
 his blessed bills — the holy Scriptures I mean 
 — inserted the very names of persons, the 
 places of their abode, and the great cures that 
 by the means of his salvation he has wrought 
 npon them to this very end. Here is, item, 
 Such a one, by my grace and redeeming 
 blood, was made a monument of everlasting 
 
 * Ood's regenerated and adopted ones, whose namos 
 aro registered in heaven, who are really members of 
 ike Qospel Church, hare a right, by tho promises, to 
 
 life; and such a one, by my perfect obedi- 
 ence, became an heir of glory.* And then he 
 produceth their names : 
 
 Item. I saved Lot from the guilt and damna- 
 tion that he had procured to himself by his 
 incest. 
 
 Item. I saved David from the vengeance that 
 belonged to him for committing of adultery 
 and murder. 
 
 Here is also Solomon, Manasseh, Peter, 
 Magdalen, and many others made mention 
 of in this book. Yea, here are their names, 
 their sins, and their salvations recorded to- 
 gether, that you may read and know what a 
 Saviour he is, and do him honour in the 
 world. For why are these things thus re- 
 corded but to show to sinners what he can do, 
 to the praise and glory of his grace ? 
 
 And it is observable, as I said before, we 
 have but very little of the salvation of little 
 sinners mentioned in God's book, because that 
 would not have answered the design — ^to wit, 
 to bring glory and fame to the name of the 
 Son of God. 
 
 What should be the reason, think you, why 
 Christ should so easily take a denial of the 
 great ones that were the grafldeur of the world, 
 and struggle so hard for hedge-creepers and 
 highwaymen, (as that parable in Luke xiv. 
 seems to import he doth,) but to show forth 
 the riches of the glory of his grace to his 
 praise? This, I say, is one reason to be sure. 
 They that had their grounds, their yoke of 
 oxen, and their marriage joys were invited to 
 come, but they made their excuse, and that 
 served the turn.i But when he comes to deal 
 with the worst, he saith to his servants, Go ye 
 out and bring them in hither. " Go oiit quickly, 
 and bring in hither the poor, the maimed, the 
 halt, and the blind. And they did so." And 
 he said again, " Go out into the highways and 
 hedges, and compel them to come in, that my 
 house may be filled." Luke xiv. 18, 19, 20. 
 These poor lame, maimed, blind hedge-creep- 
 ers and highwaymen must come in, must be 
 forced in. These, if saved, will make his 
 merits shine. 
 
 When Christ was crucified and hanged up 
 between the earth and heavens, there were two 
 thieves crucified with him; and behold, he 
 lays hold of one of them, and will have him 
 away with him to glory. Was not this a 
 strange act and a display of unthought-of grace ? 
 
 all that God has provided and Christ has purchased, 
 even to the whole inheritance of grace here and glory 
 in heaven. 
 
334 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Were there none but thieves there, or were the 
 rest of that company out of his reach? Could 
 he not, think you, have stooped from the cross 
 to the ground, and have laid hold on some 
 honester man if he would? Yes, doubtless. 
 Oh I but then he would not have displayed his 
 grace, nor so have pursued his own designs — 
 namely, to get himself a praise and a name ; 
 but now he has done it to purpose. For who 
 that shall read this story but must confess that 
 the Son of God is full of grace : for a proof of 
 the lichea thereof he left behind him when 
 upon the cross he took the thief away with 
 him bo glory. Nor can this one act of his be 
 buried ; it will be talked of to the end of the 
 w'jrld to his praise.* " Men shall speak of the 
 might of thy terrible acts, and will declare thy 
 greatness. They shall abundantly utter the 
 memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing 
 of thy righteousness. They shall speak of the 
 glory of thy kingdom and talk of thy power, 
 to make known to the sons of men his mighty 
 acts and the glorious majesty of his kingdom." 
 Ps. cxiv. 6, 12. 
 
 When the word of God came among the con- 
 jurers and those soothsayers that you read of 
 in Acts xix., and had prevailed with some of 
 them to accept of the grace of Christ, the Holy 
 Ghost records it with a boast, for that it would 
 redound to his praise, saying, 
 
 " And many of them that used curious arts 
 brought their books together and burned them 
 before all men, and counted the price of them, 
 and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver ; so 
 mightily grew the word of God, and prevailed." 
 Acts xix. 19, 20. It wrenched out of the 
 clutches of Satan some of those of whom he 
 thought himself most sure. "So mightily 
 grew the word of God." It grew mightily ; it 
 encroached upon the kingdom of the devil ; it 
 pursued him and took the prey ; it forced him 
 to let go his hold ; it brought away captive, as 
 prisoners taken by force of arms, some of the 
 most valiant of his army ; it fetched back from, 
 as it were, the confines of hell, some of those 
 that were his most trusty, and that with hell 
 had been at an agreement : it made them come 
 and confess their deeds and burn their books 
 before all men : " So mightily grew the word 
 of God, and prevailed." 
 
 * This was truly a miracle of grace and sovereign 
 mercy. It was eiTeoted by the mighty power of God 
 the Holy VJhost, who enlightens the eyes of the sin- 
 ner's understanding, to see his own deplorable misery, 
 the excellency of Christ, and the alone-sufficiency and 
 tU-sufficicncy of his grace for salvation. 
 
 Thus, therefore, you see why Christ will have 
 mercy offered in the first place to tho biggest 
 sinners ; they have most need thereof; and thjg 
 is the most ready way to extol His name that 
 rideth upon the heavens to our help. But, 
 
 Thirdly, Christ Jesus would have mercj 
 offered in the first place to the biggest sinners, 
 because by their forgiveness and salvation 
 others, hearing of it, will be encouraged the 
 more to come to him for life. 
 
 For the physician by curing the most des- 
 perate at the first doth not only get himself a 
 name, but begets encouragement in the minds 
 of other diseased folks to come to him for help. 
 Hence you read of our Lord that after, through 
 his tender mercy, he had cured many of great 
 diseases, his fame was spread abroad : " They 
 brought unto him all sick people that were 
 taken with divers diseases and torments, and 
 those which were possessed with devils, and 
 those which were lunatic, and those that had 
 the palsy, and he healed them ; and there fol- 
 lowed him great multitudes of people from 
 Galilee, and Decapolis, and Jerusalem, and 
 Judea, and from beyond Jordan." Matt. iv. 
 24, 25. 
 
 See here, he first by working gets himself a 
 fame, a name, and renown, and now men take 
 encouragement, and bring from all quarters 
 their diseased to him, being helped, by what 
 they had heard, to believe that their diseased 
 should be healed. 
 
 Now, as he did with those outward cures, 
 so he does in the proffers of his grace and 
 mercy ; he proffers that in the first place to the 
 biggest sinners, that others may take heart to 
 come to him to be saved.f I will give you a 
 Scripture or two. I mean to show you that 
 Christ, by commanding that his mercy should 
 in the first place be offered to the biggest of 
 sinners, has a design thereby to encourage and 
 provoke others to come also to him for mercy. 
 
 " God," saith Paul, " who is rich in mercy, 
 for his great love wherewith he loved us, even 
 when we were dead in our sins, hath quickened 
 us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved,) 
 and hath raised us up together, and made us 
 sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." 
 But why did he do all this ? " That in the ages 
 to come he might show thciexceeding riches of 
 
 f None will be disposed to come to the Saviour till 
 they have been so far awakened by the threatenings 
 of God's wrath to a sight of their misery as to make 
 them see their need of Christ held out in the promise, 
 and to flee for refuge to the only hcpe set before them 
 In the GospM. 
 
THE JERUSALEM SINNER SAVED. 
 
 335 
 
 his grace in his kindness towards ns through 
 Christ Jesus." Eph. ii. 4-7. 
 
 See, here ia a design : God lets out his mercy 
 to Ephesus of design, even to show to the ages 
 to come the exceeding riches of his grace in 
 his kindness to them through Christ Jesua. 
 And wliy to show by these the exceeding riches 
 of his grace to the ages to come through Christ 
 Jesus but to allure them and their children 
 also to come to him, and to partake of the 
 same grace through Christ Jeaua ? 
 
 But what was Paul and the Ephesian sinners ? 
 (Of Paul we will speak anon.) These Ephe-i 
 sian sinners, they were men dead in sins, men 
 that walked according to the dictates and 
 motions of the devil; worshippers of Diana, 
 that effeminate goddess ; men far off from God, 
 aliens and strangera to all good things ; such 
 as were far off from that, as I said, and conse- 
 quently in a most deplorable condition. As 
 the Jerusalem sinners were of the highest sort 
 umong the Jews, so these Ephesian sinners 
 rfero of the highest sort among the Gentiles. 
 ^ph. ii. 1, 2, 3 ; Acts xix. 35'; Eph. ii. 11, 12. 
 
 Wherefore, aa by the Jerusalem sinners, in 
 saving them first, he had a design to provoke 
 others to come to him for mercy, so the same 
 design is here set on foot again in his calling 
 and converting the Ephesian sinners, that in 
 che ages to come he might show the exceeding 
 riches of his grace, saya he, " in hia kindness 
 towards us through Christ Jesus." There ia 
 vet one hint behind. It is said that God saved 
 these " for his love ;" that ia, as I think, for the 
 setting forth, for the commendation of his love, 
 for the advance of his love, in the hearts and 
 minds of them that should come after. Aa 
 who should say, God has had mercy upon and 
 been gracious to you, that he might show to 
 others, for their encouragement, that they have 
 ground to come to him to be saved. When 
 God saves one great sinner, it is to encourage 
 another great sinner to come to him for mercy. 
 
 He saved the thief, to encourage thieves to 
 come to him for mercy ; he saved Magdalen, 
 to encourage other Magdalens to come to him 
 for mercy ; he saved Saul, to encourage Sauls 
 to come to him for mercy; and thia Paul him- 
 self doth say. " For this cause," aaith he,. " I 
 obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ 
 might show forth all long-auffering, for a pat- 
 tern to them which should hereafter believe on 
 him to life everlasting." 1 Tim. i. 16. 
 
 * sinner, beseech the Lord to enable you to wel- 
 oome the grace that is welcoming you ; then you shall 
 find, in the Lord's time, that you shall be made as 
 
 How plain are the words ! Christ in saving 
 of me has given to the world a pattern of hia 
 grace, that they might see and believe, and 
 come and be saved — ^that they that are to be 
 born hereafter might believe on Jesus Christ 
 to life everlasting.* 
 
 But what was Paul? Why, he tells you 
 himself. " I am," says he, " the chief of sin- 
 ners ; I was," saya he, " a blasphemer, a per- 
 secutor, an injurious person; but I obtain- 
 ed mercy." 1 Tim. i. 14, 15. Ay, that is well 
 for you, Paul; but what advantage have we 
 thereby ? Oh, very much, saith he ; for " for 
 this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first 
 Jesus Christ might show all long-suffering, for 
 a pattern to them which shall believe on him 
 to life everlasting." 
 
 Thus, therefore, you see that this third rear 
 son is of strength — namely, that Jesus Christ 
 would have mercy offered in the first place to 
 the biggest sinners, because by their forgive- 
 ness and salvation, others hearing of it, will 
 be encouraged the more to come to him for 
 mercy. 
 
 It may well therefore be, said to God, " Thou 
 delightest in mercy, and mercy pleases thee.'- 
 Mic. vii. 18. 
 
 But who believes that this was God's design 
 in showing mercy of old? — namely, that we 
 that come after might take courage to come to 
 him for mercy; or that Jesus Christ would 
 have mercy offered in the first place to the 
 biggest sinners, to stir up others to come to 
 him for life ? This is not the manner of men; 
 OGodI 
 
 But David saw this betimes ; .therefore he 
 makes thia one argument with God, that he 
 would blot out his transgressions, that he 
 would forgive his adultery, his murders, and 
 horrible hypocrisy. "Do it, O Lord," saith 
 he, do it, and " then will I teach transgressors 
 thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto 
 thee." Ps. Ii. 7-13. 
 
 He knew that the conversion of .sinners 
 would be a work highly pleasing to God, as 
 being that which he had designed before he 
 made mountain or hill. Wherefore he comte, 
 and he saith, Save me, Lord; if thou wilt 
 but save me I will fall in with thy design ; I 
 will help to bring what sinners to thee I can. 
 And, Lord, I am willing to be made a preacher 
 myself, for that I have been a horrible sinner. 
 Wherefore, if thou shalt forgive my great trans- 
 kindly welcome as ever a sinner was since Adam'i 
 fall, and as ever any sinners were that are now glori- 
 fied saints. 
 
336 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 gressions, I shall be a fit man to tell of tliy 
 wondrous grace to others. Yea, Lord, I dare 
 promise that if thou wilt have mercy upon me, 
 it shall tend to the glory of thy grace, and also 
 to the increase of thy kingdom ; for I will tell 
 it, and sinners will hear of it. And there is 
 nothing so suiteth with the hearing sinner as 
 mercy, and to be informed that God is willing 
 to bestow it upon him. " I will teach trans- 
 gressors thy ways, and sinners shall be con- 
 verted unto thee." 
 
 Nor will Christ Jesus miss of his design in 
 proffering of mercy in the first place to the 
 biggest sinners. You know what work the 
 Lord, by laying hold of the woman of Samaria, 
 made among the people there.* They knew 
 that she was a town-sinner, an adulteress, yea, 
 one that after the most audacious manner lived 
 in uncleanness with a man that was not her 
 husband ; but when she, from a turn upon her 
 heart, went into the city and said to her neigh- 
 bours. Come, oh how they came ! how they 
 flocked out of the city to Jesus Christ ! " Then 
 they went out of the city and came to him, 
 and many of the Samaritans (people perhaps 
 as bad as herself) believed on him, for the 
 saying of the woman, which testified, saying. 
 He told me all that ever I did." John iv. 39. 
 
 That word, " He told me all that ever I did," 
 was a great argument with them ; for by that 
 they gathered that though he knew her to be 
 vile, yet he did not despise her, nor refuse to 
 show how willing he was to communicate his 
 grace unto her; and this fetched over, first 
 her, then them. ' 
 
 This woman, as I said, was a Samaritan sin- 
 ner, a sinner of the worst coniplesion, for the 
 Jews abhorred to have aught to do with them, 
 (ver. 9;) wherefore none more fit than she to 
 be made one of the decoys of heaven, to bring 
 others of the Samaritan wild fowls under the 
 net of the grace of Christ. And she did the 
 work to purpose. Many and many more of 
 the Samaritans believed on him. Ver. 40, 41, 
 42. The heart of man, though set in sin, will, 
 when it comes once to a persuasion that God is 
 willing to have mercy upon us, incline to come 
 to Jesus Christ for life. Witness those turn- 
 aways from God that you also read of in Jere- 
 
 * It is ignorance of the worth of Christ, and the, 
 not heing sensible of the want of him, that malies 
 persons so indifferent in their desires after him, and 
 BO remiss in using the means of grace to obtain him ; 
 but the promise is, " They that seelt shall find ; they 
 that ask shall receive; and to them that knock the 
 door of mercy and peace shall be opened." 
 
 miah ; for after they had heard three or four 
 times over that God had mercy for backsliders, 
 they broke out and said, "Behold, we come 
 unto thee, for thou art the Lord our God." 
 Or as those in Hosea did, " For in thee the 
 fatherless find." Jer. iii. 22 ; Hos. xiv. 1, 2, 3. 
 
 Mercy, and the revelation thereof, is the 
 only antidote against sin. It is of a thawing 
 nature ; it will loose the heart that is frozen 
 up in sin : yea, it will make the unwilling will- 
 ing to come to Jesus Christ for life. 
 
 Wherefore, do you think, was it that Jesus 
 Christ told the adulterous woman, and that be- 
 fore so many sinners, that he had not con- 
 demned her, but to allure her, with them there 
 present, to hope to find favour at his hands? 
 (As he also saith in another place,) "I came 
 not to judge, but to save the world." f For 
 might they not thence most rationally con- 
 clude that if Jesus Christ had rather save than 
 damn an harlot, there was encouragement for 
 them to come to him for mercy? 
 
 I heard once a story from a soldier who with 
 his company had laid siege against a fprt, that 
 so long as the besieged were persuaded their 
 foes would show them no favour they fought 
 like madmen ; but when they saw one of their 
 fellows taken and received to favour, they all 
 came tumbling dov?n from their fortress, and 
 delivered themselves into their enemies' hands. 
 
 I am persuaded, did men believe that there 
 is that grace and willingness in the heart of 
 Christ to save sinners as the word imports 
 there is, they would come tumbling into his 
 arms ; but Satan .has blinded their minds that 
 they cannot see this, thing. Howbeit, the 
 Lord Jesus has, as I said, that others might 
 take heart and come to him, given out a com- 
 mandment that mercy should in the first place 
 be offered to the biggest sinners. "Begin," 
 saith he, " at Jerusalem." And thus I end the 
 third reason. 
 
 Fourthly, Jesus Christ would have mercy 
 oifered in the first place to the biggest sinners, 
 because that is the way, if they receive it, most 
 to weaken the kingdom of Satan, and to keep 
 it lowest in every age of the world. The big- 
 gest sinners, they are Satan's colonels and 
 captains, the leaders of his people, and they 
 that most stoutly make head against the Son 
 of God. Wherefore let these first be con- 
 
 ■f The design of Christ's first coming into the world 
 was to save miserable sinners ; the end of his second 
 coming will be to judge the unbelieving part of it; for 
 the sin of unbelief binds all other sins upon the sin- 
 ner, and consigns him over to damnation. 
 
THE JERUSALEM SINNER SAVED. 
 
 337 
 
 quered, and hia kingdom will be weak. When 
 Ishbosheth had lost his Abner, his kingdom 
 was made weak, nor did he sit but tottering 
 then upon his throne. So when Satan loseth 
 his strong men, them that are mighty to work 
 iniquity, and dexterous to manage others in 
 thn same, then is bis kingdom weak. 2 Sam. 
 iii Therefore, I say, Christ doth offer mercy 
 . in the first place to such the more to weaken 
 hi* kingdom. Christ Jesus was glad to see 
 Satan fall like lightning from heaven, that is 
 suddenly or headlong; and it was surely by 
 casting of him out of strong possessions and 
 by recovering of some notorious sinners out of 
 his clutches. Luke x. 17, 18, 19. 
 
 Samson, when he would pull down the Phil- 
 istines' temple, took hold of the two main 
 pillars of it, and, breaking them, down came 
 the house. Christ came to destroy the works 
 of the, devil, and to destroy by converting 
 grace as well as by redeeming blood. Now sin 
 swarms, and lieth by legions and whole armies 
 in the souls of the biggest sinners, as in gar- 
 risons; wherefore the way, the most direct 
 way, to destroy it is first to deal with such sin- 
 ners by the word of his Gospel and by the 
 merits of his passion.* 
 
 For example, though I shall give you biTt a 
 homely one : Suppose a family to be very lou^, 
 and one or two of the family to be in chief the 
 breeders ; the way, the quickest way, to clear 
 that family, or at least to weaken the so swarm- 
 ing of those vermin, is, in the first place, to 
 sweeten the skin, head, and clothes of the 
 chief breeders ; and then, though all the family 
 should be apt to breed them, the number of 
 them, and so the greatness of that plague there, 
 will be the more impaired. 
 
 Why, there are some people that are in chief 
 the devil's sin-breeders in the towns and places 
 where they live. The place, town, or family 
 where they live must needs be horribly lousy, 
 and, as it were, eaten up with vermin. Now, 
 let the Lord Jesus in the first place cleanse 
 these great breeders, and there will be given a 
 nip to those swarms of sins that used to be 
 committed in such places throughout the town, 
 house, or family where such sin-breeding per- 
 sons used to be. 
 
 I speak by experience : I was one of those 
 
 * Christ's meritorious life and sufferings were ap- 
 pointed in order to bring those rebels and apostates 
 for whom he died unto God ; having satisfied justice, 
 and fulfilled the law, every obstacle is removed, and 
 the way to supreme happiness is made plain hy the 
 word and Spirit of God. 
 22 
 
 lousy ones, one of these great sin-breeders ; I 
 infected all the youth of the town where I was 
 born with all manner of youthful vanities. The 
 neighbours counted me so ; my practice proved 
 me so; wherefore Christ Jesus took me first, 
 and taking me first, the contagion was much 
 allayed all the town over. When God made 
 me sigh, they would hearken and inquiringly 
 say, What is the matter with John? They 
 also gave their various opinions of me. But, 
 as I said, sin cooled 3,nd fai.ed as to his full 
 career. When I went out ( •; seek the bread 
 of life some of them would fvjilow, and the rest 
 be put into a muse at home. Yea, almost the 
 town, at first, at times, would go out to hear at 
 the place where I found good ; yea, young and 
 old for a while had some reformation on them; 
 also some of them, perceiving that God had 
 mercy upon me, came crying to him for mercy 
 too. 
 
 But what need , I give you an instance of 
 poor I? I will come to Manasseh the king. 
 So long as he was a ringleading sinner, the 
 great idolater, and chief of devilism, the 
 whole land flowed with wickedness ; " For he 
 made them to sin," and do worse than the 
 heathen that dwelt round about them, or that 
 was cast out from before them; but when God 
 converted him the whole land was reformed. 
 Down went the groves, the idols, and altars of 
 Baal, and up went true religion in much of the 
 power and purity of it. You will say, The 
 king reformed by power. I answer. Doubt- 
 less, and by example too, for people observe 
 their leaders; as their fathers did, so did the jr. 
 2 Chron. xxxiii. ; 2 Kings xvii. 41. 
 
 This, therefore, is another reason why Jesus 
 would have mercy ofiered in the first place to 
 the biggest sinners, because that is the best 
 way, if they receive it, most to weaken the 
 kingdom of Satan and to keep it poor and low. 
 And do you not think now that if Gifd would 
 hut take hold of the hearts of some of the 
 most notorious in your town, in your family, 
 or country, that this thing would be verified 
 before your faces? It would, it would, to the 
 joy of you that are godly, to the making of 
 hell to sigh, to the great suppression of sin, 
 the glory of Christ, and the joy of the angels 
 of God.f And ministers should therefore. 
 
 f If the recovery of one lost sinner by repentance 
 is matter of exceeding joy to Christ the great Shep- 
 herd, to all the blessed company in heaven, and to 
 saints on earth, what rejoicing must there be at the 
 glorification of the innumerable throng when assem- 
 bled together in the realms of bliss above ! 
 
338 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WOEKS. 
 
 that this work might go on, take advantage to 
 persuade with the biggest sinners to come into 
 Christ, according to my text and their com- 
 mission, "beginning at Jerusalem." 
 
 Fifthly, Jesus Christ would have mercy 
 offered in the first place to the biggest sinners, 
 because such, wjien converted, are usually the 
 best helps in the Church against temptations, 
 and fittest for the support of the feeble-minded 
 there. Hence, usually you have some such in 
 the first plantation of churches, or quickly 
 upon it. Churches would do but sorrily if 
 Christ Jesus did not put such converts among 
 them: they are the monuments and mirrors 
 of mercy. The very sight of such a sinner in 
 God's house — yea, the very thought of him 
 where the sight of him cannot be had — is 
 ofttimes greatly for the help of the faith ' of 
 the feeble. 
 
 " When the churches (saith Paul) that were 
 in Judea heard this concerning me, that he 
 which persecuted them in time past now 
 preached the faith which once he destroyed, 
 they glorified God in me." Gal. i. 20-24. 
 
 "'Glorified God." How is that? Why, 
 they praised him, and took courage to believe 
 the more in the mercy of God, for that he had 
 had mercy on such a great sinner as he. They 
 glorified God "in me," they wondered that 
 grace should be so rich as to take hold of such 
 a wretch as I was ; and for my sake believe in 
 Christ the more. 
 
 There are two things that great sinners are 
 acquainted with, when they come to divulge 
 them to the saints, that are a great relief to 
 their faith: 
 
 1. The contests that they usually have with 
 the devil at their parting with him. 
 
 2. Their knowledge of his secrets in his 
 workings. 
 
 For the first: The biggest sinners have 
 usualljt great contests with the devil at their 
 partings ; and this is an help to saints, for or- 
 dinary saints find afterwards what the vile 
 ones find at first; but when at the opening of 
 hearts the one finds himself to be as the other, 
 the one is a comfort to the other. The lesser 
 sort of sinners find but little of this till after 
 they have been some time in profession ; but 
 the vile man meets with his at the beginning. 
 Wherefore ne, when the other is down, is 
 ready to tell that he has met with the same 
 before ; for, I say, he has had it before. Satan 
 
 * The devil harasses some with horrid, filthy, blas- 
 .phemous thoughts, that they may think their sins too 
 great to be forgiven, though commonly such thoughts 
 
 is loth to part with a great sinner. What, my 
 true servant, (quoth he,) my old servant, wilt 
 thou forsake me now? Having so often sold 
 thyself to me to work wickedness, wilt thou 
 forsake me now? Thou horrible wretch, dost 
 not know that thou hast sinned thyself beyond 
 the reach of grace, and dost think to find 
 mercy now?* Art not thou a murderer, a 
 thief, a harlot, a witch, a sinner of the greatest 
 size, and dost thou look for mercy now? Dost 
 thou think that Christ will foul his fingers with 
 thee? It is enough to make angels blush, saith 
 Satan, to see so vile a one knock at heaven- 
 gates for mercy, and wilt thou be so abomina- 
 bly bold to do it? Thus Satan dealt with me, 
 says the great sinner, when at first I came to 
 Jesus Christ. And what did you reply? saith 
 the tempted. Why, I granted the whole charge 
 to be true, says the other. And what, did you 
 despair, or how? No, (saith he,) I said, I am 
 Magdalen, I am Magdalen; I am Zaccheus, I 
 am the thief, I am the harlot, I am the publi- 
 can, I am the prodigal, and one of Christ's 
 murderers ; yea, worse than any of these ; and 
 yet God was so far off from rejecting of me 
 (as I found afterwards) that there was music 
 and dancing in his -house for me, and for joy 
 that I was come home unto him. Oh blessed 
 be God for his grace I (says, the other,) fot 
 then I hope there is favour for me. Yea, as I 
 told you, such a one is a continual spectacle in 
 the Church for every one to behold God's grace 
 and wonder by. 
 
 Secondly. And as for the secrets of Satan, 
 such as are suggestions to question the being 
 of God, the truth of his word, and to be an- 
 noyed with devilish blasphemies, none more 
 acquainted with these than the biggest sinners 
 at their conversion ; wherefore thus also they 
 are prepared to be helps in the Church to re- 
 lieve and comfort the other. 
 
 I might also here tell you of the contests and 
 battles that such are engaged in, wherein they 
 find the besettings of Satan, above any other 
 of the saints. At which times Satan assaults 
 the soul with darkness, fears, frightful thoughta 
 of apparitions ; now they sweat, pant, cry out, 
 and struggle for life. 
 
 The angels now come down to behold tht 
 sight, and rejoice to see a bit of dust and ashes 
 to overcome principalities and powers and 
 might and dominions. But, as I said, when 
 these come a little to be settled, they are pre- 
 
 are the least of the sins of those who are postered 
 with them, and rather the devil's, who injects them, 
 than theirs. See Matt. xii. 3] . 
 
THE JERUSALEM SINNER SAVED. 
 
 339 
 
 pared for helping others, and are great com- 
 forts unto them. Their great sins giye great 
 encourai;ement to the devil to assault them ; 
 and by these temptations Christ takes advan- 
 tage to make them the more helpful to the 
 churches. 
 
 The biggest sinner, when he is converted 
 and comes into the Church, says to them all by 
 his very coming in, Behold me, all you that 
 are men and women of a low and timorous 
 spirit, you whose hearts are narrow, for that 
 you never had the advantage to know, because 
 your sins are few, the largeness of the grace 
 of God,— behold, I say, in me the exceeding 
 riches of his grace 1 * I am a pattern set forth 
 before your faces, on whom you may look and 
 take heart. This, I say, the great sinner can 
 say, to the exceeding comfort of all the rest. 
 
 Wherefore, as I have hinted before, when 
 Gods intends to stock a place with saints, and 
 to make that place excellently to flourish with 
 the riches of his grace, he usually begins with 
 the conversion of some of the most notorious 
 thereabouts, and lays them as an example to 
 allure others and to build up when they are 
 converted. 
 
 Paul must go to thfe Gentiles, because Paul 
 was the most outrageous of all the apostles in 
 the time of his unregeneracy ; yea, Peter miist 
 be he that after his horrible fall was thought 
 fittest, when recovered again, to comfort and 
 strengthen his brethren. See Luke xxii. 31, 
 32. 
 
 Some must be pillars in God's house ; and 
 if they be pillars of cedar, they must stand 
 while they are stout and sturdy sticks in the 
 forest, before they are cut down and planted 
 or placed there. 
 
 No man, when he buildeth his house, makes 
 the principal parts thereof of weak or feeble 
 timber — for how could such bear up the rest ? — 
 but of great and able wood. Christ Jesus also 
 goeth this way to work ; he makes of the big- 
 gest sinners bearers and supporters to the rest. 
 This, theU; may serve for another reason why 
 Jesus Christ gives out in commandment that 
 mercy should, in the first place, be offered to 
 the biggest sinners, because such, when con- 
 verted, are usually the best helps in the Church 
 against temptations, and fittest for the support 
 of the feeble-minded there. 
 
 * The Lord shows his grace nowhere so much as in 
 the predestination of his children, and in what he 
 hath predestined them unto; all his attributes shine 
 conspicuously herein, but the glory of his grace with 
 lunerior lustre above the rest. 
 
 Sixthly, Another reason why Jesus Christ 
 would have mercy offered in the first place to 
 the biggest sinners is, because they, when con- 
 verted, are apt to love him most. 
 
 This agrees both with Scripture and reason. 
 Scripture says so : " To whom much is forgiven, 
 the same loveth much. To wholn little is for- 
 given, the same loveth little." Luke vii, 47. 
 Reason says so ; for as it would be the unrea- 
 sonablest thing in the world to render hatred 
 for love and contempt for forgiveness, so it 
 would be as ridiculous to think that the recep- 
 tion of a little kindness should lay the same 
 obligations upon the heart to love as the recep- 
 tion of a great deal. I would not disparage 
 the love of Christ ; I know the least drachm 
 of it, when it reaches to forgiveness, is great 
 above all the world ; but comparatively, there 
 are greater extensions of the love of Christ to 
 one than to another. He that > has most sin, 
 if forgiven, is partaker of the greatest love, of 
 the greatest forgiveness. 
 
 I know also that there are some that from 
 this very doctrine say, " Let us do evil, that 
 good may come," and that turn the grace of 
 our God into lasciviousness. But I speak not 
 of these ; these will neither be ruled by grace 
 nor reason. Grace would teach them, if they 
 knew it, to deny ungodly courses; and so 
 would reason too if it could truly sense the 
 love of God. 2 Tim. ii. 11, 12 ; Rom. xi. 1. 
 
 Doth it look like what hath any coherence 
 with reason or mercy for a man to abuse his 
 friend? Because Christ died for men shall I 
 therefore spit in his face? The bread and 
 water that was given by Elisha to his enemies 
 that came into the land of Israel to take him 
 had so much influence upon their minds, 
 though heathens, that they returned to their 
 homes without hurting him, yea, it kept them 
 from coming again in a hostile manner into 
 the coasts of Israel. 2 Kings vi. 19, 20, 21, 22, 
 23. 
 
 But, to forbear to illustrate till anon, one 
 reason why Christ Jesus shows mercy to sin- 
 ners is, that he might obtain their love, that 
 he may remove their base affections from base 
 objects to himself.f Now, if he loves to be 
 loved a little, he loves to be loved much, but 
 there is not any that are capable of loving 
 much save those that have much forgiven 
 
 f All objects are base when compared with Christ, 
 who is the fulness of Him who fiUeth all in all. The 
 love of anything, how excellent soever, above him, is 
 the idolatry of the heart. They that know him most 
 will love him best, and not turn aside to lying vanities. 
 
340 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS 
 
 them. Hence it said of Paul that he laboured 
 more than them all — to wit, with a labour of 
 love — ^because he had been by sin more vile 
 against Christ than they all. 1 Cor. xv. He 
 it was that persecuted the Church of God and 
 wasted it. Gal. i. 13. He, of them all, was the 
 only raving bedlam against the saints : " And 
 being exceeding mad," says he, " against them, 
 1 persecuted them, even to strange cities.'' Acts 
 xxvi. 11. 
 
 This racing bedlam, that once was so, is he 
 that low says, I laboured more than them all, 
 more for Christ than them all. 
 
 But, Paul, what moved thee thus to do? 
 The love of Christ, says he. It was not I, but 
 the grace of God that was with me. As who 
 should say, O grace ! It was such grace to save 
 me ! It was such marvellous grace for God to 
 look down from heaven upon me, and that se- 
 cured me from the wrath to come, that I am 
 captivated with the sense of the riches of it. 
 Hence I act, hence I labour; for how can I 
 otherwise do, since God not only separated me 
 from my sins and companions, but separated 
 all the powers of my soul and body to his ser- 
 vice? I am therefore prompted on by this 
 exceeding love to labour as I have done ; yet 
 not I, but the grace of God' with me. 
 
 ■Oh, I shall never forget his love, nor the 
 circumstances under which I was when his love 
 laid hold upon me. I was going to Damascus 
 with letters 'from the high priest to make 
 havoc of God's people there, as I had made 
 havoc of them in other places. These bloody 
 letters were not imposed upon me. I went to 
 the high priest and desired them of him, (Acts 
 ix. 1, 2,) and yet he saved me! I was one of 
 the men, of the chief men, that had a hand 
 in the blood of his martyr Stephen ; yet he 
 had mercy on me ! When I was at Damascus 
 1 stunk so horribly like a blood-sucker that I 
 became a tero-or to all thereabout. Yea, An- 
 anias, good man, made intercession to my 
 Lord against me ; yet he would have mercy 
 upon me ! Yea, joined mercy to mercy, until 
 he had made me a monument of grace. He 
 made a saint of me, and persuaded me that my 
 transgressions were forgiven me. 
 
 When I began to preach, those that heard 
 me were amazed, and said, "Is not this he that 
 destroyed them that called on this name in 
 Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, 
 that he might bring them bound to the high 
 
 * The quickening Spirit of God convinces us of sin ; 
 and the belief of God's pardoning and accepting grace 
 IB Clirist is a necessary means to bring us to an in- 
 
 priest ?" Hell doth know that I was a sinner; 
 heaven doth know that I was a sinner; the 
 world also knows that I was a sinner, a sinner 
 of the greatest size ; but I obtained mercy.* 
 Acts ix. 20, 21. 
 
 Shall not this lay obligation upon me? Is 
 not love of the greatest force to oblige ? Is it 
 not strong as death, cruel as the grave, and 
 hotter than the coals of juniper ? Hath it not 
 a most vehement flame ? can the waters quench 
 it? can the floods drown it? I am under the 
 force of it, and this is my continual cry. What 
 shall I render to the Lord for all the benefits 
 which he has bestowed upon me ? 
 
 Ay, Paul, this is something ; thou speakest ■ 
 like a rnan, like a man affected and carried 
 away with the love and grace of God. Now 
 this sense, and this affection, and this labour 
 give to Christ the love that he looks for. But 
 he might have converted twenty little sinners, 
 and yet not found, for grace bestowed, so 
 much love in them all. 
 
 . I wonder how far a man might go among 
 the converted sinners of the smaller size before 
 one could find one that so much as look any 
 thing this-wayward. Where is he that is thus 
 under pangs of love for the grace bestowed 
 upon him by Jesus Christ? Excepting only 
 some few, you may walk to the world's end 
 and find none. But, as I said, some there are, 
 and so there have been in every age of the 
 Church, great sinners, that have had much 
 forgiven them, and they love much upon this 
 account. 
 
 Jesus Christ therefore knows what he doth 
 when he lays hold on the hearts of sinners of 
 the biggest size.* He knows that such an one 
 will love more than many that have not sinned 
 half their sins. 
 
 I will tell you a story that I have read of 
 Martha and Mary: the name of the book 
 I have forgot — I mean of the book in which 
 I found the relation — ^but the thing was 
 thus: 
 
 Martha, saith my author, was a very holy 
 woman, much like Lazarus her brother, but 
 Mary was a loose and wanton creature. Mar- 
 tha did seldom miss good sermons and lec- 
 tures when she could come at them in Jeru- 
 salem, but Mary would frequent the houses of 
 sports and the company of the vilest of men 
 for lust. And though Martha had often de- 
 sired that her sister would go with her to hear 
 
 genuous confession of it. If you would freely confess 
 your sins, believe first that " God is faithful and just 
 to forgive your sins," through Christ. 1 John i. 9. 
 
THE JERUSALEM SINNEB SAVED. 
 
 341 
 
 hor preachere, yea, had often entreated her 
 with teats to do it, yet slie could never pre- 
 vail ; for still Mary would make her excuse, or 
 reject her with disdain for her zeal and pre- 
 ciseness in religion.* 
 
 After Martha had waited long, tried many 
 ways to bring her sister to good, and all 
 proved ineffectual, at last she comes upon her 
 thus : Si.stcr, quoth she, I pray thee go with 
 me to the temple to-day to hear one preach a 
 Bermon. What kind of preacher is he? said 
 she. Martha replied. It is one Jesus of 
 Nazareth ; he is the handsomest man you 
 ever saw with your eyes._ Oh ! he sTiines in 
 beauty and is a most excellent preacher. 
 
 Now, what does Mary, after a little pause, 
 but go up into her chamber, and with her 
 pins and her clouts decks up herself as fine as 
 her fingers could make her. This done, away 
 she goes — not with her sister Martha, but as 
 much unobserved as she could — to the sermon, 
 or rather to see the preacher. 
 
 _ The hour and preacher being come, and 
 she having observed whereabout the preacher 
 would stand, goes and sits herself so in the 
 temple that she might be sure to have the full 
 view of this excellent person. So he comes iu 
 and she looks, and the first glimpse of his per- 
 son pleaseth her. Well, Jesus addresseth him- 
 self to his sermon, and she looks earnestly on 
 him. 
 
 Now at that time, saith my author, Jesus 
 preached about the lost sheep, the lost groat, 
 and the prodigal child. And when he came to 
 show what care the shepherd took for one lost 
 sheep, and how the woman swept to find her 
 piece which was lost, and what joy there was 
 at their finding, she began to be taken by the 
 ears, and forgot what she came about, musing 
 what the preacher would make of it. But 
 when he came to the application, and showed 
 that by the lost sheep was meant a great sin- 
 ner, by the shepherd's care was meant God's 
 love for great sinners, and that by the joy of 
 the neighbours was showed what joy there was 
 among the angels in heaven over one great 
 sinner that repenteth, she began to be taken 
 by the heart. And as he spake these last 
 words she thought he pitched his innocent 
 
 * You may aa well kill a carnal man as confine 
 him to prayer and preaching: he knows not what it 
 ia to take real pleasure in spiritual and heavenly 
 work; then how could he love heaven itself? He 
 could not delight in heaven any more than a sow in a 
 palace, or a profane debauchee in a company that are 
 praying to and praising God apiritaally. 
 
 eyes just upon her, and looked as if he spake 
 what was now said to her ; wherefore her heart 
 began to tremble, being shaken with affection 
 and fear ; then her eyes ran down with tears 
 apace; wherefore she was forced to hide her 
 face with her handkerchief, and so sat sobbing 
 and crying all the rest of the sermon. 
 
 Sermon being done, up she gets and away 
 she goes, and withal inquired where this Jesus 
 the preacher dined that day? and one told hei 
 at the house of Simon the Pharisee. So away 
 goes she, first to her chamber, and there strips 
 herself of her wanton attire ; then falls upon 
 her knees to ask God forgiveness of all her 
 wicked life. This done, in a modest dress, she 
 goes to Simon's house, where she finds Jesus 
 sat at dinner. So she gets behind him and 
 weeps, and drops her tears upon his feet like 
 rain and washes them, and wipes them with 
 the hair of her head. She also kissed his feet 
 with her lips, and anointed them with oint- 
 ment. When Simon the Pharisee perceived 
 what the woman did, and being ignorant of 
 what it was to be forgiven much, (for he never 
 was forgiven more than fifty pence,) he began 
 to think within himself that he had been mis- 
 taken about Jesus Christ, because he suffered 
 such a sinner as this woman was to touch him.f 
 Surely, quoth he, this man, if he were a prophet, 
 would not let this woman come near him, for 
 she is a town-sinner, (so ignorant are all self- 
 righteous men of the way of Christ with sin- 
 ners.) But lest Mary should be discouraged 
 with some clownish carriage of this Pharisee, 
 and so desert her good beginnings and her new 
 steps which she now had began to take towards 
 eternal life, Jesus began thus with Simon. 
 " Simon," saith he, " I have somewhat to say 
 unto thee. And he saith. Master, say on. 
 There was, saith Jesus, a certain creditor had 
 two debtors ; the one owed him five hundred 
 pence, and the other fifty. And when they 
 had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them 
 both. Tell me, therefore, which of them will 
 love him most? Simon answered and said, I 
 suppose he to whom he forgave most. And he 
 said unto him. Thou hast rightly judged. And 
 he turned to the woman and said unto Simon, 
 Seest thou this woman? I entered into thy 
 house, thou gavest me no water for my feet ; 
 
 f There is not a stream, not a drop of grace, to be 
 had but from Jesus Christ; he, as God-man, has it all 
 in himself: he communicates a fulness of light and 
 life, sense and understanding, love and joj^, yea, every 
 spiritual blessing, to his members, who must depend 
 on him at all times. 
 
342 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 but she has washed my feet with tears, and 
 wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou 
 gavest me no kiss ; but this woman, since the 
 time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my 
 feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint, 
 but this woman hath anointed my feet with 
 ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee. Her 
 sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she 
 loved mucl' ; but to whom little is forgiven, 
 the 5i,me loveth little. And he said unto her, 
 Thy sins are forgiven." Luke vii. 36, 50. 
 
 Thus you have the story. If I come short 
 in any circumstance, I beg pardon of those 
 that can correct me. It is three or four and 
 twenty years since I saw the book ; yet I have, 
 as far as my memory will admit, given you the 
 relation of the matter. However, Luke, as 
 you see, doth here present you with the sub- 
 stance of the whole. 
 
 Alas ! Christ Jesus has but little thanks for 
 the saving of little sinners. " To whom little 
 is forgiven, the same loveth little." He gets 
 no water for his feet by his saving of such sin- 
 ners. There are abundance of dry-eyed Chris- 
 tians in the world, and abundance of dry-eyed 
 duties too — duties that never were wetted with 
 the tears of contrition and repentance, nor 
 ever sweetened with the great sinner's box of 
 ointment. And the reason is, such sinners 
 have not great sins to be saved from ; or, if 
 they have, they look upon them in the dimin- 
 ishing glass of the holy law' of God. But I 
 rather believe that the professors of our days 
 want a due sense of what they are ; for verily, 
 for the generality of them, both before and 
 since conversion, they have been sinners of a 
 lusty size. But if their eyes be holden, if con- 
 victions are not shown, if their knowledge of 
 their sins is but like to the eyesight in twilight, 
 ihe heart cannot be affected with that grace 
 that has laid hold on the man ; and so Christ 
 Jesus sows much and has little coming in.* 
 
 Wherefore his way is ofttimes to step out of 
 the way, to Jericho, to Samaria, to the country 
 of the Gadarenes, to the coasts of Tyre and 
 Sidon, and also to Mount Calvary, that he may 
 lay hold of such kind of sinners as will love 
 him to his liking. Luke xix. 1-11 ; John iv. 
 8-11; Mark v. 1-21; Matt. xv. 21-29; Luke 
 xx:iii. 33-'14. 
 
 •:i! <i Herein is my Father glorified, says the blessed 
 Jesus, if ye bear much fruit." Christians live below 
 their privileges ; they should be always pressing for- 
 ward to obtain more faith, hope, love, joy, godly fear, 
 patience — to be shining lights and glorify their God 
 and Say lour in all things. • 
 
 But this much for the sixth reason why 
 Christ Jesus would have mercy offered in the 
 first place to the biggest sinners ; to wit, be- 
 cause such sinners, when converted, are apt to 
 love him most. The Jerusalem sinners were 
 they that outstripped,' when they were con- 
 verted, in some things, all the churches of the 
 Gentiles. " They were of one heart and of one 
 soul, neither said any of them that aught of 
 the things that they possessed was their cwn; 
 neither was there any among them that lacked, 
 for as many as were possessors of lands or 
 houses, sold them and brought the price of the 
 things ttat were sold, and laid them down at 
 the apostles' feet," &c. Acts iv. 32-35. Now, 
 show me such another pattern if you can. But 
 why did these do thus ? Oh, they were Jeru- 
 salem sinners. These were the men that but a 
 little before had killed the Prince of life ; and 
 to those who did that, notwithstanding, .he 
 sent the first offer of grace and mercy. And 
 the sense of this took them up betwixt the 
 earth and the heaven, and carried them on in 
 such ways and methods as could never be 
 trodden by any since. They talk of the church 
 at Rome, and set her, in her primitive state, 
 as a pattern and mother of churches ; when the 
 truth is, they were the Jerusalem sinners, when 
 
 ■ converts, that outdid all the churches that ever 
 was. 
 
 Seventhly, Christ Jesus would have mercy 
 offered in the first place to the biggest sinners, 
 because grace, when it is received by such, finds 
 matter to kindle upon more freely than it finds 
 in other sinners. Great sinners are like the 
 dry wood or like great candles, which burn best 
 and shine with biggest light. I lay not this 
 down, as I did those reasons before, to show 
 
 -that when great sinners are converted they will 
 be encouragement to others, though that ■ is 
 true, but to show that Christ has a delight to 
 see grace, the grace we receive to shine.f We 
 love to see things that bear a good gloss ; yea 
 we choose to buy such kind of matter to work 
 upon as will, if wrought up to what we intend, 
 cast tliat lustre that we desire. Candles that 
 burn not bright we like not; wood that is 
 green will rather smother, and sputter,- and 
 smoke, and crack, and flounce than cast a 
 brave light and a pleasant heat; wherefore 
 
 ■j- The children of light should reflect the rays of 
 Grod's goodness to others, and, that they may do so, 
 should pray for a constant supply of the Spirit, that 
 in all their dealings it may appear that they have beoa 
 with Jesus, and that his most amiable life and ex- 
 ample is ever before their eyes. 
 
THE JERUSALEM SINNER SAVED. 
 
 343 
 
 great folks care not much, not so much for 
 such kind of things, aa for them that will bet- 
 ter answer their ends. 
 
 Hence Christ desires the biggest sinners ; in 
 him there is matter to work by — to wit, a great 
 deal of sin ; for as by the tallow of the candle 
 the fire takes occasion to burn the brighter, so 
 by the sin of the soul grace takes occasion to 
 shine the clearer. Little candles shine but 
 r liltle, for there wanteth matter for tha flre to 
 work upon ; but in the great sinner here is 
 more matter for grace to work by. Faith 
 shines, when it worketh towards Ohrist,'through 
 the sides of many and great transgressors, and 
 so does love, for that much is forgiven. And 
 what matter can be found in the spul for hu- 
 mility to work by so well' as by a sight that I 
 have been and am an abominable sinner f And 
 the same is to"be said of patiente, meekness, gen- 
 tleness, self-denial, or any other grace. Grace 
 takes occasion by the vileness of the man to 
 shine- the more, even aa by the ruggedness of a 
 very strong distemper of disease the virtue of 
 the medicine is best made manifest. " Where 
 sin abounds, grace much more abounds." Rom. 
 V. 20. A black string makes the neck look 
 whiter; great sins make grace burn clear. 
 Some say, When grace and a good nature 
 meet together they do make shining Christians.; 
 but I say, When grace and a great sinner meet, 
 and grace shall subdue that great sinner to itself, 
 and shall operate after its kind in the soul of 
 that great sinner, then we have a shining Chris- 
 tian : witness all of those of whom mention 
 was made before. 
 
 Abraham was among the idolaters when in 
 the land of Assyria, and served idols with his 
 kindred on the other side of the flood. Josh. 
 Kxiv. 2 ; Gen. xi. 31. But who, when called, 
 was there in the world in whom grace shone so 
 bright as in him? 
 
 The Thessalonians were idolaters before the 
 word of God came to them ; but when they 
 had received it they became examples to all 
 that did believe in Macedonia and Achaia. 1 
 Thess. i. 6-10. 
 
 God the Father, and Jesus Christ his Son, 
 are for having things seen, for having the word 
 of life held forth. They light not a candle 
 that it might be put under a bushel or under a 
 bed, but on a candlestick, that all that come in 
 may see the light. Matt. v. 15 ; Mark iv. 21. 
 
 * The devil, who is the god of this world, knows 
 how necessary it is for our salvation to discern all the 
 glory and excellency of Christ; and therefore where 
 the Gospel is preached he labours to eclipse the glory 
 
 And I say, as I said before, in whom is it 
 like so to shine as in the souls of great sinners? 
 
 When the Jewish Pharisees dallied with the 
 Gospel, Christ threatened to take it from them . 
 and to give it to the barbarous heathens and 
 idolaters. Why so? For they, saith he, will 
 bring forth the fruits thereof in their season : 
 " Therefore, I say unto you. The kingdom of 
 God shall be taken from you, and given to a 
 nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." Matt. 
 xxi. 41, 42. ' 
 
 I have often marvelled at our youth, and 
 said in my heart. What- should be the reason 
 that they should be so generally at this day de- 
 bauched as they are? For they are now pro- 
 fane to amazement; and sometimes I have 
 thought one thing and sometimes another ; that 
 is, why God should suffer it so to be. At last 
 I have thought of this : How if God, whose 
 ways are past finding out, should suffer it so to 
 be now that he might make of some of them 
 the more glorious saints hereafter. I know sin 
 is of the devil, but it cannot work in the world 
 without permission ; and if it happens to be as 
 I have thought, it will not be the first time that 
 God the Lord hath caught Satan in his own 
 design.* For myipart, I believe that the time 
 is at hand that we shall see better saints in 
 the world than have been seen in it this many a 
 day. And this vileness that at present does so 
 much swallow up our youth is one cause of my 
 thinking so ; for out of them, for from among 
 them, when God sets to his hand as of old, you 
 shall see what penitent ones, what trembling 
 ones, and what admirers of grace will be found 
 to profess the Gospel to the glory of God by 
 Christ. 
 
 Alas ! we are a company of worn-out Chris- 
 tians, our moon is in the wane ; we are much 
 more-black than white, more dark than light; 
 we shine but a little ; grace in the most of us 
 is decayed. But I say, when they of these de- 
 bauched ones that are to be saved shall be 
 brought in, when these that look more like 
 devils than men shall be converted to Christ, 
 (and I believe several of them will,) then will 
 Christ be exalted, grace adored, the word prized, 
 Zion's paths better trodden, and men in the 
 pursuit of their own salvation to the amazement 
 of them that are left behind. 
 
 Just before Christ came into the flesh the 
 world was degenerated as it is now ; the gene- 
 rality of men in Jerusalem were become either 
 
 of Christ in the ministry, and to blind the minds of 
 the people, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of 
 Christ should shine unto them. 2 Cor. iv. 4. 
 
344 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 high aiid famous for hypocrisy or filthy base in 
 their lives. The devil also was broke loose in 
 a hideous manner, and had taken possession of 
 many; yea, I believe that there was never 
 generation before nor since' that could produce 
 80 many possessed with devils, deformed, lame, 
 blind, and infected with monstrous diseases, as 
 that generation could. But what was the rea- 
 son thereof? I mean the reason from God. 
 Why one (and we may sum up more in that 
 answer that Christ gave to his disciples con- 
 cerning him that was born blind) was, that the 
 works of God might be made manifest in them, 
 and that the Son of God might be glorified 
 thereby. John ix. 2, 3 ; xi. 4. 
 
 Now if these devils and diseases, as they 
 possessed men then, were to make way and 
 work for an approaching Christ in person and 
 for the declaring of his power, why may we 
 not think that now, even now also, he is ready 
 to come by his Spirit in the Gospel to heal 
 many of the debaucheries of our age? I can- 
 not believe that grace will take them all, for 
 there are but few that are saved ; but yet it 
 will take some, even some of the worst of men, 
 and make blessed ones of them.* But oh how 
 these ringleaders in vice will then shine in 
 virtue! They will be the very pillars in 
 churches, they will be as an ensign in the 
 land; "The Lord their God shall save them 
 in that day as the flock of his people, for they 
 shall be as the stones of a crown, lift up as an 
 ensign upon the land." Zech. ix. 16. But who 
 are these? Even idolatrous Ephraim and 
 backsliding Judah. Ver. 13. 
 
 I know there is ground to fear that the in- 
 iquity of this generation will be pursued with 
 heavy judgments; but that will not hinder 
 what we have supposed : God took him a glori- 
 ous Church out of bloody Jerusalem, yea, out 
 of the chief of the sinners there, and left the 
 rest to be taken and spoiled, and sold thirty 
 for a penny in the nations where they were 
 captives. The Gospel working gloriously in a 
 place, to the seizing upon many of the ring- 
 leading sinners thereof, promises no security 
 to the rest, but rather threateneth them with 
 the heaviest and smartest judgments, as in the 
 instance now given we have a full demonstra- 
 tion; but in defending the Lord will defend 
 his people, and in saving he will save his in- 
 heritance. 
 
 '-'' Divine grace is almighty in its operation ; it con- 
 vinces the sinner of the total blindness of his under- 
 standing God-ward, the rebellion of his will and en- 
 mity of his heart against God, his abominable life, 
 
 Nor does this speak any great comfort to a 
 decayed and backsliding sort of Christians; 
 for the next time God rides post with his Gos- 
 pel he will leave such Christians behind him. 
 But I say, Christ is resolved to set up his light in 
 the world ; yea, he is delighted to see his graces 
 shine ; and therefore he commands that his 
 Gospel should to that end be offered, in the 
 first place, to the biggest sinners, for by great 
 sins it shineth most ; therefore he saith, " Begin 
 at Jerusalem." 
 
 Eighthly and lastly. Christ Jesus will have 
 mercy to be offered in the first place to the 
 biggest sinners, for that by that means the im- 
 penitent that are left behind will be at the 
 judgment the more left without excuse. 
 
 God's word has two edges ; it can cut back- 
 stroke and fore-stroke ; if it doth thee no good, 
 it will do thee hurt; it is the savour of life 
 unto life to those that receive it, but of death 
 unto death to them that refuse it. 2 Cor. ii. 15, 
 16. But this is not all ; the tender of grace to 
 the biggest sinners in the first place will not 
 only leave the rest, or those that refuse it, in a 
 deplorable condition, but will also stop their 
 mouths and out ofi' all pretence to excuse at 
 that day. " If I had not come and spoken to 
 them,'' saith Christ, " they had not had sin ; 
 but now they have no cloak for their sin," for 
 their sin of persevering in impenitence. John 
 XV. 22. 
 
 But what did' he speak to them ? Why, even 
 that which I have told you ; to wit, that he has 
 in special a delight in saving the biggest sin- 
 ners. He spake this in the way of his doctrine, 
 he spake this in the way of his practice, even 
 to the pouring out of his last breath before 
 them. Luke xxiii. 84. 
 
 Now, since this is so, what can the con- 
 demned at the judgment say for themselves 
 why sentence of death should not be passed 
 upon them? I say, what 'excuse can they 
 make for themselves when they shall be asked 
 why they did not in the day of salvation come 
 to Christ to be saved ? Will they have ground 
 to say to the Lord, Thou wast only for saving 
 of little sinners, and therefore because they 
 were great ones they durst not come unto him? 
 or that. Thou hadst not compassion for the big- 
 gest sinners, therefore I died in despair?! 
 Will these be excuses for them as the case now 
 standeth with them? Is there not everywhere 
 
 guilt and condemnation by God's righteous law; and 
 then brings him to the foot of the cross for pardon, 
 peace, and salvation by Christ, 
 t An evil and guilty conscience, whereby we judge 
 
THE JERUSALEM SINNER SAVED. 
 
 345 
 
 iu God's book a flat contradiction to this in 
 multitudes of promises, of invitations, of ex- 
 amples and the like? Alas, alas I there will 
 then be there millions of souls to confute this 
 plea; ready, I say, to stand up, and say, 
 icccived world, heaven swarms with such as 
 were, when they were in the world, to the full 
 as bad as you. 
 
 Now, this will kill all plea or excuse why 
 they should perish in their sins ; yea, the text 
 says they shall see them here. " There shall 
 be weeping when you shall see Abraham, and 
 Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the 
 kingdom of heaven, and you yourselves thrust 
 out. And they shall come from the east, and 
 from the west, and from the north, and from 
 the south, and shall sit down in the king- 
 dom of God." Luke xiii. 28, 29. Out of 
 which company it is easy to pick such as 
 sometimes were as bad people as any who now 
 breathe on the face of the earth. What think 
 you of the first man, by whose sins there are 
 millions now in hell? And so I may say, 
 What think you often thousand more besides? 
 
 But if the world will not stifle and gag them 
 up — I speak now for amplification-sake — the 
 view of those who are saved shall. 
 
 There comes an incestuous person to the 
 bar and pleads that the bigness of his sins 
 was a bar to his receiving the promise. But 
 will not his mouth be stopped as to that 
 when Lot and the incestuous Corinthian shall 
 be set before him? Gen. xix. 33-37; 1 Cor. v. 
 1,2. 
 
 There comes a thief and says, Lord, my sin 
 of theft, I thought, was such as could not be 
 pardoned by thee. But when he shall see the 
 thief that ^vas saved on the cross stand by, as 
 clothed with beauteous glory, what further 
 can he be able to object? Yea, the Lord will 
 produce ten thousand of his saints at his 
 coming, who shall after this manner execute 
 judgment upon all, " and so convince all that 
 are ungodly among them of all their hard 
 speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken 
 against him." Jude 15. And these are hard 
 speeches against him, to say that he was not 
 able or willing to save men because of the 
 greatness of their sins, or to say that they 
 
 that God is our enemy, and that his justice is against 
 us to our everlasting condemnation by reason of our 
 hcinuus sins, tends strongly to maintain and increase 
 in us the dominion of sin, causes the soul to hate God, 
 and produces atheistical thoughts to escape wrath ; all 
 which are the dreadful effects of unbelief, which dis- 
 honours Qud, and would mako him a liar. 
 
 were discouraged by his word from repeat- 
 ance because of the heinousness of their 
 offences.* 
 
 These things, I say, shall then be confuted. 
 He comes with ten thousand of his saints to 
 confute them, and to stop their mouths from 
 making objections against their own eternal 
 damnation. 
 
 Here is Adam, the destroyer of the world ; 
 here is Lot, that lay with both his daughters ; 
 here is Abraham, that was sometimes an idol- 
 ater, and Jacob, that was a supplanter, and 
 Keuben, that lay with his father's concubine, 
 and Judah, that lay with his daughter-in-law, 
 and Levi and Simeon, that wickedly slew the 
 Shechemites, and Aaron, that made an idol to 
 be worshipped and that proclaimed a religious 
 feast unto it. Here is also Rahab. the harlot, 
 and Bathsheba that bare a bastard to David. 
 Here is Solomon, that great backslider, and 
 Manasseh, that man of blood and a witch. 
 Time would fail to tell yon of the woman of 
 Canaan's daughter, of Mary Magdalen, of 
 Matthew the publican, and of Gideon and 
 Samson, and many thousands more. 
 
 Alas, alas ! I say, what will those sinners do 
 that have, through their unbelief, eclipsed the 
 glorious largeness of the mercy of God, and 
 given way to despair of salvation because of 
 the bigness of their sins? 
 
 For all these-, though now glorious saints in 
 light, were sometimes sinners of the biggest 
 size, who had sins that were of a notorious 
 hue ; but now, I say, they are in their shining 
 and heavenly robes before the throne of God 
 and of the Lamb, blessing for ever and ever 
 that Son of God for their salvation who died 
 for them upon the tree ; admiring that ever it 
 should come into their hearts once to think 
 of coming to God by Christ ; but, above all, 
 blessing God for granting of them light to 
 see those encouragements in his testament 
 without which, without doubt, they had been 
 daunted and sunk down under, guilt of sin 
 and despair, as their fellow-sinners have done. 
 
 But now they also are all witnesses for God 
 and for his grace against an unbelieving 
 world ; for, as I said, they shall come to con- 
 vince the world of their speeches, their hard 
 
 * It is no affront to Christ, or slighting and con- 
 temning the holiness and justice of God, to come to 
 Christ while we are polluted sinners : but it is rather 
 an affronting and contemning the saving grace, merit 
 and fulness of Christ if we endeavour to make our- 
 selves righteous and holy before we receive Christ him- 
 self, and all righteousness and holiness in him by f iith. 
 
346 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 and unbelieving words, that they have spoken 
 concerning the mercy of God and the merits 
 of the passion of his blessed Son Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 But will it not, think you, strangely put to 
 silence all such thoughts, and words, and rea- 
 sonings of the ungodly before the bar of God ? 
 Doubtless it will; yea, and will send them 
 away from his presence also with the greatest 
 guilt that possibly can fasten upon the con- 
 sciei ces of men.* 
 
 For what will sting like this? — I have, 
 through mine own foolish, narrow, unworthy, 
 undervaluing thoughts of the love and ability 
 of Christ to save me, brought myself to ever- 
 lasting ruin. It is true, I was a horrible sin- 
 ner ; not one in a hundred did live so vile a 
 life as I ; but this should not have kept me 
 from closing with Jesus Christ : I see now that 
 there are abundance in glory that once were 
 as had as I have been ; but they were saved by 
 faitli, and I am damned by unbelief 
 
 Wretch that I am I why did not I give 
 glory to the redeeming blood of Jesus? Why 
 did I not humbly cast my soul at his blessed 
 footstool for mercy? Why did I judge of his 
 ability to save me by the voice of my shallow 
 reason and the voice of a guilty conscience ? 
 ^\ by betook not I myself to the holy word of 
 God? Why did I not read and pray that I 
 might understand, since now I perceive that 
 God said then, " He giveth liberally to them 
 that pray, and upbraideth not?" James i. 5. 
 
 It is rational to think that by such cogita- 
 tions as these the unbelieving world will be 
 torn in pieces before the judgment of Christ, 
 especially those that have lived where they 
 did or might have heard the Gospel of the 
 grace of God. Oh that saying, "It shall be 
 more tolerable for Sodom at the judgment 
 than for them," will be better understood. 
 See Luke x. 8-12. 
 
 This reason, therefore, standeth fast ; namely, 
 that Christ, by offering mercy in the first place 
 to the biggest sinners, now will stop all mouths 
 of the impenitent at the day of judgment, and 
 cut off all excuse that shall be attempted to be 
 made (from the thoughts of the greatness of 
 their sins) why they came not to him. 
 
 I have often thought of the day of judgment, 
 
 * Oh remember that till we are enabled to believe in 
 Christ we continue under the power of sin and Satan, 
 and under the wrath uf God^^ and there is nothing but 
 the breath in our nostrils between hell and us ! Lin- 
 ger aot therefore in this spiritual Sodom, but ask 
 faith of God, who gireth liberally. 
 
 and how God will deal with sinners at that 
 day; and I believe it will be managed with 
 that sweetness, with that equitableness, with 
 that excellent righteousness, as to every sin, 
 and circumstance, and aggravation thereof, 
 that men that are damned, before the judg- 
 ment is over, shall receive such conviction of 
 the righteous judgment of God upon them, 
 and of their deserts of hell-fire, that they shaU 
 in themselves conclude that there is all the 
 reason in the world that they should be shut 
 out of heaven and go to hell-fire; "These 
 shall go away into everlasting fire." Matt. 
 XXV. 46. 
 
 Only this will tear them, that they have 
 missed of mercy and glory and obtained ever- 
 lasting damnation through their unbelief. But 
 it will tear but themselves, but their own souls; 
 they will gnash upon themselves ; for in that 
 mercy was offered to the chief of them in the 
 first place, and yet they were damned for re- 
 jecting it, they were damned for forsaking 
 what they had a sort of propriety in, for for- 
 saking their own mercy. 
 
 And thus much for the reasons. I will con- 
 clude with a word of application. 
 
 The Applicatiok. 
 First. Would Jesus Christ have mercy 
 offered in the first place to the biggest sin- 
 ners? Then this shows us how to make a 
 right judgment of the heart of Christ to men. 
 Indeed, we have advantage to guess at the 
 goodness of his heart by many things, as by 
 his taking our nature upon him, his dying for 
 us, his sending his word and ministers to us, 
 and all that we might be saved. But this of 
 beginning to offer mercy to Jerusalem is that 
 which heightens all the rest; for this doth not 
 only confirm to us that love was the cause of 
 his dying for us, but it shows us yet more the 
 depth of that love.f He might have died for 
 us, and yet have extended the benefit of his 
 death to a few, as one might call them, of the 
 best-conditioned sinners — to those who, though 
 they were weak and could not but sin, yet 
 made not a trade of sinning — to those that 
 sinned not lavishingly. There are in the 
 world, as one may call them, the moderate 
 sinners; the sinners that mix righteousness 
 
 ■j- The word of God abundantly declares and dis- 
 covers that the Lord is desirous poor sinners should 
 be made sensible that he has first loved them, and 
 washed them from their sins by the blood of Christ, 
 that they may offer up the sacrifices of praise and all 
 good works to God, even the Father, by Jesua Christ. 
 
THE JERUSALEM SINNEM SaVED. 
 
 ;i7 
 
 with their pollutions; the sinners that, though 
 they be sinners, do what on their part lies 
 (some that are blind would think so) that they 
 might be saved. I say, it had been love, great 
 love, if he had died for none but such, and 
 Bent his love to such ; but that he should send 
 out conditions of peace to the biggest sinners, 
 yea, that they should be offered to them first 
 of all, (for so he means when he says, "Begin 
 at Jerusalem,") this is wonderful! this shows 
 his heart to purpose, as also the heart of God 
 his Father, who sent him to do thus. 
 
 There is nothing more incident to men that 
 are awake in their souls than to have wrong 
 thoughts of God — thoughts that are narrow, 
 and that pinch and pen up his mercy to scanty 
 and beggarly conclusions and rigid legal con,- 
 dition — supposing that it is rude and entrench- 
 ing upon his majesty to come ourselves or to 
 invite others until we have scraped and washed 
 and rubbed off as much of our dirt from us as 
 we think is convenient to make us somewhat 
 orderly and handsome in his sight. Such 
 never knew what these words meant, " Begin 
 at Jerusalem." Yea, such in their hearts have 
 compared tlie Father and his Son to niggardly 
 rich men, whose money comes from them like 
 drops of blood. True, says such, God has 
 mercy, but is loth to part with it; you must 
 please him well if you get any from him; he 
 is not so free as many suppose, nor is he so 
 willing to save as some pretended Gospellers 
 imagine. But I ask such. If the Father and 
 Son be not unspeakably free to show mercy, 
 why was this clause put into our commission 
 to preach the Gospel? Yea, why did he say, 
 "Begin at Jerusalem"? For when men, 
 through the weakness of their wits, have 
 attempted to show other reasons why they 
 should have the first proffer of mercy, yet I 
 can prove by many undeniable reasons that 
 they of Jerusalem (to whom the apostles made 
 the first offer, according as they were com- 
 manded) were the biggest sinners that ever 
 breathed upon the face of God's earth, (set the 
 unpardonable sin aside,) upon which my doc- 
 trine stands like a rock, that Jesus the Son of 
 God would have mercy, in the first place, of- 
 fered to the biggest sinners; and if this doth 
 not show the heart of the Father and the Son 
 to be infinitely free in bestowing forgiveness 
 of sins, I confess myself mistaken. 
 
 Neither is there (set this aside) another ar- 
 gument like it to show us the wilUngness of 
 
 * The design of God is to show the exceeding riches 
 of his graoe in our salvation, (Eph. ii. 7,) which is 
 
 Christ to save sinners ; for, as was said before, 
 all the rest of the signs of Christ's merciful- 
 ness might have been limited to sinners that 
 are so qualified; but when he says, "Begin at 
 Jerusalem," the line is stretched out to the 
 utmost; no man can imagine beyond it; and 
 it is folly here to pinch and pare, to narrow, 
 and seek to bring it within scanty bounds ; for 
 he plainly saith, "Begin at Jerusalem." The 
 biggest sinner is the biggest sinner; the biggest 
 is the Jerusalem sinner.* 
 
 It is true, he saith, that "repentance and re- 
 mission of sins must go together ;" but yet re- 
 mission is sent to the chief, the Jerusalem sin- 
 ner ; nor doth repentance lessen at all the Je- 
 rusalem sinner's crimes; it diminisheth none 
 of his sins, nor causes that there should be so 
 much as half a one the fewer: it only puts a 
 stop to the Jerusalem sinner's course, and 
 makes him willing to be saved freely by grace, 
 and for time to come to be governed by that 
 blessed word that has brought the tidings of 
 good things to him. 
 
 Besides, no man shows himself willing to be 
 saved that repenteth not of his deeds ; for he 
 that goes on still in his trespasses declares that 
 he is resolved to pursue his own damnation 
 further. 
 
 Learn, then, to judge of the largeness of 
 God's heart, and of the heart of his Son Jesus 
 Christ, by the word. Judge not thereof by 
 feeling nor by the reports of thy conscience ; 
 conscience is oftentimes here befooled and 
 made to go quite beside the word. It was 
 judging without the word that made David 
 say, I am cast off from God's eyes, and shall 
 perish one day by the hand of Saul. Ps. xxi. 
 22 ; 1 Sam. xxvii. 1. 
 
 The word had told him another thing — 
 namely, that he should be king in his stead. 
 0*i' text says also that Jesus Christ bids 
 preachers, in their preaching repentance and 
 remission of sins, " Begin first at Jerusalem ;" 
 thereby declaring most truly the infinite large- 
 ness of the merciful heart of God and his Son 
 to the sinful children of men. 
 
 Judge thou, I say, therefore, of the goodness 
 of the heart of- God and his Son by this text, 
 and by the other of the same import ; so thou 
 shalt not dishonour the grace of God, nor 
 needlessly fright thyself, nor give away thy 
 faith, nor gratify the devil, nor lose the benefit 
 of J}is word. I speak now to weak believers. 
 
 Secondly, Would Jesus Christ have mercy 
 
 most glorified by pardoning the greatest sinners and 
 raising monuments of praise to tho glory of his gractt, 
 
348 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 offered in the first place to the biggest sinners, 
 to the Jerusalem sinners ? Then by this also 
 you must learn to judge of the sufficiency of 
 the merits of Christ ; not that the merits of 
 Christ can be comprehended, for they are 
 beyond the conceptions of the whole world, 
 being called the unsearchable riches of Christ, 
 but yet they may be apprehended to a consid- 
 erable degree. Now, the way to apprehend 
 them most is to consider what offers, after his 
 resurrection, he makes of his grace to sinners; 
 for 'io be sure he will not offer beyond the vir- 
 tue of his merits; because, as grace is the 
 cause of his merits, so his merits are the basis 
 and bounds upon and by which his grace 
 stands good and is let out to sinners.* Doth 
 he then command that his mercy should be 
 offered in the first place to the biggest sinners? 
 It declares that there is sufficiency in his blood 
 to save the biggest sinners. The blood of Je- 
 sus Christ cleanseth from all sin. And again, 
 " Be it known unto you, men and brethren, 
 that through this man (this man's merits) is 
 preached to you the forgiveness of sins, and 
 by him all that believe are justified from all 
 things from which they could not be justified 
 by the law of Moses." Acts xiii. 38. 
 
 Observe, then, thy rule to make judgment 
 of the sufficiency of the blessed merits of thy 
 Saviour. If he had not been able to have re- 
 conciled the biggest sinners to his Father by 
 his blood, he would not have sent to them— 
 have sent to them, in the first place,' the doc- 
 trine of remission of sins ; for remission of 
 sins is through faith in his blood. We are 
 justified freely by the grace of God, through 
 the redemption that is in the blood of Christ. 
 Upon the square, as I may call it, of the 
 worthiness of the blood of Christ, grace acts 
 and offers forgiveness of sin to men. Eph. i. 7 ; 
 ii. 13, 14; Col. i. 20, 21, 22. 
 
 Hence, therefore, we must gather that The 
 blood of Christ is of infinite value, for that he 
 offereth mercy to the biggest of sinners. Nay, 
 further, since he offereth mercy in the first 
 place to the biggest sinners, considering also 
 that this first act of his is that which the world 
 will take notice of and expect it should be 
 continued unto the end, also it is a disparage- 
 ment to a man that seeks his own glory in 
 
 * Christ and all his salvation is bestowed as a free 
 gift upon those that do not work to procure any right 
 or title to him, but only believe on Him that justifieth 
 the ungodly. Conditions and qualifications will ever 
 be a partition-wall betwixt the soul and Christ the 
 eomplete Saviour 
 
 what he undertakes to do that for a spurt 
 which he cannot continue and hold out in. 
 This is our Lord's own argument, " He began 
 to build," saith he, " but was not able to fin- 
 ish." Luke xiv. 28, 29, 30. 
 
 Shouldst thou hear a man say, I am resolved 
 to be kind to the poor, and should begin giv- 
 ing with handfuls of guineas, you would con- 
 clude that either he is wonderful rich, or must 
 straiten his hand, or will soon be at the bottom 
 of his riches. Why this is the case : Christ 
 at his resurrection gave it out that he would ' 
 be good to the world, and first sends to the 
 biggest sinners with an intent to have mercy 
 on them. 
 
 Now, the biggest sinners cannot be saved 
 but by abundance of grace ; it is not a little 
 that will save great sinners. Eom. v. 17. And 
 I say again, since the Lord Jesus mounts thus 
 high at the first, and sends to the Jerusalem 
 sinners, that they maj come first to partake of 
 his mercy, it follows that either he has un- 
 searchable riches of grace and worth in him- 
 self, or else he must straiten his hand, or his 
 grace and merits will be spent before the world 
 is at an end. But let it be believed, as surely 
 as spoken, he is still as full as ever : he is not 
 a jot the poorer for all the forgiveness that he 
 has given away to great sinners. Also he is 
 still as free as at first ; for he never yet called 
 back this word,t '' Begin at the Jerusalem sin- 
 ners." And, as I said before, since his grace 
 extended according to the worth of his merits, 
 I conclude that there is the same virtue in his 
 merits to save now as there was at the very 
 beginning. *• 
 
 Oh the riches of the grace of Christ ! Oh 
 the riches of the blood of Christ! 
 
 Thirdly, Would Jesus Christ have mercy 
 offered in the first place to the biggest sinners? • 
 Then here is encouragement for you that 
 think, for wicked hearts and lives, you have 
 not your fellows in the world, yet to come to 
 him. 
 
 There is a people that therefore fear lest they 
 should be rejected of Jesus Christ because of 
 the greatness of their sins, when, as you see 
 here, such are sent to, sent to by Jesus Christ, j 
 to come to him for mercy, " Begin at Jerusa- 
 
 f Oh ^vhat a Saviour is Jesus Christ ! He is ever- 
 lastingly and unchangeably faithful and true — his 
 salvation infinitely and inexhaustibly free and full ! 
 He is the faithful and true witness ; holy, and .cannot 
 lie; righteous, and cannot deceive; wise, and cannot 
 be deceived. Israel, trust in the Lord Jehovah 
 Jesus! Kev. iii. ; Isa. xvi. 4. 
 
THE JERUSALEM SINNER SAVED. 
 
 349 
 
 Itm." Never did one thing answer another 
 more fitly in this world than this text fitteth 
 Buch kind of sinners. As face answereth face 
 in a glass, so this text answereth the necessi- 
 ties of such sinners. What can a man say 
 more but that he stands in the rank of the big- 
 gest sinners ? Let him stretch himself whither 
 he can, and think of himself to the utmost, he 
 can but conclude himself to be one of the big- 
 gest sinners. And what then ? Why the text 
 meets him in the very face, and saith, Christ 
 ofTereth mercy to the biggest sinners, to the 
 very Jerusalem sinners. What more can be 
 objected? Nay, he doth not only offer to such 
 his mercy, but to them it is commanded to be 
 offered in' the first place ; " Begin at Jerusa- 
 lem.'' Preach repentance and remis^on of 
 sins among all nations, " Beginning at Jerusa- 
 lem." Is not here encouragement for those 
 that think, for wicked hearts and lives, they 
 have not their fellows in the world ? 
 
 Objection. But I have aheart as hard as a rock. 
 
 Answer. Well, but this doth but pYove thee 
 a bigger sinner. 
 
 Objection. But my heart continually frets 
 against the Lord. 
 
 Answer. Well, this doth but prove thee a 
 bigger sinner. 
 
 Objection. But I have been desperate in sin- 
 ful courses. 
 
 Answer. Well, stand thou with the number 
 of the biggest sinners. 
 
 Objection. But my gray head is found in the 
 way of wickedness. 
 
 Answer. Well thou art in the rank of the 
 biggest sinners. 
 
 Objection. But I have not only a base heart, 
 but I have lived a debauched life. 
 
 Answer. Stand thou also among those that 
 aire called the biggest sinners. And what 
 then 7 Why the text swoops you all ; you can- 
 not object yourselves beyond the text. It has 
 a particular message to the biggest sinners. I 
 »ay it swoops you all. 
 
 Objection. But I am a reprobate. 
 
 Answer. Now thou talkest like a fool and of 
 that thou understandest not: no sin but the 
 sin of final impenitence can prove a man a 
 reprobate ; and I am sure thou hast not arrived 
 as yet unto that ; therefore thou understandest 
 not what thou sayest, and makest groundless 
 conclusions against thyself. Say thou art a 
 sinner, and I will hold with thee ; say thou art 
 a great sinner, and I will say so too ; yea, say 
 thou art one of the biggest sinners, and spare 
 not ; for the text yet is beyond thee, is yet be- 
 
 twixt hell and ttiee. "Begin at Jerusalem" 
 has yet a smile upon thee ; and thou talkest as 
 if thou wast a reprobate, and that the greatness 
 of thy sins do prove thee so to be, when yet 
 they of Jerusalem were not such ; whose sins, 
 I dare say, were such, both for bigness and 
 heinousness, as thou art not capable of com- 
 mitting beyond them, unless now, after thou 
 hast received conviction that the Lord Jesus is 
 the only Saviour of the world, thou shouldst 
 wickedly and despitefuUy turn thyself from 
 him, and conclude he is not to be trusted to 
 for life, and so crucify him for a cheat afresh. 
 This, I must confess, will bring a man under 
 the black rod and set him in danger of eternal 
 damnation. Heb. vi. 6 ; x. 29. This is tramp- 
 ling under foot the Son of God and counting 
 his blood an unholy thing. This did they of 
 Jerusalem, but they did it ignorantly in unbe- 
 lief, and so were yet capable of mercy. But to 
 do this against professed light, 'and to stand to 
 it, puts a man beyond the text indeed. Acts iii. 
 14^17 ; 1 Tim. i. 13. 
 
 But I say, what is this to him that would 
 fain be saved by Christ? His sins did, as 
 to greatness, never yet reach to the nature 
 of the sins that the sinners intended by the 
 text had made themselves guilty of. He that 
 would be saved by Christ has an honourable 
 esteem of him, but they of Jerusalem preferred 
 a murderer before him ; but as for him, they 
 cried. Away, away with him I it is not fit that 
 he should live. Perhaps thou wilt object that 
 thyself hast a thousand times preferred a stink- 
 ing lust before him : I answer, be it so : it is 
 but what is common to men to do; nor doth 
 the Lord Jesus make such a foolish life a bar 
 to thee to forbid thy coming to him, or a bond 
 to his grace that it might be kept from thee, 
 but admits of thy repentance, and offereth 
 himself unto thee freely as thou standest 
 among the Jerusalem sinners. 
 
 Take therefore encouragement, man. Mercy 
 is, by the text, held forth to the biggest sin- 
 ners; yea, put thyself into the number of the 
 worst, by reckoning that thou mayest be one 
 of the first, and mayest not be put off till the 
 biggest sinners are served, for the biggest sin- 
 ners are first invited; consequently, if they 
 come they are like to be the first that shall be 
 served. It was so with Jerusalem : Jerusalem 
 sinners were they that were first invited, and 
 those of them that came first, (and there came 
 three thousand of them the first day they were 
 invited ; how many came afterwards none can 
 tell,) they were first served. 
 
S50 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Put in thy name, man, among the biggest, 
 lest thou art made to wait till they are served. 
 You have some men that think themselves 
 very cunning because they put up their names 
 in their prayers among them that feign it, say- 
 ing, God, I thank thee I am not so bad as the 
 worst. But believe it, if they be saved at all 
 they shall be saved in the last place. The first 
 in their own eyes shall be saved last, and the 
 last or worst shall be first. The text insin- 
 uates it: "Begin at Jerusalem;" and reason 
 backs it, for they have most need. Behold ye, 
 therefore, how God's ways are above ours ; we 
 are for serving the worst last ; God is for serv- 
 ing the worst first. The man at the pool that 
 to my thinking was longest in his disease, and 
 most helpless as to his cure, was first he"aled : 
 yea, he only was healed; for we read that 
 Christ healed him, but we read not then that 
 he healed one more there. John v. 1, 10. 
 
 Wherefore, if thou wouldst soonest be served 
 put in thy name among the very worst of sin- 
 ners. Say, when thou art upon thy knees. 
 Lord, here is a Jerusalem sinner, a sinner of 
 the biggest size ; one whose burden is of the 
 greatest bulk and heaviest weight; one that 
 cannot stand long without sinking into hell 
 without thy supporting hand. " Be not thou 
 far from me, O Lord : my strength, haste 
 thou to help me." 
 
 I say, put in thy name with Magdalen, with 
 Manasseh, that thou mayest fare as the Mag- 
 dalen and the Manasseh sinners do. The man 
 in the pospel made the desperate condition of 
 his child an argument with Christ to haste his 
 cure. " Sir, come down," saith he, " ere my 
 child die," (John iv. 49,) and Christ regarded 
 his haste, saying, " Go thy way, thy son liveth.'' 
 Ver. 50. Haste requires haste. David was 
 for speed ; deliver me speedily, bear me speed- 
 ily, answer me speedily. Ps. xxxi. 2 ; Ixix. 17 ; 
 cii. 3. But why speedily ? I am in the net, I 
 am in trouble, my days consume like smoke. 
 Ps. xxxi. 4 ; Ixix. 17 ; cii. 3. Deep calleth 
 unto deep, necessity calls for help — great neces- 
 sity for present help. 
 
 Wherefore, I say, be ruled by me in this 
 matter ; feign not thyself another man if thou 
 hast been a filthy sinner, but go in thy colours 
 to Jesus Christ, and put thyself among the 
 most vile, and let him alone to put thee among 
 the children. Jer. iii. 19. Confess all that 
 thou knowest of thyself; I know thou wilt find 
 it hard work to do thus, especially if thy mind 
 be legal ; but do it, lest thou stay and be de- 
 ferred with the little sinners until the great 
 
 ones have had their alms. What do you think 
 David intended when he said his wounds stunk 
 and were corrupted, but to hasten God to havs 
 mercy upon him and not to defer his cure ? 
 " Lord," says he, " I am troubled, I am bowed 
 down greatly, I go mourning all the day long ; 
 I am feeble and sore broken by reason of the 
 disquietment of my heart." Ps. xxxviii. 3-7. 
 
 David knew what he did by all this; he 
 knew that his making the worst of his case was 
 the way to speedy help, and that a feigning 
 and dissembling the matter with God was'the 
 next way to a demur as to his forgiveness. 
 
 I have one thing more to offer for thy en- 
 couragement who deemest thyself one of the 
 biggest sinners, and that is, thou art as it were 
 called by thy name, in the first place, to come 
 in for mercy. Thou man of Jerusalem, hearken 
 to thy call ; men do so in courts of judicature, 
 and presently cry out. Here, sir, and then 
 shoulder and crowd, and say. Pray give way, I 
 am called into the court. Why, this is the 
 case, thou great, thou Jerusalem sinner ; be of 
 good cheer, he calleth thee. Mark x. 46-49. 
 Why sittest thou still? Arise. Why standest 
 thou still? Come, man, thy call should give 
 thee authority to come. " Begin at Jerusalem " 
 is thy call and authority to come ; wherefore 
 up and shoulder it, man; say, Stand away, 
 devil, Christ calls me ; stand away, unbelief, 
 Christ calls me; stand away, all ye my dis- 
 couraging apprehensions, for my Saviour calls 
 me to him to receive of his mercy. Men will 
 do thus, as I said, in courts below, and why 
 shouldst not thou approach thus to the court 
 above? The Jerusalem sinner is first in 
 thought, first in commission, first in the record 
 of names, and therefore should give attendance 
 with expectation that he is first to receive 
 mercy of God. 
 
 Is not this an encouragement to the biggest 
 sinners to make their application to Christ for 
 mercy ? " Come unto me, all ye that labour 
 and are heavy laden," doth also confirm this 
 thing ; that is, that the biggest sinner, and he 
 that has the biggest burden, is he who is first 
 invited. Christ pointeth over the heads of 
 thousands, as he sits on the throne of grace, 
 directly to such a man, and says. Bring in 
 hither the maimed, the halt, and the blind; 
 let the Jerusalem sinner that stands there be- 
 hind come to me. Wherefore, since Christ 
 says. Come, to thee, let the angels make a lane, 
 and let all men give place, that the Jerusalem 
 sinner may come to Jesus Christ for mercy. 
 
 Fourthly, Would Jesus Christ have mercy 
 
THE JERUSALEM SINNER SAVED. 
 
 351 
 
 offered in the first place to the biggest sinners? 
 Then cdrae, thou profane wretch, and let me a 
 little enter into an argument with thee. Why 
 wilt thou not come to Jesus Christ, since thou 
 art a Jerusalem sinner ? How canst thou find 
 in thy heart to set thyself against grace, against 
 such grace as ofiereth mercy to thee ? What 
 spirit posaesseth thee and holds thee back from 
 a sincere closure with thy Saviour? Behold 
 God groaningly complains of thee, saying, 
 " But Israel would none of me. When I 
 called none did answer." Ps. Ixxxi. 11 ; Isa. 
 bcvi. 4. I 
 
 Shall God enter this complaint against thee? 
 Why dost thou put him off? Why dost thou 
 stop thine ear? Canst thou defend thyself? 
 When thou art called to an account for thy 
 neglects of so great salvation, what canSt thou 
 answer? Or dost thou think thou shalt escape 
 the judgment? Heb. ii. 3. 
 
 No more such Christsl There will be no 
 more such Christs, sinner 1 Oh, put not off 
 the day of grace away from thee I If it be 
 once gone, it will never come again, sinner. 
 
 But what is it that has got thy heart and 
 that keeps it from thy Saviour? " Who in the 
 heavens can be compared unto the Lord? 
 Who among the sons of the mighty can be 
 likened unto the Lord 1" Ps. Ixxxix. 6. Hast 
 thou, thinkest thou, found any thing so good 
 as Jesus Christ? Is there any among thy sins, 
 thy companions, and foolish delights that like 
 Christ can help thee in the day of thy distress? 
 Behold, the greatness of thy sins cannot hinder ; 
 let not the stubbornness of thy heart hinder 
 thee, sinner. 
 
 Objection. But I am ashamed. 
 
 Answer. Oh, do not be ashamed to be saved, 
 sinner. 
 
 Objection^. But my old companions will mock 
 me. 
 
 Answer. Oh, do not be mocked out of eternal 
 life, sinner. 
 
 Thy stubbornness affects, afflicts the heart 
 of thy Saviour. Carest thou not for this ? Of 
 old he beheld the city and wept over it. Canst 
 thou hear this and not be concerned? Luke 
 xix. 41, 42. Shall Christ weep to see thy soul 
 going on to destruction, and wilt thou sport 
 thyself in that way ? Yea, shall Christ, that 
 can be eternally happy without thee, be more 
 afflicted at the thoughts of the loss of thy soul 
 than thyself, who art certainly eternally mis- 
 erable if thou neglectest to come to him ? 
 
 Those things that keep thee and thy Sa- 
 viour, on thy part, asunder are but bubbles ; 
 
 the least prick of an affliction will let out, as 
 to thee, what now thou thinkest is worth the 
 venture of heaven to enjoy. 
 
 Hast thou not reason ? Canst thou not so 
 much as once soberly think of thy dying hour, 
 or of whither thy sinful life will drive thee 
 then? Hast thou no conscience? or, having 
 one, is it rocked so fast asleep by sin, or made 
 so weary with an unsuccessful calling upou 
 thee, that it is laid down and cares for thee no 
 more ? Poor man ! thy state is to be lamented. 
 Hast no judgment? Art not able to conclude 
 that to be saved is better than to burn in hell, 
 and that eternal life with God's favour is better 
 than a temporal life in God's displeasure ? Hast 
 no affection but what is brutish ? What ! none 
 at all ? no affection for the God that made thee 7 
 what ! none for his loving Son that has showed 
 his love and died for thee? Is not heaven 
 -worth thy affection? poor man, which is 
 strongest, thinkest thou, God or thee ? If thou 
 art not able to overcome him, thou art a fool 
 for standing out against him. Matt. v. 25, 26. 
 " It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of 
 the living God." He will gripe hard, his fist 
 is stronger than a lion's paw ; take heed of him ; 
 he will be angiy if you despise his Son ; and 
 will you stand guilty in your trespasses when he 
 offereth you his grace and favour? Ex. xxxiv. 
 6, 7 ; Heb. x. 29-31. 
 
 Now we come to the text, "Beginning at 
 Jerusalem." This text, though it be now one 
 of the brightest stars that shineth in the Bible, 
 because there is in it as full, if not the fullest 
 offer of grace that can be imagined to the sons 
 of men, yet to them that shall perish from 
 under this word, even this text will be to such 
 one of the hottest coals in hell. 
 
 This text, therefore, will save thee or sink 
 thee; there is no shifting of it; if it saves 
 thee, it will set thee high ; if it sinks thee, it 
 will set thee low. 
 
 But, I say, why so unconcerned? Hast no 
 soul? or dost think thou mayest lose thy soul 
 and save thyself? Is it not pity, had it other- 
 wise been the will of God, that ever thou wa.st 
 made a man, for that thou settest so little by 
 thy soul ? 
 
 Sinner, take the invitation ; thou art called 
 upon to come to Christ ; nor art thou called 
 upon but by order from the Son of God, though 
 thou shouldst happen to come of the biggest 
 sinners, for he has bid us offer mercy, as to all 
 the world in general, so, in the first place, to 
 the sinners of Jerusalem or to the biggest 
 sinners. 
 
352 
 
 SUNYAN'S COMPLETE WOBKS. 
 
 Fifthly, Would Jesus Christ have mercy of- 
 fered in the first place to the biggest sinners? 
 Then this shows how unreasonable a thing it 
 is for men to despair of mercy. For those 
 that presume, I shall say something to them 
 afterward. 
 
 I now speak to them that despair. 
 
 There are four sorts of despair. There is 
 the despair of devils ; there is the despair of 
 souls in hell ; there is the despair that is 
 grounded upon men's deficiency; and there is 
 the despair that they are perplexed with that 
 are willing to be saved, but are too strongly 
 borne down with the burden of their sins. 
 
 The despair of devils, the damned's despair, 
 and that despair that a man has of attaining 
 of life because of his own deficiency, are all 
 reasonable. Why should not devils and damn- 
 ed souls despair ? Yea, why should not man 
 despair of getting to heaven by his own abili- 
 ties ? I therefore am concerned only with the 
 fourth sort of despair — to wit, with the despair 
 of those that would be saved; but are too 
 strongly borne down with the burden of their 
 sins. 
 
 I say, therefore, to thee that art thus. And 
 why despair? Thy despair, if it were reason- 
 able, should flow from thee because found in the 
 land that is beyond the grave, or because thou 
 certainly knowest ihat Christ will not or can- 
 not save thee. 
 
 But for the first, thou art yet in the land of 
 the living ; and for the second, thou hast ground 
 to believe the quite contrary. Christ is able 
 to save to the uttermost them that come to God 
 by him ; and if he were not willing he would 
 not have commanded that mercy, in the first 
 place, should be offered to the biggest sinners. 
 Besides, he hath said, " And let him that is 
 athirst come, and whosoever will, let him take 
 the water of life freely ; " that is, with all my 
 heart. What ground now is here for despair? 
 If thou sayest, The number and burden of my 
 sins, I answer. Nay, that is rather a ground for 
 faith ; because such an one, above all others, 
 Ms invited by Christ to come unto him, yea, 
 promised rest and forgiveness if they come. 
 Matt. xi. 28. What ground, then, to despair ? 
 Verily, none at all. Thy despair, then, is a 
 thing unreasonable, and without footing in the 
 word. 
 
 But I have no experience of God's love; 
 God hath given me no comfort or ground of 
 hope, though I have waited upon him for it 
 many a day. 
 
 Thou hast experience of God's love for that 
 
 he has opened thine eyes to see thy sins, and 
 for that he hath given thee desires to be saved 
 by Jesus Christ. For by thy sense of sin thou 
 art made to see thy poverty of spirit, and that 
 has laid thee under a sure ground to hope that 
 heaven shall be thine hereafter. 
 
 Also thy desires to be saved by Christ have 
 put thee under another promise, so there is 
 two to hold thee up in them, though thy pres- 
 ent burden be never so hea\^. Matt. v. 3, 6; 
 As for what thou sayest as to God's silence to 
 thee, perhaps he has spoken to thee once or 
 twice already, but thou hast not perceived it. 
 Job xxxiii. 14, 15. 
 
 However, thou hast Christ crucified set forth 
 before thine eyes in the Bible, and an invita- 
 tion to come unto him, though thou be a Je- 
 rusalem sinner, though thou be the biggest 
 sinner ; and so no ground to despair. What if 
 God will be silent to thee : is that ground of 
 despair? Not at all, so long as there is a 
 promise in the Bible that God will in nowise 
 cast away the coming sinner, and so long as he 
 invites the Jerusalem sinner to come unto 
 him. John vi. 37. 
 
 Build not therefore despair upon these 
 things; they are no sufiicient foundation for 
 it, such plenty of promises being in the 
 Bible, and such a discovery of his mercy to 
 great sinners of old ; especially since we have 
 withal a clause in the commission given to 
 ministers to preach that they should begin 
 with the Jerusalem sinners in their ofiering of 
 mercy to the world. 
 
 Besides, God says,^"They that wait upon 
 the Lord shall renew their strength, they 
 shall mount up with wings like eagles ;'' but 
 perhaps it may be long first. " I waited long," 
 saith David, " and did seek the Lord ;" and at 
 length his cry was heard: wherefore he bids 
 his soul wait on God, and says for it is good 
 so to do before thy saints. Ps. x\. 1 ; Ixii. 5 ; 
 lii. 9. 
 
 And what if thou waiteat upon God all thy 
 days ? Is it below thee ? And what if God 
 will cross his book and ^ot out the hand- 
 writing that is against thee, and not let thee 
 know it, as yet? Is it fit to say unto God, 
 Thou art hard-hearted? Despair not ; thou 
 hast no ground to despair so long as thou 
 livest in this world. It is a sin to begin to 
 despair before one sets his foot over the 
 threshold of hell-gates. For them that are 
 there, let them despair and spare not, but as 
 for thee, thou hast no ground for to do it. 
 What! despair of bread in a land that is 
 
THE JERUSALEM SIXNER SAVED. 
 
 353 
 
 full of uorn? despair of mercy when our God 
 is full of mercy ? despair of mercy when God 
 goes about by his ministers beseeching of sin- 
 ners to be reconciled unto him ? 2 Cor. v. 
 18-20. 
 
 Thou scrupulous fool ! where canst thou find 
 that God was ever false to his promise, or that 
 ho ever deceived "the soul that ventured itself 
 upon him? He often calls upon sinners to 
 trust him, though they walk in darkness and 
 liave no light. Isa. 1. 10, 
 
 They have his promise and oath for their 
 halvalion that flee for refuge to the hope set 
 before them. Heb. vi. 17, 18. 
 
 Despair! when we have a God of mercy 
 and a redeeming Christ alive I For shame, 
 forbear ! Let them despair that dwell where 
 there is no God, and that are confined to those 
 chambers of death which can be reached by 
 no redemption. 
 
 A living man despair when he is chid for 
 murmuring and complaining! Lam. iii. 39. 
 Oh, so long as we are where promises swarm, 
 where mercy is proclaimed, where grace reigns, 
 and where Jerusalem sinners are privileged 
 with the first offer of mercy, it is a base thing 
 to despair. ^ 
 
 Despair undervalues the promise, under- 
 values the invitation, undervalues the proffer 
 of grace. Despair undervalues the ability 
 of God the Father and the redeeming blood 
 of Clirist his Son. unreasonable despair ! 
 
 Despair makes man God's judge; it is a 
 controller of the promise, a contradioter of 
 Christ in his large offers of mercy, and one 
 that undertakes to make unbelief the, great 
 manager of our reason and judgment in de- 
 termining about what God can and will do for 
 sinners. 
 
 Despair! It is the devil's fellow, the devil's 
 master, yea, the chains with which he is cap- 
 tivated and held under darkness for ever ; and 
 to give way thereto in a land, in a state and 
 time that flows with milk and honey is an un- 
 comely thing. . 
 
 I would say to my soul, O my soul! this, is 
 not the place of despair ; this is not the time 
 to despair in. As long as mine eyes can find 
 a promise in the Bible, as long as there is the 
 least mention of grace, as long as there is a 
 moment left me of breath or life in this world, 
 so long will I wait or look for mercy, so long 
 v^ill I fight against unbelief and despair. 
 
 This is the way to honour God and Christ; 
 this is the way to set the crown on the prom- 
 ise; this is the way to welcome the invitation. 
 23 
 
 and inviter ; and this is the way to thrust thy- 
 self under the shelter and protection of the 
 word of grace. Never despair so long as our 
 text is ii,live, for that doth sound it out that 
 mercy by Christ is oflered, in the first place, to 
 the biggest sinner. 
 
 Despair is an unprofitable thing; it will 
 make a man weary of waiting upon God, (2 
 Kings vi.| 88;) it will make a man forsake 
 God, and seek his heaven in the good things 
 of this world. Gen. iv. 13-18. It will make a 
 man his own tormentor, and flounce and fling 
 like a wild beast in a net. Isa. ]i. 20. 
 
 Despair! It drives a man to the study of 
 his own ruin, and brings him at last to be his 
 own executioner. 2 Sam. xvii. 23 ; Matt, xxvii. 
 3, 4, 5. 
 
 Besides, I am persuaded also that despair is 
 the cause that there are so many that would 
 fain be atheists in the world ; for because they 
 have entertained a conceit that,God will never 
 be merciful to them, therefore they labour to 
 persuade themselves that there is no God at 
 all, as if their misbelief would kill God or 
 cause him to cease to.be. A poor shift for an 
 immortal soul, for a soul who liketh not to re- 
 tain God in its knowledge 1 If this be the best 
 that despair can do, let it go, man, and betake 
 thyself to faith, to prayer, to wait for God, 
 and to hope in despite of ten thousand doubts. 
 And for thy encouragement take yet (as an 
 addition to what has already been said) these 
 following Scriptures : " The Lord takes pleas- 
 ure in them that fear him, in them that hope 
 in his mercy." Ps. cxlvii. 11. 
 
 Whence note, they fear not God that hope 
 not in his mercy ; also God is angry with them 
 that hope not in his mercy, for he only taketh 
 pleasure in them that hope. He that believeth 
 or hath received his testimony " hath set to 
 his seal that God is true," (John iii. 33,) but 
 he that reoeiveth it not hath made him a liar 
 and that is a very unworthy thing. 1 John v. 
 10, 11. " Let the wicked forsake his v/ays, and 
 the unrighteous man his thoughts ; and let him 
 return to the Lord, and he will have mercy on 
 him ; and to our God, for he will abundantly 
 multiply pardon.'' Isa. Iv. 7. Perhaps thou 
 art weary of thy ways, but art not weary of thy 
 thoughts, of thy unbelieving and despairing 
 thoughts. Now, God also would have thee 
 cast away these thoughts, as such which he 
 deserveth not at ,thy hands, for he will have 
 mercy upon thee, and he will abundantly 
 pardon. 
 " O fools ! and slow of heart to believe all 
 
354 
 
 BUJN FAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 tliat the prophets have spoken I" Luke xxiv. 
 25. Mark you here, slowness to believe is a 
 piece of folly. Ay, hut sayest thou, I do be- 
 lieve some, and I believe what can make 
 against me. Ay, but, sinner, Christ Jesus 
 nere calls thee fool for not believing all. Be- 
 lieve all, and despair if thou canst. He that 
 believes all believes that text that saith Christ 
 would have mercy preached first to the Jeru- 
 salem sinners. He that believeth all be- 
 lieveth all the promises and consolations of 
 ths word ; and the promises and consolations 
 of the word weigh heavier than do all the 
 curses and threatenings of the law, and mercy 
 rejoiceth against judgment. Wherefore be- 
 lieve all, and mercy will , to thy conscience 
 weigh judgment down, and so minister com- 
 fort to thy soul. The Lord take the yoke 
 from oflF thy jaws since he has set meat before 
 thee, (Hos. xi. 4,) and help thee to remember 
 that he is pleased in the first place to offer 
 mercy to the biggest sinners. 
 
 Sixthly. Since Jesus Christ would have 
 mercy offered in the first place to the biggest 
 sinners, let souls see that they lay right hold 
 thereof, lest they, notwithstanding, indeed 
 come short thereof. Faith only knows how to 
 deal with mercy; wherefore put not in the 
 place thereof presumption. I have observed 
 that as there are herbs and flowers in our 
 gardens, so there are counterfeits in the field, 
 only they are distinguished from the other by 
 the name .of wild ones. Why, there is faith 
 and wild faith ; and wild faith is this presump- 
 tion. I call it wild faith, because God never 
 placed it in his garden, his Church; it is only 
 to be found in the field, the world. I also call 
 it wild, faith because it only grows up and is 
 nourished where other wild potions abound. 
 Wherefore take heed of this, and all may be 
 well, for this presumptuousness is a very hei- 
 nous thing in the eyes of God. "This soul," 
 saith he, "that shall do aught presumptuously, 
 (whether born in the land or a stranger,) the 
 same reproacheth the Lord; and that soul 
 shall be cut off from among his people." Num. 
 iv. 30. 
 
 The thoughts of this made David tremble 
 and pray, "That God would hold him back 
 from presumptuous sins, and not suffer them 
 to have dominion over him." Ps. xix. 13. 
 
 Now this presumption, then, puts itself in 
 the place of faith when it tampereth with the 
 promise for life while the soul is a stranger to 
 repentance. Wherefore you have in the text, 
 to prevent doing thus, both repentance and re- 
 
 mission of sins to be offe;ed to Jerusalem; not 
 remissi-on without rppentance, for all that re- 
 pent not shall ■ perish, let them presume on 
 grace and the promise while they will. Luke 
 xiii. 1, 2, 3. 
 
 Presumption, then, is that which severeth 
 faith and repentance, concluding the soul shall 
 be saved by grace, though the man was n^ver 
 made sorry for his sins nor the love of the 
 heart turned therefrom. This' is to be self- 
 willed, as Peter has it; and this is a despising 
 the word of God, for tha!t has put repentance 
 and faith together. Mark i. 15. "And because 
 he has despised 'the word of the -Lord and 
 hath broken the commandment, that soul 
 shall utterly be cut off; his iniquities shall be 
 upon him." Num. xv. 31. 
 
 Let such therefore look to it who yet are 
 and abide in their sins; for such, if they hope 
 they are to be saved, presume upon the grace 
 of God. Wherefore presumption and not 
 hearkening to God's word are put together. 
 Deut. xvii. 12. 
 
 Again: Then men presume when they are 
 resolved to abide in their sins, and yet expect 
 to be saved by God's grace through Christ. 
 This is as much as to say, God liketh of sin as 
 well as I do, and careth not how men live if 
 ao_ be they lean upon his Son. Of this sort 
 are they that build up Zion with blood and 
 Jerusalem with iniquity, "that judge for re- 
 ward, and teach for hire, and divine for 
 money, and lean upon the Lord." Mic, ii. 10, 
 11. This is doing things with an high -hand 
 against the Lord our God, and a taking him, 
 as it were, at the catch ! This is, as we say 
 among men, to seek to put a trick upon God, 
 as if he had not sufficiently fortified his pro- 
 posals of grace by his holy word against all 
 such kind of fools as these. ■ But look to it. 
 
 Such will be found at the day of God not 
 among that great company of Jerusalem sin- 
 ners that shall be saved by grace, but among 
 those that have been the great abusers of the 
 grace of God in the world. Those that say, 
 Let us sin that grace may abound, and let us 
 do evil that good may come, their damnation 
 is just. And if so, they are a great way off 
 of that salvation that is by Jesus Christ pre- 
 sented to the Jerusalem sinners. 
 
 I have therefore these things to propound 
 to that Jerusalem sinner that would know if 
 he may be so bold to venture himself upon 
 this grace : 
 
 1. Cost thou see thy sins? 
 
 2. Art thou weary of them? 
 
TEE JERUSALEM SINNER SAVED. 
 
 366 
 
 3. Wouldst thou with all thy heart be saved 
 by Jesus Christ? I dare say no less, I dare 
 say no more. But if it be truly thus with' 
 .tliee, how great soever thy sins have been, 
 how bad boever thou feelest thy heart, how 
 far soever thou art from thinking that God 
 has mercy for thee, thou art the man, the Je- 
 rusalem sinner, that the word of God has con- 
 quered, and to whom it offereth free remission 
 of sins by the redemption that is in Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 When the jailer cried out, " Sirs, what must 
 I do to be saved?" the answer was, "Believe 
 on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be 
 saved." He that sees his sins aright is brought 
 to his wits' end by them, and he that is so is 
 willing to part from them and to be saved by 
 the grace of God. * 
 
 If this be thy case, fear not, give no way to 
 despair ; thou presumest not if thou believest 
 to life everlasting in Jesus Christ : yea, Christ 
 is prepared for such as thou art. 
 
 Therefore take good courage and believe. 
 The design of Satan is to tell the presumptu- 
 ous that their presuming on mercy is good, 
 but to persuade the believer that his believing 
 is impudent, bold dealing with God. I never 
 heard a presumptuous man in my life say that 
 he was afraid that he presumed; but I have 
 heard many an honest, humble soul say. that 
 they have been afraid that their faith has been 
 presumption. Why should Satan molest those 
 whose ways he knows will bring them to him ? 
 And who can think that he should be quiet 
 when men take the right course to escape his 
 hellish snares? This therefore is the reason 
 \\fhy the truly humble is opposed, while the 
 presumptuous goes on by wind and tide. The 
 truly humble Satan hates, but he laughs to see 
 the foolery of the other. 
 
 Docs thy baud and heart tremble? Upon 
 thee the promise smiles. " To this man will I 
 look," says God, " even to him that is poor and 
 of a contrite spirit, and trembles at my word." 
 Isa. Ixvi. 2. 
 
 What, therefore, I have said of presumption 
 concerns not the humble in spirit at all. I 
 therefore am for gathering up the stones and 
 for taking the stumbling-blocks out of the way 
 of Good's people, and forewarning of them that 
 they lay the stumbling-block of their iniquity 
 before their faces, and that for presuming upon 
 God's mercy ; and let them look to themselves. 
 Ezek. xiv. 6, 7, 8. 
 
 Aho our text stands firm as ever it did, and 
 our jbserviition is stUl of force, that Jesus 
 
 Christ would have mercy offered in the first 
 place to the biggest sinners. So, then, let none 
 despair, let none presume. Let none despair 
 that are sorry for their sins, and would be saved 
 by Jesus Christ ; let none presume that abide 
 in the liking of their sins, |though they seem 
 to know the exceeding grace of Christ; for 
 though the door stands wide open for the re- 
 ception of the penitent, yet it is fast enough 
 barred and bolted against the presumptuous 
 sinner. Be not deceived, God is not mocked ; 
 whatsoever a man sows, that he shall reap. It 
 cannot be that God should be wheedled out of 
 his mercy, or prevailed upon by lips of dis- 
 simulation ; he knows them that trust in him 
 and that sincerely come to him by Christ for 
 mercy. Nah. i. 7. 
 
 It is, then, not the abundance of sins com- 
 mitted, but the not coming heartily to God by 
 Christ for mercy, that shuts men out of doors. 
 And though their not coming heartily may be 
 said to be but a sin, yet it is, such a sin as 
 causeth that all thy other sins abide upon them 
 unforgiven. 
 
 God complains of this: "They have not 
 cried unto me with their heart : they turned, 
 but not to the Most High. They turned 
 feignedly.'' 
 
 Thus doing his soul hates ; but the penitent, 
 humble, broken-hearted sinner, be his trans- 
 gressions red as scarlet, red like crimson, in 
 number as the sand, though his transgressions 
 cry to heaven aga,inst him for veflgeance, and 
 seem there to cry louder than do his prayers or 
 tears or groans for mercy, yet he is safe. " To 
 this man God will look." 
 
 Seventhly. Would Jesus Christ have mercy 
 offered in the first place to the biggest sinners? 
 Then here is ground for those that as to, prac- 
 tice have not been such to come to him for 
 mercy. 
 
 Although there is no sin little of itself, be- 
 cause it is a contradiction of the nature and 
 majesty of God, yet we must admit of divers 
 numbers and also of aggravations. Two sins 
 are not so many as three ; nor are three Chat 
 are done in ignorance so big as one that is done 
 against light, against knowledge and conscience. 
 Also there is the child in sin, and a man in sin 
 that has his hairs gray and his skin wrinkled 
 for very age. And we must put a difierence 
 betwixt these sinners also. For can it be that 
 a child of seven or ten or sixteen years old 
 should be such a sinner, a sinner so vile in the 
 eye of the law, as he who has walked according 
 to the course of this world forty, fifty, sixty, oi 
 
356 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 seventy years? Now, the youth, this stripling, 
 though he is a sinner, is but a little sinner 
 when compared with such. 
 
 Now, I say, if there be room for the first sort, 
 for those of the biggest size, certainly there is 
 room for the lesser size. If there be a door 
 vvi'lft enough for a giant to go in at, there is 
 certainly room for a dwarf. If Christ Jesus 
 k '^ grace enough to save great sinners, he has 
 surely grace enough to save little ones. If he 
 can forgive five hundred pence, for certain he 
 ean forgive fifty. 
 
 But you said before that the little sinners 
 must stand by until the great ones have receiv- 
 ed their grace, and that's discouraging. 
 
 I answer. There are two sorts of little sin- 
 ners — such as are so, such as feign themselves 
 so. They are those that feign themselves so 
 that I intend there, and not those that are in- 
 deed comparatively so. Such as feign them- 
 selves so may wait, long enough before they 
 obtain forgiveness. 
 
 But again, a sinner may be comparatively a 
 little sinner and sensibly a great one. There 
 are then two sorts of greatness in sin — great- 
 ness by reason of number, greatness by reason 
 of thoroughness of conviction of the horrible' 
 nature of sin. In this last sense he that has 
 but one sin, if such a one could be found, may 
 in his own eyes find himself the biggest sinner 
 in the world. Let this man or this child, 
 therefore, put himself among the great sinners, 
 and plead with God as great sinners do, and 
 expect to be saved with the great sinners, and 
 as soon and as heartily as they. 
 
 Yea, a little sinner, that comparatively is 
 truly so, if he shall graciously give way to con- 
 viction, and shall in God's light diligently 
 weigh the' horrible nature of his own sins, may 
 yet sooner obtain forgiveness for them at the 
 hands of the heavenly Father than he that has 
 tea times his sins, and so cause to cry ten times 
 harder to God for mercy. 
 
 Foi the grievousness of the cry is a great 
 thing with God ; for if he will hear the widcw 
 if she cries at all, how much more if she cries 
 most grievously ? Ex. xxii. 22, 23. 
 
 It is not the number, but the true sense of 
 the abominable nature of sin, that makes the 
 cry for pardon lamentable. He, as I said, that 
 has many sins may not cry so loud in the ears 
 of God as he that has far fewer; he in our 
 present sense that is in his own eyes the biggest 
 sinner is he that soonest findeth mercy. 
 
 The offer, then, is to the biggest sinner, to 
 the biggest sinner first; and the mercy is first 
 
 obtained by him that first confesseth himself 
 to be such an one. 
 
 ' There are men that strive at the throne of 
 grace for mercy by pleading the greatness of 
 their necessity. Now, their plea,' as to the 
 prevalency of it, lieth not in the counting up 
 of the number, but in the sense of the great- 
 ness of their sins and in the vehemency of 
 their cry for pardon. And it is observable 
 that though the birthright was Reuben's, and 
 for his foolishness given to the sons of Joseph, 
 ye^ Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of 
 him came the Messiah. 1 Ohron. v. 1, 2. 
 
 There is a heavenly subtilty to be managed 
 in this matter. " Thy brother came with sub- 
 tilty and hath taken away thy blessing.'' The 
 blessing belonged to Esau, but Jacob by his 
 diligence made it his own. Gen. xxvii. 35. 
 The offer is to the biggest sinner, to the biggest 
 sinner first; but if he forbears to cry, the sin- 
 ner that is a sinner less by far than he, both 
 as to the number and the nature of his trans- 
 gressions, may get the blessing first if he shall 
 have grace to bestir himself well; for the 
 loudest cry is heard farthest, and the most la- 
 mentable pierces soonest. 
 
 I therefore urge this head, not because I 
 would have little sinners go and tell God that 
 they are little sinners, thereby to think to ob- 
 tain mprcy ; for verily so they are never like 
 to have it. For such words declare that such 
 an one hath no true sense at all of the nature 
 of his sins. 
 
 Sin, as I said, in the nature of it is horrible, 
 though it be but one single .sin as to act, yea, 
 though it be but a sinful thought, and so 
 worthily calls for the damnation of the soul. 
 
 The comparison, then, of little and great 
 sinners is to go for good sense among men. 
 But to plead the fewness of thy sins or the 
 comparative harmlessness of their quality be 
 fore God, argueth no sound knowledge of the 
 nature of thy sin, and so no true sense of the 
 nature or need of mercy. 
 
 Little sinner, when therefore thou goest to 
 God, though thou knowest in thy conscience 
 that thou, as to acts, art no thief, no murderer, 
 no whore, no liar, no false swearer, or the like, 
 and in reason must needs understand that thus 
 thou art not so profanely vile as others, yet 
 when thou goest to God for mercy know no 
 man's sins but thine own, make mention of no 
 man's sins but thine own. Also labour not 
 to lessen thine own, but magnify and greaten 
 them by all just circumstances, and be as if 
 there was never a sinner in the world but thy- 
 
THE JERUSALEM SINNER SAVED. 
 
 357 
 
 self. Also cry out aa if thou wast tlie only 
 undoue man; and that is the way to obtain 
 Ggd's mercy. 
 
 It is oije of the comeliest sights in the world 
 to see a little sinner commenting upon the 
 greatness of his sins, multiplying and multi- 
 plying them to himself, till he makes them in 
 his own eyes bigger and higher than he seeth 
 any other man's sins to be in the world ; and 
 as base a thing it is to see a man do otherwise, 
 and aa basely will come on it. 
 
 As therefore I said to the great sinner be- 
 fore, Let him take heed lest he presume, I say 
 now to the little sinner, Let him take heed 
 that he do not dissemble; for there is as great 
 an aptness in the little sinner to dissemble as 
 there is in the great one. " He that hideth his 
 sins shall not prosper," be he a sinner little or 
 great. 
 
 Eighthly, Would Jesus Christ have mercy 
 offered in the first' place to the biggest sinners? 
 Then this shows the true cause why Satan 
 makes such a head as he doth against him. 
 
 The Father and the Holy Spirit are well 
 spoken of by all deluders and deceived per- 
 sons. Christ only is the rock of offence. 
 -"Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling-stone and 
 a rock of offence." Not that Satan .careth for 
 the Father or the Spirit more than he careth 
 for the Son, but he can let men alone with 
 thoir notions of the Father and the Spirit; for 
 •he knows they shall never enjoy the Father or 
 the Spirit if indeed they receive not the merits 
 of the Son. " He that hath the Son hath life ; 
 he that hath not the Son of God hath not 
 life," however they may boast themselves of 
 the Father and the Spirit. Again, Whosoever 
 transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine 
 of Christ hath not God : he that abideth in 
 the doctrine of Christ hath both the Father 
 and the Son. 
 
 Christ, and Christ only, is he that can make 
 us capable to enjoy God with life and joy to 
 all eternity. Hence he calls himself "the way 
 to the Father, and the trne and living way." 
 For we cannot come to the Father but by him. 
 Satan knows this, therefore he hates him. 
 Deluded persons are ignorant of this, and 
 therefore they are so led up and down by Sa- 
 tan by the nose as they are. 
 
 There are many things by which Satan has 
 iaken occasion to greaten his rage against Je- 
 sus Christ. 
 
 As, first, his love to man, and then the 
 many expressions of that love. He hath taken 
 man's nature upon him ; he hath in tlaat na- 
 
 ture fulfilled the law to bring in i ighteousnes* 
 for man, and hath spilt his blood for the re- 
 conciling of man to God ; he hath broken the 
 neck of death, put away sin, destroyed the 
 works of the devil, and got into his own hands 
 the keys of death; and all these are heinous 
 things to Satan. He cannot abide Christ for 
 this. Besides, he hath eternal life in himself, 
 and that to bestow upon us; and we iu all 
 likelihood are to possess the very places from 
 which Satan by transgression fell, if not 
 places more glorious. Wherefore he must 
 needs be angry. And is it not a vexatious 
 thing to him that we should be admitted to 
 the throne of grace by Christ, while he stands 
 bound over in chains of darkness to answer 
 for his rebellions against God and his Son at 
 the terrible day of judgment? Yea, we poor 
 dust and ashes must become his judges, and 
 triumph over him for ever; and all this along 
 of Jesus Christ, for he is the meritorious caOse 
 of all this. 
 
 Now, though Satan seeks to be revenged for 
 this, yet he knows it is in vain to attack the 
 person of Christ : he has overcome him ; there- 
 fore he tampers with a company of silly men 
 that he may vilify him by them. And they, 
 bold fools as tbey are, will not spare to spit in 
 his face. They will rail at his person, and 
 deny the very being of it ; they will rail at hia 
 blood, and deny the merit and worth of it. 
 They will deny the very end why he accom- 
 plished the law, and by jigs, and tricks, and 
 quirks, which he helpeth them to, they set up 
 fond names and images in his place, and give 
 the glory of a Saviour to them. Thus Satan 
 worketh under the name of Christ, and his 
 ministers under the name of the ministers of 
 righteousness. 
 ' And by his wiles and stratagems he undoes 
 a world of men ; but there is a seed, and they 
 shall serve him, and it shall be counted to the 
 Lord for a generation. These shall see their 
 sins and that Christ is the way to happiness. 
 These shall venture themselves both body and 
 soul upon his worthiness. 
 
 AH this Satan knows, and therefore hit lage 
 is kindled the more. Wherefore, according to 
 his ability and allowance, he assaulteth, tempt- 
 eth, abuseth, and stirs up what he can to be 
 hurtful to these poor people, that he may, 
 while his time shall last, make it as hard and 
 difficult for them to go to eternal glory aa he 
 can. Oftentimes he abuses them with wrong 
 apprehensions of God and with wrong appre- 
 hensions of Christ. He also casts them into 
 
358 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 tlie mire, to the reproacli of religion, the 
 sliame of their brethren, the derision of the 
 world, and dishonour of God. He holds our 
 hands while the world buffets us ; he puts bear- 
 skins upon us, and then sets the dogs at us. 
 He bedaubeth us with his own foam, and then 
 teirpts us to believe that that bedaubing comes 
 from ourselves. 
 
 Oh the rage and the roaring of this lion, 
 and the 1 itred that he manifests against the 
 Lord Jesus, and against them that are pur- 
 chased with his blood ! But yet in the midst 
 of all this the Lord Jesus sends forth his her- 
 ald to proclaim in the nations his love to the 
 world, and to invite them to come in to him 
 for life; yea, his invitation is so large that it 
 offereth his mercy, in the first place, to the 
 biggest sinners of every age, which augments 
 the devil's rage the more. 
 
 Wherefore,, as I said before, fret he, fume 
 he, the " Lord Jesus will divide the spoil with 
 this great one : yea, he shall divide the spoil 
 with the strong, because he hath poured out 
 his soul unto death, and was numbered with 
 the transgressors, and bare the sin of many, 
 and made intercession for the transgressors." 
 
 Ninthly, Would Jesus Clirist have mercy 
 offered in the first place to the biggest sinners? 
 Let the tempted harp upon this string for 
 their help and consolation. The tempted, 
 wherever he dwells, always thinks himself the 
 biggest sinner, one most unworthy of eternal 
 life. 
 
 This is Satan's master argument : Thou art 
 a horrible sinner, a hypocrite, one that has a 
 profane heart, and one that is an utter stranger 
 to a work of grace. I say, this is his maul, his 
 club, his masterpiece; he doth with this as 
 some do by their most enchanting songs, sing 
 them everywhere. I believe there are but few 
 saints in the world that have not had this 
 temptation sounding in their ears. But, were 
 thry but aware, Satan by all this does but 
 drive them to the gate out at which they 
 should go, and so escape his roaring. 
 
 Saith he, Thou art a great sinner, a horrible 
 einndr, a profane-hearted wretch, one that can- 
 not be matched for a vile one in the country. 
 
 And all this while Christ says to his minis- 
 ters, Offer mercy in the first place to the big- 
 gest sinners. So that this temptation drives 
 thee directly into the arms of Jesus Christ. 
 
 Was therefore Hie tempted but aware he 
 might say. Ay, Satan, so I am, I am a sinner 
 of the biggest size, and therefore I have most 
 need of Jesus Christ ; yea, because I am such 
 
 a wretch, therefore Jesus Christ calls me; ye&, 
 he calls me first ; the first proffer o.f the Gospel 
 is to be ^aade to the Jerusalem sinner ; I am 
 he : wherefore stand back, Satan, make a lane; 
 my right is first to come to Jesus Christ. 
 
 This now will be like for like. This would 
 foil the devil; this would make him say, I 
 must not deal with this man thus, for then I 
 put a sword into his hand to cut qff my head. 
 
 And this is the meaning of Peter when he 
 saith, " Resist him steadfast in the faith," and 
 of Paul when he' saith, " Take the shield of 
 faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all 
 the fiery darts of the wicked." 
 
 AVherefore is it said, " Begin at Jerusalem," 
 if the Jerusalem sinner is not fo have the ben- 
 efit of it? And if I am to have the benefit of 
 it, let me call it to mind when Satan haunts 
 me with the continual remembrance of my 
 sins, of my Jerusalem sins. Satan and my 
 conscience say I am the biggest sinner; Christ 
 offereth mercy in the first place to the biggest 
 sinners. Nor is the manner of the offer other 
 but such as suiteth with my mind. I am sorry 
 for my sin ; yea, sorry at my heart that ever 
 sinful thought did enter or find the least en- 
 tertainment in my wicked mind ; and might I 
 obtain my wish I would never more that my 
 heart should be a place for aught but the grace 
 and Spirit and faith of the Lord Jesus. 
 
 I speak not this to lessen my wickedness ; I 
 would not for all the world but be placed b/ 
 mine own conscience in the very front of the 
 biggest sinners, that I might be bne of the first 
 that are beckoned by the gracious hand of 
 Jesus the_Saviour to come to him for mercy. 
 
 Well, sinner, thou now speakest like a 
 Christian, but say thus in a strong spirit in the 
 hour of temptation, and then thou wilt, to thy 
 commendation and comfort, quit thyself well. 
 
 This improving of Christ in dark hours is 
 the life though the hardest part of our Chris- 
 tianity. We should neither stop at darkness 
 nor at the raging of our lusts, but go on in a 
 way of venturing and casting the whole of our 
 affair for the next world at the foot of Jesus 
 Christ. This is the way to make the darkness 
 light, and also to allay the raging of our cor- 
 ruption. 
 
 The first time the passover was eaten was in 
 the night ; and when Israel took courage to go 
 forward, thbugh the sea stood in their way like 
 a devouring gulf, and the hosts of the Egypt- 
 ians followed them at their heels, yet the sea 
 gave place, and their enemies were a? still as 
 a stone till they were gone over. 
 
THE JERUSALEM SINNER SAVED. 
 
 359 
 
 There is nothing like faith to help at a 
 pinch ; faith dissolves doubts as the sun drives 
 away the mists. And that you may not be 
 put out, know your time, as I said, of believing 
 is always. There are times when some graces 
 may be out of use, but there is no time wherein 
 faith can be said to be so; wherefore faith 
 must be always in exercise. 
 
 Faith is the eye, is the mouth, is the hand, 
 and (ine of these is of use all day long. Faith 
 is to see, to receive, to work, or to eat ; and a 
 
 iristian should be seeing, or receiving, or 
 working, or feeding all day long. Let it rain, 
 let it blow, let it liunder, let it lighten, a 
 Christian must still believe. " At what time 
 
 1 am afraid," said the good man, " I will trust 
 in thee." 
 
 Nor can we have a better encouragesaent to 
 do this than is by the text set before us, even 
 an open heart for a Jerusalem sinner. And if 
 for a Jerusalem sinner to come, then for such 
 an one when come. If such a one to be saved, 
 then for such an one that is saved. If for 
 such an one to be pardoned his great trans- 
 gressions, then for such an one who is par- 
 doned these — to come daily to Jesus Christ, 
 too, to be cleansed and set free from his com- 
 mon infirmities and from the iniquities of his 
 holy things. 
 
 Therefore let the poor sinner that would be 
 saved labour for skill to make the best im- 
 provement of the grace of Christ to help him 
 against the temptations of the devil and his 
 sins. 
 
 Tenthly, Would Jesus Christ have mercy 
 offered in the first place to the biggest sin- 
 ners? Let those men consider this that have 
 or may in a day of trial have spoken or done 
 what their profession or conscience told them 
 they should not, and that have the guilt and 
 burden thereof upon their consciences. 
 
 Whether a thing be wrong or right, guilt 
 may pursue him that doth contrary to his con- 
 science. But suppose a man should deny his 
 God or his Christ, or relinquish a good pro- 
 fession and be under the real guilt thereof, 
 shall he therefore conclude he is gone for 
 ever? Let him com^ again with Peter's tears, 
 and no doubt but he shall obtain Peter's for- 
 giveness, for the text includes the biggest 
 sinners. 
 
 And it is observable that before this clause 
 was put into this commission Peter was par- 
 doned his horrible revolt from his master. 
 He that revolteth in the day of trial, if he is 
 not shot quite dead upon the place, but is sen- 
 
 sible of his wound and calls out for a surgeon, 
 shall find his Lord at hand to pour wine 
 and oil into his wounds, that he may again be 
 healed, and to encourage him to think that 
 there may be mercy for him. Besides what 
 we find recorded of Peter, you read in the 
 Acts some were through the violence of their 
 trials compelled to blaspheme, and yet are 
 called sinners. 
 
 Hence you have a promise or two that 
 speaks concerhing such kind of men, to en- 
 courage us to think that at least some of them 
 shall come off back to the Lord their God. 
 "Shall they fall," saith he, "and not arise? 
 Shall they turn away, and not return?" 
 "And in that day I will assemble her that 
 halteth, and I will gather her that was driven 
 out, and her that I have afflicted. And I will 
 make her that halteth a remnant, and her that 
 was cast oflF a strong nation. And the Lord 
 shall reign over them in Mount Zion for 
 ever." What we are to understand by her 
 that halteth is best expressed by the prophet 
 Elijah. Mic. iv. 6,7. 
 
 I will • cqnclude, then, that for them that 
 have halted or may halt the Lord has mercy 
 in the bank,, and is willing to accept them if 
 they return to him again. 
 
 Perhaps they may never be after that of any 
 great esteem in the house of God, but if the 
 Lord will admit them to favour and forgive- 
 ness, oh exceeding and undeserved mercy ! 
 
 Thou, then, that mayst be the man, remem- 
 ber this, that ,there is mercy also for thee, and 
 who will do thee good. 
 
 But perhaps thou wilt say. He doth not 
 save all revolters, and therefore perhaps not 
 me. 
 
 Answer. Art thou returning to God? If 
 thou art returning, thou art the man ; " Ee- 
 turn, ye backsliding children, and I will heal 
 your backslidings." 
 
 Some, as I said, that revolt are shot dead 
 upon the place ; and for them, who can help 
 them? But for them that cry out of their 
 wounds, it is a sign they are yet alive, and if 
 they use the means in time doubtless they may 
 be healed. , 
 
 Christ Jesus has bags of mercy that were 
 never yet broken up or unsealed. Hence it is 
 said he has goodness laid up, things re- 
 served in heaven for his. And if he breaks 
 up one of these bags, who can tell what he 
 can do ? 
 
 Hence his love is said to be such as passeth 
 knowledge, and that his riches are nnsearch- 
 
360 
 
 SUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 able. He has nobody knows what, for nobody 
 knows who ; he has by him in store for such as 
 Beem, in the view of all men, to be gone be- 
 yond recovery. For this the text is plain. 
 What man or angel could have thought that 
 the Jerusalem sinners had been yet on this 
 side of an impossibility of enjoying life and 
 mercy? Hadst thou seen their actions, and 
 what horrible* things they did to the Son of 
 God, yea, how stoutly they backed what they 
 did with resolves and endeavours to per- 
 severe, when they had killed his person, 
 against his name and doctrine, and that there 
 was not found among them all that while, 
 as we read of, the least remorse or regret 
 for thfese their doings, couldst thou have 
 imagined that mercy would ever have took 
 hold of them, at least so soon? — nay, that 
 they should, of all the world, be counted those 
 only meet to have it offered to them in the 
 very first place? For so my text commands, 
 saying, "Preach repentance and remission 
 of sins among all nations, beginning at 
 Jerusalem." 
 
 I tell you the thing is a wonder, and must 
 for ever stand for a wonder among the sons of 
 men. It stands also for an everlasting invita- 
 tion and allurement to the biggest sinners to 
 come to Christ for mercy. 
 
 Now since, in the opinion of all men, the 
 revolter is such an* one, if he has, as I said 
 before, any life in him, let him take encour- 
 agement to come again, that he may live by 
 Christ. 
 
 Eleventhly, Would Jesus Christ have mercy 
 offered in th« first place to the biggest sin- 
 ners ? Then let G-od^s ministers tell them so. 
 There is an incidence in ns, I know not how 
 it doth come about, when we are converted, 
 to contemn them that are left behind. Poor 
 fools as we are, we forget that we ourselves 
 werp so ! , , 
 
 But would it not become us better, since we 
 have tasted that the Lord is gracious, to carry 
 it towards them so that we may give them con- 
 vincing ground to believe that we have found 
 that mercy which also sets open the door for 
 them to come and partake with us ? 
 
 Ministers, I say, should do thus, both by 
 their doctrine and in all other respects. 
 
 Austerity doth not become us, neither in 
 doctrine nor in conversation. We ourselves 
 live by grace ; let us give as we receive, and 
 labour to persuade our fellow-sinners, which 
 God has left behind us, to follow after, that 
 they may partake with us of grace. We are 
 
 saved by grace ; let us live like them that are 
 gracious ; let all our things (to the world) ba 
 done in charity towards them — pity them, pray 
 for them, be familiar with them for their good. 
 Let us lay aside our foolish, worldly, carnal 
 grandeur ; let us not walk the streets and have 
 such behaviours as signify we are scarce for 
 touching of the poor ones that are left behind 
 ■ — no, not with a pair of tongs. It becomes us 
 not thus to do. 
 
 Bemember your Lord ; he was familiar with 
 publicans and sinners to a proverb. " Behold 
 a gluttonous man and a wine-bibber, a friend 
 of publicans and sinners^' The first part, con- 
 cerning his gluttonous eating and drinking, to 
 be sure, was an horrible slander, but for the 
 other, nothing was ever spoke truer of him by 
 the world. Now why should we lay hands' 
 cross on this text — that is, choose good victuals 
 and love the sweet wine better than the salva- 
 tion of the poor publican ? Why not familiar 
 with sinners, provided we hate their spots and , 
 blemishes, and seek that they may be healed 
 of them 1 
 
 Why not fellowly with our carnal neigh- 
 bours, if we do take occasion to do so, that we 
 may drop and be yet distilling some good doc- 
 trine upon their souls ? Why not go to the 
 poor man's house and give him a penny and a 
 Scripture to think upon? AVhy not send for 
 the poor to fetch away, at least, the fragments 
 of thy table, that the bowels of thy fellow-sin- 
 ner may be refreshed as well as thine? 
 
 Ministers should be exemplary, but I am an 
 inferior man, and must take heed of too much 
 meddling. But, might I, I would meddle with 
 them, with their wives, and with their children 
 too. I mean not this of all, but of them that 
 deserve it, though I may not name them. 
 
 But I say, let ministers follow the steps of 
 their blessed Lord, who by word and deed 
 showed his love to the salvation of the world 
 in such a carriage as declared him to prefer 
 their salvation before his own private concern. 
 For we are commanded, to follow His steps 
 " who did no sin, neither was gufle found in 
 his mouth." 
 
 And as I have said concerning ministers, so 
 I say to' all the brethren. Carry it so that all 
 the world may see that indeed you are the 
 sons of love. 
 
 Love your Saviour; yea, show one to another 
 that you love him, not only by a seeming love 
 of affection, but with the love of duty. Prac- 
 tical love is best. Many love Christ with 
 nothing but the lick of the tongue. Alas I 
 
TEE JERUSALEM SINNER SAVED. 
 
 361 
 
 (3hi ist Jesus the Lord must not be put off thus. 
 " He that huth my commandments and keepeth 
 them/' saith he, "he it is that loveth me." 
 
 PracticM love, which stands in self-denial, 
 in charity to my neighbour, and a patient en- 
 during of affliction for-his name, this is counted 
 love. 
 
 Bight love to Christ is that which carries in 
 it a provoking argument to others of the 
 brethren. Heb. x. 24. 
 
 Should a man ask me how he should know 
 that he loveth the children of God, the beat 
 answer I could give him would be in the words 
 of the apostle John. " By this," saith he, " we 
 know we love the children of God, when we 
 love God and keep his commandments." 1 
 John V. 2. 
 
 Love to God and Christ is then shown»when 
 we are tender of his name ; and then we show 
 ourselves tender of his name when we are 
 afraid to break any the least of his command- 
 ments. And when we are here, then do we 
 • ehow our love to our brother also. 
 
 Now, we have obligation sufficient thus to 
 .do, for that our Lord loved us and gave him- 
 self for us, to deliver us from death, that we 
 might live through him. 
 
 The world, when they hear the doctrine that 
 I have asserted and handled in this little book 
 — ^to wit, that Jesus Christ would have mercy 
 offered in the first place to the biggest sinners 
 — will be apt, because themselves are unbe- 
 lievers, to think that this is a doctrine that 
 leads to looseness and that gives liberty to the 
 flesh; but if you that believe love your 
 brethren and your neighbours truly and as 
 you should, you will put to silence the ignor- 
 ance of such foolish men,^ and stop their 
 mouths from speaking evil of you. 
 
 And I say, let the love of Christ constrain 
 us to this. Who deserveth our heart, our 
 mouth, our life, our goods so much as Jesus 
 Christ, who has bought us to himself by his 
 blood to this very end, that we should be a pe- 
 culiar people, zealous of good works? 
 
 There is nothing more seemly in this world 
 than to see a Christian walk as becomes the 
 Gospel, nor anything more unbecoming a rea- 
 sonable creature than to hear a man say, I be- 
 lieve in Christ, and yet see in his life debauch- 
 ery and profaneness. Might I, such men 
 should be counted the basest of men; such 
 men should be counted by all unworthy of the 
 name of a Christian, and should be shunned 
 by every good man as such who are the very 
 plague of profession. 
 
 For so it is written we should cany it 
 towards them. Whoso have a form of godli- 
 ness and deny the power thereof, from such we 
 must turn away. 
 
 It has ofttimes come into my mind to ask, 
 By what means is it that the Gospel profession 
 should be so taunted with loose and carnal 
 Gospellers ? and I could never arrive to better 
 satisfaction in the matter than this : Suob men 
 are made professors by the devil, and so by 
 him put among the rest of the godly. A cer- 
 tain man had a fruitless fig tree planted in his 
 vineyard, but by whom was it planted there ? 
 even by him that sowed the tares, his o.vn 
 children, among the wheat, (Luke xiii. 6; 
 Matt. xiii. 37^0,) and that was the devil. But 
 why doth the devil do thxis ? Not of love to 
 them, but to make of them offences and stum- 
 bling-blocks to others; for he knows that a 
 loose professor in the Church does more mis- 
 chief to religion than ten can do to it that are 
 in the world. 
 
 Was it not, think you, the devil that stirred 
 up the damsel that you read of in Acts xvi. to 
 cry out, " These are the servants of the most 
 high God, that show unto us the way of salva- 
 tion?" Yes it was, as is evident, for Paul was 
 grieved to hear it. But why did the devil stir 
 up her to cry so but because that was the way 
 to blemish the Gospel, and to make the world 
 think that it came from the same hand as did 
 her soothsaying and witchery 7 Ver. 16, 17, 18. 
 " Holiness, Lord, becomes thy house for 
 ever." 
 
 Let therefore whoever they be that profess 
 the name of Christ take heed that they scan- 
 dal not that profession which they make of 
 him, since he has so graciously ofl'ered us, as 
 we are sinners of the biggest size, in the first 
 place, his grace to save us. 
 
 Having thus far spoken of the riches of the 
 grace of Christ, and of the freeness of hia 
 heart to embrace the Jerusalem sinners, it may 
 not be amiss to give you, yet as a caution, an 
 intimation of one thing — ^namely, that this 
 grace and freeness of his heart are limited to 
 time and day, the which whoso overstandcth 
 shall perish notwithstanding. 
 
 For as a king who of grace sendeth out to 
 his rebellious people an offer of pard a if they 
 accept thereof by such a day, yet beheadeth or 
 harigeth those that come not in for mercy 
 until the day or time be past, so Christ Jesua 
 has set the sinner a dp,y, a day of salvation, 
 an acceptable time, but he who standeth 
 out or goeth on in rebellion beyond tuat 
 
362 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 time is like to come off with tlie loss of his 
 
 BOUl. 
 
 Since, therefore, things are thus, it may be 
 convenient here to touch a little upon these 
 particulars : 
 
 1. That this day or time thus limited, when 
 it is Bonsidered with reference to this or that 
 man, is ofttimes undiscerned by the person 
 concerned therein, and always is kept secret as 
 tO' the shutting up thereof. 
 
 And this, in the wisdom of God, is thus : to 
 the end no man, when called upon, should put 
 off turning to God to another time. Now and 
 to-day is that, and only that, which is revealed 
 in holy writ. 
 
 And this shows us the desperate hazards 
 which those men run who, when invitation or 
 conviction attends them, put off turning to 
 God to be saved till another, and, as they 
 think, a more fit season and time. For many 
 by so doing, defer this to do till the day of 
 God's patience and long-suffering is ended ; 
 and then for their prayers and cries after mercy 
 they receive nothing but mocks, and are 
 laughed at by the God of heaven. 
 
 2. Another thing to be considered is this — 
 namely, that the day of God's grace with some 
 men begins sooner, and also sooner ends, than 
 it doth with others. Those at the first hour of 
 the day had their call sooner than they who 
 were called upon to turn to God at the sixth 
 hour of the day ; yea, and they who were 
 hired at the third hour had their call sooner 
 than they who were called at the eleventh. 
 
 let. The day of God's patience began with 
 Ishmael, and also ended, before he was twenty 
 years old. At thirteen years of age he was 
 circumcised ; the next year after Isaac was born, 
 and then Ishmael was fourteen years old. Now 
 that day that Isaac was weaned, that day was 
 Ishmael rejected; and suppose that Isaac was 
 three years old before he was weaned, that was 
 but the seventeenth year of Ishmael ; wh^re- 
 fors the day of God's grace was ended with 
 him betimes. 
 
 2dly. Cain's days ended with him betimes ; 
 for after Godhad rejected him he lived to be- 
 get many children, and build a city, and to do 
 many other things. But, alas ! all that while 
 he was a fugitive and a vagabond ; nor carried 
 he anything with him, after the day of his re- 
 jection was come, but this doleful language in 
 his conscience : " From God's face shall I be 
 hid." 
 
 3dly. Esau through his extravagancies would, 
 needs go to, sell his birthright, not fearing (as 
 
 other confident fools) but that yet the blessing 
 would still be his ; after which he lived many 
 years, but all of them under the wrath of God, 
 as was, when time came, made to app'ear to his 
 destruction ; for " when he would have inher- 
 ited the blessing he was-rejected, for he found 
 no place of repentance, though he sought it 
 carefully with tears." 
 
 Many instances might be given as to such 
 tokens of the displeasure of God against such 
 as fool away, as the wise man has it, the prize 
 which is put into their hand. Prov. xvii. 16. 
 
 Let these things therefore be a further cau- 
 tion to those that sit under the glorious sound 
 of the Gospel, and hear of the riches of the 
 grace of God in Christ to poor sinners. 
 
 To slight grace, to despise mercy, and to 
 stop the ear when God speaks, when he speaks • 
 such great things, so much to our profit, is a 
 great provocation. 
 
 He offereth, he calls, he woos, he invites, he 
 prays, he beseeches us, in this day of his grace, 
 to be reconciled to him; yea, and has pro-, 
 vided us the means of reconciliation himself. 
 Now this despising must needs be provoking, 
 and it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands 
 of the living God. 
 
 But some man may say unto me, Fain I 
 would be saved, fain I would be saved by 
 Christ, but I fear his day of grace is past, and 
 that I shall perish, notwithstanding the exceed- 
 ing riches of the grace of God. ' 
 
 Answer. To this doubt I would answer sev? 
 eral things. 
 
 First, With respect to~ the day — ^that is, 
 whether it be ended with a man or no. 
 
 1. Art thou jogged, and shaken, and mo- 
 lested at the hearing of the word? Is thy 
 conscience awakened and convinced, then, that 
 thou art at present in a perishing state, and 
 that thou hast need to cry to God for mercy? 
 This is a hopeful sign that his day of grace is 
 not past with thee ; for usually they that are 
 past grace are also in their conscience past 
 feeling, being "seared with an hot iron." 
 
 Consequently those past grace must be such 
 as are denied the'awakening fruits of the word 
 preached. " The dead that hear," says Christ, 
 " shall live," at least while Christ has not quite 
 done with them ; the day of God's patience is 
 not at an end with them. 
 
 2. Is there in thy more retired condition 
 arguings, strugglings, and strivings with thy 
 spirit to persuade thee of the vanity of what 
 vain things thou lovest, and to win thee in thy 
 soul to a choice of Christ Jesus and his heav- 
 
THE JERUSALEM SINNER SAVED. 
 
 363 
 
 enly things ? fake heed and rebel not, for the 
 day of God's grace and patience will not be 
 past with the* till he saith, "His Spirit shall 
 strive no more with thee :" for then the woe 
 comes, when " he shall depart from them,'' and 
 when he says to the means of grace, " Let 
 them alone." 
 
 3. Art thou visited in the night-seasons with 
 dreams about thy state and that thou art in 
 danger of being lost ? Hast thou heart-shaken 
 uppreheusions when deep sleep is upon thee of 
 hell, death, and judgment to come? These 
 are signs that God has not wholly left thee or 
 cast thee behinc. his back for ever. " For God 
 speaks once, yea twice, yet man peroeiveth it 
 not. In a dream, in a vision of the night, 
 Vifhcn deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumber- 
 ings upon the bed ; then he openeth tile ears 
 of men and sealeth their instruction, that he 
 may withdraw man from his purpose," (his 
 sinful purpose,) " and hide pride from man." 
 
 All this while God has not left the sinner, 
 nor is come to the end of his patience towards 
 him, but stands at least with the door of grace 
 ajar in his hand, as being loth as yet to bolt it 
 against him. 
 
 4. Art thou followed With affliction, and dost 
 thou hear God's angry voice in thy afflictions ? 
 Doth he send with thy affliction an interpreter 
 to show thee thy vileness, and why or where- 
 fore the hand of God is upon thee and upon 
 what thou hast — to wit, that it is for thy sin- 
 ning against him, and that thou mightest be 
 turned to him ? If so, thy summer is not quite 
 ended, thy harvest is not quite over and gone'. 
 Take heed, stand out no longer, lest he cause 
 darkness, and lest thy feet stumble upon the 
 dark mountains, and lest, while you look for 
 light, he turn it into the shadow of death and 
 make it gross darkness. 
 
 5. Art thou cross, disappointed, and way- 
 laid, and overthrown in all thy foolish ways 
 and doings? This is a sign God has not quite 
 left thee, but that he still waits upon thee to 
 turn thee. Consider, I say, has he made a 
 hedge and a wall to stop thee ? Has he crossed 
 thee in al. thou puttest thy hand unto ? Take 
 it as a call to turn to him, for byjiis thus doing 
 he shows he ha.s a mind to give thee a better 
 portion. For usually, when God gives up men 
 and resolves to let tliem alone in the broad 
 way, he gives them rope, and lets them have 
 their desires in all hurtful things. 
 
 Therefore take heed to this also, that thou 
 strive not against this hand of God, but betake 
 thyself to a seriou? inquiry into the causes of 
 
 this hand of God upon thee, and incline to 
 think it is because the Lord would have thee 
 look to that which is better than what thou 
 wouldst satisfy thyself withal. When God 
 had a mind to make the prodigal go home to 
 his father, he sent a famine upon him and de- 
 nied him a bellyful of the husks which the 
 swine did eat. And observe it, now he was in 
 his strait he betook him to consideration of the 
 good that there was in his father's house ; yea, 
 he resolved to go home to his father, and his 
 father dealt well with him ; he received him 
 with musjc and dancing because he had re- 
 ceived him safe and sound. 
 
 6. Hast thou any enticing touches of the 
 word of God upon thy mind? Doth, as it 
 were, some holy word of God give a glance 
 upon thee, cast a smile upon thee, let fal], 
 though it be but one drop, of his favour upon 
 thy spirit ; yea, though it stays but one moment 
 with thee ? Oh, then the day of grace is not 
 past, the gate of heaven is not shut, nor God's 
 heart' and bowels withdrawn from thee as yet. 
 Take heed therefore, and beware that thou 
 make much of the heavenly gift, and of that 
 good word of God of the which he has made 
 thee taste. Beware, I say, and take heed; 
 there may be a falling away for all this; but, I 
 say, as yet God has not left thee, as yet he has 
 not cast thee off. 
 
 Secondly, With respect to thy desires, what 
 are they ? Wouldst thou be saved ? Wouldst 
 thou be saved with a thorough salvation? 
 Wouldst thou be saved from guilt and filth too ? 
 Wouldst thou be the servant of thy Saviour ? 
 Art thou indeed weary of the service of thy 
 old master the devil, sin, and the world ? And 
 has these desires put thy soul to the flight? 
 Hast thou through desires betaken thyself to 
 thy heels ? Dost fly to him that is a Saviour 
 from the wrath to come for life ? If these be 
 thy desires, and if they be unfeigned, fear not. 
 Thou art one of those runaways which God 
 has commanded our Lord to receive, and not 
 to send thee back to the devil thy master again, 
 but to give thee a place in his house, even the 
 place which liketh thee best. " Thou shalt not 
 deliver to his master,'' says he, " the servant 
 which is escaped from his master unto thee. 
 He shall dwell with thee, even among you in 
 that place which he shall choose, in one of thy 
 gates where it liketh him best ; thou shalt not 
 oppress him." 
 
 This 'is a command to the Church, conse- 
 quently to the Head of the Church ; for aU 
 commands from God come to her through he' 
 
364 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Head : whence I conclude that as Israel of old 
 was to receive the runaway servant who escaped 
 from a heathen master to themy and should not 
 dare to send him back to his master again, so 
 Christ's Church now, and consequently Christ 
 himself, may not, will not, refuse that soul that 
 has made his escape from sin, Satan, the world, 
 and hell unto him, but will certainly let him 
 dwell in his house among his saints, in that 
 place which he shall choose, even where it 
 liketh him best. For he says in another place, 
 " And him that cometh to me I will in nowise^ 
 cast out." "In nowise;'' let his crimes be 
 what they will,- either for nature, multitude, or 
 the attendance of aggravating circumstances. 
 
 Wherefore if thy desires be firm, sound and 
 unfeigned to become the saved of Christ and 
 his servant, fear not; he will not, he will in 
 nowise, put thee away, or turn thee over to thy 
 old master again. 
 
 Thirdly, As to thy fears, whatever they are, 
 let that be supposed which is supposed before, 
 and they are groundless, and so of no weight. 
 
 Objection. But I am afraid I am not elect or 
 chosen to salvation, though you called me a 
 fool a little before for so fearing. 
 
 Answer. Though election is in order before 
 calling as to God, yet the knowledge of calling 
 must go before the belief of my election as to 
 myself Wherefore souls that doubt of the 
 truth of their effectual calling do but plunge 
 themselves into a deeper labyrinth of confu- 
 sion that concern themselves with their elec- 
 tion; I mean, while they labour to know it 
 before they prove their calling. " Make your 
 calling and (so your) election sure.'' 
 
 Wherefore, at present lay the thoughte of 
 thy election by, and ask thyself these ques- 
 tions: Do I see my lost condition? Do I see 
 salvation is nowhere but in Christ? Would I 
 share in this salvation by faith in him? And 
 would I, as was said afore, be thoroughly saved 
 —to wit, from the filth as from the guilt? Do 
 I love Christ, his Father^ his saints, his words, 
 and his ways? This is the way to prove we 
 are elect. Wherefore, sinner, when Satan or 
 thine own heart seeks to puzzle thee with elec- 
 tion, say thou, I cannot 'tend to talk of this 
 point now, but stay till I know that I am called 
 of God to the fellowship of his Son, and then 
 I will show you that I am elect, and that my 
 name is written in the book of life. 
 
 If poor distressed souls will observe this 
 order they might save themselves the trouble 
 of an unprofitable labour under these unreason- 
 able and soul-sinking doubts. 
 
 Let us therefore, upon the sight of our 
 wretchedness, fly and venturously leap into 
 the arms of Christ, which are now open to 
 receive us unto his bosom, as they were when 
 nailed to the cross. This is coming' to Christ 
 for life aright: thjs is right running away 
 from thy master to him, as was said before. 
 And for this we have a multitude of Scr'p- 
 tures,to support, encourage, and comfort us in 
 our so doing. 
 
 But now let him that doth thus be jure to 
 look for it, for Satan will be with him to-mor- 
 row, to see if he can get him again to his old 
 service; and if he cannot do that, then will he 
 enter into dispute with him — to wit, about 
 whether he be elect to life, and called indeed ' 
 to partake of this Christ to whom he fled for 
 succour, or whether he comes to him of his 
 own presumptuous mind. Therefore we are 
 bid so to come, so to arm ourselves with that 
 armour which God has provided, that we may 
 resist, quench, stand against, and withstand all 
 the flery darts of the devil. 
 
 If ther^efore thou flndest Satan in this order 
 to march against thee, remember then thou 
 hadst this item about it, and betake thyself to 
 faith and good courage and be sober, and hope 
 to the end. 
 
 Objection. But how if I should have sinned 
 the sin unpardonable, or that called the sin 
 against the Holy Ghost? 
 
 Answer. If thou hast, thou art lost for ever; 
 but yet before it is concluded by thee that thou 
 hast so sinned, know that they that would be 
 saved by Jesus Christ through faith in his 
 blood cannot be counted for such. 
 
 1. Because of the promise, for that must not 
 be frustrate; and that says, "And him that 
 cometh to Christ he will in nowise cast out." 
 And again "Whoso will, let him take of the 
 water o^ life freely." 
 
 But I say. How can these Scriptures be ful- 
 flUed if he that would indeed be saved, as be- 
 fore, has sinned the sin unpardonable? The 
 Scriptures must not be made void nor their 
 truth be cast to the ground. ,Here is a promise 
 and here is a sinner — a promise that saya he 
 shall not be cast out that comes ; and the sinner 
 comes, wherefore he must be received : conse- 
 quently, he that comes to Christ for life has 
 not, cannot have, sinned that sin for which 
 there is no forgiveness. 
 
 And this might suflSce for an answer to any 
 coming soul that feare, though he comes, that 
 he has sinned the sin against the Holy Ghost. 
 . 2. But again, he that has sinned the sin 
 
THE JERUSALEM SINNER SAVED. 
 
 365 
 
 against the Holy Ghost cannot come, has no 
 heart to come, can by no means be made will- 
 ing to come, to Jesus Christ for life, for that 
 he has received such an opinion of him and 
 of his things aa deters and holds him back. 
 
 1st. He counteth this blessed person, this 
 Son of God, a magician, a conjurer, a witch, 
 or one that did, when he was in the world, 
 what he did by the power and spirit of the 
 devil. Now he that has this, opinion of this 
 Jesiia cannot be willing to cast himself at his 
 feet for life, or to come to him as the only way 
 to God and to salvation. And hence it is said 
 again that such an one puts him to open shame 
 and treadeth him under foot ; that is, by con- 
 temning, reproaching, vilifying, and despising 
 of him, as if he were the vilest one or the 
 greatest cheat in the world; and has tl^^refore, 
 as to his esteem of him, called him accursed, 
 crucified him to himself, or counted him one 
 hanged as one of the worst of malefactors. 
 
 2dly. His blood, which is the meritorious 
 cause of man's redemption, even the blood of 
 the everlasting covenant, he counteth an un- 
 holy thing, or that which has no mpre virtue 
 . in it to save a soul from sin than has the blood 
 of a dog. For when the apostle says he counts 
 it afi. unholy thing, he means he makes it of 
 less value than that of a sheep or a cow, which 
 were clean according to the law; and there- 
 fore must mean that his blood was of no more 
 worth to him in his account than was the blood 
 of a dog, an ass, or a swine, which always was, 
 a» to sacrifice, rejected by the God of heaven 
 as unholy or unclean. 
 
 Now, he who has no better esteem of Jesus 
 Christ and of his death and blood will not be 
 persuaded to come to him for life or to trust in 
 him for salvation. 
 
 3dly. But further, all this must be done 
 against manifest tokens to prove the contrary, 
 or after the shining of Gospel light upon the 
 soul, or some considerable profession of him 
 M the Jlessias, or that he was the Saviour of 
 the world. 
 
 1st. It must be done against manifest tokens 
 to prove the contrary ; and thus the reprobate 
 Jews committed it when they saw the works 
 of God which put forth themselves in him, 
 and called them the works of the devil and 
 Beelzebub. 
 
 2dly. It must be done against some shining 
 light of the Gospel upon them. And thus it 
 was Tith Judas, and with those who, after they 
 were enlightened and had tasted and had felt 
 iomething of the powers of the world to come, 
 
 fell away from the faith of him and put him 
 to open shame and disgrace. 
 
 3dly. It must also be done after and in op- 
 position to one's own open profession of him. 
 " For if after they have escaped the pollution 
 of the world through the knowledge of our 
 Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again 
 entangled therein and overcome, the latter end 
 is worse with them than the beginning ; for it 
 had been better for them not to have known 
 the way of righteousness than after they have 
 known it to turn from the holy commandment 
 (which is the word of faith) delivered unto 
 them." 
 
 4thly. All this must be done openly, before 
 witnesses, in the face, sight, and view of the 
 world, by word and act. This is the sin that 
 is unpardonable ; and he that hath thus done 
 can never, it is impossible he ever should, be 
 renewed again to repentance ; and that for a 
 double reason, for such an one doth say he 
 will not, and of him God says he shall not, 
 have the benefit of salvation by him. 
 
 Objection. But if this be the sin unpardon- 
 able, why is it called the sin against the Holy 
 Ghost, and not rather the sin against the Son 
 of God? 
 
 Answer. It is called "the sin against the 
 Holy Ghost" because such count the works 
 which he did, which were done by the Spirit of 
 God, the works of the spirit of the devil. Also 
 because all such as so reject Christ Jesus the 
 Lord, they do it in despite of that testimony 
 which the Holy Ghost has given of him in 
 the holy Scriptures ; for the Scriptures are the 
 breathings of the Holy Ghost, as in all other 
 things, so in that testimony they bear of the 
 person, of the works, suflferings, resurrectjon, 
 and ascension of Jesus Christ. 
 
 Sinner, this is the sin against the Holy 
 Ghost. What sayest thou? Hast thou com- 
 mitted it ? Nay, I know thou hast not if thou 
 wouldst be saved by Christ ; yea, it is impossi-, 
 ble thou shouldst have done it if indeed thou 
 wouldst be saved by him. 
 
 No man can desire to be saved by Him whom 
 he yet judgeth to be an impostor, a magician, 
 a witch. No man can hope for redemption by 
 that blood which he yet counteth an unholy 
 thing. Nor will God ever suffer such an one 
 to repent who has, after light and profession 
 of hinl, thus horribly and devil-like contemned 
 and trampled upon him. 
 
 True, words, and wars, and blasphemies 
 against this Son of man are pardonable, but 
 then they must be done ignorantly and in un- 
 
366 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 belief. Also all blasphemous tliouglits are 
 likewise such as may be passed by, if the soul 
 afflicted with them indeed is sorry for them. 
 
 All but this, sinner, all but this ! If God 
 had said he will forgive one sin, it had been 
 undeserved grace ; but when he says he will 
 pardon all but one, this is grace to the height, 
 nor is that one unpardonable otherwise but 
 because the Saviour that should save them is 
 rejected and put away. 
 
 We read of Jacob's ladder ; Christ is Jacob's 
 
 ladder that reacheth up to heaven, and ha 
 that refuses to go by this ladder thither will 
 scarce by other- means get up so high. There 
 is none other n^me given under heaven among 
 men whereby we must be saved. There is 
 none other sacrifice for sin than his ; he alwo, 
 and he only, is the Mediator that recon- 
 cileth men to God. And, sinner, if thou 
 wouldst bp saved by him, his benefits are thine ; 
 yea, though thou art a great and Jerusalem 
 transgressor. 
 
THE HOLY WAR, 
 
 MADE BY 
 
 SHADDAI UPON DIABOLUS, 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 KEGAINING THE METROPOLIS OF THE WORLD; 
 
 • OR THE 
 
 LOSING AND TAKING AGAIN OF THE TOWN OF MANSOUL. 
 
 I have used similitudca. — Hosea xii. 10. 
 
 THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 §OME say the Pilgriifi's Progress is not mine, 
 Insinuating as if I would shine 
 In name and fame by the worth of another, 
 Like some made rich by robbing of their brother; 
 Or, that so fond I am of being sire, 
 I'll father bastards ; or, if need require, 
 I'll tell a lie in print to get applause. 
 I scorn it : John such dirt-heap never was 
 Since God converted him. Let this suffice 
 To show why I my Pilgrim patronize. 
 
 It came from mine own heart, so to my head, 
 .\.nd thence into my fingers trickled ; 
 Then to my pen, from whence immediately 
 On paper I did dribble it daintily. 
 
 Manner and matter too was all mine own. 
 Nor was it unto any mortal known 
 Till I had done it. Nor did any then. 
 By books, by wits, by iongues, or hand, or pen. 
 Add five words to it, or write half a line 
 'J'hereof : the whole and every whit is mine. 
 
 Also for this thine eye is now upon, 
 The matter in this manner came from none 
 But the same heart and head, fingers and pen 
 As did the other. Witness all good men : 
 For none in all the world, without a lie. 
 Can sa^ that this is mine, excepting I. 
 
 I write not this of any ostentation. 
 Not 'cause I seek of men their commendation; 
 I do it to keep them from such surmise, 
 Vs tempt them will my name to scandalize. 
 
 TO THE BEADEE. 
 
 'Tis strange to me that they that love to tell 
 Things done of old, yea, and that do excel 
 Their equals in historiology. 
 Speak not. of Mansoul's wars, but let them lie 
 Dead like old fables, or such worthless things 
 That to the reader no advantage brings ; 
 When men, let them make what they will their 
 
 own, 
 Till they know this are to themselves unknown. 
 
 Of stories I well know there's divers sorts ; 
 Some foreign, some domestic ; and reports 
 Are thereof made as fancy leads the writers, 
 (By books a man may guess at the inditers.) 
 
 Some wUl again of that which never was, 
 Nor will be, feign (and that without a cause) 
 Such matter, raise such mountains, tell such thiugi 
 Of men, of laws, of countries and of kings. 
 And in their story seem to be so sage. 
 And with such gravity clothe every page. 
 That though their frontispiece says all is vain, 
 Yet to their way disciples they obtain. 
 
 But, readers, I have somewhat else to do 
 Than with vain stories thus to trouble you ; 
 What here I say some men do know so well 
 They can with tears and joy the story tell. 
 The town of Mansoul is well known to many, 
 Nor are her troubles doubted of by any 
 That are acquainted with those histories 
 That Mansoul and her wars anatomize. 
 
 S«7 
 
368 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Tben lend thine ear to what 1 do relate 
 Touching the town of Mansoul and her state ; 
 How she was lost, took captive, made a slave. 
 And how against him set that should her save. 
 Yea, how by hostile ways she did oppose 
 Her Lord, and with his enemy did close. 
 For they are true ; him that will them deny 
 Must needs the best of records vilify. 
 Ji^or my part, I myself was in the town. 
 Both when 'twas set up and when pulUng ^own; 
 I saw Diabolus in his possession. 
 And Mansoul also under his oppression. 
 Yea, I was there when she owned him for lord, 
 And to him did submit with one iccord. 
 
 When Mansoul trampled upon things divine, 
 . And wallowed in filth as doth a swine, 
 When she betook herself unto her arms. 
 Fought her Emmanuel, despis'd his charms, 
 Then I was there, arid did rejoice to see 
 Diibolus and Mansoul so agree. 
 
 Let no man then count me a fable-maker, 
 Nor make my name or credit a partaker 
 Of their derision : what is here in view 
 Of mine own knowledge I dare say is true. 
 
 I saw the Prince's armed men come down 
 By troops, by thousands, to besiege the town. 
 I saw th^ captains, heard the trumpets sound, 
 . And how his forces covered all the ground. 
 Yea, how they set themselves in battle-'ray 
 I shall remember to my dying day. 
 
 I saw the colours waving in the wind. 
 And they within to mischief how combin'd 
 To ruin Mansoul, and to make away 
 Her primum mobile without delay. 
 
 I saw the mounts cast up against the town. 
 And how the slings were placed to beat it down ; 
 I heard the stones fly whizzing by mine ears, 
 (What's longer kept in mind than got in fears?) 
 I heard them fall, and saw what work they made, 
 And how old Mars did cover with his shade 
 The face of Mansoul ; and I heard her cry, 
 Woe worth the day ! in dying I shall die. 
 
 I saw the battering-rams, and how they play'd 
 To belt ope Ear-gate, and I was afraid. 
 Not only Ear-gate, but the very town. 
 Would by those battering-rams be beaten down. 
 
 I saw the fights, and heard the captains' shout. 
 And in each battle saw who faced about ; 
 I saw who wounded Were, and who were slain. 
 And who when dead would come to life again. 
 
 I heard the cries of those that wounded were, 
 (While others fought like men bereft of fear ;) 
 And while the cry, KOI, kill! was in niine ears 
 The gutters ran not so with blood as tears. 
 
 Indeed the captains did not always fight. 
 But then they would molest us day and night : 
 Their cry. Up, fall on, let us take the town ! 
 Kept us from sleeping or froii ying down. 
 
 I was there when the gates were broken ope, 
 And saw how Mansoul then was stript of hope. 
 
 I saw the captains march into the town, 
 How there they fought and did their foes cut down. 
 
 I heard the Prince bid Boanerges go 
 Up to the castle and there seize his foe ; 
 And saw him and his fellows bring him down, 
 In chains of great contempt, quite through the 
 town. 
 
 I saw Emmanuel when he possess'd 
 His town of Mansoul, and how greatly bless'd 
 A town this gallant town of Mansoul was 
 When she receiv'd his pardon, lov'd his laws. 
 
 When the Diabolonians were caught, 
 Wheii tried, and when to execution brought, ' 
 Then I was there ; yea, I was standing by 
 When Mansoul did the rebels crucify. 
 
 I also saw Mansoul clad all in white. 
 And heard her Prince call her his heart's delight ; 
 I saw him put upon her chains of gold. 
 And rings and bracelets, goodly to behold. 
 
 What shall I say ? I heard the people's cries, 
 And saw the Prince wipe tears from Mansoul's 
 
 eyes; 
 I heard the grbans and saw the joy of many. 
 Tell you of all I neither will nor can I ; 
 But by what here I say you well may see 
 That Mansoul's matchless wars no fables be. 
 
 Mansoul the desire of both princes was — 
 One keep his gain would, t'other gain his loss • 
 Diabolus would cry. The town is mine ; 
 Emmanuel would plead a right divine 
 Unto his Mansoul; then to blows they go. 
 And Mansoul cries. These wars will me undo. 
 
 Mansoul ! her wars seemed endless in her eyesj 
 She's lost by one, becomes another's prize. 
 And he again that lost her last would swear, 
 Have her I will, or her in pieces tear. 
 
 Mansoul I it was the very seat of war, 
 Wherefore her troubles greater were by far 
 Than only where the noise of war is heard, 
 Or where the shaking of a sword is fear'dj 
 Or only where small skirmishes are fought, 
 Or where the fancy fighteth with a thought. 
 
 She saw the swords of fighting-men made red. 
 And heai'd the cries of those with them wounded ' 
 Must not their frights then be much more by far 
 Than theirs who to such doings strangers are, 
 Or theirs that hear the beating of a drum. 
 But not made fly for fear from house or home? 
 
 Mansoul not only heard the trumpets sound. 
 But saw her gallants gasping on the ground ; 
 Wherefore we must not think that she could rest 
 With them whose greatest earnest is but jest ; 
 Or where the blusf ring threat'ning of great wars 
 Do end in parleys or in wordy jars. ' 
 
 Mansoul 1 her mighty wars they did portend 
 Her weal or woe, and that world without end ; 
 
THE HOLY WAR. 
 
 369 
 
 Wlierefore she must he more concem'd than tliey 
 Whose feiiis heghi and end the selfsame day, 
 Or where none other harm dotli come to him 
 That is engag'd hut loss of life or limb, 
 Afl all must needs confess that now do dwell 
 In Univorso, and can this story tell. 
 
 Count me nut then with them that to amaze 
 Tlie jiLMiplc set them on the stars to gaze, 
 Insinuating with much confidence 
 That each of them is now the residence 
 Of some brave creatures; yea, a world they will 
 Have in each star, though it he past their skill 
 To mnUe it manifest to any man 
 That reason hath or tell "his fingers can. 
 24 
 
 But I have too long held thee in the porcli, 
 And kept thee from the sunshine with a torch. 
 Well, now, go forward, step within the door, 
 And there behold five hundre<l times much more 
 Of all sorts of such inward rarities 
 As plea.se the mind will, and will feed the eyes; 
 With those which, if a Christian, tliou wilt see 
 Not small, but things of greatest moment be. 
 Nor do thou go to work without my key, 
 (In mysteries men soon do lose their way ;) 
 And also turn it right, if thou wouldst know 
 My riddle, and wouldst with my heifer plough. 
 It lies there in the window : fare thee well ; 
 My next may be to ring thy passing be'l. 
 
 JOHN BU SYAN. 
 
THE HOLY WAR. 
 
 In my travels, as T walked througt many re- 
 gions and countries, it was my chance to hap- 
 pen into that famous continent of Universe. 
 A very large and spacious country it is. It 
 lieth between the two poles, and just amidst 
 the four points of the heavens. It is a place 
 well watered and richly adorned with hills and 
 valleys, bravely situate ; and for the most part 
 (at least where I was) very fruitful, also well 
 peopled and a very sweet air. 
 
 The people are not all of one complexion, 
 nor yet of one language, mode, or way of re- 
 ligion ; but differ as much, it is said, as do the 
 planets themselves. Some are right, and some 
 are wrong, even as it happeneth to be in lesser 
 regions. 
 
 In this country, as I said, it was my lot to 
 travel, and there travel I did, and that so long, 
 even till I learned much of their mother 
 tongue, together with the customs and man- 
 ners of them among whom I was. And to 
 speak the truth, I was much delighted to see 
 and hear many things which I saw and heard 
 among them ; yea, I had, to be sure, even lived 
 and died among them (so was I taken with 
 them and their doings) had not my Master 
 sent for me home to his house, there to do busi- 
 ness for him and to oversee business done. 
 
 Now there is in this gallant country of Uni- 
 verse a fair and delicate town, a corporation, 
 called Mansoul — a town for its buildings so 
 curious, for its situation so commodious, for its 
 privileges so advantageous — I mean with ref- 
 erence to its original — that I may say of it, as 
 was said before of the continent in which it is 
 placed, there is not its equal under the whole 
 heaven. 
 
 As to the situation of this town, it lieth just 
 between the two worlds, and the first founder 
 and builder of it, so far as by the best and 
 most authentic records I can gather, was one 
 Bhaddai, and he built it for his own delight. 
 He made it the mirror and glory of all that 
 he made, even the top-piece beyond anything 
 else that he did in that country : yea, so goodly 
 370 
 
 a town was Mansoxil when it was first built 
 that it is said by some the gods, at the setting 
 up thereof, came down to see it and sang for 
 joy. And as he made it goodly to behold, so 
 also mighty to have dominion over all the 
 countiy round about. Yea, all were com- 
 manded to acknowledge Mansoul for their 
 metropolitan ; all were enjoined to do homage 
 to it; ay, the town itself had positive commis- 
 sion and power from her King to demand ser- 
 vice of all, and also to subdue any that any- 
 wise denied to do it. 
 
 There was reared up in the midst of this 
 town a most famous and stately palace ; for 
 strength it might be called a castle ; for pleas- 
 antness, a paradise ; for largeness, a place so 
 copious as to contain all the world. This place 
 the King Shaddai intended for himself alone, 
 and not another with him ; partly because of 
 his own delights, and partly because he would 
 not that the terror of strangers should be upon 
 the town. This place Shaddai made also a 
 garrison of, but committed the keeping of it 
 only to the men of the town. 
 
 The wall of the town was well built; yea, so 
 fast and firm was it knit and compact together 
 that had it not been for the townsmen them- 
 selves, they could not have been shaken oi- 
 broken for ever. 
 
 For here lay the excellent wisdom of him 
 that built Mansoul, that the walls could never, 
 be broken down nor hurt by the most mighty 
 adverse potentates unless the townsmen gave 
 consent thereto. 
 
 This famous town of Mansoul had five gates 
 in at which to come, out at which to go ; and 
 these were made likewise answerable to the 
 walls — ^to wit, impregnable, and such as could 
 never be opened or forced but by the will and 
 leave of those within. The names of the gates 
 were these : Ear-gate, Eye-gate, Mouth-gate, 
 Nose-gate, and Feet-gate. 
 
 Other things there were that belonged to 
 the town of Mansoul, which if you adjoin to 
 these will yet give further demonstration to 
 
THE HOLT WAR. 
 
 371 
 
 all of the gloiy and strength of the place. It 
 had always a sufficiency of provisions within 
 its walls ; it had the best, most wholesome 
 and excellent law that then was extant in the 
 world. There was not a rascal, rogue, or 
 traitorous person then within its walls; they 
 were all true men, and fast joined together, 
 and this, you know, is a great matter. And 
 to all these it had always (so long as it had 
 the goodness to keep true to Shaddai the King) 
 his countenance, his protection, and it was his 
 delight, &c. 
 
 Well, upon a time there was one Diabolus, 
 a mighty giant, made an assault upon this 
 famous town of Mansoul to take it and make 
 it his own habitation. This giant was king 
 of the dark regions, and a most raving prince 
 he was. We will, if you please, ftrst dis- 
 course of the original of this Diabolus, and 
 then of his taking of this famous town of 
 Mansoul. 
 
 This Diabolus is indeed a grand and mighty 
 prince, and yet both poor and beggarly. As 
 to his original, he was at first one of the ser- 
 vants of King Shaddai, made, and taken, and 
 put by him into most high and mighty place ; 
 yea, was put into such principalities as be- 
 longed to the best of his territories and do- 
 minions. This Diabolus was made son of the 
 morning, and a brave place he had of it ; it 
 brought him much glory and gave him much 
 brightness, an income that might have con- 
 tented his Luciferian heart, had it not been 
 insatiable and enlarged as hell itself. 
 
 Well, he seeing himself thus exalted to 
 greatness and honour, and raging in his mind 
 for higher state and degree, what doth he but 
 begin to think with himself how he might be 
 set up as Lord over all, and have the sole 
 power under Shaddai. (Now that did the 
 King reserve for his Son, yea, and had al- 
 » ready bestowed it upon him.) Wherefore, he 
 first consults with himself what had best to 
 De done, and then breaks his mind to some 
 other of his companions, to the which they 
 alsD agreed. So in fine they came to this 
 issue, that they should make an attempt upon 
 the King's Son to destroy him, that the in- 
 heritance might be theirs. Well, to he short, 
 the treason, as I said, was concluded, the time 
 appointed, the word given, the rebels ren- 
 dezvoused, and the assault attempted. Now 
 the King and his Son, being all and always 
 eye, could not but discern all passages in his 
 dominions; and he having always love for his 
 Bon as for himself, could not, at what he saw, 
 
 but be greatly provoked and offended ; where 
 fore what does he but takes them in the very 
 nick, and the first trip that they made toward 
 their design convicts them of their treason, 
 horrid rebellion, and conspiracy that they had 
 devised and no^ attempted to put into prac- 
 tice, and casts them all together out of all 
 place of trust, benefit, honour, and preferment. 
 This done, he banishes them the court, turns 
 them down into the horrible pits, as fast bound 
 in chains, never more to expect the least 
 favour from his hands, but to abide the judg- 
 ment that he had appointed, and that for ever 
 and ever. 
 
 Now, they being thus cast out of all place 
 of trust, profit, and honour, and also knowing 
 that they had lost their prince's favour for 
 ever, being banished his courts and cast down 
 to the horrible pits, you may be sure they 
 would now add to their former pride what 
 malice and rage against Shaddai, and against 
 his Son, they could. Wherefore, roving and 
 ranging in much fury from place to place, (if 
 perhaps they might find something that was 
 the King's, "to revenge, by spoiling of that, 
 themselves on him,) at last they happened 
 into this spacious country of Universe, and 
 steer their course towards the town of Man- 
 soul ; and considering that that town was one 
 of the chief works and delights of King Shad- 
 dai, what do they but, after counsel taken, 
 make an assault upon that : I say, they knew 
 that Mansoul belonged unto Shaddai, for they 
 were there when he built it and beautified it 
 for himself. So when they had found the 
 place they shouted horribly for joy, and 
 roared on it as a lion upon the prey, saying. 
 Now we have found the prize and how to be 
 revenged on King Shaddai for what he hath 
 done to us. So they sat down and called a 
 council of war, and considered with them- 
 selves what ways and methods they had best 
 to engage in for the winning to themselves 
 this famous town of Mansoul; and these four 
 things were then propounded to be consid- 
 ered of: 
 
 1. Whether they had best, all of them, to 
 show themselves in this design to the town of 
 Mansoul ? 
 
 2. Whether they had best to go and sit 
 down against Mansoul in their now ragged 
 and beggarly guise? 
 
 3. Whether they had best show to Mansoul 
 their intentions and what design they came 
 about, or whether to assault it with words aud 
 ways of deceit ? 
 
372 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 4. Whether they had not best, to some of 
 their companions, give out private orders to 
 take the advantage, if they see one or more of 
 the principal townsmen, to shoot them, if 
 thereby they should judge their cause and 
 design will the better be prompted? 
 
 It was answered to the first of these pro- 
 posals in the negative — to wit, that it would 
 not be best that all should show themselves 
 before the town, because the appearance of 
 many of them might alarm and fright the 
 town ; whereas a few, or but one of them, was 
 not likely to do it. And to enforce this advice 
 to take place, it was added further that if 
 Mansoul was frightened or did take the alarm, 
 it is impossible, said Diabolus, (for he spake 
 now,) that we should take the town, for that 
 none can enter into it without its own con- 
 sent. Let therefore but few or but one 
 assault Mansoul, and in mine opinion, said 
 Diabolus, let me be he. Wherefore to this 
 they all agreed ; and 
 
 Then to the second proposal they came — 
 namely, Whether they had best to go and sit 
 down before Mansoul in their now ragged and 
 beggarly guise? To which it was answered 
 also in the negative, By no means ; and that 
 because, though the town of Mansoul had 
 been made to know, and to have to do before 
 now, with things that are invisible, they did 
 never as yet see any of their fellow- creatures 
 in so sad and rascally a condition as they. 
 And this was the advice of that fierce Alecto. 
 Then said Apollyon, The advice is pertinent; 
 for even one of us, appearing to them as we 
 are now, must needs both beget and multiply 
 such thoughts in them as will both put them 
 into a consternation of spirit, and necessitate 
 them to put themselves upon their guard ; and 
 if so, said he, then, as my Lord Alecto said 
 but now, it is in vain for us to think of taking 
 the town. Then said that mighty giant Beel- 
 Eebub, The advice that already is given is safe, 
 for though the men of Mansoul have seen such 
 things as we once were, yet hitherto they did 
 never behold such things as we now are ; and 
 it is best, in mine opinion, to come upon them 
 in such a guise as is common to and most fa- 
 miliar among them. To this when they had 
 consented, the next thing to be considered 
 was, in what shape, hue, or guise Diabolus 
 had best to show himself when he went about 
 to make Mansoul his own. Then one said 
 one thing, and another the contrary ; at last, 
 Lucifer answered that in his opinion it was 
 best that his lordship should assume the body 
 
 of some of those creatures that they of the 
 town had dominion over; for, quoth he, these 
 are not only familiar to them, but being under 
 them they will never imagine that an attempt 
 should by them be made upon the town ; and 
 to blind all, let him assume the body of one 
 of those beasts that Mansoul deems to be 
 wiser than any of the rest. This advice was 
 applauded of all ; so it was determined that 
 the giant Diabolus should assume the dragon, 
 for that he was in those days as familiar with 
 the town of Mansoul as now is the bird with 
 the boy. For nothing that was in its primi- 
 tive state was at all amazing to them. 
 
 Then they proceeded to the thiid thing, 
 which was. Whether they had best to show 
 their intentions or the design of his coming 
 to Mansoul or no? This also was answered in 
 the negative, because of the weight that was 
 in the former reasons — to wit, for that Man- 
 soul were a strong people, a strong people in a 
 strong town, whose wall and gates were im- 
 pregnable, (to say nothing of their castle,) nor 
 can they by any means be won but by tlieir 
 own consent. Besides, said Legion, (for he 
 gave answer to this,) a discovery of our inten- 
 tions may make them send to their King for 
 aid, and if that be done I know quickly what 
 time of day it will be with us. Therefore let 
 us assault them in all pretended fairness, cov- 
 ering of our intentions with all manner of lies, 
 flatteries, delusive words, feigning of things 
 that never will be, and promising of that to 
 them that they shall never find. This is the 
 way to win Mansoul, and to make them of 
 themselves to open their gates to us ; yea, and 
 to desire us too to come in to them. And the 
 reason- why I thijik that this project will do 
 is, because the people of Mansoul now are every 
 one simple and innocent, and all honest and 
 true ; nor do they as yet know what it is to be as- 
 saulted with fraud, guile and hypocrisy. They 
 are strangers to lying and dissembling lips; 
 wherefore we cannot, if thus we be disguised, 
 by them at all be discerned ; our lies shall go 
 for true sayings, and our dissimulations for up- 
 right dealings. What we promise them they 
 will in that believe us, especially if in all our 
 lies and feigned words we pretend great love to 
 them, and that our design is only their advan- 
 tage and honour. Now there was not one bit 
 of reply against this; this went as current 
 down as doth the water down a steep descent. 
 
 Wherefore they go to consider of the last 
 proposal, which was, Whether they had not 
 best to give out orders to some of their com- 
 
THE HOLY WAR. 
 
 373 
 
 pany to ahoot some one ov more of the princi- 
 jial III' the townsmen, if they judge that their 
 ciui-^e may be promoted thereby? This was 
 carried in the afBrmativo, and the man that 
 ■was designed by tliis stratagem to be destroyed 
 was nno Mr. Keaistancc, otherwise called Cap- 
 tain Ivcsislance. And a great man in Mansoul 
 this Captain Resistance was, and a man tliat 
 llie giant Diabolus and his band more feared 
 tliaii tlicy feared the whole town of Mansoul 
 bisides. Now who should be the actor to do 
 the murder? That was the next: and they ap- 
 pointed one Tisiphone, a fury of the lake, to 
 do it. 
 
 They thus having ended their council of war, 
 rose up and assayed to do as they had deter- 
 mined: they marched towards Mansoul, but 
 all in a manner invisible, save one, o^^ly one; 
 nor did he approach the town in his own like- 
 ness, but under the shape and in the body of a 
 dragon. So they drew up and set down before 
 Ear-gate, for that was the place of hearing for 
 all without the town, as Eye-gate was the place 
 of perspoction. So, as I said, he came up with 
 his train to the gate, and laid his ambuscado 
 for Captain Resistance within bowshot of the 
 town. This done, the giant ascended up close 
 to the gate and called to the town of JIansoul 
 for audience. Nor took he any with him but 
 one Ill-pause, who was his orator in all diffi- 
 cult mattei-s. Now, as I said, he being come 
 up to the gate, (as the manner of those times 
 wius,) sounded his trumpet for audience. At 
 which the chief of the town of jMansoul, such 
 as my Lord Innocent, my Lord Will-be-will, 
 my lord mayor, Mr. Recorder, and Captain 
 Resistance, came down to the wall to see who 
 was there and what was the matter. And my 
 Lord Will-be-will, when he had looked over 
 and saw who stood at the gate, demanded 
 what he was, wherefore he was come, and why 
 he roused the town of jjlansoul with so unusual 
 a sound? 
 
 Diabolus then, as if he had been a lamb, 
 hegiin his oration and said : Gentlemen of the 
 fumous town of Mansoul, I am, as you may 
 P'^rceive, no far dweller from you, but near, 
 and one that is bound by the King to do you 
 my homage and what service I can ; wherefore, 
 that I may be faithful to myself and to you, I 
 have somewhat of concern to impart unto you. 
 Wlierefore grant me your audience and hear 
 me patiently. And first, I will assure you, it 
 is not myself, but you ; not mine, but your ad- 
 vantage that I seek by what I now do, as will 
 full well be made manifest by that I have 
 
 opened my mind unto you. For, gentlemen, 
 I am, to tell you the truth, come to show you 
 how you may obtain great and ample deliver- 
 ance from a bondage that, unawares to your- 
 selves, you are captivated and enslaved under. 
 At this the town of Mansoul began to prick 
 up its ears: And what is it, pray, what is it? 
 thought they. And he said, I have somewhat 
 to say to you concerning your King, concern- 
 ing his law, and also touching j^jurselves. 
 Touching your King, I know he is a great and 
 potent, but yet all that he hath said to you is 
 neither true nor yet for your advantage. 1. It 
 is not true, for that wherewith he hath hitherto 
 awed you shall not come to pass nor be ful- 
 filled, though you do the thing that he hath 
 forbidden. But if there was danger, what a 
 slavery it is to live always in fear of the great- 
 est of punishments foV doing so small and trivial 
 a thing as eating of a little fruit is ! 2. Touch- 
 ing his laws, this I say further, they are both 
 unreasonable, intricate, and intolerable — ud- 
 reasonable, as was hinted before, for that the 
 punishment is not proportioned to the offence. 
 There is great difference and disproportion be- 
 twixt the life and an apple, yet the one must 
 go for the- other by the law of your Shaddai. 
 But it is also intricate, in that he saith, first, 
 you may eat of all, and yet after forbids the 
 eating of one. And then, in the last phiee, it 
 must needs be intolerable, forasmuch as that 
 fruit which you are forbidden to eat of (if you 
 are forbidden any) is that, and that alone, 
 which is able by your eating to minister to you 
 a good as yet unknown by you. This is mani- 
 fest by the very name of the tree ; it is called 
 " the tree of knowledge of good and evil ; " 
 and have you that knowledge as yet? No, no, 
 . nor can you conceive how good, how pleasant, 
 and how much to be desired to make one wise 
 it is, so long as you stand by your King's com- 
 mandment. Why should you be holden in 
 ignorance and blindness? Why should you 
 not be enlarged in knowledge and understand- 
 ing? And now, ah I ye inhabitants of the 
 famous town of Mansoul, to speak more par- 
 ticularly to yourselves, you are not a free peo- 
 ple : you are kept both in bondage and slavery, 
 and that by a grievous threat, no reason being 
 annexed but So I will have it, so it shall be. 
 And is it not grievous to think on, that that 
 very thing that you are forbidden to do, might 
 you but do it, would yield you both wisdon' 
 and honour? for then your eyes will be opened 
 and you shall be as gods. Now, since this is 
 thus, quoth he, can you be kept by any prince 
 
374 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 in more slavery and in greater bondage than 
 you are under this day? You are made un- 
 derlings and are wrapt up in inconveniences, 
 as I have well made appear. For what bond- 
 age greater than to be kept in blindness? 
 Will not reason tell you that it is better to 
 have eyes than to be without them, and so be 
 at liberty to be better than to be shut up in a 
 dark and stinking cave ? 
 
 And just now, while Diabolus was speaking 
 these words to Mansoul, Tisiphone shot at 
 Captain Resistance where he stood on the gate, 
 and mortally wounded him in the head; so 
 that he, to the amazement of the townsmen 
 and the encouragement of Diabolus, fell down 
 quite dead over the wall. Now, when Captain 
 Eesistance was dead, (and he was the only 
 man of war in the town,) poor Mansoul was 
 left wholly naked of courage, nor had she now 
 any heart to resist. But this was as the devil 
 would have it. Then he, Mr. Ill-pause, that 
 Diabolus brought with him, who was his ora- 
 tor, addressed himself to speak to the town of 
 • Mansoul ; the tenor of whose speech here fol- 
 lows : 
 
 Gentlemen, quoth he, it is my master's hap- 
 piness that he hath this day a quiet and teach- 
 able auditory, and it is hoped by us that we 
 shall prevail with you not to cast off good 
 advice. My master has a very great love for 
 you, and although, as he very well knows, that 
 he runs the hazard of the anger of King Shad- 
 dai, yet love to you will make him do more 
 than that. Nor doth there need that a word 
 more should be spoken to confirm for truth 
 what he hath said ; there is not a word but 
 carries in it self-evidence in its bowels: the 
 very name of the tree may put an end to all 
 controversy in this matter. I therefore at this 
 time shall only add this advice to you, under 
 and by tlie leave of my lord, (and with that ho 
 made Diabolus a very low congee.) Consider 
 his words, look on the tree and the promising 
 fruit thereof; remember also that yet you 
 know but little, and that this is the way to 
 know more ; and if your reasons be not con- 
 quered to accept of such good counsel, you are 
 not the men that I took you to be. 
 
 But when the townsfolk saw that the tree 
 n as good for food, and that it was pleasant to 
 the eye, and'a tree to be desired to make one 
 wise, they did as old Ill-pause advised; they 
 took and did eat thereof. Now this I should 
 have told you before, that even then, when 
 this Ill-pause was making of his speech to the 
 townsmen, my Lord Innocency, whether by a 
 
 shot from the camp of the giant, or from a 
 sinking qualm that suddenly took him, or 
 rather by the stinking breath of that treach- 
 erous villain old Ill-pause, (for so I am most 
 apt to think,) sunk down in the place where 
 he stood, nor could he be brought to life again. 
 Thus these two brave men died. Brave men I 
 call them, for they were the beauty and glory 
 of Mansoul so long as they lived therein ; nor 
 did there now remain any more a noble spirit 
 in Mansoul; they all feU down and yielded 
 obedience to Diabolus, and became his slaves 
 and vassals as you shall hear. 
 
 Now, these being dead, what do the rest of 
 the townsfolk but as men that had found a 
 fool's paradise? They presently, as afore was 
 hinted, fell to prove the truth of the giant's 
 words; and first they did as Ill-pause had 
 taught them ; they looked, they considered, 
 they were taken with the forbidden fruit, they 
 took thereof, and did eat ; and having eaten, 
 they became immediately drunken therewith ; 
 so they opened the gate, both Ear-gate and 
 Eye-gate, and let in Diabolus with all his 
 bands, quite forgetting their good Shaddai, his 
 law, and the judgment that he had annexed 
 with solemn threatening to the breach thereof. 
 
 Diabolus having now obtained entrance in at 
 the gates of the town, marches up to the mid- 
 dle thereof, to make his conquest as sure as he 
 could; and finding by this time the afiections 
 of the people warmly inclining to him, he, as 
 thinking it was best striking while the iron 
 was hot, made this further ^deceivable speech 
 unto them, saying, Alas ! my poor Mansoul 1 1 
 have done thee indeed this service as to pro- 
 mote thee to honour and to greaten thy liberty ; 
 but, alas! alas! poor Mansoul! thou wantest 
 now one to defend thee ; for assure thyself that 
 when Shaddai shall hear what is done he will 
 come; for sorry will he be that thou hast 
 broken his bonds and cast his cords away from 
 thee. What wilt thou do? Wilt thou, after 
 enlargement, suffer thy privileges to be in- 
 vaded and taken away ? or what wilt thou re- 
 solve with thyself? Then they all with one 
 consent said to this bramble, " Do thou reign 
 over us.'' So he accepted the motion, and be- 
 came king of the town of Mansoul. This being 
 done, the next thing was to give him possession 
 of the castle, and so of the whole strength of 
 the town. Wherefore into the castle he goes, 
 (it was that which Shaddai built in Mansoul 
 for his own delight and pleasure ;) this now 
 was become a den and hold for the giant 
 Diabolus. 
 
THE HOLT WAB. 
 
 375 
 
 Now, having got possession of this stately 
 palace or castle, what doth he but make it a 
 garrison for himself, and strengthens and forti- 
 fies it with all sorts of provision against the 
 King Shaddai, or those that should endeavour 
 the regaining of it to him and his obedience 
 again. 
 
 This done, but not thinking himself yet 
 secure enough, in the next place he bethinks 
 himself of new modelling the town ; and so he 
 does, setting up one and putting down another 
 at pleasure. Wherefore my lord mayor, whose 
 name was my Lord Understanding, and Mr. 
 Kecorder, whose name was Mr. Conscience, 
 those he puts out of place and power. 
 
 As for ray lord mayor, though he was an 
 understanding man, and one too that had com- 
 plied with the rest of the town of Mansoul in 
 admitting the giant into the town, yet Diabolus 
 thought not fit to let him abide in his former 
 lustre and glory, because he was a seeing man. 
 Wherefore he darkened it, not only by taking 
 from him his office and power, but by building 
 of an high and strong tower just behind the 
 Bun'a reflections and the windows of my lord's 
 palace ; by which means his house and all, and 
 the whole of his habitation, was made as dark 
 as darkness itself; and thus, being alienated 
 from the light, he became as one that was born 
 blind. To this his house my lord was confined 
 as to a prison, nor might he upon his parole 
 go farther than within his own bounds. And 
 now, had he an heart to do for Mansoul, what 
 could he do for it, or wherein could he be 
 profitable to her? So, then, so long as Man- 
 soul was under the power and government of 
 Diabolus, (and so long it was under him as it 
 was obedient to him, which was even until by 
 a war it was rescued out of his hand,) so long 
 my lord mayor was rather an impediment in 
 than an advantage to the famous town of Man- 
 soul. 
 
 As for Mr. Recorder, before the town was 
 taken he was a man well read in the laws of 
 his King, and also a man of courage and faith- 
 fulness to speak truth at every occasion ; and 
 he had a tongue as bravely hung as he had an 
 head filled with judgment. Now this man 
 Diabolus could by no means abide, because, 
 though he gave his consent to his coming into 
 the town, yet he could not, by all wiles, trials, 
 and devices that he could use, m.ake him 
 wholly his own. True, he was much degene- 
 rated from his former King, and also much 
 pleased with many of the giant's laws and ser- 
 vice. But all this would not do, forasmuch as 
 
 he was not wholly his. He would now and 
 then think upon Shaddai, and have dread of 
 his law upon him, and then he would speak 
 with a voice as great against Diabolus as when 
 a lion roareth ; yea, and would also at certain 
 times, when his fits were upon him, (for you 
 must know that sometimes he had teriible 
 fits,) make the whole town of Mansoul shake 
 with his voice. And therefore the new king 
 of Mansoul could not abide him. 
 
 Diabolus therefore feared the recorder more 
 than any that was left aliv.e in the town of 
 Mansoul, because, as I said, his words did 
 shake the whole town; they were like the 
 rattling thunder and also like thunderclaps. 
 Since, therefore, the giant could not make 
 him wholly his own, what doth he do but 
 studies all that he could to debauch the, old 
 gentleman, and by debauchery to stupefy his 
 mind and more harden his heart in ways of 
 vanity. And as he attempted, so he accom- 
 plished his design. He debauched the man, 
 and by little and little so drew him into sin 
 and wickedness that at last he was not only 
 debauched as at first, and so by consequence 
 defiled, but was almost (at last, I say) past all 
 conscience of sin. And this was the farthest 
 Diabolus could go. Wherefore he bethinks 
 him of another project, and that was, to per- 
 suade the men of the town that Mr. Recorder 
 was mad, and so not to be regarded. And for 
 this he urged his fits, and said, If he be him- 
 self, why doth he not do thus always? But, 
 quoth he, as all mad folks have their fits and 
 in them their raving language, so hath this 
 old and doating gentleman. Thus by one 
 means or another he quickly got Mansoul to 
 slight, neglect, and despise whatever Mr. Re- 
 corder could say ; for, besides what already you 
 have heard, Diabolus had a way to make the 
 old gentleman when he was merry unsay and 
 deny what he in his fits had affirmed. And 
 indeed this was the next way to make himself 
 ridiculous, and to cause that no man should 
 regard him. Also now he never spake freely 
 for King Shaddai, but always by force and 
 constraint. Besides, he would at one time be 
 hot against that at which at another he would 
 hold his peace, so uneven was he now in his 
 doings. .Sometimes he would be as if fast 
 asleep, and again sometimes as dead, even 
 then when the whole town of Mansoul was in 
 her career after vanity and in her dance after 
 the giant's pipe. 
 
 Wherefore, sometimes when Mansoul did 
 use to be frighted with the thundering voice of 
 
376 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 the recorder that was, and when they did tell 
 Diabolus of it, he would answer, That what 
 the old gentleman said was neither of love to 
 him nor pity to them, but of a foolish fondness 
 that he had to be prating ; and so would hush, 
 Btill, and put all to quiet again. And that he 
 might leave no argument unurged that might 
 tend to make them secure, he said, and said it 
 often, Mansoul ! consider that notwithstand- 
 ing the old gentleman's rage and the rattle of 
 his high and thundering words, you hear 
 notliing of Shaddai himself; when, liar and 
 deceiver tluat he was, every outcry of Mr. Re- 
 corder against the sin of Mansoul was the voice 
 of God in him to them. But he goes on and 
 says. You see that he values not the loss nor 
 rebellion of the town of Mansoul, nor will he 
 trouble himself with calling of his town to a 
 reckoning for their giving up themselves to 
 me. He knows that though ye were his, now 
 you are lawfully mine ; so, leaving us one to 
 another, he now hath shaken his hands of us. 
 
 Moreover, Mansoul! quoth he, consider 
 how I have served you, even to the utmost of 
 my power, and that with the best that I have, 
 could get, or procure for you in all the world. 
 Besides, I dare say that the laws and customs 
 that you now are under, and by which you do 
 homage to me, do yield you more solace and 
 content than did tlie paradise that at first you 
 possessed. Your liberty also, as yourselves do 
 very well know, has been greatly widened and 
 enlarged by me. AVhereas I found you a pent- 
 up people, I have not laid any restraint upon 
 you ; you have no law, statute, or judgment of 
 mine to fright you ; I call none of you to ac- 
 count for your doings, except the madman — 
 you know who I mean : I have granted you to 
 live, each man, like a prince in his own, even 
 with as little control from me as I myself have 
 from you. 
 
 And thus would Diabolus hush up and quiet 
 the town of Mansoul when the recorder that 
 was did at times molest them ; yea, and with 
 such cursed orations as these would he set the 
 whole town in a rage and fury against the old 
 gentleman ; yea, the rascal crew at some times 
 would be for destroying of him. They have 
 often wished (in my hearing) that he had lived 
 a tliousand miles off from them ; his company, 
 his words, yea the sight of him, and especially 
 when they remembered how in old times he 
 did use to threaten and condemn them, (for all 
 he was now so debauched,) did terrify and 
 Afflict them sore. 
 
 But all wishes were in vain ; for I do not 
 
 know how, unless by the power of Shaddai 
 and his wisdom, he was preserved in being 
 amongst them. Besides, his house -vfis as 
 strong as a castle, and stood hard to a strong- 
 hold of the town. Moreover, if at any time 
 any of the crew or rabble attempted to make 
 him away, he could pull up tlie si liccs iind let 
 in such floods as would drown all round about 
 him. 
 
 But to leave Mr. Eecorder, and to come to 
 my Lord Will-be-will, another of the gentry 
 of the famous town of Mansoul. This Will- 
 be-will was as high born as any man in Jlan- 
 soul, and was as much, if not more, a freeholder 
 than many of them were. Besides, if I re- 
 member my tale aright, he had some privilege 
 peculiar to himself in the I'amous town of 
 Mansoul. Now, together with these, ho was a 
 man of great strength, resolution, and courage, 
 nor in his occasion could any turn him away. 
 But I say, whether he was proud of his estate, 
 privileges, strength, or what, (but sure it was 
 through pride of something,) he scorns now to 
 be a slave in Mansoul, and therefoi'e resolves 
 to bear ofiice under Diabolus, that he might 
 (such an one as he was) be a jjetty ruler and 
 governor in Mansoul. And (headstrong man 
 that he was) thus he began betimes ; for this 
 man, when Diabolus did make his oration at 
 Ear-gate, was one of the first that was for con- 
 senting to his words and for accepting of hia 
 counsel as wholesome, and that was for the 
 opening of the gate and for letting him into 
 the town. Wherefore Diabolus had a kindness 
 for him, and therefore he designed for him a 
 place ; and perceiving the valour and stoutness 
 of the man, he coveted to have him for one of 
 the great ones, to act and do in matters of the 
 highest concern. 
 
 So he sent for him, and talked with him of 
 that secret matter that lay in his breast. But 
 there needed not much persuasion in the case, 
 for as at first he was willing that Diabolus 
 should be let into the town, so now he was as 
 willing to serve him there. AVhen the tyrant, 
 therefore, perceived the willingness of my lord 
 to serve him, and that his mind stood bending 
 that way, he forthwith made him the captain 
 of the castle, governor of the wall, and keepe; 
 of the gates of Mansoul. Yea, there was a 
 clause in his commission that nothing without 
 him should be done in a|l the town of Man- 
 soul. So that now, next to Diabolus himself, 
 who but my Lord Will-be-will in all the town 
 of Mansoul ? Nor could anything now be done 
 but at his will and pleasure throughout the 
 
THE HOLY WAR. 
 
 377 
 
 town i)f Manso'jl. He had also one Mr. Mind 
 for Ilia clerk, a man to speak on every way like 
 his master ; for he and his lord were in prin- 
 ciple one, and in practice not far asunder. 
 And now was Mansoul brought under to pur- 
 pose, and made to fulfil the lusts of the will 
 and of the mind. 
 
 But it will not be out of my thoughts what 
 a desperate one this Will-be-will was when 
 power was put into his hand. First, he flatly 
 denied that he owed any suit or service to his 
 former prince and liege lord. This done, in 
 the next place he took an oath and swore 
 fidelity to his great master Diabolus ; and then, 
 being seated and settled in his places, oflSces, 
 advancements and preferments, oh you cannot 
 think, unless you had seen it, the strange work 
 that this workman made in the town ofi Man- 
 soul. 
 
 First, he maligned Mr. Recorder to death ; 
 he would neither endure to see him nor to hear 
 the words of his mouth; he would shut his 
 eyes when he saw him and stop his ears when 
 he heard him speak ; also he could not endure 
 that so much as a fragment of the law of Shad- 
 dai should be anywhere seen in the town. For 
 example, his clerk, Mr. Mind, had some old 
 rent and torn parchments of the law of good 
 ShadJai in his house, but when Will-be-will 
 saw them he cast them behind his back. True, 
 Mr. Recorder had some of the laws in his study, 
 but my lord could by no means come at them. 
 He also thought and said that the windows of 
 my old lord mayor's house were always too 
 light for the profit of the town of Mansoul. 
 The light of a candle he could not endure. 
 Now nothing at all pleased Will-be-will but 
 what pleased Diabolus his lord. 
 
 There was none like him to trumpet about 
 the streets the brave nature, the wise conduct, 
 and great glory of the king Diabolus. He 
 would range and rove throughout the streets 
 of Mansoul to cry up his illustrious lord, and 
 would make himself even as an abject among 
 the base and rascal crew to cry up his valiant 
 prince. And I say, when and wheresoever he 
 found these vassals, he would even make him- 
 self as one of them. In all ill courses he 
 would act without bidding and do mischief 
 without commandment. 
 
 The Lord Will-be-will had also a deputy 
 under him, and his name was Mr. Affection; 
 one that was also greatly debauched in his 
 principles, and answerable thereto in his life ; 
 he was wholly given to the flesh, and therefore 
 they called him Vile-afiection. Now there was 
 
 he and one Carnal-lust, the Jaughter of Mr, 
 Mind, (like to like, quoth the devil to the col- 
 lier,) that fell in love and made a match, and 
 were married ; and as I take it they had sev- 
 eral children, as Impudent, Black-mouth, and 
 Hate-reproof; these three were black boys; 
 and besides these they had three daughters, 
 as Scorn-truth, Slight-God, and the name of 
 the youngest was Town ; and also begot and 
 yielded Bad-revenge ; these were all married, 
 and the brats were too many to be here in- 
 serted. But to pass by this. 
 
 When the giant had thus engarrisoned him- 
 self in the town of Mansoul, and had put down 
 and set up whom he thought good, he betakes 
 himself to defacing. Now there was in the 
 market-place iif Mansoul, and also upon the 
 gates of the castle, an image of the blessed 
 King Shaddai ; this image was so exactly en- 
 graven (and it was engraved in gold) that it 
 did the most resemble Shaddai himself of any 
 thing that then was extant in the world. This 
 he basely commanded to be defaced, and it 
 was as basely done by the hand of Mr. No- 
 truth. Now you must know that as Diabolus 
 had commanded, and that by the hand of Mr. 
 No-truth, the image of Shaddai was defaced, 
 he likewise gave order that the same Mr. No- 
 truth should set up in its stead the horrid and 
 formidable image of Diabolus, to the great 
 contempt of the former King, and the debas- 
 ing of his town of Mansoul, 
 
 JMoreover, Diabolus made havoc of all re- 
 mains of the laws and statutes of Shaddai that 
 could be found in the town of Mansoul; to 
 wit, such as contained either doctrines or 
 morals, with all civil and natural documents. 
 Also relative duties he sought to extinguish. 
 To be short, there was nothing of the remains 
 of good in Mansoul which he and Will-be-will 
 sought'not to destroy, for their design was to 
 turn Mansoul into a brute, and to make it like 
 to the sensual sow by the hand of Mr. No-t: uth. 
 
 When he had destroyed what law and good 
 order he could, then further to effect his de- 
 sign — namely, to alienate Mansoul from Shad- 
 dai her King— he commands and they set up 
 his own vain edicts, statutes, and command- 
 ments in all places of resort or concourse in 
 Mansoul ; to wit, such as gave liberty to the 
 lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eye, and the 
 pride of life, which are not of Shaddai, but 
 of the world. He encouraged, countenanced, 
 and prompted lasciviousness and all ungod- 
 liness there. Yea, much more did Diabolus 
 to encourage wickedness in the town of Man- 
 
378 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 soul ; he promised them peace, content, joy 
 and bliss in doing his commands, and that 
 they should never be called to an account for 
 their not doing the contrary. And let this 
 serve to give a taste to them that love to hear 
 tell of what is done beyond their knowledge, 
 afar oft' in other countries. 
 
 Now, Mausoul being wholly at his beck, and 
 brought wholly to his bow, nothing was heard 
 or seen therein but that which tended to set 
 him up. 
 
 But new, he having disabled the lord mayor 
 and Mr, Recorder from bearing of office in 
 Mansoul, and seeing that the town before he 
 came to it was the most ancient of corporations 
 in the world, and fearing if he did not main- 
 tain greatness, they at any time should object 
 that he had done them an injury — therefore, I 
 say, (that they might see that he did not in- 
 tend to lessen their grandeur, or to take from 
 them any of their advantageous things,) he did 
 choose for them a lord mayor and a recorder 
 himself, and such as contented them at the 
 heart, and such also as pleased him wondrous 
 well. 
 
 The name of the mayor that was of Diab- 
 olus's making was the Lord Lustings, a man 
 that had neither eyes nor ears ; all that he did, 
 whether as a man or an officer, he did it nat- 
 urally, as doth the beast. And that which 
 made him yet the more ignoble, though not to 
 Mansoul, yet to them that beheld and were 
 grieved for its ruin, was, that he never could 
 fevour good, but evil. ^ 
 
 The recorder was one whose name was For- 
 get-good, and a very sorry fellow he was. He 
 could remember nothing but mischief, and to 
 do it with delight. He was naturally prone to 
 do things that were hurtful, even hurtful to 
 the town of Mansoul and to all the dwellers 
 there. These two, therefore, by their power 
 and practice, examples and smiles upon evil, 
 did much more mischief, and settled the com- 
 mon people in hurtful ways ; for who doth not 
 perceive but when those that sit aloft are vile 
 and corrupt themselves, they corrupt the whole 
 region and country where they are? 
 
 Besides these, Diabolus made several bur- 
 gesses and aldermen in Mansoul, such as out 
 of whom the town, when it needed, might 
 choose them officers, governors, and magis- 
 trates ; and these are the names of the chief 
 of them : Mr. Incredulity, Mr. Haughty, Mr. 
 Swearing, Mr. Whoring, Mr. Hard-heart, Mr. 
 Pitiless Mr. Fury, Mr. No-truth, Mr. Stand - 
 lo-lies, Mr. False-peace, Mr. Drunkenness, Mr. 
 
 Cheating, Mr. Atheism — thirteen in all. Mr, 
 Incredulity was the eldest, and Mr. Atheism 
 the youngest of the company. 
 
 There was also an election of common coun- 
 cilman and others, as bailiffs, Serjeants, con- 
 stables, and others ; but all of them, like to 
 those aforenamed, being either fathers, bro- 
 thers, cousins, or nephews to them whose 
 names, for brevity's sake, I omit to mention. 
 
 When the giant had thus far proceeded in 
 his work, in the next place he betook him to 
 build some strongholds in the town. And he 
 built three that seemed to be impregnable. 
 The first he called the hold of Defiance, be- 
 cause it was made to command the whole town 
 and to keep it from the knowledge of its ancient 
 King. The second he called Midnight-hold, 
 because it was built on purpose to keep Man- 
 soul from the true knowledge of itself. The 
 third was called Sweet-sin-hold, because by 
 that he fortified Mansoul against all idesirea 
 of good. The first of these holds stood close 
 by Eye-gate, that as much as might be light 
 might be darkened there. The second was 
 built hard by the old castle, to the end that it 
 might be made more blind if possible. And 
 the third stood in the market-place. 
 
 He that Diabolus made governor over the 
 first of these was one Spite-God, a most blas- 
 phemous wretch. He came with the whole 
 rabble of them that came against Mansoul at 
 first, and was himself one of themselves. He 
 that was made the governor of Midnight-hold 
 was one Love-no- light; he was also of them 
 that came first against the town. And he that 
 was made the governor of the hold called 
 Sweet-sin-hold was one whose name was Love- 
 flesh ; he was also a very lewd fellow, but not 
 of that country where the others are bound. 
 This fellow could find more sweetness when 
 he stood sucking of a lust than he did in all 
 the paradise of God. 
 
 And now Diabolus thought himself safe; he 
 had taken Mansoul ; he had engarrisoned him- 
 self therein ; he had put down the old Officers 
 and had set up new ones ; he had defaced the 
 image of Shaddai and set up his own ; he 
 had spoiled the old law-books and promoted 
 his own vain lies; he had made him new 
 magistrates and set up new aldermen ; he had 
 built him new holds and had manned them 
 for himself. And all this he did to make him- 
 self secure, in case the good Shaddai or hiu 
 Son should come and make an incursion ujon 
 him. 
 
 Now you may well think that long befiire 
 
THE HOLT WAR. 
 
 379 
 
 this time word, by some or other, could not 
 but be carried t» the good King Shaddai how 
 his Manaoul in the continent of Universe was 
 lost; and that the runagate giant Diabolus, 
 once one of his Majesty's servants, had, in re- 
 bellion against the King, made sure thereof 
 for himself; yea, tidings were carried and 
 brought to the King thereof, and that to a 
 very circumstance. 
 
 As, first, how Diabolus came upon Mansoul 
 (they being a simple people and innocent) 
 with craft, subtlety, lies, and guile. Item, 
 That he had treacherously slain the right 
 noble and valiant captain, their Captain Ee- 
 sistance, as he stood upon the gate with the 
 rest of the townsmen. Mem, How my brave 
 Lord Innocent fell down dead (with grief, 
 some say, or with being poisoned witft the 
 stinking breath of one Ill-pause, as say others) 
 at the hearing of his just Lord and rightful 
 Prince Shaddai so abused by the mouth^of so 
 filthy a Diabolian as that varlet Ill-pause was. 
 The messenger further told that after this Ill- 
 pause had made a short oration to the towns- 
 men in behalf of Diabolus his master, the sim- 
 ple town, believing that what was said was 
 true, with one consent did open Ear-gate, the 
 chief gate of the corporation, and did let him, 
 with his crow, into a possession of the famous 
 town of Mansoul. He further showed how 
 Diabolus had served the lord mayor and Mr. 
 Recorder — to wit, that he had put them from 
 all place of power and trust. Item, Ho showed 
 ilso that my Lord Will-be-will was turned a 
 very rebel and runagate, and that so was one 
 Mr. Mind, his clerk, and that they two did 
 range and revel it all the town over and teach 
 the wicked ones their way. He said, more- 
 over, that this AVill-be-will was put into great 
 trust, and particularly that Diabolus had put 
 into Will-be-will's hand all the strong places 
 in Mansoul ; and that Mr. Affection was made 
 my Lord Will-be-will's deputy in his most 
 rebellious affiiirs. Yea, said the messenger, 
 this monster, Lord Will-be-will, has_ openly 
 disavowed his King Shaddai, and hath horri- 
 bly given his faith and plighted his troth to 
 Diabolus. 
 
 Also, said the messenger, besides all this, 
 the new king, or rather rebellious tyrant, over 
 the once famous but now perishing town of 
 Mansoul, has set up a lord mayor and a re- 
 coider of his own. For mayor he has set up 
 one Mr. Lustings, and for recorder, Mr. For- 
 get-good, two of the vilest of all the town of 
 Mansoul. This faithful messenger als6 pro- 
 
 ceeded and told what sort of new burgesses 
 Diabolus had made; also that he had built 
 several strong forts, towers, and strongholds in 
 Mansoul. He told too (the which I had almost 
 forgot) how Diabolus had put the town of 
 Mansoul into arms, the better to capacitate 
 them on his behalf to make resistance against 
 Shaddai their King, should he come to reduce 
 them to their former obedience. 
 
 Now this tidings-teller did not deliver his 
 relation of things in private, but in open court, 
 the King and his Son, high lords, chief cap- 
 tains, and nobles being all there present to 
 hear. But by that they had heard the whole 
 of the story, it would have amazed one to have 
 seen, had he been there to behold it, what sor- 
 row and grief and compunction of spirit there 
 was among all sorts, to think that famoiTs Man- 
 soul was now taken ; only the King and his 
 Son foresaw all this long before, yea, and suf- 
 ficiently provided for the relief of Mansoul, 
 though they told not everybody thereof: yet, 
 because they also would have a share in con- 
 doling of the misery of Mansoul, therefore 
 they also did, and that at the rate of the high- 
 est degree, bewail the losing of Mansoul. The 
 King said plainly that it grieved him at the 
 heart ; and you may be sure that his Son was 
 not a whit behind him. Thus gave they con- 
 viction to all about them that they had love 
 and compassion for the famous town of Man- 
 soul. 
 
 Well, when the King and his Son had re- 
 tired into the privy-chamber, there they again 
 consulted about what they had designed be- 
 fore ; to wit, that as Mansoul should in time 
 be suffered to be lost, so as certainly it should 
 be recovered again — recovered, I say, in such 
 a way as that both the King and his Son 
 should get themselves the fame and glory 
 thereby. Wherefore after this consultation, 
 the Son of Shaddai, (a sweet and comely per- 
 son, and one that had always great affection 
 for those that were in affliction, but one that 
 had mortal enmity in his heart against Diab- 
 olus, because he was designed for it, and be- 
 cause he sought his crown and dignity;) — this 
 Son of Shaddai, I say, having stricken hands 
 with his father, and promised that he would 
 be his servant to recover his Mansoul again, 
 stood by his resolution, nor would he repent 
 of the same. The purport of which agree- 
 ment was this ; to wit, that at a certain time 
 prefixed by both the King's Son should take 
 a journey into the country of Universe ; and 
 there, in a way of justice and equity, by 
 
380 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 making of amends for the follies of Man- 
 soul, he should lay a foundation of her per- 
 fect deliverance from Diabolus and from his 
 tyranny. 
 
 Moreover, Emmanuel resolved to make, at a 
 time convenient, a war upon the giant Diab- 
 olus, even while he was possessed of the town 
 of Mansoul; and that he would fairly, by 
 strength of hand, drive him out of his hold, 
 his nest, and take it to himself to be his hab- 
 itation. 
 
 This now being resolved upon, order was 
 given to the lord chief secretary to draw up 
 a fair record of what was determined, and to 
 cause that it should be published in all the 
 corners of the kingdom of Universe. A short 
 breviat of the contents thereof you may, if 
 you please, take here as follows : 
 
 " Let all men know who are concerned that 
 the Son of Shaddai, the great King, is engaged 
 by covenant to his Father to bring his Man- 
 soul to him again ; yea, and to put Mansoul 
 too, through the power of his matchless love, 
 into a far better and more happy condition 
 than it was in before it was taken by Diab- 
 olus." 
 
 These papers, therefore, were published in 
 several places, to the no little molestation of 
 the tyrant Diabolus ; for now, thought he, I 
 shall be molested, and my habitation will be 
 taken from me. 
 
 But when this, matter— I mean this purpose 
 of the King and his Son — did at first take air 
 at court, who can tell how the high lords, chief 
 captains, and noble princes that were there 
 were taken with the business? First, they 
 whispered it one to another, and after that it 
 began to ring throughout the King's palace, all 
 wondering at the glorious design that between 
 the King and his Son was on foot for the mis- 
 erable town of Mansoul. Yea, the courtiers 
 could scarce do anything, either for the King 
 01 kingdom, but they would mix with the 
 doing thereof a noise of the love of the King 
 and his Son that they had for the town of 
 Mansoul. 
 
 Nor could these lords, high captains, and 
 princes be content to keep this his news at 
 court; yea, before the records thereof were 
 perfected themselves came down and told it in 
 the Universe. At last it came to the ears, as 
 I said, of Diabolus, to his no little discontent. 
 For you must think it would perplex him to 
 hear of such a design against him. Well, but 
 after a few casts in his mind he concluded on 
 these four things : 
 
 First, That this good news, this good tidings^ 
 if possible, should be kept from the ears of the 
 town of Mansoul ; for, said he, if they shall 
 once come to the knowledge that Shaddai, 
 their former King, and Emmanuel his Son, are 
 contriving of good for the town of Miinsoul, 
 what can be expected by me but that JIan?ouI 
 will make a revolt from under my hand and 
 government and return again to him? 
 
 Now, to accomplish this his design, he re- 
 news his flattery with the Lord Will-be will, 
 and also gives him strict charge and command 
 that he should keep watch by day and by night 
 at all the gates of the town, especially Ear- , 
 gate and Eye-gate; for I hear of a design, 
 quoth he — a. design to make us all traitors, and 
 that Mansoul will be reduced to its first bond- 
 age again. I hope they are but flying stories, 
 quoth he ; however, let no such news by any 
 means be let into Mansoul, lest the people be 
 dejected thereat. I think, my lord, it can be 
 no welcome news to you : I am sure it is hone 
 to me. And I think that at this time it should 
 be all our wisdom and care to nip the head of 
 all such rumours as shall tend to trouble our 
 people ; wherefore, I desire, my lord, that you 
 will in this matter do as I say : let there be 
 strong guards daily kept at every gate of the 
 town. Stop also and examin'e from whence 
 such come that you perceive do from far come 
 hither to trade ; nor let them by any means be 
 admitted into Mansoul unless you shall plainly 
 perceive that they are favourers of our excel- 
 lent government. I command, moreover, said 
 Diabolus, that there be spies continually walk- 
 ing up and down the town of Mansoul, and let 
 them have power to suppress and destroy any 
 that they shall perceive to be plotting against 
 us, or that shall prate of what by Shaddai and 
 Emmanuel is intended. 
 
 This therefore was accordingly done: my 
 Lord Will-be-will hearkened to his lord and 
 master, went willingly after the command- 
 ment, and with all the diligence he co:;ld kept 
 any that would from going out abroad, oi (hat 
 sought lo bring these tidings to Mansoul ti om 
 coming into the town. 
 
 Secondly, This done, in the next place Dia- 
 bolus, that he might make Mansoul as sure as 
 he could, frames and imposes a new oath and 
 horrible covenant upon the townsfolk. 
 
 To wit : " That they should never desert him 
 nor his government, nor yet betray him nor 
 seek to alter his laws; but that they should 
 own, confess, stand by, and acknowledge him 
 for their rightful king, in defiance to any that 
 
thk holt war. 
 
 381 
 
 do or lioreafter shall, by any pretence, law, or 
 title whatever, lay cluini to the town of Man- 
 Boul;" thinking, belike, that Shaddai had not 
 power to absolve them from this covenant with 
 death : nd agreement with hell. Nor did the 
 Billy Miinsoul stick or boggle at all this most 
 monstrous engagement, but, as if it had been 
 a sprat in the mouth of a whale, they swal- 
 lowed it without any chewing. Were they 
 troubled at it? Nay, they rather bragged and 
 bi):i.-.ted of their so brave fidelity to the tyrant, 
 their pretended king, swearing that they would 
 never be ehangelings, nor forsake their old lord 
 for a new. 
 
 Thus did Diabolus tie poor Mansoul fast; 
 but jealousy, that never thinks itself strong 
 enough, put him in the next place upon 
 another exploit, which was yet more, if^jjossi- 
 ble, to debauch this town of Mansoul. Where- 
 fore he caused, by the hand of one Mr. Filth, 
 an odious, na.sty, lascivious piece of beastli- 
 ness to be drawn up in writing and to be set 
 upon the castle-gates ; whereby he granted and 
 gave license to all his true and trusty sons in 
 Mansoul to do whatsoever their lustful appe- 
 tites prompted them to, and that no man was 
 to let, hinder, or control them, upon pain of 
 incurring the displeasure of their prince. 
 
 Now this he did for these reasons: 
 
 1. That the town of Mansoul might be yet 
 made weaker and weaker, and so more unable, 
 should tidings come that their redemption was 
 designed, to believe, hope, or consent to the 
 truth thereof. For reason says. The bigger 
 the sinner the less grounds of hope of mercy. 
 
 2. The second reason was, If perhaps Em- 
 manuel, the Son of Shaddai their King, by 
 seeing the horrible and profane doings of the 
 town of Mansoul, might repent, though entered 
 into a covenant of redeeming them, of pursu- 
 ing that covenant of their redemption ; for he 
 knew that Shaddai was holy, and that his Son 
 Emmanuel was holy; yea, he knew it by woe- 
 ful experience; for, for the iniquity and sin of 
 Diabolus was he cast from the highest orbs. 
 Wherefore, what more rational than for him 
 to conclude that thus for sin it might fare with 
 Mansoul? But fearing also lest this knot 
 should break, he bethinks himself of another, 
 to wit: 
 
 3. To endeavour to possess all hearts in the 
 town of Mansoul that Shaddai was raising of 
 an army to come to overthrow and utterly to 
 destroy this town of Mansoul, (and this he did 
 to forestall any tidings that might come to their 
 ears of their deliverance;) for, thought he, if 
 
 I first bruit this, the tidings that shall come 
 after will all be swallowed up of this ; for what 
 else will Mansoul say, when they shall hear 
 that they must be delivered, but that the true 
 meaning is, Shaddai intends to destroy them? 
 Wherefore he summons the whole town into 
 the market-place, and there with deceitful 
 tongue thus addresses himself unto them : 
 
 Gentlemen and my very good friends, you 
 are all, as you know, my legal subjects and men 
 of the famous town of Mansoul; you know 
 how, from the first day that I have been with 
 you until now, I have behaved myself among- 
 you, and what liberty and great privileges you 
 enjoyed under my government — I hope to your 
 honour and mine, and also to your content and 
 delight. Now, my famous Mansoul, a noise of 
 trouble there is abroad — of trouble to the town 
 ot Mansoul ; sorry am I thereof for your sakes. 
 For I have received but now by the post from 
 my Ijord Lucifer (and he uscth to have good 
 intelligence) that your old King Shaddai is 
 raising of an army to come against you, to de- 
 stroy you root and branch ; and this, Man- 
 soul, is now the cause that at this time I have 
 called you together — namely, to advise what in 
 this juncture is best to be done: for my part, 
 I am but one, and can with ease shift for my- 
 self, did I list to seek mine own ease and to 
 leave my Mansoul in all the danger; but my 
 heart is so firmly united to you, and so unwill- 
 ing am I to leave you, that I am willing to 
 stand and fall with you to the utmost hazard 
 that shall befall me. What say you, O my 
 Mansoul? Will you now desert your old 
 friend, or do you think of standing by me? 
 Then, as one man, with one mouth, they cried 
 out together, Let him die the death that will not. 
 
 Then said Diabolus again, It is in vain for 
 us to hope for quarter, for this King knows 
 not how to show it. True, perhaps he, at his 
 first setting down before us, will talk of and 
 pretend to mercy, that thereby, with the more 
 ease and less trouble, he may again make him- 
 self the master of Mansoul. Whatever, 1 here- 
 fore, he shall say, believe not one syllable or 
 tittle of it, for all such language is but to over- 
 come us, and to make us, while we wallow in 
 our blood, the trophies of his merciless victory. 
 My mind is, therefore, that we resolve to the 
 last man to resist him, and not to believe'him 
 upon any terms, for in at that door will come 
 our danger. But shall we be flattered out of 
 our lives? I hope you know more of the rudi- 
 ments of politics than to suffer yourselves so 
 pitifully to be served. 
 
382 
 
 BUIfYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 But suppose l.e should, if he gets us to yield, 
 save some of our lives, or the lives of some of 
 them that are underlings in Mansoul, what 
 help will that be to you who are the chief of 
 the town; especially to you whom I have set 
 up, and whose greatness has been procured by 
 you through your faithful sticking to me? 
 And suppose, again, that he should give 
 quarter to every one of you, be sure he will 
 bring you into that bondage under which you 
 were captivated before, or a worse ; and then 
 what good will your lives do you? Shall you 
 .\\ ith him live in pleasure as you do now? No, 
 no; you must be bound by laws that will pinch 
 you, and be made to do that which at present 
 id hateful to you ; I am for you if you are for 
 me; and it is better, to die valiantly than to 
 live like pitiful slaves. But I say, the life of 
 a slave will be counted a life too good for Man- 
 soul, now; blood, blood, nothing but blood, is 
 in every blast of Shaddai's trumpet against 
 poor Mansoul now. Pray be concerned. I 
 hear he is coming up, and stand to your arms, 
 that now, while you have any leisure, I may 
 learn you some feats of war. Armour for you 
 I have, and by nic it is; yea, and it is suffi- 
 cient for Mansoul from top to toe ; nor can you 
 be hurt by what his force can do if you shall 
 keep it well girt and fastened about you: come, 
 therefore, to my castle and welcome, and har- 
 ness yourselves for the war. There is helmet, 
 breastplate, sword and shield, and what not, 
 that will make you fight like men. 
 
 1. My helmet, otherwise called an head-piece, 
 is hope of doing well at last, what lives soever 
 you live: this is that which they had who said 
 that they should have peace though they 
 walked, in the wickedness of their heart, to 
 add drunkenness to thirst. A piece of ap- 
 proved armour this is, and whoever has it, and 
 can hold it, so long no arrow, dart, sword or 
 shield can hurt him; this therefore keep on 
 and thou wilt keep off many a blow, my Man- 
 soul. 
 
 2. My breastplate is a breastplate of iron ; I 
 had it forged in mine own country, and all my 
 soldiers are armed therewith : in plain lan- 
 guage, it is an hard heart, an heart as hard as 
 iron, and as much past feeling as a stone, the 
 which if you get and keep neither mercy shall 
 win you nor judgment fright you. This, there- 
 fore, is a piece of armour most necessary for all 
 to put on that hate Shaddai, and that would 
 fight against him under my banner. 
 
 3. My sword is a tongue that is set on fire 
 of hell, and that can bend itself to speak evil 
 
 of Shaddai, his Son, his ways, and people. 
 Use this : it has been tried a thousand times 
 twice told ; whoever hath it, keeps it, and 
 makes that use of it as I would have him, can 
 never be conquered by mine enemy. 
 
 4. My shield is unbelief, or calling into 
 question the truth of the word, or all the say- 
 ings that speak of the judgment that Shaddai 
 has appointed for wicked men. Use this 
 shield ; many attempts he has made upon i1,, 
 and sometimes, it is true, it has been bruised ; 
 but they that have writ of the wars of Emman- 
 uel against my servants have testified that he 
 could do no mighty work there because of 
 their unbelief. Now, to handle, this weapon 
 of mine aright, it is not to believe things be- 
 cause they are true, of what sort or by whom- 
 soever asserted ; if he speaks of judgment, care 
 not for it ; if he speaks of mercy, care not for 
 it ; if he promises, if he swears, that he would 
 do to Mansoul, if it turns, no hurt, but good, 
 regard not what is said, question the truth of 
 all ; for this is to wield the shield of unbelief 
 aright, and as my servants ought and do ; and 
 he that doth otherwise loves me not, nor do I 
 count him but an enemy to me. 
 
 5. Another part or piece, said Diabolus, of 
 mine excellent armour is a dumb and prayer- 
 less spirit — a spirit that scorns to cry for 
 mercy. Wherefore, be you, my Mansoul, sure 
 that you make use of this. What! cry for 
 quarter I Never do that if you would be mine. 
 I know that you are stout men, and am sure 
 that I have clad you with that which is armour 
 of proof; wherefore to cry to Shaddai for 
 mercy, let that be far from you. Besides all 
 this, I have a maul, firebrands, arrows, and 
 death, all good hand-weapons and such as will 
 do execution. 
 
 After he had thus furnished his men with 
 armour and arms, he addressed himself to them 
 in such like words as these : Eemember, quoth 
 he, that I am your rightful king, and that you 
 have taken an oath and entered into covenant 
 to be true to me and my cause. I say, remem- 
 ber this, and show yourselves stout and valiant 
 men of Mansoul. Eemember, also, the kind- 
 ness which I have always showed to you, and 
 that without your petition. I have granted 
 to you external things; wherefore the privi- 
 leges, grants, immunities, profits, and honours 
 wherewith I endowed you do call for at your 
 hands returns of loyalty, my lion-like men of 
 Mansoul ; and when so fit a time to show it as 
 when another shall seek to take my dominion 
 over you into their own hands? One word 
 
THE HOLY WAK 
 
 383 
 
 more and I have done : can we but stand and 
 nvercoroe this one shock or brunt, I doubt not 
 but in little time all the world will be ours ; 
 and when that day comes, my true hearts, I 
 will make you kings, princes, and captains; 
 and what brave days shall we have then I 
 
 Diabolus having thus armed and forearmed 
 his servants and vassals in Mansoul against 
 Ibeir good and lawful King Bhaddai, in the 
 next place he doubleth his guards at the gates 
 of the town, and he takes himself to the castle 
 which was his stronghold ; his vassals also, to 
 nhow their wills and supposed (but ignoble) 
 gallantry, exercise themselves in their arms 
 every day, and teach one another feats of war : 
 they also defied their enemies and sang up the 
 praises of their tyrant; they threatened also 
 what men they would be if ever things should 
 rise so high as a war between Shaddai and 
 their king, i 
 
 Now all this time the good King, the King 
 Shaddai, was preparing to send an army to 
 recover the town of Mansoul again from under 
 the tyranny of their pretended king Diabolus ; 
 but he thought good at the first not to send 
 them by the hand and conduct of brave Em- 
 manuel his Son, but under the hand of some 
 of his servants, to see first by them the temper 
 of Mansoul, and whether by them they would 
 be won to the obedience of their King. The 
 array consisted of above forty thousand, all 
 true men ; for they came from the King's own 
 court, and were those of his own choosing. 
 
 They came to Mansoul under the conduct 
 of four stout generals, each man being a cap- 
 tain of ten thousand men, and these were their 
 names and their signs : the name of the first 
 was Boanerges; the name of the second was 
 Captain Conviction ; the name of the third was 
 Captain Judgment ; and the name of the fourth 
 was Captain Execution. These were the cap- 
 t;iins that Shaddai sent to regain Mansoul. 
 
 These four captains, as was said, the King 
 thought fit, in the first place, to send to Man- 
 soul to make an attempt upon it ; for indeed, 
 generally in all his wars, he did use to send 
 these four captains in the van ; for they were 
 very stout and rough-hewn men, men that 
 were fit to break the ice and to make their way 
 by dint of sword; and their men were like 
 themselves. 
 
 To each of these captains the King gave a 
 banner that it might be displayed, because of 
 the goodness of his cause and because of the 
 right that he had to Mansoul. 
 
 First, to Captain Boanerges, for he was the 
 
 chief: to him, I say, was given ten thousand 
 men. His ensign was Mr. Thunder ; he bare 
 the black colours, and his e.scutcheon waa 
 three burning thunderbolts. 
 
 The second captain was Captain Conviction : 
 to him was also given ten thousand men. Hia 
 ensign's name was Mr. Sorrow ; he did bear the 
 pale colours, and his escutcheon was the book 
 of the law wide open, from whence issued a 
 flame of fire. 
 
 The third captain was Captain Judgment: to 
 him was given ten thousand men. His ensign's 
 name was Mr. Terror ; he bare the red colours, 
 and his escutcheon was a burning, fiery fur- 
 nace. 
 
 The fourth captain was Captain Execution : 
 to him was given ten thousand men. His en- 
 sign was one Mr. Justice ; he also bare the red 
 colours, and his escutcheon was a fruitless tree, 
 with an axe lying at the root thereof. 
 
 These four captains, as I said, had every one 
 of them under his command ten thousand men, 
 all of good fidelity to the King, and stout at 
 their military actions. 
 
 Well, the captains and their forces, their 
 men and under-ofiicers, being had upon a day 
 by Shaddai into the field, and there called all 
 over by their names, were then and there put 
 into such harness as became their degree and 
 that service that now they were going about 
 for their King. » 
 
 Now when the King had mustered his forces, 
 (for it is he that mustereth the host to the bat- 
 tle,) he gave unto the captains their several 
 commissions, with charge and commandment, 
 in the audience of all the soldiprs, that they 
 should take heed faithfully and courageously 
 to do and execute the same. Their commis- 
 sions were, for the substance of them, the same 
 in form, though as to name, title, place, and 
 degree of the captains there might be some 
 (but very small) variation. And here let me 
 give you an account of the matter and sum 
 contained in their commission : 
 
 A commission from (he great Shadilai, King of 
 Mansoul, to his tnisty and noble captain, the 
 Captain Boanerges, for his making war upon 
 the tovm of Mansoul. 
 
 "O thou Boanerges, one of my stout and 
 thundering captains over one ten thousand of 
 my valiant and faithful servants, go thou in my 
 name with this thy force to the miserable town 
 of Mansoul; and when thou comest thithef 
 offer them first conditions of peace, and com- 
 mand them that, casting ofi" the yoke and tyr- 
 
384 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WOBKS. 
 
 anny of the wicked Diabolus, they now turn 
 to me their rightful Prince and Lord. Com- 
 mand them also that they cleanse themselves 
 from all that is his in the town of Mansoul ; 
 and look to thyself that thou hast good satis- 
 faction touching the truth .of their obedience. 
 Thus when thou hast commanded them, if 
 they in truth submit thereto, then do thou to 
 the uttermost of thy power what in thee lies 
 to set for me a garrison in the famous town of 
 Mansoul. Nor do thou hurt the least native 
 that moveth or breatheth therein if they will 
 submit themselves to me, but treat thou such 
 as if they were thy friend or brother, for all 
 such I love, and they shall be dear unto me ; 
 and tell them that I will take a time to come 
 unto them and to let them know that I am 
 merciful. 
 
 " But if they shall, n6twithstanding thy 
 summons and the producing of thy authority, 
 resist, stand out against thee, and rebel, then 
 do I command thee to make use of all thy 
 cunning, power, might, and force to bring them 
 under by strength of hand. Farewell." 
 
 Thus you see the sum of their commissions ; 
 for, as I said before, for the substance of them, 
 they were the same that the rest of the noble 
 captains had. 
 
 Wherefore they having received, each com- 
 mander, his authority at the hand of their 
 King, the day being appointed, and the place 
 of their rendezvous prefixed, each commander 
 appeared in such gallantry as became his cause 
 and calling. So, after a new entertainment 
 from Shaddai, with flying colours they set for- 
 ward to march towards the famous town of 
 Mansoul. Captain Boanerges led the van; 
 Captain Conviction and Captain Judgment 
 made up the main body ; and Captain Execu- 
 tion brought up the rear. They then, having 
 a great way to go, (for the town of Mansoul 
 was far off from the court of Shaddai,) marched 
 through the regions and countries of many 
 people, not hurting or abusing any, but bless- 
 ing wherever they came. They also lived upon 
 the King's cost all the way they went. 
 
 Having travelled thus for many days, at 
 last tl'.3y came within sight of Mansoul; the 
 which when they saw the captains could for 
 their hearts do no less than for awhile bewail 
 the condition of the town, for they quickly 
 saw how thai; it was prostrate at the feet of 
 Diabolus and to his Ways and designs. 
 
 Well, to be short, the captains came up be- 
 fore the town, marched up to Ear-gate, and sat 
 down there, for that was the place of hearing. 
 
 So when they had pitched their tents and en- 
 trenched themselves, they addressed themselves 
 to make their assault. 
 
 Now the townsfolk, at first beholding so gal- 
 lant a company, so bravely accoutred, and so 
 excellently disciplined, having on their glit- 
 tering armour and displaying of their flying 
 colours, could not but come out of their houses 
 and gaze. But the cunning fox Diabolus, 
 fearing that the people after this sight should, 
 on a sudden summons, open the gates to the 
 captains, came down with all haste from the 
 castle and made them retire into the body of 
 the town ; who, when he had them there, made 
 this lying and deceivable speech unto them. 
 
 Gentlemen, quoth he, although you are my 
 trusty and well-beloved friends, yet I cannot 
 but a little chide you for your late uncircum- 
 spect action in going out to gaze on that great 
 and mighty force that but yesterday sat down 
 before, and have now entrencHed themselves 
 in order to the maintaining of a siege against, 
 the famous town of Mansoul. Do you know 
 who -they are, whence they come, and what is 
 their purpose in setting down before the town 
 of Mansoul? They are they of whom I have 
 told you long ago, that they would come to de- 
 stroy this town, and against whom I have been 
 at the cost to arm you cap-a-pie for your 
 body, besides great fortifications for your mind. 
 Wherefore then did you not rather, even at 
 the first appearance of them, cry out, fire the 
 beacons, and give the whole town an alarm 
 concerning them, that we might all have been 
 in a posture of defence, and been ready to re- 
 ceive them with the highest acts of defiance? 
 Then had you showed yourselves men to my 
 liking, whereas by what you have done you 
 have made me half afraid — I say half afraid — 
 that when they and we shall come to push a 
 pike I shall find you want courage to stand it 
 out any longer. Wherefore have I commanded 
 a watch and that you should double your 
 guards at the gates 2 Wherefore have I en- 
 deavoured to make you as hard as iron an<] 
 your hearts as a piece of the nether millstone ? 
 Was it, think you, that you might show your- 
 selves women, and that you might go out like 
 a company of innocents to gaze on your mor- 
 tal foes ? Fie, fie ! put yourselves into a pos- 
 ture of defence, beat up the drum, gather to- 
 gether in warlike manner, that our foes may 
 know that before they shall conquer this cor- 
 poration there are valiant men in the town of 
 Mansoul. 
 
 I will leave off now to chide, and wUl not 
 
THE HOLY WAR. 
 
 385 
 
 further rebuke you; but 1 charge you that 
 henceforward you let me see no more such ac- 
 tions. Let not henceforward a man of you, 
 without order first obtained from me, so much 
 as show his head over the wall of the town of 
 Mansoul. You have now heard me : do as I 
 have commanded, and you shall cause me that 
 I dwell securely with you, and tha!t I talfe care 
 __«8 for myself, so for your safety and honour also. 
 Farewell. 
 
 Now were the townsmen strangely altered ; 
 they were as men stricken with a panic fear.; 
 they ran to and fro through the streets of the 
 town of Mansoul, crying out. Help, help ! The 
 men that turn the world upside-down are come 
 hither also. Nor could any of them be quiet 
 after, but still as men bereft,of wit they cried 
 out, The destroyers of our peace and people 
 are come. This went down with Diabolus. 
 Ah! quoth he to himself, this I like well; 
 now it is as I would have it; now you show 
 your obedience to your prince ; hold you but 
 here, and then let them take the town if they 
 can. 
 
 Well,ibefore the King's forces had set before 
 Mansoul three days. Captain Boanerges com- 
 manded his trumpeter to' go down to Bar-gate, 
 and there, in the name of the great Shaddai, 
 to summon Mansoul to give audience to the 
 message that he in his Master's name was to 
 them commanded to deliver. So the trumpeter, 
 whose name was Take-heed-what-you-hear, 
 went up as he was commanded to Ear-gate, 
 and there sounded his trumpet for a hearing ; 
 but there was njjne that appeared that gave 
 answer or regard, for so had Diabolus com- 
 manded. So the trumpeter returned to his 
 captain, and told him what he had .done and 
 also' how he had sped ; whereat the captain was 
 grieved, but bid the trumpeter go to his tent. 
 
 Again Captain Boanerges sendeth his trum- 
 peter to Ear-gate, to sound as before for an 
 hearing. But they again kept close, came not 
 out, nor would they give him an answei*; so 
 observant were they of the command of Diab- 
 olus their king. 
 
 Then the captains and other field-officers 
 called a counsel of war, to consider what fur- 
 ther was to be done for the gaining of the town 
 of Mansoul ; and after some close and thorough 
 debate upon the contents of their commissions, 
 they concluded yet to give to the town, by the 
 hand of the forenamed trumpeter, another 
 summons to hear ; but if that should be re- 
 fused, said they, and that the town shall stand 
 it out still, they then determined, and bid the 
 
 25 
 
 trumpeter tell them so, that they would en- 
 deavour, by what means they could, to compel 
 them by force to' the obedience of their King. 
 So Captain Boanerges commanded his trum- 
 peter to go up to Ear-gate again, and in the 
 name of the great King Shaddai to give it a 
 very loud summons to come down without de- 
 lay to Ear-gate, there to give audience to the 
 King's most noble captains. So the trumpeter 
 went and did as he was commanded. He went 
 up to Ear-gate and sounded his trumpet, and 
 gave a third summons to Mansoul. He said, 
 moreover, that if this they should still refuse 
 to do, the captains of his Prince would with 
 might come down upon them and endeavour to 
 reduce them to their obedience.by force. 
 
 Then stood up my Lord Will-be-will, who 
 was the governor of the town (this Will-be- 
 V).ll was that apostate of whom mention was 
 made before) and the keeper of the gates of 
 Mansoul. He therefore, with big and ruifling 
 words, demanded of the trumpeter who. he was, 
 whence he came, and what was the cause of 
 his making so hideous a noise at the gate and 
 speaking such insufierable words against the 
 town of Mansoul? 
 
 The trumpeter answered : " I am servant to 
 the most noble captain, Captain Boanerges, 
 general of the forces of the great King Shad- 
 dai, against whom both thyself and the whole 
 town of Mdnsoul have rebelled and lifted up 
 the heel ; and my master, the captain, hath a 
 special message to this town, and to thee as a 
 member thereof ; the which, if you of Mansoul 
 will peaceably hear, so ; and if hot, you must 
 take what follows.'' 
 
 Then said the Lord Will-be-will, "I will 
 carry thy words to my lord, and will know 
 what he will say." 
 
 But the trumpeter soon replied, saying, 
 " Our message is not to the giant Diabolus, but 
 to the miserable town of Mansoul. Nor shal] 
 we at all regard what answer by him is made, 
 nor yet by any for him. AVe are sent to this 
 town to recover it from under his cruel tyranny, 
 and to persuade it to submit, as in former times 
 it did, to the most excellent King Shaddai." . 
 
 Then said the Lord Will-be-will, " I will do 
 your errand to the town." 
 
 The trumpeter then replied, " Sir,, do not de- 
 ceive us, lest in so doing you deceive yourselves 
 much more." He added, moreover, " For we 
 are resolved, if in peaceable manner you do 
 not submit yourselves, then to make a war upon 
 you and to bring you under by force. And of 
 the truth of what I now say, this shall be a 
 
386 
 
 liUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 sign uiilo you : you shall see the black flag, 
 with its hot burning thunderbolts, set upon the 
 mount to-morrow, as a token of defiance against 
 your prince and of our resolution to reduce 
 you to your Lord and rightful King." 
 
 So the said Lord Will-be-will returned from 
 ofl" the wall and ''he trumpeter came into the 
 camp. When the trumpeter waa come into 
 the camp the captains and officers of the 
 mighty King Shaddai came together to know 
 if lie had obtained a hearing, and what was 
 the effect of his errand. So the trumpeter told. 
 Baying, " When I had sounded my trumpet and 
 had called aloud to the town for hearing, my 
 Lord Will-be-will, the governor of the town 
 and he that hath charge of the gates, came up 
 when he heard me sound, and looking over the 
 wall he asked me what I was, whence I came, 
 and what was the cause of my making this 
 noise ? So I told him my errand and by whose 
 authority I brought it. Then said he, I will 
 tell it to- the governor and to Mansoul. And 
 then I returned to my lords." 
 
 Then said the brave Boanerges, " L6t us for 
 a while lie still within our trenches and see 
 what these rebels will do." Now, when the 
 time drew nigh that audience by Mansoul 
 was to be given to the brave Boanerges and 
 his companions, it was commanded that all 
 the men of war throughout the whole camp 
 of Shaddai should, as one man, stand to their 
 arms and make themselves ready, if the town 
 of Mansoul shall hear, to receive it forthwith 
 to mercy, but if not, to force a subjection. So 
 the day being come, the trumpeters sounded, 
 and that throughout the whole camp, that the 
 men of war might be in readiness for that 
 which then should be the work of the day. 
 But when they that were in the town of Man- 
 soul heard the sound of the trumpets through- 
 out the camp of Shaddai, and thinking no 
 other than that it must be in order to storm 
 the corporation, they at first were put to great 
 consternation of spirit ; but after they were a 
 little settled again, they also made what prep- 
 aration they could for a war if they did 
 .etorm; else to secure themselves. 
 
 Well, when the utmost time was come, 
 Bvjanerges was resolved to hear their answer ; 
 wherefore he sent out his trumpeter again to 
 summon Mansoul to a hearing of the message 
 that they had brought from Shaddai. So he 
 went and sounded, and the townsmen came 
 ■up, but made Ear-gate as sure as they could. 
 Now, when they were come up to the top of 
 the wall, Capta'n Boanerges desired to see the 
 
 lord mayor, but my Lord Incredulity was then 
 lord mayor, for he came in the room of my 
 Lord Lustings. So Incredulity, he came up 
 and showed himself over the wall ; but when 
 the Captain Boanerges had set his eyes upon 
 him, he cried out aloud, " This is not he ; 
 where is my Lord Understanding, the ancient 
 lord mayor of the town of Mansoul, foi to him 
 I would deliver my message 2" 
 
 Then said the giant, (for Diabolus was also 
 come to the captain,) "Mr. Captain, you have 
 by your boldness given to Mansoul at least 
 four summonses to subject herself to youT 
 King; by whose authority I know not, nor 
 will I dispute that now. I ask therefore what 
 is the reason of all this ado, or what would 
 you be at, if you.know yourselves?" 
 
 Then Captain Boanerges, whose was the 
 'black colours and whose escutcheon was the 
 three burning thunderbolts, (taking no notice 
 of the giant or of his speech,) thus addressed 
 himself to the town of Mansoul : " Be it known n 
 unto you, O unhappy and rebellious Mansoul, 
 that the miost gracious King, the great King 
 Shaddai, my Master, hath sent me unto you 
 with commission (and so he showed to the 
 town his broad seal) to reduce you to his obe- 
 dience; and he hath commanded me, in case 
 you yield upon my summons, to carry it to 
 you as if you were my friend and brother ; but 
 he also hath bid that if, after summons to sub- 
 mit, you stand out and rebel, we should en- 
 deavour to take you by force." 
 
 Then stood forth Captain Conviction, and 
 said, (his was the pale colours, and for an 
 escutcheon he had the book of the law wide 
 open, &c.,) "Hear, O Mansoul! Thou, 
 Mansoul, was once famous for innooency, but 
 now tliou art degenerated into lies and deceit. 
 Thou hast heard what my brother the Captain 
 Boanerges hath said; and it is your wisdom 
 and will be your happiness to stoop to and 
 accept of conditions of peace and mercy when 
 offered, especially when offered by one against 
 whom thou hast rebelled, and one who is of 
 power to tear thee in pieces ; for so is Shaddai 
 our King; nor, when he is angry, can ^ny 
 one stand before him. If you say you h;. ve 
 not sinned nor acted rebellion against our 
 King, the whole of your doings since the day 
 that you cast off his service (and there was the 
 beginning of your sin) will sufficiently testify 
 against you. What else means your hearken- 
 ing to the tyrant and your receiving him for 
 your king? What means else 3'-our rejecting 
 of the laws of Shaddai and your obeying of 
 
THE HOLY WAR. 
 
 387 
 
 Diabolus ? yea, what means this your taking 
 up of arms against and the shutting of your 
 States ui>on us, the faithful servants of your 
 King? Be ruled, then, and accept of my 
 brother's invitation, and ovel-stand not the 
 time of mercy, but agree with thine adver- 
 sary quickly. Ah, Mansoul I suffer not thy- 
 self to be kept from mercy, and to be run into 
 a thousand miseries by the flattering wiles of 
 Diabolus. Perhaps that piece of deceit may 
 attempt to make you believe that we seek our 
 own profit in this our service ; but know it is 
 obedience to our King and love to your happi- 
 ness that is the cause of this undertaking of 
 ours. 
 
 " Again, I say to thee, Mansoul ! con- 
 sider if it be not amazing grace thai Shaddai 
 should so humble himself as he doth. Now, 
 he by us reasons with you in a way of en- 
 treaty and sweet persuasions that you would 
 subject yourselves to him. Has he that need 
 of you that we are sure you have of him? 
 No, no, but he is merciful, and will not that 
 Mansoul should die, .but turn to him and 
 live." 
 
 Then stood forth Captain Judgment, (whose 
 was the red colours, and for an escutcheon Ke 
 had the burning^ fiery furnace;) and he said. 
 " yc, the inhabitants of the town of Man- 
 soul, that have lived so long in rebellion and 
 acts of treason against the King Shaddai, 
 know that we come not to-day to this place, 
 in this manner, with our message of our own 
 minds or to revenge our own quarrel ; it is the 
 King my Master that hath sent us to reduce 
 you to your obedience to him, the which if you 
 refuse in a peaceable way to yield, we have 
 commission to compel you thereto. And 
 never think of yourselves, not yet suffer the 
 tyrant Diabolus to persuade you to think, 
 that our King by his power is not able to 
 bring you down and to lay you under his feet ; 
 for he is the former of all things, and if he 
 touches the mountains they smoke. Nor will 
 the gate of the King's clemency stand always 
 open ; for the day that shall burn like an oven 
 is before him, yea, it hasteth greatly, it slum- 
 bereth not. 
 
 "0' Mansoul! is it little in thine eyes that 
 our King doth offer thee mercy, and that after 
 so many provocations ? Yea, he still holdeth 
 out his golden sceptre to thee, and will not yet 
 suffer his gate to be shut against thee. Wilt 
 thou provoke him to do it ? If so, consider of 
 what I say : to thee it is opened no more for 
 ever. If thou sayest thou shalt not see him, 
 
 yet judgment is before him ; therefore trust 
 thou in him : yea, because there is wrath, be- 
 ware lest he take thee away with his stroke; 
 then a great ransom cannot deli ver thee. W ill 
 he esteem thy riches ? No, not gold nor ;il! 
 the forces of strength. He hath prepared iais 
 throne for judgment, for he will come with 
 fire and with his chariots, like a whirlwind, to 
 render his anger with fury and his rebukes 
 with flames of fire. Therefore, O Mansoul, 
 take heed lest, niter thou haic fulfilled the 
 judgment of the wiciced, justice .:ud judgment 
 should take hold of thee." Now, while the 
 Captain Judgment was making of this oration 
 to the town of Mansoul, it was observed by 
 some that Diabolus trembled; but he proceeded 
 in his parable, and said, " O thou woeful town 
 of Mansoul ! wilt thou not yet set open thy 
 gate to receive us, the deputies of thy King, 
 and those that would rejoice to see thee live? 
 Can thy heart endure or can thy hands be 
 strong in the day that he shall deal in judg- 
 ment with thee ? I say, canst thou endure to 
 be forced to drink, as one would drink sweet 
 wine, tlje sea of wrath that our King has pre- 
 pared foi- Diabolus and his angels? Consider 
 betimes, consider." 
 
 Then stood forth the fourth captain, the 
 . noble Captain Execution, and said, " town 
 of Mansoul! — once famous, but now like the 
 fruitless bough ; once the delight of the high 
 ones, but no\y a den for Diabolus — hearken 
 also tq me, and to the words that I shall speak 
 to thee in the name of the great Shaddai. 
 Behold, the axe is laid to the root of the trees ; 
 every tree, therefore, that bringeth not forth 
 good fruit, is hewn down and cast into the 
 fire. 
 
 " Thou, O town of Mansoul ! hast hitherto 
 been this fruitless tree; thou bearest naught 
 but thorns and briers. Thy evil fruit bespeaks 
 thee not to be a good tree: thy grapes are 
 grapes of gall, thy clusters are bitter. Thou 
 hast rebelled against thy King; and lo ! we, 
 the power and force of Shaddai, are the axe that 
 is laid to thy roots. What sayest thou, wilt 
 thou turn? I say again, tell me before the 
 first blow is given, wilt thou turn ? Oh turn, 
 turn ! Our axe must first be laid to thy root, 
 before it be laid at thy root ; it must first be 
 laid to thy root in a way of threatening, before 
 it is laid at thy root by way of execution ; and 
 between these two is required thy repentance, 
 and this is all the time that f,hou hast. What 
 wilt thou do? Wilt thou turn, or sliall I 
 sihite? If I fetch my blow, Mansoul, dowa 
 
388 
 
 SUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 you go ; for I have commission to lay my axe 
 at, as well as to, thy roots ; nor will any thing 
 but yielding to our King prevent doing of ex- 
 ecution. What art thou fit for, Mansoul! 
 if mercy prevent not, but to be hewn down 
 and cast into the fire and burned ? 
 
 " Mansoul ! patience and forbearance do 
 not act for ever ; a year, or two, or three they 
 may, but if thou provoke by a three years' re- 
 ' hellion, (and thou hast already done more than 
 this,) then what follows but cut it down? Nay, 
 after that thou shalt cut it down. And dost 
 thou think that these are but threateningg, or 
 that our King has lUot power to execute his 
 words? O Mansoul! thou wilt find that, in 
 the words of our King, when they are by sin- 
 ners made little or light of, there is not only 
 threatening but burning coals of fire. 
 
 "Thou hast been a cumber-ground long 
 already, and wilt thou continue so still ? Thy 
 sin has brought this army to thy walls, and 
 shall bring it in judgment to do execution into 
 thy town. Thou hast heard what the captains 
 have said, but as yet thou shuttest thy gates. 
 Speak out, Mansoul ; wilt thou do so still ? or 
 wilt thou accept of conditions of peace?" 
 
 These brave speeches of these four noble 
 captains the town of Mansoul refused to hear, 
 yet a sound thereof did beat against Ear-gate, 
 though the force thereof could not break it open. 
 In fine, the town desired a time to prepare 
 their answer to these demands. The captains 
 then told them that if they would throw out to 
 them one Ill-pause that was in the town, that 
 they might reward him according to his works, 
 then they would give them time to consider ; 
 but if they would not cast him to them over 
 the wall of Mansoul, then they would give 
 them nonp; for, said they, we know that so 
 long as Ill-pause draws breath in ManSoul, all 
 good consideration will be confounded and 
 nothing but mischief will come thereon. 
 
 Then Diabolus, who was there present, be- 
 ing loth to lose his Ill-pause, because he was 
 his orator, (and yet be sure^he had, could the 
 captains have laid their fingers on him,) was 
 resolved at this instant to give them answer by 
 himself; but then, changing his mind, he 
 commanded the then lord mayor, the Lord In- 
 credulity, to do it; saying, "My lord, do you 
 give these runagates an answer, and speak out, 
 that Mansoul may hear and understand you." 
 
 So Incredulity, at Diabolus's command, be- 
 gan and said, " Gentlemen, you have here, as 
 we do behold, to the disturbance of our prince 
 and the molestation of the tpwn of Mansoul, 
 
 camped against it; but from whence you come 
 we will not know, and what you are we will 
 not believe. Indeed, you tell us in your ter- 
 rible speeches that you have this authority 
 from Shaddai, but by what right he commands 
 you to do it, of that we shall yet be ignorant. 
 
 " You have also, by the authority aforesaid, 
 summoned this town to desert her lord, and 
 for protection to yield up herself to the great 
 Shaddai, your King, flatteringly telling her 
 that if she will do it, he will pass by and not 
 charge her with her past ofiFences. 
 
 " Further, you have also, to the terror of the 
 town of Mansoul, threatened with great and 
 sore destruction to punish this corporation if 
 she consents not to do as your wills would have 
 her. 
 
 "Now, captains, from whencesoever you 
 come, and though your designs be never so 
 right, yet know ye that neither my Lord Diab- 
 olus, nor I his servant Incredulity, nor yet 
 our brave Mansoul, doth regard either your 
 persons, message, or the King that you say 
 .hath sent you. His power, his greatness, his 
 vengeance we fear not, nor will we yield at all 
 to your summons. 
 
 " As for the war that you threaten to make 
 upon us, we must therein defend ourselves as 
 well as we can ; and know ye that we are not 
 without wherewithal to bid defiance to you. 
 And, in short, for I will not be tedious, I tell 
 you that we take you to be some vagabond 
 runagate crew that, having shaken oflf all obe- , 
 dience to your King, have gotten together in 
 tumultuous manner, and are ranging from 
 place to place, to see if, through the flatteries 
 you are skilled ,to make on the one side, and 
 threats wherewith you think to fright on the 
 other, to make some silly town, city, or coun- 
 try to desert their place and leave it to you ; 
 but Mansoul is none of them. 
 
 " To conclude, we dread you not, we fear you 
 not, nor will we obey your summons : our gates 
 we will keep shut upon you, our place we will 
 keep you out of; nor will we long thus suffer 
 you to sit down before us. Our people must 
 live in quiet; your appearance doth disturb 
 them ; wherefore arise with bag and baggage 
 and begone, or we will let fly from the walls 
 against you." 
 
 This oration, made by old Incredulity, was 
 seconded by desperate Will-be-will in words 
 toi this effect : " Gentlemen, we have heard 
 your demands and the noise of your tl^reats, 
 and we have heard the sound of your summons ; 
 but w^e fear not your force, we regard not your 
 
THE HOLT WAR 
 
 389 
 
 threats, bat will still abide as you found us. 
 And we command you that in three days' 
 time you cease to appear in these parts, or you 
 shall know what it is once to dare offei" to 
 rouse the lion Diabolus when asleep in his 
 town of Mansoul." 
 
 The recorder, whose name was Forget-good, 
 he also added as foUoweth : " Gentlemen, my 
 lords, as you see, have with mild and gentle 
 words answered your rough and angry speeches ; 
 they have moreover, in my hearing, given you 
 leave quietly to depart as you came. Where- 
 fore take their kindness and begone ; we might 
 have come out with force upon you, and have 
 caused you to feel the dint of our swords ; but 
 as we love ease and quiet ourselves, so we love 
 not to hurt or molest others." . 
 
 Then did the town of Mansoul shout for joy, 
 as if, by Diabolus and his crew, some great 
 advantage had been gotten of the captains. 
 They also rang the bells and made merry, and 
 danced upon the walls. 
 
 Diabolus also returned to- the castle, and the 
 lord mayor and recorder to their place; but 
 the Lord Will-be-will topk special care that 
 the g^tes should be secured with double guards, 
 double bolts, and double locks and bars. And 
 that Ear-gate especially might the better be 
 looked to — for that was the gate in at which 
 the King's forces sought most to enter — the 
 Lord Will-be-will made one old Mr. Prejudice 
 (an angry and ill-conditioned fellow) capfain 
 of the ward at that gate, and put under his 
 power sixty men, called Deaf-men — men ad- 
 vantageous for that service, forasmuch as they 
 mattered no words of the captains nor of their 
 soldiers. 
 
 Now, when the captains saw the answer of 
 the great ones, that they could not get an hear- 
 ing from the old natives of the town, and that 
 Mansoul was resolved to giye the King's army 
 battle, they prepared themselves to receive 
 them and to try it out by the power of the arm. 
 And first they made their forces more formid- 
 able against Ear-gate. For they knew that 
 unless they could penetrate that no good could 
 be done upon the town. This done, they put 
 the rest of their men in their places. After 
 which they gave out the word, which was, 
 " Ye must be born again." Then they sounded 
 the trumpet ; then they in the town made them 
 answer with shout against shout, charge against 
 charge, and so the battle began. Now they in 
 the town had planted upon the tower over 
 Ear-gate ';.wo great guns, the one called High- 
 mind, and the other Heady. Under these two 
 
 guns they trusted much ; they were cast in the 
 castle by Diabolus's founder, whose name was 
 Mr. Puflf-up, and mischievous pieces they were. 
 But so vigilant and watchful when the cap- 
 tains saw them were they that though some- 
 times their shot would go by their ears with a 
 whiz, yet they did them no harm. By these 
 two guns the townsfolk made no question but 
 greatly to annoy the camp of Shaddai and well 
 enough to secure the gate, but they had not 
 much cause to boast of what execution th'ey 
 did, as by what follows will be gathered. 
 
 The famous Mansoul had also 'some other 
 small pieces in it, of the which they made use 
 against the camp of Shaddai. 
 
 They from the camp also did as stoutly, and 
 with as much of that as may, in truth, be called 
 valour let fly as fast at the town and at Ear- 
 gate ; for they saw that unless they could break 
 open Ear-gate it would be but in vain to batter 
 the wall. Now the King's captains had brought 
 with them several slings and two or three bat- 
 tering-rams ; with their slings therefore they 
 battered the houses and people of the town, 
 and with their rams they sought to break Ear- 
 gate open. 
 
 The camp and the town had several skir- 
 mishes and brisk encounters, while the captains 
 with their engines made many brave attempts 
 to break open or beat down the tower that was 
 over Ear-gate, and at the said gate to make 
 their entrance. But Mansoul stood it out so 
 lustily, through the rage of Diabolus, the val- 
 our of the Lord Will-be-will, and the conduct 
 of old Incredulity the mayor, and Mr. Forget- 
 good the recorder, that the charge and expense 
 of that summer's wars (on the King's side) 
 seemed to be almost quite lost, and the advan- 
 tage to return to Mansoul. But when the 
 captains saw how it was they made a fair re- 
 treat, and entrenched themselves in their 
 winter quarters. Now, in this war, you must 
 needs think, there was much loss on both sides, 
 of which be pleased to accept of this brief ac- 
 count following. 
 
 The King's captains, when they marched 
 from the court to come up against Mansoul to 
 war, as they came crossing over the country, 
 they happened to light upon three young fel- 
 lows that had a mind to go for soldiers; proper 
 men they were, and men of courage and skill 
 to appearance. Their names were, Mr. Tradi- 
 tion, Mr. Human-wisdom, and Mr. Man's-in- 
 vention. So they came up to the captains and 
 proffered their services to Shaddai. The cap- 
 tains then told them of their design, and bid 
 
390 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 tliem not to' be rash, in their offers; but the 
 young men told them they had considered the 
 thing before, and that, hearing they were upon 
 their march for such a design, came hither on 
 purpose to meet them, that they might be 
 listed under their excellencies. Then Captain 
 Boanerges, for that they were men of courage, 
 listed them into his company, and so away they 
 went to the war. 
 
 Now, when the war was begun, in one of 
 tba briskest skirmishes, so it was that a com- 
 pany of the Lord Will-be-will's men sallied 
 out of the sally-port or postern of the town, 
 and fell in upon the rear of Captain Boaner- 
 ges' men, where these three fellows happened 
 to be; so they took them prisoners and away 
 they carried them into the town, where they 
 had not laid long in clurance but it began to be 
 noised about the streets of the town what three 
 notable prisoners the Lord Will-be-will's men 
 had taken and brought in prisoners out of the 
 camp of Shaddai. At length tidings thereof 
 was carried to Diabolus to the castle — to wit, 
 what my Lord Will-be-will's men had done, 
 and whom they had taken prisoners. 
 
 Then Diabolus called for Will-be-will to 
 know the certainty of this matter. So he 
 asked him and he told him ; then did the giant 
 send for the prisoners, and, when they were 
 come, demanded of them who they were, 
 whence they came, and what they did in the 
 camp of Shaddai ? and they told him. Then 
 he sent them to ward again. Not many days 
 after he sent for them to him again, and then 
 asked them if they would be willing to serve 
 him against their former captains ? They then 
 told him that they did not so much live by 
 religion as by the' fates of fortune, and that, 
 since his lordship was willing to entertain 
 them, they should be willing to serve him. 
 
 Now while things were thus in hand there 
 was one Captain Anything, a great doer in the 
 town of Mansoul, and to this Captain Any- 
 thing did Diabolus send these men, with a 
 note under his hand to receive them into his 
 company; the contents of which letter were 
 thus : 
 
 " Anything, my darling, the three men that 
 arc the bearers of this letter have a desire to 
 seive me in the war, nor know I better to 
 whose conduct to commit them than to thine. 
 Receive them, therefore; in my name, and as 
 need shall require make use of them against 
 Shaddai and his men. Farewell." So they 
 came, and he received them, and he made 
 two of them sergeants, but he made Mr. Man's- 
 
 invention his ancient-bearei. But thus much 
 for this, and now to return to jhe camp. 
 
 They of the camp did also some execution 
 upon the town ; they did beat down the roof 
 of the old lord mayor's house, and so laid him 
 more open than he was before. They had 
 almost with a sling slain my Lord Will-be-will 
 outright, but he made a shift to recover again; 
 But they made a notable slaughter among the 
 aldermen, for with one only shot they cut off 
 six of them— to wit, Mr. Swearing, Mr. Whor- 
 ing, Mr. Fury, Mr. Stand-to-lies, Mr. Drunk- 
 enness, and Mr. Cheating. 
 
 They also dismounted the two guns that 
 stood dpon the tower over Ear-gate, and laid 
 them flat in the dirt. I told you before that 
 the King's noble captains had drawn off' to 
 their winter quarters, and had there entrenched 
 themselves and their carriages, so as, with the 
 best advantage to their King and the greatest 
 annoyance to the enemy, they might give sea- 
 sonable and warm alarms to the town of Man- 
 soul. And this design of them did so hit 
 that, I may say, they did almost what they 
 would to the molestation of the corporation. 
 
 For now could not Mansoul sleep securely 
 as before, nor could they now go to their de- 
 baucheries with that quietness as in times past. 
 For they had from the camp of Shaddai such 
 frequent, warm, and terrifying alarms, first at 
 one gate, and then at another, and again at all 
 the gates at once, that they were broken as to 
 former peace. Yea, they had their alarms so 
 frequently, and that when the nights were at 
 longest, the weather coldest, and so conse- 
 quently the season most unseasonable, that 
 that winter was-to the town of Mansoul a win- 
 ter by itself. Sometimes the trumpets would 
 sound, and sometimes the slings would whirl 
 the stones into the town. Sometimes ten thou- 
 sand of the King's soldiers would be running 
 round the walls of Mansoul at midnight, shout- 
 ing and lifting up the voice for the battle. 
 Sometimes, again, some of them in the town 
 would be wounded, and their cry and lament- 
 able voice would be heard, to the great moles- 
 tation of the now languishing town of Mc n- 
 soul. Yea, so distressed with those that laid 
 siege against them were they that I dare say 
 Diabolus their king had in these days his rest 
 much broken. 
 
 In these days, as I was informed, new 
 thoughts — and thoughts that began to' run 
 counter one to another — began to possess the 
 minds of the men of the town of Mansoul 
 Some would say, " There is no living tlius " 
 
THE HOLY WAR. 
 
 391 
 
 Others would then reply, "This ■will be over 
 shortly." Then would a third stand up and 
 answer, "Let us turn to the King Shaddai, and 
 BO put an end to these troubles." And a fourth 
 would come in with a fear, saying, " I doubt 
 he will not receive us." The old gentleman, 
 too, the recorder, that'was so before Diabolus 
 took Jlansoul, he also began to talk aloud; 
 and his words were now to the town of Man- 
 .-Boul as if they were great claps of thunder. 
 No noise now so terrible to Mansoul as was 
 his, with the noise of the soldiers and shout- 
 ings of the captains. 
 
 Also things began to grow scarce in Man- 
 soul, now the things that her soul lusted after 
 were departing from her. Upon all her pleas- 
 ant things there was a blast and buniing in- 
 .stead of beauty. Wrinkles now and some 
 shows of the shadow of death were upon the 
 inhabitants of Mansoul. And now, oh how 
 glad would Mansoul have been to have en- 
 joyed quietness and satisfaction of mind, 
 though joined with the meanest condition in 
 the world! 
 
 The captains also, in the depth of the winter, 
 did send by the mouth of Boanerges' trumpeter 
 a summons to Mansoul to yield up herself to 
 the King, the great King Shaddai. They said 
 it once, and twice, and thrice; not knowing 
 but that at sometimes there might be in Man- 
 soul some willingness to surrender up them- 
 selves unto him, might they but have the 
 colour of an invitation to do it under. Yea, 
 so far as I could gather, the town had been 
 surrendered up to them before now had it not 
 been for the opposition of old Incredulity and 
 the fickleness of the thoughts of my Lord 
 Will-be-will. Diabolus also began to rave, 
 wherefore Mansoul as to yielding was not yet 
 all of one mind ; therefore they still lay dis- 
 tressed under these perplexing fears. 
 
 I told you but now that they of the King's 
 army had this winter sent three times to Man- 
 soul to«ubmit herself. 
 
 Ths first time the trumpeter went he went 
 with words of peace, telling them that the 
 captainis, the noble captains of Shaddai, did 
 pity ani bewail the misery of the now perish- 
 ing town of Mansoul, and were troubled to see 
 them so much at a stand in the way of their 
 own deliverance. He said, moreover, that the 
 captains bid him tell them that if -now poor 
 Mansoul would humble herself and turn, her 
 former rebellions and most notorious trea- 
 sons should by their merciful King be for- 
 given them, yea, and forgotten too. And 
 
 having bid them beware that they stood not 
 in their own way, that they opposed not them- 
 selves, nor made themselves their own losets, 
 he returned again into the camp. 
 
 The second time the trumpeter went he did 
 treat them a little roughly. For after sound- 
 ing the trumpet, he told them that their con- 
 tinuing in their rebellion did but chafe and 
 heat the spirit of the captains, and that they 
 were resolved to make a conquest of Mansoul 
 or to lay their bones before the tewn-walls. 
 
 He went again the third time, and dealt with 
 them yet more roughly, telling them that now, 
 since they had been so horribly profane, he did 
 not certainly know whether the captains were 
 inclitied to mercy or judgment; only, said he, 
 they commanded me to give you a summons to 
 open the gates unto them. So he returned and 
 went into the camp. 
 
 These three summons, and especially the two 
 last, did so distress the town that they presently 
 called a consultation, the result of which was 
 this: that my Lord Will-be- will should go up 
 to Ear-gate, and there with sound of trumpet 
 call to the captains of the camp for a parley. 
 Well, the Lord Will-be-will sounded upon the 
 wall, 90 the captains came up in their harness, 
 with their ten thousands at their fet=t. The 
 townsmen then told the captains that they had 
 heard and considered their summons, and would 
 come to an agreement with them-, and with their 
 King Shaddai, upon such certain terms, articles, 
 and propositions as, with and by the order of 
 their prince, they to them were appointed to 
 propound — to wit, they would agree upon these 
 grounds to be one people with them : 
 
 " 1. If that those of their own company, aa 
 the new lord, mayor and their Mr. Forget- 
 good, with their brave Lord Will-be-will, 
 might under Shaddai be still the governors of 
 the town, castle, and gates of Mansoul. 
 
 " 2. Provided that no man that- now serveth 
 under their great giant Diabolus be by Shaddai 
 cast out of house, harbour, or the freedom that 
 he hath hitherto enjoyed in the famous town 
 of Mansoul. 
 
 "3. That it shall be granted them that they 
 of the town of Mansoul shall enjoy certain of 
 their rights and privileges— to wit, such as 
 have formerly been granted them, and that 
 they have long lived in the enjoyment of, 
 , under the reign of their king Diabolus, that 
 now is and" long has been their only lord and 
 great defender. 
 
 "4. That no new law, oflicer, or executioner 
 of law or ofiice shall have any power over 
 
592 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 them without their own choice and con- 
 sent." 
 
 These be our propositions or conditions of 
 peace, and upon these! terms, said they, we 
 will submit to your king. 
 
 But when the captains had heard this weak 
 and feeble offer of the town of Mansoul, and 
 their high and bold demands, they made to 
 them again by their noble captain, the Cap- 
 tain Boanerges, this speech following : 
 
 " ye inhabitants of the town of Mansoul I 
 when I heard your trumpet sounded , for a 
 parley with us I can truly say I was glad; but 
 when you said you were willing to submit 
 yourselves to your King and Lord, then I was 
 yet more glad ; but when, by your silly provi- 
 soes and foolish cavils, you lay the stumbling- 
 block of your iniquity before your own faces, 
 then was my gladness turned into sorrows, and 
 ■Dv hopeful beginnings of your return into 
 languishing, fainting fears. 
 
 "I count that old Ill-pause, the ancient 
 enemy of Mansoul, did draw up those pro- 
 posals that now you present us with as terms 
 of an agreement, but they deserve not to be 
 admitted to sound in the ear of any man that 
 pretends to have service for Shaddai. We do 
 therefore jointly, and that with the highest 
 disdain, refuse and reject such things as the 
 greatest of iniquities. 
 
 "But, Mansoul, if you will give your- 
 selves into our hands, or rather into the hands 
 of our King, and will trust him to make such 
 terms with and for you as shall seem good in 
 his eyes, (and I dare say they shall be such as 
 you shall find to be most profitable to you,) 
 then we will receive you and be at peace with 
 you; but if you like not to trust yourselves in 
 the arms of Shaddai our King, then things are 
 but where they were before, and we know also 
 what we have to do." 
 
 Then cried out old Incredulity, the lord 
 mayor, and said, " And who, being out of the 
 hands of their enemies, as you see we are now, 
 will be so foolish as to put the staff out of their 
 own hands into the hands of they know not 
 «vho? I, for my part, will never yield to so 
 unlimited a proposition. Do we know the 
 manner and temper of their King? It is said 
 by some that he will be angry with his sub- 
 jects if but the, breadth of an hair they chance 
 to step out of the way. And of others that he 
 requireth of them much more than they can 
 perform. "Wherefore it seems, Mansoul, to 
 De thy wisdom to take good heed what thou 
 dc St in this matter ; for if you once yield you 
 
 give up-yourselves to another, and so yon are 
 no more your own! Wherefore, to give up 
 yourselves to an unliinited power is the great- 
 est folly in the world, for now you indeed may 
 repent, but can never justly complain. But 
 do you indeed know, when you are his, which 
 of you he will kill and' which of you he will 
 save alive, or whether he will not cut off every 
 one of us, and send out of his own country 
 another new people and cause them to inhabit 
 this town ?" 
 
 This speech of the lord mayor undid all, 
 and threw flat to the ground their hopes of an 
 accord; wherefore the captains returned to 
 their trenches, to their tents, and to their men 
 as they were, and the mayor to the castle and 
 to his king. 
 
 Now Diabolus had waited for his return, for 
 he had heard that they had been at their 
 points. So when he was come into the cham- 
 ber of state, Diabolus saluted him with, " Wel- 
 come, my lord ; how went matters betwixt you 
 to-day?" So the Lord Incredulity (with a low 
 congee) told him the whole ' matter, saying, 
 " Thus and thus said the captains of Shaddai, 
 and thus said I." The which when it was told 
 to Diabolus,' he was very glad to hear it, and 
 said, " My lord mayor, my faithful Incredul- 
 ity, I have proved thy fidelity above ten times 
 already, but never yet found thee false. I do 
 promise thee, if we rub over this brunt, to 
 prefer thee to a place of honour, a place far 
 better than to be lord mayor of Mansoul. I 
 will make thee my universal deputy, and 
 thou shalt, next to me, have all nations 
 under thy hand; yea, and thou shalt lay 
 hands upon them that they may not resist 
 thee ; nor shall any of our vassals walk more 
 at liberty, but those that shall be content to 
 walk in thy fetters." 
 
 Now came the lord mayor out from Diab- 
 olus as if he had obtained a favour indeed; 
 wherefore to his habitation he goes in great 
 state, and thinks to feed himself well enough 
 with hopes until the time came that his great- 
 ness should be enlarged. 
 
 But now, though the lord mayor and Diab- 
 olus did thus well agree, yet this repulse to 
 the brave captains put Mansoul into a mu- 
 tiny. For while old Incredulity went into the 
 castle to congratulate his lord with Avhat had 
 passed, the old lord mayor that was so before 
 Diabolus came to the town — to wit, niy Lord 
 Understanding and the old recorder, Mr. Con- 
 science — getting intelligence of what had 
 passed at Ear-gate, (for you must know that 
 
THE HOLY WAR. 
 
 393 
 
 they might not be suffered to be at that de- 
 bate, lest they should then have mutinied for 
 the captains ;) but I say they got intelligence 
 what had passed there, and were much con- 
 cerned therewith ; wherefore they, getting 
 some of the town together, began to possess 
 them with the reasonableness of the noble 
 captains' demands, and with the bad conse- 
 quences that would follow upon the speech 
 of old Incredulity, the lord mayor — to wit, 
 how little reverence he showed therein, either 
 to the captains or to their King, also how he 
 implicitly charged them with unfaithfulness 
 and treachery ; for what less, quoth they, 
 ■ could be made of his words when he said he 
 would not yield to their propositions, and 
 added, moreover, a supposition that he would 
 destroy us when before he had sent us word 
 that he would show us mercy? The multi- 
 tude, being now possessed with the conviction 
 of the evil that old Incredulity had done, began 
 to run together by companies in all places and 
 in every corner of the streets of Mansoul ; and 
 first they began, to mutter, then to talk openly, 
 and after that they run to and fro, and cried 
 as they run, " the brave captains of Shad- 
 dai ! would we were under the government of 
 the captains and of Shaddai their King." 
 When the lord mayor had intelligence that 
 Mansoul was in an uproar, down he comes to 
 appease the people, and thpught to have 
 quashed their heat with the bigness and the 
 show of his countenance. But when they saw 
 him, they came running upon him, and had 
 doubtless done him a mischief had he not 
 betaken himself to home. However, they 
 strongly assaulted the house where he was, 
 to have pulled it down about his ears, but 
 the place was too strong; so they failed of 
 that. So he, taking some courage, addressed 
 himself out a window to the people in this 
 manner : 
 
 " Gentlemen, what is the reason that there 
 is here such an uproar to-day ?" 
 
 Then answered my Lord Understanding: 
 " It is even because that thou and thy master 
 have carried it not rightly and as you should 
 to the captains of Shaddai ; for in three things 
 you are faulty : First, in that you would not 
 let Mr. Conscience and myself be at the hear- 
 ing of your discourse. Secondly, in that you 
 propounded such terms of peace to the cap- 
 tains that by no means could be granted 
 unless they had intended that their Shaddai 
 should have been only, u titular prince, and 
 that Mansoul should still have had power, by 
 
 law, to have lived in all lewdness and vanity 
 before him, and so, by consequence, Diab- 
 olus should still here be king in power, and 
 the other only king in name. Thirdly, for 
 that thou didst thyself, after the captains had 
 showed us upon what conditions they would 
 have received us to mercy, even undo all 
 again with thy unsavoury, and unseasonable, 
 and ungodly speech.'' 
 
 When old Incredulity had heard this speech, 
 he cried out, " Treason I treason I To your 
 arms, to your arms, O ye trusty friends of 
 Diabolus in Mansoul I" 
 
 Understanding. " Sir, you may put upon my 
 words what meaning you please, but I am sure 
 that the captains of such an high Lord aa 
 theirs is deserved a better treatment at your 
 hands." 
 
 Then said old Incredulity, " This is but little 
 better. But, sir, quoth he, what I spake, I 
 spake for my prince, for his government, and 
 the quieting of the people, whom by your un- 
 lawful actions you have this day set to mutiny 
 against us." 
 
 Then replied the old recorder, whose name 
 was Mr. Conscience, and said, " Sir, you ought 
 not thus to retort upon what my Lord Under- 
 standing hath said. It is evident enough that 
 he hath spoken the truth, and that you are an 
 enemy to Mansoul ; be convinced then of the 
 evil of your saucy and malapert language, and 
 of the grief that you have put the captains to ; 
 yea, and of the damages that you have done to 
 Mansoul thereby. Had you accepted of the 
 conditions, the sound of the trumpet and the 
 alarm of war had now ceased about the town 
 of Mansoul ; but that dreadful sound abides, 
 and your want of wisdom in your speech has 
 been the cause of it." 
 
 Then said old Incredulity, "Sir, if I live I 
 will do your errand to Diabolus, and then you 
 shall have an answer to your words. Mcan- 
 wlfile we will seek the good of the town, and 
 not ask counsel of you." 
 
 Understanding. "Sir, your prince and you 
 are both foreigners to Mansoul, and not the 
 natives, thereof. And who can tell but that 
 when you have brought us into greater straits 
 (when you also shall see that yourselves can 
 be safe by no other means than by flight) you 
 may leave us and shift for yourselves, br set 
 us on fire and go away in the smoke or by the 
 light of the burning, and so leave us in our 
 ruins." 
 
 Incredulity. "Sir, you forget that you are 
 under a governor, and that you ought to de- 
 
394 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 mean yourself like a subject; and know ye 
 when my lord the king shall hear of this day's 
 work he will give you but little thanks for 
 your labour." 
 
 Now, while these gentlemen were thus in 
 their chiding words, down comes from the 
 walls and gates of the town the Lord Will-be- 
 will, Mr. Prejudice, old Ill-pause, and several 
 ot the new-made aldermen and burgesses, and 
 they asked the reason of the hubbub and tu- 
 mult. And witli that every man began to tell 
 his own tale, ?o that nothing could be heard 
 distinctly. Then was a silence commanded, 
 and the old fox Incredulity began to speak. 
 "M) lord," quoth he, "here are a couple of 
 peevish gentlemen that have, as a fruit of their 
 dispositions, and, as I fear, through the advice 
 of one Jlr. Discontent, tumultuously gathered 
 this company against me this day, and also 
 attempted to run the town into acts of rebellion 
 against our prince." 
 
 Then stood up all the Diabolonians that 
 were present and affirmed these things to be 
 true. 
 
 Now, when they that took part with my 
 Lord Understanding and with Mr. Conscience 
 perceived that they were like to come to the 
 worst, for that force and power were on the 
 other side, they came in for tlieir help and re- 
 lief, so a gieat company was on both sides. 
 Then tliey on Incredulity's side would have 
 had the two old gentlemen presently away to 
 prison, but they on the other side said they 
 should not. Then they began to cry up parties 
 again ; the Diabolonians cried up old Incre- 
 dulity, Forget-good, the new aldermen, and 
 their great one Diabolus ; and the other party, 
 they as fast cried up Shaddai, the captains, his 
 laws, their mercifulness, and applauded their 
 conditions and ways. Thus the bickerment 
 went a while ; at last they passed from words 
 to blows, and now there were knocks on both 
 sides. The good old gentleman Mr. Con- 
 science was knocked down twice by one of the 
 Diabolonians, whose name was Mr. Benumb- 
 ing. And my Lord Understanding had like 
 to have been slain with an harquebus, but that 
 he that had shot wanted to take his aim right. 
 Nor did the other side wholly escape^ for there 
 was one Mr. Eash-head; a Diabolonian, that 
 had his brains beaten out by Mr. Mind, the 
 Lord Will-be-will's servant ; and it made me 
 laugh to see how old Mr. Prejudice was kicked 
 and tumbled about in the dirt. For though 
 a while since ^he was made captain of a com- 
 pany of the Diabolonians, to the hurt and 
 
 damage of the town, yet now .I ey had got him 
 under their feet, and I will assure you he had, 
 by some of the Lord Understanding's party, 
 his crown soundly cracked to boot. Mr. Any- 
 thing also, he became a brisk man in the broil, 
 but both sides were against him because he 
 was true to none. Yet he had, for his mala- 
 pertness,'one of his legs broken, and he that 
 did it wished it had been his neck. Much 
 harm more was done on both sides ; but this 
 must not be forgotten : it was now a wonder to 
 see my Lord Will-be-will so indifferent as he 
 was ; he did not seem to take one side more 
 than another, only it was perceived that he 
 smiled to see how old Prejudice was tumbled 
 up and down in the dir^. Also when Captain 
 Anything came halting up before him, he 
 seemed to take but little notice of him. 
 
 Now when the uproar was over, Diabolus 
 sends for my Lord Understanding and Mr. 
 Conscience, and claps them both up in prison, 
 as the ringleaders and managers of this most 
 heavy riotous rout in Mansoul. Now the town 
 began to be quiet again and the prisoners were 
 used hardly; yea, he thought to have made 
 them away, but that the present juncture did 
 not serve for that purpose, for that war was in 
 all their gates. 
 
 But let us return again to our story. The. 
 captains, when they were gone back frpm the 
 gate and were come into the camp again, called 
 a council of war to consult what was further 
 for them to do. Now some said. Let's go up 
 presently and fall upon the town, but the great- 
 est part thought rather better it would be to 
 give them another summons to yield ; and the 
 reason why they thought this to 'be best was, 
 because that, so far as could be perceived, the 
 town of Mansoul now was more inclinable than 
 heretofore. « And if, said they, while some of 
 them are in a way of inclination we should by 
 ruggedness give them distaste, we may set 
 them further from closing with our summons 
 than we would be willing they should. 
 
 Wherefore to this advice they agreed, and 
 called a trumpeter, put words into his mouth, 
 set him his time, and bid him God speed. 
 Well, many hours were not expired before the 
 trumpeter addressed himself to his journey. 
 Wherefore, coming up to the wall of the town, 
 he steereth his course to Ear-ga!.e and there 
 sounded as he was commanded. They then 
 that were within came out to see what was the 
 matter, and the trumpeter made them thia 
 speech following : 
 
 "0 hard-hearted and deplorable town q£ 
 
THE HOLY WAR 
 
 395 
 
 Maiisoul! how long wilt tliou love thy sinful, 
 Binfiil simplicity, and ye fools delight iii your 
 scorning? As yet despise -you the offers of 
 peace and deliverance? As yet will ye refuse 
 the golden offers of Shaddai, and trust to the 
 lies and falsehoods of Diabolus ? Think you, 
 when -Shaddai should have conquered you, 
 that the remembrance of these your carriages 
 towaids him will yield you peace and comfort, 
 or that by ruffling language you can make him 
 afraid aa a grasshopper? Doth he entreat you 
 for fear of you ? Do you think you are stronger 
 than he? Look to the heavens, and behold 
 and cortsider the stars, bow high are they? 
 Cai: you stop the sun from running its course, 
 and hinder the moon from giving her light? 
 Can you count the number of the stars, ^r stay 
 the bottles of heaven ? Can you call for the 
 waters of the sea, and cause them to cover the 
 face of the ground? Can you behold every 
 one that is proud, and abasfe him, and bind 
 their faces in secret? Yet these are some of 
 the works of our King, in whose name, this 
 day, we come up unto you, that you may be 
 brought under his authority. In his name, 
 therefore, I summon you again to yield up 
 yourselves to his captains." 
 
 At this summons the Mansoulians seemed to 
 be at a stand, and knew not what answer to 
 make. Wherefore Diabolus forthwith ap- 
 peared, and took upon him to do it himself; 
 and thus he begins, but turns his speech to 
 them of Mansoul. 
 
 "Gentlemen," quoth he, "and my faithful 
 subjects, -if it is true what this summoner hath 
 said concerning the greatness of their King, 
 by his terror you will always be kept in bond- 
 age, and so be made to sneak ; yea, how can 
 you now, though he is at a distance, endure 
 to think of such a mighty one? And if not 
 to think of him while at a distance, how can 
 you endure to be in his presence? I, your 
 prince, am familiar with you, and you may 
 play with me as you would with a grasshopper. 
 Consider, therefore, what is for your profit, 
 aad remember the immunities that I have 
 granted you. 
 
 " Farther, if all be true that this man hath 
 said, how comes it to pass that the subjects of 
 Shaddai are so enslaved in ^11 places where 
 they come ? None in the Universe so unhappy 
 as they, none so trampled upon as they. 
 
 " Consider, my Mansoul. Would thou wert 
 OS loth to leave me as I am loth to leave 
 thee ! But consider, I say, the ball is yet at 
 tb Y foot ; liberty you have, if you kuow how to 
 
 use it; yea, a king you have too, if you can tell 
 how to love and obey him." 
 
 Upon this speech "the town of Mansoul did 
 again harden their hearts yet more against the 
 captains df Shaddai. The thoughts of his 
 greatness did quite quash them, and the 
 thoughts of his holiness sunk them in despair. 
 Wherefore, after a short consultation, they (of 
 the Diabolonian party they were) sent back this 
 word by the trumpeter: That for their parts 
 they were resolved to stick to their king, but 
 never to yield to Shaddai. So it was but in 
 vain to give them any further summons, for 
 they had rather die upon the place than yield. 
 
 And now things/ seemed to be gone quite 
 back, and Mansoul to be out of reach or call ; 
 yet the captains, who knew what their Lord 
 could do, would not yet be beat out of heart. 
 They therefore sent them another summons, 
 more sharp and severe than the last; but the 
 oftcner they were sent unto to be recoiiciled to 
 Shaddai, the further off they were. As they 
 called them, so they went from them, yea, 
 though they called them to the Most High. 
 So they ceased that way to deal with them any 
 more, and inclined to think of another way. 
 The captains therefore did gather themselyes 
 together to have free conference among them- 
 selves, to know what was yet to be done to 
 gain the town and to deliver it from the tyr- 
 anny of Diabolus. And one said after this 
 manner, and another after that. Then stood 
 up the right noble the. Captain Conviction, and 
 said, "My brethi-en, mine opinion is this: 
 
 " First, That we continually play our slings 
 into the town and keep it in a continual alarm, 
 molesting of them day and night; by thus 
 doing we shall stop the growth of their rampant 
 spirit. For a lion may be tamed by continual 
 molestations. 
 
 " Secondly, This done, I advise that in the 
 next place we with one consent draw up a pe- 
 tition to our Lord Shaddai; by which, after 
 we have showed our King the condition of 
 Mansoul and of affairs here, and have begged 
 his pardon for our no better success, we will 
 earnestly implore his Majesty's help, and that 
 he will please to send us more force and power, 
 and some gallant and well-spoken commander 
 to head them; that so his Majesty may not 
 lose the benefit of these his good beginnings, 
 but may complete his conquest upon the town 
 of Mansoul." 
 
 To this speech of the noble Captain Con- 
 viction they as one man consented, and agreed 
 that a petition should forthwith be drawn up 
 
396 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 and sent by a fit man away to Shaddai with 
 speed. The contents of the petition were 
 thus: 
 
 " Most gracious and glorious King, the Lord 
 of the best world and the builder of the town 
 of Mansoul ! we have, dread Sovereign, at thy 
 commandinent, put our lives in jeopardy, and 
 at thy bidding made a war upon the famous 
 town of Mansoul. When we went up against 
 it, we did, according to our commission, first 
 oifer conditions of peace unto it; but they, 
 great King, set light by our counsel and would 
 none of our reproof; they were for shutting of 
 their gates and for keeping us out of the town. 
 
 " They also mounted their guns, they sallied 
 out upon us, and have done us what damage 
 they could, but we pursued them with alarm 
 upon alarm, requiting of them with such ret- 
 ribution as was meet, and have done some exe- 
 cution upon the town. 
 
 " Diabolus, Inbredulity, and Will-be-will are 
 the great doers against us ; now we are in our 
 winter quarters, but so as that we do yet with 
 an high hand molest and distress the town. 
 
 " Once, as we think, had we had but one 
 substantial friend in the town, such as would 
 biit have seconded the sound of our summons 
 as they ought, the people might have yielded 
 themselves ; but there were none but enemies 
 there, nor any to speak in behalf of our Lord 
 to the town ; wherefore, though we have done 
 as we could, yet Mansoul abides in a state of 
 rebellion against thee. 
 
 " Now, King of kings, let it please thee to 
 pardon the unsuccessfulness of thy servants, 
 who have been no more advantageous in so 
 desirable a work as the conquering of Man- 
 soul is ; and send, Lord, as we now desire, 
 more forces to Mansoul, that it may be sub- 
 dued, and a man to head them that the town 
 may both love and fear. 
 
 " We do not thus speak because we are will- 
 ing to relinquish the wars, (for we are for lay- 
 ing of our bones against the place,) but that 
 the town of Mansoul may be won for thy 
 Majesty. We also pray thy Majesty, for ex- 
 pedition in this matter, that after their con- 
 quest we may be at liberty to be sent about 
 other thy gracious designs. Amen." 
 
 The petition, thus drawn up, was sent away 
 with haste to the King by the hand of that 
 good man, Mr. Love-to-Mansoul. 
 
 When this petition was come to the palace 
 of the King, who should it be delivered to but 
 to the King's Son ? So he took and read it, 
 and because the contents of it pleased him 
 
 well, he mended it, and also in some things 
 added to the petition himself. So after he 
 had made such amendments and additions as 
 he thought convenient, with his own hand he 
 carried it in to the King; to whom, when he 
 had with obeisance delivered it, he put on 
 authority, and spake to it himself. 
 
 Now the King, at the sight of the petition, 
 was glad, but how much more think you^ 
 when it was seconded by his Son 1 It pleased v 
 him also to hear that his servants that had 
 camped at Mansoul were so hearty in their work 
 and so steadfast in their resolves, and that they 
 had already got some ground upon ihi famous 
 town of Mansoul. 
 
 Wherefore the King called to him Emman 
 uel his Son, who said. Here am I, my Father. 
 Then said the King, Thou knowest, as I do 
 myself, the condition of the town of Mansoul, 
 and what we have purposed, and what thou 
 hast done to redeem it. Come now, therefore, 
 my Son, and prepare thyself for the war, tor 
 thou shalt go to my camp at MansouL Thou 
 shalt also there prosper and prevail, and con- 
 quer the town of Mansoul. 
 
 Then said the King's Son, Thy law is within 
 my heart. I delight to do thy will. This is 
 the day that I have longed for, and the work 
 that I have waited for all this while. Grant 
 me, therefore, what force thou shalt in thy 
 wisdom think meet, and I will go, and will 
 deliver from Diabolus and fropa his power thy 
 perishing town of Mansoul. My heart has 
 been often pained within me for the miserable 
 town of Mansoul ; but now it is rejoiced, but 
 now it is glad ; and with that he leaped over 
 the mountains for joy, saying, 
 
 "I have not, in my heart, thought any 
 thing too dear for Mansoul ; the day of ven- 
 geance is in my heart for thee, my Mansoul ; 
 and glad am I that thou my Father hast made 
 me the Captain of their salvation ; and I will 
 now begin to plague all those that have been 
 a; plague to my town of Mansoul, and will de- 
 liver it from their hand." 
 
 When the King's Son had said thus to his 
 Father, it presently flew like lightning round 
 about at court; yea, it there became the only^ 
 talk what Emmanuel was to go to do for the 
 famous town of Mansoul. But you cannot 
 think how the courtiers too were taken with 
 the design of the Prince. Yea, so afiectecl 
 were they with this work and with the just- 
 ness of the war that the highest lord and 
 greatest peer of the kingdom did covet to 
 have commissions under Emmanuel to go to 
 
TEE BOLY WA.t.. 
 
 397 
 
 bclp to recover again to Shaddai the njiser-' 
 able town of Mansoul. 
 
 Then it was concluded that some should go 
 and carry tidings to the camp that Emmanuel 
 was to come to recover Mansoul, and that he 
 would bring along with him so mighty and 
 impregnable a force that he could not be re- 
 eisted. But oh how ready were the high ones 
 at court to run like lackeys to carry these 
 tidings to the ca,mp that was at Mansoul ! 
 Now when the captains perceived that the 
 King would send Emmanuel his Son, and 
 thiit it also delighted the Son to be sent on 
 this errand by the great Shaddai his Father, 
 they also, to show how they were pleased 
 at the thoughts of his coming, gave a shout 
 that made the earth rend at the sound there- 
 of; yea, the mountains did answer again 
 by echo, and Diabolus himself did totter and 
 shake. , 
 
 For you must know that though the town 
 of Mansoul itself was not much, if at all, con- 
 cerned with the project, (for, alas for theml 
 they w§re woefully besotted, for they chiefly 
 regarded their pleasure and their lusts,) yet 
 Diabolus their governor was, for he had his 
 Elpies continually abroad, who brought him 
 intelligence of all things ; and they told him 
 what was doing at court against him, and 
 that Emmanuel would certainly come with a 
 power to invade him. Nor was there any 
 man at court nor peer of the kingdom that 
 Diabolus so feared as this Prince. For if 
 you remember I showed you before that Diab- 
 olus had felt the weight of his hand already. 
 So since it was he that was come, this made 
 him the more afraid. Well, you see how I 
 have told you that the King's Son was en- 
 gaged to come from the court to save Man- 
 soul, and that his Father had made him cap- 
 tain of the forces. The time therefore of his 
 setting forth being now expired, he addressed 
 himself for his march, and taketh with him, for 
 his power, five noble captains and their forces., 
 
 Tlie iirst wa^ that famous captain, the noble 
 Captain Credence; his were the red colours, 
 and Mr. Promise bare them ; and for a scut- 
 cheon he had the holy lamb and golden 
 shield. And he had ten thousand men at 
 his feet. 
 
 The second was that famous captain, the 
 Captain Good-hope; his were blue colours. 
 His standard-bearer was Mr. Expectation, 
 and for a scutcheon he had the three golden 
 anchors. And he had ten thousand men at 
 his feet. 
 
 The third captain was that valiant captain, 
 the Captain Charity, whose standard-bearer was 
 Mr. Pitiful. His were the green colours, and 
 for his scutcheon he' had three naked orphans 
 embracing the bosom. And he had ten thou- 
 sand men at his feet. 
 
 The fourth was that gallant commander, the 
 Captain Innocent, whose standard-bearer was 
 Mr. Harmless. His were the white colours, 
 and for his scutcheon he had the golden 
 doves. 
 
 The fifth was the truly loyal and well-be- 
 loved captain, the Captain Patience, whose 
 standard-bearer was Mr. SuflFer-long. His 
 were the black colours, and for a scutcheon he 
 had three arrows through the g;Dlden heart. 
 
 These were Emmanuel's captains, these their 
 standard-bearers, their colours, and their scut- 
 cheons, and these the men under their com- 
 mand. So, as was said, the brave Prince took 
 his march to go to the town of Mansoul. Cap- 
 taia Credence led the van, and Captain Patience 
 brought up the rear. So the other three with 
 their men made up the main body, the Prince 
 himself riding in his chariot at the head of 
 them. 
 
 But when they set out for their march, oh 
 how the trumpets sounded, their armour glit- 
 tered, and how the colours waved in the windl 
 The Prince's armour was all of gold, and it 
 shone like the sun in the firmament. Th<r 
 captains' armour was of proof, and was in ap- 
 pearance like the glittering stars. There were 
 also some from the court that rode reformades, 
 for the love that they had to the King Shaddai 
 and for the happy deliverance of the town of 
 Mansoul. 
 
 Emmanuel also, when he had thus set for- 
 ward to go to recover the town of Mansoul, 
 took with him, at the commandment of his 
 Father, fifty-four battering-rams, and twelve 
 slings to whirl stones withal. Every one of 
 these was made of pure gold, and these they 
 carried with them in the heart and body of 
 their army all along as they went to Mansoul. 
 
 So they marched till they came within less 
 than a league of the town, and there they lay 
 till the first four captains came thither to ac- 
 quaint him with matters. Then they took 
 their journey to go to the town of Mansoul, 
 and unto Mansoul they came. But when the 
 old soldiers that were in the camp saw that 
 they had new forces to join with, they again 
 gave such a shout- before the walls of the town 
 of Mansoul that it put Diabolus into another 
 fright. So they sat down before the town, not 
 
398 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 now as the other four captains did — to wit, 
 against the gates of Mansoul only — but tliey 
 environed it round on every side and beset it 
 behind and before, that ' so now let Mansoul 
 look which way it would, 'it saw force and 
 power lie in siege against it. Besides, there 
 were mounts cast up against it. 
 
 The Mount Gracious was on the one side, 
 and Mount Justiee on the other. Farther, 
 there were several small banks and advance 
 grounds, as Plain-truth-hill and No-siu-banks, 
 where many of the slings were placed against 
 the town. Upon Mount Gracious were planted 
 four, and upon Mount Justice were placed as 
 many ; and the rest were conveniently placed 
 in several parts round about the town. Five 
 of the best battering-rams — that is, of the 
 biggest of them — were placed upon Mount 
 Hearken, a mount cast up hard by Ear-gate, 
 with intent to break that open. 
 
 Now, when the men of the town saw the 
 multitude of the soldiers that were come up 
 against the place, and the rams and slings, and 
 the mounts on which they were planted, to- 
 gether \\n\h. the glittering of the armour and 
 the waving of their colours, they were forced 
 to shift, and shift, and again to shift their 
 thoughts; but they hardly changed for 
 thoughts more stout, but rather for thoughts 
 more faint. For though before they thought 
 themselves sufficiently guarded, yet now they 
 began to think that no man knew what would 
 be their hap or lot. 
 
 When the good Prince Emmanuel had thus 
 beleaguered Mansoul, in the first place he 
 hangs out the white flag, which he caused to 
 be set up among the golden slings that were 
 planted upon Mount Gracious. And this he 
 did for two reasons : 1. To give notice to Man- 
 soul that he could and would yet be gracious 
 if they turned to him. 2. And that he might 
 leave them the more without excuse should he 
 destroy them, they continuing in theii .-ebel- 
 lion. 
 
 So the white flag, with the three golden 
 doves in it, was hanged out for two days to- 
 gether, to give them time and space to con- 
 sider. But they, as was hinted before, as if. 
 they were unconcerned, made no reply to the 
 favourable signal of the Prince. 
 
 Then he commanded and they set the red 
 flag upon the mount called Mount Justice. It 
 was the red flag of Captain' Judgment, whose 
 Bcutcheon was the burning fiery furnace. And 
 this also stood waving before them in the wind 
 for several davs together. But look ! how they 
 
 carried it under the white flag when that waa 
 hanged out, so they did also when the red one 
 was ; and yet he took no advantage of them. 
 
 Then he commanded again that his servant 
 should hang out the black flag of defiance 
 against them, whose scutcheon was the three 
 burning thunderbolts. But as unconcerned 
 was Mansoul at this as at those that went be- 
 fore. But when the Prince saw that neither 
 mercy nor judgment, nor execution of judg-. 
 ment would or could come near the heart of 
 Mansoul, he was touched with much compunc- 
 tion, and said. Surely this strange carriage of 
 the town of Mansoul doth rather arise from 
 ignorance of the manner and feats of war, 
 than from a secret defiance of us and abhor- 
 rence of their own lives ; or, if they know the 
 manner of the war of their own, yet not the 
 rites and ceremonies of the war in which we 
 are concerned when I make wars upon mine 
 enemy Diabolus. 
 
 Therefore he sent to the town of Mansoul 
 to let them know what he meant by those 
 signs and ceremonies of the flag ; and also to 
 know of them which of the things they would 
 choose, whether grace and mercy, or judgment 
 and the execution of judgment. A.11 this 
 while they kept their gates shut with locks, 
 bolts, and bars, as fast as they could. Their 
 guards also were doubled, and their watch 
 made as strong as they could. Diabolus also 
 did pluck up what heart he could to encour- 
 age the town to n^ake resistance. 
 
 The townsmen also made answer to the 
 Prince's messenger in substance according to 
 that which follows : 
 
 "Great sir, as to what by your messenger 
 you have signified to us — whether we will ac 
 cept of your mercy or fall by your justice?— 
 we are bound by the law and custom of this 
 place, and can give you no positive answer. 
 For it is against the law, government, and the 
 prerogative-royal of our king to make either 
 . peace or war without him. But this we wil' 
 do : we will petition that our prince will come 
 down to the wall, and there give you such 
 treatment as he shall think fit and profitable 
 for us." 
 
 When the good Prince Emmanuel heard 
 this answer, and saw the slavery and bondage 
 of the people, and how much content thej~ 
 were to abide in the chains of the tyrant Diab- 
 olus, it grieved him at the heart. And in- 
 deed when at any time he perceived that any 
 were contented under the slavery of the giant, 
 he would be aflected with it. 
 
THE HOLY WAR. 
 
 399 
 
 But to return again to our purpose. After 
 the town had carried this 'news to Diabolus, 
 and had told him moreover that the Prince 
 that lay in the leaguer without the wall waited 
 upon them for an answer, he refused and huffed 
 as well as he could, but in heart he was afraid. 
 
 Then, said he, I will go down to the gates 
 myself and give him such an answer as I think 
 fit. So he went down to Mouth-gate, and here 
 addressed himself to speak to Emmanuel, (but 
 in such language as the town understood not,) 
 the contents whereof were as follow : 
 
 " thou great Emmanuel, Lord of all the 
 world ! I know thee that thou art the Son of 
 the great Shaddai. Wherefore art thou come 
 to torment me and to cast me out of my pos- 
 session? This town of Mansoul, as thou very 
 well knowest, is mine, and that by a twofold 
 right: 1. It is mine by right of conquest; I 
 won it in the open field. And shall the prey 
 be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive 
 be delivered? 2. This town of Mansoul is 
 mine also by their subjection. They have 
 opened the gates of their town unto me. They 
 have sworn fidelity to me, and have openly 
 chosen me to be their king. They have also 
 given their castle into my hands; yea, they 
 have put the whole strength of Mansoul under 
 toe. 
 
 " Moreover, this town of Mansoul hath dis- 
 avowed thee ; yea, they have east thy law, thy 
 name, thy image, and all that is thine behind 
 their back ; and have accepted and set up in 
 their room my law, my na:me, my image, and 
 all that ever is mine. Ask else thy captains, 
 and they will tell thee that Mansoul hath, in 
 answer to all their summons, shown love and 
 loyalty to me, but always disdain, despite, con- 
 tempt, and scorn to thee and thine. Now thou 
 art the Just One and the holy, {and shouldst 
 do no iniquity ;) depart then, I pray thee, there- 
 fore, from me, and leave me to my just inher- 
 itance peaceably." 
 
 This oration was made in the language of 
 Diabolus himself. For although he can, to 
 every man, speak in their own language, (else 
 he could not tempt them all as he does,) yet 
 he has a language proper to himself, and it is 
 the language of the infernal cave or black pit. 
 
 Wherefore the town of Mansoul (poor 
 hearts !) understood him not, nor did they see 
 how he crouched and cringed while he stood 
 before Emmanuel their Prince. 
 
 Yea, they all this while took him to be one 
 3f that power and force that by no means could 
 •)e resisted. Wherefore, while he w^ thus 
 
 entreating that he might have yet hia residence 
 there, and that Emmanuel would not take it 
 from him by force, the inhabitants boasted even 
 of his valour, saying. Who is able to make war 
 with him ? 
 
 Well, when this pretended king had made 
 an end of what he would say, Emmanuel, tlie 
 golden Prince, stood up and spake ; the con- 
 tents of whose words follow : 
 
 " Thou deceiving one," said he, " I have, in 
 my Father's name, in my own name, and ou 
 the behalf and for the good of this wretched 
 town of Mansoul, somewhat to say unto thee. 
 Thou pretendest a right, a lawful right, to-tho 
 deplorable town of Mansoul, when it is most 
 apparent to all my Father's court that the en- 
 trance which thou hast obtained in at the gates 
 of Mansoul was through thy lies and falsehood. 
 Thou beliedst my Father and thou beliedst his 
 law, and so deceivedst the people of Mansoul. 
 Thou pretendest that the people have accepted 
 thee for their king, their captain, and right 
 liege lord, but that also was by the exercise of 
 deceit and guile. Now, if lying, wiliness, sin- 
 ful craft, and all manner of horrible hypocrisy 
 will go in my Father's court (in which court 
 thou must be tried) for equity and right, then 
 will I confess unto thee that thou hast made a 
 lawful conquest. But, alas ! what thief, what 
 tyrant, what devil is there that may not con- 
 quer after this sort ? But I can make it appear, 
 Diabolus, that thou, in all thy pretences to 
 a conquest of Mansoul, hast nothing of truth 
 to say. Thinkest thou this to be right, that 
 thou didst put the lie upon my Father, and 
 madest him to Mansoul the greatest deluder in 
 the world ? And what sayest thou to thy per- 
 verting, knowingly, the right purport and in- 
 tent of the law ? Was it good also that thou 
 madest a prey of the innocency and simplicity 
 of the now miserable town of Mansoul ? Yea, 
 thou didst overcome Mansoul by promising to 
 them happiness in their transgressions against 
 my Father's law, when thou knowest, and 
 couldest not but know hadst thou consulted 
 nothing but thine own experience, that that 
 was the way to undo them. Thou hast also 
 thyself, (O thou master of enmity !) of despite, 
 defaced my Father's image in Mansoul, and 
 set up thy own in its place, to the great con- 
 tempt of my Father, the heightening of thy 
 sin, and to the intolerable damage of the per- 
 ishing town of Mansoul. 
 
 " Thou hast moreover (as if all these were but 
 little things with thee) not only deluded and 
 undone this place, but by thy lies and fraud- 
 
400 
 
 SUNTAN'S COMPLi:TE WORKS. 
 
 alent carriage hast set them against their own 
 deliverance. How hast thou stirred them up 
 against my Father's captains, and made them 
 to fight against those that were sent of him to 
 deliver them from their bondage! All these 
 things, and very many more, thou hast done 
 against thy light, and in contempt of my Father 
 and of his law ; yea, and with design to bring 
 under his displeasure for ever the miserable 
 town of Mansoul. I afti therefore come to 
 avenge the wrong that thou hast done to my 
 Father, and to deal with thee for the blasphe- 
 mies wherewith thou hast made poor Mansoul 
 blaspheme his name. Yea, upon thy head, 
 thou prince of the infernal cave, will I require 
 it. 
 
 As for myself, Diabolus, I am come against 
 thee by lawful power, and to take by strength 
 of hand this town of Mansoul out of thy burn- 
 ing fingers. For this town of Mansoul is 
 mine, Diabolus, and that by undoubted 
 right, as all shall see that will diligently search 
 the most ancient and most authentic records ; 
 and I will plead my title to it to the confusion 
 of thy face. 
 
 First, For the town of Mansoul, my Father 
 built and did fashion it with his hand. The 
 palace also that is in the midst of that town he 
 built it for his own delight. This town of 
 Mansoul, therefore, is my Father's, and that 
 by the best of titles ; and he that gainsays the 
 truth of this must lie against his soul. 
 
 Secondly, O thou master of the lie, this town 
 'of Mansoul is mine — ■ 
 
 1 . For that I am my Father's heir, his first- 
 born, and the only delight of his heart. I am 
 therefore come up against thee in mine own 
 right, even to recover mine own inheritance 
 out of thine hand. 
 
 2. But, further : as I have right and title to 
 Mansoul by being my Father's heir, so I have 
 also by my Father's donation. His it was, and 
 he gave it me ; nor have I at any time offended 
 my Father that he should take it from me and 
 give it thee. Nor have I been forced, by play- 
 
 'ing the bankrupt, to sell, or set to sale to thee, 
 my beloved town of Mansoul. Mansoul is my 
 desire, my delight, and the joy of my heart. 
 But, , ' 
 
 3. Mansoul is mine by right of purchase. I 
 have bought it, (0 Diabolus,) I have bought it 
 to myself. Now, since it was my Father's and 
 mine, as I was his heir, and since also I have 
 made it mine by virtue of a great purchase, it 
 followeth that by all lawful right the town of 
 Mansoul is mine, and that thou art an usurper, 
 
 a tyrant and traitor in thy holding possession 
 thereof. Now the cause of my purchasing of 
 it was this: Mansoul had trespassed against 
 my Father. Now my Father had said that in 
 the day that they broke his law they should 
 die. Now it is more possible for heaven and 
 earth to pass away than for my Father to break 
 his word. Wherefore, when Mansoul had 
 sinned indeed by hearkening to thy lie, I put 
 in and became a surety to my Father, body for 
 body, and soul for soul, that I would make 
 amends for Mansoul's transgressions ; and my 
 Father did accept thereof. So when the time 
 appointed was come I gave body for body, soul 
 for soul, life for life, blood for blood, and so re- 
 deemed my beloved Mansoul. 
 
 4. Nor did I do this to - the halves ; my 
 Father's law and justice, that were both con- 
 cerned in the threatening upon transgression, 
 are both now satisfied and very well content 
 that Mansoul should be delivered. 
 
 5. Nor am I come out this day against thee 
 but by commandment of my Father ; it was he 
 that said unto me. Go down and deliver Man- 
 soul. 
 
 Wherefore be it known" unto thee, O thou 
 fountain of deceit, and be it also known to the 
 foolish town of Mansoul, that I am not come 
 against thee this day without my Father. 
 
 "And now'' (said the golden-headed Prince) 
 " I have a word to the town of Mansoul." But 
 as soon as mention was made that he had a 
 word to speak to the besotted town of Mansoul 
 the gates were -double guarded, and all men 
 commanded not to give him audience. So he 
 proceeded, and said : " unhappy town of 
 Mansoul ! I cannot but be touched with pity 
 and compassion for thee. Thou hast accepted of 
 Diabolus for thy king, and art become a nurse 
 and minister of Diabolonians against thy Sov- 
 ereign Lord. Thy gates thou hast opened to 
 him, but hast shut them fast against me ; thou 
 hast given him a hearing, but hast stopped 
 thine ears at my cry ; he brought to thee thy 
 destruction, and thou didst receive both him 
 and it ; I am come to thee bringing salvation, 
 but thou regardest me not. Besides,' thou 
 hast, as with sacrilegious hands, taken thyself, 
 with all that was mine in thee, and hast given 
 all to my foe and to the greatest enemy my 
 Father has. You have bowed and subjected 
 yourselves to him ; you have vowed and sworn 
 yourselves, to be his. Poor Mansoul! what 
 shall I do unto thee? Shall I save thee? 
 Shall I destroy thee ? What ' shall I do unto 
 thee ? Shall I fall upon thee and grind thee 
 
THE HOLY WAu 
 
 401 
 
 tn powder, oi make thee a monument of the 
 richest grace? What shall I do unto thee? 
 Hearken, therefore, thou town of Mansoul — 
 hearken to my word and thou shalt live. I 
 am merciful, Mansoul, and thou shalt find me 
 BO. Shut me not out of thy gates. 
 
 " Mansoul ! neither is my commission nor 
 inclinati m to do thee any hurt ; why fliest 
 thru so fast from thy friend, and stickest so 
 closfc to thine enemy ? Indeed I would have 
 thee, because it becomes thee, to be sorry for 
 tJiy sin ; but do not despair of life : this great 
 force is not to hurt thee, but to deliver thee 
 from thy bondage and to reduce thee to thy 
 obedience. 
 
 " My commission indeed is to make a war 
 upon Diabolus thy king, and upon all Diab- 
 olonians with him ; for he is the strong man 
 armed that keeps the house, and I will have 
 him out ; hts spoils I must divide, his armour 
 I must take from him, his hold I must cast 
 him out of, and make it an habitation for my- 
 self. And this,' O Mansoul, shall Diabolus 
 know, when he shall be made to follow me in 
 chains, and when Mansoul shall rejoice to see 
 it so. 
 
 "I could, would I now put forth my might, 
 cause that forthwith he should leave you and 
 depart; but I have it in my heart so to deal 
 with him as that the justice of the war that I 
 shall make upon him may be seen and ac- 
 knowledged by all. He hath taken Mansoul 
 by fraud, and keeps it by violence and deceit, 
 and I will make him bare and naked in the 
 eyes of all observers. 
 
 "All my words are true; I am mighty to 
 save, and will deliver my Mansoul out of his 
 hand." 
 
 This speech was intended chiefly for Man- 
 soul, but Mansoul would not have the hearing 
 of it. They shut up Ear-gate, they barrica- 
 doed it up, they kept it loeked, and bolted; 
 they set a guard thereat, and commanded that 
 no Mansoulian should go out to him, nor that 
 nny from the camp should be admitted into 
 the town. All this they did, so horribly had 
 Diabolus enchanted them to do and seek to do 
 for him against their rightful Lord and Prince; 
 wherefore no man, nor voice, nor sound of man 
 that belonged to the glorious host was to come 
 into the town. 
 
 So when Emmanuel saw that Mansoul was 
 thus involved in sin, he calls his army to- 
 gether, since now also his words were despised, 
 and gave out a commandment throughout all 
 his host U^ be ready against the time appointed. 
 
 28 
 
 Now, forasmuch as there was no way lawfully 
 to take the town of Mansoul but to get in by 
 the gates, and at Ear-gate as the chief, there- 
 fore he commanded his captains and com- 
 manders to bring their rams, their slings, and 
 their men, and to place them at Eye-gate and 
 Ear-gate, in order to his taking the town. 
 
 When Emmanuel had put all things in a 
 readiness to give Diabolus battle, he sent again 
 to know of the town of Mansoul if in a peace- 
 able manner they would yield themselves, or 
 whether they were yet resolved to put him to 
 try the utmost extremity. Then they, together 
 with Diabolus tlieir king, called a council of 
 war, and resolved upon certain propositions 
 that should be offered to Emmanuel, if he 
 would accept thereof; so they agreed, and 
 then the next was. Who should be sent on this 
 errand? Now there was in the town of Man- 
 soul an old man, a Diabolonian, and his name 
 was Mr. Loth-to-stoop, a stiff man in his way, 
 and a great doer for Diabolus: him therefore 
 they sent, and put into his mouth what he 
 should say. So he went and came to the camp 
 to Emmanuel; and when he was come a tiii« 
 was appointed to give him audience. So at 
 the time he came, and after a Diabolonian 
 ceremony or two, he thus began and said : 
 " Great sir, that it may be known unto all men 
 how good-natured a prince my master is, he 
 hath sent me to tell your lordship that he is 
 very willing, rather than go to war, to deliver 
 up into your hands one-half of the town of 
 Mansoul. I am therefore to know if your 
 Mightiness will accept of this proposition." 
 
 Then said Emmanuel, "The whole is mine 
 by gift and purchase, wherefore I will never 
 lose one-half." 
 
 Then said Mr. Loth-to-stoop, "Sir, my 
 master hath said that he will be content that 
 you shall be the nominal and titular Lord of 
 all, if he may possess hut a part." 
 
 Then Emmanuel answered, "The whole is 
 mine really, not in name and word only; 
 wha-efore I will be the sole Lord and pos- 
 sessor of all, or of none at all, of Mansoul." 
 
 Then Mr. Loth-to-stoop said again, "Sir, be- 
 hold the condescension of my master ! He says 
 that he will be content if he may but have as- 
 signed to him some place in Mansoul as a place 
 to live privately in, and you shall be Lord of 
 all the rest." 
 
 Then said the golden Prince, " All that the 
 Father giveth me shall come to me; and of all 
 that he hath given me I will lose nothing, no, 
 not a hoof nor a hair. I wSl not therefore 
 
i02 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 grant liim, no, not the least corner in Mansoul 
 to dwell in ; I will have all to myself." 
 
 Then ^lOth-to-stoop said again, "But, sir, 
 sv ppose that my Lord should resign the whole 
 t<wn to you, only with this proviso, that he 
 sometimes, when he comes into this country, 
 may, for old acquaintance' sake, be entertained 
 as a wayfaring man for two days, or ten days, 
 or a month, or so? May not then this small 
 matter be granted?" 
 
 Then said Emmanuel, "No: he came as a 
 wayfaring man to David, nor did he stay long 
 with him, and yet it had like to have cost 
 David his soul. I will not consent that he 
 . ever should have any harbour more there." 
 
 Then said Mr. Loth-to-stoop, "Sir, you seem 
 to be very hard. Suppose my master should 
 yield to all that your Lordship hath said, pro- 
 vided that his friends and kindred in Mansoul 
 may have liberty to trade in the town and to 
 enjoy their present dwellings? May not that 
 be granted, sir?" 
 
 Then said Emmanuel, " No ; that is contrary 
 to my Father's will; for all and all manner of 
 Diabolonians that now are or that at any time 
 shall be found in Mansoul shall not only lose 
 their lands and liberties,' but also their lives." 
 
 Then said Mr. Loth-to-stoop again, " But, 
 sir, may not my master and great lord, by let- 
 ters, -by passengers, by accidental opportuni- 
 ties, and the like, maintain, if he shall deliver 
 up all unto thee, some kind of old friendship 
 with Mansoul?" 
 
 Emmanuel answered, "No, by no means, 
 forasmuch as any sUch fellowship, friendship, 
 intimacy, or acquaintance, in what way, sort, or 
 mode soever maintained, will tend to the cor- 
 rupting of Mansoul, the alienating of their af- 
 fections from me, and the endangering of their 
 peace with my Father." 
 
 Mr. Loth-to-stoop yet added further, saying, 
 " But, great sir, since my master hath many 
 friends, and those that are dear to him, in 
 Marisoul, may he not, if he shall- depart from 
 tl:em, even of his bounty and good nature be- 
 stow upon them, as he sees lit, some tokens of 
 kis love and kindness that he had for them, to 
 the end that Mansoul, when he is gone, may 
 look upon such tokens of kindness once re- 
 ceived from their old friend, and remember 
 him who was once their king, and the merry 
 times that they sometimes enjoyed one with 
 anothov while he and they lived in peace to- 
 gether?'' 
 
 Then said Em manual, " No ; for if Mansoul 
 come to be miae I shall not admit of nor con- 
 
 sent that there should be the least scrap, shred, 
 or dust of Diabolus left behind as tokens or 
 gifts bestowed upon any in Mansoul, thereby 
 to call to remembrance the horrible communion 
 that was betwixt them and him." 
 
 " Well, sir," said Mr. Loth-to-stoop, " I have 
 one thing more to propound, and then I am 
 got to the end of my commission: Suppose 
 that when my master is gone from Mansoul 
 any that yet shall live in the town should ha ve 
 such business of, high concerns to do that if 
 they be neglected the party shall be undone; 
 and suppose, sir, that nobody can help in that 
 case so well as my master and lord ? May not 
 now my master be sent for upon so urgent an 
 occasion as this? Or if he may not be ad- 
 mitted into the town, may not he and the 
 person concerned meet in some of the villages 
 near Mansoul, and there lay their heads to- 
 gether and there consult of matters ?" 
 
 This was the last of those ensnaring proposi- 
 tions that Mr. Loth-to-stoop had to propound 
 to Emmanuel on behalf of his master Diab- 
 olus; but Emmanuel would not grant -it, for 
 he said, "There can be no case, or thing, or 
 matter fall out in Mansoul, when thy master 
 shall be gone, that may not be solved by my 
 Father; besides, it will be a great disparage- 
 ment to' my Father's wisdom and skill to 
 admit any from Mansoul to go out to Diabolus 
 for advice, when they are bid before, in every- 
 thing, by prayer and supplication to let their 
 request be made known to my Father. Further, 
 this, should it be granted, would be to grant 
 that a door should be set open for Diabolus 
 and the Diabolonians in Mansoul to hatch and 
 plot and bring to pass treasonable designs, to 
 the grief of my father and me, and to the utter 
 destruction of Mansoul." 
 
 When Mr. Loth-to-stoop had heard this an- 
 swer, he took his leave of Emmanuel and 
 departed, saying that he would carry his word 
 to his master concerning this whole affair. So 
 he departed, and came to Diabolus to Mansoul, 
 and told him the whole of the matter, and how 
 Emmanuel would not admit, no not by any 
 means, that he, when he was once gone out, 
 should for ever have any thing more to do 
 either in or with any that are of the town of 
 Mansoul. When Mansoul and Diabolus had 
 heard this relation of things, they with one 
 consent concluded to use their best endeavours 
 to keep Emmanuel out of Mansoul, and sent 
 old Ill-pause, of whom you have heard before, 
 to tell the riince and his captains so. So the 
 old gentleman came up to the top of Ear-gate, 
 
THE HOLY WAR. 
 
 403 
 
 and called to the camp for a hearing ; to whom, 
 when they gave audience, he said, " I have in 
 ooiuinandment from my high lord to bid you 
 bo tell it to your Prince Emmanuel that Man- 
 soul and their king are resolved to stand and 
 fall together, and that it is in vain for your 
 Prince to think of ever having of Mansoul in 
 his hand, unless he can take it by force." So 
 some went and told to Emmanuel what old 
 Ill-pause, a Diabolonian in the town of Man- 
 Boul, had said. Then said the Prince, " I must 
 try the power of my sword, for I will not, for 
 all the rebellions and repulses that Mansoul 
 has made against me, raise my siege and de- 
 part, but will assuredly take my Mansoul and 
 deliver it from the hand of her enemy." And 
 with that he gave out a commandment that 
 Captain Boanerges, Captain Conviction, C;ip- 
 tain Judgment, and Captain Execution should 
 forthwith march up to Ear-gate, with trumpets 
 sounding, colours flying, and with shouting 
 for the battle. Also he would that Captain 
 Credence should join himself iwith them. Em- 
 manuel moreover gave orders that Captain 
 Good-hope and Captain Charity should draw 
 themselves up before Eye-gate. H'e bid also 
 that the rest of his captains and their men 
 should place themselves, for the best of their 
 advantage against the enemy, round about the 
 town ; and all was done as he had commanded. 
 Then he bid that the word should be given 
 forth, and the word was at that time Emman- 
 uel. Then ,was an alarm sounded, and the 
 battering-rams were played, and the slings did 
 whirl stones into the town amain ; and thus the 
 battle began. Now Diabolus himself did man- 
 age the townsmen in the war, and that at every 
 gate ; wherefore their resistance was the more 
 forcible, hellish, and olTeusive to Emmanuel. 
 Thus was the good Prince engaged and enter- 
 tained by Diabolus in JMansoul for several 
 days together. And a sight worth seeing it 
 was to behold how the captains of Shaddai 
 behaved themselves in this war. 
 
 And first, for Captain Boanerges, (not to 
 undervalue the rest,) he made three most fierce 
 assaults, one after another, upon Ear-gate, to 
 the shaking of the posts thereof. Captain 
 Conviction, he also made up as fast with* 
 Boanerges as possibly he could, and.both dis- 
 cerning that the gate began to j-ield, they com- 
 manded that the rams should still be played 
 ngainst it. Now Captain Conviction, going up 
 very near to the gate, was with very great 
 force driven back, and received three wounds 
 in the u outh. And those that rode reform- 
 
 ades, they went about to encourage the cap- 
 tains. 
 
 For the valour of the two captains made 
 mention of before, the Prince sent for them to 
 his pavilion, and commanded that awhile they 
 should rest themselves, and that with some- 
 what they should be refreshed. Care was also 
 taken for Captain Conviction that he should 
 be healed of his wounds. The Prince also 
 gave to each of them a chain of gold, and bid 
 them yet be of good courage. 
 
 Nor did Captain Good-hope nor Captain 
 Charity come behind in this most desperate 
 fight, for they so well did behave themselves 
 at Eye-gate that they had almost broken it 
 quite open. These also had a reward from 
 their Prince, as also had the rest of the cag- 
 tains, because they did valiantly around about 
 the town. ' 
 
 In this engagement several of the officers of 
 Diabolus were slain, and some of the townsmen 
 wounded. For among the officers there was 
 one Captain Boasting slain. This Boasting 
 thought that nobody could have shaken the 
 posts of Ear-gate nor have shaken the heart 
 of Diabolus. Next to him there was one 
 Captain Secure slain : this Secure used to say 
 that the blind and lame in Mansoul were able 
 to keep the gates of the town against Emman- 
 uel's army. This Captain Secure did Captain 
 Conviction cleave down the head with a two- 
 handed sword, when he received himself three 
 wounds in his mouth. * 
 
 Besides these there was one Captain Brag- 
 man, a very desperate fellow, and he was cap- 
 tain over a band of those that threw fire- 
 brands, arrows _and death ; he also received by 
 the hand of Captain Good-hope at Eye-gate a 
 mortal wound in the breast. 
 
 There was moreover one Mr. Feeling, but 
 he was no captain, but a great stickler to en- 
 courage Mansoul to rebellion : he received a 
 wound in the eye by the hand of one of Boa- 
 nerges' soldiers, and bad by the captain him- 
 self been slain but that he made a sudden 
 retreat. 
 
 But I never saw Will-be-will so daunted 
 in all my life : he was not able to do as he 
 was wont, and some say that he also re- 
 ceived a wound in the leg, and that some of 
 the men in the Prince's army have certainly 
 seen him limp as he afterwards walked on the 
 wall. 
 
 I shall not give you a particular account 
 of the names of the soldiers that were slain 
 in the town, for many were maimed, and 
 
404 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 wounded, and slain ; for when they saw that 
 the posts of Ear-gate did shake and Eye-gate 
 was wellnigh broken open, and also that their 
 captains were slain, this took away the hearts of 
 many of theDiabolonians ; they fell also by the 
 force of the shot that were sent by the golden 
 elings into the midst of the town of Mansoul. 
 
 Of the townsmen there was one Love-no- 
 good ; he was a townsman, but a Diabolo- 
 nian: he also received his mortal wound in 
 Mansoul, but he died not very soon. 
 
 Mr. Ill-pause also, who was the man that 
 came along with Diabolus when at first he 
 attempted the taking of Mansoul, he alse re- 
 ceived a grievous wound in the head ; some 
 say that his brain-pan was cracked ; this I 
 have taken notice of, that he was never after 
 this able to do that mischief to Mansoul as he 
 had done in times past. Also, old Prejudice 
 and Mr. Anything fled. 
 
 Now wh*en the battle was over the Prince 
 commanded that yet once more the white flag 
 should be set upon Mount Gracious in sight 
 of the tcnvn of Mansoul, to show that yet Em- 
 manuel had grace for the wretched town of 
 Mansoul. 
 
 When Diabolus saw the white flag hanged 
 ou*t again, and knowing that it was not for 
 him, but Mansoul, he cast in his mind to play 
 another prank — ^to wit, to see if Emmanuel 
 would raise his siege and be gone upon a 
 promise of reformation. So he comes down 
 to the gate one evening, a good while after 
 the sun was gone down, and calls to speak 
 itr-ith Emmanuel, who presently comes down 
 to the gate, and Diabolus said unto him : 
 
 " Forasmuch as thou maksst it appear by 
 thy white flag that thou art wholly given to 
 peace and quiet, I thought meet to acquaint 
 thee that we are ready to accept thereof upon 
 terms which thou mayest admit. 
 
 " I know that thou art given to devotion, 
 .and that holiness pleases thee; yea, that thy 
 great end in making war upon Mansoul is that 
 it may be an holy habitation. AVell, draw off" 
 tliy forces from the town and I will bend Man- 
 soul to thy bow. 
 
 " First, I will lay down all acts of hostility 
 against thee, and will be willing to become 
 thy deputy, and will, as I have formerly been 
 against thee, now serve thee in the town of 
 Mansoul. And more particularly, 
 
 "1. I will persuade Mansoul to receive thee 
 for their Lord, and I knowlhat they will do it 
 sooner when they shall understand that I am 
 thy deputy. 
 
 "2. I will show them wherein they hav<» 
 erred, and that transgression stands in the way 
 to life. 
 
 "3. I will show thenl the holy law nntn 
 which they must conform, even that which 
 they have broken. 
 
 "4. I will press upon them the necessity of 
 a reformation according to law. 
 
 "5. And moreover, that none of these 
 things may fail, I myself, at my own proper 
 cost and charge, will set up and maintain 
 a sufficient ministry, besides lectures, in 
 Mansoul. 
 
 "6. Thou shalt receive as a token of oui 
 subjection to thee, continually year by year, 
 what thou shalt think fit to lay and levy upon 
 us in token of such subjection to thee." 
 
 ■Then said Emmanuel to him, "O full of 
 deceit, how movable are thy ways! How 
 often hast thou changed and rechanged, if so 
 be thou mi^htest still keep possession of my 
 Mansoul, though, as has been plainly declared 
 before, I am the right heir thereof! Often 
 hast thou made thy proposals already, nor is 
 this last a whit better than they. And failing 
 to deceive when thou showedst thyself in thy 
 black, thou hast now transformed thyself into 
 an angel of light, and wouldst, to deceive, be 
 now as a minister of righteousness. 
 
 " But know thou, O Diabolus, that nothing 
 must be regarded that thou canst propound,- 
 for nothing, is -done by thee but to deceive; 
 thou neither hast conscience to God nor love 
 to the town of Mansoul ; whence, then, should 
 these thy sayings arise but from sinful craft 
 and deceit? He that can list and will pro- 
 porind what he pleases, and that therewith he 
 may destroy them that believe him, is to be 
 abandoned, with all that he shall say. But 
 if righteousness be such a beauty-spot in thine 
 eyes now, how is it that wickedness was so 
 closely stuck to by thee before? But this by 
 the by. 
 
 " Thou talkest now of a reformation in 
 Mansoul, and that thou thyself, if I please, 
 will be at the head of that reformation, all 
 the while knowing that the greatest profici- 
 ency that man can make in the law, and, the 
 righteousness thereof, will amount to no more 
 for the taking away of the curse from Mansoul 
 than just nothing at , all ; for a law being 
 broken by Mansoul, that had before, upon a 
 supposition of the breach thereof, a curse pro- 
 nounced against it for it of God, can never, by 
 i'ta obeying the law, deliver itself therefrcm, 
 (to say nothing of what a reformation is like ^ 
 
THE HOLY WAR. 
 
 405 
 
 to be Bet \\\ iu Mausoul when the devil is be- 
 come the orrector of vice.) Thou knowest 
 that all that thou hast now said in this matter 
 is nothing but guile and deceit, and as it was 
 the first, so is it the last card that thou hast to 
 play. Many there be that discern thee when 
 thou showest them thy cloven foot, but in thy 
 white, thy light, and in thy transformation 
 thou art sesn but of a few. But thou shalt 
 not do thus with my Mansoul, Diabolus, for 
 I do still love my Mansoul. 
 
 "Besides, I am not come to put Mansoul 
 upon works to live thereby, (should I do so, I 
 should be like unto thee,) but I am come that 
 by me, and by what I have 4ind shall do for 
 Mansoul, they may to my Father be reconciled, 
 though by their sin they have provoked him to 
 anger, and though by the law they cannot ob- 
 tain mercy. 
 
 "Thou talkest of subjecting this town to 
 good when none desireth it at thy hands. I 
 am sent by my Father to possess it myself, and 
 to guide it by the skilfulness of my Fands into 
 such a conformity to him as shall be pleasing 
 in his sight. I will therefore possess it my- 
 self. I will dispossess arid cast thee out. I 
 will set jip mine own standard in the midst 
 of them. I will also govern them by new laws, 
 new officers, new motives, and new ways ; yea, 
 I will pull down this town and build it again, 
 and it shall be as though it had not been, and 
 it shall be the glory of the whole universe.'' 
 
 When Diabolus heard this, and perceived 
 that he was discovered in all his deceits, he 
 was confounded and utterly put to a nonplus ; 
 but having in himself the fountains of iniq- 
 uity, rage, and malice against both Shaddai 
 and his Son, and the beloved town of Mansoul, 
 what doth he but strengthen himself what he 
 could to give fresh battle to the noble Prince 
 Emmanuel? So, then, now we must have 
 another fight before the town of Mansoul is 
 taken. Come up, then, to the mountains, you 
 that love to see military actions, and behold by 
 both sides how the fatal blow is given, while 
 one seeks to hold and the other seeks to make 
 himself master of the famous town of Man- 
 soul. 
 
 Diabolus therefore withdrew himself from 
 the walls to his fort that was in the heart of 
 the town of Mansoul; Emmanuel also re- 
 turned to the camp, and both of them, after 
 their divers ways, put themselves into a pos- 
 ture fit to give battle one to another. 
 
 Diabolus, as filled with despair of retaining 
 in his hands the famous town of Mansoul, re- 
 
 solved to do what mischief he could (if indeed 
 he could do any) to the army of the Prince 
 and to the famous town of Mansoul, (for, alas 1 
 it was not the happiness of the silly town of 
 Mansoul that was designed by Diabolus, but 
 the utter ruin and overthrow thereof,) as now 
 is enough in view. Wherefore he commands 
 his officers that they should then, when they 
 saw that they could hold the town no longer, 
 do it what harm and mischief they could, 
 rending and tearing men, women, and children. 
 For, said he, we had better quite demolish tlie 
 place and leave it a ruinous heap than tkat it 
 should be an habitation for Emmanuel. 
 
 Emmanuel, again knowing that the next 
 battle would issue in his being made master of 
 the place, gave out a royal commandment to 
 all his officers, high captains, and men of war 
 to be sure and show themselves men of war 
 against Diabolus and all Diabolonians, but 
 favourable, merciful and meek to all the old 
 inhabitants of Mansoul. Bend therefore, said 
 the noble Prince, the hottest front of the bat- 
 tle against Diabolus and his men. 
 
 So the day being come, the command was 
 given, and the Prince's men did bravely stand 
 to their arms, and did, as .before, bend their 
 forces against Ear-gate and Eye-gate. The 
 word was then, "Mansoul is won." So they 
 made their assault upon the town. Diabolus, 
 also, as fast as he could with the main of his 
 power, made resistance from within, and his 
 high lords and chief captains for a time fought 
 very cruelly against the Prince's army. 
 
 But after three or four notable charges by the 
 Prince and his noble captains, Ear-gate was 
 broken open, and the bars and bolts' wherewith 
 it was used to be fast shut up against the Prince 
 were broken into a thousand pieces. Then did 
 the Prince's trumpets sound, the captains shout, 
 the town shake, and Diabolus retreat to his 
 hold. Well, when the Prince's forces had 
 broken open the gate, himself came up, and 
 did set up his throne in it; also he set his 
 standard upon a moutft that his men had be- 
 fore cast up to place the mighty slings thereon. 
 The mount was called Mount Hear-well ; there, 
 therefore, the Prince abode — to wit, hard by 
 the going in at the gate. He commanded also 
 that the golden slings should yet be played 
 upon the town, especially against the castle, 
 because for shelter thither was Diabolus re- 
 treated. Now from Ear-gate the street was 
 straight, even to the house of him who was re- 
 corder before Diabolus took the town ; and 
 hard by his house stood the castle, which Diab- 
 
106 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 olus for a long time had made his irksome 
 den. The captains therefore did quickly clear 
 that street by the use of their slings, so that 
 way was made up to the heart of the town. 
 Then did the Prince command that Captain 
 Boanerges, Captain Conviction, and Captain 
 Judgment should forthwith march up the town 
 to the old gentleman's gate. Then did the 
 captains in most warlike manner enter into 
 the town of Mansoul, and marching in with 
 flying colours they came up to the recorder's 
 house, (and that was almost as strong as the 
 castle.) Battering-rams they took also with 
 them to plant against the castle-gates. When 
 they were come to the house of Mr. Conscience, 
 they knocked and demanded entrance. Now 
 the old gentleman, not knowing as yet fully 
 their design, kept his gates shut all the time of 
 this fight. Wherefore Boanerges demanded en- 
 trance at his gates, and no man making answer, 
 he gave it one stroke with the head of a ram, and 
 this made the old gentleman to shake and his 
 house to tremble and totter. Then came Mr. 
 Recorder down to the gate, and, as well as he 
 could with quivering lips, he asked. Who was 
 there ? Boanerges answered. We are the captains 
 and commanders of the great Shaddai and of 
 the blessed Emmanuel his Son, and we demand 
 possession of your house for the use of our 
 noble Prince. And with that the battering- 
 ram gave the gate another shake : this made 
 the old gentleman tremble the more, yet he 
 durst not but open the gate : then the King's 
 forces marched in — namely, the three brave 
 captains mentioned before. Now the record- 
 er's house was a place of much convenience 
 for Emmanuel, not only because it was near to 
 the castle and strong, but also because it was 
 large and fronted the castle, the den where 
 now Diabolus was ; for he was now afraid to 
 conie out of his hold. As for Mr. Recorder, 
 the captains carried it very reservedly to him ; 
 as yet he knew nothing of the great designs of 
 Emmanuel, so that he did not know what judg- 
 ment to make nor what Vould be the end of 
 such thundering beginnings. It was also 
 noised in the town how the recorder's house 
 was possessed, his rooms taken up, and his 
 palace made the seat of war ; and no sooner 
 >vas it noised abroad but they took the alarm 
 as warmly, and gave it out to others of his 
 friends, (and as you know a snowball loses 
 nothing by rolling ;) so in little time the whole 
 town was possessed that they -must expect 
 nothing from the Prince but destruction; and 
 the ground of the business was this : The re- 
 
 corder was afraid, the recorder trembled, and 
 the captains carried it strangely to the re- 
 corder. So many came to see, but when they 
 with their own eyes did behold the captains in 
 the palace, and their battering-rams ever play- 
 ing at the castle-gates to beat them down, they 
 were riveted in their fears and it made them 
 all in amaze. And, as I said, the man of the " 
 house would increase all this; f«r, whoever 
 came to him or discoursed with him, nothing 
 would he talk of, tell them, or hear but that 
 death and destruction now attended MansouL 
 
 For, quoth the old gentleman, you are all of 
 you sensible that we all have been traitors to 
 that once despised but now famously victorious 
 and glorious Prince Emmanuel. For he now, 
 as you see, doth not only lie in close siege about 
 us, but hath forced his entrance in at our gates : 
 moreover Diabolus ilies before him, and he 
 hath, as you behold, made of my house a gar- 
 rison against the castle where he is. I, for my 
 part, have transgressed greatly, (and he that is 
 clean it is well for him)— but, I say, I have 
 transgressed greatly in keeping silence when I 
 should have spoken, and' in perverting justice 
 when I should have executed the same. True, 
 I have suffered something at the hands of 
 Diabolus for taking part with the laws of King 
 Shaddai, but that, alas! what will that do? 
 Will that make compensation for the rebellions 
 and treasons that I have done, and have suffer- 
 ed without gainsaying to be committed, in the 
 town of Mansoul? Oh I tremble to think 
 what will be the end of this so dreadful and 
 so ireful a beginning I 
 
 Now while these brave captains were thus 
 busy in the house of the old recorder. Captain 
 Execution was as busy in other parts of the 
 toV?n in securing the back streets and the walls. 
 He also hunted the Lord Will-be-will sorely, 
 and suffered him not to rest in any corner. He 
 pursued him so hard that he drove his men 
 from him, and made him glad to thrust his 
 head into a hole. Also this mighty warrior 
 did cut three of the Lord Will-be-will's oiE^rs 
 down to the ground: one was old Mr. Preju- 
 dice, he that had his crown cracked in the 
 mutiny ; this man was made by my Lord Will- 
 be-will keeper of Ear-gate, and fell by the 
 hand of Captain Execution. There was also 
 one Mr. Backward-to-all-but-naught, and he 
 also was one of Lord Will-be-will's officers, 
 and was the captain of the two guns that once 
 were mounted on the top of Ear-gate ; he also 
 was cut down to the groun 1 by tie hands of 
 Captain Execution. Besides these two there 
 
THE HOLY WAR. 
 
 4U7 
 
 was another, a third, and his name was Captain 
 Treacherous : a vile man this was, hut one that 
 Will-be-will did put a great deal of confidence 
 in; hut him also did this Captain Execution 
 cut down to the ground with the rest. 
 
 He also made a very great slaughter among 
 my Lord Will-be-will's soldiers, killing many 
 that were stout and sturdy, and wounding of 
 many that for Diabolus were nimble and active. 
 But all these were Diabolonians : there was 
 not a man, a native of Mansoul, hurt. 
 
 Other feats of war were also likewise per- 
 formed by other of the captains, as at Eye- 
 gate, where Captain Good-hope and Captain 
 Charity had a charge, was great execution 
 done; for Captain Good-hope with his own 
 hand slew one Captain Blind-fold, the keeper 
 of that gate ; this Blind-fold was captsJin of a 
 thousand men, and they were they that fought 
 with mauls; he also pursued his men, slew 
 many and wounded more, and made the rest 
 hide their heads in corners. 
 
 There was also at that gate Mr. Ill-pause, of 
 whom you have heard before ; he was an old 
 man, and had a beard that reached down to his 
 girdle; the same was he that was orator to 
 Diabolus : he did much mischief in the towii 
 of Mansoul, and fell by the hand of Captain 
 Good-hope. 
 
 What shall I say : The Diabolonians in these 
 days lay dead in every corner, though too many 
 were yet alive in Mansoul. 
 
 Now the old recorder and my Lord Under- 
 standing, with some others of the chief of the 
 town — to wit, such as knew they must stand or 
 fall with the famous town of Mansoul — came 
 together upon a day, and after consultation had 
 did jointly agree to draw up a petition and to 
 send it to Emmanuel, now while he sat in the 
 gate of Mansoul. So they drew up their pe- 
 tition to Emmanuel, the contents whereof were 
 these ; " That they, the old inhabitants of the 
 deplorable town of Mansoul, confessed their 
 sins, and were sorry that they had offended his 
 princely Majesty, and prayed that he would 
 spare their lives." 
 
 Upon this petition he gave no answer at all, 
 and that did trouble them yet so much the 
 more. Now all this while the captains that 
 were in the recorder's house were playing with 
 the battering-rams at the gates of the castle to 
 beat them down. So, after some time, labour, 
 and travail, the gate of the castle that was call- 
 ed Impregnable was beaten open and broken 
 irlo several splinters, and so a way made to go 
 up to the hold in which Diabolus had hid him- 
 
 self. Then were tidings sent down to Ear- 
 gate, for Emmanuel still abode there, to let 
 him know that a way was made in at the gatea 
 of the castle of Mansoul. But oh how the 
 trumpets at the tidings sounded throughout 
 the Prince's camp, for that now the war was so 
 near an end, and Mansoul itself of being set 
 free I 
 
 Then the Prince arose from the place where 
 he was, and took with him such of his men of 
 war as were fittest for the expedition, and 
 marched up the street of Mansoul to the old 
 recorder's house. 
 
 Now the Prince himself was clad all in ar- 
 mour of gold, and so he marched up the town 
 with his standard borne before him ; but he 
 kept his countenance much reserved all the way 
 as he went, so that the people could not tell 
 how to gather to themselves love or hatred by 
 his looks. Now as he marched up the street 
 the townsfolk came out at every door to see, 
 and could not but be taken with his person 
 and the glory thereof, but wondered at the re- 
 servedness of his countenance ; for as yet he 
 spake more to them by his actions and works 
 than he did by words or smiles. But also poor 
 Mansoul (as in such cases all are apt to do) 
 interpreted the carriage of Emmanuel to them, 
 as did Joseph's brethren his to them, even all 
 the quite contrary way ; for, thought they, if 
 Emmanuel loved us he would show it, to us by 
 word or carriage, but none of these he doth, 
 therefore Emmanuel hates us. Now if Em- 
 manuel hates us, Mansoul shall be slain, then 
 Mansoul shall become a dunghill. Tliey knew 
 that they had transgressed his Father's law, 
 and that against him they had been in league 
 with Diabolus his enemy. They also knew 
 that the Prince Emmanuel knew all this, for 
 they were convinced that he was an angel of 
 God, to know all things that are done in the 
 earth. And this made them think that their 
 condition was miserable, and that the good 
 Prince would make them desolate. 
 
 And, thought they, what time so fit to do 
 this in as now, when he has the bridle of 
 Mansoul in his hand. And this I took special 
 notice of, that the inhabitants (notwithstand- 
 ing all this) could not — no, they could not 
 when they saw him march through the town — 
 but cringe, bow, bend, and were ready to lick 
 the dust off his feet. They also wished a 
 thousand times over that he would become 
 their Prince and captain, and would become 
 their protector. They would also one to an- 
 other talk of the comeliness of his person, and 
 
408 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 how mucli. for glory and valour he outstripped 
 the great ones of the world. But, poor hearts ! 
 as to themselves, their thoughts would change 
 and go upon all manner of extremes ; yea, 
 through the working of them backward and 
 forward Mansoul became as a ball tossed and 
 as a rolling thing before the whirlwind. 
 
 Now when he was come to the castle-gates 
 he commanded Diabolus to appear and to sur- 
 render himself into his hands. But oh how 
 loth was the beast to appear ! How he stuck 
 at it 1 How he shrunk ! How he cringed I 
 Yet out he came to the Prince. Then Em- 
 manuel commanded, and they took Diabolus 
 and bound him fast in chains, the better to 
 reserve him to the judgment that he had ap- 
 pointed for him ; but Diabolus stood up to 
 entreat for himself that Emmanuel would not 
 send him into the deep, but sufl'er him to 
 depart out of Mansoul in peace. 
 
 When Emmanuel had taken him and bound 
 kim in chains, he led him into the market- 
 place, and there, before Mansoul, stripped him 
 of his armour in which he boasted so much 
 before. This nov,' was one of the acts of tri- 
 umph of Emmanuel over his enemy ; and all 
 the while that the giant was stripping the 
 trumpets of the golden Prince did sound 
 amain ; the captains also shouted and the 
 soldiers did sing for joy. 
 
 Then was Mansoul called upon to behold 
 the beginning of Emmanuel's triumph over 
 him in whom they so much had trusted, and 
 of whom they so much had boasted in the 
 days when he had flattered them. 
 
 Thus, having made Diabolus naked in the 
 eyes of Mansoul and before the commanders 
 of the Prince; in the next place he commands 
 that Diabolus should be bound with chains to 
 his chariot wheels. Then leaving some of his 
 forces — to wit, Captain Boanerges and Captain 
 Conviction — as a, guard for the castle-gates, 
 that resistance might be made on his behalf, 
 (if any that heretofore followed Diabolus should 
 make an attempt to possess it,) he did ride in 
 triumph over him quite through the town of 
 Mansoul, and so out at and before the gate 
 called Eye-gate, to the plain where was his 
 camp. 
 
 But you cannot think, unless you had been 
 there as I was, what a sjiout there was in Em- 
 manuel's camp when they saw the tyrant 
 bound by the hand of their noble -Prince and 
 tied to his chariot wheels. 
 
 And they said, He hath led captivity cap- 
 tive ; he hath spoiled pHncipalities and pow- 
 
 ers ; Diabolus is subjected to the power of his 
 sword and made the object of all derision ! 
 
 Those also that rode reformades, and that, 
 came down to see the battle, they shouted with 
 that greatness of voice and sung with such 
 melodious notes that they caused them that 
 dwell in the highest orbs to open thtir win- 
 dows, put out their heads, and look down to 
 see the cause of that glory. 
 
 Thetownsmen also, so many of them as saw 
 this sight, were as it were astonished while 
 tbey looked betwixt the earth and the heavens. 
 True, they could not tell what would be the 
 issue of things as to them, but all things were 
 done in such excellent methods ; and I cannot 
 tell how but things in the management of 
 them seemed to cast a smile towards the town ; 
 so that their eyes, their heads, their hearts, 
 and their minds, and all that they had, were 
 taken and held while they observed' Emman- 
 uel's order. 
 
 So, when the brave Prince had finished this 
 part of his triumph over Diabolus his foe, he 
 turned him up in the midst of his contempt 
 and shame, having given him a charge no 
 more to be a possessor of Mansoul. Then 
 went he from Emmanuel, and out of the midst 
 of his camp, to inherit the parched places in 
 a salt land, seeking rest, but finding none. 
 
 Now, Captain Boanerges and Captain Con- 
 viction were both of them men of very great 
 majesty; their faces were like the faces of' 
 lions, and their words like the roaring of the 
 sea; and they still quartered in Mr. Con- 
 science's house, of whom mention was made 
 before. When therefore the high and mighty 
 Prince had thus far finished his triumph over 
 Diabolus, the townsmen had more leisure \o 
 view and to behold the actions of these noble 
 captains. But the captains carried it with that 
 terror and. dread in all that they did (and you 
 may be sure that they had private instructions 
 so to do) that they kept the town under con- 
 tinual heart-aching, and caused (in their ap- 
 prehension) the well-being of Mansoul for the 
 future to hang in doubt before them, so that 
 (for some considerable time) they neither knew 
 what rest, or ease, or peace, or hope meant. 
 
 Nor did the Prince himself, as yet, abide in 
 the town of Mansoul, but in his royal pavilion 
 in the camp and in the midst of his Father's 
 forces. So at a time convenient he sent special 
 orders to Captain Boanerges to summons Man- 
 soul, the whole of the townsmen, into the castle 
 yard, and then and there before their faces to 
 take my Lord Understanding, Mr. Conscience, 
 
THE HOLT WAR. 
 
 409 
 
 arid that notable one, the Lord 'N^ill-be-will, 
 and put them all three in ward, aud that they 
 should set a strong guard upon them there 
 until' his pleasure concerning them were 
 further known. The which orders, when the 
 captains had put them in execution, made no 
 small addition to the fears of the town of Man- 
 soul ; for now, to their thinking, were their former 
 fears of the ruin of Mansoul confirmed. Now, 
 what death they should die and how long they 
 should be in dying was that which most per- 
 plexed their heads and hearts; yea, they were 
 afraid that Emmanuel would command them 
 all into the deep, the place that the prince 
 Diabolus was afraid of; for they knew that 
 they had deserved it: also to die by the sword, 
 in the face of the town and in the ope^i way 
 'of disgrace, from the hand of so good and so 
 holy a Prince, that too troubled them sore. 
 The town was also greatly troubled for the 
 men that were committed to ward, for that they 
 were their stay and their guide, aud for that 
 they believed that if those men were cut off 
 their execution would be but the beginning of 
 the ruin of the town of Mansoul. Wherefore, 
 what do they but, together with the men in 
 prison, draw up a petition to the Prince and 
 send it to Emmanuel by the hand of Mr. 
 Would-live? So he went and came to the 
 Prince's quarters, and presented the petition, 
 the sum of which was this: "Great and won- 
 derful Potentate, victor over Diabolus, and 
 conqueror of the town of Mansoul : We, the 
 miserable inhabitants of that most woeful cor- 
 poration, do humbly beg that wa may find 
 favour in thy sight, and remember not against 
 us former transgressions, nor yet the sins of 
 the chief of our town, but spare us according 
 to the greatness of thy mercy, qnd let us not 
 die, but live in thy sight; so shall we be will- 
 ing to be thy servants, and, if thou shalt think 
 fit, to gather our meat under thy table. 
 Amen." 
 
 So the petitioner went, as was said, with this 
 petition to the Prince, and the Prince took it 
 at his hand, but sent him away with silence. 
 This still afflicted the town of Mansoul; but 
 yet, considering that now they must either 
 petition or die, for now they could not do any 
 thing else, therefore they consulted again and 
 sent another petition, and this petition was 
 much after the form and method of the 
 former. 
 
 But when the petition was drawn up, by 
 whom should they send it was the next ques- 
 tion; for tbey would not send this by him by 
 
 whom they sent the first, (for they thought that 
 tne Prince had taken some offence at the man- 
 ner of his deportment before liim,) so they at- 
 tempted to make Captain Conviction their 
 messenger with it; but he said that he neither 
 durst nor would petition Emmanuel for trai- 
 tors, nor be to the Prince an advocate for 
 rebels. Yet withal, said he, our Prince ia 
 good, and you may adventure to send it by the 
 hand of one of your town, provided he went 
 with a rope about his head and pleaded noth- 
 ing but mercy. 
 
 Well, they made through fear their delays as 
 long as they could, and longer than delays were 
 good; but fearing at last the dangerousness of 
 them, they thought, but with many a fainting 
 in their minds, to send their petition by Mr. 
 Desires-awake; so they sent for Mr. Desires- 
 awake. Now he dwelt in a very mean cottage 
 in Mansoul, and he came at his neighbours' 
 request. So they told him what they had 
 done, and what they would do concerning 
 petitioning, and that they did desire of him 
 that he would go therewith to the Prince. 
 
 Then said Mr. Desires-awake, "Why shoula . 
 not I do the best I can to save so famous a 
 town as Mansoul from deserved destruction ?'■' 
 They therefore delivered the petition to him, 
 and told him how he must address himself to 
 the Prince, and wished him ten thousand 
 good-speeds. So he comes to the Prince's 
 pavilion, as the first, and asked to speak with 
 his Majesty ; so word was carried to Emmanuel, 
 and the Prince came out to the man. When 
 Mr. Desires-awake saw the Prince he fell flat 
 with his face to the ground and cried out, 
 "Oh that Mansoul might live before thee!" 
 And with that he presented the petition ; the 
 which when the Prince had read, he turned 
 away for awfcile and wept, but refraining him- 
 self, he turned again to the man (who all this 
 while lay crying at his feet as at the first) and 
 said, " Go tliy way to thy place, and I will con • 
 sider of thy requests." 
 
 Now you may think that they of Mansoul 
 that had sent him, what with guilt and what 
 with fear lest their petition should be rejected, 
 could not but look with many a long look, and 
 that too with many strange workings of heart, 
 to see what would become of their petition; 
 at last they saw their messenger coming back ; 
 so when he was come they asked him how he 
 fared, what Emmanuel said, and what was be- 
 come of the petition? But he told them that 
 he would be silent till he came to the prison 
 to my lord mayor, my Lord Will-be-will, and 
 
410 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Mr. Recorder. So lie went forward towards 
 the prison-house, where the men of Mansoul 
 lay bound. But oh what a multitude flocked 
 after to hear what the messenger said! So 
 when he was come and had shown himself at 
 the gate of the prison, my lord mayor himself 
 looked as white as a clout, the recorder also 
 did quake, but they asked and said, "Come, 
 good sir, what did the great Prince say to tou?" 
 Then said Mr. Desires-awake, " When I came 
 to my Lord's payilion, I called and he came 
 forth; so I fell prostrate at his feet and de- 
 livered to him my petition, (for the greatness 
 of his person and the glory of his countenance 
 would not suffer me to stand upon my legs.) 
 Now as he received the petition I cried, Oh 
 that Mansoul might still live before thee ! So 
 when for a while he had looked thereon, he 
 turned him about and said to his servant, ' Go 
 thy way to thy place again, and I will consider 
 of thy requests.' " The messenger added, more- 
 over, and said, "The Prince to whom you sent 
 me is such a one for beauty and glory that 
 whoso sees him must both love and fear him ; 
 I, for my part, can do no less ; but I know not 
 what will be the end of these things." At this 
 answer they were all at a stand, both they in 
 prison and they that followed the messenger 
 thither to hear the news; nor knew they what 
 or what manner of interpretation to put upon 
 what the Prince had said. Now when the 
 prison was cleared of the throng the prisoners 
 among themselves began to comment upon 
 Emmanuel's words. My lord mayor said that 
 the answer did not look with a rugged face; 
 but Will-be-will said it betokened evil; and 
 the recorder, that it was a messenger of death. 
 Now, they that were left and that stood be- 
 hind, and so could not so well hear what the 
 prisoners said, some of them cat|hed hold of 
 one piece of a sentence and some on a bit of 
 another; some took hold of what the messen- 
 ger said, and some of the prisoners' judgment 
 thereon; so none had the right understanding 
 of things ; but you cannot imagine what work 
 these people made and what a confusion there 
 was in Mansoul now. 
 
 For presently they that had heard what was 
 said flew about the town, one crying one 
 thing, and another the quite contrary, and 
 both were sure enough they told true; for 
 they did hear, they said, with their ears what 
 was said, and therefore could not be deceived. 
 One would say, " ^Ye must all be killed ;" an- 
 other would say, ," We must all be saved ;" 
 and a third would say, "That the Prince 
 
 would not be concerned with Mansoul ;" and 
 a fourth, "That the prisoners must be sud- 
 denly put to death." And, as I said, every 
 one stood to it that he told his tale the light- 
 est, and that all others but he were out, 
 Wherefore Mansoul had now molestation upon 
 molestation, nor could any man kno^fr on what 
 to rest the sole of his foot ; for one would go 
 by now, and as he went, if he heard his neigh- 
 bour tell his tale, to be sure he would tell the 
 quite contrary, and both would stand in it 
 that he told the truth. Nay, some of them 
 had got this story by the end, "That the 
 Prince did intend to put Mansoul to the 
 sword." And now it began to be dark; 
 wherefore poor Mansoul was in sad per- 
 plexity all that night until the morning.^ 
 
 But, so far 'as I could gather by the best 
 information that I could get, all this hubbub 
 came through the words that the recorder said 
 when he told them that in his judgment the 
 Prince's answ^er was a messenger of death. It 
 was this that fired the town and that began 
 the fright in Mansoul ; for Mansoul, in former 
 times, did use to count that Mr. Recorder was 
 a seer, and that his sentence was equal to the 
 best of oracles ; and thus was Mansoul a 
 terror to itself. 
 
 And now did they begin to feel what was 
 the efiects of stubborn rebellion and unlawful 
 resistance against their Prince. I say they 
 now began to feel the effects thereof by guilt 
 and fear, that now had swallowed them up; 
 and who more involved in the one but they 
 that were most in the other — ^to wit, the chief 
 of the town of Mansoul? 
 
 To be brief, when the fame of the fright 
 was out of the town, and the prisoners had a 
 little recovered themselves, they take to themr 
 selves some Reart and think to petition the 
 Prince for life again. So they did draw up 
 a third petition, the contents whereof were 
 these : 
 
 " Prince Emmanuel the Great, Lord of all 
 worlds and Master of mercy, we, thy poor, 
 wretched, miserable, dying town of Mansoul, 
 do confess unto thy great and glorious Ma- 
 jesty that we have sinned against thy Father 
 and thee, and are no more worthy to be called 
 thy Mansoul, but rather to be cast into the 
 pit. If thou wilt slay us, we have deserved it. 
 If thou wilt condemn us to the deep, we can- 
 not but say thou art righteous. We cannot 
 complain whatever thou dost or however thou 
 carriest it towards us. But oh let mercy reign, 
 and let it be extended to us ! Oh let mercy 
 
TEE HOLY WAR. 
 
 An 
 
 take hold upon us and free us from our trans- 
 gressions, and we will sing of thy mercy and 
 of thy judgment. Amen." 
 
 This petition, when drawn up, was designed 
 to he sent to the Prince, as the first ; but who 
 ahould carry it? that was the question. Some 
 said, " Let him do it that went with the first ;" 
 but others thought not good to do that, and 
 that because he sped no better. Now there 
 was an old man in the town, and his name 
 was l[r. Good-deed, a man that bare only the 
 name, but had nothing of the nature of the 
 thing: now some were for sending him, but 
 the recorder was by no means for that ; " For," 
 said he, " we now stand in need of and are 
 pleading for mercy; wherefore to send our 
 petition by a man of this name will seem to 
 cross the petition itself. Should we make Mr. 
 Good-deed our messenger when our position 
 cries for mercy ? 
 
 " Besides," quoth the old gentleman, " should 
 the Prince, now as he receives the petition, ask 
 him and say, What is thy name ? as nobody 
 knows but he will, and he should say, Old 
 Good-deed ; what think you would Emmanuel 
 say but this, Ay I is old Good-deed yet alive 
 in Mansoul? Then let old Good-deed save 
 you from your distresses. And if he says so, 
 I am sure we are lost, nor can a thousand of 
 old Good-deeds save Mansoul." 
 
 After the recorder had given in his reasons 
 why old Good-deed should not go with this 
 petition to Emmanuel, the rest of the prison- 
 ers and chief of Mansoul opposed it also ; and 
 so old Good-deed was laid aside, and they 
 agreed to send Mr. Desires-awake again ; so 
 they sent for him, and desired him that he 
 would a second time go with their petition to 
 the Prince, and he readily told them he would. 
 But they bid him that in anywise he would 
 take heed that in no word or carriage he gave 
 offence to the Prince; For by doing so, for 
 aught we can tell, you may bring Mansoul 
 into utter destruction, said they. 
 
 Now Mr. Desires-awake, when he saw that 
 lie must go of this errand, besought that they 
 would grant that Mr. Wet-eyes might go with 
 him. Now this WeJ-eyes was a near neigh- 
 bour of Mr. Desires, a poor man, a man of a 
 broken spirit, yet one that could speak' well to 
 a petition. So they granted that he should go 
 with him. Wherefore they addressed them- 
 selves to their business : Mr. Desires put a rope 
 upon his head, and Mr. Wet-eyes went with 
 hand» wringing together. Thus they went to 
 the Prince's pavilion. 
 
 Now when they went to petition this third 
 time they were not without thoughts that by 
 often coming they might be a burden to the 
 Prince. Wherefore, when they were come to 
 the door of his pavilion, they first made their 
 apology for themselves and for their coming to 
 trouble Emmanuel so often, and they said 
 that they came not hither to-day for that they 
 delighted in being troublesome, or for that 
 they delighted to hear themselves talk, but for 
 that necessity caused them to come to his 
 Majesty; they could, they said, have no rest 
 day nor night because of their transgressions 
 against Shaddai and against Emmanuel his 
 Son. They also thought that some misbe- 
 haviour of Mr. Desires-awake the last time 
 might give distaste to his Highness, and so 
 caused that he returned from so merciful a 
 Prince empty and without countenance. So 
 when they had made this apology, Mr. Desires- 
 awake cast himself prostrate upon the ground 
 as at first, at the feet of the mighty Prince, 
 saying, " Oh that Mansoul might live before 
 thee !" and so he delivered his petition. The 
 Prince then, having read the petition, turned 
 aside awhile as before, and coming again to 
 the place where the petitioner lay on the 
 ground, he demanded what his name was, and 
 of what esteem in the account of Mansoul, for 
 that he, above all the multitude of Mansoul, 
 should be sent to him upon such an errand ? 
 Then said the man to the Prince, " Oh let not 
 my Lord be angry, and why inquirest thou 
 after the name of such a dead dog as I am ? 
 Pass by, I pray thee, and take no notice of 
 who I am, because there is, as thou very well 
 knowest, so great a disproportion between me 
 and thee. Why the townsmen chose to send 
 me on this errand to my Lord is best known 
 to themselves ; but it could not be for that they 
 thought that I had favour with my Lord. For 
 my part, I am out of charity with myself: 
 who then should be in love with me? Yet 
 live I would, and so would I that my towns- 
 men should ; and because both they and my- 
 self are guilty of great transgressions, therefore 
 they have sent me, and I am come in their 
 names to beg of my Lord for mercy. Let it 
 please thee therefore to incline to mercy, but 
 ask not what thy servants are." 
 
 Then said the Prince, " And what is he that 
 is become thy companion in so weighty a mat- 
 ter?" So Mr. Desires told Emmanuel that he 
 was a poor neighbour of his and one of his 
 most intimate associates, and his name, said 
 he, may it please your most excellent Majesty, 
 
412 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 is Wet-eyt«, of.the town of Mansoul. I know 
 that there are many of that name that are 
 naught; but I hope it will be no offence to my 
 Lord that I have brought my poor neighbour 
 with me. 
 
 Then' Mr.. Wet-eyes fell on his face to the 
 ground, and made this apology for his coming 
 with his neighbour to my Lord. 
 
 " O my Lord, (quoth he,) what I am I know 
 not myself, nor whether my name be feigned 
 or true, especially when I begin to think what 
 some have said — namely, that this' name was 
 given me because Mr. Repentance was my 
 father. Good men have bad children, and the 
 sincere do oftentimes beget hypocrites. My 
 mother also called me by this name from my 
 cradle, but whether because of the moistuess 
 of my brain, or because of the softness of my 
 heart, I cannot tell. I see dirt in mine own 
 tears and filthiness in the bottom of my prayers. 
 But I pray thee (and all this while the gentle- 
 man wept) that thou wouldst not remember 
 against us our transgressions, nor take offence 
 at the unqualificdness of thy servants, but 
 mercifully pass by the sin of Mansoul, and 
 refrain from the glorifying of thy grace no 
 longer." 
 
 So at his bidding they arose and both stood 
 trembling before him, and he spake to them to 
 this purpose : 
 
 " The town of Mansoul hath grievously re- 
 belled against my Father, in that they have 
 rejected him from being their King, and did 
 choose to themselves for their captain a liar, 
 a murderer, and a runagate slave. For this 
 Diabolus and your pretended prince, though 
 one so highly accounted of by you, made re- 
 bellion against my Father and me, even in our 
 palace and the highest court there, thinking 
 to become a prince and king. But being there 
 timely discovered and apprehended, and for 
 his wickedness bound in chains and separated 
 to the pit with those that were his companions, 
 he offered himself to you, and you have re- 
 ceived him. 
 
 " Now this is, and for a long time hath been, 
 an high affrpnt to my Father ; wherefore my 
 Father sent to you a powerful army to reduce 
 you to your obedience. But you know how 
 those men, their captains and their counsels 
 were esteemed of you, and what they received 
 at your hand. You rebelled against them, you 
 shut your gates upon them, you bid them bat- 
 tle, you fought them, and fought for Diabolus 
 against them. So they sent to my Father for 
 more power, and I with my men am coff.e to 
 
 subdue you. But as you treated the servants, 
 so you treated their Lord. You stood up in 
 hostile manner against me ; you shut up your 
 gates against me ; you turned a deaf ear to me 
 and resisted as long as you could ; but now I 
 have made a conquest of you. Did you cry 
 me mercy so long as you had hopes that you 
 might prevail against me? But now I have 
 taken the town, you cry ; but why did you not 
 cry before, when the white flag of mercy, and 
 the red flag of justice, and the black flag that 
 threatened execution were set up to cite you to 
 it? Now I have conquered your Diabolus, 
 you come to me for favour ; but why did you 
 not help me against the mighty ? Yet I will 
 consider your petition, and will answer it so as 
 will be for my glory. 
 
 "Go bid Captain Boanerges and Captain 
 Conviction bring the prisoners out to me into 
 the camp to-morrow ; and say you to Captain 
 Judgment and Captain Execution, Stay you in 
 the castle, and take good heed to yourselves 
 that you keep all quiet in Mansoul until you 
 shall hear further from me." And with that 
 he turned himself from them and went to his 
 royal pavilion again. 
 
 So the petitioners, having received this an- 
 swer from the Prince, returned, as at first, to 
 go to their companions again. But they had 
 not gone far but thoughts began to work rn 
 their minds that no mercy as yet was intended 
 by the Prince to Mansoul. So they went to 
 the place where the prisoners lay bound ; but 
 these workings of mind about what would be- 
 come of Mansoul had such strong power over 
 them that by that they were come unto them 
 that sent them they were scarce able to deliver 
 their message. . 
 
 But they came at length to the gates of the 
 town, (now the townsmen with earnestness 
 were waiting for their return,) where manj 
 met them to know what answer was made to 
 the petition. Then they cried out to those 
 that were sent, " What news from the Prince ? 
 and what hath Emmanuel said?" But they 
 said that they must, as before, go up to the 
 prison and the):e deliver their message. So 
 away they went to the prison, with a multitude 
 at their heels. Now, when they were come to 
 the gates of the prison they told the first part 
 of Emmanuel's speech to the prisoners — to wit, 
 how he reflected upon their disloyalty to his 
 Father and himself, and how they had chosen 
 and closed with Diabolus, had fought for him, 
 hearkened to him, and been ruled by hiiA, but 
 had despised him and his men. This made 
 
THE HOLY WAR. 
 
 413 
 
 tlie prisoners look pale; but the messengers 
 proceeded and said, "He, the Prince, said 
 moreover that yet he would consider your pe- 
 tition and give such answer thereto as would 
 stand with his glory." And as these words 
 were spolcen, Mr. Wet-eyes gave a great sigh. 
 At this they were all of them struck int6 
 their dumps, and could not tell what to say. 
 Fear also possessed them in a marvellous 
 manner, and death seemed to sit upon some of 
 their eyebrows. Now, there was in the com- 
 pany a notable sharp-witted fellow, a mean 
 man of estate, and his name was old Inquis- 
 itive; this man asked the petitioners if they 
 had told out every whit of what,, Emmanuel 
 said. And they answered, "Verily, no." Then 
 said Inquisitive, " I thought so indeed. Pray 
 what was it more that he said unto /ou?" 
 Then they paused awhile, but at last they 
 brought out all, saying, " The Prince ordered- 
 us to bid Captain Boanerges and Captain Con- 
 viction bring the prisoners down to him to- 
 morrow, and that Captain Judgment and Cap- 
 tain Execution should take charge of the castle 
 and town till they should hear further from 
 him." They said also that when the Prince 
 had commanded them thus to do, he immedi- 
 ately turned his back upon them and went into 
 his royal pavilion. 
 
 But oh how this return, and especially this 
 last clause of it, that the prisoners must go out 
 to the Prince into the camp, broke all their 
 loins in pieces ! Wherefore with one voice they 
 set up a cry that reached up to the heavens. 
 This done, each of the three prepared himself 
 to die, (and the recorder said unto them, " This 
 was the thing that I feared,") for they concluded 
 that to-morrow, by that the sun went down, 
 they should be tumbled out of the world. The 
 whole town s^so counted of no other but that 
 in their time and order they must all drink 
 of the. same cup. Wherefore the town of Man- 
 soul spent that night in mourning, and sack- 
 cloth, and ashes. The prisoners also, when 
 11.3 time was come for them to go down before 
 the Prince, dressed themselves in mourning at- 
 tire, with ropes upon their necks. The whole 
 town of Mansoul also showed themselves upon 
 the wall, all clad in mourning weeds, if per- 
 haps the Prince with the sight thereof might 
 be moved with compassion. But oh how the 
 busybodies that were in the town of Jlansoul 
 did now concern themselves ! They ran here 
 and there through the streets of the town b^ 
 companies, crying out as they ran in feumult- 
 uous-wiae, one after one manner, and another 
 
 the quite contrary, to the almost utter distrac- 
 tion of Mansoul. 
 
 Well, the time is come that th<3 prisoners 
 must go down to the camp and appear before 
 the Prince. And thus was the manner of their 
 going down : Captain Boanerges went with a 
 guard before them, and Captain Conviction 
 came behind, and the prisoners went down 
 bound in chains in the midst; so I say the 
 prisoners went in the midst, and the guard 
 went with flying colours behind and before, 
 but the prisoners went with drooping spirits. 
 
 Or, more particularly, thus : 
 
 The prisoners went down all in mourning , 
 they put ropes upon themselves ; they went on 
 smiting of themselves on the breast, but durst 
 not lift up their eyes to heaven. Thus they 
 went out at the gate of Mansoul till they came 
 into the midst ^f the Prince's army, the sight 
 and glory of which did greatly heighten their 
 affliction. Nor could they now longer forbear 
 but cry out aloud, O unhappy men! O 
 wretched men of Mansoul I Their chains, 
 still mixing their dolorous notes with the cries 
 of the prisoners, made the noise more lament- 
 able. 
 
 So, when they were come to the door of the 
 Prince's pavilion, they cast themselves pros- 
 trate upon the place. Then one went in and 
 told the Lord that the prisoners were come 
 down. The Prince then ascended a throne of 
 state, and sent for the prisoners in ; who, when 
 they came, did tremble before him ; also they 
 covered their faces with shame. Now as they 
 drew nearer to the place where he sat they 
 threw themselves down before him. Then 
 said the Prince to the Captain Boanerges, Bid 
 the prisoners stand upon their feet. They then 
 stood trembling before him, and he said, Are 
 you the men that heretofore were the servants 
 of Shaddai ? And they said. Yes, Lord, yes. 
 Then said the Prince again. Are you the men 
 that did suffer yourselves to be corrupted and 
 defiled by that abominable one, Diabolus? 
 And they said, We did more than suffer it. 
 Lord, for we chose it of our own mind. The 
 Prince asked further, saying, Could you have 
 been content that your slavery should have 
 continued under his tyranny as long as you 
 had lived? Then said the prisoners. Yes, 
 Lord, yes, for his ways were pleasing to our 
 flesh, and we were grown aliens to a better 
 state. And did you, said he, when I came up 
 against this town of Mansoul, heartily wish 
 th^t I might not have the victory over you? 
 Yes, Lord, yes, said they. Then said the 
 
414 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Prince, And wliat punisliment is it, think you, 
 that you deserve at my hand for these and 
 other your high and mighty sins ? And they 
 said, Both death and the deep. Lord, for we 
 have deserved no less. He asked again, 'If 
 they had aught to say for themselves why the 
 sentence that they confessed that they had de- 
 served should not be passed upon them ? And 
 they said. We can say nothing. Lord ; thou art 
 just, for we have sinned. Then said the 
 Prince, And, for what are these ropes on your 
 necks ? The prisoners answered. These ropes 
 are to bind us withal to the place of execution, 
 if mercy be not pleasing in thy sight. So he 
 further asked. If all the men in the town of 
 Mansoul were in this confession as they? And 
 they answered, All the natives, Lord ; but for 
 the Diabolonians that came into our town 
 when the tyrant got possessi(jn of us, we can 
 say nothing of them. 
 
 Then the Prince commanded that an herald 
 should be called, and that he should in the 
 midst and throughout the camp of Emmanuel 
 proclaim, and that with .sound of trumpet, 
 that the Prince, the Son of Shaddai, had in 
 his Father's name and for his Father's glory, 
 gotten a perfect conquest and victory over Man- 
 soul, and that the prisoners should follow him 
 and say, Amen. So this was done as he had 
 commanded. And presently the music that 
 was in the upper regions sounded melodiously. 
 The captains that were in the camp shouted, 
 and the soldiers did sing songs of triumph to 
 the Prince, the colours waved in the wind, 
 and great joy was everywhere; only it was 
 wanting as yet in the hearts of the men of 
 Mansoul. 
 
 Then the Prince called for the prisoners to 
 come and to stand again before him ; and they 
 came and stood trembling. And he said unto 
 them. The sins, trespasses, iniquities that you, 
 with the whole town of Mansoul, have from 
 time to time committed against my Father 
 and me, I have power and commandment 
 from my Father to forgive to the town of 
 Mansoul; and do forgive you accordingly. 
 And having so said, he gave them, written in 
 parchment and sealed with several seals, a 
 large and general pardon, commanding both 
 my lord mayor, my Lord Will-be-will, and 
 Mr. Recorder to proclaim and cause it to be 
 proclaimed to-morrow, by that the sun is up, 
 throughout the whole town of Mansoul. More- 
 over, the Prince stripped the prisoners of their 
 mourning weeds, and gave them beauty for 
 ashes, the oil of j ly for mourning, and the 
 
 garment of praise for the spirit of heavi- 
 ness. 
 
 Then he gave to each of the three jewels of 
 gold and precious stones, and took away theii 
 ropes, and put chains of gold about their 
 necks and ear-rings in their ears. Now the 
 prisoners, when th«y did hear the gracious 
 words of Prince Emmanuel, and had beheld 
 all that was done unto them, fainted almost 
 quite away ; for the grace, the benefit, the 
 pardon were so sudden, so glorious, and so 
 big that they were not able, without stagger- 
 ing, to stand up under it. Yea, my Lord 
 Will-be-will swooned outright, but the Prince 
 stept to him, put his everlasting arms under 
 him, embraced him, kissed him, and bid him 
 be of good cheer, for all should be performed 
 according to his word. He also did kiss and 
 embrace and smile upon the other two that 
 , were Will-be-will's companions, saying. Take 
 these as further tokens of my love, favour and 
 compassion to you; and I charge you that 
 you, Mr. Recorder, tell in the town of Mansoul 
 what you have heard and seen. 
 
 Then were their fetters broken to pieces 
 before their faces and cast into the air, and 
 their steps were enlarged under them. Then 
 they fell down at the feet of the Prince, and 
 kissed his' feet and wetted them with tears; 
 also they cried out with a mighty strong 
 voice, saying, Blessed be the glory of the 
 Lord from this place ! So they were bid 
 rise up, and go to the town, and tell to Man- 
 soul what the Prince had done. He com- 
 manded a,lso that one with a pipe and tabour 
 should go and play before them all the-way 
 into the town of Mansoul. Then was fulfilled 
 what they never looked for, and they were 
 made to possess that which they never dreamed 
 of. The Prince also called for the noble Cap- 
 tain Credence, and commanded that he and 
 some of his ofiicers should march before the 
 noblemen of Mansoul with flying colours into 
 the town. He gave also unto Captain Cre- 
 dence a charge that about the time that the re- 
 corder did. read the general pardon in the 
 town of Mansoul, thSt at that very time he 
 should, with flying colours, march in at Eye- 
 gate with his ten thousand at his feet, and 
 that he should so go until he came by the 
 high street of the town up to the. castle-gates, 
 and that himself should take possession there- 
 of against his Lord came thither. He com- 
 manded, moreover, that he should bid Cap 
 tain Judgment and Captain Execution to 
 leave the stronghold to him, and to withdraw 
 
THE HOLY WAR. 
 
 415 
 
 from Mansoul, and to return into the camp 
 with speed unto the Prince. 
 
 And now was the town of Mansoul also de- 
 livered from the terror of the first four cap- 
 tains and their men. 
 
 Well, I told you before how the prisoners 
 were entertained by the noble Prince Emman- 
 uel, and how they behaved themselves before 
 him, and how he sent them away to their 
 home with pipe and tabour going before them. 
 And now you must thinlc that those of the 
 town that had all this while waited to hear of 
 their death could not but be exercised with 
 sadness of mind and with thoughts that 
 pricked like thorns. Nor could their thoughts 
 be kept to any one point. The wind blew 
 them all this while at great uncertainties; 
 yea, their hearts were like a balance that had 
 been disquieted with a shaken hand. But at 
 last as they, with many a long look, looked 
 over the wall of Mansoul, they thought that 
 they saw some returning to the town; and 
 thought again, Who should they be too, who 
 should they be? At last they discerned that 
 they were the prisoners ; but can you imagine 
 how their hearts were surprised with wonder, 
 especially when they perceived also in what 
 equipage and with what honour they were 
 sent home I They went down to the camp in 
 black, but they came back to the town in 
 white ; they went down to the camp in ropes, 
 they came back in chains of gold ; they went 
 down to the camp with their feet in fetters, 
 but came back with their steps enlarged under 
 them ; they went also to the camp, looking for 
 death, but they came back from thence with 
 assurance of life ; they went down to the camp 
 with heavy hearts, but came back again with 
 pipe and tabour playing before them. As 
 soon as they were come to Eye-gate, the poor 
 and tottering town of Mansoul adventured to 
 give a shout ; and they gave such a shout as 
 made the captains in the Prince's army leap 
 at the sound thereof 
 
 Alas for them, poor hearts I who could blame 
 them, since their dead friends were come to 
 life again ? for it was to them as life from the 
 di;ad to see the ancients of the town of Man- 
 soul shine in such splendour. They looked 
 for nothing but the axe and the block, but 
 behold joy and gladness, comfort and consola- 
 tion, and such melodious notes attending them 
 as wore sufficient to make a_ sick man well. 
 So when they came up they saluted each other 
 with Welcome, welcome, and blessed be He 
 tbat has spared you ! They added also. We 
 
 see it is well with you, but how must it go 
 with the town of Mansoul? and will it go well 
 with the town of Mansoul ? said they. Then 
 answered them the recorder, and my lord 
 mayor. Oh, tidings I glad tidings ! good tidings 
 of good and of great joy to poor Mansoul I 
 Then they gave another shout that made the 
 earth to ring again. After this they inquired 
 yet more particularly how things went in the 
 camp, and what message they had from Em- 
 manuel to the town. So they told them all the 
 passages that had happened to them at the 
 camp, and everything that the Prince did to 
 them. This made Mansoul wonder at the wis- 
 dom and grace of the Prince Emmanuel ; then 
 they told them what they had received at his 
 hands for the whole town of Mansoul ; and the 
 recorder delivered it in these words : Paedon, 
 Paedon, PaEdon for Mansoul ! and this shall 
 Mansoul know, to-morrow. Then he com- 
 manded, and they went and summoned Man- 
 soul to meet together in the market-place to- 
 morrow, there to hear their general pardon 
 read. 
 
 But who can think what a turn, 'what a 
 change, what an alteration, this hint of things 
 did make in the countenance of the town of 
 Mansoul! No man of Mansoul could sleep 
 that night for joy ; in every house there was 
 joy and music, singing and making merry; 
 telling and hearing of Mansoul's happiness 
 was then all that Mansoul had to do ; and this 
 was the burden of all their song : Oh, more of 
 this at the rising of the sun ! more of this to- 
 morrow I Who thought yesterday, would one 
 say, that this day would have been such a day 
 to us ? And who thought that saiy our prison- 
 ers go down in irons that they would have 
 returned in chains of gold ? Yea, they that 
 judged themselves as they went to be judged 
 of their judge were by his mouth acquitted, 
 not for that they were innocent, but of the 
 Prince's mercy, and sent home with pipe and 
 tabour. 
 
 But is this the common custom cf princes ? 
 do they use to show such kind of favours to 
 traitors ? No 1 ' This is ojily peculiar to Shad- 
 dai and unto Emmanuel his Son. 
 
 Now morning drew on apace, wherefore the 
 lord mayor, the Lord Will-be-will, and Mr. 
 Recorder came down to the market-place at 
 the time the Prince had appointed, where the 
 townsfolk were waiting for them ; and when 
 they came they came in that attire and in that 
 glory that the Prince had put them into the 
 day before, and the street was lightened with 
 
416 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 their glory. So the mayor, recorder, and my 
 Lord Will-be-will drew down to Mouth-gate, 
 which was at the lower end of the market- 
 place, because that of old time was the place 
 where they used to read public matters. 
 Thither, therefore, they came in their robes, 
 and their tabour went before them. Now the 
 eagerness of the people to know the full of the 
 ma':ter was great. 
 
 Then the recorder stood up upon his feet, 
 and first beckoning with his hand for a silence, 
 he read out with a loud voice the pardon. But 
 when he came to these words. The Lord, the 
 Lord God, is merciful and gracious, pardoning 
 iniquity, transgressions, and sins, and to them 
 all manner of sin and blas'phemy shall be for- 
 given, &c., they could not forbear but leap for 
 joy. For this you must know that there was 
 conjoined herewith. every man's name in Man- 
 ,soul ; also the seals of the pardon made a brave 
 show. 
 
 When the recorder had made an end of 
 reading the pardon, the townsmen ran upon 
 the walls of the town and leaped and skipped 
 thereon for joy, and bowed themselves seven 
 times with their faces towards Emmanuel's 
 pavilion, and shouted out aloud for joy, and 
 said, Let Emmanuel live for ever! Then 
 order was given to the young men in Mansoul 
 that they should ring the bells for joy. So the 
 bells did ring, and the people sing, and the 
 music played in every house in Mansoul. 
 
 When the prince had sent home the three 
 prisoners of Mansoul with joy and pipe and 
 tabour, he commanded his captains, with all 
 the field-officers and soldiers throughout his 
 army, to be ready on the morning that the 
 recorder should read the pardon in Mansoul to 
 do his further pleasure. So the morning, as I 
 have showed, being come, just as the recorder 
 had made an end of reading the pardon, Em- 
 manuel commanded that all the trumpets in 
 the camp should sound, that the colours should 
 be displayed, half of them upon Mount Gra- 
 cious, and half of them upon Mount Justice. 
 He commanded also, that all the captains 
 should show themselves in their complete 
 harness, and that the soldiers should shout for 
 joy. Nor was Captain Credence, 'though in the 
 castle, silent on such a, day ; but he, from the 
 top of the hold, showed himself with sound of 
 trumpet to Mansoul and to the Prince's camp. 
 
 Thus have I shown you the manner and way 
 that Emmanuel took to recover the town of 
 Mansoul from unaer the hand and power of 
 the tyrant Diabolus. 
 
 , Now when the Prince haa completed thesa 
 outward ceremonies of his' joy, he again com- 
 manded that his captains and soldiers should 
 show unto Mansoul some feats of. war. So 
 they presently addressed themselves" to this 
 work. But oh with what agility, nimbleness, 
 dexterity, and braver}' did these military men 
 discover their skill in feats of war to the now 
 gazing town of Mansoul ! 
 
 They marched, they countermarched, they 
 opened to the right and left, they divided and 
 subdivided, they closed, they wheeled, made 
 good their front and rear with their right and 
 left wings, and twenty things more, with that 
 aptness, and then were all as they were again, 
 that they took, yea, ravished, the hearts that 
 were in Mansoul to behold it. But add to this 
 the handling of their arms, the managing of 
 their weapons of war were marvellous taking 
 to Mansoul and me. 
 
 When this action was over the whole town 
 of Mansoul came out as one man to the Prince 
 in the camp to.thank him and praise him for 
 his abundant favour, and to beg that it would 
 please his Grace to come unto Mansoul with 
 his men, and there to take up their quarters for 
 ever. And this they did in most humble man- 
 ner, bowing themselves seven times to the 
 ground before him. Then said he, " All peace 
 be to you ! " so the town came nigh, and touch- 
 ed with the hand the top of 'his golden sceptre, 
 and they said. Oh that the Prince Emmanuel, 
 with his captains and men of war, would dwell 
 in Mansoul for ever, and that his battering- 
 rams and slings might be lodged in her for the 
 use and service of the Prince and for the help 
 and strength of Mansoul I For, said they, we 
 have room for thee, we have also room for thy 
 men, we have also room for thy weapons of 
 war, and a place to make a magazine for thy 
 carriages. Do it, Emmanuel, and thou shalt 
 be king and captain in Mansoul for ever. Yea, 
 govern thou also according to all the desire of 
 thy soul, and make thou governors and princes 
 under thee of thy captains and men of war, 
 and we will become thy servants and thy laws 
 shall be our direction. 
 
 They added, moreover, and prayed his 
 Majesty to consider thereof; for, said they, ff 
 now after all this grace bestowed upon us thy 
 miserable town of Mansoul, thou shouldest 
 withdraw, thou and thy captains from us, the 
 town of Mansoul will die. Yea, said they, our 
 blessed Emmanad, if thou shouldest depart 
 from us now, after thou hast done so much 
 good for us and showed so much mercy unto 
 
THE HOLY WAR. 
 
 417 
 
 us, what will follow but that our joy will be as 
 if it had not been, and our enemies will a 
 lecond time como upon us with more rage than 
 at the first? Wherefore we beseech thee, O 
 thou the desire of our eyes and the strength 
 and life of our poor town, accept of this motion 
 that now we have made unto our Lord, and 
 come and dwell in the midst of us, and let us 
 be thy people. Besides, Lord, we do not know 
 but that to this day many Diabolonians may 
 be yet lurking in the town of Man^oul, and 
 thej will betray us, when thou shalt leave us, 
 into the hand of Diabolus again ; and who 
 knows what designs, plots, or contrivances have 
 passed betwixt them about these things already? 
 Loth we are to fall again into his horrible hands. 
 WheVefore let it please thee to accept of our 
 palace for thy place of residence, and of the 
 houses of the best men in our town for the re- 
 ception of thy soldiers and their furniture. 
 
 Then said the Prince, " If I come to your 
 twvn, will you suffer me further to prosecute 
 that which is in inine heart against mine 
 enemies and yours? yea, will you help me in 
 such ifndertakihgs ?" 
 
 They answered. We know not what we shall 
 do. "Ws did not think oilce that we should 
 have been such traitors to Shaddai as we have 
 proved to be; what then shall we 'say to our 
 L(Ord? Lot him put no trust in his saints ; let 
 the Prince dwell in our castle, and make of our 
 town a garrison ; let him set his noble captains 
 and his warlike soldiers over us. Yea, let him 
 conquer with his love and overcome us with 
 his'"grace, and help us, as he did that morning 
 our pardon was read unto us ; so shall we com- 
 ply with this our Lord and with his ways, and 
 fall in with his word against the mighty. 
 
 One word more, and thy servants have done, 
 and in this will trouble our Lord no more. 
 We know not the depth of the wisdom of thee, 
 our Prince. Who could have thought, that 
 had been ruled by his reason, that so much 
 sweet as -we do now enjoy should have come 
 •mt of those bitter trials wherewith we were 
 tried at the first? but. Lord, let light go before, 
 and let love come .after ; yea, take us by the 
 hand and lead us by thy counsels, and let this 
 always abide upon us, that all things shall be 
 for the best for thy servants, and come to our 
 Mansoul and do as it pleaseth thee. O Lord, 
 come to our Mansoul; do what thou wilt, so 
 thou keepest us from sinning and makest us 
 serviceable to thy Majesty. 
 
 Then said the Prince to the town of Mansoul 
 again, " Go, return to your houses in peace. I 
 
 will willingly in this comply with your desires. 
 I will remove my royal pavilion, I will draw 
 up my forces before Eye-gate to-morrow, and 
 so will march forwards into the town of Man- 
 soul. I will possess myself of your castle of 
 Mansoul, and, will set my soldiers over you; 
 yea, I will yet do things in Mansoul that can- 
 not be paralleled in any nation, country, and 
 kingdom under heaven." 
 
 Then did the men of Mansoul give a shout, 
 and returned unto their houses in peace ; they 
 also' told to their kindred and friends the good 
 that Emmanuel had promised to Mansoul. 
 And to-morrow, said they, he will march into 
 our town and take up his dwelling, he and his 
 men, in Mansoul. 
 
 Then went out the inhabitants of the town 
 of Mansoul with haste to the green trees and 
 to the meadows to gather boughs and flowei-s, 
 wherewith to strew the streets against their 
 Prince, the Son of Shaddai, should come; 
 they also made garlands and other fine works, 
 to betoken how joyful they were and shoald 
 be to receive their Emmanuel into Mknsoul ; 
 yea, they strewed the street quite from Eye- 
 gate to the castle-gate, the place where the 
 Prince should be. They also prepared for his 
 coming what music the town of Mansoul could 
 afford, that they might play before him to the 
 palace, his habitation. 
 
 So at the time appointed he makes his ap- 
 proach to Mansoul, and the gates were set open 
 fpr him ; there also the ancients an.d elders of 
 Mansoul met him to salute him with a thou- 
 sand welcomes. Then he arose and entered 
 Mansoul, he and all his servants. The elders, 
 of Mansoul did also go dancing before him till 
 ' he came to the castli-gates. And this naa the 
 manner of his going up thither : He was clad 
 in his golden armour, he rode in his royal 
 chariot, the trumpets sounded about him, the 
 colours were displayed, his ten thousands went 
 up at his feet, and the elders of Mansoul 
 danced before him. And now were the walls 
 of the famous town of Mansoul filled with the 
 tramplings of the inhabitants thereof, who 
 went up thither to view the approach of the 
 blessed Prince and his royal army. Also the 
 casements, windows, balconies and tops of the 
 houses were all now filled with persons of all 
 sorts, to behold how their town was to be filled 
 with good. 
 
 Now, when he was come so far into the town 
 as to the recorder's house he commanded t)iat 
 one should go to Captain Credence, to know 
 whether the castle of Mansoul was prepared 
 
418 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 to entertain his Eoyal Presence, (for the prep- 
 aration of that was left to that captain ; ) and 
 word was brought that it was. Then was 
 Captain Credence commanded also to come 
 forth with his power to meet the Prince ; the 
 which was, as he had commanded, done, and 
 he conducted him into the castle. This done, 
 the Prince that 'night did lodge in the castle 
 with -his mighty captains and men of war, to 
 the joy of the town of Mansoul. 
 
 Now the next care of the townsfolk was, how 
 tlie captains and soldiers of the Prince's ,army 
 should be quartered among them ; and the care 
 was not how they should shut their hands of 
 them, but how they should fill their houses 
 with them ; for every man in Mansoul now had 
 that esteem of Emmanuel and his men that 
 nothing grieved them, more than because they 
 were not enlarged enough, every one of them, 
 to receive the whole army of the Prince ; yea, 
 they counted it their glory to be waiting upon 
 them, and would in those days run at their 
 bidding like lackeys. At last they came to 
 this result : 
 
 1. That Captain Innocency should quarter 
 at Mr. Reason's. 
 
 2. That Captain Patience should quarter at 
 Mr. Mind's. This Mr. Mind was formerly the 
 Lord Will-be-will's clerk, in time of the late 
 rebellion. 
 
 3. It was ordered that Captain Charity should 
 quarter at Mr. Affection's house. 
 
 4. That Captain Good-hope should quarter 
 at my lord mayor's. Now for the house of 
 the recorder, himself desired, because his 
 house was next to the castle, and because from 
 him it was ordered by the Prince that if need 
 be the alarm should be given to Mansoul, — it 
 was, I say, desired by him that Captain 
 Boanerges and Captain Conviction should take 
 up their quarters with him, even they and all 
 their men. 
 
 5 As for Captain Judgment and Captain 
 Execution, my Lord Will-be-will took them 
 and their men to him, because he was to rule 
 nQd3r the Prince for the good of the town of 
 Mansoul now, as he had before under the ty- 
 rant Diabolus for the hurt and damage there- 
 of. 
 
 6. And throughout the rest of the town were 
 quartered Emmanuel's forces, but Captaiii 
 Credence with his men abode still iu the castle. 
 So the Prince, his captains, and his soldiers 
 were lodged in the town of Mansoul. 
 
 Now the ancients and elders of the town of 
 Mansoul thought that they never should have 
 
 enough of the Prince Emmanuel ; his person, 
 his actions, his words, and behaviour were so 
 pleasing, so taking, so desirable to them. 
 Wherefore they prayed him that though the 
 castle of Mansoul was his place of residence, 
 (and they desired that he might dwell there 
 for ever,) yet that he would often- visit the 
 streets, houses, and people of Mansoul; for 
 said they. Dread Sovereign, thy presence, thy 
 looks, thy smiles, thy words are the life, and 
 strength, and sinews of the town of Man- 
 soul. 
 
 Besides this, they craved that they might 
 have, without difficulty or interruption, con- 
 tinual access unto him, (so for that very pur- 
 pose he commanded that the gates should 
 stand open,) that they might there se^ the 
 manner of his doings, the fortifications of the 
 place, and the royal mansion-house of the 
 Prince. 
 
 When he spake they all stopped their 
 moutlis and gave audience; and whej;i he 
 walked it was their delight to imitate him in 
 his goings. 
 
 Now, upon a time Emmanuel made a feast 
 for the town of Mansoul, and upon the feast- 
 ing-day the townsfolk were come to the castle 
 to partake of -his banquet. And he, feasted 
 them with all manner of outlandish food — food 
 that grew not in the fields of Mansoul aor in 
 all the whole kingdom of Universe. It was 
 food that came from his Father's court. And 
 so there was, dish after dish set before them, 
 and they were commanded freely to eat. But 
 still, when a fresh dish was- set before them, 
 they would whisperingly say to each other. 
 What is it? for they wist not what to call it. 
 They drank also of the water that was made 
 wine, and were very merry with him. There 
 was music also, all the while at the table, and 
 mau did eat angel's food, and had honey given 
 him out of the rock. So Mansoul did eat the 
 food that was peculiar to the court ; yea, they 
 had now thereof to the full. 
 
 I must not forget to tell you that as at this 
 table there were musicians, so they were not 
 those of the country nor yet of the town of. 
 Mansoul ; but they were the masters of the 
 songs that were sung at the court of Shaddai. 
 
 Now, after the feast was over Emmanuel was 
 for entertaining ^he town of Mansoul with 
 some curious riddles of secrets drawn up by 
 his Father's secretary, by the skill and wisdom 
 of Shaddai : the like to these there is not in 
 any kingdom. These riddles were made upon 
 the King Shaddai himself,' and upon Em- 
 
THE HOLY WAR. 
 
 419 
 
 ninniipl his Son, and upon his wars and doings 
 with Mansoul. 
 
 Einnianuel also expounded unto the.m some 
 of tho^e riddles himself; but oh how they 
 were lightened! They saw what they never 
 Buw ; they could not have thought that such 
 rarities could have been couched in so few and 
 Bi.;ch ordinary words. I told you before whom 
 these riddles did concern, and as they were 
 opened the people did evidently see it was so. 
 Yea, they did gather that the things themselves 
 were a kind of portraiture, and that of Em- 
 manael himself; for when they read in the 
 Bcheme wliere the riddles were writ, and looked 
 in the face of the Prince, things looked so like 
 the one to the other that Mansoul could not 
 forbear but say, " This is the Lamb ; this is 
 the sacrifice ; this is the rock; this is'the red 
 cow ; this is the door ; and this is the way ; " 
 with a great many other things more. 
 
 And thus he dismissed the town of Man- 
 soul. But can you imagine how the people of 
 the corporation were taken with this enter-, 
 tainment? Oh, they were transported with 
 joy, they were drowned with wonderment, 
 while they saw, and understood, and considered 
 wliat their Emmanuel entertained them withal, 
 and what mysteries he opened to them; and 
 wlien they were at home in their houses, and in 
 tlieir most retired places, they could not but 
 sing of him and of his actions. Yea, so taken 
 were the townsmen now with their Prince that 
 they would sing of him in their sleep. 
 
 Now, it was in the heart of Prince Emmanuel 
 U) new-model the town of Mansoul, and to put 
 it into such a condition as might be more 
 pleasing to him, and that might best stand 
 with the profit and security of the now flour- 
 ishing town of Mansoul. He provided also 
 against insurrections at home and invasions 
 from abroad, such love had he for the famous 
 town of Mansoul. 
 
 Whrrefore he first of all commanded that 
 the great slings that were brought from his 
 Fatiier's court when he came to the war of 
 Mansoul should be mounted, some upon the 
 battlements of the castle, some upon the 
 towers, for there were towers in the town of 
 Mansoul — towers new built by Emmanuel since 
 he came thither. There was also an instru- 
 ment invented by Emmanuel that was to throw 
 stones from the castle of JIansoul out at Mouth- 
 gate ; an instrument that could not be resisted, 
 nor that would miss of execution ; wherefore; 
 for the wonderful exploits that it did when 
 used, it ^\ent without a name, and it was com- 
 
 mitted to the care of and to be managed by 
 that brave captain, the Captain Credence, in 
 case of war. 
 
 This done, Emmanuel called the Lord AVill- 
 be-will to him, and gave him in commandment 
 to take care of the gates, the wall and towers 
 in Mansoul ; also the Prince gave him the 
 militia into his hand, and a special charge to 
 withstand all insurrections and tumults that 
 might be made in Mansoul against the peace 
 of our Lord the King and the peace and tran- 
 quillity of the town of Mansoul. He also 
 gave him in commission that if he found any 
 of the Diabolonians lurking in any corner of 
 the famous town of Mansoul, he should forth- 
 with apprehend them, and stay them or com- 
 mit them to safe custody, that they might be 
 proceeded against according to law. 
 
 Then he called unto him the Lord Under- 
 standing, who was the old lord mayor, he that 
 was put out of place when Diabolus took the 
 town, and put him into his former oflice again ; 
 and it became his place for his lifetime. He 
 bid him also that he should build him a palace 
 near Eye-gate, and thajt he should build it in 
 fashion like a tower for defence. He bid him 
 also that he should read in the revelation of 
 mysteries all the days of his life, that he might 
 know how to perform his .oflice aright. 
 
 He also made Mr. Knowledge the recordei , 
 not of contempt to old Mr. Conscience, who 
 had been recorder before, but for that it was in 
 his princely mind to confer upon Mr. Con- 
 science another employ, of which he told the 
 old gentleman he should know more hereafter. 
 
 Then he commanded that the image of Diab- 
 olus should be taken down from the place 
 where it was set up, and that they should de- 
 stroy it utterly, beating ef it into powder and 
 casting it into the wind without the town wall ; 
 and that the image of Shaddai his Father 
 should be set up again, with his own, upon the 
 castle-gates; and that it should be more fairly 
 drawn than ever, forasmuch as both his Father 
 and himself were come to Mansoul in mere 
 grace and mercy than heretofore. He would 
 also that his name should be fairly engraven 
 upon the front of the town, and that it should 
 be done in the best of gold, for the honour of 
 the town of Mansoul. 
 
 After this was done Emmanuel gave out a 
 commandment that those three great Diabolo- 
 nians should be apprehended — namely, the two 
 late lord mayors, to wit, Mr. Incredulity, Mr. 
 Lustings, and Mr. Forget-good, the recorde- 
 Besides these, there were some of them that 
 
420 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Diabolus made burgesses and aldermen in tlie 
 town of Mansoul that were committed to ward 
 by the hand of the now valiant and now right 
 noble, the brave Lord Will-be-will. 
 
 And these were their names: Alderman 
 Atheism, Alderman Hard-heart, and Alder- 
 man False-peace; the burgesses were, Mr. No- 
 truth, Mr. Pitiless, Mr. Haughty, with the 
 like. These were'committed to close custody ; 
 and the jailer's name was Mr. True-man : this 
 True-ni.nii was one of those that Emmanuel 
 brought with him from , his Father's court 
 when at the first he made a war upon Diabolus 
 ill the town of Mansoul. 
 
 After this the Prince gave a charge that the 
 three strongholds that at the command of Diab- 
 olus the Diabolonians had built in Mansoul 
 should be demolished and utterly pulled down ; 
 of which holds and their names, with their cap- 
 tains and governors, you read a little before. 
 But this was long in doing, because of the 
 largeness of the places, and because the stones, 
 the timber, the iron, and all rubbish were to be 
 carried without the town. 
 , When this was done the Prince gave order 
 that tlie lord mayor and aldermen of Mansoul 
 should call a court of judicature for the trial 
 and execution of the Diabolonians in the cor- 
 poration, now under the charge of Mr. True- 
 man tlie jailer. 
 
 Nmv when the time was come and the court 
 set, commandment was sent to Mr. True-man 
 the jailer to bring the prisoners down to the 
 bar. Then were the prisoners brought down 
 pinioned and chained together, as the custom 
 of the town of Mansoul was. So, when they 
 were presented before the lord mayor, the re- 
 corder, and t\\e rest of the honourable bench, 
 first the jury was empannelled and then the 
 witnesses sworn. The names of the jury were 
 these : Mr. Belief, IMr. True-heart, Mr. Upright, 
 Mr. H:ite-bad, Mr. Love-good, Mr. See-truth, 
 Mr. Heavenly-mind, Mr. Moderate, Mr. Thanls;- 
 ful, Mr. Good-work, Mr. Zeal -for-God, and Mr. 
 Humble. 
 
 The names of the witnesses were Mr. Know- 
 jrll. Mr. Tell-true, Mr. Hate-lies, with my Lord 
 Will-be-will and his man, if need were. 
 
 So the prisoners were sot to the bar. Then 
 said Mr. Do-right, {for he was the town-clerk,) 
 Set Atheism to the bar, jailer. So he was set 
 to the bar. Then said the clerk, Atheism, 
 hold up .thy hand. Thou art here indicted by 
 the name of Atheism, (an intruder upon the 
 town of Mansoul,) for that thou hast perui- 
 siouslj and doltishly taught and maintained 
 
 that there is no God, and so no heed to be 
 taken to religion. This thou hast done against 
 the being, honour, and glory of the King, and 
 against the peace and safety of the town of 
 Mansoul. What say est thou ? — art thou guilty 
 of this indictment or not? 
 
 Atheism. Not guilty. 
 
 Crier. Call Mr. Know-all, Mr. Tell-true, and 
 Mr. Hate-lies into the court. 
 
 So they were called, and they appeared. 
 
 Then said the clerk, You, the witnesses fox 
 the King, look ujion the prisoner at thp bat; 
 do you know him? 
 
 Then said Mr. Know-all, Yes, my lord, we 
 know him ; his name is Atheism : he has been 
 a very pestilent fellow for many years in the 
 miserable town of Mansoul; 
 
 Clerk. You are sure you know him ? 
 
 Know-all. Know him? Yes, my lord: I 
 have heretofore too often been in his company 
 to be at this time ignorant of him. He is a 
 Diabolonian, the son of a Diabolonian: I knew 
 his grandfather and his father. 
 
 Clerk. Well said; he standeth here indicted 
 by the name of Atheism, &c., and is charged 
 that he hath maintained and taught that there 
 is no God, and so no heed need be taken to >any 
 religion. What say you, the King's witnesses, 
 to this ? Is he guilty or not? 
 
 Know-all. My lord, I stnd he were once in 
 Villain's-lane together, and he at that time 
 did briskly talk of divers opinions, and then 
 and there I heard him say that for his part he 
 did believe that there was no God. But, said 
 he, I can profess one, and be religious too, if 
 the company I am in and the circumstances 
 of other things, said he, shall put me upon it. 
 
 Clerk. You are sure you heard him say thus? 
 
 Know-all. Upoij mine oath I heard him say 
 thus. 
 
 Then said the clerk, Mr. Tell-true, what say 
 you to the King's judges touching the prisoner 
 at the bar ? ' 
 
 Tell-true. My lord, I formerly was a great 
 companion of his, (for the which I now repent 
 me,) and I have often heard him say, arid that 
 with very great stomachfulnesa, that he be- 
 lieved there was neither God, angel, nor spirit. 
 Clerk. Where did you hear him say so ? 
 Tell-true. In Blackmouth-lane and in Blas- 
 phemer's-row, and in many other places be- 
 sides. 
 
 Clerk. Have you much knowledge of him? 
 Tell-true. I know him to be a Diabolonian, 
 the son of a Diabolonian, and an, horrible man 
 to deny a Deity ; his father's name was Nevet- 
 
THp HOLY WAR. 
 
 421 
 
 be-g(iod, and he had more children than this 
 Atheism. I have no more to say. 
 
 Clerk. Mr. Hate-lies, look upon the prisoner 
 at the bar ; do you know him ? 
 
 Hate-lies. My lord, this Atheism is one of 
 the "'ile.st wretches that ever I came near or 
 had to do with in my life. I have heard him 
 say til at there is no God; I have heard him 
 say that there is no world to come, no sin, nor 
 punishment hereafter; and, moreover, I have 
 heard him say that it was as good to go to a 
 whore-house as to hear a sermon. 
 
 Clerk. WheJe did you hear him say these 
 things ? 
 
 Hate-liei. In Drunkard's-row, just at Rascal- 
 lane's end, at a house in which Mr. Impiety 
 lived. 
 
 Clerk. Set him by, jailer, and set Mr. Lust- 
 ings to the bar. Mr. Lustings, thou art here 
 indicted by the name of Lustings, (an intruder 
 upon the town of Mansoul,) for that thou hast 
 devilishly and traitorously taught by practice 
 and filthy words that it is lawful and profitable 
 to man to give way to his carnal desires; and 
 that thou, for thy part, hast not, nor never will, 
 deny thyself of any sinful delight as long as 
 thy name is Lustings. How sayest thou ? — art 
 thou guilty of this indictment or not ? 
 
 Then said Mr. Lustings, My lord, I am a 
 man of high birth, and have been used to 
 pleasures and pastimes of greatness. I have 
 not been wont to be snubbed for my doings, 
 but have been left to follow my will as if it 
 were law. And it seems strange to me that I 
 should this day be called into question for that 
 which not only I, but also all men, do either 
 secretly or openly countenance, love, and ap- 
 prove of. 
 
 Clerk. Sir, we concern not ourselves with 
 your greatness, though the higher the better 
 you should have been ; but we are concerned, 
 and so are you now, about an indictment pre- 
 ferred against you. How say you? — are you 
 guilty of it or not? 
 
 LusHngs. Not guilty. 
 
 Cltrk. Crier, call upon the witnesses to 
 stand forth and give their evidence. 
 
 Crier. Gentlemen, you the witnesses for the 
 King, come,in and give in your evidence for 
 our Lord the King against the prisoner at the 
 bar. 
 
 Clerk. Come, Mr. Know-all, look upon the 
 prisoner at the bar ; do you know him? 
 
 Know-all. Yes, my lord, I know him. 
 
 Clerk. What is his name ? 
 
 Know-all. His name is Lustings : he was the 
 
 son of one Beastly, and his mother bare him 
 in Flesh-street; she was one Evil-concupis- 
 cence's daughter. I knew all the generation 
 of them. 
 
 Clerk. Well said I You have here heard 
 his indictment: what say you to it? — is he 
 guilty of the things charged against him 6i 
 not? 
 
 Know-all. My lord, he has, as he saith^ 
 been a great man indeed, and a greater in 
 wickedness than by pedigree, more than a 
 thousand-fold. 
 
 Clerk. But what do you know of his partic- 
 ular actions, and especially with reference to 
 this indictment? 
 
 Know-all. I know him to be a swearer, a 
 liar, a sabbath-breaker; I know him to be 
 a fornicator and an unclean person ; I know 
 him to be guilty of abundance' of evils. He 
 has been to my knowledge a very filthy man. 
 
 Clerk. But where did he use to commit his 
 wickedness — in some private corners, or more 
 open and shamelessly? 
 
 Krww-all. All the town over, my lord. 
 
 Clerk. Come, Mr. Tell-true, what have you 
 to say for our Lord the King against the pris- 
 oner at the bar ? 
 
 Tell-true. My lord, all that the first witness 
 has said I know to be true, and a great deal 
 more besides. 
 
 Clerk. Mr. Lustings, do you hear what these 
 gentlemen say ? 
 
 Lustings. I was ever of opinion that the 
 happiest life that a man could live on earth 
 was to keep himself back from nothing that 
 he desired in the world ; nor have I been 
 false at any time to this opinion of mine, 
 but have lived in the love of my notions 
 all my days. Nor was I ever so churlish, 
 having found such sweetness in them myself, 
 as to keep the commendations of them from 
 others. 
 
 Then said the court, There hath proceeded 
 enough from his own mouth to lay him open 
 to condemnation; wherefore set him by, jailor, 
 and set Mr. Incredulity to the bar. 
 
 Then was Incredulity set to the bar. 
 
 Ckrk. Mr. Incredulity, thou art here in- 
 dicted by the name of Incredulity, (an in- 
 truder upon the town of Mansoul,) for that 
 thou hast feloniously and wickedly, and that 
 when thou wert an oflicer in the town of 
 Mansoul, made head against the captains of 
 the great King Shaddai when they came and 
 demanded possession of Mansoul; yea, thou 
 didst bid defiance to the name, forces, and 
 
422 
 
 SUNT AN' S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Rause of the King, and didst also, as did 
 Diabolus thy captain, stir up and encourage the 
 town of Mansoul to malcehead against and resist 
 the said force of the King. What sayest thou 
 to this indictment? — art thou guilty or not? 
 
 Then said Incredulity, I know not Sliaddai: 
 I love my old prince; I thought it my duty to 
 be true to my trust, and to do what I could to 
 possess the minds of the men of Mansoul to 
 do their utmost to resist strangers and foreign- 
 ers, and with might to fight against them. 
 !Nor have I, nor shall I, change my opinion 
 for fear of trouble, though you at present are 
 possessed of place and power. 
 
 Then said the court: The man, as you see, 
 is incorrigible; he is for maintaining his vil- 
 lainies by stoutness of words and his rebellion 
 with impudent confidence ; and therefore set 
 him by, jailer, and set Mr. Forget-good to the 
 bar. 
 
 Forget-good was then set to the bar. 
 
 Clerk. Mr. Forget-good, thou art here in- 
 dicted by the name of Forget-good, (an in- 
 truder upon the town of Mansoul,) for that 
 thou, when the whole affairs of the town of 
 Mansoul were in thy hand, didst utterly for- 
 get to serve them in what was good, and didst 
 fall in with the tyrant Diabolus against Sliad- 
 dai the King, against his captains, and all his 
 host, to the dishonour of Shaddai, the breach 
 of his law, and the endangering of the destruc- 
 tion of the famous town of Mansoul. What 
 sayest thou to this indictment? — aft thou 
 guilty or not guilty? 
 
 Then said Forget-good, Gentlemen, and at 
 this time my judges, as to the indictment by 
 which I stand of several crimes accused before 
 you, pray attribute my forgetfulness to mine 
 age, and not to my wilfulness ; to the- crazi- 
 ness of my brain, and not to the carelessness 
 of my mind ; and then 1 hope I may, by your 
 charity, be excused from great punishment, 
 though I be guilty. 
 
 Then said the court, Forget-good, Forget- 
 good, thy forgetfulness of good was not sim- 
 ply ( f frailty, but of purpose, and for that 
 thou didst loth to keep virtuous things in 
 thy mind. What was bad thou couldst re- 
 tain, but what was good thou couldst not 
 abide to think of; thy age therefore, and thy., 
 pretended craziness, thou makest use of to 
 blind the court withal, and as a cloak to cover 
 thy knavery. But let Us hear what the wit- 
 nesses have to say for the King against the 
 prisoner at the bar. Is he guilty of this in- 
 dictment or not ? 
 
 Hate-lies. My lord, I have heard this For- 
 get-good say that he could never abide to 
 think of goodness, no not for a quarter of an 
 hour. 
 
 Cleric. Where did you hear him say so? 
 
 Hate-lies. In All-base-lane, at a house next 
 door to the sign of the Conscience-seared-with- 
 an-hot-iron. 
 
 Clerk. Mr. Know-all, what can you say foi 
 our Lord the King against the prisoner at the 
 bar? 
 
 Know-all. My lord, I know this man well: 
 he is a Diabolonian, the son of a Diabolonian ; 
 his father's name was Love-naught; and for 
 him, I have often lieard him say that he 
 counted the very thoughts of goodness the 
 most burdensome thing in the world. 
 
 Clerk. Where have you heard him say these 
 words ? 
 
 Know-all. In Flesh-lane, right opposite the 
 church. 
 
 Then said the clerk. Come, Mr._ Tell-true, 
 give in your evidence concerning the prisoner 
 at the bar, about that for which he stands here, 
 as you see, indicted before this honourable 
 court. 
 
 Tell-true. My lord, I have heard him often 
 say he had rather think of. the vilest thing 
 than of what is contained in the holy Scrip- 
 tures. 
 
 Clerk. Where did you hear him say such 
 grievous words? 
 
 Tell-true. Where? In a great many places; 
 particularly in Nauseous-street, in theJiouse 
 of one Shameless, and in Filth-laiie, at the 
 sign of the Reprobate, next door to the De- 
 scent-into-the-pit. 
 
 Court. Gentlemen, you have heard the in- 
 dictment, his plea, and the testimony of the 
 witnesses. Jailer, set Mr. Hard-heart to the 
 bar. 
 
 Hard-heart was then set to the bar. 
 
 Clerk. Mr. Hard-heart, thou art here in- 
 dicted by the name of Hard-heart, (an in- 
 truder upon the town of Blansoul,-) .or I hat 
 thou didst most desperately and wickedly pos- 
 sess the town of Mansoul with impenitency 
 and obdurateuess, and didst keep them from 
 remorse and sorrow for their evilsy all' the time 
 of their apostacy from and rebellion against 
 the blessed King Shaddai. What sayest thou 
 to this indictment? — art thou guilty or not 
 guilty? 
 
 Hard-heart. My lord, I never knew what re- 
 morse or sorrow meant in all my life : I am im- 
 penetrable; I care for no man, nor can I be 
 
THE HOLY WAR. 
 
 423 
 
 pierced with men's grief; their groans will 
 not enter into my heart; whomsoever I mis- 
 chief, whomsoever I wrong, to me it is music 
 when to others mourning. 
 
 Court. You see the miin is a right Diaholo- 
 nian, and has convicted himself. Set him by, 
 jailer, and set ]Mr. False-peace to the bar. 
 
 Then was False-peace set to the bar. 
 
 Court. Jlr. False-peace, thou art here in- 
 r llcted by the name of False-peace, (an intruder 
 upon the town of Mansoul,) for that thou didst 
 most wickedly apd satanically bring, hold, 
 and keep the town of Mansoul, both in her 
 apostacy and in her hellish rebellion, in a false, 
 groundless, and dangerous peace and damnable 
 security, to the dishonour of the King, the 
 transgression of his law, and the great damage 
 of the town of Mansoul. What sayesi thou? 
 — ^art thou guilty of this indictment or not? 
 
 Then said Mr. False-peace, Gentlemen, and 
 you now appointed to be my judges, I acknow- 
 ledge that my name is Mr. Peace, but that my 
 name is False-peace I utterly deny. If your 
 honours should please to seiid for any that do 
 intimately know me, or for the midwife that 
 laid my mother of me, or for the gossips that 
 were at my christening, they will any or all of 
 them prove that my name is not False-peace, 
 bnt Peace. Wherefore, I cannot plead to this 
 indictment, forasmuch as my name is not in- 
 serted therein; and as is my true name, so 
 also are my conditions, I was always a man 
 that loved to live at quiet, and what I loved 
 myself, that I thought others might love also. 
 Wherefore, when I saw anj of my neighbours 
 to labour under a disquieted mind, I endeav- 
 oured to help them what I could; and in- 
 stances of this good temper of mine many I 
 could give. As, 
 
 1. \V'hen at the beginning our town of Man- 
 soul did decline the ways of Shaddai, some of 
 them afterwards began to have disquieting re- 
 flections upon themselves for what they had 
 done; but I, as one troubled to see them dis- 
 quieted, presently sought out means to get 
 them quiet again. 
 
 2. When the ways of the old world and of 
 Sodom were in fashion, if any thing happened 
 to molest those that were for the customs of 
 the present times, I laboured to make them 
 quiet again and to cause them to act without 
 molestation. 
 
 3. To come nearer home: When the wars 
 fell out between Shaddai and Diabolus, if at 
 any time 1 saw any of the town of Mansoul 
 afraid of destruction, I often used by some 
 
 way, device, invention, or other to labour to 
 bring them to peace again. 
 
 Wherefore, since I have been always the 
 man of so virtuous a temper, as some say a 
 peace-maker is, and if a peace-maker be so de- 
 serving a man as some have been bold to attest 
 he is, then let me, gentlemen, be accounted by 
 you, who have a great name for justice and 
 equity in Mansoul, for a man that deserveth 
 not this inhuman way of treatment, but liberty, 
 and also a license to seek damage of those that 
 have been my accusers. 
 
 Then said the clerk. Crier, make proclama- 
 tion. 
 
 Crier. "Oh yes: Forasmuch as the prisoner 
 at the bar hath denied his name to be that 
 which is mentioned in the indictment, the 
 court requireth that if any there be in thia 
 place that can give information to the court 
 of the original and right name of the prisoner, 
 they would come forth and give in their evi- 
 dence; for the prisoner stands upon his own 
 innocence." 
 
 Then came two into the court and desired 
 that they might have leave to speak what 
 they knew concerning the prisoner at the bar; 
 the name of the one was Search-truth, and 
 the name of the other Vouch-truth. So the 
 court demanded of these men if they knewj 
 the prisoner, and what they could say concern- 
 ing him ; for he stands, said they, upon his own 
 vindication. 
 
 Then said Mr. Search-truth, My lord, I— 
 
 Court. Hold ! give him his oath. Then they 
 sware him. So he proceeded. 
 
 Search-truth. My lord, I know and have 
 known this man from a child, and can attest 
 that his name is False-peace. I knew hia 
 father: his name was Mr. Flatterer, and his 
 mother before she was married was called by 
 the name of Mrs. Sooth-up, and these two, 
 when they came together, lived not long with- 
 out this son ; and when he was born they 
 called his name Fal^e-peace. I was his play-, 
 fellow, only I was somewhat older than he; 
 and when his mother did use tocall him home 
 from play, she used to say, "False-peace, False- 
 peace, come home quick, or I'll fetch you." 
 Yea, I knew him when he sucked ; and though 
 I was then but little, yet I can remember that 
 when his mother did use to sit at the door 
 with him, or did play with him in her arms, 
 she would call him twenty -times together, 
 " My little False-peace, my pretty False-peace, 
 and oh my sw^eet rogue. False-peace;" and 
 again, "Oh my little bird, False-peace; and 
 
424 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 how do I love my child !" The gossips also 
 know it is thus, though he has the face to 
 deny it in open court. 
 
 Then Mr. Vouch-truth was called upon to 
 speak what he knew of him. So they sware 
 him. 
 
 Then said Mr. Youch-truth, My lord, all 
 that tlie former witness hath said is true; his 
 name is False-peace, the son of Mr. Flatterer 
 ani of Mrs. Sooth-up his mother. And I have 
 in former times seen him' angry with those who 
 have called him anything else but False-peace ; 
 for he would say that all such did mock and 
 nickname him ; but this was in the time when 
 Mr. False-peace was a great man, and when 
 the Diabolonians were the brave men in Man- 
 soul. 
 
 Court. Gentlemen, you have heard what 
 these two men have sworn against the prisoner 
 at the bar ; and now, Mr. Fals^-peace, to you. 
 You have denied your name to be False-peace, 
 yet you see that these honest men have sworn 
 that tills is your name. As to your plea, in 
 that you are quite beside the matter of your 
 indictment ; you are not by it charged for evil- 
 doing because you are a man of peace or a 
 peacemaker among your neighbours, but for 
 that you did wickedly, satanically, bring, keep, 
 and hold the town of Mansoul, both under its 
 apostacy from and in its rebellion against its. 
 King, in a false, lying, and damnable peace, 
 contrary to the law of Shaddai, and likewise 
 to the hazard of the destruction of the then 
 miserable town of Mansoul. All that you 
 have pleaded for yourself is that you have de- 
 nied your name, &c., but here you see we have 
 witnesses to prove that you are the man. 
 
 For the peace that you so much boast of 
 making among your neighbours, know that 
 the peace that is not a companion of truth and 
 holiness, but which is without this foundation, 
 is grounded' upon a lie, and is both deceitful 
 and damnable ; as also the great Shaddai hath 
 gaid; thy plea therefore has not delivered thee 
 from what by the indictment-thou art charged 
 with, but rather it doth fasten all upon thee. 
 
 But thou shalt have very fair play : let us 
 call the witnesses that are to testify as to mat- 
 ter of fact, and see what they have to say for 
 our Lord the JCing against the prisoner at the 
 bar. 
 
 Clerk. Mr. Know-all, what say you for our 
 Lord the King against the prisoner at the 
 bar? 
 
 Know-all. My lord, this man hath of a long 
 time made it, to my knowledge, his business to 
 
 keep the town of Mansoul in a sinful quiet nesJ 
 in the midst of all, her lewdness, filthiness, ana 
 turmoils ; and hath said, and that in my hear- 
 ing. Come, come, let us fly from all trouble, on 
 what ground soever it comes, and let us be for 
 a quiet and peaceable life, though it'Tianteth a 
 good foundation. 
 
 Clerk. Come, Mr. Hate-lies, what hare yoa 
 to say? 
 
 Hate-lies. My lord, I have heard him say 
 that peace, though in a way of unrighteous- 
 ness, is better than trouble with truth. 
 
 Clerk. Where did you hear him say this? 
 
 Eate-lies. I heard him say it in Folly-yard^ 
 at the house of one Mr. Simple, next door to 
 the sign of the Self-deceiver. Yea, he hath 
 said this to my knowledge twenty times in that • 
 place. 
 
 Clerk. We may spare further witness; this 
 evidence is plain and full. Set him by, .Jailer, 
 and set Mr. No-truth to the hair. 
 
 Mr. No-truth, thou art here indicted by ther 
 name of No-truth, (an intruder upon the town 
 of Mansoul,) for that thou hast always, to the 
 dishonour of Shaddai and to the endangering 
 of the utter ruin of the famous town of Man- 
 soul, set thyself to deface and utterly to spoil 
 all the remainders of the law and image of 
 Shaddai that have been found in Mansoul after 
 her deep apostacy from her King to Diabolus, 
 that envious tyrant. What sayest thou? — art 
 thou guilty of this indictment or not? 
 
 No-truth. Not guilty, my lord. 
 
 Then the witnesses were called, and Mr. 
 Know-all did first give in his evidence against 
 him. 
 
 Know-all. My lord; this man was at the pull- 
 ing down of the image of Shaddai ; yea, this is 
 he that did it with his own hands. I myself 
 stood by and saw him do it, and he did it at 
 the commandment of Diabolus. Yea, this Mr. 
 No-truth did more than this : he did also set 
 up the horned image of the beast Diabolus in 
 the same place. This also is he that at the bid- 
 ding of Diabolus did rend and tear, and cause 
 to be consumed, all that he could of the re- 
 mainders of tlie law of the King, even what- 
 ever he could lay his hands on in Mansoul. 
 
 Clerk. Who saw him do this besides your- 
 self? 
 
 Hate-lies. I did, my lord, and so did many 
 others besides ; for this was 'not done by 
 stealth or in a corner, but in the open view 
 of all ; yea, he chose himself to do it publicly, 
 for he delighted in doing it. 
 
 Clerk. Mr. No-truth, how could you havfl 
 
THE HOLY WAR. 
 
 425 
 
 tlic face to plead i.ot guilty ■when you were so 
 nijiiiifestly the doer of all this wickedness? 
 
 N(i-trulh. Sir, I thought I must say some- 
 thing, and as my name is so I speak ; I have 
 bt" n advantaged thereby before now, and did 
 not know but by speaking no truth I might 
 have reaped the same benefit now. 
 
 Cli:rk. Set him by, jailer, and set Mr. Piti- 
 less to the bar. Mr. Pitiless, thou art here in- 
 dicted by the name of Pitiless, (an intruder 
 upon the town of Mansoul,) for that thou didst 
 most traitorously and wickedly shut up all 
 bowels of compassion, and wouldst not suffer 
 poor JIansoul to condole her own misery when 
 she had apostatized from her rightful King, 
 but didst evade and at all times turn her mind 
 away from those thoughts that had in them a 
 tendency to lead her to repentance.* What 
 sayest thou to this indictment? — guilty or not 
 ■guilty? ' 
 
 I'itiless. Not guilty of pitilessness. All I 
 did was to cheer up, according to my name, 
 for my name is not Pitiless, but Cheer-up ; and 
 I could not abide to see Mansoul incline to 
 melancholy. 
 
 CkrL How 1 Do you deny your name, and 
 say it is n,ot Pitiless, but Cheer-up ? Call for 
 the witnesses ; what say you, the witnesses, to 
 this plea? 
 
 Know-all. My lord, his name is Pitiless ; so 
 he hath writ himself in all papers of concern 
 wherein he has had to do. But these Diab- 
 olonians love to counterfeit their names: Mr. 
 Covetousness covers himself with the name of 
 Good-husbandry, or the like; Mr. Pride can, 
 when need, call himself Mr. Neat, Mr. Hand- 
 some, or the like, and so of all the rest of 
 them. 
 
 Clerk. Mr. Tell-true, what say you ? 
 Tcll-lriie. His name is Pitiless, my lord; I 
 have known him from a child, and he hath done ■ 
 all that wickedness where^\ ith he stands charg- 
 ed in the indictment; but there is a company 
 of them that are not .acquainted with tlie 
 danger of damning, therefore they call all 
 those melancholy that have serious thoughts 
 how that. state should be shunned by them. 
 
 Clerk. Set Mr. Haughty to the bar, jailer. 
 Mr. Haughty, thou art here indicted by the 
 name of Haughty, (an intruder upon the town 
 of Mansoul,) for that thou didst most traitor- 
 ously and devilishly teach the town of Mansoul 
 to carry it loftily and stoutly against the sum- 
 monses that were given them by the captains 
 of the King Shaddai. Thou didst also teach 
 the town of Mansoul to speak contemptuously 
 
 and vilifyingly of their great King Shaddai; 
 and didst moreover encourage, both by words 
 and examples Mansoul to take up arms both 
 against the King and his Son Emmanuel. 
 How sayest thou? — art thou guilty of this in- 
 dictment or not? 
 
 Haugfiiy. Gentlemen, I have always been a 
 man of courage and valour, and have not used, 
 when under the greatest clouds, to sneak o: 
 hang down the head like a bullrush ; nor did 
 it please me at all at any time to see men \ eil 
 their bonnets to those that have opposed them ; 
 yea, though their adversaries seemed to have 
 ten times the advantage of them. 
 
 I did not use to consider who was my foe, 
 nor what the cause was in which I was engaged. 
 It was enough to me if I carried it bravely, 
 fought like a man, and came off a victor. 
 
 Conrl. Mr. Haughty, you are not here in- 
 dicted for that you have been a valiant man, 
 nor for your courage and stoutness in times of 
 distress, but for that you have made use of this 
 your pretended valour^ to draw the town of 
 Mansoul into acts of rebellion both against the 
 great King and Emmanuel his Son. This is 
 the crime and the thing wherewith thou art 
 charged in and by the indictment. 
 
 But he made no answer to that. 
 
 Now when the court had thus far proceeded 
 against the prisoners at the bar, then they put 
 them over to the verdict of their j.ury, to whom 
 they did apply themselves after this manner. 
 
 Court. Gentlemen of the jury, you have been 
 here, and have seen these men ; you have heard 
 their indictments, their pleas, and what the 
 witnesses have testified against them. Now 
 what remains is, that you do forthwith with- 
 draw yourselves to some place, where, without 
 confusion, you may consider of what verdict, 
 in a way of truth and righteousness, you ought 
 to bring in for the King against them, and 
 bring it in accordingly. 
 
 Then the jury— to wit, Mr. Belief, Mr. Tiue- 
 heart, Mr. Upright, Mr. Hate-bad, Mr. lio've- 
 good, Mr. See-truth, Mr. Heavenly-mind, Mr. 
 Moderate, Mf. Thankful, Mr. Humble, JMr. 
 Good- work, and Mr. Zeal-for-God — withdrew 
 themselves in order to their work. Now when 
 they were shut up by themselves, they fell to 
 discourse among themselves in order to the 
 drawing up of their verdict. 
 
 And thus Mr. Belief (for he was the fore- 
 man) began; "Gentlemen,'' quoth he, "for' 
 the men, the prisoners at the bar, for my part 
 I believe they all deserve death." "Very 
 right,'' said Mr. True-heart; "I am wholly of 
 
126 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 your opinion." " Qh -what a mercy is it," said 
 Mr. Hate-bad, " that such villains as these are 
 apprehended !" " Ay, ay," said Mr. Love-good ; 
 " this is one of the joyfullest days that ever I 
 saw in my life." Then said Mr. See-truth, " I 
 know that if we judge them to death, our ver- 
 dict shall stand before Shaddai himself." " Nor 
 do I at all question it," said Mr. Heavenly- 
 mind; he said moreover, "When all sucfti 
 beasts as these are cast out of Mansoul, what a 
 goodly town will it be then !" Then said Mr. 
 Moderate, "It is not my manner to pass my 
 judgment with rashness ; but for these, their 
 crimes are so notorious and the witness so 
 palpable that that inan must be wilfully blind 
 who saith the prisoners ought not to die." 
 "Blessed be God," said Mr. Thankful, "that 
 the traitors are in safe custody !" " And I join 
 with you in this upon my bare knees," said 
 Mr. Humble. "I am glad also," said Mr. 
 Good-work. Then said the warm man and 
 true-hearted Mr. Zeal-for-God, " Cut them off; 
 they have been the plague and have sought 
 the destruction of Mansoul." 
 
 Thus therefore being all agreed in their ver- 
 dict, they came instantly into the court. 
 
 C/erk. Gentlemen of the jury, answer all to 
 your names. Mr. Belief, one ; Mr. True-heart, 
 two; Mr. Upright, three ; Mr. Hate-bad, four ; 
 Sir. Love-good, five ; Mr. See-truth, six ; Mr. 
 Heavenly-mind, ^even; Mr. Moderate, eight; 
 Mr. Thankful, nine; Mr. Humble, ten; Mr. 
 Good-work, eleven ; and Mr. Zeal-for-God, 
 twelve. Good men and true, stand together in 
 your verdict. Are you all agreed? 
 
 Jury. Yes, my lord. 
 
 Clerk. Who shall speak for you? 
 
 Jury. Our foreman. 
 
 Clerk. You, the gentlemen of the jury, being 
 empannelled for our Lord and King, to serve 
 here in a matter of life and death, have heard 
 the trials of each of these men, the prisoners 
 at the bar : what say you ? — are they guilty of 
 that and those crimes for which they stand 
 here indicted, or are they not guilty? 
 
 Foreman. Guilty, my lord. 
 
 Clerk, Look to your prisoners, jailer. 
 
 This was done in the morning, and in the 
 afternoon they received the sentence of death 
 according to the law. 
 
 The jailer, therefore, having received such 
 a charge, put therh all in the inward prison, 
 to preserve them there till the day of execu- 
 tion, which was to be the next day in the 
 morning. 
 
 But now to see how it happened: one of 
 
 the prisoners. Incredulity by name, in the 
 interim betwixt the senttnce and the day 
 of^execution brake prison and made hig 
 escape, and gets him away quite out of the 
 town of Mansoul, and lay lurking in such 
 places and holds as he might, until he should 
 again have opportunity to do the town of 
 Mansoul a mischief for their thus handling 
 of him as they did. 
 
 Now when Mr. True-man, the jailer, per- 
 ceived that he had lost, his prisoner he was in 
 a heavy taking, because that prisoner we 
 speak of, he was the very worst of the whole 
 , gang ; wherefore first he goes and acquaints 
 my lord mayor, Mr; Recorder, and my Lord 
 Will-be-will with the matter, and to get of 
 them an order to make search for him 
 throughout the town of Mansoul. S0 an 
 order he got and search was^ made, but no 
 such man could now be found in all the town 
 of Mansoul. 
 
 All that could be gathered was, that he had 
 lurked awhile about the outside of the town, 
 and that here and there one or other had a 
 glimpse of him as he made his escape out of 
 Mansoul ; one or two also did aflirm that they 
 saw him without the town going apace quite 
 over the plain. Now when he was quite 
 gone it was affirmed by one Mr. Did-see that 
 he ranged all over dry places till he met 
 with Diabolus his friend ; and where should 
 they meet one another but just upon Hell- 
 gate-hill ! 
 
 But oh what a lamentable story did tbe 
 old gentleman tell to Diabolus concerning 
 what sad alterations Emmanuel had made in 
 Mansoul. 
 
 As first, how Mansoul had, after some de- 
 lays, received a general pardon at the hands 
 of Emmanuel, and that they had invited him 
 into the town, and that they had given him 
 the castle for his possession. He said, more- 
 over, that they had called his' soldiers into the 
 town, and coveted who should quarter the 
 most of them ; they also entertained him with 
 the timbrel, song, and dance. "But that," 
 said Incredulity, " that is the sorest vexation 
 to me, he hath pulled down, father, thy 
 image and set up his own — pulled down tliy 
 officers and set up his own. Yea; and Will- 
 be-will, that rebel, who, one would have 
 thought, should never have turned from us, 
 he is now in as great favour with Emmanuel 
 as ever he was with thee. But besides all this, 
 this Will-be-will has received a special com- 
 mission from his Master to search for, to ap- 
 
THE HOLY WAR. 
 
 427 
 
 ' preheiid, and to put to death all and all man- 
 ner of Diabolouiana that he shall find in 
 Maiisoul. Yea, and this Will-be-will has 
 taken and committed to prison already eight 
 of my lord's most trusty friends in Mansoul. 
 Kay, further, my lord, with grief I speak it, 
 they have been all arraigned, condemned, and 
 I doubt not before this time executed in Man- 
 iioul. I told my lord of eight, and myself was 
 tlie ninth, who should assuredly have drunk 
 of Ihe same cup but that through craft I, 
 as thou secst, have made mine escape from 
 then I.-' 
 
 When Diabolus had heard this lament- 
 able story he yelled and snuffed up the wind 
 like a dragon, and made the sky to look 
 dark with roaring. He also sware t^at he 
 would try to be revenged on Mansoul for 
 . this. So they concluded to enter into con- 
 sultation how they might get the town of 
 Mansoul again; 
 
 Now, before this time the day was come in 
 which the prisoners in Mansoul were to be ex- 
 ecuted. So they were brought to the cross, 
 and that by Mansoul in most solemn manner ; 
 for the Prince said that this should be done by 
 the hand of the town of Mansoul, that I may 
 see, said he, the forwardness of my now re- 
 deemed Mansoul to keep my word and to do 
 my commandments, and that I may bless 
 Mansoul in doing this deed. Proof of sin- 
 cerity pleases me well^ let Mansoul therefore 
 first lay their hands upon these Diabolonians 
 to destroy them. 
 
 So the town of Mansoul slew them accord- 
 ing to the word of their Prince. But when 
 the prisoners were brought to the cross to die, 
 you can hardly believe what troublesome work 
 Mansoul had of it to put -the Diabolonians to 
 death; for the men knowing that they must 
 die, and all of them having implacable enmity 
 in their heart to Mansoul, what did they but 
 took courage at. the cross and there resisted 
 the men of the town of Mansoul? Where- 
 fore the men of Mansoul were forced to cry 
 out for help to the captains and men of war. 
 Now the great Shaddai had a secretary in the 
 town, and he was a great lover of the men of 
 Mansoulj a*id he was at the place of execution 
 allso ; so he, hearing the men of Mansoul cry 
 out against the strugglings and unruliness 
 of the prisoners, rose up from his place and 
 came and put his hands upon the hands of the 
 men of Mansoul. So they crucified the Diab- 
 olonians that ha(^ been a plague, a grief, and 
 ao offence to the town of Mansoul. 
 
 Now, when this good work was done the 
 Prince came down to see, to visit, and to 
 speak comfortably to the men of Mansoul, 
 and to strengthen their hands in such work 
 And he said to them that by this act of theirs 
 he had proved them, and found them to be 
 lovers of his person, observers of his laws, and 
 such as also had respect to his honour. He 
 said moreover (to show them that they by 
 this should not be the losers, nor their town 
 weakened by the loss of them) that he would 
 make them another captain, and that one 
 of themselves; and that this captain should 
 be a ruler of a thousand, for the good 
 and benefit of the now flourishing town of 
 Mansoul. 
 
 So he called one whose name was Waiting, 
 and bid him go, quickly up to the castle-gate, 
 and inquire there for one Mr. Experience, that 
 waiteth upon that noble captain, the Captain 
 Credence, and bid him come hither to me. 
 So the messenger that waiteth upon the good 
 Prince Emmanuel went and said as he was 
 commanded. Now, the young gentleman was 
 waiting to see the captain train and muster 
 his men in the castle-yard. Then said Mr. 
 Waiting to him, "Sir, the Prince would that 
 you should come down to his Highness forth- 
 with." So he brought him down to Emman- 
 uel, and he came and made obeisance before 
 him. Now the men of the town knew Mr. 
 Experience well, for he was born and bred 
 in Mansoul ; they also knew him to be a man 
 of conduct, of valour, and a person prudent 
 in matters; he was also a comely person, 
 well spoken, and Very successful in his un- 
 dertakings. 
 
 Wherefore the hearts of the townsiaen were 
 transported with joy when they saw ;hat the 
 Prince himself was taken so with Mr. Experi- 
 ence that he needs would make hinf a captain. 
 
 So with one consent they bowed the knee 
 before Emmanuel, and with a shout said, "Let 
 Emmanuel live for ever!'' Then said the 
 Prince to the young gentleman whose name 
 was Mr. Experience, " I have thought good to 
 confer upon thee a place of trust and honour 
 in this my town of Mansoul." Then the 
 young man bowed his head and worshipped. 
 " It is," said Emmanuel, " that thou shouldst 
 be a captain, a captain over a thousand men 
 in my beloved town of Mansoul." Then said 
 the captain, " Let the King live !" So the 
 Prince gave out orders forthwith to the King's 
 secretary that he should draw up for Mr. Ex- 
 perience a commission to make him a captain 
 
428 
 
 SUNYAN'S COMPLETE WOEKS. 
 
 over a thousand men, and let it be brought to 
 .me, said he, that I may set to it my seal.. So 
 it was done as it was commanded : the com- 
 mission was drawn up, brought to Emmanuel, 
 and, he set his seal thereto; then by the hand 
 of Mr. Waiting he sent it away to the captain. 
 
 Now as soon as the captain had received his 
 commission he sounded his trumpet for volun- 
 teers, and young men came to him apace ; yea, 
 the greatest and chiefest men in the town sent 
 their sons to be listed under his command. 
 Thus Captain Experience came under com- 
 mand to Emmanuel for the good of the town 
 of Mansoul. He had for his lieutenant one 
 Mr. Skilful, and for his cornet one Mr. Mem- 
 ory. His under-officers I need not name. 
 His colours were the white colours for the 
 town of Mansoul, and his escutcheon was the 
 dead linn and the dead bear. So the Prince 
 returned to his royal palace again. 
 
 Now, when he was returned thither the el- 
 ders of the town of Mansoul — to wit, my lord 
 mayor, the recorder, and the Lord Will-be- 
 will — went to congratulate him, and in special 
 way to thank him for his love, care, and tender, 
 compassion which he showed to his ever- 
 obliged town of Mansoul. So after a while, 
 and some sweet communion between them, the 
 townsmen, having solemnly ended their cere- 
 mony, returned to their place again. 
 
 Emmanuel also at this time appointed them 
 a day wherein he would renew their charter, 
 yea, wherein he would renew and enlarge it, 
 mending several faults therein, thafMansoul's 
 yoke might be yet more easy. And this he 
 did without any desire of theirs, even of his 
 own frankness and noble mind. So when he 
 had sent for and seen their old one, he laid it 
 by and said, " Now that which decayeth and 
 waxeth old is ready to vanish away." He 
 said moreover, " The town of Mansoul shall 
 have another, a bettjsr, a new one, more steady 
 and firm by far." An epitome whereof take as 
 follows : 
 
 " I, Emmanuel, Prince of Peace, and a 
 great lover of the town of Mansoul, do in the 
 name of my Father and of mine own clem- 
 ency, give, grant, and bequeath to my beloved 
 town of Mansoul — 
 
 "]. Free, full, and everlasting forgiveness 
 of all wrongs, injuries, and offences done by 
 them against my Father, me, their neighbours, 
 or themselves. 
 
 ■'.2. I do give them the holy law and ray 
 testament, with all that therein is contained, 
 for their everlasting comfort and consolation. 
 
 " 3. I do also give them a portion of the ■ 
 selfsame grace and goodness that dwells in 
 my Father's heart and mine. 
 
 " 4. I do give, grant, and bestow upon them 
 freely the world, and what is therein for their 
 good; and they shall .have that power over it 
 as shall stand with the honour of my Father, 
 my glory, and their comfort; yea, I grant them 
 the benefits at life and death, and of things 
 present and things to come. This privilege 
 no other city, town, or corporMion shall have, 
 but my Mansoul only. '^ 
 
 "5. I do give and grant them leave and free 
 access to me in my palace, at all seasons, there 
 to make known their wants to me. And I 
 give them moreover a promise that I will hear 
 and redress all their grievances. ' 
 
 "6. I do give, grant to, and invest the town 
 of Mansoul with full power and authority to 
 seek out, take, enslave, and destroy all and all 
 manner of Diabolonians thatj at any time, 
 from whencesoever, shall be found straggling 
 in or about the town of Mansoul. 
 
 "7. I do further grant to my beloved town 
 of Mansoul that they shall have authority not 
 to suffer any foreigner or stranger, or their 
 seed, to be free in and of the blessed town of 
 Mansoul, nor to share, in the excellent privi- 
 leges thereof But that all the grants, privi- 
 leges, and immunities that I bestow upon the 
 famous town of Mansoul shall be for those the 
 old natives and true inhabitants thereof; to 
 them, I say, and. to their right seed after 
 them. 
 
 " But all Diabolonians, of what sort, birth, 
 country, or kingdom soever, shall be debarred 
 a share therein." 
 
 So when the town of Mansoul had received 
 at the hand of Emmanuel their gracious char- 
 ter, (which in itself is infinitely more large than 
 by this lean epitome is set before you,) they 
 carried it to audience — that is, to the mark.et- 
 place — and there Mr. Recorder read it in the 
 presence of all the people. This being done, 
 it was had back to the castle-gates, and there 
 fairly engraven upon the doors thereof and 
 laid in letjters of gold, to the end that tlie town 
 of Mansoul, with all the people thereof, might . 
 have it always in their view, or might go 
 where they might see what a blessed freedom 
 their Prince had bestowed upon them, that 
 their joy might be increased in themselves 
 and their love renewed to their great and good 
 Emmanuel. 
 
 But what joy, what comfort, what consol?,- 
 tion, think you, did now possess the hearts of 
 
THE HOLY WAR. 
 
 429 
 
 the men of Mansoull The bells rang, the 
 minstrels played, the captains shouted, the 
 colours waved in tlie wind, and the silver 
 trumpets sounded, and all the Diabolonians 
 now were glad to hide their heads. 
 
 When this was over the Prince sent again 
 for the elders of the town of Mansoul, and 
 ' communed with them about a ministry that he 
 intended to establish among them — such a 
 / ministry that might open unto them and in- 
 struct them in the things that did concern 
 tlieir present and future state. 
 
 For, said he, you of yourselves, without you 
 have teachers and guides, will not be able to 
 know, and if not to know to be sure not to do, 
 tlie will of my Father. 
 
 At this news, when the elders of Mansoul 
 brought it to the people, the whole town came 
 running together, (for it pleased them well, as 
 wliatever the Prince now did pleased the peo- 
 ple,) and all with one consent implored his 
 Majesty that he would forthwith establish such 
 a ministry among them as might teach them 
 both law and judgment, statute and command- 
 ment, that they might be documented in all 
 good and wholesome things. So he told them 
 that he would grant them their request, and 
 would establish two among them — one that 
 was of his Father's court, and one that was a 
 native of Mansoul. 
 
 He that is from the court, said he, is a per- 
 son of no less quality and dignity than is my 
 Father and I, and he is the lord chief secretary 
 of my Father's house; for he is and always 
 has been the chief dictator of all my Father's 
 laws — a person altogether well skilled in all 
 mysteries and knowledge of mysteries, as is my 
 Father or as myself is. Indeed he is one with 
 us in nature, and also as to loving of and' 
 being faithful to and in the eternal concerns 
 of the town of Mansoul. 
 
 And this is he, said the Prince, that must be 
 your chief teacher ; for it is he, and he only, 
 that can teach you clearly in all high and 
 supernntural things. He, and he only, it is 
 that knows the ways and methods of my 
 Father at court ; nor can any like him show 
 how the heart of my Father is at all times, in 
 all things, upon all occasions, towards Man- 
 soul ; for as no man knows the things of a man 
 but the spirit of a man which is in him, so 
 the things of my Father knows no man but 
 this his high and mighty secretary. Nor can 
 any as he tell Mansoul how ahd_ what they 
 shall do to keep themselves in the love of my 
 Father. He also it is that can bring lost 
 
 things to your remembrance, and that can tell 
 you things to come. This teacher therefore 
 must of necessity have pre-eminence (both in 
 your affections and judgment) before your 
 other teacher ; his personal dignity, the excel- 
 lency of his teaching, also the great dexterity 
 that he hath to assist you to make and draw 
 up petitions to my Father for your help and 
 to his pleasing, must lay obligations upon you 
 to love him, fear him, and to take heed that 
 you grieve him not. , 
 
 This person can put life and vigour into all 
 he says; yea, and can also put it into your 
 hearts. This person can make seers of you, 
 and can make you tell what shall be hereafter. 
 By this person you must frame all your peti- 
 tions to my Father and me ; and mthout his 
 advice and counsel first obtained let nothing 
 enter into the town or castle of Mansoul, for 
 that may disgust and grieve this noble person. 
 
 Take heed, I say, that you do not grieve this 
 minister, for if you do he may fight against 
 you ; and should he once be moved by you to 
 set himself against you in battle array, that 
 will distress you more than if twelve legions 
 should from my Father's court be sent to make 
 war upon you. 
 
 But, as I said, if you shall hearken unto him, 
 and shall love him, if you shall devote your- 
 selves to his teaching, and shall seek to have 
 converse and to maintain commiinion with him, 
 you shall find him ten times better than is the 
 whole world to any ; yea, he will shed abroad 
 the love of my Father in your hearts, and 
 Mansoul will be the wisest and most blessed 
 of all people. 
 
 Then did the Prince call unto him the old 
 gentleman wlio before had been the recorder 
 of Mansoul, Mr. Conscience by name, and told 
 him that forasmuch as he wa^s well skilled in 
 the law and government of the town of Man- 
 soul, and was also well spoken, and could per- 
 tinently deliver to them his Master's will in 
 all terrene and domestic matters, therefore he 
 would make him a minister for, in, and to the 
 goodly town of Mansoul in all the laws, stat- 
 utes and judgments of the famous town of 
 Mansoul. And thou must, said the Prince, 
 confine thyself to the teaching of moral vir- 
 tues, to civil and natural duties; but thou 
 must not attempt-or presume to be a revealer 
 of those high and supernatural mysteries that 
 are kept close in the bosom of Shaddai my 
 Father ; for those things knoweth no man, nor 
 can any reveal them but my Father's secretary 
 only. 
 
430 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 "Thou art a native of the town of Mansoul, 
 but the lord secretary is a native with my 
 Father ; wherefore, as tiaou hast knowledge of 
 the laws and customs of the corporation, so he 
 of the things and will of my Father ; where- 
 fore, Jlr. Conscience, although I have made 
 thee a minister and a preacher in the town of 
 Mansoul, yet as to the things, which the lord 
 secretajy knoweth and shall teach to this peo- 
 ple, there th'ou must be his scholar and a 
 learner, even as the rest of Mansoul are. 
 
 Thou must therefore, in all high and super- 
 natural things, go to him for information and 
 knowledge; for though there be a spirit in 
 man, this person's inspiration must give him 
 understanding. Wherefore, O thou Mr. Re- 
 corder, keep low and be humble, and remember 
 that the Diabolonians that kept not their first 
 charge, but left their own standing, are now 
 made prisoners in the pit; be therefore con- 
 tent with thy station. 
 
 I have made thee my Father's vicegerent on 
 earth in such things of which I have made 
 mention before ; and takis thou power to teach 
 them to Mansoul, yea, and to impose them 
 with whips and chastisements if they shall not 
 willingly hearken to do thy commandments. 
 
 And, Mr. Recorder, because thou art old and 
 feeble, therefore I give thee leave ajid license 
 to go when thou wilt to my fountain, my con- 
 duit, and there' to drink freely of the blood of 
 my grape, for my conduit doth always run 
 wine. I'lius doing, thou shalt drive from thy 
 heart and stomach all foul, gross, and hurtful 
 humours. It will. also lighten thine eyes, and 
 will strengthen thy memory for the reception 
 and keejiing of all that Ihe King's most noble 
 secretary leachelh. 
 
 When the Prince had thus put Mr. Recorder 
 (that once so was) into the place and office of 
 a minister of Mansoul, and the man had thank- 
 fully accepted thereof, then did Emmanuel 
 address himself to the townsmen themselves. 
 
 " Bi hold (said the. Prince to Mansoul) my 
 love and care towards you. I have added to all 
 that is past this mercy to appoint you preach- 
 ers — the most noble secretary to teach you in 
 all high and sublime mysteries, and this gen- 
 tleman (pointing to Mr. Conscience) is to teach 
 you in all things human and domestic, for 
 therein lieth his work. He is not, by what I 
 have said, debarred of telling to Mansoul any- 
 thing that he hath heard and received at the 
 mouth of the lord high secretary ; only he shall 
 not attempt or presume to be a revealer of 
 •^hose high mysteries himself; for the breaking 
 
 of them up, and the discovery of them to Man- 
 soul, lieth only in the power, authority, and 
 skill of the lord high secretary himself Talk 
 of them he may ; and so may the rest of the 
 town of Mansoul, as they have opportunity, 
 press them upon each other for the benefit of 
 the whole. These things, therefore, I would 
 have you observe and do, for it is for your life 
 and lengthening of your days. 
 
 "And one thing- more to my beloved town, 
 of Mansoul : You must not dwell in nor stay 
 upon anything of that which he hath in com- 
 mission to teach you as to your trust and 
 expectation of the next world; of the next 
 world, I say. for I purpose to give another to 
 Mansoul when this with them is worn out; 
 but for that you must wholly and solety have 
 recourse to and make stay upon this doctrine, 
 which is your teacher after the first order. 
 Yea, Mr. Recorder himself must not look for 
 life from that which he himself revealeth ; his 
 dependence for that must be founded in the 
 doctrine of the other preacher. Let Mr. Re- 
 corder also take heed that he receive not any 
 doctrine or point of doctrine that is not com- 
 municated to him by his superior teacher, nor 
 yet within the precincts of his own formal 
 knowledge." 
 
 Now after the Prince had thus settled things 
 in the famous town of Mansoul, he proceeded 
 to give to the elders of the corporation a neces- 
 sary caution — to wit, how they should carry it 
 to the high and noble captains that he had 
 from his Father's court sent or brought with 
 him to the famous town of Mansoul. 
 
 " These captains (said he) do love the town 
 of Mansoul, and they are picked men, picked 
 out of abundance as men that best suit, and 
 that will most faithfully serve in the wars of 
 Shaddai against . the Dijibolonians for the 
 preservation of the town of Mansoul. I charge 
 you, therefore, (said he,) O ye inhabitants of 
 the now flourishing town of Mansoul, that you 
 carry it not ruggedly or untowardly to my 
 captains or their men, since, as I said they are 
 picked and choice men, men chosen out of 
 many for the good of the town of Mansoul. I 
 say, I change you. that you carry it not rug- 
 gedly or rjntowardly to them ; for though they 
 have the hearts and faces of lions when at any 
 time they shall be called forth to engage and 
 fight with the Kidg's foes and the enemies of 
 the town of Mansoul, yet a little discounte- 
 nance cast upon them from the town of Man- 
 soul will deject and cast down their faces, will 
 weaken and take away their courage. Do not, 
 
THE HOLY WAR. 
 
 431 
 
 therefore, O my beloved, carry it unkindly to 
 my valiant captains and courageous men of 
 war, but love them, nourish them, succour 
 them, and lay them in your bosoms, and they 
 will not only fight for you, but cause to fly 
 from you all those the Diabolonians tliat seek 
 and will, if possible, be your utter destruction. 
 
 " If therefore any of them should, at any 
 time, be siek or weak, and so not able to per- 
 form that ofBce of love which with all their 
 hearts (hey are willing to do, (and will do also 
 when well and in health,) slight them not nor 
 despise tlicm, but rather strengthen them and 
 encourage them, though weak and ready to 
 die ; for they are your fence and your guard, 
 your walls, gates, locks and bars. And although 
 when they are weak they can do but little, but 
 rather need to be helped by you than tliat you 
 should then expect great things from , them, 
 yet when well you know what exploits, what 
 feats and warlike achievements they are able 
 to do and will perform for you. 
 
 " Besides, if they be weak, the town of Man- 
 soul cannot be strong; if they be strong, then 
 Mansoul cannot be weak; your safety there- 
 fore doth lie in their health and in your coun- 
 tenancing of them. Remember also that if 
 they be sick, they catch that disease of the town 
 of Mansoul itself. 
 
 " These things I have said unto you because 
 I love your welfare and your honour. Ob- 
 serve, therefore, my Mansoul, to be punctual 
 in all things that I have given in charge unto 
 you, and that not only as a town corporate, 
 and so to your officers and guard and guides in 
 3hief, but to you as a people, whose well-being 
 as single persons depends on the observation 
 of the orders and commandments of their Lord. 
 
 " Next, my Mansoul, I do warn you of 
 that of which, notwithstanding the reformation 
 which that at present is wrought among you, 
 you have need to be warned about; wherefore 
 hearken diligently unto me. I am now sure, 
 and you will know hereafter, that there are 
 yet some of the Diabolonians remaining in 
 the towu of Mansoul— Diabolonians that are 
 sti rdy and implacable, and that do, already, 
 while I am yet with you, and that will yet 
 more when I am from you, study, plot, con- 
 trive, invent, and jointly attempt to bring you 
 to desolation, so to a state far worse than that 
 of Egyptian bondage. They are the avowed 
 friends of JDiabolus, therefore look about you ; 
 they used therefore to lodge with their prince 
 in the castle when Incredulity was lord mayor 
 of this town, but since my coming hither, they 
 
 lie more in the outsides and walls, and have 
 made themselves dens, and caves, and holes, 
 and strongholds therein. Wherefore, Man- 
 soul, thy work as to this will be so much the 
 more difficult and hard — that is, to take, mor- 
 tify, and put them to death, according to the 
 will of my Father. Nor can you utterly lid 
 yourselves of them unless you should jiul] 
 down the walls of your town, the which 1 am 
 by no means willing you should. Do you atk 
 ifle. What shall we do then? Why, be you dil- 
 igent, and quit you like men ; observe their 
 holds, find out their haunts, assault them, and 
 make no peace with them. Wherever they 
 haunt, lurk, or abide, and what terms of peace 
 soever they oflFer you, abhor, and all shall be 
 well betwixt you and me. And, that you may 
 the better know them from those that are the 
 natives of the town of Mansoul, I will give you 
 this brief schedule of the names of the chief 
 of them ; and they are these that follow : The 
 Lord Fornication, the Lord Adultery, the 
 Lord Murder, the Lord Anger, the Lord Las- 
 civiousness, the Lord Deceit, the Lord Evil- 
 eye, Mr. Drunkenness, Mr. Eevelling, Mr. 
 Idolatry, Mr. Witchcraft, Mr. Variance, Mr. 
 Emulation, Mr. Wrath, Mr. Strife, Mr. Sedi- 
 tion, and Mr. Heresy. These are some of the 
 chief, Mansoul, of those that will seek to 
 overthrow thee for ever. These, I say, are the 
 shucklers in Mansoul, but look thou well into 
 the law of thy King, and there thou shalt find 
 their physiognomy and such other character- 
 istical notes of them by which they certainly 
 may be knowii. 
 
 "These, my Mansoul, (and I would gladly 
 that you should know it,) if they are suflTered 
 to run and range about the town at will, will 
 quickly, like vipers, eat out yotr bowels, yea, 
 poison your captains, cut the sinews of your 
 soldiers, break the bars and bolts of your gates, 
 and turn your now most flourishing Mansoul. 
 into a barren and desolate wilderness, a ruin- 
 ous heap. Wherefore, that you may take 
 courage to yourselves to apprehend these vil- 
 lains wherever you find them, I give to you, 
 my lord mayor, my Lord Will-be-will, and 
 Mr. Eecorder, with all the inhabitants of the 
 town of Mansoul, full power and commission 
 to seek out, to take, and cause to be put to 
 death by the cross, all manner of Diabolo- 
 nians, wherever you shall find them to lurk 
 within or to range without the walls of the 
 town of Mansoul. 
 
 "I told you before that I had placed a stand- 
 ing ministry among you; not that you have 
 
432 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WOBKS. 
 
 but tliese with you, for my four first captains 
 who came against the master and lord of the 
 Diabolonians that was in Mansoul, they can, 
 and if need be will, not only privately inform 
 but publicly preach to the corporation both 
 good and wholesome doctrine, and such as 
 shall lead you in the way. Yea, they will set 
 up a weekly, yea, if need be a daily, lecture 
 in thee, O Mansoul ! and will instruct thee in 
 such profitable lessons that if heeded will do 
 thee good at the end. And take good heed 
 that you spare not the men that you have a 
 commission to take and crucify. 
 
 " Now, as I have set before your eyes the va- 
 grants and runagates by name, so I will tell 
 you that among yourselves some of them shall 
 creep in to beguile you, even such as would 
 seem, and that in appearance, are very ripe and 
 hot for religion. And they, if you watch not, 
 will do you a mischief — such an one as at 
 present you do not think of. 
 
 "These, as I said, will show themselves to 
 you in another hue than those under descrip- 
 tion before. Wherefore, Mansoul, watch and 
 be sober, and suffer not thyself to be be- 
 trayed." 
 
 When the Prince had thus far new^-modelled 
 the town of Mansoul, and had instructed them 
 in such matters as were profitable for them to 
 know, then he appointed another day, in which 
 he intended, when the townsfolk came together, 
 to bestow a further badge of honour upon the 
 town of Mansoul — a badge that should distin- 
 guish them from all people, kindreds and 
 tongues that dwell in the kingdom of Uni- 
 verse. Now it was not long before the day 
 appointed was come, and the Prince and his 
 people met in the King's palace, where first 
 Emmanuel made a short speech unto them, 
 and then did for them as he had §aid, and unto 
 them as he' had promised. 
 
 "My Mansoul," said he, "that which I now 
 am about to do is to make you known to the 
 world to be mine, and to distinguish you also 
 in your own eyes from all false traitors that 
 may creep in among you." 
 
 Then he commanded that those that waited 
 upon him should go and bring forth out of his 
 treasury those white glittering robes that I, 
 said he, have provided arid laid up in store for 
 my Mansoul. So the white garments were 
 fetched out of his treasury, and laid forth to 
 the eyes of the people. Moreoyer it was 
 granted to them that they should take them 
 and put them on. So the people were put into 
 white, into fine linen, white and clean. 
 
 Then said the Prince unto them, "This, 
 Mansoul, is my livery, and the badge by which 
 mine are known from the servants of other? 
 Yea, it is that which I grant to all that are 
 mine, and without which no man is permitted 
 to see my face. Wear them, therefore, for my 
 sake, who gave them unto you, and also if you 
 would be known by the world to be mine." 
 
 But now can you think how Mansoul shone ! 
 It was fair as the sun, clear as the moon, and 
 terrible as an army with banners. The Prince 
 added further, and said, "No prince, potentate, 
 or mighty one of the Universe giveth this 
 livery but myself Behold, therefore, as I 
 said before, you shall be -known by it to be 
 mine. 
 
 "And now," said he, "I have given you my 
 livery, let me give you also in commandment 
 concerning them; and be sure that you take 
 good heed to my words : 
 
 "1. Wear them daily, day by day, lest you 
 should at sometimes appear to others as if you 
 were none of mine. 
 
 "2. Keep them always white, for it is, if 
 they be soiled, dishonour to me. 
 
 " 3. Wherefore gird them up from the 
 ground, and let them not be soiled with dust 
 and dirt. 
 
 "4. Take heed that you lose them not, lest 
 you walk naked and they see your shame. 
 
 "5. But if you should sully them, if you 
 should defile them, (the which I am greatly 
 unwilling you should, and the prince Diabolus 
 would be glad if you would,) then speed you 
 to do that which is written in my law, that yet 
 you may stand, and not fall before me and be- 
 fore. my throne. Also this is the way to cause 
 that I may not leave ^ou nor forsake you while 
 here, but may dwell in this town of Mansoul 
 for ever." 
 
 And now was Mansoul and the inhahitants 
 of it as the signet upon Emmanuel's right 
 hand. Where was there now a town, a city, a 
 corporation! that could compare with Mansoul? 
 — a town redeemed from the hand and from 
 the power of Diabolus ; a town that the King 
 Shaddai loved, and that he sent Emmanuel to 
 regain from the Prince of the infernal cave ; 
 yea, a town that Emmanuel loved to dwell in, 
 and that he chose for his royal habitation ; a 
 town that he fortified for himself, and made 
 strong by the force of his army. What shall 
 I say? Mansoul has now a mosi excellent 
 Prince, golden captains and men of war, 
 weapons proved, and garments white as snow. 
 Nor are these benefits to be counted little, but 
 
TIIE HOLY WAR. 
 
 433 
 
 peat. Can the town of Mansoul esteem them 
 80, and improve them to that end and purpose 
 for the which they are bestowed upon them? 
 
 When the Prince had thus completed the 
 modelling of the town, to show that he had 
 great delight in the work of his hands, and 
 took pleasure in the good that he had wrought 
 for the famous and flourishing Mansoul, he 
 commanded and they set his standard upon the 
 battlements of the castle. And then, 
 
 1. He gave them frequent visits. 'Not a day 
 now but the elders of Mansoul must come to 
 him or he to them, into his palace. Now they 
 must walk and talk together of all the great 
 things that he had done and yet further prom- 
 ised to do for the town of Mansoul. Thus 
 would he often do with the lord mayor, my 
 Lord Will-be-will, and the honest subordinate 
 preacher, Mr. Conscience and Mr. Recorder. 
 But oh how graciously, how lovingly, how 
 courteously, and tenderly did this blessed 
 Prince now carry it towards the town of Man- 
 soul ! In all the streets^ gardens, orchards, 
 and other places where he came, to be ^ure the 
 poor should have his blessing and benediction ; 
 yea, he would kiss them, and if they were ill 
 he would lay hands on them and make them 
 well. The captains also he would daily, yea 
 sometimes hourly, encourage with his presence 
 and goodly words. For you must know that a 
 smile from him upon them would put more 
 vigour, more life and stoutness into them than 
 would anything else under heaven. 
 
 The Prince would now also feast them and 
 be with them continually. Hardly a week 
 wauld pass but a banquet must be had betwixt 
 him and them. You may remember that some 
 pages before we made mention of one feast 
 that they'had together, but now to feast them 
 was a thing more common: every day with 
 Mansoul was a feast-day now. Nor did he, 
 when they returned to their places, send them 
 empty away ; either they must have a ring, a 
 gold chain, a bracelet, a white stone, or some- 
 thing, so dear wa-s Mansoul to him now, so 
 lovely was Mansoul in his eyes. 
 r 2. M'hen the elders and townsmen did not 
 come to him, he would send in such plenty of 
 provision unto them, meat that came from 
 court, wine and bread that were prepared for 
 his Father's table, yea, such delicacies would 
 he send unto them, and therewith would so 
 cover their table, that whoever saw it confessed 
 that the like could not be seen in any king- 
 dom. 
 
 3. If Mansoul did not frequently visit him 
 
 as he desired they should, he would walk out 
 to them, knock at their doors, and desire en- 
 trance, that amity might be maintained be- 
 twixt them and him ; if they did hear and 
 open to him, as commonly they *ould if they 
 were at home, then would he renew his former 
 love, and confirm it too with some new tokens 
 and signs of continual favour. 
 
 And was it not now amazing to behold that 
 in that very place where sometimes Diabolus 
 had his abode and entertained his Diabolo- 
 nians to the almost utter destruction of Man- 
 soul, the Prince of princes should sit eating 
 and drinking with them, while all his mighty 
 captains, men of war, trurnpeters, with the 
 singing men and singing women of his Father, 
 stood round about to wait upon them ? Now 
 did Mansoul's cup run over, now did her con- 
 duits run sweet wine, now did she eat the 
 finest of the wheat, and drink milk and honey 
 out of the rock. Now she said. How great is 
 his goodness, for since I found favour in his 
 eyes how honourable have I been ! 
 
 The blessed Prince did also order a new of- 
 ficer in the town, and a goodly person he was : 
 his name was Mr. God's-peace; this man was 
 set over my Lord Will-be-will, my lord mayor, 
 Mr. Recorder, the subordinate preacher, Mr. 
 Mind, and over all the natives of the town of 
 Mansoul. Himself \tas not a native of it, but 
 came with the Prince Emmanuel from tlie 
 court. He was a great acquaintance of Cap- 
 tain Credence and Ca])tain Good-hope ; some ^ 
 say they were akin, and I am of that opinion 
 too. This man, as I said, was rnade governor 
 of the town in general, especially over the 
 castle, and Captain Credence was to help him 
 there. And I made great observation of it 
 that so long as all things went in Mansoul as 
 this sweet-natured gentleman would, the town 
 was in most happy condition. Now there were 
 no jars, no chiding, no interferings, no unfaith- 
 ful doings in all the town of Mansoul : every 
 man in Mansoul kept close to his own employ- 
 ment. The gentry, the ofiicers, the soldiers, 
 and all in the place, observed their order. And 
 as for the women and children of the town^ 
 they followed their business joyfully; they 
 would work and sing from morning till night; 
 so that quite through the town of Mansoul 
 now nothing was to be found but harmony, 
 quietness, joy, and health. And this lasted all 
 that summer. 
 
 But there was a man in the town of Mansoul, 
 and his name was Mr. Carnal-security. This 
 man did, after all this mercy bestowed on this 
 
434 
 
 £UNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Corporation, bring the town of Mansoul into 
 great and grievous slavery and bondage. A 
 brief account of bini and of his doingts take 
 as foUoweth. 
 
 When Diabolus at first took possession of 
 th^ town of Mansoul he brought thither with 
 himself a great number of Diabolonians, men 
 of his own conditions. Now among these there 
 was one whose name was Mr. Self-conceitj and 
 a notable brisk man he was as any that did in 
 those days possess the town of Mansoul. Diab- 
 olus, then, perceiving this man to be active and 
 bold, sent him upon many desperate designs, 
 the which he managed better and more to the 
 pleasing of his lord than most that came with 
 him from the dens could do. Wherefore, find- 
 ing of him so fit for his purpose, he preferred 
 him and made him next to the great Lord 
 Will-be-will, of whom we have written so 
 much before. Now the Lord Will-be-will, 
 being in those days very well pleased with 
 him and with his achievements, gave him his 
 daughter, the Lady Fear-nothing, to wife. 
 Now of my Lady Fear-nothing did this Mr. 
 Self-conceit beget this gentleman, Mr. Carnal- 
 security. Wherefore, there being then in Man- 
 soul those strange kinds of mixtures, it was 
 hard for them in some cases to find out who 
 were natives and who not ; for Mr. Carnal-se- 
 curity sprang from my Lord Will-be-will by 
 his mother's side, though he had for his father a 
 Diabolonian by nature. 
 
 Well, this Carnal-security took much after 
 his father and mother; he was self-conceited, 
 he feared nothing, he was also a very busy 
 man; nothing of news, nothing of doctrine, 
 nothing of alteration or talk of alteration could 
 at any time be on foot in Mansoul but be sure 
 Mr. Carnal-security would be at the head or 
 tail of it ; but to be sure he would decline those 
 that he deemed the -weakest, and stood always 
 with them (in his way of standing) that he 
 supposed was the strongest side. 
 
 Now, when Shaddai the mighty and Em- 
 manuel his Son made war upon Mansoul to 
 take it, this Mr. Carnal-security was then in 
 town, and was a great doer among the people, 
 encouraging them in their rebellion, putting 
 of them upon hardening- themselves in their 
 resisting of the King's forces; but when he 
 saw that the town of Mansoul was taken and 
 converted to the use of the glorious Prince 
 Emmanuel, and when he also saw what was 
 become of Diabolus, and how he was unroosted 
 and made to quit the castle in the greatest con- 
 tempt and scorn, and that the town of Mansoul 
 
 was well lined with captains, engines of war 
 and men, and also provisions, what doth he but 
 slyly wheel about also ; and as he had served 
 Diabolus against the good Prince, so he feigned 
 that he would serve the Prince against his 
 foes. 
 
 And having got some little smattering of 
 Emmanuel's things by the end, being bold, he 
 ventures himself into the company of the 
 townsmen, and attempts also to chat among 
 them. Now he knew that the power and 
 strength of the town of Mansoul was great, 
 and that it could not but be pleasing to the 
 people if he cried up their might and their 
 glory. Wherefore he beginneth his tale with 
 the power and^trength of Mansoul, and affirm- 
 ed that it was impregnable — now magnifying 
 their captains, and their slings, and their rams, 
 then crying up tbeir fortifications and strong- 
 holds, and lastly the assurance that they had 
 from their Prince that Mansoul should be 
 happy for ever. But when he saw that some 
 of the men of the town were tickled and taken 
 with his discourse, he make* it his business, 
 and walking from street to street, house to 
 house, and man to man, he at last brought 
 Mansoul to dance after his pipe, and to grow 
 almost as carnally secure as himself; so from 
 talking they went to feasting, and from feasting 
 to sporting, and so to some other matter's, 
 (now Emmanuel was yet in the town of Man- 
 soul, and he wisely observed their doings.) My 
 lord mayor, my Lord Will-be-will, and Mr. 
 Recorder were also all taken with the words 
 of this tattling Diabolonian gentleman, for- 
 getting that their Prince had given them warn- 
 ing before to take heed that they were not 
 beguiled with any Diabolonian sleight ; he had 
 further told them that the security of the now 
 flourishing town of Mansoul did not so much 
 lie in her present fortifications and force, as in 
 her so using of what she had as might oblige 
 her Emmanuel to abide within her castle. 
 For the right doctrine of Emmanuel was, that 
 the town of Mansoul should take heed that 
 they forgat not his Father's love and his ; also 
 that they should so demean themselves as to 
 continue to keep themselves therein. Now 
 this was not the way to do it — namely, to fall 
 in I6ve with one of the Diabolonians, and with 
 such an one, too, as Mr. Carnal-security was, 
 to be led up and down by the nose by him. 
 They should have heard their Prince, feared 
 their Prince, loved their Prince, and have 
 stoned this naughty pack to death, and took 
 care to have walked in the ways of thei' 
 
THE HOLT WAR. 
 
 435 
 
 Prince's prescribing, for then should their 
 peace have been as a river, when their right- 
 eousness had been like the waves of the sea. 
 
 Now when Emmanuel perceived that through 
 the policy of Mr. Carnal-security the hearts of 
 the men of Mansoul were chilled and abated 
 in their practical love to him — 
 
 First, He bemoans them and condoles their 
 state with the secretary, saying, " Oh that my 
 people had hearkened unto me, and that Man- 
 soul had walked in my ways I I would have 
 fed them with the finest of the wheat, and 
 with honey out of the rock would I have sus- 
 tained them." This done, he said in his heart, 
 " I will return to the court and go to my place, 
 till Mansoul shall consider and acknowledge 
 their offence.'' And he did so, and the cause 
 and manner of his going away from them was 
 thus: 
 
 The cause was for that — 
 
 First, Mansoul declined him, as is manifest 
 in these particulars : 
 
 1. They left off their former way of visiting 
 of him ; they came not to his royal palace as 
 afore. 
 
 2. They did not regard nor yet take notice 
 that he came or came not to visit them. 
 
 3. The love-feasts that had wont to be be- 
 tween their Prince and them, though he made 
 them still and called them to them, yet they 
 neglected to. come to them or to be delighted 
 with them. 
 
 4. Tliey waited not for his counsels, but 
 began to be headstrong and confident in 
 themselves, concluding that now they were 
 strong and invincible, and that Mansoul 
 was secure and beyond all reach of the foe — 
 that her state must needs be unalterable for 
 ever. 
 
 Now, as was said, Emmanuel perceiving 
 that by the craft of Mr. Carnal-security the 
 town of Mansoul was taken off from their de- 
 pendence upon him and upon his Father by 
 him, and net upon what by them was bestowed 
 upon it, he first, as I said, bemoaned their 
 state, then he used means to make them 
 understand that the way they went on in was 
 dangerous. For he sent my lord high secre- 
 tary to them to forbid them such ways; but 
 twice when he came to them he found them 
 at dinner in Mr. Carnal-security's parlour, 
 and perceiving also that they were not will- 
 ing to reason about matters concerning their 
 good, he took grief and went his way. The 
 which when he had told to the Prince Em- 
 manuel, he took offence and was grieved 
 
 also, and so made provision to return to his 
 Father's court. 
 
 Now the methods of his withdrawing, as I 
 was saying before, were thus : 
 
 1. Even while he was yet with them in 
 Mansoul he kept himself close and more re 
 tired than formerly. 
 
 2. His speech was not now, if he came in 
 their company, so pleasant and familiar as 
 formerly. 
 
 3. Nor did he, as in times past, send to 
 Mansoul from his table those dainty bits 
 which he was wont to do. 
 
 4. Nor, when they came to visit him, as 
 now and then they would, would he bo so 
 easily spoken with as they found him to be in 
 times past. They might knock once, yea 
 twice, but he would seem not at all to regard 
 them ; whereas formerly, at the sound of their 
 feet, he would up and run and meet them half- 
 way, and take them too and lay them in his 
 bosom. 
 
 But thus Emmanuel carried it now, and by 
 this his carriage he thought to make them be- 
 think themselves and return to him. But, 
 alas ! they did not consider, they did not know 
 his ways, they regarded not, they were not 
 touched with these nor with the true remem- 
 brance of former favours. Wherefore, what 
 does he but in private manner withdraw him- 
 self, first from his palacfe, then to the gate of 
 the town, and so away from Mansoul he goes, 
 till they should acknowledge their' offence 
 and more earnestly seek his face. Mr. God's- 
 peace also laid down his commission, and 
 would for the present act no longer in the 
 town of Mansoul. 
 
 Thus they walked contrary to him, and he 
 again, by way of retaliation, walked contrary 
 to them. But, alas ! by this time they were 
 so hardened in their way, and had so drunk 
 in the doctrine of Mr. Carnal-security, that 
 the departing of their Prince touched them 
 not, nor was he remembered by them when 
 gone ; and so of consequence his absence not. 
 condoled by them. 
 
 Now there was a day wherein this old gen- 
 tleman, Mr. Carnal-security, did again vnake 
 a feast for the town of Mansoul, and there 
 was at that time in the town one Mr. Godly- 
 fear, one now but little set by, though for- 
 merly one of great request. This man old 
 Carnal-security had a mind, if possible, to 
 gull, and debauch, and abuse as he did the 
 rest, and therefore he now bids him to the 
 feast with his neighbours; so the day being 
 
436 
 
 BVNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 come, tliey prepare, and he goes and appears 
 with the rest of the guests, aud being all set 
 at the table, they did eat and drink and were 
 merry, even all but this one man. For Mr. 
 Godly-fear sat like a stranger, and did neither 
 eat nor was merry. The which, when Mr. 
 Garnal-security perceived, he presently ad- 
 dressnil liimsslf in a speech thus to him : 
 
 Mr, Godly-fear, are you not well? You 
 »eem to be ill of body or mind, or both. I 
 ha.ve a cordial of Mr. Forget-good's making, 
 the which, sir, if you will take a dram of, 
 I hope it may make you bonny and blithe, 
 and so make you more fit for us feasting 
 companions. 
 
 Unto whom the old gentleman discreetly 
 replied: Sir, I thank you for all things cour- 
 teous and civil, but for your cordial I have no 
 list thereto. But a word to the natives of 
 Mansoul : You, the elders and chiefs of Man- 
 soul, to me it is strange to see you so jocund 
 and merry when the town of Mansoul is in 
 such woeful case. 
 
 Then said Mr. Carnal-security, You want 
 sleep, good sir, I doubt. If you please, lie 
 down aud take a nap, and we meanwhile will 
 be merry. 
 
 Then said the good man as follows : Sir, if 
 you were not destitute of an honest heart, you 
 could not do as you have done and do. 
 
 Then said Mr. Carnal-security, Why ? 
 
 Qodly-Jear. Nay, pray interrupt me not. It 
 is true the town of Mansoul was strong and 
 (with a proviso) impregnable, but you the 
 townsmen have weakened it, and it now lies 
 obnoxious to its foes. Nor is it a time to 
 flatter or be silent. It is you, Mr. Carnal- 
 security, that have wilily stripped Mansoul 
 and driven her glory from her'; you have 
 pulled down her towers, you have broken 
 down her gates, you have spoiled her locks 
 and bars. 
 
 And now to explain myself: From that 
 time that my lords of Mansoul and you, sir, 
 grew BO great, from that time the Strength 
 of Mansoul has been offended, and now be is 
 risen and gone. If any shall question the 
 truth of my words, I will answer .him by this 
 and such questions : Where is the Prince Em- 
 manuel? When did a man or woman in 
 Mansoul see him ? When did you hear from 
 him or taste any of his dainty bits? You are 
 now a-feasting with this Diabolonian mon- 
 ster, but he is not your Prince. I say there- 
 fore, though enemies from without, had you 
 iaken heed, could not have made a prey of 
 
 you, yet since you have sinned against your 
 Prince, your enemies within have been too 
 hard for you. 
 
 Then said Mr. Carnal-security, Fie, fie, Mr. 
 Godly-fear, fie I Will you never shake off 
 your timorousness? Are you afraid of being 
 sparrow-blasted? Who hath hurt you ? Be- 
 hold I am on your side, only you are for 
 doubting and I am for being confident. Be- 
 sides, is this a time to be sad in ? A feast is 
 made for mirth; why then do you now, to' 
 your shame and our trouble, ]Dreak out into 
 such passionate, melancholy language, when 
 you should eat and drink and be merry ? 
 
 Then said Mr. Godly-fear again, I may well 
 be sad, for Emmanuel is gone from Mansoul. 
 I say again he is gone, and you, sir, are the 
 man that has driven him away. Yea, he is 
 gone without so much as acquainting the no- 
 bles of Mansoul with his going; and if that 
 is not a sign of his 3nger,T am not acquainted 
 with the methods of godliness. 
 
 And now, my lords and gentlemen — for my 
 speech is still to you — your graduj,l declining 
 from him did provoke him to depart from you ; 
 the which he did gradually, if perhaps you 
 would have been made sensible thereby, and 
 have been renewed by humbling of yourselves ; 
 but when he saw that none would regard nor 
 lay these fearful beginnings of hia anger and 
 judgment to heart, he went away from this 
 place; and this I saw with mine own eyes. 
 Wherefore, now while you boast your Strength 
 is gone; you are like the man that had lost 
 his locks that before did wave about hia 
 shoulders. You may with this lord of your 
 feast shake yourselves and conclude to do as at 
 other times ; but since without him you can do 
 nothing, and he is departed from you, turn 
 your feast into a sigh and your mirth into 
 lamentations. 
 
 Then the subordinate preacher, old Mr. 
 Conscience by name, he that of old was re- 
 corder of Mansoul, being startled at what waa 
 said, began to second it thus. 
 
 Indeed, my brethren, quoth he, I fear that • 
 Mr. Godly-fear tells us true. I for my part 
 have not seen my Prince for a long season. I 
 cannot remember the day, for my part, Nor 
 can I answer Mr. Godly-fear's question. I am 
 afraid that all is naught with Mansoul. 
 
 Godly-fear. Nay, I know that you should 
 not find him in Mansoul, for he is departed 
 and gone ; yea, and gone for the faults of the 
 elders, and for that they rewarded his grace 
 with unsufierable unkindnesses. 
 
THE HOLY WAR. 
 
 437 
 
 Then did the subordinate preacher look as 
 if be would fall down dead at the table ; also 
 all there present except the man of the house 
 began to loolc pale and wan. Bui having a 
 little recovered themselves, and jointly agree- 
 ing to believe Mr. Godly-fear and his sayings, 
 they began to consult what was best to be 
 done (now Mr. Carnal-security was gone into 
 his withdrawing room, for he liked not such 
 dumpish doings) both to the man of the house 
 ■ for drawing them into evil, and also to recover 
 Emmanuel's love. 
 
 Then the saying of their Prince came very hot 
 Into their minds concerning the false proph- 
 ets that should arise to delude the town of 
 Mansoul. So they took Mr. Carnal-security 
 (concluding that he was the person) and burnt 
 his house upon him with fire, for he als(f was a 
 Diabolonian Ity nature. 
 
 When this was past and over they besped 
 themselves to look for Emmanuel their Piince, 
 and they sought him, but found him not. 
 Then were they more confirmed in the truth 
 of Mr. Godly-fear's sayings, and began also 
 severely to reflect upon themselves for their so 
 vile and ungodly doings, for they concluded 
 now it was through them that their Prince had 
 left them. 
 
 Then they agreed and went to my lord sec- 
 retary, (whom before they refused to hear and 
 had grieved with their doings) to know of 
 him, for he was a seer, and could tell where 
 Emmanuel was and how they might direct a 
 petition to him. But the lord secretary would 
 not admit them to a conference about this 
 matter, nor would admit them to his royal 
 palace, nor come out to them to show them his 
 face or intelligence. 
 
 And now it was a day gloomy and dark, a 
 day of clouds and of thi^k darkness with Man- 
 soul. Now they saw that they had been fool- 
 ish, and began to perceiye what the company 
 and prattle of Mr. Carnal-security had done, 
 and what desperate damage his swaggering 
 words had brought poor Mansoul into. But 
 what further it was like to cost them, that they 
 were ignorant of. Now Mr Godly-fear began 
 again to be in .repute with the men of the 
 town ; yea., they were ready to look upon him 
 as a prophet. 
 
 Well, when the sabbath-day was come, they 
 went to hear their subordinate preacher ; but 
 oh how it did thunder and lighten this day I 
 His text was that in the prophet Jonah, 
 "They that observe lying vanities forsake 
 theii own mercies.'' But there was then such 
 
 power and authority in that sermon, and sucii 
 a dejection seen in the countenances of the 
 people that day, that the like had seldom been 
 heard or seen. The people, when the sermon 
 was done, were scarce able to go to their 
 homes, or betake themselves to their employn 
 the week after: they were so sermon- Jmitlen, 
 and also so sermon-sick, that they knew not 
 what to do. 
 
 He not only showed Mansoul their sin, but 
 trembled before them under a sense of his 
 own, still crying out of himself as he preached 
 to them, " Unhappy man that I am ! that I 
 should do so wicked a thing! — that I, a 
 preacher whom the Prince did set up to teach 
 to Mansoul his law, should 'myself live sense- 
 less and sottishly here, and be one of the first 
 found in transgression ! This transgression 
 also fell within my precincts. I should have 
 cried out against the wickedness, but I let 
 Mansoul lie wallowing in it until it had driven 
 Emmanuel from its borders." With these 
 things he also charged all the lords and gentry 
 of Mansoul, to the almost distracting of them. 
 
 About this time also there was a great sick- 
 ness in the town of Mansoul, and most of the 
 inhabitants were greatly afflicted ; yea, the 
 captains also and men of war were brought 
 thereby to a languishing' condition, dud that 
 for a long time together-; so that in case of 
 an invasion nothing could to purpose now 
 have been done either by the townsmen or 
 field-officers. Oh how many pale faces, weak 
 hands, feeble knees, and staggering ftien were 
 now seen to walk the streets of Mansoul ! 
 Here were groans, there pants, and yonder lay 
 those that were ready to faint. 
 
 The garments too which Emmanuel had 
 given them were but in a sorry case; some 
 were rent, some were torn, and all in a nasty 
 condition ; some also hung so loosely upon 
 them that the next bush they came at was 
 ready to pluck them off. 
 
 After some time spent in this sad and des- 
 olate condition, the subordinate preacher 
 called for a day of fasting and to humble them- 
 selves for being so wicked against the great 
 Shaddai .and his Son. And he desired that 
 Captain Boanerges would preach. So he con- 
 sented to do it ; and the day was come, and his 
 text was this, " Cut it down, why cunibereth it 
 the ground?" and a very smart sermon he 
 made upon the place. First, he showed what 
 was the occasion of the words — to wit, because 
 the fig-tree was barren ; then he showed what 
 was contained in the sentence — to wit, repent 
 
438 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 ance or utter desolation. He then showed 
 also by whose authority this sentence was pro- 
 nounced; and that was by Shaddai himself. 
 And lastly, he showed the reasons of the 
 point, and then concluded his sermon. But 
 he was very pertinent in the application, inso- 
 much that he made poor Mansoul tremble. 
 For this sermon, as well as the former, wrought 
 much upon the hearts of the men of Mansoul ; 
 yea, it greatly i helped to keep awake those 
 that were roused by the preaching that went 
 before. So that now, throughout the whole 
 town, there was little or nothing to be heard 
 or seen but sorrow, and mourning, and woe. 
 
 Now after the sermon they got together and 
 consulted what was best to be done. But, said 
 the subordinate preacher, I will do nothing of 
 mine own head without advising with my 
 neighbour, Mr. Godly-fear. So they called 
 and sent for Mr. Godly-fear, and he forthwith 
 appeared; then they desired that he would 
 further show his opinion about what they had 
 best to do. Then said the old ^gentleman as 
 followeth : " It is my opinion that this town 
 of Mansoul should, in this day of her distress, 
 draw up and send an humble petition to their 
 offended Prince Emmanuel, that he, in his 
 favour and grace, will turn again unto you 
 and not keep anger for ever.'' 
 
 When the townsmen had heard this speech, 
 they did with one consent agree to his advice ; 
 so they presently did draw up their request ; 
 and the next question was, But who shall carry 
 it ? At last they did all agree to send it by 
 my lord mayor. So he accepted of the service 
 and addressed himself to his journey, and went 
 and came to the court of Shaddai, whither 
 Emmanuel the Prince of Mansoul was gone. 
 But the gate was shut, and strict watch kept 
 thereat, so that the petitioner was forced to 
 stand without for a great while together. Then 
 he desired that some would go in to the Prince 
 and tell him who. stood at the gate and what 
 his business was. So one went, and told to 
 Shaddai and to Emmanuel his Son that the 
 lord mayor of the town of Mansoul stood with- 
 out at the gate of the King's court, desiring to 
 be admitted into the presence of the Prince, 
 the King's Son. He also told what was the 
 lord mayor's errand, both to the King and his 
 Son Emmanuel. But the Prince would not 
 come down, nor admit that the gate should be 
 opened to him ; but sent him an answer to this 
 effect : " They have turned their back unto 
 me, and not their face ; but now, in the time 
 of their trouble, they say unto me. Arise, and 
 
 save us.- But can they not now go to Mr. 
 Carnal-security, to whom they went when they 
 turned from me, and make him their leader, 
 their lord, and their protector now in their 
 trouble ? Why now in their trouble do they 
 visit me, since in their prosperity they went 
 astray?" 
 
 This answer made my lord mayor look black 
 in the face ; it troubled, it perplexe;!, it rent 
 him sore. And now he began again to see 
 what it was to be familiar with Diabolonians, " 
 such as Mr. Carnal-security was. When he 
 saw that at court, as yet, the^e was little help 
 to be expected either for himself or friends in 
 Mansoul, he smote upon his breast and re- 
 turned weeping, and all the way bewailing the 
 lamentable state of Mansoul. 
 
 Well, when he was come within sight of the 
 town, the elders and chief of the people of 
 Mansoul went out at the gate to meet him and 
 to salute him, and to know how he sped at 
 court. But he told them his tale in so doleful 
 a manner that they all cried out, and mourned, 
 and wept. Wherefore they threw ashes and 
 dust upon their heads, and put sackcloth upon 
 their loins, and went crying out through the 
 town of Mansoul ; the which when the rest of 
 the townsfolk saw, they all mourned and wept. 
 This therefore was a day of rebuke, and of 
 trouble; and of anguish to the town of Man- 
 soul, and also of great distress. 
 
 After some time, when they had somewhat 
 refrained themselves, they came together to 
 consult again what by them was yet to be 
 done ; and they asked advice, as they did be- 
 fore, of that Kev. Mr. Godly-fear, who told 
 them that there was no way better than to do 
 as they had done, nor would he that they 
 should be discouraged at all with what they 
 had met with at courtf; yea, though several of 
 their petitions should be answered with naught 
 but silence or rebuke ; for, said he, it is the 
 way of the wise Shaddai to make men wait and 
 to exercise patience ; and it should be the way 
 of them in want to be willing 'to stay his 
 leisure. 
 
 Then they took courage, and sent again, and 
 again, and again ; for there was not a day nor 
 an hour that went over Mansoul's head where- 
 in a man might not have met upon the road 
 one or other riding posts from Mansoul to. the 
 court of King Shaddai, and all with letters 
 petitionary in behalf of and for the Prince's 
 return to Mansoul. 
 
 The road, I say, was now full of messengers 
 going and returning, and meeting one another, 
 
THE HOLY WAR. 
 
 439 
 
 Bome from the court, and some from Mansoul ; 
 and this was the work of the miserable town 
 of Mans»ul all that long, that sharp, that cold 
 and tedious winter. 
 
 Now, you may remember that I told you he- 
 fore that after Emmanuel had taken Mansoul, 
 yea, and after he had new-modelled the town, 
 there remained in several lurking-places of 
 the corporation many of the old Diabolonians, 
 that either came with the tyrant when he in- 
 vaded and took the town, or that had' there (by 
 reason of unlawful mixtures, their birth in 
 breeding, and bringing up) their holes, dens, 
 and lurking-places in, under, or about the wall 
 of the town. Some of their names are — the 
 Lord Fornication, the Lord Adultery, the Lord 
 Murder, the Lord Anger, the Lord Lascivious- 
 ness, the Lord Deceit, the Lord Evil-eye, the 
 Lord Blasphemy, and that horrible villain, the 
 old and dangerous Lord Covetousness. These, 
 with many more, had yet their abode in the 
 town of Mansoul after Emmanuel had driven 
 their prince Diabolus out of the castle. 
 
 Against these the good Prince did grant a 
 commission to the Lord Will-be-will and 
 others, yea, to the whole town of Mansoul, to 
 seek, take, secure, and destroy any or all that 
 they could lay hands on, for that they were 
 Diabolonians by nature, enemies to the Prince, 
 and those who sought to ruin the blessed town 
 of Mansoul. But Mansoul did not pursue this 
 warrant, but neglected to look after, to appre- 
 hend, to secure, and to destroy these Diabolo- 
 nians. Wherefore, what do these villains but 
 by degrees take courage to show themselves to 
 the inhabitants of the town; yea, and, as I 
 was told, some of the men of the town of 
 Mansoul grew too familiar with several of 
 them, to the sorrow of the corporation, as you 
 will hear more of in time and place. 
 
 Well, when the Diabolonian lords that were 
 left perceived that Mansoul had, through sin- 
 ning, offended Emmanuel their Prince, and that 
 he had withdrawn himself and was gone, what 
 do they but plot the ruin of the town of Man- 
 soul. So upon a time they met together at 
 the hold of one Mr. Mischief, (who also was a 
 Diabolonian,) and there consulted how they 
 might deliver up Mansoul into the hands of 
 Diabolus again. Now some advised one way, 
 and some another, every man according to his 
 own liking. At last my Lord Lasciviousness 
 proposed that some of the Diabolonians in 
 Mansoul should offer themselves for servants 
 to some of the natives of the town; For, said 
 he, if they so do, and Mansoul- shall accept of 
 
 them, they may for us, and for Diabolus oui 
 lord, make the taking of the town of Mansoul 
 more easy than otherwise it would be. But 
 then stood up the Lord Murder, and said. 
 This may not be done at this time, for Man- 
 soul is now in a kind of rage because by our 
 friend Mr. Carnal-security she hath been once 
 ensnared already and made to offend against 
 Her Prince ; and how shall she reconcile her- 
 self unto her Lord again but by thg, heads of 
 these men ? Besides, we know that they have 
 in commission to take and slay us wherever 
 they shall find us ; let us, therefore, be wise as 
 foxes; when we are dead we can do them no 
 hurt, but while we live we may. Thus, when 
 they had tossed the matter to and fro, they 
 jointly agreed that a letter should forthwith be 
 sent away to Diabolus in their name, by which 
 the state of the town of Mansoul should be 
 showed him, and how much it was under the 
 frowns of their Prince: We may also, said 
 some, let him know our intentions, and ask of 
 him his advice in the case. 
 
 So this letter was presently framed, the con- 
 tents of which were these : 
 
 To our great lord, the prince Diabolus, dwelling 
 
 behw in the infernal cave : 
 
 O great father and mighty prince Diabolus ! 
 We, the true Diabolonians yet remaining in 
 the rebellious town of Mansoul, having re- 
 ceived "our beings from thee and our nourish- 
 ment at thy hands, cannot with content and 
 quiet endure to behold, as we do this day, how 
 thou art dispraised, disgraced, and reproached 
 among the inhabitants of this town; nor is 
 thy long absence at all delightful to us, be- 
 cause greatly to our detriment. 
 
 The reason of this our writing unto our lord 
 is, for that we are not altogether without hope 
 that this town may become thy habitation 
 again ; for it is greatly declined from its Prince 
 Emmanuel, and he is uprisen and is departed 
 from them; yea, and though they send, and 
 send, and send, and send after him to return 
 to them, yet can they not prevail, nor get good 
 words from him. 
 
 There has been also of late, and is yet re- 
 maining, a very great sickness and fainting 
 among them, and that not only upon the 
 poorer- sort of the town, but upon the lords, 
 captains, and chief gentry of the place, (we 
 only, who are Diabolonians by nature, remain 
 well, lively, and strong;) so that through their 
 great transgression on the one hand, and their 
 dangerous sickness on the other, we judge 
 
440 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 they lie open to thy hand and power. If, 
 'therefore, it shall stand with thy horrible cun- 
 ning, and with *he cunning of the rest of the 
 princes with tliee, to come and make an at- 
 tempt to take Mansoul again, send us word, 
 and we shall, to our utmost power, be ready to 
 deliver it into thy hand ; or if what we have 
 said shall not by thy fatherhood be thought 
 best and most meet to be done, send us thy 
 mind in a few words, and we are all ready to 
 follow thy counsel, to the hazarding of our 
 lives i.nd what else we have. 
 Given under our hands this day and date 
 above written, after a close consultation 
 at the house of Mr. Mischief, who is yet 
 alive and hath his place in our desirable 
 town of Mansoul. 
 
 When Mr. Profane (for he was the carrier) 
 was come with his letter to Hell-gate-hill, he 
 knocked at the brazen gates for entrance. 
 Then did Cerberus the porter (for he is the 
 keeper of that gate) open to Mr. Profane; to 
 whom he delivered his letter which he had 
 brought from the Diabolonians in Mansoul. 
 So he carried it in and presented it to Diab- 
 olus his lord, and said. Tidings, my lord, 
 from Mansoul — from our trusty friends in 
 Mansoul. 
 
 Then came together, from all places of the 
 den, Beelzebub, Lucifer, Apollyon, with the 
 rest of the rabblement there, to hear what 
 news from Mansoul. So the letter was broken 
 and read, and Cerberus stood by. When the 
 letter was openly read, and the contents 
 thereof spread into all corners of the den, 
 command was given that without let or stop 
 Deadman's bell should be rung for joy. So 
 the bell was 'rung, and the princes rejoiced 
 that Mansoul was like to come to ruin. Now 
 the clapper of the bell went. The town of 
 Mansoul is coming to dwell with us: make 
 room for the town of Mansoul! This bell, 
 therefore, they rang because they hoped that 
 they should have Mansoul again. 
 
 Now when they had performed this their 
 horrible ceremony, they got together again to 
 consult what answer to send to their friends in 
 Mansoul; and some advised one thing and 
 some another; but at length, because, the 
 business required haste, they left the whole 
 business to the prince Diabolus, judging him 
 the most proper lord of the place. So he 
 drew up a letter, as he thought fit, in answer 
 to what Mr. Profane had brought, and sent it 
 to the Diabolonians in Mansoul by the same 
 
 hand that had brought theirs to him; and 
 these were the contents theieof : 
 
 To our offspring, the high and mighty Diabolo- 
 nians that yet dwell in the town of Man-soicL, 
 Diabolus, the great princ? of Mansoul, wisheth 
 a prosperous issue and conclusion of those many 
 brave enterprises, conspiracies and designs '.hat 
 you, of your love and respect to our honour, 
 have in your hearts to attempt to dc agabid 
 Mansoul. 
 
 Beloved children and disciples, my Lord 
 Fornication, Adultery, and the rest : We have 
 here, in our desolate den, received, to our 
 highest joy and content, your welcome letter 
 by the hand of our trusty Mr. Profane ; and to 
 show how acceptable your tidings were we 
 rang out our bell for gladness, for we rejoiced 
 as much as we could when we perceived that 
 yet we had friends in Man.'ioul, and such as 
 sought our honour and revenge in the ruin of 
 the town of Mansoul. We also rejoice to 
 hear that they are in a degenerate condition, 
 have offended their Prince, and that he is 
 gone. Their sickness also pleaseth us, as 
 doth also your health, might, and strength. 
 Glad also would we be, right horribly beloved, 
 could we get this town into our clutches again. 
 Nor will we be sparing of our wit, our cun- 
 ning, our craft, and hellish inventions to 
 bring to a wished conclusion this your brave 
 beginning. 
 
 And take this for your comfortj (our birth 
 and our offspring,) that if we again surprise 
 and take it, we will attempt to put all your 
 foes to the sword, and will make you the great 
 lords and captains of the place. Nor need 
 you fear (if ever we get it again) that we, after 
 that, shall be cast out any more ; for we wilt 
 come with more strength, and so take faster 
 hold than at the first we did. Besides, it is 
 the law of that Prince which now they own 
 that if we get them a second time they shall 
 be ours for ever. 
 
 Do you therefore, our trusty Diabolonians, 
 yet more pry into and endeavour. to spy out 
 the weakness of the town of Mansoul. We 
 also would that you yourselves do attempt to 
 weaken them more and more. Send us word, 
 also, by what means we had best to attempt 
 the regaining thereof- — to wit, whether by per- 
 suasion to a vain and loose life, or whether by 
 tempting them to doubt and despair, or whether 
 by blowing up the town by the gunpowder of 
 pride and self-conceit. Do you ako, O ye brave 
 Diabolonians and true sons of the pit, be 
 
THE HOLY WAR. 
 
 441 
 
 always in readiness to make a most liorrid 
 assault within when we shall be ready to 
 Btorm it without. Now speed you in your 
 project and we in our desires to the utmost 
 power of our gates ; which is the wish of your 
 c;reat Diabolus, Mansoul's enemy, and him 
 that trembles when he thinks of judgment to 
 come. All the blessings of the pit be upon 
 you; and so we close up oUr letter. 
 Given at the pit's mouth, by the joint con- 
 sent of all the princes of darkness, to be 
 sent (to the force and p6wer that we have 
 yet remaining in Mausoul) by the hand 
 of Mr. Profane. By me, 
 
 Diabolus. 
 
 This letter was Hent to the Diabolonians 
 that yet remained in Mansoul, and that yet 
 inhabited the wall, from the dark dungeon of 
 Diabolus, by the hand of Mr. Profane, by 
 whom they also in Mansoul sent theirs to the 
 pit. Notv, when this Mr. Profane had made 
 his return,' and was come to Mansoul again, 
 he went and came as he was wont to the house 
 of Mr. Mischief, for there was the conclave 
 and the place where the contrivers were met. 
 Now, when they saw that their messenger was 
 returned safe and sound, they were greatly 
 glad thereat. Then he presented them his 
 letter which he had brought from Diabolus 
 for them ; the which, when they had read and 
 considered, did much augment their gladness. 
 They asked him after the welfare of their 
 friends, as how their Lords Diabolus, Lucifer, 
 and Beelzebub did, with the rest of those of 
 the den. To which this Profane made an- 
 swer, Well, well, my lords ; they are well, even 
 as well as can be in their place. They also', 
 said ho, did ring for joy at the reading of your 
 letter, as you will perceive by this when you 
 read it. 
 
 Now, a-s was said, when they had read their 
 letter, and perceived that it encouraged them 
 .n thdir work, they fell to their way of con- 
 triving again how they might complete their 
 DiabolOnian design upon Mansoul. And the 
 first thing that they agreed upon was, to keep 
 all things from Mansoul as close as they could. 
 Let it not be known, let not Mansoul be ac- 
 quainted with what we design against it. The 
 next thing was how or by what means they 
 should try to bring to pass the ruin and over- 
 throw of Mansoul; and one said after this 
 manner, and another after that. Then stood 
 up Mr. Deceit and said, My right Diabolo- 
 Dian friends, our lords and the 1 igh ones of 
 
 the deep dungeons do propound unto us these 
 three ways : 
 
 1. Whether we had best to seek its ruin by 
 making of Mansoul loose and vain ; 
 
 2. Or by driving them to doubt and despair; 
 
 3. Or by endeavouring to blow them up 
 with the gunpowder of pride and self-conceit. 
 
 Now, I think if we shall tempt them to 
 pride, that may do something, and if ■= e tempt 
 them to wantonness, that may help. But, in 
 my mind, if we could drive them into des- 
 peration, that would knock the nail on the 
 head ; for then we should have them, in the first 
 place, question the truth of the love of the 
 heart of their Prince towards them ; and that 
 will disgust him much. This, if it works well, 
 will make them leave off quickly their way of 
 sending petitions to him; then farewell earn- 
 est solicitations for help and supply ; for then 
 this conclusion lies naturally before them. As 
 good do nothing as do to no purpose. So to 
 Mr. Deceit's plan they unanimously did con- 
 sent. 
 
 Then the next question was, But how shall 
 we do to bring this our project to pass? And 
 it was answered by the same gentleman that 
 this might be the best way to do it : Even let, 
 quoth he, so many of our friends as are willing 
 to venture themselves for the promoting of 
 their prince's cause disguise themselves with 
 apparel, change their names, and go into the 
 market like far-countrymen, and proffer to let 
 themselves for servants to the famous town of 
 Mansoul, and let them pretend to do for their 
 masters as beneficially as may be ; for by so 
 doing they may, if Mansoul shall hire them, 
 in little time so corrupt and defile the corpora- 
 tion that her now Prince shall be not only 
 further ofiended with them, but in conclusion 
 shall spew them out of his mouth. And when 
 this is done our prince Diabolus shall prey 
 upon them with ease ; yea, of themselves they _ 
 shall fall into the mouth of the eater. 
 
 This project was no sooner propounded but 
 was as readily accepted, and forward were all 
 Diabolonians now to engage in so delicate au 
 enterprise; but it was not thought fit that all 
 should do thus, wherefore they pitched upon 
 two or three — namely, the Ijord Covetousness^ 
 the Lord Lasciviousness, and the Lord Ange3. 
 The Lord Covetousness called himself by the 
 name of Prudent-thrifty ; the Lord Lascivious- 
 ness called himself by the name of Harmless- 
 mirth ; and the Lord Anger called himself by 
 the name of Good-zeal. 
 
 So, upon a market-day, they came into th« 
 
442 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 market-place. Three lusty fellows tKey were 
 to look on, and they were clothed in sheep's 
 russet, which was also now in a manner as 
 white as were the white robes of the men of 
 Mansoul. Now the men could speak the lan- 
 guage of Mansoul well. So when they were 
 come into the market-place, and had offered to 
 let themselves to the townsmen, they were 
 presently taken up, for they asked but little 
 wages and promised to do their masters great 
 service. 
 
 Mr. Mind hired Prudent-thrifty, and Mr. 
 Godly-fear hired Good-zeal. True, that fellow. 
 Harmless-mirth, did hang a little in hand, and 
 could not so soon get him a master as the 
 others did, because the town of Mansoul was, 
 now in Lent ; but after a while, because Lent 
 was almost out, the Lord Will-be-will hired 
 Harmless-mirth, to be both his waiting-man 
 and lackey ; and thus they got them masters. 
 
 These villains now being got thus far into 
 the houses of the men of Mansoul, quickly 
 began to do great mischief therein ; for, being 
 filthy, arch, and sly, they quickly corrupted 
 the families where they were ; yea, they tainted 
 their masters much, especially this Prudent- 
 thrifty and him they call Harmless-mirth. 
 True, he that went under the vizor of Good- 
 zeal was not so well liked of his master, for he 
 quickly found that he was but a counterfeit 
 rascal ; the which when the fellow perceived, 
 with speed he made his escape from the house, 
 01 I doubt not but his master had hanged 
 him. 
 
 Well, when these- vagabonds had thus far 
 carried on their design, and had corrupted the 
 town as much as they could, in the next place 
 they considered with themselves at what time 
 their prince Diabolus without and themselves 
 within the town should make an attempt to 
 seize upon Mansoul ; and they all agreed upon 
 this, that a market-day should be best for that 
 ' york ; for why ? Then will the townsmen be 
 busy in their ways ; and always take this for a 
 rule, When people are most busy in the world 
 ■ they least fear a surprise. We also then, said 
 they, shall be able with less suspicion to gather 
 ourselves together for the work of our friends 
 and lords ; yea, on such a day, if we shall at- 
 tempt our work and miss it, we may, when 
 thoy shall give us the rout, the better hide our- 
 selves in the crowd and escape. 
 
 Tlese things being thus far agreed upon by 
 them, they wrote another letter to Diabolus, 
 and sent it by the hand of Mr. Profane ; the 
 contents of which were these : 
 
 The Lords of Looseness send to the great ^ ant 
 
 high Diabolus, from our dens, eaves j holes, and 
 
 strongholds in and about the wq,il of the town 
 
 of Mansoul, greeting : 
 
 Our great lord and the nourisher of our 
 lives, Diabolus I How glad we were when we 
 heard of your fatherhood's readiness to comply 
 with us and help forward our design in our at- 
 tempt to ruin Mansoul none can tell but those 
 who, as we do, set themselves against all ap- 
 pearance of good when and wheresoever we 
 find it. 
 
 Touching the encouragement that your 
 greatness is pleased to give us to continue to 
 devise, contrive and study the utter desolation 
 of Mansoul, that we are not solicitous about, 
 for we know right well that it cannot but bo 
 pleasing and profitable to us to see our ene- 
 mies and them that seek our lives die at our 
 feet or fly before us. We therefore are stil] 
 contriving, and that to the best of our cunning, 
 to make this work most facile and easy to youi 
 lordship and to us. 
 
 First, we considered of that most hellishly 
 cunning, compacted threefold project that by 
 you was propounded to us in your last ; and 
 have concluded that though to blow them up 
 with the gunpowder of pride would do well, 
 and to do it by tempting them to be loose and 
 vain would help on, yet to contrive to bring 
 them into the gulf of desperation, we think, 
 will do best of all. Now we, who are at your 
 beck, have thought of two ways> to do this : 
 first, we, for our parts, will make them as vile 
 as wecan, and then you with us, at a time ap- 
 pointed, shall be ready to fall upon them with 
 the utmost force. And of all the nations that 
 are at your whistle, we think that an army of 
 Doubters may be the most likely to attack and 
 overcome the town of Mansoul. Thus we shall 
 overcome these enemies, else the pit shall open 
 her mouth upon them, and desperation shall 
 thrust them down into it. We have also, to 
 effect this so-much-wished design, sent already 
 three of our trusty Diabolonians among thejn ; 
 they are disguised in garb, they have changed 
 their names, and are now accepted of them — ^to 
 wit, Covetousness, Lasciviousness, and Anger. 
 The name of Covetousness is changed to Pru- 
 dent-thrifty, and him Mr. Mind has hired, and 
 is almost become as bad as our friend. 
 
 Lasciviousness has changed his name to 
 Harmless-mirth, and he is got to be the Lord 
 Will-be-will's lackey, but he has made his 
 master very wanton. Anger changed his name 
 into Good-zeal, and was entertained by Mr. 
 
THE HOLT WAR. 
 
 443 
 
 Godly-fear, but the peevish old gentleman took 
 pepper in hia nose and turned our companion 
 out of his house. Nay, he has informed us 
 since that he ran away from him, or else his 
 old master had hanged him up for his labour. 
 
 Now these have much helped forward our 
 work and design upon Mansoul ; for, notwith- 
 standing the spite and quarrelsome temper of 
 the old gentleman last meniioned, the other 
 two ply their business well and are like to 
 ripen the work apace. 
 
 Our next project is, that it be concluded that 
 you come upon the town upon a market-day, 
 and that when they are upon the heat of their 
 business; for then, to be sure, they will be 
 most secure, and least think that an assault 
 will be made upon them. They will also at 
 such a time be less able to defend thSmselves 
 and to offend you in the prosecution of our/ de- 
 sign. And we, your trusty (and we are sure 
 your beloved) ones, shall, when you make 
 your furious assault without, be ready to second 
 the business within. So shall we, in all like- 
 lihood, be able to put Mansoul to utter confu- 
 sion, and to swallow them up before they can 
 come to themselves. If your serpentine heads, 
 most subtle dragons and our highly esteemed 
 lords, can find out a better way than this, let 
 us quickly know your minds. 
 
 To the monsters of the infernal cave, from 
 the house of Mr. Mischief in Mansoul, by 
 the hand of Mr. Profane. 
 
 Now, all the while that the raging runagates 
 and hellish Diabolonians were thus contriving 
 the ruin of the town of Mansoul, they — to wit, 
 the poor town itself— were in a sad and woeful 
 case; partly because they had so grievously 
 offended Shaddai and his Son, and partly be- 
 cause that the enemies thereby got strength 
 within them afresh ; and also because, though 
 they had by many petitions made suit to the 
 Prince Emmanuel, and to his Father Shaddai 
 by him, for their pardon and favour, yet hith- 
 erto obtained they not one smile ; but contrari- 
 wiso, through the craft and subtility of the 
 domestic Diabolonians, their cloud was made 
 to grow blacker and blacker and their Em- 
 manuel to stand at further distance. 
 
 The sickness also still greatly raged in Man- 
 soul, both among the captains and the inhab- 
 itants of the town : their enemies, and their en- 
 emies only, were now lively and strong, and like 
 to become the head whilst Mansoul was made 
 the tail. 
 
 B\' this time the letter last mentioned, that 
 
 was written by the Diaboloiiians that yet 
 lurked in the town of Mansoul, was conveyed 
 to Diabolus in the black den by the hand of 
 ^r. Profane. He carried the letter by Hell- 
 gate-hill, as afore, and conveyed it by Cerberus 
 to his lord. 
 
 But when Cerberus and Mr. Profane met 
 they were presently as great as beggars, and 
 thus they fell into discourse about Mansoul 
 and about the project against her. 
 
 Ahl old friend, quoth Cerberus, art thou 
 come to Hell-gate-hill again I By St. Mary, I 
 am ^lad to see thee. 
 
 Profane. Yes, my lord, I am come again 
 about the concerns of the town of Mansoul. 
 
 Cerberus. Prithee tell me what condition is 
 that town of Mansoul in at present? 
 
 Profane. In a brave condition, my lord, for 
 us and for my lords the lords of this place, I 
 trow ; for they are greatly decayed as to godli- 
 ness, and that is as well as our hearts can wish; 
 their Lord is greatly out with them, and that 
 doth also please us well. We have already 
 also a foot in their dish, for our Diabolonian 
 friends are laid in their bosoms, and what do 
 we lack but to be masters of the place ? 
 
 Besides, our trusty friends in Mansoul are 
 daily plotting to betray it to the lords of this 
 town ; also the sickness rages bitterly among 
 them, and, that which makes up all, we hope 
 at last to prevail. 
 
 Then said the dog of Hell-gate, No time 
 like this to assault them : I wish that the en- 
 terprise be followed close, and that the success 
 desired may be soon effected. Yea, I wish it 
 for the poor Diabolonians' sakes that live in 
 the continual fear of their lives in the traitor- 
 ous town of Mansoul. 
 
 Profane. The contrivance is almost finished; 
 the lords in Mansoul that are Diabolonians 
 are at it day and night, and the others are like 
 silly doves that want heart to be concerned 
 with their state and to consider that ruin is at 
 hand. Besides, you may, yea, must think, 
 when you put all things together, that there 
 are many reasons that prevail with Diabolus to 
 make what haste he can. 
 
 Oerberus. Thou hast said as it is : I am glad 
 things are at this pass. Go in, my brave Pro- 
 fane, to my lords ; they will give thee for thy 
 welcome as good a coranto as this kingdom will 
 afford. I have sent thy letter in already. 
 
 Then Mr. Profane went into the den, and 
 his lord Diabolus met him and sainted him with, 
 "Welcome, my trusty servant 1 I have been 
 made glad with thy letter." The rest of the 
 
444 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 lords of the pit gave him also their salutations. 
 Then Profane, after obeisance made to them 
 all, said, "Let Mansoul be given to my lord 
 Diabolus, and let him be her king for ever." 
 And with that the yawning gorge of hell gave 
 so loud and hideous a groan (for that is the 
 music of that place) that it made the moun- 
 tains about it totter as if they would fall in 
 pieces. 
 
 Now after they had read and considered the 
 letter, they consulted what answer to return ; 
 and the first that spake to it was Lucifer. 
 
 Then said he. The first project of the Diab- 
 olonians in Mansoul is like to be lucky and to 
 take — to wit, that they will, by all the means ■ 
 they can, make Mansoul yet more vile and 
 filthy ; no way to destroy a soul like this ; our 
 old friend Balaam went this way, and pros- 
 pered many years ago ; let this therefore stand 
 with us for a maxim, and be to Diabolonians 
 for a general rule in all ages, for nothing can 
 make this to fail but grace, in which I would 
 hope that this town has no share. But 
 whether to fall upon them on a market-day 
 because of their cumber in business, that I 
 would should be under debate. And there is 
 more reason why this head should be debated 
 than why some other should, because upon 
 this will turn the whole of what we shall at- 
 tempt. If we time not our business well, our 
 whole project may fail. Our friends the Diab- 
 olonians say that a market-day is best, for then 
 will Mansoul be most busy and have fewest 
 thoughts of a surprise. But what if they 
 should double their guards on those days? 
 (and methinks nature and reason would teach 
 them to do it,) and what if they should keep 
 such a watch on those days as the necessity of 
 their present case doth require? Yea, what if 
 their men should be always in arms on' those 
 days? Then you may, my lords, be disap- 
 pointed in your attempts, and may bring our 
 friends in the town to utter danger of unavoid- 
 able ruin. 
 
 Then said the great Beelzebub, There is 
 something in what my lord hath said, but his 
 conjecture may or may not fall out. Nor hath 
 my lord laid it down as that which must not 
 be receded from, for I know that he said it 
 only to provoke to a warm debate thereabout. 
 Therefore we must understand, if we can, 
 whether the town of Mansoul has such sense 
 and knowledge of her decayed state, and of the 
 design that we have on foot against her, as 
 doth provoke her to set watch and ward at her 
 gates and to double them on market-days. 
 
 But if, after inquiry made, it shall be found 
 that they are asleep, then any day will do, but 
 a market-day is best; and this is my judgment 
 in this case. 
 
 Then quoth Diabolus, How should we know 
 this ? And it vvas answered. Inquire about it 
 at the mouth of Mr. Profane. So Profane was 
 called in and asked the question, and he made 
 his answer as follows : 
 
 My lords, so far as I can gather, this i= at 
 present the condition of the town of Mansoul: 
 they are decayed in their faith and love ; Em- 
 manuel their Prince has given them the back; 
 they send often by petition to fetch him again, 
 but he maketh not haste to answer their re- 
 quest ; nor is there much refoirmation among 
 them. 
 
 'Diabolus. I am glad that they are backward 
 to a reformation, but yet I am afraid of their 
 petitioning. However, their looseness of life 
 is a sign that there is not much heart in what 
 they do, and without the heart things are little 
 worth. But go on, my masters : I will divert 
 you, my lords, no longer. 
 
 Beelzebub. If the case be so with Mansoul as 
 Mr. Profane has described it to be, it will be 
 no great matter what day we assault it ; nor 
 their prayers nor their power will do them 
 much service. ' 
 
 When Beelzebub had ended his oration, 
 then Apollyon did begin. My opinion, said 
 he, concerning this matter is, that we go on 
 fair and softly, not doing things in a hurry. 
 Let our friends in Mansoul go on still to pol- 
 lute and defile it, by seeking to draw it yet 
 more into sin, for there is nothing like sin to 
 devour Mansoul. If this be done, and it takes 
 effect, Mansoul of itself will leave off" to watch, 
 to petition, or any thing else that should tend 
 to her security and safety; for she will forget 
 her Emmanuel, she will not desire his com- 
 pany ; and can she be gotten thus to live, her 
 Prince will not come to her in haste. Oui 
 trusty friend, Mr. Carnal-security, with one of 
 his tricks, did drive him out of the town, and 
 why may not my Lord Covetousness and my 
 Lord Lasciviousness, by what they may do, 
 keep him out Qf the town ? And this I will 
 tell you, (not because you know it not,) that 
 two or three Diabolonians, if entertained and 
 countenanced by the town of Mansoul, will do 
 more to the keeping of Emmanuel from them, 
 and towards making of the town of Mknsoul 
 your own, than can an army of a legion that 
 should be sent out from us to withstand him. 
 
 Let, therefore, this first project that our 
 
THE HOLY WAR. 
 
 445 
 
 frienda in Mansoul have set on foot be strongly 
 and diligently carried on with all cunning and 
 craft imaginable ; and let them send contin- 
 ually, under one guise or another, niore and 
 other of their men to play with the people of 
 Mansoul ; and then perhaps we shall not need 
 to be at the charge of making a war upon 
 them ; or if that must of necessity be done, yet 
 the more sinful they are, the less able, to be 
 sure, they will be to resist us, and then the 
 more easily we shall overcome them. And 
 besides, suppose (and that is the worst that 
 can be supposed) that Emmanuel should come 
 to them again, why may not the same means, 
 or the like, drive him from them once more ? 
 Yea, why may he not, by their lapse into that 
 sin again, be driven from them for ever for the 
 sake of-which he was at the first dniven from 
 them for a season ? And if this should happen, 
 then away go with him his rams and his 
 slings, his captains, his soldiers, and he leav- 
 eth Mansoul naked and bare. Yea, will not 
 this town, when she sees herself utterly for- 
 saken of her Prince, of her own accord open 
 her gaces again unto you? But this must be 
 done by time; a few days will not effect so 
 great a work as this. 
 
 So soon as Apollyon had made an end of 
 speaking, Diabolus began to blow out his own 
 malice and to plead his own cause ; and he 
 said : My lords and powers of the cave, my true 
 and trusty friends, I have with much impa- 
 tience, as becomes me, given- ear to your long 
 and tedious orations. But my furious gorge 
 and empty paunch so lusteth after a repos- 
 session of my famous town of Mansoul that, 
 whatever comes on't, I can wait no longer to 
 see the events of lingering projects. I must, 
 and that without further delay, seek by all 
 means I can to fill my insatiable gulf with the 
 soul and body of the town of Mansoul. There- 
 fore lend me your heads, your hearts, and your 
 help, now I am going to recover my town of 
 Mansoul. 
 
 "When the lords and princes of the pit saw 
 the flaming desire that was in Diabolus to de- 
 ■?oviT the miserable town of Mansoul, they left 
 off to raise any more objections, but consented 
 to lend him what strength they could ; though, 
 had ApoUyon's advice been taken, they had far 
 more fearfully distressed the town of Mansoul 
 But, I say, they were willing to lend him what 
 strength they could, not knowing what need 
 they might have of him when they should en- 
 gage for themselves as he. Wherefore they 
 fell to advising about the next thing propound- 
 
 ed — to wit, "what soldiers there were, and also 
 how many, with whom Diabolus should go 
 against the town of Mansoul to take it ; and 
 after some debate it was concluded, according 
 as in the letter the Diabolonians had suggest- 
 ed, that none was more fit for that expedition, 
 than an army of terrible Doubters: They 
 therefore concluded to send against Mansoul 
 an army of sturdy Doubters. The number 
 thought fit to be employed in that service wa-s 
 between twenty and thirty thousand. So, the i, 
 the result of that great council of those high 
 and mighty lords was, that Diabolus should, 
 even now, out of hand, beat up his drum for 
 men in the land of Doubting, (which land lieth 
 upon the confines of the place called Hell- gate- 
 hill,) — for men that might be employed by 
 him against the miserable town of Mansoul. 
 It was also concluded that these lords them- 
 selves should help him in the war, and that 
 they would, to that end, head and manage his 
 men. So they drew up a letter, and sent it 
 back to the Diabolonians ffeat lurked in Man- 
 soul, and that waited for the back coming of 
 Mr. Profane, to signify to them into what 
 method and forwardness they at present had' 
 put their design ; the contents whereof follow ; 
 
 From the dark and horrible dungeons of Hell, 
 Diabolus, with all the society of the princes of 
 darkness, sends to our trusty ones in and about 
 the walls of the town of Mansoul, noiv im- 
 patiently wailing for our most devilish answer 
 to their venomous and most poisonous design 
 against the town of Mansoul: 
 Our native ones, in whom from day to day 
 we boast, and in whose actions all the year 
 long we do greatly delight ourselves! we re- 
 ceived your welcome because highly esteemed 
 letter at the hand of our trusty and greatly 
 beloved, the old gentleman. Mr. Profane, and' 
 do give you to understand that when we had 
 broken it up, and had read the contents thereof, 
 (to your amazing memory be it spoken,) our 
 yawning, hollow-bellied place where we are 
 made so hideous and yelling a noise for joy 
 that the mountains that stand round about 
 Hell-gate-hill had like to have been shaken to 
 pieces at the sound thereof. 
 
 We could also do no less than admire your 
 faithfulness' to us, with the greatness of. thai 
 subtlety that now hath showed itself to be in 
 your heads to serve against the town of Man- 
 soul. For you have invented for us so excel- 
 lent a method for our proceeding against that 
 rebellious people that a more efiectual cannot 
 
146 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 be thouglit of by all the wits of bell. The 
 proposals therefore which now at last you have 
 Bent us, since we saw them, we have done little 
 else but highly approve and admire them. 
 
 Nay, we shall, to encourage you in the pro- 
 fundity of your craft, let you know that at a 
 full assembly and conclave of our princes and 
 principalities of this place your project was 
 discoursed and tossed from one side of our cave 
 to the other by their mightinesses ; but a better 
 and, as was by themselves judged, a more fit 
 and proper way by all their wits could not be 
 invented to surprise, take, and make our own 
 the rebellious town of Mansoul. 
 
 Wherefore, in fine, all that was said that 
 varied from what you had in your letter pro- 
 pounded fell of itself to the ground, and yours 
 only was stuck to by Diabolus the prince; yea, 
 his gaping gorge and yawning paunch were 
 on fire to put your invention into execution. 
 
 We therefore give you to understand that 
 our stout, furious, and unmerciful Diabolus is 
 raising for ycur relief and the ruin of the re- 
 bellious town of Mansoul more than twenty 
 thousand Doubters to come against that people. 
 They are all stout and sturdy men, and men 
 that of old have been accustomed to war. I 
 say he is doing of this work of his with all the 
 speed he can, for his heart and spirit are en- 
 gaged in it. We desire, therefore, that as you 
 have hitherto stuck to us, and given us both 
 advice and encouragement, that you still will 
 prosecute our design ; nor shall you lose, but 
 be gainers thereby ; yea, we intend to make 
 you the lords of Mansoul. 
 
 One thing may not by any means be omitted : 
 that is, those with us desire that every one of 
 you that are in Mansoul Would still use all 
 your power, cunning, and skill, with delusive 
 persuasions, yet to draw the town of Matisoul 
 into more sin and wickedness, even that sin 
 may be finished and bring forth death. 
 
 For thus it is concluded with us : that the 
 more vile, sinful, and debauched the town of 
 Mansoul is, the more backward will be their 
 Emmanuel to come to their help, either by 
 pr4sence or other relief; yea, the more sinful, 
 the more weak, and so the more unable, will 
 they be to make resistance when we shall make 
 our assault upon them to swallow them up ; 
 yea, they may cause that their mighty Shaddai 
 himself may cast them out of his protection, 
 yea, and send for his captains and soldiers 
 "home with his slings and rams, and leave them 
 naked and bare ; and then the town of Man- 
 soul win of itself open to us, and fall as the 
 
 fig into the mouth of the eater ; yea, to be sure 
 that we then with a great deal of ease shall 
 come upon her and overcome her. 
 
 As to the time of our coming upon Mansoul, 
 we as yet have not fully resolved upon that, 
 though at present some of us think as you that 
 a market-day, or a market-day at night, will 
 certainly be the best. However, do you be 
 ready, and when you shall hear our roaring 
 drum without, do you be as busy to make the 
 most horrible confusion within. So shall 
 Mansoul certainly be distressed before and be- 
 hind, and shall not know which way to betake 
 herself for help. My 'Lord Lucifer, my Lord 
 Beelzebub, my Lord ApoUyon, my Lord Le- 
 gion, with the rest, salute you, as does also my 
 Lord Diabolus; and we wish both you, with 
 all that you do or shall possess, the very self- 
 same fruit and success for their doing as we at 
 present enjoy for ours. 
 
 From our dreadful confines in the most fear- 
 ful pit we salute you, and so do those many 
 legions here with us, wishing you may be 
 as hellishly prosperous as we desire to be 
 ourselves. By the letter-carrier, Mr. Pro- 
 fane. 
 
 Then Mr. Profane addressed himself for his . 
 return to Mansoul with his errand 'from the 
 horrible pit to the Diabolouians that dwelt in 
 that town. So he came up the stairs from the 
 deep to the mouth of the cave where Cerberus 
 was. Now when' Cerberus saw him, he asked 
 how matters went below about and against the 
 town of Mansoul. 
 
 ^ Profane. Things go as well as we can expect. 
 The letter that I carried thither was highly ap- 
 proved and well liked by all my lords, and I 
 am returning to tell our Diabolouians so. I 
 have an answer to it here in my bosom that I 
 am sure will make our masters that sent me 
 glad ; for the contents thereof are to encourage 
 them to pursue their design to the utmost, and 
 to be ready also to fall on within when they 
 shall see my Lord Diabolus beleaguering the 
 town of Mansoul. 
 
 Cerberus. But does he intend to go against 
 them himself? 
 
 Profane. Does he! Ay, and he will take 
 along with him more tlian twenty thousand, 
 all sturdy Doubters and men of .war — picked 
 men from the land of Doubting — to serve him 
 in the expedition. 
 
 Then was Cerberus glad, and said. And are 
 there such brave preparations a-making to 
 go against the miserable town of Mansoul! 
 
THE HOLT WAR. 
 
 447 
 
 Would I might be put at the head of a thou- 
 sand of them, that I might also show my valour 
 agalust the famous town of llansoul ! 
 
 Profane. Your wish may come to pass; you 
 look like one that has mettle enough, and my 
 lord will have with him those that are valiant 
 and stout. But my biisiness requires haste. 
 
 Cerba-us. Ay, so it does. Speed thee to the 
 town of Mansoul with all the deepest mischiefs 
 that this place can afford thee. And when 
 thou shalt come to the house of Mr. Mischief, 
 the place where the Diabolonians meet to plot, 
 tell them that Cerberus doth wish them his 
 service, and that if he may he will with the 
 army come up against the famous town of 
 Mansoul. 
 
 Profane. That I will. And I know that my 
 lords that are there will be glad to h«ar it and 
 to see you also. 
 
 So after a few more of such kind of compli- 
 ments, Mr. Profane took leave of his friend 
 Cerberus, and Cerberus again, with a thousand 
 of their pit-wishes, bid him haste with all 
 speed to his masters; the which when he had 
 heard he made obeisance, and began to gather 
 up his heels to run. 
 
 Thus therefore he returned and came to 
 Mansoul, and going as afore to the house of 
 Mr. Mischief, there he found the Diabolonians 
 assembled and waiting for his return. Now, 
 when he was come and had presented himself, 
 he delivered to them his letter, and adjoined 
 this compliment to them therewith: "My 
 lords, from the confines of the pit the high 
 and mighty principalities and powers of the 
 den salute you here, the true Diabolonians of 
 the town of Mansoul; wishing you always the 
 ■most proper of their benedictions for the great 
 service, high attempts, and brave achievements 
 that you have put yourselves upon for the re- 
 storing to our prince Diabolus the famous town 
 of Mansoul." 
 
 This was therefore the present state of the 
 miserable town of Mansoul ; she had offended 
 her Prince, and he was gone ; she had encour- 
 aged the powers of hell, by her foolishness, to 
 come against her to seek her utter destruc- 
 tion. 
 
 True, the town of Mansoul was somewhat 
 made sensible of her sin, but the Diabolonians 
 were gotten into her bowels; she cried, but 
 Emmanuel was gone, and her cries did not 
 fetch him as yet again. Besides, she knew not 
 whether ever or never he would return and 
 come to his Mansoul again; nor did they know 
 the power an i industry of the enemy, nor how 
 
 forward they were to put in execution that plot 
 of hell that they had devised against her. 
 
 They did indeed still send petition after pe- 
 tition to the Prince, but he answered all with 
 silence. They did neglect reformation, and 
 that was as Diabolus would have it; for he 
 knew if they regarded iniquity in their heart 
 their King would not hear their prayer; they 
 therefore still grew weaker and weaker, and 
 were as a rolling thing before the whirlwind. 
 They cried to their King for help, and laid 
 Diabolonians in their bosoms. What there- 
 fore should a King do to them ? Yea, there 
 seemed now to be a mixture in Mansoul ; the 
 Diabolonians and the Mansoiilians would walk 
 the streets together. Yea, they began to seek 
 their peace, for they thought that since the 
 sickness had been so mortal in Mansoul, it was 
 in vain to go to handy-gripes with them. Be- 
 sides, the weakness of Mansoul was the 
 strength of their enemies, and the sins of 
 Mansoul the advantage of the Diabolonians. 
 The foes of Mansoul also now began to promise 
 themselves the town for a possession ; there was 
 no great difference now betwixt Mansoulians 
 and Diabolonians ; both seemed to be masters 
 of Mansoul. Yea, the Diabolonians increased 
 and grew, but the town of Mansoul diminished 
 greatly. There was more than eleven thou- 
 , sand of men, women, and children that died by 
 the sickness in Mansoul. 
 
 But now, as Shaddai- would have it, there 
 was one whose name was Mr. Pry-well, a great 
 lover of the people of Mansoul ; and he, as 
 his manner was, did go listening up and down 
 in Mansoul, to see and to hear, if at any time 
 he might, whether there was any design against 
 it or no. For he was always a jealous man, 
 and feared some mischief sometimes would 
 befall it, either from the Diabolonians within or 
 from some power without. Now upon a time 
 it so happened, as Mr. Pry-well went listening 
 here and there, that he lighted upon a place 
 called Vile-hill in Mansoul, where Diabolo- 
 nians used to meet ; so, hearing a muttering, 
 (you must know that it was iii the night,) he 
 softly drew near to hear; nor had he stood 
 long under the house-end, (for there stood a 
 house there,) but he heard one confidently af- 
 firm that it was not or would not be long be- 
 fore Diabolus should possess himself again of 
 Mansoul, and that then the Diabolonians did 
 intend to put all Mansoulians to the sword, 
 and would kill and destroy the King's captains 
 and drive all his soldiers out of the town. 
 He said, moreover, that he knew there were 
 
448 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 about twenty thousaii,d figliting men prepared 
 by Diabolus for the accomplishing of this de- 
 sign : and that it would not be months before 
 they all should see it. When Mr. Pry-well 
 had heard this story, he did quickly believe it 
 was true ; wherefore he went forthwith to my 
 lord mayor's house and acquainted him there- 
 with ; who, sending for the subordinate 
 preacher, brake the business to him, and he as 
 ,80on gave the alarm to the town, for h« was 
 now the chief preacher in Mansoul, because as 
 yet my lord secretary was ill at ease. And 
 this was the way that the subordinate preacher 
 did take to alarm the town therewith : The same 
 hour lie caused the lecture-bell to be rung; 
 so the people came together; he gave them 
 then a short exhortation to watchfulness, and 
 made Mr. Pry-well's news the argument there- 
 of For, said he, an horrible plot is contrived 
 against Mansoul, even to massacre us all in a 
 day ; nor is this story to be slighted, for Mr. 
 Pry-well is the author thereof. Mr. Pry-well 
 was always a lover of JMansoul, a sober and 
 judicious man, a man that is no tattler, no 
 raiser of false reports, but one that loves to 
 look into the bottom of matters, and talks 
 nothing of news but by very solid arguments. 
 
 I will call him, and you shall hear him 
 your ownselves. So he called him, and he 
 came and told his tale so punctually, and af- 
 firmed its truth with such ample grounds, that 
 Mansoul fell presently under a conviction of 
 the truth of what he said. The preacher also 
 backed him, saying, "Sirs, it is not irrational 
 for us to believe it, for we have provoked 
 Shaddai to anger and have sinned Emmanuel 
 out of the town. We have had too much cor- 
 respondence with Diabolonians, and have for- 
 saken our former mercies ; no marvel then if 
 the enemy both within and without should 
 design and plot our ruin ; and what time like 
 this to do it? The sickness is now in the town, 
 and we have been made weak thereby. Many 
 a good-meaning man is dead, and the Diabolo- 
 nians of late grow stronger and stronger. 
 
 " Besides," quoth the subordinate preacher, 
 " I have received from this good truth-teller 
 this one inkling further, that he understood 
 by those that he overheard that several letters 
 have lately passed between the furies and the 
 Diabolonians in order to our destruction." 
 When Mansoul heard all this, and not being 
 able to gainsay it, they lifted up their voice 
 and wept. Mr. Pry-well also, in the presence 
 of the townsmen, confirmed all that their sub- 
 ordinate preacher had said. Wherefore they 
 
 now set afresh to bewail their folly, and to a 
 doubling of petitions to Shaddai and his Son. 
 They also brake the business to the captains, 
 high commanders, and men of war in the town 
 of Mansoal, entreating them to use the means 
 to be strong and to take good courage, and 
 that they would look after their harness and 
 make themselves ready to give Diabolus bat- 
 tle by night and by day, should he come, as 
 they were informed he would, to beleaguer the 
 town of Mansoul. 
 
 When the captains heard this, they being 
 always true lovers of the town of Mansoul, 
 what do they but like so many Samsons they 
 shake themselves, and come together to consult 
 and contrive how to defeat those bold and 
 hellish contrivances that were upon the wheel, 
 by the means of Diabolus and his friends, 
 against the now sickly, weakly, and much im- 
 poverished town of Mansoul ; and they agreed 
 upon the following particulars: 
 
 1. That the gates of Mansoul should be kept 
 shut and made fast with bars and locks ; and 
 that all persons that went out or came in 
 should be very strictly examined by the cap- 
 tains of the guards, to the end, said they, that 
 those that are managers of the plot among us 
 may, either coming or going, be taken, and 
 that we may also find out who are the great 
 contrivers, amongst us. of our ruin. 
 
 2. The next thing was, that a strict search 
 should be made for all kinds of Diabolonians 
 throughout the whole 'town of Mansoul, and 
 that every man's house from top to bottom 
 should be looked into, and that, too, bouse by 
 house, that if possible a further discovery 
 might be madfe oi' all such among them as had 
 a hand in these designs. 
 
 3. It was further concluded upon that where- 
 soever or with whomsoever any of the Diabo- 
 lonians were found, that even those of the 
 town of Mansoul that had given them house 
 and harbour should to their shame and the 
 warning of others make penance in the open 
 place. 
 
 4. It was moreover resolved by the famous 
 town of Mansoul tha,t a public fast and a day 
 of humiliation should be kept throughout the 
 whole corporation, to the justifying of their 
 Prince, the abasing of themselves before him 
 for their transgressions against him and against 
 Shaddai his Father. It was further resolved 
 that all such in Mansoul as did not that day 
 endeavour to keep that fast and to humble 
 themselves for their faults, but should mind 
 their worldly employs or be found wandering 
 
THE HOLY WAR. 
 
 449 
 
 up and clown the streets, should be taken for 
 Diabolnnians, and should suffer as Diabolo- 
 nians for such their wicked doings. 
 
 5. It vias further concluded then that with 
 what speed and with what warmth of mind 
 thoy could they would renew their humil- 
 iation for sin, and their petitions to Shaddai 
 for help ; thoy also resolved to send tidings to 
 the court of all that Mr. Pry-well had told 
 them. 
 
 6. It was also determined that thanks should 
 be givt-n by the town of Mansoul to Mr. Pry- 
 well for his diligent seeking of the welfare of 
 their town ; and further, forasmuch as he was 
 naturally inclined to seek their good and also 
 to undermine their foes, they gave him a com- 
 mission of scoutmaster-general, for the good 
 of the town of Mansoul. ^ 
 
 When the cor{)oration, with their captains, 
 had thus concluded, they did as they had 
 said: they shut up their gates; they made 
 for Diabolonians strict search ; they made 
 those with whom any were found to do pen- 
 ance in the open place; they kept their fast 
 .and renewed their petitions to their Prince; 
 and Mr. Piy-well managed his charge and tbe 
 trust that Mansoul had put in his hands with 
 great conscience and good fidelity ; for he gave 
 himself wholly up to his employ, and that not 
 only within the town, but he went out to pry, 
 to see, and to hear. 
 
 And not many days after he provided for 
 his journey and went towards I-Iell-gatc-hill, 
 into the country where the Doubters were, 
 where he heard of all that had been talked of 
 in Mansoul, and he perceived also that Diab- 
 olus was almost ready for his march, &c. ; so 
 he came back with speed, and calling the cap- 
 tains and elders of Mansoul together, he told 
 them where he had been, what he had heard, 
 and what he had seen. 
 
 Particularly he told them that Diabolus 
 was almost ready for his march, and that he 
 had made old Mr. Incredulity, that once 
 brake prison in Mansoul, the general of his 
 ftrmy; that the army consisted all of Doubt- 
 ers, and that their number was above twenty 
 thousand. He told, moreover, that Diabolus 
 did intend to bring with him the chief princes 
 of the infernal pit, and that he would make 
 them chief captains over his Dpubters. He 
 told them, moreover, that it was certainly 
 true that several of the black den would, with 
 Diabolus, ride reformades to reduce the town 
 of Mansoul to the obedience of Diabolus 
 their prince. 
 29 
 
 He said, moreover, that he uiiderstood by 
 the Doubters, among whom he had been, 
 that the reason why old Incredulity was made 
 general of the whole army was because none 
 truer than he to the tyrant, and because he 
 had an implacable spite against the welfare 
 of the town of Mansoul. Besides, said he. 
 he remembers the affronts that Mansoul has 
 given, and he is resolved to be revenged ol 
 them. 
 
 But the black princes shall be made high 
 commanders, only Incredulity shall be over 
 them all, because (which I had almost forgot) 
 he can more easily and more dextrously be- 
 leaguer the town of Mansoul than can any of 
 the princes besides. 
 
 Now, when the captains of Mansoul, with 
 the elders of the town, had heard the tidings 
 that Mr. Pry-well brought, they thought it 
 expedient, without further delay, to put into 
 execution the laws against the Diabolonians 
 which their Prince had made and given them 
 in commandment to manage against them. 
 AVherefore, forthwith a diligent and impartial 
 search was made in all houses in Mansoul foi 
 all and all manner of Diabolonians. Now, in 
 the house of Mr. Mind and in the house of the 
 great Lord Will-be-will were two Diabolo- 
 nians found. In Mr. Mind's house was one 
 Lord Covetousness found, but he had changed 
 his name to Prudent-thrifty. In my Lord 
 Will-be-will's house one Lasciviousness was 
 found, but lie had changed his name to Harm- 
 less-mirth. These two the captains and elders 
 of the town of Mansoul took, and committed 
 them to the custody of Mr. True-man the 
 jailer ; and this man handled them so severely, 
 and loaded them so well with irons, that in 
 time they fell into a very deep consumption 
 and died in the prison-house; their masters 
 also, according to the agreement of the ca]i- 
 tains and elders, were brought to do penance 
 in the open place, to their shame and aa 
 a warning to the rest of the town of Mansoul. 
 
 Now. this was the manner of penance in 
 those days : The persons offending, being 
 made sensible of the evil of their doings, 
 were enjoined open confession of their faults 
 and a strict amendment of their lives. 
 
 After this the captains and elders of Man- 
 soul sought yet to find out more Diabolonians 
 wherever they lurked, whether in dens, caves 
 holes, vaults, or where else they could, in or 
 about the wall or the town of Mansoul. But 
 though they_ could plainly see their footing, 
 and so follow them by their track and smell 
 
450 
 
 SUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 to their holds, , even to the mouths of their 
 caves and dens, yet take and do jus'tice upon 
 them they could not, their ways were so 
 crooked, their holds so strong, and they so 
 quick to take sanctuary there. 
 
 But Mansoul ruled now with so stiff an 
 hand over the Diabolonians that were left 
 that they were glad to shrink into corners. 
 Time was when they durst walk openly and 
 iu the day, but now they were forced to em- 
 bi-ace privacy and in the night. Time waS 
 when a Mansoulian was their companion, 
 but now they counted them deadly enemies. 
 This good change did Mr. Pry-well's intel- 
 ligence make in the famous town of Man- 
 soul. 
 
 By this time Diabolus had finished his 
 army, which he intended to bring with him 
 for the ruin of Mansoul, and had set over them 
 captains and other field-officers such as liked 
 his furious stomach best; himself was lord 
 paramount, and Incredulity was general of his 
 ' army. Their highest captains shall be named 
 afterwards, but now for their officers, colours, 
 and escutcheons : 
 
 1. Their first captain was Captain Eage : he 
 was captain over the Election-doubters ; his 
 were red colours, his standard-bearer was Mr. 
 Destructive, and the great red dragon he had 
 for his escutcheon. 
 
 2. The second captain was Captain Fury : 
 he was captain over the Vocation-doubters ; 
 his standard-bearer was Mr. Darkness, his 
 colours were those that were pale, and he had 
 for his escutcheon the fiery flying serpent. 
 
 3. The third captain was Captain Damna- 
 tion : he was captain over the Grace-doubters ; 
 his were the red colours, Mr. No-life bore 
 them, and he had for his escutcheon the black 
 den. 
 
 4. The fourth captain was Captain Insati- 
 able : he was captain over the Faith-doubters ; 
 his were the red colours, Mr. Devourer bore 
 them, and he hai for an escutcheon the yawn- 
 iilgjaws. 
 
 5. The fifth captain was Captain Brimstone: 
 he was captain over the Perseverance-doubt- 
 ers ; his also were the red colours, Mr. Burning 
 bore them, and his escutcheon was the blue 
 and stinking flame. 
 
 6. The sixth captain was Captain Torment : 
 lie was captain over the !Resurrection-doubt- 
 ers ; his colours were those that were pale, Mr. 
 
 ■ Gnaw was his standard-bearer, and he had the 
 black worip for his escutcheon. 
 
 7. The seventh oay'-ain was Captain No- 
 
 ease : he was captain over the Salvation-doubt- 
 ers ; his were the red colours, Mr. Eestlesa 
 bore them, and his escutcheon was the ghastly 
 picture of death. 
 
 8. The eighth captain was the Captain Sep- 
 ulchre : he was captain over the Glory-doubt- 
 ers ; his also were the pale colours, Mr. Cor- 
 ruption was his standard-bearer, and he had 
 for his escutcheon a' skull and dead men's 
 bones. 
 
 9. The ninth captain was Captain Past- 
 hope: he was captain of those that are called 
 the Felicity-douljters ; his standard-bearer was 
 Mr. Despair, his also were the red colours, and 
 his escutcheon was the hot-iron and the hard 
 heart. 
 
 These were his captains, and these were their 
 forces, these were their ancients, these were 
 their colours, and these were their escutcheons. 
 Now over these did the great Diabolus make 
 superior captains, and they were in number 
 seven ; as namely, the Lord Beelzebub, the Lord 
 Lucifer, the' Lord Legion, the Lord Apollyon, 
 the Lord Python, the Lord Cerberus, and Lord 
 Belial; these seven he set over the captains,, 
 and Incredulity was lord general and Diabolus 
 was king. 
 
 The reformades also, such as were like them- 
 selves, were made some of them captains of 
 hundreds, and some of them captains of more; 
 and thus was the army of Incredulity com- 
 pleted. 
 
 So they set out at Hell-gate-hill, (for there 
 they had their rendezvous,) from whence they 
 came with a straight course upon their march 
 toward the town of Mansoul. Now, as was 
 hinted before, the town had, as Shaddai would 
 have it, received from' the mouth of Mr. Pry- 
 well the alarm of their coming before. Where- 
 fore they set a strong watch at the gates, and 
 had also doubled their guards; they also 
 mounted their slings in good places, where 
 they might conveniently bast out their great 
 stones to the annoyance of the furious enemy. 
 
 Nor could those Diabolonians that were in 
 the town do that hurt as was designed they 
 should, for Mansoul was now awake. But, 
 alas, poor people I they were sorely afliighted 
 at the first appearance of their , foes, and at 
 their sitting down before the town, especially 
 when they heard the roaring of their drum. 
 This, to speak truth, was amazingly hideous to 
 hear: it frighted all men seven miles round 
 if they were but awake and heard it. The 
 streaming of their colours was also terrible and 
 dejecting to behold. 
 
THE HOLY WAR. 
 
 451 
 
 When Diabolus was come up against the 
 town, first he made his approach- to Ear-gate, 
 and gave it a furious assault, supposing, as it 
 seems, tliat his friends in Mansoul had been 
 ready to do the worlc within, but care was 
 talcen of that before by the vigilance of the 
 captains. Wherefore, missing of the help that 
 he expected from them, and finding his army 
 warmly attacked with the stones that the 
 slingers did sling, {f6r that I will say for the 
 captains, that, considering the weakness that 
 yet was upon them by reason of the long sick- 
 ness that had annoyed the town of Mansoul,' 
 they did gallantly behave themselves,) he was 
 forced to make some retreat from Mansoul, 
 and to entrench himself and his men in the 
 field, without the' reach of the slings of the 
 town. , 
 
 Now, having entrenched himself, he did cast 
 up four mounts before the town ; the first he 
 called Mount Diabolus, putting his own name 
 thereon, the more to affright the town of Man- 
 soul; the other three he called thus — Mount 
 Alecto, Mount Megara, and Mount Tisiphane, 
 for these are the names of the dreadful furies 
 of hell. Thus he began to play his game with 
 Mansoul, and to serve it as doth the lion his 
 prey, even to make it fall before his terror. 
 But, as I said, the captains and soldiers resisted 
 BO stoutly, and did so much execution with 
 their stones, that they made him, though 
 against stomach, to retreat; wherefore Man- 
 soul began to take courage. 
 
 Now upon Mount Diabolus, wliioh was 
 raised on the north side of the town, there did 
 the tyrant set up his staiidard, and a fearful 
 thing it was to behold ; for he had wrought in 
 it by devilish art, after the manner of an es- 
 cutcheon, a flaming fiame fearful to behold, 
 and the picture of Mansoul burning in it. 
 
 When Diabolus had thus done, he com- 
 manded that his drummer should every night 
 approach the walls of the town of Mansoul 
 and beat a parley ; the command was to do it 
 at nights, for iu daytime they annoyed him 
 with their slings ; for -the tyrant said that he 
 had a mind to parlex with the now trembling 
 town of Mansoul ;~ atd he commanded that the 
 drum should beat every night, that through 
 weariness thej' might at last (if possibly at the 
 first they were unwilling yet) be forced to do 
 it. 
 
 So this drummer did as commanded; he 
 arose and did beat his drum. But when his 
 drum did go, if one looked towards the town 
 of Mansoul, behr id darkness and sorrow, and 
 
 the light was darkened in the heaven thereof. 
 No noise was ever heard upon earth more ter- 
 rible, except the voice of Shaddai when he 
 speaketh. But how did Mansoul tremble 1 It 
 now looked for nothing but forthwith to be 
 swallowed up. 
 
 When this drummer had beaten for a parley, 
 he made this speech to Mansoul : Jly mastec 
 has bid me tell you that if you will willingly 
 submit you shall have the good of the earth, 
 but if you shall be stubborn he is resolved to 
 take you by force. But by that the fugitive 
 had done beating of his drum the people of 
 Mansoul had betaken themselves to the cap- 
 tains that were in the castle; so that there 
 was none to regard nor to give this drummer 
 an answer ; so. he proceeded no further that 
 night, but returned again to his master to the 
 camp. 
 
 When Diabolus saw that by drumming he 
 could not work out Mansoul to his will, the 
 next night he sendeth his drummer without 
 his drum, still to let the townsmen know that 
 he had a mind to parley with them. But 
 when all came to all, his parley was turned 
 into a summons to the town to deliver ujj 
 themselves ; but they gave him neither heed 
 nor hearing, for they remembered what at first 
 it cost them to hear him a few words. 
 
 The next night he sends' again, and then 
 who should be his messenger to Mansoul but 
 the terrible Captain Sepulchre; so Captain 
 Sepulchre came up to the walls of Mansoul 
 and made this oration to the town : 
 
 " O ye inhabitants of the rebellious town of 
 Mansoul I I summon you, in the name of the 
 prince Diabolus, that without any more ado 
 you set open the gates of your town and admit 
 the great lord to come in. But if you shall 
 still rebel, when we have taken to us the town 
 by force we will swallow you up as the grave. 
 Wherefore if you will hearken to my summons, 
 say so, and if not, then let me know. 
 
 " The reason of this my summons (quoth he) 
 is for that my lord is your undoubted prince 
 and lord, as you yourselves have formerly 
 own'sd. Nor shall that assault that w.is given, 
 to my lord when Emmanuel dealt so dishon- 
 ourably by him prevail with him to lose his 
 right and to forbear to attempt to recover his 
 own. Consider then, O Mansoul! with thy- 
 self; wilt thou show thyself peaceable or no? 
 If thou shalt quietly yield up thyself, then our 
 old friendship shall be renewed ; but if thou 
 shalt yet refuse and rebel, then expect nothing 
 but fire and sword." 
 
452 
 
 BUNYAN'S -COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Wlien the languishing town of Mansoul had 
 heard this summoner and his summons, they 
 were yet more put to their dumps, but made 
 tlie captain no answer at all ; so away he went 
 as he came. 
 
 But after some consultation among them- 
 selves, as also with some of their captains, they 
 applied themselves afresh to the lord secretary 
 for coun'sel and advice from him, for this lord 
 secretary was their chief preacher, (as also is 
 mentioned some pages before,) only now he 
 was ill at ease ; and of him they begged favour 
 in these two or three things: 
 
 1. That he would look comfortably upon 
 them, and not keep himself so much retired 
 from them as formerly. Also that he would 
 be prevailed with to give them % hearing while 
 they should make known their miserable con- 
 dition to him. But to this he told them, as 
 before, that as yet he was but ill at ease, and 
 therefore could not do as he had formerly done. 
 
 2. The second thing that they desired was, 
 that he would be pleased to give them his ad- 
 vice about their now so important affairs, for 
 that Diabolus was come and set down before 
 the town with no less than twenty thousand 
 Doubters. They said, moreover, that both he 
 and his captains were cruel men, and that they 
 were afraid of them. But to this he said. You 
 must look to the law of your Prince, and there 
 see what is laid upon you to do. 
 
 3. Then they desired that his highness would 
 help them to frame a petition to Shaddai and 
 unto Emmanuel his Son, and that he would 
 set his own hand thereto, as a token that he 
 was one with them in it ; for, said they. My 
 lord, many a one have we sent, but can get no 
 answer of peace ; but now surely one with thy 
 hand unto it may obtain good for Mansoul. 
 
 But all the answer that he gave to this was. 
 That they bad offended their Emmanuel, and 
 had also grieved himself, and that therefore 
 they must as yet partake of their own devices. 
 
 This answer of the lord secretary fell like a 
 millstone upon them ; yea, it crushed them so 
 ' that they could not tell 'what to do ; yet they 
 durst not comply with the demands of Diabolus 
 nor with" the demands of his captains. So then 
 here were the straits that the town of Mansoul 
 was betwixt when the enemy came upon her: 
 her foes were ready to swallow her up, and 
 her friends did forbear to help her. 
 
 Then stood up my lord mayor, whose name 
 was my Lord Understanding, and he began to 
 pick and pick, until he had picked comfort out 
 of that seemingly bitter saying of the lord 
 
 secretary; for thus he descanted upon it, 
 First, said he, this unavoidably follows upon 
 the saying of my lord, that we must yet suffer 
 for our sins. Second; But, quoth he, the words 
 yet sound as if at last we should be saved from 
 our enemies, and that after a few" more sor- 
 rows Emmanuel will come and be our help. 
 Now the lord mayor was the mor;e critical in 
 his dealing with the secretary's words because 
 my lord was more than a prophet, and because 
 none of his words were such but that kt all 
 times they were most exactly significant, and 
 the townsmen were allowed to pry into them 
 and to expound them to their best advantage. 
 
 So they took their leaves of my lord, and 
 returned and went and came to the captains, 
 to whom they did tell what my lord high secre- 
 tary had said ; who, when they had heard it, 
 were all of the same opinion as my lord mayor 
 himself; the captains therefore began to take 
 some courage unto them, and to prepare to 
 make some brave attempt upon the camp of 
 the enemy, and to destroy all that were Diab- 
 olonians, with the roving Doubters that the 
 tyrant had brought with him to destroy the 
 poor town of Mansoul. , 
 
 So all betook themselves forthwith, to their 
 places — the captains to theirs, the lord mayor 
 to' his, the subordinate preacher to his, and my 
 Lord Will-be-will to his. The captains longed 
 to be at some work for their Prince, for they 
 delighted in warlike achievements. The next 
 day therefore they came together and con- 
 sulted, and after a consultation had they re- 
 solved to give an answer to the captain of 
 Diabolus with slings ; and so they did at the 
 rising of the sun on the morrow, for Diabolus 
 had adventured to come nearer again, but the 
 sling-stones were to him and his like hornets. 
 For as there is nothing to the town of Mansoul 
 so terrible as the roaring of Diabolus' drum, 
 so there is nothing to Diabolus so terrible aa 
 the well playing of Emmanuel's slings. Where- 
 fore Diabolus was forced to make another re- 
 treat yet farther off from the famous town of 
 Mansoul. Then did the lord mayor of Man- 
 soul cause the bells to be rung, and that 
 thanks should be sent to the lord high secre- 
 tary by the mouth of the subordinate preacher 
 for that by his words the c^ptaips and elders 
 of Mansoul had been strengthened against 
 Diabolus. 
 
 When Diabqlus saw that his captains and 
 soldiers, high lords and renowned, were fright- 
 ened and beaten down by the stones that came 
 from the golden slings of the Prince of the 
 
THE HOLY WAR. 
 
 453 
 
 town of Mansoul, he bethought himself and 
 said, I will try to catch them by fawning; I 
 will try to flatter them into my net. 
 
 Wherefore, after a while he came down 
 again to the wall, not now with his drum nor 
 with Captain Sepulchre, but having all so be- 
 BUgared his lips that he seemed to be a very . 
 Bweet-mouthed, peaceable prince, designing 
 nothing for honour's sake, nor to be revenged 
 on Mansoul for injuries by them done to him ; 
 but the welfare and good and advantage of the 
 town and people therein were now, as he said, 
 his only design. Wherefore after he had called 
 for audience, and desired that the townsfolk 
 wouLl give it to him, he proceeded in his ora- 
 tion and said : 
 
 " Oh the desire of my heart, the famous town 
 of Mansoul I How many nights have I watched, 
 and how many weary steps have I taken, if 
 perhaps I might do thee good ! Far be it, far 
 be it from me to desire to make- a war upon- 
 you if ye will but willingly and quietly deliver 
 up yourselves unto me. You know that you 
 were mine of old. Kemember also that so 
 long as you enjoyed me for your 'lord, and that 
 I enjoyed you for my subjects, you wanted for 
 nothing of all the delights of the earth that I, 
 your lord and prince, could get for you, or that 
 I could invent to make you bonny and blithe 
 withal. Consider you never had so many 
 hard, dark, troublesome, and heart-afflicting 
 hours while you were mine as you have ha,d 
 since you revolted from me; nor shall you 
 ever have peace again until you and I become 
 one as before. Be but prevailed with to em- 
 brace me again, and I will grant, yea, enlarge 
 your old charter with abundance of privileges, 
 so that your license and liberty shall be to take, 
 hold, enjoy, and make your own all that is 
 pleasant from the east to the west. Nor shall 
 any of those incivilities wherewith you have 
 offended me be ever charged upon you by me 
 80 long as the sun and moon endureth. Nor 
 shall any of those dear friends of mine that 
 now, for the fear of you, lie lurking in dens, 
 and holes, and caves in Mansoul, be hurtful to 
 you any more ; yea, they shall be your servants, 
 and shall minister unto you of their substance 
 and of whatever shall come to hand. I need 
 speak no more: you know them, and have 
 some time since been much delighted in their 
 company ; why then should we abide at such 
 odds ? Let us renew our old acquaintance and 
 friendship again. 
 
 "Bear with your friend ; [ take the liberty 
 at this time to speak thus freely unto you. 
 
 The love that I have to you presses me to do 
 it, as also does the zeal of my heart for my 
 friends with you; put me not therefore to 
 further trouble, nor yourself to further fear 
 and frights. Have you I will,' in a way of 
 peace or war; nor do you flatter yourselves 
 with the power and force of your captains, or 
 that your Emmanuel will shortly come in to 
 your help, for such strength will do you no 
 pleasure. 
 
 " I am come against you with a stout and 
 valiant army, and all the chief princes of the ' 
 den are even at the head of it. Besides, my 
 captains are swifter than eagles, stronger than 
 lions, and more greedy of prey than are the 
 evening wolves. What is Og of Bashan, what 
 is Goliah of Gath, and what is an hundred 
 more of them to one of the least of my cap- 
 tains? How, then, shall Mansoul think to es- 
 cape my hand and force ? " 
 
 Diabolus having thus ended his flattering, 
 fawning, deceitful, and lying speech to the 
 famous town of Mansoul, the lord mayor re- 
 plied unto him as follows: 
 
 " O Diabolus, prince of darkness and master 
 of all deceit ! thy lying flatteries we have had 
 and made sufficient probation of, and have 
 tasted too deeply of that destructive*cup al- 
 ready ; should we, therefore, again hearken unto 
 thee, and so break the commandment of oui 
 great Shaddai to join afiinity with thee, would 
 not our Prince reject us and cast us off for ever ? 
 and being cast off by him, can the place that 
 he has prepared for thee be a place of rest for 
 us? Besides, thou that art empty and void 
 of all truth ! we are rather ready to die by thy 
 hand than to fall in with thy flattering and 
 lying deceits."- • 
 
 When the tyrant saw that there was little to 
 be got by parleying with my lord mayor, he 
 fell into an hellish rage, and resolved that 
 again with his army of Doubters he would 
 another time assault the town of Mansoul, 
 
 So he called for his drummer, who beat up 
 for his men (and while he did beat, Mansoul 
 did shake) to be in readiness to give battle to 
 the corporation; then Diabolus drew near 
 with his army, and thus disposed of his men : , 
 Captain Cruel and Captain' Torment, these he 
 drew up and placed against Feel-gate, and 
 commanded them to sit down there for the 
 war. And he also appointed that, if need 
 were. Captain No-ease should come in to theii 
 relief. 
 
 At Nose-gate he placed the Captaifi Brim- 
 stone and Captain Sepulchre, arid bid them 
 
454 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 look well to thiir ward on that side of the 
 town of Mansoul. But at Eye-gate he placed 
 that grimfaced ojie, the Captain Past-hope, and 
 there also now did he set up his terrible standard. 
 
 Now the Captain Insatiable was to look to 
 the carriages of Diabolus, and was also ap- 
 pointed tontake into custody that or those per- 
 sons and things that should at any time as 
 prey be taken from the enemy. ' 
 
 Now Mouth-gate the inhabitants of Mansoul , 
 kept for a sally-port ; wherefore that they kept 
 strong, f )r that was it by and out atwhich the 
 townsfollc did send their petitions to Em- 
 manuel their Prince; that also was the gate 
 from the top of which the captains did play 
 their slings at the enemies ; for that gate stood 
 somewhat ascending, so that the placing of 
 them there and the letting of them fiy from 
 that place did much execution against the 
 tyrant's army ; wherefore, for these causes with 
 others, Diabolus sbught, if possible, to stop up 
 Mouth-gate with dirt. 
 
 ' Now, as Diabolus was busy and industrious 
 in preparing to make his assault upon the 
 town of Mansoul without, so the captains and 
 soldiers in the corporation were as busy in 
 preparing within ; they mounted their slings, 
 they set up their banners, they sounded their 
 trumpets, and put themselvt's in such order as 
 was judged most for the annoyance of the 
 enemy and for the advantage of Mansoul, and 
 gave their soldiers orders to be ready at the 
 sound of the trumpet for war. The Lord Will- 
 be-will also, he took the charge of watching 
 against the rebels within, and to do what he 
 could to take them while without, or to stifle 
 them within their caves, dens, and holds in 
 the town-wall of Mansoul. ■ And, to speak the 
 truth of him, ever since he took penance for 
 his fault he had showed as much honesty 
 and bravery of spirit as any he in Mansoul ; 
 for he took one Jolly and his .brother Grig- 
 gish, the two sons of his servant Harmless- 
 mirth, (for to that day, though the father was 
 committed to ward, the sons had a dwelling in 
 the house of my lord;) — I say, he took them 
 and with his,own hands put them to the cross. 
 And this was the reason why he hanged them 
 up : After their father was put into the hands 
 of Mr. True-man, the jailer, his sons began to 
 pl,ay his pranks, and to be'tickling and toying 
 with the daughters of their lord ; nay, it was 
 jealousied that they were too familiar with 
 them, the which was brought to his lordship's 
 ear. Now his lordship being unwilling unad- 
 visedly to put any man to death, did not sud- 
 
 denly fall upon them, 6ut set watch and spie» 
 to see if the thing was true ; of the which he 
 was soon informed, for his two sei'vants, whose 
 names were Find-all and Tell-all, catched them 
 together in uncivil manner more than once or 
 twice, and went and told their lord. So when 
 my Lord Will-be-will had sufficient ground to 
 believe the thing was true, he takes the two 
 young Diabolonians — for such they were, for 
 their father was a Diabolonian born — and has 
 them to Eye-gate, where he raised a very high 
 cross just in the face of Diabolus and of his 
 army, and there he hanged the young villains 
 in defiance of Captain Past-hope and of the 
 horrible standard of the tyrant. 
 
 Now, this Christian act of the brave Lord 
 Will-be-will did greatly abash Captain Past- 
 hope, discourage the army of Diabolus, put 
 fear into the Diabolonian- runagates in Man- 
 soul, and put strength and courage into the cap- 
 tains that belonged to Emmanuel the Prince ; 
 for they without did gather,, and that by this 
 very act of my lord, that Mansoul was re- 
 solved to fight, and that the Diabolonians 
 within the town could not do such things as 
 Diabolus had hopes they would. Nor was 
 this the only proof of the brave Lord Will-be- 
 will's hbnesty to the town nor of his loyalty 
 to his Prince, as will afterwards appear. 
 
 Now when the children of Prudent-thrifty, 
 who dwelt with Mr. Mind, (for Thrifty left 
 children with Mr. Mind when he was also 
 committed to prison, and their names were 
 Gripe and Rake-all; these he begat of Mr. 
 Mind's bastard daughter, whose name was 
 Mrs. Holdfast-bad ;) — I say, when his chil- 
 dren perceived how the Lord Will-be-will had 
 served them that dwelt with him, what do they 
 but (lest they should drink of the same cup) 
 endeavour to make their escape. But Mr. 
 Mind, being wary of it, took them and put 
 them in hold in his house till morning, (for 
 this was done over night,) and remembering 
 that by the law of Mansoul all Diabolonians 
 were to die, and to be sure they were at least 
 by father's side such, and some say by mother's 
 side too, what does he but takes them and 
 puts them in chains, and carries them to the 
 selfsame place where my lord Kanged his two 
 before, and there he hanged them. 
 
 The townsmen also took great enpourage- 
 ment at this act of Mr, Mind, and did what 
 they could to have taken some more of these 
 Diabolonian troublers of Mansoul ; but at 
 that time the rest lay so close that they 
 could not be apprehended ; so they set against 
 
THE HOLY WAR. 
 
 455 
 
 them a diligent watch, and went every man to 
 his place. 
 
 I told you a little before that Diabolus and 
 his army were somewhat abashed and disr 
 mayed at the sight of what my Lord AVill-be- 
 will did when he hiinged up those two young 
 Diaboloniiuis-; but his discouragement quickly 
 turned itself into furious madness and rage 
 against the town of Mansoul, and fight it he 
 •■ would. Also the townsmen and captains 
 witl 13, they had their hopes and their ex- 
 pectations heightened, believing at last the 
 day would be theirs ; so they feai'ed them the 
 less. Their subordinate preacher too made 
 a sermon about it, and he took that theme for 
 his text: "Gad, a troop shall overcome him, 
 but he shall overcome at last;'' whence he 
 showed that though Mansoul should be sorely 
 put to it at the first, yet the victory should 
 most certainly be Mansoul's at the last. 
 
 So Diabolus commanded that his drummer 
 should beat a charge against the town, and the 
 captains also that were in the town sounded a 
 charge against them, but they had no drum : 
 they were trumpets of silver with which they 
 sounded against them. Then they which were 
 of the camp of Diabolus came down to the 
 town to take it, and the captains in the castle, 
 with the slingers at Mouth-gate, played upon 
 them amain. And now there was nothing 
 heard in the camp of Diabolus but horrible 
 rage and blasphemy, but Jn the town good 
 words, prayer, and singing of psalms: the 
 enemy replied with horrible objections and the 
 terribleness of their drum, but the town made 
 answer with slapping of their slings and the 
 melodious noise of their trumpets. And thus 
 the fight lasted for several days together ; only 
 now and then they had some small intermis- 
 sion, in the which the townsmen refreshed 
 themselves and the captains made ready for 
 another assault. 
 
 The captains of Emmanuel were clad in 
 silver armour, and the soldiers in that which 
 was of proof; the soldiers of Diabolus were 
 clad in iron, which was made to give place to 
 Emmanuel's engine-shot. In the town some 
 were hurt and some were greatly wounded. 
 Now the worst of it was, a surgeon was scarce 
 in Mansoul, for that Emmanuel at this time 
 was absent. Howbeit, with the leaves of a 
 tree the wounded were kept from dying ; yet 
 their wounds did greatly putrefy, and some 
 did grievously stink. , Of the townsmen these' 
 were wounded, to wit : 
 
 My Lord Eeason, he was wounded in the head. 
 
 Another that was wounded was the brave 
 lord mayor, he was wounded in the eye. 
 
 Another that was wounded was Mr. Mind, 
 he received |his wound about the stomach. 
 
 The honest subordinate preacher also, he re- 
 ceived a shot not far off from the heart, but 
 none of these. were mortal. 
 
 Many also of the inferior sort were not only 
 wounded, but slain outright. 
 
 Now in the camp of Diabolus were .vounded 
 and slain a , considerable number. For in- 
 stance : 
 
 Captain Eage, he was wounded, and so waA 
 Captain Cruel. 
 
 Captain Damnation was made to retreat and 
 to entrench himself further off of Mansoul ; 
 the standard also of Diabolus was beaten down, 
 and his standard-bearer. Captain Mucli-hurt, 
 had his brains beat out with a sling-stone, to 
 the no little grief and shame of his prince 
 Diabolus. 
 
 Many also of the Doubters were slain out- 
 right, though enough of them were left alive 
 to' make Mansoul shake and totter. Now the 
 victory that day being turned to Mansoul, did 
 put great valour into the 'townsmen and cap- 
 tains, and did cover Diabolus' camp with a 
 cloud, but withal it made them far more furi- 
 ous. So the next day Mansoul rested, and 
 commanded that the bells should be rung ; the 
 trumpets also joyfully sounded and the captains 
 shouted round the town. 
 
 My Lord Will-be-will also was not idle, but 
 did notableservice within against the domestics, 
 or the Diabolonians that were in the town, not 
 only by keeping of them in awe ; for he lighted 
 on one at last whose name was Mr. Anything, 
 a fellow of whom mention was made before, 
 for it was he, if you remember, that brought 
 the three fellows to Diabolus whom the Diab- 
 olonians took out of Captain Boanerges' com- 
 pany, find that persuaded them to list them- 
 selves under the tyrant to fight against the 
 army of Shaddai ; my Lord Will-be-will did 
 also take a notable Diabolonian whose name 
 was Loose-foot ; this Loose-foot was a scout to 
 the vagabonds in Mansoul, and that did use to 
 carry tidings out of Mansoul to the camp, and 
 out of the camp to those of the enemies in 
 Mansoul ; both these my lord sent away safe 
 to Mr. True-man the jailer, with a command- 
 ment to keep them in irons, for he intended 
 then to have them out to be crucified when it 
 would be for the best to the corporation and 
 most for the discouragemnnt of the camp of 
 the enemies. -^ 
 
i56 
 
 BVNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 My lord mayor also, though he could not 
 stir about so much as formerly, because of the 
 wound that he lately received, yet gave he out 
 orders to all that were the natives in Mansoul 
 to look to their watch and stand uj)on their 
 guard, and as occasion should offer to prove 
 themselves men. 
 
 Mr. Conscience, the preacher, he also did 
 his utmost to keep all his good documents 
 alive upon the hearts of the people of Man- 
 5 ml. 
 
 Well, awhile after the captains and stout 
 ones of the town of Mansoul agreed and re- 
 solved upon a time to make a sally out upon 
 the camp of Diabolus, and this must be done 
 in the night ; and there was the folly of Man- 
 soul, (for the night is always the best for the 
 enemy, but the worst for Mansoul to fight in;) 
 but yet they would do it, their courage was so 
 high ; their last victory also still stuck in their 
 memories. 
 
 So the night appointed being come, the 
 Prince's brave captains cast lots who should 
 lead the van in this new and d'esperate expe- 
 dition against Diabolus and against his Diab- 
 olonian army ; and the lot fell to Captain 
 Credence, to Captain Experience, and to Cap- 
 lain Good-hope to lead the forlorn hope. (This 
 Captain Experience the Prince created such 
 when himself did seside in the town of Man- 
 soul.) So, as I said, they made their sally out 
 upon the army that lay in the siege against 
 them, and their hap was to fall in with the 
 main body of their enemy. Now, Diabolus 
 and his men being expertly accustomed to 
 night work, took the alarm presently, and were 
 as ready to give them battle as if they had sent 
 him word of their coming. Wherefore to it 
 they went amain, and blows were hard on every 
 side; the hell-drum also beat furiously while 
 the trumpets of the Prince most sweetly sound- 
 ed. And thus the battle was joined, and Cap- 
 tain Insatiable looked to the enemy's carriages, 
 and waited when he should receive some prey. 
 
 The Prince's captains fought it stoutly, be- 
 yond what, indeed, could be expected they 
 should : they wounded many ; they made the 
 whole army of Diabolus to make a retreat. 
 But I cannot teli how, but as the brave Cap- 
 tain Credence, Captain Good-hope, and Cap- 
 tain Experience, they were upon the pursuit, 
 cutting down and following hard after the 
 enemy in the rear. Captain Credence stumbled 
 and fell, by which fall he caught so great a 
 hurt that he could not rise till Captain Ex- 
 per'ence did help him up, at which their men 
 
 were put in disorder ; the captain also was so 
 full of pain that he could not forbear but 
 aloud to cry out; at this the other two captains 
 fainted, supposing that Captain Credence had 
 received his mortal wound; their men also 
 were more disordered and had no list to fight. 
 Now, Diabolus being very observing, though 
 at this time as yet he was put to the worst, 
 perceiving that an halt was made among the 
 men that were the pursuers, what does he but 
 take it for granted that the captains were 
 either wounded or dead : he therefore makes 
 at first a stand, then faces about, and so comes 
 up upon the Prince's army with as much of 
 his fury as hell cojild help him to ; and his, hap 
 was to fall in just among the three captains, 
 Captain Credence, Captain Good-hope, and 
 Captain Experience, and did cut, wound, and 
 pierce them so dreadfully that, what through 
 discouragement, what through disorder, and 
 what through the wounds that now they had 
 received, and also the loss of much blood, they 
 scarce were able, though they had for theii 
 power <ne three best hands in all Mansoul, to 
 get safe into the hold again. 
 
 Now when the body of the Prince's army 
 saw how these three captains were put to the 
 worst, they thought it their wisdom to make 
 as safe and good a retreat as they could, and 
 so returned by the ^sally-port again ; and so 
 there was an end of this present action. But 
 Diabolus was so flushed with this night's work- 
 that he promised himself in a few days an 
 easy and complete conquest over the town of 
 Mansoul. Wherefore, on the day following 
 he comes up to the sides thereof with great 
 boldness, and demands entrance and that 
 forthwith they deliver themselves up to his 
 government. The Diabolonians, too, thai 
 were within, they began to be somewhat brisk, 
 as we shall show afterward. 
 
 But the valiant lord mayor replied that what 
 he got he must get ,by force ; for as .long aa 
 Emmanuel their Prince was alive (though he 
 at present was not so with them as they 
 wished) they should never consent to yield up 
 Mansoul to i another. 
 
 And with that the Lord Will-be-will stcod 
 up and said, " Diabolus, thou master of the 
 den and enemy to all that is good ! we poor 
 inhabitants of the town of Mansoul arc too 
 well acquainted with thy rule and government, 
 and with the end of those things that for cer- 
 tain will follow submitting to thee, to do it. 
 Wherefore, though while we were without 
 l^nowledge we suffered thee to take us, (as the 
 
THE HOLY WAR. 
 
 457 
 
 bird that saw not the snare fell into the hands 
 of the fowler,) yet since we have been turned 
 from darkness to light we have also been 
 turned from the power of Satan to God. And 
 though through thy subtlety, and the subtlety 
 of the biabolonians within, we have sustained 
 much loss, and also plunged ourselves into 
 much perplexity, yet give up ourselves, lay 
 down our arms, and yield to so horrid a tyrant 
 as thou, we will not ; die upon the place we 
 choose rather to do. Besides, we have hopes 
 that in time deliverance will come from court 
 unto us, and therefore we will yet maintain a 
 war against thee.'' 
 
 This brave speech of the Lord Will-be-will, 
 with that also of the lord mayor, did some- 
 what abate the boldness of Diabolus, though 
 it kindled the fury of his rage. It also en- 
 couraged the townsmen and captains, yea, it 
 was as a plaster to the brave Captain Cre- 
 dence's wound ; for you must know that a 
 brave speech now, when the captains- of the 
 town with their men of war came home routed, 
 and when the enemy took courage and bold- 
 ness at the success that he had obtained to 
 draw up to the walls and demand entrance, 
 as he did, was in season, and also advan- 
 tageous. 
 
 The Lord Will-be-will also did play the 
 man within ; for while the captains and sol- 
 diers were in the field he was in arms in the 
 town, and wherever by hini there was a Diab- 
 olonian found, they wet^e forced to feel the 
 weight of his heavy hand and also the edge 
 of his penetrating sword : many therefore of 
 the Diabolonians he wouftded, as the Lord 
 Cavil, the Lord Brisk, the Lord Pragmatic, and 
 the Lord Murmur ; several also of the meaner 
 sort he did sorely maim, though there cannot 
 at this time an account be given of any that 
 he slew outright. The cause, or rather the 
 advantage, that my Lord ^Vill-be-\vill had at 
 this time .to do. thus was for that the captains 
 were gone out to fight the enemy in the field. 
 For now, thoug'ut the Diabolonians within, is 
 our time to stir and make an uproar in the 
 town. What do they, therefore, but quickly 
 get themselves into a body, and fall forthwith 
 to hurricaning in Mansoul, as if now nothing 
 but whirlwind and tempest should be there? 
 Wherefore, as I said, he takes this opportunity 
 to fall in among them with his men, cutting 
 and slashing with courage that was undaunted ; 
 at which the Diabolonians with all haste dis- 
 persed themselves to their holds, and my lord 
 to his place as before. 
 
 This brave act of my lord did somewhat re- 
 venge the wrongs done by Diabolus to the 
 captains, and also did let them know that 
 Mansoul was not to be parted with for the loss 
 of a victory or two ; wherefore the wing of the 
 tyrant was clipped again— as to boasting, I 
 mean — in comparison of what he would have 
 done if the Diabolonians had put 'the town to 
 the same plight to which he had put the cap- 
 tains. 
 
 Well, Diabolus yet resolved to have the 
 other bout with Mansoul; For, thought he, 
 since 1 beat them once, I may beat them twice. 
 Wherefore he commanded his men to be ready 
 at such an hour of the night to make a fresh 
 assault upon the town, and he gave out in 
 special that they should bend all their force 
 against Peel-gate, and attempt to break into 
 the town through that. The word that then 
 he did give his officers and soldiers was Hell- 
 fire. And, said he, if we break in upon them, 
 as I wish we do, either with some or with all 
 our force, let them that break in look to it that 
 they forget not the word. And let nothing be 
 heard in the town of Mansoul but Hell-fire 1 
 Hell-fire! Hell-fire! The drummer was also 
 to beat without ceasing, and the standard- 
 bearers were to display their colours ; the sol- 
 diers too were to put on what courage they 
 could, and to see that the/ played manfully 
 their parts against the town. 
 
 So the night was come, and all things by the 
 tyrant made ready for the work : he suddenly 
 makes his assault upon Feel-gate, and after he 
 had a while struggled there, he throws the 
 gates wide open, for the truth is, those gates 
 were but weak, and so most easily made to 
 yield. When Diabolus had thus far made his 
 attempt, he placed his captains — to wit. Tor- 
 ment and No-ease — there; so he attempted to 
 press forward, but the Prince's captains came 
 down upon him and made his entrance moro 
 difiicult than he desired. And, to speak truth, 
 they made what resistance they could ; but tie 
 three of the' best and most valiant captaina 
 being wounded, and by their wounds made 
 much incapable of doing the town that service 
 they would, (and all the rest having more than 
 their hands full of Doubters and their captains 
 that did follow Diabolus,) they were overpow- 
 ered with force, nor could they keep them out 
 of the town. Wherefore the Prince's men and 
 their captains betook themselves to the castle, 
 as the stronghold of the town; and this they 
 did partly for the security of the town, and 
 partly, or rather chiefly, to preserve to Em- 
 
4'58 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 manuel the prerogative-royal of Mansoul, for 
 so \vas the castle of Mansoul. 
 
 The captains therefore being fled into the 
 castle, the enemy, without much resistance, pos- 
 sessed themselves of the rest of the town, and 
 spreading themselves as they went into every 
 corner, they cried out as they marched, accord- 
 ing to the command of the tyrant. Hell-fire ! 
 Hell-fire! so that nothing for awhile through- 
 out the town of Mansoul could he heard but 
 the dreadful noise of I-Iell-fire, together with 
 the roaring of Diabolus' drum. And now did 
 the cljuds hang black over Mansoul, nor to 
 reason did any thing but ruin seem to attend 
 it. Diabolus also quartered his soldiers in the 
 houses of the inhabitants of the town of Man- 
 soul. Yea, the subordinate preacher's house 
 was as full of these outlandish Doubters as 
 ever it could hold; and so were my lord 
 mayor's and my Lord Will-be-will's also. 
 Yea, where was there a corner, a cottage, a 
 barn, or a hogsty, that were not ^uU of these 
 vermin? Yea, they- turned th^ men of the 
 town out of their houses, anri would lie in 
 their beds and sit at their tables themselves. 
 Ah poor Mansoul ! now thou feelest the fruits 
 of sin, and what venom was in the flattering 
 words of Mr. Carnal-security. They made 
 great havoc of whatever they laid their hands 
 on; yea, they fired the town in several places ; 
 many young children also were by them dashed 
 in pieces ; yea, those that were yet unborn they 
 destroyed in. their mothers' wombs; for you 
 must needs think that it could not be other- 
 wise, for what conscience, what pity, what 
 bowels of compassion can any expect at the 
 hands of outlandish Doubters? Many in 
 Mansoul that were women, both young and 
 old; they forced, ravished, and beast-like 
 abused, so that they swooned, miscarried, Jind 
 many of them died, and so lay at the top of 
 every street and in all by-places of the town. 
 
 And now did Mansoul seem to be nothing 
 but a den of dragons, an emblem of hell, and 
 a place of total darkness. Now did Mansoul 
 lie almost like the barren wilderness ; nothing 
 but nettles, briers, thorns, weeds, and stinking 
 things seemed now to , cover the face of Man- 
 soul. I told you before how that these Diabo- 
 lonian Doubters turned the men of Mansoul 
 out of their beds; and now I will add they 
 wounded them, they mauled them, yea, and al- 
 most brained many of them. Many, did I 
 say? Yea, most if not all of them. Mr. 
 Conscience they so wounded, yea, and his 
 wounds so festering, that he could have no 
 
 ease day or night, but lay as if continually 
 upon ,a rack, (but that Shaddai rules all cer- 
 tainly they had slain him outright;) my lord 
 mayor they so abused that they almost put out 
 his eyes; and had not my Lord WilUbe-will 
 got into the castle, they intended to have 
 chopped him all to pieces, for they did look 
 upon hi;n (as his heart now stood) to be one 
 of the very worst that was in Mansoul against 
 Diabolus and his crew. And indeed he showed 
 himself a man, and more of his exploits you 
 will hear of afterwards. 
 
 Now a man might have walked for days to- 
 gether in Mansoul and scarce have seen one 
 in the town that looked like a religious man. 
 Oh the fearful state of Mansoul nowl Now 
 every corner swarmed with outlandish Doubt- 
 ers ; red-coats and black-coats "talked the town 
 by clusters, and filled up all the- houses with 
 hideous noises,' vain songs, lying stoiies, and 
 blasphemous language against Shaddai and his 
 Son. Now also, those Diabolonians that lurked 
 in the walls, and dens, and holes that were in 
 the town of Mansoul came forth and showed 
 themselves, yea, walked with open face in 
 company with the Doubters that were in 
 Mansoul. Yea, they had more boldness now 
 to walk the streets, to haunt the houses, and- 
 to show themselves abroad than had any of 
 the honest inhabitants of the now woeful town 
 of Mansoul. 
 
 But Diabolus arid his outlandish men were 
 not at peace in Mansoul, for they were not 
 there entertained as were the captains and 
 forces of Emmanuel ; the townsmen did brow- 
 beat them what they could ; nor did they par- 
 take or make destruction of any of the neces- 
 saries of Mansoul but that which they seized 
 on against the townsmen's will; what they 
 could they hid from them, and what they could 
 not they had with an ill-will. They, poor 
 hearts I had rather have had their room than 
 their company, but they were at present their 
 captives, and their captives for the present 
 they were forced to be. But, I say, they dis- 
 countenanced them as much as ,they were 
 able, and showed them all the dislike that they 
 could. 
 
 The captains also from the castle did hold 
 them in continual play with their slings, to 
 the chafing and fretting of the minds of 
 the enemies. True, Diabolus made a great 
 many attempts to have broken open the 
 gate of the castle; but Mr. Godly-fear was 
 made keeper of that, and he was a man 
 of that courage, conduct, and valour that it 
 
THJi BOLi WAR. 
 
 459 
 
 was in vain, as long as life lasted within him, 
 to think to do that work, though mostly de- 
 sired; wherefore all the attempts that Diab- 
 olus made against him were fruitless. (I have 
 wished sometimes that the man had the whole 
 rule of the town of Mansoul.) 
 
 AVell, this was the condition of the town of 
 Mansoul for about two years and a half: the 
 body of the town was the seat of war; the 
 people of the town were driven into holes, and 
 tlif glory 01 Mansoul was laid in the dust; what 
 rest, then, could be to tlje inhabitants, what 
 peace could Mansoul have, and what sun could 
 shine upon it? Had the enemy lain so long 
 without in the plain against the town, it had 
 been enough to have famished them ; but now 
 when they shall be within, when the town 
 shall be their tent, their trench, and fort 
 against the castle that was in the town, when 
 the town shall be against the town, and shall 
 serve to be a fence to the enemies of her 
 strength and life; — I say, when they shall 
 make use of the forts and townholds to secure 
 themselves in, even till they shall take, spoil, 
 and demolish the castle, this was terrible, and 
 yet this was now the state of the town of 
 Mansoul. 
 
 After the town of Mansoul had been in this 
 sad a^d lamentable condition for so long a 
 time as I have told you, and no petitions that 
 they presented their Prince with (all this 
 while) could prevail, the inhabitants of the 
 town— to wit, the elders and chiefs of Mansoul 
 — gathered together, and after some time spent 
 in condoling their miserable state and this 
 miserable judgment coming upon them, they 
 agreed together to draw up yet another peti- 
 tion, and to sen,d it away to Emmanuel for 
 relief. But Mr. Godly-fear stood up and an- 
 swered that he knew that his Lord the Prince 
 never did nor ever would receive a petition for 
 these matters from the hand of any whoever 
 unless the lord secretary's hand was to it, (and 
 this, quoth he, is the reason that yau prevailed 
 not all this while.) Then they said they would 
 draw up one and get the lord secretary's hand 
 to it. But Mr. Godly-fear answered again that 
 lie knew also that the lord secretary would not 
 set his hand to any petition that himself had 
 not an hand in composing and drawing up; 
 and besides, saith he, the Prince doth know 
 my lord secretary's hand from all the hands in 
 the world, wherefore he cannot be deceived by 
 any pretence whatever ; wherefore my advice 
 is, that you go to my lord and implore him to 
 lend you his aid, (now he did yet abide in the 
 
 castle where all the captains and m.n at armii 
 were.) 
 
 So they heartily thanked Mr. Godly-fear 
 took his counsel, and did as he had bidden 
 them ; so they went and came to my lord and 
 made known the cause of their coming to him 
 — to wit, that since Mansoul was in so deplor- 
 able a condition, his highness would be pleased 
 to undertake to draw up a petition for them to 
 Emmanuel, the Son of the mighty Shaddai, 
 and to their King and his Father by him. 
 
 Then said the secretary to them. What peti- 
 tion is it that you would have me draw up for 
 you ? But they said. Our lord knows best the 
 state and condition of the town of Mansoul, 
 and how we are backslidden and degenerate 
 from the Prince; thou also knowest who is 
 come up to war against us, and how Mansoul 
 is now the seat of war. My lord knows more- 
 Over what barbarous usages our men, women, 
 and children have suffered at their hands, and 
 how our homebred Diabolonians do walk now 
 with more business than dare the townsmen in 
 the streets of Mansoul. Let our lord there- 
 fore, according to the wisdom of God that is in 
 him, draw up a petition for his poor servants 
 to our Prince Emmanuel. Well, said the lord 
 secretary, I will draw up a petition for you, 
 and will also set my hand thereto. Then said 
 they. But when shall we call for it at the hands 
 of our lord? But he answered. Yourselves 
 must be present at the doing of it; yea, you 
 must put your desires to it. True, the hand 
 and pen shall be mine, but the ink and paper 
 ■ must be yours, else how can you say it is your 
 petition? Nor have I need to petition for 
 myself, because I have not offended. 
 
 He also added as followeth. No petition 
 goes from me in my name to the Prince, and 
 so to his Father by him, but when the people 
 that are chiefly concerned therein do join in 
 heart and soul in the matter, for that must be 
 inserted therein. 
 
 So they did heartily agree with the sentence 
 of the lord, and a petition was forthwith drawn 
 up for them. But now who should carry it? 
 that was next. But the secretary advised that 
 Captain Credence should carry it, for he was a 
 well-spoken man. They therefore called for 
 him and propounded to him the business. 
 Well, said the captain, I gladly accept of the 
 motion ; and though I am lame, I will do this 
 business for you with as much speed and as 
 well as I can. 
 
 The contents of the petition were to this 
 purpose: 
 
t60 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 O our Lord and Sovereign Prince Emman- 
 uel, the potent, the long-suffering Prince ! 
 grace is poured into thy lips, and to thee be- 
 longs mercy and forgiveness, though we have 
 rebelled against thee. We, who are no more 
 worchy to be called thy Mansoul, nor yet iit to 
 partake of common benefits, do beseech thee, 
 and thy Father by thee, to do away our trans- 
 gressions. We confess that thou mightest cast 
 us away for them, but do it not for thy name's 
 sake ; let the Lord rather take an opportunity 
 at our miserable condition to let out his bowels 
 and compassion to us; we are compassed on 
 every side : Lord, our own backslidings reprove 
 us ; our Diabolonians within our town fright 
 us, and the army of the angel of the bottom- 
 less pit distresses us. Thy grace can be our 
 salvation, and whither to go but to thee we 
 know not. 
 
 Furthermore, gracious Prince, we have 
 weakened our captains, and they are discour- 
 aged, sick, and of late some of them grievously 
 worsted and beaten out of the field by the 
 power and force of the tyrant. Yea, even 
 those of our captains in whose valour we did 
 formerly use to put most of our confidence, 
 they are as wounded men. Besides, Lord, our 
 enemies are lively, and they are strong; they 
 vaunt and boast themselves, and do threaten' 
 to part us among themselves for a booty. They 
 are fallen also upon us. Lord, with many thou- 
 sand Doubters, such as with whom we cannot 
 tell what to do ; they are all grim-looking and 
 unmerciful ones, and they bid defiance to us 
 and thee. 
 
 Our wisdom is gone, our power is gone, be- 
 cause tliou art departed from us, nor have we 
 what we may call ours, but sin, shame, and 
 confusion of face for sin. Take pity upon us, 
 O Lord, take pity upon us thy miserable town 
 of Mansoul, and save us out of the hands of 
 our enemies. Amen. 
 
 This petition, as was touched afore, was 
 handed by the lord secretary and carried to 
 the court by the brave and most stout Captain 
 Credence. Now he carried it out at Mouth- 
 gate, for that, as I said, was the sally-port of 
 the town ; and he went and came to Emmanuel 
 with it. Now how it came out, I do not know, 
 but for certain it did, and that so far as to 
 reach the ears of Diabolus. Thus I conclude 
 because that the tyrant had it presently by the 
 end, and charged the town of Mansoul with it, 
 saying, Thou rebellious and stubborn-hearted 
 Mansoul, I will make thee to leave off petition- 
 ing ; art thou yet for petitioning ? I will make 
 
 thee to leave. Yea, he also knew who the 
 messenger was that carried the petition to the 
 Prince, and it made him both to fear and rage. 
 
 Wherefore he commanded that his drum 
 should be beat again, a thing that Mansoul 
 could not abide to hear ; but when Diabolus 
 will have his drum beat, Mansoul must abide 
 the noise. Well, the drum was beat and the 
 Diabolonians were gathered together. 
 
 Then said Diabolus, O ye stout Diabolo- 
 nians, be it known unto you that there ia 
 treachery hatched against us in the rebellious 
 town of Mansoul; for albeit the town is in 
 our possession, as you see, yet these miserable 
 Mansoulians have attempted to dare and have 
 been so hardy as yet to send to the court to 
 Emmanuel for help. This I give you to un- 
 derstand that ye may yet know how to carry it 
 to the wretched town of Mansoul. Wherefore, 
 
 my trusty Diabolonians, I command that 
 yet more and more ye distress this town of 
 Mansoul and vex it with your wiles, ravish 
 their women, deflower their virgins, slay their 
 children, brain their ancients, fire their town, 
 and what other mischief you can ; and let this 
 be the reward of the Mansoulians from me for 
 their desperate rebellions against me. 
 
 This you see was the charge, but something 
 stepped in betwixt that and execution„for as 
 yet there was but little more done than to 
 rage. 
 
 Moreover, when Diabolus had done thus he 
 went the next day up to tlie castle-gates, and 
 demanded that, upon pain of death, the gates 
 should be opened to him, and that entrance i 
 should be given him and his men that followed 
 after. To whom Mr. Godly-fear replied (for 
 he it was that had the chargf of that gate) that 
 the gate should not be opened -unto him nor to 
 the men that followed after him. He said, 
 moreover, that Mansoul, when she had sufiered 
 awhile, should be made perfect, strengthened, 
 settled. 
 
 Then said Diabolus, Deliver me then the 
 men that have petitioned against me, especially 
 Captain Credence, that carried it to your 
 Prince ; deliver that varlet into my hands, and 
 
 1 will depart from the town. i 
 Then up starts a Diabolonian, whose name 
 
 was Mr. Fooling, and said. My lord offereth 
 you fair ; it is better for you that one man per- 
 ish than that your whole Mansoul should be 
 undone. 
 
 But Mr. Godly-fear made him this reply: 
 How long will Mansoul be kept out of the 
 dungeon when she hath given up her faith to 
 
THE HOLY WAR. 
 
 461 
 
 Diabolus? As good lose the town as lose Cap- 
 tain Credence, for if one be gone the other 
 must follow. But to that Mr. Fooling said 
 nothing. 
 
 Then did my lord mayor reply, and said, 
 thou devouring tyrant 1 be it known unto thee 
 we shall hearken to none of thy words : we are 
 resolved t(; resist thee as long as a captain, a 
 man, a sling, and a stone to throw at thee shall 
 be found in the town of Mansoul. But Diab- 
 olus answered. Do you hope; do you wait, do 
 you look for help and deliverance? You have 
 sent to Emmanuel, but your wickedness sticks 
 too close in your skirts to let innocent prayers 
 come out of your lips. Think you that you 
 shall be prevailers and prosper in this design ? 
 You will fail in your wish, you will fail in 
 your attempts ; for it is not only I, Ij^it your 
 Emmanuel, is against you. Yea, it is he that 
 hath sent me against you to subdue you; for 
 what then do you hope, or by what means will 
 you escape? 
 
 Then said the lord mayor, We have sinned 
 indeed, but that shall be no help to thee, for 
 our Emmanuel hath said it, and that in great 
 faithfulness, "And him that cometh to me I 
 will in nowise cast out." He hath also told 
 us, thou our enemy 1 that all manner of sin 
 and blasphemy shall be forgiven to the sons 
 of men. Therefore .we dare ilot despair, but 
 will look for, wait for, and hope for deliver- 
 ance still. 
 
 Now by this time Captain Credence was 
 come from the court from Emmanuel to the 
 castle of Mansoul ; and he returned to them 
 with a packet. So my lord mayor, hearing 
 that Captain Credence was come, withdrew 
 himself from the noise of the roaring of the 
 tyrant, and left him to yell at the wall of the 
 town or against the gates of the castle. So he 
 came up to the captain's lodgings, and saluting 
 him he asked him of his welfare, and what was 
 the best news at court? But when he asked 
 Captain Credence that, the water stood in his 
 eyes. Then said the captain. Cheer up, my 
 lord, for all will be well in time ; and with that 
 he first produced his packet and laid it by, 
 but that the lord mayor and the rest of the 
 captains took for a sign of gOod tidings. Now 
 a season of grace being come, he sent for all 
 the captains and elders of the town that were 
 here and there in their lodgings in the castle 
 and upon their guard, to let them know that 
 Captain Credence was returned from the court, 
 and that he had something in general and 
 something in special to communicate to them. 
 
 So they all came up to him and saluted him, 
 and asked him concerning his journey, and 
 what was the best news at court? And he an- 
 swered them, as he had done the lord mayor 
 before, that all would be well at last. Now 
 when the captain had thus saluted them, he 
 opened his packet and thence did draw out 
 his several notes for those that he had sent 
 for. 
 
 And the first note was for my lord rrayor, 
 wherein was signified that the Prince Emman- 
 uel had taken it well that my lord mayor had 
 been so true and trusty in his office and the 
 great concerns that lay upon him for the town 
 and people of Mansoul. Also he bid him to 
 know that he took it well that he had been so 
 bold for his Prince Emmanuel, and had en- 
 gaged so faithfully in his cause against Diab- 
 olus. He also signified at the close of his let- 
 ter that he should shortly receive his reward. 
 
 The second note that came out was for the 
 noble Lord Will-be-will, wherein there was 
 signified that his Prince Emmanuel did well 
 understand how valiant and courageous he 
 had been for the honour of his Lord, now in 
 his absence and when his name was under con- 
 tempt by Diabolus. There was signified also 
 that his Prince had taken it well that he had 
 been so faithful to the town of Mansoul, in his 
 keeping so strict a hand and eye over and so 
 strict a rein upon the necks of the Diabolo- 
 nians that did still lie lurking in their several 
 holes in the famous town of Mansoul. 
 
 He signified, moreover, how that he under- 
 stood that my lord had with his own hand 
 done great execution upon some of the chief 
 of the rebels there, to the great discourage- 
 ment of the adverse party and to the good 
 example of the whole town of Mansoul; 
 and that shortly his lordship should have his 
 reward. 
 
 The third note came out for the subordinate 
 preacher, wherein was signified that his Prince 
 took it well from him that he had so honestly 
 and so faithfully performed his ofiice and ex- 
 ecuted the trust committed to him by his Lord, 
 while he exhorted, rebuked, and forewarned 
 Mansoul according to the laws of the town. 
 He signified, moreover, that he took it well 
 at his hand that he called to fasting, to sack- 
 cloth, and ashes when Mansoul was under her 
 revolt. Also that he called for the aid of the 
 Captain Boanerges to help in so weighty a 
 work. And that shortly he also should re- 
 ceive his reward. 
 
 The foui^th note came out for Mr. Godly 
 
462 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 fear, wherein his Lord thus signified : that his 
 Lordship observed that he was the only man 
 in Mansoul that detected Mr. Carnal-security 
 as the only one, that through his subtlety and 
 cunning, had obtained for Diabolus a defec- 
 tion and decay of goodness in the blessed 
 town of Mansoul. Moreover, his Lord gave 
 him to understand that he still remembered 
 his tears and mourning for the state of Man- 
 soul. It was also observed by the same note 
 that his Lord took notice of his detecting of 
 this Mr. Carnal-security at his own table among 
 the guests in his own house, and that in the 
 midst of his jolliness, even while he was seek- 
 ing to perfect his villainies 'against the town 
 of Mansoul. Emmanuel also took notice thjit 
 this reverend person, Mr. Godly-fear, stood 
 stoutly to it at the gates of the castle against 
 all the threats and attempts of the tyrant, and 
 that he put the townsmen in a way to make 
 their petition to their Prince, so as that he 
 might accept thereof, and as that they might 
 obtain an answer of peace; and that therefore 
 shortly he should receive his reward. 
 
 After all this there was yet produced a note 
 which was written to the whole town of Man- 
 soul, whereby they perceived that their Lord 
 took notice of their so often repeating of peti- 
 tions to him, and that they should see more 
 .if the fruits of such their doings in time to 
 come. Their Prince did also therein tell tliem 
 ' that he took it well that their heart and mind 
 now at last abode fixed upon him and his 
 ways, though Diabolus had^made such inroads 
 upon them ; and that neither flatteries on the 
 one hand nor hardships on the other could 
 make them yield to serve his cruel designs. 
 There was also inserted at the bottom of this 
 note that his Lordship 'had left the towiT of 
 Mansoul in the ■■ hands of the lord secretary 
 and under the conduct of Captain Credefkce, 
 saying, Beware, that you yet yield yourselves 
 under their governance, and in due time you 
 shall receive your reward. 
 
 So after the brave Captain Credence had 
 delivered his notes to those to whom they be- 
 longed, he retired himself to my lord secre- 
 tary's lodgings, and there spent time in con- 
 versing with him; for they two were very 
 great one with another, and did indeed know 
 more how things would go with Mansoul than 
 did all the townsmen besides. The lord secre- 
 tary also loved the Captain Credence dearly ; 
 yea, many a good bit was sent him from my 
 lord's table; also he might have a show of 
 countenance when the rest of Mansoul lay 
 
 Under the clouds. So after some time for con- 
 verse was spent the captain betook himself to 
 his chambers to rest. But it was not long 
 after but my lord did send for the captain 
 again; so the captain came to him, and they 
 greeted one another., with usual salutations. 
 Then said the captain to the lord secretary, 
 What hath my lord to say to his servant? 
 So the lord secretary took him and had him 
 aside, and after a sign or two of more favour 
 he said, I have made thee the Lord's lieutenant 
 over all the forces in Man? oul ; so that from 
 this day forward all men in Mansoul shall be 
 at thy word, asd thou shalt be he that shal' 
 lead in and that shall lead out Mansoul. 
 Thou shalt therefore manage, according to 
 thy place, the war for thy Prince and for the 
 town of Mansoul against the force and power 
 of Diabolus, and at thy command shall the , 
 rest of the captains be. 
 
 Now the townsmen began to perceive what 
 interest the captain had both with the cour^t 
 and also with the lord secretary in Mansoul ; 
 for no man before could so speed when sent, 
 nor bring such good news from Emmanuel as 
 he. Wherefore what do they, after some 
 lamentation that they made no more use of 
 him in their distresses, but send by their sub- 
 ordinate preacher to the lord secretary to de- 
 sire him that all that ever they were and had 
 might be put under the government, care, 
 custody and conduct of Captain Credence. 
 
 So their preacher went and did his errand, 
 and received this answer from the mouth 
 of his lord: That Captain Credence should be 
 the great doei" in all. the King's army against 
 the King's enemies, and also for the welfare 
 of Mansoul. So he bowed to the groom and 
 thanked his lordship, and returned and told 
 his news to the townsfolk. But all this was 
 done with all imaginable secresy, because the 
 foes had yet great strength in the town. 
 
 But to return to our story again : When 
 Diabolus saw himself thus boldly confronted 
 by the lord mayor, and pei'ceived the stoutness 
 of Mr. Godly-fear, he fell into a rage and 
 forthwith called a council of war, that he 
 might be revenged on Mansoul. So all the 
 princes of the pit came together, and old In- 
 credulity at the head of them, with all the cap- 
 tains of his army. So they consulted what to 
 do. Now the effect and conclusion of the 
 council that day was, how they might take 
 the castle, because they could not conclude 
 themselves masters of the town so long as that 
 was in the possession of their enemies. So 
 
THE HOLY WAR. 
 
 463 
 
 one advised this way, and another advised 
 that; but when they could not agree in their 
 verdict, Apollyon, the president of the council, 
 stood up, and thus he began : My brotherhood, 
 quoth he, I hare two things to propound unto 
 you, and my first is this: Let us withdraw 
 ourselves from the town into the plain again, 
 for our presence here will do us no good, be- 
 cause the castle is yet in our enemies' hands ; 
 nor is it possible that we should take that so 
 long as so many brave captains are in it, and 
 that this bold fellow. Godly-fear, is made the 
 keeper of the gates of it. Now when we have 
 withdrawn ourselves into the plain, they of 
 their own accord will be glad of some little 
 ease, and it may be of their own accord they 
 again may begin to be remiss ; and even their 
 so being will give them a bigger blo\j than we 
 can possibly give them ourselves. But if that 
 should fail, our going forth of the town may 
 draw the captains out after us, and you know 
 what it cost them when we fought them in the 
 field before. Besides, can we but draw them 
 put into the field, we may lay an ambush be- 
 hind the town, which shall, when they are 
 come, forth abroad, rush in and take posses- 
 sion of the castle. 
 
 But Beelzebub stood up and replied, saying. 
 It is impossible to draw them all off from the 
 castle ; some, you may be sure, will lie there 
 to keep that; wherefore it will be but in vain 
 thus to attempt unless we were sure that thfiy- 
 will all come out. He therefore concluded 
 that what was done must be done by some 
 other means. And the most likely means that 
 the greatest of their heads could invent was 
 that which Apollyon had advised before — to 
 wit, to get the townsmen again to sin. For, 
 said he, it is not our being in the town, nor in 
 the field, nor our fighting, nor our killing of 
 their men, that can make us the masters of 
 Mansoul ; for so long as one in the town is 
 able to lift up his finger against us, Emmanuel 
 will take their parts ; and if he shall take their 
 parts, we know what time of day it will be 
 with us. Wherefore, for my part, quoth he, 
 there is in my judgment no way to bring them 
 into bondage to us like inventing a way to 
 make them sin. Had we, said he, left all our 
 Doubters at home, we had done as well as we 
 have done now, unless we could have made' 
 them Ihe masters and governors of the castle; 
 for Doubters at a distance are but like objec- 
 tions repelled with arguments. Indeed, can 
 we. but get them into the hold and make them 
 
 possessors of that, the day will be our own. 
 Let us therefore withdraw ourselves into the 
 plain, (not expecting that the captains in Man- 
 soul should follow us,) but yet, I say, let us do 
 this, and before we so do let us advise again 
 with our trusty Diabolonians that are yet in 
 their holds of Mansoul, and set them to work 
 to betray the town to us ; for they indeed must 
 do it or it will be left undone for ever. By 
 these sayings of Beelzebub (for I think it was 
 he that gave his counsel) the wholf conclave 
 was forced to be of his opinion — to wit, that 
 the way to get the castle was to get the town 
 to sin. Then they fell to inventing by what 
 means to do this thing. 
 
 Then Lucifer stood up and said. The coun- 
 sel of Beelzebub is pertinent ; now the way to 
 bring this to pass, in mine opinion, is this: 
 Let us withdraw our force from the town of 
 Mansoul ; let us do this, and let us terrify them 
 no more, either with summons or threats, or 
 with the noise of our drum, or any other awa- 
 kening means. Only let us lie in the field at 
 a distance, and be as if we regarded them not, 
 (for frights, I see, do but awaken them and 
 make them stand more to their arms.) I have 
 also another stratagem in my head. You know 
 Mansoul is a market-town, and a town that de- 
 lights in commerce; what therefore if some 
 of our Diabolonians shall feign themselves far- 
 countrymen, and shall go out and bring to the 
 market of Mansoul some of our wares to sell? 
 and what matter at what rates they sell their 
 wares, though it be but for half the worth? 
 Now, let those that thus shall trade in their 
 market be those that are witty and true to us, 
 and I will lay my crown to pawn it will do. 
 There are two that are come to my thoughts 
 already that I think will be arch at this work, 
 and they are Mr. Penny-wise-pound-foolish, 
 and Mr. Get-i'-the-hundred-and-lose-i'-the- 
 shire ; nor is this man with the long name at 
 all inferior to the other. What also if you 
 join with them Mr. Sweet-world and Mi-. Pies- 
 ent-good? — they are men that are civil and' 
 cunning, but our true friends and helpers. 
 Let these, with as many more, engage in this 
 business for us, and let Mansoul be taken up 
 in much business, and let them grow full and 
 rich, and this is the way to get ground of them ; 
 remember ye not that thus we prevailed upon 
 Laodicea, and how many at present we do hold 
 in this snare ? Now, when they begin to grow 
 full they will forget their misery; and if we 
 shall not afiright them they may happen tc 
 
464 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 fall asleep, and so be got to neglect their town- 
 watch, th(3ir castle-watch, as well as their 
 watch at the gates. 
 
 Yea, may we not by this means so cumber 
 Mansoul with abundance that they shall be 
 forced to make of their castle a warehouse in- 
 stead 'of a garrison fortified against us and a 
 receptacle for men of war? Thus, if we get 
 our goods and commodities thither, I reckon 
 that the castle is more than half ours. Be- 
 sides, could we so order it that it should be 
 filled with such kind of wares, then if we made 
 a sudden assault upon them it would be hard 
 for the captains to take shelter there. Do you 
 know that of the parable, " The deceitfulneiss 
 of riches choke the world ; " and again, " When 
 the heart is overcharged with surfeiting and 
 drunkenness and the cares of this life, all mis- 
 chief comes upon them at unawares." 
 
 Furthermore, my lords, quoth he, you very 
 well know that it is not easy for a people to be 
 filled with our things and not to have some of 
 our Diabolonians as retainers to their houses 
 and services. Where is there a Mansoulian 
 that is full of this world that has not for his 
 servant and waiting-man Mr. Profuse, or Mr. 
 Prodigality, or some other of our Diabolonian 
 gang, as Mr. Voluptuous, Mr. Pragmatical, 
 Mr. Ostentation, or the like ? Now these can 
 take the castle of Mansoul, or blow it up, or 
 make it unfit for a garrison for Emmanuel; 
 and any of these will do. Yea, these, for 
 aught I know, may do it for us sooner than an 
 army of twenty thousand men. Wherefore, 
 to end as I began, my advice is, that we quietly 
 withdraw ourselves, not offering any further 
 force or forcible attempts upon the castle, at 
 least at- this time, and let us set on foot our 
 new project, and let us see if that will not 
 make them destroy themselves. 
 
 This advice was highly applauded by them 
 all, and was accounted the very masterpiece 
 of hell : to wit, to choke Mansoul with a ful- 
 ness of this world, and to surfeit her heart with 
 the good things thereof. But see how things 
 meet together ! Just as this Diabolonian 
 council was broken up, Captain Credence re- 
 ceived a letter from Emmanuel, the contents 
 of which were these : That upon the third day 
 he would meet him in the field in the plains 
 about Mansoul. Meet me_in field ! quoth the 
 captain ; what meaneth my Lord by this? I 
 know not what he meaneth by meeting of me 
 in the field. So he took the note in his hand 
 and did carry it to my lord secretary to ask his 
 thoughts thereupon, (for my lord was a seer in 
 
 all matters concerning the King and also for 
 the good and comfort of the town of Mansoul.) 
 So lie showed my lord the note, and desired 
 his opinion thereof. For my part, quoth Cap- 
 tain Credence, I know not the meaning thereof. 
 So my lord did take and read it, and after a 
 little pause he said, " The Diabolonians have 
 had against Mansoul a great consultation to- 
 day ; they have, I say, this day been contriving 
 the utter ruin of the toirn; and the result of 
 the council is, to set Mansoul into such a way 
 which, if taken, will surely make her destroy 
 herself. And to this end they are making 
 ready for their own departure out of the town, 
 intending to betake themselves to the field 
 again, and there to lie till they shall see 
 whether this their project will take or no. But 
 be thou ready with the men of thy Lord, for 
 on the third day they will be in the plain, 
 there to fall upon the Diabolonians ; for the 
 Prince will by that time be in the field, yea, 
 by that it is break of day, sun-rising, or before, 
 and that with a mighty force against them. 
 So he shall be before them, and thou shalt be 
 behind them, and betwixt you both their army 
 shall be destroyed." 
 
 When Captain Credence heard this, away 
 he goes to the rest of the captains, and tells 
 them what a note he had awhile since received 
 from the hand of Emmanuel; and, said' he, 
 that which was dark therein, has my lord the 
 lord secretary expounded unto me. He told 
 them, moreover, what by himself and by them 
 must be done to answer the mind of their 
 Lord. Then were the captains glad ; and 
 Captain Credence commanded that all the 
 King's trumpeters should ascend to the battle- 
 ments of the castle, and there, in the audience 
 of Diabolus and of the whole town of Mansoul, 
 make the best music that heart could invent. 
 Then the trumpeters did as they were com- 
 manded. They got themselves up to the top 
 of the castle, and thus they began to sound. 
 Then did Diabolus start, and said, " What can 
 be the meaning of this? They neither sound 
 boot-and-saddle, nor horse-and-away, nor a 
 charge. What do those madmen mean, that 
 they should be so merry and glad?" Then 
 answered him one of themselves, and said, 
 " This is for joy that their Prince Emmanuel 
 is come to relieve the town of Mansoul — that 
 to this end he is at the head of an army, and 
 that this relief is near." 
 
 The men of Mansoul were also greatly con- 
 cerned at this melodious charm of the trump- 
 ets : they said, yea, they answered one another, 
 
THE HOLY WAS. 
 
 465 
 
 saying, " This can be no harm to us ; surely 
 this can be no harm to us." Then said the 
 Diabolonians, " What had we best to do ?" 
 And it was answered it was best to quit the 
 town ; and that, said one, ye may do so in pur- 
 suance of your last council, and by so doing 
 also be better able to give the enemy battle 
 should an army from withobt come upon us. 
 So on the second day they withdrew themselves 
 hum. Mansoul and abode in the plains without, 
 but they encamped themselves before Eye-gate, 
 in what terrene and terrible manner they 
 could. The reason why they could not abide 
 in the toyvn (besides the reasons that were de- 
 bated in the last conclave) wasj for that they 
 were not possessed of the stronghold, and be- 
 cause, said they, we shall have more conve- 
 nience to fight, and also to fly, if need be, when 
 we are encamped in the open plains.' Besides, 
 the town would have been a pit for them, 
 rather than a place of defence, had the Prince 
 come up and enclosed them fast therein. 
 Therefore they betook themselves to the field, 
 that they might also be out of the reach of the 
 slings, by which they were much annoyed all 
 the while that they were in the town. 
 
 Well, the time that the captains were to fall 
 upon the Diabolonians being come, they eagerly 
 prepared themselves for action; for Captain 
 Credence having told the captains over night 
 that they should meet their Prince in the field 
 to-morrow was like oil to a flaming fire, for of 
 a long time they had been at a distance ; they 
 therefore were for this the more earnest and 
 desirous of the work. So, as I said, the hour 
 being come, Captajn Credence, with the rest 
 of the men of war, drew out their forces before 
 it was day by the sally-port of the town. And 
 being all ready. Captain Credence went up to 
 the head of the army and gave to the rest of 
 the captains the word, and they to their under- 
 officers and soldiers ; the word was, " The 
 sword of the Prince Emmanuel and the shield 
 of Captain Credence !" which is in the Man- 
 Boulian tongue, " The word of God and faith." 
 Then the captains fell on, and began roundly' 
 to front and flank and rear Diabolus's camp. 
 
 Now they left Captain Experience in the 
 town, because he was yet ill of his wounds 
 which the Diabolonians had given him in the 
 last fight. But wlien he perceived that the 
 captains were at it, what does he but, calling 
 for his crutches with haste, gets up, and away 
 he goes to the battle, saying, " Shall I lie here 
 while my brethren are in the fight, and when 
 Emmanuel the Prince will show himself in 
 30 
 
 the field to Ms servants ?" But when the enemy 
 saw the man come with his crutches, they were 
 daunted yet the more; for, thought they, what 
 spirit has possessed these Mansoulians thai 
 they fight us upon their crutches I Well, the 
 captains, as I said, fell on, and did bravely 
 handle their weapons, still crying out and 
 shouting as they laid on blows, " The sword of 
 the Prince Emmanuel and the shield of Cap- 
 tain Credence !" 
 
 Now when Diabolus saw that the captains 
 were come out, and that so valiantly they sur- 
 rounded his men, he concluded that for the 
 present nothing from them was to be looked 
 for but blows and the dints of their two-edged 
 swords. 
 
 Wherefore he also falls upon the Prince's 
 army with all his deadly force. So the battle 
 was joined. Now, who was it that at first 
 Diabolus met with in the fight but Captain 
 Credence on the one hand, and Lord Will-be- 
 will on the other? Now, Will-be-will's blows 
 were like the blows of a giant ; for that man 
 had a strong arm, and he fell in upon the 
 Election-doubters, for they were the lifeguard 
 of Diabolus, and he kept them in play a good 
 while, cutting and battering shrewdly. Now, 
 when Captain Credence saw my lord engaged, 
 he did stoutly fall on, on the other hand, upon 
 the same company also ; so they put them to 
 great disorder. Now Captain Good-hope had' 
 engaged the Vocation-doubters, and they were 
 sturdy men, but the captain was a valiant 
 man ; Captain Experience did also send him 
 some aid, so he made the Vocation-doubters 
 to retreat. The rest of the armies were hotly 
 engaged, and that on every side, and the 
 Diabolonians did fight stoutly. Then did my 
 lord secretary command that the slings from 
 the castle should be played, and his men could 
 throw stones at an hair's breadth. But after a 
 while those that were made to fiy before the 
 captains of the Prince did begin to rally again, 
 and they came up stoutly upon the rear of the 
 Prince's army; wherefore the Prince's aimy 
 began to faint, but remembering that they 
 should see the face of their Prince by and by, 
 they took courage, and a very fierce battle was 
 fought. Then shouted the captains, saying, 
 " Th6 sword of the Prince Emmanuel and the 
 shield of Captain Credence !" and with that 
 Diabolus gave back, thinking that more aid 
 had been come. But no Emmanuel had as yet 
 appeared. Moreover, the battle did hang in 
 doubt, and they made a little retreat on both 
 sides. Now in the time of respite Captain 
 
466 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Credence bravely encouraged his men to stand 
 to it, and Diabolus did the like as well as he 
 could. But Captain Credence made a brave 
 speech to his soldiers, the coatents whereof 
 here follow : 
 
 Gentlemen soldiers and my brethren in this 
 design, it'rejoioeth me much to see in the field 
 for our Prince this day so stout and so valiant 
 an army and such faithful lovers of Mansoul. 
 You have hitherto, as hath become you, shown 
 yourselves men of truth and courage against 
 the Diabolonian forces, so that for all their 
 boasts they have not yet much cause to boast 
 of their gettings. Now, take to yourselves 
 your wonted courage, and show yourselves men 
 even this once only, for in a few minutes after 
 the next engagement this time ^you shall see 
 your Prince show himself in the field ; for we 
 must make this second assault upon this ty- 
 rant Diabolus, and then Emmanuel comes. 
 
 No sooner had the captain made this speech 
 to his soldiers but one Mr. Speedy came post 
 to the captain from the Prince to tell him that 
 Emmanuel was at hand.' This news, when 
 the captain had received, he communicated to 
 the other field-officers, and they again to their 
 soldiers and men of war. Wherefore, like ' 
 men raised from the dead, so the captains and 
 their men arose, made up to the enemy, and 
 cried as before, "The sword of the Prince 
 'Emmanuel and the shield of Captain Cre- 
 dence!" 
 
 The Diabolonians also bestirred themselves, 
 ind made resistance as well as they could ; but 
 in this last engagement the Diabolonians lost 
 their courage, and many of the Doubters fell 
 down dead to the ground. Now when they 
 had been in the heat of battle about an 
 hour more. Captain Credence lift up his eyes 
 and saw and beheld Emmanuel coming ; and 
 he came with colours flying, trumpets sound- 
 ing, and the feet of his men scarce touched the 
 ground, they hasted with that celerity towards 
 the captains that were engaged. Then Cap- 
 tain Credence wheeled with his men to the 
 town-ward and gave to Diabolus the field. So 
 Emmanuel came uijon him on the one side, 
 and the enemy's place was betwixt them both ; 
 then again they fell to it afresh, and after a 
 little while Emmanuel and Captain Credence 
 met, still trampling down the slain as they 
 came. 
 
 > But when the captajns saw that the Prince 
 was come, and that he fell upon the Diabolo- 
 nians on the other side, and that Captain Cre- 
 dence and his Highness had got them up be- 
 
 twixt them, they shouted, (they so shouted 
 that the ground rent again,) saying, "The 
 sword of Emmanuel and the shield of Cap- 
 tain Credence !" Now when Diabolus saw 
 that he and his forces were so hard beset by 
 the Prince and his princely army, what doth 
 he and the lords of the pit that were with 
 him but make their escape, and forsake their 
 army and leave them to fall by the hand of 
 Emmanuel and of his noble Captain Cre- 
 dence? So they fell all down slain before 
 them, before the Prince and before his royal 
 army; there was not left so much as one 
 Doubter alive; they lay spread upon the 
 ground dead men, as one would spread dung 
 upon the land. 
 
 When the battle was over all things came 
 into order in the camp ; then the captains and 
 elders of Mansoul came together to salute 
 Emmanuel while without the Corporation ; so 
 they saluted him and welcomed him, and that 
 with a thousand welcomes, for that he was 
 come to the borders of Mansoul again; so he 
 smiled upon them and said. Peace be to you I 
 Then they addressed themselves to go to the 
 town ; they went then to go up to Mansoul — 
 they, the Prince, and all the new forces that 
 now he had brought with him to the war. 
 Also all the gates of the town were set open 
 for his reception, so glad were they of his 
 blessed return. And this was the manner and' 
 order of going into Mansoul : 
 
 1. As I sai(l, all the gates of the town were 
 set open, yea, the gates of the castle also ; the 
 elders too of the town of Mansoul placed them- 
 selves at the gates of the town to salute him at 
 his entrance thither; and so they did, for as he 
 drew near and approached towai'ds the gates, 
 they said, "Lift up your hea,ds, O ye gates, 
 and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and 
 the King of glory shall come in." And they 
 answered again, "Who is the King of glory?" 
 And they made return to themselves, "The 
 Lord strong and mighty, the I;ord mighty in 
 battle. Lift' up your heads, ye gates, even 
 lift them up, ye everlasting doers," &c. 
 
 2. It was ordered also by those of Mansoul 
 that all the way from the town-gates to those 
 of the castle his blessed Majesty should be en- 
 tertained with the song by them that had the 
 best' skill in music in all the town of Mansoul ; 
 then did the elders and the rest of the men of 
 Mansoul answer one another as Emmanuel 
 entered the town, till he came at the caatle- 
 gates, with songs and sound of trumpets, say- 
 ing, They have seen thy goings, O God, even 
 
THE HOLT WAR. 
 
 467 
 
 the goings f my God, my King, in the sanc- 
 tuaiy. So jhe singers went before, the players 
 on instruments followed after, and among them 
 were the damsels playing on timbrels. 
 
 3. Then the captains, (for I wotild speak a 
 word of them,) in their order, waited on the 
 Prince as he entered into the gates of Mansoul. 
 Captain Credence went before, and Captain 
 Good-hope with him; Captain Charity came 
 behind with other of his companions, and 
 Captain Patience followed after all; and the 
 rest of the captains, some on the right hand 
 and some on the left, accompanied Emmanuel 
 into Mansoul. And all the while the colours 
 were displayed, the trumpets sounded, and 
 continual shoutings were among the soldiers. 
 The Prince himself rode into the town in his 
 armour, which was all of beaten ggld, and in 
 his chariot; the pillars of it were of silver, 
 the bottom thereof of gold, the covering of it 
 was of purple, the midst thereof being paved 
 with love for the daughters of the town of 
 Mansoul. 
 
 4. When the Prince was come to the en- 
 trance of Mansoul he found all the streets 
 strewed with lilies and flowers, curiously 
 decked with boughs and branches from the 
 green trees that stood round about the town. 
 Every door also was filled with persons who 
 had adorned every one their fore-part against 
 their house with something of variety and 
 singular excellency to entertain him withal as 
 he passed in the streets ; they also themselves, 
 as Emmanuel passed by, did welcome him 
 with shouts and acclamations of joy, saying. 
 Blessed be the Prince that cometh in the name 
 of his Father Shaddai \ 
 
 5. At the castle-gates the elders of Man- 
 soul — to wit, the lord mayor, the Lord Will- 
 be-will, the subordinate preacher, Mr. Know- 
 ledge, and Mr. Mind, with other of the gentry 
 of the place — saluted Emmanuel again. They 
 bowed before him, they kissed the dust of his 
 feet, they thanked, they blessed, and praised 
 his Highness for not taking advantage against 
 them for their sins, but rather had pity upon 
 them in their misery, and returned to them 
 with mercies and to build up their Mansoul 
 for ever. Thus was be had up straightway to 
 the castle— for that was the royal palace and 
 the place where his honour was to dwell — 
 which was ready prepared for his Highness by 
 the presence of the lord secretary and the 
 work of Captain Credence. So he entered in. 
 
 6. Then the pespje and commonalty of the 
 lowu of Mansoul camp t" him into th» castle 
 
 to mourn, and to weep, and to lament for 
 their wickedness, by which they had forced 
 him out of the town. So they, when they 
 were come, bowed themselves to the ground 
 seven times : they also wept, they wept aloud, 
 and asked forgiveness of the Prince, and 
 prayed that he would again, as of old, confirm 
 his love to Mansoul. 
 
 To the which the great Prince replied. Weep 
 hot, but go your way, eat the fat and drink 
 the sweet, and send portions to them for whom 
 naught is prepared, for the joy of your Lord 
 is your strength. I am returne(i to Mansoul 
 with mercies, and my name shall be set up, 
 exalted and magnified by it. He also took 
 these, inhabitants and kissed them, and laid 
 them to his bosom. 
 
 Moreover, he gave to the elders of Mansoul 
 and to each town ofBce.r a chain of gold and a 
 signet. = He also sent to their wives ear-rings, 
 and jewels, and bracelets, and other things. 
 He also bestowed upon the true-born children 
 of Mansoul many precious things. 
 
 When Emmanuel the Prince had done all 
 these things for the famous town of Mansoul, 
 then he said unto them, first. Wash your gar- 
 ments, then put on your ornaments, and then 
 come to me into the castle of Mansoul. So 
 they went to the fountain that was open for 
 Judah and Jerusalem to wash in; and there 
 they washed and there they made their gar- 
 ments white, and came again to the Prince 
 into the castle, and thus they stood before him. 
 
 And now there was music and dancing 
 throughout the .whole town of Mansoul, and 
 that because their Prince had again granted to 
 them his presence and the light of his counte- 
 nance; th6 bells also did ring, and the sun 
 shone comfortably upon them for a great while 
 together. 
 
 The town of Mansoul did also now more 
 thoroughly seek the destruction and ruin of 
 all remaining Diabolonians that abode in the 
 walls and the dens that they had in the town 
 of Mansoul ; for there was of them that had 
 to this day escaped with life and limb from 
 the hands of their oppressors in the famous 
 town of Mansoul. 
 
 But the Lord Will-be-will was a greater 
 terror to them now than ever he had been be- 
 fore, forasmuch as his heart was yet more fully 
 bent to seek, contrive, and pursue them to 
 death; he pursued them night and day, and 
 did put them now to sore distress, as will after- 
 wards appear. 
 
 After things were thus far put into order in 
 
468 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 the famous town of Mansoul, care was taken 
 and orders given by the blessed Prince Em- 
 manuel that the townsmen should, without 
 further delay, appoint some to go forth into 
 the plain to bury the dead that were there — 
 the dead that fell by the sword of Emmanuel 
 and by the shield of the Captain Credence — ■ 
 Jest the fumes and ill savours that would arise 
 from them might infect the air, and so annoy 
 the famous town of Mansoul. This also was 
 a reason of this order — to wit, that as much as 
 in Mansoul lay they might cut off the name, 
 ».nd being, and remembrance of those enemies 
 from the thought of the famous town of Man- 
 soul and its inhabitants. 
 
 So order was given out by the lord mayor, 
 that, wise and trusty friend of the town of 
 Mansoul, that persons should be employed 
 about this necessary business ; and Mr. Godly- 
 fear and one Mr. Upright were to be overseers 
 about this matter ; so persons were put under 
 them to work in the fields and to bury the 
 slain that lay dead in the plains. And these 
 were their places of employment: some were 
 to make the graves, some to bury the dead, 
 and some were to go to and fro in the plains, 
 and also round about the borders of Mansoul, 
 to see if a skull, or a bone, or a piece of a bone 
 of a Doubter was yet to be found above ground 
 anywhere near the corporation; and if any 
 were found, it was ordered that the searchers 
 that searched should set up a mark thereby 
 and a sign, that those that were appointed to 
 bui-y them might find it and bury, it out of 
 sight, that the name and remembrance of a 
 Diabolonian Doubter might 'be blotted out 
 from under heaven, and that the children, and 
 they that were to be born in Mansoul, might 
 not know (if possible) what a skull, what a 
 bone, or a piece of a bone of a Doubter was. 
 
 So the buriers and those that were appointed 
 for that purpose did as they were commanded; 
 they buried the Doubters, and all the skulls, 
 and bones, and pieces of bones of Doubters 
 wherever they found them, and so they cleansed 
 the ]>lains. Now also Mti God's-peace took up 
 his commission and acted again as in former 
 days. 
 
 Thus they buried in the plains about Man- 
 soul, the Election-doubters, the Vocation- 
 doubters, the Grace-doubters, the Persever- 
 ance-doubters, the Resurrection-doubters, the 
 Salvation-doubters and the Glory-doubters, 
 whose captains were Captain Rage, Captain 
 Ciael, Captain Damnation, Captain Insatiable, 
 Captain Brimstone, Captain Torment, Captain 
 
 No-ease, Captain Sepulchre, and Captain Past- 
 hope ; and old Incredulity was under Diabolua 
 their general. There were also seven heads 
 of their army, and they were the Lord Beelze- 
 bub, the Lord Lucifer, the Lord Legion, the 
 Lord AJ)ollyon, the Lord Python, the Lord 
 Cerberus, and the Lord Belial. But the princes 
 and the captains, with old Incredulity their 
 general, did all of them make their escape ; so 
 their men fell down slain by the power of the 
 Prince's forces and by the hands of the men 
 of the town of Mansoul. They also wer& 
 buried as before rented, to the exceeding great 
 joy of the now famous town of Mansoul. 
 They that buried them buried also with them 
 their arms, which were cruel instruments of 
 death, (their weapons were arrows, darts, 
 mauls, firebrands, and the like;) they buried 
 also their armour, their colours, banners, with 
 the standard of Diabolus, and what else soever 
 they could find that did but smell of a Diab- 
 olonian Doubter. 
 
 Now, when the tyrant had arrived at Hell- 
 gate-hill with his old friend Incredulity, they 
 immediately descended the den, and having 
 there with their fellows for a while condoled 
 their misfortunes and the great loss that they 
 sustained against the town of Mansoul, thej 
 fell at length into a passion, d3ttd revenged they 
 would be for the loss that they sustained before 
 the town of Mansoul ; wherefore they presently 
 called a council to contrive yet further what 
 was to be done against the famous town of 
 Mansoul, for their yawning paunches could 
 not wait to see the result of their Lord Luci- 
 fer's and their Lord ApoUyon's counsel that 
 they had given before, (for their raging gorge 
 thought every day even as long as a short for 
 ever until they were filled with the body and 
 soul, with the flesh and bones, and with all the 
 delicacies of Mansoul.) They therefore re- 
 solved to make another attempt upon the town 
 of Mansoul, and that by an army mixed and 
 made up partly of Doubters and partly of 
 Blood-men. A more particular account now 
 take of both. 
 
 The Doubters are such as have their name 
 from their nature, as well as from the land and 
 kingdom where they are born ; their nature is 
 to put a question upon every one of the truths 
 of Emmanuel, and their country is called the 
 land of Doubting ; and that land lieth off and 
 farthest remote to the north, bet-«veen the land 
 of Darkness and that called the Valley of the 
 Shadow of Death. For though the land of 
 Darkness and that called the Valley of the 
 
THE HOLY WAR. 
 
 469 
 
 Shadow of Death he sometimes called as if 
 they were one aiid the selfsame place, yet in- 
 deed they are two, lying but a little way asunder, 
 and the lanci of Doubting points in and lieth 
 between them. This is the land of Doubting, 
 and these that came with Diabolus to ruin the 
 town of Mansoul are the natives of that 
 country. 
 
 The Blood-men are a people that have their 
 name derived from the malignity of their 
 nature, and from the fury that is in them to 
 execute it upon the town of Mansoul; their 
 land lieth under the Dog-star, and by that they 
 are governed as to their intellectuals. 
 
 The name of their country is the Province 
 of Loath-good; the remote parts of it are far 
 distant from the land of Doubting, yet they do 
 both butt and bound upon the hill called Hell- 
 gate- hill. These people are always in league 
 with the Doubters, for they jointly do make 
 question of the faith and fidelity of the men 
 of the town of Mansoul, and so are both alike 
 qualified for the service of their prince. 
 
 Now of these two countries did Diabolus, by 
 the beating of his drum, raise another army 
 against the town of Mansoul, of five and 
 twenty thousand strong. There were ten 
 thousand Doubters and fifteen thousand Blood- 
 men, and they were put under several captains 
 for the war; and old Incredulity was again 
 made general of the army. 
 
 As for the Doubters, their captains were" five 
 of the seven that were heads of the last Diab- 
 olonian army ; and these are their ■ names : 
 Captain Beelzebub, Captain Lucifer, Captain 
 Apollyon, Captain Legion, and Captain Cer- 
 berus ; and the captains that they had before 
 were some of them made lieutenants and some 
 ensigns of the army. 
 
 But Diabolus did not count that in this ex- 
 pedition of his these Doubters would prove 
 his principal men, for their manhood had 
 been tried before, also the Mansoulians had 
 put them to the worst; only he did bring 
 them to multiply a number, and to help, if 
 need was, at a pinch ; but his trust he put in 
 the Blood-men, for that they were all rugged 
 villains, and he knew that they had done feats 
 heretofore. 
 
 As for the Blood-men, they also were under 
 command, and the names of their captains 
 were — Captain Cain, Captain Nimrod, Cap- 
 tain Ishmael, Captain Esau, Captain Saul, 
 Captain Absalom, Captain Judas, and Cap- 
 tain Pope. 
 
 1. Captain Cain was over two bands: to 
 
 wit, the zealous and the angry Blood-men; 
 his standard-bearer bore the red colours, and 
 his escutcheon was the murdering club. 
 
 2.. Captain Nimrod was captain over two 
 bands : to wit, the tyrannical and encroaching 
 Blood-men ; his standard-bearer bore the red 
 colours, and his escutcheon was the great 
 bloodhound. 
 
 3. Captain Ishmael was captain over two 
 bands: to wit, the mocking and scornful 
 Blood-men ; his standard-bearer bore the red 
 colours, and his escutcheon was one mocking 
 at Abraham's Isaac. 
 
 4. Captain Esau was captain over two 
 bands: to wit, the Blood-men that grudged 
 that another should have the blessing; also 
 over the Blood-men that are for executing 
 their private revenge upon others ; his stand- 
 ard-bearer bore the red colours, and his es- 
 cutcheon was one privately lurking to murder 
 Jacob. 
 
 5". Captain Saul was captain over two 
 bands : to wit, the groundlessly jealous and 
 the devilishly furious Blood-men; his stand- 
 ard-bearer bore the red colours, and his es- 
 cutcheon was three bloody darts cast at harm- 
 less David. 
 
 6. Captain Absalom was captain over two 
 bands : to wit, over the Blood-men that will 
 kill a father or a friend for the glory of this 
 world ; also over those Blood-men that will 
 hold one fair in hand with words till they 
 shall have pierced him with their swords; 
 his standard-bearer bore the red colours, and 
 his escutcheon was the son pursuing the father's 
 blood. 
 
 7. Captain Judas was over two bands : to 
 wit, the Blood-men that will sell a man's life 
 for money, and those also that will betray 
 their friend with a kiss ; his standard-bearer 
 bore the red colours, and his escutcheon was 
 thirty pieces of silver and the halter. 
 
 8. Captain Pope was captain over one band, 
 for alh these spirits are joined in one under 
 him ; his standard-bearer bore the red colours, 
 and his escutcheon was the stake, the flame, 
 and the good man in it. 
 
 Now the reason why Diabolus did so sooa 
 rally another force after he had been beaten 
 out of the field was, for that he put mighty 
 confidence in his army of Blood-men ; for he 
 put a great deal more trust in them than he 
 did before in his army of Doubters, though 
 they had also often done great, service for him 
 in the strengthening of him in his kingdom 
 but these Blood-men he had often proved 
 
i70 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 and their sword did seldom return empty. 
 Besides, he knew that these, like mastiffs, 
 would fasten upou any — upon father, mother, 
 brother, sister, prince, or governor ; yea, upon 
 the Prince of princes. And that which en- 
 couraged him the more was for that they did 
 once force Emrmanuel out of the kingdom 
 of Universe; aiid why, thought he, may 
 thoy not also drive him from the town of 
 Msnsoul ? 
 
 So this army of five-and-twenty thousand 
 strong was hy their general, the great Lord 
 Incredulity, led up against the town of Man- 
 soul. Now Mr. Pry-well, the scoutmaster-gen- 
 eral, did himself go out to spy, and he did 
 bring Mansoul tidings of their coming. Where- 
 fore they shut up their gates, and put them- 
 selves in a posture of defence against these 
 new Diabolonians that came up against the 
 town. 
 
 So Diaholus brought up his army and be- 
 leaguered the town of Mansoul ; the Doubters 
 were placed about Feel-gate, and the Blood- 
 men set down before Eye-gate and Ear-gate. 
 
 Now when this army had thus encamped 
 themselves. Incredulity, in the name of Diab- 
 olus, his own name, and in the name of the 
 Blood-men and the rest that were with him, 
 sent a summons 0^ hot as a red-hot iron to 
 Mansoul to yield to their demands, threaten- 
 ing that if they still stood it out against them 
 they would presently burn down Mansoul with 
 fire. For you must know that as for the Blood- 
 men, they were not so much that Mansoul 
 should be surrendered, as that Mansoul should 
 be destroyed and cut off out of the land of the 
 living. True, they sent to them to surrender, 
 but should they so do, that would not stanch 
 or quench the thirsts of these men ; they must 
 have blood, the blood of- Mansoul, else they 
 die ; and it is from hence that they have their 
 name. ■ Wherefore these Blood-men he re- 
 served till now, that they might, when all 
 his engines proved ineffectual, as his last and 
 sure card, be played against the town of 
 Mansoul. 
 
 Nov; when the townsmen had received this 
 red-hot summons, it begat in them at present 
 some changing and interchanging of thoughts ; 
 but they jointly agreed in leas than half an 
 hour to carry the summons to the Prince, 
 the which thfiy did when they had writ at the 
 bottom of it, "Lord, save Mansoul from 
 bloody men I" 
 
 So he took it, and looked upon it and con- 
 sidered it, and took notice also of that short 
 
 petition that the men of Mansoul ha I written' 
 at the bottom of it ; and called to him the noble 
 Captain Credence, and bid him go and take 
 Captain Patience with him', and go and take 
 care of that side of Mansoul that was be- 
 leaguered by the Blood-men. So they went 
 and did as they were commanded ; the Cap- 
 tain Credence went and took Captain Patience, 
 and they both secured that side of Mansoul 
 that was besieged by the Blood-men. 
 
 Then he commanded that Captain Good- 
 hope, and Captain Charity, and my Lord 
 Will-be-will should take charge of the other 
 side of the town ; and I, said the Prince, will 
 set my standard upon the battlements of your 
 castle, and do you three watch against the 
 Doubters. This done, he again commanded 
 that the brave captain, the Captain Experi- 
 ence, should draw up his men in the market- 
 place, and that there he ;should exercise them 
 day by day before the people of the town of 
 Mansoul. Now this siege was long, and many 
 a fierce attempt did the enemy, especially th ose 
 called Blood-men, make^ upon the town of 
 Mansoul ; and many a shrewd brush did some 
 of the townsmen meet with from them, espe- 
 cially Captain Self-denial, who, I should have 
 told you before, was commanded to take the 
 care of Ear-gate and Eye-gate now against the 
 Blood-men. This Captain Self-denial was a 
 young man, but stout, and a townsman in 
 Mansoul, as Captain Experience also was. And 
 Emmanuel, at his second return to Mansoul, 
 made him a captain over a thousand of the 
 Mansoulians for the good of the corporation. 
 This captain therefore, being an hardy man 
 and a man of great courage, and willing to 
 venture himself for the good of the town of . 
 Mansoul, would now and then sally out upon 
 the Blood-men and give them many notable 
 alarms, and entered several brisk skirmishes 
 with them, and also did some execution upon 
 them ; but you must think that this could not 
 so easily be done but he must meet with 
 brushes himself, for he carried several of their 
 marks in his face, yea, and some in some other 
 parts of his body. 
 
 So after some time spent for the trial of the 
 faith, and hope, and love of the town of Man- 
 soul, the Prince Emmanuel upon a day calls 
 his captains and men of war together and di- 
 vides them into two companies ; this done, he 
 commands them at a time appointed, and that 
 in the morning Yery early, to sally out upon 
 the enemy, saying, "Let half of you fall upon 
 the Doubters, and half of yon faU upon the 
 
THE HOLY WAR. 
 
 47] 
 
 Blood-meii. Those of you that go out against 
 the Doubters kill and slay and cause to perish 
 so many of them as by any means you can lay 
 hands on ; but for you that go out against the 
 Blood-men, slay them not, but take them 
 alive." 
 
 So at the time appointed, betimes in the 
 morning, the captains went out as they were 
 commanded against the enemies: Captain 
 Good-hope, Captain Charity, and those that 
 were joined with them, as Captain Innocent 
 and Captain Experience, went out against the 
 Doubters ; and Captain Credence and Captain^ 
 Patience, with Captain Self-denial and the rest 
 that were to join with them, went out against 
 the Blood-men. 
 
 Now those that went out against the Doubt- 
 ers drew up into a body before the plain, and 
 marched on to bid them battle; but the Doubt- 
 ers, remembering their last success, made a re- 
 treat, not daring to stand the shock, but fled 
 from the Prince's men ; wlierefore they pursued 
 them, and in their pursuit slew many, but they 
 could not catch them all. Now those that es- 
 caped went, some of them home, and the rest 
 by fives, nines, and seventeens, like wanderers, 
 went straggling up and down the country, 
 where they upon the barbarous people showed 
 and exercised many of their Diabolonian ac- 
 tions; nor did these people rise up in arms 
 against them, but suffered themselves to be en- 
 slaved by them. They would also after this 
 show themselves in companies before the town 
 of Mansoul, but never to abide it; for if Cap- 
 tain Credence, Captain Good-hope, or Captain 
 Experience did but show themselves, they 
 fled. ' ■ 
 
 Those that went out ;against the Blood-men 
 did as they were commanded ; they forbore to 
 slay any, but sought to compass them about. 
 But the Blood-men, when they saw that no 
 Emmanuel was in the field, concluded also that 
 no Emmanuel was in Mansoul ; wherefore, 
 they looking upon what the captains did to be, 
 aa they call it, a fruit of the extravagancy of 
 ■ their wild and foolish fancies, rather despised 
 them than feared them ; but the captains, 
 minding their business, at last did compass 
 them around : they also that had routed the 
 Doubters came in amain to their aid ; so, in 
 fine, after some little struggling — for the 
 Blood-men also would have run for it, only 
 now it was too late (for though they are mis- 
 chievous and cruel where they can overcome, 
 yet all Blood-men are ' chicken-hearted men 
 when they once come to see themselves 
 
 matched and equalled,)— so the captains took 
 them and brought them to the Prince. 
 
 Now when they were taken, had before tli* 
 Prince, and examined, he found them to be ©f 
 three several counties, though they all came 
 of one land. 
 
 1. One sort of them came out of Blindman- 
 shire, and they were such as did ignorantly 
 what they did. 
 
 2. Another sort of them came out of Blind- 
 zealshire, and they did superstitiously what 
 they did. 
 
 3. The third sort of them came out of the 
 town of Malice, in the county of Envy, and 
 they did what they did out of spite and im- 
 placableness. ' ' 
 
 For the first of these — to wit, they that came 
 put of Blindmanshire — when they saw where 
 they were and against whom they had fought, 
 they trembled and cried as they stood before 
 him ; and as many of these as asked him 
 mercy, he touched their lips with his golden 
 sceptre. 
 
 They that came out of Blindzealshire, thej 
 did not as their fellows did ; for they pleaded 
 that they had a right to do what they did, be- 
 cause Mansoul was a town whose laws and Cus- 
 toms were diverse from all that dwelt there- 
 about ; very few of these could be brought tr 
 see their evil, but those that did and asked 
 mercy, they also obtained favour. 
 
 Now they that came out of the town of 
 Malice, that is in the county of Envy, they 
 neither wept, nor disputed, nor repented, but 
 stood gnawing of their tongues before him for 
 anguish and madness because they could not 
 have their will upon Mansoul. Npw these 
 last, with all those of the other two sorts that 
 ,did not unfeignedly ask pardon for their faults, 
 those he made to enter into sufficient bond to 
 answer for what they htjd done against Man- 
 soul and against her King, at the great and 
 general assizes to be holden for our Lord the 
 King, where he himself should appoint, for the 
 country and kingdom of Universe. 
 
 So they became bound, each man for him- 
 self, to come in when called upon, to answer 
 before our Lord the King for what they had 
 done, ai before. 
 
 And thus jnuch concerning this second army 
 that was sent by Diabolus to overthrow Man- 
 soul. 
 
 But there were three of those that came 
 from the land of Doubting who, after they 
 had wandered and ranged the country awhile 
 and perceived that they had escaped, were 
 
472 
 
 BTJNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 go hardy as to thrust themselves, knowing 
 that yet there were in the town some who 
 took part with Diabolus — I say, they were so 
 hardy as to thrust themselves into Mansoul. 
 (Three, did I say? I think there were four.) 
 Now to whose house should these Doubters go 
 but to the house of an old Diabolonian in 
 Maaisoul, whose name was Evil-questioning ; a 
 very great enemy he was to Mansoul, and a 
 great doer among Diabolonians there. Well, 
 to this Evil-questioning's house, as was said, 
 did these Diabolonians corhe, (you may be sure 
 that they had directions how to find the way 
 thither;) so he made them welcomes, pitied 
 their misfortune, and succored them with the 
 best that he had in his house. Now, after a 
 little acquaintance, (and it was not long be- 
 fore thej' had that,) this old Evil-questioning 
 asked the Doubters if they were all of a town ; 
 he knew that they were all of one kingdom. 
 And they answered. No, nor of one shire, 
 neither ; for I, said one, am an Election-doubt- 
 er ; I, said another, am a Vocation-doubter ; then 
 said the third, I am a Salvation-doubter ; and 
 the fourth said he was a Grace-doubter. Well, 
 quoth the old gentleman, be of what shire you 
 will, I am persuaded that you are town-boys ; 
 you have the very length of my foot, are one 
 with my heart, and shall be welcome to me. 
 So they thanked him, and were glad that they 
 had found themselves an harbour in Mansoul. 
 Then said Evil-questioning to them. How 
 many of your company might there be that 
 came with you to the siege of Mansoul? And 
 they answered, There were but ten thousand 
 Doubters in all, for the rest of the army con- 
 sisted of .fifteen thousand Blood-men. These 
 Blood-men, quoth they, border upon our coun- 
 try, but, poor men ! as we hear they were every 
 
 , one taken by Emmanuel's forces. Ten thou- 
 sand ! quoth the old gentleman : I'll promise 
 you that is a round company. But how came 
 it to pass, since you were so mighty a number, 
 
 ' that you fainted and durst not fight your foes ? 
 Our general, said they, was the first man that 
 did run for it. Pray, quoth their landlord, 
 who was" that your cowardly general ? He was 
 once the lord mayor of Mansoul, said they. 
 But pray call him not a cowardly general, for 
 whether any from the east to the west had done 
 more service for our Prince Diabolus than has 
 my liord Incredulity will be a hard question 
 for you to answer. But had they catched him, 
 they would for certain have hanged him, and 
 we promise you hanging is but a bad business. 
 Then said the old gentleman, I wr>uld that all 
 
 the ten thousand Doubters were now well armed 
 in Mansoul, and myself at the head of them: 
 I would see what I could do. Ay, said they, 
 that would be well if we could see that ; but 
 wishes, aks ! what are they? and these words 
 were spoken aloud. Well, said old Evil-ques- 
 tioning, take heed that you talk not too loud: 
 you must be squat and close, and must take 
 care of yourselves while you are here, or I'll 
 assure you you will be snapped. 
 
 Why ? quoth the Doubters. 
 
 Why ! quoth the old gentleman. Whj, be- 
 cause both the Prince and the lord secretary, 
 and their captains and soldiers, are all at pres- 
 ent in town ; yea, the town is as full of them 
 as ever it can hold. And besides, there is one 
 whose name is Will-be-will, a most cruel ene- 
 my of ours, and him the Prince has made 
 i^eeper of the gates, and has commanded him 
 that with all the diligence he can he should 
 look for, search out, and destroy all and all 
 manner of Diabolonians.' And if he lighted 
 upoii you, down you go, though your heads 
 were made of gold. 
 
 And now to see how it happened. One of 
 the Lord Will-be-wiU's faithful soldiers, whose 
 name was Mr. Diligence, stood all this while 
 listening under old Evil-questioning's eaves, 
 and heard all the talk that had been betwixt 
 him and the Doubters that he entertained 
 under his roof. 
 
 The soldier was a man that my lord had 
 much confidence in, and that he loved dearly, 
 and that both because he was a man of cour- 
 age and also a man that was unwearied in seek 
 ing after Diabolonians to apprehend them. 
 
 Now this man, as I told you, heard all the 
 talk that was betwixt old Evil-questioning and 
 these Diabolonians; wherefore what, does he 
 but goes to his lord and tells-him what he had 
 heard ? And sayest thou so, my trusty ? quoth 
 my lord. Ay, quoth Diligence, that I do, and 
 if your lordship will be pleased to go witli me, 
 you shall find it as I have ss^id. And are they 
 there? quoth my lord: I know Evil-question- 
 ing well, for he and I were great in the time 
 of our apostacy. But I know not now where 
 he dwells. But I do, said this man ; and if 
 your lordship will go, I will lead you the way 
 into his den. Go 1 quoth my lord ; that I will. 
 Come, my Diligence, let us go find th-jm out. 
 So my lord and his man went together the 
 direct way to his house. Now his man went 
 before to show him his way, and they went till 
 they came even under old Mr. Evil-question- 
 ing's wall. Then said Diligence, Hark, my 
 
THE HOLY WAR. 
 
 473 
 
 loid I do you know the old gentleman's tongue 
 when you hear it? Yes, said my lord, I know 
 it well, but I have not seen him many a day. 
 This I know, he is cunning; I wish he doth 
 not give us the slip. Let me alone for that. 
 Raid his servant Diligence. But how shall we 
 find the door? quoth my lord. Let me alone 
 for that too, said his man. So he had my Lord 
 Will-be-wi]l about and showed him the way 
 to the door. Then my lord without more ado 
 broke open the door, rushed into the house, 
 and caught them all five together, even as 
 Diligence, his man, had told him. So my 
 lord apprehended them and led them away, 
 and committed them to the hand of Mr. True- 
 man the jailer, and commanded and he did 
 put them in ward. This done, my lord mayor 
 was acquainted in the morning with what my 
 Lord Will-be-will had done over night, and 
 his lordship rejoiced much at the news, not 
 only because there were Doubters apprehended, 
 but because that old Evil-questioning was 
 taken ; for he had been a very great trouble to 
 Mansoul, and much affliction to my lord mayor 
 himself. He had also been sought for often, 
 but no hand could ever be laid upon him till 
 now. 
 
 Well, the next thing was to make prepara- 
 tion to try these five that by my lord had been 
 apprehended, and that were in the hands of 
 Mr. True-man the jailer. So the day was set 
 and the court called and come together, and 
 being seated, the prisoners were brought to the 
 bar. My Lord Will-be-will had power to have 
 slain them when at first he took them, and 
 that without any more ado, but he thought it 
 at this time more for the honour of the Prince, 
 the comfort of Mansoul, and the discourage- 
 ment of the enemy to bring them forth to 
 public judgment. 
 
 But, I say, Mr. True-man brought them in 
 chains to the bar, to the town-hall, for that 
 waa the place of judgment. So, to be short, the 
 jury was pannelled, the witnesses sworn, and 
 the prisoners tried for their lives : the jury was 
 the same that tried Mr. No-truth, Pitiless, 
 Haughty, and the rest of their companions. 
 
 And first, old Questioning himself was set 
 to the bar, for he was the receiver, the enter- 
 tainer and comforter of these Doubters, that 
 by nation were outlandish men; then he was 
 bid to hearken to his charge, and was told that 
 he had liberty to object if he had aught to say 
 for himself. So his indictment was read; the 
 manner and form here fellows : 
 
 Mr. Questioning, thoB art here indicted by 
 
 the name of Evil-questioning, (an intrader 
 upon th6 town of Mansoul,) for that thou art 
 a Diabolonian by nature, and also a hater of 
 the Prince Emmanuel, and one that hast 
 studied the ruin of the town of Mansoul. 
 Thou art al^o here indicted for countenancing 
 the King's enemies, after wholesome laws 
 made to the contrary. For, 1. Thou hast 
 questioned the truth of her doctrine and state ; 
 2. In wishing that ten thousand Doubters were 
 in her ; 3. In receiving, in entertaining, and 
 encouraging of her enemies that came from 
 their army unto thee. What sayest thou to 
 this indictment ? — art thou guilty or not guilty ? 
 
 My lord, quoth he, I know not the meaning 
 of this indictment, forasmuch as I am not the 
 man concerned in it; the man that standeth 
 by this charge, accused before this bench, is 
 called by the name of Evil-questioning, which 
 name I deny to be mine, mine being Honest- 
 inquiring. The one indeed sounds like the 
 other; but I trow your lordship knows that 
 between these two there is a wide difierence ; 
 for I hope that a man, even in the worst of 
 times, and that too amongst the worst of men, 
 may make an honest inquiry after things with- 
 out running the danger of death. 
 
 Then spake my Lord Will-be-will, for he 
 was one of the witnesses : My lord, and you 
 the honourable bench and magistrates of the 
 town of Mansoul, you all have heard with your 
 ears that the prisoner at the bar has denied 
 his name, and so thinks to shift from the 
 charge of the indictment. But I know him to 
 be the man concerned, and that his proper 
 name is Evil-questioning. I have known him, 
 my lord, above this thirty years, for he and I 
 (a shame it is for me to speak it) were great 
 acquaintance when Diabolus, that tyrant, had 
 the government of Mansoul ; and I testify that 
 he is a Diabolonian by nature, an enemy to 
 our Prince, and hater of the blessed town of 
 Mansoul. He has in times of rebellion been 
 at and lain in my house, my lord, not so little 
 as twenty nights together ; and we did use to 
 talk then (for the substance of talk) as he and 
 his Doubters have talked of late ; true, I have 
 not seen him many a day. I suppose that the 
 coming of Emmanuel to Mansoul has made 
 him to change his lodgings, as this indictment 
 has driven him to change his name; but this 
 is the man, my lord. 
 
 Then said the court unto him. Hast thou 
 any more to say ? 
 
 Yes, quoth the old gentleman, that I have ; 
 for all that as yet has been said against me la 
 
474 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS 
 
 but by the mouth, of one witness, and it is not 
 lawful for the famous town of Mansoul at the ' 
 mouth of one witness to put any man to death. 
 
 Then stood forth Mr. Diligence and said, 
 My lord, as I was upon my watch such a night, 
 at the head of Bad-street in this town, I 
 chanced to hear a muttering within this gen- 
 tleman's house ; then thought I, What is to dp 
 here ? So I went up close but very softly to 
 the side of the house to listen, thinking, as 
 indeed it fell out, that there I might light 
 upon some Diabolonian conventicle. So, as I 
 said, I' drew nearer and nearer, and when I 
 was got up close to the wall, it was but a while 
 before I perceived that there were outlandish 
 men in the house, but I did well understand 
 their speech, for I have been a traveller my- 
 self. Now hearing such language, in such a 
 tottering cottage as this old gentleman dwelt 
 in, I clapt mine ear to a hole in the window, 
 and there heard them talk as followeth. This 
 old Mr. Questioning asked these Doubters 
 what they were, whence they came, and what 
 was th^ir business in these parts? And they 
 told him to all these questions, yet he did en- 
 tertain them. He also asked what numbers 
 there were of them, and they told him ten 
 thousand men. He then asked them why they 
 made no more manly assault upon Mansoul, 
 and they told him ; so he called their general 
 coward for marching ofi" when he should have 
 fought for his prince. Further, this old Evil- 
 questioning wished, and I heard him wish. 
 Would all the ten thousand Doubters were 
 now in Mansoul, and himself at the head of 
 them ! He bid them also to take heed and lie 
 quiet, for if they were taken they must die, 
 although they had heads of gold. 
 
 Then said the court : Mr. Evil-questioning, 
 here is now another witness against you, and 
 his testimony is full. 1. He swears that you 
 did receive these men into your house, and 
 that j'ou did nourish them there, though you 
 kr.3w that they were Diabolonians and the 
 King's enemies. 2. He swears that you did 
 wish ten thousand of them in Mansoul. 3. He 
 swears that yoii did give them advice to be 
 quiet and close, lest they should be taken by 
 the King's servants. All which manifesteth 
 that thou art a Diabolonian, for hadst thou 
 been a friend to the King thou wouldst have 
 apprehended them. 
 
 Then said Evil-questioning : To the first of 
 these I answer, The men that came into mine 
 house were strangers, and I took them in, and 
 is it now become a crime in Mansoul for a man 
 
 to entertain strangers ? That I did also noiir« 
 ish them is true, and why should my charity 
 be blamed? As for the reason why I wished 
 ten .thousand of them in Mansoul, I never told 
 it to the witnesses nor to themselves. I might 
 wish -them to be taken, and so my wish might 
 mean well to Mansoul for aught that any yet 
 knows. I did also bid them take heed that 
 they fell not into the captains' hands, but that 
 might be because I am unwilling that any man 
 should be slain, and not because I would have 
 the King's enemies, as such, escape. 
 
 My lord mayor then replied that though it 
 was a virtue to entertain strangers, yet it was 
 .treason to entertain the King's enemies. And 
 for what else thou hast said, thou dost by 
 words but labour to evade and defer the exe- 
 cution of judgment. But could there be no 
 more proved against thee but that thou art a 
 Diabolonian, thou must for that die the death 
 by the law ; but to be a receiver, a nourisher, 
 a countenancer, and a harbourer of others of 
 them, yea, of outlandish Diabolonians — of 
 them that come from far on purpose to cut 
 off and destroy our Mansoul — this must not 
 be borne. 
 
 Then said Evil-questioning, I see how the 
 game will go; I must die for my name and 
 for my charity. And so he held his peace. 
 
 Then they called the outlandish Doubters to 
 the bar; and the first of them that was ar- 
 raigned was the Election-doubter ; so his in- 
 dictment was read, and because he was an 
 outlandish man, the substance of it was told 
 him by an interpreter — to wit, that he was 
 there charged with being an enemy, df Em- 
 manuel the Prince, a hater of the town of 
 Mansoul, and an opposer of her most whole- 
 some doctrine. 
 
 Then the ' judge asked him if he would 
 plead? But he said only this, that he con- 
 fessed that he was an Election-doubter, and 
 that was the religion that he had ever been 
 brought up in. He said, moreover. If I must 
 die for my religion, I trow I shall die a mar- 
 tyr, and so I care the less. 
 
 Then the judge replied : To question elec- 
 tion is to overthrow a great doctrine of the 
 Gospel — to wit, the omniscience, and power, 
 and will of God : to take away the liberty of 
 God with his creature ; to stumble the faith of 
 the town of Mansoul; and to make salvation 
 to depend upon works, and not upon grace. It 
 also belies the word, and disquiets the minds 
 of the men of Mansoul ; therefore by the best 
 of laws he must die. 
 
THE HOLT WAR. 
 
 475 
 
 Then was the Vocation-doubter called and 
 Bet to the bar; and his indictment for sub- 
 stance was the same with the other, only he 
 was particularly charged with denying the 
 calling of Mansoul. 
 
 The judge asked him also what he had to 
 say for himself ? 
 
 So he replied thai he never believed that 
 there was any such thing as a distinct and 
 powerful call of God to Mansoul, otherwise 
 than by the general voice of the word ; nor by 
 ihat neither, otherwise than as it exhorted 
 them to forbear evil and to do that which is 
 good ; and in so doing a promise of happiness 
 is annexed. 
 
 Then said the judge : Thou art a Diabolo- 
 nian, and hast denied a great part of one of 
 the most experimental truths of the Pryice of 
 the town of !^ansoul ; for he has called, and 
 she has heard a most distinct and powerful 
 call of her Emmanuel, by which she has been 
 quickened, awakened, and possessed with heav- 
 enly grace to desire to have communion with 
 her Prince, to serve him, and do his will, and 
 to look for her happiness merely of his good 
 pleasure. And for thine abhorrence of this 
 good doctrine thou must die the death. 
 
 Then the Grace-doubter was called and his 
 indictment read ; and he replied thereto that 
 though he was of the land of Doubting, his 
 father was the offspring of a Pharisee, and 
 lived in go'od fashion among his neighbours ; 
 and that he taught him' to believe, and believe 
 it he did and would, that Mansoul shall never 
 be saved freely by grace. 
 
 ' Then said the judge : Why, the law of the 
 Prince is plain — 1. Negatively, Not of works. 
 2. Positively, By grace you are ^aved. And 
 thy religion settleth in and upon the works of 
 the flesh, for the works of the law are the works 
 of the flesh. Besides, in saying as thou hast 
 done thou hast robbed God of his glory and 
 given it to a sinful man ; thou hast robbed 
 Christ of the necessity oi his undertaking and 
 the sufficiency thereof, and hast given both 
 these to the works of the flesh. Thou hast 
 dsspised the work of tJie Holy Ghost, and hast 
 magnified the will of the flesh and of the 
 legal mind. Thou art a Diabolonian, the son 
 of a Diabolonian, and for thy Diabolonian 
 principles thou must die. 
 
 The court then having proceeded thus far 
 with them, sent out the juiy, who forthwith 
 brought them in guilty of death. Then stood 
 up the recorder and addressed himself to the 
 [ risoners : You, the prisoners at the bar, you 
 
 have been here indicted and proven guilty of 
 high crimes against Emmanuel our Prince, 
 and against the welfare of the famous town of 
 Mansoul — crimes for which you must be put 
 to death ; and die ye accordingly. 
 
 So they were sentenced to the death of the 
 cross. The place assigned them for execution 
 was that where Diabolus drew up his last army 
 against Mansoul, save only that old Evil-ques- 
 tioning was hanged at the top of Bad-street, 
 just over against his own door. 
 
 When the town of Mansoul had thus far rid 
 themselves of their enemies and of the troub- 
 lers of their peace, in the next place a strict 
 commandment was given out that yet my Lord 
 Will-be-will should, with Diligence his man, 
 search for and do his best to apprehend what 
 Diabolonians were yet left alive in Mansoul. 
 The names of several of them were Mr. Fool- 
 ing, Mr. Let-good-slip, Mr. Slavish-fear, Mr. 
 No-love, Mr. Jlistrust, Mr. Flesh, and BIr. 
 Sloth. It was also commanded that he should 
 apprehend Mr. Evil-questioning's children 
 that he left behind him, aftd that they should 
 demolish his house. The children that he left 
 behind were these : Mr. Doubt, and he was his 
 eldest, son; the next to him was Legal-life, 
 Unbelief, Wrong-thougbts-of-Christ, Clip- 
 promise, Carnal-sense, Live-by-feQling^ Self- 
 love. All these he had by one wife, and her 
 name was No-hope ; she was the kinswoman 
 of old Incredulity, for he was her uncle, and 
 when her father, old Dark, was dead, he to6k 
 her and brought her up, and when she was 
 marriageable he gave her to this old Evil- 
 questioning to wife. 
 
 Now the Lord Will-he-will did put into 
 execution his commission, with good Diligence 
 his man. He took Fooling in the streets and 
 hanged him up in Want-wit-alley, over against 
 his own house. This Fooling, was he that 
 would have had the town of Mansoul deliver 
 up Captain Credence into the hands of Diab- 
 olus, provided th^t then he would have with- 
 drawn his force out of the town. He also 
 took Mr. Let-good-slip one day as he was busy 
 in the market, and executed him according to 
 law. Now there was an honest, poor man in 
 Mansoul, and his name was Mr. Meditation — 
 one. of no great account in the days of apos- 
 tacy, but now of repute with the best of the 
 town. This man therefore they were willing 
 to prefer ; now Mr. Let-good-slip had a great 
 deal of wealth heretofore in Mansoul, and at 
 Emmanuel's coming it was sequestered to the 
 use of the Prince; this therefore was now 
 
476 
 
 BUNYAN'S- COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 given to Mr Meditation, to improve for the 
 common good, and after him to his son, Mr. 
 Think-well ; this Think-well he had by Mrs. 
 Piety his wife, and she was the daughter of 
 Mr. Recorder. 
 
 After this my lord apprehended Clip-prom- 
 ise ; now, because he was a notorious villain, 
 (for by his doings much of the King's coin 
 was abused,) therefore he was made a public 
 eiam:ple. He was arraigned and judged to be 
 first set in the pillory, then to be whipped by 
 all the children and servants in Mansoul, and 
 then to be hanged till he was dead. 
 
 He also apprehended Carnal-sense and put 
 him in hold, but how it came about I cannot 
 tell, but he brake prison and made his escape. 
 Yea, and the bold villain will not yet quit the 
 town, but lurks in the Diabolonian dens in the 
 daytime, and haunts like a ghost honest men's 
 houses at nights. Wherefore there was a 
 proclamation set up in the market-place in 
 Mansoul, signifying that whosoever could dis- 
 cover Carnal-sense, and .apprehend him and 
 slay him, should be admitted daily to the 
 Prince's table and should be made keeper of 
 the treasure of Mansoul. Many therefore did 
 bend themselves to do this thing, but take him 
 and slay him they could not, though often he 
 was discovered. 
 
 But my lord took Mr. Wrong-thoughts-of- 
 Christ and put him into prison, and he died 
 there, though it was long first, for he died of a 
 lingering consumption. 
 
 Self-love was also taken and committed to 
 custody, but there were many that were allied 
 to him in Mansoul, so his judgment was de- 
 ferred ; but at last Mr. Self-denial stood up and 
 said. If such villains as these may be winked 
 at in Mansoul, I will lay down my commission. 
 He also took him from the crowd and had him 
 among his soldiers, and there he was brained. 
 But some in Mansoul muttered at it, though 
 none durst speak plainly, because Emmanuel 
 was in town. But this brave act of Captain 
 Self-denial came to the Prince's ears; so he 
 sent for him and made him a lord in Mansoul. 
 
 Then my Lord Self-denial took coura,ge, and 
 get to the pursuing the Diabolonians with my 
 Lord Will-be-will; and they took Live-by- 
 feeling and they took Legal-life, and put them 
 in hold till they died. But Mr. Unbelief was 
 a nimble jack; him they could never lay hold 
 of, though they attempted to do it often. He 
 therefore, and some few more of the Diabo- 
 lonian tribe, did yet remain in Mansoul to the 
 time that Mansoul left off to dwell any longer 
 
 in the kingdom of Universe. But they kept 
 them to their dens and holes ; if one of them 
 did appear, or happen to be seen in any of the 
 streets of the town of Manso\;l, the whole town 
 would be up in arms after them ; yea, the very 
 children in Mansoul would cry out after them 
 as after a thief, and would wish that they 
 might stone them to death with stones. And 
 now did Mansoul arrive to some good degree 
 of peace and quiet ; her Prince also did abide 
 within her borders ; her captains also and her 
 soldiers did their duties, and Mansoul minded 
 her trade that she had with the country that 
 was afar off; also she was busy in her manu- 
 facture. 
 
 When the town of Mansoul had thus far rid 
 themselves of so many of their enemies and 
 the troublers of their peace, the Prince sent to 
 them and appointed'a day wherein he would 
 at the market-place meet the whole people, 
 and there give them in charge concerning some 
 further safety and corhfort, and to the con- 
 demnation and destruction of their home-bred 
 Diabolonians. So the day appointed was come, 
 and the townsmen met together; Emmanuel 
 also came down in his chariot; and all his cap- 
 tains in their state attending of him on the 
 right hand and on the left. Then was an " 
 ye" made for silence; and after some mutual 
 carriages of love the' Prince began and thus 
 proceeded : 
 
 You, my Mansoul, and the beloved of mine 
 heart, many and great are the privileges that 
 I have bestowed upon you ; I have singled you 
 out from others and have chosen you to myself, 
 not for your wor.thiness, but for mine own 
 sake. I have also redeemed you, not only from 
 the dread of my Father's law, btit from the 
 hand of Diabolus. This I have done because 
 I have loved you, and because I have set my 
 heart upon you to do you good. ' I have also, 
 that all things that might hinder thy way to 
 the pleasures of paradise might be taken out 
 of the way, laid down for thee, for thy soul, a 
 plenary satisfaction, and have bought thee to 
 myself — a price not of corruptible things as of 
 silver and gold, but a price of blood, mine own 
 blood, which I have freely spilt upon the 
 ground to make thee mine. So I have recon- 
 ciled thee, O my Mansoul 1 to my Father, and 
 interested thee in the mansion-houses that are 
 with my Father, in the royal city, where 
 things are, O my Mansoul ! that eye hath not 
 seen, n^r hath entered into the heart of man 
 to conceive. 
 
 Besides, O my Mansoul I thou seest what I 
 
THE HOLY WAR. 
 
 477 
 
 have done, and how I have taken thee out of 
 the hands of thine enemies, unto wliom thou 
 hast deeply revolted from my Father, and by 
 whom thou wast content to be possessed and 
 also to be destroyed. I came to thee first by 
 my law, and then by my Gospel, to awaken 
 thee and show thee my glory. And thou know- 
 est what thou wast, what thou saidest, what 
 thou didst, and how many times thou rebel- 
 ledat against my Father and me; yet I left thee 
 not, as thou seeat this day, but came to thee, 
 have borne thy manners, have waited upon 
 thee, and after all accepted of thee, even of 
 my mere grace and favour, and would not 
 suffer thee to be lost, as thou most willingly 
 wouldst have been. 
 
 Thou seest, moreover, my Mansoul, how I 
 have passed by thy backslidings a^d have 
 healed thee. Indeed I was angry with thee, 
 but I have turned mine anger away from thee, 
 because I loved thee still, and mine anger and 
 mine indignation is ceased in the destruction 
 of thine enemies, Mansoul I Nor did thy 
 goodness fetch me again unto thee after that I 
 for thy transgressions had hid my face and 
 withdrawn my presence from thee. The way 
 of backsliding was thine, but the way and 
 means of thy recovery was mine. I invented 
 the means of thy return. It was I that made 
 an hedge and a wall when thou wast begin- 
 ning to turn to things in which I delighted not. 
 It was I that made thy sweet bitter, thy day 
 night, thy smooth way thorny, and that also 
 confounded all that sought thy destruction. It 
 was I that set Mr. Godly-fear to work in Man- 
 soul. It was I that stirred up thy cpnscience 
 and understanding, thy will and thy affections, 
 after thy great and woeful decay. It was I 
 that put life into thee, O Mansoul ! to seek me 
 that thou mightest find me, and in thy finding 
 find thine own health, and happiness, and sal- 
 vation. It was I that fetched the second time 
 the Uiabolonians out of Mansoul, and it was I 
 that overcame them and that destroyed them 
 before tJiy face. 
 
 And uow, my Mansoul, I am returned to 
 thee in peace, and thy transgressions against 
 me are as if they had not been. Nor shall it 
 he with thee as in former days, but I will do 
 better for thee than at thy beginning. For yet 
 a little while, O my Mansoul ! even after a few 
 more times are gone over thy head, I will (but 
 be not troubled at what I say) take down this 
 famous town of Mansoul, stick and stone, to 
 the ground, and I will carry the stones thereof, 
 pnH the timber thereof, and the walls thereof, 
 
 and the dust thereof, and the inhabitants there- 
 of, into mine own country, even into a king- 
 dom of my Father ; and will there set it up in 
 such strength and glory as it never did see in 
 the kingdom where now it is placed. I will 
 even there set it up for my Father's habitation, 
 for for that purpose it was at first erected in 
 the kingdom of Universe; and there will I 
 make it a spectacle of wonder, a monument of 
 mercy, and the admirer of its own mercy. 
 There shall the natives of Mansoul see all 
 that of which they have seen nothing here; 
 there shall they be equal to those unto whom 
 they have been inferior here. And there thou 
 shalt, my Mansoul ! have such communion 
 with me, with my Father, and with your lord 
 secretary as is not possible here to be enjoyed, 
 nor ever could be, shouldst thou live in Uni- 
 verse the space of a thousand years. 
 
 And there, O my Mansoul! thou shalt be 
 afraid of murderers no more — of Diabolonians 
 and their threats no more. Therfe shall be no 
 more plots, nor contrivances, nor designs 
 against thee, O my Mansoul! There thou 
 shalt no more hear the evil tidings or the 
 noise of the Diabolonian drum. There thou 
 shalt not see the Diabolonian standard-bearers, 
 nor yet behold Diabolus's standard. No Diab- 
 olonian mount shall be cast up against thee 
 there, nor shall there the Diabolonian standard 
 be set up to make thee afraid. There thou 
 shalt not need captains, engines, soldiers and 
 men of war. There thou shalt meet with no 
 sorrow nor grief, nor shall it be possible that 
 any Diabolonian should again, for ever, be 
 able to creep into thy skirts, burrow in thy 
 walls, or be seen again within thy borders, all 
 the days of eternity. Life shall there last 
 longer than here you are able to desire it 
 should, and yet it shall always be sweet and 
 new, nor shall any impediment attend it for 
 ever. 
 
 There, O Mansoul! thou shalt meet with 
 many of those that have been like thee, and 
 that have been partakers of thy sorrows ; even 
 such as I have chosen, and redeemed, and set 
 apart, as thou, for my Father's court and city 
 royal. All they will be glad in thee, and thou, 
 when thou seest them, shalt be glad in thine 
 heart. 
 
 There are things, O Mansoul ! — even things 
 of thy Father's providing /and mine — that 
 never were seen feince th6 beginning of the 
 world, and they are laid up with my Father, 
 and sealed up among his treasures for thee, tiU 
 thou shalt come thither to enjoy them. 
 
478 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 And thus, O my Mansoul I I have showed 
 unto tUee what shall be done to thee hereafter 
 if thou canst hear, if thou canst understand ; 
 and now I will tell thee what at present must 
 be thy duty and practice until I come and fetch 
 thee to myself, according as is related in the 
 Scriptures of truth. 
 
 First, I charge thee that thou dost hereafter 
 keep more white and clean the liveries which 
 I gave thee before my last withdrawing from 
 thee. 
 
 When your garments are white -the world 
 will count you mine. Also when your gar- 
 ments are white, then I am delighted in your 
 • ways ; for then your goings to and fro will be 
 like a flash of lightning, that those that are. 
 present must take notice of, also their eyes will 
 be made to dazzle thereat. Deck thyself, 
 therefore, according to my bidding, and make 
 thyself by my law straight steps for thy feet, 
 so shall thy King greatly desire thy beauty, 
 for he is thy Lord, stnd worship thou him. 
 
 Now that thou mayest keep them as I bid 
 thee, I have, as I before told thee, provided for 
 thee an open fountain to wash thy garments 
 in. Look therefore that thou wash often in 
 my fountain and go not in defiled garments ; 
 for as it is to my dishonour and my disgrace, 
 so it will be to thy discomfort, when you 
 shall walk in filthy garments. Keep thy gar- 
 ments always white, and let thy head lack no 
 ointment. 
 
 My Mansoul, I have ofttimes delivered thee 
 from the designs, plots, attempts, and conspir- 
 acies of Diabolus, and for all thi^ I ask thee 
 nothing but that thou render not to me evil 
 for my good, but that thou bear in mind my 
 love and the continuation of my kindness to 
 my beloved Mansoul, so as to provoke thee to 
 walk, in thy measure, according to the bene- 
 fits bestowed on thee. Of old the sacrifices 
 were bound with cords to the horns of the 
 golden altar. Consider what is said to thee, 
 O my blessed Mansoul 1 
 
 O my Mansoul 1 I have lived, I have died, I 
 live and will die no more, for thee. I live 
 that thou mayest not die. Because I live 
 thou shalt live also. I reconciled thee to my 
 Father by the blood of my cross, and, being 
 reconciled, thou shalt live through me. I will 
 pray for thee, I will fight for thee, I will yet 
 do thee good. 
 
 Nothing can hurt thee but sin ; nothing can 
 grieve me but sin; nothing can make thee 
 base before th)"" foes but sin ; take heed of sin, 
 my Mansoul. 
 
 And dost thou know why I at first, and do 
 still, suffer Diabolonians to dwell in thy walls, 
 Mansoul? It is to keep thee waiting, to try 
 thy love, to make thee watchful, and to cause 
 thee yet to prize my noble captains, their sol- 
 diers, and my mercy. 
 
 It is also that yet thou mayest be made to 
 remember what ,a deplorable condition thou 
 once wast in. I mean, when not some, but 
 all, did dwell, not in thy walls, but in thy cas- 
 tle and in thy stronghold, Mansoul ! 
 
 my Mansoul ! should I slay all them 
 within, many there be without that would 
 bring thee into bondage; for were all those 
 within cut off, those without would find thee 
 sleeping, and then as in a moment they would 
 swallow up my Mansoul. I therefore let them 
 live in thee, not to do thee hurt, (the which 
 they yet will if thou hearken to them and 
 serve them,) but to do thee good, the which 
 they must if thou watch and fight against 
 them. Know, therefore, that whatever they 
 shall tempt thee to, my design is that they 
 should drive thee, not further off, but nearer 
 to my Father, to learn thee war, to make peti- 
 tioning desirable to thee, and to make thee 
 little in thine own eyes. Hearken diligently 
 to this, my Mansoul. 
 
 Show me then thy love, my Mansoul, and 
 let not those that are within thy walls take 
 thy affections off from Him that hath re- 
 deemed thy soul. Yea, let the sight of a 
 Diabolonian heighten thy love to me. I 
 came once, and twice, and thrice to save thee 
 from the poison of those arrows that. would 
 have wrought thy death. Stand for me, my 
 friend, my Mansoul, against the Diabolonians, 
 and I will stand "for thee before my Father 
 and all his court. Love me against tempta- 
 tion, and I will love thee notwithstanding 
 thine infirmities. 
 
 ' O my Mansoul ! remember what my cap- 
 tains, my soldiers, and mine engines have 
 borne for thee; they have fought for thee, 
 they have suffered by thee, they have borne 
 much at thy hands to do thee good. Hadst 
 thou not had them to help thee, Diabolus had 
 certainly made an end of thee. Nourish them, 
 therefore, my Mansoul. When thou dost well, 
 they will be well ; when thou dost ill, they 
 will be ill, and sick, and weak. Make not my 
 captains sick, Mansoul ! for if they bo sick, 
 thou canst not be well ; if they be weak, thou 
 canst not be strong; if they be faint, thou 
 canst not be stout and valiant for thy King, 
 Mansoul I Nor must thou t'hink always to 
 
THE HOLY WAE. 
 
 479 
 
 live by sense ; ttou must live upon my word, 
 thou must believe, my MansouU when I 
 am from thee, that yet I love thee and bare 
 thee upon mine heart for ever. 
 
 Remember, tlierefore, my Mansoul I that 
 thou art beloved of me. As I have therefore 
 taught thea t^ watch, to fight, to pray, and to 
 
 make war against my foes, so now I command 
 thee to believe that my love is constant to 
 thee. my MansouU how have I set my 
 heart, my love upon thee 1 Watch ! Behold, 
 I lay none other burden upon thee -than 
 what thou hast already. Hold fast till I 
 come. 
 
THE 
 
 LIFE AND DEATH OF MR. BADMAN. 
 
 f RESENTED TO THE WORLD IN A FAMILIAR DIALOGUE BETWEEN MB. 
 WISEMAN AND MR. ATTENTIVE. 
 
 THE AUTHOK TO THE READER. 
 
 Courteous Reader : 
 
 As I waa considering with myself what I 
 had written concerning the progress of the 
 Pilgrim from this world to glory, and how it 
 had been acceptable to many in this nation, it 
 came again into my mind to write as then of 
 him that was going to heaven, so now of the 
 life and death of the ungodly, and of their 
 travel from this world to hell. The which in 
 this I have done, and have put it, as thou seest, 
 under the name and title of Mr. Badman, a 
 name very proper for such a subject ; I have 
 also put it in the form of a dialogue, that I 
 might with more ease to myself and pleasure 
 to the reader perform the work. 
 
 And although, as I said, I have put it forth 
 in this method, yet have I, as little as may be, 
 gone out of the road of mine own observation 
 of things. Yea, I think I may truly say that 
 to the best of my remembrance all the things 
 that here I discourse of, I mean as to matter 
 of fact, have been acted upon the stage of the 
 world, even many times before mine eyes. 
 
 Here, therefore, courteous reader, I present 
 thee with the life and death of Mr. Badman 
 indeed ; yea, I do trace him in his life, from 
 his childhood to his death, that thou mayest, 
 as in a glass, behold with thine own eyes the 
 steps that take hold of hell ; and also discern, 
 while thou art reading of Mr. Badman's death, 
 whether thou thyself art treading in his path 
 tlioreto. 
 
 And let me entreat thee to forbear quirking 
 and mocking for that Mr. Badman is dead, but 
 rather gravely inquire concerning thyself by 
 ';he word whether thou art one of his lineage 
 or no ; for Mr. Badman has left many of his 
 relations behind him ; yea, the very world is 
 31 
 
 overspread with his kindred. True, some of 
 his relations, as he, are gone to their place and 
 long home, but thousands of thousands are left 
 behind, as brothers, sisters, cousins, nephews, 
 besides innumerable of his friends and asso- 
 ciates. 
 
 I may say, and yet speak nothing but too 
 much truth in so saying, that there is scarce a 
 fellowship, a community, or fraternity of men 
 in the world but some of Mr. Badman's rela- 
 tions are there; yea, rarely can we find a 
 family or a household in a town where he has 
 not left behind him a brother, nephew, of 
 friend. 
 
 The. butt, therefore, that at this time I shoot 
 at is wide, and it will be as impossible for this 
 book to go into several families and not to ar- 
 rest some, as for the king's messenger to rush 
 into an house full of traitors and find none but 
 honest'men there. 
 
 I cannot but think that this shot will light 
 upon many, since our fields are so full of this 
 game ; but how many it will kill to Mr. Bad- 
 man's course and make alive to the Pilgrim's 
 progress, that is not in me to determine ; this 
 secret is with the Lord our God only^ and he 
 alone knows to whom he will bless it to so 
 good and so blessed an end. However, I have 
 put fire to the pan, and doubt not but the re- 
 port will quickly be heard. 
 
 I told you before that Mr. Badman had left 
 many of his friends and relations behind him, 
 but if I survive them (and that's a great ques- 
 tion to me) I may also write of their lives ; 
 however, whether my life be longer or shorter, 
 this is my prayer at present — that God will stir 
 up witnesses against them that may either con- 
 vert or confound them ; for wherever they lire 
 
 481 
 
482 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 anJ roll in their wickedness they are the pest 
 and plague of that country. 
 
 England shakes and totters already by rea- 
 son of the burden that Mr. Badman and his 
 friends have wickedly laid upon it; yea, our 
 earth reels and staggereth to and fro like a 
 drunkard; the transgression thereof is heavy 
 ujion it. 
 
 (/'ourteous reader, I will treat thee now, even 
 al the duor and threshold of this house, but 
 nnly with this intelligence, that Mr. Badman 
 ties dead within. Be pleased, therefore, (if 
 thy leisure will serve thee,) to enter in, and 
 behold the state in which he is laid betwixt 
 his deathbed and the grave. He is not buried 
 as yet, nor doth he stink, as is designed he 
 shall before he lies down in oblivion. 
 
 Now, as others have had their funerals 
 solemnized according to their greatness and 
 grandeur in the world, so likewise Mr. Badman 
 (forasmuch as. he deserveth not to go down to 
 his grave with silence) has his funeral state 
 according to his deserts. 
 
 Four things are usual at great men's funerals, 
 which we will take leave, and I hope without 
 offence, to allude to in the funeral of Mr. Bad- 
 man. 
 
 First. They are sometimes, when dead, pre- 
 sented to their friends, by their completely 
 wrought images, as lively as by cunning men's 
 hands they can be, that the remembrance of 
 them may be renewed to their survivors, the 
 remembrance of them and their deeds; and 
 this I have endeavoured to answer in my dis- 
 course of Mr. Badman ; and therefore I have 
 drawn him forth in his features and actions 
 from his childhood to his gray hairs. Here, 
 therefore, thou hast him lively set forth as in 
 cuts, both as to the minority, flower, and seni- 
 ority of his age, together with those actions of 
 his life that he was most capable of doing, in 
 and under those present circumstances of time, 
 piaco, strength, and the opportunities that did 
 attend him in these. 
 
 Secondly. There is also usual at great men's 
 funeials those badges and escutcheons of their 
 honour that they have received from their an- 
 cestors or have been thought worthy of for the 
 deeds an I exploits they have done in their life ; 
 and here Mr. Badman has his, but such as vary 
 from all men of worth, but so much the more 
 agreeing with the merit of his doings ; they all 
 have descended in state, he only as an abomin- 
 able branch. His deserts are the deserts of 
 Bin ; and therefore the escutcheons of honour 
 that he has are only that he died without hon- 
 
 our and at his end became a fool. Thou shall 
 not be joined with them in burial. The seed 
 of evil-doers shall never be renowned. 
 
 The funeral pomp, therefore, of Mr. Badman 
 is to wear upon his hearse the badges of a dis- 
 honourable and wicked life, since his bones are 
 full of the sins of his youth, which shall lie 
 down, as Job says, in the dust with him ; nor 
 is it fit that any should be his attendants, now 
 at his death, but such as with him conspired 
 against their own souls in their life — peifiona 
 whose transgressions have made them infamoua 
 to all that have or shall know what they !idfe 
 done. 
 
 Some notice, therefore, I have also here in 
 this little discourse given the reader of them 
 who were his confederates in his life and at- 
 tendants at his death ; with a hint either of 
 some high villainy committed by them, as also 
 of those judgments that have overtaken and 
 fallen upon them from the just and avenging 
 hand of God. All which are things either 
 fully known by me, as being eye and ear wit- 
 ness thereto, or that I have received from such 
 hands whose relations, as to this, I am bound 
 to believe. And that the reader may know 
 them from other things and passages herein 
 contained, I have pointed at them with a 
 finger, thus 8@°. 
 
 Thirdly. The funerals of persons of quality 
 have been solemnized with some suitable ser- 
 mon at the time and place of their burial ; and 
 that I am not come to as yet, having got no 
 further than to Mr. Badman's death ; but for- 
 asmuch as he must be buried after he hath be- 
 come polluted before his beholders, I doubt not 
 but some such that we read are appointed to 
 be at the burial of Gog will do this work in 
 my stead, such as shall leave him neither skin 
 nor bone above ground, but shall set a sign by 
 it till the buriers have buried it in the valley 
 of Hamongog. Ezek. xxxix. 
 
 Fourthly. At funerals there did use to be 
 mourning and lamentations, but here also Mr. 
 Badman differs from others ; his familiars can- 
 not lament his departure, for they have not 
 sense of his damnable state ; they rather ring 
 him and sing him to hell in the sleep of death 
 in which he goes thither. Good men count 
 him no loss to the world ; his place can well 
 be without him ; his loss is only his own, and 
 it is too late for him to recover that damage or 
 loss by a sea of bloody tears, could he shed 
 them. Yea, God has said he will laugh at his 
 destruction ; who, then, shall lament for him^ 
 saying. Ah I my brother ? He was but a stink- 
 
LIFE AND DEATH OF MR. B ADMAN. 
 
 483 
 
 Ing weed in his life, nor was he better at all in 
 his death. Such may well be thrown over the 
 wall without sorrow when once God has pluck- 
 ed them up by the roots in his wrath. 
 
 Reader, if thou art of the race, lineage, 
 Btoclc, or fraternity of Mr. Badman, I tell thee, 
 before thou readest this book, thou wilt neither 
 brook the author nor it, because he hath writ 
 of Mr, Badman as he has. For he that con- 
 'denineth the wicked that die so passeth also 
 the sentence upon the wicked that live. I 
 therefore expect neither credit of nor counten- 
 ance from thee for this narration of thy kins- 
 man's life. 
 
 For thy old love to thy friend, his ways, 
 doings, &c., will stir up in thee enmity rather, 
 in thy very heart, against me. I shall there- 
 fore incline to think of thee that ^hou wilt 
 rend, burn, or throw it away in contempt; 
 yea, and wish also that for writing so notorious 
 a truth some mischief may befall me. I look 
 also to be loaded by thee with disdain, scorn 
 and contempt ; yea, that thou shouldest rail- 
 ingly and vilifying say I lie, and am a bespat- 
 terer of honest men's lives and deaths. For 
 Mr. Badman, when himself was alive, could 
 not abide to be counted a knave, (though his 
 actions told all that went by that indeed he 
 was such an one.) How, then, should his 
 brethren that survive him, and that tread in 
 liis very steps, approve of the sentence that by 
 this book is pronounced against him? Will 
 they not rather imitate Korah, Dathan, and 
 Abiram's friends — even rail at me for con- 
 demning him, as they did at Moses for doing 
 execution ? 
 
 I know it is ill puddling in the cockatrice's 
 den, and that they run hazards that hunt the 
 wild boar. The man also that writeth Mr. 
 Badman's life had need be fenced with a coat 
 of mail and with the staff of a spear, for that 
 his surviving friends will know what he doth; 
 but I have ventured to do it, and to play, at 
 this time, at the hole of these asps; if they 
 bite, they bite; if they sting, they sting. 
 Chrijt sends his lambs into the midst of 
 wolves, not to do like them, but to suffer by 
 tliem for bearing plain testimony against their 
 bad deeds; but had one not need to walk with 
 a guard and to have a, sentinel stand at one's 
 door for this? Verily, the flesh would be 
 glad of such help ; yea, a spiritual man, could 
 he tell how to get it. Acts xxiii. But I am 
 stripped naked of these, and yet am com- 
 manded to be faithful in my service for Christ. 
 Well, then, I have spoken what I have spoken, 
 
 and now come on me what will. Job xii. 13. 
 True, the text says, "Rebuke a scorner, and 
 he will hate thee; and that he that reproveth 
 a wicked man, getteth himself a blot and 
 shame;" but what then? Open rebuke ia 
 better than secret love, and he that receives it 
 shall find it so afterwards. 
 
 So, then, whether Mr. Badman's friends 
 shall rage or laugh at what I have writ, I 
 know the better end of the staff is mine. My 
 endeavour is to stop an hellish course of life 
 and to save a soul from death, (James v. ;) and 
 if for so doing I meet with envy from them 
 from whom in reason I should have thanks, I 
 must remember the man in the dream that 
 cut his Way through his armed enemies, and 
 so got into the beauteous palace; — I must, I 
 say, remember him, and do myself likewise. 
 
 Yet four things I will propound to the con- 
 sideration of Mr. Badman's friends before I 
 turn my back upon them : 
 
 1. Suppose that there be a hell in very 
 deed — not that I do question it, any more 
 than I do whether there be a sun to shine, 
 but I suppose it for argument's sake with Mr. 
 Badman's friends — I say, suppose there be an 
 hell, and that, too, such an one as the Scrip- 
 ture speaks of — one at the remotest distance 
 from God and life eternal — one where the 
 worm of a guilty conscience never dies, and 
 where the fire of the wrath of God is not 
 quenched. 
 
 Suppose, I say, that there is such an hell, 
 prepared of God (as there is indeed) for the 
 body and soul of the ungodly world after this 
 life to be tormented in; — I .say, do but with 
 thyself suppose it, and then tell me, is it not 
 prepared for thee, thou being a wicked man? 
 Let thy conscience speak, I say ; is it not pre- 
 pared for thee, thou being an ungodly man? 
 And dost thou think, wast thou there now, 
 that thou, art able to wrestle with the judg- 
 ment of God? Why then do the fallen angels 
 tremble there? Thy hands cannot be strong 
 nor can thy heart endure in that day when 
 God shall deal with thee. Ezek. xxii. li. 
 
 2. Suppose that some one that is now a soul 
 in hell for sin was permitted to come hither 
 again to dwell, and that they had a grant also 
 that upon amendment of life next time they 
 die to change that place for heaven and glory, 
 what sayest thou, O wicked man? Would 
 such an one (thinkest thou) run again into the 
 same course of life as before, and venture the 
 damnation that for sin he had already been in? 
 Would he choose again to lead that cursed 
 
484 
 
 SUNYAN'» COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 life that afresh would kindle the flames of 
 hell upon him, and that would bind him under 
 the heavy wrath of God? Oh he would not, 
 he would not; the 16th of Luke insinuates it; 
 yea, reason itself, awake, would abhor it, and 
 tremble at such a thought. 
 
 3. Suppose, again, that thou that livest and 
 rollest in thy sin, and that as yet hast known 
 nothing but the pleasure thereof, shouldest be 
 an angel conveyed to some place where, with 
 convenience from thence, thou mightest have 
 a, view of heaven and hell — of the joys of the 
 one, and the torments of the other; — I say, 
 suppose that from thence thou mightest have 
 such a view thereof as would convince thy 
 reason that both heaven and hell are such 
 realities as by the word they are declared to be, 
 wouldest thou (thinkest thou?) when brought 
 to thy home again, choose to thyself thy 
 former life — to wit, to return to thy folly 
 again? No; if belief of what thou sawest re- 
 mained with thee, thou wouldest eat fire and 
 brimstone first. 
 
 4. I will propound again. Suppose that 
 there was amongst us such a law (and such a 
 magistrate to inflict the penalty) that for every 
 open wickedness committed by thee so much 
 of thy flesh should, with burning pincers, be 
 plucked from thy bones ; wouldest thou then 
 go on in thy open way of lying, swearing, and 
 whoring as thou with delight doest now? 
 Surely, surely no. The fear of the punish- 
 ment would make thee forbear, yea, would 
 make thee tremble, even when thy lusts were 
 powerful, to think what a punishment thou 
 wast sure to sustain so soon as the pleasure 
 was over. But oh the folly, the madness, the 
 desperate madness, that is in the hearts of Mr. 
 Badman's friends, who, in despite of the 
 threatenings of an holy and sin-avenging God, 
 and of the outcries and warning of all good 
 men, yea, that will in despite of the groans 
 and torments of those that are now in hell for 
 sin, (Luke xiv. 24, 28,) go on in a sinful course 
 of life, yea, though every sin is also a step of 
 
 ' descent down to that infernal cave ! Oh how 
 true is that saying of Solomon ! — " The heart 
 of the sons of men is full of evil, and mad- 
 ness is in their heart while they live, and after 
 that they go to the dead." Eccles. ix. 3. To 
 the dead ! that is, to the dead in hell, to the 
 damned dead — the place to which those that 
 have died bad men are gone, and that those 
 that live bad men are like to go to, when a 
 little more sm, like stolen waters, hath been 
 imbibed by their sinful souls. 
 
 That which has made me publish this book 
 is — 
 
 1. For that wickedness like a flood is like to 
 drown our English world; it begins already to 
 be above the tops of the mountains; it has al- 
 most swallowed up all; our youth, our middle 
 age. old age, and all, are almost carried away 
 of this flood. O -debauchery, debauc;hery, 
 what hast thou done in England! Thou hast 
 corrupted our young men, hast made our old 
 men beasts; thou hast deflowered our virgins 
 and hast made matrons bawds; thou hast made 
 our earth to reel to and fro like a drunkarj ; it 
 is in danger to be removed like a cottage; yea, 
 it is, because transgression is so heavy upon it, 
 like to "fall and rise no more.'' Isa. xxiv. 20. 
 
 Oh that I could mourn for England, and for 
 the sins that are committed therein, even 
 while I see that, without repentance, the men 
 of God's wrath are about to deal with us, each 
 having his slaughtering weapon in his hand. 
 Ezek. ix. 1, 2. Well, I have written, and by 
 God's assistance shall pray that this flood may 
 abate in England ; and could I but see the 
 tops of the mountains above it, I should think 
 that these waters were abating. ^ 
 
 2. It is the duty of those that can to cry out 
 against this deadly plague; yea, to lift up their 
 voice as with a trumpet against it, that men 
 may be awakened about it, fly from it, as from 
 that which is the greatest of evils. Sin pulled 
 angels out of heaven, pulls men down to hell 
 and overthroweth kingdoms. Who that sees 
 an house on fire will not give the alarm to 
 them that dwell therein? Who that sees the ■ 
 land invaded will not set the beacons on a 
 flame? Who that sees the devils; as roaring 
 lions, continually devouring souls, will not 
 make an outcry? But, above all, when we see 
 sin, sinful sin, swallowing up a nation, sinking 
 of a nation, and bringing its inhabitants to 
 temporal, spiritual, and eternal ruin, shall we 
 not cry out and cry, "They are drunk, but not 
 with wine; they stagger, but not with strong 
 drink;" they are intoxicated with the deadly 
 poison of sin, which will, if its malignity ho 
 not by wholesome means allayed, bring sou, 
 and body, and estate and country, and all, to 
 ruin and destruction ? 
 
 3. In and by this my outcry I shall deliver 
 myself from the ruins of them that perish ; for 
 a man can do no more in this matter — I mean 
 as man in my capacity — than to detect and 
 condemn the wickedness, warn the evil-doer 
 of the judgment, and fly therefrom myself 
 But oh that I might not only deliver myself I 
 
LIFE AND DEATH OF MR. B ADM AN. 
 
 485 
 
 Oil that many would hear and turn at this cry 
 from sin, that they may be secured from the 
 death and judgment that attend it! 
 
 A^■hy I have handled the matter in this 
 method is best known to myself; and why I 
 have concealed most of the names of the per- 
 sons whose sins or punishments I here and 
 there in this book -make relation of, is — 
 
 1. For that neither the sins nor judgments 
 were all alike open ; the sins of some were 
 committed and the judgments executed for 
 them only in a corner. Not to say that I 
 could not learn some of their names, for could 
 I, I should not have made them public, for this 
 reason : 
 
 2. Because I would not provoke those of 
 their relations that survive them ; I would not 
 justly provoke them ; and yet, as I think I 
 should, should I have entailed their punish- 
 ment to their sins, and both to their names, 
 and so have turned them into the world. 
 
 3. Nor would I lay them under any disgrace 
 and contempt, which would, as I think, un- 
 avoidably have happened unto them, had I 
 withal inserted their names. 
 
 As for those whose names I mention, their 
 crimes or judgments were manifest — public 
 almost as anything of that nature that hap- 
 peneth to mortal men. Such therefore have 
 published their own shame by their sin, and 
 God his anger by taking of open vengeance. 
 
 As Job says, " God has struck them as 
 wicked men in the open sight of others." Job 
 xxxiv. 26. So that I cannot conceive, since 
 their judgment was so conspicuous, that my 
 admonishing thereof should turn to their det- 
 riment; for the publishing of these things are, 
 BO far as relation is concerned, intended for 
 remembrances, that they may also bethink 
 themselves, repent, and turn to God, lest the 
 judgments of their sins should prove heredi- 
 tary. For the God of heaven hath threatened 
 to visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the 
 children, if they hate him, to the third and 
 founh generation. Ex. xx. 5. 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar's punishment for his pride, 
 (for he was for his sin driven from his kingly 
 dignity, and from among men too, to eat grass 
 like an ox and to company with the beasts,) 
 Daniel did not stick to tell Belshazzar, his son, 
 to his face thereof, nor to publish it, that it 
 might be read and remembered by the gener- 
 ations to come. The same may be said of 
 Judas and Ananias, etc., for their sin and 
 punishment were known to all the dwellers at 
 Jerusalem. Acts v. 1. 
 
 Nor is it a sign but of a desperate impen- 
 itence and hardness of heart when the offspring 
 or relations of those who have fallen by open, 
 fearful, and prodigious judgments for their sin 
 shall overlook, forget, pass by, or take no no- 
 tice of such outgoings of God against them 
 and their house. Thus Daniel aggravates 
 Belshazzar's crime for that he hardened his 
 heart in pride, though he knew that for that 
 very sin and transgression his father was 
 brought down from his height and made to be 
 a companion for asses. '" And thou his son, 
 O Belshazzar," says he, "hast not humbled 
 thy heart, though thou Tinewest all this." Dan. 
 V. A home reproof indeed, but home is most 
 fit for an open and continued transgression. 
 
 Let those, then, that are the offspring or re- 
 lations of such who by their own sin and the 
 dreadful judgments of God are made to be- 
 come a sign, (Deut. xvi. 9, 10,) having been 
 swept as dung from off the face of the earth, 
 beware, lest when judgment knocks at their 
 door for their sins, as it did before at the door 
 of their progenitors, it falls also with as heavy 
 a stroke as on them that went before them; 
 lest, I say, they in that day, instead of finding 
 mercy, find, for their high, daring and judg- 
 ment-affronting sins, judgment without mercy. 
 
 To conclude: Let those that would not die 
 Mr. Badman's death take heed of Mr. Bad- 
 man's ways, for his ways bring to his ends; 
 wickedness will not deliver him that is given 
 to it, though he should cloak \ll with a pro- 
 fession of religion. 
 
 If it was a transgression of old for a man to 
 wear a woman's apparel, surely it is a trans 
 gression now for a sinner to wear a Christian 
 profession for a cloak. Wolves in sheep's 
 clothing swarm in England this day — wolves 
 both as to doctrine and as to practice too. 
 Some men make a profession, I doubt not, on 
 purpose that they may twist themselves into a 
 trade and thence into an estate, yea, and if 
 need be, into an estate knavishly by the ruin 
 of their neighbour. Let .such take heed, for 
 those that do such things have the greater 
 damnation. 
 
 Christian, make thy profession shine by a 
 conversation according to the Gospel, or else 
 thou wilt damnify religion, bring scandal to 
 thy brethren, and give offence to the enemies; 
 and it would be better that a millstone was 
 hanged about thy neck, and that thou, so 
 adorned, was cast into the bottom of the sea, 
 than so to do. 
 ' Christian, a profession according to the 
 
486 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Gospel is in these days a rare thing; seek, 
 then, after it, put it on, and keep it without 
 spot and (as becomes thee) white and clean, 
 and thou shalt be a rare Christiau. 
 
 The prophecy of the last time is that pro- 
 fessing men (for so I understand the text) 
 shall be many of them base, (2 Tim. iii. ;) but 
 continue thou in the things that thou hast 
 learned, not of wanton men nor of licentious 
 times but of the word and doctrine of God — 
 
 that is, according to godliness — and thou shalt 
 walk with Christ in white. 
 
 Now, God Almighty give his people grace, 
 not to hate or malign sinners, nor yet to 
 choose any of their ways, but to keep them 
 selves pure from the blood of all men, by 
 speaking and doing according to that name 
 and those rules that they profess to know and 
 love, for Jesus Christ's sake. 
 
 JOHN BUNYAS. 
 
LIFE AND DEATH OF MR. BADMAN. 
 
 Wistman. Good-morrow, my good neigh- 
 bour, Mr. Attentive; whither are you walking 
 BO early this morning? Methinks you look as 
 if you were concerned about something more 
 than ordinary. Have you lost any of your 
 cattle, or what is the matter? , 
 
 Allenlive. Good sir, good-morrow to you. I 
 have not as yet lost aught, but yet you give a 
 right guess of me, for I am, as you say, con- 
 cerned in my heart, but it is because of the 
 badness of the times. And, sir, you, as all 
 our neighbours know, are a very observing 
 man ; pray, therefore, what do you think of 
 them ? 
 
 Wiseman. Why, I think, as you say — to wit, 
 that they are bad times, and bad they will be 
 until men are better, for they are bad men 
 that make bad times ; if men therefore should 
 mend, so would the times. It is a folly to look 
 for good days so long as sin is so high and 
 those that study its nourishment so many. 
 God bring it down, and those that nourish 
 it to repentance, and then, my good neigh- 
 bour, you will be concerned not as you are 
 now. Now you are concerned because times 
 are so bad, but then you will be so because 
 times are so good; now you are concerned so 
 as to be perplexed, but then you will be con- 
 cerned so as to lift up your voice with shout- 
 ing ; for I dare say, could you see such days, 
 they would make you shout. 
 
 Attentive. Ay, so they would ; such times I 
 have longed for, such times I have prayed for, 
 but I fear they will be worse before they be 
 better. 
 
 Wiseman. Make no conclusion, man, for He 
 that hath the hearts of men in his hand can 
 change them from worse to better, and so bad 
 times into good. God gives long life to them 
 that are good, and especially to those of them 
 that are capable of doing him service in the 
 world. The ornament and beauty of this 
 lower world, next to God and his wonders, are 
 the men that spangle and shine in godliness. 
 
 Now as Mr. Wiseman said this he gave a 
 great sigh. 
 
 Attentive. Amen, amen 1 But why, good sir, 
 do you sigh so deeply? Is it for aught else 
 than that for the which, ^s you have perceived, 
 I myself am concerned? 
 
 Wiseman. I am concerned with you for the 
 badness of the times, but that was not the 
 cause of that sigh, of which, I see, you take 
 notice. I sighed at the remembrance of the 
 death of that man for whom the bell tolled at 
 our town yesterday. 
 
 Attentive. Why, I trow Mr. Goodman, your 
 neighbour, is not dead? Indeed, I did hear 
 that he had been sick. 
 
 Wiseman. No, no, it is not he. Had it been 
 he, I could not but have been concerned, but 
 yet not as I am concerned now. If he had 
 died, I should only have been concerned that 
 the world had lost a light, but the man that I 
 am concerned for now was one that never was 
 good ; therefore such a one who is not dead 
 only, but damned. He died that he might 
 die, he went from life to death, and then from 
 death to death, from death natural to death 
 eternal. And as he spake this the water stood 
 in his eyes. 
 
 Attentive. Indeed to go from a deathbed to 
 hell is a fearful thing to think on. But, good 
 neighbour Wiseman, be pleased to tell me 
 who this man was, and why you conclude him 
 so terrible in his death. 
 
 Wiseman. Well, if you can stay, I will tell 
 you who he was and why I conclude thus con- 
 cerning him. 
 
 Attentive. My leisure will admit me to stay, 
 and I am willing to hear you out. And I 
 pray God your discourse may take hold on my 
 heart, that I may be bettered thereby. 
 
 So they agreed to sit down under the tree. 
 Then Mr. Wiseman proceeded as foUoweth. 
 
 Wiseman. The man that I mean is one Mr. 
 Badman ; he has lived in our town a great 
 while, and now, as I said, he is dead. But th» 
 
 487 
 
488 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 reason of my being concerned at his death is 
 not for that he was at all related to me, or for 
 that any good conditions died with him, for he 
 was far from them, but for that, as I greatly 
 fear, he hath, as was hinted before, died two 
 deatlis at once. 
 
 Attentive. I perceive what you mean by two 
 deaths at once ; and to speak truth it is a fear- 
 ful thing thus to have ground to think of any; 
 for although the death of the ungodly and sin- 
 ners is laid to heart but of few, yet to die in 
 such a state is more dreadful and fearful than 
 any man can imagine. Indeed, if a man had 
 no soul, if his state was not truly immortal, 
 the matter would not be so much ; but for a 
 man to be so disposed of by his Maker as to be 
 appointed a sensible being for ever, and for 
 him to fall into the hands of avenging justice, 
 that will be always, to the utmost extremity 
 that his sin deserveth, punishing of him in the 
 dismal dungeon of hell, this must needs be 
 unutterably sad and lamentable. 
 
 Wiseman. There is no man, I think, that is 
 sensible of the worth of one soul but must, 
 when he hears of the death of unconverted 
 men, be stricken with sorrow and grief, be- 
 cause, as you said well, that man's state is such 
 that he has a sensible being for ever. For it 
 is sense that makes punishment heavy. But 
 yet sense is not all that the damned have ; they 
 have sense and reason too; so then, as sense 
 receiveth punishment with sorrow, because it 
 feels and bleeds under the same, so by reason, 
 and the exercise thereof in the midst of tor- 
 ment, all present affliction is aggravated, and 
 that three manner of ways : 
 
 1. Reason will consider thus with himself: 
 For what am I thus tormented? And will 
 easily find it is for nothing but that base and 
 filthy thing, sin ; and now will vexation be 
 mixed with punishment, and that will greatly 
 heighten the affliction. 
 
 2. lleason will consider thus with himself: 
 How long must this be my state ? And will 
 soon return to himself this answer: This must 
 be my state for ever and ever. Now this will 
 g] eatly increase the torment. 
 
 3. Eeasou will consider thus with himself: 
 What have I lost more than present ease and 
 quiet by my sins that I have committed? And 
 will quickly return himself this answer : I have 
 lost communion with God, Christ, saints and 
 angels, and a share in heaven and eternal life. 
 And tills also must needs greatly add to the 
 misery of poor damned souls. And this is the 
 case of Mr. Badman. 
 
 Attentive. I feel my heart even shake at the 
 thoughts of coming into such a state. Hell ! 
 who knows that is yet alive what the torments 
 of hell are ? This word Ae^^ gives a very dread- 
 ful sound. 
 
 Wiseman. Ay, so it does in the ears of him 
 that has a tender conscience. But if, as you 
 say, and that truly, the very name of hell is so 
 dreadful, what is the place itself, and what are 
 the punishments that are there inflicted, and 
 that without the least intermission, upon the 
 souls of damned men for ever and ever ! 
 
 Attentive. Well, but passing this, my leisure 
 will permit me to stay, and therefore pray tell 
 me what it is that makes j'ou think that Mr. 
 Badman is gone to hell ? 
 
 Wiseman. I will tell you. But first, do you 
 know which of the Badmans I mean? 
 
 Attentive. Why, was there more of them 
 than one? 
 
 Wiseman. Oh yes, a great many, both broth- 
 ers and sisters, and yet all of them the chil- 
 dren of godly parents — the more, a great deal, 
 is the pity. 
 
 AUetitive. Which of them, therefore, was it 
 that died? 
 
 )Viseman. The eldest, old in years and old 
 in sin ; but the sinner that dies an hundred 
 years old shall be accursed. 
 
 Attentive. Well, but what makes you think 
 he is gone to hell ? 
 
 Wiseman. His wicked life and fearful death, 
 especially since the manner of his death was. 
 so corresponding with his life. 
 
 Attentive. Pray let me know the manner of 
 his death if yourself did perfectly know it. 
 
 Wiseman. I was there when he died, but I 
 desire not to see another such man, while I 
 live, die in such sort as he did. 
 
 Attentive. Pray therefore let me hear it. 
 
 Wiseman. You say you have leisure and can 
 stay, and therefore, if you please, we will dis- 
 course even orderly of him. First, we will 
 begin with his life, and then proceed to his 
 death, because a relation of the first may the 
 more affect you when you shall hear of the 
 second. 
 
 Attentive. Did you then so well know hia 
 life? 
 
 Wiseman. I knew him of a child. I was a 
 man when he was but a boy ; and I made a 
 special observation of him from first to last. 
 
 Attentive. Pray then let me hear from you 
 an account of his life, but be as brief as you 
 can, for I long to hear of the manner of his 
 death. 
 
LIFE AND DEATH OF MR. JB ADMAN. 
 
 489 
 
 Wiseman. I will endeavour to answer your 
 desires ; and first, I will tell you that from a 
 child he was very bad ; his very beginning was 
 ominous, and presaged that no good end was 
 in likelihood to follow thereupon. There were 
 several sins that he was given to when he was 
 but a little one, that manifested him to be 
 notoriously infected with original corruption; 
 for I d;ire say he learned none of them of his 
 father and mother, nor was he admitted to go 
 much abroad among other children that were 
 vile, 10 learn to sin of them ; nay, contrariwise, 
 if at any times he did get abroad amongst 
 others, he would be as the inventor of bad 
 words and an example in bad actions. To 
 them all he used to be, as we say, the ring- 
 leader and master sinner from a child. 
 
 Attentive. This was a bad beginning indeed, 
 and did demonstrate that he was, as you say, 
 polluted, very much polluted, with original 
 corruption. For, to speak my mind freely, I 
 do confess that it is mine opinion that children 
 come polluted with sin into the world, and 
 that ofttimes the sins of their youth, especially 
 while they are very young, are rather by vir- 
 tue of indwelling sin than by examples that 
 are set before them by others; not but that 
 ,they learn to sin by example too, but example 
 is not the root, but rather the temptation to 
 wickedness. The root is sin within ; for from 
 within, out of the heart of man, proceedeth sin. 
 
 Wiseman. I am glad to hear that you are 
 of this opinion, and to confirm what you have 
 said by a few hints from the word : Man in 
 his birth is compared to an ass (an unclean 
 beast) and to a wretched infant in its blood ; 
 besides, all the first-born of old that were of- 
 fered unto the Lord were to be redeemed at 
 the age of a month, and that v.-as before they 
 were sinners by imitation. The Scripture also 
 afiirmeth that by the sin of one judgment came 
 upon all ; and renders this reason, " for that 
 all have sinned ; " nor is that objection worth a 
 rush, that Christ by his death has taken away 
 original sin. First, Because it is scriptureless. 
 Secondly, Because it makes them incapable of 
 salvation by Clirist, for none but those that in 
 their own persons are sinners are to have sal- 
 vation by him. iVIaiiy other things might be 
 added, but between persons so well agreed as 
 you and I are these may suffice at present ; but 
 when an antagonist comes to deal with us about 
 this matter, then we have for him often other 
 strong arguments if he be an antagonist worth 
 the taking notice of. 
 
 Attentive. But, as was hinted before, he used 
 
 to be ringleading sinner or the master of mis- 
 chief among other children, yet these are but 
 generals ; pray therefore tell me in particular 
 what were the sins of his childhood? 
 
 Wiseman. I will so. When he was but a 
 child he was so addicted to lying that his pa- 
 rents scarce knew when to believe he spake 
 true ; yea, he would invent, tell, and stand to 
 the lies that he invented and told, and that 
 with such an audacious face that one might 
 even read in his very countenance the symp- 
 toms of an hard and desperate heart this 
 way. 
 
 Attentive. This was an ill beginning indeed, 
 and argueth that he began to harden himself 
 in sin betimes. For a lie cannot be knowingly 
 told and stood in (and I perceive that this was 
 his manner of way in lying) but he must, as it 
 were, force his own heart unto it. Yea, he 
 must make his heart hard and bold to do it ; 
 yea, he must be arrived to an exceeding pitch 
 of wickedness thus to do, since all this he did 
 against that good education that before you 
 seemed to hint he had from his father and 
 mother. 
 
 Wiseman. The want of a good education, as 
 you have intimated, is many times a cause why 
 children do so easily so soon become bad, es- 
 pecially when there' is not only a want of that, 
 but bad examples enough, as, the more is the 
 pity, thete is in many families ; by virtue of 
 wliicli poor children are trained up in sin and 
 nursed therein for the devil and hell. But it 
 was otherwise with Mr. Badman, for to my 
 knowledge this his way of lying was a great 
 grief to his parents, for their hearts were much 
 dejected at this beginning of their son ; nor 
 did there want counsel and correction froai 
 them to him if that would have made him 
 better. He wanted not to be told in my hear- 
 ing, and that over and over and over, " That 
 all liars should have their part in the lake that 
 burns with fire and brimstone,'' and that who- 
 soever loveth and maketh a lie should not have 
 any part in the new and heavenly Jerusalem; 
 but all availed nothing with him. 'W^hen a 
 fit or an occasion to lie came upon him, he 
 would invent, tell,. and stand to his lie as stead- 
 fastly as if it had been the biggest of truths 
 that he told, and that with that hardening of 
 his heart and face that it would be to those 
 who stood by a wonder. Nay, and tliis he 
 would do when under the rod of correction, 
 which is appointed by God for parents to use, 
 that thereby they might keep their children 
 from hell. 
 
490 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Attentive. Truly it was, as I said, a bad be- 
 ginning, h(-. served the devil betimes ; yea, he 
 became nurse to one of his Jirats, for a spirit 
 of lying is the devil's brat; " For he is a liar, 
 and the father of it." 
 
 Wiseman. Right ! he is the father of it in- 
 deed. A lie is begot by the devil as the father, 
 and is brought forth by the wicked heart as the 
 mother ; wherefore another Scripture also saith, 
 " AVhy hath Satan filled thy heart to lie?" &c. 
 Yea, lie calleth the heart that is big with a lie 
 an heart that hath conceived — that is, by the 
 devil. " Why hast thou conceived this thing 
 in thy heart? Thou hast not lied unto men, 
 but unto God." True, his lie was a lie of the 
 highest nature, but every lie hath the same 
 father and mother as had the lie last spoken 
 of; "For he is a liar, and the father of it." 
 A lie, then, is a brat of hell, and it cannot be 
 in the heart before the person has committed 
 a kind of spiritual adultery with the devil. 
 That soul, therefore, that telleth a known lie 
 has lain with and conceived it by lying with 
 the devil, the only father of lies. For a lie 
 has only one father and mother, the' devil and 
 the heart. No marvel, therefore, if the hearts 
 that hatch and bring forth lies be so much of 
 complexion with the devil. Yea, no marvel 
 though God and Christ have so bent their word 
 against liars ; a liar is wedded to the devil him- 
 self. 
 
 Attentive. It seems a marvellous thing in 
 mine eyes that since a lie is the offspring of 
 the devil, and since a lie brings the soul to the 
 very den of devils — to wit, the dark dungeon 
 of hell — that men should be, so desperately 
 wicked as to accustom theinselves to so hor- 
 rible a thing. 
 
 Wiseman. It seems also marvellous to me, 
 especially when I observe for how little a mat- 
 ter some men will study, contrive, make, and 
 tell a lie. You shall' have some that will lie 
 it over and over, and that for a penny profit; 
 yea, lie, and stand in it, although they know 
 that they lie ; yea, you shall have some men 
 that will not stick to tell lie after lie, though 
 themselves get nothing thereby. They will 
 tell lies in their ordinary discourse with their 
 neighbours ; also their news, their jests, and 
 their tales miLst needs be adorned with lies, or 
 else they seem to bear no good sound to the 
 ear, nor show much to the fancy of him to 
 whom they are told. But, alas! what will 
 these liars do when for their lies they shall be 
 tumbled down into hell, to that devil that did 
 beget those lies in their heart, and so be tor- 
 
 mented by fire and brimstone with him, aud 
 that for ever and ever, for their lies? 
 
 Attentive. Can you not give one some ex- 
 amples of God's judgments upon liars, that 
 one may tell them to liars when one hears 
 them lie, if perhaps they may by the hearing 
 thereof be made afraid aud ashamed to lie? 
 
 Wiseman. Examples I Why, Ananias and 
 his wife are examples enough to put a stop, 
 one would think, to a spirit addicted thereto, 
 for they both were stricken down dead for tell- 
 ing a lie, and that by God himself, in the midst 
 of a company of people. But if God's threat- 
 ening of liars with hell-fire and with the loss 
 of the kingdom of heaven will not prevail 
 with them to leave off to lie and make lies, it 
 cannot be imagined that a relation of temjvoral 
 judgments that have swept liars out of the 
 world heretofore should do it. Now, as I said, 
 this lying was one of the first sins thai Mr. 
 Badman was addicted to, and he could make 
 them and tell them fearfully. 
 
 Attentive. I am sorry to hear this of him, 
 and so much the more because, as I fear, this 
 sin did not reign in him alone ; for usually one 
 that is accustomed to lying is also accustomed 
 to other evils besides; and if it were not so 
 also with Mr. Badman, it would indeed be a 
 wonder. 
 
 Wiseman. You say true: the liar is a cap- 
 tive slave of more than the spirit of lying; 
 and therefore this Mr. Badman, as he was a 
 liar from a child, so he was also much given 
 to pilfer and steal: so that what he could, as 
 we say, handsomely lay his hands on, that was 
 counted his own, whether they were the things 
 of his fellow-children, or if he could lay hold 
 of any thing at a neighbour's house he would 
 take it away; you must understand me of 
 trifles, for, being yet but a child, he attempted 
 no great matter, especially at first. But yet as 
 he grew up in strength and ripeness of wit, so 
 he attempted to pilfer aud steal things still of 
 more value than at first. He took at last great 
 pleasure in robbing of gardens and orchards, 
 and as he grew up to steal pullen from the 
 neighbourhood; yea, what was his father's 
 could not escape his fingers ; all was fish that 
 came to his net, so hardened at last w.as he in 
 this mischief also. 
 
 Attentive. You make me wonder more and 
 more. What! play the thief too! What! 
 play the thief so soon! He could not but 
 know, though he was but a child, that what he 
 took from others was none of his own. Be- 
 sides, if his father was a good man, as you say, 
 
LIFt: AND DEATH OF MR. £ ADM AN. 
 
 491 
 
 it could not be but he must also hear from him 
 that to steal was to transgress the law of God, 
 and sO to run the hazard of eternal damnation. 
 
 Wiseman. His father was not wanting to use 
 the means to reclaim him, often urging, as I 
 have been told, that saying in the law of 
 Closes, "Thou shalt not steal;'' and also that, 
 " That is the curse that goeth forth over the face 
 of the whole earth, for every one that stealeth 
 ■ shall be cut off," &c. The light of nature also, 
 though he was little, must needs show him 
 that what he toolc from others was not his own, 
 and that he would not willingly have been 
 served so liiniself. But all was to no purpose ; 
 let father and conscience say what they would 
 to him, he would go on, he was resolved to go 
 on, in his wickedness. 
 
 Attentive. But his father would, as fou inti- 
 mate, sometimes rebuke him for his wicked- 
 ness; pray how would he carry it then? 
 
 Wisenmn. Howl why, like a thief that is 
 found. He would stand gloating and hanging 
 down his head in a sullen, pouching manner, 
 (a body might read, as we used to say, the pic- 
 ture of ill luck in. his face,) and when his 
 father did demand his answer to such ques- 
 tion concerning his villainy, he would grum- 
 ble and mutter at him, and that should be all 
 that he could, get. 
 
 Attentive. But you said that he would also 
 rob his father ; methinks that was an unnatural 
 thing. 
 
 Wiaeman. Natural or unnatural, all is one to 
 a thief. Besides, you must think that he had 
 likewise companions to whom he was, for the 
 wickedness that he saw in them, more firmly 
 knit than either to father or mother. Yea, 
 and what had he cared if father and mother 
 had died of grief for him? Their death would 
 have been, as he would have counted, great 
 release and liberty to him; for the truth is, 
 they and their counsel was his bondage ; yea, 
 and if I forget not, I have heard some say 
 that when he was at times among his com- 
 panions he would greatly rejoice to think that 
 his parents were old and could not live long, 
 and then, quoth he, I shall be mine own man, 
 to do what I list without their control. 
 
 Attentive. Then it seems he counted that 
 robbing of his parents was no crime? 
 
 Wiseman. None at all ; and therefore he fell 
 directly under that sentence, "Whoso robbeth 
 his father or his mother, and saith it is no 
 transgression, the same is the companion of a 
 destroyer." And for that he set so light by 
 them as to their persons and counsels, it was a 
 
 sign that at present he was of a very abom- 
 inable spirit, and that some judgment awaited 
 to take hold of him in time to come. 
 
 Attentive. But can you imagine what it was — 
 I mean, in his conceit, (for I speak not now of 
 the suggestions of Satan, by which doubtless 
 he was put on to do these things,) — I say, what 
 it should be in his conceit that should n-ake 
 him think that this his nlanner of pilfering and 
 stealing was no great matter? 
 
 Wiseman. It was for that the things that he 
 stole were small: to rob orchards and gar- 
 dens, and to steal pullen and the like, therie he 
 counted tricks of youth, nor would he be beat 
 out of it by all that his friends could say, 
 They would tell him that he must not covet or 
 desire (and yet to desire is less than to take) 
 even any thing, the least thing, that was his 
 neighbour's, and that if he did it would be a 
 transgression of the law; but all was one to 
 him ; what through the wicked talk of his 
 companions and the delusion of his own cor- 
 rupt heai't, he would go on in his pilfering 
 course, and where he thought himself secure 
 would talk of and laugh at it when he had 
 done. 
 
 fl®" Attentive. Well, I heard a man once, 
 when he was upon the ladder with a rope about 
 his neck, confess (when ready to be turned off 
 by the hangman) that that which had brought 
 him to that end was his accustoming of him- 
 self, when young, to pilfer and steal small 
 things. To my best remembrance he told us 
 that he begap the trade of a thief by stealing 
 of pins and of points ; and therefore did fore- 
 warn all the youth that then were gathered 
 together to see him die to take heed of begin- 
 ning, though but with little sins, because by 
 tampering at first with little ones way is made 
 for the commission of bigger. 
 
 Wiseman. Since you are entered upon stories, 
 I also will tell you one ; the which, though I 
 heard it not with mine own ears, yet my author 
 I dare believe. It is concerning one old Tod, 
 that was hanged about twenty years ago or 
 more at Hertford for being a thief. The story 
 is this : 
 
 At a summer assizes holden at Hertford, 
 while the judge was sitting upon the bench, 
 comes this old Tod into the court, clothed in a 
 green suit, with his leathern girdle in his hand, 
 his bosom open, and all on a muck of sweat, aa 
 if he had run for his life; and being come in, 
 he spake aloud as follows. My lord, said he 
 here is the veriest rogue that breathes upon 
 the face of the earth. I have beeu a thief 
 
492 
 
 BVNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 from a child ; when I was but a little one I 
 gave myself to rob orchards and to do other 
 such like wicked things, and I have continued 
 a thief ever since. My lord, there has not 
 been a robbery committed these many years, 
 within so many miles of this place, but I have 
 either been at it or privy to it. 
 
 The judge thought this fellow was mad, but 
 aftei some conference with some of the justices 
 they agreed to indict him ; and so they did of 
 several felonious actions, to all which he 
 hoartily 3onfessed guilty, and so was hanged 
 with his wife at the same time. 
 
 Attentive. This is a remarkable story indeed, 
 and you think it is a true one? 
 
 Wiseman. It is not only remarkable, but pat 
 to our purpose. This thief, like Mr. Badman, 
 began hia trade betimes ; he began, too, where 
 Mr. Badman began, even at robbing of orchards 
 and other such things, which brought him, as 
 you may perceive, from sin to sin, till at last it 
 brought him to the public shame of sin, which 
 is the gallows. 
 
 As for the truth of this story, the relater 
 told me that he was at the same time himself 
 in the court, and stood within less than two 
 yards of old Tod when he heard him aloud to 
 utter the words. 
 
 Attentive. These two sins of lying and steal- 
 ing were a bad sign of an evil end. 
 
 Wiseman. So they were ; and yet Mr. Bad- 
 man came not to his end like old Tod, though 
 I fear to as bad, nay, worse than was that 
 death of the gallows, though less discerned by 
 spectators ; but more of that bj' and by. But 
 you talk of these two sins as if these were all 
 that Mr. Badman was addicted toin his youth. 
 Alas, alas ! he swarmed with sins, even as a 
 beggar does with vermin, and that when he 
 was a boy. 
 
 Attentive. Why, what other sins was he 
 addicted to — I mean while he was but a 
 child? 
 
 Wiseman. You need not ask to what other 
 sins was he, but to what other sins was he not, 
 addicted — that is, of such as suited with his 
 age; for a man may safely say that nothing 
 that was vile came amiss to him if he was but 
 capable to do it. Indeed, some sins there be 
 that childhood knows not how to be tampering 
 with ; but I speak of sins that he was capable 
 of committing, of which I will nominate two 
 or th^'ee more. 
 
 And,, first. He could not endure the Lord's 
 day, because of the holiness 'that did attend it ; 
 the beginning of that day was to him as if. he 
 
 was going to prison, (except-he could get out 
 from his father and mother, and lurk in by- 
 holes among his companions until holy duties 
 were over.) Reading the Scriptures, hearing 
 sermons, godly conference, repeating of ser- 
 mons and prayer were things that he could not 
 away with ; therefore, if his father on such 
 days (as often he did, though sometimes not- 
 withstanding his diligence he would be sure to 
 give him the slip) did keep him strictly to the 
 observation of the day, he would plainly show 
 by all carriages that he was highly discontent 
 therewith; he would sleep at duties, Would 
 talk vainly with his brothers, and, as it were, 
 think every godly opportunity seven times as 
 long as it was, grudging till it was over. 
 
 Attentive. This his abhorring of that day was 
 not, I think, for the sake of the day itself, for 
 as it is a day it is nothing else but as other 
 days of the week ; but I suppose that the rea- 
 son of his loathing of it was for that God hath 
 put sanctity and holiness upon it, also because 
 it is the day above all the days of the week 
 that ought to be spent in holy devotion, in re- 
 membrance of our Lord's resurrection from 
 the dead. 
 
 Wiseman. Yes, it was therefore that he was 
 such an enemy to it, even because more re- 
 straint was laid upon him on that day from his 
 own ways than were possible should be laid 
 upon him on all others. 
 
 Attentive. Doth not God, by instituting of a. 
 day unto holy duties, make great proof how the 
 hearts and inclinations of poor peoi)le do stand 
 to holiness of heart and a conversation in holy 
 duties? 
 
 Wiseman. Yes, doubtless ; and a man shall 
 show his heart and his life, what they are, more 
 by one Lord's day than by all the days of the 
 week besides; and the reason is, because on the 
 Lord's day there is a special restraint laid upon 
 man, as to thoughts and life, more than upon 
 other days of the week besides. Also, men 
 are enjoined on that day to a stricter perform- 
 ance of holy duties, and restraint of worldly 
 business, than upon other days they are; 
 wherefore, if their hearts incline not nsiturally 
 to good, now they will show it, now they will 
 appear what they are. The Lord's day is a 
 kind of an emblem of the heavenly Sabbath 
 above, and it makes manifest how the heart 
 stands to the perpetuity of holiness, more than 
 to be found in a transient duty does. 
 
 On other days a man may be in and out of 
 holy duties, and all in a quarter of an hour; 
 but now, the Lord's day is, as it were, a daj 
 
LTFE AND DEATH OF MR. B ADM AN. 
 
 493 
 
 that enjoins to jue perpetual duty of holiness 
 — " Remember thai thou keep holy the Sab- 
 bath-day," (which by Christ is not abrogated, 
 but changed into the first of the week;) not as 
 it was given in particular tc the Jews, but as 
 it was sanctified by him from the beginning 
 of the world — and therefore is a great proof of 
 tlie frame and temper of a man's heart, and 
 does more make manifest to what he is in- 
 clined thai doth his other performance of 
 duties; thjrefore God puts great difference 
 between tl.em that truly call (and walk in) 
 this day as holy and count it honourable, upon 
 the account that now they have an opportu- 
 nity to show how they delight to honour him, 
 in that they have not only an hour, but a 
 whole day to shovy it in ; — I say, he puts great 
 difference between these and that other sort 
 that say, When will the Sabbath be gone, that 
 we may be at our worldly business? The first 
 he calleth a blessed man, but brandeth the 
 other for an unsanctifled worldling. And in- 
 deed, to delight ourselves in God's service 
 upon his holy days gives a better proof of a 
 sanctified nature than to grudge at the coming 
 and to be weary of the holy duties of such 
 days, as Mr. Badman did. 
 
 Attentive. There may be something in what 
 you say, for he that ciinnot abide to keep one 
 day holy to God, to be sure he hath given a 
 sufficient proof that he is an unsanctifled 
 man ; and as such what should he do in 
 heaven, that being the place where a per- 
 petual sabbath is to be kept to God? — I say, 
 to be kept for ever and ever. And for aught 
 I know, one reason why one day in seven 
 hath boen by our Lord set apart unto holy 
 duties for men may be to give them convic- 
 tion that there is enmity in the hearts of sin- 
 ners to the God of heaven, for he that hateth 
 holiness hateth God himself. They pretend 
 to love God, and yet love not a holy day, and 
 yet love not to spend that day in one continued 
 act Df holiness to the Lord; they had as good 
 say nothing as to call him, Lord, Lord 1 and 
 yet not do the things that he says. And this 
 Mr. Badman was such a one ; he could riot 
 abide this day nor any of the duties of it.. 
 Indeed, when he could get from his friends, 
 and so spend it in all manner of idleness and 
 profaneness, then he would be pleased well 
 enough ; but what was this but a turning thfr 
 day into night, or other than taking an opportu- 
 nity, at God's forbidding to follow our callings, 
 to solace and satisfy our lusts and delights of 
 the flesh ? I take tte liberty to speak thus of 
 
 Mr. Badman, upon a confidence of what you, 
 sir, have said of him is true. 
 
 Wiseman. You need not to have made that 
 apology for your censuring of Mr. Badman, 
 for all that knew him will confirm what j ou 
 say of him to be true. He could not abide 
 either that day or any thing else that had 
 the stamp or image of God upon it. Sin, 
 sin, and to do the thing that was naught, was 
 that which he delighted in, and that from a 
 little child. 
 
 Attentive. I must say again, I am sorry to 
 hear it, and that for his own sake, and also for 
 the sake of his relations, who must needs be 
 broken to pieces with such doings as these ; 
 for, for these things' sake comes the wrath of 
 God upon the children of disobedience; and 
 doubtless he must be gone to hell if he died 
 without repentance ; and to beget a child for 
 hell is sad for parents to think on. 
 
 Wiseman. Of his dying, as I told you, I 
 will give you a relation anon ; but now wo 
 are upon his life, and upon the manner of his 
 ■life in his childhood, even of the sins that 
 attended him then, some of which I have 
 mentioned already; and indeed I have men- 
 tioned but some, for yet there are more to fol- 
 low, and those not at all inferior to what you 
 have already heard. 
 
 Attentive. Pray what were they ? 
 
 Wiseman. Why, he was greatly given, and 
 that while a lad, to grievous swearing and 
 cursing; yea, he then made no more of swear- 
 ing and cursing than I do of telling my fin- 
 gers ; yea, he would do it without provocation 
 thereto. He counted it a glory to swear and 
 curse, and it was as natural to him as to eat, 
 and drink, and sleep. 
 
 Attentive. Oh what a young villain was this I 
 Here is, as the apostle says, a yielding of 
 members as instruments of unrighteousness 
 unto sin indeed : this is proceeding from evil 
 to evil with a witness; this argueth that he 
 was a black-mouthed young wretch indeed. 
 
 Wiseman. He was so; and yet, as I told you, 
 he counted above all this kind of sinning to bo 
 a badge of his honour; he reckoned himself a 
 man's fellow whSn he had learned to swear 
 and curse boldly. 
 
 Attentive. I am persuaded that many do 
 think, as you have said, that to swear is a 
 thing that does bravely become them, and that 
 it is the best way for a man,^ when he would 
 put authority or terror to. hi& words, to' stuff 
 them full of the sin of swearing. 
 
 Wiseman. You say right, else, as I am pep 
 
494 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 suaded, men would not so usually belch out 
 their blasphemous oaths as they do ; they take 
 a pride in it ; they think that to swear is gen- 
 tlemanlike; and having once accustomed 
 themselves unto it, they hardly leave it all 
 the days of their lives. , 
 
 Attentive. Well, but now we are upon it, 
 pray show me the difference between swearing 
 and cursing ; for there is a difference, is there 
 not? 
 
 Wiseman. Yes, there is a difference between 
 swearing and cursing — swearing, vain swear- 
 ing, such as young Badman accustomed him- 
 self unto. Now vain and sinful swearing is a 
 light and wicked calling of God, &c., to wit- 
 ness to our vain and foolish attesting of things, 
 and those things are of two soi'ts : 
 
 1. Things that we swear are or shall he 
 done. 
 
 2. Tilings so sworn to, true or false. 
 
 1. Things that we swear are or shall be done. 
 Thou swearest thou hast done such a thing, 
 that such a thing is so or shall be so ; for it is 
 no matter which of these it is that men swear 
 about : if it be done lightly, and wickedly, and 
 groundlessly it is vain, because it is a sin 
 against the third commandment, which says, 
 "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord 
 thy God in vain." For this is a vain using of 
 that holy and sacred name, and so a sin for 
 which, without sound repentance, there is not 
 nor can be rightly expected forgiveness. 
 
 Attentive. Then it seems though as to the 
 matter of fact a man swears truly, yet if he 
 sweareth lightly and groundlessly his oath is 
 evil, and he by it under sin ? 
 
 Wiseman. Yes, a man may say, "The Lord 
 liveth," and that is true, and yet in so saying 
 swear falsely, because he sweareth vainly, 
 needlessly, and without a ground. To swear 
 groundedly and necessarily, (which then a man 
 does when he swears as being called thereto of 
 God,) that is tolerated by the word ; but this 
 was none of Mr. Badman'a- swearing, and 
 therefore that which now we are not concerned 
 about. 
 
 Attentive. I perceive by the prophet that a 
 man may sin in swearing to the truth ; they 
 therefore must needs most horribly sin that 
 ewear to confirm their jests and lies, and, as 
 they think, the better to beautify their foolish 
 talking. 
 
 'Wiseman, They sin with an high hand, for 
 they presume to imagine that God is as wicked 
 as themselves — to wit, that he is an avoucher 
 of lies to be true. For, as I said before, to 
 
 swear is to call God to witness ; and to sweaT 
 to a lie is to call God to witness that that lie is 
 true. This therefore must needs offend, for it 
 puts the highest affront upon the holiness and 
 righteousness of God ; therefore- his wrath must 
 sweep them away. This kind of swearing is 
 put in with lying, and killing, and stealing, 
 and committing adultery, and therefore must 
 not go unpunished ; for if " God will not hold 
 him guiltless that taketh his name in \ain," 
 which a man may do when he swears to a 
 truth, (as I have showed before,) how can it bo 
 imagined that he should hold such guiltless 
 who by swearing will appeal to God if lies bo 
 not true, or that swear out of their frantic and 
 bedlam madness? It would grieve and pro- 
 voke a sober man to wrath if one should swear 
 to a notorious lie, and avouch that that man 
 would attest it for a truth, and yet thus do men 
 deal with the holy God. They tell their jest- 
 ings, tales, and lies, and then swear by God 
 that they are true. Now this kind of swearing 
 was as common with young Badman as it was 
 to eat when he was an hungered or to go to bed 
 when it was night. 
 
 Attentive. I have often mused in my mind 
 what it should "be that should make men so 
 common in the use of the sin of swearing, since 
 those that be wise will believe them never the 
 sooner for that. 
 
 Wiseman. It cannot be anything that is 
 good, you may be sure, because the thing itself 
 is abominable. 1. Therefore it must be from 
 promptings of the spirit of the devil within 
 them. 2. Also it flows sometimes from hellish 
 rage, when the tongue hath set on fire of hell 
 even the whole course of nature. 3. But, 
 commonly, swearing flows from that daring 
 boldness that biddeth defiance to the law that 
 forbids it. 4. • Swearers think also that by 
 their belching of their' blasphemous oaths out 
 of their black and polluted mouths they show 
 themselves the more valiant men. 5. And im- 
 agine also that by these outrageous kind of 
 villainies they shall conquer those that at such 
 a time they have to do with, and make them 
 believe their lies to be true. They also swear 
 frequently to get gain thereby, and when they 
 meet with fools they overcome them this way. 
 But, if I might give advice in this matter, no 
 buyer should lay out one farthing with him 
 that is a common swearer in his calling, espe- 
 cially with such an oath-master that endeav- 
 oureth to swear away his commodity to 
 another, and that would swear his chapman's 
 money into his own pocket. 
 
LIFE ANT) DEATH OF MR. BAD MAN. 
 
 495 
 
 Attemire. All these causes of swearing, so 
 far as I can perceive, flow from the sa-ne root 
 Rf <lii the oaths themselves, even from u hard- 
 ened and desperate heart. But pray show me 
 now how wicked cursing is to be distinguished 
 from this kind of swearing. 
 
 Winmiau. Swearing, as I said, hath imme- 
 diately to do with the name of God, and it 
 calls upon him to be witness of the truth of 
 what is said — that is, if they that swear, swear 
 by him. Some indeed swear by idols, as by 
 the muss, by Our Lady, by saints, beasts, birds, 
 and other creatures, but the usual way of our 
 profane ones in England is to swear by God, 
 Christ, faith, and the like. But however or by 
 whatever they swear, cursing is distinguished 
 from swearing thus: 
 
 To curse, to curse profanely, it is to#entence 
 another or ourself for or to evil, or to wish that 
 some evil might happen to the person or thing 
 under the curse unjustly. 
 
 1. It is to sentence for or to evil — that is, 
 without a cause ; thus Shimei cursed David ; 
 lie sentenced him for and to evil unjustly when 
 he said to him, " Come out, come out, thou 
 bloody man, and thou man of Belial. The Lord 
 hath returned upon thee all the blood of the 
 house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast 
 reigned, and the Lord hath delivered the king- 
 dom into the hand of Absalom thy son ; and 
 behold thou art taken in thy mischief, because 
 thou art a bloody man." This David calls a 
 grievous curse. "And behold," saith he to 
 Solomon his son, " thou hast with thee Shimei, 
 a Benjamite, which cursed me with a grievous 
 curse when I went to Mahauaim." 
 
 But what was this curse? Why — 1. It was 
 a wrong sentence passed upon David ; Shimei 
 called him " bloody man, man of Belial," 
 when he was not. 2. He sentenced him to the 
 evil that at present was upon him for being a 
 bloody man — that is, against the house of Saul 
 — when that present evil overtook David for 
 quite another thing. 
 
 And we may thus apply it to the profane 
 ones of our times, who in their rage and envy 
 have little else in their mouths but a sentence 
 against their neighbour for and to evil un- 
 justly. How common it is with many, when 
 they are but a little offended with one, to cry, 
 Hang him I Damn him, rogue 1 This is both 
 a sentencing of him for and to evil, and is in 
 itself a grievous curse. 
 
 2. The other kind of cursing is to wish that 
 some evil might happen to and overtake this 
 or that person or thing; and thi.s kind of 
 
 cursing Job counted a grievous sin. " I have 
 not suffered," says he, " my mouth to sin by 
 wishing a curse to his soul," or consequently 
 to body or estate. This, then, is a wicked 
 cursing, to wish that evil might either befall 
 another or ourselves; and this kind of cursing 
 young Badman accustomed himself unto. 
 
 1. He would wish that evil might befall 
 others ; he would wish their necks broken, or 
 that their brains were out, or that the pox or 
 the plague was upon them, and the like ; all 
 which is a devilish kind of cursing; and is be- 
 come one of the common sins of our age. 
 
 2. He would also as often wish a curse to 
 himself, saying. Would I might be hanged, or 
 burned, or that the devil might fetch me, if it 
 be not so or the like. We count the Damn- 
 me blades to be great swearers, but when in 
 their hellish fury they say, God damn me! 
 God perish me I or the like, they rather curse 
 than swear; yea, curse themselves, and that 
 with a wish that damnation might light upon 
 themselves; which wish and curse of theirs in 
 a little time they will see accomplished upon 
 them, even in hell-fire, if they repent them 
 not of their sins. 
 
 Attentive. But did this young Badman ac- 
 custom himself to such filthy kind of language? 
 
 Wiseman. I think I may say that nothing 
 was more frequent in his mouth, and that upon 
 the least provocation. Yea, he was so versed 
 in such kind of language that neither father, 
 nor mother, nor brother, nor sister, nor ser- 
 vant, no, nor the very cattle that his father 
 had, could escape these curses of his. I say, 
 that even the brute beasts when he drove them 
 or rid upon them, if they pleased not his 
 humour, they must be sure to partake of his 
 curse. He would wish their necks broke, their 
 legs broke, their guts out, or that the devil 
 might fetch them, or the like; and no marvel, 
 for he that is so hardy as to wish damnation 
 or other bad curses to himself or dearest rela- 
 tions, would not stick to wish evil to the silly 
 beasts in his madness. • 
 
 Attentive. Well, I see still that this Badman 
 was a desperate villain. But pray, sir, siace 
 you have gone thus far, now show me whence 
 this evil of cursing ariseth, and also what dis- 
 honour it bringeth to God, for I easily discern 
 that it doth bring damnation to the soul. 
 
 Wise>nan. This evil of cursing ariseth, in 
 general, from the desperate wickedness of the 
 heart, but particularly from — ^1. Envy, which 
 is, as I apprehend, the leading sin to witch- 
 craft. 2. It also ariseth from pride, which wa.« 
 
496 
 
 SUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 the sin of the fallen angels. 3. It arisetli too 
 from scorn and contempt of others. 4. But 
 for a man to curse himself must needs arise 
 from desperate madness. 
 
 The dishonour that it bringeth to God is 
 this : It taketh away from him his authority, 
 in whose power it is only to bless and curse ; 
 not to curse wickedly, as Mr. Badman, but 
 justly, righteously, giving by his curse to those 
 that are wicked the due reward of their 
 deeds. 
 
 Besides, these wicked men, in their wicked 
 cursing of their neighbour, &c., do even curse 
 God himself in his handiwork. Man is God's 
 image, and to curse wickedly the image of God 
 is to curse God himself. Therefore, as when 
 men wickedly swear they rend and tear God's 
 name, and make him, as much as in them lies,, 
 the avoucher and approver of all their wicked- 
 ness, so he that curseth and condemneth in 
 this sort his neighbour, or that wisheth him 
 evil, curseth and condemneth and wisheth evil 
 to the image of God, and consequently judgeth 
 and condemneth God himself. 
 
 Suppose that a man should say with his 
 mouth, I wish that the king's picture was 
 burned, would not this man's so saying render 
 him as an enemy to the person of the king ? 
 Even so it is with them that by cursing wish 
 evil to their neighbour or to themselves ; they 
 contemn the image, even the image of God 
 himself. 
 
 Attentive. But do you think that the men 
 that do thus do think that they do so vilely, so 
 abominably ? 
 
 Wiseman. The question is not what men do 
 believe concerning their sin, but what God's 
 'word says to it. If God's word says that swear- 
 ing and cursing are sins, though men should 
 count them for virtues, their reward will be a 
 reward for sin — to wit, the damnation of the 
 soul. 
 
 To curse another and to swear vainly and 
 falsely are sins against the light of nature. 
 
 1. To curse is so, because whoso curseth an- 
 other knows that at the same time he would 
 not be so served himself. 
 
 2. To swear also is a sin against the same 
 law, for nature will tell me that I should not 
 lie, and therefore much less swear to confirm 
 it. Yea, the heathens have looked upon swear- 
 ing to be a solemn ordinance of God, and 
 therefore not to be lightly or vainly used by 
 men, though to confirm a matter of truth. 
 
 Attentive. But I wonder, since cursing and 
 swearing are such evils in the eyes of God, 
 
 that he doth not make some examples to others 
 for their committing such wickedness. 
 
 Wiseman. Alas ! so he has a thousand times 
 twice told, as may be easily gathered by any 
 observing people in every age and country. I 
 could present you with, several myself, but 
 waiving the abundance that might be men- 
 tioned, I will here present you with two: One 
 was that dreadful judgtnent of God upon one 
 N. P. at Wimbledon, in Surrey, who, after a 
 horrible fit of swearing at and cursing of some 
 persons that did not please him, suddenly fell 
 sick and in a little time died, raving, cursing, 
 and swearing. 
 
 But, above all, take that dreadful story of 
 Dorothy Mately, an inhabitant of Ashover in 
 the county of Derby. 
 
 This Dorothy Mately, said the relater, was 
 noted by the people of the town to be a great 
 swearer, and curser, and liar, and thief, (just 
 like Mr. Badman ;) and the labour that she 
 usually did follow was to wash the rubbish 
 that came forth of the lead mines, and there 
 to get sparks of lead ore ; and her usual way 
 of asserting of things was with these kind of 
 imprecations : I would I might sink into the 
 earth if it be not so, or I would God would 
 make the earth open and swallow me up. 
 Now upon the 23d of March, 1&60, this Doro- 
 thy was washing of ore upon the top of a 
 steep hill, about a quarter of a mile from 
 Ashover, and was there taxed by a lad for tak- 
 ing of two single pence out of his pocket, (for 
 he had laid his breeches by and w'as at work 
 in his drawers,) but she violently denied it, 
 wishing that the ground might swallow her up 
 if she had them. She also used the same 
 wicked words on several other occasions that 
 day. 
 
 Now, one George Hodgkinson of Ashover, 
 a man of good report there, came accidentally 
 by where this Dorothy was, and stood still a 
 Tvhile to talk with her as she was washing her 
 ore ; there stood also a little child by her tub- 
 side, and another a distance from her, call- 
 ing aloud to her to come away ; wherefore the 
 said George took the girl by the hand to lead 
 her away to her that called her ; but behold, 
 they had not gone above ten yards from Dor- 
 othy but they heard her crying out for help ; 
 so, looking back, he saw the woman and her 
 tub and sieve twirling round and sinking into 
 the ground. Then said the man, Pray to God 
 to pardon thy sin, for thou art never like to be 
 seen alive any longer. • So she and her tub 
 twirled round and round, till they sunk about 
 
LTFE AND DEATH OF MR. BADMAN. 
 
 497 
 
 three yards into the earth, and then for awhile 
 Btayed. Then she called for help again, think- 
 ing, as she said, that she should stay there. 
 Now the man, though greatly amazed, did be- 
 gin to think which way to help her; but im- 
 mediately a great stone, which appeared in the 
 earth, fell upon her head and broke her skull, 
 and then the earth fell in upon her and covered 
 lier. She was afterwards digged up, and found 
 ubout four yards within ground, with the boy's 
 two single pence in her pocket, but her tub 
 and sieve could not be found. 
 
 Attentive. You bring to my mind a sad story, 
 the which I will relate unto you. The thing 
 is this ; About a bowshot from where I once 
 dwelt there was a blind alehouse, and the man 
 that kept it had a son whose name was Ed- 
 ward. This Edward was, as it were. An half 
 fool, both in his words and manner of beha- 
 viour. To this blind alehouse certain jovial 
 companions would once or twice a week come, 
 and this Ned (for so they called him) his fa- 
 ther would entertain his guests withal — to wit, 
 by calling for him to make them sport by.his 
 foolish words and gestures. So when these 
 boon-blades came to this man's house, the fa- 
 ther would call for Ned ; Ned therefore would 
 come forth, and the poor wretch was devilishly 
 addicted to cursing, yea, to cursing his father 
 and mother and any one else that crossed him. 
 And because (though he Avas an half fool) he 
 saw that his practice was pleasing, he would 
 do it with the more audaciousness. 
 
 Well, when these br.ive fellows did come at 
 their times to this tippling-house (as they call 
 it) to fuddle and make merry, then must Ned 
 be called out ; and because his father was best 
 acquainted with Ned, and best knew how to 
 provoke him, therefore he would usually ask 
 him such questions or command him such 
 business as would be sure to provoke him in- 
 deed. Then would he (after his foolish man- 
 ner) curse his father most bitterlv ; at which 
 the old man would laugh, (and so would the 
 rest of the guests, as at that which pleased 
 them best,) still continuing to ask that Ned 
 might be provoked to curse, that they might 
 still be provoked to laugh. This was the 
 mirth with which the old man did use to en- 
 tertain his guests. 
 
 The curses wherewith this Ned did use to 
 curse his father, and at which the old man 
 would laugh, were these and such like: The 
 devil take you I The devil fetch you ! He 
 would also wish him plagues and destructions 
 many. Well, so it catne to pass, through the 
 32 
 
 righteous judgment of God, that Ned's wishes 
 and curses were in a little time fulfilled upon 
 his father ; for not many months passed be- 
 tween them after this manner but the devil did 
 indeed take him, possess him, and also in a few 
 days carried him out of this world by death. 
 I say, Satan did take him and possess him ; I 
 mean, so it was judged by those that knew 
 him and had to do with him in that his la- 
 mentable condition. He could feel him like 
 a live thing go up and down in his body, but 
 when tormenting- time was come, (as he had 
 oft?n tormenting fits,) then he would lie like 
 an hard lump in the soft place of his chest, (I 
 mean I saw it so,) and would so rend and tear 
 him and make him roar till he died away. 
 
 I told you before that I was an ear and eye 
 witness of what I here say, apd so I was. I 
 have heard Ned in his roguery cursing his fa- 
 ther, aud his father laughing thereat most 
 heartily, still provoking Ned to curse, that his 
 mirth might be increased. I saw his father 
 also when he was possessed ; I saw him in one 
 of his fits, and saw his flesh (as it was thought) 
 by the devil gathered up on an heap about the 
 bigness of an half egg, to the unutterable tor- 
 ture and afiiiction of the old jnan. There 
 was also one Freeman (who was more than an 
 ordinary doctor) sent for to cast out this devil, 
 and I was there when he attempted to do it; 
 the manner thereof was this : They had the 
 possessed into an outer room, and laid him oil 
 his belly upon a form, with his head hanging 
 over the form's end : then they bound him 
 down thereto; which done, they set a pan of 
 coals under his mouth, and put something 
 therein which made a great smoke, by this 
 means (as it was said) to fetch out the devil. 
 There, therefore, they kept the man till he was 
 almost smothered in the smoke, but no devil 
 came out of him; at which Freeman was 
 somewhat abashed, the man greatly afllicted, 
 and I made to go away wondering and fearing. 
 In a little time, therefore, that which possessed 
 the man carried him out of the world, accord- 
 ing to the cursed wishes of his son. And lliis 
 was the end of this hellish mirth. 
 
 Wiseman. These were all sad judgments. 
 
 Aitentue. These were dreadful judgments 
 indeed. 
 
 Wiseman. Ay, and they look like the threat- 
 enings of that text, (though chiefly it con- 
 cerned Judas,) " As he loved cursing, so let it 
 come unto him; as he delighted not in bless- 
 ing, so let it be far from him; as he clothed 
 himself with cursing as with a garment, so let 
 
498 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 it come into his bowels like water and as oil 
 into his bones." 
 
 Aileniive. It is a fearful thing for youth 
 to be trained up in a way of cursing and 
 swearing. 
 
 Wiseman. Trained up in them ! That I 
 cannot say Mr. Badman was, for his father 
 hath ofttimes in my hearing bewailed the 
 badness of his children, and of this naughty 
 boy in particular. I believe the wickedness 
 of hia children made him, in the thoughts of 
 it, go many a night with a heavy heart to bed, 
 and with as heavy a one to rise in the morn- 
 ing. But all was one to his graceless son; 
 neither wholesome counsel nor fatherly sor- 
 row would make him mend his manners. 
 
 There are some indeed that do train up 
 their children to swear, curse, lie, and steal, 
 and great is the misery of such poor children 
 whose hard hap it is to be ushered into the 
 world by, and to be under the tuition too, of 
 such ungodly parents. It had been better for 
 such parents had they not begat them, and 
 better for such children had they never been 
 born. Oh, methinks for a father or mother to 
 train up a child in that very way that leadeth 
 to hell and (Jamnation, what thing so horri- 
 ble ! But Mr. Badman was not by his parents 
 BO brought up. 
 
 Attentive. But methinks, since this young 
 Badman would not be ruled at home, his 
 father should have tried what good could 
 have been done of him abroad by putting 
 him out to some man of his acquaintance that 
 he knew to be able to command him and to 
 keep him pretty hard to some employ ; so 
 should he at least have been prevented of 
 time to do those wickednesses that could not 
 be done without time to do them in. 
 
 Wiseman. Alas! his father did so; he put 
 him out betimes to one of his own acquaint- 
 ance, and entreated him of all love that he 
 would take care of his son and keep him from 
 extravagant ways. His trade also was honest 
 and commodious ; he had besides a full employ 
 therein, so that this young Badman had no 
 vacant seasons nor idle hours yielded him by 
 his calling, therein to take opportunities to do 
 'sadly; but all was one to him: as he had 
 begun to be vile in his father's house, even so 
 he continued to be when he was in the house 
 of his master. 
 
 AUenticc. I have known some children who, 
 though they have been very bad at home, yet 
 have altered much when they have been put 
 out aoroad, especially when they have fallen 
 
 into a family where the governors thereof 
 have made conscience of maintaining the 
 worship and service of God therein ; but per- 
 haps that might be wanting in Mr. Badman's 
 master's house. 
 
 Wiseman. Indeed some children do greatly 
 mend when put under other men's roofs, but, 
 as I said, this naughty boy did not so, -lor did 
 his badness continue because he wanted a 
 master that both could and did correct it, for 
 his master was a very good man, a very devout 
 person, one that frequented the best soul- 
 means, that set up the worship of God in hia 
 family, and also that walked himself there- 
 after. He was also a man very meek anil 
 merciful, one that did never outdrive young 
 Badman in business, cor that kept him at it at 
 unseasonable hours. 
 
 Attentive. Say you so ? This is rare. I, for 
 my part, can see but few that can parallel in 
 these things with Mr. Badman's master. 
 
 Wiseman. Nor I neither, (yet Mr. Badman 
 had such an one,) for, for the most part, mas- 
 ters-are now-a-days such as mind nothing but 
 their worldly concerns, and if apprentices do 
 but answer their commands therein, soul and 
 religion may go whither they will. Yea, I 
 much fear that there have been many to- 
 wardly lads put out by their parents to such 
 masters that have quite undone them as to the 
 next world. 
 
 Attentive. The more. is the pity. But pra>, 
 now you have touched upon this subject, show 
 me how many ways a master may be the ruin 
 of his poor apprentice. 
 
 Wiseman. Nay, I cannot tell you of all the 
 ways, yet some of them I will mention. 
 
 Suppose then a towardly lad be put to be an 
 apprentice with one that is reputed to be a 
 godly man, yet that lad may be ruined many 
 ways — that is, if his master be not circumspect 
 in all things that respect both God and man, 
 and that before his apprentice. 
 
 1. If he be not moderate in the use of hia 
 apprentice; if he drive him beyond his 
 strength; if he holds him to work at un- 
 seasonable hours; if he will not allow him 
 convenient time to read the word, to pray, 
 &c. : this is the way to destroy him — that is, 
 in those tender beginnings of good thoughts 
 and good beginnings about spiritual things. 
 
 2. If he suffers his house to be scattered 
 with profane and wicked books, such as stir 
 lip to lust, to wantonness, such as teach idle, 
 wanton, lascivious discourse, and such as have 
 a tendency to provoke to profa]ie drollery and 
 
LIFE AND DEATH OF MR. B ADMAN. 
 
 499 
 
 Jesting ; and, lastly, siich as tend to corrupt 
 and pervci't the doctrine of faith and holiness. 
 All these things will eat as doth a canker, and 
 will quickly spoil ip youth, &c., those good be- 
 ginnings that may be putting forth themselves 
 in them. 
 
 3. If there bo a mixture of servants — ^that is, 
 if some very bad be in the same place — that is 
 a way also to undo such tender lads ; for they 
 that are bad and sordid servants will be often 
 f and they have an opportunity to be) distilling 
 and fomenting of their profane and wicked 
 words and tricks before them, and these will 
 easily stick in the flesh and minds of youth, 
 to the corrupting of them. 
 
 4. If the master have one guise for abroad 
 and another for home — that is, if his religion 
 hangs in his house as his cloak doe% and he 
 be seldom in it except he be abroad — this 
 young beginners will take notice of and stum- 
 ble at. We say hedges have eyes and little 
 pitchers have ears; and indeed children make 
 a greater inspection into the lives of fathers, 
 masters, &c., than- ofttimeS they are aware of; 
 and therefore should masters be careful, else 
 they may soon destroy good beginnings in 
 their servants. 
 
 5. If the master be unconscionable in his 
 dealing and trades with lying words, or if bad 
 commodities be avouched to be good, or if he 
 seeks after unreasonable gain or the like, his 
 servant sees it, and it is enough to undo him. 
 
 ' Eli's sons being bad before the congregation 
 made men despise the sacrifice of the Lord." 
 
 But these things by the by ; only they may 
 serve for a hint to masters to take heed that 
 they take not apprentices to destroy their 
 souls. But young Badman had none of these 
 hindrances ; his father took care and provided 
 well for him as to this ; he had a good master, 
 he wanted not good books, nor good instruc- 
 tions, nor good sermons, nor good examples, 
 nor good fellow-servants neither ; but all would 
 not do. 
 
 Attentive. It is a wonder that in such a 
 family, amidst so many spiritual helps, noth- 
 ing should take hold of his heart. What ! not 
 good books, npr good instructions, nor good 
 sermons, nor good examples, nor good fellow- 
 servants, nor nothing do him good? 
 
 Wheman. He minded none of these things ; 
 nay, all these were abominable to him. 
 
 1. For good books, they might lie in his 
 master's house till they rotted, for him; he 
 would not regard to look into them, but, con- 
 trariwise, would get all the bad and abominable 
 
 books that he could, as beastly romances and 
 books full of ribaldry, even such as tended to 
 set all fleshly lusts on fire. True, he durst not 
 be known to have any of these to his master ; 
 therefore would he never let them be seen by 
 him, but would keep them in close places, and 
 peruse them at such times as yielded him fit 
 opportunities thereto. 
 
 2. For good instruction, he liked that muth 
 as he liked good boolis ; his care was to hear 
 but little thereof, and to forget what he had 
 heard as soon as it was spoken ; yea, I have 
 heard some that knew him then say that- ono 
 might evidently discern by the show of his 
 countenance and gestures that good counsel 
 was to him like little ease, 6ven a continual 
 torment to hini ; nor did he ever count himself 
 at liberty but when farthest ofi" of wholesome 
 words. He would hate them that rebuked 
 him, and count them his deadly enemies. 
 
 3. For good example, which was frequently 
 set him by his master both in religious and 
 civil matters, these young Badman would 
 laugh at, and would also make a by-word of 
 them when he came in place where he with 
 safety could. 
 
 4. His master indeed would make him go 
 with him to sermons, and that where he 
 thought the best preachers were, but this un- 
 godly young man — what shall I say ? — was, I 
 think, a master of art in all mischief; he had 
 these wicked ways to hinder himself of hearing, 
 let the preacher thunder never so loud. 
 
 1. His way was, when come into the place 
 of hearing, to sit down in some corner and 
 then to fall fast asleep ; 
 
 2. Or else to fix adulterous eyes upon some 
 beautiful object that was in the place, and so 
 all sermon-while wherewith be feeding his 
 fleshly lusts ; 
 
 3. Or if he could get near to some that he 
 observed would fit his humour, he would be 
 whispering, giggling, and playing with them 
 till such time as sermon was done. 
 
 Attentive. Why he was grown to a prodigious 
 height of wickedness I 
 
 Wiseman. He was so ; and that which aggra- 
 vates all was, this was his practice as soon as 
 he came to his master; he was ready at all 
 these things, as if he had, before he came to 
 his master, served an apprenticeship to learn 
 them. 
 
 Attentive. There could not but be added, as 
 you relate them, rebellion to his sin. Methinka 
 it is as if he had ' said, I will not hear, I will 
 not regard, I will not mind good, I will nol 
 
500 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 mend, I will not turn, I will not be con- 
 verted. 
 
 Wiseman. You say true, and I know not to 
 whom more fitly to compare him tlian to that 
 man who, when I myself rebuked him for his 
 wickedness, in this great huflT replied. What 
 would the devil do for company if it was not 
 for such as I? 
 
 Attentive. Why, did you ever hear any man 
 say so? 
 
 Wiseman. Yes, that I did; and this young 
 ]5adman was as like him as an egg is like an 
 egg. Alas I the Scripture makes mention of 
 many that by their actions speak the same: 
 " They say unto God, Depart from us, for we 
 desire not the knowledge of thy ways." Again : 
 " They refuse to hearken, and pull away their 
 shoulder, and stop their ears ; yea, they make 
 their hearts hard as an adamant stone, lest 
 they should hear the law, and the words that 
 the Lord of hosts hath sent." What are all 
 these but such as Badman, and such as the 
 young man but now mentioned ? That young 
 man was my playfellow when I was solacing 
 myself in my sins ; I may make mention of 
 him to my shame; but he has a great many 
 fellows. 
 
 Attentive. Young Badman was like him in- 
 deed, and he trod his steps as if wickedness 
 had been his very copy ; I mean, as to his des- 
 perateness, for had he not been a desperate 
 one, he would never have made you such a 
 reply when you was rebuking of him for his 
 sin. But when did you give him such a re- 
 buke? 
 
 Wiseman. Awhile after God had parted him 
 and I, by calling of me, as I hope, by his 
 grace,. still leaving him in his sins; and so far 
 as I could ever gather, as he lived so he died, 
 even as Mr. Badman did; but we will leave 
 him and return again to our discourse. 
 
 . Attentive. Ha ! poor obstinate sinners ! Do 
 they think that God cannot be even with 
 them? 
 
 Wisiman. I do not know what they think, 
 but I know what God has said — that as " he 
 cried and they would not hear, so they shall 
 cry, and .1 will not hear, saith the Lord." 
 Doubtless there is a time coming when Mr. 
 Badman shall cry for this. 
 
 Attentive. But I wonder that he should be so 
 expert in wickedness so soon. Alas ! he was 
 but a stripling; I suppose he was as yet not 
 twenty. 
 
 Wisennan. No, nor eighteen, neither, but (as 
 wicb Ishmael, and with the children that 
 
 mocked the prophet) the seeds of sin did put 
 forth themselves betimes in him. 
 
 Attentive. Well, he was as wicked a young 
 man as commonly one shall,hear of. 
 
 Wiseman. You will say so when you know 
 all. 
 
 Attentive. All! I think here is a great all, 
 but if there is more behind, pray let us hear 
 it. 
 
 Wiseman. Why then I will tell you that he 
 had not been with his master much above a 
 year and a half but he came acquainted with 
 three young villains, who here shall be name- 
 less, that taught him to add to his sin much of 
 like kind, and he as aptly received their in- 
 structions. One of them was chiefly given to 
 uncleanness, another to drunkenness, and the 
 third to purloining or stealing from his master. 
 
 Attentive. Alas, poor wretch! he was bad 
 chough before, but these, I suppose, made him 
 much worse. 
 
 Wiseman. That they made him worse you 
 may be sure of, for they taught him to be an 
 arch, a chief one in" all their ways. 
 
 Attentive. It was an ill hap that he ever came 
 acquainted with them. 
 
 Wiseman. You must rather word it thus : It 
 was the judgment of God that he did; that is, 
 he came acquainted with them through the 
 anger of God. He had a- good master, and 
 before him a good father; by these he had 
 good counsel given him for months and years 
 together, but his heart was set upon mischief; 
 he loved wickedness more than to do good, 
 even until bis iniquity came to be hateful; 
 therefore from the anger of God it was that 
 these companions of his and he did at last so 
 acquaint together. Says Paul, " They did not 
 like to retain God in their knowledge;" and 
 what follows ? — " wherefore God gave them over 
 (or up) to their own hearts' lusts." And again, 
 "As for such as turn aside to their own crooked 
 ways, the Lord shall lead them forth with the 
 workers of iniquity." This therefore was 
 God's hand upon him, that he might be de- 
 stroyed, be damned, because he received not 
 the love of the truth that he might be saved. 
 He chose his delusions and deluders for him, 
 even the company of base men, of fools, that 
 he might be destroyed. 
 
 Attentive. I cannot but think indeed that it 
 is a great judgment of God for a man to be 
 given up to the company of vile men ; for 
 what are such but the devil's decoys, even 
 those by whom he draws the simple into hia 
 net? A whoremaster, a drunkard, a thief, wha* 
 
LIFE AND DEATH OF MB. B ADMAN. 
 
 501 
 
 we they but the devil's baits, by which he 
 catcheth others? 
 
 Wiseman. You say right; but this young 
 Badman was no simple one, if by simple you 
 mean one uninstructed, for he had often good 
 counsel given him; but if by simple you mean 
 him that is a fool as to the true knowledge of 
 and faith in Christ, then he was a simple one 
 indeed, for he chose death rather than life, and 
 tc live in continual opposition to God rather 
 than to be reconciled unto him ; according to 
 that saying of the wise man, "The fools hated 
 knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the 
 Lord." And what judgment more dreadful 
 can a fool be given up to than to be delivered 
 into the hands of such men, that have skill to 
 do nothing but to ripen sin and hasten its fin- 
 ishing unto damnation? And therefore men 
 should be afraid of offending God, because he 
 can in this manner punish them for their sins. 
 
 I knew a man that once was, as I thought, 
 hopefully awakened about his condition ; yea, 
 I knew two that were so awakened; but in 
 time they began to draw back and to incline 
 again to their lusts ; wherefore God gave them 
 up to the company of three or four men that 
 in less than three years' time brought them 
 roundly to the gallows, where they were 
 hanged like dogs, because they refused to live 
 like honest men. 
 
 Attentive. But such men do not believe that 
 thus to be given up of God is in judgment and 
 anger; they rather take it to be their liberty, 
 and do count it their happiness ; they are glad 
 that their cord is loosed and that the reins are 
 on their neck; they are glad that they may sin 
 without control, and that they may choose such 
 companions as can make them more expert in 
 an evil way. 
 
 Wiseman. Their judgment is therefore so 
 much the greater, because thereto is added 
 blindness of mind and hardness of heart in a 
 wicked way. They are turned up to the way 
 of death, but must not see to what place they 
 are going. " They must go as the ox to the 
 slaughter, and as the fool to the correction of 
 the stocks, till a dart strike through their liver, 
 not knowing that it is for their life." This, I 
 say, makes their judgment double; they are 
 given up of God for awhile to sport them- 
 selves with that which will assuredly make 
 them mourn at last, when their flesh and their 
 body is consumed. These are those that Peter 
 speaks of, that shall utterly perish in their own 
 corruptions; these, I say, who count it pleasure 
 to riot in the daytime, and that sport them- 
 
 selves with their own deceiving, as natural 
 brute beasts made to be taken and destroyed. 
 
 Attentive. Well, but I pray now concerning 
 these three villains that were young Badman's 
 companions ; tell me more particularly how he 
 carried it then. 
 
 Wisevian. How he carried it ! Why, he did 
 as they. I intimated so much before when I 
 said they made him an arch, a chief one in 
 their ways. 
 
 First, He became a frequenter of taverns 
 and tippling-houses, and would stay there 
 until he was even as drunk as a beast. And 
 if it was so that he could not get out by day, 
 he would, be sure, get out by night. Yea, he 
 became so common a drunkard at last that he 
 was taken notice of to be a drunkard even by 
 all. 
 
 Attentive. This was swinish, for drunkenness 
 is so beastly a sin, a sin so much against na- 
 ture, that I wonder that any that have but the 
 appearance of men can give up themselves to 
 so beastly, yea, worse than a beastly, thing. 
 
 Wiseman. It is a swinish vanity indeed. I 
 will tell you another story. There was a gen- 
 tleman that had a drunkard to be his groom, 
 and coming home one night very much abused 
 with beer, his master saw it. ' Well, quoth his 
 master within himself, I will let thee alone to- 
 night, but to-morrow morning I will convince 
 thee that thou art worse than a beast by the 
 behaviour of my horse. So when morning 
 was come he bids his man go and water his 
 horse, and so he did ; but coming up to his 
 master, he commands him to water him again ; 
 so the fellow ri'd into the water the second 
 time, but his master's horse would now drink 
 no more ; so the fellow came up and told his 
 master. Then said his master. Thou drunken 
 sot ! thou art far worse than my horse ; he will 
 drink but to satisfy nature, but thou wilt drink 
 to the abuse of nature ; he will drink but to re- 
 fresh himself, but thou to thy hurt and dam- 
 age ; he will drink that he may be more ser- 
 viceable to his master, but thou till thou art 
 incapable of serving either God or man. 
 thou beast! how much art thou worse than 
 the horse that thou ridest on ! 
 
 Attentive. Truly, I think that his master 
 served him right, for in doing as he did he 
 showed him plainly, as he said, that he had 
 not so much government of himself as his 
 horse had of himself, and consequently that 
 his beast did live more according to the law of 
 his nature by far than did his man. But pray 
 go on with what you have further to say. 
 
502 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Wiseman. Why, I say that there are four 
 things which, if they are well considered, 
 would make drunkenness to be abhorred in the 
 thoughts of the children of men : 
 
 1. It greatly tendeth to impoverish and beg- 
 gar a man. " The drunkard," says Solomon, 
 " shall come to poverty." Many that have be- 
 gun the world with plenty have gone out of it 
 in rags through drunkenness. Yea, many 
 children that have been born to good estates' 
 have yet been brought to a flail and a rake 
 through this beastly sin of their parents. 
 
 2. The sin of drunkenness, it bringeth upon 
 the body many great and incurable diseases, by 
 which men do in little time come to their end, 
 and none can help them. So because they are 
 overmuch wicked, therefore they die before 
 their time. 
 
 3. Drunkenness is a sin that is oftentimes 
 attended with abundance of other evils : "Who 
 hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath con- 
 tentions? who hath babblings? who hath 
 wounds without cause? who hath redness of 
 eyes? They that tarry long at the wine, they 
 that go to seek mixed wine;" that is, the 
 drunkard. 
 
 4. By drunkenness men do oftentimes shorten 
 their days, go out of the alehouse drunk, and 
 break their necks before they come home. In- 
 stances not a few might be given of this, but 
 this is so manifest that a man need say noth- 
 ing. 
 
 Attentive. But that which is worse than all 
 is, it also prepares men for everlasting burn- 
 ings. 
 
 Wiseman. Yea, and it so stupefies and besots 
 the soul that a man that is far gone in drunk- 
 enness is hardly ever recovered to God. Tell 
 me, when did you see an old drunkard con- 
 verted ? No, no ; such an one will sleep till he 
 dies, though he sleeps on the top of a mast ; 
 let his dangers be never so great, and death 
 and damnation never so near, he will not be 
 awaked out of his sleep. So that if a man 
 have any respect either to credit, health, life, 
 or salvation he will not be a drunken man. 
 But the truth is, where this sin gets the upper 
 band men are, as I said before, so intoxicated 
 and bewitched with the seeming pleasures and 
 sweetness thereof that they have neither heart 
 nor mind to think of that which is better in 
 itself, and would, if embraced, do them good. 
 
 Attentive. You said that drunkenness tends 
 to poverty, yet some make themselves rich by 
 drunken bargains. 
 
 Wiseman. I said so because the word says so. 
 
 And as to some men's getting thereby, that is 
 indeed but rare and base ; yea, and base will 
 be the end of such gettings. The word of God 
 is against such ways, and the curse of God will 
 be the end of such doings. An inheritance 
 may sometimes thus be hastily gotten at the 
 beginning, but the end thereof shall not be 
 blessed. Hark what the prophet saith : " Woe 
 to him that coveteth an evil covetousness, 
 that sets his nest on high I" whether he makes 
 drunkenness or aught else the engine or decoy 
 to get it, for that man doth but consult the 
 shame of his own house, the spoiling of his 
 family, and the damnation of his soul; for that 
 which he getteth by working of iniquity is but 
 a getting by the devices of hell ; therefore he 
 can be no gainer, neither for himself or family, 
 that gains by an evil course. But this was one 
 of the sins that, Mr. Badman was addicted to 
 after he came acquainted with these three fel- 
 lows, nor could all that his master could do 
 break him of this beastly sin. 
 
 Attentive. But where, since he was but an 
 apprentice, could he get money to follow this 
 practice, for drunkenness, as you have inti- 
 mated, is a very costly sin ? 
 
 Wisemmm. His master paid for all. For, as I 
 told you before, as he learned of these three 
 villains to be a beastly drunkard, so he learned 
 of them to pilfer and steal from his' master. 
 Sometimes he would sell off his master's goods, 
 but keep the money — that is, when he could ; 
 also sometimes he would beguile his master by 
 taking out of his cash-box ; and when he could 
 do neither of these he would convey away of 
 his master's wares what he thought would be 
 least missed, and send or carry them to such 
 and such houses, where he knew they would 
 be laid up to his use, and then appoint set 
 times there to meet and make merry with 
 these fellows. 
 
 Attentive. This was as bad, nay, I think 
 worse, than the former, for by thus doing, he 
 did not only run himself under the wrath of 
 God, but he endangered the undoing of his 
 master and his family. 
 
 Wiseman. Sins go not alone, but follow one 
 the other as do the links of a chain ; he that 
 will be a drunkard must have money, either of 
 his own or of some other man's ; either of his 
 father's, mother's, master's, or at the highway, 
 or some way. 
 
 Attentive. I fear that many an honest man ia 
 undone by such kind of servants. 
 
 Wiseman. I am of the same mind with you, 
 but this should make the dealer the more wary 
 
LIFE AND DEATH OF MB. BADMAN. 
 
 503 
 
 wl.at kind of servanta he keeps and what kind 
 of apprentices he takes. It should also teach 
 him to look well to his shop himself; also to 
 take a strict account of all things that are 
 bought and sold hy his servants. The master's 
 neglect herein may embolden his servant to be 
 bad, and may bring himtoo in a short time to 
 rags and a morsel of bread. 
 
 Allenlive. I am afraid that there is much of 
 this kind of pilfering amongst servants in these 
 bad days of ours. 
 
 JBgy Wiseman. Now, while it is in my mind, 
 I will tell you a story. When I was in prison 
 there came a woman to me that was under a 
 great deal of trouble. So I asked her (she 
 being a stranger to me) what she had to say to 
 me. She said she was afraid she should be 
 damned. I asked her the cause of those fears. 
 She told me that she had some time since lived 
 with a shopkeeper at Wellingborough, and had 
 robbed his box in the shop several times of 
 money, to the value of more than now I will 
 say ; and. Pray, says she, tell me what I shall 
 do. I told her I would have her go to her 
 master and make him satisfaction. She said 
 she was afraid. I asked her why ? She said she 
 doubted he' would hang her. I told her that I 
 would intercede for her life, and would makp 
 use of other friends too to do the like, but she 
 told me she durst not venture that. Well, said 
 I, shall I send to your master, while you abide 
 out of sight, and make your peace with him 
 before he sees you? And with that I asked 
 her master's name. But all that she said in 
 answer to this was. Pray let it alone till I come 
 to you again. So away she went, and neither 
 told me her master's name nor her own. This 
 is about ten or twelve years since, and I never 
 saw her again. I tell you this story for this 
 cause, to confirm your fears that of such kind 
 of servants too many there be, and that God 
 makes them sometimes like old Tod, of whom 
 mention was made before, (through the terrors 
 that he lays upon them,) to betray tliem- 
 ielves. 
 
 I could tell you of another that came to me 
 with a like relation concerning herself and the 
 robbing of her mistress, but at this time let 
 this suffice. 
 
 Attentive. But what was that other villain 
 addicted to? — I mean young Badman's third 
 sompanion ? 
 
 Wiseman. Uncleanhess; I told you before, 
 but it seems you forgot. 
 
 Attentive. Right, it was uncleanness; un- 
 clcanness also is a filthy sin. 
 
 Wiseman. It is so, and yet it is one of tne 
 most reigning sins in our day. 
 
 Attentive. So they say, and that too among 
 those that one would think had more wit, even 
 among the great ones. 
 
 Wiseman. The more is the pity, for usually 
 examples that are set by them that are great 
 and chief spread sooner and more universally 
 than do the sins of other men ; yea, and when 
 such men are at the head in transgressing, sin 
 walks with a bold face through the land. As 
 Jeremiah saith of the prophets, so may it be 
 said of such : " From them is profaneness gone 
 forth into all the land ;" that is, with bold and 
 audacious face. 
 
 Attentive. But pray let us return again to Mr. 
 Badman and his companions. You say one of 
 them was very vile in the commission of un- 
 cleanness. 
 
 Wiseman. Yes, so I say ; not but that he was 
 a drunkard and also thievish, but he was most 
 arch in this sin of uncleanness ; this roguery 
 was his masterpiece, for he was a ringleader to 
 them alt in the beastly sin of whoredom. He 
 was also best acquainted with such houses 
 where they were, and so could readily lead the 
 rest of his gang unto them. The strumpets also, 
 because they knew this young villain, would 
 at first discover themselves in all their whorish 
 pranks to those that he brought with him. 
 
 Attentive. That is a deadly thing ; I mean, it 
 is a deadly thing to young men when such 
 beastly queans shall, with words and carriages 
 that are openly tempting, discover themselves 
 unto them ; it is hard for such to escape theii 
 snare. 
 
 Wiseman. That is true, therefore the wise 
 man's counsel is the best : " Come not near the 
 door of her house ;" for they are (as you say) 
 very tempting, as is seen by her in the Pro- 
 verbs : " I looked," says the wise man, " through 
 my casement, and behold among the simple 
 ones I discerned a young man void of under- 
 standing passing through the streets near her 
 cojrner, and he went the way to her house, in 
 the twilight, in the evening, in the black and 
 dark night; and behold, there met him a 
 woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtle 
 of heart, (she is lewd and stubborn ; her feet 
 abide not in her house; now is she without, 
 now is she in the streets, and lieth in wait at 
 every corner.) So she caught him, and kissed 
 him, and with an impudent face said unto him, 
 I have peace-oflFerings with me ; this day have. 
 I paid my vows. Therefore came I forth to 
 meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I 
 
504 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLKTE WORKS. 
 
 have found thee. I have decked my bed with 
 coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with 
 fine linen of Egypt. I have perfumed my bed 
 with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let 
 us take our fill of love until the morning, let 
 us solace ourselves with loves." Here was a 
 bold beast ; and indeed, the very eyes, hands, 
 words, and ways of such are all snares and 
 bands to youthful, lustful fellows; and with 
 these was young Badman greatly snared. 
 
 AUentive. This sin of uncleanness is mightily 
 cried out against both by Moses, the prophets, 
 Christ, and his apostles, and yet, as we see, for 
 all that, how men run headlong to it ! 
 
 Wiieman. You have said the truth, and I 
 will add that God, to hold men back from so 
 filthy a sin, has set such a stamp of his indig- 
 nation upon it, and commanded such evil efiects 
 to follow it, that were not they that use it bereft 
 of all fear of God and love to their own health 
 they could not but stop and be afraid to com- 
 mit it. For besides the eternal damnation 
 that doth attend such in the next world, (for 
 those " have no inheritance in the kingdom of 
 Christ and of God," Eph. v.,) the evil effects 
 thereof in this world are dreadful. This sin 
 is such a snare to the soul that unless a miracle 
 of grace prevents, it, unavoidably perishes in 
 the enchanting and bewitching pleasures of it. 
 This is manifest by these and such like texts : 
 " The adulteress ^Yill hunt for the precious life. 
 Whoso committeth adultery with a woman 
 (acketh understanding; and he that doth it 
 destroy eth his own soul. An whore is a deep 
 ditch, and a strange woman is a narrow pit. 
 Her house inclines to death, and her paths unto 
 the dead. None that go in unto her return 
 again, neither take they hold of the path of 
 life. She hath cast down many wounded ; yea, 
 many strong men have been slain by her ; her 
 house is the way to hell, going down to the 
 chambers of death." 
 
 Attentive. These are dreadful sayings, and do 
 show the dreadful state of those that are guilty 
 of this sin. 
 
 Wiseman. Verily, so they do. But yet that 
 which makes the whole more dreadful is, that 
 men are given up to this sin because they 
 are abhorred of God ; and because abhorred, 
 therefore they shall fall into the commission 
 of it and shall live there : " The mouth (that 
 is, the flattering lips) of a strange woman is a 
 deep pit, the abhorred of the Lord shall fall 
 therein." Therefore it saith again of such, 
 that they " have none inheritance in the king- 
 dom of Christ and of God." 
 
 Attentive. Put all together, T^nd it is a dread- 
 ful thing to live and die in this transgression. 
 
 Wiseman. True ; but suppose that instead of 
 all these judgments this sin had attending of 
 it all the felicities of this life, and no bitter- 
 ness, shame or disgrace mixed with it, yet one 
 hour in hell will spoil all. Oh this hell, hell- 
 fire, damnation in hell ! it is such an inconceiv- 
 able punishment that were it but thoroughly 
 believed it would nip this sin, with others, in 
 the head. But here is the mischief: those 
 that give up themselves to these things do so 
 harden themselves in unbelief and atheism 
 about the things, the punishments that God 
 hath threatened to inflict upon the committers 
 of them, that at last they arrive to'almost an 
 absolute and firm belief that there is no judg- 
 ment to come hereafter, else they would not, 
 they could not, no not attempt to, commit this 
 sin by such abominable language as some do. 
 
 Attentive. Well, but I wonder, if young Bad- 
 man's master knew him to be such a wretch, 
 that he would suffer him in his house ? 
 
 Wiseman. They liked one another even as 
 fire and water do. Young Badman's ways were 
 odious to his master, and his master's ways were 
 such as young Badman could not endure. Thus 
 in these two were fulfilled that saying of the 
 Holy Ghost : " An unjust man is an abomina- 
 tion to the just ; and he that is upright in the 
 way is an abomination to the wicked." 
 
 The good man's ways Mr. Badman could not 
 abide, nor could the good man abide the bad 
 ways of his base apprentice. Yet would his 
 master, if he could, have kept him and also 
 have learned him his trade. 
 
 Attentive. If he could! Why he might if he 
 would, might he not? 
 
 Wiseman. Alas ! Badman ran away from him 
 once and twice, and would not at all be ruled. 
 So the next time he did run away from him ho 
 did let him go indeed, for he gave him no oc- 
 casion to run away, except it was by holding 
 of him as much as he could (and that he could 
 do but little) to good and honest rules of life. 
 And had it been one's own case one should 
 have let him go. For what should a man do 
 that had either regard to his own peace, his chil- 
 dren's good, or the pieservation of the rest of 
 his servants from evil, but let him go ? Had 
 he stayed, the house of correction had been 
 most fit for him, but thither his master wa.s 
 loth to send him, because of the love that he 
 bore to his father. ' An house of correction, I 
 say, had been the fittest place for him, but Wa 
 master let him go. 
 
LIFE AND DEATH OF MB. BADM4.N. 
 
 505 
 
 Altendve. He ran away, you say ; but whither 
 did he run 7 
 
 Wiseman. Why, to one of his own trade and 
 also like himself. Thus the wicked joined 
 hand in han 1, and there he served out his 
 time. 
 
 Attentive. Then sure he had his heart's de- 
 nire when he was with one so like himself. 
 
 Wheman, Yes, so he had, but God gave it 
 him in his anger. 
 
 Attentive. How do you mean? 
 
 Wiseman. I mean as before, that for a wicked 
 man to be, by the providence of God, turned 
 out of a good man's doors into a wicked man's 
 house to dwell is a sign of the stger of God. 
 For God by this and such judgments says thus 
 to such an one : " Thou wicked one, thou lovest 
 not me, my ways, nor my people ; thou castest 
 my law and good counsel behind thy back: 
 come, I will dispose of thee in my wrath ; thou 
 shalt be turned over to the ungodly, thou shalt 
 be put to school to the devil ; I will leave thee 
 to sink and swim in sin till I shall visit thee 
 with death and judgment." This was there- 
 fore another judgment that did come upon this 
 young Badman. 
 
 Attentive. You have said the truth, for God 
 by such a judgment as this in eifect says so in- 
 deed ; for he takes them out of the hand of 
 the just, and binds them up ip the hands of 
 the wicked, and whither they then shall be car- 
 ried a man may easily imagine. 
 
 Wiseman. It is one of the saddest tokens of 
 God's anger that happens to such kind of per- 
 sons, and that for several reasons : 
 
 1. Such an one, by this judgment, is put out 
 of the way and from under the means which or- 
 dinarily are made use of to do good to the soul. 
 For a family where godliness is professed and 
 practised is God's ordinance, the place which 
 he has appointed to teach young ones the way 
 and fear of God. Now to be put out of such 
 a family, into a bad, a wicked one, as Mr. 
 Badman was, must needs be in judgment and 
 a sign of the anger of God. For in ungodly 
 families men learn to forget God, to hate good- 
 ness, and to tStiange themselves from the ways 
 of those that are good. 
 
 2. In bad families they have continually 
 fresh examples and also incitements to evil, 
 and fresh encouragements to it too. Yea, 
 moreover, in such places evil is commended, 
 praised, well spoken of, and they that do it are 
 applauded ; and this, to be sure, is a drowning 
 judgment. 
 
 3. Such places are the very haunts and walks 
 
 of the infernal spirits, who are continually 
 poisoning the cogitations and minds of one or 
 other in such families, that they be able to 
 poison others. Therefore observe it: usually 
 in wicked families some one or two are more 
 arch for wickedness than are any others that 
 are there. Now, such are Satan's conduit- 
 pipes, for by them he conveys the spawn of 
 hell, through their being crafty in wickedness, 
 into the ears and souls of their companions ; 
 yea, and when they have once conceived wick- 
 edness, they travail with it, as doth a woman 
 with child, till they have brought it forth: 
 " Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath 
 conceived mischief and brought forth false- 
 hood." Some men, as here is intimated in the 
 text, and as was hinted also before, have a 
 mind of mystical but hellish copulation vyith 
 the devil, who is the father and their soul the 
 mother of sin and wickedness ; and they, so 
 soon as they have conceived by him, finish by 
 bringing forth sin, both it and their own dam- 
 nation. 
 
 Attentive. How much then doth it concern 
 those parents that love their children to see 
 that if they go from them they be put into such 
 families as be good, that they may learn there 
 betimes to eschew evil and to follow that which 
 is good 1 
 
 Wiseman. It doth concern them indeed ; and 
 it doth also concern them that take children 
 into their families to take heed what children 
 they receive. For a man may soon by a bad 
 boy be damaged both in his name, estate, and 
 family, and also hindered in his peace and 
 peaceable pursuit after God and godliness ; I 
 say, by one such vermin as a wicked and filthy 
 apprentice. 
 
 Attentive. True, for one sinner destroyeth 
 much good, and a poor man is better than a 
 liar. But many times a man cannot help it, 
 for such as at the beginning promise very fair 
 are by a little time proved to be very roguea, 
 like young Badman. 
 
 Wiseman. That is true also; but when a 
 man has done the best he can to help it he 
 may with the more confidence expect the 
 blessing of God to follow, or he shall have the 
 more peace if things go contrary to his desire. 
 
 Attentive. Well, but did Mr. Badman and his 
 master agree so well ? I mean his last master, 
 since they were birds of a feather; I mean 
 since they were so well met for wickedness. 
 
 Wiseman. This second master was, as before 
 I told you, bad enough, but yet he would often 
 fall out with young Badman, his servant, and 
 
606 
 
 .BVNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 chide, yea, and sometimes beat him too, for 
 his naughty doings. 
 
 Atteniive. What I for all he was so bad him- 
 self I This is like the proverb. The devil cor- 
 rects vice. 
 
 Wiseman. I will assure you it is as I say, for 
 you must know that Badman's ways suited not 
 with his master's gains. Could he have done 
 BT: the damsel that we read of (Acts xvi.) did 
 — to wit, fill his master's purse with his bad- 
 ness — he had certainly been his white boy; 
 but it was not so with young Badman, and 
 therefore, though his master and he did suit 
 well enough in the main, yet in this and that 
 point they differed. Young Badman was for 
 neglecting of his master's business, for going 
 to the whorehouse, for beguiling of his master, 
 for attempting to debauch his daughters, and 
 the like. No marvel, then, if they disagreed 
 in their points. Not so much for that his 
 master had an antipathy against the fact it- 
 self — for he could do so when he was an ap- 
 prentice — but for that his servant, by his sin, 
 made spoil of his commodities, &c., and so 
 damnified his master. 
 
 Had {as I said before) young Badman's 
 wickedness only a tendency to his master's 
 advantages, as could he have sworn, lied, coz- 
 ened, cheated, and defrauded customers for his 
 master, (and indeed sometimes he did so,) but 
 had that been all that he had done he had not 
 had, no, not a wry word from his master; but 
 Ibis was not always Mr. Badman's way. 
 
 Attentive. That was well brought in, even 
 the maid that we read of in the Acts, and the 
 distinction was as clear betwixt the wicked- 
 ness and wickedness of servants. 
 
 Wiseman. Alas ! men that are wicked them- 
 selves yet greatly hate it in others, not simply 
 because it is wickedness, but because it op- 
 poseth their interest. Do you think that that 
 maid's master would have been troubled at the 
 loss of her if he had not lost with her his gain ? 
 No, I'll warrant you ; she might have gone to 
 the devil for him. But when her master saw 
 " that the hope of his gain was gone," then, 
 then he fell to persecuting Paul. But Mr. 
 Badman's master did sometimes lose by Mr. 
 Badman's sins, and then Badman and his 
 master were at odds. 
 
 Attentive. Alas, poor Badman I Then it 
 seems thou couldst not at all times please thy 
 like? 
 
 Wiseman. No, he could not, and the reason 
 I have told you. 
 
 Attentive. But do not bad masters condemn 
 
 themselves in condemning the badness of their 
 servants ? 
 
 Wiseman. Yes, in that they condemn that 
 in another which they either have or do allow 
 in themselves. And the time will come when 
 that very sentence that hath gone out of their 
 own mouths against the sins of others, them- 
 selves living and taking pleasure in the same, 
 shall return with violence upon their own 
 pates. The Lord pronounced judgment against 
 Baasha, as for all his evils in general, so for 
 this in special, because he was " like the house 
 of Jeroboam, and yet killed him." This is 
 Mr. Badman's master's case, and he is like his 
 man, and yet he beats him ; he is like hia 
 man, and yet he rails at him for being bad. 
 
 Attentive. But why did not young Badman 
 run away from his master, as he ran away from 
 the other? 
 
 Wiseman. He did not. And; if I be not 
 mistaken, the reason why was this : There was 
 godliness in the house of the first, and that 
 young Badman could not endure. For fare, 
 for lodging, for work, and time he had better 
 and more by his master's allowance than ever 
 he had by his last ; but all this would not con- 
 tent because godliness was promoted there. 
 He could not abide this praying, this reading 
 of Scriptures, and hearing and repeating of 
 sermons ; he could not abide to be told of his 
 transgressions in a sober and godly manner. 
 
 Attentive. There is a great deal in the man- 
 ner of reproof; wicked men both can and can- 
 not abide to hear their transgressions spoken 
 against. 
 
 Wiseman. There is a great deal of difference 
 indeed ; this last master of Mr. Badman would 
 tell Mr. Badman of his sins in Mr. Badman's 
 own dialect; he would swear, and curse, and 
 damn when he told him of his sins ; and this 
 he could bear better than to be told of them 
 after a godly sort. Besides, that last master 
 would, when his passions and rage was over, 
 laugh at and make merry with the sins of his 
 servant Badman ; and that would please young 
 Badman well. Nothing offended Badman but 
 blows, and those he had but few of now, be- 
 cause he was pretty well grown up. For the 
 most part, when his master did rage and swear, 
 he would give him oath for oath, and curse for 
 curse, at least secretly, let him go on so long 
 as he would. 
 
 Atteniive. This was hellish living. 
 
 Wiseman. It was hellish living indeed ; and 
 a man might say that with this master young 
 Badman completed himself yet more and more 
 
LIFE AND DEATH OF MB. B ADM AN. 
 
 507 
 
 In wickedness as well as in his trade;, for by 
 that he came out of his time, what with his 
 own inclination to sin, what with his acquaint- 
 ance with his three companiops, and what with 
 this last master and the wickedness he saw in 
 him, he became a sinner in grain. I think he 
 had a bastard laid to his charge before he came 
 out of his time. 
 
 Alleniive. Well, but it seems he did live to 
 come out of his time; but what did he 
 tlien? 
 
 Wiseman. Why, he went home to his father, 
 and he, like a loving and tender-hearted fa- 
 ther, received him into his house. 
 
 Attentive. And how did he carry it there? 
 
 Wiseman. Why, the reason why he went 
 home was for money to set up for himself. He 
 stayed but a little at home, but that little while 
 that he did stay he refrained himself as well 
 as he could, and did not so much discover 
 himself to be base, for fear his father should 
 take distaste, and so should refuse or for awhile 
 forbear to give him money. 
 
 Yet even then he would have his times and 
 companions, and the fill of his lusts with them, 
 but he used to blind all with this : he was glad 
 to see his old acquaintance, and they as glad to 
 see him, and he could not, in civility, but ac- 
 commodate them with a bottle or two of wine 
 or a dozen or two of drink. 
 
 Attentive. And did the old man give him 
 money to set up with ? 
 
 Wiseman. Yes, about two hundred pounds. 
 
 Attentive. Therein, I think, the old man was 
 out. Had I been his father, I would have held 
 him a little at stavesend till I had had far bet- 
 ter proof of his manners to be good, (for I 
 perceived that his father did know what a 
 naughty boy he had been, both by what he 
 used to do at home, and because he changed a 
 good master for a bad, &c.) He should not, 
 therefore, have given him money so soon. 
 What if he had pinched a little and gone to 
 journey-work, for a time, that he might have 
 known what a penny was by his earning of 
 it? Then, in all probability, he had known 
 better how to have spent it; yea, and by that 
 time, perhaps, have better considered with 
 himself how to have lived in the world. Ay, 
 and who knows but he might come to himself 
 with the prodigal, and have asked God and 
 his father forgiveness for the villainies that he 
 had committed against them ? 
 
 Wiseman. If his father could also have 
 blessed his manner of dealing to him, and 
 have made it effectual for the ends that you 
 
 have propounded, then I should have thought 
 as you. But alas, alas! you talk as if you 
 never knew, or had at this present forgot, what 
 the bowels and compassions of a father are. 
 Why did you not serve your own .son so ? But it 
 is evident enough that we are better at giving 
 good counsel to others than we are at taking 
 good counsel ourselves. But, mine honest 
 neighbour, suppose that Mr. Badman's fathei 
 had done as you say, and by so doing had 
 driven his son to ill courses, what had he 
 bettered either himself or his son in so doing? 
 
 Attentive. That is true ; but it doth not fol- 
 low that if the father had done as I said the 
 son would have done as you suppose. But if 
 he had done as you have supposed, what had 
 he done worse than he had done already? 
 
 Wiseman. He had done bad enough, that is 
 true. But suppose his father had given him 
 no money, and suppose that young Badman 
 had taken a pet thereat, and in anger had gone 
 beyond sea, and his father had never seen him 
 nor heard of him more ; or suppose that, of a 
 mad and headstrong stomach he had gone to 
 the highway for money, and so had brought 
 himself to the gallows and his father and fam- 
 ily to great contempt ; or, if by so doing he 
 had not brought, himself to that end, yet he 
 had added to all his wickedness such and such 
 evils besides, — what comfort could his father 
 have had in this? 
 
 Besides, when his father had done for him 
 what he could, with desire to make him an 
 honest man, he would then, whether his son 
 had proved honest or no, have laid down hia 
 head with far more peace than if he had taken 
 your counsel. 
 
 Attentive. Nay, I think I should not have 
 been forward to have given advice in the case ; 
 but truly you have given me such an account 
 of his villainies that the hearing thereof has 
 made me angry with him. 
 
 Wiseman. In an angry mood we may soon 
 outshoot ourselves ; but, poor wretch as he is ! 
 he is gone to his place. But, as I said, when 
 a good father hath done what he can for a bad 
 child, and that child shall prove never the bet- 
 ter, he will lie down with far more peace than 
 If through severity he had driven him to in- 
 conveniences. 
 
 I remember that I have heard of a good 
 woman that had (as this old man) a bad and 
 ungodly son, and she prayed for him, coun- 
 selled him, and carried it motherly to him for 
 several years together, but still he remained 
 bad. At last, upon a time, after she had been 
 
508 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 at prayer, as she was wont, for his conversion, 
 she comes to him, and thus, or to this effect, 
 begins again to admonish him. Son, said she, 
 thou hast been and art a wicked child ; thou 
 hast cost me many a prayer and tear, and yet 
 tliou remainest wicked ; well, I have done my 
 duty, I have done what I can to save thee ; 
 now I am satisfied that if I shall see thee 
 damned at the day of judgment I shall be so 
 far off from being grieved for thee that I shall 
 rejoice to hear the sentence of thy damnation 
 at that day. And it converted him. 
 
 1 tell you, that if parents carry it lovingly 
 towards their children, mixing their mercies 
 with loving rebukes, and their loving rebukes 
 with fatherly and motherly compassions, they 
 are more likely to save their children than by 
 being churlish and severe towards them. But 
 if they do not save them, if their mercy do 
 them no good, yet it will greatly ease them at 
 the day of death to consider, " I have done by 
 love as much as I could to save and deliver 
 my child from hell." 
 
 Atte7itive. "Well, I yield. But pray let us 
 return again to Mr. Badman. You say that 
 his father gave him a piece of money that he 
 might set up for himself. 
 
 Wiseman. Yes, his father did give him a 
 piece of money, and he did set up, and almost 
 as soon set down again ; for he was not long 
 set up but by his ill managing of his matters 
 at home, together with his extravagant ex- 
 penses abroad, he was got so far in debt and 
 had so little in his shop to pay that he was 
 hard put to it to keep himself out of prison. 
 But when his creditors understood that he was 
 about to marry, and in a fair way to get a rich 
 wife, they said among themselves, " We will 
 not be hasty with him ; if he gets a rich wife, 
 he will pay us all." 
 
 Attentive. But how could he so quickly run 
 out, for I perceive it was in little time by what 
 you say ? 
 
 Wiseman. It was in little time indeed; I 
 think he was not above two years and a half 
 in doing of it ; but the reason is apparent, for 
 he being a wild young man, and now having 
 the bridle loose before him, and being wholly 
 subjected to his lusts and vices, he gave him- 
 self up to the way of his heart and to the sight 
 of his eye, forgetting that for all these things 
 God would bring him to judgment; and he 
 that doth thus, you may be sure, shall not be 
 able long to stand on his legs. 
 
 Besides, he had now an addition of new 
 companions — companions, you must think, 
 
 most like himself in manners, and so such 
 that cared not who sunk, so they themselves 
 might swim. These would often be haunting 
 of him and of his shop too when he was absent. 
 They would commonly egg him to the ale- 
 house, but yet make him Jack-pay-for-all : 
 they would also be borrowing money of him, 
 but take no care to pay again, except it was 
 with more of their company, which also ha 
 liked very well; and so his poverty came 
 "like one that travaileth," and his "want 
 like an armed man." 
 
 But all the while they studied his temper; 
 he loved to be flattered, praised, and com- 
 mended for wit, manhood, and personage; 
 and this was like stroking him over the face. 
 Thus they colleagued with him, and yet got 
 more and more into him, and so (like horse- 
 leeches) they drew away that little that his 
 father had given him, and brought him 
 quickly down almost to dwell next door to 
 the beggar. 
 
 Attentive. Then was. the saying of the wise 
 man fulfilled: "He that keepeth company 
 with harlots and is a companion of fools shall 
 be destroyed." 
 
 Wiseman. Ay, and that too, " A companion 
 of riotous persons shameth his father;" for he, 
 poor man, hath both grief and shame to see 
 how his son (now at his own hand) behaved 
 himself in the enjoyment of those good things 
 in and under the lawful use of which he might 
 have lived to God's glory, his own comfort, 
 and credit among his neighbours. "But he 
 that followeth vain persons shall have poverty 
 enough." The way that he took led him 
 directly into this condition, for who can ex- 
 pect other things of one that follows such 
 courses? Besides, when he was in his shop 
 he could not abide to be doing ; he was natu- 
 rally given to idleness ; he loved to live high, 
 but his hands refused to labour; and what 
 else can the end of such an one be but that 
 which the wise man saith? — "The drunkard 
 and the glutton shall come to poverty, and 
 drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags." 
 
 Attentive. But now, methinks, when he was 
 brought thus low, he should have considered 
 the hand of God that was gone out against 
 him, and should have smote upon the breast 
 and have returned. 
 
 Wiseman. Consideration, good consideration, 
 was far from him ; he was as stout and proud 
 now as ever in all his life, and was as high too 
 in the pursuit of his sin as when he was in 
 the midst of his fulness ; only he went now 
 
LIFE AND DEATH OF MR. B ADM AN. 
 
 509 
 
 like a tired jade; the devil had ridden him 
 almost oflf his legs. 
 
 Attentive. Well, but what did he do when 
 all was almost gone? 
 
 Wisernan. Two things were now his play: 
 1. He bore all in hand by swearing, and 
 cracking, and lying that he was as well to 
 pass as he was the first day he set up for him- 
 self, yea, that he had rather got than lost; 
 and he had at his beck some of his com- 
 panions that would swear to confirm it as fast 
 as he. 
 
 Attentive. This was double wickedness; it 
 was a sin to say it, and another to swear to it. 
 
 WiseTnan. That is true; but what evil is that 
 that he will not do that is left of God, as I be- 
 lieve Mr. Badman was? 
 
 Attentive. And what was the other tjiing? 
 
 Wiseman. Why, that which I hinted before 
 — he was for looking out for a rich wife ; and 
 now I am come to some more of his invented, 
 devised, designed, and abominable roguery, 
 such as will yet declare him to be a most 
 abominable sinner. 
 
 The thing was this : a wife he wanted, or 
 rather money, for, as for a woman, he could 
 have whores enough at his whistle. But, as I 
 said, he wanted money, and that must be got 
 by a wife or no way ; nor could he so easily 
 get a wife, neither, except he became an artist 
 at the way of dissembling; nor would dissem- 
 bling do among that people that could dissem- 
 ble as well as he. But there dwelt a maid not 
 far from him that was both godly and one that 
 had a good portion ; but how to get her, there 
 lay all the craft. Well, he calls a council 
 of some of his most trusty and cunning com- 
 panions and breaks his mind to them — to wit, 
 that he had a mind to marry, and he also told 
 them to whom. But, said 'he, how shall I ac- 
 co)nplish my end ? She is religious and I am 
 not. Then one qfthem made reply, saying. Since 
 ^lic is religious, you must pretend to be so like- 
 wise, and that for some time before you go to 
 her ; mark therefore whither she goes daily to 
 heat, and do you go thither also ; but there you 
 must be sure to behave yourself soberly, and 
 make as if you liked the word wonderful well; 
 stand also where she may see you, and when 
 you tome home be sure that you walk the 
 streets very soberly and go within sight of 
 her; this done for awhile, then go to her and 
 first talk of liow sorry you are for your sins, 
 and show great love to the religion that she is 
 of, still speaking well of her preachers and of 
 her godlv acquaintance, bewailing your hard 
 
 hap that it was not your lot to be acquainted 
 with her and her fellow-professors sooner ; and 
 this is the way to get her. Also you must 
 write down sermons, talk of Scriptures, and 
 protest that you came a-wooing to her only be- 
 cause .she is godly, and because you should 
 count it your greatest happiness if you might 
 but have such a one ; as for her money, slight 
 it, it will never he the further ofi"; that is the 
 way to come soonest at it, for she will be jeal- 
 ous at first that you come for her money ; you 
 know what she has, but make not a word about 
 it. Do this, and you shall see if you do not 
 entangle the lass. 
 
 Thus the snare was laid for this poor, honest 
 maid, and she was quickly catched in the pit. 
 
 Attentive. Why, did he take this counsel ? 
 Wiseman. Did he 1 Yea, after awhile went 
 as boldly to her, and that under a vizard of re- 
 ligion, as if he had been for honesty and god- 
 liness one of the most sincere and upright- 
 hearted in England. He observed all his 
 points and followed the advice of his counsel- 
 lors, and quickly obtained| her too, for natural 
 parts he had : he was tall and fair, and had 
 plain but very good clothes on his back; and 
 his religion was the more easily attained, for he 
 had seen something in the house of his father 
 and first master, and so could the more readily 
 put himself into the form and show thereof. 
 
 So he appointed a day and went to her, as 
 that he might easily do, for she had neither 
 father nor mother to oppose. Well, when he 
 was come, and had given her a civil compli 
 ment to let her understand why he was come, 
 then he began and told her that he had found 
 in his heart a great deal of love to her person, 
 and that of all the damsels in the world he had 
 pitched upon her, if she thought fit, to make 
 her his beloved wife. The reasons, as he told 
 her, why he had pitched upon her were her re- 
 ligious and personal excellencies, and there- 
 fore entreated her to take his condition into 
 her tender and loving consideration. ■ As for 
 the world, quolh he, I have a very good trade, 
 and can maintain myself and family well while 
 my wife si^ still on her seat; I have got thus 
 and thus much already, and feel money come 
 in every day ; but that is not the thing that I 
 aim at ; it is an honest and godly wife. Then 
 he would present lier with a g(jod book or two, 
 pretending how much good he had got by 
 them himself He would also be often speak- 
 ing well of godly ministers, especially of those 
 that he perceived she liked and loved most. 
 Besides, he would be often telling of her. what 
 
510 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 a godly father lie had, and what a new man he 
 was also become himself; and thus did this 
 treacherous dealer deal with this honest and 
 good girl, to her great grief and sorrow, as af- 
 terward you shall hear. 
 
 Attentive. But had the maid no friend to look 
 after her? 
 
 Wiseman. Her father and mother were dead, 
 and that he knew well enough, and so she was 
 the more easily overcome by his naughty, lying 
 tongue. But if she had never so many friends 
 she might have been beguiled by him. It is 
 too much the custom of young people now to 
 think themselves wise enough to make their 
 own choice, and that they need not ask coun- 
 sel of those that are elder and also wiser than 
 they; but this is a great fault in them, and 
 many of them have paid dear for it. Well, to 
 be short, in a little time Mr. Badman obtains 
 his desire, gets this honest girl and her money, 
 is married to her, brings her home, makes a 
 feast, entertains her royally, but her portion 
 must pay for all. 
 
 Attentive. This was wonderful deceitful do- 
 ings : a man shall seldom hear of the like. 
 
 Wiseman. By this his doing he showed how 
 little he feared God and what little dread he 
 had of his judgments. For all this carriage 
 and all these words were by him premeditated 
 evil; he knew he lied, he knew he dissembled; 
 yea, he knew that he made use of the name of 
 God, of religion, good men and good books but 
 as a stalking-horse, thereby the better to catch 
 his game. In all this his glorious pretence of 
 religion he was but a glorious painted hypo- 
 crite, and hypocrisy is the highest sin that a 
 poor carnal wretch can attain unto ; it is also 
 a sin that most dareth God and that also bring- 
 eth the greater damnation. Now was he a 
 whited wall, now was he a painted sepulchre, 
 now was he a grave that appeared not, for this 
 poor honest, godly damsel little thought that 
 both her peace, and comfort, and estate, and 
 liberty, and person, and all were going to her 
 burial when she was going to be married to 
 Mr. Badman; and yet so it was, she enjoyed 
 herself but little afterwards ; she wj.s as if she 
 was dead and buried to what she enjoyed be- 
 fore. 
 
 Attentive. Certainly some wonderful judg- 
 ment of God must attend and overtake such 
 wicked men as these. 
 
 Wiseman. You may be sure that they shall 
 have judgment, to the full for all these things 
 when the day of judgment is come. But as 
 for judgment upon them in this life, it doth 
 
 not always come — no, not upon those that are 
 worthy thereof: "They that tempt God are 
 delivered, and they that work wickedness are 
 set up;" but they are reserved to the day of 
 wrath, and then, for their wickedness, God 
 will repay them to their faces. "The wicked 
 is reserved to the day of destruction; they 
 shall be brought forth to the day of wrath. 
 Who shall declare his way to his face? and 
 who shall repay him what he hath done? Yet 
 shall he be brought to the grave, and reu;ain 
 in the tomb;" that is, ordinarily they escape 
 God's hand in this life, save only a few ex- 
 amples are made that others may be cautioned 
 and take warning thereby, but at the day of 
 judgment they must be rebuked for their evil 
 with the lashes of devouring fire. 
 
 Attentive. Can you give me no example of 
 God's wrath upon men that have acted this 
 tragical wicked deed of Mr. Badman ? 
 
 Wiseman. Yes, Hamor and Shechem and all 
 the men of their city, for attempting to make 
 God and religion the stalking-horse to get 
 Jacob's . daughter to wife, were together slain 
 with the edge of the sword — a judgment of 
 God upon them, no doubt, for their dissem- 
 bling in that matter. All manner of lying and 
 dissembling is dreadful, but to make God and 
 religion a disguise, therewith to blind thy dis- 
 simulation from others' eyes, is highly provok- 
 ing to the Divine Majesty. 
 
 JB®" I knew one that dwelt not far off from 
 our town that got him a wife as Mr. Badman 
 got his, but he did not enjoy her long; for one 
 night, as he was riding home from his com- 
 panions, where he had been at a neighbouring 
 town, his horse threw him to the ground, 
 where he was found dead at break of day, 
 frightfully and latoentably mangled with his 
 fall and besmeared with his own blood. 
 
 Attentive. Well, but pray return again to Mr. 
 Badman ; how did he carry it to his wife after 
 he was married to her? 
 
 Wiseman. Nay, let us take things along as 
 we go. He had not been married but a little 
 while but his creditors came upon him for 
 their money. He deferred them a little while, 
 but at last things were come to that point that 
 pay he must or must do worse; so he appointed 
 them a time and they came for their money, 
 and he paid them down with her money, be- 
 fore her eyes, for those goods that he had pro- 
 fusely spent among his whores long before, be- 
 sides the portion that his father gave him to 
 the value of two hundred pounds. 
 
 Attentive. This beginning was bad, but what 
 
LIFE AND DEATH OF MB. B ADMAN. 
 
 511 
 
 ehall I say? It was like Mr. Badman liiraself. 
 Poor woman! this was but a bad beginning for 
 her; I fear it filled her with trouble enough, 
 as I think such a beginning would have done 
 one perhaps much stronger than she. 
 
 Wiseman. Trouble! Ay, you may he sure 
 of it, but now it was too late to repent; she 
 should have looked better to herself when be- 
 ing wary would have done her good; her 
 harms may be an advantage to others that 
 will learn to take heed thereby ; but, for her- 
 self she must take what follows, even such a 
 life now as Mr. Badman her husband will lead 
 her, and that will be bad enough. 
 
 Attentive. This beginning was bad, and yet I 
 fear it was but the beginning of bad. 
 
 Wiseman. You may be sure that it was but 
 the beginning of badness, for other eijils came 
 on apace, as for instance: It was but a little 
 while after he was married but he hangs his 
 religion upon the hedge, or rather dealt with 
 it as men deal with their old clothes, who 
 cast them off or leave them to others to 
 wear; for his part, he would be religious no 
 longer. 
 
 Now, therefore, he had pulled off his vizard 
 and began to show himself in his old shape, a 
 base, wicked, debauched fellow, and now the 
 poor woman saw that she was betrayed indeed ; 
 now also his old companions began to flock 
 about him and to haiftit his house and shop as 
 formerly; and who with them but Mr. Bad- 
 man? and who with him again but they? 
 
 Now, those good people that used to com- 
 pany with his wife began to be amazed and 
 discouraged; also he would frown and glout 
 upon them, as if he abhorred the appearance 
 of them; so that in little time he drove all 
 good company from her, and made her sit 
 solitary by herself. He also began now to go 
 out o' nights to those drabs who were his 
 familiars before, with whom he would stay 
 sometimes till midnight, and sometimes till 
 almost morning, and then would come home 
 drunk as a swine ; and this was the course of 
 Mr. Badman. 
 
 Now when he came home in this case, if his 
 wife did but speak a word to him about where 
 he had been and why he had abused himself, 
 though her words, were spoken in never, so 
 much meekness and love, then she was a 
 whure, and bitch, and jade, and it was well if 
 she missed his fingers and heels. Sometimes 
 also he would bring his punks home to his 
 house, and woe he to his wife when they were 
 * feOne if she did not entertain them with all 
 
 varieties possible, and also carry it lovingly to 
 them. 
 
 Thus this good woman was made by Bad- 
 man, her husband, to possess nothing but dis- 
 appointments as to all that he had promised 
 her or that she hoped to have at his hands. 
 
 But that thgfcadded pressing weight to all 
 her sorrow w^Bthat as he had cast away all 
 religion hirasen; so he attempted if possible 
 to make her do so too. He would not suffer 
 her to go out to the preaching of the word of 
 Christ, nor to the rest of his appointments for 
 the health and salvation of her soul. He 
 would now taunt at and reflectingly speak of 
 her preachers, and would receive, yea, raise 
 scandals of them, to her very great grief and 
 affliction. 
 
 Now she scarce dare go to an honest neigh- 
 bour's house or have a good book in her hand, 
 especially when he had his companions in his 
 house or had got a little drink in his head. 
 He would also, when he perceived that she 
 was dejected, speak tauntingly and mockingly 
 to her in the presence of his companions, 
 calling of her his religious wife, his demure 
 dame, and the like; also he would make a 
 sport of her among his wanton ones abroad. 
 
 If she did ask him, as sometimes she would, 
 to let her go out to a sermon, he would in a 
 currish manner reply, Keep at home, keep at 
 home, and look to your business; we cannot 
 live by hearing of sermons. If she still urged 
 that he would let her go, then he would say to 
 her. Go if you dare. He would also charge 
 her with giving of what he had to her minis- 
 tere, when, vile wretch ! he had spent it on his 
 vain companions before. 
 
 This was the life that Mr. Badman's good 
 wife lived within few months after he had 
 married her. 
 
 Attentive. This was a disappointment indeed. 
 
 Wiseman. A disappointment indeed, as ever, 
 I think^ poor woman had. One would think 
 that the knave might a little let her have had 
 her will, since it was nothing but to be honest, 
 and since she brought him so sweet, so lump- 
 ing a portion, for she brought hundreds into 
 his house ; I say, one would think he should 
 have let her had her own will a little, since 
 she desired it only in the service and worship 
 of God ; but could she win him to grant her 
 that ? No, not a bit if it would have saved 
 her life. True, sometimes she would steal out 
 when he was from home, or on a journey, or 
 among his drunken companions, but with all 
 privacy imaginable ; and, poor woman ! this 
 
512 
 
 SUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 advantage she had : she carried it so to all her 
 neighbours that though many of them were 
 but carnal, yet they would not betray her, or 
 tell of her going out to the world if they saw 
 it, but would rather endeavour to hide it from 
 Mr. Badman himself. 
 
 Attentive. This carriage of^^ to her was 
 enough to break her heart, 'i?.-: 
 
 Wiseman. It was enough to do it; indeed it 
 did effectually do it. It killed her in time, 
 yea, it was all the time a-killing of her. She 
 would oftentimes, when she sat by herself, thus 
 mournfully bewail her condition : " Woe is me 
 that I sojourn in Meshec, and that I dwell in 
 the tents of Kedar ! My soul hath long time 
 dwelt with him that hateth peace. Oh what 
 shall be given unto thee, thou deceitful 
 tongue? or what shall be done unto thee, 
 thou false tongue ?" I am a woman grieved 
 in spirit; my husband has bought me and 
 sold me for his lusts ; it was not me, but my 
 money that he wanted ; oh that he had had it, 
 so I had had my liberty ! 
 
 This she said, not of contempt of his per- 
 son, but of his conditions ; and because she 
 saw that by his hypocritical tongue he had 
 brought her not only almost to beggary, but 
 robbed her of the word of God. 
 
 Attentive. It is a deadly thing, I see, to be 
 unequally yoked with unbelievers. If this 
 woman had had a good husband, how happily 
 might they have lived together ! Such an one 
 would have prayed for her, taught her, and 
 also would have encouraged her in the faith 
 and ways of God ; but now, poor creature ! 
 instead of this, there is nothing but quite the 
 contrary. 
 
 Wiseman. It is a deadly thing indeed, and 
 therefore by the word of God his people are 
 forbid to be joined in marriage with them. 
 "Be not," saith he, "unequally yoked together 
 with unbelievers; for what fellowship hath 
 righteoLisnesswith unrighteousness? and what 
 communion hath light with darkness? and 
 what concord hath Christ with "Belial? or 
 what part hath he that believeth with an in- 
 fidel? and what agreement hath the temple 
 of God with idols ?" There can be no agree- 
 ment where such matches are made; even 
 God himself hath declared the contrary from 
 the beginning of the world. "I," says he, 
 " will put enmity betwixt thee and the woman, 
 betwixt thy seed and her seed." Therefore he 
 saith in /mother place, " They can mix no bet- 
 ter than iron and clay." I say, they cannot 
 atree, they cannot be one, and therefore they 
 
 should be aware at first and not lightly re- 
 ceive such into their affections. God has 
 often made such matches bitter, especially to 
 his own. Such matches are, as God said of 
 Eli's sons that were spared, " to consume the 
 eyes and to grieve the heart." Oh the wailing 
 and lamentation that they have made that 
 have been thus yoked, especially if they were 
 such as would be so yoked against their light 
 and good counsel to the contrary I 
 
 Attentive. Alas ! he deluded her with hia 
 tongue, and feigned reformation. 
 
 Wiseman. Well, well ; she should have gene 
 more warily to work; what if she had ac- 
 quainted some of her best, most knowing, and 
 godly friends therewith? What if she had en- 
 gaged a godly minister or two to have talked 
 with Mr. Badman? Also, what if she had 
 laid wait round about him, to espy if he was 
 not otherwise behind her back than he was 
 before her face? And besides, I verily think 
 (since in the multitude of counsellors there is 
 safety) that if she had acquainted the congre- 
 gation with it, and desired them to spend some 
 time in prayer to God about it, and, if she 
 must have had him, to have received him as 
 to his godliness upon the judgment of others 
 rather than her own, (she knowing them to be 
 godly, and judicious, and unbiassed men,) she 
 had had more peace all her life after than to 
 trust to her own poor, Vaw, womanish judg- 
 ment, as she did. Love is blind, and will see 
 nothing amiss where others may see an hun- 
 dred faults. Therefore, I say, she should not 
 have trusted to her own thoughts in the mat- 
 ter of his goodness. 
 
 As to his person, there she was fittest to 
 judge, because she was to be the person 
 pleased; but as to his godliness, there the 
 word was the fittest judge, and they that could 
 best understand it, because God was therein to 
 be pleased. I wish that all young maidens 
 would take heed of being beguiled with ilat- 
 tering words, with feigning and lying speeches, 
 and take the best way to preserve themselves 
 from being bought and sold by wicked men, 
 as she was, lest they repent with her, when, as 
 to this, repentance will do them no good, but 
 for their unadvisedness go sorrowing to their 
 
 Attentive. AVell, things are past with this 
 poor woman, and cannot be called back; let 
 others beware, by her misfortunes, lest they 
 also fall into her distress. 
 
 Wiseman. That is the thing that I say ; let 
 them take heed, lest for their unadvisedness 
 
LIFE AND DEATH OF MR. B ADMAN. 
 
 513 
 
 they smart as this poor woman has done. And 
 ahl methinks that they that yet are single 
 persons, and that are tempted to marry to such 
 as Mr. Badman, would do well to inform and 
 warn themselves in this matter before they 
 entangle themselves, but go to some that are 
 alr'.ady in the snare, and ask them how it is 
 wi'.h them as to the suitable or unsuitableness 
 of their marriage, and desire their adviee. 
 Surely they would ring such a peal in their 
 ears about the inequality, unsuitableness, dis- 
 advantages, and diaquietments, and sins that 
 attend such marriages that would make them 
 beware as long as they live. But the bird in 
 the air knows not the notes of the bird in the 
 snare until she comes thither herself. Besides, 
 to make up such marriages, Satan, and carnal 
 reason, and lust, or at least inconsidej^teness, 
 has the chiefest hand ; and where these things 
 bear sway, designs, though never so destruc- 
 tive, will go headlong on ; and therefore I fear 
 that but little warning will be taken by young 
 girls at JMr. Badman's wife's affliction. 
 
 Aifentli'c. But are there no dissuasive argu- 
 ments to lay before such to prevent their future 
 misery ? 
 
 WiKeman. Yes, there is the law of God, that 
 forbiddeth marriage with unbelievers. Th^se 
 kind of marriages also are condemned even by 
 irrational creatures. It is forbidden by the 
 law of God, both in the Old Testament and in 
 the New. 1. In the Old: "Thou shalt not 
 make marriages with them ; thy daughter thou 
 shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter 
 shalt thou take unto thy son." Deut. vii. 4, 5. 
 2. In the New Testament it is forbidden : " Be 
 not unequally yoked together with unbelievers ; 
 let them marry to whom they will, only in the 
 Lord." 
 
 Here now is a prohibition plainly forbidding 
 the believer to marry with the unbeliever; 
 therefore they should not do it. Again, these 
 unwarrantable marriages uie, as I may so say, 
 pondemned by irrational creatures, who will 
 tirt couple but with their own sort. Will the 
 oheep coujile with the dog? the partridge with 
 a crow? 01 the pheasant with an owl? No; 
 they will strictly tie up themselves to those of 
 their own sort only ; yea, it sets all the world a- 
 wondering when they see or hear the contrary. 
 Man only is most subject to wink at and allow 
 of these unlawful mixtures of men and women. 
 Because man only is a sinful beast, a sinful 
 bird, therefore he, above all, will take upon 
 him by rebellious actions to answer, or rather 
 to oppose and violate, 'the law of God and his 
 33 
 
 Creator; nor shall these, or other interroga- 
 tories, what fellowship, what concord, what 
 agreement, what communion can there be in 
 such marriages? be counted of weight or 
 thought worth the answering by him. 
 
 But further, the dangers that such do com- 
 monly run themselves into should be to others 
 a dissuasive argument to stop them from doing 
 the like ; for besides the distresses of Mr. Bad- 
 man's wife, many that have had very hopeful 
 beginnings for heaven have, by virtue of the 
 mischiefs that have attended these unlawful 
 marriages, miserably and fearfully miscarried. 
 Soon after such marriages conviction (the first 
 step towards heaven) hath ceased; prayers 
 (the next step towards heaven) have ceased; 
 hungerings and thirstings after salvation (an- 
 other step towards the kingdom of heaven) 
 have ceased. In a word, such marriages have 
 estranged them from the word, from their 
 godly and faithful friends, and have brought 
 them again into carnal company, among carnal 
 friends, and also into carnal delights, where 
 and with whom they have both sinfully abode 
 and miserably perished. 
 
 And this is one reason why God hath for- 
 bidden this kind of unequal marriages. " For 
 they,'' saith he, (meaning the ungodly,) "will 
 turn away thy son from following me, that 
 they may serve other gods ; so will the anger 
 of tiie Lord be kindled against you and destroy 
 you suddenly." Now mark, there were some 
 in Israel that would, notwithstanding this pro- 
 hibition, venture to marry to the heathens and 
 unbelievers ; but what followed ? They served 
 their idols, they sacrificed their sons and their 
 daughters unto devils. Thus were they defiled 
 with their own works, and went a-whoring 
 with their own inventions : therefore was the 
 wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, 
 insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance. 
 
 Attentive. But let us return again to Mr. 
 Badman : had he any children by his wife? 
 
 Wiieman. Yes, seven. 
 
 Attentive. ' I doubt they were but badly 
 brought up. 
 
 Wiseman. One of them loved its mother 
 dearly, and would constantly hearken to her 
 voice. Now that child she had the opportunity 
 to instruct in the principles of the Christian 
 religion, and it became a very gracious child. 
 But that child Mr. Badman could not abide ; 
 he would seldom afford it a pleasant word, but 
 would scold and frown upon it, speak churl- 
 ishly and doggedly to it; and though, as to 
 nature, it was the most feeble of the seven, yet 
 
514 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 it oftenest felt the weight of ita father's fingers. 
 Three of his children did directly follow their 
 father's steps, and began to be as vile as (in 
 his youth) he was himself. The others that 
 remained became a kind of mongrel professors, 
 not so bad as their father, nor so good as their 
 mother, but betwixt them both. They had 
 their mother's notions and their father's ac- 
 tions, and were much lilce those you read of 
 in the book of Nehemiah: "These children 
 spake half of Ashdod, and could not speak in 
 the Jews' language, but according to the lan- 
 guage of each people." 
 
 Attenlive. What you say in this matter is 
 observable ; and, if I take not my mark amiss, 
 it often happeneth after this manner where 
 such unlawful marriages are contracted. 
 
 Wiseman. It sometimes doth so ; and the rea- 
 son with respect to their parents is this : Where 
 the one of their parents is godly and the other 
 ungodly and vile, they strive for their children 
 when they are born. The godly parent strives 
 for the child, and by prayers, counsel, and good 
 examples labours to make it holy in body and 
 soul, and so fit for the kingdom of heaven ; but 
 the ungodly would have it like himself, wicked, 
 and base, and sinful ; and so they both give in- 
 structions accordingly. Instructions, did I say ? 
 yea, and examples too, according to their minds. 
 Thus the godly, as Hannah, is presenting her 
 Samuel unto the Lord, but the ungodly, like 
 them that went before them, are for offering 
 their children to Moloch, to an idol, to sin, to 
 the devil, and to hell. Thus one hearkeneth to 
 the law of their mother, and is preserved from 
 destruction, but as for the other, as their fath- 
 ers did so do they. Thus did Mr. Badman and 
 his wife part some of their children betwixt 
 them ; but as for the other three that were as 
 it were mongrels betwixt both, they were like 
 unto those that you read of in Kings : " They 
 heard the Lord, but served their own idols." 
 They had, as I said, their mother's notions, 
 and, I will add, profession too, but their fath- 
 er's lusts, and something of his life. Now, 
 Iheir father did not like them because they 
 had their mother's tongue, and the mother 
 did not like them because they had still their 
 father's heart and life ; nor were they indeed 
 fit company for good or bad. The good would 
 not trust them because they were bad ; the bad 
 would not trust them because they were good ; 
 viz., the good would not trust them because 
 they were bad in their lives, and the bad would 
 not trust them because they were good in their 
 words; so they were forced with Esau to join 
 
 in affinity with Ishmael — to wit, to look out a 
 people that were hypocrites like themselves, 
 and with them they matched , and lived and 
 died. 
 
 Attentive. Poor woman I she could not but 
 have much perplexity. 
 
 Wiseman. Yea, and poor children 1 that ever 
 they were sent into the world as the fruit of 
 the loins and under the government of sucn a 
 father as Mr. Badman. 
 
 Attentive. You say right, for such childrs* 
 lie almost under all manner of disadvantages ; 
 but we must say nothing, because this also is 
 the sovereign will of God. 
 
 Wiseman. We may not by any means object 
 against God, yet we may talk of the advantages 
 and disadvantages that children have by hav- 
 ing for their parents such as are either godly 
 or the contrary. 
 
 Attentive. You say right, we may so; and 
 pray now, since we are about it, speak some- 
 thing in brief unto it — that is, unto this : What 
 advantage those children have above others 
 that have for their parents such as indeed are 
 godly. 
 
 Wiseman. So I will; only I must first pre- 
 mise these two or three things : 
 
 1. They have not the advantage of election 
 for their father's sake. 
 
 2. They are born, as others, the children of 
 wrath, though they come of godly parents. 
 
 3. Grace comes not unto them as an inherit- 
 ance because they have godly parents. These 
 things premised, I shall now proceed : 
 
 1. The children of godly parents are the 
 children of many prayers; they are prayed 
 for before and prayed. for after they are born; 
 and the prayers of a godly father and godly 
 mother do much. 
 
 2. They have the advantage of what restraint 
 is possible from what evils their parents see 
 them inclined to ; and that is a second mercy. 
 
 3. They have the advantage of godly instruc- 
 tion, and of- being told which be and which be 
 not the right ways of the Lord. 
 
 4. They have also those ways commended 
 unto them and spoken well of in their hearijig 
 that are good. 
 
 5. Such are also what may be kept out of 
 evil company, from evil books, and from being 
 taught the way of swearing, lyiug, and the like, 
 as sabbath-breaking and mocking at good men 
 and good things; and this is a very great 
 mercy. 
 
 6. They have also the benefit of a godly life 
 set before them doctrinally by their parents, 
 
LIFE AND DEATH OF MB. BADMAN. 
 
 515 
 
 ftnJ that doctrine backed with a godly and 
 holy example; and these are very great ad- 
 vantages. 
 
 Now all these advantages the children of 
 ungodly parents want, and so are more in dan- 
 ger of being carried away with the error of the 
 wicked. For ungodly parents neither pray 
 for their children, nor do nor can they heartily 
 instruct them. They do not after a godly 
 manner restrain them from evil, nor do they 
 keep them from evil company. They are not 
 grieved at, nor yet do they forewarn their 
 children to beware of, such evil actions that 
 are an abomination to God and to all good' 
 men. They let their children break the sab- 
 bath, swear, lie, be wicked and vain. They 
 commend not to their children an holy life, 
 nor set a good example before their eyes. No, 
 they do in all things contrary, estranging their 
 children what they can from the love of God 
 and all good men so soon as they are born. 
 Therefore it is a very great judgment of God 
 upon children to be the offspring of base and 
 ungodly men. 
 
 Attentive. Well, but before we l?ave Mr. 
 Bad man's wife and children, I have a mind, 
 if you please, to inquire a little more after one 
 thing, the which I am sure you can satisfy 
 me in. 
 
 Wiseman. AVhat is that? 
 
 Attentive. You said awhile ago that this Mr. 
 Badman would not suflbr his wife to go out to 
 hear such godly ministers as she liked, but 
 said if she did she had as good never come 
 home any more. Did he often carry it thus 
 ♦.o her? ' 
 
 Wiseman. He did say so ; he did often say 
 s(j. This I told you then, and had also then 
 told you more, but that other things put me 
 out. 
 
 Attentive. AVell said; pray therefore now 
 gs on. 
 
 Wiseman. So I will. Upon a time she was on 
 a Lord's day for going to hear a sermon, and 
 Mr. Badman was unwilling she should; but 
 she at that time, as it seems, did put on more 
 courage than she was wont; and therefore, 
 after she had spent upon him a great many 
 lair words and entreaties if perhaps she might 
 have prevailed by them, but all to no purpose 
 at all, — at last she said sh^ would go, and ren- 
 dered this reason for it : I have an husband, 
 but also a God ; my God has commanded me, 
 and that upon pain of damnation, to be a con- 
 tinual worshipper of him, and that in the way 
 of his own appointment; I have an husband. 
 
 but also a soul, and my soul ought to be more 
 unto me than all the world besides. This soul 
 of mine I will look after, care for, and if I can 
 provide it an heaven for its habitation. Yoh 
 are commanded to love me as you love ynur 
 own body, and so do I love you ; but I tell y6u 
 true, I prefer my soul before all the world, and 
 its salvation I will seek. 
 
 At this, first he gave her an ugly wish, aai 
 then fell into a fearful rage, and swore more- 
 over that if she did go he would make both 
 her and all her damnable brotherhood (for so 
 he was pleased to call them) to repent their 
 coming thither. 
 
 Attentive. But what should he mean by 
 that? 
 
 Wiseman. You may easily guess what he 
 meant: he meant he would turn informer, and 
 so either weary out those that she loved from 
 meeting together to worship God, or make 
 them pay dearly for their so doing; the which, 
 if he did, he knew it would vex every vein of 
 her tender heart. 
 
 Attentive. But do you think Mr. Badman 
 wohld have been so base? 
 
 Wiseman. Truly he had malice and enmity 
 enough in his heart to do it, only he was a 
 tradesman ; also he knew that he must live by 
 his neighbours, and so he had that little wit in 
 his anger that he refrained himself and did it 
 not. But, as I said, he had malice and envy 
 enough in his heart to have made him to do 
 it, only he thought it would worst him in his 
 trade; yet these three thingshe would bedoing: 
 
 1. He would be putti-ng of others on to mo- 
 left and abuse her friends ; 
 
 2. He would be glad when he heard that 
 any mischief befell them ; 
 
 3. And would laugh at her when he saw her 
 troubled for them. And now I have told you 
 Mr. Badman's way as to this. 
 
 Attentive. But was he not afraid of the judg- 
 ments of God that did fly about at that time? 
 
 Wiseman. He regarded not the judgment 
 nor mercy of God, for had he at all done that 
 he could not have done as he did. But what 
 judgments do you mean ? 
 
 Attentive, ^uch judgments that if Mr. Bad- 
 man himself had taken but sober notice of, 
 they might have made him hang down his 
 ears. 
 
 Wiseman. Why, have you heard of any such 
 persons that the judgments of God have over- 
 taken ? 
 
 Attentive. Yes, and so, I believe, have you 
 too, though you make so strange about it. 
 
5! 6 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Wiseman. I have so indeed, to my astonish- 
 ment and wonder. 
 
 Attentive. Pray, therefore, if you please, 
 tell nie what it ia, as to this, that you know, 
 and then perhaps I may also say something 
 to you of the same. 
 
 Jg@" Wiseman. In our town there was one 
 W S., a man of a very wicked life ; and he, 
 when there seemed to be countenance given to 
 it, would needs turn informer. Well, so he 
 did, and was as diligent in his business as most 
 of them could be ; he would watch of nights, 
 climb trees, and range the woods of days, if 
 possible to find out the meeters, for then they 
 were forced to meet in the fields; yea, he 
 would curse them bitterly, and swear most 
 fearfully what he would do to them when he 
 found them. Well, after he had gone on like 
 a bedlam in his course awhile, and had done 
 some mischiefs to the people, he was stricken 
 by the hand of God, and that in this terrible 
 manner: 
 
 1. Although he had his tongue naturally at 
 will, now he was taken with a faltering in his 
 speech, and could not for weeks together speak 
 otherwise than just like a man that was 
 drunk. 
 
 2. Then he was taken with a drawling or 
 slabbering at his mouth, which slabber some- 
 times would hang at his mouth wellnigh half 
 way down to the ground. 
 
 3. Then he had such a weakness in the back 
 sinews of his nock that ofttimes he could not 
 look up before him, unless he clapped his hand 
 hard upon his forehead and held up his head 
 that way by strength of hand. 
 
 4. After this his speech went quite away, 
 and he could speak no more than a swine or a 
 bear. Therefore, like one of them, h^ would 
 gruntle and make an ugly noise, according as 
 he was offended or pleased, or would have any 
 thing done. &c. 
 
 In this posture he continued for the space of 
 half a year or thereabouts, all the while other- 
 wise well and could go about his business, save 
 once that he had a fall from the bell as it 
 hangs in our steeple, which it was a wonder it 
 didnot kill him ; but after that he also walked 
 about until God had made a sufficient spec- 
 tacle of his judgment for his sin,' and then on 
 a sudden he was stricken and died miser- 
 ably ; and so there was an end of him and his 
 doings. 
 
 J5®° I'll tell you of another. About four 
 miles from St. Neot's there was a geutfeman 
 had a man, and he would needs be an in- 
 
 former ; and a lusty young man he was. Well, 
 an informer he was, and did much distress 
 some people, and had perfected his information 
 so effectually against some that there was 
 nothing further to do but for the constables to 
 make distress on the people, that he might 
 have their money or goods ; and, as I heard, 
 he hastened them much to do it. Now while 
 he was in the heat of his work, as he stood 
 one day by the fireside, he had (it should seem) 
 a mind to a sop in the pan, (for the spit was 
 then at the fire,) so he went to make one; but 
 behold a dog (some say his own favourite dog) 
 took distaste at something and immediately bit 
 his master by the leg; the which bite, not- 
 withstanding all the means that was used to 
 cure him, turned (as was said) to a gangrene; 
 however, that wound was his death, and that a 
 dreadful one too, for my relater said that he 
 lay in such a condition by this bite (at the be- 
 ginning) till his flesh rotted from ofi" him be- 
 fore Tie went out of the world. But what need 
 I instance in particular persons, when the 
 judgment of God against this kind of people . 
 was made manifest, I think I may say, if not 
 in all, yet in most of the counties in England 
 where such poor creatures were? But I would, 
 if it had been the will of God, that neither I 
 nor anybody else could tell you more of these 
 stories — true stories that are neither lie nor 
 romance. 
 
 Attentive. Well, I also heard of both of these 
 myself, and of more too as remarkable in their 
 kind as these, if I had any list to tell them ; 
 but let us leave those that are behind to others 
 or to the coming of Christ, who then will 
 justify or condemn them as the merit of their 
 work shall require ; or, if they repented and 
 found mercy, I shall be glad when I know it, 
 for I wish not a curse to the soul of mine 
 enemy. 
 
 Wiseman. There can be no pleasure in the 
 telling of such stories, though to hear of them 
 may do us a pleasure; they may put us in 
 mind that there is a God that judgeth in the 
 earth, and that doth not always forget nor defer 
 to hear the cry of the destitute ; they also carry 
 along with them both caution and counsel to 
 those that are the survivors of such. Lot us 
 tremble at the judgments of God, and be afraid 
 of sinning against him, and it shall be our pro- 
 tection. It shall go well with them that fear 
 God, that fear before him. 
 
 Attentive. Well, sir, as you have intimated, 
 so I think we have in this place spoken enough 
 about these kind of men ; if you please, let us 
 
LIFE AND DEATH OF MB. B ADMAN. 
 
 517 
 
 return again to Mr. Badman himself, if you 
 have any moi;e to say of him. 
 
 Wmman. More! We have yet scarce thor- 
 oughly began with any thing that we have 
 eaid. All the particulars are in themselves so 
 full of badness that we have rather only locked 
 in them than indeed said anything to them ; 
 but we will pass them and proceed. You have 
 heard of the sins of his youth, of his appren- 
 ticeship, and how he set up and married, and 
 what a life he hath led his wife ; and now I 
 will tell you more of his pranks. He had the 
 very knack of knavery. Had he, as I said be- 
 fore, been bound to serve an apprenticeship to 
 all these things, he could not have been more 
 cunning, he could not have been more artificial 
 at it. 
 
 Attentioe. Nor perhaps' so artificially either ; 
 for as none can teach goodness like to God 
 himself, so concerning sin and knavery none 
 can teach a man it like the devil, to whom, as 
 I perceive, Mr. Badman went to school from 
 his childhood to the end of his life. But pray, 
 sir, make a beginning. 
 
 Wiseman. Well, so I will. You may re- 
 member that I told you what a condition he 
 was in for money before he did marry, and 
 how he got a rich wife", with whose money he 
 paid his debis. Now when be had paid his 
 debts, he having some money left, he sets up 
 again as briskly as ever, keeps a great shop, 
 drives a great trade, and runs again a great 
 way into debt ; but now, not into the debt of 
 one or two, but into the debt of many, so that 
 at last he cnme to owe some thousands of 
 pounds ; and thus he went on for a long time. 
 And to pursue his ends the better, he began 
 now to study to please all men and to suit 
 himself to any company ; he could now be as 
 they, say as they — that is, if he listed; and 
 then he would list when he perceived that by 
 so doing he might either make them his cus- 
 tomers or his creditors for his commodities. 
 If he dealt with honest men, (as with some 
 honest men he did,) then he would be as they; 
 talk as they ; seem to be sober as they ; talk 
 of justice and religion as they; and against 
 debauchery as they; yea, and would seem to 
 show a dislike of them that said, did, or were 
 otherwise than honest. 
 
 Again, when he did light among those that 
 were bad, then he would be as they, but yet 
 more close and cautiously, except he were sure 
 of his company ; then he would carry it openly, 
 be as they ; say Damn them ! and. Sink them 1 
 as they. If they railed on good men, so could 
 
 he; if they railed on religion, so could he; if 
 they talked beastly, vainly, idly, so would he ; 
 if they were for drinking, swearing, whoring, 
 or any the like villainies, so was he. This was 
 now the path that he trod in, and could do all 
 as artificially as any man alive, And now he 
 thought himself a perfect man ; he thought he 
 was always a boy till now. What think you 
 now of Mr. Badman ? 
 
 Attentive. Think ! Why, I think he was an 
 atheist, for no man but an atheist can do this. 
 I say, it cannot be but that the man that is 
 such as this Mr. Badman must be a rank and 
 vile atheist, for he that believes that there is ^ 
 either God or devil, heaven or hell, or death 
 and judgment after, cannot do as Mr. Badman 
 did. I mean, if he could do these things with- 
 out reluctancy and check of conscience — yea, 
 if he had not sorrow and remorse for such 
 abominable sins as these. 
 
 Wiseman. Nay, he was so far off from the 
 reluctancies and remorse of conscience for 
 these things that he counted them the excel- 
 lency of his attainments, the quintessence of 
 his wit, his rare and singular virtues, such as 
 but few besides himself could be the master of. 
 Therefore, as for those that made boggle and 
 stop at things, and that could not in conscience 
 and for fear of death and judgment do such 
 things as he, he would call them fools and 
 noddies, and charge them for being frighted 
 with the talk of unseen bugbears ; and would 
 encourage them, if they would be men indeed, 
 to labour after the attainment of this his ex- 
 cellent art. He would oftentimes please him- 
 self with the thoughts of what he could do in 
 this matter, saying, within himself, I can be 
 religious and irreligious ; I can he any thing 
 or nothing; I can swear and speak against 
 swearing; I can lie and speak against lying; 
 I can drink, be unclean, and defraud, and not 
 be troubled for it ; now I enjoy myself and am 
 master of mine own ways, and not they of nie. 
 This I have attained with much study, great 
 care, and more pains. But this his talk should 
 be only with himself, to his wife, who he knew 
 durst not divulge it, or among his intimates, 
 to whom he knew he might say any thing. 
 
 Attentive. Did I call him before an atheist? 
 I may call him now a devil, or a man pos- 
 sessed with one if not with many. I think 
 that there cannot be found in every corner 
 such a one as this. True, it is said of King 
 Ahaz, " That he sinned more and more ;" and 
 of Ahab, "That he sold himself to work wick- 
 edness;" and of the men of Sodom, "That 
 
518 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WOBKS. 
 
 they were sinners exceedingly before the 
 Lord." 
 
 ]VLsc?nan. An atheist he was no doubt, if 
 there be such a thing as an atheist in the 
 world ; but for all his brags of perfection and 
 security in his wickedness, I believe that at 
 times God did let dowa fire from heaven into 
 his conscience. True, I believe he would 
 quicklj put it out again, and grow more des- 
 perate and wicked afterward, but this also 
 turned to his destruction, as afterward you 
 may heaj 
 
 But I au not of your mind to think that 
 there ar^ but few such in the world, except you 
 ' mean as to the degree of wickedness unto 
 which he had attained. For otherwise, no 
 doubt, there are abundance of such as he — 
 men of the same mind, of the same principles, 
 and of the same conscience, too, to put them 
 into practice. Yea, I believe that there are 
 many that are endeavouring to attain to the 
 same pitch of wickedness ; and all of them are 
 such as he in the judgment of the law, nor will 
 their want of hellish wit to attain thereto ex- 
 cuse them at the day of judgment. You know 
 that in all science some are more arch than 
 others ; and so it is in the art, as well as in the 
 practice, of wickedness ; some are twofold and 
 some sevenfold more the children of hell than 
 others, (and yet all the children of hell,) else 
 they would all be masters, and none scholars, 
 in the school of wickedness. But there must 
 be masters, and there must be learners ; Mr. 
 Badman was a master in this art, apd there- 
 fore it follows that he must be an arch and 
 chief one in that mystery. 
 
 Attentive. You are in the right, for I per- 
 ceive that some men, though they desire it, 
 cannot be so arch in the practice thereof as 
 others, but are (as I suppose they call them) 
 fools and dunces to the rest; their heads and 
 capacities will not serve them to act and do so 
 wickedly. Bi;t Mr. Badman wanted not a 
 wicked head to contrive, as well as a wicked 
 heart to do, this wickedness. 
 
 Wiseman. True; but yet, I say, such men 
 shall at the day of judgment be judged, not 
 only for what they are, but also for what they 
 would be; for if the thought of foolishness is 
 sin, doubtless the desire of foolishness is more 
 sin, and if the desire be more, the endeavour 
 after it must needs be more and more. He, 
 then, that is not an artificial atheist and trans- 
 gressor, yet if he desires to be so, if he endeav- 
 oureth to be so, he shall be judged and con- 
 demned to hell for such an one ; for the law 
 
 judgeth men, as I said, according to what they 
 would be. " He that looketh upon a woman 
 to liist after her, hath committed adultery with 
 her already in his heart." By the same rule, 
 he that would steal, doth steal ; he that would 
 che^, doth cheat ; he that would swear, doth 
 swear ; and he that would commit adultery, doth 
 do so; for God judgeth men according to the 
 working of their minds ; and saith, " As he 
 thinketh, so he is." That is, so he is in his 
 heart, in his intentions, in his desires, in his 
 endeavours ; and God's law, I say, lays hold ( f 
 the desires, intentions, and endeavours, even 
 as it lays hold of the act of wickedness itself. 
 A man, then, that desires to be as bad as Mr. 
 Badman, (and desires to be so wicked have 
 many in their hearts,) though he never attains 
 to that proficiency in wickedness as he, shall 
 yet be judged for as bad a man as he, because 
 it was his in his desires to be such a wicked 
 one. 
 
 Attentive. But this height of wickedness in 
 Mr. Badman will not get out of my mind. 
 This hard, desperate, or — what shall I call it ? 
 — diabolical frame of heart was in him a foun- 
 dation, a groundwork to all acts and deeds that 
 were evil. 
 
 Wiseman. The heart) and the desperate wick- 
 edness of it, is the foundation and groundwork 
 of all. Atheism professed and practical both 
 spring out of the heart, yea, and all manner of 
 evil besides. For they be not bad deeds that 
 make a bad man, but he is already a bad man 
 that doth bad deeds. A man miust be wicked 
 before he can do wickedness. "Wickedness 
 proeeedeth from the wicked. It is an evil 
 tree that bears evil fruit. Men gather no 
 grapes of thorns ; the heart, therefore, must be 
 evil before the man can do evil, and good be- 
 fore the man doth good." 
 
 Attentive. Now I see the reason why Mr. 
 Badman was so base as to get a wife by dis- 
 simulation, and to abuse her so like a villain 
 when he had got her ; it was because he was 
 before, by a wicked heart, prepared to act 
 wickedness. 
 
 Wiseman. You may be sure of it ; " for frcm 
 within, out of the heart of man, proeeedeth 
 evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 
 thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciv- 
 iousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolish- 
 ness ; all these things come from within, and 
 defUe a man." And a man, as his naughty 
 mind inclines him, makes use of these, or any 
 of these, to gratify his lusts, to promote hia 
 designs, to revenge his malice, to enrich or te 
 
LIFE AND DEATH OF MR. B ADMAN. 
 
 518 
 
 wallow himself in the foolish pleasures and 
 pastimes of this life; and all these did Mr. 
 Badmau do, even to the utmost, if either oppor- 
 tunity, or purse, or perfidiousness would help 
 him to the obtaining of his purpose. 
 
 Attentive. Purse I Why, he could not but 
 have a purse to do almost what he would, 
 having mm .led a wife with so much money. 
 
 ]\'iseman. Hold you there 1 Some of Mr. 
 Badraau's sina were costly, as his drinking and 
 lewdness, and keeping other bad company, 
 though he was a man that had ways too many 
 to get money, as well as ways too many to 
 spend it. 
 
 Attentive. Had he then such a good trade, 
 for all he was such a bad man ? Or was his 
 calling so gainful to him as always to keep his 
 purse full, though he was liimself a great 
 spender? * 
 
 Wiseman. No ; it was not his trade that did 
 it, though he had a pretty trade too. He had 
 another way to get money, and that by the 
 hatful and the pocketful at a time. 
 
 Attentive. Why, I trow he was no highway- 
 man, was he ? 
 
 Wiseman. I will be sparing in my speech as 
 to that, though some have muttered as if he 
 could ride out now and then, about nobody but 
 himself knew what, over night, and come home 
 all dirty and weary next morning. But this is 
 not the thing I aim at. 
 
 Allentive. Pray let me know it, if you think 
 it convenient that I should. 
 
 Wiseman. I will tell you. It was this: he 
 had an art to break, and get hats full of 
 money by breaking. 
 
 AUcntine. But what do you mean by Mr. 
 Badman's breaking? You speak mystically, 
 do you not? 
 
 Wiseman. No, no ; I speak plainly ; or, if 
 yoa will have it in plainer language, it is this : 
 When Mr. Badman had swaggered and thrown 
 away most of his wife's portion, he began to 
 feel that he could not much longer stand upon 
 his legs in this course of life and keep 'up his 
 trade and repute (such as he had) in the 
 world, but by the new engine of breaking. 
 Wlierefore, upon a time he gives a great and 
 sudden rush into several men's debt, to the 
 value of about four or five thousand pounds, 
 driving, at the same time, a very great trade 
 by selling many things for less than they cost 
 him, to get him custom, therewith to blind his 
 creditors' eyes. His creditors, therefore, see- 
 ing that he had a great employ, and dreaming 
 that it must needs at length turn to a very 
 
 good account to them, trusted him fieely with- 
 out mistrust, and so did others too, to the value 
 of what was mentioned before. Well, when 
 Mr. Badman had well feathered his nest with 
 other men's goods and money, after a little 
 time he .breaks. And by and by it is noised 
 abroad that Mr. Badman had shut up his 
 shop, was gone, and could trade no longer. 
 Now, by the time his breaking had come to 
 his creditors' ears he had by craft and knavery 
 made so sure of what he had that his creditors 
 could not touch a penny. Well, when he had 
 done, he sent his mournful, sugared letters to 
 his creditors to let them understand what had 
 happened unto him, and desired them not to 
 be severe with him, for he bore towards all 
 men an honest mind, and would pay so far as 
 he was able. Now he sends his letters by a 
 man confederate with him, who could make 
 both the worst and the best of Mr. Badman's 
 case — the best for Mr. Badman and the worst 
 for his creditors. So when he comes to them 
 he both bemoans them and condoles Mr. Bad- 
 man's condition ; telling of them that without 
 a speedy bringing of things to a conclusion, 
 Mr. Badman would be able to make them no 
 satisfaction, but at present he both could and 
 would, and that to the utmost of his power; 
 and to that end he desired that they would 
 come over to him. Well, his creditors appoint 
 him a time and come over ; and he meanwhile 
 authorizes another to treat with them, but will 
 not be seen himself, unless it was on a Sunday, 
 lest they should snap him with a writ. So his 
 deputed friend treats with them about their 
 concerns with Mr. Badman, first telling them 
 of the great care that Mr. Badman took to sat- 
 isfy them and all men for whatsoever he owed 
 as far as in him lay, and how little he thought 
 awhile since to be in this low condition. He 
 pleaded also the greatness of his charge, the 
 greatness of taxes, the badness of the times, 
 and the great losses that he had by many of 
 his customers, some of which died in his debt, 
 others were run away, and as for many that 
 were alive, he never expected a farthing from 
 them. Yet nevertheless he would show him- 
 self an honest man, and would pay as far as he 
 was able; and if they were willing to come to 
 terms, he would make a composition with 
 them, for he was not able to pay them al^. 
 The creditors asked what he would give. It 
 was replied. Half a crown in the pound ; at 
 this they began to hufl", and he to renew hia 
 complaint and entreaty; but the creditors 
 would not hear, and so for that time their 
 
520 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 meeting without success broke up. But after 
 his creditors were in cool blood and admitting 
 of second thoughts, and fearing lest delays 
 should make them lose all, they admit of a 
 second debate, come together again, and by 
 many words and great ado they obtain five 
 shillings in the pound. So the money was pro- 
 duced, releases and discharges drawn, signed, 
 and sealed, books crossed, and all things con- 
 firmed ; and then Mr. Badman can put his 
 h«!ad out of doors again, and be a better man 
 than when he shut up shop by several thou- 
 sands of pounds. 
 
 AHeniive. And did he do thus indeed ? 
 
 Wiseman. Yes, once and again. I think he 
 broke twice or thrice. 
 
 AitenUve. And did he do it before he had 
 need to do it? 
 
 Wiseman. Need! What do you mean by 
 need? There is no need at any time for a 
 man to play the knave. He did it of a wicked 
 mind, to defraud and beguile his creditors; he 
 had wherewithal of his father, and also by his 
 wife, to have lived upon, with lawful labour, 
 like an honest man. He had also when he 
 made this wicked break (though he had' been 
 a profuse and prodigal spender) to have paid 
 his creditors their own to a farthing. But 
 had he done so he had not done like himself, 
 like Mr. Badman; had he, I say, dealt like an 
 honest man, he had then gone out of Mr. Bad- 
 man's road. He did it, therefore, of a dishon- 
 est mind and to a wicked end — to wit, that he 
 might have wherewithal, howsoever unlaw- 
 fully gotten, to follow his cups and queans, 
 and to live in the swing of his lusts, even as 
 he did before. 
 Attentive. Why, this was a mere cheat. 
 
 Wiseman. It was a cheat indeed. This way 
 of breaking is nothing else but a more neat 
 way of thieving, of picking of pockets, of 
 breaking open of shops, and of taking from 
 men what one has nothing to do with. But 
 though it seems easy, it is hard to learn; 
 no man that hath conscience to God or man 
 can ever be his craftmaster in this hellish 
 art. 
 
 Attentive. Oh, sir, what a wicked man was 
 this! 
 
 Wiseman. A wicked man indeed. By this 
 art he could tell how to make men send their 
 goods to his shop, and then be glad to take a 
 penny for that which he had promised, before 
 it came thither, to give them a groat ; 1 say he 
 could make them glad to take a crown for a 
 pound's worth, and a thousand for that for 
 
 which he had promised before to give them 
 four thousand pounds. 
 
 Attentive. This argueth that Mr. Badman 
 had but little conscience. 
 
 Wiseman. This argueth that Mr. Badman 
 had no conscience at all ; for conscience, the 
 last spark of a good conscience, cannot enduro 
 this. 
 
 Attentive. Before we go any further in Mr. 
 Badman's matters, let me desire y '.3 if you 
 please, to give me an answer to these Iwo ques- 
 tions : 
 
 1. What do you find in the word of God 
 against such a practice as this" of Mr. Bad- 
 man's is? 
 
 2. What would you have a man do that is 
 in his creditor's debt, and can neither pay him 
 what he owes Kim nor go on in a trade any 
 longer ? 
 
 Wiseman. I will answer you as well as I can. 
 And first to the first of your questions — to wit, 
 What I find in the word of God against such a 
 practice as this of Mr. Badman's is ? 
 
 Answer. The word of God doth forbid this 
 wickedness, and to make it the more odious in 
 our eyes it joins it with theft and robbery: 
 "Thou shalt not,'' says God, "defraud thy 
 neighbour, nor rob him." Thou shalt not de- 
 fraud — that is, deceive or beguile. Now, thus 
 to break is to defraud, deceive and beguile, 
 which is, a^ you see, forbidden by the God of 
 heaven. " Tiiou shalt not defraud thy neigh- 
 bour, nor rob him." It is a kind of theft and 
 robbery thus to defraud and beguile. It is a 
 vile robbing of his shop and picking of his 
 pocket; a thing odious to reason and con- 
 science and contrary to the law of nature. It 
 is a designed piece of wickedness, and there- 
 fore a double sin. A man cannot do this great 
 wickedness on a sudden and through a violent 
 assault of Satan. He that will commit thLs 
 sin must have time to deliberate, that by in- 
 vention he may make it formidable xnd that 
 with lies and high dissimulatioL. He that 
 commits this' wickedness must first hatch it 
 upon his bed, beat his head about it, and lay 
 his plot strong ; so that to the completing of 
 such a wickedness there must be adjoined 
 many sins, and that they too must go hand in 
 hand until it be completed. But what saith 
 the Scripture ? — " Let no man go beyond and 
 defraud his brother in any matter, because the 
 Lord is the avenger of all such." But this 
 kind of breaking is a going beyond my 
 brother; this is a compassing of him about, 
 that I may catch him in my net, and, as I said; 
 
LIFE AND DEATH OF MR. B ADMAN. 
 
 521 
 
 an art to rob my brother and to pick his pocket, 
 and that with his consent, which doth not 
 therefore mitigate, but so much the more mag- 
 nify and make odious the offence. For men 
 that are thus wilily abused cannot help them- 
 selves ; they are taken in a deceitful net. But 
 God will here concern himself; he will be the 
 avenger, he will be the avenger of all such, 
 either here or in another world. 
 
 And this the apostle testifies where he saith, 
 " But he th;it doeth wrong shall receive for the 
 wrong which he hath done; and there is no 
 respect of persons;" that is, there is no man, 
 be he what he will, if he be guilty of this sin 
 of going beyond, of beguiling of, and doing 
 wrong to his brother, but God will call him to 
 an account for it, and will pay him with 
 vengeance for it too, for there is no respect of 
 persons. 
 
 I might add that this sin of wronging, of 
 going beyond and defrauding of my neighbour 
 is like that first prank that the devil played 
 with our first parents, (as the altar that Uriah 
 built for Ahaz was taken from the fashion of 
 that that stood at Damascus, to be the very 
 pattern of it.) Thciserpent beguiled me, says 
 Eve; Mr. Badman beguiles his creditors. The 
 serpent beguiled Eve with lying promises of 
 gain ; so did Mr. Badman beguile his creditors. 
 The serpent said one thing and meant another 
 when he beguiled Eve ; and so did Mr. Bad- 
 man when he beguiled his creditors. 
 
 That man, therefore, that doth thus deceive 
 and beguile his neighbour imitateth the devil ; 
 he taketh his examples from him, and not from 
 God, the word, or good men ; and this did Mr. 
 Badman. 
 
 And now to your second question — to wit. 
 What I would have a man do that is in his 
 creditor's debt, and that can neither pay him 
 nor go on in a trade any longer ? 
 
 Answer. First of all, if this be his case, and 
 he knows it, let him not run one penny further 
 in his creditor's debt, for that cannot be done 
 with good conscience. He that knows he can- 
 not pay, and yet will run into debt, does know- 
 ingly wrong and defraud his neighbour, and 
 falls under that sentence of the word of God, 
 "The wicked borroweth, and payeth not 
 again ;" yea, worse, he borrows, though at the 
 very same time he knows that "he cannot pay 
 again. He doth also craftily take away what 
 is his neighbour's. That is therefore the first 
 thing that I would propound to such. Let him 
 not run any further into his creditor's debt. 
 
 Secondly. After this let him consider how 
 
 and by what means he was brought into such 
 a condition that he could not pay his just 
 debts — to wit, whether it was by his own re- 
 missness in his calling, by living too high in 
 diet or apparel, by lending too lavishly that 
 which was none of his own, to his loss, or 
 whether by the immediate hand and judgment 
 of God. 
 
 If by searching he finds that this is come 
 upon him through remissness in his calling, 
 extravagancies in his family or the like, let 
 him labour for a sense of his sin and wicked- 
 ness, for he has sinned against the Lord — first, 
 in his being slothful in business, and in not 
 providing, to wit, of his own, by the sweat of 
 his brows or other honest ways, for those of his 
 own house. And secondly, in being lavishing 
 in diet and apparel in the family, or in lending 
 to others that which was none of his own. 
 This cannot be done with good conscience ; it 
 is both against reason and nature, and there- 
 fore must be a sin against God. I say therefore, 
 if thus this debtor hath done, if ever he wotild 
 live quietly in conscience and comfortably in 
 his condition for the future, let him humble 
 himself before God and' repent of this his 
 wickedness; for "he that is slothful in his 
 work is brother to him that is a great waster." 
 To be slothful and a waster too is to be, as it 
 were, a double sinner. 
 
 But again, as this man should inquire into 
 these things, so he should also into this : How 
 came I into this way of dealing in which I 
 have now miscarried? Is it a way that my 
 parents brought me up in, put me apprentice 
 to, or that by Providence I was first thrust 
 into ? Or is it a way into which I have twisted 
 myself, as not being contented with my first 
 lot that by God and my parents I was cast 
 into? This ought duly to be considered; and 
 if upon a search a man shall find that he is out 
 of the place and calling into which he was put 
 by his parents or the providence of God, and 
 has miscarried in a new way, which, through 
 pride and dislike of his first state, he has chose 
 rather to' embrace, his miscarriage is his sin, 
 the fruit of his pride, and a token of the judg- 
 ment of God upon him for his leaving of his 
 first state. And for this he ought, as for the 
 former, to be humble and penitent before the 
 Lord. 
 
 But if by search he finds that his poverty 
 came by none of these — if by honest search 
 he finds it so, and can say with good con- 
 science, I went not out of my place and state in 
 which God by his providence had put me, but 
 
622 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 have abode with God in the calling wherein I 
 was called, and have wrought hard and fared 
 meanly, been civilly apparelled, and have not 
 directly or indirectly made away with my 
 creditors' goods — then has his fall come upon 
 him by the immediate hand of God, whether 
 by visible or invisible ways. For sometimes 
 it comes by visible ways — to_ wit, by fire, by 
 thieves, by loss of cattle, or the wickedness of 
 siufiil dealers, &c., and sometimes by means 
 inrisible, and then no man knows how; we 
 only see things are going, but cannot see by 
 what way they go. Well, now suppose that a 
 man by the immediate hand of God is brought 
 to a morsel of bread, what must he do now? 
 
 I answer, his surest way is still to think that 
 this is the fruit of some sin ; though possibly 
 not sin in the management of his calling,- yet 
 of some other sin. " God casteth away the 
 substance of the wicked.'' Therefore let him 
 still humble himself before his God, because 
 his hand is upon him, and say. What sin is 
 this for which the hand of God is upon me? 
 And let him be diligent to find it out, for some 
 sin is the cause of this judgment ; for God " doth 
 not willingly grieve nor afflict the children of 
 men.'' Either thy heart is too much set upon 
 the world, or religion is too much neglected in 
 thy family, or something. There is a snake in 
 the grass, a worm in the gourd, some sin in 
 thy bosom, for the sake of which God doth 
 thus deal with thee. 
 
 Thirdly. This thus done, let that man again 
 consider thus with himself: Perhaps God is 
 now changing of my condition and state in the 
 world ; he has let me live in fashion, in ful- 
 ness, and abundance of worldly glory, and I 
 did not to his glory improve as I should that 
 his good dispensation to me. But when I 
 lived in full and fat pasture I did there lift up 
 the heel. Therefore he will now turn me into 
 hard commons, that with leanness, and hunger, 
 and meanness, and want I may spend the rest 
 of my days. But let him do this without 
 murmuring and repining ; let him do it in a 
 godly manner, submitting himself to the judg- 
 ment of God. "Let the rich rejoice in that 
 he is made low." 
 
 This is duty, and it may be privilege, to 
 those that are under this hand of God. And 
 for thy encouragement to this hard work (for 
 this is a hard work) consider of these four 
 things : 
 
 1. This is right lying down under God's 
 hand, and tne way to be exalted in God's time; 
 when God would have Job embrace the dung- 
 
 hill, he embraces it and says, "The IiOrd giv; 
 eth, and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be 
 the name of the Lord." 
 
 2. Consider that there are blessings also that 
 attend a low condition, more than all the world 
 are aware of. A poor condition has prevent 
 ing mercy attending of it. The poor, because 
 they are poor, are not capable of sinning 
 against God as the rich man does. 
 
 3. The poor can more clearly see himself 
 preserved by the providence of God than the 
 rich, for he trusteth in the abundance of his 
 riches. 
 
 4. It may be God has made thee poor be- 
 cause he would make thee rich: "Hearken, 
 my beloved brethren, hath not God chosen the 
 poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of 
 a kingdom which God hath promised to them 
 that love him ?" 
 
 I am persuaded if men upon whom this 
 hand of God is would thus quietly lie down 
 and humble themselves under it, they would 
 find more peace, yea, more blessing of God, 
 attending them in it than the most of men are 
 aware of. But this is an hard chapter, and 
 therefore I do not expect that many should 
 either read it with pleasure or desire to take 
 my counsel. 
 
 Having thus spoken to the broken man with 
 reference to his own self, I will now speak to 
 him as he stands related to his creditors. 
 
 In the next place, therefore, let him fall 
 upon the most honest way of dealing with his 
 creditors, and that I think must be this : 
 
 First. Let him timely make them acquainted 
 with his condition, and also to do them these 
 three things : 
 
 1. Let him heartily and unfeignedly ask 
 them forgiveness for the wrong that he has 
 done them. 
 
 2. Let him proffer them all, and the whole 
 all, that ever he has in the world ; let him hide 
 nothing, let him strip himself to his raiment 
 for them ; let him not keep a ring, a spoon, or 
 any thing from them. 
 
 3. If none of these two will satisfy them, let 
 him proffer them his body to be at their dis- 
 posal — to wit, either to abide imprisonment at 
 their pleasure or to be at their service, till by 
 labour and travail he hath made them such 
 amends as they in reason think fit; only re- 
 serving something for the succour of his poor, 
 distressed family out of his labour, which in 
 reason, and conscience, and nature he is bound 
 also to take care of. Thus shall he make them 
 what amends he is able for the wrong that he 
 
LIFE AND DEATH OF MR. B ADM AN. 
 
 523 
 
 bath dont them in wasting and spending their 
 estates. 
 
 By thus doing lie submits himself to God's 
 rod, commits himself to the disposal of his 
 providence ; yea, by thus doing he casteth the 
 lot of his present and future condition into the 
 lap of his creditors, and leavej the whole dis- 
 posal thereof to the Lord, eveij as he shall 
 ordiT and incline their hearts to do with them. 
 And let that be either to forgive him or to take 
 that which he hath for satisfaction, or to lay 
 hii body u ud jr affliction, this way or that, ac- 
 cording to law — can he, I say, thus leave the 
 whole to God, let the issue be what it will, 
 that man shall have peace in his mind after- 
 wards. And the comforts of that state (which 
 will be the comforts that attend equity, justice, 
 aud duty) will be more unto him, because 
 more according to godliness, than can be the 
 comforts that are the fruits of injustice, fraud- 
 ulency, and deceit. Besides, this is the way to 
 engage God to favour him by the sentence of 
 his creditors, (for he can entreat them to use 
 him kindly,) and he will do it when his ways 
 are pleasing in his sight: "When a man's 
 ways please the Lord, his enemies shall be at 
 peace with him." And surely for a man to 
 seek to make restitution for wrongs done to 
 the utmost of his power, by what he is, has, 
 and enjoys in this world, is the best way, in 
 that capacity and with reference to that thing, 
 that a man can at this time be found active in. 
 
 But he that doth otherwise abides in his sin, 
 refuses to be disposed of by the providence of 
 God, chooseth an high estate, though not at- 
 tained in God's way, when God's will is that 
 he should descend into a low one ; yea, he des- 
 perately saitH in his heart and actions, I will 
 be mine own chooser, and that in mine own 
 way, whatever happens or follows thereupon. 
 
 Attentive. You have said well, in my mind. 
 But suppose, now, that Mr. Badman was here, 
 could he not object as to what you have said, 
 saying. Go and teach your brethren that are 
 professors this lesson, for they, as I am, are 
 guilty of breaking, yea, I am apt to think, of 
 11 at which you call my knavish way of break- 
 ing—to wit, of breaking before they have need 
 to break. But if not so, yet they are guilty of 
 neglect in their call, of living higher, both in 
 . fare and apparel, than their trade or income 
 will maintain. Besides, that they do break all 
 the world very well knows ; and that they have 
 the art to plead for a composition is very well 
 known to men ; and that it is usual with them 
 to bid's their linen, their plate, their jewels 
 
 (and, it is to be thought, sometimes money and 
 goods besides) is as common as four eggs a 
 petiny. And thus they beguile men, debauch 
 their consciences, sin against their profession, 
 and make, it is to be feared, their lusts in all 
 this, and the fulfilling of them their end I 
 say, if Mr. Badman was here to object tnus 
 unto you, what would be your reply ? 
 
 Wiseman. What ! Why I would say, I hope 
 no good man, no man of good conscience, no 
 man that either feareth God, regardeth the 
 credit of religion, the peace of God's people, or 
 the salvation of his own soul, will do thus. 
 
 Professors, such perhaps there may be, and 
 who upon earth can help it? Jades there be 
 of all colours. If men will profess, and make 
 their profession a stalking-horse to beguile 
 their neighbours of their estates, as Mr. Bad- 
 man himself did when he beguiled her that 
 now is with sorrow his wife, who can help it ? 
 The churches of old were pestered with such, 
 and therefore no marvel if these perilous, diffi- 
 cult times be so. But mark how the apostle 
 words it : " Nay, you do wrong and defraud, 
 and that your brethren. Know ye not that 
 the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom 
 of God ? Be not deceived ; neither fornicators, 
 nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, 
 nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor 
 thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor re- 
 vilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the king- 
 dom of God." 
 
 None of these shall be saved in this state, 
 nor shall profession deliver them from the 
 censure of the godly when they shall be mani- 
 fest such ta be. But their profession we can- 
 not help ; how can we help it if men should 
 ascribe to themselves the title of holy ones, 
 godly ones, zealous ones, self-denying ones, or 
 any other such glorious titles? And while 
 they thus call themselves, should they be the 
 veriest rogues for all evil, sin, villainy imagin- 
 able, who can help it? True, they are a scan- 
 dal to religion, a grief to the honest-hearted, 
 an offence to the world, and a stumbling-stone 
 to the weak ; and these offences have come, do 
 come, and will come, do what all the world 
 can, "but woe be to them through whom they 
 come." Let such professors, therefore, be dis- 
 owned by all true Christians, and let them be 
 reckoned among those base men of the world 
 which by such actions they most resemble. 
 They are Mr. Badman's kindred. 
 
 For they are a shame to religion ; I say, 
 these slithy, rob-shop, pickpocket men, they 
 are a shame to religion, and religious men 
 
524 
 
 SUNYAN'S COMPLKTE WORKS. 
 
 BtoulJ be ashamed of tliem. God puts such 
 an one amongf the fools of the world; therefore 
 let ifot Christians put them among those that 
 are wise for heaven : " As the partridge sitteth 
 on eggs and hatcheth them not, so he that get- 
 teth riches, and not by right, shall leave them 
 in the midst of his days, and at his end shall 
 be a fool," And the man under consideration 
 is one of these, and therefore must look to fall 
 by this judgment. 
 
 A professor, and practise such villainies as 
 these ! Such an one is not worthy to bear that 
 name any longer. We may say to such, as the 
 prophet spake to their like — to wit, to the re- 
 bellious that were in the house of Israel — " Go 
 ye, serve every man his idols," if you will not 
 hearken to the law and testament of God to 
 lead your lives hereafter, " but pollute God's 
 holy name no more with your gifts and with 
 your' idols." 
 
 Go, professors, go ; leave off profession, un- 
 less you will lead your lives according to your 
 profession. Better never profess than make 
 profession a stalking-horse to sin, deceit, to the 
 devil, and hell. 
 
 The ground and rules of religion allow not 
 any such thing. " Receive us," says the apos- 
 tle : " we have wronged no man, we have cor- 
 mpted no man, we have defrauded no man ;" 
 intimating that those that are guilty of wrong- 
 ing, corrupting, or defrauding of any should 
 not be admitted to the fellowship of saints, no, 
 nor into the common cataWgue of brethren 
 with them. 
 
 Nor can men, with all their rhetoric and 
 eloquent speaking, prove themselves fit for the 
 kingdom of heaven or men of good conscience 
 on earth. Oh that godly plea of Samuel! 
 " Behold here I am," says he : " witness against 
 me, before the Lord, and before his anointed, 
 whose ox have I taken, or whose ass have I 
 taken ; or whom have I defrauded, whom have 
 I oppressed," &c. This was to do like a man 
 of good conscience indeed ; and in this his ap- 
 ])eal he was so justified in the consciences of 
 the whole congregation that they could not but 
 with one voice, as with one mouth, break out 
 jointly and say, " Thou hast not defrauded us, 
 nor oppressed us." 
 
 A professor, and defraud ! Away with him I 
 A professor should not owe any man any thing 
 but love. A professor should provide things 
 not of other men's, but of his own, of his own 
 hoaest getting, and that not only in the sight 
 jf God, but of all men, that he may adorn the 
 doctrine of Goc' our Saviour in all things. 
 
 Attentive. But suppose God should blow u pi>n 
 a professor in his estate and calling, and he 
 should be run out before he is aware, must he 
 be accounted to be like Mr. Badman, and lie 
 under the same reproach as he? 
 
 Wiseman. No, if he hath dutifully done what 
 he could to avoid it.. It is possible for a ship 
 to sink at sea notwithstanding the most faith- 
 ful endeavour of the most skilful pilot under 
 heaven. And thus, as I suppose, it was with 
 the prophet that left his wife in debt, to the 
 hazarding the slavery of her children by the 
 creditors. He was no profuse man, nor one 
 that was given to defraud, for the text says, 
 " he feareth the Lord," yet, as I said, he was 
 run out more than he could pay. 
 
 If God would blow upon a man, who can 
 help it ? And he will do so sometimes, because 
 he will change dispensations with men, and 
 because he will try their graces ; yea, also be- 
 cause he will overthrow the wicked with his 
 judgments; and all these things are seen in 
 Job. But then the consideration of this should 
 bid men have a care that they be honest, lest 
 this comes upon them for their sin. It should 
 also bid them beware of launching further into 
 the world than in an honest way by ordinary 
 means they can godlily retreat ; for the further 
 in the greater the fall. It should also teach 
 them to beg of God his blessing upon their 
 endeavours. And it should put upon them a 
 diligent looking to their steps, that if in their 
 going they should hear the ice crack they may 
 timely go back again. 
 
 These things considered and duly put in 
 practice, if God will blow upon a man, then 
 let him be content, and with Job embrace the 
 dunghill ; let him give unto all their dues^ and 
 not fight against the providence of God, bui 
 humble himself rather under his mighty hand, 
 which comes to strip him naked and bare ; for 
 he that doth otherwise fights against God, and 
 declares that he is a stranger to that of Paul : 
 "I, know both how to be abased, and I know 
 how to abound ; everywhere and in all things 
 I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, 
 both to abound and to suffer need." 
 
 Attentive. But Mr. Badman would not, I be- 
 lieve, have put this difference betwixt things 
 feigned and those that fall of necessity^ 
 
 Wiseman. If he will not, God will, conscience • 
 will ; and that not thine own only, but the con- 
 sciences of all those that have seen the way aad 
 that have known the truth of the condition of 
 such an one. 
 
 Attentive. Well, let us at this time leave 
 
LIFE AND J)EA Til OF MB. BADMAN. 
 
 b2b 
 
 tnis matter, and return again to Mr. Bad- 
 man. 
 
 Wiseman. With all my heart will I proceed 
 to give you a relation of what is yet behind of 
 his life, in order to our discourse of his death. 
 
 Alkntive. But pray do it with as much brev- 
 ity as you can. 
 
 Wiseman. Why, are you weary of my re- 
 lating of things? 
 
 Attentive. No, but it pleases me to hear a 
 great deal in a few words. 
 
 Wiseman. I profess myself not an artist in 
 that way, but yet, as briefly as I can, I will pass 
 through wliat of his life is behind ; and again 
 I sliall begin with his fraudulent dealing (as 
 before I have showed with his creditors, so 
 now) with his customers, and those that he 
 had otherwise to deal withal. ^ 
 
 He dealt by deceitful weights and measures. 
 He kept weights to buy by and weights to sell 
 by ; measures to buy by and measures to sell 
 by; those he bought by were too big, those 
 that he sold by were too little. 
 
 Besides, he could use a thing, called sleight 
 of hand, if he had to do with other men's 
 weights and measures, and by that means make 
 them, whether he did buy or sell, yea, though 
 his customer or chapman looked on, turn to his 
 own advantage. 
 
 Jloreover, he had the art to ndsreckon men 
 in their accounts, whether by weight, or 
 measure, or money, and would often do it to 
 his worldly advantage and their loss ; what say 
 you to Mr. Badman now ? 
 
 And if a question was made of his feithful 
 dealing, he had his servants ready, that to his 
 purpose he had brought up, that would avouch 
 and swear to his book or word ; this was Mr. 
 Badman's practice; what think you of Mr. 
 Badman now? 
 
 Attentive. Think ! Why I can think no other 
 but that he was a man left to himself, a naughty 
 man ; for these, as his other, were naughty 
 things; if the tree, as indeed it may, ought to 
 be judged what it is by its fruits, then Mr. 
 Badman must needs be a bad tree. But pray, 
 for my further satisfaction, show me now by 
 the word of God the evil of this his practice ; 
 and first, of his using false weights and mea- 
 sures. 
 
 Wiseman. The evil of that! Why the evil 
 of that appears to every eye ; the heathens, 
 that live like beasts and brutes in rnany things, 
 do abominate and abhor such wickedness as 
 this. Let a man but look upon these things as 
 he goes by, and he shall see enough in them 
 
 from the light of nature to make him-loathe so 
 base a practice, although Mr. Badman loved it. 
 
 Attentive. But show me something out of the 
 word against it, will you ? 
 
 Wineman. I will willingly do it And first, 
 look into the Old Testament : " You shall,'' 
 saith God there, "do no unrighteousness in 
 judgment, in metre-yard, in weights, or in 
 measures ; a just balance, a just weight, a just 
 ephah, and a just hin shall you have." This 
 is the law of God, and that which all men, ac- 
 cording to the law of the land, ought to obey. 
 So again : " Ye shall have just balances and a 
 just ephah," &c. 
 
 Now, having showed you the law, I will also 
 show you how God takes swerving therefrom: 
 " A false balance is not good ; a false balance 
 is an abomination to the Lord." Some have 
 just weights, but false balances ; and by vir- 
 tue of these false balances, by these just 
 weights, they deceive the country. "Where- 
 fore, God first of all commands that the bal- 
 ance be made just. A just balance shalt thou 
 have, else they may be, as ye are, deceivers, 
 notwithstanding their just weights. 
 
 Now, having commanded that men have a 
 just balance, and testifying that a false one is 
 an abomination to the Lord, he proCeedeth 
 also unto weight and measure. 
 
 "Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers 
 weights, a great and small;'' that is, one to 
 buy by and another to sell by, as Mr. Badman 
 had. " Thou shalt not have in thy house di- 
 vers measures, a great and a small ; '' and these 
 had Mr. Badman also; "but thou shalt have 
 a perfect and a just weight ; a perfect and a 
 just measure shalt thou have, that thy days 
 may be lengthened in the land which the Lord 
 thy God giveth thee. For all that do such 
 things" — that is, that use false weights and 
 measures — " and all that do unrighteously, are 
 abomination to the Lord." See now both how 
 plentiful and how punctual the Scripture is in 
 this matter. But perhaps it may be objected 
 that all this is old law, and therefore hath 
 nothing to do with us under the New Testa- 
 ment. (Not that I think you, neighbour, will 
 object thus.) Well, to this foolish objection let 
 us make an answer : First, he that makes this 
 objection, if he doth it to overthrow the au- 
 thority of those texts, discovereth that he is 
 first cousin to Mr. Badman, for a just man is 
 willing to speak reverently of those commands. 
 That man therefore hath, I doubt, but little 
 conscience, if any at all that is good, that thus 
 objecteth against the text ; but let us look into 
 
526 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WOBKS. 
 
 the New Testament, and there we shall see 
 how Christ confirmeth the same, where he 
 commandeth that men make to others good 
 measure, including also that they make good 
 weight ; telling such that do thus or those that 
 do it not, that they may be encouraged to do 
 it, " Good measure, pressed down, shaken to- 
 gether and running over, shall men give into 
 your bosom; for the same measure that ye 
 mete withal, it shall be measured to you 
 again;" to wit, both from God and man. 
 For as God will show his indignation against 
 the false man by taking away even that he 
 hath, so he will deliver up the false man to 
 ihe oppressor, and the extortioner shall catch 
 from him as well as he hath catohed from his 
 neighbour ; therefore another Scripture saith, 
 " When thou shalt cease to deal treacherously, 
 they shall deal treacherously with thee.'' That 
 the New Testament hath an inspection also 
 into men's trading, yea, even with their weights 
 and measures, is evident from these general 
 exhortations : " Defraud not ; lie not one to 
 another ; let no man go beyond his brother in 
 any matter, for God is the avenger of all such ; 
 whatsoever you do, do it heartily as unto the 
 Lord, doing all in his name to his glory ; " and 
 the like. All these injunctions and command- 
 ments do respect our life and conversation 
 among men with reference to our dealing, 
 fading, and so consequently they forbid false, 
 deceitful, yea, all other doings that are cor- 
 rupt. 
 
 Having thus in a word or two showed you 
 that these things are bad, I will next, for the 
 conviction of those that use them, show you 
 where they are to be found : 
 
 1. They are not to be found in the house of 
 the good and godly man, for he, as his God, 
 abhors them ; but they are to be found in the 
 house of evil-doers, such as Mr. Badman's is. 
 " Are there," saith the prophet, " yet the treas- 
 ures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, 
 and scant measure that is an abomination?" 
 
 , Are they there yet, notwithstanding God's for- 
 bidding, notwithstanding God's token of anger 
 against those that do such things ? Oh how 
 loth is a wicked man to let go a sweet, a gain- 
 ful sin when he, hath hold of it I They hold 
 fast deceit, they refuse to let it go. 
 
 2. These deceitful weights and measures are 
 not to be found in the house of the merciful, 
 but in the house of the cruel, in the house "of 
 them that love to oppress: "The balances of 
 deceit are in his hand ; he loveth to oppress." 
 He is given to oppression and cruelty, there- 
 
 fore he useth such wicked things in his calliug. 
 Yea, he is a very cheat; and, as was hinted 
 before concerning Mr. Badman's breaking, so 
 I say now concerning his using these deceitful 
 weights and measures, it is as bad, as base as to 
 take a purse or pick a iJocket, for it is a plain 
 robbery ; it takes away from a man that which 
 is his own, even the price of his money. 
 
 3. The deceitful weights and measures are 
 not to be found in the house of such as relieve 
 the belly and that cover-the loins of the poor, 
 but of such as indeed would swallow them up. 
 " Hear ye this, ye that swallow up the needy, 
 and that make the poor of the land to fail, 
 saying, When will the new moon be gone, that 
 we may sell corn ? and the sabbath, that we 
 may set forth wheat, making the ephah small 
 and the shekel great, (making the measure 
 small and the price great,) and falsifying the 
 balances by deceit, that ye may buy the poor 
 for silver and the needy for a pair of shoes, 
 and sell the refuse of the wheat? The Lord 
 hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely 
 I will not forget any of their works." So de- 
 testable and vile a thing is this in the sight of 
 God. 
 
 4. God abominates the thought of calling of 
 those that use false weights and measures by 
 any other term than that they be impure ones 
 or the like : " Shall I count them pure (saith 
 he) with the bag of deceitful weights ?" No, 
 by no means ; they are impure ones, their hands 
 are defiled, deceitful gain is in their houses; 
 they have gotten what they have by coveting 
 an evil covetousness, and therefore must and 
 shall be counted among the impure, among the 
 wicked of the world. 
 
 Thus you see how full and plain the word 
 of God is against this sin, and them that use 
 it. And therefore Mr. Badman, for that he 
 used by these things thus to rook and cheat 
 his neighbours, is rightly rejected from having 
 his name in and among the catalogue of the 
 godly. 
 
 Attentive. But I am persuaded that the using 
 of these things, and the doing by them thus 
 deceitfully, is not counted so great an evil by 
 some. 
 
 Wiseman. Whether it be counted an evil or 
 a virtue by men, it mattereth not; you see by 
 the Scriptures the judgment of God upon it. 
 It was not counted an evil by Mr. Badman, 
 nor is it by. any that still are treading in his 
 steps. But I say it is no matter how mep 
 esteem of things — let us adhere to the judg- 
 ment of God. And the rather because, when 
 
LIFE AND BEATS OF MB. B ADMAN. 
 
 527 
 
 we ourselves have done weighing and measur- 
 ing to others, then God will weigh and meas- 
 ure both us and our actions. And when he 
 dotli so, as he will do shortly, then woe be to 
 him of whom and of whose actions it shall be 
 thus said by him: "Telcel, thou art weighed 
 in the balance and art found wanting." God 
 will then recompense their evil of deceiving 
 upon their own head, when he shall have shut 
 them out of his presence, favour and kingdom 
 for ever and ever. 
 
 Attentive. But it is a wonder that since Mr. 
 Badmau's common practice was to do thus, 
 some one or more did not find him out and 
 blame him for this his wiclj:edness. 
 
 Wiseman. For the generality of people he 
 went away clever with his linavery. For what 
 with his balance, his false balance and good 
 weight, and what with his sleight of hand to 
 boot, he beguiled, sometimes a little and some- 
 times more, most that he h^d to deal with ; be- 
 sides, those that use this naughty trade are 
 either such as blind men by show of religion 
 or by hectoring of the buyer out of words. I 
 must confess Jlr. Badman was not so arch at 
 the first — that is, to do it by show of religion — 
 for he now began to grow threadbare, (though 
 some of his brethren are arch enough this 
 way, yea, and of his sisters too; for I told you 
 at first that there were a great many of them, 
 and never a one of them good ;) but for hector- 
 ing, for swearing, for lying, if these things 
 would make weight and measure, they should 
 not be wanting to Mr. Badraan's customers. 
 
 Attentloe. Then it seems he kept good 
 weights and a bad balance; well, that was 
 better than that both should be j)ad. 
 
 Wiseman. Not at all. There lay the depth 
 of his deceit; for if any at any time found 
 fault that he used them hardly, and that they 
 wanted their weight of things, he would reply, 
 Why, did you not see them weighed? will you 
 not believe your own eyes? If you question 
 my weights, pray cariy them whither you will, 
 I will maintain them to be good and just. 
 The same he would say of his scales. So he 
 blinded all by his balance. 
 
 Attentive. This is cunning indeed; but, as 
 you say, there must be also something done or 
 said to blind wherewith; and this I perceive 
 Mr. Badman had. 
 
 Wiseman. Yes, he had many ways to blind- 
 but he was never clevgr at it by making a show 
 of religion, though he cheated his wife there- 
 with; for he was, especially by those that 
 dwelt near him, too well known to do that, 
 
 though he would bungle at it as well as he 
 could. But there are some that are arch vil- 
 lains this way; they shall, to view, live a 
 whole life religiously, and yet skill be guilty 
 of these most horrible sins, a:.d yet religion 
 in itself is never the worst, nor yet the profes- 
 sors of it. But as Luther says. In the name 
 of God begins all mischief. For the hypocrites 
 have no other way to bring their evils to ma- 
 turity but by using and mixing the nams of 
 God and religion therewith. Thus they be- 
 come whited walls, for by this fl-hite, the 
 white of religion, the dirt of their actions is 
 hid. Thus also they become graves that ap- 
 pear not, and they that go over them, {that 
 have to do with them.) they are not aware of 
 them, but suflfer themselves to be deluded by 
 them ; yea, if there shall, as there will some- 
 times, rise a doubt in the heart of the buyer 
 about the weight and measure he should have, 
 why he suffereth his very senses to be also de- 
 luded by recalling of his chapman's religion 
 to mind, and thinks verily that not his good 
 chapman but himself is out, for he dreams 
 not that his chapman can deceive. But if the 
 buyer shall find it out, and shall make it ap- 
 parent that he is beguiled, then shall he be 
 healed by having amends made, and perhaps 
 fault shall belaid upon servants, &c. ; and so 
 Master Cheat shall sfiind for a right honest 
 man in the eye of his customer, though the 
 next time he shall pick his pocket again. 
 
 Some plead custom for their cheat, as if 
 that could acquit them before the tribunal of 
 God; and others say it came to them for so 
 much, and therefore another must take it for 
 so much, though there is wanting both as to 
 weight and measure; but in all these things 
 there are juggles, or if not, such must know 
 that that which is "altogether just they must 
 do." Suppose that I be cheated myself with a 
 brass half crown, must I therefore cheat another 
 therewith ? If this be bad in the whole, it is 
 also bad in the parts. Therefore, however 
 thou art dealt withal in thy buying, yet thou 
 must deal justly in selling, or thou sinnrst 
 against thy soul and art become as Mr. Bad- 
 man. And know that a pretence to custom 
 is nothing worth. It is not custom, but good 
 conscience, that will help at God's tribunal. 
 
 Attentive. But I am persuaded that that 
 which is gotten by men this way doth them 
 but little good. 
 
 Wiseman. I am of your mind for that, but 
 this is not considered by those thus minded; 
 for if they can get it, though they thus get, as 
 
528 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 we say, the devil and all by their getting, yet 
 they are content, and count that their getting 
 is much. 
 
 Little good I Why, do you think they 
 consider that? No; no more than they con- 
 sider what they shall do in judgment, at the 
 day of God Almighty, for their wrong getting 
 of what they get, and that is just nothing at all. 
 
 But to give you a more direct answer. This 
 kind of getting is so far off from doing them 
 little good that it doth them no good at all, 
 because thereby they lose their own souls. 
 " What shall it proiit a man if he shall gain 
 the whole world and lose his own soul?" He 
 loseth then, he loseth greatly, that getteth after 
 this fashion. This is the man that is penny- 
 wise and pound-foolish ; this is he that loseth 
 his good ship for a halfpenny worth of tar, 
 that loseth a soul for a little of the world. 
 And then what doth he get thereby but loss 
 and damage ? Thus he getteth, or rather 
 loseth, about the world to come; but what 
 doth he get in this world more than travail 
 and sorrow, vexation of spirit, and disappoint- 
 ment? Men aim at blessedness in getting — I 
 mean at temporal blessedness — but the man 
 that thus getteth shall not have that. For 
 though an inheritance after this manner may 
 be hastily gotten at the beginning, yet the end 
 thereof shall not be bfessed. They gather it 
 indeed, and think to keep it too; but what- 
 says Solomon? "God casteth it away. The 
 Lord will not suffer the soul of the righteous 
 to famish, but he casteth away the substance 
 of the wicked." 
 
 The time, as I said, that they do enjoy it, it 
 shall do them no good at all ; but long, to be 
 sure, they must not have it. For God will 
 either take it away in their lifetime or else in 
 the generation following, according to that of 
 Job : " He (the wicked) may prepare it, but 
 the just shall put it on and the innocent shall 
 divide the silver." 
 
 Consider that also which is written in the 
 Proverbs: "A good man leaveth an inherit- 
 ance to his children's children, and the wealth 
 of the sinner is laid up for the just." What 
 then doth he get thereby that getteth by dis- 
 honest means? Why, he getteth sin and 
 wrath, hell and damnation ; and now tell me 
 how much he doth get? 
 
 This, I say, is his .getting ; so that as David 
 says we may be bold to say too : " I beheld 
 the wicked in great prosperity, and presently I 
 cursed his habitation ;" for it cannot prosper 
 with him. Fluster, and huff, and make ado 
 
 for awhile he may, but God hath determined 
 that both he and it shall melt like grease ; and 
 any observing man may see it so. Behold 
 the unrighteous man, in a way of injustice, 
 getteth much and loadeth himself with thick 
 clay, but anon it withereth, it decayeth, and 
 even he, or the generation following, decline 
 and return to beggary. 
 
 And thus Mr. Badman, notwithstanding his 
 cunning and crafty tricks to get money, did 
 die, nobody can tell .whether worth a farthing 
 or no. 
 
 Attentive. He had all the bad tricks, I think, 
 that it was possible for a man to have to get 
 money ; one would think that he should have 
 been rich. 
 
 Wiseman. You reckon too fast if you count 
 these all his bad tricks to get money, for he 
 had more besides. 
 
 If his customers were in his books, (as it 
 should gb hard but he would have them there, 
 at least if he thought he could make any ad- 
 vantage of them,) then he would be sure to im- 
 pose upon them his worst, even very bad com- 
 modity, yet set down for it the .price that the 
 best was sold at : like those that sold the re- 
 fuse wheat or the worst of the wheat, making 
 the shekel great, yet hoisting up the price; 
 this was Mr. Badman's way. He would sell 
 goods that cost him not the best price by far 
 for as much as he sold his best of all. He had 
 also a trick to mingle his commodity, that 
 that which was bad might go off with the 
 least distrust. 
 
 Besides, if his customers at any time paid 
 him money, let them look to themselves and 
 to their acquittances, for he would usually at- 
 tempt to call for that payment again, especially 
 if he thought that there were hopes of making 
 a prize thereby ; and then to be sure if they 
 could not produce good and sufficient ground 
 of payment, a hundred to one but they pay it 
 again. Sometimes the honest chapman would 
 appeal to his servants for proof of the payment 
 of money, but they were trained up by him to 
 say after his mind, right or wrong ; so that re- 
 lief that way he could get none. 
 
 Attentive. It is a bad, yeaj an abominable 
 thing, for a man to have such servants, for by 
 such means a poor customer may be undone, 
 and not know how to help himself. Alas I if 
 the master be so unconscionable, as I perceive 
 Mr. Badman was, to calt for his money twice, 
 and if his servant will swear that it is a due 
 debt, where is any help for such a man ? He 
 must sink, there is no remedy. 
 
LIFE AND DEATH OF MR. B ADMAN. 
 
 529 
 
 Wiseman. This is very bad, but this has 
 been a practice, and that hundreds of years 
 ago. But what saith the word of God? — "I 
 will punish all those that leap upon the thres- 
 hold, which fill their masters' houses with vio- 
 lence and deceit." 
 
 Mr. Badman also had this art, could he get 
 a man at advantage — that is, if his chapman 
 durst not go from him, or if the commodity he 
 wanted could not for the present he conveni- 
 ently had elsewhere — then let him look to him- 
 self; he would surely make his purse-strings 
 crack ; he would exact upon him without any 
 pity or conscience. 
 
 Attentive. That was extortion, was it not? I 
 pray let me hear your judgment of extortion, 
 what it is, and when committed? 
 
 Wiseman. Extortion is a screwing from men 
 more than by the law of God or man is rights 
 and it is committed sometimes by them in 
 office about fees, rewards, and the like, but it 
 is most commonly committed by men of trade, 
 who, without all conscience when they have 
 the advantage, will make a prey of their 
 neighbour. And thus was Mr. Badman an 
 extortioner, for although he did not exact and 
 force away as bailifls and clerks used to do, yet 
 he had his opportunities, and such cruelty to 
 make use of them that he would often, in his 
 way, be extorting and forcing of money out of 
 his neighbour's pocket. For every man that 
 makes a preyof his advantage upon his neigh- 
 bour's necessities, to force from him more than 
 in reason and conscience, according to the 
 present price o£ things, such commodity is 
 worth, may very well be called an extortioner, 
 and judged for one that hath no inheritance in 
 the kingdom of God. 
 
 Attentive. Well, this Badman was a sad 
 wretch. 
 
 Winman. Thus you have often said before. 
 But now we are in discourse of this, give rae 
 leave a little to go on. We have a great many 
 people in the country too who live all their 
 diiys in the practice, and so under the guilt, 
 o( fxtortion ; people, alas ! that scorn to be so 
 ai. counted. 
 
 As for example : There is a poor body that 
 dwells, we will suppose, so many miles from 
 the market; and this man wants a bushel of 
 grain, a pound of butter, or a cheese for him- 
 self, his wife, and poor children ; but dwelling 
 80 far from the market, if he goes thither he 
 shall lose a day's work, which shall be eight or 
 ten pence damage to him, and that i" some- 
 thing for a poor man. So he goeth to one of 
 34 
 
 his masters or dames for what he wanloth, and 
 asks them to help him with such a thing. 
 Yes, say they, you may have it; but withal 
 they will give him a gripe, perhaps make him 
 pay as much or more for it at home than they 
 can get when they have carried it five miles to 
 a market ; yea, and that too for the refuse of 
 their commodity. But in this the women arc 
 especially faulty in the sale of their butter anf' 
 cheese, &c. Now this is a kind of extortion, 
 it is a making a prey of the necessity of the 
 poor, it is a grinding of their feces, a buying 
 and selling of them. 
 
 * But above all, your hucksters, that buy the 
 poor man's victuals by wholesale and sell it to 
 him again for unreasonable gains by retail, 
 and, as we call it, by piecemeal, they are- got 
 into a way after a stinging rate to play their 
 game upon such by extortion. I mean such 
 who buy up butter, cheese, eggs, bacon, &c., 
 by wholesale, and sell it again, as they call it, 
 by penny-worths, twopenny-worths, a half- 
 pennyworth, or the like, to the poor, all the 
 week after the market is past. 
 
 These, though I will not condemn them all, 
 do many of them bite and pinch the poor by 
 this kind of evil dealing. These destroy the 
 poor because he is poor, and that is a grievous 
 sin. " He that oppresseth the poor to increase 
 his riches, and that giveth to the rich, shall 
 surely come to want." Therefore he saith 
 again, "Rob not the poor because he is poor, 
 neither oppress the afilicted in the gate; for 
 the Lord will plead their cause, and spoil the 
 soul of them that spoil them." 
 
 Oh, that he that gripeth and grindeth the 
 face of the poor would take notice of these two 
 Scriptui'es ! Here is threatened the destruc- 
 tion of the estate, yea, and of the soul too, ef 
 them that oppress the poor. Their soul I we 
 shall better see where and in what condition 
 that is in when the day of doom is come ; but 
 for the estates of such, they usually quickly 
 moulder, and that sometimes all men, and 
 sometimes no man, knows how. 
 
 Besides, these are usurers ; yea, they take 
 usuiy for victuals, which thing the Lord has 
 forbidden. And because they cannot so weU 
 do it on the market-day, therefore they do it, 
 as I said, when the market is over, for then 
 the poor fall into their mouths, and are neces- 
 sitated to have as they can for their need, and 
 they are resolved they shall pay soundly for it. 
 Perhaps some will find fault for my meddling 
 thus with other folks' matters, and for my thus 
 prying into the secrets of their iniquity. But 
 
5.30 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 to such I would say, Since such actions are 
 evil, it is time they were hissed out'of the 
 world; for all that do such things offend 
 against God,' wrong their neighbour, and, like 
 Mr. Badman, do provolse God to judgment. 
 
 Attentive. God knows that there is abun- 
 dance of deceit in the world I 
 
 Wiseman. Deceit! Ay, but I have not told 
 you a thousandth part of it, nor is it my busi- 
 ness now to rake to the bottom of that dung- 
 hill. What would you say if I should anatom- 
 ize some of those villainous wretches called 
 pawn-brokers, that lend money and goods to 
 poor people who are by necessity forced to 
 such an inconvenience, and will make by one 
 trick or other the interest of what they so lend 
 amount to thirty, forty, yea, sometimes fifty, 
 pound by the year, notwithstanding the prin- 
 cipal is secured by a sufficient pawn, which 
 they will keep too at last if they can find any 
 shift to cheat the wretched borrower? 
 
 Attentive. Say ! Why such miscreants are the 
 pest and vermin of the commonwealth, not fit 
 for the society of men. But methinks by some 
 of those things you discoursed before you seem 
 to import that it is not lawful for a man to 
 make the best of his own. 
 
 Wiseman. If by making the best you mean 
 to sell for as much as by hook or^crook he can 
 get for his commodity, then I say it is not law- 
 ful. And if I should say the contrary, I should 
 justify Mr. Badman and all the rest of that 
 gang ; but that I shall never do, foi the word 
 of God condemns them. But that it is not 
 lawful for a man at all times to sell his com- 
 modity for as much as he can, I prove by 
 these reasons : 
 
 1. If it be lawful for me always to sell my 
 commodity as dear or for as much as I can, 
 then it is lawful for me to lay aside in my 
 dealing with others good conscience to them 
 and to God ; but it is not lawful for me in my 
 dealing with others to lay aside good con- 
 science, &c. Therefore it is not lawful for me 
 always to sell my commodity as dear or for as 
 much as I can. 
 
 That it is not lawful to lay aside good con- 
 science in our dealings has already been proved 
 in the former part of our discourse, but that a 
 man must lay it aside that will sell his com- 
 modity always as dear or for as much as he can 
 is plainly manifest thus : 
 
 (1.) He that will (as is mentioned afore) sell 
 his commodity as dear as he can must some- 
 limes make a prey of the ignorance of his 
 neighbour ; but that he cannot do with a good 
 
 conscience, for that is to overreach and to gc 
 beyond his neighbour, and is forbidden. ] 
 Thess. iv. 6. Therefore he that will sell hia 
 commodity, as afore, as dear or for as much aa 
 he can, must of necessity lay aside a good con- 
 science. 
 
 (2.) He that will sell his commodity always 
 as dear as he can must needs sometimes make 
 a prey of his neighbour's necessity ; but that 
 he cannot do with a good conscience, for th-at 
 is to go beyond and defraud his neighbour, 
 contrary to 1 Thess. iv. 6. Therefore, he that 
 will sell his commodity, as afore, as dear or f )r 
 as much as he can must needs cast off and ky 
 aside a good conscience. 
 
 (3.) He that will, as afore, sell his commod- 
 ity as dear or for as much as he can must, if 
 need be, make a prey of liis neighbour's fond- 
 ness ; but that a man cannot do with a good 
 conscience, for that is still going beyond him, 
 contrary to 1 Thess. iv. 6. Therefore, he that 
 will sell his commodity as dear or for as much 
 as he can must needs cast off and lay aside a 
 good conscience. The same also may be said 
 for buying. No man may always, buy as cheap 
 as he can, but must also use good conscience in 
 buying ; the which he can by no means use 
 and keep if he buys always as cheap as he can, 
 and that for the reasons urged before. For 
 such will make a prey of the ignorance, ne- 
 cessity, and fondness of their neighbour, the 
 which they cannot do with a good conscience. 
 
 AVhen Abraham would buy a burying-place 
 of the sons of Heth, thus he said unto them: 
 "Entreat, for me to Ephron tUe son of Zohar 
 that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, 
 which he hath in the end of his field ; for a.s 
 much as it is worth shall he give it me." Gen. 
 xxiii. 8, 9. He would not have it under foot ; 
 he scorned it, he abhorred it; it stood not 
 with his religion, credit, nor conscience. So 
 also when David would buy a field of Oman 
 the Jebusite, thus he said unto him, " Grant 
 me the place of the threshing-floor, that I may 
 build an altar there unto tlie Lord; thou shall 
 give it me for the full price." He also, as 
 Abraham, made conscience of this kind of 
 dealing ; he would not lie at catch ' o go be- 
 yond, no not the Jebusite, but would give him 
 his full price for this field; for he knew that 
 there was wickedness, as in selling tpc dear, so 
 in buying too cheap; therefore he would not 
 do it. 
 
 There ought therefore to be good conscience 
 used, as in selling, so in buying ; for it is also 
 unlawful for a man to go beyond or to defraud 
 
LIFE AND DEATH OF MB. B ADMAN. 
 
 631 
 
 nis neighbour in buying ; yea, it is unlawful 
 to do it in any matter, and God will plenti- 
 fully avenge that wrong, as I also before have 
 warned and testified. But, 
 
 2. If it be lawful for me always to sell my 
 commodity as dear or for as much as I can, 
 then it is lawful for me to deal with my 
 neighbour without the use of charity ; but it 
 is not lawful for me to lay it aside, or to deal 
 with my neighbour without the use of charity ; 
 therefore it is not lawful for me always to sell 
 my commodity to my neighbour for as much 
 as I can. A man in dealing should as really 
 design his neighbour's good, profit, and advan- 
 tage as his own, for this is to exercise charity 
 in his dealing. 
 
 That I should thus use or exercise charity 
 towards my neighbour in my buying and sell- 
 ing, &o., with him, is evident from the general 
 command, "Let all your things be done in 
 charity;" but that that man cannot live in the 
 exercise of charity that selleth, as afore, as dear 
 or that buyeth as cheap as he can is evident 
 by these reasons : 
 
 (1.) He that sells his commodity as dear or 
 for as much money always as he can seeks 
 himself, and himself only, (but charity seeketh 
 not her own, nor her own only;) so then he 
 that seeks himself, and himself only, as he 
 that sells, as afore, as dear as he can, makcth 
 not use of nor doth he exerciSe charity in so 
 dealing. 
 
 (2.) He that selleth his commodity always 
 for as much as he can get hardeneth his 
 heart against all reasonable entreaties of the 
 buyer; but he that doth so cannot exercise 
 charity in his dealing, therefore it is not law- 
 ful for a man to sell his commodity as dear as 
 he can. 
 
 (3.) If it be lawful for me to sell my com- 
 modity as dear as I can, then there can be no 
 sin in my trading, how unreasonably soever I 
 manage my calling, whether by lying, swear- 
 ing, cursing, or cheating; for all this is but to 
 sell my commodity as dear as I can ; but that 
 there is sin in these is evident, therefore I may 
 not sell my commodity always as dear as I can. 
 
 (t.) He that selleth as dear as he can offer- 
 eth violence to the law of nature; for that 
 saith, '' Do unto all men even as ye would 
 that they should do unto you." Now, was the 
 seller a buyer, he would jiot that he of whom 
 he buys should sell to him always as dear as 
 he can ; therefore he should not sell so him- 
 self when it is his lot to sell and othersf to buy 
 of him. 
 
 (5.) He that selleth, as afore, as dear as he 
 can makes use of that instruction that God 
 hath not given to others, but sealed up in hjg 
 hand, to abuse his law and to wrong hia 
 neighbour withal ; which indeed is contrary 
 to God. God hath given thee more skill, more 
 knowledge and understanding in thy com- 
 modity than he hath given to him that would 
 buy of thee. But what ! canst thou think that 
 God hath given thee this that thou mightest 
 thereby make a prey of thy neighbour? that 
 thou mightest thereby go beyond and beguile 
 thy neighbour? No, verily; but he hath 
 given thee it for his' help, that thon mightesi 
 in this be eyes to the blind, and save thy 
 neighbour from that damage that his ignor- 
 ance, or necessity, or fondness would betray 
 him into the hands of. 
 
 (6.) In all that a man does he should have 
 an eye to the glory of God, but that he 
 cannot have that sells his commodity always 
 for as much as he can, for the reasons urged 
 before. 
 
 (7.) All that a man does he should do in 
 the name of the Lord Jesus Christ — that is, 
 as being commanded and authorized to do it 
 by him — but he that selleth always as dear 
 as he can cannot so much as pretend to this 
 without horrid blaspheming of that name, be- 
 cause commanded b)' him to do otherwise. 
 
 (8.) And lastly, in all that a man does he 
 should have an eye to the day of judgment, 
 ami to the cdnsideration of how his actions 
 will be esteemed in that day : therefore there 
 is not any man that can or ought to sell 
 always as dear as he can, unless he will, yea, 
 he must say in so doing, I will run the hazard 
 of the trial of that day. 
 
 " If thou sell aught unto thy neighbour, or 
 buyest aught of thy neighbour, ye shall not 
 oppress one another." 
 
 Attentive. But why do you put in these cau- 
 tionary words. They must not sell always aa 
 dear nor buy always as cheap as they can? 
 Do you not thereby intimate that a manmay 
 sometimes do so? 
 
 Wiseman. I do indeed intimate that some- 
 times the seller may sell as dear and the buyer 
 buy as cheap as he can, but this is allowable 
 only in these cases: when he that sells is a 
 knave, and lays aside all good conscience in 
 selling, or when the buyer is a knave, and lays 
 aside all good conscience in bujdng. If the 
 buyer, therefore, lights of a knave, or if the 
 seller lights of a knave, then let them look to 
 themselves ; but yet so as not to lay aside con- 
 
532 
 
 SUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 science because lie that thou dealest with doth 
 so; but how vile or base soever* the chapman 
 is, do thou keep thy commodity at a reasonable 
 price ; or if thou buyest, oifer reasonable gain 
 for the thing thou wouldst have ; and if this 
 will not do with the buyer or seller, then seek 
 thee a more honest chapman. If thou object- 
 f«t, But I have not skill to know when a 
 pennyworth is before me, get some that have 
 more skill than thyself in that affair,. and let 
 tliem in that matter dispose of thy money. But 
 if there were no knaves in the world these ob- 
 jections need not be made. ' 
 
 And thus, my very good neighbour, have I 
 given you a few of my reasons why a man that 
 hath it should not always sell too dear nor buy 
 as cheap as he can, but should use good con- 
 science, to God and charity to his neighbour in 
 both. 
 
 Attentive. But were some men here to hear 
 you, I believe they would laugh you to 
 scorn. 
 
 Wiseman. I question not that at all, for so 
 Mr. Badman used to do when any man told 
 him of his faults; he used to think himself 
 wiser than any, and would count, as I have 
 hinted before, that he was not arrived to a 
 manly spirit that did stick or boggle at any 
 wickedness. But let Mr. Badman and his fel- 
 lows laugh ; I will bear it, and still give them 
 good counsel. But I will remember also, for 
 my further relief and comfort, that thus they 
 that were covetous of old served the Son of 
 God himself. It is their time to laugh now, 
 that they may mourn in time to come. And, 
 I say again, when they have laughed out their 
 laugh, he that useth not good conscience to 
 God and charity to his neighbour in buying 
 and selling dwells next door to an infidel, and 
 is near of kin to Mr. Badman. 
 
 Attentive. Well, but what will you say to this 
 questitm ? You know that there is no settled 
 price set by God upon any commodity that is 
 bought or sold under the sun, but all things 
 Ihat we buy and sell do ebb and flow,' as to 
 price, like the tide ; how, then, shall a man of 
 a tender conscience do neither to wrong the 
 seller, buyer, nor himself in buying and sell- 
 ing of commodities ? 
 
 Wiseman. This question is thought to be 
 frivolous by all that are of Mr. Badman's way : 
 it is also difficult in itself; yet I will endeav- 
 our to shape you an answer, and that first to 
 the matter of the question — to wit, How a 
 traaesman should in trading keep a good con- 
 science, (a buyer or seller either.) Secondly, 
 
 How he should prepare himself to this work 
 and live in the practice of it. 
 
 For the first: He must observe what has 
 been said before — to wit, hfe must have con- 
 science to God, charity to his neighbour, and, I 
 will add, much moderation in dealing. Let 
 him therefore keep within the bounds of the 
 affirmative of those eight reasons that before 
 were urged to prove that men ought not in 
 their dealing but to do justly and mercifully 
 betwixt man and man, and then there will be 
 no great fear of wronging the seller, buyer, or 
 himself. 
 
 But particularly to prepare or instruct a 
 man to this work : 
 
 1. Let the tradesman or others consider that 
 there is not that in great gettings and in abun- 
 dance which the most of men do suppose; for 
 all that a man has over and above what serves 
 for his present necessity and supply serves only 
 to feed the lusts of the eye : " For what good 
 is there to the owners thereof, save the behold- 
 ing of them with their eyes ?" Men also, many 
 times, in getting of riches get therewith a 
 snare to their soul, but few get good by getting 
 of them. But this consideration Mr. Badman 
 could not abide. 
 
 2. Consider that the getting of wealth dis- 
 honestly (as he does that getteth it without 
 good conscience and charity to his neighbour) 
 is a great ofFendfe against God. Hence he, says, 
 " I have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest 
 gain which thou hast made." It is a manner 
 of -speech that shows anger in the very mak- 
 ing of mention of the crime. Therefore, 
 
 3. Consider that a little honestly gotten, 
 though it may yield thee but a dinner of herbs 
 at a time, will yield more peace therewith than 
 with a stalled ox ill gotten : " Better is a little 
 with righteousness than great revenues without 
 right." 
 
 4. Be thou confident that God's eyes are 
 upon all thy ways and that he pondereth all 
 thy goings, and also that he marks them, writes 
 them down, and seals them up in a bag against 
 the time to come. 
 
 5. Be thou sure that thou rememberest that 
 thou knowest not the day of thy death. Re- 
 member also that when death comes, God will 
 give thy substance, for the which thou hast la- 
 boured, and for the which perhaps thou hast 
 hazarded thy soul, to one, thou knowest not 
 who, nor whether he shall be a wise man or a 
 fool. And then " what profit hath he that la- 
 bourett for the wind ?" 
 
 Besides, thou shalt have nothing that thou 
 
LIFE AND DEATH OF MR. B ADMAN. 
 
 533 
 
 mayest so much as carry away in thine hand. 
 Guilt shall go with thee if thou hast got it dis- 
 honestly, and they also to whom thou shalt 
 leave it shall receive it to their hurt. 
 
 Those things duly considered, and made use 
 of by thee to the preparing of thy heart to thy 
 calling of buying or selling, I come, in the 
 next place, to show thee how thou shouldest 
 live in the practical part of this art. Art thou 
 to buy or sell ? 
 
 1. If thou sellest, do not commend, if thou 
 buyest, do not dispraise, any otherwise but to 
 give the thing that thou hast to do with its 
 just value and worth; for thou canst not do 
 otherwise knowingly but of a covetous and 
 wicked mind. Wherefore else are commodities 
 overvalued by the sellfer and also undervalued 
 by the buyer? " It is naught, it is naught, says 
 the buyer, but when he hath got his bargain he 
 boasteth thereof." What hath this man done 
 now but lied in the dispraising of his bargain? 
 And why did he dispraise it but of a covetous 
 mind, to wrong and beguile the seller? 
 
 2. Art thou a seller, and do things grow 
 dear? Set not thy hand to help or hold them 
 up higher; this cannot be done without wicked- 
 ness neither, " for this is a making of the shekel 
 great." Art thou a buyer, and do things grow 
 dear? Use no cunning or deceitful language 
 to pull them down, for that cannot be done 
 but wickedly too. What then shall we do, 
 will you say ? Why I answer. Leave things to 
 the providence of God, abd do thou with mod- 
 eration submit to his hand. But since, when 
 they are growing dear, the hand that upholds 
 the price is, for the time, more strong than 
 that which would pull it down — that being the 
 hand of the seller, who loveth to have it dear, 
 especially if it shall rise in his hand — therefore, 
 I say, do thou take heed and have not a hand 
 in it. The which thou mayest have to thine 
 own and thy neighbour's hurt these three 
 ways : 
 
 1. By crying out, SiMreity, scarcity! beyond 
 the truth and state of things; especially take 
 heed of doing this by way of a prognostic for 
 time to come. It was for this for which he 
 was trodden to death in the gate of Samaria 
 that you read of in the book of Kings. This 
 Binhas a double evil in it: 1. It belieth the 
 present blessing of God among us ; and, 2. It 
 undervdlueth the riches of his goodness, which 
 can make all good things to abound towards 
 us. 
 
 2. This wicked thing may be done by hoard- 
 ing up when the hunger and necessity of the 
 
 poor call for it. Now that God may show his 
 dislike against this, he doth, as it were, license 
 the people to curse such an hoarder-up : " lie 
 that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse 
 him, but blessing shall be uijon the head of 
 him that selleth it." 
 
 3. But if things will rise, do thou be grieved ; 
 be also moderate in all thy sellings, and be 
 sure let the poor have a pennyworth, and sell 
 thy corn to those in necessity; which then 
 thou wilt do when thou showest mercy t' the 
 poor in thy selling to him, and when thou for 
 his sake, because he is poor, jmdersellest the 
 market. This is to buy and sell with good 
 conscience: thy buyer thou wrongest not, thy 
 conscience thou wrongest not, thyself thou 
 wrongest not, for God will surely recompense 
 thee. 
 
 I have spoken concerning corn, but thy duty 
 is to let thy moderation in all things be known 
 unto all men ; the Lord is at hand. 
 
 Attentive. Well, sir, now I have heard enough 
 of Mr. Badman's naughtiness; pray now pro- 
 ceed to his death. 
 
 Wiseman. Why, sir, the sun is not so low; 
 we have three hours to night. 
 
 Attentive. Nay, I am not in any great haste, 
 but I thought you had even now done with his 
 life. 
 
 Wiseman. Done I No, I have yet much more 
 to say. 
 
 Attentive. Then he has much more wicked- 
 ness than I thought he had. 
 
 Wiseman. That may be. But let us proceed. 
 This Jlr. Badman added to all his wickedness 
 this : he was a very proud man ; he was exceed- 
 ing proud and haughty in mind; he looked 
 that what he said ought not, must not, be con- 
 tradicted or opposed. He counted himself as 
 wise as the wisest in the country, as good as 
 the best, and as beautiful as he that had most 
 of it. He took great delight in praising of 
 himself, and as much in the praises that others 
 gave him. He could not abide that any should 
 think themselves above him, or that their wit 
 or personage should by others be set before 
 his. He had scarce a fellowly carriage fi r hia 
 equals, but for those that were of an inierior 
 rank, he would look over them in great con- 
 tempt; and if at any time he lad any remote 
 occasion of having to do with them, he woul ! 
 show great height and a very domineering 
 spirit. So that in this it may be said that 
 Solomon gave a characteristical note of him 
 when he said, "Proud and haughty scorner ia 
 his name, who dealeth in proud wrath." He 
 
o34 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 never thought his diet well enough dressed, 
 his clothes fine enough made, or his praise 
 enough refined. 
 
 Attentive. This pride is a sin that sticks as 
 close to nature, I think, as most sins. There 
 is uncleanness and pride : I know not of any 
 two gross sins that stick closer to men than 
 tJiey. They have, as I may call it, an interest 
 in ■nature; it likes them, because they most 
 6ui; its lusts and fancies; and therefore no 
 marvel though Mr. Badman was tainted with 
 pride, since he had so wickedly given up him- 
 self to work all iniquity with greediness. 
 
 Wiseman. You say right; pride is a sin that 
 sticks close to nature, and is one of the first 
 follies wherein it shows itself to be polluted. 
 For even in childhood, even in little children, 
 pride will first of all show itself; it is a hasty, 
 an early appearance of the sin of the soul. 
 It, as I may say, is that corruption that strives 
 for predominancy in the heart, and therefore 
 usually comes out first. But though children 
 are so incident to it, yet methinks those of 
 more years should be ashamed thereof I 
 might at the first have begun with Mr. Bad- 
 man's pride, only I think it is not the pride in 
 infancy that begins to make a dilference be- 
 twixt one and another, as did and do those 
 things wherewith I began my relation of his 
 life; therefore I passed it over; but now, 
 since he had no more consideration of him- 
 self and of his vile and sinful state but to be 
 proud when come to years, I have taken the 
 occasion in this place to make mention of his 
 pride. 
 
 Attentive. But pray, if you can remember 
 them, tell me of some places of Scripture that 
 speak against pride. I the rather desire that 
 because that pride is now a reigning sin, 
 and I happen sometimes to fall into the com- 
 pany of them that in my conscience are proud, 
 very much, and I have a mind also to tell 
 them of their sin. Now, when I tell them of 
 it, unless I bring God's word too, I doubt they 
 will laugh me to scorn. 
 
 Wiseman. Laugh you to scorn I The proud 
 man will laugh you to scorn, bring to him what 
 text you can, except God shall smite him in 
 his conscience by the word. Mr. Badman did 
 use to serve them so that did use to tell him of 
 his. And besides, when you have said what 
 you can they will tell you they are not proud, 
 and that you are rather the proud man, else 
 you would not judge nor so malapertly meddle 
 with other men's matters as you do. Never- 
 theless, since you desire it, I will mention two 
 
 or three texts; they are these: "Pride and 
 arrogancy do I hate." " A man's pride shall 
 bring him low." " And he shall bring down 
 their pride." "And all the proud, and all that 
 do wickedly shall be as stubble, and the day 
 that comes shall burn them up." This last ia 
 a dreadful text ; it is enough to make a proud 
 man shake ; God, he saith, will make the proud 
 ones as stubble; that is, as fuel for the fire'; 
 and the day that cometh shall be like a burn ■ 
 ing oven, and that day shall burn them up, 
 saith the Lord. But Mr. Badman could never 
 abide to hear pride spoken against, nor that 
 any should say of him, He is a proud man. 
 
 Attentive. What should be the reason of that? 
 Wiseman. He did not tell me the reason, but 
 I suppose it to be that which is common to all 
 vile persons. They love this vice, but care not 
 to bear its name. The drunkard loves the sin, 
 but loves not to be called a drunkard. The 
 thief loveth to steal, but cannot abide to be 
 called a thief; and so Mr. Badman loved to be 
 proud, but could not abide to be called a' proud 
 man. The sweet of sin is desirable to a pol- 
 luted and corrupted man, but the name thereof 
 is a blot in his escutcheon. 
 
 Attentive. It is true that you have said ; but 
 pray how many sorts of pride are there ? 
 
 Wiseman. There are two sorts of pride — 
 pride of spirit and pride of body. The first 
 of these is thus made mention of in the Scrip- 
 tures : " Every one that is proud in heart is an 
 abomination to the Lord. A high look, and a 
 proud heart, and the ploughing of the wicked, 
 is sin. The patient in spirit is better than the 
 proud in spirit." Bodily pride the Scripture 
 mentions : " In that day the Lord shall take 
 away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments 
 about their feet, and their cauls, and their 
 round tires like the moon, the chains, and the 
 bracelets, and the mufflers, the bonnets, and 
 the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, 
 and the tablets, and the ear-rings, the rings 
 and the nose-jewels ; the changeable suits of 
 apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and 
 the crisping-pins, the glasses and the fine linen, 
 and the hoods and the veils." By these ex- 
 pressions it is evident that there is a pride of 
 body as well as a pride of spirit, and that both 
 are sin, and so abominable to the Lord. But 
 these texts Mr. Badman could never abide to 
 read; they were to him as Micaiah was to 
 Ahab, they never spoke good of him, but evil 
 
 Attentive. I suppose that it was not Mr. Bad- 
 man's case alone even to malign those texta 
 that speak against their vices, for I believe thai 
 
LIFE AND DEATH OF MB. B ADM AN. 
 
 53E 
 
 •iHist ungodly men where the Scriptures are 
 have a secret antipathy against those words of 
 God that do most plainly and fully rebuke 
 them for their sins. 
 
 Wiieiiian. That is out of doubt ; and by that 
 antipathy they show that sin and Satan are 
 more welcome to them than are the more 
 wholesome instructions of life and godliness. 
 
 Attentive. Well, but not to go off from our 
 (liscourge of Mr. Badman, you say he was 
 proud, but will you show me now some symp- 
 toms of one that is proud? 
 
 Wheman. Yes, that I will ; and first I will 
 show you some symptoms of pride of heart. 
 Pride of heart is seen by outward things, as 
 pride of body in general is a sign of pride of 
 heart, for all proud gestures of the body flow 
 from pride of heart ; therefore Solomon saith, 
 " There is a generation, oh how lofty are their 
 eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up." And 
 again : " There is that exalteth their gait," their 
 going. Now these lofty eyes and this exalting 
 of the gait is a sign of a proud heart, for both 
 these actions come from the heart, for out of 
 the heart comes pride in all the visible appear- 
 ances of it. But more particularly — 
 
 1. Heart pride is discovered by a stretched- 
 out neck and by mincing as they go. For the 
 wicked, the proud have a proud neck, a proud 
 foot, a proud tongue, by which this their going 
 is exalted. This is that which makes them 
 look scornfully, speak ruggedly, and carry it 
 hufiingly among their neighbours. 
 
 2. A proud heart is a persecuting one : "The 
 wicked, through his pride, doth persecute the 
 poor." 
 
 3. A prayerless man is a proud man. 
 
 4. A contentious man is a proud man. 
 
 5. The disdainful man is a proud man. 
 
 6. The man that oppresses his neighbour is 
 a proud man. 
 
 7. He that hearkeneth not to God's word 
 with reverence and fear is a proud man. 
 
 8. And he that calls the proud htppy is, be 
 sure, a proud man. All these are proud in 
 heart, and this their pride of heart doth thus 
 discover itself. 
 
 As to bodily pride, it is discovered — that is, 
 something of it — by all the particulars men- 
 tioned before ; for though they are said to be 
 symptoms of pride of heart, yet they are 
 symptoms of that pride by their showing of 
 themselves in the body. You know diseases 
 that are within are seen ofttimes by outward 
 and visible signs, yet by these very signs even 
 the outside is defiled also. So all those visible 
 
 signs of heart pride are signs of bodily i)ride 
 also. But to come to more outward signs. 
 The putting on of gold, and pearls, and costly 
 array, the plaiting of the hair, the following 
 of fashions, the seeking by gestures to imitate 
 the proud, either by speech, looks, dresses, 
 goings, or other fool's baubles, of which, at 
 this time, the world is full, all these, and many 
 more, are signs as of a proud heart, so of bodily 
 pride also. 
 
 But Mr. Badman would not allow, by any 
 means, that this should be called pride, but 
 rather neatness, handsomeness, comeliness 
 cleanliness, &c. ; neither would he allow thai 
 following of fashions was any thing else but 
 because he would not be proud, singular, and 
 esteemed fantastical by his neighbours. 
 
 Attentive. But I have been told that when 
 some have been rebuked for their pride they 
 have turned it again upon the- brotherhood of 
 those by whom they have been rebuked, saying, 
 Physician, heal thy friends ; look at home 
 among your brotherhood, even among the 
 wisest of you, and see if you you-rselves be 
 clear, even your professors ; for who is prouder 
 than your professors ? Scarce the devil him- 
 self. 
 
 Wiseman. My heart aches at this, because 
 there is too much cause for it. This very an- 
 swer would Mr. Badman give his wife, when 
 she, as she would sometimes, reproved him for 
 his pride. We shall have, ' says he, great 
 amendments in living now, for the devil is 
 turned a corrector of vice, for no sin reigneth 
 more in the world, quoth he, than pride among 
 professors. And who can contradict him? 
 Let us give the devil his due, the thing is too 
 apparent for any man to deny. 
 
 And I doubt not but the same answer is 
 ready in the mouths of Mr. Badman's friends, 
 for they may and do see pride display itself in 
 the apparel and carriages of professors, one 
 may say, almost as much as among any people 
 in the land ; the more is the pity. Ay, and I 
 fear that even their extravagancies in this 
 have hardened the heart of many an one, as I 
 perceive it did somewhat the heart of Mr. 
 Badman himself 
 
 For my own part, I have seen many myself, 
 and those church members too, so decked and 
 bedaube(j,with their fangles and toys, and that 
 when they have been at the solemn appoint- 
 ments of Gbd in the way of his worship, that 
 I have wondered with what face such painted 
 persons could sit in the place where they were 
 without swooning. But certainly the holiness 
 
536 
 
 JBUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 of God', and also the pollution of themselves by 
 gin, must needs be very far out of the minds of 
 such people, what profession soever they make. 
 
 I have read of an whore's forehead, and I 
 have read of Christian shamefacedness ; I have 
 read of costly array, and of that which becom- 
 eth women professing godliness with good 
 works ; but, if I might speak, I know what I 
 know, and could say, and yet do no wrong, 
 that which would make some professors trem- 
 ble in their places ; but I forbear. 
 
 Attentive. Sir, you seem greatly concerned at 
 this ; but what if I shall say more ? It is whis- 
 pered that some good ministers have counte- 
 nanced their people in their light and wanton 
 apparel ; yea, have pleaded for their gold and 
 pearls and costly array. 
 
 Wiseman. I know not what they have pleaded 
 for ; but it is easily seen that they tolerate, or 
 at least wink and connive at, such things, both 
 in their wives and children. "And so from 
 the prophets of Jerusalem is J)rofaneness gone 
 forth into all the land." And when the hands 
 of the rulers are chief in a trespass, who can 
 keep their people from being drowned in that 
 trespass ? 
 
 Attentive. This is a lamentation, and must 
 stand for a lamentation. 
 
 Wiseman. So it is and so it must. And I 
 will add, it is a shame, it is a reproach, it is a 
 stumbling-block to the blind ; for though men 
 be as blind as Mr. Badman himself, yet they 
 can see the foolish lightness that must needs 
 be the bottom of all these apish and ivanton 
 extravagancies. But many have their excuses 
 ready — to wit, their parents, their husbands, 
 and their breeding call for it, and, the like; 
 yea, the examples of good people prompt them 
 to it ; but all these will be but the spider's web 
 when the thunder of the word of the great God 
 shall rattle from heaven against theni, as it 
 will- at death or judgment; but I wish it might 
 do it before. But, alas ! these excuses are but 
 bare pretences; these proud ones love to have 
 it so. I once talked with a maid, by way of 
 reproof, for her fond and gaudy garment. But 
 she told me the tailor would make it so, when, 
 alas, poor proud girl I she gave orders to the 
 tailor so to make it. Many make parents, and 
 husbands, and tailors, &c., the blind to others; 
 but .their naughty hearts and their giving way 
 thereto, that is the original cause of all these 
 evils. 
 
 Attentive. Now you are speaking of the cause 
 of pride, pray show me yet further why pride 
 is now so urich in requeot. 
 
 'Wiseman. I will show you what I think are 
 the reasons of it : 
 
 The first is because such persons are led by 
 their own hearts, rather than by the word of 
 God. I told you before that the original foun- 
 tain of pride is the heart. For out of the 
 heart comes pride; it is therefore because "hey 
 are led by their hearts, which naturally :eud 
 to lift them up in pride. This pride of heart 
 tempts them, and by its deceit overcomelb 
 them ; yea, it doth put a bewitching virtue into 
 their peacock's feathers, and then they are 
 swallowed up with the vanity of them. 
 
 2. Another reason why professors are so 
 proud (for those we are talking of now) is, be- 
 cause they are more apt to take example by 
 those that are of the world than they are to 
 take example of those that are saints indeed. 
 Pride is of the world. "For all that is of the 
 world, the lusts of the flesh, the lust of the 
 eyes, and the pride of life, are not of the Father, 
 but of the world." Of the world, therefore, 
 professors learn to be proud. But they should 
 not take them for example. It will be objected. 
 No, nor you saints neither, for you are as 
 proud as others. Well, let them take shame 
 that are guilty. But when I say professors 
 should take example for their life by those 
 that are sainta indeed, I mean as Peter says. 
 They should take example of those that were 
 in old time the saints ; for saints' of old time 
 were the best, therefore to these he directed us 
 for our pattern : " Let the wives' conversation 
 he chaste, and also coupled with fear. Whose 
 adorning, (saith Peter,) let it not be that out- 
 ward adorning, of plaiting the hair, and of 
 wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel ; 
 but let it be the hidden man of the heart, 
 in that which is not corruptible, even the 
 ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which 
 is in the sight of God of great price. For 
 after this manner, in the old time, the holy 
 women also, who trusted in God, adorned 
 themselve% being in subjection to their own 
 husbands." 
 
 3. Another reason is, because they have for- 
 gotten the pollution of their nature. For the 
 remembrance of that must needs keep us hum- 
 ble, and being kept humble we shall be at a 
 distance from pride. The proud and the hum- 
 ble are set in opposition : " God resisteth the 
 proud, but giveth grace to the humble." And 
 can it be imagined that a sensible Christiai' 
 should be a proud one? Sense of baseness 
 tends to lay us low, not to lift us up with pride, 
 not with pride of heaa-t nor pride of life ; but 
 
LIFE AND DEATH OF MR. B ADMAN. 
 
 537 
 
 when a man begins to forget what he is, he 
 then, if ever, begins to be proud. 
 
 Methinks it is one of the most senseless and 
 ridiculous things in the world that a man 
 should be proud of that which is given him 
 on purpose to cover the shame of his naked- 
 ness. 
 
 4. Persons that are proud have gotten God 
 and his holiness out of their sight. If God 
 was before them, as he is behind their back, 
 and if they saw him in his holiness, as he 
 sees them in their sins and shame, they would 
 take but little pleasure in their apish knacks. 
 The holiness of God makes the angels cover 
 tlieir faces, crumbles Christians, when they be- 
 hold it, into dust and ashes ; and as his Ma- 
 jesty is, such is his word ; therefore they abuse 
 it that bring it to countenance pride. , 
 
 Lastly. But what can be the end of those 
 that are proud in the decking of themselves 
 after their antic manner ? Why are they for 
 going with their naked shoulders, for painting 
 their faces, for stretching out their necks, and 
 for putting themselves unto all the formalities 
 which proud fancy leads them to ? Is it be- 
 cause they would honour God, because they 
 would adorfl the Gospel, because they would 
 beautify religion,, alid make sinners to fall in 
 love with their own salvation ?. No, no ; it is 
 rather to please their lusts, to satisfy their wild 
 and extravagant fancies. 
 
 Attentive. I like what you say very well, and 
 I wish that all proud professors were within 
 the reach and sound of your words. 
 
 Wiseman. What I have said I believe is true ; 
 but as for the proud dames in England that 
 profess, they have Moses and the prophets; 
 and if they will not hear them, how then can 
 we hope that tlicy should receive good by such 
 a dull-sounding ram's horn as I am ? How- 
 ever, I have said my mind ; and now, if you 
 will, we will proceed to some other of Mr. 
 Badman's doings. 
 
 Attentive. No ; pray before you show me any 
 thing else of ilr. Badman, show me yet more 
 particularly the evil effects of this sin of pride. 
 
 Wiseman. With all my heart I will answer 
 your request : 
 
 1. Then : It is pride that makes poor man so 
 depraved that he cannot in it be known to be 
 the image and similitude of' God. The angels, 
 when they became devils, it was througli their 
 being lifted or puffed up with pride. It is pride 
 also that lifteth or puflfeth up the heart of the 
 sinner, and makes him +0 bear the very image 
 of the devil. 
 
 2. Pride makes a man so odious in the sight 
 of God that he shall not, must not, come nigh 
 his Majesty : " Though the Lord be high, yet 
 hath he respect to the lowly ; but the proud he 
 knows afar off." Pride sets God and the soul 
 at a distance; pride will nc/t let a man come 
 nigh God, nor God will not let a proud man 
 come nigh unto tim ; no\ir this is a dreadful 
 thing. 
 
 3. As pride sets, so it keeps, God and the 
 soul at a distance. God resisteth the proud^ 
 resists, that is, he opposes him, he thrusts him 
 from him, he contemneth his person and all 
 his performances. Come into God's ordin- 
 ances the proud man may, but come into his 
 presence' have communion with him or bless- 
 ing from him, he shall not, for the high God 
 doth resist him. 
 
 4. The word saith that " the Lord will de- 
 stroy the house of the proud ; " he will destroy 
 his house ; it may be understood he will de- 
 stroy him and his. So he destroyed proud 
 Pharaoh, so he destroyed proud Korah, and 
 many others. 
 
 5. Pride, where it comes and is entertained, 
 is a certain forerunner of some judgment that 
 is not far behind. When pride goes before, 
 shame and destruction will follow after. 
 " When pride cometh, then 'cometh shame. 
 Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty 
 spirit before a fall." 
 
 6. Persisting in pride makes the condition 
 of a poor man as remediless as is that of the 
 devils themselves. 
 
 And this I fear was Mr. Badman's condition, 
 and that was the reason that he died so as he 
 did ; as I shall show you anon. 
 
 But what need I thus talk of the particular 
 actions, or rather the prodigieus sins, of Mr. 
 Badman, when his whole life and all his ac- 
 tions went as it were to the making up one 
 massy body of sin ? Instead of believing that 
 there was a God, his mouth, his life and actions 
 declared that he believed no such thing ; " His 
 transgression said within his heart that there 
 was no fear of God before his eyes." Instead 
 of honouring of God, and of giving glory to 
 him for any of his mercies or under any of his 
 good providences towards him, (for God 1? good 
 to all, and lets his sun shine and his rain fall 
 upon the unthankful and unholy,) he would 
 ascribe the glory to other causes. If they were 
 mercies, he would ascribe them (if the open 
 face of the providence did not give him the 
 lie) to his own wit, labour, care, industry, 
 cunning or the like ; if thev were crosses, he 
 
538 
 
 BVNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 would ascribe them or count them the offepring 
 of fortune, ill-luck, chance, the ill manage- 
 ment of matters, the ill-will of neighbours, or 
 to his wife's being religious and spending, as 
 he called it, too much time in reading, praying, 
 or the like. It was not in his way to ac- 
 knowledge God (that is graciously) or his 
 hand in things ; but as the prBphet saith, " Let 
 favour be showed to the wicked, yet will he 
 not learn righteousness." And again, " They 
 returned not to him that smote them, nor 
 did they seek the Lord of hosts." This was 
 Mr. Badman's temper; neither mercies nor 
 judgment would make him seek the Lord. 
 Nay, as another Scripture says, "He would 
 not see the works of God nor regard the opera- 
 tiens of his hands, either in mercies or in judg- 
 ments." But further, when by providence he 
 has been cast under the best means for his 
 soul, (for, as was showed before, he having had 
 a good master, and before him a good father, 
 and after all a good wife, and being sometimes 
 upon a journey, and cast under the hearing of 
 a good sermon, as he would sometimes, for 
 novelty's sake, go to hear a good preacher,) he 
 wa-s always witliout heart to make use thereof; 
 "In this land of righteousness he would deal 
 unjustly, and \\ould not behold the majesty of 
 the Lord." 
 
 Instead of reverencing the word when he 
 heard it preached, read, or discoursed of, he 
 would sleep, talk of other business, or else ob- 
 ject against the authority, harmony, and wis- 
 dom of the Scriptures; saying, How do you 
 know them to be the word of God? How do 
 you know that these sayings are true ? The 
 Scriptures, he would say, were as a nose of 
 wax, and a man may turn them whithersoever 
 he lists; one Scripture says one thing, and 
 another says quite the contrary ; besides, they 
 make mention of a thousand impossibilities ; 
 they are the cause of all dissensions and dis- 
 cords that are in the land ; therefore you may 
 (would he say) still think what you will, but 
 in my mind they are best at ease that hare 
 least to do with them. 
 
 Instead of loving and honouring of them 
 that did bear in their foreheads the name and 
 in their lives the image of Christ, they should 
 be his song, the matter of his jests, and the 
 object of his slanders. He would either make 
 a mock at their sober deportment, their gra- 
 cious language, quiet behaviour, or else des- 
 perately swear that tbey did all in deceit and 
 hypocrisy. He would endeavour to render 
 godly men as odious and contemptible as he 
 
 could ; any lies that were made by any to theif 
 disgrace, those he would avouch for truth, and 
 would not endure to be controlled. He was 
 much like those that the prophet speaks of 
 " that would sit and slander his mother's son,' 
 yea, he would speak reproachfully of his wife, 
 though his conscience told him, and many 
 would testify, that she was a very virtuous wo- 
 man. He would also raise slander of his wife's 
 friends himself, affirming that their doctrine 
 tended to lasciviousness, and that in their as- 
 semblies they acted and did unbeseeming men 
 and women, &c. He w'as much like those that 
 afSrmed the apostle should say, "Let us do 
 evil that good may come;" or like those of 
 whom it is thus written: "Eeport, say they, 
 and we will report it." And if he could get. 
 any thing by the end that had scandal in 'n, if 
 it did but touch professors, how falsely soever 
 reported, oh then he would glory, laugh, and 
 be glad, and lay it upon the whole party, say- 
 ing. Hang them,_ rogues ! there is not a barrel 
 better herring of all the holy brotherhood of 
 them ; like to like, quoth the devil to the col- 
 lier : this is your precise crew ! And then he 
 would send all home with a curse. 
 
 Attentive. If those that make professions of 
 religion be wise, Mr. Badman's watchings and 
 words will make them the more wary and 
 careful in all things. 
 
 Wiseman. You say true; for when we see 
 men do watch for our halting, and rejoice to 
 see us stumble and fall, it should make us the 
 more careful. 
 
 I do think it was as delightful to Mr. Bad- 
 man to hear, raise, and tell lies and lying 
 stories of them that fear the Lord, as it was 
 for him to go to bed when weary. But we will 
 at this time let these things pass. For as he 
 was in these things bad enough, so he added 
 to these many more of the like. 
 
 He was an angry, wrathful, envious man, a 
 man that knew not what meekness or gentle- 
 ness meant, nor did he desire to learn. His 
 natural temper was to be surly, huffy, and rug- 
 ged, and morose ; and he so gave way to his 
 temper as to this that it brought him to be 
 furious and outrageous in all things, especially 
 against goodness itself, and against other 
 things too, when he was displeased. 
 
 Attentive. Solomon saith, " He is a fool that 
 rageth." 
 
 Wiseman. He doth so; and says moreover 
 that "anger rests in the bosom of fools." » 
 And truly, if it be a sign of a fool to have 
 anger rest in his bosom, then was Mr Badman, 
 
LIFE AND DEATH OF MR. B ADM AN. 
 
 539 
 
 notwithstanding the conceit that he ha^ of his 
 own abilities, a fool of no small size. 
 
 Atlentloe. Fools are mostly most wise in their 
 own eyes. 
 
 Wiseman. True; but I was a-saying that if 
 it be a sign that a man is a fool when anger 
 rests in his bosom, then what is it a sign of, 
 think you, when malice and envy rest there? 
 For, to my knowledge, Mr. Badman was as 
 malicious and as envious a man as commonly 
 yyii can hear of 
 
 Attentive. Certainly malice and envy flow 
 from i)ridc and arrogancy, and they again from 
 ignorance, and ignorance from the devil ; and 
 I thought that since you spake of the pride of 
 Mr. Badmau before, we should have something 
 of these before we had done. 
 
 Wiseman. Envy flows from ignoiiftnce in- 
 deed ; and this Mr. Badman was so envious an 
 one \shere he set against that "be would swell 
 with it as a toad, as we say, swells with poison. 
 He whom he maligned might at anytime even 
 read envy in his face wherever he met with 
 him or in whatever he had to do with him. 
 
 His envy was so rank and strong that if it 
 at any time turned its head against a man it 
 would hardly ever be pulled in again ; he 
 would watch over that man to dp him mis- 
 chief as the cat watches over the mouse to 
 destroy it ; yea, he would wait seven years but" 
 he would have an opportunity to hurt him, and 
 when he had it he would make him feel the 
 weight of his envy. 
 
 Envy is a devilish thing ; the Scripture in- 
 timates that none can stand before it: "A 
 stone is heavy, and the sand weighty ; but a 
 fool's wrath is heavier than them both. Wrath 
 is cruel, and anger is outrageous ; but who can 
 atand before envy ?" 
 
 This envy, for the foulness of it, is reckoned, 
 among the foulest villainies that are, as adul- 
 tery, murder, drunkenness, revellings, witch- 
 crafts, heresies, seditions, &c. Yea, it is so 
 malignant a corruption that it rots the very 
 bones of him in whom it dwells : " A sound 
 heart is life to the flesh, but envy the rotten- 
 ness of the bones.'' 
 
 Attentive. This envy is the very father and 
 mother of a great many hideous and prodig- 
 ious wickednesses ; I say, it is the very father 
 and mother &f them ; it both begets them and 
 also nourishes them up till they come to their 
 cursed maturity in the bosom of him that en- 
 tertains them. 
 
 Wiseman. You have given it a very right 
 description in calling of it the father and 
 
 mother of a great many other prodigious 
 wickednesses ; for it is so venomous and vile 
 a thing that it puts the whole course of nature 
 out of order, and makes it fit for nothing but 
 confusion and a hold for every evil thing: 
 " For where envy and strife is, there is confu- 
 sion and every evil work.'' Wherefore I say 
 you have rightly called it the very father and 
 mother of a great many other sins. And nrw, 
 for our further edification, I will reckon up 
 some of the births of envy : 
 
 1. Envy, as I told you before, it rotteth the 
 very bones of him that entertains it. And, 
 
 2. As you have also hinted, it is heavier 
 than a stone, than sand; yea, and I will 
 add it falls like a millstone upon the head. 
 Therefore, 
 
 3. It kills him that throws it, and him at 
 whom it is thrown. "Envyslayeth the silly 
 one;" that is, him in whom it resides and him 
 who is its object. 
 
 4. It was that iilso that slew Jesus Christ 
 himself, for his adversaries persecuted him 
 through their envy. 
 
 5. Envy was that by virtue of which Joseph 
 was sold by his brethren into Egypt. ' 
 
 6. It is envy that hath the hand in making 
 of variance among God's saints. 
 
 7. It is envy in the hearts of sinners that 
 stirs them up to thrust God's ministers out of 
 their coasts. 
 
 8. What shall I say ? It is envy that is the 
 very nursery of whisperings, debates, back- 
 bitings, slanders, reproaches, murders, &c. 
 
 It is not possible to repeat all the particular 
 fruits of this sinful root. Therefore, it is no 
 marvel that Mr. Badman was such an ill-na- 
 tured man, for the great roots of all manner 
 of wickedness were in him unmortified, un- 
 maimed, untouched. 
 
 Attentive. But it is a rare case, even this 
 of Mr. Badman, .that he should ntever in all 
 his life be touched with remorse for his ill- 
 spent life. 
 
 Wiseman. Remorse I cannot say he ever 
 had, if by remorse you mean repentance for 
 his evils. Yet twice I remember he waa 
 under some trouble of mind about his con- 
 dition — once when, he broke his leg as he 
 came home drunk from the alehouse f and 
 another time when he fell sick and thought 
 he should die ; besides these two times, I do 
 not remember any more. 
 
 Attentive. Did he break his leg, then ? 
 
 Wiseman. Yes; once as he came home 
 drunk from the alehouse. 
 
540 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Attentive. Pray how did he break it ? 
 
 Wiseman. Why, upon a time he was at an 
 alehouse, that wicked house about two or 
 three miles from home, and havipg there 
 drank hard the greatest part of the day, when 
 night was come he would stay no longer, but 
 calls for his horse, gets up, and like a madman 
 (as drunken persons usually ride) away he 
 goes, as hard as horse could lay legs to the 
 ground. Thus he rid till coming to a dirty 
 place, where his horse, flouncing in, fell, 
 throw his master, and with his fall broke his 
 leg ; so there he lay. But you would not 
 think how he swwe at first. But after a 
 while, he, coming to himself and feeling by 
 his pain and the uselessness of his leg what 
 case he was in, and also fearing that this bout 
 might be his death, he began to cry out after 
 the manner of such. Lord, help me ! Lord, 
 have mercy upon me! Good God, deliver 
 me ! and the like. So there he lay, till some 
 came by, took him up, carried him home, 
 where he lay for some time before he could go 
 abroad again. 
 
 Attentive. And then you say he called upon 
 God? 
 
 Wiseman. He cried out in his pain, and 
 would say, God ! and Lord, help me ! but 
 whether it was that his sin might be pardoned 
 and his soul saved, or whether to be rid of his 
 pain, I will not positively determine, though I 
 fear it was but for the last, because, when his 
 pain was gone and he had got hopes of mend- 
 ing, even before he could go abroad, he cast 
 oflf prayer, and began his old game — to wit, to 
 be as bad as he was before. He then would 
 send for his old companions; they indeed 
 would come to his house to see him, and with 
 them he would be, as well as he could for his 
 lame leg, as vicious as they could be for their 
 hearts. 
 
 Attentive. It was a wonder he did not break 
 his neck. 
 
 Wiseman. His neck had gone instead of his 
 leg, but that God was long-suffering towards 
 him ; he had deserved it ten thousand times 
 over. There have been many, as I have 
 heard, and as I have hinted to you before, 
 that have taken^ their horses when drunk as 
 he, but they have 'gone from the cup to the 
 grave; for they have broken their necks be- 
 twixt the alehouse and home. 
 
 8®" One hard by us also drank himself 
 dead ; he drank, and died in his drink. 
 
 Attentive. It is a sad thing to die drunk. 
 
 Wiseman. So it is, but yet I wonder that no 
 
 more do so. For, considering tho heinousnusa 
 of that sin, and with how many others it is 
 accompanied, as with oaths, blasphemies, lies, 
 revellings, brawlings, &c., it is a wonder to me 
 that any that live in that sin should escape 
 such a blow from heaven as should tumble 
 them into their graves. Besides, when I con- 
 sider also how, when they are as drunk aa 
 beasts, they, without all fear of danger, will 
 ride like bedlams and madmen, even as if they 
 did dare God to meddle with them if he durst, 
 for their being drunk, — I say, I wonder that 
 he doth not withdraw his protecting provi- 
 dences from them, and leave them to those 
 dangers and destructions that by their sin 
 they have deserved, and that by their bedlam 
 madness they would rush themselves into; 
 only I consider again, that he hath appointed 
 a day wherein he will reckon with them, and 
 doth also commonly make examples of some, 
 to show that he takes notice of their sin, ab- 
 hors their way, and will count with them for it 
 at the set time. 
 
 Attentive. It is worthy of our remark to take 
 notice how God, to show his dislike of the sins 
 of men, strikes some of them down with a 
 blow ; as the breaking of Mr. Badman's leg, 
 for doubtless that was a stroke from heaven. 
 
 Wiseman. It is worth our remark, indeed. 
 It was an open stroke, it fell upon him while 
 he was in the height of his sin ; and it looks 
 much like to that in Job : " Therefore he know- 
 eth their works, and overturneth them in the 
 njglit, so that they are destroyed. He striketh' 
 them as wicked men in the open sight of 
 others," or, as the margin reads it, "in the 
 place of beholders.'' He lays them with his 
 stroke in the place of beholders. There was 
 Mr. Badman laid ; his stroke was taken notice 
 of by every one ; his broken leg was at this 
 time the town talk. Mr. Badman has brokd 
 his leg, says one. How did he break it ? saya 
 another. As he came home drunk from such 
 an alehouse, said a third. A judgment of God 
 upon him, said a fourth. Thus his sin, his 
 shame, and punishment are all made conspic- 
 uous to all that are about him. I will here 
 tell you another story or two. 
 
 I have read in Mr. Clark's " Looking-glass 
 for Sinners " that upon a time a certain drunken 
 fellow boasted in his cups that there w^ neither 
 heaven nor hell ; also he said he believed that 
 man had no soul, and that, for his own part, 
 he would sell his soul to any that would buy 
 it. Then did one of his companions buy it of 
 him for a cup of wine, and presently the devU 
 
LIFE AND DEATH OF MB. B ADMAN. 
 
 541 
 
 in man's shape bought it of that man again at 
 the same price ; and so in the presence of them 
 all laid hold on the soul-scUer and carried him 
 away through the air, so that he was never 
 more heard of. 
 
 He tells us also that there was one at; Salis- 
 bury in the midst of his health, drinking and 
 carousing in a tavern ; and he drank a healtli ' 
 to the devil, saying that if the devil would not 
 coine and pledge him he would not believe 
 that there was either God or devil. Where- 
 upon his Companions, stricken with fear, has- 
 tened out of the room ; and presently after, 
 hearing a hideous noise and smelling a stinking 
 savour, the vintner ran up into his chamber, 
 and coming in he missed his guest, and found 
 the window broken, the iron bar in it bowed 
 and all bloody, but the man was never heard 
 of afterwards. 
 
 Again, he tells us of a bailiff of Headley, 
 who upon a Lord's day, being drunk at Mel- 
 ford, got upon his horse to ride through the 
 streets, saying that his horse would carry him 
 to the devil. And presently his horse tlirew 
 him and broke his neck. These things are 
 worse than the breaking of Mr. Badman's leg, 
 and should be a caution to all of his friends 
 that are living, lest they also fall by their sin 
 into these sad judgments of God. • 
 
 But, as I said, Mr. Badman quickly forgot 
 all ; his conscience was choked before his leg 
 was healed. And therefore, before he was 
 well of the fruit of one sin, he tempts God to 
 send another judgment to seize upon him; and 
 so he did quickly after. For not many months 
 after his leg was well he had a very dangerous 
 fit of sickness, insomuch that now he began to 
 think that he must die in very deed. 
 
 Attentive. Well, and what did he think and 
 do then? 
 
 Wiseman. He thought he must go to hell ; 
 this I know, for he could not forbear but say 
 so. To my best remembrance he lay crying 
 out all one night for fear, and at times he would 
 so tremble that he would make the very bed 
 shake under him. But oh how the thoughts 
 of death, of hell-fire, and of eternal judgment 
 did then rack his conscience ! Fear might be 
 seen in his face and in his tossings to and fro ; 
 it might also be heard in his words and be un- 
 derstood by his heavy groans. 
 
 He would often cry, I am undone, I am un- 
 done ! my vile life has undone me I 
 
 Attentire. Then his former atheistical thoughts 
 apd princii)les were too weak now to support 
 hiir from the fears of eternal damnation? 
 
 Wiseman. Ay, they were too weak indeed. 
 They may serve to stifle conscience when a 
 man is in the midst of his prosperity, and to 
 harden the heart against all good counsel when 
 a man is left of God and given up to his repro- 
 bate mind. But, alas! atheistical thoughts, 
 notions, and opinions must shrink and melt 
 away when God sends, yea, comes with sick- 
 ness to visit the soul of such a sinner for his 
 sin. There was a man dwelt about ten miles 
 off from us that had so trained up himself in 
 his atheistical notions that at last he attempted 
 to write a book against Jesus Christ and 
 against the divine authority of the Scriptures. 
 (But I think it was not printed.) Well, after 
 many daj's God struck him with sickness, 
 whereof he died. So being sick, and musing 
 upon his former doings, the book that he had 
 written came into his mind, and with it such a 
 sense of his evil in writing of it that it tore his 
 conscience as a lion would tear a kid. He lay 
 therefore upon his deathbed in sad case and 
 much affliction of conscience; some of my 
 friends also went to see him, and as they were 
 in his chamber one day he hastily called for a 
 pen, ink, and pa;f)er, which when it was given 
 him he took it and writ to this purpose : I, such 
 a one, in such a town, must go to hell-fire for 
 writing a book against Jesus Christ and against 
 tlie holy Scriptures. And would also have 
 leaped oiit of the window of his house to have 
 killed himself, but was by them prevented of 
 that ; so he'died in his bed, such a death as it 
 was. It will be well if others take warning 
 by him. 
 
 Attentive. This is a remarkable story. 
 Wiseman. It is as true as remarkable ; I had 
 it from them that I dare believe, who also 
 themselves were eye and ear witnesses, and 
 also that catched him in their arms and saved 
 him when he would have leaped out of his 
 chamber window to have destroyed himself. 
 
 Attentive. Well, you have told me what were 
 Mr. Badman's thoughts, now being sick, of his 
 condition ; pray tell me also what he then did 
 when he was sick. 
 
 Wiseman. Did 1 He did many things which 
 I am sure he never thought to have done, and 
 which, to be sure, were not looked for of hig 
 wife and children. 
 
 In this fit of sickness his thoughts were quite 
 altered about his wife ; I say his thoughts, so 
 far as could be judged by his words and car- 
 riages to her. For she was his good wife, his 
 godly wife, his honest wife, his duck and dear, 
 and all. Now he told her that she had the 
 
542 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 best of it, she having a good life to stand by 
 her, while his debaucheries and ungodly life 
 did always stare him in the face. Now he 
 told her the counsel that she often gave him 
 was good, though he was so bad as not to take 
 it. 
 
 Now he would hear her talk to him, and he 
 would lie sighing by her while she so did. 
 Now he would bid her pray for him that he 
 might be delivered from hell. 
 
 He would also now consent that some of her 
 good ministers might come to him to comfort 
 him ; and he would seem to show them kind- 
 ness when they came, for he would treat them 
 kindly with, words and hearken diligently to 
 what they said, only he did not care that they 
 should talk much of his ill-spent life, because 
 his conscience was clogged with, that already ; 
 he oared not now to see his old companions, 
 the thoughts of them were a torment to him ; 
 and he could speak kindly to that child of his 
 that took after its mother's steps, though he 
 could not at all abide it before. 
 
 He also desired the prayers of good people 
 that God of his mercy would spare him a little 
 longer, promising that if God would but let 
 him recover this once what a new, what a pen- 
 itent man he would be towards God, and what 
 a loving husband he would be to his wife ; 
 what liberty he would give her ; yea, how he 
 would go with her himself to hear her minis- 
 ters, and how they should go hand in hand the 
 way to heaven together. 
 
 Attentive. Here was a fine show of things ; 
 I'll warrant you his wife was glad for this. 
 
 Wiseman. His wife ! Ay, and a good many 
 people besides ; it was noised all over the town 
 what a great change there was wrought upon 
 Mr. Badman ; how sorry he was for his sins, 
 how he began to love his wife, how he desired 
 good men should pray to God to spare him, 
 and what promises he now made to God in his 
 sickness that if ever he should raise him from 
 his sickbed to health again, what a new, pen- 
 itent-man he would be towards God, and what 
 a loving hu.^band to his good wife. 
 
 Well, ministers prayed and good people re- 
 joiced, thinking verily that they now had got- 
 ten a man from the devil ; nay, some of the 
 weaker sort did not stick to say that God had 
 begun a work of grace in his heart ; and his 
 wife, poor woman ! you cannot think how apt 
 she was to believe it so ; she rejoiced and she 
 hoped as she would have it. But alas ! alas ! 
 in little time things all proved otherwise. 
 
 After he had kept his bed awhile his distem- 
 
 per began to abate and he to feel himself bet 
 ter ; so he in a little time was so finely mended 
 that he could walk about the house, and also 
 obtained a very fine stomach to his food; and 
 how did his wife and her good friends stand 
 gaping to see Mr. Badman fulfil his promise 
 of becoming new towards God and loving to 
 his wife; buf the contrary only showed itself, 
 For as soon as ever he had hopes of mending, 
 and found that his strength began tfi reniiw, 
 his trouble began to go off" his heart, and lis 
 grew as great a stranger to his frights and fears 
 as if he had never had them. 
 
 But verily I am apt to think that one reason 
 of his no more regarding or remembering of 
 his sickbed fears, and of being no better for 
 them, was some words that the doctor ' that 
 supplied him with physic said to him Avhen he 
 was mending. For as soon as Mr. Badman 
 began to mend the doctor comes and sits him 
 down by him in his house, and there fell into 
 discourse with him about the nature of his dis- 
 ease; and among other things they talked of 
 Mr. Badman's trouble, and how he would cry 
 out, tremble, and express his fears of going to 
 hell whf n his sickness lay pretty hard upon 
 him. To which the doctor replied that those 
 fears and outcries did arise from the height of 
 his distemper, for that disease was often at- 
 tended with lightness of the head, by reason 
 the sick party could not sleep and for that the 
 vapours disturbed the brain. But you see, sir, 
 quoth he, that so soon as you got asleep and 
 betook yourself to rest, you quickly mended 
 and your head settled, and so those frenzies 
 left you. 
 
 And was it so indeed? thought Mr. Bad- 
 man ; were my troubles 0nly the effect of my 
 distemper and because ill vapours got up into 
 my brain? Then surely, since my physician 
 was my saviour, my lusts again shall be my 
 god. So he never minded religion inore, but 
 betook himself again to the world, his lusts, 
 and wicked companions ; and there was an end 
 of Mr. Badman's conversion. 
 
 Attentive. I thought, as you told me of him, 
 that this would be the result of the whole; for 
 I discerned by your relating of things that the 
 true symptoms of conversion were wanting in 
 him, and that those that appeared to be any 
 thing like them were only such as the repro* 
 bate may have. 
 
 Wiseman. You say right, for there wanted in 
 him, when he was most sensible, a sense of tlje 
 pollution of his nature ; he only had guilt foi 
 his sinful actions, the which Cain, and Pha- 
 
LIFE AND DEATH OF MB. B ADM AN. 
 
 543 
 
 raoh, aud Saul, and Judas, those reprobates, 
 have had before him. 
 
 Besides, the great things that he desired 
 were to be delivered from going to hell, (and 
 who would willingly?) and that his life might 
 be lengthened in this world. We find not by 
 all that he said or did that Jesus Christ the 
 Saviour was desired by him, from a sense of 
 his need of his righteousness to clothe him, 
 and of his Spirit to sanctify him. 
 
 His own strength was whole in him ; he saw 
 nothing of the treachery of his own heart, for 
 had he, he would never have been so free to 
 make promises to God of amendment. He 
 would rather have been afraid that if he had 
 mended he should have turned with the dog 
 to his vomit, and have begged prayers of saints 
 and assistance from heaven upon that account, 
 that he might have been kept from doing so. 
 It is true he did beg prayers of good people, 
 and so did Pharoah of Moses and Aaron, and 
 Simon Magus of Simon Peter. 
 
 His mind also seemed to be turned to his 
 wife and child ; but, alas ! it was rather from 
 conviction that, God had given him concerning 
 their happy state over his than for that he had 
 any true love to the work of God that was in 
 them. True, some shows of kindness he 
 seemed to have for them, and so had rich 
 Dives when he was in hell to his five brethren 
 that were yet in the world ; yea, he had such 
 love as to wish them in heaven, that they 
 might not come thither to be tormented. 
 
 Attentii'c. Sickbed repentance is seldom good 
 for any thing. 
 
 Wbseinan. You say true; it is very rarely 
 good for any thing indeed. Death is unwel- 
 come to nature; and usually when sickness 
 and death visit the sinner, the first taking of 
 him by the shoulder, and the second standing 
 at the bed-chamber door to receive him, tlien 
 the sinner begins to look about him and to be- 
 think with himself, These will have me away 
 before God; and I know that my life has not 
 been as it should ; how shall I do to appear be- 
 fore God ? Or, if it be more, the sense of the 
 punishment of sinners that also is startling to 
 a defiled conscience, now roused by Death's 
 lumbering at the door. 
 
 And hence usually is sickbed repentance, 
 and the matter of it — to wit, to be saved from 
 hell and from death, and that God will restore 
 them again to health till they mend, conclud- 
 ing that it is in their power to mend, as is evi- 
 dent from their large and lavishing promises 
 *o do it. 
 
 I have known many that when they have 
 been sick have had large measures of this kind 
 of repentance, and while it has lasted the noise 
 and the sound thereof has made the town to 
 ring again. But, alas ! how long has it lasted ? 
 Ofttimes scarce so long as the party now sick 
 has been well. It has passed away like a mist 
 or a vapour, it has been a thing of no contin- 
 uance. But this kind of repentance is by God 
 compared to the howling of a dog : " And they 
 have not cried unto me with their heart when 
 they howled upon their beds." 
 
 Attentive. Yet one may see by this the des- 
 perateness of mail's heart ; for what is it but 
 desperate wickedness to make promise to God 
 of amendment if he will but spare them, and 
 yet so soon as they are recovered, or quickly 
 after, fall to sin as they did before, and never 
 to regard their promise more? 
 
 Wiseman. It is a sign of desperateness in- 
 deed, yea, of desperate madness ; for surely 
 they must needs think that God took notice 
 of their promise, that he heard the words that 
 they spake, and that he hath laid them up 
 against the time to come, and will then bring 
 out and testify to their faces that they flattered 
 him with their mouth and lied unto him with 
 their tongue when they lay sick, to their think- 
 ing, upon their deathbed, and promised him 
 that if he would recover them they would re- 
 pent and amend their ways. But thus, as I 
 have told you, Mr. Badman did. He made 
 great promises that he would be a new man, 
 that ho would leave his sins and become a 
 convert, that he would love, &c., ■ his godly 
 wife, &c. Yea, many fine words had Mr. Bad- 
 man in his sickness, but no good actions when 
 he was well. 
 
 Attentive. And how did his good wife take 
 it when she saw that he had no amendment, 
 but that he returned with the dog to his vomit, 
 to his old courseg again ? 
 
 Wiseman. Why, it broke her heart; it was a 
 worse disappointment to her than the cheat 
 that he gave her in marriage ; at least she laid 
 it more to heart, and could not so well grap- 
 ple with it. You must think that she had 
 put up many a prayer to God for him before, 
 even all the time that he had carried it so 
 badly to her; and now, when he was so af- 
 frighted in his sickness, and so desired that he 
 might live and mend, poor woman ! she 
 thought that the time was come for God ie 
 answer her prayers ; n&y, she did not let with 
 gladness to whisper it out amongst her friends 
 that it was so ; but when she saw herself dis- 
 
544 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 appointed by ter husband turning rebel again, 
 she could not stand up under it, but falls into 
 a languishing distemper, and in a few weeks 
 gave up the ghost. 
 
 Attentive. Pray how did she die? 
 Wiseman. Die! She died bravely, full of 
 comfort of the faith of her interest in Christ, 
 and by him of the world to come. She had 
 many brave expressions in her sickness, and 
 gave to those that came to visit her many signs 
 of her salvation. The thoughts of the grave, 
 but especially of her rising again, were sweet 
 thoughts to her. She would long for death, 
 because she knew it would be her friend. She 
 delivered herself like to some that were mak- 
 ing ready to go to meet their bridegroom. 
 Now, said she, I am going to rest from my 
 sorrows, my tears, piy mournings and com- 
 plaints ; I have heretofore longed to be among 
 the saints, but might by no means be suffered 
 to go ; but now I am going (and no man can 
 stop me) to the great meeting, " to the gen- 
 eral assembly and Church of the first-born 
 which are written in heaven." There I shall 
 have my heart's desire; there I shall worship 
 without temptation or other impediment ; there 
 I shall see the face of my Jesus, whom I have 
 loved, whom I have served, and who now, I 
 know, will save my soul. I have prayed often 
 for my husband that he might be converted, 
 but there has been no answer to God in that 
 matter. Are my prayers lost? are they for- 
 gotten ? are they thrown over the bar ? No ; 
 they are hanged upon the horns of the golden 
 altar, and -I must have the benefit of them my- 
 self that moment that I shall enter into the 
 gates, in at which the righteous nation that 
 keepeth truth shall enter ; I say I shall have 
 the benefit of them. I can say as holy David ; 
 I say I can say of my husband as he could of 
 his enemies: "As for me, when they were 
 sick my clothing was of sackcjoth ; I humbled 
 my soul with fasting, and my prayer returned 
 into my bosom." My prayers are not lost ; my 
 tears are yet in God's bottle ; I would have 
 had a crown and glory for my husband, and 
 for those of my children that follow his steps, 
 but, so far as I can see yet, I must rest in the 
 hope of having all myself. 
 
 Attentive. Did she talk thus openly? 
 Wiseman. No ; this she spake but to one or 
 two of her most intimate acquaintance, who 
 were permitted to come and see her when she 
 lay languishing upon her deathbed. 
 
 Attentive. Well, but pray go on in your rela- 
 tion. This is good ; I am glad to hear it ; this 
 
 is a cordial to my heart while we sit thus talk- 
 ing under this tree. 
 
 Wiseman. When she drew near her end she 
 called for her husband, and when he was come 
 to her she told him that now he and she must 
 part ; and said she, God knows, and thou shalt 
 know, that I have been a loving, faithful wife 
 unto thee; my prayers have been many for 
 thee; and as for all the abuses that I have re- 
 ceived at thy hand, those I freely and heartily 
 forgive, and still shall pray for thy conversion, 
 even as long as I breathe in this world. But, 
 husband, I am going thither where no bad 
 man shall come ; and if .thou dost not tepent 
 and reform thou wilt never see me more with 
 comfort. Let not my plain wor.ds offend thee; 
 I am thy dying wife, and of my faithfulness 
 to thee would leave this exhortation with thee : 
 Break off thy sins, fly to God for mercy while 
 mercy's gate stands open ; remember that the 
 day is coming when thou, though now lusty 
 and well, must lie at the gates of death as I do ; 
 and what wilt thou then do if thou shalt be 
 found with a naked soul to meet with the 
 cherubims with their flaming swords? Yea, 
 what wilt thou then do if death and hell shall 
 come to visit thee, and thou in thy sins and 
 under the curse of the law ? 
 
 Attentive. This was honest and plain. But 
 what said Mr. Badman to her ? 
 
 Wiseman. He did what he could to divert 
 her talk by throwing in other things ; he also 
 showed some kind of pity to her now, and ■ 
 would ask her what she would have, and with 
 various kinds of words put her out of her 
 talk; for when she saw that she was not re- 
 garded she fetched a deep sigh and lay still. 
 So he went down, and then she called for her 
 children and began to talk to them. And fii-st 
 she spake to those that were rude, and told 
 them the danger of dying before they had 
 grace in their hearts. She told them also that 
 death might be nearer than they were aware 
 of, and bid them look when they went through 
 the churchyard again if there were not little 
 graves there. And ah! children, said she, 
 will it not be dreadful to you if we only shall 
 meet at the day of judgment, and then part 
 again and never see each other more? And 
 with that she wept; the children also wept. 
 So she held on her discourse. Children, said 
 she, I am going from you ; I am going to Jesus 
 Christ, and with him there is neither sorrow, 
 nor sighing, nor pain, nor tears, nor death. 
 Thither would I have you go also, but I can 
 neither carry you nor fetch.you thither ; but if 
 
LIFE AND DEATH OF MB. B ADMAN. 
 
 546 
 
 you shall turn from your sins to God, and shall 
 beg mercy at his hands hy Jesus Christ, you 
 shall follow mc, and shall, when you die, come 
 to the place where I am going, that hlessed 
 place of rest ; and then we shall he for ever to- 
 gether, beholding the face of our Eedeemer, to 
 our mutual and ■eternal joy. So she bid them 
 remember the viords of a dying mother when 
 •he was cold in the grave and themselves were 
 hot in their sins, if perhaps her words might 
 put a check to their vice and that they might 
 remember and turn to Grod. 
 
 Then they all went down but her darling — 
 to wit, the child that «he had most love for, 
 because it followed her ways. So she addressed 
 herself to that. Come to me, said she, my 
 sweet child, thou art the child of my joy ; I 
 have lived to see thee a servant of GojJ ; thou 
 shalt have eternal life. I, my sweetheart, shall 
 go before and thou shalt follow after, if thou 
 shalt hold the beginning of thy confidence 
 steadfast to the end. When I am gone do thou 
 still remember my words ; love thy Bible, fol- 
 low my ministers, deny ungodliness, and if 
 troublesome times shall come set an higher 
 price upon Christ, his word and ways, and the 
 testimony of a good conscience, than upon all 
 the world besides. Carry it kindly and duti- 
 fully to thy father, but choose none of his 
 ways. If thou mayest go to service, choose 
 that rather than stay at home; but then be 
 sure to choose a service where thou mayest be 
 Helped forwards in the way to heaven; and 
 that thou mayest have such a service speak to 
 my minister ; he will help thee, if possible, to 
 such an one. 
 
 I would have thee also, my dear child, to 
 love thy brothers and sisters, but learn none 
 of their naughty tricks : " Have no fellowship 
 with the unfruitful works of darkness, but 
 rather reprove them." Thou hast grace, they 
 have none; do thou therefore beautify the 
 way of salvation before their eyes by a godly 
 life and comfortable conversation to the re- 
 vefl'ed will of God, that thy brothers and sisters 
 may see and be the more pleased with the good 
 ways of the Lord. 
 
 If thou shalt live to marry, take heed of 
 being served as I was — that is, of being beguil- 
 ed with fair words and the flatteries of a lying 
 tongue. But first be sure of godliness, yea, as 
 sure as it is possible for one to be in this world; 
 trust not thine own eyes nor thine own judg- 
 ment; I mean as to that person's godliness 
 that thou art invited to marry. Ask counsel 
 of good men, and do nothing therein, if he 
 35 
 
 lives, without my minister's advice. T have 
 also myself desired him to look after thee. 
 Thus she talked to her children and gave them 
 counsel; and after she had talked to this a 
 little longer she kissed it and hid it go down. 
 
 Well, in short, her time drew on and the day 
 that she must die. So she died with a soul 
 full of grace, an heart full of comfort, and by 
 her death ended a life full of trouble. Her 
 husband made a funeral for her, perhaps be- 
 cause he was glad he was rid of her ; but we 
 will leave that to be manifest at judgment. 
 
 Attentive. This woman died well. And now, 
 we are talking of the dying of Christians, I 
 will tell you a story of one that died some 
 time since in our town. The man was a godly 
 old Puritan, for so the godly were called in 
 time past. This man, after a long and godly 
 life, fell sick of the sickness whereof he died. 
 And as he lay drawing on, the woman that 
 looked to him thought she heard music, and 
 that the sweetest that she ever heard in her 
 life, which continued until he gave up the 
 ghost. B®" Now when his soul departed from 
 him the music seemed to withdraw and go 
 farther and farther off from the house, and so 
 it went until the sound was quite gone out of 
 hearing. 
 
 Wueman. What do you think that might be? 
 
 Attentive. For aught I know the melodious 
 notes of angels that were sent of God to fetch 
 him to heaven. 
 
 Wiseman. I cannot say but that God goes 
 out of his ordinary road with us poor mortals 
 sometimes. I cannot say this of this woman, 
 but yet she had better music in her heart than 
 sounded in this woman's ears. 
 
 Attentive. I believe so; but pray tell me, did 
 any of her other children hearken to her 
 woirds, so as to be bettered in their souls there- 
 by? 
 
 Wiseman. One cff them did, and became a 
 very hopeful young man, but for the rest I can 
 say nothing. 
 
 Attentive. And what did Mr. Badman do 
 after his wife was dead? 
 , Wiseman. Why, even as he did before: he 
 scarce mourned a fortnight for her, and his 
 mourning then was, I doubt, more in fashion 
 than in heart. 
 
 Attentive. Would he not sometimes talk of 
 his wife when she was dead? 
 
 Wiseman. Yes, when the fit took him; and 
 could commend her too, extremely, saying she 
 was a good, godly, virtuous woman. But this 
 is not a thing to be wondered at; it is commoD 
 
546 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 with 'wicked men to hate God's servants while 
 alive and to commend them when they are 
 dead. So served the Pharisees the prophets; 
 those of the prophets that were dead they 
 commended, and those that were alive they 
 condemned. 
 
 Attentive. But did not Mr. Badman marry 
 again quickly? 
 
 Wuemaii. No, not for a good while after, so 
 villainous, so abominable did he continue with 
 vile women for some time after the death of 
 his wife. Yet at last there was one too hard 
 for him; for, getting of him to her upon a 
 time and making of him sufficiently drunk, 
 she was so cunning as to get a promise of 
 marriage of him, and so held him to it and 
 forced him to marry her. And she, as the 
 saying is, was as good as he at all his vile and 
 ranting tricks; she had her companions as 
 well as he had his, and she would meet them 
 too at the tavern and alehouse more commonly 
 than he was aware of She could fit him also 
 with cursing and swearing, for she could give 
 him oath for oath and curse for curse. 
 
 And their railing, and cursing, and swearing 
 ended not in words; they would fight and fly 
 at each other, and that like cats and dogs. 
 But it must be looked upon as the hand and 
 judgment of God upon him for his villainy; 
 he had an honest woman before, but she would 
 not serve his turn, and therefore God took her 
 away and gave him one as bad as himself 
 Thus that measure that he meted to his wife 
 this last did mete to him again. And this is 
 a punishment wherewith sometimes God will 
 punish wicked men. So said Amos to Ama- 
 ziah : " Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city." 
 With this last wife Mr. Badman lived a pretty 
 while, but, as, I told you before, in a most sad 
 and hellish manner. And now he would be- 
 wail his firat wife's death — not of love that he 
 had to her godliness, for that he could never 
 abide, but for that she used always to keep at 
 home, whereas this would go abroad; his first 
 wife'was also honest "and true to that relation, 
 but this last was a vile woman ; the first woman 
 loved to keep, things together, but this last 
 would whirl them about as well as he; the first 
 would be silent when he chid, and would take 
 it patiently when he abused her, but this would 
 give him word for word, blow for blow, curse 
 for curse; so that now Mr. Badman had met 
 with his match, God had a mind to make 
 him see the baseness of his own life in the 
 wickedness of his wife's. But all would not 
 do with Mr. Badman ; he would be Mr. Bad- 
 
 man still. This judgment did not work any 
 reformation upon him, no, not to God nor man. 
 
 Attentive. Pray of what disease did Mr. Bad- 
 man die? for now I perceive we are come up to 
 his death. 
 
 Wiseman. I cannot so properly say that he 
 died of one disease, for there were many that 
 had consented and laid their heads together to 
 bring him to this end. He v/as dropsical, he 
 was consumptive, he was surfeited and gouty. 
 Yet the captain of all these men of death that 
 came against him to take him away was the 
 consumption, for it was that that brought him 
 down to the grave. • 
 
 Attentive. Although I will not say but the 
 best men may die of a consumption, a dropsy, 
 or a surfeit, yea, that these may meet upon a 
 man to end him, yet I will say again that many 
 times these diseases come through a man's in- 
 ordinate use of things. Much drinking brings 
 dropsies, consumptions, surfeits, and many 
 other diseases ; and I doubt that Mr. Badman's 
 death did come by this abuse of himself in 
 the use of lawful or unlawful things. I 
 ground this my sentence upon that report of 
 his life that you at large have given me. 
 
 Wiseman. I think verily that yoti need not 
 call back your sentence ; for it is thought that 
 by his cups and his queans he brought himself 
 to this his destruction. He was not an old 
 man when he died, nor was he naturally very 
 feeble, but strong and of a healthy complexion ; 
 yet, as I said, he mouldered away, and went, 
 when set a-going, rotten to his grave. And 
 that which made him foul in his name and 
 fame was, that he died with the spice of the 
 foul disease upon him — a man whose life was 
 full of sin, and whose death was without re- 
 pentance. 
 
 Attentive. These were blemishes sufficient to 
 make him vile indeed. 
 
 Wiseman. They were so, and they did do it. 
 No man could speak well of him when he was 
 gone. His name rotted above ground as his 
 carcass rotted under. And this, is accordirg 
 to the saying of the wise man : " The memory 
 of the just is blessed, but the name of the 
 wicked shall rot." 
 
 This text, in both the parts of it, waj ful- 
 filled upon him and the woman that he mar- 
 ried first; for her name still did flourish, 
 though she had been dead almost seventeen 
 years, but his began to sink and rot before he 
 had been buried seventeen days. 
 
 Attentive. That man tliat dieth with a life 
 full of sin and with an heart void of lepent- 
 
LIFE AND DEATH OF MB. B ADMAN. 
 
 547 
 
 ancc, although he should die of the most 
 golden disease, (if there were any that might 
 be so called,) I warrant him his name shall 
 be abhorred, and that in heaven and earth. 
 
 Wiseman. You say true; and therefore is 
 the name of Cain, Pharaoh, Saul, Judas, and 
 the Pharisees, though dead thousands of years 
 ago, as offensive in the nostrils of the world as~ 
 if they were but just dead. 
 
 Atleniice. I do fully acquiesce with you in 
 this. But, sir, since you have charged him 
 with dying impenitent, pray let me see how 
 you will prove it. Not that I altogether dsubt 
 it, because you have affirmed jit, but yet I love 
 to have a proof of what men say in such 
 weighty matters. 
 
 Wiseman. When I said he died without re- 
 pentance, I meant so far as those th^t knew 
 him could judge when they compared his life, 
 the word, and his death together. 
 
 Attentive^ Well said; they went the right 
 way to find out whether he had — that is, did 
 manifest that he had — repentance or no. Now, 
 then, show me how they did prove he had 
 none. 
 
 Wiseman. So' I will ; and first, this was 
 urged to prove it: He had not in all the 
 time of his sickness a sight and sense of his 
 Bins, but was as secure and as much at quiet 
 as if he had never sinned in all his life. 
 
 Attentive. I must needs confess that this is 
 a sign he had none. For how can a man re- 
 pent of that of which he hath neither sight 
 nor sense? But it is strange that he had 
 neither sight nor sense of sin now, when he 
 had got such a sight and sense of his evil 
 before ; I mean when he was sick before. 
 
 Wiseman. lie was, as I said, as secure now 
 as if he bad been as sinless as an angel, though 
 all men knew what a sinner he was, for he 
 carried his sins in his forehead. His debauched 
 life was read and known of all men, but his 
 repentance was read and known of no man, 
 for, as I said, he had none. And for aught I 
 know the reason why he bad no sense of his 
 sins now was, because he profited not by that 
 sense that, he had of them before. He liked 
 not to retain that knowledge of God then that 
 caused his sins to come to remembrance. 
 Therefore God gave him up now to a repro- 
 bate mind, to hardness and stupidity of 
 spirit ; and so was that Scripture fulfilled upon 
 him, "He hath blinded their eyes;" and 
 that, "Let their eyea be darkened that they 
 may not see." Oh for a man to live in sin, 
 and to go ou' of the world without repen'-ince ! 
 
 for it is the saddest judgment that fan over- 
 take a man. 
 
 Attentive. But, sir, although both you and 1 
 have consented that without a sight and sense 
 of sin there can be no repentance, yel that is 
 but our bare say-so; let us therefore now ?ee 
 if by the Scripture we can make it good. 
 
 Wiseman. That is easily done. The throe 
 thousand that were converted (Acts ii.) re- 
 pented not until they had sight and souse 
 of their sins; Paul repented not till be had 
 sight and sense of his sins; the jailer repented 
 not till he had sight and sense of his sins ; nor 
 could they. For of what should a man re- 
 pent? The answer is, Of sin. What is it to 
 repent of sin ? The answer is, To'be sorry fox 
 it, to turn from it. But how can a man be 
 sorry for it that has neither sight nor sense of 
 it? David did not only commit sins, but 
 abode impenitent for them until Nathan the 
 prophet was sent from God to give him a 
 sight and sense of them ; and then, and not 
 till then, he indeed repented of them. Job, 
 in order to his repentance, cries unto God, 
 "Show me wherefore thou contendest with 
 me." And again, "That which I see not 
 teach thou me; I have borne chastisement; 
 I will not offend any more;" that is, not in 
 what I know, for I will repent of it; nor yet 
 in what I know not when thou shalt show 
 me it. 
 
 Also Ephraim's repentance was after h« 
 was turned to the sight and sense of his s'ns, 
 and after he was instructed about the evil of 
 them. 
 
 Attentive. These are good testimonies of this 
 truth, and do prove indeed (if matter of fact 
 with which Mr. Badman is charged be true,) 
 that he did not repent ; but as he lived, so he 
 died in his sin, for without repentance u man 
 is sure to die in his sin; for they w'll lie 
 down in the dust with him, rise at the judg- 
 ment with him, hang about his neck like 
 cords and chains when he standetli at the bar 
 of God's tribunal, and go with him too when 
 he goes away from the judgment-seat, with a 
 "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting 
 fire, prepared for the devil and his angels;" 
 and there shall fret and gnaw his conscience, 
 because they will be to him a never-dying 
 worm. 
 
 Wiseman. You say well ; and I will add a 
 word or twp more to what I have said. Ee- 
 pentance, as it is not produced without a sight 
 and sense of sin, so every sight and sense of 
 sin cannot produce it ; I mean every sight 
 
548 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 and sense of sin cannot produce that repent- 
 ance — that is, repentance unto salvation — re- 
 pentance never to be repented of. For it is 
 yet fresh before us that Mr. Badman had a 
 sight and sense of sin in that fit of sickness 
 that he had before, but.it died without procur- 
 ing any such godly fruit, as was manifest by 
 his so soon returning with the dog lo his 
 vomit. Many people think also that repent- 
 ance stands in confession of sin only, but they 
 are very much mistaken; for repentance, as 
 was said before, is a being sorry for and re- 
 turning from transgression to God by Jesus 
 Christ. Now, if this be true, that every sight 
 and sense of sin will not produce repentance, 
 then repentance cannot be produced there 
 where there is no sight and sense of sin. 
 That every sight and sense of sin will not 
 produce repentance — to wit, the godly re- 
 pentance that we are speaking of — is manifest 
 in Cain, Pharaoh, Saul, and Judas, who all 
 of them had great sense of sin, but none of 
 them repentance unto life. 
 
 Now I do conclude that Mr. Badman did die 
 impenitent, and so a death most miserable. 
 
 Attentive. But pray now, before we conclude 
 eur discourse of Mr. Badman, give me another 
 proof of his dying in his sins. 
 
 Wiseman. Another proof is this : he did not 
 desire a sight and sense of his sins, that he 
 might have repentance for them. Did I say 
 he did not desire it? I will add, he greatly 
 desired to remain in his security ; and that I 
 shall prove by what follows: First, he could 
 not endure that any man now should talk to 
 him of his sinful life, and yet that was the way 
 to beget a sight and sense of sin, and so of re- 
 pentance from it, in his soul; but I say he 
 could not endure such discourse. Those men 
 that did offer to talk unto him of his ill-spent 
 lifef they were as little welcome to him in the 
 time of his last sickness as was Elijah when 
 he went to meet with Ahab as he went down to 
 tsike possession of Naboth's vineyard. " Hast 
 thou found me,'' said Ahab, " mine enemy?" 
 So would Mr. Badman say in his heart too, 
 and of those that thus did come to him, though 
 indeed they came even of love to convince 
 him of his evil life, that he might have repent- 
 ance thereof and have obtained mercy. 
 
 Attentive. Did good men then go to see him 
 In his last sickness? 
 
 Wiseman. Yes; those that were his first 
 wi fe's acquaintance, they went to see him, and 
 to talk with him and to pray with him, if 
 
 perhaps he might now, at last, bethink him- 
 self and cry to God for mercy. 
 
 Attentive. They did well to try now at last if 
 they could save his soul from hell ; but pray 
 how can you tell that he did not care for the 
 company of such? 
 
 Wiieman. Because of the differing carriage 
 that he had towards them from what he had 
 when his old carnal companions came to see 
 him ; when his old companions came to see him 
 he would stir up himself as much as he could, 
 both by words and looks, to signify they were 
 welcome to him ; he would also talk with them 
 freely, and look pleasantly upon them, though 
 the talk of such could be none other but such 
 as David said carnal men would offer to him 
 when they came to visit him in his sickness : 
 " If he comes to see me," says he, " he speak- 
 eth vanity, his heart gathereth iniquity to it- 
 self." But these kinds of talks, I say, Mr. Bad- 
 man better brooked than he did the company 
 of better men. 
 
 But I will more particularly give you a cha- 
 racter of his carriage to good men and good 
 talk when they came to see him : 
 
 1. When they were come he would seem to 
 fail in his spirits at the sight of them. 
 
 2. He would not care to answer them to any 
 of those questions that they would at times put 
 to him to feel what sense he had of sin, death, 
 hell, and judgment, but would either say noth- 
 ing or answer them by way of evasion, or else 
 be telling of them he was so weak and spent 
 that he could not speak much. 
 
 3. He would never show forwardness to speak 
 or to talk with them, but was glad when they 
 held their tongues. He would ask them no 
 questions about his state and another world, or ' 
 how he should escape that damnation that he 
 had deserved. 
 
 4. He had got a haunt at last to bid his wife 
 and keeper, when these good people attempted 
 to come and see him, to tell them that he was 
 asleep or inclining to sleep, or so weak for want 
 thereof that he could not abide any noise. 
 And so they would serve them, time aftei iime, 
 till at last they were discouraged from coming 
 to see him any more. 
 
 5. He was so hardened now, in this time of 
 his sickness, that he would talk, when his com- 
 panions came unto him, to the disparagement 
 of those good men (and of their good doctrine 
 too) that of love did come to see him and that 
 did labour to convert him. 
 
 6. When these good men went away from 
 
LIFE AND DEATH OF MR. B ADM AN. 
 
 549 
 
 him he would never say, Pray, when will you 
 be pleased to come again, for I have a desire 
 for more of your company and to hear more 
 of your good instruction ? No, not a word of 
 that, but when they were going would scarce 
 bid them drink, or say, Thank you for your 
 good company and good instruction. 
 
 7. His talk in his sickness with his com- 
 panions would be of the world, as trades, 
 houses, lands, great men, great titles, great 
 places, outward prosperity or outward adver- 
 sity, or some such carnal thing. 
 
 By all which I conclude that he did not de- 
 sire a sense and sight of his sin, that he might 
 repent and be saved. 
 
 Attentive. It must nee'ds be so as you say if 
 these things be true that you have asserted of 
 him. And I do the rather believe them be- 
 cause I think you dare not tell a lie of the 
 dead. 
 
 Wiieman. I was one of them that went to 
 him, and that beheld his carriage and manner 
 of way, and this is a true relation of it that I 
 have given you. 
 
 Attentive. I am satisfied; but pray, if you 
 can, show me now by the word what sentence 
 God doth pass upon such men. 
 
 Wiseman. Why, the man that is thus averse 
 to repentance, that desires not to hear of his 
 sins that he might repent and be saved, is said 
 to be a man that saith unto God, " Depart from 
 me, for I desire not the knowledge of thy 
 ways." He is a man that says in his heart and 
 with his actions, "I have loved strangers," 
 (sins,) "and after them I will go." He is a 
 man that shuts his eyes, stops his ears, and 
 that turneth his spirit against God. Yea, he 
 is the man that is at enmity with God, and that 
 abhors him with his soul. 
 
 Attentive. What other sign can you give that 
 Mr. Badman died without repentance? 
 
 Wisevian. Why, he never did heartily cry to 
 Grod for mercy all the time of his affliction. 
 True, when sinking fits, stitches, or pains took 
 hold upon him, then he would say, as other 
 carnal men used to do. Lord help me! Lord 
 strengthen me I Lord deliver me ! and the 
 like ; but to cry to God for mercy, that he did 
 not, but lay, as I hinted before, as if he never 
 had sinned. 
 
 Attentive. That is another bad sign indeed, 
 for crying to God for mercy is one of the first 
 signs of repentance. When Paul lay repent- 
 ing of his sins upon his bed the Holy Ghost 
 said of him, " Behold, he prays." But he that 
 hath not the first signs of repentance, it is a 
 
 sign that he hath noile other, and so indeed 
 none at all. I do not say but there may be 
 crying where there may be no sign of repent- 
 ance : "They cried," says David, " to the Lord, 
 but he answered them not ;" but that he would 
 have done if their cry had been the fruit of 
 repentance. But, I say, if men may cry and 
 yet have no repentance, be sure they have 
 none that cry not at all. It is said in Job, 
 " They cry not when he bindeth them ;" that 
 is, because they have no repentance; no re- 
 pentance, no cries ; false repentance, false cries ; 
 true repentance, true cries. 
 
 Wiseman. I know that it is as impossible for 
 a man to forbear crying that hath repentance 
 as it is for a man to forbear groaning that feel- 
 eth deadly pain. He that looketh into the 
 book of Psalms (where repentance is set forth, 
 even in its true and proper effects) shall there 
 find that crying, strong crying, hearty crying, 
 great crying, and incessant crying hath been 
 the fruits of repentance, but none of this h.ad 
 this Mr. Badman ; therefore he died in his sins. 
 
 That crying is an inseparable effect of re- 
 pentance is seen in these Scriptures : " Have 
 mercy upon me, God ; according to the mul- 
 titude of thy tender mercies blot out my trans- 
 gressions. O Lord, rebuke me not in thine 
 anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeas- 
 ure. Have mercy upon me, Lord, for I am 
 weak; Lord, heal me, for my bones are 
 vexed. My soul is also vexed, but thou, 
 Lord, how long? Eeturn, O Lord, deliver 
 my soul ; oh save me for thy mercies' sake. O 
 Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath, neither 
 chasten me in thy hot displeasure ; for thine 
 arrows stick fast in me, and thine hand press- 
 eth me sore. There is no soundness in my 
 flesh, because of thine anger ; neither is there 
 any restin my bones, because of my sin. For 
 mine iniquities are gone over mine head; as 
 an heavy burden they are too heavy for me. 
 My wounds stink and are corrupt, because of 
 my foolishness. I am troubled, I am bowed 
 down greatly, I go mourning all the day long. 
 My loins are filled with a loathsome disease, 
 and there is no soundness in my flesh. I am 
 feeble and sore broken ; I have roared by re.ason 
 of the disquietness of my heart." 
 
 I might give you a great number more of 
 the holy sayings of good men, whereby they 
 express how they were, what they felt, and 
 whether they cried or no when repentance y/ae 
 wrought in them. Alas, alas ! it is as impossi- 
 ble for a man, when the pangs of guilt are 
 upon him, to forbear praying as it is for a 
 
550 
 
 SUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 woman when pangs of travail are upon her to 
 forbear crying. If all the world should tell 
 me that such a man hath repentance, yet if he 
 is not a praying nlan I should not be persuaded 
 to believe it. 
 
 Attentive. I know no reason why you should, 
 for there is nothing can demonstrate that such 
 a man hath it. But pray, sir, what other sign 
 have you by which you can prove that Mr. 
 Badman died in his sins, and so in a state of 
 <iamnation ? 
 
 Wiseman. I have this to prove it : Those who 
 were his old sinful companions in the time of 
 his health were those whose company and 
 carnal talk he most delighted in in the time 
 of his sickness. I did occasionally hint of this 
 before, but now I make it an argument of his 
 want of grace ; for where there is indeed a work 
 of grace in the heart, that work doth not only 
 change the heart, thoughts, and desires, but 
 the conversation also; yea, conversation and 
 company too. When Paul had a work of 
 grace in his soul he essayed to join himself to 
 the disciples. He was for his old companions 
 in their abominations no longer ; he was now 
 a disciple, and was for the company of disci- 
 ples ; " And he was with them coming in and 
 going out of Jerusalem.'' 
 
 Attentive. I thought something when I heard 
 you make mention of it before. Thought I, 
 This is a shrewd sign that he had not grace in 
 his heart. Birds of a feather, thought I, will 
 flock together. If this man was one of God's 
 children he would herd with God's children, 
 his delight would be with and in the company 
 of God's children ; as David said : " I am a 
 companion of all them that fear thee and of 
 them that keep thy precepts." 
 
 Wiseman. You say well, for what fellowship 
 hath he that believeth with an infidel? And 
 although it be true that all that join to the 
 godly are not godly, yet they that shall in- 
 wardly choose the company of the ungodly and 
 open profane, rather than the company of the 
 godly, as Mr. Badman did, surely are not godly 
 men, but profane. He was, as I told you, out 
 of his element when good men did come to 
 vit:it him, but then be was where he would be 
 when he had his vain companioiis about him. 
 Aias ! grace, as I said, altereth all, heart, life, 
 company, and all ; for by it the heart of man is 
 made new, and a new heart and a new man 
 must have objects of delight that are new and 
 like himself: "Old things arC'passed away :" 
 Why? "For all things are become new." 
 Now, if all things are become new — to wit. 
 
 heart, mind, thoughts, desires, and delights- 
 it foUoweth, by consequence, that the com- 
 pany must be answerable ; hence it is said 
 that " they that believe were together ;" that 
 "they went to their own company;" that 
 "they were added to the Church;" that "they 
 were of one heart and of one soul ;" and the 
 like. Now, if it be objected that Mr. Badman 
 was sick, and so could not go to the godly, yet 
 he had a tongue in his head, and could had 
 he had an heart, have spoken to some to call 
 or send for the godly to come to him. Yea, 
 he would have done so ; yea, the company of 
 all others, especially his fellow-sinners, would, 
 even in every appearance of them before him, 
 have been a burden and a grief unto him. His I 
 heart and affection standing bent to good, good 
 companions would have suited him best. But 
 his companions were his old associates: his 
 delight was in them.; therefore his heart and 
 soul were yet ungodly. 
 
 Attentive. Pray, how was he when he drew 
 near his end, for I perceive that what you say 
 of him now hath reference to him and to bis 
 actions at the beginning of his sickness? Then 
 he could endure company and much talk ; be- 
 sides, perhaps then he thought he should re- 
 cover, and not die, as afterwards he had cause 
 to think when he was quite wasted with pining ^ ~ 
 sickness, when he was at the grave's mouth. 
 But how was he, I say, when he was (as we 
 say) within a step of death ? . vAen he saw and 
 knew, and could not but know, that shortly he 
 must die and appear before the judgment of 
 God? 
 
 Wiseman. Why, there was not any other al- 
 teration in him than what was made by Tiis 
 disease upon his body. Sickness, you know, 
 will alter the body; also pains and stitches 
 will make men groan ; but for his mind, he had 
 no alteration there; his mind was the same, 
 his heart was the same ; he was the selfsame 
 Mr. Badman still, not only in name, but con- 
 ditions, and that to the very day of his death ; 
 yea, so far as could be gathered, to the very 
 moment in which he died. 
 
 Attentive. Pray, how was he in his death? 
 Was death strong upon him ? or did he die 
 with ease, quietly? 
 
 Wiseman. As quietly as a lamb. There 
 seemed not to be in it, to standers-by, so much 
 as a strong struggle of nature ; and as for his 
 mind, it seemed to be wholly at quiet. But 
 pray, why do you ask me this question ? 
 
 Attentive. Not for my J)wn sake, but for 
 others. For there is such an opinion as this 
 
LIFE AND DEATH OF MR. B ADMAN. 
 
 551 
 
 among the ignorant: that if a man dies, as 
 they call it, like a lamb — that is, quietly, and 
 without that consternation of mind that others 
 show in their death — they conclude, and that 
 beyond all doubt, that such a one is gone to 
 heaven, and is certainly escaped the wrath to 
 como. 
 
 Wheman. There is no judgment to be made 
 by a quiet death of the eternal state of him 
 that so dieth. Suppose one man should die 
 quietly, another should die suddenly, and a 
 third should die under great consternation of 
 spirit; no man can judge of their eternal con- 
 dition by the n^annor of any of these kinds of 
 deaths. He that dies quietly, suddenly, or 
 under consternation of spirit may go to heaven 
 or may go to hell : no man can tell whither a 
 man goes by any such manrler of death* The 
 judgment, therefore, that we make of the eter- 
 nal condition of man must be gathered from 
 another consideration — to wit. Did the man 
 die in his sins ? Did he die in unbelief ? Did 
 he die before he was born again? Then he is 
 gone to the devil and hell, though he died 
 never so qyietly. Again, Was the man a good 
 man? Had he faith and holiness ? Was he a 
 lover and a worshipper of God by Christ, ac- 
 cording\to his word ? Then he is gone to God 
 and heaven, how suddenly or in what conster- 
 nation of mind soever he died. But Mr. Bad- 
 man was naughty, his life was evil, his ways 
 were evil, evil to his end ; therefore he went to 
 bell and to the devil, how quietly soever he 
 died. 
 
 Indeed there is in some cases a judgment to 
 be made of a man's eternal condition by the 
 manner of the death he dieth. As suppose 
 now a man should murder himself or live a 
 wicked life, and after that die in utter despair; 
 these men, without doubt, do both of them go 
 to hell.i And here I will take occasion to 
 speak of two of Mr. Badman's brethren, (for 
 you know I told you before that he had 
 brethren,) and of the manner of their death. 
 One of them killed himself, and the other, 
 after a wicked life, died in utter despair. Now 
 I should not be afraid to conclude of both 
 these that they went by and through their 
 death to hell. 
 
 Attentive. Pray tell me concerning the first, 
 how he made away with himself? 
 
 Wiseman. Why, he took a knife and cut his 
 own throat, and immediately gave up the ghost 
 and died. Now, what can we judge of such a 
 man's condition, since the Scripture saith, "No 
 murderer hath eternal life," &c., but that it 
 
 must be concluded that such a one is gone to 
 hell? He was a murderer, a self-murderer, 
 and he is the worst murderer, one that slays his 
 own body and soul ; nor do we find mention 
 made of any but cursed ones that do such kind 
 of deeds; I say no mention made in holy writ 
 of any others but such that murder them- 
 selves. 
 
 And this is a sore judgment of God upon 
 men, when God shall, for the sins of such, give 
 them up to be their own executioners, :r rather 
 to execute his judgment and anger upon themt- 
 selves. And let me earnestly give this caution 
 to sinners : Take heed, sirs, break ofi'your sins, 
 lest God serve you as he served Mr. Badman's 
 brother — that is, lest.he give you up to be your 
 own murderers. 
 
 Attentive. This is a dreadful story, and I 
 would to God that it might be a warning to 
 others to instruct them to fear before God, and 
 pray lest he gives them up to do as he hath 
 done. For'surely self-murderers cannot go to 
 heaven ; and therefore, as you have said, he 
 that dieth by his own hands is certainly gone 
 to hell. But .speak a word or two of the other 
 man you mentioned. 
 
 Wiseman. What! of a wicked man dying in 
 despair ? 
 
 Attentive. Yes, of a wicked man dying in 
 despair. , 
 
 Wiseman. Well, then : This Mr. Badman's 
 other brother was a very wicked man, both in 
 heart and life; I say in heart, because he was 
 so in life, nor could anything reclaim him, 
 neither good men, good books, good examples, 
 nor God's judgments. Well, after he had lived 
 a great while in his sins God smote him with 
 a sickness of which he died. Now in his sick- 
 ness his conscience began to be awakened, and 
 he began to roar out of his ill-spent life, inso- 
 much that the town began to ring of him. 
 Now, when it was noised about many of his 
 neighbours came to see him and to read by 
 him, as is the common way with some ; but all 
 that they could do could not abate his terror, 
 but he would B@" lie in his bed gnashing of 
 his teeth and wringing of his wrists, conclud- 
 ing upon the damnation of his soul; and in 
 that horror and despair he died, not calling 
 upon God, but distrusting in his mercy and 
 blaspheming of his name. 
 
 S^' Attentive. This brings to my mind a 
 man that a friend of mine told me of. He 
 had been a wicked liver ; so when he came to 
 die he fell into despair, and having concluded 
 that God had no mercy for him, he addressed 
 
552 
 
 BU^YAN'S' COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 himsiilf to the devil for favour, saying, Good 
 devil, be good unto me. 
 
 Wiseman. This is almost ' like Saul, who 
 being forsaken of God went to the witch of 
 Endor, and so to the devil, for help. But, 
 alas ! should I set myself to collect these 
 dreadful stories it would be easy in little time 
 to present you with hundreds of them. But I 
 will conclude as I began : they that are their 
 own murderers, or that die in despair after 
 they have lived a life of wickedness, do surely 
 go to hell. 
 
 And here I would put in a caution : Every 
 one that dieth under consternation of spirit — 
 that is, under amazement and great fear — do 
 not therefore die in despair, for a good man 
 may have this for his bauds in his death, and 
 yet go to heaven and glory. For, as I said 
 before, he that is a good man, a man that hath 
 faith and holiness, a lover and worshipper of 
 God by Christ according to his word, may die 
 in consternation of spirit; for Satan will not 
 be wanting to assault good men upon their 
 deathbed, but they are secured by the word 
 and power of God ; yea, and are also helped, 
 though with much agony of spirit, to exer- 
 cise themselves in faitli and prayer, the which 
 he that dieth in despair can by no means 
 do. But let us return to Mr. Badman, and 
 enter into further discourse of the manner of 
 his death. 
 
 Attentive. I think you and I are both of a 
 mind, for just now I was thinking to call you 
 back to him also. And pray, now, since it is 
 your own motion to return again to him, let 
 us discourse a little more of his quiet and still 
 death. 
 
 Wiseman. With all my heart. You know 
 we were speaking before of the manner of 
 Mr. Badman's death, how that he died still 
 and quietly, upon which you made observa- 
 tion that the common people concluded, that 
 if a man dies quietly, and, as they call it, like 
 a lamb, he is certainly gone to heaven, when, 
 alas ! if a wicked man dies quietly, if a man 
 that has all his days lived in notorious siii 
 dieth quietly, his quiet dying is so far ofi" from 
 being a sign of his being saved that it is 
 an uncontrollable proof of his damnation. 
 This was Mr. Badman's case ; he lived wick- 
 edly even to the last, and then went quietly 
 •out of the world; therefore Mr. Badman is 
 gone to hell. 
 
 Attentive. Well, but since you are upon it, 
 and also so confident in it — to wit, that a 
 ittfin that lives a wicked life till he dies, and 
 
 then dies quietly, is gone to hell — let me see 
 what show of proof you have for this your 
 opinion ? 
 
 Wiseman. My first argument is drawn from 
 the necessity of repentance. No man can be 
 saved except he repents, nor can he repent 
 that sees not, that knows not, that he is a sin- 
 ner ; and he that knows himself to be a sinner 
 will, I warrant him, be molested for the time 
 by that knowledge. This, as it is testified by 
 all the Scriptures, so it is testified by Christian 
 experience. He that knows himself to be a 
 sinner is molested, especially if that know- 
 ledge comes not to him until he is cast upon 
 his deathbed — molested, I say, before he can 
 die quietly ; yea, he is molested, dejected, and 
 cast down ; he is also made to cry out, to hun- 
 ger and thirst after mercy by Christ ; and if at 
 all he shall indeed come to die quietly — I mean 
 with that quietness that is begotten by faith 
 and hope in God's mercy (to the which Mr. 
 Badman and his brethren were utter stran- 
 gers) — his quietness is distinguished, by all 
 judicious observers, by what went before it, 
 by what it flows from, and also by w-hat is the 
 fruit thereof. 
 
 I must confess I am no admirer of sickbed 
 repentance, for I think verily it is seldom good 
 for any thing; but I say, he that hath lived 
 in sin and profaneness all his days, as Mr, 
 Badman did, and yet shall die quietly— that 
 is, without repeatance steps in betwixt his 
 life and death — Ue is assuredly gone to hell, 
 and is damned. 
 
 Attentive. This does look like an argument 
 indeed; for repentance must come or else we 
 must go to hell-fire; and if a lewd liver shall 
 (I mean that so continues till the day of his 
 death) yet go out of the world quietly, it is a 
 sign that he died without repentance, and so a 
 sign that he is damned. 
 
 Wiseman. I am satisfied in it for my part, 
 and that from the necessity and nature of re- 
 pentance. It is necessary, because God calls 
 for it and will not pardon sin without it; 
 "Except ye repent ye shall all likewise 
 perish." This is that which God hath said, 
 and he will prove but a foolhardy man that 
 shall yet think to go to heaven and glory 
 without it. " Eepent, for the axe is laid to 
 the root of the tree ; every tree therefore that 
 bringeth not forth good fruit" (but no good 
 fruit can be where there is no sound repent- 
 ance) " shall be hewn down and cast into the 
 fire." This was Mr. Badman's case ; he had 
 attending of him a sinful life, and that to the 
 
LIFE AND DEATH OF MR. MADMAN. 
 
 553 
 
 very last, and yet died quietly^— that is, with- 
 out repentance; he is gone to hell, and is 
 damned. For the nature of repentance, I 
 have touched upon that already, and showed 
 that it never was where a quiet death is the 
 immeduite companion of a sinful life; and 
 therefore Mr. Badman is gone to hell. 
 
 2. My second argument is drawn from that 
 blessed word of Chiist: "While the strong 
 man armed keeps the house his goods are in 
 peace till a stronger than he comes ;'' but the 
 strong man armed kept Mr. Badman's house 
 — that is, his heart and soul, and body — for he 
 went from a sinful life quietly out of this 
 world. The stronger did not disturb by inter- 
 cepting with sound repentance betwixt his 
 sinful life and his quiet death; therefore Mr. 
 Badman is gone to hell. • 
 
 The strong man armed is the devil, and 
 quietness is his security. The devil never 
 fears losing of the sinner if he can but keep 
 him quiet. Can he but keep him quiet in a 
 sinful life and quiet in his death, he is his 
 own. Therefore he saith, his goods are in 
 peace; that is, out of danger. There is no 
 fear of the devil's losing such a soul, I say, be- 
 cause Christ, who is the best judge in this 
 matter, saith. His goods are at peace, in quiet, 
 and out of danger. 
 
 Attentive. This is a good one too ; for doubt- 
 less peace and quiet with sin is one of the 
 greatest signs -/f a damnable state. 
 
 Wiseman. So it is; therefore, vvhen God 
 would show the greatness of his anger against 
 sin and sinners in one word, he saith, " They 
 are joined to idols, let them alone." Let them 
 alone — that is, disturb them not ; let them go 
 on without control ; let the devil enjoy them 
 peaceably; let him carry them out of the 
 world unconverted, quietly. This is one of 
 the sorest of judgments, and bespeak eth the 
 burning anger of God against sinful men. See 
 also when you come home, Hosea iv. 14, " I 
 will not punish your daughters when they 
 commit whoredom." I will let them alone, 
 they shall live and dio in their sins. But, 
 
 3. My third argument is drawn from that 
 saying of Christ, " He hath blinded their eyes 
 and hardened their hearts, that they should 
 not see with their eyes nor understand with 
 their hearts, and be converted, and I should 
 heal them." « 
 
 There are three things that I will take notice 
 of from these words : 
 
 The first is, that there can be no conversion 
 to God where the eye is darkened and the heart 
 
 hardened. The eye must first be made to see 
 and the heart to break and relent under and 
 for sin, or else there can be no conversion. 
 "He hath blinded their eyes and hardened 
 their hearts, lest they should see and under- 
 stand, and so be converted." And this was 
 clearly Mr. Badman's case : he lived a wicked 
 life^ and also died with his eyes shut and heart 
 hardened, as is manifest in that a sinful life 
 was joined with a quiet death ; and all for that 
 he should not be converted, but partake of the 
 fruit of his sinful life in hell-fire. 
 
 The second thing that I take notice of from 
 these words is, that this is a dispensation and 
 manifestation of God's anger against a man for 
 his sin. When God is angry with men — I 
 mean, when he is so angry with them — this, 
 among many, is one of the judgments that he 
 giveth them up unto— to wit, to blindness of 
 mind and hardness of heart, which he also 
 suffereth to accompany them till they enter in 
 at the gates of death. And then and there, 
 and not short of then and there, their eyes 
 come to be opened. Hence it is said of the 
 rich man mentioned in Luke, " He died, and 
 in hell he lifted up his eyes," implying that he 
 did not lift them up before; he neither saw 
 what he had done nor whither he was going 
 till he came to the place of execution, even 
 into hell. He died asleep in his soul ; he died 
 besotted, stupefied, and so consequently for 
 quietness like a child or lamb, even as Mr. 
 Badman did ; this was a sign of God's anger ; 
 he had a mind to damn him for his sins, and 
 therefore would not let him see nor have an 
 heart to repent for them, lest he should con ■ 
 vert, and his damnation, which God hath ap- 
 pointed, should be frustrate : " Lest they should 
 be converted and I should heal them." 
 
 The third thing I take notice o£ from hence 
 is, that a sinful life, and quiet death annexed 
 to it, is the ready, the open, the beaten, the 
 common highway to hell; there is no surer 
 sign of damnation than for a man to die quietly 
 after a sinful life. I do ijot say that all wicked 
 men that are molested at their death with' a 
 sense of sin and fears of heU do therefore go to 
 heaven, for some ar& also made to see and are 
 left to despair, (not converted by seeing,) that 
 they might go roaring out of this world to their 
 place ; but I say there is no surer sign of a 
 man's damnation than to die quietly after a 
 sinful life, than to sin and die with his eyes 
 shut, than to sin and die with an heart that 
 cannot repent; "He hath blinded their eyes 
 and hardened their heart, that thev should not 
 
554 
 
 SUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 see witli their eyes nor understand with their 
 heart," (no, not so long as they are in this 
 world,) "lest they should see with their eyes 
 and understand with their heart, and should 
 be converted, and I should heal them." 
 
 God has a judgment for wicked men; God 
 will be even with wicked men; God knows 
 how to reserve the ungodly to the day of judg- 
 ment to be punished; and this is one oi his 
 ways by which he doth it. Thus it was with 
 Mr. Badman. 
 
 4. It is said in the book of Psalms concern- 
 ing the wicked, " There are no bands in their 
 death, but their strength is firm." By no 
 bands he means no troubles, no gracious chas- 
 tisements, no such corrections for sin, as fail to 
 be the lot of God's people for theirs ; yea, that 
 many times fall to be theirs at the time of their 
 death. Therefore he adds concerning the 
 wicked, "They are not troubled" then "like 
 other men, neither are they plagued like other 
 men," but go as securely out of the world as if 
 they had never sinned against God and put 
 their own sou^s in danger of damnation 
 " There are no bands in their death." They 
 seem to go unbound and set at liberty out of 
 this world, though they have lived notoriously 
 wicked all their days in it. The prisoner that 
 is to die at the gallows for his wickedness must 
 first have his irons knocked off his legs ; so he 
 seems to go most at liberty when indeed he is 
 going to be executed for his transgressions. 
 Wicked men also have no bands in their death ; 
 they sC'jm to be more at liberty when they are 
 even at the wind-up of their sinful life than at 
 any time besides. 
 
 Hence you shall have them boast of their 
 faith and hope in God's mercy when they lie 
 upon their deathbed ; yea, you shall have them 
 speak as confidently of thei;- salvation as if 
 they had served God all their days, when the 
 truth is, the bottom of this their boasting is 
 because they have no bands in their death. 
 
 Their sin and base life come not into their 
 mind to correct them and bring them to repent- 
 ance, but presumptuous thoughts and an hope 
 and faith of the spider's (the devil's) making 
 possesseth their soul, to their own eternal un- 
 doing. 
 
 Hence wicked men's hope is said to die, not 
 before, but with them ; they give up tfie ghost 
 together. And thus did Mr. Badman. His 
 sma and his hope went with him to the gate, 
 but there his hope left him, because it died there ; 
 but his sins went in with him, to be a worm to 
 gnaw him in conscience for ever and ever. 
 
 The opinion, therefore, of the common peo- 
 ple concerning this kind of dying is frivolous 
 and vain ; for Mr. Badman died like a lamb, 
 or, as they call it, like a chrisom child, qu,ietly 
 and without fear. I speak not this with ref- 
 erence to the struggling of nature with death, 
 but as to the struggling of the conscience witl 
 the judgment of God. I know that nature will 
 struggle with death; I have seen a dog and 
 sheep die hardly ; and thus may a wicked man 
 do, because there is an antip-athy betwixt na- 
 ture and death. But even while, even then, 
 when death and nature are struggling for mas- 
 tery, the soul, the conscience, may be as be- 
 sotted, as benumbed, as senseless and igno- 
 rant of its miserable state as the block or bed 
 on which the sick lies ; and thus they may die 
 like a chrisom child in show, but indeed like 
 one who by the judgment of God is bound 
 over to eternal damnation, and that also by the 
 same judgment is kept from seeing what they 
 are and whither they are going till they plunge 
 down among the flames. 
 
 And as it is a very great judgment of God 
 on wicked men that so die, (for it cuts them 
 off from all possibility of repentance, and so 
 of salvation,) so it is as great a judgment upon 
 those that are their companions that survive 
 them ; for by the manner of their death, they 
 dying so quietly, so lite unto chrisom children 
 as they call it, they are hardened and take 
 courage to go on in their course. 
 
 For comparing their life with their death, 
 their sinful, cursed lives with their child-like, 
 lamb-like death, they think that all is well, 
 that no damnation is happened ti them ; though 
 they lived like devils incarnate, yet they died 
 like harmless ones; there was no whirlwind, 
 no tempest, no band nor plague in their death ; 
 they died as quietly as the most godly of them 
 all, and had as great faith and hope of salva- 
 tion, and would talk as boldly of salvation as 
 if they had assurance of it. But as was their 
 hope in life, so was their death; their hope 
 was without trial, because it was none of God's 
 working, and their death was without molesta- 
 tion, because so was the judgment of God con- 
 cerning them. 
 
 But, I say, at this their survivors take heart 
 to tread their steps, and to continue to live in 
 the breach of the law of God ; yea, they carry 
 it stately in their villainies, for so it follows in 
 the Psalm : " There are no bands in their 
 death, but their strength is firm, &c. There- 
 fore pride compasseth them" (the survivors) 
 " about as a chain, violence covereth them as a 
 
LIFE AND DEATH OF ME. B ADMAN. 
 
 555 
 
 garment." Therefore they take courage to do 
 evil, therefore they pride themselves in their 
 iniquity. Therefore! Wherefore? Why, be- 
 ciiuse their fellows died, after they had lived 
 long in a most profane and wicked life, as 
 tjuietly and as like to lambs as if they had 
 been innocent. 
 
 Yea, they are bold, by seeing this, to conclude 
 that God either does not or will not take notice 
 of their sins. "They speak wickedly, they 
 speak loftily." They speak wickedly of sin, 
 for that they make it better than by the word 
 it is pronounced to be. They speak wickedly 
 concerning oppression, that they commend and 
 count it a prudent act. They also speak loft- 
 ily ; " They set their mouth against the heav- 
 en," &c. " And they say. How doth God know ? 
 and is there knowledge in the Most High?" 
 And all this, so far as I can see, ariseth in their 
 hearts from their beholding of the quiet and 
 Iamb-like death of their companions. "Be- 
 hold, these are the ungodly that prosper in the 
 world," (that is, by wicked ways;) "they in- 
 crease in riches." 
 
 This, therefore, is a great judgment of God 
 both upon that man that dieth in his sins and 
 also upon his companion that beholdeth him 
 60 to die. He sinneth, he dieth in his sins, and 
 yet dieth quietly. What shall his companion 
 say to this? What judgment shall he make 
 how God will deal with him by beholding the 
 lamb-like death of his companion? Be sure 
 he cannot, as from such a sight, say. Woe be 
 to me ! for judgment is before him. He can- 
 not gather that sin is a dreadful and bitter 
 thing by the child-like death of Mr. Badman, 
 but must rather, if he judgeth according to 
 what he sees or according to his corrupted 
 reason, conclude with the wicked ones of old, 
 " That every one that doth evil is good in the 
 sight of the Lord, and he deljghteth in them ; 
 or where is the God of judgment?" 
 
 Yea, this is enough to puzzle the wisest 
 man. David himself was put to a stand by 
 beholding the quiet death of ungodly men. 
 "Verily," says he, "I have cleansed my heart 
 in vain, and have washed my hands in inno- 
 cency." Ps. Ixxiii. 13. They, to appearance, 
 fare better by far than I ; " Their eyes stand 
 out with fatness, they have more than heart 
 can wish ; but all the day long have I been 
 plagued and chastened evei-y morning." This, 
 I say, made David wonder, yea, and Job and 
 Jeremiah too ; but he goeth into the sanctuary, 
 and then he understands their end, nor could 
 he understand it before. "I went into the 
 
 sanctuary of God." What place was that? 
 Why, there where he might inquire of God, 
 and by him be resolved of this matter. " Then," 
 says he, "understood I theit end." Then 1 
 saw that " thou hast set them in slippery 
 places," and that " thou castest them down 
 to destruction." Castest them down — that 
 is, suddenly, or, as the next words say, " As 
 in a moment they are utterly consumed with 
 terrors;" which terrors did not seize them 
 on their sickbed, for they had no bands in 
 their death. The terrors, therefore, seized 
 them there where also they are holden in them 
 for ever. This he found out, I say, but not 
 without great painfulness, grief, and pricking 
 in his reins, so deep, so hard, and so difficult 
 did he find it rightly to come to a determina- 
 tion in this matter. 
 
 And indeed this is a deep judgment of God 
 towards ungodly sinners ; it is enough to stag- 
 ger a whole world ; only the godly that are- in 
 the world have a sanctuary to go to, where the 
 ora^cle and word of God is, by which his judg- 
 ments, and a reason of many of them are made 
 known to and understood by them. 
 
 Attentive. Indeed this is a staggering dispen- 
 sation ; it is full of the wisdom and anger of 
 God ; aud I believe, as you have said, that it 
 is full of judgment to the world. Who would 
 have imagined that had not known Mr. Badman 
 and yet had seen him die but that he had been 
 a man of an holy life and conversation, since 
 he died so stilly, so quietly, so like a lamb or 
 a chrisom child ? Would they not, I say, haye 
 concluded that he was a righteous man ? Or 
 that if they had known him and his life, yet 
 to see him die so quietly, would they not have 
 concluded that he had made his peace with 
 God ? Nay, further, if some had known that 
 he had died in his sins, and yet that he died 
 so like a Iamb, would they not have concluded 
 that either God doth not know our sins, or 
 that he likes them, or that he wants power, or 
 will, or heart, or skill to punish them, since 
 Mr. Badman himself went from a sinful life 
 so quietly, so peaceable, and so like a Iamb as 
 he did? 
 
 Wiseman. Without controversy this is an 
 heavy judgment of God upon wicked men : 
 one goes to hell in peace, another goes to hell 
 in trouble; one goes to hell, being sent thither 
 by the hand of his companion; one goes 
 thither with his eyes shut, ^nd another goes 
 thither with his eyes open ; one goes thither 
 roaring, and another goes thither boasting of 
 heaven and happiness all the way he goes ; one 
 
556 
 
 SUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 goes thither like Mr. Badman himself, and oth- 
 ers go thither as did his brethren. But above 
 all, Mr. Badman's death, as to the manner of 
 dying, is the fullest of snares and traps of 
 wicked men ; therefore they that die as he are 
 the greatest stumble to the world ; they go and 
 go; they go on peaceably from youth to old age, 
 and thence to the grave, and so to hell, with- 
 out noise. " They go as an ox to the slaughter, 
 and as a fool to the correction of the stocks ;" 
 that is, both senselessly and securely. Oh, 
 but being come at the gates of hell! oh, but 
 when they see those gates set open for them ! 
 oh, but when they see that that is their home, 
 and that they must go in thither! Then their 
 peace and quietness flee away for ever ; then 
 they roar like lions, yell like dragons, howl 
 like dogs, and tremble at their judgment, as do 
 the devils themselves. Oh, when they see 
 they must shoot the gulf and throat of hell ! 
 when they shall see that hell hath shut her 
 ghastly jaws upon them ! when they shall 
 open their eyes and find themselves within the 
 belly and bowels of hell ! then they will mourn 
 and weep, and hack, and gnash their teeth for 
 Dain. But this must not be (or, if it must, yet 
 
 very rarely) till they are gone out of the sight 
 and' hearing of those mortals whom they do 
 leave behind them alive Ibl the world. 
 
 Attentive. Well, my good neighbour Wise- 
 man, I perceive that the sun grows low, and 
 that you have come to a conclusion with Mr. 
 Badman's life and death, and therefore I will 
 take my leave of you. Only first let me tell 
 you I am glad that I have met with you to» 
 day, and that our hap was to fall in with Mr. 
 Badman's state. I also thank you for your free 
 dom with me in granting of me your reply to 
 all of my questions. I would only beg your 
 prayers that God will give me much grace, 
 that I may neither live nor die as did Mr. 
 Badman. 
 
 Wiseman. My good neighbour Attentive, I 
 wish your welfare in soul and body ; and if 
 aught that I have said of Mr. Badman's life 
 and death may be of benefit unto you, I shall 
 be heartily glad; only I desire you to thank 
 God for it, and to pray heartily for me that I, 
 with you, may be kept by the power of God 
 through faith unto salvation. 
 
 Attentive. Amen! Farewell. 
 
 Wiseman. I wish you heartily farewell. 
 
CHRIST'S SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 
 
 Matthew, Chap. V. 
 ASD Jesus, seeing the multitudes, ascended 
 Up to a mount, where sitting, and attended 
 By his disciples, he began to preach ; 
 And on this manner following did them teach : 
 ■Blessed are all such as are poor in spiwt. 
 For they the heavenly kingdom do inherit. 
 Blessed are they that mourn ; for in the stead 
 Thereof shall comfort be administered. 
 Blessed are they, whose meekness doth excel : 
 For on the earth their portion is to dwell. 
 Blessed are they, who after righteousness 
 Hunger and thirst; for they shall it possess. 
 Blessed are they, for they shall mercy find. 
 Who to do mercifully are inclin'd. 
 Blessed are all such as are pure in heart ; 
 For God his presence shall to them impart. 
 Blessed are they that do make peace; for why? 
 They shall be call'd the sons of the Most High. 
 Blessed are they which suffer for the sake 
 Of righteousness : for they of heav'n partake. 
 Blessed are ye, when men shall falsely speak 
 All kind of ill against you for my sake. 
 And shall revile, and persecute you sore ; 
 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad therefor : 
 For your reward in heav'n will be great : 
 For thus of old they did the prophets treat. 
 Ye are the salt o' th' earth; but wherewith must 
 The earth be season'd when the savour's lost ? 
 It is from thenceforth good for nothing, but 
 To be cast out, and trodd'n under foot. 
 Ye are the light o' th' world ; a city set 
 Upon a hill cannot be hid ; nor yet 
 Do men a candle with a bushel cover, 
 But set it where it lights the whole house over. 
 So shine your light, your good works seen 
 
 thereby 
 Men may your heavenly Father glorify. 
 Think not that to destroy the law I came, 
 Or prophets ; no, but to fulfil the same. 
 For till the heav'n and earth shall pass away. 
 One jot or tittle from the law, I say. 
 Shall never pass till all shall be complete. 
 Whoso therefore presumes to violate 
 
 One of these least commands, and teachlth so, 
 Shall in God's kingdom be accounted low. 
 But he that doth, and teacheth them likewise, 
 Shall in God's kingdom have great dignities. 
 For I declare unto you, that unless 
 You shall exceed the scribe and Pharisees 
 In righteousness ; you shall on no condition, 
 Into the heavenly kingdom gain admission. 
 Ye've heard 'twas said' of old, "Thou shalt not 
 
 kill :" 
 And he incurs the judgment who shall spill 
 His brother's blood: but I to you declare, 
 That he that's wroth without a cause, shall 
 
 bear 
 The judgment. Likewise of the council he 
 That sayeth ' racha ' shall in danger be. 
 But whosoe'er shall say. Thou fool, the same 
 Shall be in danger of eternal flame. 
 When therefore to the altar thou dost bring 
 Thy gift, and there rememb'rest anything 
 Thy brother hast against thee : leave it there 
 Before the altar, and come thou not near 
 Till thou hast first made reconciliation. 
 Then may'st thou come and offer thine obla- 
 tion. 
 Make an agreement with thine adversary 
 Whilst thou art in the way, and do not tarry ; 
 Lest he at any time deliver thee 
 Unto the judge, and by the judge thou be 
 Unto the oflScer forthwith resign'd. 
 And in imprisonment thou be confin'd ; 
 I do affirm thou shalt not be enlarg'd, 
 Till thou the utmost farthing hast discharg'd. 
 Ye've heard that they of old did testify, 
 That men should not commit adultery : 
 But I pronounce him an adulterer. 
 Who views a woman to lust after her. 
 And if thy right eye shall offensive be, 
 Pluck thou it out and cast the same from 
 
 thee; 
 For it is better lose one, than that all 
 Thy members should into hell torments fall. 
 And if thy right hand doth offend, cut off it, 
 And cast it from thee, for it will thee profit 
 
 557 
 
558 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Mucli rather that one of thy members fell, 
 Than that they should be all condemned to 
 
 hell. 
 It hath been said, whoso away shall force 
 His wife, shall give her a bill of divorce : 
 But whosoe'er shall put his wife away, 
 Except for fornication's sake, I say. 
 Makes her adult'ress, and who marries heii. 
 So put away, is an adulterer. 
 Again: Ye've heard, Thou shalt not be for- 
 sworn. 
 Was ancient doctrine, but thou shalt perform 
 Uutff the Lord thine oaths : But I declare, 
 That thou shalt not at all presume to swear ; 
 Neither by heaven, for it is God's throne; 
 Nor by the earth, for his foot stands thereon : 
 Neither swear by Jerusalem, for why? 
 It is the city of the King Most High : 
 Nor swear thou by thine head, for thou canst 
 
 make 
 No hair thereof to be or white or black : 
 But let yea, yea; nay, nay, in speech suffice, 
 For what is more from evil doth arise. 
 Ye've heard, it hath been said, Eye for an eye. 
 And tooth for tooth : But I do testify. 
 That you shall not resist ; but let him smite 
 Thy left cheek also, who assaults thy right. 
 And if that any by a lawsuit shall 
 Demand thy coat, let them have cloak and 
 
 all. 
 And whosoe'er compelleth thee to go 
 A mile, refuse not to go with him two. 
 Give him that asketh, and from him that may 
 Have need to borrow, turn not thou away. 
 Ye've heard, 'twas said, That thou shalt love 
 
 thy friend 
 .A.nd hate thy foe : But let your love extend 
 Unto your enemies : thus I declare. 
 Bless them that curse, do good to them that 
 
 bear 
 lU-wdll, and for your persecutors pray, 
 And them that do reproach you; that you 
 
 may 
 Be children of your Father that's iu heaven ; 
 For he on good and bad alike hath given 
 His sun to rise, and in like manner doth 
 Send rain upon the just and unjust both. 
 For what is your reward, if you love them 
 That love you ? Do. not publicans the same ? 
 And if your brethren only you salute. 
 What more than they do ye? They also do't. 
 I will therefore that you be perfect, ev'n 
 As is your Father perfect that's in heaven. 
 
 * These lines, and those on the next page, * The 
 eye's the light o' th' hody,' remind one of Bunyan's 
 style in his Apology for the Pilgrim's Progress — 
 
 Chap. VI. 
 Take heed you do not your alms-deeds bestow 
 Before men, purposely to make a show ; 
 For then there will no recompense be given 
 Unto you of your Father that's in heaven : 
 With sound of trumpet do not thou therefoiie 
 Proclaim what thou art giving to the poor; 
 As is the manner of the hypocrites 
 To do i' th' synagogues, and in the streets;* 
 That men may give them praises. Verily 
 They have their recompense, I testify. 
 But when thou dost alms, let thy left hand know 
 Not what thy right hand j^ about to do : 
 That giving secretly, thy Father may. 
 Who sees in secret, openly repay. 
 And when thou pray'st be not as hypocrites ; 
 For they love in the corners of the streets, 
 And in the synagogues to stand and pray, 
 There to be seen : they've" their reward, I say. 
 But thou, when thou dost make thy pray'r, go 
 
 thee 
 Into thy closet, shut thy door unto thee, 
 And there in secret to thy Father cry. 
 Who seeing thee shall reward thee openly. 
 But when ye pray use not vain repetitions, 
 As heathens do, for they think their petitiona 
 Prevail; when they the same do multiply: 
 Be ye not like to them therefore ; for why ? 
 Your Father knows what things you need be- 
 fore . 
 You ask him, on this wise pray ye therefore : 
 
 Our Father which art in heav'n, thy name 
 
 alone 
 Be hallowed. Thy glorious kingdom come. 
 Thy will be done on earth as 'tis in heaven. 
 Give us this day our daily bread. And ev'n 
 As we remit our debtors, grant remission 
 To us. And lead us not into temptation, 
 But from all evil do thou us deliver; 
 For th' kingdom, power and glory's thin* 
 for ever. Amen. 
 
 For if you do forgive men that offend, 
 Your heavenly Father will to you extend 
 Forgiveness; but if not, nor will he spare, 
 At any time when you olTendera are. 
 Moreover, when you fast beware lest you 
 Look sad, as hypocrites are wont to do ; 
 For they disguise their faces, that they may 
 Appear to fast : they've their reward, I say. 
 But thou, when thou dost fast, anoint thine 
 
 head 
 And wash thy face, that undiscovered 
 
 "Dost thou love picking meat? Or would'st them see 
 A man i' th' clouds, and hear him speak to thee ?" Ud 
 
CUBIST'S SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 
 
 559 
 
 Thy fasting may be unto men, but nitlier . 
 That thou be seen in secret of thy Father : 
 And then thy Father, who in secresy 
 Beholcis thee, shall reward thee openly. 
 Lay not up treasure for yourselves in store 
 Upon the earth, where moth and rust devour, 
 And where by thieves you may be quite be- 
 
 reaven. 
 But lay up treasure for yourselves in heaven, 
 Where neither moth, nor rust, nor thieves can 
 
 enter : 
 For Where's your treasure there your hearts 
 
 will centre. 
 The eye's the light o' th' body, which if right 
 Then thy whole body will be full of light: 
 But if thine eye be evil, then there will 
 A total darkness thy whole body fill. 
 If therefore all the light that is in the^ 
 Be darkness, how great must that darkness 
 
 be? 
 No man can serve two masters, either he 
 AVill hate one, and love t'other, or will be 
 Faithful to one, and t'other will forego. 
 Ye cannot serve both God and mammon too. 
 Take no thought therefore for your life, I say, 
 What you shall eat or drink ; or how you may 
 Your bodies clothe. Is not the life much more 
 Than meat ; Is not the body far before 
 The clothes thereof? Behold the fowls o' th' 
 
 air, 
 Nor sow nor reap, nor take they any care 
 How they provision into barns may gather; 
 Yet they are nourish'd by your heavenly 
 
 Father : 
 Are ye not worth much more ? Which of you 
 
 can 
 By taking thought add to his height one span? 
 And why for raiment are ye taking tliought? 
 See how the lilies grow; they labour not, 
 Nor do they spin ; yet Solomon, I say, 
 In all his pomp, had no such gay array. 
 If in the field God so doth clothe the grass, 
 AVhich is to-day, and doth to-morr6w pass 
 Into the oven, shall he not therefore, 
 ye of little faith, clothe you much more? 
 Take no thought therefore, saying, What shall 
 
 we cat, 
 Or drink, or where shall we our raiment get : 
 {For thus the heathen people used to do;) 
 For that you need them doth your Father 
 
 know. 
 But seek God's kingdom. Bind his righteousness 
 First, and then all these things you shall pos- 
 sess. 
 Be not then exercis'd with care and sorrow, 
 fn making preparatif)n for the morrow ; 
 
 The morrow shall things for itself prepare: 
 Sufficient to the day is each day's care. 
 
 Chap. VII. 
 
 Judge nst, that you may not be judg'd; for 
 
 even 
 As you pass judgment, judgment shall be 
 
 giv'n : 
 And with such measure as you mete to men, 
 It shall be measured unto you again. 
 And why dost thou take notice of the mote 
 That's in thy brother's eye ; but dost not note 
 The beam that's in thine own ? How wilt thou 
 
 say 
 Unto thy brother. Let me take away 
 The mote that's in thine eye, when yet 'tis 
 
 plain 
 The beam that's in thine own doth still re- 
 main? 
 First cast away the beam, thou hypocrite. 
 From thine own eye, so shall thy clearer sight 
 The better be enabled to descry, 
 And pluck the mote out of thy brother's eye. 
 Give not to dogs the things that are divine, 
 Neither cast ye your pearls before the swine 
 Lest that they should their feet them trample 
 
 under. 
 And turn upon you, and rend you asunder. 
 Ask, and obtain; seek, and ye shall find, 
 
 do ye 
 Knock, and it shall be opened unto ye: 
 For he that seeks, shall find; that asks, ob- 
 tain, 
 And he that knocks, shall an admittance gain. 
 Or what man is there of you, if his son 
 Shall ask him bread, will he give him a stone? 
 Or if he ask a fish, will he bestow 
 A serpent? If then ye being evil know 
 To give your children good gifts, how much 
 
 rather 
 To them that ask him shall your heav'nly 
 
 Father ! 
 Then what you would men should to you, 
 
 so do 
 To them : for that's the law and prophets too. 
 Enter in at the strait gate, for the road 
 That doth unto destruction lead, is broad; 
 And wide the gate; and many there be that 
 Enter therein : because strait is the gate, 
 And narrow is the way that is inclin'd 
 To life, and which there are but few that find. 
 False prophets shun, who in sheep's clothea 
 
 appear, 
 But inwardly devouring wolves they are : 
 
560 
 
 BUNYAN'S qOMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Ye by their fruits shall know them. Do men 
 
 either 
 Pluck grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles 
 
 gather ? 
 Even so each good tree good fruit will pro- 
 duce ; 
 But a corrupt tree fruit unfit for use: 
 A good tree cannot bring forth evil food, 
 Nor can an evil tree bear fruit that's good : 
 Each tree that bears not good fruit's hewn 
 
 down 
 And burnt, thus by their fruits they shall be 
 
 known . 
 Not every one that saith. Lord, Lord, but he 
 That doth my heav'nly Father's will shall be 
 An heir of heaven : many in that day 
 "Will call,'Lord, Lord, and thus to me will say : 
 Have we not prophesied in thy name? 
 Cast devils out, done wonders in the same ? 
 And then will I profess I know you not; 
 Depart from me, ye that have evil wrought. 
 
 Whoso therefore these sayings of mine doth 
 
 hear, 
 And doth them, to a wise man I'll compare, 
 The whioji' upon a rock his building founded. 
 The rain descended and the floods surrounded, 
 The winds arose, and gave it many a shock. 
 And it felknot, being founded on a rock. 
 And ev'ry one that hears these sayings ol 
 
 min^. 
 And not to do them doth his heart incline, 
 Unto a foolish man shall be compar'd ; 
 Who his foundation on the sand prepar'd : 
 The rain descended and the floods were great. 
 The winds did blow, and vehemently beat 
 Against that house; and down the building 
 
 came,, 
 And mighty was the downfall of the same. 
 And now when Jesus thus had finished 
 His sayings, the people were astonished 
 Thereat : for not as do the scribes taught he 
 Them, but as one that had authority. 
 
COME AND WELCOME TO JESUS CHRIST; 
 
 OB, 
 
 A PLAIN AND PROFITABLE DISCOURSE ON JOHN VI. 37. 
 
 SHOWING THE CAUSE, TRUTH, AND MANNER OP THE COMING OF A SINNER TO JESUS 
 CHKIST; WITH HIS HAPPY RECEPTION AND BLESSED ENTERTAINMENT. 
 
 And they shall come which wore ready to Jferish. — IsA. xxvii. 13. 
 
 All that^the Father giveth me shall come to mej and him that comeih to me I will in nowise cast out.— 
 John vi. 37. 
 
 A LITTLE before, in this chapter, you may 
 read that the Lord Jesus walked on the sea to 
 go to Capernaum, having sent his disciples 
 before in a ship; but the wind was contrary, 
 by which means the ship was hindei'ed in her 
 passage. Now about the fourth watch of the 
 night Jesus came walking on the sea and over- 
 took them; at the sight of whom they were 
 afraid. 
 
 Note. Wheii providences are black and terri- 
 ble to God's people the Lord Jesus shows him- 
 self to them in a wonderful manner ; the which 
 sometimes they can as little bear as they can 
 the things that were terrible to them. They 
 were afraid of the wind and water ; they were 
 also afraid of their Lord and Saviour when he 
 appeared to them in that state. 
 
 But he said, " Be not afraid, it is I." 
 
 Note. That the end of the appearing of the 
 Lord Jesus unto his people (though the man- 
 ner of his appearance be never so terrible) is 
 to allay their fears and perplexities. 
 
 Then they received him into the ship, and 
 immediately the ship was at theland whither 
 it went. 
 
 Note. When Christ is absent from his people 
 they go on but slowly and with great difficulty, 
 but when he joineth himself unto them, oh 
 how fast they steer their course ! how soon are 
 they at their journey's end I 
 
 The people now among whom he last 
 preached, when they saw that both Jesus was 
 gone and his disciples, they also took shipping 
 and came to Capernaum seeking for Jesus. 
 And when they had found him, they, wonder- 
 36 
 
 ing, asked him. Rabbi, when earnest thon 
 hither? But the Lord Jesus, slighting their 
 compliment, answered, "Verily, verily, ye 
 seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but 
 because ye did eat of the loaves and were 
 filled." ^ 
 
 Note. A people may follow Christ far for base 
 ends, as these went after him beyond sea for 
 loaves. A man's belly will carry him a great 
 way in religion ; yea, a man's belly will make 
 him venture far for Christ. 
 
 Note again. They are not feigning compli- 
 ments, but gracious intentions, tliat crown the 
 work in the eyes of Christ; or thus, it is not 
 the toil and business of professors, but their 
 love to him, that makes him approve of them. 
 
 Note again. When men shall look for friendly 
 entertainment at Christ's hand, if their hearts 
 be rotten, even then will they meet with a 
 check and rebuke. " Ye seek me, not because 
 ye saw the miracles, but because ye did cat of 
 the loaves and were filled." 
 
 Yet observe again. He doth not refuse to 
 give, even to these, good counsel: he bids them 
 to labour for the meat that endureth to eternal 
 life. Oh how willingly would Jesus have 
 even those professors, that come to him with 
 pretences only, come to him sincerely, that 
 they may be saved ! 
 
 The text, you will find, is after much more 
 discourse with and about this people, and it is 
 uttered by the Lord Jesus as the conclusion 
 of the whole, and intimateth that since they 
 were professors in pretenee only, and therefore 
 such as his soul could not delight in as, such, 
 
 561 
 
562 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 that he would content himself with a remnant 
 that his Father had bestowed upon him. As 
 who should say, " I am not. like to be hon- 
 oured in that salvation ; but the Father has 
 ■bestowed upon me a people, and they shall 
 come to me in truth, and in them will I be 
 Batisfled." The text before may be called 
 Christ's repose/ in the fulfilling thereof he 
 resteth himself content after much labour and 
 many sermons spent, as it were, in vain. As 
 he saith by the prophet, " I have laboured in 
 Tain, I have spent my strength for naught and 
 in vain.'' Isa. xlix. 4. 
 
 But as there he saith, "My judgment is 
 with the Lord, and my work with God," so in- 
 the text he saith, "All that the FatheT giveth 
 me shall come to me.; and him that cometh to 
 me I will in nowise cast out." , By these words, 
 therefore, the Lord Jesus comforteth himself 
 under the consideration of the dissimulation 
 of some of his followers. He also thus betook 
 himself to rest under the consideration of the 
 little efieet that his ministry had in Capernaum, 
 Chorazin, and Bethsaida: "I thank thee, O 
 Father," said he, "Lord of heaven and earth, 
 because thou "hast hid these things from the 
 wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to 
 babes; even so. Father, for so it seemed good 
 in thy sight." Matt. xi. 25; Luke x. 21. 
 
 The text, in general, consists of two parts, 
 and hath special respect to the Father and the 
 Son, as also their joint management of the 
 salvation of the people. "All that the Father 
 givetn me shall come to me; and him that 
 cometh to me I will in nowise cast out." 
 
 The first part of the text, as is evident, re-, 
 spected the Father and his gift; the other part 
 the Son and his reception of that gift. 
 
 First. For the gift of -the Father, there is this 
 to be considered, to wit : 
 
 The gift itself; and that is the gift of cer- 
 tain persons to the Son. " The Father giveth, 
 and that gift shall come: "And him that 
 eometh." The gift -then is of persons; the 
 Father giveth persons to Jesus Christ. 
 
 Secondly. Next you have the Son's reception 
 of this gift, and that showeth itself in these 
 particulara : 
 
 1. In his hearty acknowledgment of it to /be 
 a gift: "The Father giveth me." 
 
 2. In his taking notice, after a solemn man- 
 ner, of all and every part of the gift: "All 
 that the Fathlr giveth me." 
 
 3. In his resolution to bring them to him- 
 gelf: "All that the Father giveth me shall 
 .come tome." 
 
 4. And in his determining that not any thing 
 sjiall make him dislike them in their coming: 
 " And him that cometh to me I will in nowise 
 cast out." 
 
 These things might be "poken to at large, as 
 they are in this method presented to view, but 
 I shall choose to speak to the words — 
 
 1. By way of explication. 
 
 2. By way of observation. 
 
 First, By way of explication: "All that the 
 Father giveth me." This word all is often 
 used in Scripture, and is to be taken mora 
 largely or more strictly even as the truth or, 
 argument for the sake of which it is madcuse 
 of will bear. Wherefore, that we may better 
 understand the mind of Christ in the use of it 
 here, we must consider that it is limited and 
 restrained only to those that shall be saved — 
 to wit, to those that shall.come to Christ, even 
 to those whom he will " in nowise cast out." 
 Thus also the phrase "all Israel" is sometimes 
 to be taken, though sometimes it is taken for 
 the whole family of Jacob. And so "all 
 Israel shall be saved." Eom. xi. By "all 
 Israel" here he intendeth not all of Israel, in . 
 the largest sense, for they are not all Israel 
 which are of Israel, "neither because they are 
 the seed of Abraham are they all children; 
 but in Isaac shall thy seed be called — that is,, 
 they who are the children of the flesh, these 
 are not the children of God, but the children 
 of the promise are counted . for their seed." 
 Eom. ix. 6, 7, 8. 
 
 This word all, therefore, must be limited and 
 enlarged as the truth and argument for the 
 sake of whicTi it is used will bear, else we 
 shall abuse Scriptures, and readers, and our- 
 selves, and all. " And I, if I be lifted up 
 from the earth," said Christ, "will draw all 
 men after me." John xii. 32. Can any one im- 
 agine that by all in this place he should mean 
 all and every individual man in the world, 
 and not rather that all that is consonant to 
 the scope of the place? And if by being 
 "lifted up from the earth" he means, as he 
 should seem, his being taken up into heaven, 
 and if by "drawing all men after him" he 
 meant a drawing them into the place of ^lory, 
 then must he mean by all men those, and only 
 those, that shall in truth be eternally saved 
 from the wrath to come : " For God hath con- 
 cluded them all in unbelief, that he might 
 have mercy upon all." Rom. xi. 82. Here 
 again you have all and all — two alls; but yet a 
 greater disparity between the all made men- 
 tion of in the first place, and that all .ma.Ae 
 
COME AND WELCOME TO JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 563 
 
 mention of in the second. Those intended in 
 this text are tlie Jews, even all of them, by 
 the first all that you find in the words. The 
 "iecond all doth also intend the same people, 
 but yet only so many of them as God will 
 have mercy upon. "He hath concluded them 
 all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon 
 all." The all also in the text is likewise to be 
 limited to the saved, and them only. 
 
 But again : The word giveth, or hath given, 
 must be restrained, after the same manner, to 
 the same limited number: "all that the Father 
 giveth me." Not all that are given, if you 
 take the gift of the Father to the Son in the 
 largest sense, for in that sense there are many 
 given to him that shall never come unto him; 
 yea, many were given unto him' that "he will 
 cast out." I shall therefore iirst show you the 
 truth of this, and then in what sense the gift 
 in the text must be taken. 
 
 First, Thjit all that are given to Christ, if 
 you take the gift pf the Father to him in the 
 largest sense, cannot be intended in the text, is 
 evident — 
 
 1. Because then all the men, yea, all the 
 things in the world, must be saved. "All 
 things," said he, "are delivered unto me by 
 the Father." Matt. xi. 27. This, I think, no 
 rational man in the world will conclude. 
 Therefore the gift intended in the text must be 
 restrained to some — to a,gift that is given by way 
 of specialty by the Father to the Son. 
 
 2. It must not be taken for all that in any 
 sense are given by the Father to him, because 
 the Father hath given some, yea, many, to 
 him to be dashed in pieces by him. "Ask of 
 me," said the Father to him, " and I will give 
 thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and 
 the utmost paits of the earth for thy posses- 
 sion." But what must be- done with them? 
 Must he save them all? No. "Thou'shalt 
 break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt 
 dash them in pieces like a potter's tessel." 
 Ps. ii. This method he useth not with them 
 that he saveth by his grace, but those that 
 himself and saints shall rule over in justice 
 and severity, (Eev. ii. 26, 27;) yet, as you see, 
 they are given to him; therefore the gift in- 
 tended in the text must be restrained to some, 
 to a gift that is given by way of speoialty by 
 the Father to the Son. ' > 
 
 . In Psalm xi. he saith plainly that some are 
 given to him that he might destroy them: 
 "Thou hast given me the necks of mine en- 
 emies, that I might destroy them that hate 
 me." Ver. 40. These therefore cannot be of 
 
 the number of those that are said to be given 
 in the text; for those, even all of them, shall 
 come to him, and " he will in nowise cast out." 
 
 3. Some are given to Christ, that he by 
 them might bring about some of his high and 
 deep designs in the world. Thus Judas was 
 given to Christ — to wit, that by him, even as 
 he was determined before, he might briiifr 
 about his death, and so the salvation of his 
 elect by his blood. Yea, and Judas must so 
 manage this business as that he must leas 
 himself for ever in bringing it to pass. There- 
 fore the Lord Jesus, even in his losing of 
 Judas, applies himself to the judgment of his 
 Father if he had not in that thing done that 
 which w'as right, even in suffering of Judas so 
 to bring about his Master's death as that he 
 might by so doing bring about his own eternal 
 damnation also. 
 
 "Those," said he, "that thou gavest me 
 have I kept, and none of them is lost but the 
 son of perdition, that the Scriptures might be 
 fulfilled." John xvii. 12. Let us, then, grant 
 that Judas was given to Christ, but not as 
 ■others are given to him, nor as those made 
 mention of in the text; for then he should 
 not have failed to have been so received by 
 Christ and kept to eternal life. Indeed he 
 was given to Christ, but he was given to him 
 to lose him in the way that I have mentioned 
 before; he was given to Christ, that he by 
 him might bring about his own death, as was 
 before determined, and that in the overthrow 
 of him that did it. Yea, he must bring about 
 his dying for us in the loss of the instrument 
 that betrayed him^ that he might even fulfil 
 the Scripture in his destruction as well as in 
 the salvation of the rest. " And none of them 
 is lost but the son of perdition, that the Scrip- 
 ture might be fulfilled." 
 
 The gift, therefore, in the text must not be 
 taken in the largest sense, but even as the 
 words will bear — to wit, for such a gift as he 
 accepteth, and promiseth to be an effectual 
 means of eternal salvation too. "All thai 
 the Father giveth me shall come to me; and 
 him that cometh to me I will in nowise cast 
 out." Mark! They shall come that are in 
 special given unto me, and they shall by no 
 means be rejected ; for this is the substance 
 of the text. 
 
 Those, therefore, intended as the gift in the 
 text are those that are given by covenant to 
 the Son — those that in other places are called 
 the elect, the chosen, the sheep, and the children 
 of the promise, &c. 
 
564 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 These be they that the Father hath given 
 to Christ to keep them, those that Christ 
 hath promised eternal life unto, those to 
 whom he hath given his word, and that he 
 will have with him in his kingdom to behold 
 his glory. 
 
 " This is the will of the Father that hath 
 sent me, that of all that he hath, given me I 
 should lose nothing, but should raise it up 
 again at the last day. And I give unto them 
 eternal life, and they shall never perish; 
 neither shall any man pluck them out of my 
 hand. My Father that gave them me is 
 greater than all ; and no man is able to pluck 
 them out of my Father's hand. As thou hast 
 given him power over all flesh, that he should 
 give eternal life to as many as thou hast given 
 him. Thine they were, and thou gavest them 
 me, and they have kept thy word ; I pray for 
 them ; I pray not for the world, but for those 
 that thou hast given me, for they are thine. 
 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; 
 and I am glorified in them.'' 
 
 " Keep through thine own name those 
 whom thou hast given me, that they inay 
 be one as we are. Father, I will that those 
 w'hom thou hast given me may be with me 
 where I am, that they may behold my glory 
 which thou hast given me; for thou lovedst 
 ine before the foundation of the world." John 
 ii. 39; x. 28; xvii. 1, 6, 9, 10, 24. 
 
 All these sentences are of the same import 
 with the text; and the alls and the many, 
 those, they, &c., in these several sayings of 
 Christ are the same with all the given in the 
 text : " All that the Father giveth." 
 
 So that, as I said before, the word all, as 
 also other words, must not be taken in such 
 sort as our foolish fancies or groundless' opin- 
 ions will prompt us to, but do admit of an en- 
 largement or a restriction according to the 
 true meaning and intent of the text. We 
 must therefore diligently consult the meaning 
 of the text by comparing it with the other 
 sayings of God; so shall we be better able to 
 " find out the mind of the Lord in the word 
 which he has given us to know it by. 
 
 "All that the Father giveth." By this 
 word Father Christ describeth the person 
 giving, by which we may learn several useful 
 things : 1. That the Lord God and Father of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ is concerned with the 
 Son in the salvation of his people. True, his 
 acts to our salvation are diverse from those of 
 the Son ; he was not capable of doing that or 
 those things for us as did the Son ; he died 
 
 not, he spilt not blood for our redemption, as 
 the Son; but yet he hath a hand, a great 
 hand, in our salvation too. As Christ saith, 
 "The Father himself loveth you," and his 
 love is manifest in choosing of us, in giving 
 of us to his Son, yea, and in giving his Son 
 also to be a ransom for us. Hence he is called 
 " the Father of all mercies and the God of all 
 comfort." For even the Father hath himself 
 found out and made way for his grace to come 
 to us through the sides and the heart-blood of 
 his well-beloved Son. Col. i. 12., The Father 
 therefore is to be remembered and adored sa 
 one having a chief hand in the salvation cf 
 sinners. " We ought to give thanks to the 
 Father, who hath made us meet to be par- 
 takers of the inheritance of the saints in 
 light ; for the Father sent the Son to be the 
 Saviour of the world." Col. i. 12; 1 John iy. 
 14. As also we see in the text, the Father 
 giveth the sinner to save him. 
 
 2. Christ Jesus the Lord, by this word Fa- 
 ther, would familiarize this giver to us. Nat- 
 urally the name of God is dreadful to us, 
 especially when he is discovered to us by those 
 names that declare his, justice, holiness, power, 
 and glory ; but now this word Father is a fa- 
 miliar word; it frighteth not the sinner, but 
 rather inclineth his heart to love and be 
 pleased with the remembrance of him. Hence 
 Christ also, when he would have us to pray 
 with godly boldness, puts this word Father into 
 our mouths, saying, " when ye pray. Our Fa- 
 ther, which art in heaven ;" concluding there- 
 by that by . the familiarity that by such a 
 word is intimated the children of God may 
 take more boldness to pray for and ask great 
 things. I myself have often found that when 
 I can say but this word Father it doth me more, 
 good than if I called him by any other Scrip- 
 ture name. It is worth your noting that to 
 call God by his relative title was rare among 
 the saints in Old Testament times. Seldom do 
 you find him called by this name, no, some- - 
 titnes not in three or four books ; but now in 
 New Testament times he is called by no name 
 so often as this, both by the Lord Jesus him- 
 self and by the apostles afterwards. Indeed 
 the Lord Jesus was he that first made this 
 name common among the saints, and that 
 taught them, both in their discourses, their 
 prayers, and in their writings, so much to use 
 it, it being more pleasing to and discovering 
 more plainly our interest in God than any 
 other expression ; for by this one name we 
 are made to understand that all our mercief ■ 
 
COME AND WELCOME TO JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 565 
 
 are the oft'spring of God, and that we also that 
 we called are his children by adoption. 
 
 " All that the Father giveth.V This word 
 giivth is out of Christ's ordinary dialect, and 
 seeiiieth to intimate, at the first sound, as if 
 the Father's gift to the Son was not an act 
 that is past, but one that is present and con- 
 tinuing; when indeed this gift was bestowed 
 vjioQ Christ when the covenant, the eternal 
 covenant, was made between tliem before all 
 worlds, Wherefore in those other places 
 where this gift is mentioned it is still spoken 
 of a.s an act that is past, as "All that he hath 
 gii<en me ;'' " to as many as thou hast given 
 me:" "thou gavest them me," "and these 
 which thou hast given me." Therefore of ne- 
 cessity this must be the first and chief sense 
 of the text — I mean of this give/h — otherwise 
 the doctrine of election and of the eternal 
 covenant which was made between the Father 
 and the Son (in which covenant this gift of 
 the Father is most certainly comprised) will 
 be shaken, or at leastwise questionable by er- 
 roneous and wicked men ; for they may say 
 that the Father gave not all those to Christ 
 that shall be saved before the world was made, 
 for that this act of giving is, an act of contin- 
 uation. 
 
 But again, this word giveth is not to be re- 
 jected, for it hath its proper use, and may sig- 
 nify to us — 
 
 1. That though the act of giving among 
 men doth admit of the time past or the time 
 to come, and is to be spoken of with reference 
 to such time, yet with God it is not so. Things 
 past or things to come are always present 
 with God and with his Son Jesus Christ: "He 
 calleth things that are not" — that is, to us — 
 " as though they were." And again, " Known 
 unto God are all his works from the founda- 
 tion of the world." All things to God are 
 present, and so the gift of the Father to the 
 Son, although to us, as is manifest by the word, 
 it is an act that is past. Rom. iv. 17 ; xv. 10. 
 
 2. Christ may express himself thus to show 
 that the Father hath not only given him this 
 portion in the lump before the world was, but 
 that those that he had so given he will give 
 bim again — that is, will bring them to him at 
 the time of their conversion — for "the Father 
 bringeth them to Christ." John vi. 44. 
 
 As it is said, "She shall be brought unto 
 the king in raiment of needlework;" that is, 
 in the righteousness of Christ, for it is God 
 imputeth that to those that are saved. Ps. xlv. 
 14; 1 Cor. i. 
 
 A man giveth his daughter to such a man 
 first in order to marriage, and this respects the 
 time past; and he giveth her again at the day 
 appointed in marriage. And in this last sense 
 perhaps the text may have a meaning ; that is, 
 that all that the Father hath (before the world 
 was) given to Jesus Christ he giveth them 
 again to him in the day of their espousals. 
 
 Things that are given among men are 
 ofttimes best at first — to wit, when they are 
 new ; and the reason is, because all earthly 
 things wax old ; but with Christ it is not so. 
 This gift of the Father is not old, and de- 
 formed, and unpleasant in his eyes, and there- 
 fore to him it is always new. When the Lord 
 spake of giving the land of Canaan to the 
 Israelites, he saith not that he had given or 
 would give it to them, but thus: "The Lord 
 thy God giveth thee this land." l)eut. xi. 13. 
 Not but that he had given it to them while 
 they were in the loins of their fathers hun- 
 dreds of years before. Yet he saith now he 
 giveth it to them, as if they were now also in 
 the very act of taking possession, when as yet 
 they were on the other side of Jordan. What 
 then should be the meaning? Why, I take it 
 to be this : that the land should be to them 
 always as new — as new as if they were taking 
 possession thereof but now. And so is the 
 gift of the Father mentioned in the text to the 
 Son ; it is always new, as if it were always 
 new. 
 
 "All that the Father giveth me." In these 
 words you find mention made of two persons, 
 the Father and the Son — the Father giving 
 and the Son receiving or accepting of this gift. 
 This, then, in the first place, clearly denion- 
 strateth that the Father and the Son, though 
 they, with the Holy Ghost, are one and the 
 same eternal God, yet as to their personality 
 are distinct. The Father is one, the Holy 
 Spirit is one. But because there is in this text 
 mention made but of two of the three, there- 
 fore a word about these two. The giver and 
 receiver cannot be the same person in a projiei 
 sense in the same act of giving and receiving, 
 He that giveth giveth not to himself, but to 
 another : the Father giveth not to the Father 
 — to wit, to himself — but to the Son; the Son 
 receiveth not of the Son — to wii, of himself— 
 but of the Father ; so when the Fathe'r giveth 
 commandment, he giveth it not to himself, but 
 to another ; as Christ saith. He hath given me 
 a commandment. John xii. 49. So again, " I 
 am one that beareth witness of myself, and the 
 Father that sent me beareth witness of me." 
 
566 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Further, here is something implied that is ' 
 not expressed — to wit, tliat the Father hath 
 not given all men to Christ ; that is, in that 
 sense as is intended in the text, though in a 
 larger, as was said before, he hath given him 
 every one of them, for then all should be 
 saved ; he hath therefore disposed of some an- 
 other way. He gives some up to idolatry ; he 
 gi I'es some up to uncleanness, to vile affections, 
 aiid to a reprobate mind. Now these he dis- 
 poseth of in his anger for their destruction, 
 (Acts vii. 42 ; Eom. i. 24, 26, 28,) that they may 
 reap the fruit of their doings and be filled with 
 the reward of their own ways. But neither 
 hath he thus disposed of all men ; he hath 
 even of mercy reserved some from these judg- 
 ments, and those are they that he will pardon, 
 as he saith : " For I will pardon them whom 
 I reserve.'' Jer. 1. 20. Now these he hath 
 given to Jesus Christ by will, as a legacy and 
 portion. Hence the Lord Jesus says, "This 
 is the Father's will which hath sent me, that 
 of all which he hath given me I should lose 
 nothing, but should raise it up again at the 
 last day." 
 
 The Father therefore, in giving of them to 
 him to save them, must needs declare unto us 
 these following things: 
 
 1. That he is able to answer this design of 
 God — viz., to save them to the uttermost sin^ 
 the uttermost temptation, &c. Heb. vii. "25. 
 Hence he is said to " lay help on one that is 
 mighty, mighty to save ;" and hence it is again 
 that God did even of old promise to send his 
 people a Saviour, a great one. Ps. Ixxxix. 19 ; 
 Isa. Ixiii. 1. To save is a great work, and 
 calls for almightiness in the undertaker ; hence 
 he is called the "Mighty God, the Wonderful 
 Counsellor,'' &c. Sin is strong, Satan is also 
 strong, death and the grave are strong, and so 
 is the curse of the law; therefore it follows 
 that this Jesus must needs be by God the 
 Father accounted almighty, in that he hath 
 , given his elect to him to save them and deliver 
 them from these, and that in despite of all 
 their force and power. 
 
 And he gave us testimony of this his might 
 when he was employed in that part of our de- 
 li^erance that called for a declaration of it. 
 Hs abolished death; he destroyed hirn that 
 had the power of death ; he had finished sin, 
 and made an end of it as to its damning effect 
 upon the persons that the Father hath given 
 him ; he hath vanquished the curse of the law, 
 nailed it to his cross, and made a show of these 
 things openly. 2 Tim. i. 10 ; Heb. ii. 14, 15 ; 
 
 Hos. xiii. 14; Dan. ix. 24; Gal iii. 13; Col. ii. 
 14, 15. 
 
 Yea, and even now, as a sign of his triumph 
 and conquest, he is alive from the dead, and 
 hath the keys of death and hell in his own 
 keeping. Eev. i. 18. 
 
 2. The Father's giving of them to him to 
 save them declares unto- them that he is and 
 will be faithful in his oflSce of Mediator, and 
 that therefore they shall be secured from the 
 fruit and wages of their sins, which is eter-sl 
 damnation, by his faithful execution of it 
 And indeed it is said, even by the Holy Ghost 
 himself, "thkt he is faithful to him that ap- 
 pointed him ;" that is, to this work of saving 
 those that the Father hath given him for that 
 purpose, as "Moses was faithful in all his 
 house." Yea, and more faithful too, for Moses 
 was faithful in God's house but as a servan\ 
 "but Christ as a Son over his own house." 
 Heb. iii. 
 
 And therefore this man is counted worthy 
 of more glory than Moses, even upon this ac- 
 count, because more faithful than he, as well 
 as because of the dignity of his person. There- 
 fore in him, and in his truth and faithfulness, 
 God rested well pleased, ^nd put all the gov- 
 ernment of his people upon his shoulders, 
 knowing that nothing shall be wanting in him 
 that may any way perfect the design. And of 
 this he — to wit, the Son — hath already given a 
 proof; for when the time was come that his 
 blood was by divine justice required for their 
 redemption, washing, and cleansing, he as 
 freely poured it out of his heart as if it had 
 been water out of a vessel, not sticking to part 
 with his own life that the life which was laid 
 up for his people in heaven might not fail to 
 be bestowed on them. And upon this account, 
 as well as upon any other, it is that God calleth 
 him the " righteous servant." Isa. liii. For 
 his righteousness could never have been com- 
 plete if he had not been to the uttermost faith- 
 ful to the work he undertook ; it is also because 
 he is faithful and true that in i-ighteousness 
 he doth judge and make work for his people's 
 deliverance. He will faithfully perform this 
 trust reposed in him. The Father knows this; 
 and hath therefore given his elect unto him. 
 
 3. The Father giving of them to him to 
 save them declares that he is and will be gentle 
 and patient towards them under all their pro- 
 vocations and miscarriages. It is not to be 
 imagined the trials and provocations that the 
 Son of God hath all along had with these 
 people that hath been given to him to save' 
 
COME AND WELCOME TO JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 567 
 
 Indeed he is said to be a tried stone, fur he has 
 been t-ied, not only by the devil, guilt of sin, 
 death, and the curse of the law, but also by his 
 people's ignorance, unruliness, falls into sin, 
 and declining to errors in life and doctrine. 
 Were we but capable of seeing how the Lord 
 Jesus had been tried even by his people ever 
 since there was one of them in the world, we 
 should be amazed at his patience and gentle 
 carriages to them. It is said indeedj " The 
 Lord is very pitiful, slow to anger, and of 
 great mercy ;" and indeed if he had not been 
 81) he could never have endured their man- 
 ners as he has done from Adam hitherto. 
 Therefore is his pity and bowels towards his 
 Church preferred above the pity and bowels of 
 a mother towards her child. " Can a woman 
 forget her sucking child, that she sh8uld not 
 have compassion on the son of her womb? 
 Yea, they may forget, yet I will not forget 
 thee, saith the Lord." laa. xlix. 15. 
 
 God did once give Moses, as Christ's servant, 
 a handful of his people to carry them in his 
 bosom, but no farther than from Egypt to Ca- 
 naan ; and this Moses, as is said of him by the 
 Holy Ghost, was the meekest man that was 
 then to be found on the earth; yea, and he 
 loved the people at a very great rate ; yet 
 neither would his meekness nor love hold out 
 in this work; he failed and grew passionate, 
 even to provoking his God to anger under this 
 work, "And Moses said unto the Lord, Where- 
 fore hast thou aflBicted thy servant*?" But 
 what was the aflSiction ? Why, the Lord had 
 said unto him, "Carry this people in thy 
 bosom, as a nursing father beareth his sucking 
 child, unto the land that I sware unto their 
 fathers.'' And how then ? " Not I," says 
 Moses ; " I am not able to bear all this people 
 alone, because it is too heavy for me. If thou 
 deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of 
 hand," if I have found favour in thy sight, and 
 let me not see my wretchedness." Num. xi. 11, 
 12, 13, 14. God gave them to Moses, that he 
 might carry ihera in his bosom, that he might 
 show gentleness and patience towards them 
 under all the provocations wherewith they 
 would provoke him from that time till he had 
 brought thenl to their land; but he failed in 
 the work, he could not e^^ercise it, because he 
 had not that sufficiency of patience towards. 
 them. But now it is said of the person speak- 
 ing in the text, that " he shall gather his 
 lambs with his arm, and shall carry them in' 
 his bosom, and shall gently lead them that are 
 with young,'' (Isa. xl. 10, y,) intimating that 
 
 this was one of the qualifications that God 
 looked for, and knew was in him, when he 
 gave his elect to him to save them. 
 
 4. The Father giving of them to him to save ' 
 them declares that he hath a sufficiency of 
 wisdom to wage with all those difficulties that 
 would attend him in his bringing of his sons 
 and daughters unto glory. 1 Cor. i. 30. " He 
 'hath made him to iis to be wisdom ;" yea, he 
 is called wisdom itself And God said more- 
 over that " he shall deal prudently." Isa. lii. 
 13. And indeed he that shall take upon him 
 to be the Saviour of the people had need be 
 wise, because their adversaries are subtle above 
 any. Here they are to encounter with the ser- 
 pent who for his subtlety outwitted our father 
 and mother when their wisdom was at the 
 highest. Gen. iii. But if we talk of wisdom, 
 our Jesus is wise, wiser^than Solomon, wiser 
 than all men, wiser than all angels ; he is even 
 the wisdom of God. " Christ is the wisdom 
 of God." Col. i. 1. And hence it is that he 
 turneth sin, temptations, persecutions, falls, 
 and all things for good unto his people. Eom. 
 viii. 
 
 Now these things, thus concluded on, do 
 show us. als6 the great and wonderful love of 
 the Father, in that he should choose out one 
 every way so well prepared for the work of 
 man's salvation. 
 
 Herein indeed perceive we the love of God. 
 Hiram gathered that God loved Israel because 
 he had given them such a king as Solomon, 
 (2 Chrou. ii. 11 ;) but how much more may we 
 behold the love that God hath bestowed upon 
 us in that he hath given us to his Son, and 
 also given his So;i for us. 
 
 "All that the Father giveth me" shall come. 
 In these last words there is closely inserted an 
 inswer unto the Father's end in giving of his 
 elect unto Jesus Christ. The Father's end 
 was, that they might come to him and be saved 
 by him y and that, says the Son, shall be done; 
 neither sin nor Satan, neither flesh nor world, 
 neither wisdom nor folly, shall hinder their 
 coming to me. " They shall come to me, and 
 him that cometh to me I will la nowise cast 
 out." 
 
 Here therefore the Lord Jesus positively de- 
 termiaeth to put forth such a sufficiency of all 
 grace as shall effectually perform this promise. 
 ". They shall come ;" that is, he shall cause 
 them to come by infusing of an effectual bless- 
 ing into all the means that shall be used to 
 that end. As was said to the evil spirit that 
 was sent to persuade Ahab to go and fall at 
 
668 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Earn oth-gi lead, " Go : thou shalt persuade him 
 and prevail also; go forth and do so," (1 Kings 
 xxii. 22,) so will Jesus Christ say to the means 
 that shall be used for the bringing of those to 
 him that the Father hath given him. I say, 
 he will bless it effectually to this very end ; it 
 shall persuade them, and shall prevail also; 
 else, as I said, the Father's end would be frus- 
 trate, for the Father's will is that "of- all that* 
 he hath given him he should lose nothing, but 
 shouM raise it up at the last day " in order 
 next unto himself — Christ the first-fruits, af- 
 terwards those that are his at his coming. 
 1 Cor. xv.> But this cannot be done if there 
 should fail to be a work of grace effectually 
 wrought, though but in any one of them. But 
 this shall not fail to be wrought in them, even 
 in all the Father hath given him to save. ''All 
 ihat the Father hath given me shall come unto 
 me," &c. 
 
 But to speak more distinctly to the words, 
 "they shall come," two things I would show 
 you from these words; 1. What it is to come 
 to Christ. 2. What force there is in this prom- 
 ise to make them come to him. 
 
 1st. I would show you what it is to come to 
 Christ. This word come must be^ understood 
 spiritually, not carnally ; for many come to 
 him carnally or bodily that had no saving ad- 
 vantage by him : multitudes did thus come 
 unto him in the days of his flesh, yea, innum- 
 erable companies. There is also at this day a 
 formal customary coming to hia ordinances and 
 way of worship, which availeth not anything; 
 but with them I shall not now meddle, for they 
 are not intended in the text. The coming, 
 then, intended in the text is to be understood 
 of the coming of the mind tn him, even tlie 
 moving of the heart towards him ; I say, the 
 ipoving of the heart towards hira from a sound 
 sense of the absolute want that a man hath of 
 him for his justification and salvation. 
 
 This description of coming to Christ divideth 
 itself into'two heads : 1. That coming to Christ 
 is a moving of the mind towards him ; 2. That 
 it is a moving of the mind towards him from a 
 soiind sense of the absolute want that a man 
 hath of him for his justification and salvation. 
 
 To speak to the first — That it is a moving of 
 the mind towards him. This is evident, be- 
 cause coming hither or thither, if it be volun- 
 tary, is by an act of the mind or will ; so com- 
 ing to Christ is through the inclining of the 
 will. " Thy people shall be willing." Ps. cxl. 8. 
 This v,illingness of heart it is which sets the 
 mind a-moving af er or towards him. The 
 
 Church expresseth this moving of her rnind 
 towards Christ by the moving of her bowels : 
 "My beloved put in his hand by the hole of 
 the door, and my bowels were moved for him." 
 Song Sol. v. 4. " My bowels," the passions of 
 my mind and affections, which passions of the 
 affections are expressed by the yearning and 
 sounding of the bowels, the yearning and pas- 
 sionate working of them, the sounding nf them 
 or their making a noise for him. Gen. xliii.30; 
 1 Kings iii. 26 ; Isa. xvi. 11. 
 
 This, then, is the coming to Christ, even a 
 moving towards him with the mind. " And it 
 shall come to pass that every thing that liveth, 
 which moveth whithersoever the water shall 
 come, shall live." 
 
 ,The water in this text is the grace of God in 
 the doctrine of it. The living things are the 
 children of men, to whom the grace of God, 
 by the gospel, is preached. Now, saith he, 
 " every living thing which moveth whitherso- 
 ever the wat-er shall come, shall live." And 
 see how this word " moveth " is expounded by 
 Christ himself in the book of Eevelation: 
 "The Spirit and the bride say, Come; and let 
 him that heareth say, Come. And let him 
 that is athirst come. And whosoever will, 
 (that is,, willing,) let him take of the water of 
 life freely." Eev. xxii. 17. 
 
 So that to move in thy mind and will after 
 Christ is to be coming to him. There are many 
 poor souls that are coming to Christ that yet 
 cannot tell how to believe it, because they think 
 that coming to him is some strange and won- 
 derful thing ; and indeed so it is. But I mean 
 they overlook the inclination of their will, the 
 moving of their mind, and the sounding of 
 their bowels after him, and count these none 
 of his strange and wonderful thing, when in- 
 deed it is a wor^ of the greatest wonder in 
 this world to see a man who is sometimes dead 
 in sin possess'ed of the devil, an enemy to 
 Christ and all things spiritually good — I say, to 
 see this man moving with his mind aftei '.he 
 Lord Jesus Christ is one of the highest won- 
 ders in the world. 
 
 2d. It is a moving of the mind towards him 
 from a sound sense of the absolute want that a 
 man hath of him for his justification and sal- 
 vation. Indeed, without this sense of a lost 
 condition without him there will be no moving 
 of the mind towards him. A moving of their 
 mouth there may be : " With their mouth they 
 show much love." Ezek. xxxiii. 31. Such a 
 people a.s this will come as the true people 
 Cometh — that is, in show and outward appear* 
 
COME AND WELCOME TO JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 569 
 
 ance. And they will sit before God's ministers 
 08 his people sit before them ; and they will 
 hear his words too, but th^y will not do them ; 
 that is, will not come inwardly with their 
 minds: "For with their mouth they show 
 much love, but their heart (or mind) goeth 
 after their~ covetousness.'' Now all this be- 
 cause they want an effectual sense of the misery 
 of their state by nature, for not till they have 
 that will they in their mind move after him. 
 Therefore thus it is said concerning the true- 
 comers : " At that day the great trumpet shall 
 be blown, and they shall come which were 
 ready to perish in the land of Assyria and the 
 outcasts of the land of Egypt, and shall wor- 
 ship the Loid in his holy mountain at Jerusa- 
 lem." Isa. xxvii. 13. They are then (as you 
 see) the outcasts and those that are 'ready to 
 perish that indeed have their minda effectually 
 moved to conic to Jesus Christ. This sense of 
 things was that which made the three thousand 
 come, that made Saul come, that made the 
 jailer come, and that indeed makes all others 
 come that come effectually. Acts ii. 2, 16. 
 
 Of the true coming to Christ tlie three lepers 
 were a famous semblance, of whom you read 
 in 2 Kings vii. 3, &c. The famine in those 
 days was sore in the land, there was no bread 
 for the people, and as for that sustenance that 
 was, which was asses' flesh and doves' dung, 
 that was only in Samaria; and of these the 
 lepers had no share, for they were thrust with- 
 out the city. AVell, now they sat in the gate 
 of the city, and the hunger was, as I may say, 
 making his last ■ meal of them ; and being 
 therefore half dead already, what do they 
 think of doing? AVhy, first thSy display the 
 dismal colours of death before each other's 
 faces, and then Resolve what to do, saying, 
 "If we say we v,-ill go into the city, then the 
 famine is in the city, and we shall die there; 
 if we sit still here we die also. Now therefore 
 come, let us fall into the host of the Syrians ; 
 if they save us alive we shall live ; if they kill 
 us we shall but die." Here now was necessity 
 at work, and this necessity drove them to go 
 thither for life whither else they would never 
 have gone for it. Thus it is with them that in 
 truth come to Jesus Christ: death is before 
 tliem ; they see, it and feel it ; he is feeding 
 upon them, and will eat them quite up if they 
 come not to Jesus Christ; and therefore they 
 come, even of necessity, being forced thereto 
 by that sense they have of their being utterly 
 and everlastingly undone if they find not safety 
 in bitrv. 
 
 These are they that will come : indeed, these 
 are they that are invited to come : " Come unto 
 me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and 
 I will give you rest." Matt. xi. 28. 
 
 Take two or three things to make this more 
 plain — to wit, that coming to Christ fiowclh 
 from a sound sense of the absolute need that a 
 man hath of him, as afore. 
 
 (1.) "They shall come with weeping, and 
 with supplication will I lead them ; I will cause 
 them to walk by rivers of waters in a plain way, 
 wherein they shall not stumble." Jer. xxxi 9. 
 Mind it ! they come with weeping and suppli- 
 cation ; they come with prayers and tears. 
 Now prayers and tears are the effects of a right 
 sense of the need of mercy. Thus, a senseless 
 sinner cannot come, he cannot pray, he cannot 
 cry, he cannot come sensible of what he sees 
 not nor feels. " In those days and at that time 
 the children of Israel shall come; they and 
 the children of Judah together, going and 
 weeping ; they shall seek the Lord their God; 
 they shall ask their way to Zion, with their 
 faces thitherward, saying, Come and let us join 
 ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant 
 that shall oot be forgotten." Jer. 1. 4, 5. 
 
 (2.) This coming to Christ is called a run- 
 ning to him, a flying to him — a flying to him 
 from wrath to come. By all which terms is 
 set forth the sense of the man that comes — to 
 wit, that he is affected with the sense of his 
 sin, and the death due thereto; that he is sen- 
 sible that the avenger of blood pursues him, 
 and that therefore he is cut off if he makes 
 not speed to the Son of God for life. Matii 
 iii. 7 ; Ps. cxliii. 9. Flying is the last work of 
 a man in danger; all that are in danger do 
 not fly; no, not all that see themselves in 
 danger, all that hear of danger, will not fly. 
 Men will consider if there be no other way of 
 escape before they fly. Therefore, as I said, 
 flying is the last thing. When all refuge fails,x 
 and a man is made to see that there is nothing 
 left him but sin, death, and damnation unless 
 he flies to Christ for life, then he flies, and not 
 till then. 
 
 (3.) That the true coming is from a sense of 
 an absolute need of Jesus Christ to save, &c., 
 is evident by the outcry that is made by them 
 to come even as they are coming to him. Matt, 
 xiv. 30; Acts ii. 37; Actsxvi. 30. "Lord, save 
 me, or I perish;'' "Men and brethren, what 
 shall we do?" "Sirs, what must I do to be 
 saved?" and the like. This language doth 
 sufficiently discover that the truly coming 
 souls are souls sensible of their need of salva- 
 
570 
 
 nUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 tion by Jesus Christ, and, moreover, iliat there 
 is nothing else that can help them but Christ. 
 
 (4.) It is yet farther evident by these few 
 things that follow: It is said that such are 
 pricked in their hearts — that is, with the sen- 
 tence of death by the law, and the least prick 
 in the heart kills a man. Acts ii. 37. Such are 
 said,' as I said before, to weep, to tremble, and 
 to be astonished in themselves at the evident 
 ai'd unavoidable danger that attends them un- 
 less they fly to Jesus Christ. Acts ix. 16. 
 
 (5.) Coining to Christ is attended with an 
 honest and sincere forsaking all for him. " If 
 any man come unto me, and hateth not his 
 father and mother, and wife and children, and 
 brethren and sisters, yea, and his own life also, 
 he cannot be my disciple; and whosoever doth 
 not bear his cross, and come after me cannot be 
 my disciple." Luke xiv. 26, 27. 
 
 By these and the like expressions elsewhere 
 Christ describeth the true comer, or the man 
 that indeed is coming to him; he is one that 
 casteth all behind his back; he leaveth all, he 
 forsaketh all, he hateth all things that would 
 stand in his way to hinder his coming to Jesus 
 Christ. There are a great many pretended 
 comers to Jesus Christ in the world. And 
 they are much like to the man you read of in 
 Matt. xxi. 30, that said to his father's bid- 
 ding, " I go, sir, and went not." I say, there 
 are a great many such comers to Jesus Christ; 
 they say, when Christ calls by his gospel, I 
 come, sir, but still they abide by their pleasure 
 and carnal delights. They come not at all, 
 only they give him a courtly compliment; but 
 he takes notice of it, and will not let it pass 
 for any more than a lie; he who said, "I go, 
 sir, and went not," he dissembled and lied. 
 Take heed of this, you that flatter yourselves 
 with your own deceivings. Words will not do 
 with Jesus Christ. Coming is coming, and 
 nothing else will go for coming with him. 
 
 Before I speak to the other head I shall 
 answer some objections that usually lie in the 
 way of those that in truth are coming to Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 Objection 1. Though I cannot deny iDut my 
 mind runs after Christ, and that too as being 
 moved thereto from a sight and consideration 
 of my lost condition, for I see without him I 
 perish, yet I fear my ends are not right in 
 coming to him. 
 
 Question. Why, what is thine end in coming 
 to Christ? 
 
 Ansiuer. My end is that I might have life 
 and be saved by Jesus Christ. 
 
 This is the objection; well, let me tell thee 
 that to come to Christ for life and to be saved, 
 although at present thou hast no other end, is 
 a lawful and good coming to Jesus Christ 
 This is evident, because Christ propoundeth 
 life as the only argument to prevail with sin- 
 ners to come to him, and so also blameth them 
 because they come not to him for life. "And 
 ye will not come to me that ye might have 
 life." John v. 3. Besides, there are many other 
 Scriptures whereby he allureth sinners to 
 con;e to him, in which he propoundeth noth- 
 ing to them but their safety. As, "He that 
 believeth in him shall not perish;" "he that 
 believeth is passed from death to life;" "he 
 that believeth shall be saved;" "he that be- 
 lieveth on him is not condemned." And be- 
 lieving and coming are all one. So that you 
 see to come to Christ for life is a lawful com- 
 ing and good. 
 
 In that he believeth that he alone hath made 
 atonement for sin. Eom. ii. 
 
 And let me add, over and above, that for a 
 man to come to Christ for life, though he come 
 to him for pothing else but life, it is to give 
 much honour to him. 
 
 1st. He honoureth the word of Christ .and 
 consenteth to the truth of it, and that in these 
 two general heads: 
 
 (1.) He consenteth to the truth of all those 
 sayings that testify that sin is most abominable 
 in itself, dishonourable to God, and damnable 
 to the soul of man; for thus saith the man 
 that cometh to Jesus Christ. Jer. xliv. 4; 
 Eom. ii. 23 ; vi. 23 ; 2 Thess'. ii. 12. 
 
 (2.) In that he believeth, as the word hath 
 said, that there is in the world's best things, 
 righteousness and all, nothing but death and 
 damnation ; for so also says the man that comes 
 to Jesus Christ for life. Eom. vii. 24, 25; viii. 
 2, 3; 2Cor. iii. 6,7, 8. 
 
 2dly. He honoureth Christ's person, in that 
 he believeth that there is life in him, and that 
 he is able to save him from death, hell, the 
 devil, and damnation ; for unless a nvan be- 
 lieves this he will not come to Christ for life. 
 Heb. vii. 24, 25. 
 
 3dly. He honoureth him, in that he be- 
 lieveth that he is authorized of the Father to 
 give life to those that come to him for it. 
 John V. 11, 12; xvii. 1, 2. 
 , 4thly. He honoureth the priesthood of Jesus 
 Christ— 
 
 (1.) In that he believeth that Christ hath 
 more power to save from sin by the sacrifice 
 that he hath offered for it than hath all law 
 
COME AND WELCOME TO JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 571 
 
 duvils, death, or sin to condemn. He that be- 
 lieves not this will not come to Jesus Christ 
 for life. Acts xiii. 38 ; Heb. ii. 14, 15 ; Eev. i. 
 17, 18. 
 
 (2. ) In that he believeth that Christ, accord- 
 ing to his office, will be most faithful and mer- 
 ciful in the discharge of his office. This must 
 be included in the faith of him that cohaes for 
 life to Jesui Christ. 1 John ii. 1, 2, 3 ; Heb. ii. 
 17, 18. 
 
 5thly. Further, he that comcth to Jesus 
 Christ for life taketh part with him against 
 sin aud against the ragged and imperfect 
 righteousness of the world ; yea, and against 
 false Christs arid damnable errors that set 
 themselves against the worthiness of his merits 
 and sufficiency. This is evident for that such 
 a soul singleth Christ from them ^1 as the 
 only one that can save. 
 
 6thly. Therefore as Noah, at God's com- 
 mand, thou preparest this ark for the saving 
 of thyself, by which also thou condeninest the 
 world and art become heir of the righteous- 
 ness which is by faith, (Heb. xi. 7 ;) wherefore, 
 coming sinner, be content; he that cometh to 
 Jesus Christ believeth too that he is willing 
 to show mercy to and have compassion upon 
 him (though unworthy) that comes to him for 
 life. And therefore thy soul lieth not only 
 under a special invitation to come, but under 
 a promise too of being accepted and forgiven. 
 Matt. xi. 28. 
 
 All these particular parts and qualities of 
 faith are in that soul that comes tc Jesus 
 Christ for life, as is evident to any indifferent 
 judgment. 
 
 For will he that believetlj not the testimony 
 of Christ concerning the baseness of sin and 
 the insufficiency of the righteousness of the 
 world, come to Christ for life? No. 
 
 He that believeth not the testimony of the 
 word comes not : he that believeth that there 
 is life anywhere else comes not ; he that ques- 
 tions whether the Father hath given Christ 
 power to forgive comes not; he that thinketh 
 that there is more in sin, in the law, in death, 
 and the devil to destroy, than there is in 
 Christ to save, comes not; he also that ques- 
 tions his faithful management of his priest- 
 hood for the salvation of sinners comes not. 
 
 Thou, then, that art indeed the coming sin- 
 ner, believest thou this 7 True, perhaps, thou 
 dost not believe with full assurance, nor hast 
 thou leisure to take notice of thy' faith as to 
 these distinct acts of it ; but yet all this faith 
 is iu him coming to Christ for life. And the 
 
 faith that thus w irketh is the faith of the best 
 and purest kind, because this man comes alone 
 as a sinner, and as seeing that life is to be had 
 only in Jesua Chrisj:. 
 
 Before I conclude my answer to this ob- 
 jection take into thy consideration these two 
 things : 
 
 1st. That the cities of refuge were erected 
 for those that were dead in the law and that 
 yet would live by grace, even for tiiose that 
 were to fly thither for life from the avenger 
 of blood that pursued after them. And it is, 
 worth your noting that those that were upon 
 their flight thither are in a peculiar manner 
 called the people of God: "Cast ye up, cast 
 ye up, (saith God,) prepare ye the way ; take 
 up the stumbling-block out of the way of my 
 people." Isa. Ivii. 14. This is meant of pre- 
 paring the way to the city of refuge, that the 
 slayers might escape thither; which flying 
 slayers are here, by way of specialty, called 
 the people of God, even those of them that 
 escaped thither for life. 
 
 2dly. Consider that of Ahab when Ben- 
 hadad sent to him for life, saying, " Thus 
 saith thy servant Benhadad, I pray thee let 
 me live." Though Benhadad had sought the 
 crown, kingd6m, yea, and also the life of 
 Ahab, yet how effectually doth Beniiadad 
 prevail with him! Is Benhadad yet aliv6? 
 saith Ahab. He is my brother; yea, "go ye, 
 bring him to me ; so he made him ride in his 
 chariot." 1 Kings xx. 
 
 Coming sinner, what thinkest tiiou? If 
 Jesus Christ had as little goodness in him 
 as Ahab, he might grant an humble Ben- 
 hadad life ; thou neither begettest of him his 
 crown and dignity; life, eternal life will 
 serve thy turn. How much more then shalt 
 thou have it since thou last to deal with Him 
 who is gopdness and mercy itself! yea, since 
 thou art also called upon, yea, greatly en- 
 couraged by a promise of life, to come unto 
 him for life! Read also these Scriptures: 
 Num. XXXV. 11, 14, 15 5 Josh. xx. 1-6; Heb. 
 iv. 16, 21. 
 
 Objection 2. When I say I only seek myself, 
 I mean I do not find that I do design God's 
 glory in mine own salvation by Christ, and 
 that makes me fear I do not come aright. 
 
 Ansioer. Where doth Christ Jesus require 
 such a qualification of those that are coming 
 to him for life? Come thou for life, and 
 trouble not thy head with such objections 
 against thyself; and let God and Christ alone 
 to glorify themselves in the salvation of such a 
 
o72 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 worm as thoj art. The Father saith to the 
 Son, " Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom 
 I will be glorified." God propoundeth life to 
 sinners as the argument to prevail with them 
 to come to him for life, and Christ says plainly, 
 "I am come that ye might have life." John 
 xii. 10. He hath no need of thy designs, 
 though thou hast need of his eternal life, 
 pardon of sin, and deliverance from wrath to 
 come. Christ propounds these to thee, and 
 these be the things that thou ha^t need of: 
 besides, God will be gracious and merciful to 
 worthless, undeserving wretches; come then 
 as such an one, and lay no stumbling-block in 
 the way to him, but come to him for life, and 
 live. John v. 34; x. 10, and iii. 36; Matt. i. 
 21 ; Prov. viii. 36, 37; 1 Thess. xi.; John xi. 
 25, 26. 
 
 When the jailer said, "Sirs, -what must I do 
 to be saved?" Paul did not so much as once 
 ask him, What is your end in this question ? 
 do you design the glory of God in the salva- 
 tion of your soul ? He had m'ore wit ; he knew 
 that such questions as these would have been 
 but fools' baubles about, instead 'of a sufficient 
 salve to, so weighty a question as this. Where- 
 fore, since this poor wretch lacked salvation by 
 Jesus Christ — I mean to be saved from bell and 
 death, which he knew (now) was due to him 
 for the sins that he had committed — Paul bids 
 him, like a poor condemned sinner as be was, 
 to proceed still in this his way of help-seeking, 
 saying, " Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and 
 thou shalt be saved." Acts xvi. 30, 31, 32. I 
 know that afterwards thou wilt desire to glo- 
 rify Christ by walking in the way of his pre- 
 cepts, but at present thou wantest 'life : the 
 avenger of blood is behind thee, and the devil, 
 like a roaring lion, is behind thee; well, come 
 now and obtain life from these; and when 
 thou hast obtained some comfortable persuasion 
 that thou art made partaker of life by Christ,' 
 then, and not till then, thou wilt say, " Bless 
 the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me 
 bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, my 
 soul, and forget not all his ben-efits ; who for- 
 giveth all thine iniquities and healeth all thy 
 diseases ; who redeemeth thy life from destruc- 
 tion, and crowneth thee with loving-kindness 
 and tender mercies." Ps. ciii. 1-6. 
 
 Objection 3. But I cannot believe that I am 
 come to Christ aright, because sometimes I am 
 apt to question his very being and office to 
 save. 
 
 Thus to do is horrible, but mayest thou not 
 judge amiss in this matter? 
 
 How can I judge amiss when I judge as I 
 feel? Poor soul! Thou mayest judge arriss 
 for all that. Why, saith the sinner, I think 
 that these questionings come from my heart. 
 
 Answer. Let me answer: That which comes 
 from thy heart comes from thy will and affec- 
 tions, from thy understanding, judgment, and 
 consci'ence, for these must acquiesce in thy 
 questioning . if thy questioning be with thy 
 heart. And how sayest thou, (for to name no 
 more,) dost thou with the affection and con- 
 science thus question ? 
 
 Answer. No, my conscience trembles when 
 such thoughts come into my mind, and my 
 affections are otherwise inclined. 
 
 Then I conclude that these things are either 
 suddenly injected by Jlie devil, or else are the 
 fruits of that body of sin and death that yet 
 dwells within thee, or perhaps from both to- 
 gether. 
 
 If they come wholly from the devil, as they 
 seem, because thy conscience and affections 
 are against them, or if they come from that 
 body.of death that is in thee, (and be not thou 
 curious in inquiring from which of them they 
 come ; the safest way is to lay enough at thy 
 own door,) nothing of this should hinder thy 
 coming nor make thee conclude thou comest 
 not aright. 
 
 And before I leave thee let me a little query 
 with thee about this matter. 
 
 1st. Dost thou like these wicked blasphe- 
 mies? 
 
 An&ioer. No, no; their presence and work 
 ing kill me. 
 
 2dly. Dost thou mourn for them, pray against 
 them, and hate thyself because of them? 
 
 Ansiccr. Yes, yes; but that which afliicta 
 me is, I do not prevail against them. 
 
 3dly. Dost thou sincerely choose (mightest 
 thou have thy choice) that thy heart might be 
 affected and taken with the things that are 
 'best, most heavenly, and holy? 
 
 Answer. With all my heart, and death the 
 next hour, (if it were God's will,) rather than 
 thus to sin against him. 
 
 ' Well, then, thy not liking of them, thy 
 mourning for them, thy praying against them, 
 and thy loathing thyself because of them, with 
 thy sincere choosing of those thoughts for thy 
 declaration that are heavenly and holy, clearly 
 declare that these things are not countenanced 
 either with thy will, affections, understanding, 
 judgment, or conscience, and so that thy heart 
 is not in them, but that rather they come im- 
 mediately from the devil, or arise from the 
 
COME AND WELCOME TO JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 573 
 
 6ody of death that is in thy flesh, of which 
 (iioii oughtest thus to say, " Now then it is no 
 more I that doth it, but sin that dwells in me." 
 Rom. vii. 16, 17. 
 
 I will give thee a pertinent instance.. In 
 Deut. xxii. thou mayest read of a betrothed 
 damsel, one betrothed to her beloved, one that 
 had given him her heart and mouth, as thou 
 hast given thyself to Christ; yet she was 
 net with as she walked in the field by one 
 that forced her, because he was stronger than 
 she. Well, what judgment now doth God, the 
 righteous Judge, pass upon the damsel for this? 
 "The man only that lay with her,'' saith God, 
 " shall die. But unto the damsel thou shalt do 
 nothing ; there is in the damsel no sin worthy 
 of death. For, as when a man riseth against 
 his neighbour and slayeth him, even so is this 
 matter ; he found her in the field, and the be- 
 trothed damsel cried, and there was none to 
 save her." 
 
 Thou art this damsel; the man that forced 
 thee with these blasphemous thoughts is the 
 devil ; and he lighteth upon thee in a fit place, 
 even in the fields as thou art wandering after 
 Jesus Christ; but thou criest out, and by thy 
 cry didst show that thou abhorrest such wicked 
 lewdness. Well, the Judge of all the earth 
 will do right: he will not lay the sin at thy 
 door, but at his that offered the violence; and 
 for thy comfort take this into consideration, 
 that he "comes to heal them that were op- 
 pressed of the devil." 
 
 Objection 4. But Saith another, I am so heart- 
 less, so slow, and, as I think, so indifferent in 
 my coming, that, to speak truth, I know not 
 whether my kind of coming ought to be called 
 a coming to Christ. 
 
 Answer. You know that I told you at first 
 that coming to Christ is a^moving of the heart 
 and affections towards him. ' 
 
 But, saith the soul, my dulness and indiffer- 
 ence in all holy duties demonstrate my heart- 
 lessness in coming ; and to come, and not with 
 the heart, signifies nothing at all. 
 
 Answer. The moving of the heart after 
 Christ is not to be discerned (at all Limes) by 
 thy sensible affectionate performance of duties, 
 but rather by those secret groanings and com- 
 plaints which thy soul makes to God against 
 that sloth that attends thee in duties. 
 
 2dly. But grant it be even as thou sayest it 
 is, that thou comest so slowly, &c., yet since 
 Christ bids them come that come not at all, 
 surely they may be accepted that come, though 
 attended with those infirmities which thou at 
 
 present groanest under. He saith, "And him 
 that Cometh ;" he saith not, If they come sen- 
 sibly, so fast, but, "And him that cometh to 
 me I will in nowise cast out." He saith also 
 in 9th of Proverbs, " As for him that wanteth 
 understanding" — that is, a heart; for oftentimes 
 the understanding is taken for the hearts 
 "come eat of my bread and drink of the wine 
 that I have mingled." 
 
 3dly. Thou mayest be vehement in thy spirit 
 in coming to Jesus Christ, and yet be plagued 
 with sensible sloth ; so was the Church when 
 she cried, "Draw me, we run after thee;" and 
 Paul when he said, " When I would do good, 
 evil is present with me." The works, strug- 
 glings, and oppositions of the flesh are more 
 manifest than are the works of the Spirit in 
 our hearts, and so are sooner felt than they. 
 What then? Let us not be discouraged at tlie 
 sight and feeling of our own infirmities, but 
 run the faster to Jesus Christ for salvation. 
 
 4thly. Get thy heart warmed with the sweet 
 promise of Christ's acceptance of the coming 
 sinner, and that will make thee more haste 
 unto him. Discouraging thoughts, they are 
 like unto cold water; they benumb the senses, 
 and make us go ungainly about our business ; 
 but the sweet and warm gleams of promise are 
 like the coinfortable beams of the sun, which 
 enliven and refresh. You see how little the 
 bee and the fly do play in the air in winter. 
 Why? the cold hinders them from doing it, 
 but when the wind and sun is warm, who is so 
 busy as they? 
 
 5thly. But again, he that comes to Christ 
 flies for his life. Now, there is no man that 
 flies for his life that thinks he speeds fast 
 enough on his journey ; no, could he, he would 
 willingly take a mile at a step. Oh my sloth 
 and heartlessness ! sayest thou. " Oh that I 
 had wings like a dove, for then would I flee 
 away and be at rest ! I would hasten my es- 
 cape from the windy storm and tempest.'' 
 
 Poor coming soul, thou art like the man 
 that would ride full gallop whose horse will 
 hardly trot. Now, the desire of his mind is 
 not to be judged of by the slow pace of the 
 dull jade he rides on, but by the hitching, and 
 kicking, and spurring as he sits on his back. 
 Thy flesh is like this dull jade ; it will not gal- 
 lop after Christ, it will be backward, though 
 thy soul and heaven lie at stake. But be of 
 good comfort: Christ judgeth not according to 
 the fierceness of outward motion, but according 
 to the sincerity of the heart and inward parts. 
 
 6thly. Ziba in appearance came to David 
 
674 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 much fasier than did Mephibosheth, but yet 
 his heart was not so upright in him to David 
 as was his. It is true, Mephibosheth had a 
 check from David, for said he, " Why wentest 
 thou not with me, Mephibosheth ?" But when 
 David came to remember that Mephibosheth 
 was lame, (for that was his plea, " thy servant 
 is lame,") he was content, and concluded lie 
 would have come after him faster than he did ; 
 and Mephibosheth appealed to David, who 
 was in those days an angel of God to know all 
 things that are done in the earth, if he did not 
 believe that the reason of his backwardness 
 lay in his lameness and not in his mind. Why, 
 poor coming sinner, thou canst not come to 
 Christ with that outward swiftness of career as 
 many others do, but doth the reason of thy 
 backwardness lie in thy mind and will, or in 
 the sluggishness of the flesh? Canst thou say 
 sincerely, " The spirit truly is willing, but the 
 flesh is weak ?" Yea, canst thou appeal to the 
 Lord Jesus, who knoweth perfectly the very 
 inmost thought of thy heart, that this is true ? 
 Then take this for thy comfort : he hath said, 
 " I will assemble her that halteth, I will make 
 her that halteth a remnant, and I will save her 
 that halteth." What canst thou have more 
 from the sweet lips of the Son of God? But, 
 
 7thly. I read of some that are to follow Christ 
 in chains ; I say, to come after him in chains. 
 "Thus saith the Lord, the labour of Egypt, 
 and the merchandise of Ethiopia, and the 
 Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto 
 thee, and they shall be thine ; they shall come 
 after thee ; in chains shall they come over, and 
 they shall fall down unto thee. They shall 
 make supplication unto thee, saying. Surely 
 there is none else to save." Isa. xl. 14. Surely 
 they that come after Christ in chains come to 
 him in great diflloulty, because their steps by 
 the chains are straitened. 
 
 And what chain so heavy as those that dis- 
 courage thee? Thy chain which is made of 
 guilt and filth is heavy ; it is a wretched band 
 about thy neck, by which thy strength doth 
 fail. Lam. i. 14; iii. 17. But come, though 
 thou comest in chains; it is glory to Christ 
 that a sinner comes after him in chains. The 
 clankings of thy chains, though troublesome 
 to thee, are not nor can be obstruction to thy 
 salvation ; it is Christ's work and glory to save 
 thee from thy chains, to enlarge thy steps, and 
 Bet thee at liberty. The blind man, though 
 called, surely could not come apace to Jesus 
 Christ, but Christ could stand still and stay for 
 him. True, " he rideth upon the wings of the 
 
 wind," but yet he is Icng-sufiering, and hia 
 long-sufiering is salvation to him that comett 
 to him. 
 
 8thly. Hadst thou seen those that came to 
 the Lord Jesus in the days of his flesh, how 
 slowly, how hobblingly they came to him by 
 reason of their infirmities, and also how friend 
 ly, and kindly, and graciously he received 
 them and gave them the desire of their hearts, 
 thou wouldst not, as thou dost, make such 
 objections against thyself in thy coming to 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 Objection 5. But (says another) I fear I co?ne 
 too late ; I doubt I have stayed too long; I am 
 afraid the door is shut. 
 
 Answer. Thou canst never come too late to 
 Jesus Christ if thou dost come. This is mani- 
 fest by two instances : 
 
 1st. By the man that came to him at the 
 eleventh hour. This man was idle all the day 
 long ; he had a whole gospel-day to come in, 
 and he played it all away save only the last 
 hour thereof; but at last, at the eleventh hour, 
 he came and went into the vineyard to work 
 with the rest of the labourers, that had borne 
 the burden and heat of the day. Well, but 
 how was he received by the lord of the vine- 
 yard? Why, when pay-day came he had even 
 as much as the rest; yea, had money first, 
 True, the others murmured at him, hut what 
 did the Lord Jesus answer them ? — " Is thine 
 eye evil because mine is good? I will give 
 unto this last even as unto thee." 
 
 2dly. The other instance is the thief upon 
 the cross ; he came late also, even as at an hour 
 before his death ; yea, he strayed from Jesus 
 Christ as long as he had liberty to be a thief, 
 and longer too; for could he have deluded the 
 judge, and by lying words escaped his just 
 condemnation, f"v aught I know he had not 
 come as yet to his Saviour; but being con- 
 victed and condemned to die, yea, fastened to 
 the cross that he might die like a rogue, as he 
 was in his life, behold the Lord Jesus, when 
 this wicked one, even now, desireth mercy at 
 his hands, tells him, and that without the least 
 reflection upon him for his former misspent life, 
 " To-day thou shalt be with me in paradise." 
 ' Let no man turn the grace of God into wan- 
 tonness. My design is now to encourage the 
 coming soul. 
 
 Objection. But is not the door of mercy shut 
 against some before they die? 
 
 Answer. Yea ; and God forbids that prayers 
 should be made to him for them. Jer. vii. 16 ; 
 Jude 22. 
 
COME AND WELCOME TO JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 575 
 
 Question. Then why may not I doubt that I 
 may be one of these ? 
 
 AiiMuer. By no means if thou art coming to 
 Jesus Christ, because when God shuts the door 
 upon men he gives them no heart to come to 
 Jesus Christ. " None come but those to whom 
 it is given of the Father," But thou comest, 
 therefore it is given to thee of the Father. 
 
 Be sure, therefore, if the Father hath given 
 thee a heart to come to Jesus Christ the gate 
 of mercy yet stands open to thee, for it stands 
 not with the wisdom of God " to give strength 
 to come to the birth, and yet to shut up the 
 womb," (Isa. Ixvi. 9 ;) to give grace to come to 
 Jesus Christ, and yet shut up the door of his 
 mercy upon thee. "Inaline thine ear," saith 
 he, "and come unto me. Hear, and your souls 
 shall live, and I will make an everlasting cov- 
 enant with you, even the sure mercies of 
 David." Isa. Iv. 3. 
 
 Objection. But it is said that some knocked 
 when the door was shut? 
 
 Answer. Yes, but the texts in which these 
 knockers are mentioned are to be referred unto 
 the day of judgment, and not to the coming of 
 the sinner to Christ in this life. See the texts, 
 Matt. XXV. 11 ; Luke xiii. 24, 25. 
 
 These, therefore, concern thee nothing at all; 
 thou art coming to Jesus Christ ; thou art com- 
 ing now I " Now is the acceptable time, be- 
 hold now is the day of salvation." 2 Cor. vi. 2. 
 Now God is upon the mercy-seat ; now Christ 
 Jesus sits by, continually pleading the victory 
 of his blood for sinners ; and now, even as long 
 as this world lasts, this word of the text shall 
 still be free and fully fulfilled : "And him that 
 cometh to me I will in nowise cast out." 
 
 Sinner, the greater sinner thou art the 
 greater need of mercy thou hast, and the more 
 will Christ be glorified thereby. Come then, 
 come and try ; come taste and see how good 
 the Lord is to an undeserving sinner. 
 
 Objection 6. But (says another) I am fallen _ 
 since I began to come to Christ ; therefore I 
 fear I did not come aright, and so, conse- 
 quently, that Christ will not receive me. 
 
 Ans7ver. Falls are' dangerous, for they dis- 
 honour Christ, wound the conscience, and 
 cause the enemies of God to speak reproach- 
 fully. But it is no good argument — I am 
 fallen, therefore I was not coming aright to 
 Jesus Christ. If David, and Solomon, and 
 Peter had thus objected against themselves, 
 tiiey had added to their griefs, and yet they 
 had at least as much cause as thou. A man 
 whose steps are ordered by the Lord, and 
 
 whose goings the Lord delights in, may yet be 
 overtaken with a temptation that may cause 
 him to fall. Ps. xxxvii. 23, 24. Did not Aaron 
 fall ? yea, and Moses himself? What shall we 
 say of Hezekiah and Jehoshaphat? There 
 are therefore falls and falls — falls pardonable 
 and falls unpardonable. Falls unpardonable 
 are falls against light, from the faith to the de 
 spising of and trampling upon Jesfus Christ 
 and his blessed undertaking. Heb. vi. 2, 3, 4, 
 5 ; X. 28, 29. Now as for such there remains 
 no more sacrifice for sin, indeed they have no 
 heart, no mind, no desire to come to Jesus 
 Christ for life, therefore they must perish. 
 Nay, says the Holy Ghost, " it is impossible 
 they should be renewed again unto repent- 
 ance." Therefore these God hath no compas- 
 sion for, neither ought we ; but for other falls, 
 though they be dreadful, (and God will chas- 
 tise his people for them,) they do not prove 
 thee a graceless man, one not come to Jesus 
 Christ for life. 
 
 It is said of the child in the gospel that 
 "while he was yet a-coming the devil threw 
 him down and tore him." 
 
 Dejected sinner, it is no wonder that thou 
 hast caught a fall' in coming to Jesus Christ ; is 
 it not rather to be wondered at that thou hast 
 not caught before this, a thousand times, a 
 thousand falls? — considering, 
 
 1st. What fools we are by nature. 
 
 2dly. What weaknesses are in us. 
 
 3dly. What mighty powers the fallen angels, 
 our implacable enemies, are. 
 
 4thly. Considering also how often the com- 
 ing man is benighted in his journey, and also 
 what stumbling-blocks do lie in his way. 
 
 5thly. Also his familiars (that were so before) 
 now watch for his halting, and seek by what 
 means they may cause him to fall by the hand 
 of their strong ones. 
 
 What then? Must we, because of these 
 temptations, incline to fall? No. Must we 
 not fear falls? Yes. " Let him that thinketh 
 he standeth take heed lest he fall," (1 Cor. x, 
 12,) yet let him not utterly be cast down, 
 "The Lord upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth 
 up those that are bowed down." Make not 
 light of falls; yet hast thou fallen? "Ye 
 have," said Samuel, "done all this wicked- 
 ness; yet turn not aside from following the 
 Lord, but serve him with a perfect heart, and 
 turn not aside ; for the Lord will not forsake 
 his people," (and he counted the coming sin' 
 ner one of thern,) "because it hath pleased 
 the Lord to make you his people." 
 
.76 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 " Shall come to me." Now we come to show 
 what force there is in this promise to make 
 them come to him. "All that the Father 
 giveth me shall come to me." 
 
 I will speak to^ this promise— r 
 
 First, In general. 
 
 Secondly, In particular. 
 
 In general.-^Thiii word shall is confined to 
 , these all that are given to Christ: "All that 
 the Fatlier giveth me shall come to me." 
 Hence I conclude — 
 
 1. That coming to Jesus Christ aright is an 
 effect of their being, of God, given to Christ 
 before. Mark! tte;/ shall come. Who? Those 
 that are given. They come then, because they 
 were given : "'Thine they were, and thou gav- 
 est them me." Now this is indeed a singular 
 comfort to them that are a-coming in truth to 
 Ctirist, to think that the reason why they cpme 
 is because they were given of the Father be- 
 fore to him. Thus, then, may the coming soul 
 reason with himself as he comes: Am I com- 
 ing indeed to Jesus Christ? This coming of 
 mine is not to, be attributed" to me or my good- 
 ness, but to the grace and gift of God to Christ. 
 God gave first my person to him, and therefore 
 hath now given me a heart to come. 
 
 2. These words, shall come, make thy coming 
 not only the fruit of the gift of the Father, 
 but also of the purpose of the Son, for these 
 words are a divine purpose; they show us the 
 heavenly determination of the Son. "The 
 Father hath given them to me, and they 
 shall" — yea, they shall — "come to me." Christ 
 is as fully in his resolution to save those given 
 to him as is the Father in giving of them. 
 Christ prized the gift of his Father — he will 
 
 - lose nothing of it ; he is resolved to save it every 
 whit by his blood, and to raise it up again 
 at the last day; and thus he fulfils his Father's 
 will and accomplisheth his own desires. 
 
 3. These words, shall come, make thy coming 
 to be also the effect of an absolute promise : 
 coming sinner, thou art concluded in a prom- 
 ise; thy coming is the fruit of the faithfulness 
 
 f of an absolute promise. It was this promise 
 by the virtue of which thou at ^rst receivedst 
 strength to come; and this is the promise by 
 the virtue of which thou shalt be effectually 
 brought to him. It was said to Abraham, 
 " At this time I will come, and Sarah shall 
 have a son." This son was Isaac. Mark ! 
 Sarah shall have a son; there is the promise; 
 and Sarah had a son ; there was the fulfilling 
 of the promise ; and therefore was Isaac called 
 the child of the promise. 
 
 Sarah shall have a son. But bow if Sarah 
 be past age ? Why still the promise continues 
 to say, Sarah, shall have a son. But how if 
 Sarah be barren? Why still the promise says, 
 Sarah shall have a son. But Abraham's body 
 is now dead ! Why the promise is still the 
 same, Sarah shall have a son. Thus yyu see 
 what virtue there is in an absolute promise ; it 
 carrieth enough in its own bowels to accom- 
 plish the thing promised, whether there be 
 means or no in us to effect it. Wherefore 
 this promise in the text,_ being an absolute 
 promise, by virtue of it, not by virtue of our- 
 selves or by our own inducements, do we come 
 to Jesus Christ; for so are the words of the 
 text: "All that the Father giveth me shall 
 come to me." 
 
 Therefore is every sincere comer to Jesus 
 Christ called also a child of the promise. 
 " Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the chil- 
 dren of the promise ;" that is, we are the chil- 
 dren that God hath promised to Jesus Christ 
 and given to him, yea, the children that Jesus 
 Christ hath promised shall come to him. "All 
 that the Father giveth me shall come." 
 
 4. These words, shall come, engage Christ to 
 communicate all manner of grace to those thus 
 given him to make them effectually come to 
 him. 7%ey shall come; that is, not if they 
 will, but if grace, all grace, if power, wisdom, 
 ix. new heart, and the Holy Spirit, and all 
 joining together, can make them come. I say 
 these words, shall come, being absolute, have 
 no dependence upon our own will, or power, 
 or goodness, but they engage for us even God 
 himself, Christ himself, the Spirit himself. 
 When God had made the absolute promise to 
 Abraham that Sarah should have a son, Abra- 
 ham did not at all look at any qualifications in 
 himself, because the promise looked at none ; 
 but as God had by the promise, absolutely 
 pronjised him a son, so he considered now not 
 his own body now dead, nor yet the barrenness 
 of Sarah's womb. " He staggered not at the 
 promise of God through unbelief, but -was 
 strong in faith, giving glory to God, being fully 
 persuaded that what he had promised he was 
 able to perform.'' He had promised, and 
 promised absolutely, Sarah shall have a son : 
 therefore Abraham looks that he — to wit, 
 God — must fulfil the condition of it. Neither 
 is this expectation of Abraham disapproved by 
 the Holy Ghost, but accounted good and 
 laudable, it being that by which he gives glory 
 to God. The Father also hath given to Christ 
 a certain number of souls for him f) save, and 
 
COME AND WELCOME TO JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 577 
 
 he himself hath said, "They shall come to, 
 him." Let the Church of God, then, live in 
 a joyful expectation of the utmost accomplish- 
 ment of this promise, for assuredly it shall 
 be fulfilled, and not one-thousandth part of a 
 tittle thereof shall fail. They shall come to 
 me. 
 
 And now, before I go any farther, I will 
 more particularly inquire into the nature of an 
 absolute promise : 
 
 1. We call that an absolute promise that is 
 made without any condition, or more fully 
 thus : That is an absolute promise of God or 
 of Christ which maketh over to this or that 
 man any saving spiritual blessing, without a 
 condition to be done on our part for the ob- 
 taining thereof. And this we have in hand is 
 such a one. Let the best mastel" of_arts on 
 earth show me, if he can, any condition in 
 this text depending upon any qualification in 
 us which is not by the same promise concluded 
 shall be by the Lord Jesus effected in us. 
 
 2. An absolute promise therefore is, as we 
 say, without if or and; that is, it requireth 
 nothing of us that itself may be accomplished. 
 It saith not. They shall if they will, but, They 
 shall : not. They shall if they use the means, 
 but. They shall. You may say that a will 
 and the use of the means is supposed, though 
 not expressed. But I answer. No, by no 
 means ; that is, as a condition of this prom- 
 ise: if they be' at all included in the promise, 
 they are included there as the fruit of the 
 absolute promise ; not as if it expected the 
 qualification to arise from us. " Thy people 
 shall be " willing " in the day of thy power." 
 Ps. ex. 3. That is another absolute promise ; 
 but doth that promise suppose a willingness 
 in us as a condition of God's making us will- 
 ing? They shall be willing if they are will- 
 ing ; or. They shall be willing if they will be 
 willing. This is ridiculous; there is nothing 
 of this supposed. The promise is absolute as 
 to us ; all that it engageth for its own accom- 
 plishment is the mighty power of Christ and 
 his faithfulness to accomplish. 
 
 The difference therefore betwixt the abso- 
 lute and conditional promise is this: 
 
 1. They differ in their terms. The absolute 
 promises say, I will and you shall : the other, 
 I will if you will ; or. Do this and thou shalt 
 live. Jer. xxxi. 32, 34 ; Ezek. xxxiv. 24-34 ; 
 Heb. viii. 7-12 ; Jer. iv. 1 ; Ezek. xviii. 30, 31, 
 32; Matt. xix. 21. 
 
 2. They differ in their way of communi- 
 cating of good things to men : the absolute 
 
 "1 
 
 ones communicate things freely only of grace ; 
 the other, if there be that qualification in us 
 that the promise calls for, not else. 
 
 3. The absolute promises therefore engage 
 God, the others engage us; I mean God only, 
 us only. 
 
 4. Absolute promises must be fulfilled ; con- 
 ditional may or may not be fulfilled. The ab- 
 solute ones must be fulfilled because of the 
 faithfulness of God; the other may not, be- 
 cause of the unfaithfulness of men. 
 
 5. The absolute promises have therefore a 
 sufiiciency in themselves to bring about their 
 own fulfilling; the conditional have not so. 
 The absolute promise is therefore a big-bellied 
 promise, because it hath in itself a fulness of 
 all desired things for us ; and will, when the 
 time of that promise is come, yield to us mot- 
 tals that which will verily save us ; yea, and , 
 make us capable of answering of the demands 
 of the ijromise that is conditional. Where- 
 fore, though there be a real, yea, an eternal 
 difference in these things (with others) be- 
 twixt the conditional and the absolute prom- 
 ise, yet again, in other respects, there is a 
 blessed harmony betwixt them, as may be 
 seen in these particulars : 
 
 1. The conditional promise calls for repent- 
 ance, the absolute promise gives it. Acts v. 
 30, 31. 
 
 2. The conditional promise calls for faith, 
 the absolute promise gives it. Zeph. iii. 12 ; 
 Rom. XV. 12. 
 
 3. The conditional promise calleth for a 
 new heart, the absolute promise gives it. 
 Ezek. xxxvi. 
 
 4. The conditional promise calleth for holy 
 obedience, the absolute promise giveth it or 
 causeth it. Ezek. xxxvi. 27. 
 
 And as they harmoniously agree in this, so 
 again the conditional promise blesseth the 
 man who by the absolute promise is endued 
 with its fruits ; as, for instance, 
 
 1. The absolute promise maketh men up- 
 right, and then the conditional follows, say- 
 ing, "Blessed are the undefiled in the way, 
 who walk in the way of the Lord." Ps. cxix. 1, 
 
 2. The absolute promise giveth to this man 
 the fear of the Lord, and then the conditional 
 followeth, saying, " Blessed is every one that 
 feareth the Lord." Ps. cxviii. 1. 
 
 3. The absolute promise giveth faith, and 
 then this conditional follows, saying, "Blessed 
 is he that believethj' Zeph. iii. 12; Luke 
 i. 45. 
 
 4. The absolute promise brings free forgive- 
 
578 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 nesd of sins, and then says the conditional, 
 " Blessed are they whose transgressions are 
 forgiven and whose sin is covered." Eom. iv. 
 7,8. 
 
 5. The absolute promise says that God's 
 elect should hold out to the' end, then the 
 conditional follows with his blessings, "He 
 that shall endure to the end, the same shall 
 be saved." 1 Pet. i. 4, 5, 7; Matt. xxiv. 
 
 Thus do the promises gloriously serve one 
 another and us in this their harmonious 
 agreement. 
 
 Now the promise under consideration is an 
 absolute promise : " All that the Father giveth 
 me shall come to me." 
 
 This promise therefore, is, as it is said, a 
 big-bellied promise, and hath in itself all 
 those things to bestow upon us that the con- 
 ditional calleth for at our hands. They shall 
 cornel Shall they come? Yes, they shall 
 come! But how if they want those things, 
 those graces, power, and heart, without which 
 they cannot come? Why, "shall come" an- 
 swereth all this, and all things else that may 
 in this matter be objected. And here I will 
 (■ake the liberty to amplify things. 
 
 Objection 1. But they are dead, dead in tres- 
 passes and sins : how shall they then come? 
 
 Answer. Why, " shall come " can raise them 
 from this death: "The hour is coming, and 
 now is, that the dead shall hear the voice of 
 the Son of God, and they that hear shall 
 live." Thus, therefore, is this impediment by 
 "shall come" removed out of the way. They 
 shall bear, they shall live. 
 
 Objection 2. But they are Satan's captives ; 
 he takes them captive at his will, and he is 
 stronger than they : how then can they come ? 
 
 Answer. Why, " shall come " hath also pro- 
 vided a help for this. Satan hath bound that 
 daughter of Abraham so that she could by no 
 means lift up herself, but yet " shall come " 
 set her free both in body and soul. Christ 
 will have them turned from the power of 
 Satan to God. But what 1 Must it be if they 
 turn themselves or do somewhat to merit of 
 him to turn them ? No, he will do it freely, 
 of his own good-will. Alas ! man, whose soul 
 is possessed by the devil, is turned whitherso- 
 ever that governor listeth, is taken captive by 
 him, notwithstanding his natural powers, at 
 his will ; but what will he do ? Will he hold 
 him when "shall come" puts forth itself (will 
 he then let him?) for coming to Jesus Christ? 
 No, that cannot be. His power is but the 
 power of a fallen angel, but "shall come" is 
 
 the word of God; therefore "shall come" 
 must be fulfilled, " and the gates of hell shall 
 not prevail against him." 
 
 There were seven devils in Mary Magdalen, 
 too many for her to get from under the power 
 of; but when the time was come that " shall 
 come" was to be fulfilled upon her, they give 
 place, fly from her, and she comes indeed to 
 Jesus Christ, according as it is written, ' All 
 that the Father giveth me shall come to me." 
 
 The man that was possessed with a legioa 
 (Mark v.) was too much by them captivated 
 for him by human force to come ; yea, had he 
 had, to boot, all the men under heaven to help 
 him, had He who said, " he shall come," with- 
 held his mighty power ; but when this promise 
 was to be fulfilled upon him, then he comes, 
 nor could all their powef hinder his coming. 
 It was also this ("shall come") that preserved 
 him from death wheu by these evil spirits he 
 was htirled hither and thither ; and it was by 
 the virtue of " shall come" that he was at last 
 set at liberty from them and enabled indeed to 
 come to Christ. "All that the Father giveth 
 me shall come to me." 
 
 Objection 3. They shall, you say, but how 
 if they will not? and if so, then what can 
 "shall come" do? 
 
 Answer. True, there are some men who say 
 " We are lords, we will come no more under 
 thee." Jer. ii. 31. But as God says in another 
 case, (if they are concerned in "shall come" 
 to me,) "They shall know whose words shall 
 stand, mine or theirs." Jer. xliv. 28. Here, 
 then, is the case : we must now see who will 
 be the liar ; he that saith, I will not ; or He 
 that saith. He shall come to me. You shall 
 come, says God; I will not come, saith the 
 sinner. Now as sure as he is concerned in 
 this "shall come," God will make that man 
 eat his own words ; for "I will not" is the un- 
 advised conclusion of a crazy-headed sinner, 
 but "shall come" was spoken by Him that is 
 of power to perform his word. " Son, go work 
 to-day in my vineyard," said the father, but 
 he answered and said, I will not come. What 
 now! will he be able to stand to his refusal? 
 will he pursue his desperate denial? No, "ho 
 afterwards repented and went." But how 
 came he by that repentance? Why, it was 
 wrapped up for him in the absolute promise, 
 and therefore, notwithstanding he said, I. will 
 not, " he afterwards repented and went." By 
 this parable Jesus Christ sets forth the obsti- 
 nacy of the sinners of the world, as touching 
 their coming to him; they will not come. 
 
COME AND WELCOME TO JESUS CHniST. 
 
 579 
 
 though threatened, yea, though life be offered 
 them upon condition of coming. 
 
 But now, when " shall come," the absolute 
 promise of God, comes to be fulfilled upon 
 them, then they come, because by that promise 
 a cure is provided against the rebellion of 
 their will : " Thy people shall be willing in the 
 day of thy power." Thy people ! what people? 
 Why, the people that the Father hath given 
 thee. The obstinacy and plague that is in the 
 will of that people shall be taken away, and 
 they shall be made willing; "shall come" will 
 make them willing to come to thee. 
 
 He that had seen Paul in the midst of his 
 outrages against Christ, his gospel, and people 
 would hardly have thought that he would ever 
 have been a follower of Jesus Christ, especially 
 since he went not against his cohscieuce in his 
 persecuting of them. He thought verily that 
 he ought to do what he did. But we may see 
 what "shall come" can do when it comes to 
 be fulfilled upon the soul of a rebellious sinner ; 
 he was a chosen vessel, given by the Father to 
 the Son, and now the time being come that 
 "shall come" was to take him in hand, behold 
 he is overmastered, astonished, and with trem- 
 bling and reverence in a moment becomes 
 willing to be obedient to the heavenly call. 
 Acts ix. 
 
 And were not they far gone (that you read 
 of in Acts ii.) who had their hands and hearts 
 in the murder of the Son of God, and to show 
 their resolvedness never to repent of that hor- 
 rid fact, said, " His blood be on us and our 
 children?" But must their obstinacy rule? 
 Must they be bound to their own ruin by the 
 rebellion of their stubborn wills? No, not 
 those of these the P'tither gave to Christ ; where- 
 fore, at the times appointed "shall come" 
 breaks in among them : the absolute promise 
 takes them in hand, and then they come in- 
 deed, crying out to Peter and the rest of the 
 apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we 
 do ?'' No stubbornness of men's will can stand 
 when God hath absolutely said the contrary; 
 '' shall come" can make them come as doves to 
 their windfiws that had afore resolved never to 
 come to him. 
 
 The Lord spake unto Manasseh and to his 
 people by the prophets, but would he hear? 
 No, he would not. But shall Manasseh come 
 off thus? No, he shall not. Therefore, he 
 being also one of those whom the Father hath 
 given to the Son, and so falling within the 
 bounds and reach of "shall come," at last 
 "shall come" takes hiin in hand, and then he 
 
 comes indeed. He came bowing and bending ; 
 he humbled himself greatly, and made suppli- 
 cation to the Lord, and prayed unto him ; and 
 he was entreated of him, and had mercy upon 
 him. 2 Chron. iii. 33. 
 
 The thief upon the cross at first did rail 
 with his fellow upon Jesus Christ, but he was 
 one that the Father had given to him, and 
 therefore "shall come" must handle him and 
 his rebellious will. And behold, so soon as he 
 is dealt withal by virtue of that absolute prom- 
 ise, how soon he buckleth, leaves his railing, 
 and falls to supplicating of the Son of God for 
 mercy! "Lord," saith he, "remember me 
 when thou comest into thy kingdom." Matt 
 xxvii. 44 ; Luke xxiii. 40. 
 
 Objection 4. They come, say you, but how 
 if they be blind and see not the way? For 
 some are kept off from Christ, not only by the 
 obstinacy of their will, but by the blindness 
 of their mind. Now, if they be blind, how 
 shall they come? 
 
 Answer. The question is not, Are they blind? 
 but, Are they within the reach and power of 
 "shall come?" If so, that Christ that said 
 they shall come will find them eyes or a guide, 
 or both, to bring them to himself. "Mxtsi is 
 for the King." If they shall come, they shall 
 come: no impediment shall hinder. 
 
 The Thessalonians' darkness did not hinder 
 them from being the children of light. " I am 
 come," saith Christ, "that they that see net 
 might see." And if he saith, "See, ye blind 
 that have no eyes," who shall hinder it? 
 
 This promise therefore is, as I said, a big- 
 bellied promise, having in the bowels of it all 
 things that shall concur to the complete ful- 
 filling of itself. "They shall come." But it 
 is objected that they are blind. Well, "shall 
 come" is still the same, and continueth to say, 
 "They shall come to me." Therefore be saith 
 again, " I will bring the blind by a way that 
 they know not. I will lead them in paths that 
 they know not. I will make darkness light be- 
 fore them, and crooked things straight- Uiese 
 things will I do unto them, and not forsake 
 them." 
 
 Mark! I will bring them, though they be 
 blind; I will bring them by a way they know 
 not: I will, I will: and therefore "they shall 
 come to me." 
 
 Objection 5. But how if they have exceeded 
 many in sin, and so made themselves far more 
 abominable? They are the ringleading sin- 
 ners in the country, the town, or family. 
 
 Answer. What then? Shall that hinder the 
 
580 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 , execution of "ahallcome"? It is not transgres- 
 sions, nor sins, nor all their transgression in 
 all their sins^ if they by the Father are given 
 to Christ to save them, that shall hinder this 
 promise that it should not be fulfilled upon 
 them. " In those days and at that time," saith 
 the Lord, "the iniquities of Israel shall be 
 sought for, and there shall be none; and the 
 sins of Judah, and they shall not be found." 
 Not that they had none, for they abounded in 
 transgression, but God would pardon, cover, 
 hide, and put them away by virtue of his ab- 
 solute promise, by which they are given to 
 Christ to save them. "'And I will cleanse 
 them from all their iniquity whereby they 
 have transgressed against me. And it shall 
 be to me for a name of joy, a praise, and an 
 honour before all the nations of the earth, 
 which shall hear of all the good I do unto 
 them ; and they shall fear and tremble for all 
 the goodness and all the prosperity that I pro- 
 cure in it." 
 
 Objection 6. But how if they have not faith 
 and repentance? How shall they come 
 then? 
 
 Answer. Why, he that saith, "They shall 
 come," shall he not make it good ? If they 
 shall come, they shall come ; and he that hath 
 said they shall come, if faith and repentance 
 be the way to come, as indeed they are, then 
 faith and repentance shall be given to them, 
 for "shall come" must be fulfilled on them. 
 
 1. Faith shall be given them. "I will also 
 leave in the n^idst of thee an afflicted and j)oor 
 people, and they shall trust in the name of the 
 Lord. There shall be a root of Jesse, and he 
 shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; and in 
 him shall the Gentiles trust." 
 
 2. They shall have repentance. Hp is ex- 
 alted to give repentance: "They shall come 
 weeping, and seeking the Lord their God." 
 And again, "with weeping and supplication 
 will I lead them." 
 
 I told you before that an absolute promise 
 hath all conditional ones in the belly of it, 
 and also provision to answer all those quali- 
 fications that they propound to Him that 
 seeketh for their benefit. And it must be so, 
 for if "shall come" be an absolute promise, 
 as indeed it is, then it must be fulfilled upon 
 every one of those concerned therein. I say, 
 it must be fulfilled if God can by grace and 
 his absolute will fulfil it. Besides, since com- 
 ing and believing is all one, "He that cometh 
 to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth 
 in me shall never thirst." 
 
 Then when he saith. They "shall come," it 
 is as much as to say, They shall believe, and 
 consequently repent to the saving of the soul. 
 So, then, the present want of faith and re- 
 pentance cannot make the promise of God of 
 none effect, because that this promise hath in 
 it to give what others call for and expect. ] 
 will give them an heart, I will give them re- 
 pentance, I will give them faith. 
 
 Mark these words: "If any man be in 
 Christ, he is a new creature." But how came 
 he to be a new creature, since none can create 
 but God? Why, God indeed doth make new 
 creatures. "Behold," saith he, "I make all 
 things new." And hence it follows even after 
 he had said they are new creatures, and all 
 things are of God; that is, all these new crea- 
 tures stand in the several operations and 
 special workings of the Spirit of grace, who 
 is God. 
 
 Objection 7. But how shall they escape all 
 those dangerous and damnable opinions that 
 like rocks and quicksands are in the way in 
 which they are going. 
 
 Ansroer. Indeed this age is an age of errors, 
 if ever there was an age of errors in the world ; 
 but yet the gift of the Father, laid claim to by 
 the Son in the t'ext, must needs escape them 
 and in conclusion come to him. There are a 
 company of "shall comes" in the Bible that 
 doth secure them ; not but, that they may be 
 assaulted by them, yea, and also for the time 
 entangled and detained by them from the 
 Bishop of their souls; but these " shall comes " 
 will break those chains and fetters that those 
 given to Christ are entangled in, and they 
 shall come because he hath said they shall 
 come to him. 
 
 Indeed, errors are like that whore of whom 
 you read in the Proverbs, that sitteth in her 
 seat in the high places of the city, "to call 
 passengers who go on their right way." But 
 the persons, as I said, that by the Father are 
 given to the Son to save them,'^re fit one time 
 or other. Secured by " shall come to me." 
 
 And therefore of such it is said, God will 
 guide them with his eye, with his counsel, by 
 his Spirit, and that in the way of peace, by 
 the springs of water, and into all truth. So, 
 then, he that hath such a guide, (and all that 
 the Father giveth to Christ shall have it,) he 
 shall escape those dangers ; he shall not err in 
 the way; yea, though be be a fool he shall not 
 err therein, for of every such an one it is said, 
 "Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, 
 saying. This is the way, walk in it, when ye 
 
COME AND WELCOME TO JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 581 
 
 turn to the right hand and when ye turn to 
 the left." 
 
 There were thieves and robbers before Christ's 
 coming, as there are also now, but saith he, 
 " The sheep did not hear them." 
 
 And why did they not hear them but because 
 they were under the power of "shall come," 
 that absolute promise that had that grace in 
 itself to bestow upon them as could make them 
 able rightly to distinguish of voices: "My 
 sheep hear my voice." But how came they to 
 hear it? Why, to them it is given to know 
 and to hear, and that distinguishingly. John 
 X. 8, 16 ; V. 25 ; Eph. v. 14. 
 
 Further, the very plain sentence of the text 
 makes provision against , all these things, for 
 saith it, " All that the Father giveth me shall 
 come to me ;" that is, shall not be stbpped or 
 be allured to take up anywhere short of me, 
 nor shall they turn aside to abide with any 
 besides me. 
 
 Shall come to me — to me. By these words 
 there is further insinuated, though not ex- 
 pressed, a double cause for their coming to 
 him: 
 
 1. There is in Christ a fulness of all-suffi- 
 ciency of that, even of all that, which is need- 
 ful to make us happy. 
 
 2. Those that indeed come to him do there- 
 fore come to him that they may receive it at 
 his hand. 
 
 For the first of these there is in Christ a ful- 
 ness of all-sufficiency of all that, even of all 
 that, which is needful to make us happy. 
 Hence it js said, " For it pleased the Father 
 that in him should all fulness dwell." And 
 again, " Of his fulness all we have received, 
 and grace for grace." Col. i. 19; John i. 16. 
 It is also said of him that his riches are un- 
 searchable, " the unsearchable riches of Christ." 
 Eph. iii. 8. Hear what he saith of himself: 
 " Riches and honour are with me, even durable 
 riches and righteousness. My fruit is better 
 llian gold, yea, than fine gold, and my revenue 
 than choice silver : I lead in the way of right- 
 eousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment, 
 that I may cause them that love me to inherit 
 substance. And I will fiU their treasures." 
 Prov. viii. 19-21. 
 This in general, but more particularly : 
 1. There is that light in Christ that is suffi- 
 cient to lead them out of and from all that 
 darkness in the midst of which all others but 
 them that come to him stumble, and fall, and 
 perish. " I am the light of the world," saith 
 he; "he that foUoweth me shall not abide in 
 
 darkness, but shall have the light of life." 
 Man by nature is in darkness and walketh in 
 darkness, and knows not whither he goes, for 
 darkness hath blinded his eyes; neither can 
 any thing but Jesus Christ lead men out of 
 this darkness. Natural conscience cannot do it : 
 this prerogative belongs only to Jesus Christ. 
 
 2. There is life in Christ that is to be found 
 nowhere else— life as a principle in the soul, 
 by which it shall be acted and enabled to di> 
 that which, through him, is pleasing to God. 
 "He that believeth in (or cometh to) me," 
 
 ■ saith he, as the Scriptures have said, '' out of 
 his belly shall flow rivers of living water." 
 Without this life a man is dead, whether he be 
 bad or whether he be good ; that is, good in 
 his own and other men's esteem. There is no 
 true and eternal life but what is in the Me that 
 speaketh in the text. 
 
 There is also life for those that come to him, 
 to be had by faith in his flesh and blood. " He 
 that eateth me shall live by me." 
 
 And this is a life against that death that 
 comes by the guilt of sin and the curse of the 
 law, under which all men are and for ever must 
 be, unless they eat the Me that speaks in the 
 text. " Whoso fiudeth me," saith he, " flndeth 
 life," deliverance from the everlasting death 
 and destruction that, without me, he shall be 
 devoured by. 
 
 Nothing is more desirable than life to him 
 that hath in himself the sentence of condem- 
 nation : and here only is life to be found. This 
 life — to wit, eternal life — this life is in his Son ; 
 that is, in him that saith in the text, " All that 
 the Father hath given me shall come to me.'' 
 
 3. The person speaking in the text is He 
 alone by whom poor sinners have admittance 
 to and acceptance with 'the Father, because of 
 the glory of his righteousness, by and in which 
 he presenteth them amiable and spotless in 
 his sight; neither is there any way besides 
 him so to come to the Father. "I am the 
 way," saith he, "the truth, and the life; no 
 man cometh to the Father but by me." All 
 other ways to God are dead and damnable ; the 
 destroying cherubinis stand with flaming 
 swords, turning every way, to keep all others 
 from his presence. I say, all others but them 
 that come by him. 
 
 " I am the door ; by me," saith he, " if any 
 man shall enter in, he shall be, saved." 
 
 The person speaking in the text is He, and 
 only He, that can give stable and everlasting 
 peace ; therefore, saith he, " My peace I give 
 unto you '' — my peace, which is a pea(;e with 
 
582 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 3od, peace of conscience, and that of an ever- 
 lasting duration. My peace, peace that cannot 
 be matched, " not as the world giveth, give I 
 unto you ; " for the world's peace is but carnal 
 and transitory, but mine is divine and eternal. 
 Hence it is called the peace of God, that 
 passeth all understanding. 
 
 4. The person speaking in the text hath 
 enough of all things truly spiritually good to 
 satisfy the desire of every longing soul. " And 
 Jefus stood and cried, saying, If any man 
 thirst, let him come to me and drink. , And to 
 nim that is athirst I will give of the fountain 
 of the water of life freely." 
 
 5. With the person speaking in the text is 
 power to perfect, and defend, and deliver those 
 that come to him for safeguard. " All power,'' 
 saith he, " in heaven and earth are given unto 
 me." 
 
 Thus might I multiply instances in this na- 
 ture in abundance. But, 
 
 Secondly. They that in truth do come to 
 him do therefore come to him that they may 
 receive it at his hand. They come for light, 
 they come for life, they come for reconciliation 
 with God ; they also come for peace, they come 
 that their souls may be satisfied with spiritual 
 good, and that they may be protected by him 
 against all spiritual and eternal damnation ; and 
 he alone is able to give them all this, to the 
 fulfilling of their joy to the full, as they also 
 find when they come to him. 
 
 This is evident — 
 
 1. From the plain declaration of those thK,t 
 already are come to him. ■" Being justified by 
 faith, we have peace with God through our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have ac- 
 cess with boldness into this grace, wherein we 
 stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." 
 
 2. It is evident also in that while they keep 
 their eyes upon him they never desire to 
 change him for another, or to add to them- 
 selves some other thing, together with him, to 
 make up their spiritual joy. " God forbid," 
 said Paul, " that I should glory, save in the 
 cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Yea, and I 
 count all things but loss for the excellency of 
 the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for 
 whom I have suflfered the loss of all things, 
 and do count them but dung, that I may win 
 Christ and be found in him : not having mine 
 own righteousness, which is of the law, but 
 that which is through the faith of Christ, the 
 righteousness which is of God by faith." 
 
 3. It is evident also by their earnest desires 
 that others might be made partakers of their 
 
 blessedness. " Brethren," said Paul, " my 
 heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, 
 that they might be saved ; " that is, that way 
 that he expected to be saved himself; as he 
 saith also to the Galatians. " Brethren," saith 
 he, " I beseech you, be as I am, for I am as yt 
 are ; " that is, I am a sinner as ye are. Now, 
 I beseech you, seek for life as I am seeking for 
 it; as who should say. For there is a suflSciency 
 in the Lord Jesus both for me and you. 
 
 4. It is evident also by the triumph that 
 such men make over all their enemies, both 
 bodily and ghostly. " Now thanks be to God," 
 said Paul, " who causeth us always to triumph 
 in Jesus Christ !" " And who shall separate us 
 from the love of Christ our Lord?" And 
 again, " O death, where is thy sting ? O grave, 
 where is thy victory ? The sting of death is 
 sin, and the strength of sin is the law; but 
 thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory 
 through our Lord Jesus Christ ! " 
 
 5. It is evident also for that they are made 
 by the glory of that which they have found in 
 him to sufier and endure what the devil and 
 hell itself hath or could invent as a means to 
 separate them from him. Again : " Who shall 
 separate us from the love of Christ? Shall 
 tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or fam- 
 ine, or nakedness, orperil, orsword? (as is writ- 
 ten. For thy sake we are killed all the day 
 long, we are counted as sheep for the slaught- 
 er.) Nay, in all these things we are more than 
 conquerors, through Him that loved us ; for I 
 am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor 
 angels nor principalities, nor powers, nor 
 things present, nor things to come, nor height, 
 nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able 
 to separate us from the love of God which is 
 in Christ Jesus." 
 
 " Shall come to me." Oh the heart-attract- 
 ing glory that is in Jesus Christ (when he is 
 discovered) to draw those to him that are given 
 to him of the Father! Therefore those that 
 came of old^endered this as the cause of their 
 coming to him: "And we^beheld the glory ag 
 of the only begotten of the Father.'' And tlia 
 reason why others come not, but perish in their 
 sins, is for want of a sight of his glory. " If 
 our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are 
 lost, in whom the god of this world hath 
 blinded the minds of them that believe not, 
 lest the glorious light of the gospel of Christ 
 who is the image of God, should shine unto 
 them." 
 
 There is, therefore, heart-pulsing glory \a 
 Jesus Christ, which, when discovered, draw* 
 
COME AND WELCOME TO JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 583 
 
 the men to him ; wherefore, by " shall come to 
 me" Christ may mean when his glory is dis- 
 covered then they must come, then they shall 
 come to me. Therefore, as the true-comers 
 come with weeping and relenting, as being 
 sensible of their own vileness, so again it is 
 said, " That the ransomed of the Lord shall re- 
 turn, and come to Zion with singing and ever- 
 lasting joy upon their heads ; they shall ob- 
 tain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing 
 shall fly away;" that is, at the sight of the 
 glory of that grace that shows itself to them 
 now in the face of our Lord Jesus Christ, and 
 in the hopes that they now have of being with 
 him in the heavenly tabernacles. Therefore 
 it saith again, " With gladness and rejoicing 
 shall they be brought; they shall enter into 
 the King's palace." 
 
 There is, therefore, heart-attracting glory in 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, which, when discovered, 
 subjects the heart to the word and makes us 
 come to him. 
 
 It is said of Abraham that when he dwelt in 
 Mesopotamia the God of glory appeared unto 
 him, saying, " Get thee out of thy country." 
 And what then? Why, away he went from 
 his house and friends, and all the world could 
 not stay him. " Now," as the Psalmist says, 
 "Who is the King of glory?" he answers, 
 "The Lord, mighty in battle." And who was 
 that but He that spoiled principalities and 
 powers when he did hang upon the tree, tri- 
 umphing over them thereon? And who was 
 that but Jesus Christ, even the person speak- 
 ing in the text? Therefore he saith of Abra- 
 ham, " He saw his day." " Yea," saith he to 
 the Jews, "your father Abraham rejoiced to 
 see my day, and he saw it and was glad." 
 
 Indeed the carnal man says, at last, in his 
 heart, "There is no form or comeliness in 
 Christ," and when we shall see him, " there is 
 no beaut jf that we should desire him ; " but he 
 lies : thi.i he speaks as having never seen him. 
 But they that staud in his house, and look 
 npon hiin through the glass of his word by 
 the help of his Holy Spirit, they will tell you 
 other things. "But we," say they, "all with 
 open fice, beholding, as in a glass, the glory 
 of the Lord, and changed into the same image, 
 from glory to glory." They see glory in his 
 person, glory in his understanding, glory in the 
 merit of his blood, and glory in the perfec- 
 tion of his righteousness ; yea, heart-affecting, 
 heart-sweetening, and heart-changing glory I 
 
 Indeed his glory is veiled, and cannot be 
 seen but 'as discovered by the Father. It is 
 
 veiled with flesh, with meanness of descent 
 from the flesh, and with that ignominy and 
 shame that attended him in the flesh ; but 
 they that can, in God's light, see through 
 these things, they shall see glory in him ; yea, 
 such glory as will draw and pull their hearta 
 unto him. 
 
 Moses was the adopted son of Pharaoh's 
 daughter, and, for aught I know, had been 
 king at last had he conformed to the piesent 
 vanities that were there at court; but he could 
 not, he would not do it. Why, what a as the 
 matter? Why, he saw more in the worst of 
 Christ (bear with the expression) than he saw 
 in the best of all the treasures of the land of 
 Egypt. He refused to be called the son of 
 Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer 
 affliction with the people of God than to enjoy 
 the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming 
 the reproach of Christ greater riches than the 
 treasures of Egypt, for he had respect to the 
 recompense of reward. He forsook Egypt, 
 not fearing the wrath of the king. But what 
 emboldened him to do this? Why, he en- 
 dured, for he had a sight of the person speak- 
 ing in the text, "He endured, as seeing Him 
 who is invisible." But I say, would a sight 
 of Jesus have thus taken away Moses's heart 
 from a crown and a kingdom, &c., had he not 
 by that sight seen more in him than was to be 
 seen in them? 
 
 Therefore when he saith, " shall come to 
 me," he means they shall have a discovery of 
 the glory of the grace that is in him; and the 
 beauty and glory of that is of such virtue 
 that it constraineth and forceth, with a blessed 
 violence, the hearts of those that are given to 
 him. 
 
 Moses, of whom we spake before, was no 
 child when he was thus taken with the beau- 
 teous glory of the Lord : he was forty yeara 
 old, and so, consequently, was able, being a 
 man of that wisdom and opportunity as he 
 was, to make the best judgment of the things 
 and of the goodness of them that were before 
 him in the land of Egypt. But he, even he 
 it was, that set that low esteem upon the glory 
 of Egypt to count it not worth the meddling 
 with when he had a sight of this Lord Jesus 
 Christ. This wicked world thinks that the 
 fancies of a heaven and happiness hereafter 
 may serve well enough to take the heart of 
 such as either have not the world's good 
 things to delight in, or that are fools and 
 know not how to delight themselves therein. 
 But let them know again that we have had 
 
584 
 
 SUNTAN'S COMPLETE WOSKH. 
 
 men of all ranks and qualities that have been 
 taken with the glory of our Lord Jesus, and 
 have left all to follow him; as Abel, Seth, 
 Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, 
 Samuel, David, Solomon, and who not that 
 had either wit or grace to savour heavenly- 
 things? Indeed, none can stand off from" 
 him, nor any longer hold out against him, to 
 whom he reveals the glory of his grace. 
 
 "And him that cometh to me I will in no- 
 wise cast out." By those words our Lord 
 Jesus doth set forth yet more amply the great 
 goodness of his nature towards the coming 
 sinner. Before, he said, "They shall come," 
 and he declareth, " that with heart and affec- 
 tions he will receive them." 
 
 But, by the way, let me speak one word or 
 two to the seeming conditionality of this 
 promise with which now I have to do : " And 
 him that cometh to me I will in nowise cast 
 out;" where it is evident (may some say) 
 that Christ's receiving us to mercy depends 
 upon our coming, and so our salvation by 
 Christ is conditional. If we come, we shall 
 be received ; if not, we shall not ; for that is 
 fully intimated by the words. The promise 
 of reception is only to him that cometh : 
 " And him that cometh." I answer that the 
 coming in these words mentioned as a condi- 
 tion of being received to life is that which is 
 promised, yea, concluded to be effected in us, 
 by the promise going before. In those latter 
 words coming to Christ is implicitly required 
 of us ; and in the words before, that grace that 
 can make us come is positively promised to 
 us. " All that the Father giveth to me shall 
 come to me, and him that cometh to me I 
 will in nowise oast out thence." We come to 
 Christ, because it is said we "shall come;" 
 because it is given to us to come ; so that the 
 condition which is expressed by Christ in 
 these latter words is- absolutely promised in 
 the words before. And indeed the coming 
 here intended is nothing else but the effect of 
 " shall come to me. They shall come, and I 
 will not cast them out." 
 
 " And him that cometh." He saith not, 
 And him! that is, come, but " him that cometh." 
 
 To speak to these words — 
 
 1. In general. 
 
 2. More particularly. 
 
 In general. — They suggest unto us these 
 four things : 
 
 1. That Jesus Christ doth build upon it 
 that since the Father gave his people to him 
 th«y shall be enabled to come unto him. 
 
 "And him that cometh;" as who should say 
 I know that since they are given to me, they ' 
 shall be enabled to come unto me. He saith 
 not. If they come, or, I suppose they will 
 come — but. And him that cometh. By 
 these words, therefore, he shows that he ad- 
 dresseth himself to the receiving oi them 
 whom the Father gave to him to save them ; 
 I say, he addresseth himself or prepareth him- 
 self to receive them ; by which, as I said, he 
 concludeth or buildeth upon it that they shall 
 indeed come to him. He looketh that the 
 Father should bring them into his bosom, and 
 so stands ready to embrace them. 
 
 2. Christ also suggesteth by these words 
 that he very well knoweth who are given to 
 him ; not by their coming to him, but by their 
 being given to him. "All that the Father 
 giveth me shall come to me; and him that 
 cometh," &c. This him he knoweth to be one 
 of them that the Father hath given him, and 
 therefore he receiveth him, even because the 
 Father hath given him, to him. "I know my 
 sheep," saith he ; not only those that already 
 have knowledge of him, but those too that 
 yet are ignorant of him. " Other sheep have 
 I," said he, " which are not of this fold ;" not 
 of the Jewish Church, but those that lie in 
 their sins, even the rude and barbarous Gen- 
 tiles. Therefore, when Paul was afraid to 
 stay at Corinth from a supposition that some 
 mischief might befall him there, " Be not 
 afraid," said the Lord Jesus to him, "but 
 speak, and hold not thy peace, for I have 
 much people in this city." The people that 
 the Lord here speaks of were not at this time 
 accounted his by reason of a work of conver- 
 sion that already had passed upon them, but 
 by virtue of the gift of the Father, for he had 
 given them unto him. Therefore was Paul 
 to stay here, to speak the word of the Lord 
 to them, that by his speaking the Holy 
 Ghost might effectually work over their souls, 
 to the causing them to come to Him who 
 was also ready with heart and soul to receive 
 them. 
 
 3. Christ by these words also suggesteth 
 that no more come unto him than indeed are 
 given him of the Father ; for the him in this 
 place is one of the all that by Christ was men- 
 tioned before : " All that the Father giveth me, 
 shall come to me," and every him of that all 
 " I will in nowise cast out." This the apostle 
 insinuateth where he saith, "He gave some 
 apostles, and some prophets, and some evan- 
 gelists, and some pastors and teachers, for tha 
 
COME AND WELCOME TO JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 585 
 
 perfecting of the saints, for the work of the 
 ministry, for the edifying of the body of 
 Christ, till we all come, in the unity of faith 
 and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto 
 a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature 
 of the fulness of Christ." 
 
 Mark, as in the text, so here he speaketh of 
 all—" Until we all come." We all 1 . All who ? 
 Doubtless, "all that the Father giveth to 
 Christ." This is farther insinuated, because 
 he calleth this all the body of Christ, the 
 measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ, 
 by -which he means the universal number 
 given — to wit, the true elect Church, which is 
 said to be his body and fulness. 
 
 4. Christ Jesus by these words farther sug- 
 gesteth that he is well content with this gift 
 of the Father to him. " All that thS Father 
 giveth me shall come to me, and him that 
 Cometh to me I will in nowise cast out." I 
 will heartily, willingly, and with great con- 
 tent of mind receive him. 
 
 They show us also that Christ's love in re- 
 ceiving is as large as his Father's love in giving, 
 and no larger. Hence he thanks him for his 
 gift, and also thanks him for hiding of him 
 and his things from the rest of the wicked. 
 
 But, secondly, and more particularly, " And 
 him that cometh." And him/ This word 
 him : by it Christ looketh back to the gift of 
 the Father, not only to the lump and whole 
 of the gift, but to the every him of that lump. 
 As who should say, I do not only accept of the 
 gift of my Father in the general, but have a 
 special regard to every of them in particular ; 
 and will secure not only some or the greatest 
 part, but every him, every dust ; not an hoof of 
 all shall be lost or left behind. And indeed in 
 this he consenteth to his Father's will, which 
 is that of all that he hath given him he should 
 lose nothing. 
 
 " And him." Christ Jesus also, by his thus 
 dividing the gift of his Father into hims, zjxd 
 by his speaking of them in the singular num- 
 ber, shows what a particular work shall be 
 wrought in each one at the time appointed of 
 the Father. "And it shall come to pass in 
 that day," saith the prophet, " that the Lord 
 shall beat aflf from the channel of the river to 
 the stream of Egypt ; and ye shall be gathered 
 one by one, ye children of Israel." Here 
 are the hims one by one, to be gathered to him 
 by the Father. 
 
 He shows also hereby that no lineage, kin- 
 dred, or relation can at all be profited by any 
 outward or carnal union with the person that 
 
 the Father hath given to Christ. It is only ~ 
 him, the given him, the coming him, that he 
 intends absolutely to secure. Men make great 
 ado with the children of believers ; and oh the 
 children of believers ! But if the child of the 
 believer is not the him concerned in this abso- 
 lute promise, it is not these men's great cry, 
 nor yet what the parent or child can do, that 
 can interest him in this promise of the Lord 
 Christ, this absolute promise. 
 
 " And him.'' There are divers sorts of per- 
 sons that the Father hath given to Jesus 
 Christ; they are not all of one rank, of one 
 quality ; some are high, some are low ; some 
 are wise, some fools ; some are more civil and 
 complying with the law ; some more profane 
 and averse to him and his gospel. Now, since 
 those that are given to him are in some sense 
 so diverse, and again, since he yet saith, ''And 
 him that cometh,'' &c., he by that doth give 
 us to understand that he is not, as men, for 
 picking'and choosing, to take a best and leave 
 a worst, but he is for him that the Father hath 
 given him and that cometh to him. " He will 
 not alter nor change it, a good for a bad, or a 
 bad for a good," but will take him as he is, 
 and will save his soul. 
 
 There is many a sad wretch given by the 
 Father to Jesus Christ, but not one of them all 
 is despised or slighted by him. 
 
 It is said of those that the Father hath given 
 to Christ that they have done worse than the 
 heathen, that they were murderers, thieves, 
 drunkards, unclean persons, and what not ; but 
 he has received them, washed them, and saved 
 them. A fit emblem of this sort is that wretched 
 instance mentioned in the 16th of Ezekiel, that 
 was cast out in a stinking condition, to the 
 loathing of its person in the day that it was 
 born ; a creature in such a wretched condition 
 that no eye pitied to do any of the things there 
 mentioned unto it, or to have compassion upon 
 it ;■ no eye but His that speaketh in the text. 
 
 " And him." Let him be as red as blood, 
 let him be as red as crimson : some men are 
 blood-red sinners, crimson sinners, sinners of 
 a double dye, dipped and dipped again before 
 they come to Jesus Christ. Art thou that 
 readest these lines such a one? Speak out, 
 maft ! Art thou such a one ? and art thou now 
 coming to Jesus Christ for the mercy of justi- 
 fication, that thou mightest be made white in 
 hia blood and be covered with his righteous- 
 ness ? Fear not, forasmuch as this thy coming 
 betokeneth that thou art of the number of 
 them that the Father hath given to Christ, foi 
 
586 
 
 BVNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 he will in nowise cast thee out. " Come now," 
 saith Christ, "and let us reason together; 
 though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be 
 wliite as snow; though they be red like crim- 
 son, they shall be as wool." 
 
 "And him." There was many a strange him 
 came to Jesus Christ in the days of his flesh, 
 but he received them all, without turning any 
 away. " Speaking unto tliem of the kingdom 
 of God, and healing such as had need of heal- 
 ing." These words, " and him," are therefore 
 words to be wondered at, that not one of them 
 who by virtue of the Father's gift and drawing 
 are coming to Jesus Christ — I say, that not one 
 of them, whatever they liave been, whatever 
 they have done, should be rejected or set by, 
 but admitted to a share in his saving grace. It 
 is said in Luke that the people "wondered at 
 the gracious words that proceeded out of his 
 mouth." Now this is one of his gracious 
 words; these words are like drops of honey, as 
 it is said, "Pleasant words are as an honey- 
 comb, sweet to the soul and health to the 
 bones." These are gracious words indeed, even 
 as full as a faithful and merciful high priest 
 could speak them. Luther saith, " When 
 Christ speaketh he hatha mouth as wide as 
 heaven and earth ;" that is, to speak fully to 
 the encouragement of every sinful him that is 
 coming to Jesus Christ. And that this word 
 is certain, hear how he himself confirms it: 
 "Heaven and earth," saith he, "shall pass 
 away, but my words sh'All not pass away." 
 
 It is also confirmed by the testimony of the 
 four evangelists, who gave faithful relation of 
 his loving reception of all sorts of coming sin- 
 ners, whether they were publicans, harlots, 
 thieves, possessed of devils, bedlams, and what 
 not. 
 
 This, then, shows us— 
 
 1. The greatness of the merits of Christ. 
 
 2. The willingness of his heart to impute 
 them for life to the great, if but coming, 
 Binners. 
 
 1. This shows us the greatness of the merits 
 ii Christ, for it must not be supposed that his 
 words are bigger than his worthiness. He is 
 strong to execute his word : he can do as well 
 as speak. " He can do exceeding abundantly 
 more than we ask or think," even to the utter- 
 most and outside of his word. 
 
 Now, then, since he includeth any coming 
 him, it must be concluded that he can save to 
 the uttermost sin any coming him. 
 
 Do you think, I say, that the Lord Jesus did 
 not think before he spake? He speaks all in 
 
 righteousness, and therefore,by his woid we are 
 
 to judge how mighty he is to save. 
 
 He spake in righteousness, in very faithful- 
 ness, when he began to build this blessed gos- 
 pel fabric; he first sat down and counted the 
 cost, and knew he was able to finish it. What, 
 Lord! any him? any him that cometh to thee? 
 This is a Christ worth looking after ; this is a 
 Christ trorth coming to. 
 
 This, then, should learn us diligently to con- 
 sider the natural force of every word of God, 
 and to judge of Christ's ability to save, not by 
 our sins or by our shallow apprehensions of 
 his grace, but by his word, which is the true 
 measure of grace. 
 
 And if we do not judge thus we shall dis- 
 honour his grace, lose the benefit of his word, 
 and needlessly fright ourselves into many dis- 
 couragements through coming to Jesus Christ. 
 Him, any him that cometh, hath sufficient from 
 this word of Christ to feed himself with hopes 
 of salvation. As thou art therefore coming, O 
 thou coming sinner, judge whether Christ can 
 save thee by the true sense of his words : judge, 
 coming sinner, of the efficacy of his blood, of 
 the perfection of his righteousness, and of the 
 prcvalency of his intercession by his word. 
 "And him," saith he, "that cometh to me I 
 will in nowise cast out." In nowise: that is 
 
 ■* r 
 
 for no sin: judge, therefore, by his word how 
 able he is to save thee. It is said of God's 
 sayings to the children of Israel, " There failed 
 not aught of any good thing which the Lord 
 hath spoken to the house of Israel ; all came 
 to pass." And again, " Not one thing hath 
 failed of all the good things which the Lord 
 your God spake concerning you ; all are come 
 to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed 
 thereof." 
 
 Coming sinner, what promise thou findest in 
 the word of Christ, strain it whether thou canst, 
 so thou dost not corrupt it, and his blood and 
 merits will answer all ; what the word saith, or 
 any true consequence that is drawn therefrom, 
 that we may boldly venture upon ; as here in 
 the text he saith, "And him that cometh," in- 
 definitely, without the least intimation of the 
 rejection of any, though never so great, if he 
 be a coming sinner. Take it then for granted 
 that_thou, whoever thou art, if coming, art in- 
 tended in these words ; neither shall it injure 
 Christ at all if, as Benhadad's servants served 
 Ahab, thou shalt catch him at his word, 
 "Now," saith the text, "the man did dil- 
 igently observe whether anything would come 
 from him " — to wit, any word of grace—" and 
 
COME AND WELCOME TO JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 587 
 
 did hastily catch it." And it happened that 
 Ahab bad called Benhadad his brother. The 
 man replied therefore, "Thy brother Benha- 
 dad !" catching him at his word. Sinner, com- 
 ing sinner, serve Jesus Christ thus, and he will 
 t»ke it kindly at- thy hands. When he, in his 
 argument, called the Canaan itish woman dog, 
 she catched iiim at it and said, " Truth, Lord, 
 yet the dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from 
 their master's table.'' I say, she catched him 
 thus in his words, and he took it kindly, say- 
 ing, " woman, great is thy faith ; be it unto 
 thee even as thou wilt." Catch him, coming 
 sinner, catch him in his word; surely he will 
 take it kindly and will not be offended at thee. 
 
 2. The other thing that I told you is showed 
 from these words is this : the willingness of 
 Christ's heart to impute his mercies for life to 
 the great, if coming, sinner. " And him that 
 Cometh to me I will in nowise cast out." 
 
 The awakened, coming sinner doth not so 
 easily question the power of Christ as his will- 
 ingness to save him : " Lord, if thou wilt, thou 
 canst," said one. He did not put the if upon 
 his power, but upon his will ; he concluded he 
 could, but he was not as fully of persuasion 
 that he would ; but we have the same ground 
 to believe he will as we have to believe he 
 can ; and indeed ground for both is the word 
 God. If he was not willing, why did he prom- 
 ise? Why did he say he would receive the 
 coming sinner? Coming sinner, take notice 
 of this ; we use to plead practices with men, 
 and why not with God likewise? I am sure 
 we have no more ground for one than the 
 other, for we have to plead the promise of a 
 faithful God. Jacob took him there. " Thou 
 saidst," said he, " I will surely do thee good." 
 For from this promise he concluded that it 
 followed in reason he must be willing. 
 
 The text also gives some ground for us to 
 draw the same conclusion. "And him that 
 cometh to me I will in nowise cast out." Here 
 is his willingness asserted, as well as his power 
 suggested. It is worth your observation ihat 
 Abraham's faith considered rather God's power 
 than his willingness ; that is, he drew his con- 
 clusion, " I shall have a child," from the power 
 that was in God tc fulfil the promise to him; 
 for he concluded he was willing to give him 
 one, else he would not have promised one. 
 "He staggered not at the promise of God 
 through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giv- 
 ing glory to God, being fully persuaded that 
 what he had promised he was able to perform.'' 
 But was not his faith exercised or tried about 
 
 his willingness too? No; there was no show 
 of reason for that, because he had promised it: 
 indeed, had he not promised it he might law- 
 fully have doubted it, but since he had promised 
 it, there was left no ground at all for doubting, 
 because his willingness to give a son was dem- 
 onstrated in his promising him a son. T-hesa 
 words, therefore, are sufficient ground to en 
 courage any coming sinner that Christ is will 
 iug to his power to receive him ; and since h« 
 hath power also to do what he will, there is no 
 ground at all left to the coming sinner any 
 more to doubt, but to come in full hope of ac- 
 ceptance and of being received unto grace and 
 mercy. " And him that cometh." He saith 
 not. And him that is come, but, "and him that 
 cometh;" that is. And him whose heart be- 
 gins to move after me, who is leaving all' for 
 my sake ; him who is looking out, who is on 
 his journey to me. We must therefore distin- 
 guish betwixt coming and being come to Jesus 
 Christ. He that is come to him has attained 
 of him more sensibly what he felt before he 
 wanted than he has that but yet is coming to 
 him. 
 
 A man that is come to Christ has the ad- 
 vantage of him that is but coming to him ; and 
 that in seven things : 
 
 1. He that is come to Christ is nearer to 
 him than he that is but coming to him ; for he 
 that is but coming to him is yet, in some sense, 
 at a distance from him, as it is said of the 
 coming prodigal, "And while he was yet a 
 great way off." Now, he that is nearer to him 
 hath the best sight of him, and so is able to 
 make the best judgment of his wonderful 
 grace and beauty; as God saith, "Let them 
 come near and let them speak." And as the 
 apostle John saith, "And we have seen and 
 do testify that God sent his Son to be the Sa- 
 viour of the world." He that is not yet come, 
 though he is coming, is not fit, not being in- 
 deed capable, to make that judgment of the 
 worth and glory of the grace of Christ as ha 
 IS that is come to h/m and hath seen and be- 
 held it. Therefore, sinner, suspend thy judg- 
 ment till thou art come nearer. 
 
 2. He that is come to Christ hks the advan- 
 tage of him that is but coming, in that he is 
 eased of his burden, for he that is but coming 
 is not eased of his burden. He that is come 
 has cast his burden upon the Lord. By faith 
 he hath seen himself released thereof; but he 
 that is but coming hath it yet, as to sense and 
 feeling, upon his own shoulders. " Come unto 
 me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden," 
 
588 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 implies that their burden, though they are 
 coming, is yet upon them, and so will be till 
 indeed they are come to him. 
 
 3. He that is come to Christ hath the ad- 
 vantage of him that is but coming in this also 
 — namely, he hath drunl^ of the sweet and 
 soul-refreshing water of life; but he tbat is 
 but coming hath not. " If any man thirst, let 
 him come unto me and drink." 
 
 Markl he must come to him before he , 
 drinks, according to that of the prophet, "Ho! 
 every one that thirsteth, come ye to the 
 waters." He drinketh not as he cometh, but 
 when he is come to the water. 
 
 4. He that is come to Christ has the advan- 
 tage of him that as yet is but coming in this 
 also — to wit, he is not terrified with the noise, 
 and, as I may call it, hue and cry, which the 
 avenger of blood makes at the heels of him 
 that yet is but coming to him. When the 
 slayer was on his flight to the city of his re- 
 fuge he had the noise or fear of the avenger 
 of blood at his heels, but when he was come 
 to the city and was entered thereinto the noise 
 ceased: even so it is with him that is coming 
 to Jesus Christ : he heareth many a dreadful 
 sound in his ear — sounds of death and damna- 
 tion, which he that is come is at present freed 
 from. Therefore he saith, " Come, and J will 
 give you rest ;" and so he saith again, " We 
 that have believed do enter into rest," as he 
 said, &c. 
 
 5. He, therefore that is come to Christ is not, 
 so subject to those dejections and castings 
 down, by reason of the rage and assaults of 
 the evil one, as is the man that is but coming 
 to Jesus Christ, though he has temptations 
 too. "And whilst he was yet coming the 
 devil threw him down and tore him." For he 
 has, though Satan still roareth upon him, those 
 experimental comforts and refreshments — to 
 wit, in his treasury — to present himself with 
 in times of temptation and conflict, which he 
 that is but coming has not. . 
 
 6. He that is come to Christ has the advan- 
 tage of him that is but coining to him in this 
 also — to wit, he hath upon him the wedding- 
 garment, &c., but he that is coming has not. 
 The prodigal, when coming home to his fa- 
 ther, was clothed with nothing but rags, and 
 was tormented with an empty belly ; but when 
 he was come the best robe is brought out, also 
 the gold ring and the shoes ; yea, they are put 
 upon him, to his great rejoicing. The fatted 
 calf was killed for him, the music was st;ruck 
 up to make him merry ; and thus also the fa- 
 
 ther himself sang of him, " This ray son was 
 dead and is alive again; was lost and is 
 found." 
 
 7. In a word, he that is come to Christ, hia 
 groans and~ tears, his doubts and fears, are 
 turned into songs and praises for that he hath 
 now received the atonement and the earnest 
 of his inheritance; but he that is but yet a 
 coming hath not those praises nor songs of 
 deliverance' with him, nor has he as yet re- 
 ceived the atonement and earnest of his inher- 
 itance, which is the sealing testimony of the 
 Holy Ghost through the sprinkling of the 
 blood of Christ upon his conscience ; for he la 
 not come. 
 
 " And him that cometh." There is further 
 to be gathered from this word cometh these 
 following particulars : ' 
 
 1. That Jesus Christ hath his eye upon and 
 takes notice of the first moving of the heart of 
 a sinner after him. Coming sinner, thou canst 
 not move with desires after Christ but he sees 
 the working of those desires in thy heart. 
 "All my desires," said David, "are before 
 thee, and my groanings are not hid from thee." 
 This he spake as he was coming (after he had 
 backslidden) to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is 
 said of the prodigal, " that while he was yet a 
 great way off' his father saw him," had his eye 
 upon him, and upon the going out of his heart 
 after him. 
 
 When Nathaniel was come to Jesus Christ, 
 the Lord said to them that stood before him, 
 " Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is 
 no guile." But Nathaniel answered him, 
 "Whence knowest thou me?" Jesus an- 
 swered, " Before that Philip called thee, when 
 thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee." 
 There, I suppose, Nathaniel was pouring out 
 of his soul to God for mercy, or that he would 
 give him good understanding about the Mes- 
 siah to come ; and Jesus saw all the workings 
 of his honest heart at that time. 
 
 Zaccheus also had some secret movings of 
 heart, such as they were, towards Jesus Christ, 
 when he ran before and cjimbed up the tree to 
 see him, and the Lord Jesus Christ had his 
 eye upon him ; therefore, when he was come 
 to the place he looked up to him, bids him 
 come down, "for to-day," said he, "I must 
 abide at thy house" — to wit, in order to the 
 further completing the work of grace in his 
 soul. Remember this, coming sinner. 
 
 2. As Jesus hath his eye upon, so he hath 
 his heart open to receive, the coming sinnet. 
 This is verified by the text : " And him that 
 
COME AND WELCOME TO JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 589 
 
 Cometh to me I will in nowise cast out." This 
 is also discovered by his preparing of the way, 
 in his making of it easy (as it may be) to the 
 coming sinner ; which preparation is manifest 
 by these blessed words, " I will in nowise cast 
 ont," of which more when we come to the 
 place. " And while he was yet a great way 
 oft his fa her saw him and had compassion on 
 him, and ran and fell on his neck, and kissed 
 him." All these expressions do strongly prove 
 that the heart of Christ is open to receive the 
 coming sinner. 
 
 3. As Jesus Christ hath his eye upon, and 
 his heart open to receive, so he hath resolved 
 already that nothing shall alienate his heart 
 from receiving, the coming sinner. No sins 
 of the coming sinner, nor the, length of the 
 time that he hath abode in them, shall^by any 
 means prevail with Jesus Christ to reject him. 
 Coming sinner, thou art coming to a loving 
 Lord Jesus. 
 
 4. These words, therefore, dropped from his 
 blessed mouth on purpose that the coming 
 sinner might take encouragement to continue 
 on his journey until he be come indeed to Jesus 
 Christ. It was doubtless a great encourage- 
 ment to blind Bartimeus that Jesus Christ 
 stood. still and called him when he was crying, 
 " Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy upon 
 me :" therefore it is said, " he cast away his 
 garment, rose up and came to Jesus." Now, 
 if a call to come hath such encouragement in 
 it, what is a promise of receiving such but an 
 encouragement much more? And observe it, 
 though he had a call to come, yet not having 
 a promise, his faith was forced to work upon a 
 mere consequence, saying, He calls me; and 
 surely, since he calls me, he will grant me my 
 desire. Ah but, coming sinner, thou hast no 
 need to go so far about as to draw in this mat- 
 ter consequences, because thou hast plain prom- 
 ises: "And him that cometh to me I will in 
 nowise cast out." Here is full, plain, yea, 
 what encouragement one can desire ; for sup- 
 pcde thou wert admitted to make a promise 
 thyself, and Christ should attest that he would 
 ftilfil it upon the sinner that cometh to him, 
 couldst thou make a better promise? couldst 
 thou indent a more full, free, or larger promise 
 — a promise that looks at the first moving of 
 the heart after Jesus Christ ; a promise that 
 declares, yea, that engageth Christ Jesus to 
 open his heart to receive the coming -sinner; 
 yea, farther, a promise that demonstrateth that 
 the Lord Jesus is resolved freely to receive, 
 and will in nowise cast out, nor means to re- 
 
 ject the soul of, the coming sinner. For all 
 this lieth fully in this promise, and doth natu- 
 rally flow therefrom. Here thou needst not 
 make use of far-fetched consequences, nor strain 
 thy wits to force encouraging arguments from 
 the text. Coming sinners, the words are plain : 
 " And him that cometh to me I will in nowise 
 cast out." 
 
 "And him that cometh," There are two 
 sorts of sinners that are coming to Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 1. Him that hath never, until of late, at all 
 begun to come. 
 
 2. Him that came formerly, and after that 
 went back, but hath since bethought himself 
 and is now coming again. 
 
 Both these sorts of sinners are intended by 
 the him in the text, as is evident, because both 
 are now the coming sinners. 
 
 For the first of these. The sinner that hath 
 never, until of late, begun to come, his way is 
 more easy— I do not say more plain and open 
 to come to Christ than is the other, (those lost 
 having the clod of a guilty conscience of the 
 sin of backsliding hanging at their heels.) 
 But all the encouragement of the gospel, with 
 what invitations are herein contained to coming 
 sinners, are as free and as open to the one as 
 the other; so that they may with the same 
 freedom and liberty, as from the word, both 
 alike claim interest in the promise. "All 
 things are ready" — all things for the coming 
 backslider, as well as for the others : " Come 
 to the wedding, and let him that is athirst 
 come." 
 
 But having spoke of the first of these 
 already, I shall here pass it by, and shall 
 speak a word or two to him that is coming, 
 after backsliding, to Jesus Christ for life. 
 
 Thy way, thou sinner of a double dye ! — 
 thy way is open to come to Jesus Christ ; I 
 mean thee whose heart, after long back- 
 sliding, doth think of turning to him again. 
 Thy way, I say, is open to him, as is the way 
 of the other sorts of comers, as appears by 
 what follows : 
 
 1. Because the text makes no exception 
 against thee : it doth not say. And any him 
 but a backslider — any him but him The 
 text doth not thus object, but indefinitely 
 openeth wide its golden arms to every coming 
 soul, without the least exception ; therefore 
 thou mayest come. And take heed that thou 
 shut not that door against thy soul by unbe- 
 lief which God has opened by his grace. 
 
 2. Nay, the text is so far from excepting 
 
690 
 
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 against thy coming that it strongly suggesteth 
 that thou art one of the souls intended, thou 
 coming backslider, else what need that clause 
 have been so inserted, " I will in nowise cast 
 out?" As who should say, Though those that 
 now come are such as have formerly back- 
 slidden, I will in nowise cast away the fornica- 
 tor, the covetous, the railer, the drunkard, or 
 other common sinners, nor yet the backslider 
 neither. 
 
 3. That the backslider is intended is evi- 
 dent — 
 
 1st, For that he is sent to by name, "Go 
 tell his disciples, and Peter." But Peter was 
 a godly man. True, but he was also a back- 
 slider, yea, a desperate backslider: he had 
 denied his Master once, twice, thrice, cursing 
 and swearing that he knew him not. If this 
 was not backsliding, if this was not a high 
 and eminent backsliding, yea, a higher back- 
 sliding than thou art capable of, I have thought 
 amiss. 
 
 Again, when David had backslidden, and 
 had committed adultery and murder in his 
 backsliding, he must be sent to by name. 
 " And," saith the text, " the Lord sent Nathan 
 to David." And he sent him to tell him, after 
 he had brought him to unfeigned acknowledg- 
 ment, " The Lord hath also put away (or for- 
 given) thy sins.'' 
 
 This man was also far gone: he took a 
 man's wife and killed her husband, and en- 
 deavoured to cover all with wicked dissimula- 
 tion. He did this, I say, after God exalted 
 him and showed him great' favour; wherefore 
 his transgression was greatened also by the 
 prophet with mighty aggravations: yet he 
 was accepted, and that with gladness, at the 
 first step he took in his returning to Christ; 
 for the first step of the backslider's return is 
 to say, sensibly and unfeiguedly, "I have 
 sinned;" but he had no sooner said thus but a 
 pardon was pronounced, yea, thrust into his 
 bosom. " And Nathan said unto David, The 
 ]jOrd hath also put away thy sin." 
 
 2dly. As the person of the backslider is 
 mentioned by name, so also is his sin, that, 
 if possible, thy objections against thy return- 
 ing to Christ may be taken out of the way ; — 
 I say, thy sin also is mentioned by name, and 
 mixed, as mentioned, with words of grace and 
 favour. " I will heal their backslidings and 
 love them freely." What sayest thou now, 
 backslider? 
 
 3dly. Nay, farther, thou art not only men- 
 tioned by name, and thy sin by the nature of 
 
 it, but thou thyself, who art a returning back* 
 slider, put— 
 
 (1.) Amongst God's Israel. "Ketum, O 
 backsliding Israel, saith the Lord, and I will 
 not cause mine anger to fall upon you, for I 
 am merciful, saith the Lord, and will not 
 keep anger for ever.'' 
 
 (2.) Thou art put among his children, 
 among his children to whom he is married. 
 " Turn, backsliding children, for I am mar 
 ried unto you." 
 
 (3.) Yea, after all this, as if his heart was 
 so full of grace for them that he was pressed 
 until he had uttered it before them, he adds, 
 " Return, ye backsliding children, and I will 
 heal your backsliding." 
 
 (4.) Nay, farther, the Lord hath considered 
 that the shame of thy sin hath stopped thy 
 mouth and made thee almost a prayerless 
 man, and therefore he saith unto thee, " Take 
 with you words and turn unto the Lord, and 
 say unto him. Take away all iniquity and re- 
 ceive us graciously." See his grace that him- 
 self should put words of encouragement iilto 
 the heart of a backslider ! , As he saith in an- 
 other place, " I taught Ephraim to go, taking 
 him by the arms." This is teaching him to 
 go indeed, to hold him up by the arms — by 
 the chin, as we say. 
 
 From what has been said I conclude, evec 
 as I said before, that the him in the text and 
 "him that cometh" includeth both these sorts 
 of sinners, and therefore both should freely 
 come. 
 
 Question. But where doth Jesus Christ in 
 all the words of the New Testament expressly 
 speak to a returning backslider with words of 
 grace and peace? for what you have urged as 
 yet from the New Testament is nothing but 
 consequences drawn from this text. Indeed, 
 it is a full text for carnal, ignorant sinners 
 that come, but to me, who am a backslider, it 
 yieldeth but little relief. 
 
 Answer 1. How ! but little encourag'inent 
 from the text when it is said, "I will in no- 
 wise cast out 1" What more could have been 
 said? What is here omitted that might have 
 been inserted to make the promise more full 
 and free ? Nay, take all the promises in the 
 Bible, all the freest promises, with all the 
 variety of expressions, of what nature or ex- 
 tent soever, and they can but amount to the 
 expressions of this very promise, " I will in 
 nowise cast (^ut" — will for nothing, by no 
 means, upon no account, however they have 
 sinned, however they have backslidden, how- 
 
COME AND WELCOME TO JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 591 
 
 ever they have provoked, cast out the coming 
 \inner. But, 
 
 2. Thou sayest, Where doth Jesus Christ, 
 in all the words of the New Testament, speak 
 to a returning backslider with words of grace 
 and peace — that is, under the name of a back- 
 slider? 
 
 Answer. Where there is such plenty of ex- 
 amples in receiving backsliders, there is the 
 less need for express words to that intent: one 
 promise, as the text is, with those examples 
 that are annexed, is instead of many promises. 
 And besides, I reckon that the act of receiving 
 is as so much, if not of more, encouragement 
 than is a bare promise to receive; for receiving 
 is as the promise to receive; for receiving is as 
 the promise and the fulfilling of it too; so that 
 in the Old Testament thou hast the p'omise, 
 and in the New the fulfilling of it, and that in 
 divers examples. 
 
 1. In Peter. Peter denied his Master once, 
 twice, thrice, and that with an open oath, yet 
 Christ receives him again without any the 
 least hesitation or stick. Yea, he slips, stum- 
 bles, falls again in downright dissimulation, 
 and that to the hurt and fall of many others ; 
 but neither of this doth Christ make a bar to 
 his salvation, but receives him again at his re- 
 turn as if he knew nothing of the fault, 
 
 2. The rest of his disciples, even all of them, 
 did backslide, and leave the Lord Jesus in his 
 greatest straits. "Then all the disciples for- 
 sook him and fled; they returned (as he had 
 foretold) every one to his own, and left him 
 alone;'' but this also he passes over as a very 
 light matter: not that it was so indeed in it- 
 self, but the abundance of grace that was in 
 him did lightly roll it away ; for after his res- 
 urrection, when first he appeared unto them, 
 ho gives them not the least check for their 
 perfidious dealings with him, but salutes them 
 with words of grace, saying, "All hail! Be 
 not afraid, peace be to you, all power in 
 heaven and earth is given unto me." True, 
 he rebuked them for their unbelief, for the 
 which also thou deservest the same, for it is 
 unbelief that alone puts Christ and his hene- 
 fits from us. 
 
 3. The man that after a large profession lay 
 with his father's, wife committed a high trans- 
 gression, even such a one that at that day was 
 not heard of, no not among the Gentiles. 
 Wherefore this was a desperate backsliding, 
 yet at his return he was received and accepted 
 again to mercy. 
 
 4. The thief that stole was bid to steal no 
 
 more, not at all doubting but that Christ was 
 ready to forgive him this act of backsliding. 
 
 Now all these are examples, particular in- 
 stances, of Christ's readiness to receive the 
 backsliders to mercy; and observe it, ex- 
 amples and proofs that he hath done so are to 
 our unbelieving hearts stronger encourage- 
 ments than bare promises that so he will do. 
 But again the Lord Jesus hath added to these, 
 for the encouragement of returning back- 
 sliders to come to him — 
 
 1. A call to come and he will receive them. 
 Wherefore New Testament backsliders have 
 encouragement to come. 
 
 2. A declaration of readiness to receive them 
 that come, as here in the text and in many 
 other places, is plain; therefore, "Set thee up 
 these marks, make thee those high heaps, (of 
 the golden grace of the gospel,) set thine heart 
 towards the highway, even the way that thou 
 wentest (when thou didst backslide;) turn 
 again, virgin of Israel, turn again to these 
 thy cities." 
 
 "And him that coraeth." He saith not. 
 And him that talketh, that professeth, that 
 maketh a show, ^ noise or the Jike, but "him 
 that cometh." Christ will take leave to judge 
 who among the many that make a noise they 
 be that indeed are coming to him. It is not 
 him that saith he comes, nor him of whom 
 others affirm that he comes, but him that 
 Christ himself shall say doth comfe, that is 
 concerned in this text. When the woman 
 that had a bloody issue came to him for cure, 
 there were others as well as she that made a 
 great bustle about him, that touched, yea, 
 thronged him. Ah, but Christ could dis- 
 tinguish this woman from them all. "And 
 he looked round about upon them all, to see 
 her that had done this thing." 
 
 He was not concerned with the thronging or 
 touching of the rest, for theirs were but acci- 
 dental, or at best void of that which made her 
 touch acceptable. Wherefore, Christ must be 
 judge who they be that in truth are coming to 
 him. "Every man's ways are right in his own 
 eyes, but the Lord weigheth the spirits." It 
 standett therefore every one in hand to be 
 certain of their coming to Jesus Christ, for as 
 thy coming is, so shall thy salvation be; if 
 thou comest indeed, thy salvation shall be in- 
 deed; but if thou comest but in outward ap- 
 pearance, so shall thy salvation be. But of 
 coming see before, as also afterwards, in the use 
 and application. 
 
 " And him that cometh to me." These word* 
 
592 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 to me are also to be well heeded, for by them, 
 as he secureth those that come to him, so also 
 he shows himself unconcerned with those that 
 in their coming rest short to turn aside to 
 othera; for you must know that every one 
 that comes comes not to Jesus Christ; some 
 that come come to Moses and to his law, and 
 there take up for life; with these Christ is not 
 concerned, with these his promise has not to 
 ,rlo. "Christ is become of none effect unto 
 you, whoso of you are justified by the law ; ye 
 are fallen from grace." Again, some that 
 come come no farther than the gospel ordi- 
 nances, and there stay; they come not through 
 them to Christ; with these neither is he con- 
 cerned, nor will their "Lord, Lord!" avail 
 them any thing in the great and dismal day. 
 A man may come to, and also go from, the 
 place and ordinances of worship, and yet not 
 be remembered by Christ. "So I saw the 
 wicked buried," said Solomon, " who had come 
 and gone from the place of the Holy, and 
 they were forgotten in the city where they had 
 so done; this is also vanity." 
 
 "To me." These words, therefore, are by 
 Jesus Christ very warily put /in, and serve for 
 caution and encouragement — for caution, lest 
 we take up in our coming any thing short of 
 Christ; and for encouragement to those that 
 shall in their coming come past all till they 
 come to Jesus Christ: "And him that cometh 
 to me I will in nowise cast out." 
 
 Reader, if thou lovest thy soul, take this 
 caution kindly at the" hands of Jesus Christ. 
 Thou seest thy sickness, thy wound, thy neces- 
 sity of salvation ; well, go not to King Jareb, 
 for he cannot heal thee nor cure thee of thy 
 wound. Take the caution, I say, lest Christ, 
 instead of being a Saviour unto thee, becomes 
 a lion, a young lion to tear thee, and go away. 
 
 There is a coming, but not to the Most 
 High; there is a coming, but not with the 
 whole heart, but as it were feignedly ; therefore 
 lake the caution kindly. 
 
 " And him that cometh to me." Christ, as a 
 Saviour, will stand alone, because his own arm 
 alone hath brought salvation unto him : he 
 will not be joined with Moses, nor suffer John 
 Baptist to be tabernacled by him: I say they 
 must vanish, for Christ will stand alone ; yea, 
 God the Father will have it so ; therefore, they 
 must be parted from him, and a voice from 
 heaven must come to bid the disciples hear 
 only the beloved Son. Christ will not suffer 
 any law or ordinance, statute or judgment to 
 be partners with him in the salvation of the 
 
 sinner. Nay, he saith not. And him that 
 cometh to my word, but. And him that cometh 
 to me. The words of Christ, even his most 
 blessed and free promises, such as this in the 
 text, are not the Saviour of the world, for that 
 is Christ himself, Christ himself only. The 
 promises, therefore, are but to encourage com- 
 ing sinners to come to Jesus Christ, and not to 
 rest in them short of salvation by men. " And 
 him that cometh io me." The man, therefore, 
 that comes aright casts all things behind his 
 back and looketh at (nor hath his expectations 
 from aught but) the Son of God alone ; and 
 David said, " My soul, wait thou only upon 
 God : for my expectation is from him : he only 
 is my rock and my salvation ; he is my defence, 
 I shall not be moved." His eye is to Christ, 
 his heart is to Christ, and his expectation is 
 from him, from him only. 
 
 Therefore the man that comes to Christ is 
 one that hath had deep considerations of his 
 own sins, slighting thoughts of his own right- 
 eousness, and high thoughts of the blood and 
 righteousness of Jesus Christ; yea, he sees, aa 
 I have said, more virtue in the blood of Christ 
 to save him than there is in all his sins to 
 damn him. He therefore setteth Christ before 
 his eyes ; there is nothing in heaven or earth, 
 he knows, that can save his soul and secure 
 him from the wrath of God but Christ ; that is, 
 nothing but his personal righteousness and 
 blood. 
 
 " And him that cometh to me I will in no- 
 wise cast out." " In nowise :" by these words 
 there is something expressed and- something 
 implied. 
 
 1. That which is expressed is Jesus Christ, 
 his unchangeable resolution to save the coming 
 sinner: I will in nowise reject him, or deny 
 him the benefit of my death and righteousness, 
 This word, therefore, is like that which he 
 speaks of the everlasting damnation of the 
 sinner in hell-fire: "He shall by no means, 
 depart thence;" that is, never, never come out 
 again; no, not to all eternity. So that as he 
 that is condemned into hell-fire hath no ground 
 of hope for his deliverance thence, so him that 
 cometh to Christ hath no ground to fear he 
 shall ever be cast in thither. 
 
 Thus saith the Lord, " If heaven above can 
 be measured, or the foundation of the earth 
 .searched out beneath, I will also cast away all 
 the seed of Israel for all that they have done, 
 saith the Lord." 
 
 Thus saith the Lord, "If my covenant be 
 not with day and night, and if I have not ap- 
 
CO.VE AND WELCOME TO JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 593 
 
 lioinied the ordinances of heaven and earth, 
 then will I cast away the seed of Jacob." But 
 heaven cannot be measured, nor the founda- 
 tions of the earth searched out beneath ; his 
 covenant is also with day and night, and he 
 hath appointed the ordinances of heaven; 
 therefore he will not cast away the seed of 
 Jacob, who are the coming ones, but will cer- 
 tainly save them from the dreadful wrath to 
 come. By this, therefore, it is manifest that it 
 was not the greatness of sin, nor the long con- 
 tinuance in it, no, nor yet the backsliding nor 
 the pollution of thy nature, that can put a bar 
 in against or be a hindrance of the salvation 
 of the coming sinner ; for if indeed this could 
 be, then would this solemn and absolute de- 
 termination of the Lord Jesus of itself fall to 
 the ground and be made of none effect. • " But 
 his counsel shall stand, and he will do all his 
 pleasure ;" that is, his pleasure is this, for his 
 promise, as to this irreversible conclusion, 
 arises of his pleasure ; he will stand to it and 
 will fulfil it, because it is his pleasure. 
 
 Suppose that one man had the sins or as 
 many sins as a hundred, and another should 
 have a hundred times as many as he, yet if 
 they come, these words, " I will in nowise cast 
 out," secure them both alike. 
 
 Suppose a man has a desire to be saved, and 
 for that purpose is coming in truth to Jesus 
 Christ, but he, by his debauched life, has 
 damned many in hell ; why, the door of hope 
 is by theso words set as open for him as it is 
 for him that has not the thousandth part of 
 his transgressions. " And him that cometh to 
 me I will in nowise cast out." 
 
 Suppose a man is coming to Christ to be 
 saved, and hath nothing but sin and an ill- 
 spent life to bring with him; why, let him 
 come and welcome to Jesus Christ, " and he 
 will in nowise cast him out." Is not this love 
 that passeth knowledge ? and is not this love 
 the wonderment of angels? and is not this love 
 worthy of all acceptation at the hands and 
 hearts of all coming sinners ? 
 
 2. Th.at which is implied in the words is — 
 
 1st. The coming souls have those that con- 
 tinually lie at Jesus Christ to cast them off. 
 
 2dly. The coming souls are afraid that those 
 will prevail with Christ to cast them off. 
 
 For these words are spoken to satisfy us and 
 to stay up our spirits against these two dan- 
 gers : " I will in nowise cast out." 
 
 1st. For the frst, coming souls have those 
 that continually lie at Jesus Christ to cast 
 them off. 
 3S 
 
 And there are three things that thus bend 
 themselves against the coming sinner : 
 
 (1.) There is the devil, the accuser of the 
 brethren, that accuses them before God day 
 and night. This prince of darkness is un- 
 wearied in this work : he doth it, as you see, 
 day and night — that is, without ceasing. He 
 continually puts in his caveats against thee, if 
 so be he may prevail. How did he play it 
 against that good man Job, if possibly he 
 might have obtained his destruction in hell- 
 fire ? He objected against him that he served 
 not God for naught, and tempted God to put 
 forth his hand against him, urging that if he 
 did it he would curse him to his face ; and all 
 this, as God witnesseth, "he did without a 
 cause." How did he play it with Christ against 
 Joshua the high priest? "And he showed 
 me Joshua," saith the prophet, " the high 
 priest, standing before the angel of the Lord, 
 and Satan standing at his right hand to resist 
 him." 
 
 "To resist him" — that is, to prevail with 
 the Lord Jesus Christ to resist him, objecting 
 the uncleanness and unlawful marriage of his 
 sons" with the Gentiles; for that was the crime 
 that Satan laid against them. Yea, and for 
 aught I know, Joshua was also guilty of the 
 fact, but if not of that, of crimes no whit in- 
 ferior, for he was clothed with filthy garments 
 as he'stood before the angel. Neither had he 
 one word to say in vindication of himself 
 against all that this wicked one had to say 
 against him. But notwithstanding that, he 
 came off well ; but he might for it thank a 
 good Lord Jesus, because he did not resist 
 him, but, contrariwise, took up his cause, 
 pleaded against the devil, excusing his in- 
 firmity, and put justifying robes upon him 
 before his adversary's face. 
 
 " And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord 
 rebuke thee, O Satan, even the Lord that 
 hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee. Is not 
 this a brand plucked out of the fire? And 
 he answered and spake to those that stood 
 before him, saying, Take away the filthy gar- 
 ment from him ; and to him he said. Behold 
 I have caused thine iniquities to pass from 
 thee, and will clothe thee with a change of 
 raiment." 
 
 Again : how did Satan ply it against Peter 
 when he desired to have him that he might 
 sift him as wheat ! — that is, if possible, sever 
 all grace from his heart, and leave him noth- 
 ing but flesh and filth, to the end that he 
 might make the Lord Jesus loathe and abhoi 
 
594 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 him. "Simon, Simon,'' said Christ, "Satan 
 hath desired to have you, that he might sift 
 you as wheat." But did he prevail against 
 him? No. "But I have prayed for thee, 
 that thy faith fail not." As who should say, 
 Simon, Satan hath desired me that I would 
 give thee up to him, and not only thee, but all 
 the rest of thy brethren, (for that the word 
 you imports;) but I will not leave thee in his 
 hand : I have prayed for thee, thy faith shall 
 not fail. I will secure thee to the heavenly 
 inheritance. 
 
 (2.) As Satan, so every sin of the coming 
 sinner comes in with a voice against him, if 
 perhaps they may prevail with Christ to cast 
 off the soul. When Israel was coming out of 
 Egypt to Canaan how many times had their 
 sins thrown them out of the mercy of God had 
 not Moses, as a type of Christ, stood in the 
 breach to turn away his wrath from them! 
 Our iniquities testify against us, and would 
 certainly prevail against us, to our utter rejec- 
 tion and damnation, had we not an advocate 
 with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 
 
 The sins of the old world cried them down 
 to hell ; the sins of Sodom fetched upon them 
 fire from heaven, which devoured them ; the 
 sins of the Egyptians cried them down to hell, 
 because they came not to Jesus Christ for life. 
 Coming sinner, thy sins are no whit less than 
 any ; nay, perhaps they are as big as all theirs. 
 Why is it, then, that thou livest when they 
 are dead, and that thou hast a promise of 
 pardon when they had not? Why, thou 
 art coming to Jesus Christ, and therefore sin 
 shall not be thy ruin. 
 
 (3.) As Satan and sin, so the law of Moses, 
 as it is a perfect holy law, hath a voice against 
 you before the face of God. "There is one 
 that accuseth you, even Moses's law." Yea, it 
 accuseth all men of transgression that have 
 sinned against it, for as long as sin is sin 
 there will be a law to accuse for sin. But 
 this accusation shall not prevail against the 
 coiping sinner, because it is Christ that died 
 and that ever lives to make intercession for 
 them that " come to God by him." 
 
 These things, I say, do accuse us before 
 Christ Jesus ; yea, and also to our own faces, 
 if perhaps they might prevail against us. But 
 these words, " I will in nowise cast out," se- 
 cureth the coming sinner from them all. 
 
 The coming sinner is notsaved because there 
 is none that comes in against him, but because 
 the Lord Jesus will not hear their accusations, 
 will not oast out the coming sinner. 
 
 When Shimei came down to meet King 
 David and to ask pardon for his rebellion, up 
 starts Abishai and puts in his caveat, saying, 
 Shall not Shimei die for this? This is the 
 case of him that comes to Christ: he hath this 
 Abishai and that Abishai that presently steps 
 in against him, saying. Shall not this rebel's 
 sin destroy him in hell ? Bead farther : " But 
 David answered, What have I to do with you, 
 ye sons of Zeruiah, that you should this 
 day be adversaries to me? Shall there any 
 man be put to death this day in Israel, for 
 do I not know that I am king this day over 
 Israel?" 
 
 That is Christ's answer by the text to all 
 that accuse the coming Shimeis : What have 
 I to do with you that accuse the coming sin- 
 ners to me? I count you adversaries that are 
 against my showing mercy to them. Do not I 
 know that I am exalted this day to be King 
 of righteousness and King of peace? "I will 
 in nowise cast them out." 
 
 2dly. But again : these words do closely im- 
 ply that the coming souls are afraid that these 
 accusers will prevail against them, as is evi- 
 dent, because the text is spoken for their re- 
 lief and succour; for that need not be if they 
 that are coming are not subject to fear and 
 despond upon this account. Alas ! there is 
 guilt, and the curse lies upon the conscience 
 of the coming sinner. 
 
 Besides, he is conscious to himself what a 
 villain, what a wretch ho hath been against 
 God and Christ. Also he now knows, by woe- 
 ful experience, how he hath been at Satan's 
 beck and at the motion of every lust. He 
 hath now also new thoughts of the holiness 
 and justice of God : also he feels that he can- 
 not forbear sinning against him : " for the mo- 
 tions of sin, which are by the law, do stil' 
 work in his members, to bring forth fruit unto 
 death.'' But none of this need discourage, 
 since we have so good, so tender-hearted, and 
 so faithful a Jesus to come to, who will rather 
 overthrow heaven and earth than suffer a tittle 
 of this text to fail : " And him that cometh to 
 me I will in nowise cast out." 
 
 Now we have yet to inquire into two things 
 that lie in the words to which there hath been 
 nothing said; as, 1. What it is to cast out; 2. 
 How it appears that Christ hath power to save 
 or cast out. 
 
 For the first of these — What it is to cast out. 
 To this I will speak — 1. Generally; 2. Mora 
 particularly. 
 
 1. To cast out is to slight, and despise, and 
 
COME AND WELCOME TO JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 595 
 
 contemn, a'^ it is said of Saul's shield, " it was 
 vilely cast away " — that is, slighted and con- 
 temned. Thus it is with the sinners that come 
 not to Jesus Christ; he slights, despises, and 
 contemns them — that is, "casts them' away." 
 
 2. Things cast away are reputed as the dirt 
 of the street. And thus it shall be with the 
 men that come not to Jesus Christ; they shall 
 be counted as the dirt in the streets. 
 
 3. To be cast out or oflf is to be abhorred, 
 not to be pitied, but to be put to a perpetual 
 shame. 
 
 But more particularly to come to the text. 
 The casting out here mentioned is not limited 
 to this or the other evil; therefore it must be 
 extended to the most extreme and utmost piis- 
 ery. Or thus : 
 
 He that cometh to Christ shall not want 
 anything that may make him gospelly-happy 
 in this world or that which is to come, nor 
 shall he want anything that cometh not that 
 may make him spiritually and eternally mis- 
 erable. 
 
 But further : as it is to be generally taken, 
 80 it respecteth things that shall be hereafter. 
 
 For the things that are now, they are either 
 — 1. More general ; 2. Or more particular. 
 
 First, more general, thus : 
 
 1. It is to be cast out of the presence and fa- 
 vour of God. 
 
 Tlvus was Cain cast out : " thou hast driven'' 
 (or cast) " me out this day ; from thy face" 
 (that is, from thy favour) " shall I be hid." A 
 dreadful complaint 1 but the effect of a more 
 dreadful judgment. 
 
 2. " To be cast out" is to be cast out of God's 
 sight. God will look after them no more, care 
 for them no more, nor will he watch over them 
 any more for good. Now they that are so are 
 left, like blind men, to wander and fall into the 
 pit of hell. This therefore is also a sad judg- 
 ment ; therefore here is the mercy of him that 
 cometh to Christ. He shall not be left to wan- 
 der at uncertainties. The Lord Jesus Christ 
 will keep him as a shepherd doth his sheep. 
 " Him that cometh to me I will in nowise cast 
 out." 
 
 8. " To be cast out" is to be c^enied a place 
 in God's house, and to be left as fugitives and 
 vagabonds, to pass a little time away in this 
 miserable life, and after that to go down to the 
 dead. Therefore here i^ the benefit of him 
 that cometh to Christ, he shall not be denied a 
 place in God's house. They shall not be left 
 like vagabonds in the world. " Him that com- 
 eth to me I will in nowise cast out." 
 
 4. In a word, " to be cast out" is to be re- 
 jected as are the fallen angels, for their eter- 
 nal damnation began at their being cast down 
 from heaven to hell. So, then, " not to be cast 
 out" is to have a place, a house and habitation 
 there, and to have a share in the privileges of 
 elect angels. 
 
 These words, therefore, " I will not cast out," 
 will prove great words one day to them that 
 come to Jesus Christ. 
 
 Secondly, and more particularly : 
 
 1. Christ hath/ everlasting life for him that 
 cometh to him, and he shall never perish, " for 
 he will in nowise cast him out;" but for the 
 rest, they are rejected, cast out, and must be 
 damned. 
 
 2. Christ hath everlasting righteousness to 
 clothe them with that come to him, and they 
 shall be covered with it as with a garment; 
 but the rest shall be found in the filthy rags of 
 their own stinking pollutions, and shall be 
 wrapped up iu them as in a winding-sheet, 
 and so bear their shame before the Lord and 
 also before the angels. 
 
 3. Christ hath precious blood, that, like an 
 open fountain, stands free for him to wash in 
 that comes to him for life, " and he will in no- 
 wise cast him out ;" but they that come not to 
 him are rejected from a share therein, and are 
 left to ireful vengeance for their sins. 
 
 4. Christ hath precious promises, and they 
 shall have a share in them that come to him 
 for life, "for he will in nowise cast them out;" 
 but they that come not can have no share in 
 them, because they are true only in him ; for 
 in him, and only in him, all the promises are 
 yea and amen. Wherefore they that come not 
 to him are no whit the better for them. 
 
 5. Christ hath also fulness of grace in him- 
 self for them that come to him for life, " and 
 he will in nowise cast them out ;" but those 
 that come not unto him are left in their grace- 
 less state, and as Christ leaves them, death, 
 hell, and judgment finds them. "He that 
 findeth me," saith Christ, " findeth life, and 
 shall obtain favour of the Lord ; but he that 
 sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul. All 
 that hate me love death." 
 
 6. Christ is an intercessor, and ever liveth to 
 make intercession for them that come to God 
 by him; "but their sorrows shall be multi- 
 plied that hasten after another" (or other) 
 "gods," (their sins and lusts.) "Their drink- 
 ofierings will he not suffer, nor take up their 
 names into his lips." 
 
 7. Christ hath wonderful love, bowels, and 
 
596 
 
 BVNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 compassion for those that come to him, for 
 " he will ill nowise cast them out ;" but the 
 rest will find him a lion rampant ; he will one 
 day tear them all to pieces. " Now consider 
 this," saith he, "ye that forget God, lest I tear 
 you in pieces, and there be none to deliver 
 you." 
 
 8, Christ is known by, and for his salce those 
 that come to him have their persons and per- 
 formances accepted of, the Father, "and he 
 will in nowise cast them out;" but the rest 
 must fly to the rocks and mountains for shelter, 
 but all in vain, to hide them from his face and 
 wrath. 
 
 But again: these words, caM out, have a 
 special look to what will be hereafter, even at 
 the day of judgment; for then, and not till 
 then, will be the great anathema and casting out 
 made manifest, even manifest by execution. 
 Therefore here to speak to this, and that under 
 these two heads; as, 1. Of the casting out 
 itself; 2. Of the place into which they shall 
 be cast that shall then be cast out. 
 
 First. The casting out itself standeth in 
 two things : 
 
 1. In a preparatory work. 
 
 2. In the manner of executing the act. 
 The preparatory work standeth in these 
 
 three things : 
 
 1. It standeth in their separation that have 
 not come to him from them that have at that 
 day. Or thus : at the day of the great casting 
 out those that have not now come to him shall 
 be separated from them that have, for them 
 that have " he will not cast out.'' " When the 
 Son of man shall come in his glory, and all 
 his holy angels with him, then he shall sit 
 upon the throne of his glory, and before him 
 shall be gathered all nations, and he shall sep- 
 arate them one from another, as a shepherd 
 divideth the sheep from the goats." 
 
 This dreadful separation, therefore, shall 
 then be made betwixt them that now come to 
 Christ and them that come not; and good 
 reason, for since they would not with us come 
 to him now they have time, why should they 
 stand with us when judgment is come? 
 
 2. They shall be placed before him accord- 
 ing to their condition : they that have come to 
 him in great dignity, even at his right hand, 
 " for he will in nowise cast them out;" but the 
 rest shall be set at his left hand, the place of 
 disgrace and shame, for they did not come to 
 him for life. 
 
 Distinguished also shall they be by fit terms : 
 those that come to him he calleth the sheep. 
 
 but the rest are frowish goats, "and he shall 
 separate them one from another, as the shep- 
 herd divideth the sheep from the goats ; and 
 the sheep will be set on the right hand," (next 
 heaven-gate, for they came to him,) "but the 
 goats on the' left," to go from him into hell, 
 because they are not of his sheep. 
 
 3. Then will Christ proceed to conviction of 
 those that came not to him, and will say, "I 
 was a stranger, and ye took me not in," or did 
 not come unto me. Their excuse of them- 
 selves he will slight as dirt, and proceed to 
 their final judgment. 
 
 Now when these wretched rejecters of Christ 
 shall thus be set before him in their sins and 
 convicted, this is the preparatory work upon 
 which follows the manner of executing the act 
 which will be done : 
 
 1. In the presence of all the holy angels. 
 
 2. In the presence of all them that in their 
 lifetime came to him, by saying unto them, 
 " Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting 
 fire, prepared for the devil and his angels," 
 with the reason annexed to it : for you were 
 cruel to me and mine, particularly discovered 
 in these words: " For I was an hungered, and 
 ye gave me no meat ; thirsty, and ye gave me 
 no drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me 
 not in ; naked, and ye clothed me not ; sick 
 and in prison, and ye visited me not." 
 
 Secondly. Now it remains that we speak 
 of the place into which these shall be cast, 
 which in the general you have heard already 
 — to wit, the fire prepared for the devil and 
 his angels. But, in particular, it is thus de- 
 scribed : 
 
 1. It is called Tophet. " For Tophet is or- 
 dained of old, yea, for the king," the Lucifer, 
 "it is prepared; he hath made it deep and 
 large, the pile thereof is fire and much wood , 
 the breath of the Lord like a stream of brim- 
 stone doth kindle it." 
 
 2. It is called hell. " It is better for thee to 
 enter into life halt or lame, than, having two 
 feet, to be cast into hell." 
 
 3. It is called "the wine-press of the wrath 
 of God." And the angel thrust in his sickle 
 into the earth, and gathered the vine of the 
 earth, (that "Is, them that did not come to 
 Christ,) and cast them out into the great wine- 
 press of the wrath of God. Eev. xiv. 19. 
 
 4. It is called a "lake of fire." And 
 whatsoever was not found written in the book 
 of life was cast into the lake of fire. Rev. xx. 
 15. 
 
 5. It is called a pit. "Thou hast said in 
 
COME AND WELCOME TO JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 597 
 
 thy heart, I will ascend to heaven, I will exalt 
 my throne abovu the stars of God, I will sit 
 also upon the mount of the congregation, in 
 the sides of the north. Yet thou shalt be 
 brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit." 
 
 6. It is called "a bottomless pit, out of 
 which the smoke and the locust came, and into 
 which the great dragon was cast;'' and it is 
 called bottomless, to show the endlessness of 
 the fall that they will have into it that come 
 not in the acceptable time to Jesus Christ. 
 
 7. It is called "outer darkness." "Bind 
 him hand and foot, and cast him into outer 
 darkness, and cast ye the unprofitable servant 
 into outer darkness; there shall be weeping 
 and gnashing of teeth." 
 
 8. It is called "a furnace of fire." As 
 therefore the tares are gathered and Uurned in 
 the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world: 
 the Son of man shall send forth his angels, 
 and he shalF gather out of his kingdom all 
 things that offend and them that do iniquity, 
 and shall cast them into a furnace of fire; 
 there shall he wailing and gnashing of teeth. 
 And again : So shall it be in the end of the 
 world ; the angels shall come forth and sever 
 the wicked from among the just, and shall 
 cast them into a ful-nace of fire ; there shall be 
 \va.iling and gnashing of teeth. Matt. xiii. 41- 
 51. 
 
 Lastly. It may not be amiss if in the con- 
 clusion of this I show in a few words to what 
 the things that torment them in this st^te are 
 compared. Indeed some of them have been 
 occasionally mentioned already, as that they 
 are compared — 
 
 1. To wood that burneth. 
 
 2. To fire. 
 
 3. To fire and brimstone. But, 
 
 4. It is compared to a worm, a gnawing 
 worm, a never-dying, gnawing worm : " They 
 are cast into hell, where their worm dieth not." 
 
 5. It is called "unquenchable fire:" "He 
 will gather his wheat into his garner, but will 
 burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." 
 
 6. It is called " everlasting destruction." 
 The Lo -d Jesus shall descend from heaven 
 with his mighty angels in flaming fire, taking 
 vengeance on them that know not God, and 
 that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ ; who shall be punished wi£n everlasting 
 destruction from the presence of the Lord and 
 from the glory of his power. 2 Thess. i. 7, 8. 
 
 7. It is called "wrath without mixture," 
 and is given them in the cup of his indigna- 
 tion. " If any man worship the beast and his 
 
 image, and receive the mark in his forehead oi 
 in his hand, the same shall drink of the wrath 
 of God, which is poured out without mixture 
 in the cup of his indignation, and he shall be 
 tormented with fire and brimstone in the 
 presence of the holy angels and in the presence 
 of the Lamb." 
 
 8. It is called " the second death." " And 
 death and hell were cast into the lake of fire ; 
 this is the second death. Blessed and holy is 
 he that hath part in the first resurrection ; jn 
 such the second death hath no power." 
 
 9. It is called " eternal damnation." " But 
 he that shall blaspheme against the Holy 
 Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger 
 of eternal' damnation." 
 
 Oh these three words I 
 
 " Everlasting punishment I" 
 
 " Eternal damnation !" 
 
 And " For ever and ever !" 
 
 How will they gnaw and eat up all the ex- 
 pectation of the end of the misery of the cast- 
 away sinners ! " And the smoke of their tor- 
 ment ascendeth up for ever and e^rer, and they 
 have no rest day nor night," &c. 
 
 Their behaviour in hell is set forth by four 
 things, as I know of — 1. By calling for help 
 and relief in vain; 2. By weeping; 3. By 
 wailing ; 4. "By gnashing of teeth. 
 
 And now we come to the second thing that 
 is to be inquired into — namely. How it appears 
 that Christ hath power, to save or to cast out, 
 for by these words, " I will in nowise cast out," 
 he declareth that he hath power to do both. 
 
 Now this inquiry admits us to search into 
 two things — 1. How it appears that he hath 
 power to save ; 2. How it appears that he hath 
 power to cast out. 
 
 That he hath power to save appears by that 
 which follows : 
 
 1. To speak only of him as he is Mediator: 
 he was authorized to this blessed work by his 
 Father before the world began. Hence the 
 apostle said, " He hath chosen us in him before 
 the foundation of the world," with all those 
 things that effectually will produce our salva- 
 tion. Eead the same chapter, with 2 Tim. i. 9. 
 
 2. He was promised to our first parents, that 
 he should, in the fulness of time, bruise the 
 serpent's head, and, as Paul expounds it, re- 
 deem them that were under the law; hence 
 since that time he hath been reckoned as slain 
 for our sins. By which means all the fathers 
 under the first testament were secured from 
 the wrath to come ; hence he is called, " The 
 Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." 
 
598 
 
 JiUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 3. Moses gave testimony of him by the types 
 and shadows and bloody sacrifices that he com- 
 manded from the mouth of God to be in use 
 to the support of his people's faith until the 
 time of reformation, which was the time of 
 this Jesus his death. Heb. ix. and x. 
 
 4. At the time of his birth it was testified of 
 him by the angel "that he should save his 
 people from their sins." 
 
 5. It is testified of him in the days of his 
 fleah that he had power on earth to forgive sins. 
 
 6. It is testified also of him by the Apostle 
 Peter_ that God hath exalted him with his 
 own right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, 
 to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of 
 sins." 
 
 7. In a word, this is everywhere testified of 
 him, both in the Old Testament and the New. 
 
 And good reason that he should be acknow- 
 ledged and trusted in as a Saviour. 
 
 1. He came down from heaven to be a Sa- 
 viour. 
 
 2. He was anointed when on earth to be a 
 Saviour. 
 
 3. He'did the works of a Saviour. As— 
 (1.) He fulfilled the law and became the 
 
 end of it for righteousness for them that be- 
 lieve in him. 
 
 (2.) He laid down his life as a Saviour; he 
 gave his life as a ransom for many. 
 
 (3) He hath abolished death, destroyed the 
 devil, put away sin, got the keys of hell and 
 death, ascended into heaven, is there accepted 
 of God, and did sit at the right hand as a 
 Saviour ; and that because his sacrifice for sins 
 pleased God. 
 
 (4.) God hath sent out and proclaimed him 
 as a Saviour, and tells the world that we have 
 redemption through his blood, that he will 
 justify us if we believe in his blood, and that 
 he can faithfully and justly do it. Yea, God 
 doth beseech us to be reconciled to him by his 
 Son, which could not be if he were not anoint- 
 ed by him to this very end, and also if his 
 works and undertakings were not accepted of 
 him considered as a Saviour. 
 
 God hath already received millions of souls 
 into his paradise because they have received 
 this Jesus for a Saviour, and is resolved to cut 
 them ofl" and to cast them out of his presence 
 that will not take him for a Saviour. 
 
 I intend brevity here ; therefore a word to 
 the second, and so conclude. 
 
 How it appears that he hath power to cast 
 out. 
 
 This ai>pears also bj what follows : 
 
 1. The Father (for the service that he had 
 done him as a Saviour) hath made him Lord 
 of all, even Lord of quick and dead. " For 
 to this end Christ both died and rose and re- 
 vived, that he might be Lord both of the dead 
 and living." 
 
 2. The Father hath left it with him to quick- 
 en whom he will— to wit, with saving grace — 
 and to cast out whom he will for their rebel- 
 lion against him. 
 
 3. The Father hath made him judge of quick 
 and dead, hath committed all judgment unto 
 the Son, and appointed that all should honour 
 the Son even as they honour the Father. 
 
 4. God will judge the world by this man : 
 the day is appointed for judgment, and he is 
 appointed! for judge. " He hath appointed a 
 day in the which he will judge the world in 
 righteousness by that man." 
 
 Therefore we must all appear before the 
 judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may 
 receive for the things done in the body accord- 
 ing to what they have done. If they have 
 closed with him, heaven and salvation ; if they 
 have not, hell and damnation. 
 
 And for these reasons he must be judge : 
 
 1. Because of his humiliation : because of 
 his Father's word he humbled himself, and he 
 became obedient unto death, even the death of 
 the cross ; " Therefore God hath highly exalted 
 him, and given him a name above every name, 
 that at the name of Jesus every knee should 
 bow, both of things in heaven, and things on 
 earth, and things under the earth ; and that 
 every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ 
 is the Lord, to the glory of God the Father.'' 
 
 This hath respect to his being judge and his 
 sitting in judgment upon angels and men. 
 
 2. That all men might honour the Son even 
 as they honour the Father. " For the' Father 
 judgeth no man, but hath committed all judg- 
 ment unto the Son, that all men should honour 
 the Son even as they honour the Father." 
 
 3. Because of his righteous judgment: this 
 work is fit for no creature ; it is only fit for the 
 Son of God. For he will reward every man 
 according to his ways. 
 
 4. Because he is the Son of man. He hath 
 given him authority to execute judgment also, 
 because he is the Son of man. 
 
 Thus have I in brief passed through this 
 text by way of explication. My next work is 
 to speak to it by way of observation, but I 
 shall be also as brief in that as the nature of 
 the thing will admit. 
 
COME AND WELCOME TO JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 599 
 
 "All that the Father giveth me shall cohie 
 to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no- 
 wise cast out." 
 
 And now I come to some observations, and a 
 little briefly to speak to them, and then con- 
 clude the whole. 
 
 The words thus explained afford us many, 
 some of which are these : . 
 
 1. That God the Father and Christ his Son 
 rare two distinct pers6ns in the Godhead. 
 
 2. That by them (not excluding the Holy 
 Ghost) is contrived and determined the salva- 
 tion of fallen mankind. 
 
 3. That this contrivance resolved itself into 
 a covenant between these persons and the God- 
 head, which standeth in giving on the Father's 
 part and receiving on the Son's. "AH that 
 the Father giveth me,'' &c. • 
 
 4. That every one that the Father hath given 
 to Christ (according to the mind of God in the 
 text) shall certainly come to him. 
 
 5. That coming to Jesus Christ is therefore 
 not by the will, wisdom, or power of man, but 
 by the gift, promise, and drawing of the Fath- 
 er: "All that the Father giveth me shall 
 come." 
 
 6. That Jesus Christ will be careful to re- 
 ceive, and will not in any wise reject, those 
 that come or are coming to him. "And him 
 that cometh to me I will in nowise cast out." 
 
 There are, besides these, some other truths 
 implied in the words. As — 
 
 7. They that are coming to Jesus Christ are 
 ofttimes heartily afraid that he will not receive 
 them. 
 
 8. Jesus Christ would not have them that in 
 truth are coming to him once think that he 
 (vill cast them out. 
 
 These observations lie all of them in the 
 words, and are plentifully confirmed by the 
 Scriptures of truth; but I shall not at this 
 time speak to them all, but shall pass by the 
 first, second, third, fourth, and sixth, partly be- 
 cause I design brevity, and partly because they 
 are touched upon in the explicatory part of the 
 text, I shall therefore begin with the fifth ob- 
 servation, and so make that the first in order 
 in the following discourse : 
 
 I. First, then. Coming to Christ is not by the 
 will, wisdom, or power of man, but by the gift, 
 promise and drawing of the Father. This ob- 
 «ervation standeth of two parts : 
 
 (1.) The coming to Christ is not by the will, 
 wisdom, or power of man ; 
 
 (2.) But by the gift, promise, and drawing 
 of the Father. 
 
 That the text carrieth this truth in its bosom 
 you will find if you look into the explication 
 of the first part thereof before ; I shall there- 
 fore here follow the method propounded— viz., 
 show — 
 
 1. That coming to Christ is not by the will, 
 wisdom, or power of man. This is true, be- 
 cause the word doth positively say it is not. 
 
 First. It denielh it to be the will of man. 
 " Not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, 
 nor of the will of man." And again, "It is 
 not of him that willeth, nor of him that run- 
 neth.'' 
 
 Second. It denieth it to be of the wisdom 
 of man, as is manifest from these considera- 
 tions : 
 
 (1.) In the wisdom of God it pleased him 
 that the world by wisdom should not know 
 him. Now, if by their wisdom they cannot 
 know him, it follows that by wisdom they can- 
 not come unto him, for coming to him is not 
 before but after some knowledge of him. 
 
 (2.) The wisdom of man, in God's account, 
 as to the knowledge of Christ is reckoned fool- 
 ishness. " Hath not God made foolish the 
 wisdom of this world ? " and again, " The wis- 
 dom of this world is foolishness with God." 
 
 If God hath made foolish the wisdom of this 
 world, and again, if the wisdom of this world 
 is foolishness with him, then verily, it is not 
 likely that by that a sinner shall become so 
 prudent as to come to Jesus Christ, especially 
 if you consider — 
 
 (3.) That the doctrine of a crucified Christ, 
 and so flf salvation by him, is the very thing 
 that is counted foolishness to the wisdom of 
 the world. Now, if the very doctrine of a 
 crucified Christ be counted foolishness by the 
 wisdom of this world, it cannot be that by tiiat 
 wisdom a man should be drawn out in his souJ 
 to come to him. 
 
 (4.) God counted the wisdom of this world 
 one of his greatest enemies ; therefore by that 
 wisdom no man can come to Jesus Christ. 
 For it is not likely that one of God's greatest 
 enemies should draw a man to that which best 
 of all pleaseth God, as coming to Christ doth. 
 Now, that God counteth the wisdom of this 
 world one of his greatest enemies is evident — 
 
 (1.) For that it casteth the greatest con- 
 tempt upon his Son's undertaking afore is 
 proved, in that it counts his crucifixion foolish- 
 ness, though that be one of the highest demon- 
 strations of divine wisdom. 
 
 (2.) Because God hath threatened to destroy 
 it, and bring it to naught, and cause it lo per> 
 
600 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 ish — which surely he would not do was it not 
 an enemy — would it direct men to and cause 
 them to close with Jesus Christ ? 
 
 (3.) He hath rejected it from helping in the 
 ministry of his wo^rd as a fruitless business and 
 a thing that comes to naught. 
 
 (4.) Because it causeth to perish those that 
 seek it and pursue it. 
 
 (5.) And God hath proclaimed that if any 
 man will be wise in this world he must be a 
 fool in the wisdom of this world, and that is 
 the way to be wise in the wisdom of God. 
 " If any man will be wise in this world, let 
 him become a fool, that he may be wise. For 
 the wisdom of this world is foolishness with 
 God." 
 
 Thirdly. Coming to Christ is not by the 
 power of man. This is evident, partly — 
 
 (1.) From that which goeth before ; for man's 
 power, in the putting forth of it in this mat- 
 ter, is either stirred up with love or sense of 
 necessity ; but the wisdom of this world neither 
 gives man love to or sense of a need of Jesus 
 Christ: therefore his power lieth still as from 
 that. 
 
 (2.) What power has he that is dead, as 
 every natural man spiritually is, even dead in 
 trespasses and sins? — dead, even as dead to 
 God's New Testament things as he that is in 
 Ills grave is dead to the things of this world. 
 What power has he, then, whereby to come to 
 Jesus Christ? 
 
 (3.) God forbids the mighty man's glory in 
 his strength, and says positively, " By strength 
 shall no man prevail;" and again, "-Not by 
 might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith 
 the Lord." 
 
 (4.) Paul acknowledgeth that man, nay, 
 converted man, of himself, hath not a suffi- 
 ciency of power in himself to think a good 
 thought, if not to do that which is least, for to 
 think is less than to come ; no man by his own 
 power can come to Jesus Christ. 
 
 (5.) Hence we are said to be made willing 
 to come by the power of God; to be raised 
 from a state of sin to a state of grace by the 
 power of God ; and to believe — that is, to come 
 — through the exceeding working of his mighty 
 power. 
 
 But this needeth not if either men had power 
 ' jr will to come, or so much as graciously to 
 think of being willing to come (of themselves) 
 to Jesus Christ. 
 
 I should now come to the power of the 
 Bfcond part of the observation, but that is 
 occasionally done already in the explicatory 
 
 part of the text, to which I refer the reader; 
 for I shall here only give thee one or two more 
 to the same purpose, and so come to the use 
 and application : 
 
 1. It is expressly said, "No man can come 
 unto me except the Father, which hath sent 
 me, draw him." By this text there is not only 
 insinuated that in men is want of power, but 
 of will, to come to Jesus Christ : they must be 
 drawn ; they come not if they be not drawn. 
 And observe, it is not man, no, nor all the 
 angels of heaven, that can draw one sinner to 
 Jesus Christ. " No man cometh to me except 
 the Father, which hath sent me, draw him." 
 
 2. Again, " No man can come to me except 
 it were given him of my Father." It is an 
 heavenly gift that maketh man come to Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 3. Again, "It is written in the prophets, 
 They shall be all taught of God; every one 
 therefore that hath heard and learned of the 
 Father cometh to me." 
 
 I shall not enlarge, but shall make some use 
 and application, and so come to the next ob- 
 servation. 
 
 1. Is it so ? Is coming to Jesus Christ not 
 by the will, wisdom, or power of man, but by 
 the gift, promise, and drawing of the Father? 
 Then they are to blame that cry up the will, 
 wisdom, and power of man as things sufficient 
 to bring men to Christ. 
 
 There are some men who think they may 
 not be contradicted when they plead for the 
 will, wisdom, and power of man in reference 
 to the things that are of the kingdom of Christ; 
 but I will say to such a man, he never yet 
 came to understand that himself is what the 
 Scripture teacheth concerning him; neither 
 did he ever know what coming to Christ is by 
 the teaching, gift, and drawing of the Father. 
 He is such a one that hath set up God's enemy 
 in opposition to him, and that continueth in 
 such acts of defiance ; and what his end with- 
 out a new birth will be the Scripture teacheth 
 also ; but we will pass this. 
 
 2. Is it so? Is coming to Jesus Christ by 
 the gift, promise, and drawing of the Father? 
 Then let saints here learn to ascribe their 
 coming to Christ to the gift, promise, and 
 drawing of the Father. Christian man, bless 
 God, who hath given thee to Jesus Christ by 
 promise ; and again bless God- for that he hath 
 drawn thee to him. And why is "t thee? 
 Why not another? Oh that the glory of elect- 
 ing love should rest upon thy head, and that 
 the glory of the exceeding grace of God should 
 
COME AND WELCOME TO JESUS CHRZST. 
 
 601 
 
 take hold of thy heart and bring thee to Jesus 
 Christ I 
 
 8. Is it so that coming to Jesus Christ is by 
 the Father, as aforesaid? Then this should 
 teach us to set a high esteem upon them that 
 are indeed coming to Jesus Christ — I say, a 
 high esteem on them, for the salse of Him by 
 virtue of whose grace they are made to come 
 to Jesus Christ. 
 
 We see that when men by the help of human 
 abilities do arrive at the knowledge of and 
 bring to pass that which, when done, is a 
 wonder to the world, how he that did it is es- 
 teemed and commended ; yea, how are his wits, 
 parts, industry, and unweariedness in all ad- 
 mired; and yet the man, as to this, is but of 
 the world, and his worli the effect of natural 
 ability; the things also attained by" him end 
 in vanity and vexation of spirit. Further, 
 perhaps in the pursuit of these his achieve- 
 ments, he sins against God, wastes his time 
 vainly, and at long run loses his soul by ne- 
 glecting of better things, yet he is admired. 
 But I say, if this man's parts, labour, diligence, 
 and the like will bring him to such applause 
 and esteem in the world, what esteem should 
 we have of such an one thai is, by the gift, 
 promise, and power of God, coming to Jesus 
 Christ? 
 
 (1.) This is a man with whom God is, in 
 whom God works and walks — a man whose 
 motion is governed and steered by the mighty 
 hand of God and the effectual working of his 
 power : here's a man t 
 
 (2.) This man, by the power of God's might, 
 which worketh in him, is able to cast a whole 
 world behind him, with all tlie lusts and pleas- 
 ures of it, and to charge through all the diffi- 
 culties that men and devils can set against 
 him: hero's a man I 
 
 (3.) This man is travelling to Mount Zion, 
 the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living 
 God, and to an innumerable company of angels 
 and the .spirits of just men made perfect, to God 
 the Judge of all, and to Jesus: here's a man ! 
 
 (4.) This man can look upon death with 
 comfort, can laugh at destruction when it 
 Cometh, and long to hear the sound of the last 
 trump, and to see the Judge coming in the 
 clouds of heaven : here's a man indeed! 
 
 Let Christians then esteem each other as 
 (inch: I know you do, but do it more and 
 more. And that you may, consider these two 
 or three things — 
 
 (1.) These are the objects of Christ's esteem. 
 Matt. xii. 48; xv. 22-29; Luke vii. 9. 
 
 (2.) These are the objects of the esteem of 
 angels. Dan. ix. 12; x. 11; xii. 4; Heb. i. 14. 
 
 (3.) These have been the objects of the es- 
 teem of heathens when but convinced about 
 them. Dan. v. 10 ; Acts v. 15 ; 1 Cor. xiv. 21, 
 25. 
 
 " Let each of you then esteem each other 
 better than themselves." Phil. iii. 2. 
 
 4. Again. Is it so that no man comes to Je- 
 sus Christ by the will, wisdom, and power ol 
 man, but by the gift, power, end drawing :f 
 the Father? Then this shows us how horribly 
 ignorant of this such are who make the men 
 that are coming to Christ the object of their 
 contempt and rage. These are also unreason- 
 able and wicked men — " men in whom is no 
 faith." 1 Thess. iii. 2. 
 
 Sinners, did you but know what a blessed 
 thing it is to come to Jesus Christ, and that by 
 the help and drawing of the Father they do 
 indeed come to him, you would hang and burn 
 in hell a thousand years before you would turn 
 your spirits, as you do, against him that God 
 is drawing to Jesus Christ, and also against 
 tlie God that draws him. 
 
 But, faithless sinner, let us a little expostu- 
 late the matter. What hath this man done 
 against thee that is coming to Jesus Christ? 
 Why dost thou make him the object of thy 
 scorn ? Doth his coming to Jesus Christ of- 
 fend thee ? Doth his pursuing of his own sal- 
 vation offend thee ? Doth his forsaking of his 
 sins and pleasures offend thee? 
 
 Poor coming maul "Thou sacrificeth the 
 abominations of the Egyptians before their 
 eyes, and will they not stone thee?" 
 
 But I say, Why offended at this ? Is he evev 
 the worse for coming to Jesus Christ, or for 
 loving and serving of Jesus Christ ? or is he 
 ever the more a fool for flying from that 
 which will drown thee in hell-fire, and for 
 seeking eternal life? Besides, pray, sirs, con- 
 sider it: this he doth not of himself, but by 
 the drawing of the Father. Come, let me tell 
 thee in thine ear, thou that wilt not come to 
 him thyself, and him that would thfiu hin- 
 derest — 
 
 (1.) Thou shalt be judged for one that hath 
 hated, maligned, and reproached Jesus Christ, 
 to whom this poor sinner is coming. 
 
 (2.) Thou shalt be judged, too, for one that 
 hath hated the Father, by whose powerful 
 drawing the sinner doth come. 
 
 (3.) Thou shalt be taken and judged for one 
 that hath done despite to the Spirit of grace 
 in him that is by its help coming to Jesus 
 
602 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Christ. "What sayest thou now? Wilt thou 
 Btand by thy doings? Wilt thou continue to 
 contemn and reproach the living God? Think- 
 est thou that thou shalt weather it out well 
 enough at the day of judgment? "Can thy 
 heart endure, or can thy hands be strong, in 
 the day that I shall deal with thee? saith the 
 Lord." 
 
 6. Is it so that no man comes to Jesus Christ 
 by the will, wisdom, and power of man, but by 
 the gift, promise, and drawing of the Father? 
 Then this showeth us how it comes to pass 
 that weak means are so powerful as to bring 
 men out of their sins to a hearty pursuit after 
 Jesus Christ. When God bid Moses speak to 
 the people, he said, " I will speak with thee." 
 When God speaks, when God works, who can 
 let it ? None, none ; then the work goes on. 
 Elias threw his mantle upon the shoulders of 
 Elisha, and what a wonderful work followed ! 
 When Jesus fell in with the crowing of a cock, 
 what work was there I Oh, when God is the 
 means, then shall that means, be it never so 
 weak and contemptible in itself, work wonders. 
 1 Kings xix. 19; Matt. xxvi. 74, 75; Mark 
 siv. 71, 72; Luke xxii. 61, 62. 
 
 The world understood not nor believed that 
 the walls of Jericho should fall at the sound 
 of rams' horns, but when God will work the 
 means must be effectual. A word weakly 
 spoken, spoken with difficulty, in temptation, 
 and in the midst of great contempt and scorn, 
 works wonders if the Lord thy God will say 
 so too. 
 
 6. Is it so? Doth no man come to Jesus 
 Christ by the will, wisdom, and power of 
 man, but by the gift, promise, and drawing 
 of the Father? Then here is room for Chris- 
 tians to stand and wonder at the effectual 
 working of God's providence that he hath 
 made use of as means to bring them to Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 For although men are drawn to Christ by 
 the power of the Father, yet that power put- 
 teth forth itself in the use of means; and 
 these means are diverse, sometimes this, some- 
 times that, for God is at liberty to work by 
 which, and when, and how he will ; but let 
 the means be what they will, and as con- 
 temptible as may be, yet God, that com- 
 manded the light to shine out of darkness, 
 and that out of weakness can make strong, 
 can, nay, doth oftentimes, make use of very 
 unlikely means to bring about the conversion 
 and salvation of his people. Therefore, you 
 that are come to Christ, (and by unlikely 
 
 means,) stay yourselves and wonder, and, won- 
 dering, magnify almighty power, by the work 
 of which the means hath been made effectual 
 to bring you to Jesus Christ. 
 
 What was the providence of God made use 
 of, as a means either remote or more near, to 
 bring thee to Jesus Christ? Was it the re- 
 moving of thy habitation, the change of thy 
 condition, the loss of relations, estate, or the 
 like? Was it the casting of thine eye upon 
 some good bock, the hearing of thy neigh- 
 bours talk of heavenly things, the beholding 
 of God's judgment as executed upon others, or 
 thine own deliverance from them, or thy being 
 strangely cast under the ministrv of some 
 godly man? Oh take notice of such provi- 
 dence or providences ! They were sent and 
 managed by mighty power to do' thee good. 
 God himself, I say, hath joined himself to 
 this chariot, yea, and so blessed it that it 
 failed not to accomplish the thing for which 
 he sent it. 
 
 God blesseth not to every one his provi 
 dence in this manner. , How many thousands 
 are there in this world that pass every day 
 under the same providences! but God is not 
 in them to do that work by them as he hath 
 done for thy poor soul by his effectually 
 working with them. Oh that Jesus Christ 
 should meet thee in this providence, that 
 dispensation, or the ot)ier ordinance ! This is 
 grace indeed ! At this, therefore, it will be thy 
 wisdom to admire, and for this to bless God. 
 
 Give me leave to give you a taste of some 
 of those providences that have been effectual, 
 through the management of God, to bring sal- 
 vation to the souls of his people : 
 
 (1.) The first shall be that of the woman of 
 Samaria. It must happen that she must needs 
 go out of the city to draw water (not before or 
 after, but) just when Jesus Christ her Saviour 
 was come from far and sat to rest him (being 
 weary) upon the well. What a blessed provi- 
 dence was this ! — even a providence managed 
 by the almighty wisdom and almighty power 
 to the conversion and salvation of this poor 
 creature. For by this providence was this 
 poor creature and her Saviour brought to- 
 gether, that a blessed work might be fulfilled 
 upon the woman, according to the purpose 
 before determined of the Father. John iv. 
 
 (2.) What providence was it that there 
 should be a tree in the way for Zaccheus to 
 climb, thereby to give Jesus_ opportunity to 
 call that chief of the publicans home to him- 
 self, even before he came down therefrom I 
 
COME AND WELCOME TO JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 603 
 
 (3.) Was it not wonderful that the thief 
 which you read of in the Gospel should, by 
 the providence of God, be cast into prison, to 
 be condemned, even at that sessions that 
 Christ himself was to die, nay, and that it 
 should happen too that they must be hanged 
 together, that the thief might be in hearing 
 and observing of Jesus in his last words, that 
 he might be converted by him before his 
 death? Luke xxii. 
 
 (4.) What a strange 'providence was it, and 
 fts strangely managed by God, that Onesimus, 
 when he was run away from his master, should 
 be tak( n, as I think, and cast into that very 
 prison where Paul lay bound for the word of 
 the gospel, that he might there be by him 
 converted, and then sent home again to his 
 master Philemon ! " Behold, all things work 
 •together for good to them that love God, 
 to them who are the called according to his 
 purpose." 
 
 Nay, I have myself known some that have 
 been made to go to hear the word preached 
 against their wills; others have gone not to 
 hear, but to see and be seen, nay, to jeer and 
 flout others, as also to catch and carp at 
 things ; some also to feed their adulterous 
 eyes with the sight of beautiful objects; and 
 yet Gnd hath made use of even these things, 
 and even of the wicked and sinful proposals 
 of sinners, to bring them under the grace that 
 might save their souls. 
 
 7. Doth no man come to j£sus Christ but 
 by the drawing, &o., of the Father? Then let 
 me here caution those poor sinners that are 
 spectators of the change that God hath wrought 
 in them that are coming to Jesus Christ not to 
 attribute this work and change to other things 
 and causes. 
 
 There are some poor sinners in the world 
 that plainly see a change, a mighty change, 
 in their neighbours and relations that are 
 coming to Jesus Christ. But, as I said, they 
 being ignorant, and not knowing whence it 
 comes and whither it goes, " for so iS every 
 one that is born of the Spirit," therefore they 
 attribute this change to other causes; as — 1. 
 Melancholy; 2. To sitting alone; 3. To over- 
 much reading; 4. To their going to too many 
 sermons ; 5. To too much studying and musing 
 on what they hear. 
 
 Also, they conclude on the other side — 
 
 1. That it is for want of merry company. 
 
 2. For want of physic, and therefore they 
 advise them to leave off reading, going to ser- 
 mons, the company of sober people, and to be 
 
 merry and go a-gossiping, to busy themselves 
 in the things of this world, not set musing 
 alone, &c. 
 
 But come, poor ignorant sinner, let me deal 
 with thee. It seems thou art turned coun- 
 sellor for Satan : I tell thee, thou knowest not 
 what thou dost. Take heed of spending thy 
 judgment after this manner; thou judgest 
 foolishly, and sayest in this, to every one that 
 passeth by, thou art a fool. 
 
 What I count convictions for sin, mourning 
 for sin, and repentance for sin, melancholy! 
 This is like those that on the other side said, 
 "These men are drunk with new wine," &c. 
 Or, as he hath said, Paul was mad. Acts ii. 23, 
 xxvi. 24. 
 
 Poor ignorant sinner! canst thou judge no 
 better? What! is sitting alone, pensive under 
 God's hand, reading the Scriptures, and hear- 
 ing of sermons, &c., the way to be undone? 
 The Lord open thine eyes and make thee to 
 see thine error : thou hast set thyself against 
 God, thou hast despised the operation of his 
 hands, thou attemptest to murder souls. What ! 
 canst thou give no better counsel touching those 
 whom God hath wounded than to send them to 
 the ordinances of hell for help? Thou biddest 
 them be merry and lightsome, but dost thou 
 not know that "the heart of fools is in the 
 house of laughter?" 
 
 Thou biddest them shun the hearing of 
 thundering preachers, " but is it not better to 
 hear the rebuke of the wise than for a man to 
 hear the song of fools?" Thou biddest them 
 busy themselves in the things of this world, 
 but dost thou not know that the Lord bids, 
 "first seek the kingdom of God and the 
 righteousness thereof?" 
 
 Poor ignorant sinner! hear the counsel of 
 God to such, and learn thyself to be wiser: 
 "Is any afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? 
 let him sing psalms. Blessed is he that heareth 
 me, and heareth for time to come. Save your- 
 selves from this untoward generation. Search 
 the Scriptures; give attendance to reading. 
 It is better to go to the house of mourning." 
 
 And wilt thou judge him that doth thus? 
 Art thou almost like Elymas the sorcerer, that 
 sought to turn the deputy from the faith? 
 Thou seekest to pervert the right ways of the 
 Lord: take heed lest some heavy judgment 
 overtake thee. Acts xiii. 8-13. 
 
 What! teach men to quench convictions; 
 take men off from a serious consideration of 
 the evil of sin, of the terrors of the world to 
 come, and how they .shall escape the samel 
 
604 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Whatl teach, men to put God and his word 
 out of their minds by running to merry com- 
 pany, by running to the world, by gossipping, 
 &c. ! This is as much as to bid them say to 
 God, Depart from us, for we desire not the 
 knowledge of thy ways; or. What's the Al- 
 mighty, that we should serve him? or. What 
 profit have we if we keep his ways? Here is 
 a devil in grain I Whatl bid a man walk " ac- 
 cording to the course of this world, according 
 to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit 
 that now worketh in the children of disobe- 
 dience!" 
 
 Objection. But we do not know that such are 
 coming to Jesus Christ; truly we wonder at 
 them and think they are fools. 
 
 Answer 1. Do you not know they are com- 
 ing to Jesus, Christ? Then they may be com- 
 ing to him, for aught you know, and why will 
 you be worse than the brute, to speak evil of 
 the things you know not? What! are you 
 made to be taken and destroyed? must ye 
 utterly perish in your own corruptions? 
 
 2. Do you not know them? Let them alone, 
 then. If you cannot speak good of them, speak 
 not bad. "Refrain from these men, and let 
 them alone; for if this counsel or this work 
 be of men, it will come to naught; but if it 
 be of God, ye cannot overthrow it, lest haply 
 ye be found even to fight against God." 
 
 3. But why do you wonder at a work of con- 
 viction and conversion? Know you not that 
 this is the judgment of God upon you, ye de- 
 spisers, "to behold, and wonder, and perish?" 
 
 4. But why wonder and think they are fools? 
 Is the way of the just an abomination to you? 
 See that passage and be ashamed : " He that is 
 upright in the way is- an abomination to the 
 wicked." 
 
 5. Your vv-ondering at them argues, that you 
 arc strangers to yourselves, to conviction for 
 sin, and to hearty desires to be saved, as also 
 coming to Jesus Clirist. 
 
 Object ion. But how shall we know that such 
 men are coming to Jesus Christ? 
 
 Answer. Who can make them see that Christ 
 has made blind ? Nevertheless, because I en- 
 deavour thy conviction, conversion, and salva- 
 tion, consider — 
 
 1. Do they cry out of sin, being burdened 
 with it as an exceeding bitter thing? 
 
 2. Do tliey fly from it as from the face of a 
 deadly serpent? 
 
 3. Do they cry out of the insufficiency of 
 their own righteousness as to justification in 
 the sight of God? 
 
 4. Do they cry out after the Lord Jesus to 
 save them? 
 
 5. Do they see more worth aad merit in one 
 drop of Christ's blood to save them than in all 
 the sins of the world to damn them? 
 
 6. Are they tender of sinning against Jesus 
 Christ? 
 
 7. Is his name, person, 'and understanding 
 more pttcious to them than is the glory of the 
 world? 
 
 8. Is this world more dear unto them? 
 
 9. Is faith in Christ (of which they are con- 
 vinced by God's Spirit of the want of, and that 
 without it they can never close with Christ) 
 precious to them? 
 
 10. Do they favour Christ in this world, and 
 do they leave all the world for his sake? And 
 are they willing (God helping them) to run 
 hazards for his name, for the love they bear to 
 him? 
 
 11. Are his saints precious to them? 
 
 If these things be so, whether thou seest 
 them or no, these men are coming to Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 II. I come now to the second observation 
 propounded to be spoken to — to wit, that they 
 that are coming to Jesus Christ are ofttimes 
 heartily afraid that Jesus Christ will not re- 
 ceive them. 
 
 I told you that this observation is implied in 
 the text ; and I gather it — 1. From the large- 
 ness and openness of the promise, " I will in 
 nowise cast out." For had there not been a 
 proneness in us to fear casting out, Christ 
 needed not to have, as it were, waylaid our 
 fear, as he doth by this great and strange ex- 
 
 pression, m nowise ; 
 
 ' and him that cometh 
 
 to me I will in nowise cast out.'' There need- 
 ed not, as I may say, such a promise to be in- 
 vented by the wisdom of heaven and worded 
 at such a rate, as it were on purpose to dash in 
 pieces at one blow all the objections of coming 
 sinners, if they were not prone to admit of 
 such objections to the discouraging of theii 
 own souls. For these words, in nowise, cut the 
 throat of all objections ; and they were dropped 
 by the Lord Jesus for that very end, and to 
 help the faith that is mixed with unbelief. 
 
 And it is, as it were, the sum of all promises ; 
 neither can any objection be made upon the 
 unworthiness that thou findest in thee that 
 this promise will not assoil. 
 
 But I am a great sinner, sayest thou. 
 
 " I will in nowise cast out," says Christ. 
 
 But I am an old sinner, sayest thou. 
 
 " I will in nowise cast out," says Christ, 
 
COME AND WELCOME TO JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 605 
 
 But I am an hard-hearted sinner, sayest 
 tliou. 
 
 "I will in nowise cast out," says Christ. 
 
 But I am a backsliding sinner, sayest thou. 
 
 " I will in nowise cast out," says Christ. 
 
 But I have served Satan all my days, sayest 
 thou. 
 
 " I will in nowise cast out," says Christ. 
 
 But I have sinned against light, sayest thou. 
 
 " I will in nowise cast out," says Christ. 
 
 But I have sinned against mercy, sayest 
 thou. 
 
 " I will in nowise cast out," says Christ. 
 
 But I have no good thing to bring with me, 
 sayest thou. 
 
 " I will in nowise cast out," says Christ. 
 
 Thus I might go on to the end of things and 
 show you that still this promise was jftrovided 
 to answer all objections, and doth answer them. 
 'But I say, what need it be if they that are 
 coming to Jesus Christ are not sometimes, yea, 
 oftentimes, heartily afraid " that Jesus Christ 
 will cast them out ?" 
 
 2. I will give you now two instances that 
 seem to imply the truth of this observation. 
 
 In the 9th of Matthew, at the second verse, 
 you read of a man that was sick of the palsy, 
 and he was coming to Jesus Christ, being borne 
 upon a bed by his friends ; he was also coming 
 himself, and that upon another account than 
 any of his friends were aware of — even for the 
 pardon of sins and the salvation of his soul. 
 Now, so soon as ever he was come into the 
 presence of Christ, Christ bids him " be of good 
 cheer." It seems, then, his heart was fainting, 
 but what was the cause of his fainting? Not 
 his bodily infirmity, for the cure of which his 
 friends did bring him to Christ, but the guilt 
 and burden of his sins, for the pardon of which 
 himself did come to him : therefore he pro- 
 ceeds, " Be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven 
 thee." 
 
 I say, Christ saw him sinking in his mind 
 about how it would go with his most noble 
 part, and therefore first he applies himself to 
 him upon that account. For though his friends 
 had faith enough as to the cure of the body, 
 yet he himself had little enough as to the cure 
 of his soul ; therefore Christ takes him up as 
 a man falling down, saying, " Son, be of good 
 cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee." 
 
 That about the prodigal seems pertinent also 
 in this matter : " When he was come to him- 
 self he said, How many hired servants of my 
 father have bread enough and to spare, and I 
 perish for hunger ! I will arise now and go to 
 
 my father." Heartily spoken, but how did he 
 perform his promise? I think not so well as 
 he promised to do, and my ground for my 
 thoughts is, because his father, so soon as he 
 was come to him, fell upon his neck and kissed 
 him ; implying, methinks, as if the prodigal at 
 this time was dejected in his mind, and there- 
 fore his father gives the most sudden and 
 familiar token of reconciliation. 
 
 And kisses were of old time often used to 
 remove doubts and fears. Thus Laban and 
 Esau kissed Jacob; thus Joseph kissed his 
 brethren ; and thus also David kissed Ab- 
 salom. Gen. XXXV. 55 ; xxxiii. 1-7 ; .xlviii. 9, 
 10 ; 2 Sam. xiv. 33. 
 
 It is true, as I said, at first setting out he 
 spake heartily, as sometimes sinners also do in 
 their beginning to come -to Jesus Christ, but 
 might not he, yea, in all probability he had, 
 (between the first step he took and the last by 
 which he accomplished that journey,) many a 
 thought, both this way and that, as whether his 
 lather would receive him or no? As thus: 
 " I said, I would go to my father. But how if 
 when I came to him he should ask me. Where 
 I have all this while been? What shall I say 
 then ? Also if he ask me. What is become of 
 the portion of goods that he gave me ? What 
 shall I say then ? If he ask me. Who have 
 been my companions ? What shall I say then ? 
 If he also should ask me, What hath been my 
 preferment in all the time of my absence from 
 him ? What shall I say then ? Yea, and if he 
 ask me. Why I came home no sooner ? What 
 shall I say then ?" Thus, I say, might he rea- 
 son with himself; and being conscious to him- 
 self that he could give but a very bad answer 
 to any of these interrogatories, no marvel if he 
 stood in need first of all of a kiss from his 
 father's lips. For had he answered the first in 
 truth, he must say, I have been a haunter of 
 taverns and alehouses ; and as for my portion, 
 I spent it in riotous living; my companions 
 were whores and drabs ; as for my preferment, 
 the highest was that I became a hogherd ; and 
 as for my not coming home till now, could I 
 have made shift to stay abroad any longer I 
 had not been at thy feet for mercy now. 
 
 I say these things considered, and consider- 
 ing again how prone poor men are to give way, 
 when truly awakened, to despondings and 
 heart-misgivings, no marvel if he did sink in 
 his mind between the time of his first setting 
 out, and that of his coming to his father. 
 
 3. But, thirdly, methinks I have, for the 
 confirmation of this truth, the consent of all 
 
606 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 the saints that are under heaven — to wit, that 
 they that are coming to Jesiis Christ are oft- 
 times heartily afraid that he will not receive 
 them. 
 
 Question. But what should be the reason? 
 
 I will answer to this question thus : 
 
 1. It is not for want of the revealed will of 
 God that mailifesteth grounds for the contrary, 
 for of that there is a suflBciency; yesl, the text 
 itself hath laid a sufficient foundation for en- 
 couragement for them that are coming to Jesus 
 Chrisi : " And him that cometh to me I will in 
 nowise cast out." 
 
 2. It is not for want of any invitation to 
 come, for that is full and plain : " Come unto 
 me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and 
 f will give you rest." 
 
 3. Neither is it for want of manifestation of 
 Christ's willingness to receive, as those texts 
 above named, with that which follows, declare : 
 " If any man thirst, let him come unto me and 
 drink." 
 
 4. It is not for want of exceeding great and 
 precious promises to receive them that come : 
 " Wherefore come out from among them and 
 be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not 
 the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and 
 I will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be 
 my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Al- 
 iv.jghty." 
 
 • 5. It is not for want of solemn oath and en- 
 gagement to save them that come : " For be- 
 cause he could swear by no greater, he swore 
 by himself. That by two immutable things, in 
 which it was impossible that God should lie, 
 we might have strong consolation who have 
 fled for refuge, to lay hold on the hope set be- 
 fore us." 
 
 6. Neither is it for want of great examples 
 of God's mercy that have come to Jesus Christ, 
 of which we read most plentifully in the word. 
 
 Therefore it must be concluded it is for want 
 of that which follows : 
 
 1. It is for want of the knowledge of Christ. 
 Thou knowest but little of the grace and kind- 
 ness that is in the heart of Christ ; thou know- 
 est but little of the virtue and merit of his 
 blood ; thou knowest but little of the willing- 
 ness that is in his heart to save thee ; and this 
 is the reason of the fear that ariseth in thy 
 jieart, and that causeth thee to doubt that 
 Christ will not receive thee. Unbelief is the 
 daughter of ignorance. Therefore Christ saith, 
 " fools, and slow of heart to believe.'' 
 
 Slowness of heart to believe flows from thy 
 foolishness in the things of Christ: this is 
 
 evident to all that are acquainted with them- 
 selves and are seeking after Jesus Christ. The 
 more ignorance, the more unbelief: the more 
 knowledge of Christ, the more faith. " They 
 that know thy name will put their trust in 
 thee." He therefore that began to come to 
 Christ hut the other day, and hath yet but little 
 knowledge of him, he fears that Christ will 
 not receive him. But he that hath been longer 
 acquainted with him, he is " strong and hath 
 overcome the wicked one." 
 
 When Joseph's brethren came into Egypt to 
 buy corn, it is said, " Joseph knew his breth- 
 ren, but his brethren knew not him." What 
 follows ? Why, great mistrust of heart about 
 their speeding well, especially if Joseph did 
 but answer them roughly, calling them spies 
 and questioning their truth, and the like. And 
 observe it, so long as their ignorance about 
 their brother remained with them, whatsoever 
 Joseph did, still they put the worst sense upon 
 it. For instance, Joseph upon a time bids' the 
 steward of his house bring them home to dine 
 with him, to dine even in Joseph's house. 
 And how is this resented by them? Why, 
 they are afraid : " And the men were afraid, 
 because they were brought unto" (their broth- 
 er) "Joseph's house." And they said, "He 
 seeketh occasion against us, and will fall upon 
 us and take us for bond-men, and our asses." 
 What I afraid to go to Joseph's house! He 
 was their brother : he intended to feast them — 
 to feast them and to feast with them. Ah ! but 
 they were ignorant that he was their brother, 
 and so long as their ignorance lasted, so long 
 their fear terrified them. Just thus it is with 
 the sinner that but of late is coming to Jesus 
 Christ: he is ignorant of the love and pity 
 that is in Christ to coming sinners, therefore 
 he doubts, therefore he fears, therefore his 
 heart misgives him. 
 
 Coming sinner, Christ inviteth thee to dine 
 and sup with him : he inviteth thee to a ban- 
 quet of wine, yea to come into his wine-cellar, 
 and his banner over thee shall be love. Rev. 
 XXX. 20 ; Song Sol. ii. 5. But I doubt it, says 
 the sinner ; but it is answered. He calls thee, 
 invites thee to his banquet, flagoiis, apples, to 
 his wine, and to the juice of his pomegranate. 
 Oh I fear, I doubt, I mistrust, I tremble, in 
 expectation of the contrary. Come out of the 
 man, thou dastardly ignorance I Be not afraid, 
 sinner, only believe. "He that cometh to 
 Christ he will in nowise cast out." 
 
 Let the coming sinner therefore seek after 
 more of the good knowledge of Jesus Christ, 
 
COME AND WELCOME TO JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 607 
 
 press after it, seek it as silver, and dig for it 
 as for hid treasure. This, will embolden thee, 
 tliis will make thee wax stronger and stronger. 
 I know whom I have believed : " I know him," 
 Baith Paul; and what follows? Why, "I am 
 persuaded that he is able to keep that which I 
 have committed to him against that day." 
 
 What had Paul committed to Jesus Christ? 
 The answer is. He had "' committed to him liis 
 soul." B«t why did he commit his soul to 
 him ? He knew him to be faithful, to be kind : 
 he knew he would not fail him nor forsake 
 him, and therefore he laid his soul down at his 
 feet, and committed it to him to keep against 
 that day. But — 
 
 2. Thy fears that Christ will not receive thee 
 may be also a consequent of thy earnest and 
 strong desires after thy salvation by him. For 
 this I observe, that strong desires to have are 
 attended with strong fears of missing. What 
 man most sets his heart upon, and what his dfe- 
 sires are most after, he (ofttimes) most fears he 
 shall not obtain. So the man, ruler of the" 
 synagogue, had a great desire that his daughter 
 should live ; and that desire was attended with 
 fear that she should not : therefore Christ saith 
 unto him, "Be not afraid." 
 
 Suppose a young man should have his 
 heart much set upon a virgin to have her to 
 wife : if ever he fears he shall not obtain her 
 it is when he begins to love. Now, thinks he, 
 somebody will step in betwixt my love and 
 the object of it: either they will find fault 
 with my person, my estate, my condition, or 
 something. 
 
 Now thoughts begin to work : She doth not 
 like me, or something. And thus it is with 
 the soul at first coming to Jesus Christ; thou 
 lovest him, aud thy love produces jealousy, 
 and that jealousy ofttimes begets fears. 
 
 Now thou fearest the sins of thy youth, the 
 sins of thine old age, the sins of thy calling, 
 the sins of thy Christian duties, the sins of 
 thine heart, or something; thou thinkest 
 something or other will alienate the heart 
 and affections of Jesus Christ from thee; thou 
 thinkest he sees something in tbee for the sake 
 of which he will refuse thy soul. 
 
 But be content; a little more knowledge of 
 him will make thee take better heart; thy 
 earnest desires shall not be attended with 
 such burning fears; thou shalt hereafter say, 
 " This is my infirmity." 
 
 Thou art sick of love, a very sweet disease ; 
 and yet every disease has some weakness at- 
 tending of it; yet I wish this distemper (if it 
 
 be lawful to call it so) was moie epidemical. 
 Die of this disease I would gladly do : it is 
 better than life itself, though it be attended 
 with fears. But thou criest out, I cannot ob- 
 tain : well, be not too hasty to make conclu- 
 sions. If Jesus Christ had not put his finger 
 in at the hole of the lock, thy bowels would 
 not have been troubled for him. Song v. 
 Mark how the prophet hath it: "They shall 
 walk after the Lord : he shall roar like a lion ; 
 when he shall roar the children shall tremble 
 from the west, they shall tremble like a bird 
 out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the laud 
 of Assyria." 
 
 When God roars (as ofttimes the coming 
 soul hearsdiim roar) what man that is coming 
 can do otherwise than tremble? But trem- 
 bling he comes. "He sprang in and carae_ 
 trembling, and fell down before Paul and 
 Silas." 
 
 Should you ask him that we mentioned but 
 now. How long is it since you began to fear 
 you should miss of this damsel you love so? 
 the answer will be. Ever since I began to love 
 her. But did you not fear it before ? No, nor 
 should I fear now but that I vehemently love 
 her. Come, sinner, let us apply it : How long 
 is it since thou began to fear that Jesus Christ 
 will not receive thee ? The answer is. Ever 
 since I began to desire that he would save my 
 soul. I began to fear when I began to come, 
 and the more my heart burns in desires after 
 him, the more I feel my heart fear I should 
 not be saved by him. 
 
 See, now, did I not tell thee that thy fears 
 were but the consequence of strong desires? 
 Well, fear not, coming sinner; thousands of 
 coming souls are in thy condition, and yet 
 they will get safe into Christ's bosom. " Say," 
 says Christ, "to them that are of a fearful 
 heart. Be strong, fear not! Your God will 
 come and save you." 
 
 3. Thy fear that Christ will not receive 
 thee may arise from a sense of thine own un- 
 worthiness. Thou seest what a poor, sorry, 
 wretched, worthless creature thou art. And 
 seeing this, thou fearest Christ will not re- 
 ceive thee. Alas I sayest thou, I am the 
 vilest of all men ; a town sinner, a ringleading 
 sinner. I am not only a sinner myself, but 
 have made others twofold worse the children 
 of hell also. Besides, now I am under some 
 awakenings and stirrings of mind after salva- 
 tion, even now I find my heart rebellious, car- 
 nal, hard, treacherous, desperate, prone to un- 
 belief, to despair : it forgetteth the word ; it 
 
608 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 wandereth; it runneth to the ends of the 
 earth. There is not, I am persuaded, one in 
 all the world that hath such a desperate 
 wicked heart as mine is. My soul is .careless 
 to do good, but none more earnest to do that 
 which is evil. 
 
 Can such a one as I am live in glory ? Can 
 a holy, a just, and a righteous God once think 
 (with honour to' his name) of saving such a 
 vile creature as I am? I fear it. Will he 
 show wonders to such a dead dog as I am ? I 
 doubt it. 
 
 I am cast out to the loathing of my person, 
 yea, I loathe myself: I stink in my own nos- 
 trils. How can I then he accepted by a holy 
 and sin-abhorring God? Ps. xxxviii. 5, 6, 7; 
 Ezek. X. ; xx. 42, 43, 44. Saved I would be ; 
 and who is there that would not, were they 
 in my condition? Indeed, I wonder at the 
 madness and folly of others when I see them 
 leap and skip so carelessly about the mouth 
 of hell. Bold sinner, how darest thou tempt 
 God by laughing at the breach of his holy 
 law? But, alasl they fare not so bad one 
 way but I am worse another : I wish myself 
 were anybody but myself; and yet here again 
 I know not what to wish. When I see such 
 as I believe are coming to Jesus Christ, oh 
 I bless them. But am I confounded in my- 
 self to see how unlike, as I think, I am to 
 a very good many in the world. They can 
 read, hear, pray, remember, repent, be hum- 
 ble, do every thing better than so vile a wretch 
 as I. 
 
 I, vile wretch, am good for nothing but to 
 burn in hell-fire, and when I think of that I 
 am confounded too. 
 
 Thus the sense of unworthiness creates and 
 heightens fears in the hearts of them that are 
 coming to Jesus Christ; but indeed it should 
 not, for who needs the physician- but the sick? 
 or who did Christ come into the world to save 
 but the chief of sinners ? Mark i. 17 ; 1 Tim. 
 "i. 15. Wherefore the more thou seest thy 
 Bins, theiaster fly thou to Jesus Christ. And 
 let the sense of thine own unworthiness pre- 
 vail with thee yet to go faster. As it is with 
 the man that carrieth his broken arm in a 
 sling to the bone-setter, still as he thinks of 
 his broken arm, and as he feels the pain and 
 anguish, he hastens his pace to the man ; and 
 if Satan meets thee and asketh. Whither goest 
 thou ? tell him thou art maimed and art going 
 to the Lord Jesus. If he objects thine own 
 unworthiness, tell him that even as the sick 
 aeeketh the physician, as he that hath broken 
 
 bones seeks him that can set them, so thou art 
 going to Jesus Christ for cure and healing for 
 thy sinsick soul. 
 
 But it ofttimes happeneth to him that flies 
 for his life, he despairs of escaping, and there- 
 fore delivers himself up into the hand of the 
 pursuer. But up, up, sinner ; be of good cheer; 
 Christ came to save the unworthy one ; be not 
 faithless, but believe. Come away, man ; the 
 Lord Jesus calls thee, saying, " And him that 
 Cometh to me I will in nowise cast out." 
 
 4. Thy fear that Christ will not receive thee 
 may arise from a sense of the exceeding mercy 
 of being saved. Sometimes salvation is in the 
 eyes of him that desires so great, so huge, so 
 wonderful a thing that the very thoughts of 
 the excellency of it engenders unbelief about 
 obtaining it in the heart of those that unfeign- 
 edly desire it. "Seemeth it to you (saith 
 David) a light thing to be a king's son-in-law?" 
 I'Sam. xviii. 26. So ihe thought of the great- 
 ness and glory of the thing propounded, as 
 heaven, eternal life, eternal glory, to be with 
 God, and Christ, and angels, these are great 
 things,' things too good, (saith the soul that is 
 little in his own eyes,) things too rich, (saith 
 the soul that is truly poor in spirit,) for me. 
 
 Besides, the Holy Ghost hath a way to 
 greaten heavenly things to the understanding 
 of the coming sinner, yea, and at the very 
 same time to greaten too the sin and unwor- 
 thiness of that sinner. Now the soul stagger- 
 ingly wonders, saying, What ! to be made like 
 angels, like Christ, to live in eternal bliss, joy, 
 and felicity ! This is for angels, and for them 
 that can walk like angels. 
 
 If a prince, a duke, an earl, should send (by 
 the hand of his servant) for some poor, sorry, 
 beggarly scrub to take her for his master to 
 wife, and the servant should come and say, My 
 lord and master Such-a-one hath sent me to 
 thee to take thee to him to wife: he is rich, 
 beautiful, and of excellent qualities ; he is lov- 
 ing, meek, humble, well-spoken, &c., what 
 now would this poor, sorry, beggarly creature 
 think? What would she say? or how would 
 she frame an answer? When King David 
 sent to Abigail upon this account, and though 
 she was a rich woman, yet she said, " Behold, 
 let thine handmaid be a servant to wash the 
 feet of the servants of my lord." She waa 
 confounded, she could not well tell what to 
 say, the offer was so great, beyond what in 
 reason could be expected. 
 
 But suppose this great person should second 
 his suit, and send to this sorry creature again, 
 
COME AND WELCOME TO JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 609 
 
 whiit would she say now? Would she not say, 
 You mock me? But what if he affirms that 
 he is in good earnest, and that his lord must 
 have her to wife — yea, suppose he should pre- 
 vail upon her to credit his message and to 
 address herself for her journey — yet, behold, 
 every thought of her pedigree confounds her, 
 also her sense of want of beality makes her 
 ^ashamed; and if she doth but think of being 
 embraced, the unbelief that is mixed with that 
 thought whirls her into tremblings ; and now 
 she calls herself fool for believing the messen- 
 ger, and thinks not to go : if she thinks of 
 being bold, she blushes ; and the least thought 
 that she shall be rejected when she comes at 
 him makes her look as if she would give up 
 the ehost. 
 
 - And is it a wonder, then, to see a soul that is 
 drowued in the sense of glory and a sense of 
 its own nothingness to be confounded in itself, 
 and to fear that the glory apprehended is too 
 great, too gpod, and too rich for such an one? 
 
 That thing, heaven and eternal glory, is so 
 great and I that would have it so small, so 
 sorry a creatpre, that the thoughts of obtaining 
 it confounds me. 
 
 Thus, I say, doth the greatness of the things 
 desired quite dash and overthrow the mind of 
 the desire. Oh it is too big, it is too big, it is 
 too great a mercy I 
 
 But, coming sinner, let me reason with thee. 
 Thou sayest. It is too big, too great. Well, 
 will things that are less satisfy thy soul ? Will 
 a less thing than heaven, than glory and eter- 
 nal life, answer thy desires ? No, nothing less, 
 and yet I fear they are too big and too good for 
 me ever to obtain. Well,, as big and as good 
 as they are, God giveth them to such as thou ; 
 they are not too big for God to give ; no, not 
 too big to give freely ; be content, let God give 
 like himself: he is that eternal God, and giveth 
 like himself. When kings give, they do not 
 use to give as poor men do. Hence it is said 
 that Nabal made a feast in his house like the 
 fjaat of a king ; and again, " All these tjiings 
 did Araunah, as a king, give unto David." 
 Now, God is a great King, let him give like a 
 king ; nay, Igt him give like himself, and do 
 thou receive like thyself. He hath all and 
 thou hast nothing. God told his people of old 
 that he would save them in truth and in right- 
 eousness, and that they should return to and 
 enjoy the land which before, for their sins, had 
 spewed them out; and then adds, under the 
 supposition o"f their counting the mercy too 
 good or too big, " If it be marvellous in the 
 30 
 
 e^es of the remnant of this people in these 
 days, should it also be marvellous in mine 
 eyes? saith the Lord of hosts.'' 
 
 As who should say. They are now in cap- 
 tivity and little in their own eyes ; therefore 
 they think the mercy of returning to Canaan 
 is a mercy too marvellously big for them to en- 
 joy ; but if it be so in their eyes, it is not so 
 in mine : I will do for them like God, if they 
 will but receive my bounty like sinners. 
 
 Coming sinner, God can give his heavenly 
 Canaan and the glory of it unto thpe; yea, 
 none ever had them but as a gift, a free gift. 
 He hath given us his Son, " How shall he not, 
 then, with him also freely give us all things?" 
 
 It was not the worthiness of Abraham, or 
 Moses, or David, or Peter, or Paul, but the 
 mercy of God, that made them inheritors of 
 heaven. If God thinks thee worthy, judge iiot 
 thyself unworthy, but take it and be thankful. 
 And it is a good sign he intends to give thee 
 if he hath drawn out thy heart to ask. " 
 Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the hum- 
 ble ; thou wilt prepare their hearts ; thou wilt 
 incline thine ear." ^ 
 
 When God is said to incline his eai, it im- 
 plies an intention to bestow the mercy desired. 
 Take it therefore ; thy wisdom will be to re- 
 ceive, not sticking at thy own unworthiness. 
 It is said, " He raiseth up the poor out of the 
 dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dung- 
 hill, to set them among princes, and to make 
 them inherit the throne of glory." Again, 
 " He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and 
 lifteth the needy out of the dunghill, that he 
 may set them with the princes, even with the 
 princes of his people." 
 
 You see also when God made a wedding for 
 his Son, he called not the great, nor the rich, 
 nor the mighty, but the poor, the maimed, the 
 halt, and the blind. ' 
 
 5. Thy fears that Christ will not receive thee 
 may arise from the hideous roaring of tne 
 devil, who pursues thee. He that hears him 
 roar must be a mighty Christian if he can at 
 that time deliver . himself from fear. He is 
 called a roaring lion; and then to allude to 
 that in Isaia,h, "If one look into them, thev 
 have darkness and sorrow, and the light is 
 darkness in their very heaven." 
 
 There are two things, among many, that 
 Satan useth to roar out after them that are 
 coming to Jesus Christ — 1. That they are not 
 elected; 2. That they have sinned the sin 
 against the Holy Ghost. 
 
 To both these I answer briefly — 
 
610 
 
 SUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 First., Touching election, out of which thou 
 fearest thou art excluded. Why, coming sin- 
 ner, even the text itself afibrdeth thee help 
 against this doubt, and that by a double argu- 
 ment: 
 
 1st. That -coming to Chaist is', by virtue of 
 the gift, promise, and drawing of the Father ; 
 but thou art a-coming; therefore God hath 
 given thee, promised thee, and is drawing 
 thee to Jesus Christ. Coming sinner, hold to 
 this, and when Satan beginneth to roar again, 
 answer, ,But I feel my heart moving after 
 Jesus Christ; but that would not be if it were 
 not given by promise and drawing to Christ 
 by the power of the Father. 
 
 2dly. Jesus Christ hath promised " that him 
 that Cometh to him he will in nowise cast out." 
 And if he hath said it, will he not make it 
 good, I mean even thy salvation ? For as I 
 have said already, not to cast out is to receive 
 and admit to the benefit of salvation.- If then 
 the Father hath given thee, as is manifest by 
 thy coming, and if Christ will receive thee, 
 thou coming soul, as it is plain he will, because 
 he hath said, " He will in nowise cast out," 
 then be confident, and let these conclusions, that 
 as naturally flow from the text as light from 
 the sun or water from the fountain, stay thee. 
 If Satan therefore objecteth,' But thou art 
 not elected, answer, IJut I am coming, Satan, I 
 am coming ; and that I could not be but that 
 the Father draws me; and I am coming to 
 such a Lord Jesus as will in nowise cast me 
 out. Further, Satan, were I not elect the 
 Father would not draw me, nor-would the Son 
 so graciously open his bosom to me. I am 
 persiuided that not one of the non-elect shall 
 ever be able to say, no, not in the day of judg- 
 ment, I did sincerely come to Jesus Christ. 
 Come they may, feignedly, as Judas and Simon 
 Magus did, but that is not our question. There- 
 fore, thou honest-hearted, coming sinner, be 
 not afraid, but come. 
 
 As to the second part of the objection, about 
 sinning the sin against the Holy Ghost, the 
 same argument overthrows, that also. But I 
 will argue thus : 
 
 Igt. Coming to Christ is by virtue of a special 
 gift of the Father ; but the Father giveth no 
 such gift to them that have sinned that sin ; 
 therefore thou that art coming hast not com- 
 mitted that sin. That the Father giveth no 
 such gift to them that have sinned that sin is 
 evident — 
 
 (1.) Because ithey have sinned themselves 
 out of God's favour, "they shall never have 
 
 forgiveness." But^ it is a special favour of 
 God to give unto a man to" come unto Jesus 
 Christ,' because thereby he obtained forgive- 
 ness. Therefore he that cometh hath not 
 sinned that sin. 
 
 (2.) They that have sinned the sin against 
 the Holy Ghost have sinned themselves out of 
 an interest in the sacrifice of Christ's body and 
 blood ; " There remains for such no more sacri- 
 fice for sin." But God giveth not grace to any 
 of them to come to Christ that have no share 
 in the sacrifice of his body and blood. There- 
 fore thou that art coming to him hast not 
 sinned that sin. Heb. x. 26. 
 
 2dly. Coming to^Christ is by the special 
 drawing of the Father; "N'o man cometh to 
 me except the Father, which hath sent me. 
 draw him." But the Father draweth not him 
 to Christ for whom he hath not allotted for- 
 giveness by his blood ; therefore they that are 
 coming to Jesus Christ have not committed 
 that sin, because he hath allotted them for- 
 givene_ss by his blood. John vi. 44. 
 
 That the Father cannot draw them to Jesus 
 Christ for whom he hath not allotted forgive- 
 ness of sins, is manifest to sense ; for that would 
 be a plain mockery, a flam, neither becoming 
 his wisdom, justice, holiness, nor goodness. 
 
 3dly. Coming to Jesus Christ lays a man 
 under the promise of forgiveness and salvation ; 
 but it is impossible that he that hath sinned 
 that sin should ever be put under a promise of 
 these. Therefore he that hath sinned that sin 
 can never have heart to come to Jesus Christ. 
 
 4thly. Coming to Jesus Christ lays a man 
 under his intercession,, "for he ever liveth 
 to make intercession for them that come." 
 Therefore he that is coming to Jesus Christ 
 cannot have sinned that sin. 
 
 Christ has forbid his people to pray for them 
 that have sinned that sin ; therefore he will 
 not pray for them himself; but he prays for 
 them that come. 
 
 5thly. He that hath sinned that sin, Christ 
 is to hjm of no more worth than is a man that 
 is dead ; " fof he hath crucified to himself tne 
 Son of God ; yea, and hath also counted hia 
 precious blood as the blood of an unholy 
 thing.'' Now, he that hath this low esteem of 
 Christ will never come to him for life ; but tho 
 coming man has an high esteem of his person, 
 blood, and merits. Therefore he that is com- 
 ing has not committed that sin. 
 
 6thly. If he that has sinned this sin might 
 yet come to Jesus Christ, then must the truth 
 of God be overthrown; which saith in one 
 
a03IE AND WELCOME TO JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 611 
 
 place, " He hath never forgiveness," and in 
 another, " I will in nowise cast him out." 
 Therefore, that he may never have forgiveness 
 he shall never have heart to come to Jesus 
 Christ. "It is impossible that such an one 
 should be renewed either to or by repentance." 
 Wherefore, never trouble thy head nor heart 
 about this matter; he that Cometh to Jesus 
 Christ cannot have sinned against the Holy 
 Ghost. 
 
 6. Thy fears that Christ will not receive thee 
 may arise from thine own folly in inventing, 
 yea, in thy chalking out to God, a way to bring 
 thee home to Jesus Christ. Some souls that 
 are coming to Jesus Christ are great tormentors 
 of themselves upon this account ; they conclude 
 that if their coming to Jesus Christ is right, 
 they must needs be brought home thus and 
 thus; as to instance : 
 
 (1.) Says one, If God be bringing of me to 
 Jesus Christ, then will he load me with the 
 guilt of sin till he makes me roar again. 
 
 (2.) If God be indeed bringing me home to 
 Jesus Christ, then must I be assaulted with 
 dj-eadful temptations of the devil. 
 
 (3.) If G-od be indeed bringing me to Jesus 
 Christ, then even when I come at him I shall 
 have wonderful revelations of- him. 
 
 This is the way that some sinners appoint 
 for God, but perhaps he will not walk therein ; 
 yet will he bring them to .Jesus Christ. But 
 now, because they come not the way of their 
 own chalking out, therefore they are at a loss. 
 They look for a heavy load and burden,- but 
 perhaps God gives them a sight of their lost 
 condition, and addeth not that heavy weight 
 and burden. They look for fearful temptations 
 of Satan, but God sees that yet they are not fit 
 for them, nor is the time come that he should 
 be honoured by them in such a condition. 
 They look for great and glorious revelations of 
 Christ, grace, and mercy, but perhaps God only 
 takes the yoke from off their j.aws, and lays 
 meat before them. And now again they are at 
 a loss, yet a-coming to Christ. " I drew them," 
 saith God, "with the cords of a man, with the 
 bands of love ; I took the yoke from off their 
 jaws, and laid meat unto them." 
 
 Nuw, I say, if God brings thee to Christ, 
 and not by the way that thou hast appointed, 
 then thou art at a loss ; and for thy being at a 
 loss thou mayest thank thyself. God hath 
 more ways than thou knowest of to bring a 
 ainner to Jesus Christ, but he will not give 
 thee beforehand an account by which of them 
 ho will bring thee to Christ. 
 
 Sometimes he hath his ways in the wh irlwind. 
 but sometimes the Lord is not there. 
 
 If God will deal more gently with thee than 
 with others of his children, grudge not .at it; 
 refuse not the waters that go softly, leat he 
 bring up to thee the waters of the rivers strong 
 and many, even these two smoking firebi-ands, 
 the devil and guilt of sin. He saith to Peter, 
 " Follow me." And what thunder did Zaccbeus 
 hear or see? "Zaccheus, come down," saith 
 Christ, "and he came down," (says Luke,) 
 " and received him joyfully." 
 
 But had Peter or Zaccheus made the objec- 
 tion that thou hast made, and directed the 
 Spirit of the Lord as thou hast done, they 
 might have looked long enough before they 
 had found themselves coming to Jesus Christ. 
 
 Besides, I will tell thee that the greatness 
 of the sense of sin, the hideous roaring of the 
 devil, yea, abundance of revelations, will not 
 prove that God is bringing thy soul to Jesus 
 Christ, as Balaam, Cain, Judas, and others can 
 witness. 
 
 Further, consider that v/hat thou hast not of 
 these things here thou mayest have another 
 time, and that to thy distraction. Wherefore, 
 instead of being discontent because thou art 
 not in the fire, because thou hearest not the 
 sound of the trumpet and alarm of war, " pray 
 that thou enter not into temptation ;" yea, 
 come boldly to the throne of gi-aoe, and obtain 
 mercy and find grace to help in that time of 
 need. Ps. Ixxxviii. 15 ; Matt. xi. 41 ; Heb, iv. 
 16. 
 
 Poor creature ! thou criest. If I were tempted 
 I could conje faster and with more confidence 
 to Jesus Christ. Thou sayest thou knowest 
 not what. What says Job ? — " Withdraw thy 
 hand from me, and let not thy dread make me 
 afraid. Then call thou, and I will answer, or 
 let me speak, and answer thou me." It is not 
 the over-heavy load of sin, but the discovery 
 of mercy, not the roaring of the devil, but the 
 drawing of the Father, that makes a man 
 come to Jesus Christ ; I myself know all these 
 things. 
 
 True, sometimes, yea, most an end, tney that 
 come to -Jesus Christ come the way that thou 
 desirest, the loading, tempted way ; but the 
 Lord also leads some by the waters of comfort 
 If I was to choose when to go a long journey — 
 to wit, whether I would go it in the dead of 
 winter or in the pleasant spring, (though if it 
 was a very profitable journey, as that of com- 
 ing to Christ is, I would choose to go it through 
 fire and water before I would lo?e the bene 
 
612 
 
 BVNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 fit;) — tut I say, if I miglit choose tlie time I 
 would choose to go it in the pleasant spring, 
 because the way would be more delightsome, 
 the days longer and warmer, the nights shorter 
 and not so cold. And it is observable that 
 very argument that thou usest to weaken thy 
 strength in the way, that very argument Christ 
 Jesus useth tp encourage his beloved to come 
 to him: "Arise," saith he, "my love, my fair 
 one, and come away ; (why ?) for, lo, the winter 
 js past, the rain is over and gone, the flowers 
 appear in the earth, the time of the singing of 
 birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is 
 heard in the land. The iig tree putteth forth 
 her green figs, and the vine, with her tender 
 grapes, giveth a good smell. Arise, my love, 
 my fair one, and come away." 
 
 Trouble not thyself, coming sinner ; if thou 
 seest thy lost condition by original and actual 
 sin, if thou seest thy need of the spotless 
 righteousness of Jesus Christ, if thou art will- 
 ing to be found in him and to take up thy 
 cross and follow him, then pray for a fair wind 
 and good weather, and come away. Stick no 
 longer in a muse and doubt about things, but 
 come away to Jesus Christ. Do it, I say, lest 
 thou tempt God to lay the sorrows of a travail- 
 ing woman upon thee. Thy folly in this thing 
 may make him do it. Mind what foUoIvs: 
 "The sorrows of a travailing woman shall 
 come upon- him. (Why?) He is an unwise 
 son ; so he should not stay long in the place of 
 the breaking forth of' children." 
 
 7. Thy fears that Christ will not receive thee 
 may rise from those decays that thou findest in 
 tliy soul, even while thou art coming to him. 
 'Some even as they are coming to Jesus Christ 
 do find themselves grow worse and worse ; and 
 this is indeed a sore trial to the poor coming 
 sinner. 
 
 To explain myself: There is such an one 
 coming to Jefeus Christ who, when at first he ' 
 began to look out after him, was sensible, af- 
 fectionate, and broken in spirit, but now is 
 grown dark, senseless, hard-hearted, and in- 
 'clining to neglect spiritual duties, &o. Be- 
 sides, he now finds in himself inclinations to 
 unbelief, atheism, blasphemy, and the like; 
 now he finds he cannot tremble at God's word, 
 his judgments, nor at the apprehension of 
 hell-fire: neither can he, as he tliinketh, be 
 sorry for these things. Now this is a sad dis- 
 pensation. The man under tjie sixth head 
 complaineth for want of temptations, but thou 
 hast enough of them ; art thou glad of them, 
 tempted, coming sinner? They that never 
 
 were exercised with them may think it a fine 
 thing to be within the rage, but he that is there 
 is ready to sweat blood for sorrow of heait and 
 to howl for vexation of spirit. , 
 
 This man is in the wilderness among wild 
 beasts. Here he sees a bear, there a lion, 
 yonder a leopard, a wolf, a dragon ; devils of 
 all sorts, doubts of all sorts, fears of all sorts ' 
 haunt and molest his soul. Here he sees 
 smoke, yea, some fire and brimstone, scattered 
 upon his secret places; he hears the sound of 
 an horrible tempest. 
 
 O my friends, even the Lord Jesus, that 
 knew all things, even he saw no pleasure in 
 temptations, nor did he desire to be with them; 
 wherefore one text saith, "he was led," and 
 another, "he was driven," of the Spirit into 
 the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 
 
 But to return: Thus it happeneth some- 
 times to them that are coming to Jesus Christ. 
 A sad hap indeed ! One would think that he 
 that is flying from wrath to come has little 
 need of such clogs as these; and yet so it is, 
 and woeful experience proves it. The Church 
 of old complained that her enemies overtook 
 her between the straits, just between hope and 
 fear, heaven and hell. 
 
 This man feeleth the infirmity of his flesh; 
 he findeth a proheness in himself to be despe- 
 rate. Now he chides with God, fiings and 
 tumbles like a wild bull 'in a net, and still the 
 guilt of all returns upon himself, to the crush- 
 ing of him to pieces. Yet he feeleth his heart 
 so bard that he can find, as he thinks, no kind 
 falling under any of his miscarriages. Now 
 he is a lump of confusion in his own eyes, 
 whose spirit and actions are without order. 
 
 Temptations serve Christians as the shep- 
 herd's dog serveth the silly sheep; that is, 
 coming behind the flock, he runs upon it, 
 pulls it down, worries it, wounds it, and griev- 
 ously bedabhleth it with dirt and wet in the 
 lowest places of the furrows of the field, and 
 not leaving it until it is half dead, nor then 
 neither, except God rebuke. 
 
 Here is now room for fears of being cast 
 away. Now I see I am lost, says the sinner. 
 This is not coming to Jesus Christ, says the 
 sinner: such a desperate, hard, and wretched 
 heart as mine is cannot be a gracious one, 
 saith the sinner. And bid such an one be 
 better, he says, I cannot, no, I cannot. 
 
 Question. But what will you say to a soul in 
 this condition? 
 
 Answer. I will say that temptations have at- 
 tended the best of God's people: I will say 
 
COME AND WELCOME TO JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 618 
 
 Aat temptations come to do us good; and I 
 will say also that there is a difference betwixt 
 growing worse and worse, and thy seeing more 
 clearly how bad thou art. 
 ' There is a man of an ill-favoured counte- 
 nance who hath too high a conceit of his 
 beauty, and wanting the benefit of a glass, he 
 still stands in his own conceit; at last a limner 
 is sent unto him who draweth his ill-favqured 
 face to the life; now, looking thereon, he begins 
 to be convinced that he is not half so hand- 
 some as he thought he was. Coming sinner, 
 thy temptations are these painters; they have 
 drawn out thy ill-favoured heart to the life 
 and have set it before thine- eyes, and now 
 thou seest how ill-favoured thou art. ' 
 
 Hczekiah was a good man, yet when he lay 
 sick (for aught I know) he had sorawvhat too 
 good an opinion of his heart; and, for aught I 
 know also, the Lord might upon his recovery 
 leave iiim to a. temptation, that he might better 
 know all that was in his heart. 
 
 Alas 1 we are sinful out of measure, but see 
 it not to the full until an hour of temptation 
 comes. But when it comes, it doth as the 
 painter doth, draw out our heart to the life; 
 yet the sight of what we are should not keep 
 us from coming to Jesus Christ. 
 
 There are two ways by which God lets a man 
 into a sight of the naughtiness of his hea,rt: 
 one is by the light of the word and Spirit of 
 God, the other is by the temptations of the 
 devil. But by the first we see our naughti- 
 ness one way, and by the second, another. 
 By the light of the word and Spirit of God 
 thou hast a sight of thy naughtiness, and by 
 - the light of the suii thou hast a sight of the 
 Bpots and defilements that are in thy house or 
 raiment; which light gives thee to see a neces- 
 sity of cleansing, but maketh not the blemishes 
 to spread more abominably. But when Satan 
 comes, when he tempts, he puts life and rage 
 into our sins, and turns them, as it were, into 
 BO many devils within us. Now, like prison- 
 ers, they attempt to break through the prison 
 of our body : they will attempt to get out at 
 our eyes, raouth, ears, any ways, to the scandal 
 of the gospel and reproach of religion, to the 
 darkening of our evidences and damning of 
 our souls. 
 
 But I shall say, as I said before, this has oft- 
 times been the lot of God's people. And "no 
 temptation hath overtaken thee but such as is 
 common to man; and God is faithful, who 
 will not suffer 'ihee to be tempted above what 
 thou art able ' See the book of Job, the 
 
 book of Psalms, and that of the Lamentations. 
 And remember, farther, that Christ himself 
 was tempted to blaspheme, to worship the 
 devil, and to murder himself, (temptations 
 worse than which thou canst hardly be over- 
 taken with.) But he was sinless, that is true. 
 And he is thy Saviour, and that is as true. 
 Yea, it is as true also that by his being tempted 
 he became the conqueror of the tempter and a 
 succourer of those that are tempted. 
 
 Questipn. But what should be the reason 
 that some that are coming to Christ should be ' 
 so lamentably cast down and buffeted with 
 temptations? 
 
 Answer. It may be for several causes. 
 
 1. Some that are coming to Christ cannot be 
 persuaded until the temptation comes that 
 they are so vile as the Scripture saith they 
 are. True, they see so much of their wretch- 
 edness as to drive them to Christ, but there 
 is an Over and above of wickedness- which 
 they see not. Peter little thought that he had 
 had cursing, and swearing, and lying, and an 
 inclination in his heart to deny his Master, 
 before the temptation came, but when that in- 
 deed came upon him, then he found it there 
 to his sorrow. 
 
 2. Some that are coming to Jesus Christ are 
 too much affected with their own graces, and 
 too little taken with Christ's person ; where- 
 fore God, to take them off from doting on their 
 own jewels, and that they might look more to 
 the person, undertaking, and merits of his Son, 
 plunges them into the ditch by temptations. 
 And this I take to be the meaning of Job. 
 " If I wash me," saith he, " with snow-water, 
 and make myself never so clean, yet wilt thou 
 plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes 
 shall abhor me." Job had been a little too 
 much tampering with his own graces, and set- 
 ting his excellencies a little too high. But by 
 that the temptations were ended j^ou find him 
 better taught. 
 
 Yea, God doth ofttimes, even for this thing, 
 as it were, take> our graces from us, and so 
 leave us almost quite to ourselves and to the 
 tempter, that we may learn not to love the 
 picture more than the person of his Son. See 
 how he dealt with them in the 16th of Ezekiel 
 and the 2d of Hosea. 
 
 3. Perhaps thou hast been given too much 
 to judge thy brother, to condemn thy brother, 
 because a poor tempted ma-n ; and God, xo 
 bring down the pride of thy heart, letteth the 
 tempter loose upon thee, that thou also mayest 
 feel thyself weak. " For pride goebh before 
 
314 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 destruction, and an taughty spirit before a 
 fall." 
 
 4. It may be thou hast dealt a little too 
 roughlv with those that God hath this way 
 wounded, not considering thyself lest thou also 
 be tempted ; and therefore God hath suffered 
 it to come unto thee. 
 
 5. It may be thou wast given to slumber and 
 sleep, and therefore these temptations were 
 Bent to awake thee. You know that Peter's 
 temptation came upon him after his sleeping; 
 then, instead of watching and praying, then 
 he denied, and denied, and denied his Master. 
 
 6. It may be thou hast presumed too far and 
 "stood too much in thine own strength, and 
 therefore is a time of temptation come upon 
 thee. This was also one cause why it came 
 upbn Peter: "Though all men forsake thee, 
 yet will not I." Ah ! that is the way to be 
 tempted indeed ! 
 
 7. It may be God intends to make thee wise 
 to speak a word in season to others that are 
 afflicted, and therefore he suffereth thee to be 
 tempted. Christ was tempted that he might 
 be able to succour them that are tempted. 
 
 8. It may be Satan hath dared God to suffer 
 him to tempt thee, promising himself that if 
 he will but let him do it thou wilt curse him to 
 his face. Thus he obtained leave against Job ; 
 wherefore take heed, tempted soul, lest thou 
 provest the devil's saying true. 
 
 ^. It may be thy graces must be tried in the 
 fire, that that rust that cleaveth to them may 
 be taken away, and themselves proved, both 
 before angels and devils, to be far better than 
 the gold that perisheth ; it may be also that thy 
 graces are to receive special praises, and hon- 
 our, and glory at the coming of the Lord Je- 
 sus (to judgment) for all the exploits that thou 
 hast acted by them against hell and its infer- 
 nal crew in the day of thy temptation. 
 
 10. It majr be God would have others learn 
 by thy sighs, groans, and complaints under 
 temptations to beware of those sins for the 
 sake of which thou art at present delivered to 
 the tormentors. 
 
 But to conclude this : put the worst to the 
 ^orst, (and then things will be bad enough ; ) 
 suppose that thou art to this day without the 
 grace of God, yet thou art but a miserable 
 creature, a sinner that has need of a blessed 
 Saviour ; and the text presents thee with One 
 as good and kind as heart can wish, who 
 also for thy encouragement saith, ''and him 
 that cometh to me I will in nowise cast 
 out." 
 
 To come therefore to a word of application. 
 
 Is it so that they that are coming to Jesus 
 Christ are ofttimes heartily afraid that Jesua 
 Christ will not receive therri? Then thia 
 teacheth us th&se things : 
 
 1. That faith and doubting may at the same 
 time have their residence in the same soul. 
 " O thou of little faith ! wherefore didst thou 
 doubt?" He saith not, O thou of no farith I 
 but 6 thou of little faith! because he liad a 
 little faith in the midst of his many doubts. 
 The same is true even of many that are com- 
 ing to Jesus Christ : they come, and fear they 
 come not, and doubt they come not. When 
 they look upon the promise or a word of en- 
 couragement by faith, then they come; when 
 they look upon themselves or the difficulties 
 that lie before them, then they doubt. Bid 
 me come, said Peter ; Come, said Christ.' So 
 he went out of the ship to go to Jesus, but 
 his hap was to ^o to him upon the water; 
 there was the trial. So it was with the poor 
 desiring soul. Bid me come, says the sinner ; 
 Come, says Chi-ist, and I will in nowise cast 
 thee out. So he comes, but his hap is to come 
 upon the water, upon drowning difficulties ; if 
 therefore the wind of temptation blows, the 
 waves of doubts and fears will presently arise, 
 and this coming sinner will begin to sink if he 
 has but little faith. 
 
 But you shall find here in Peter's little faith 
 a twofold act — to wit, coming and crying. 
 Little faith cannot come all 'the way without 
 crying. So long as its holy boldness lasts, so 
 long it can come with peace, but when it is so 
 it can come no farther, it will go the rest of the 
 way with crying. Peter went as far as his little 
 faith would carry him : he also cried as far as 
 his little faith would help, "Lord, savcjiie, I 
 perish !" And so, with coming and crying, he 
 was kept from sinking, though he had but a lit- 
 tle faith. " Jesus stretched forth his hand, and 
 caught him, and said unto him, thou of little 
 faith ! wherefore didst thou doubt?" 
 
 2. Is it so that they that are coming to Jesus 
 Christ are ofttimes heartily afraid that Jesus 
 Christ will not receive them ? Then this shows 
 us a reason of that dejection and those castings 
 down that very often we perceive to be in them 
 that are coming to Jesus Christ. Why, it is 
 becausfe they are afraid that Jesus Christ will 
 not receive them. The poor world, they mock 
 us because we are a dejected people — I mean, 
 because we are sometimes so — but they do 
 not know the cause of our dej ection. Could we 
 be-persuaded, even then when we are dejected. 
 
POME AND WELCOME TO SeSVS CHRIST. 
 
 615 
 
 that Jesus Christ would indeed receive us, it 
 would make us fly over their heads, and would 
 put more gladness into our hearts than in the 
 time iu which their corn, wine, and oil in- 
 creases. Ps. iv. 
 
 3. Is it so that" they that are coming to Jesus 
 Christ are ofttimes heartily afraid that he will 
 not receive them? Then this shows that they 
 that are coming to Jesus Christ are an awaken- 
 ' ed, sensible, considering people, for fear cometh 
 from sense and consideration of things. They 
 are sensible of sin, sensible of the curse due 
 thereto ; they are also sensible of the glorious 
 majesty of God, and of what a blessed, blessed 
 ,thing it is to be received of Jesus Christ. The 
 glory of heaven and the evil of sin, these 
 things they consider and are sensible of. 
 " When 1 remember I am afraid : wh5n I con- 
 sider I am afraid." 
 
 These things dash their spirits, being awake 
 and sensible. Were they dead, like other 
 men, they would not be afflicted with fear as 
 they are ; for dead men fear not, feel not, care 
 not, but the living and sensible man, he it is 
 ♦hat is ofttimes heartily afraid that Jesus Christ 
 will not receive him. I say, the dead and 
 senseless are not distressed: they presume, 
 they are groundlessly confident. Who so bold 
 as blind Bayard? These indeed should fear 
 and be afraid because they are not coming to 
 Jesus Christ. Oh the hell, the fire, the pit, 
 the wrath of God, and torment of hell that are 
 prepared for poor neglecting sinners 1 *' How 
 shall we escape if we neglect so great salva- 
 tion?" But they want sense of things, and 
 canriot fear. 
 
 Is it so that they that ^.re coming to Jesus 
 Christ are ofttimes heartily afraid that he will 
 not receive them? Then this should teach old 
 Christians to pity and pray for young comers. 
 You know the heart of a 'stranger, for you 
 yourselves were strangers in the Jand of Egypt. . 
 You know the fears, the doubts, the terrors that 
 take hold on them, for that they sometimes 
 took hold on you. Wherefore pity them, pray 
 for them, encourage them ; they need all this : 
 guilt hath overtaken them ; fear of the wrath 
 of God hath overtaken them; perhaps they 
 are within the sight of hell-fire, and the fear of 
 going thither is burning hot within their hearts. 
 
 You may know how strangely Satan is sug- 
 gesting his devilish doubts unto them, if pos- 
 sibly he may sink and drown them with his 
 multitude and weight of them. Old Chris- 
 tians, mend up the path for them, take the 
 stumbling-blocks out of the way, lest that 
 
 which is feeble and weak be turned aside, but 
 let it rather be healed. 
 
 III. I come no^ to the next observation, 
 and shall speak a little to that^to wit, that 
 Jesus Christ would not have them that in truth 
 are coming to him once think that he will cast 
 them out. 
 
 The text is full of this. "And him that 
 cometh to me I will in nowise cast out." Now 
 if he saith, I will not, he would not have ua 
 think he will. • 
 
 This is yet farther manifest by these con- 
 siderations : ' 
 
 1. Christ Jesus did forbid even them that as 
 yet were not coming to him once to think him 
 such an one. " Do not think," said he, " that 
 I will accuse you to the Father." 
 
 These, as I 'said, were such that as yet were 
 not coming to him, for he saith of them a little 
 before, And ye will not come to me ; for the 
 respect they had to the honour of men kept ^ 
 them back. Yet, I say, Jesus Christ gives 
 them to understand that though he might 
 justly reject them, yet he would not, but bids 
 them not once to think that he would accuse 
 them to the Father. Now, not to accuse (with 
 Christ) is to plead for, for Christ in these 
 things stands not neuter between the Father ' 
 and sinners. So, then, if Jesus Christ would 
 not have them think that yet will not come to 
 him that he will accuse them, then he would 
 not that they should think so that in truth are 
 coming to him : " And him that cometh to me 
 I will in nowise cast out." 
 
 2. When the woman taken in adultery (even 
 in the very act) was brought before Jesna 
 Christ, he so carried it both by words and ac- 
 tions that he evidently enough made it mani- 
 fest that condemning and casting out were such 
 things for the doing of which he came not into 
 the world. 
 
 Wherefore, when they had set her before 
 him, and had laid to her charge the heinous 
 fact, he stooped down and with his 'finger 
 wrote upon the ground as though he heard 
 them not. Now what did he do by this car- 
 riage but testify plainly that he was not for re- 
 ceiving accusations against poor sinners, who- 
 ever accused by? And observe, though they 
 continued asking, thinking at last to force him 
 to condemn her, yet then he so answered as 
 that he drove all condemning persons from 
 her. And then he adds, for her encourage- 
 ment to come to him, " Neither do I condemn 
 thee ; go and sin no more." 
 
 Not but that he indeed abhorred the fact, but 
 
616 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 he would not condemn the woman for the sin, 
 because that was not his office. " He was not 
 sent into the world to (tindemn the world, 
 but that the world through him might be 
 saved." Now if Christ, though urged to it, 
 would not condemn the guilty woman, though 
 ghe was far at present from coming to him, he 
 would not that they should once think that he 
 will cast them out that in truth are coming to- 
 him: "And him that cometh to me I will in 
 nowise cast olit." 
 
 3. Christ plainly bids the turning sinner 
 come and forHids him to entertain any such 
 thoughts as that he will cast him out. " Let 
 the wicked forsake his way, and the unright- 
 eous man his thoughts, and let him turn unto 
 the Lord, and lie will have mercy upon him, 
 and to our God, for he will abundantly 
 pardon." 
 
 The Lord, by bidding the unrighteous for- 
 sake his thoughts, doth in special forbid, as I 
 have said — viz., those thoughts that hinder the 
 coming man in his progress to Jesus Christ — 
 his unbelieving thoughts. 
 
 Therefore he bids them not only forsake his 
 ways, but his thoughts ; " Let the sinner for- 
 sake his ways, and the unrighteous man 
 his thoughts." It is not enough to forsake 
 one if thou wilt come to Jesus Christ, because 
 the other will keep thee from him. Sup- 
 pose a man forsake his wicked ways, his de- 
 bauched and filthy life, yet if these thoughts 
 that Jesus Christ will not receive him be en- 
 tertained and nourished in his heart, these 
 thoughts will keep him from coming to Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 Sinner, coming sinner, art thou for coming 
 to Jesus Christ? Yee, says the sinner. 'For- 
 sake thy wicked ways-then. So I do, says the 
 sinner. Why comest thou then so slowly? 
 Because I am hindered. What hinders? Has 
 God forbidden thee ? No. Art thou not will- 
 ing to come faster? Yes, yet I cannot. Well, 
 prithee be plain with me, and tell nie the 
 reason and ground of thy discouragement. 
 Why, says the sinner, though God forbids me 
 not, and though I am willing to come faster, 
 yet there naturally ariseth this and that and 
 the other thought in my heart, that hinders 
 my speed to Jesus Christ. Sometimes I think 
 I am not chosen ; sometimes I think I am not 
 called ; sometimes I think I am come too late; 
 and sometimes I think I know not what it is, 
 to come. Also one while I think I have no 
 grace ; and then, again, that I cannot pray ; 
 and then, again, I think I am a very hypo- 
 
 crite. And these things keep me from coming 
 to Jesus Christ. 
 
 Look ye now, di(J I not tell you so 7 There 
 are thoughts yet remaining in the heart, even 
 of those who have forsaken their wicked ways; 
 and with those thoughts they iare more plagued 
 than with any thing else, because they hinder 
 their coming to Jesus Christ, for the sin of 
 unbelief (which is the original of all tlese 
 thoughts) is that which besets a coming sinner 
 more easily than do his ways. 
 
 But now, since Jesus Christ commands thee' 
 to forsake these thoughts, forsake them, 
 coming sinner; and if thou forsake them not, 
 thou transgressest the commands of Christ, 
 and abidest thine own tormentor, and keep- 
 est thyself from establishment in grace. " If 
 ye will not believe, ye shall not be estab- 
 lished." 
 
 Thus you see how Jesus Christ setteth him- 
 self against such thoughts that any way dis- 
 courage the coming sinner, and thereby truly 
 vindicates the doctrine we have" in hand — 
 to wit, that Jesus Christ would not have 
 them that in truth are coming to him once 
 think that he will cast them out. " And him 
 that cometh to me I will in nowise cast out." 
 
 I come now to the reasons of the obser- 
 vation : 
 
 1. If Jesus Christ should allow thee once to 
 think that he will cast thee out, he must allow 
 thee to think that he will falsify his word; for 
 he hath said, " I will in nowise cast out." But 
 Christ would not that thou shouldst count 
 him as one that will falsify his word, for he 
 saith of himself, " I am the truth ;" therefore 
 he would not that any that in truth are coming 
 to him should once think that he will cast 
 them out. 
 
 2. If Jesus Christ should allow the sinner 
 that in truth is coming to him once to think 
 that he will cast them out, then he must 
 allow, and so countenance, the first appear- 
 ance of unbelief; the which he counteth his 
 greatest enemy, and against which, he has bent 
 even his holy Gospel. Therefore Jesus C hrist 
 would not that they that in truth are coming 
 to him should once think that he will cast 
 them out. 
 
 3. If Jesus Christ should allow the coming 
 sinner once tp think that he will cast him out, 
 then he must allow him to make a question 
 whether he is willing to receive his Father's 
 gift, for the coming iiinner is his Father's 
 gift; as also says the text; but he testifieth, 
 " All that ,the Father giveth him shall come 
 
COME AND WELCOME TO JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 617 
 
 toliim; and him that coraeth he will in no- 
 wise cast out." Therefore Jesus Christ would 
 not have him that in truth is coming to him 
 once to thinlc that he will cast him out. 
 
 4. If Jesus Christ should allow them once to 
 think that indeed are coming to him that he 
 will cast them out, he must allow them to 
 think that he will despise and reject the 
 drawing of his Father ; for no man can come 
 to him but whom the Father draweth. But it 
 would be high blasphemy and damnable wick- 
 edness xjnce to imagine thus. Therefore, Jesus 
 Christ would not have him that cometh once 
 think that he will cast him out. 
 
 6 If Jesus Christ should allow those th~at 
 indeed are cpming to him once to think that 
 he will cast them out, he must allow them to 
 think that he will be unfaithful to She trust 
 and charge that his Father hath committed to 
 him ; which ia to save and not to lose any 
 thing of that which he hath given unto him 
 to save. But the Father hath given him 
 a charge to save the coming sinner; therefore 
 it cannot be that he should allow that such 
 an one should once think that he will cast 
 him out. 
 
 6. If Jesus Christ should allow that they 
 should once think that are coming to him that 
 he will cast them out, then he must allow 
 them to think that he will be unfaithful to 
 his office of priesthood; for as by the first 
 part of it he paid price for and ransomed 
 souls, so by the second part thereof lie con- 
 tinually maketh intercession to God for them 
 that come. But he cannot allow us to ques- 
 tion his faithful execution of his priesthood, 
 therefore he cannot allow us once to think 
 that the coming sinner shall be cast out. 
 
 7. If J,esus Christ should allow us once to 
 think that the coming sinner shall be cast out, 
 then he must allow us to question his will, or 
 power, or merit to save. But he cannot allow 
 us once to question any of these; therefore not 
 once to think that the coming sinner shall be 
 cast out. 
 
 (1.) He cannot allow us to question his will, 
 for he saith in the text, "I will in nowise cast 
 out." 
 
 (2.) He cannot allow us to question, his 
 power, for the Holy Ghost saith he is able to 
 save to the uttermost them that come. 
 
 (3.) He cannot allow us to question his 
 merit, for the blood of Christ cleansetli the 
 comer from all sin ; therefore he cannot allow 
 that he that is coming to him should once 
 think that he will cast them out. 
 
 8, If Jesus Christ would allow the coming 
 sinner once to think that he will cast him out, 
 he must allow him to give the lie to the man- 
 ifest testimony of the Father, Son, and Spirit; 
 yea, to the whole Gospel contained in Moses, 
 the Prophets, the book of Psalms, and that 
 commonly called the New Testament. But ha 
 cannot allow of this; therefore not that the 
 coming sinner should once think he will cast 
 him out. 
 
 9. Lastly, if Jesus Christ should allow him 
 that is coming to him once to think that he 
 will cast him out, he must allow him to ques- 
 tion his Father's oath, which he in truth and 
 righteousness hath taken, that they might have 
 a strong consolation who have fled for refuge 
 to Jesus Christ. But he cannot allow this; 
 therefore he cannot allow that the coming sin- 
 ner should once think that he will cast him out. 
 
 I come now to make some general use and 
 application of the whole, and so to draw 
 towards a conclusion : 
 
 I. The first use, a use of information ; and it 
 informeth us that men by nature are far off 
 from Christ. 
 
 Let "me a little improve this use by speaking 
 to these three questions : 
 
 1. Where is he that is not coming to Jesus 
 Christ? 
 
 2. What is he that is coming to Jesus 
 Christ? 
 
 3. Whither is he to go that cometh not to 
 Jesus Christ? 
 
 First. Where is he? 
 
 Answer. 1. He is far from God, he is without 
 him, even alienated from him, hoth in his un- 
 derstanding, will, affections, and conscience. 
 
 2. He is far from Jesus Christ, who is the 
 only deliverer of men from hell-fire. 
 
 3. He is far from the work of Ihe Holy 
 Ghost, the work of regeneration and a second 
 creation, without which no man shall see the 
 kingdom of heaven. 
 
 4. He is far from being righteoas — that 
 righteousness that should make him accept- 
 able in God's sight. 
 
 5. He is under the power and dominion of 
 sin ; sin reigneth in and over him ; it dwelleth 
 in every faculty of his soul and member of his 
 body, so that from head to foot there is no 
 place clean. 
 
 6. He is in the pest'house with Uzziah, and 
 excluded the camp of Israel with the lepers. 
 
 7. His life is among the unclean : " He is in 
 the gall of hitterness and in the bond of in* 
 iquity." 
 
618 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WOEKS. 
 
 8. He is in sin, in the flesh, in death, in the 
 snare of the devil, an^ is taken captive by him 
 at his will. 
 
 9. He is under the curse of the taw, and the 
 devils dwell in him and have the mastery of 
 him. 
 
 10. He is in darkness, and walketh in dark- 
 ness, and knows not whither he goes, for dark- 
 ness lias blinded his eyes. 
 
 11. He is in the broad way that leadeth to 
 destruction, and, holding on, he will assuredly 
 go in at the broad gate, and so go down the 
 stairs to hell. 
 
 Secondly. What is he that cometh not to 
 Jesus Christ ? 
 
 1. He is counted one of God's enemies.. 
 
 2. He is a child of the de*'il and of hell ; for 
 the devil begat him as to his sinful nature, and 
 hell must swallow him at last, because he com- 
 eth n^t to Jesus Christ. 
 
 3. He is a child of wrath, an heir of it ; it is 
 'his portion, and God will repay it him to his 
 
 face. 
 
 4. He is a self-murderer ; he wrongeth his 
 own soul, and is one that loveth death. 
 
 5. He is a companion for devils and damned 
 men. 
 
 Thirdly. AVhere is he like to go that cometh 
 uot to Jesus Christ ? 
 
 1. He that cometh not to him is like to go 
 farther from him, for every sin is a step farther 
 from Jesus Christ. 
 
 2. As he is in darkness, so he is like to go 
 on in it; for Christ is the Light of the world, 
 and he that comes not to him walketh in dark- 
 ness. 
 
 3. He is like to be removed at last as far 
 from God and Christ, and heaven, and all fe- 
 licity as an infinite God can remove him. 
 
 But, secondly. This doctrine of coming to 
 Christ informeth us where poor destitute sin- 
 ners may find life for their souls, and that is in 
 Christ. This life is in his Son; he that hath 
 the Son hath life. And again, " Whoso find- 
 eth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of 
 the Lord." 
 
 Now, for further enlargement, I will also 
 here propound three more questions : 
 
 1. What life is in Christ? 
 
 2. Who may have it? 
 
 3. Upon what terms ? 
 
 First. Wliat life is in Jesus Christ? 
 
 1. There is justifying life in Christ. Man 
 oy sin is dead iii law, and- Christ only can de- 
 liver him by his righteousness and blood from 
 this death into a state of life ; " For God sent 
 
 his Son into the world, that we might liva. 
 through him ;" that is, through the righteous- 
 ness which he should accomplish and the 
 death that he should die. 
 
 2. There is eternal life in Christ — life that 
 is endless, life for ever and for ever. "He 
 hath given us eternal life, and this life is in 
 his Sod." 
 
 Now, justification and eternal salvation 
 being both in Christ, and nowhere else to be 
 had for men, who would not come to Jesus 
 Christ? 
 
 Secondly, Who may have this life ? 
 
 I answer, poor, helpless, miserable sinners. 
 Particularly — 
 
 1. Such as are willing to have it : " Whoso- 
 ever will, let him take of the water of life." 
 
 2. He that thirsteth for it : "I will give him 
 that is athirst'of the fountain of the water of 
 life." 
 
 3. He that is weary of his sins : " This is the 
 rest whereby you may cause the weary to rest, 
 and this is the refreshing." 
 
 4. He that is poor and needy: "He shall 
 spare the poor and needy, and shall- save the 
 souls of the needy." 
 
 5. He that followeth after him, crieth for 
 life : " He that follows me shall not walk in 
 
 ■ darkness, but shall have the light of life." 
 
 Thirdly. Upon what terms may he have 
 this life? 
 
 Answer. Freely. Sinner, dost thou hear? 
 Thou mayest have it freely. Let him take of 
 the water of life freely. I will give him of the 
 fountain of the water of life freely; "And 
 when they had nothing to pay, he freely for- 
 gave them both." 
 
 Freely, without money or without price. 
 " Ho ! every one that thirsteth, come ye to the 
 waters ; and he that hath no money, come, buy 
 and eat : yea, come, buy wine and milk, with- 
 out money, and without price." 
 
 Sinner, art thou thirsty? art thou weary? 
 art thou willing? Come, then, and regard not 
 your stuff, for all the good that is in Christ is 
 offered to the coming sinner -ndthout money 
 and without price. He has life to give away to 
 such as want it and that have not a penny to 
 purchase it ; and he will give it freely. Ob, 
 what a blessed condition is the coming sin- 
 ner in 1 
 
 But, thirdly. This doctrine of coming to 
 Jesus Christ for life informeth us that it is to 
 be had novchere else. Might it be had any- 
 where else, the text and Him that spokei it 
 would be but little set by ; for what great mat* 
 
COME AND WELCOME TO JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 619 
 
 ter is tlieio in "I will in nowise cast out" if 
 aniither stood by that would receive them? 
 But here appears the glory of Christ, that none 
 but he can save. And here appears his love, 
 that though none can save but he, yet he is 
 not coy in saving. " But him that cometh to 
 me,'' saith he, " I will in nowise cast out." 
 
 Tliat none can save but Jesus Christ is evi- 
 d .'ut from Acts iv. 12 : " Neither is there sal- 
 vation in any other; and he hath given us 
 eternal life, and this life is in his Son." If 
 life could have been had any\yhere else, it 
 should have'been in the law; but it is not in 
 the law, for by the deeds of the law no man 
 living shall be justified — then no life. 
 
 Therefore life is nowhere to be had but in 
 Jesus Christ.' 
 
 Qiiextion. But why would God so t)rder it 
 that life should be had nowhere else but in 
 Jesus Christ? 
 
 Ans^oer. There is reason for it, and that both 
 with respect to God and us. 
 
 First, with respect to God. 
 
 1. That it might be in away of justice as 
 well as mercy: and in a \vay of justice it could 
 not have been if it had not been by Christ, 
 because he, and he only, was able to answer 
 the demand of the law, and give for sin what 
 the justice thereof required. All angels had 
 been crushed down to hell for ever had that 
 curse been laid upon them for our sins which 
 was laid upon Jesus Christ ; but it was laid 
 ujion him, and he bare it and answered the 
 penalty, and redeemed his people from under 
 it, with that satisfaction to divine justice that 
 God himself doth now proclaim that he is 
 faithful and just to forgive us if by faith we 
 shall venture to Jesus, and trust to what he 
 has done for life. 
 
 2. Life must be by Jesus Christ, that God 
 might be adored and magnified for finding out 
 this way. This is the Lord's doings, that in 
 all things he might be glorified through Jesus 
 Christ our Lord. 
 
 3. It must be by Jesus Christ, that life might 
 bo at God's dispose, who hath great pity for 
 the poor, the lowly, the meek, the broken in 
 heart, and for them that others care not for. 
 
 4. Life must be in Christ, to cut ofi" boasting 
 from the lips of men. This also is the apos- 
 tle's reason. 
 
 Secondly, life must be in Jesus Christ with 
 respect to us. 
 
 1. That we might have it upon the easiest 
 terms — to wit, freely, as a gift, not as wages. 
 Was it in his Moses's h^nd we should hardly 
 
 come at it. Was it in the people's hand we 
 should pay soundly for it. But, thanks be to , 
 God ! it is in Christ, laid up in him, and by 
 him to be communicated' to sinners upon easy 
 terms, even to receiving, accepting, and em- ' 
 bracing with thanksgiving, as the Scriptures 
 plainly declare. 
 
 2. Life is in Christ for us, that it might not 
 be upon so brittle a foundation as indeed it 
 would had it been anywher^ else. The law 
 itself is weak because of us as to this ; but 
 Christ is a tried stone, a sure foundation, one 
 that will not -fail to bear thy burden and to . 
 receive thy soul, coming sinner. 
 
 3. Life is in Christ, that it might be sure to 
 all the seed. Alas ! the best of us, was life Left 
 in our hands, to he sure we should forfeit it 
 over, and over, and over; or, was it in any 
 other hand, we should, by our often backslid- 
 ings, so offend him that at last he would shut 
 up liis bowels in everlasting displeasure against 
 us. But now it is in Christ; it is with one 
 that can pity, pray for, pardon, yea, multiply 
 pardons ; it is with one that can have compas- 
 sion upon us when we are out of the way, with 
 one that hath a heart to fetch us again when 
 we are gone astray, with one that can pardon 
 without upbraiding. Blessed be God that life 
 is in Christ ! fornow it is sure to all the seed. 
 
 But, fourthly, this doctrine of coming to 
 Jesus Christ for life informs us of the evil of 
 unbelief, that wicked thing that is the only or 
 chief hindrance to the coming sinner. Doth 
 the text say, Come? Doth it say, "And him 
 that cometh to me I will in nowise cast out?" 
 Then what an evil is that that keepeth sinners 
 from coming to Jesus Christ ! And that evil 
 is unbelief; for by faith we come, by unbelief 
 we keep away. Therefore it is said to be that 
 by which a soul is said to depart from God, 
 because it was that which at first caused the 
 world to go off from him, and that also that 
 keeps them from him to this day. And it doth 
 it the more easily because it doth it with a wile. 
 
 This sin may be called the white devil, for it 
 ofttimes, in its mischievous doing in the soul, 
 shows as if it were an angel of light, yea, it 
 acteth like a counsellor of heaven. Therefore, 
 a little to discourse of this evil disease : 
 
 1. It is that sin, above all others, that hath 
 some show of reason in its attempts; for it 
 keeps the soul from Christ by pretending its 
 present unfitness and unpreparedness, as want 
 of more sense of sin, want of more repentance, 
 want of more humility, want of a more broken 
 heart. 
 
620 
 
 SVNYAK'S C03IFLETE WOBKS, 
 
 2. ]t is the sin that most suiteth with the 
 conscience. The conscience of the coming 
 sinner tells him that he hath nothing goqd; 
 that he stands indictable for ten thousand 
 talents; that he is a very ignorant, blind, and 
 hard-hearted sinner, unworthy to be once 
 t.iken notice of by Jesus Christ; and will you, 
 says Unbelief, in such a case as you now are, 
 presume to come to Jesus Christ? 
 
 3. It is the ^in that most suiteth with our 
 sense of feeling. The coming sinner feels "the 
 workings of sin, of all manner of siu and 
 wretchedness in his flesh: he also feels 'the 
 wrath and judgment of God due to sin, and 
 ofttimes staggers under it. Now, says Unbe- 
 lief, you may see you have no grace, for that 
 which works in you is. corruption. You may 
 also perceive that God doth not lovg you, be- 
 cause the sense of his wrath abides upon you. 
 Therefore, how can you have the face to come 
 to Jesus Christ? 
 
 4. It is that sin, above all others, that most 
 suiteth the wisdom of our flesh. The wisdom 
 of our flesh thinks it prudence to question 
 awhile, to stand back awhile, to hearken to 
 both sides awhile, and not to be rash, sudden, 
 or unadvised in too bold a presuming upon Je- 
 sus Christ. And this wisdom Unbelief falls 
 in with. 
 
 5. It is the sin, above all others, that contin- 
 ually is whispering the soul in the ear with 
 mistrusts of the faithfulness of God in keeping 
 promise to them that come to Jesus Christ for 
 life. It also suggests mistrusts about Christ's 
 willingness to receive it and save it. And no 
 sin can do this so artificially as Unbelief. 
 
 6. It is also that sin which is always at hand 
 to enter an objection against this or that 
 promise that by the Spirit of God is brought 
 
 , to our heart to comfort us ; and if the poor 
 coming sinner is not aware of it, it will, by 
 some exaction, sleight, trick, or cavil, quickly 
 wrest from him the promise again, and he shall 
 have but little benefit of it. 
 
 7. It is that above all other sins that weak- 
 ens our prayers, our faith, our love, our dili-' 
 gence, our hope, and expectations : it even 
 taketh the heart away from God in duty. 
 
 8. Lastly, this sin, as I have said even now, 
 appears in the soul with so many sweet pre- 
 tences to safety and security that it is, as it 
 were, counsel sent from heaven, bidding the 
 soul tube wise, wary, considerate, well-advised, 
 and to take heed of too rash a venture upon 
 believing. Be sure, first, that God loves you ; 
 take hold of no promise until you are forced 
 
 by God unto it ; neit jer be you sure of your 
 salvation ; doubt it still, though the testimony- 
 of the Lord has been often confirmed in you 
 Li*e not by*faith, but by sense ; and when you 
 can neither see nor feel, then fear and mistrust 
 then doubt and question all. This is the dev 
 ilish counsel of Unbelief, which is so covered 
 over with specious pretences that the wisest 
 Christian can -hardly shake off these reason- 
 ings. 
 
 But to be brief: let me here give the Chris- 
 tian reader a more particular description of 
 the qualities of unbelief, by opposing faith 
 unto it, in these .twenty-five particulars : 
 
 1. ■Faith believeth the word of God, but 
 unbelief questioneth the certainty of the same. 
 
 2. Faith believeth the word, because it ia 
 true, but unbelief doubteth thereof, because it 
 is true. 
 
 3. Faith sees more in a promise of God to 
 help than in all other things to hinder, but 
 unbelief, notwithstanding God's promise, saith, 
 How can these things be ? 
 
 4. Faith will make thee see love in the heart 
 of Christ when with his mouth he giveth re- 
 proofs, but unbelief will imagine wrath in his 
 heart when with his mouth and word he saith 
 he loves us. 
 
 5. Faith will help the soul to wait, thougb 
 'God defers to give, but unbelief will take snuff 
 
 and throw up all if God make's any tarrying. 
 
 6. Faith will give comfort in the midst of 
 fears, but unbelief causeth fears in the midst 
 of comforts. 
 
 7. Faith will suck sweetness out of God's 
 rod, but unbelief can find no comfort in its 
 greatest mercies. 
 
 8. Faith maketh great burdens light, but 
 unbelief maketh light ones intolerably heavy. 
 
 9. Faith helpeth us when we are down, but 
 unbelief throws us down when we are up. 
 
 10. Faith bringeth us near to God when we 
 are far from him, but unbelief puts us far from 
 
 ■God when we are near to him. 
 
 11. Where faith reigns, it declareth them to 
 be the friends of God, but where unbelief 
 reigns, it declareth them to be his enemies. 
 
 12. Faith putteth a man under grace, but^ 
 unbelief holdeth him under, wrath. 
 
 13. Faith purifieth the heart, but unbelief 
 keepeth it polluted and impure. 
 
 14. By faith the righteousness of Christ is 
 imputed to us, but by unbelief we are shut up 
 under the law to perish. 
 
 15. Faith maketh our work acceptable to 
 God through Qhrist, but whatsoever is of uu- 
 
VOME AND WELCOME TO JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 621 
 
 belief is sin, for without faith it is impossible 
 to pleas( him. 
 
 16. Faith giveth us peace and comfort in 
 our aouJj, but unbelief worketh trouble and 
 tossings like the restless waves of the seS. 
 
 17. Faith maketh us see preciousness in 
 Christ, but unbelief sees no form, beauty, or 
 comeliness in him. 
 
 18. By faith we have our life in Christ's 
 fulness, but by unbelief we starve and pine 
 away. 
 
 19. Faith gives us the victory over the law; 
 sin, death, the devil, and all evils, but unbe- 
 lief layeth us obnoxious to them all. 
 
 ^0. Faith will show us more excellency in 
 things not seen than in them that are, but un- 
 lief sees more of things that are than in 
 things that will be hereafter. 
 
 21. Faith makes the ways of God pleasant 
 and admirable, but unbelief maketh them 
 heavy and hard. 
 
 22. By faith Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob 
 possessed the land of promise, but because of 
 unbelief neither Aaron, nor Moses, nor Miriam 
 could get thither. 
 
 23. By faith the children of Israel passed 
 through the Red Sea, but by unbelief the gen- 
 erality of them perished in the wilderness. 
 
 24. By faith Gideon did more with three 
 hundred men and a few empty pitchers than 
 all the twelve tribes could do, because they 
 believed not God. 
 
 25. By faith Peter walked on the water, but 
 by unbelief he began to sink. 
 
 Thus might many more be added, which, for 
 brevity's sake,. I omit, beseeching every one 
 that thinketh he hath a soul to save or be 
 damned to take heed of unbelief, lest, seeing 
 there is a promise left us of entering into his 
 rest, any of us by unbelief should indeed come 
 short of it. 
 
 11. The second use : a use of examination. 
 
 We come to a use of examination. Sihner, 
 thou hast heard of the necessity of coming to 
 Christ, also of the willingness of Christ to 
 receive the coming soul, together with the 
 benefit that they by him shall have that in- 
 deed come to bim. Put thyself now upon 
 this serious inquiry. Am I indeed come to 
 Jesus Christ? 
 
 Motives plenty I might here urge to prevail 
 with thee to a conscientious performance of 
 this duty — as, 
 
 1. Thou art in sin, in the flesh, in deatK, in 
 the snare of the devil, and under the curse of 
 the law if you are not coming to Jesus Christ. 
 
 2. There is no way to be delivered from 
 these but by coming to Jesus Christ. 
 
 3. If thou comest, Jesus Christ will receive 
 thee and will in nowise cast thee out. 
 
 4. Thou wilt not repent it in the day of 
 judgment if thou now comest to Jesus Christ. 
 
 5. But thou wilt surely mourn at last if 
 now thou shalt refuse to come. And, 
 
 6. Lastly. Now thou hast been invited to 
 come ; now will thy judgment be greater and 
 thy damnation more fearful if thou shalt yet 
 refuse than if thou hast never heard of coming 
 to Christ. 
 
 Objection. But we hope we are come to 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 Answer. It is well if it,proves so. But lest 
 th6u shouldest speak without ground, and so 
 fall unawares into hell-fire, let us examine a 
 little. 
 
 First. Art thou indeed coming to Jesus 
 Christ? "What hast thou left behind thee? 
 What didst thou come away from in thy 
 coming to Jesus Christ? 
 
 When Lot came out of Sodom he left the 
 Sodomites behind him. 
 
 When Abraham came out of Chaldea he 
 left his country and kindred behind. 
 
 When Ruth came to put her trust under the 
 wings of the Lord God of Israel she left her 
 father and mother, her gods, and the land of 
 her nativity behind her. 
 
 When Peter came to Christ he left his nets 
 behind him. 
 
 When Zaccheus came to Christ he left the 
 receipt of custom behind him. 
 
 When Paul came to Christ he left his own 
 righteousness behind Mm. 
 
 When those that used curious arts came to 
 Jesus Christ they took their curious books and 
 burned them, though in another man's eye 
 they were counted worth fifty thousand pieces 
 of silver. - 
 
 What sayest thou, man? Hast th6u left 
 thy darling sins, thy Sodomitish pleasures, 
 thy acquaintance and vain companions, thy 
 unlawful gain, thy idol gods, thy righteous- 
 ness, and thy unlawful curious arts behind 
 thee? If any of these be with thee, and thou 
 with them in thy heart and life, thou art not 
 yet come to Jesus Christ. 
 
 Secondly. Art thou come to Jesus - Christ ? 
 Prithee, tell me what moved thee to come to 
 Jesus Christ? Men do not usually come or 
 go to this or that place before they have a 
 moving cause, or rather a cause moving them 
 thereto : no more do they crme to Jesus Christ 
 
622 
 
 •BVNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 (I do not say before tliey have a cause, but) 
 before that cause moveth them to come. What 
 eayest thou ? Hast thou a cause moving thee 
 to come ? To be at present in a state of con- 
 demnation is cause sufficient for men to come 
 to Jesus Christ for life, but that will not do 
 except the cause moves them, the which it 
 will never do until their eyes be opened to see 
 themselves in that condition. For it is not a 
 man's being under wrath, but his seeing it, 
 that moveth him to come to Jesus Christ. 
 Alas I all men by sin are under wrath, yet but 
 few of that all come to Jesus Christ; and the 
 reason is, because they do not see their condi- 
 tion. "Who hath warned you to flee from 
 the wrath to come ?" Until men are warned, 
 and also receive the warning, they will not 
 come to Jesus Christ. 
 Take three or four instances for this : 
 
 1. Adam and Eve came not to Jesus Christ 
 until they received the alarm, the conviction 
 of their undone state by sin. 
 
 2. The children of Israel cried not out for a 
 mediator before they saw themselves in danger 
 of death by the law. 
 
 '3. Before the publican came he saw himself 
 lost and undone. 
 
 4. The prodigal came not until he saw death 
 at the door ready to devour him. 
 
 5. The three thousand men came hot until 
 they knew not what toMo to be saved. 
 
 6. Paul c'ame not until he saw himself lost 
 and undone. 
 
 7. Lastly. Before the jailer came he saw 
 himself undone. And I tell thee, it is an 
 easier thing to persuade a well man to go to 
 the physician for cure, or a man without hurt 
 to seek a plaster to cure him, than it is to per- 
 suade a man that sees not his soul-disease to 
 come to Jesus Christ. The whole have no 
 need of a physician ; then why should they go 
 to him ? The full pitcher can hold no more ; 
 then why should it go to the fountain ? And 
 if thou comest full, thou comest not, aright, 
 and be sure Christ will send thee empty away, 
 "but he healeth the broken in heart, and 
 bindeth up their wounds." 
 
 Thirdly. Art thou coming to Jesus Christ? 
 Prithee, tell me what seest thou in him to 
 allure 1.hee to forsake all the world to come to 
 him? I say, what hast thou seen in him? 
 Men must see somewhat in Jesus Christ, else 
 they will not come to him. 
 
 1. What comeliness hast thou seen in his 
 person? Thou comest not if thou seest no 
 form nor comeliness in him. 
 
 2. Until those mentioned in the Song were 
 convinced that there was more beauty, comeli- 
 ness, and desirableness in Christ than in ten 
 thousand they did not so much as ask where 
 he was nor incline to turn aside after him. ' 
 
 There be many things on this side heaven 
 that can and do carry away the heart, and so 
 will do so long as thou livest, if thou shalt be 
 kept blind and not be admitted to 'see the 
 beauty of the Lord Jesus. 
 
 Fourthly. Art thou come to the, Lord Jesus? 
 What hast thoii found in him since thou 
 cam est to him ? 
 
 Peter found with him the word of eternal 
 life. 
 
 They that Peter makes mention of found 
 him a living stone, even such a living stone as 
 communicated life to them. 
 
 He saith himself they that come to him, &c., 
 shall find rest unto their souls ; hast thou found 
 rest in him for thy soul? 
 
 Let us go back to the times of the Old Tes- 
 tament. 
 
 1. Abraham found that in him that made 
 him leave his country for him, and become 
 for his sake a pilgrim and a stranger in the 
 earth. 
 
 2. Moses found that in him that made him 
 forsake a crown, a kingdom, for him too. 
 
 3. David found so much in him that he 
 counted to be in his house one day was better 
 than a thousand; yea, to be a doorkeeper 
 therein was better in his esteem than to dwell 
 in the tents of wickedness. 
 
 4. What did Daniel and the three children 
 find in him to make them run the hazards of 
 the fiery furnace and the den of lions for his 
 sake? 
 
 Let us come down to martyrs. 
 
 1. Stephen found that in him that made 
 him joyful, and quietly yield up his life for 
 his name. 
 
 2. Ignatius found that in him that made him 
 choose to go through the torments of the devil 
 and hell itself, rather than not to have him. 
 (Acts and Monuments, vol. iv., page 25.) 
 
 3. What saw Eomanus'in Christ when ho 
 said to the raging emperor who threatened 
 him with fearful torments, Thy sentence, 
 emperor, I joyfully embrace, and refuse not to 
 be sacrificed by as cruel torments as thou canst 
 invent? (Page 116.) 
 
 4. What saw Meuas the Egyptian in Christ 
 when he said, under most cruel torments, 
 There is nothing in my mind that can be coin- 
 pared to the kingdom of heaven; neither is 
 
COME AND WELCOME TO JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 623 
 
 all the world, if it was weighed in a balance, 
 to be preferred with the price of one soul? 
 Who is able to separate us from the love of 
 JesuB Christ our Lord? And I have learned 
 of my Lord and King not to fear them that 
 kill the body, &c. (Page 117.) 
 
 6. What did Eulaliah see in Christ when 
 she said, as they were pulling her one joint 
 from another, Behold, Lord, I will not 
 forget thee? What a pleasure is it for them, 
 Christ I that remember thy triumphant vic- 
 tory! (P. 121.) 
 
 6. What think you did Agnes see in Christ 
 when rejoicingly she went to meet the soldier 
 that was appointed to be her executioner? I 
 will willingly, said she, receive into my paps 
 the length of this sword, and into my breast 
 will draw the force thereof, even to the hilts, 
 that thus I, being married to Christ my Spouse, 
 may surmount and escape all the darlcness of 
 this world! (P. 122.) 
 
 7. What do you think did Julitta see in 
 Christ when, at the emperor's telling of her that 
 except she would worship the gods she should 
 never have protection, laws, judgments, norlife, 
 she replied. Farewell, life, welcome, death ; fare- 
 well, riches, wc'come, poverty? All that I have, 
 if it were a thousand times more, would I give 
 rather than to speak one wicked xaA blasphe- 
 mous word against my Creator. (P. 123.) 
 
 8. What did Marcus Arethusius See in 
 Christ when, after his enemies did cut his 
 flesh, anointed it with honey, and hanged him 
 up in a basket for flies and bees to feed on, he 
 would not give (to uphold idolatry) one half- 
 penny to save his life? (P. 119.) 
 
 9. What did Constantino see in Christ when 
 he used to kiss the wouuds of them that suf- 
 fered for him? (P. 135.) 
 
 10. But what need I give thus particular in- 
 stances of words and smaller actions when, by 
 their lives, their blood, their enduring hunger, 
 pword, fire, pulling asunder, and all torments 
 that the devil and hell could devise, they 
 showed their love to Christ after they were 
 come to him? 
 
 What hast thou found in him, sinner? 
 
 What ! come to Christ and find nothing in 
 him, when all things that are worth looking 
 for are in him 1 or, if any thing, yet not enough 
 to wean thee from thy sinful delights and 
 fleshly lusta ! Away I thou art not coming to 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 He that is come to Jesus Christ hath found 
 in him that, as I said, that is not to be found 
 anywhere else; as — 
 
 1. He thiit is come to Christ hath foun 1 God 
 in him reconciling the world unto himself, not 
 imputing their trespasses to them; and so 
 God is not to be found in heaven and earth, 
 besides. 
 
 2. He that is come to Christ hath, found 
 found in him a fountain of grace, sufficient 
 not only to pardon sin, but to sanctify the 
 soul and to preserve it from falling in this evil 
 world. 
 
 3. He that is come to Jesus Christ halh 
 virtue in him — that virtue that if he does but 
 touch thee with his words or thou him by faith, 
 life is forthwith conveyed into thy soul ; it 
 makes thee wake as one that is waked out of 
 his sleep ; it awakes all the powers of the soul. 
 
 4. Art thou come to Jesus Christ? Thou 
 hast found glory in him — glory that surmounts 
 and goes beyond. " Thou art more glorious 
 than the mountains of prey." 
 
 5. What shall I say? Thou hast found 
 righteousness in him ; thou hast found rest, 
 peace, delight, heaven, glory, and eternal life. 
 
 Sinner, be advised; ask thy heart again, 
 saying. Am I come to Jesus Christ? for upon 
 this one question, Am I come or am I not? 
 hang heaven and hell as to thee. If thou 
 canst say, I am come, and God shall approve 
 that saying, happy, happy, happy man art 
 thou ; but if thou art not come, what can 
 make thee happy ? Yea, what can make that 
 man happy that for his not coming to Jesus 
 Christ for life must be damned in hell? 
 
 III. The third use : a use of encouragement. 
 
 Coming sinner, I have now a word for thee : 
 Be of good comfort. " He will in nowise cast 
 out." Of all men thou art the blessed of the 
 Lord ; the Father hath prepared his Son to be 
 a, sacrifice for thee, and Jesus Christ, thy Lord, 
 is gone to prepare a place for thee. 
 
 What shall I say to thee ? Thou comest to 
 a full Christ ; thou canst not want any thing, 
 for soul or body, for this world or that to come, 
 but it is to be had in or by Jesus Christ. 
 
 As it is said of the land that the Uanitea 
 went to possess, so and with much more truth 
 it may be said of Christ: he is snch an one 
 with whom there is no want of any good thing 
 that is in heaven or earth. 
 
 A full Christ is thy Christ. • 
 
 1. He is full of grace. Grace is sometimes 
 taken for love; never any loved like Jesus 
 Christ. Jonathan's love went beyond the love 
 of women, but the love of Christ passes know- 
 ledge": It is beyond the love of all the earth, 
 of all creatures, even of men and angels. Hi* 
 
624 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 love prevailed' with him to lay aside his glory, 
 to leave the heavenly place, to clothe himself 
 with flesh, to be born in a stable, to be laid in 
 a manger, to live a poor life in the world, to 
 take upon him our sickness, infirmities, sins, 
 curse, death, and the wrath that was due to 
 man. , And all this he did for a base, undeserv- 
 ing, unthankful people ; yea, for a people that 
 were at enmity with him. "For, when we 
 were yet without strength, in due time Christ 
 died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a right- 
 eous man will one die, yet peradventure for a 
 good man some would even dare to die. But 
 God commended his love toward us in that 
 while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. 
 Much more, then, being now justified by his 
 blood, we shall be saved by his life. For if 
 when we were enemies we were reconciled to 
 God by the death of his Son, much more, being 
 reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." 
 
 2. He is full of truth, full of grace and 
 truth. Truth — that is, faithfulness in keeping 
 promise, even this of the text, (with all others,) 
 " I will in nowise cast out." Hence it is said 
 that his words are true, and that he is the 
 faithful God that keepeth covenants. And 
 hence it is also that his promises are called 
 truth : " Thou wilt fulfil thy truth unto Jacob, 
 and thy mercy unto Abraham, which thou 
 hast sworn unto our fathers from thedays of 
 old." Therefore it is siaid again that both 
 himself and words are truth : " I am the truth," 
 " the Scriptures of truth," " thy word is truth," 
 "thy law is truth," "and my mouth," saith 
 he, " shall speak truth." 
 
 Now I say his word is truth, and he is full 
 of truth to fulfil his truth, even to a thousand 
 generations. Coming sinner, he will not de- 
 ceive thee ; come boldly to Jesus Christ. 
 
 3. He is full of wisdom : he is made unto us 
 of God wisdom — wisdom to manage the affairs 
 of his Church in general, and the affairs of 
 every coming sinner in particular. And upon 
 this account he is sSiid to be "head over all 
 things," because he manages all things that 
 are in the world by his wisdom for the good of 
 his Church : all men's actions, all Satan's 
 temptations, all God's providences, and crosses, 
 and disappointments, all things whatever, are 
 under the hand of Christ, (who is the wisdom 
 of God,) and he ordereth them all for good to 
 his Church. And, can Christ help it, (and be 
 sure he can,) nothing shall happen or fall out 
 in the world but it shall, in despite of all oppo- 
 sition, have a good tendency to his Church and 
 people. 
 
 He is full of the Spirit to communicate it 
 to the coming sinner; he hath therefore re- 
 ceived it without measure, th^t he may com- 
 municate it to every member of his body, 
 according as every man's measure thereof is 
 allotted him by the Father. AVherefore he 
 saith that he that comes to him. " out of hia 
 belly shall flow rivers of living water." 
 
 5. He is indeed a store-house full of all the 
 graces of the Spirit. " Of his fulness have all 
 we received, and grace for grace." Here is 
 more faith, more love, more sincerity, more 
 humility, more of every grace ; and of this, 
 even more of this, he giveth to eveiy lowly, 
 humble, penitent, coming sinner; wherefore;, 
 coming soul, thou comest not to a barren wil- 
 derness when thou comest to Jesus Christ. 
 
 ■ 6. He is full of bowels of compassion, and 
 they shall feel and find it so that come to him 
 for life. He can bear with thy weakness, he 
 can pity thy ignorance, he can be touched with 
 the feeling of thy infirmities, he can affection- 
 ately forgive thy transgressions, he can heal 
 thy backslidings and love thee freely. His 
 compassions fail not ; " and he will not break 
 a bruised reed nor quench the smoking flax : 
 he can pity them that no eye pities, and be 
 afflicted in all thy afflictions." 
 
 7. Coming soul, the Jesus that thou art 
 coming to is full of might and terribleness. 
 For thy advantage he cun suppress all thine 
 enemies ; he is the Prince of the kings of the 
 earth ; he can bow all men's designs for thy 
 help ; he can break all snares -laid for thee in 
 the way ; he can lift thee out of all difficulties 
 wherewith thou mayest be surrounded ; he is 
 wise in heart and mighty in power. Every 
 life under heaven is in his hand; yea, the 
 fallen angels tremble before him. And he 
 will save thy life, coming sinner. 
 , 8. Coming sinner, the Jesus to whom thou 
 art coming is lowly in heart, he despiseth not 
 any. It is not thy outward meanness nor thy 
 inward weakness ; it is not because thou art 
 poor, or base, or deformed, or a fool that he 
 will despise thee: he hath chosen the foolish, 
 the base, and despised things of this world to 
 confound the wise and mighty." He will bow 
 his ear to thy stammering prayers; he \\ill 
 pick out the meaning of thy inexpressible 
 groans; he will respect thy weakest offering if 
 there be in it but thy hearts 
 
 Now is not this a blessed Christ, coming sin- 
 ner ? Art thou not like to fare well when thou 
 hast embraced him, coming sinner? 
 
 But, secondly. Thou hast yet another ad- 
 
COME AND WELCOME TO JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 625 
 
 Tantage by Jesus Christ in thou art coming to 
 'him, for he is not only full but free. He is 
 not sparing of what he has ; he is open-hearted 
 and open-handed. Let me in a few particulars 
 show thee this : 
 
 1. This is evident because he calls thee; he 
 calls upon thee to come unto him ; the which 
 he would not do was he not free to give ; yea, 
 he bids thee, when come, aslc, seek, knock, 
 and for thy encouragement adds to every com- 
 mand a promise, " Seek, and ye shall find ; ask, 
 and ye shall have; knock, and it shall be 
 opened unto you," If the rich man should 
 say thus to the poor, would not he be reckoned 
 a free-hearted man ? I say, should he say to 
 the poor. Come to my door, ask at my door, 
 knock at my door, and you shall find and 
 have, would he not be counted liberal ? "Why 
 thus doth Jesus Christ. Mind it, coming sin- 
 ner, 
 
 2. He doth not only bid thee come, but tells 
 thee he will heartily do thee good ; yea, he will 
 do it with rejoicing : " I will rejoice over them, 
 to do them good with my whole heg,rt and with 
 my whole soul." 
 
 3. It appears that he is free because he giv- 
 eth without twitting. "He gives to all men 
 liberally, and upbraideth not." There are some 
 that will not deny to do the poor a pleasure, 
 but they will mix their mercies with so many 
 twits that the persons on whom they bestow 
 their charity shall find but little sweetness in 
 it. But Christ doth not do so, coming sinner : 
 he casteth all thine iniquities behind his back : 
 thy sins and iniquities he will remember no 
 more. 
 
 4. That Christ is free is manifest by the 
 complaints that he makes against them that 
 will not come to him for mercy. I say he com- 
 plains, saying, " Jerusalem, Jerusalem ! how 
 often would I have gathered thy children to- 
 gether, as a hen gathereth her chickens under 
 her wings, and ye would not!" I say he 
 speaks it by way of complaint. He saith also 
 in another place, " But thou hast not called 
 upon iMO, Jacob." Coming sinner, see here 
 the willingness of Christ to save; see here how 
 free he is to communicate life and all good 
 things to such as thou art : he complains if 
 thou comest not ; he is displeased if thou call- 
 est not upon him. 
 
 Hark, coming sinner, once again : when 
 Jerusalem would not come to him for safe- 
 gnard, he beheld the city and wept over it, 
 saying, " If thou- hadst known, even thou, at 
 least in this thy day, the things which belong 
 40 
 
 unto thy peace I but now they are hid from 
 thine eyes." 
 
 5. Lastly. He is open and free-hearted to do 
 thee good, as is seen by the joy and rejoicing 
 that he manifesteth at the coming home of 
 poor prodigals. He receives the lost sheep, 
 with rfejoicing, the lost goat with rejoicing; 
 yea, when the prodigal came home, what joy 
 and mirth, what music and dancing, wore in 
 his father's house 1 
 
 Thirdly. Coming sinner, I will add another 
 encouragement for thy help. 
 
 1. God hath prepared a mercy-seat, a throne 
 of grace to sit on, that thou mayest come 
 thither to him, and that he may from" thence 
 hear thee and receive thee : " I will commune 
 with thee," saith he, " from above the mercy- 
 seat." 
 
 As who shall say, sinner. When thou comest 
 to me thou shalt find me upon the mercy-seat, 
 where also I am always found of the undone 
 coming sinner. Thither I bring my pardon; 
 there I hear and receive their petitions and ac- 
 cept them to my favour. 
 
 2. God hath also prepared a golden altar for 
 thee to offer thy prayers and tears upon. A 
 golden altar I It is called a golden altar to 
 show what worth it is of in God's account; for 
 this golden altar is Jesus Christ; this altar 
 sanctifies thy gift and makes thy sacrifice ac- 
 ceptable. This altar then mates thy groans 
 golden groans, thy tears golden tears, and thy 
 prayers golden prayers, in the eye of that God 
 thou comest to, coming sinner. 
 
 3. God hath strewed all the way (from the 
 gate of hell, where thou wast, to the gate of 
 heaven, whither thou art going) with flowera 
 out of his own garden. Behold how the prom- 
 ises, invitations, calls, and encouragements, 
 like lilies, lie round about thee! (take heed 
 thou dost not tread them under foot, sinner.) 
 With promises, did I say? Yea, he hath 
 mixed all those with his own name, his Son's 
 name, also with the name of mercy, goodness, 
 compassion, love, pity, grace, forgiveness, par- 
 don, and what not. that may encourage the 
 coming sinner. 
 
 4. He hath also for thy encouragement laid 
 up the names and set forth the sins of those 
 that have been saved. In his book they are 
 fairly written, that thou through patience 
 and comfort of the Scriptures mightest have 
 hope. 
 
 1st. In this book is recorded Noah's name 
 and sin, and how God had mercy upon him. 
 2dly. In this record is fairly written the 
 
626 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 name of Lot, and the nature of his sin, and 
 how the Lord had mercy upon him. 
 
 3dly. In this record thou hast also fairly 
 written the names of Moses, Aaron, Gideon, 
 Samson, David, Solomon, Peter, Paul, with 
 the nature of their &ins, and how God had 
 mercy upon them ; and all to encourage thee, 
 coming sinner. 
 
 Fourthly, I will add yet another encourage- 
 ment for the man that is coming to Jesus 
 Christ. Art thou coming? Art thou coming 
 indeed? Why, 
 
 1. ' This thy coming is by virtue of God's call. 
 Thou art called. Calling goes before coming : 
 coming is not of works, but of Him that calleth. 
 He went up into a mountain and called to him 
 whom he would, and they came to him. 
 
 2. Art thou coming? This is also by the 
 virtue of illumination : God has made thee.see, 
 and therefore thou art coming. So long as 
 thou wast darkness, thou lovedst darkness and 
 couldst not abide to come, because thy deeds 
 were evil, but being now illuminated and made 
 to see what and where thou art, and also what 
 and wliere thy Saviour is, now thou art coming 
 to Jesus Christ; "Blessed art thou, Simon 
 Baijona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed 
 it unto thee," saith Christ, " but my Father 
 which is in heaven." 
 
 3. Art thou coming? This is because God 
 has inclined thine heart to come. God hath 
 called thee, illuminated thee, and inclined thy 
 heart to come, and therefore thou comest to 
 Jesus Christ. It is God that worketh in thee 
 to will and to com* to Jesus Christ. Coming 
 sinner, bless God for that he hath given thee 
 a will to come to Jesus Christ. It is a sign 
 that thou belongest to Jesus Christ, because 
 God has made thee willing to come to him. 
 Bless God for slaying the enemy of thy mind ; 
 had he not done it thou wouldst as yet have 
 hated thine own salvation. 
 
 4. Art thou coming to Jesus Christ? It is 
 God that givoth thee power : power to pursue 
 til J toill in matters of thy salvation is the gift 
 
 of God. " It is God that worketh in you both 
 to will and to do." Not that God worketh will 
 to come where he gives no power, but that thou 
 shouldst take notice that power is an addi- 
 tional mercy. The Church saw'that ioill and 
 pQwer were two things when she cried. Draw 
 me, and we will run after thee," and so did 
 David too when he said, " I will run the ways 
 of thy commandments when thou shalt enlarge 
 my heart." Will to come and power to pursue 
 thy will is double mercy, coming sinner. 
 
 5. All thy strange, passionate, sudden rush- 
 ings forward after Jesus Christ, (coming sin- 
 ners know what I mean,) they also are thy 
 helps from God. Perhaps thou feelest, at 
 some times more than at others, strong stirrings 
 up of heart to fly to Jesus Christ ; now thou 
 hast at this time a sweet and stiff" gale of the 
 Spirit of God, filling thy, sails with the fresh 
 gales of his good Spirit, and thou ridest at 
 those times as upon the wings of the wind, 
 being carried out beyond thyself, beyond the 
 most of thy prayers, and also above all thy 
 fears and temptations. 
 
 6. Coming sinner, hast thou not now and 
 then a kiss of the sweet lips of Jesus Christ ? — 
 I mean some blessed word dropping like a 
 honeycomb upon thy soul to revive thee when 
 thou art in the midst of thy dumps. 
 
 7. Does not Jesus Christ sometimes give 
 thee a glimpse of himself, though perhaps thou 
 seest him not so long a time as while one may 
 tell twenty ? 
 
 8. Hast thou not sometimes as it were the 
 very warmth of his wings overshadowing the 
 face of thy soul, that gives thee as it were a 
 gload upon thy spirit, as the bright beams of 
 the sun do upon thy body when it suddenly 
 breaks out of a cloud, though presently all is 
 gone away ? 
 
 Well, all these things are the good hand of 
 thy God upon thee, and they are upon thee to 
 constrain, to provoke, and to make thee willing 
 and able to come, coming sinner, that thon 
 mightest in the end be saved. 
 
THE BARREN FIG TREE; 
 
 OK, 
 
 THE DOOM AND DOWNFALL OF THE FRUITLESS PROFESSOR: 
 
 THAT THE DAT OB GRACE MAY BE PAST WITH HIM LONG BEFORE HIS LIFE IS ENDEU : 
 THE SIGNS, ALSO, BY WHICH SUCH MISERABLE MORTALS MAY BE KNOWN. 
 
 TO THE READER. 
 
 Courteous Reader : 
 
 I have written to thee now about the barren 
 fig tree, or how it will fare with the fruitless 
 professor that standeth in the vineyard of God. 
 
 Of what complexion thou art I cannot cer- 
 tainly divine, but the parable tells thee that 
 the cumber-ground must be cut down. 
 
 A cumber-ground professor is not only a 
 provocation to God, a stumbling-block to the 
 world, and a blemish to religion, but a snare 
 to his own soul also. " Though his excellency 
 mount up to the heavens, and his head reach 
 unto the clouds, yet he shall' perish for ever, 
 like his own dung ; they that have seen him 
 shall say, Where is he?" 
 
 Now they count it pleasure to riot in the 
 daytime. But what will they do when the axe 
 is fetched out ? 
 
 The tree whose fruit withereth is reckoned 
 a tree without fruit, a tree twice dead, one that 
 must be plucked up by the roots. 
 
 O thou cumber-ground, God expects fruit — 
 God will come seeking fruit shortly. 
 
 My exhortation therefore is to professors, 
 that they look to it that they take heed. 
 
 The barren fig tree in the vineyard and the 
 bramble in the wood are both prepared for the 
 fire. 
 
 Profession is not a covert to hide from the 
 eye of God, nor will it palliate the revengeful 
 threatening of his justice; he will command 
 to cut it down shortly. 
 
 » 
 
 The Church and a profession are the best of 
 places for the upright, but the wOrst in the 
 world for the cumber-ground ; he must be cast, 
 as profane, out of the mount of God;— cast, I 
 say, over the wall of the vineyard, there to 
 wither, thence to be gathered and buped. It 
 had been- better for them that they had not 
 known the way of righteousness. And yet if 
 they liad not, they had been damned, but it is 
 better to go to hell without than in or from 
 under a profession. These shall receive greater 
 damnation. 
 
 If thou be a professor, read and tremble; 
 if thou be profane, do so likewise. " For if 
 the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall 
 the ungodly and sinners appear?" Cumber- 
 ground, take heed of the axe ; barren fig tree, 
 beware of the fire. 
 
 But I will keep thee no longer out of the 
 book. Christ Jeius, the dresser of the vine- 
 yard, take care of thee, dig about thee, and 
 dung thee, that thou mayest bear fruit, that 
 when the Lord of the vineyard cometh with 
 his axe to seek for fruit or pronounce the sen- 
 tence of damnation on the barren fig tree, thou 
 mayest escape that judgment. The cumber- 
 ground must to the wood-pile, and thence to 
 the fire. Farewell. 
 
 Grace be with all them that love our Lord 
 Jesus in sincerity I Amen. 
 
 JOHN BUNYAN. 
 627 
 
THE BARKEN FIG TREE. 
 
 A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and.fcund 
 none. Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this 
 fig tree, and find none; cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? And he answering, said unto him. Lord, 
 let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it; and if it bear fruit, well; and if not, then 
 after that thou shalt cut it down. — LnKE xiii. 6-9. 
 
 4.T the beginning of this chapter we read 
 how some of the Jews came to Jesus Christ to 
 tell him -of the cruelty of Pontius Pilate in 
 mingling the blood of the Galileans with their 
 sacrifices — an heathenish and prodigious act; 
 for therein he showed not only his malice 
 against the Jewish nation, but also against 
 their worship, and consequently their God — an 
 action, I say, not only heathenish, but pro- 
 digious also ; for "the Lord Jesus, paraphrasing 
 upon this fact' of his, teacheth the Jews that 
 without repentance " they should all likewise 
 perish'' — likewise, that is, by the hand and 
 rage of the Roman empire. Neither should 
 they be more able to avoid the stroke than 
 were those eighteen upon whom the towes of 
 Biloam fell and slew them ; the fulfilling of 
 which prophecy, for their hardness of heart 
 and impenitency, was in the days of Titus, son 
 of Vespasian, about forty years after the death 
 of Christ. Then, I say, were these Jews and 
 their city both environed round on every side, 
 wherein both they and it to amazement were 
 miserably overthrown. God gave them sword 
 and famine, pestilence and blood for their out- 
 rage against the Son of his love; so "wrath 
 came on them to the uttermost." 
 
 Now to prevent their old and foolish salvo, 
 which they always had in readiness against 
 such prophecies and. denunciations of judg- 
 ment, the Lord Jesus presents them with -this 
 parable, in which he emphatically shows them 
 that their cry of being the temple of the Lord, 
 and of their being the children of Abraham, 
 &c., and their being the Church of God, would 
 not stand them in any stead. As who should 
 say, It may be you think to help yourselves 
 against this my prophecy of your utter and 
 unavoidable overthrow by the interest which 
 628 
 
 you have in your outward privileges, but all 
 these will fail you ; for what think you, "A 
 certain man had a fig tree planted in his vine- 
 yard, and he came and sought fruit thereon, 
 and found none." This is your case. The 
 Jewish land is God's vineyard, I know it ; and 
 I know also that you are the fig trees. But 
 behold, there wanteth the main thing, fruit, 
 for the sake and in expectation of which he 
 set this vineyard with trees. Now, seeing the 
 fruit is not found amongst you — ^the fruit, I 
 say, for the sake of which he did at first plant 
 this vineyard — what remains but that in jus- 
 tice he command to cut you down as those that 
 cumber the ground, that he may plant himself 
 another vineyard? "Then said he to the 
 dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three 
 years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and 
 find none ; cut it down ; why cumbereth it the 
 ground ?" This therefore must be your end, 
 although you are planted in the garden of God ; 
 for the barrenness and unfruitfulness of your 
 hearts and lives you must be cut ofi", yea, 
 rooted up and cast out, of the vineyard. 
 
 In parables there are two things to be taken 
 notice of and to be inquired into of them that 
 read: 
 
 First. The metaphors made use of. 
 
 Secondly. Tlie doctrine or mysteries couched 
 under such metaphors. 
 
 The metaphors in this parable are — 1. A 
 certain man ; 2. A vineyard ; 3. A fig tree, 
 barren or fruitless; 4. A dresser; 5. Three 
 years ; 6. Digging and dunging, &c. 
 
 The doctrine or mystery couched under 
 these words is to show us what is like to be- 
 come of a fruitless or formal professor. For — , 
 
 1. By the man in the parable (Luke xv. 11) 
 is' meant God the Father, 
 
THE BARREN FIG TREE. 
 
 629 
 
 2. By the vineyard, (Isa. v. 7,) his Church. 
 8. By the fig tree, a professor. 
 
 4. By the dresser, the Lord Jesus. 
 
 5. By the fig tree's barrenness, the pro- 
 fessor's fruitlessness. 
 
 6. By the three years, the patience of God 
 that for a time he extendeth to -barren pro- 
 fessors. 
 
 7. This calling to the dresser of the vineyard 
 to cut it down is to show the outcries of justice 
 against fruitless professors. 
 
 8. The dresser's Interceding is to show how 
 the Lord Jesus steps in and tales hold of the 
 head of his Father's axe, to stop, or at least to 
 defer, present execution of a barren fig tree. 
 
 9. The dresser's desire to trj^ to make the fig 
 tree fruitful is to show you how unwilling he 
 is that ever a barren fig tree should yet be 
 barren and perish. 
 
 10. His digging about it and dunging of it 
 is to show his willingness to apply gospel helps 
 to this barren professor, if haply he may be 
 fruitful. 
 
 11. The supposition that the fig tree may ye}; 
 continue fruitless is to show that when Christ 
 Jesus hath done all there are some professors 
 will abide barren and fruitless. 
 
 12. The determination upon this supposition 
 at last to cut it down is a certain prediction of 
 such professors' unavoidable and eternal dam- 
 nation. 
 
 But to take this parable into pieces and to 
 discourse more particularly, though with all 
 brevity, upon all the parts thereof. 
 
 A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vine- 
 yard. 
 
 The man, I told you, is to represent to us 
 God the Father, by which similitude he is 
 often set out in the New Testament. 
 
 Observe, then, that it is no new thing if you 
 find in God's Church barren fig trees, fruitless 
 professors, even as here you see is a tree, a 
 fruitless tree, a fruitless fig tree in the vineyard. 
 Fruit is not so easily brought forth as a pro^ 
 fession is got 'into ; it is easy for a man to 
 clothe himself with a fair show in the flesh, to 
 word it, and say. Be thou warmed and filled 
 with the best. It is no hard thing to do these 
 with other things, but to be fruitful, to bring 
 forth fruit to God, this doth not every tree, no 
 not every fig tree that stands in the vineyard 
 of God. Those words also, " Every branch in 
 me that beareth not fruit he taketh away," 
 assert the same thing. There are branches in 
 Christ, in Christ's body mystical, (which is his 
 
 Church, his vineyard,) that bear not fruit, 
 wherefore the hand of God is to take them 
 away. " I looked for grapes, and it brought 
 forth wild grapes ;" that is, no fruit at all that 
 was acceptable with God. Again, "Israel is 
 an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto 
 himself," none to God ; he is without fruit to 
 God. All these, with many more, show us the 
 truth of the observation, and that God's Church 
 may be cumbered with fruitless fig trees, with 
 barren professors. 
 
 JBad a fig tree. 
 Although there be in God's Church that be 
 barren and fruitless, yet, as I said, to look 
 upon they are like the rest of the trees, even a 
 fig tree : it was not an oak, nor a willow, nor a 
 thorn, nor a bramble, but a fig tree. " They 
 come before thee as thy people cometh;" 
 " They delight to know my ways, as a nation 
 that did righteousness and forsook not the 
 ordinances of their God ; they ask of me the 
 ordinances of justice, they take delight in ap- 
 proaching to God," and yet but barren, fruit- 
 less and unprofitable professors. Judas also 
 was one of the twelve, a disciple, an apostle, a 
 preacher, an officer, yea, and such a one as 
 none of the eleven mistrusted, but preferred 
 before themselves, each one crying out, " Is it 
 I ? Is it I ?" None of them, as we read of, 
 mistrusted Judas, yet he, in Christ's eye, was 
 the barren fig tree, a devil, a fruitless professor. 
 The foolish virgins also went forth of the world 
 with the other, had lamps and light, and were 
 awakened with the other ; yea, had boldness to 
 go forth, when the midnight cry was made, 
 with the other, and thought that they could 
 have looked Christ in the face when he sat 
 upon the throne of judgment, with the other, 
 and yet but foolish, but barren fig trees, bat 
 fruitless professors. "Many," saith Christ, 
 " will say unto me in that day " this and that, 
 and will also talk of many wonderful works ; 
 yet behold, he finds nothing in them but the 
 fruits of unrighteousness : they were altogether 
 barren and fruitless professors. 
 
 Had a fig tree planted. 
 This word planted doth also reach far; it 
 supposeth one taken out of its natural soil, or 
 removed from the place it grew once ; one that 
 seemed to be called, awakened, and n9t only 
 so, but by strong hand carried from this world 
 to the Church, from nature to grace, from sin 
 to godliness. Ps. Ixxx. 8. " Thou hast brought 
 a vine out of Egypt ; thou hast cast out the 
 
630 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 heafclien, and planted it." Of some of the 
 branches of this vine were there unfruitful 
 professors. 
 
 It iliust be concluded, therefore, that this 
 professor that remaineth, notwithstanding, 
 fruitless, is, as to the view and judgment of 
 the Church, rightly brought in thither — to wit, 
 by confession of faith, of sin, and a show of 
 repentance and regeneration : thus false breth- 
 reh creep in unawares. All these things this 
 word planteth intimateth ; yea, further, that the 
 Church is satisfied with them, conseiits they 
 should abide in the garden, and counteth them 
 Bound as the rest ; but before God, in the sight 
 of God, they are graceless professors, barren 
 and fruitless fig trees. 
 
 Therefore, it is one thing to be in the Church 
 or in a profession, and another to be of the 
 Cliurch and to belong to that kingdom that is 
 prepared for the saint that is so indeed. Other- 
 wise, "being planted, shall it prosper? shall it 
 not utterly wither when the east wind touch- 
 eth it? It shall wither in the furrows where 
 it grew." 
 
 Had a fig tree planted in his vineyard. 
 
 In his vineyard. Hypocrites with rotten 
 hearts are not afraid to come before God in 
 Zion. These words, therefore, suggest unto us 
 a prodigious kind of boldness and hardened 
 fearlessness ; for what presumption higher and 
 what attempt more despei'ate than for a man 
 that wanteth grace and a true knowledge of 
 God to crowd himself, in that condition, into 
 the house or Church of God, or to make pro- 
 fession of and desire that the name of God 
 should be called upon him? 
 
 For the man that maketh a profession of the 
 religion of Jesus Christ, that man hath, as it 
 were, put the name of God upon himself, and 
 is called and reckoned now (how fruitless so- 
 ever before God or men) the man that hath to 
 do with God, the man that God owneth and 
 will stand for. This man, I say, by his pro- 
 fession, suggesteth this to all that know him to 
 be such a professor. Men merely natural^I 
 mean, men that have not got the devilish art 
 of hypocrisy — are afraid to think of doing 
 thus : " And of the rest durst no man join 
 Inmself ^.o them, but the people magnified 
 them." And indeed it displeaseth God: 
 " They have brought," saith he, " men uncir- 
 cumcised into my sanctuary." And again, 
 (Isa. i. 12 :) " When you come to appear before 
 me, who hath required this at your hand, to 
 *read my courts?' saith God. They have 
 
 therefore learned this boldness of none in the 
 visible world ; they only took it of the devil, 
 for he, and he only, with these his disciples, 
 attempt to present themselves in the Church 
 before God. " The tares are the children of 
 the wicked one" — ^th'e tares, that is, the hypo- 
 crites, that are Satan's- brood, the generation 
 of vipers, that cannot es.cape the damnation 
 of hell. 
 
 Had a fig tree planted in his vineyard. 
 
 He doth not say. He planted a fig tree, but 
 there was a fig tree there ; he had or found a 
 fig tree planted in his vineyard. 
 
 The great God will not acknowledge the 
 barren fig tree or barren professor to be his , 
 workmanship or a tree of his bringing in; 
 only the text saith he had one there. This is 
 much like that in Matt. xv. 13 : " Every plant 
 which my heavenly ^Father hath not planted 
 shall be rooted up." Here again are plants in 
 his vineyard which God will not acknowledge 
 tq be of his planting ; and he seems to sug- 
 gest that in his vineyard are many such. 
 Every plant, or all those plants or professors 
 that are got into the assembly of the saints or 
 into the profession of their religion without 
 God and his grace, " shall be rooted up." 
 
 "And when the Ki<ng came in to see the ■ 
 guests, he sa!w there a man that had not on a 
 wedding garment. And he said unto him, 
 Friend, how earnest thou in hither, not having 
 on a wedding-garment?" Here is one so cun- 
 ning and crafty that he beguiled all the 
 guests : he got and kept in the Church, even 
 until the King himself came in to see the 
 guests. But his subtilty got him nothing; 
 it did not blind the eyes of the King; it did 
 not pervert the judgment of the righteous. 
 "Friend, how camest thou in hither?" did 
 overtake him at last, even a public rejection ; 
 the King discovered him in the face of all 
 present. "How camest thou in hither?" My 
 Father did riot bring thee hither ; I did not 
 bring thee hither; my Spirit did not bring 
 thee hither; thou art not of the heavenly 
 Father's planting; "how camest thou in 
 hither?" "He that cometh not in by the 
 door, but climbeth up some other way, the 
 same is a thief and a robber." This text is 
 full and plain also to our purpose, for this 
 man came not in by the door, yet got into the 
 Church ; he got in by climbing ; he broke in 
 at the windows; he got something of the 
 light and gipry of the Gospel of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ in his head, and so (hardy wretch • 
 
TBE BARREN FIG TREE. 
 
 631 
 
 Ihat he was) he presumed to crowd himself 
 imong the children. But how is this re- 
 sented? What sajth the King, of him? Why, 
 this ia his sign : " the same is a thief and a 
 rohber." See ye here also if all they be 
 jwned as the planting of God that get into 
 his Church or make profession of his name. 
 
 Had a fig tree — had one without a wed- 
 ding-garment had a thief in his garden, at 
 his wedding, in his house. These climbed up 
 some other way. There are many ways to get 
 into the Church of God and profession of his 
 name besides, and without an entering by the 
 door. 
 
 1. There is the way of lying and dissem- 
 bling; and at this gap the Gibeonites got in. 
 Josh. ix. 3, 4, &c. 
 
 2. There is sometimes falseness ^amongst 
 some pastors, either for the sake of carnal 
 relations or the like ; at this hole Tobiah the 
 enemy of God got in. Neh. xiii. 4, 5, 6. 
 
 3. There is sometimes negligence and' too 
 much uncircumspectness in the whole Church ; 
 thus the uncircuincised get in. Ezek. xliv. 
 7,8. 
 
 4. Sometimes again, let the Church be never 
 so circumspect, yet these have so much help 
 from the devil that they beguile them all, and 
 so get in. These are of that sort of thieves 
 that Paul complains of: "false brethren are 
 brought unawares.'' Jude also cries out of 
 these, " Certain men crept in unawares." 
 Crept in 1 What I What, were they so lowly ? 
 A voluntary humility, a neglecting of the 
 body, not in any humour. Oh how seem- 
 ingly self-denying are some of these creeping 
 things, that yet are to be held (as we shall 
 know them) an abomination to Israel ! Lev. 
 xi. 43, 44. 
 
 "But in a great house there are not only 
 vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood 
 and of earth ; and some to honour and some 
 to dishonour." By these words the apostle 
 seems to take it for granted that as there hath 
 been, so 'there still will be, these kind of fig 
 trees, these barren professors in the house, 
 when all men have done what they can ; even 
 as in a great house there are always vessels to 
 dishonour, as well as those to honour and 
 glory ; vessels of wood and of earth, as well as 
 of silver and of gold. So then there must be 
 wooden professors in the garden of God, there 
 must be earthly, earthen professors in his vine- 
 yard ; but that methinks is the biting word, 
 " and some to dishonour.'' That to the Romans 
 is dreadful, (Rom. ix. 21, 22,) but this seems 
 
 to go beyond it ; that speaks but of the repro- 
 bate in general, but this of such and such in 
 particular; that speaks of their hardening but 
 in the common way, but this that they must 
 be suffered to creep into the Church, there to 
 fit themselves for their place, their own place, 
 (Acts i. 25,) the place prepared for them of 
 this sort only ; as the Lord Jesus said once 
 of the Pharisees, " These shall receive greater 
 damnation." 
 
 Barren'fig tree, fruitless professor, hast thou 
 heard all these things? Hast thou considered 
 that this fig tree is not acknowledged of God 
 to be his, but is denied to be of his planting 
 and of his bringing unto his wedding? Dost 
 thou not see that thou art called a thief and a 
 robber, that hast either climbed up to or 
 crept in at another place than the door? 
 Dost thou not hear that there will be in God's 
 house wooden and earthly professors, and that 
 no place will serve to fit those for hell but the 
 house. Church, the vineyard of God ? Barren 
 fig tree, fruitless Christian, do not thine ears 
 tingle ? 
 
 And he came and sought fruit thereon. 
 When a man hath got a profession, and is 
 crowded into the Church and house of God, 
 the question is not now. Hath he life, hath he 
 right principles? but. Hath he fruit? He 
 came seeking fruit thereon. It mattereth not 
 who brought thee in hither, whether God or 
 the devil, or thine own vain-glorious heart; 
 but hast thou fruit? Dost thou bring forth 
 fruit unto God? "And let every one that 
 nameth the name of the Lord Jesus Christ de- 
 part from iniquity." He doth not say, And 
 let every one that hath grace, or. Let those 
 that have the Spirit of God ; but, " Let every 
 one that nameth the name of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ depart from iniquity.'' 
 
 What do men meddle with religion for? 
 Why do they call themselves by the name of 
 the Lord Jesus if they have not the grace of 
 God, if they have not the Spirit of Christ? 
 God therefore expecteth fruit. What do they 
 do in the vineyard? Let them work or get 
 them out; the vineyard must have labourers 
 in it: "Son, go work to-day in my vineyard." 
 Wherefore want of grace and want of spirit 
 will not keep God from seeking fruit : " And 
 he came and sought fruit thereon." He re- 
 quired that which he seemeth to have; every 
 man in the vineyard and house of God prom- 
 iseth himself, professeth to others, and woula 
 have all men take it for granted, that an 
 
o32 
 
 BUNYAN'S C03IPLETE WORKS. 
 
 heavenly principle is in him ; why then should 
 not God seek fruit? 
 
 As for them, therefore, that will retain the 
 name of Christians, fearing God, and yet make 
 conscience of bringing forth fruit to him, he 
 saith to them, "Away! As for you, go ye, 
 serve every one his idols, and hereafter also, 
 if ye will not hearken unto me," &c. Barren 
 fig tree, dost thou hear? God expecteth fruit, 
 Grod calls for fruit, yea, God will shortly come 
 seeking fruit on this barren fig tree.' Barren 
 fig tree, either bear fruit or go out of the vine- 
 yard; and yet then thy case will be unspeak- 
 ably damnable. Yea, let me add, if they 
 shall neither bear fruit nor depart, God "will 
 take his name out of their mouth." He will 
 have fruit. And I say further, if thou wilt do 
 neither, yet God in justice and righteousness 
 will still come for fruit. And it will be in 
 vain for thee to count this austerity. He will 
 "reap where he hath not sown, and gather 
 where he hath not strewed." Barren fig tree, 
 dost thou hear? 
 
 Question. What, if a man have no grace? 
 
 Anaxoer. Yet he hath a profession. 
 
 And he came and sought fruit thereon. 
 
 A Church, then, and a profession are not 
 places where the workers of iniquity may 
 hide themselves and sins from God. Some of 
 old thought that because they could cry, "The 
 temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!" 
 that therefore they were delivered, or had a 
 dispensation to do the abominations which 
 they committed; as some in our days. For 
 who (say they) have a right to the creatures 
 if not Christians,' if not professors, if not 
 Church members? And from this conclusion 
 let go the reins of their inordinate aflections 
 after pride, ambition, gluttony, pampering 
 themselves without fear, (Jude 12,) daubing 
 tliemselves with the lust- provoking fashions 
 of the times ; to walk with stretched-out necks, 
 naked breasts, frizzled foretops, wanton ges- 
 tures, in gorgeous apparel, mixed with gold 
 and pearl and costly array. I will not here 
 make inspection unto their lives, their car- 
 riages at home, in their corners, and secret 
 toles; but certainly persons thus spirited, 
 thus principled, and thus inclined have but 
 empty boughs — boughs that want the fruit 
 that God expects, and that God will come 
 down to seek. 
 
 Barren fig tree, thou art not licensed by thy 
 profession nor by the Lprd of the vineyard to 
 bear these clusters of Gomorrah; neither shall 
 
 the vineyard nor thy being crowded among 
 the trees there shelter thee from the sight of 
 the eye of God. Many make religion their 
 cloak and Christ their stalking-horse, and by 
 that means cover themselves and hide their 
 own wickedness from men; but God seeth 
 their heart, hath his print upon the heels of 
 their feet, and pondereth all their goings; and 
 at last, when then- iniquity is found to be 
 hateful, he will either smite them with hard- 
 ness of heart, and so leave them, or awaken 
 them to bring forth fruit. Fruits he looks for, 
 seeks and expects, barren fig tree ! 
 
 But what! Come into the presence of God 
 to sin! What! come into the presence of 
 God to hide thy sin ! Alas, man ! the Church 
 is God's garden, and Christ Jesus is the great 
 Apostle and High Priest of our profession. 
 What! come into the house that is called by 
 my name! into the place where mine honour 
 dwelleth, (Ps. xxxvi. 8,) where mine e3'es and 
 heart are continually! 1 Kings ix. 3. What! 
 come there to sin, to hide thy sin, to cloak thy 
 sin ! His plants are an orchard with pleasant 
 fruits, (Song iv. 13,) and every time he goeth 
 into his garden it is " to see the fruits of the 
 valley," and to "see if the vines flourish and 
 if the pomegranates bud." 
 
 Yea, saith he, he came seeking fruit on this 
 fig tree. The Church is the place of God's de- 
 light, where he ever desires to be: thete he is 
 night and day. He is there to seek for fruit 
 — to seek for fruit of all and eveiy tree in the 
 garden. Wherefore, assure thyself, O fruit- 
 less one, that thy ways must needs be open be- 
 fore the eyes of the Loi'd. One black sheep is 
 soon espied, although in company with many 
 — that is, taken with the first cast of the eye; 
 its difierent colour still betrays it. I say, 
 therefore, a Church and a profession are not 
 places where the workers of iniquity may hide 
 themselves from- God, that seeks for fruit. " My 
 vineyard," saith God, "which is mine, is be- 
 fore me." 
 
 And he came and sought fruit thereon, and found 
 none. 
 
 Barren fig tree, hearken: thy continual ncn- 
 bearing of fruit is a dreadful sign that thou art 
 come to a dreadful endj as the winding up of 
 this parable concludeth. 
 
 " And found none." None at all, or none to 
 God's liking; for when he saith, "He came 
 seeking fruit thereon," he means "fruit meet 
 for God," pleasant fruit, fruit good and sweet. 
 
 Alas! it is not any fruit will serve; bad fruit 
 
THE BARREN FIG TREE. 
 
 633 
 
 Is counted none: "Every .fee that bringeth not 
 forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the 
 fire." 
 
 1. There is a fruit among professors that 
 withers, and so never comes to be ripe ; a fruit 
 that is smitten in the growth, and comes not to 
 maturity, and this is reckoned no fruit : -this 
 fruit those professors bear that have many fair 
 beginnings or blossoms, that make many fair 
 offers of repentance and amendment, that be- 
 gin to pray, to resolve, and to break off their 
 Bins by right«>:'Usness, but stop at those begin- 
 nings, and bring no fruit forth to perfection. 
 This man's fruit is withered, wrinkled, smitten 
 fruit, and is in effect no fruit at all. 
 
 2. There is a hasty fruit, such as is the " corn 
 upon the house-top'' or that which springs 
 up on the dung-hill, that runs up sujjdenly, 
 violently, with great stalks and big show, and 
 yet at last proves empty of kernel. This fruit 
 is to be found in those professors that on sud- 
 den are so awakened, so convinced, aiid so af- 
 fected with their condition that they shake the 
 whole family, the endship, the whole town. 
 For awhile they cry hastily, vehemently, dole- 
 fully,mournfully,yetallisbutaparig, an agony, 
 a fit ; they bring not forth fruit with patience. 
 These are called those hasty fruits that " shall 
 be a fading flower.i' 
 
 3. There is a fruit that is vile and ill-tasted, 
 (Jer xxiv.,) how long soever it be in growing; 
 the root is dried, and cannot convey a suffi- 
 ciency of sap to the branches to ripen the fruit. 
 These are the fruit of such professors whose 
 hearts are estranged from communion with the 
 Holy Ghost, whose fruit groweth from them- 
 selves, from their parts, gifts, strength of wit, 
 natural or moral principles. These, notwith- 
 standing they bring forth fruit, are called empty 
 vines, such as bring not forth fruit to God. 
 
 " Their root is dried up, they shall bear no 
 fruit : yea, though they bring forth, yet will I 
 slay even the beloved fruit of their womb.'' 
 
 4. There is a fruit that is wild : " I looked 
 for grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes." 
 I observe that as there are trees and herbs that 
 are wholly right and noble, fit indeed for the 
 vineyard, so there are also their semblance, 
 but wild, nut right, but ignoble. There is the 
 grape, and the wild grape ; the vine, and the 
 wild vine; the rose, and canker rose; flow- 
 ers, and wild flowers ; the apple, and the wild 
 apple, which we call the crab. Now, fruit from 
 these wild things, however they may please the 
 children to play with, yet the prudent and 
 grave count them of little or no value. There 
 
 are also in the world a generation of professors 
 that notwithstanding their profession are wild 
 by nature; yea, such as were' never Cut out 
 or off from the wild olive tree, nor never yet 
 planted into the good olive tree. Now these 
 can bring nothing forth but wild olive berries ; 
 they cannot bring forth fruit unto God. guch 
 are all those that have lightly taken up a pro- 
 fession, and crept into the vineyard without a 
 new birth and the blessing of regeneration. 
 
 5. There is also untimely fruit: "Even as 
 a fig tree casteth forth her untimely figs" — 
 fruit out of season, and so no fruit to God's 
 liking. 
 
 There are two sorts of professors subject to 
 bring forth untimely fruit — 1. They that bring 
 ^forth fruit too soon ; 2. They that bring forth 
 fruit too late. 
 
 (1.) They that bring forth too soon. They 
 are such as at present receive the word with 
 joy : anon, before they have root downwards, 
 they thrust forth upwards, but having no root, 
 when the sun ariseth they are smitten, and 
 miserably die without fruit. These professors 
 are those light and inconsiderate ones that 
 think nothing but peace will attend the Gospel, 
 and so anon rejoice at the tidings, without fore- 
 seeing the evil ; wherefore, when the evil comes, 
 being unarmed, and so not able to stand any 
 longer, they die and are withered, and bring 
 forth no fruit : " He that received the seed in 
 stony places, the same is he that heareth the 
 word, and anon with joy receiveth it ; yet hath 
 he not root in himself, biit dureth for awhile; 
 for when tribulation or persecution ariseth be- 
 cause of the word, by and byxthey are offend- 
 ed." There is in Isa. xxviii. 4 mention made 
 of some "whose glorious beauty shall be a 
 fading flower," because it is fruit before sum- 
 mer. Both these are untimely fruit. 
 
 (2.)' They also bring forth untimely fruit that 
 stay till the season is over. God will have his 
 fruit in his season ; I say, he will receive them 
 of such men as shall render them to him in 
 their season. The missing of the season is 
 dangerous ; staying till the door is shut is dan- 
 gerous. Many there be that come not till the 
 flood of God's anger is raised and too deep for 
 them to wade through, " Surely in the floods 
 of great waters they shall not come nigh unto 
 him.'' Esau's (afterwards) is fearful; "For 
 ye know that afterward, when he would- have 
 inherited the blessing, he was rejected ; for he 
 found no place of repentance, though he sought 
 it carefully with tears." 
 So the children of Israel, they brought to 
 
634 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 God the fruits of obedience too late : their " Lo, 
 we be here," came too late; their "We will 
 go up,'' came too late: the Lord had sworn 
 before " that they should not possess the land," 
 All these are such as bring forth untimely 
 fruit. It is the hard hap of the reprobate to 
 do all things too late, to be sensible of his 
 want of grace too late, to be sorry for sin too 
 late, to seek tepentance too late, to ask for 
 mercy and to desire to go to glory too late. 
 
 Thus you see that fruit smitten in the growth, 
 that withereth, and that comes not to maturity, 
 is no fruit; that hasty fruit, such as the ''corn 
 upon the house-top," withereth also before it 
 groweth up, and is no fruit ; that the fruit that 
 is vile and ill-tasted is no fruit; that wild 
 fruit, wild grapes are no fruit ; that untimely 
 fruit, such as comes too soon or that cornes too 
 late, such as come not in their season, are no 
 fruit. 
 
 And he came and sought fruit thereon, and found 
 none. 
 
 Nothing will do but fruit; he looked for 
 grapes ; when the time of fruit grew near he 
 sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they 
 might receive the fruit of it. 
 
 Question. But what fruit doth God expect? 
 
 Answer. Good fruit. " Every tree that bring- 
 eth not forth good fruit is hewn down." Now, 
 before the fruit can be good the tree must be 
 good, for good fruit makes not a good tree, 
 " but a good tree bringeth forth good fruit. Do 
 men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of this- 
 tles ?" A man must be good, else he can bring 
 forth no good fruit ; he must have righteous- 
 ness imputed, that he may stand good in God's 
 sight from the curse of his law ; he must have 
 a principle of .righteousness in his soul, else 
 how should he bring forth good fruits? and 
 hence it is that a Christian's fruits are called 
 "the fruits of the Spirit,. the fruits of right- 
 eousness, which are by Jesus Christ." The 
 fruits of the Spirit, therefore the Spirit must 
 bo there; the fruits of righteousness, there- 
 fore righteousness must first be there. But to 
 particularize in a few things briefly : 
 
 1. God expecteth fruit that will answer and 
 be worthy of the repentance which thou feign- 
 est thyself to have. Every one in a profession 
 and that hath crowded into the vineyard pre- 
 tendeth to repentance : now of every such soul 
 God expecteth that the fruits of repentance be 
 found to attend them. "Bring forth fruits, 
 therefore, meet for repentance," or answerable 
 to thy profession of the doctrine of repentance. 
 
 Barren fig tree, seeing thou art a professor arid 
 art got into the vineyard, thou standest before 
 the Lord of the vineyas-d as one of the trees 
 of the garden ; wherefore he looketh for fruit 
 from thee as from the rest of the trees in the 
 vineyard — fruit, I say, and such as may declare 
 thee in heart and liffe one that hath sound 
 profession of repentance. By thy profession 
 thou hast said, I am sensible of the evil of sin. 
 Now, then, live such a life as declares thai 
 thou art sensible of the evil of sin. By thy 
 profession thou hast said, I am sorry for my 
 sin. Why, then, live such a life as may declare 
 this sorrow. By thy profession thou hast said, 
 " I am ashamed of my sin." Yea, but live 
 such a life that men by that may "see thy 
 shame for sin." By thy profession thou sayest, 
 I have turned from, let off, and am become an 
 enemy to every appearance of evil. Ah I but 
 doth thy life and conversation declare thee to 
 be such an one? Take heed, barren fig tree, 
 lest thy life should give thy profession the lie ; 
 I say again, take heed, for God himself will 
 come for fruit ; " and he sought fruit, thereon." 
 
 You have some professors that are only saints 
 before men when they are abroad, but are 
 devils and vipers at home — saints by profes- 
 sion, but devils by practice — saints in word, 
 but sinners in heart and life. These men may 
 have the profession, but they want the fruits 
 that become repentance. 
 
 Barren fig tree, can it be imagined that those 
 that paint themselves did ever repent of their 
 pride ? or that those that pursue this world did 
 ever repent of their covetousness ? or that those 
 that walk with wanton eyes did ever repent of 
 their fleshly lusts ? Where, barren fig tree, is 
 the fruit of these people's repentance? Nay, 
 do they not rather declare to the world that 
 they have repented of their profession ? Their 
 fruits look as if they had. Their pride saith 
 they have repented of their, humility ; their 
 covetousness declareth that they are weary of 
 depending upon God ; and doth not thy wanton 
 actions declare that thou abhorrest charity? 
 Where is thy fruit, barren fig tree ? Eepent- 
 ance is not only a sorrow and a shame for, but 
 a turning from, sin to God. In Heb- iv. it is 
 called " repentance from dead works." Hast 
 thou that godly sorrow that worketh " repent- 
 ance to salvation, never to be repented of?" 
 How dost thou show thy carefulness and clear- 
 ing of thyself, thy indignation against sin, thy 
 fear of^ offending, thy vehement desire to walk 
 with God, thy zeal for his name and glory in 
 the world? And what revenge hast thou in 
 
THE BARREN FIO TREE. 
 
 636 
 
 ;hy heart against every thought of disobe- 
 dience ? 
 
 But where is the fruit of this repentance? 
 Where is thy watching, thy fasting, thy pray- 
 ing against the remainders of corruption? 
 Where is thy self-abhorrence, thy blushing 
 before God, for the sin that is yet' behind? 
 Where is thy tenderness of the name of God 
 and his ways ? ^VEere is thy self-denial and 
 contentment? How dost thou show before 
 men the truth of thy turning to God? " Hast 
 thou renounced the hidden things of dishon- 
 esty, not walking in craftiness ?" Canst thou 
 commend thyself " to every man's conscience 
 in the sight of God?" 
 
 2. God expecteth fruit that shall answer that 
 faith which thou makest profession of. The 
 professor that is got into the vineyard of God 
 doth feign that he hath the faith the most 
 holy, the faith of God's elect. Ah I but where 
 are thy fruits, barren fig tree ? The faith of 
 the Romans was spoken of throughout the 
 whole world, and the Thessalonians' faith 
 grew exceedingly. 
 
 Thou professest to believe thou hast peace 
 in another world ; hast thou let go this, barren 
 fig tree? Thou professest thou believest in 
 Christ ; is he the joy and the life of thy soul? 
 Yea, what conformity unto him, to his sorrows 
 and sufferings? What resemblance hath his 
 crying, and groaning, and bleeding, and dying 
 wrought in thee? Dost thou "bear in thy 
 body the dying of thetLord Jesus?" and is 
 also " the life of Jesus made manifest in thy 
 mortal body ?" Barren fig tree, " show me thy 
 faith by thy works." " Show out of a good 
 conversation thy works with meekness of 
 heart." 
 
 What fruit, barren fig tree, what degree of 
 heart-holiness ? for " faith purifies the heart." 
 Wliat love to the Lord Jesus ? for " faith work- 
 eth by love.'' 
 
 3. God expecteth fruits according to the sea- 
 sons of grace thou art under, according to the 
 rain that cometh upon thee. Perhaps thou art 
 planted in a good soil, by great waters, that 
 thou mightest bring forth branches and bear 
 fruit, that thou mightest be a goodly vine or fig 
 tree. Shall he not therefore seek for fruit, for 
 fruit answerable to the means? Barren 'fig 
 tree, God expects it, and will find it too if 
 ever he bless thee. "For the earth which 
 drinketh in the rain that comes oft upon it, 
 and bringeth forth herbs meet for him by 
 whom it is dressed, receives blessing for God ; 
 but that which beareth thorns and briers is re- 
 
 jected, and is nigh unto cur&xng, whose end 
 is to be burned." 
 
 Barren soul, how many showeis of grace, 
 how many dews from heaven, how many times 
 have the silver streams of the city of God run 
 gliding by thy roots, to cause thee to bring 
 forth fruit ? These showers and streams, and 
 the drops that hang upon thy boughs, will all 
 be accounted for; and will they not testify 
 against thee that thou oughtest of right to be 
 burned? Hear and tremble, thou barren 
 professor I Fruits that become thy profession 
 of the gospel the God of heaven expecteth. 
 The gospel hath in it the forgiveness of sins, 
 the kingdom of heaven, and eternal life ; but 
 what fruit hath thy profession of a belief of 
 these things put forth in thy heart and life? 
 Hast thou given thyself to the Lord ? and is 
 all that thou hast to be ventured for his name 
 in this world ? Dost thou walk like one that 
 is bought with a price, even with the price of 
 precious blood? 
 
 4. The fruit that God expecteth is such as is 
 meet for himself— fruit that may glorify God. 
 God's trees "are trees of righteousness, the 
 planting of the Lord, that he may be glori- 
 fied;" fruit that tasteth of heaven, abundance 
 of such fruit. " For herein," saith Christ, " is 
 my Father glorified, that ye bring forth much 
 fruit" — fruits of all kinds, new and old: the 
 fruits of the Spirit is in all goodness, and right- 
 eousness, and truth. Fruits before the world, 
 fruits before the saints, fruits before God, fruits 
 before angels. 
 
 my brethren, " what manner of persons 
 ought we to be" who have subscribed to the 
 Lord and have called ourselves by the name of 
 Israel ? " One shall say, I am the Lord's ; and 
 another shall call himself by the name of 
 Jacob ; and another shall subscribe with his 
 hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by 
 the name of Israel." Barren fig tree, hast 
 thou subscribed, hast thou called thyself by 
 the name of Jacob, and surnamed thyself by 
 the name of Israel? All this thou pretendest 
 to who art got into the vineyard, who art 
 placed among the trees of the garden of God. 
 God doth therefore look for such fruit as is 
 worthy of his name, as is meet for him ; as the 
 apostle saith, "we should walk worthy of 
 God ;" that is, so as we may show in every 
 place that the presence of God is with us, his 
 fear in us, and his majesty and authority upon 
 our actions. Fruits meet for him, such a de- 
 pendence upon him, such trust in his word, 
 such satisfaction in his presence, such a trust- 
 
836 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 ing of him with all my cbncerns, and such, de- 
 lights in the enjoyment of him that may de- 
 iionstrate that his fear is in my heart, that my 
 soul is wrapped up in his things, and that my 
 body, and soul, and estates, and all are in 
 truth, through his grace, at his dispose — fruit 
 meet for him. Hearty thanks and blessing 
 God for Jesus Christ, for his good word, for his 
 free grace, for the discovery of himself in 
 Christ to the soul, secret longing after another 
 world — fruit meet for him. Liberality to the 
 poor saint, to the poor world; a life in word 
 and deed exemplary ; a patient and quief en- 
 during of all things, till I have done and sjif- 
 fered the whole will of God which he hath ap- 
 pointed for me. " That on the good ground 
 are they which in honest and good heart, hav- 
 ing heard the word, keep it, and bring forth 
 fruit with patience." This is bringing forth 
 fruit unto God ; " having ourfruit unto holi- 
 ness, and our end everlasting life." 
 
 5. The Lord expects fruit becoming the vine- 
 yard of God. The vineyard, saith he, " is a 
 very fruitful hill;". witness the fruit brought 
 forth in all ages. The most barren trees that 
 ever grew in the "wood of this world, when 
 planted in this vineyard by the God of heaven, 
 what fruit to God-ward have they brought 
 forth ! " Abraham offered the more excellent 
 sacrifice." " Enoch walked with God for three 
 hundred years." " Noah, by his life of faith, 
 condemned the world, and became heir of the 
 righteousness that is by faith." "Abraham 
 left his country and went out after God, not 
 knowing whither he went." Moses left a 
 kingdom and ran the hazard of the wrath of 
 the king for the love he had to God and Christ. 
 What shall I say of them who had trials, not 
 accepting deliverance, that they might obtain 
 a better resurrection? "They were stoned, 
 they were sawn asunder ; were tempted ; were 
 slain with the sword ; they wandered in sheep- 
 skins and goat-skins, being destitute, afiiicted, 
 tormented." Peter left his father, his nets. 
 Paul turned off from the feet of Gamaliel. 
 Men brought their goods and possessions (the 
 price of them) and cast it down at the apostles' 
 feet; and other brpught their books together 
 and burnt them — curious books, though they 
 were worth fifty thousand pieces of silver. I 
 iould add how many willingly offer themselves 
 in all ages, and their all, for the worthy name 
 of the Lord Jesus, to be racked, starved, 
 hanged, burned, drowned, pulled in pieces, 
 and a thousand calamities! Barren fig tree, 
 the vineyard of God hath been a fruitful place. 
 
 What dost thou there ? What dost thou bear? 
 God expects fruit according to or becoming 
 the soil of the vineyard. 
 
 6. The fruit which God expecteth is such as 
 becometh God's husbandry and labour. The 
 vineyard is God's husbandry or tillage. " I am 
 the vine," saith Christ, "and my Father is the 
 husbandman." Andr again, " Ye are God's 
 husbandry, ye are' God's building." The vine- 
 yard, God fences it, God gathereth out the 
 stones, God builds the tower, and the wine- 
 press in the midst thereof. Here is labour, 
 here is protection, here is removing of hin- 
 drances, here is convenient purgation, and all 
 that there rnight be fruit. 
 
 Barren fig tree, what fruit hast thou ? Hast 
 thou fruit becoming the care of God, the pro- 
 tection of God, the wisdom of God, the pa- 
 tience and husbandry of God? It is the fruit 
 of the vineyard that is either the shame or the 
 praise of the husbandman. " I went by the 
 field of the slothful," saith Solomon, " and by 
 the vineyard of the man void of understand- 
 ing; and lo, it was grown over with thorns, 
 and nettles had covered the face thereof." 
 
 Barren fig tree, if men should make a judg- 
 ment of the care, and pains, and labour of God 
 in his Church by the fruit that thou brmgest 
 forth, what might they say ? — Is he not sloth- 
 ful, is he not careless, is he not without discre- 
 tion ? Oh thy thorns, thy nettles, the barren 
 heart and barren life is a continual provoca- 
 tion to the eyes of his,glory, as likewise a dis- 
 honour to the glory of his grace. 
 
 Barren fig tree, hast thou heard all these 
 things ? I will add yet once more, 
 
 And he came and sought fruit thereon. 
 
 The question is not now what thou thinkest 
 of thyself, nor what all the people of God think 
 of thee, but what thou shalt be found in that 
 day when God shall search thy boughs for 
 fruit. When Sodom was to Ids searched for 
 righteous men, God would not, in that man- 
 ner, trust his faithful servant Abraham, but 
 still as Abraham interceded, God answei'ed, 
 " If I find fifty or forty and five there, I will 
 not destroy the city.'' Barren fig tree, what 
 sayest thou ? God will come down to see, God 
 will make search for fruit himself. 
 
 "And lie came and sought fruit thereon, 
 and found none. Then said he to the dresser 
 of the vineyard, Behold, these three years I 
 come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find 
 none ; cut it down ; why cumbereth it the 
 ground ?" 
 
THE BARREN FIO TREE. 
 
 637 
 
 These words are the effect of God's search 
 into the boughs of a barren fig tree ; he sought 
 fruit and found none — none to his liking, none 
 pleasant and good. Therefore first he com- 
 plains of the want thereof to the dresser, calls 
 him to come and see and take notice of the 
 iree; then signifieth his pleasure: he will 
 have it removed, taken away, cut down from 
 cumbering the ground. * 
 
 Observe, the barren fig tree is the object of 
 God's displeasure; (Jod cannot bear with a 
 fruitless professor. 
 
 Then said he, &c. 
 
 Then, after this provocation ; then, after he 
 had sought and found no fruit — t/ien. This 
 word then doth show us a kind, of inward dis- 
 quietness ; . as he saith also in another place, 
 upon a like provocation, "Then the anger 
 of the Lord and his jealousy shall smoke 
 against that man, and all the curses that are 
 written in this book shall lie upon him, and 
 the Lord shall blot out his name from under 
 heaven." 
 
 Then intimateth that he was now come to 
 a point, to a resolution, what to do with this 
 fig tree. " Then said he to the dresser of 
 this vineyard" — that is, to Jesus Christ — 
 "behold;" as much as to say. Come hither; 
 here is a fig tree in my vineyard, here is a 
 professor in my Church, that is barren, that. 
 beareth no fruit. 
 
 Observe, however the barren professor thinks 
 of himself on earth, the Lord cries out in 
 heaven against him : "And now go to, I will 
 tell you what I will do to my vineyard : I will 
 take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be 
 eaten up ; and I will break down the wall 
 thereof, and it shall be trodden down." 
 
 Behold these three years I come seeking frxdt, &c. 
 
 Observe, "these three years." God cries 
 out that his patience is abused, that his for- 
 bearance is abused : behold, these three years 
 [ have waited, forborne — these three years I 
 have deferred mine anger : " Therefore will I 
 stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy 
 thee : I am weary with repenting." 
 
 "These three years." ■ Observe, God layeth 
 up all the time, I say, a remembrance of all 
 the time that a barren fig tree or a fruitless 
 professor misspendeth from this world. As 
 he saith also of Israel of old, " forty years long 
 was I grieved with this generation." 
 
 " These three years," &c. These three sea- 
 soiiS. Observe, God remembers how many 
 
 seasons thou hast misspent, for these three 
 signify so many seasons. "And when the 
 time of fruit drew nigh ;" that is, about the 
 season they begin to be ripe, or that according 
 to the season might so have been. Barren fig 
 tree, thou hast had time, seasons, ministers, 
 afiiictiong, judgments, mercies, and what not, 
 and yet hast not been fruitful. Thou hast had 
 awakenings, reproofs, threateniugs, comforts, 
 and yet hast not been fruitful. Thou hast had 
 patterns, examples, citations, provocations, 
 and yet hast not been fruitful. Well, God 
 hath laid up thy three years with himself. 
 He remeihbers every, time, every seasdn, every 
 sermon, every minister, affliction, judgment, 
 mercy, awakening, pattern, example, citation, 
 provocation: he remembers all. As he said 
 of Israel of old, " They have tempted me 
 these ten times, and have not hearkened to 
 my voice.'' And again, " I remember all their 
 wickedness." 
 
 " These three years," &c. He seeks for the 
 fruit of every season : he will not that any of 
 his sermons, ministers, afflictions, judgments, 
 or mercies should be lost or stand for insig- 
 nificant things : he will ha^e according to 
 the benefit bestowed. He hath not done 
 without a cause all that he hath done, and 
 therefore he looketh for fruit. Look to it, 
 barren fig tree. 
 
 I come seeking fruit. 
 
 Observe, this word seeking signifies a narrow 
 search ; for when a man seeks for fruit on a 
 tree, he goes round it and round it, now look- 
 ing into this bough and then into that; he 
 peeps into the inmost boughs and the lower- 
 most boughs, if perhaps fruit may be thereon. 
 
 Barren fig tree, God will look into all thy 
 boughs: he will be with thee in thy bed 
 fruits, thy midnight fruits, thy closet fruits, 
 thy family fruits, thy conversation fruits, to 
 see if there be any among all these that are fit 
 for or worthy of the name of the God of 
 heaven. He sees what the children of Israel 
 do in the dark. "All things are open unto 
 the eyes of Him with whom we have to do." 
 
 SeeMng fruit on this fig tree. 
 I told you before that he keeps in remem- 
 brance the times and seasons that the barren 
 professor had wickedly misspent. Now, foras- 
 much as he also pointeth out the fig tree, 
 "this fig tree," it showeth that the barren 
 professor, above all professors, is a continual 
 odium in the eye of God. This fig tree, thie 
 
638 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 man Coniah. Jer. xxii. 28. This people draw 
 . nigh to me with their mouth, but have re- 
 moved their hearts far from me. God knows 
 who they are among all the thousands of 
 Israel thsit are the barren and fruitless pro- 
 fessors; his lot will fall upon the head of 
 Achar., though he be hid amongst six hundred 
 thousand men. And he brought his house- 
 hold, man by man, and Achan, the son of 
 Carmi, the son of Zubdi, the son of Zerah, of 
 the tribe of Judah, was taken. Josh. vii. 17, 
 18. This is the Achan, this is the fig tree, 
 this is the barren professor. 
 
 There is a man hath an hundred trees in 
 his vineyard, and at the time of the season he 
 walketh into his vineyard to see how the trees 
 flourish ; and as he goes and views and pries 
 and observes how they are hanged with fruit, 
 behold he cometh to one where he findeth 
 naught but leaves. Now he makes a stand, 
 looks upon it again and again ; he looks also 
 here and there, above and below ; and if after 
 all this seeking he finds nothing but leaves 
 thereon, then he_ begins to cast in his mind 
 how he may know this tree next year — what 
 stands next it or how far it is off the hedge ; 
 but if there be nothing there that may be as a 
 mark to know it by, then he takes his hook 
 and giveth it a private mark, ("And the Lord 
 set a mark upon Cain,") saying. Go thy way, 
 fruitless fig tree, thou hast spent this season in 
 vain. 
 
 Yet doth he not now cut it down ; I will try 
 it another year ; maybe this was not a hitting 
 season. Therefore he comes again next year, 
 to see if now it have fruit ; but as he found it 
 before, so he finds it now, barren, barren, every 
 year barren ; he looks again, but finds no fruit. 
 Now he begins to have second thoughts. How ! 
 neither hit last year nor this ? • Surely the bar- 
 renness is not in the season, sure the fault is in 
 the tree; however, I will spare it this year 
 also, but will give it a second mark ; and it 
 may be he touoheth it with a hot iron, because 
 he begins to be angry. 
 
 Well, at the third season he comes again for 
 fruit, but the third year is like the first and 
 gecond — no fruit yet; it only cumbereth the 
 ground. What now must be done with this 
 fig tree ? Why, the Lord will lop its boughs 
 with terror ; yea, the thickest of those profes- 
 sors with iron. I have waited, saith God, these 
 three years ; I have missed of fruit these three 
 years; it hath been a cun\ber-ground these 
 three years; cut it down. Precept hath been 
 upon precept, and line upon line, one year 
 
 after another, for these three years, but no 
 fruit can be seen : I find none. Fetch out the 
 axe : I am sure this is the fig tree ; I know it 
 from the first year; barrenness was its sign 
 then, barrenness is its sign now ; make it fit for 
 the fire. "Behold, the axe is laid to the root 
 of the trees ; every tree therefore that bringeth 
 not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast 
 into the fire." 
 
 Observe, my brethren, God's heart cannot 
 stand towards a barren»fig tree. You know 
 thus it is witl^ yourselves. If you have a tree 
 in your orchard or vineyard that doth only 
 cumber the ground, you cannot look upon that 
 tree with pleasure, with complacency and de- 
 light. No ; if you do but go by it, if you do 
 but cast your eye upon it, yea, if you do but 
 think of that tree, _ you threaten it in your 
 heart, saying, I will hew thee down shortly, I 
 will to the fire with thee shortly : and it is in 
 vain for any to think of persuading of you to 
 show favour to the barren fig tree ; and if they, 
 should persuade your answer is irresistible : It 
 yields me no profit, it'takes up room; and does 
 no good ; a better may grow in its room. 
 
 Out it down. 
 
 Thus when the godly among the Jews (Jer. 
 xiv. 17) made prayers that rebellious Israel 
 might not be cast out of- the vineyard, what 
 saith the answer of God?— "Though Moses 
 and Samuel stood before me, yet could not my 
 mind be towards this people ; wherefore cast 
 thein out of my presence, and let them go 
 forth." 
 
 What a resolution is here! Moses and 
 Samuel could do almost anything with God in 
 prayer. How many times did Moses by prayer 
 turn away God's judgments from even Pharaoh 
 himself! yea, how many times did he by prayer 
 preserve Israel, when in the wilderness, (Ps. 
 cvi. 23,) from the anger and wrath of God ! 
 Samuel is reckoned excellent this way, yea, so 
 excellent that when Israel had done that fear- 
 ful thing as to reject the Lord and choose them 
 another king, he prayed, and the Lord spared 
 and forgave them. But yet neither Moses nor 
 Samuel can save a barren fig tree. No ; though 
 Moses and Samuel stood before me — that is, 
 pleading, arguing, interceding, supplicating, 
 and beseeching — yet could they not incline 
 mine heart to this people. 
 
 Cut it down. 
 Ay, but. Lord, it is a fig tree, a fig tree ! If 
 it was a thorn, or a bramble, or a thistle, the 
 
TBE BARREN FIO T^REE. 
 
 639 
 
 matter would not be mucli ; but it is a fig tree 
 or a vine. Well, but mark the answer of God: 
 " Son of man, what is the Vine tree more than 
 any tree, or than a branch that is among the 
 trees of the forest? Shall wood be taken 
 thereof to do any work 7 or will men take a 
 pin of it to hang any vessel thereon?" If 
 trees that are set or planted for fruit bring not 
 forth that fruit, there is betwixt them and the 
 trees of the forest no betterment at all, unless 
 the betterment lieth in the trees of the wood, 
 for they are fit to build withal ; but a fig tree 
 or a vine, if they bring not forth fruit, yea, 
 good fruit, they are fit for nothing at all but to 
 be cut down and prepared for the fire ; and so 
 the prophet goes on, " Behold, it is cast into 
 the fire for fuel." If it serve not for fruit, it 
 will serve for fuel, and so " the fire djjvoureth 
 both the ends of it, and the middle of it is 
 burnt." 
 
 Ay, but these fig trees and vines are church- 
 members, inhabiters of Jerusalem. So was the 
 fig tree mentioned in the text. But what an- 
 swer- hath God prepared for these objections? 
 Why, " Thus saith the Lord God, As the vine 
 tree among the trees of the forest, which I have 
 given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the in- 
 habitants of Jerusalem ; and I will set my face 
 against them ; they shall go out from one fire, 
 and another fire shall devour them." 
 
 , Out it down. 
 The woman that delighteth in her garden, 
 if she have a slip there, suppose (if it was 
 fruitful) she would not take five pounds for it, 
 yet if it bear no fruit, if it wither and dwindle 
 and die, and turn cumber-ground only, it may 
 not stand in her garden. Gardens and vine- 
 yards are places for fruit — for fruit according 
 to the nature of the plant or flowers. Suppose 
 such a slip as I told you of before should be in 
 your garden and there die, would you let it 
 abide in your garden? No; away with it, 
 away with it I The woman comes into her 
 garden towards the spring, when first she gives 
 it a slight cast with her eye, then she sets, to 
 gathering out the weeds and nettles and atones ; 
 takes a besom and sweeps the walks ; this djone, 
 she falls to prying into her herbs and slips, to 
 see if they live, to see if they are likely to grow. 
 Now, if she comes to one that is deadj that 
 she is confident will not grow, up she pulls 
 that, and makes to the heap of rubbish with 
 it, where she despisingly casts it down, and 
 valueth it no more than a nettle or a weed, or 
 than the dust she hath swept out of her walks. 
 
 Yes, if any that see her should say. Why do 
 you so? the answer is ready. It is dead, it 
 is dead at root; if I had let it stand it would 
 but have cumbered the ground. The strange 
 slips, (and also the dead ones,) " they must be 
 a heap in the day of grief and of desperate 
 
 Out it down. 
 
 There are two ways of cutting down— 1. 
 When a man is cast out of the vineyard; 2. 
 When a man is cast out of the world. 
 
 1. When a man is cast out of the vineyard. 
 
 And that is done two ways — 1. By an im- 
 mediate hand of God ; 2. By the Church's due 
 execution of the laws and censures which 
 Christ for that purpose hath left with his 
 Church. 
 
 1st. God outs down the barren fig tree by an 
 immediate hand, smiting his roots, blasting his 
 branches, and so takes him away from among 
 his people. "Every branch," saith Christ, 
 "that beareth not fruit in me, he (my Father) 
 taketh away." He taketh him out of the 
 Church, he taketh him away from the godly. 
 
 There are two things by which God taketh 
 the barren professor from among the children 
 of God — 1. Strong delusions; 2. Open pro- 
 faneness. 
 
 (1.) By strong delusions, such as beguile the 
 soul with damnable doctrines that swerve from 
 faith and godliness. " They have chosen their 
 own ways," saith God, "and their soul delight- 
 eth in their abominations. I also will choose 
 their delusions, and will bring their fears upon 
 them." I will smite them with blindness, and 
 hardness of heart, and failing of eyes, and will 
 also suffer the tempter to tempt and effect his 
 hellish designs upon them. '' God will send 
 them strong delusions, that they may believe 
 a lie ; that they all may be damned who be- 
 lieve not the truth, but have pleasure in un- 
 righteousness." 
 
 (2.) Sometimes God takes away a barren 
 professor by open profaneness. There is one 
 hath taken up a profession of that worthy 
 name, the Lord Jesus Christ, but this profes- 
 sion is but a cloak : he secretly practiseth 
 wickedness. He is a glutton, a drunkard, or 
 covetous, or unclean. Well, saith God, I will 
 loose the reins of this professor ; I will give 
 him up to his vile affections ; I will loose the 
 reins of his lusts before him ; he shall be en- 
 tangled with his beastly lusts; he shall be 
 overcome of ungodly company. Thus they 
 that turn aside to their "own crooked ways, 
 
640 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 "the Lord shall lead them forth with the 
 workers of iniquity." This is God's hand im- 
 mediately ; God is now dealing with this man 
 himself. Barren fig tree, hearken. Thou art 
 crowded into a profession, art got among the 
 godly, and there art a scandal to the holy and 
 glorious gospel, but withal so cunning that, 
 like the sons of Zeruiah, thou art too hard for 
 the Church : she knows not how to deal with 
 thee. Well, saith God, I will deal with that 
 man myself. '" I will answer that man my- 
 self" He that sets up his idols in his heart, 
 and puts the stumbling-block of his iniquity 
 before his face, and yet comes and appears be- 
 fore me, " I will set my face against that man, 
 and will make him a sign and a proverb ; and 
 I will cut him off" from the midst of my peo- 
 ple, and he shall know that I am the Lord." 
 
 But, 2dly. God doth sometim'es cut down the 
 barren fig tree by the Church, by the Church's 
 due execution of the law and censures which 
 Christ for that purpose hath left with his 
 CJiurch. This is the meaning of that in Matt, 
 xviji. ; 1 Cor. v., and that in 1 Tim. i. 20, upon 
 which now I shall not enlarge. But which 
 way soever God dealeth with thee, thou bar- 
 ren fig tree — whether by himself immediately 
 or by his Church — it amounts to one and the 
 same; for if timely repentance prevent not, 
 the end of that soul is damnation. They are 
 blasted and withered, and gathered by men, 
 God's enemies, and at last being cast into the 
 fire, burning must be their end: "That which 
 beareth briers and thorns is nigh unto cursing, 
 whose end is to be burned." 
 
 2. Again, solnetimes by " cut it down," God 
 means. Cast it out of the world. Thus he cut 
 down Nadab and Abihu when he burned them 
 up with fire from heaven. Thus he cut down 
 Korah, Dathan, and Abiram when he made the 
 earth to swallow them up. Thus he cut down 
 Saul when he'gave him up to fall against the 
 edge of his own sword, and died. Thus lie cut 
 down Ananias with Sapphira his wife when 
 he struck them down dead in the midst of the 
 congregation. I might here also discourse of 
 Absalom, Ahithophel, and Judas, who were all 
 three hanged — the first by God's revenging 
 baud; the others were given up of God to be 
 their own executioners. These were barren 
 and unprofitable fig trees, such as God took 
 no pleasure in, therefore he commanded to cut 
 them down. The Psalmist saith, ''He shall 
 take them away as with a whirlwind, both liv- 
 ing, and in his wrath." 
 
 Bai'i'en fig tree, hearken. God calls for the 
 
 axe, his sword: Bring it hither, here is a bai 
 ren professor ; " Cut him down ; why cuinber- 
 eth he the ground ?" 
 
 Why cumbereth it the ground? 
 By these words the Lord suggesteth reasons 
 of his displeasure against the barren fig tree; 
 it cumbereth the ground. The Holy Ghost 
 doth not only take an argument from its bar- 
 renness, but because it is a cumber-ground, 
 therefore cut it down ; wherefore it must needs 
 be a provocation — 
 
 1. Because as mucli as in him lieth he dis- 
 appointeth the design of God in planting his 
 vineyard ; " I looked that it should bring forth 
 fruit." 
 
 2. It hath also abused his patience, his long- 
 suffering, his three years' patience. 
 
 3. It hath also abused his labour, his pains, 
 his care, and providence of protection and 
 preservation, for he hedges his vineyard, and 
 walls it about. Cumber-ground, all these 
 things thou abuseth. He waters his vineyard 
 and looks to it night and day, but all these 
 things thou hast abused. 
 
 . Further, there are other reasons of God's 
 displeasure; as — 
 
 1. A cumber-ground is a very mock and re- 
 proach to religion, a mock and reproach to the 
 ways of God, to the people of God, to tbe 
 word of God, and to the name of religion. It 
 is expected of all hands that all the trees in 
 the garden of God should be fruitful : God ex- 
 pects fruit, the Church expects fruit, the world, 
 even the world, concludes that professors should 
 be fruitful in good works ; I say, the very world 
 expecteth that professors should be better than 
 themselves. But, barren fig tree, thou disap- 
 pointest all ; nay, hast thou not learned the 
 wicked ones thy ways? Hast thou not learned 
 them to be more wicked by thy example? 
 (But that is by the by.) Barren fig tree, thou 
 hast disappointed others, and must be disap- 
 pointed thyself: "cut it down;iwhy cumbereth 
 it the ground?" , 
 
 2. The barren fig tree takes up the room 
 where a better might stand ; I say, it takes up 
 the room; it keeps, so long as it stands where 
 it doth, a fruitful tree out of that place, and 
 therefore it must be cut down. Barren fig 
 tree, dost thou hear? Because the Jews stood 
 fruitless in the vineyard, therefore saith God, 
 "the kingdom of heaven shall be taken from 
 you, and shall be given to a nation that shall 
 render him their fruits in their season." The 
 Jews for their barrenness were cut down, and 
 
THE BARREN FIO TREE. 
 
 641 
 
 more fruitful people put in their room. As 
 Samuel also said lio barren Saul, "The Lord 
 halh rent the kingdom from thee, and hath 
 given it to thy neighbour, who is better t)ian 
 thou;" the unprofitable servant must be cast 
 pv t, must be cut down. 
 
 Cumber-ground, how many hopeful, inclina- 
 ble, forward people hast thou by thy fruitless 
 aiid unprofitable life kept out of the vineyard 
 of God 1 For thy sake have the people stum- 
 bled at religion; by thy life have they been 
 kept from the love of their own ' salvation. 
 Thou hast been also a means of hardening 
 pthers and of quenching and killing weak be- 
 ginnings. Well, barren fig tree, look to thy- 
 self; thou wilt not go to heaven thyself, and 
 them that would thou hinderest; thou must not 
 always cunlber the ground, nor ahvgys hinder 
 the salvation of others. Thou shall be out 
 down, and another shall be planted in thy 
 room. 
 
 3. The cumber-ground is a sucker; he draws 
 away the heart and nourishment from the other 
 trees. Were the cumber-ground cut down, the 
 others would be more fruitful ; he draws away 
 that fatness of the ground to himself that would 
 make the others more hearty and fruitful : " One 
 sinner destroyeth much good." 
 
 The cumber-ground is- a very drone in the 
 liive, that eats up the honey that should feed 
 the labouring bee; he is a thief in the candle, 
 that wasteth the tallow, but giveth no light ; 
 he is the unsavoury salt, that is fit for naught 
 but the dunghill. Look to it, barren fig tree. 
 
 And he^ an^oering, said unto him, Lord, let it 
 
 alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, 
 
 and dung it; and if it bear fruit, well; and 
 
 if not, then after that thou shall cut it down. 
 
 These are the words of the dresser of the 
 
 vineyard, who, I told you, is Jesus Christ, (for 
 
 he made intercession for the transgressors.) 
 
 And they contain a petition presented to an 
 
 offended justice, praying that a little more 
 
 lime and patience might be exercised towards 
 
 the barren, cumber-ground fig tree. 
 
 In this petition there are six things consid- 
 erable — 
 
 1. That justice might be deferred. "Lord, 
 let it alone," &c., awhile longer. 
 
 2. Here is time prefixed, as a space to try if 
 more means will cure a barren fig tree. " Lord, 
 'ct it alone this year also." 
 
 8. The means to help it are propounded. 
 " Until I shall dig about it, and dung it." 
 
 4. Here is also an insinuation of a supposi- 
 
 41 
 
 tion that by thus doing God's expectations 
 may be answered. " And if it bear fruit, well." 
 
 5. Here is a supposition that the barren fig 
 tree may yet abide barren when Christ hath 
 done what he will unto it. " And if it bear 
 fruit," &c. 
 
 6. Here is at last a resolution that if thou 
 continue barren hewing days will come upon 
 thee. "And if it bear fruit, well; and if not, 
 then after that thou shalt cut it down." 
 
 But to proceed, according to my former 
 method, by way of exposition. 
 
 Lord, let it alone this year also. 
 Here is astonishing grace indeed! — astonish- 
 ing grace, I say, that the Lord Jesus should 
 concern himself with a barren fig tree, that he 
 should step in to stop the blow from a barren 
 fig tree! True, he stopped the blow but for a 
 time, but why did he stop it at all? Why did 
 he not fetch out the axe? Why did he not do 
 execution? Why did not he cut it down? 
 Barren fig tree, it is well for thee that there is 
 a Jesus at God's right hand— a Jedus of that 
 largeness of bowels as to have compassion for 
 a barren fig tree — else justice had never let 
 thee alone to cumber the ground as thou hast 
 done. When Israel also had sinned against 
 God, down they had gone but that "Moses 
 stood in the, breach." "Let me alone," said 
 God to him, " that I may consume them in a 
 moment, and I will make of thee a great na- 
 tion." Barren fig tree, dost thou hear? Thou 
 knowest not how oft the hand of Divine jus- 
 tice had been up to strike, and how many 
 years since thou hadst been cut down had not 
 Jesus caught hold of his Father's axe. Let 
 me alone, let me fetch my blow, or "cut it 
 down; why cumbereth it the ground?" Wilt 
 thou not hear yet, barren fig tree? Wilt thou 
 provoke still? Thou hast wearied men and 
 provoked the justice of God: "And wilt thou 
 weary my God also?" 
 
 Lord, let it alone this year. 
 
 Look a little longer; let us not lose a soul for 
 want of means. I will try, I will see if I can 
 make it fruitful ; I Will not beg a long life, nor 
 that it might still be barren, and so provoke 
 thee^ I beg for the sake of the soul, the im- 
 mortal soul. Lordf spare it one year only, one 
 year longer, this year also : if I do any good to 
 it, it will be in little time. Thou shalt not b« 
 overwearied with waiting ; one year and — then. 
 
 Barren fig tree, dost thou hear what a striv- 
 ing there is between the Vine-dresser and the 
 
642 
 
 £UNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Husbandman for thy life? "Cut it down," 
 says one; "Lord, spare it," saith the other. 
 It is a cumber-ground, saith the Father ; One 
 year longei;, prays the Son. " Let it alone this 
 year also." 
 
 Till I shall dig about it, and dung it. 
 
 The Lord Jesus by these words supposeth 
 two things as causes of the want of fruit in a 
 b.arren fig tree, and two things he supposeth as 
 a remedy. 
 
 The things that are a cause of want of fruit 
 are — 1. It is earth-bound. Lord, the fig tree 
 is earth-bound. 2. A want of warmer means, 
 of fatter means. 
 
 Wherefore accordingly he propoundeth — ■ 
 
 1. To loosen the earth: to dung about it. 
 
 And then to supply it with dung : " To dig 
 about it, and dung it." " Lord, let it alone 
 this year also, until I shall dig about it." I 
 doubt it Is too much ground-bound; "the love 
 of this world and the deceitfulness of riches" 
 lie too close to the roots of the heart of this 
 professor. The love of riches, the love of hon- 
 ours, the love of pleasures are the thorns that 
 choke the word. " For all that is in the world, 
 the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eye, and 
 the pride of life, are not of the Father, but en- 
 mity to God :" how then (where these things 
 bind up the heart) can there be fruit brought 
 forth to God? Barren fig tree, see how the 
 Lord Jesus by these very words suggesteth the 
 cause of thy fruitfulness of soul. Tlie things 
 of this world lie too close to thy heart ; the 
 earth with its things have bound up thy roots ; 
 thou art an earth-bound soul, thou art wrapped 
 up in thick clay. " If any man love the world, 
 the love of the Father is not in him ;" how 
 then can he be fruitful in the vineyard? This 
 kept Judas from the, fruit of caring for the 
 poor. This kept Demas from the fruit of self- 
 denial. And this kept Ananias and Sapphira 
 his wife from the goodly fruit of sincerity and 
 truth. What shall I say ? " These are foolish 
 and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruc- 
 tion and perdition ; for the love of money is 
 the root of all evil." How then can good fruit 
 grow from such a root, the root of all evil ? 
 " Which while some covet after, they have 
 erred from the faith, and pierced themselves 
 through with many arrows." It is an evil 
 root, nay, it is the root of all evil. How then 
 can the professor that hath such a root, or a 
 root wrapped up in such earthly things as the 
 lusts, and pleasures, and vanities of this world, 
 bring forth fruit to God ? 
 
 Till I shall dig about it. 
 Lord, I will loose his roots, I will dig up 
 this earlh, I will lay his roots bare ; my hand 
 shall be upon him by "sickness, by disappoint- 
 ments, by cross providences ; I will dig about 
 him until he stands shaking and tottering, 
 until he be ready to fall ; then, if ever, he will 
 seek to take faster hold. Thus, I say, deals 
 the Lord Jesus ofttimes with the barren pro- 
 fessor ; he diggeth about him, he smiteth one 
 blow at his heart, another blow at his lusts, a 
 third at his pleasures, a fourth at his comforts, 
 another at his self-conceitedness. _ Thus he 
 diggeth about him; this is the way to take bad 
 earth from the roots and to loosen his roots 
 from the earth. 1 Barren flg tree, see here the 
 care, the love, the labour, and way which the 
 Lord Jesus, the dresser of the vineyard, is fain 
 to take with thee if haply thou mayest be 
 made fruitful. ^ 
 
 Till I shall dig about it, and dung it. 
 
 As the earth, by binding the roots too closely, 
 may hinder the tree's being fruitful, so the 
 want of better means may be also a cause 
 thereof. And this is more than intimated by 
 the dresser of the vineyard: "Until I shall dig 
 about it, and dung it." I will supply it with 
 a more fruitful ministry, with a warmer word ; 
 I will give them pastors after mine own heart; 
 I will dung them. You know dung is a more 
 warm, more fat, more hearty, and succouring 
 matter than is commonly the place in which 
 trees are planted. 
 
 " I will dig about it, and dung it ;" I will 
 bring it under an^ heart-awakening ministry ; 
 the means of grace shall be fat and good: I 
 will also visit it with heart-awakening, heart- 
 warming, heart-encouraging considerations ; I 
 will apply warm dung to his roots ; I will strive 
 with him by my Spirit, and give him some 
 tastes of the heavenly gift and the power of the 
 world to come. I am loth to lose him for want 
 of digging. " Lord, let it alone this year also, 
 until I shall dig about it, and dung it." 
 
 And if it bear fruit, well. 
 
 And if the fruit of all my labour doth make 
 this fig tree fruitful, I shall count my time, my 
 labour, and my means well bestowed upon it ; 
 and thou also, O my God, shall be therewith 
 much delighted; foe thou art gracious, and 
 merciful, and repentest thee of the evil which 
 thou threatenest to bring upon a people. 
 
 These words, therefore, inform us that -if a 
 barren fig tree, a barren professor, shall now at 
 
THE BARREN FIO TREE. 
 
 643 
 
 last bring fortli fruit to God, it shall go well 
 with that professor, it shall go well with that 
 poor soul. His former barrenness, his former 
 tempting of God, his abuse of God's patience 
 and long-suffering, his misspending year after 
 year, shall now be all forgiven him. Yea, God 
 the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ will now 
 pass by and forget all, and say. Well done 1 at 
 the last. When I say to the wicked, wicked 
 man, thou shalt surely die, if he then do that 
 which is lawful and right, if he walk in the 
 statutes of life, without committing iniquity, 
 he shall surely live, he shall not die. Ezek. 
 iii. 3. 
 
 Barren fig tree, dost thou hear? The axe is 
 laid to thy roots, the Lord Jesus prays God to 
 spare thee. Hath he been digging about thee? 
 Hath he been dunging of thee ? O barren fig 
 tree, now thou art come to the point: if thou 
 shalt now become good, if thou shalt, after a 
 gracious manner, suck in the gospel nourish- 
 ment, and if thou shalt bring forth fruit unto 
 God, well ; but if not, the fire is the last ; fruit 
 or the fire, fruit or the fire, barren fig tree. 
 "If it bear fruit, well." 
 
 And if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down. 
 
 " And if not," &c. The Lord Jesus by this 
 if giveth us to understand that there is a gen- 
 eration of professors in the world that are in- 
 curable — that will not, that cannot repent, nor 
 be profited by the means of grace — a genera- 
 tion, I say, that will retain a profession, but 
 will not bring forth fruit; a generation that 
 _will wear out the patience of God, time and 
 tide, threateuings and intercessions, judgments 
 and mercies, and after all will be unfruitful. 
 
 Oh the desperate wickedness that is in thy 
 heart! Barren professor, dost thou hear ? The 
 Lord Jesus stands yet in doubt about thee; 
 there is an if stands yet in the way. I say, 
 the Lord Jesus stands yet in doubt about thee, 
 whether or no at, last thou wilt be good, whether 
 he may not labour in vain, whether his digging 
 and dunging will come to more than lost la- 
 bour. " I gave her space to repent, but she 
 repented not ; " I digged about it, I dunged it ; 
 I gained time, and supplied it with means ; but 
 I laboured here in vain, and spent my strength 
 for naught and in vain. Dost thou hear, bar- 
 ren fig tree ? There is j*t a question whether 
 it will be well with thy sojil at last. 
 
 And if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down. 
 
 There is nothing more exasperating to the 
 
 mjud of a man than to find all his kindness and 
 
 favour slighted; neither is the Lord Jesus sio 
 provoked with any thing as when sinners abuse 
 his means of grace. If it be barren and fruit- 
 less under my Gospel, if it turn my grace into 
 wantonness, if after digging, and dunging, and 
 waiting, it yet remain unfruitful, I will let 
 thee cut it down. 
 
 Gospel-means applied is the last remedy for 
 a barren professor : if the Gospel, if the grace 
 of the Gospel, will not do, there can be noth- 
 ing expected but cut it down; "Then after 
 that thou shalt cut it down." 
 
 " Jerusalem, Jerusalem t thou that killest 
 the prophets, and stonest them that are sent 
 unto thee 1 how often would I have gathered 
 thy children together, as a hen gathereth her 
 chickens under her wings, and ye would not I 
 Therefore your houses are left unto you deso- 
 late." Yet it cannot be but this Lord Jesus, 
 who at first did put a stop to the execution of 
 his Father's justice, because he desired to try 
 more means with the fig tree — I say, it cannot 
 be but that a heart so full of compassion ^s his 
 is should be touched to behold this professor 
 must now be cut down. " And when he was 
 come near, he beheld the city, and wept over 
 it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at 
 least in this thy day, the things that belong to 
 thy peace I but now they are hid from thine 
 eyes." 
 
 After that thou shalt cut it down. 
 
 When Christ giveth thee over there is no 
 intercessor or mediator, no more sacrifice for 
 bin ; all is gone but judgment, but the axe, hut 
 " a certain fearful looking-for of judgment and 
 fiery indignation, which shall devour the ad- 
 versaries." 
 
 Barren fig tree, take" heed that thou comest 
 not to these last words, for these words are a 
 give-up, a cast-up, a cast-up of a castaw«y; 
 " After that thou shalt cut it down." Tl ey 
 are as much as if Christ had said, Fathei, I 
 , begged for more time for this barren profee- 
 sor ; I begged until I should dig about it, and 
 dung it ; but now. Father, the time is out, the 
 year is ended, the summer is ended, and no 
 good done. I have also tried with my means, 
 with the Gospel; I have digged about it; I 
 have laid also the fat and hearty dung of the 
 Gospel to it, but all comes to nothing. Father, 
 I deliver up this professor to thee again. I 
 have done, I have done all ; I have done pray- 
 ing and endeavouring; I will hold the head 
 of thine axe no longer. Take him into the 
 hands of justice ; do justice, do the law ; I 
 
644 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 will never beg for him more. " After thS,t thou 
 shalt cut it down." " Woe unto them when I 
 depart from them ! " Now is this professor 
 left naked indeed — naked to God, naked to 
 Satan, naked to sin, naked to the law, naljed 
 to death, naked to hell, naked to judgment, 
 and naked to the gripes of a guilty conscience, 
 and to the torment of that worm that never 
 dies, and to that fire that never shall be 
 quenched. " See that ye refuse not him that 
 speaketh. For if they escape not who refused 
 him that spake on earth, much more shall not' 
 we escape if we turn away from Him that, 
 speaketh from heaven.'' 
 
 From this brief pass through this parable, 
 you have these two general observations : 
 
 1. That even then, when the justice of God 
 cries out, I cannot endure to wait on this bar- 
 ren professor any longer, then Jesus Christ in- 
 tercedes for a little more patience and a little 
 more striving with this professor, if possibly 
 he may make him a fruitful professor : " Lord, 
 let it alone this year also, until I shall dig 
 about it, and dung it ; and if it bear fruit, 
 well," &c. 
 
 2. There are some professors whose day of 
 grace will end with, Cut it down, with judgment 
 — when Christ by his means hath been used for 
 their salvation. 
 
 The first of these observations I shall pass, 
 and not meddle at all therewith, but shall 
 briefly speak to the second, to wit : 
 
 That there are some professors whose day of 
 grace will end with. Cut it down, with judg- 
 ment — when Christ by his means hath been 
 used for their salvation. 
 
 This the apostle showeth in that third chap- 
 ter of his Epistle to the Hebrews, where he 
 tells us that the people of the Jews, after a 
 forty years' patience, and endeayour to do 
 them good by the means appointed for that 
 purpose, their end was to be cut down, or ex- 
 cluded the land of promise for their final in- 
 credulity : " So we see they could not enter in, 
 because of unbelief." Wherefore saith he, " I 
 was grieved with thdt generation, and said, 
 They do always err in their hearts and they 
 have not known my ways ; so I swear in my 
 wrath, They shall not enter into my rest." As 
 who should say, I would they should have en- 
 tered in, and for that purpose I brought them 
 out of Egypt, led them through the sea, and 
 taught them in the wilderness, but they did 
 not answer my work • or designs in that- mat- 
 ter; wherefore they shall not, I swear they 
 shal] not: "I swear in my wrath, They should 
 
 not enter into my rest." Here is cutting di»wii 
 with judgment. So again he saith, "As I 
 have sworn in my wrath, If they shall enter 
 into my rest, although the works were Mu- 
 lshed from the foundation of the world." This 
 word if is the same with they shall not in the 
 chapter before. And where he saith, "Al- 
 though the works were finished from the 
 foundation of the world," he giveth us to un- 
 derstand that what preparations soever are 
 made for the salvation of sinners, and of how 
 long continuance soever they are, yet the God- 
 tempting, God-provoking, and fruitless pro- 
 fessor is like to go without a share therein : 
 "although the works were finished from the 
 foundation of- the world. I will therefore put 
 you m remembrance, though ye once knew 
 this, how that the Lord having saved the 
 people out of the land of Egypt, afterward 
 destroyed them that believed not. And the 
 angels that kept not their first estate, but left 
 their own habitation, he hath reserved in ever- 
 lasting chains under darkness, unto the judg- 
 ment of the great day." Here is an instance 
 to purpose, an instance of men and angels — 
 men sa-yed out of the- land of Egypt, and in 
 their journey towards Canaan, the type of 
 heaven, cut down; angels created and placed 
 in the heavens in great estate and principal- 
 ity ; yet both these, because unfruitful to God 
 in their places; were cut down, the men de- 
 stroyed by God, (for so saith the text,) "and 
 the angels reserved in everlasting chains 
 under darkness, to the judgment of the great 
 day." 
 
 Now, in my handling of this point I shall 
 discourse of the cutting down, or the judg- 
 ment here denounced, as it respecteth tlie 
 doing of it by God's hand immediately, and 
 that, too, with respect to his casting them out 
 of the world, and not as it respecteth an act 
 of the Church, &c. And as to this cutting 
 down, or judgment, it must be concluded that 
 it cannot be before the day of grace be past 
 with the fig tree, but according to the observa- 
 tion, there are some professors whose day of 
 grace will end with, Cut it down ; and accord- 
 ing to the words of the text, " Then, after that, 
 thou shalt cut it down.'' After that,\ that is, 
 after all my attempts and endeavours to make 
 it fruitful, after I have left it, given it over, 
 done with it, and have resolved to bestow no 
 more days of grace, opportunities of grace, and 
 means of grace upon it — then, after that, thou 
 shalt cut it down. 
 
 Besides, the giving up of the fig tree h 
 
THE BARREN FIG TREE. 
 
 645 
 
 before the execation. Execution is not always 
 presently upon the sentence given ; for after 
 that a convenient time is thought on, and 
 then is cutting down. And so it is here in 
 the text. The decree that it shall perish is 
 gathered from its continuing fruitless quite 
 through the last year, from its continuing 
 fruitless at the end of all endeavours. But 
 cutting down is not yet, for that comes with 
 an afterward: "Then, after that, thou shalt 
 tut it down." 
 
 So then, that I may orderly proceed with 
 the observation, I must lay down these, two 
 propositions : 
 
 Prop. 1. That the day of grace ends with 
 some men before God takes them out of this 
 world; and, 
 
 Prop. 2. The death, or cutting do'^f n of such 
 men, will be dreadful. For this cut it dovm, 
 when it is understood in the largest sense, (as 
 here indeed it ought,) it showeth not only the 
 wrath of God against a man's life in this 
 world, but his wrath agaanst him, body and 
 soul ; and is as much as to say. Cut him off 
 from all the privileges and benefits that come 
 by grace, both in this world and that which is 
 to come. 
 
 But to proceed : the day of grace ends with 
 some men before God taketh them out of the 
 world. I shall give you some instances of this, 
 and so go on to the last proposition. 
 
 1. I shall instance Cain. Cain was a pro- 
 fessor, a sacrificer, a worshipper of God ; yea, 
 the first worshipper that we read of after the 
 Fall ; but his grapes were wild ones ; his works 
 were evil ; he did not do what he did from 
 true gospel motives; therefore God disallowed 
 his work. At this his countenance falls ; 
 wherefore he envies his brother, disputes him, 
 takes his opportunity and kills him. ■ Now in 
 that day that he did this act were Ihe heavens 
 closed up against him ; and that himself did 
 smartingly and fearfully feel when God made 
 inquisition for the blood of Abel. " And now 
 cursed" (said God) "shalt thou be from the 
 earth, which hath opened her mouth to re- 
 ceive thy brother's blood from thy hand. And 
 Cain said. My punishment is greater than I 
 can bear. Mine iniquity is greater than that 
 it may be forgiven. Behold, thou hast driven 
 ine out this day from the face of the earth, and 
 from thy face shall I be hid." Now thou art 
 cursed, saith God. Thou hast driven me out 
 this day, saith Cain, and from thy face shall I 
 be hid ; I shall never more have hope in thee, 
 ■mile from thee, nor expect mercy at thy hand. 
 
 Thus therefore Cain's day of grace ended, and 
 the heavens, with God's own heart, were snut 
 up against him; yet after this he lived long. 
 Cutting down was not come yet; after this 
 he lived to marry a wife, to beget a cursed 
 brood, to build a city, (and what else I know 
 not;) all which could not be quickly done; 
 wherefore Cain might live after the day of 
 grace was past with him several hundreds of 
 years. 
 
 2. I shall instance Ishmael. Ishmael waa 
 a professor, was brought up in Abraham's 
 family, and was circumcised at thirteen years 
 of age. But he was the son of the bond- 
 woman; he brought not forth good fruit; he 
 was a wild professor. For all his religion, he 
 would scoff at those that were bettev than him- 
 self. Well, upon a day his brother Isaac was 
 weaned, at which time his father made a feast 
 and rejoiced before the Lord, for that he had 
 given him the promised son : at this Ishmael 
 mocked them, their son, and godly rejoicing. 
 Then came the Spirit of God upon Sarah, and 
 she cried, "Cast him out, cast out this bond- 
 woman and her son ; for the son of this bond- 
 woman shall not be heir with my son, with 
 Isaac." Now Paul to the Galatians makes 
 this casting out to be not only a casting out 
 of Abraham's family, but a ca,sting out also 
 from a lot with the saints in heaven. Alsd 
 Moses giveth us a notable proof thereof in 
 saying that when he died he was gathered to 
 his people — his people by his mother's side, 
 for he was reckoned from her, the son of 
 Hagar, the son of the bond- woman. Now 
 she came of the Egyptians; so that he was 
 gathered when he died, notwithstanding his 
 profession, to the place that Pharaoh and his 
 host v/ere gathered, who were drowned in the 
 Red Sea: these were his people, and he was 
 of them, both by nature and disposition, by 
 persecuting as they did. But now, when did 
 the day of grace end with this man? Ob- 
 serve, and I will show you. Ishmael waa 
 thirteen years old when he was circumcised, 
 and then was Abraham ninety years old and 
 nine ; the next year Isaac was born ; so that 
 Ishmael was now fourteen years of age. Now 
 when Isaac was weaned, (suppose he sucked 
 four years,) by that account the day of grace 
 must be ended with Ishmael by the time he 
 was eighteen years old. For that day he 
 mocked, that day it was said. Cast him o'ut ; 
 and of that casting out, the apostle makes 
 what I have said. Beware, ye young barren 
 professors. Now Ishmael lived an hundred 
 
646 
 
 BVJS TAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 and nineteen years after tHis, in great tran- 
 quillity and honour with men ; after this he 
 also begat twelve princes, even after his day 
 of grace was past. 
 
 S. I shall instance Esau. He also was a 
 professor, he was born unto Isaac, and circum- 
 cised according to the custom. But Esau was 
 a gamesome professor, a huntsman,' a man of 
 the field i also he was wedded to his lusts, 
 which he did also -venture to keep rather thani 
 the birthright. Well, upon a day, when he 
 came from hunting and was faint, he sold his 
 birthright Ao Jacob his brother. Now the 
 birthright,, in those days, had the promise and 
 blessing annexed to it. Yea, they were so en- 
 tailed in this that the one could not go without 
 the other; "wherefore the apostle's caution is 
 here of weight. " Take heed," saith he, " lest 
 there be among you a fornicator or profane 
 person, as Esau', who for one morsel of meat 
 sold his birthright; for ye know how that 
 afterwards, when he would have inherited the 
 blessing, he was rejected; for he found no 
 place of repentance, though he sought it care- 
 fully with tears." Now the ending of Esau's day 
 of grace is to be reckoned from his selling of 
 his birthright ; for tliere the apostle points it, 
 Lest there be among you any that, like Esau, 
 sells his birthright; for then goes hence the 
 blessing also. 
 
 But Esau sold his birthright long before his 
 death. 'JWenty years after this Jacob was with 
 Laban, and when he returned home his brother 
 Esau met him. Further, after this, when Jacob 
 dwelt again some time with his father, then 
 Jacob and Esau buried him. I suppose he 
 might live about forty — yea, for aught I know, 
 above foul-score — years after he had sold his 
 birthright, and so consequently had put him- 
 self out of the grace of God. 
 
 Three things I would further note upon 
 these three professors : 
 
 1. Cain, an angry professor, Ishmael, a mock- 
 ing one, Esau, a lustful, gamesome one — three 
 symptpms of a barren professor, for he that 
 can be angry, and that can mock, and that 
 can indulge his lusts cannot bring forthfruit 
 to God. 
 
 2. The day of grace ended with these pro- 
 fessors at that time when they committed some 
 grievous sin. Cain's, when he killed his bro- 
 ther ; Ishmael's, when he mocked at Isaac, &c., 
 &c. ; and Esau's, when out of lovg to his lusts, 
 he despised and sold his birthright. Beware, 
 barren professor; thou mayest do that in half 
 a quarter of an hour from the evil of which 
 
 thou mayest not be delivered for ever and' 
 ever. 
 
 3. Yet these thi'ee, after their day of grace 
 was over, lived better lives, as to outward 
 things, than ever they did before. Cain, after 
 this, was lord of a city; Ishmael was, after 
 this, father of twelve princes ; and Esau, after 
 this, told his brother, I have enough, my bro- 
 ther; keep that thou hast to thyself. Ease 
 and peace, and a prosperous life in outwards, 
 is no sign of the favour of God to a barren and 
 fruitless professor, but rather of his wrath, that 
 thereby he may be capable to treasure up more 
 wrath against the day of wrath and revelation 
 of the righteous judgment of God. 
 
 Let this much serve for the proof of the first 
 proposition — namely, that the day of grace 
 ends with some men before God takes them 
 out of this world. 
 
 Now, then, to show you by some signs ^how 
 you may know that the day of grace is ended, 
 or near to ending, with the barren professor, 
 and after that thou shalt cut it down. 
 
 First. He that hath stood it out against God, 
 and that hath withstood all those means for 
 fruit that God hath used for -the making of 
 him (if it might have been) a fruitful tree in 
 his garden, he is in this danger ; and this in- 
 deed is the sum of the parable. The fig tree 
 here mentioned was blessed with the appli- 
 cation of means, had time allowed it to receive 
 the nourishment; but it outstood, withstood, 
 overstood all — all that the husbandman did, all. 
 that the vine-dresser did. 
 
 SIGNS OF BEING PAST GEACE. 
 
 But a little distinctly to particularize in four 
 or five particulars. 
 
 First sign. The day of grace is like to be 
 past when a professor hath withstood, abused, 
 and worn Out God's patience; then he is in 
 danger ; this is a provocation ; thep God cries, 
 "Cut it down." There are some men that 
 steal into a profession, nobody knows how, 
 even as this fig tree was brought into the vine- 
 yard — by other hands than God's; and thers 
 they abide, lifeless, graceless, careless, and with- 
 out any good conscience to God at all. Perhaps 
 they came in for the loaves, for a trade, for credit, 
 for a blind, or it may be to stifle and choke the 
 checks and .grinding pangs of an awakened, 
 and disquieted conscience. Now, having ob- 
 tained their purpose, like the sinner of Zion 
 they are at ease and secure, saying, like Agag, 
 "Surely the bitterness of death is past." I 
 am well, shall be saved, and go to heaven 
 
THE BARREN FIO TREE. 
 
 647 
 
 Thus in these vain conceits they spend a year, 
 two, or three, not remembering that at every 
 season of grace and at every opportunity of 
 the gospel the Lord comes seeking fruit. Well, 
 sinner, well, barren fig tree, this is but a coarse 
 beginning : God comes for fruit. What have 
 I here, saith God? What a flg tree is this, 
 that hath stood this year in my vineyard and 
 brought me forth no fruit? I will cry unto 
 him : Professor, barren fig tree, be fruitful ! I 
 look for fruit, I expect fruit, I must have fruit ; 
 therefore bethink thyself. At these the pro- 
 fessor pauses ; but these are words, not blows ; 
 therefore off goes this consideration from the 
 heart. When God comes the next year, he 
 finds him still as he was, a barren, fruitless 
 cumber-ground. And now again he com- 
 plains : Here are two years gone, and no fruit 
 -appears ; well, I will defei; mine anger for my 
 name's sake. I will defer mine anger for my 
 praise ; I will refrain from thee, that I cut thee 
 not off, (as yet.) I will wait, I will yet wait to 
 be gracious. But this helps not, this hath not 
 the least influence upon the barren fig tree. 
 Tush, saith he, here is no threatening ; God is 
 merciful, he will defer his anger, he waits to 
 be gracious. I am not yet afraid. Oh, how 
 ungodly men, that are at unawares crept into 
 thei vineyard, how do they turn the grace of 
 our God into lasoiviousness ! ^ Well, he comes 
 the third year for fruit, as he did before, but 
 Btill he finds but a barren fig tree; no fruit. Now 
 he cries out again, O thou dresser of my vine- 
 yard, come hither ; here is a fig tree hath stood 
 these three years in my vineyard, and hath 
 at every season disappointed my expectation, 
 for I have looked for ^ruit in vain. Cut it 
 down ; my patience is worn out, I shall wait 
 on this fi^ tree no longer. 
 
 And now he begins to shake the fig tree 
 with his threatenings: Fetch out the axe. 
 Now the axe is ileatb ; death therefore is called 
 for; Death, come smite me this flg tree. And 
 withal the Lord shakes this sinner, and whirls 
 him upon a sickbed, saying, Take him, death ; 
 he hath abused my patience and forbearance, 
 not remembering that it should have led him 
 to repentance and to the fruits thereof. Death, 
 fetch away this fig tree to the fire, fetch this 
 barren professor to hell. At this, death comes 
 with grim looks to the chamber, yea, and hell 
 follows with him to the bedside, and both stare 
 this professor in the face, yea, begin to lay 
 hands upon him— one smiting him with pains 
 in his body, with headache, heartache, back- 
 acne, shortness of breath, fainting qualms, 
 
 trembling at joints, stopping at the chest, and 
 almost all the symptoms of a man past all re- 
 covery. Now, while death is thus tormenting 
 the body, hell is doing with the mind and con- 
 science — striking them with its pains, casting 
 sparks of fire in thither, wounding with sor- 
 rows and fears of everlasting damnation the 
 spirit of this poor creature. And now he be- 
 gins to bethink himself and to cry to God for 
 mercy : Lord, spare me ; Lord, spare me. Nay, 
 saith God, you have been a provocation to me 
 these three_ years. How many times have you 
 disappointed mo! How many seasons have 
 you spent in vain ! How many sermons and 
 other mercies did I of my patience afford you ! 
 but to no purpose at all. Take him, death. O 
 good Lord, saitluthe sinner, spare me but this 
 once, raise me but this once. Indeed I have 
 been a barren professor, and have stood to no 
 purpose at all in thy vineyard. But spare, oh 
 spare this one time, I beseech thee, and I will 
 be better. Away, away ! you will not : I have 
 tried you these three years already ; you are 
 naught; if I should recover you again, you 
 would be as bad as you were before. (And all 
 this talk is while death stands by.) The sin- 
 ner cries again : Good Lord, try me this once, 
 let me get up again this once, and see if I do 
 not mend. But will you promise me to mend? 
 Yes indeed, Lord, and vow it too ;■ I will nevei 
 be so bad again, I will be better. Well, saith 
 God, death, let this professor alone for this time ; 
 I will try him awhile longer ; he hath promised, 
 he hath vowed that he will mend his ways. 
 It, may be he will mind to keep his promises. 
 Vows are solemn things ; it may be he may 
 fear to break his' vows. Arise from off thy 
 bed. And now God lays down his axe. ,At 
 this the poor creature is very thankful, praises 
 God, and fawns upon him, shows as if he did 
 it heartily, and calls to others to thank him 
 too. He therefore riseth, as one would think, 
 to be a new creature indeed. But by that he 
 hath put on his clothes, is come down from his 
 bed, and ventured into the yard or shop, and 
 there sees how all things are gone to sixes and 
 sevens, he begins to have second thoughts, and 
 says to his folks, What have you all been do- 
 ing? How are all things out of order! lam, 
 I cannot tell what, behindhand. One may 
 see, if a man be but a little to a side, that you 
 have neither wisdom nor prudence to order 
 things. And now, instead of seeking to spend 
 the rest of his time to God, he doubleth his 
 diligence after this world, Alas ! all must not 
 be lost, we must have provident care. And 
 
648 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 thus, quite forgetting the sorrows of death, the 
 pains of hell, the promises and vows which he 
 made to God to be better, because judgment 
 was not (now) speedily executed, therefore the 
 heart of this poor creature is fully set in him 
 to do evil. 
 
 These things proving ineffectual, God takes 
 hold of his axe again, sends death to a wife, 
 to a child, to his cattle. ("Your young men 
 have I slain, and taken away your horses.") I 
 will blast him, cross him, disappoint him, and 
 cast him down, and will set myself against him 
 in all that he putteth his hand unto. At this 
 the poor barren professor cries out again, Lord, 
 I have sinned ; spare me once more, I beseech 
 thee. Oh take not away the desire of mine 
 eyes, spare my children, bless me in my la- 
 bours, and I will mend and be better. No, 
 saith God; you lied to me last time; I will 
 trust you in this no longer ; and withp,l he 
 tumbleth the wife, the child, the estate into a 
 grave, and then returns to his place till this 
 professor more unfeignedly aoknowledgeth his 
 offence. 
 
 At this the poor creature is afflicted and dis- 
 tressed, rends his clothes, and begins to call 
 the breaking of his promise and vows to mind; 
 he mourns and prays, and like Ahab aiwhile 
 walks softly at the remembrance of the justice 
 of the hand of God upon him. And now he 
 renews his promises: Lord, try me this one 
 time more ; take off thy hand and see ; they go 
 far that never turn. Well, God spareth him 
 again, sets down his axe again. " Many times 
 he did deliver them, but they provoked him 
 with their counsels, and were brought lowi for 
 their iniquities." Now they- seem to be thank- 
 ful again, and are as if they were resolved to 
 be godly indeed. Now they read, they pray, 
 they go to meetings, and seem to be serious a 
 pretty while, but at last they forget. Their 
 lusts prick them, suitable temptations present 
 themselves. Wherefore they turn to their own 
 crooked ways again. " When he slew them, 
 then they sought him, and returned early after 
 God; nevertheless they did flatter him with 
 their mouth, and lied unto him with their 
 tongue." 
 
 Yet again the Lord will not leave this pro- 
 fessor, but will take up his axe again, and will 
 put him under a more heart-searching minis- 
 try — a ministry that shall search him and turn 
 him over and over ; a ministry that shall meet 
 with him as Elijah met with Ahab in all his 
 acts of wickedness, (and now the axe is laid to 
 the roots of the trees.-) Besides, this ministry 
 
 doth not only search the heart, but presenteth 
 the sinner with the golden rays of the glorious 
 gospel; now is Christ Jesus set forth evidenily ; 
 now is grace displayed sweetly ; now, now are 
 the promises broken like boxes of ointment, to 
 the perfuming of ihe whol^ room. But, alas ! 
 there is yet no fruit on this fig tree. While 
 his heart is searching, he wrangles ; while the 
 glorious grace of the gospel is unveiling, this 
 professor wags and is wanton ; gathers, up some 
 sci-aps thereof; " tastes the good word of God, 
 and the power of the world to come ; drinketh 
 in the rain that comes oft upon him," but 
 bringeth not forth fruit meet for Him whose 
 gospel it is ; takes no heed to walk in the law 
 of the Lord God of Israel wi,th all his heart, 
 but counteth that the glory of the gospel con- 
 sisteth in talk and show, and that our obe- 
 dience thereto is a n\atter of speculation — -that 
 good works lie in good words, and if they can 
 finely talk they think they bravely please God. 
 They think the kingdom of God consisteth 
 only in word, not in power ; and thus proveth 
 ineffectual this fourth means also. 
 
 Well, now the axe begins to- be heaved 
 higher, for now indeed God is ready to smite 
 the sinner ; yet before he will strike the stroke 
 he will try one way more at last, and, if that 
 misseth, down goes the fig tree. Now this last 
 way is to tug and strive with this professor by 
 his Spirit. Wherefore the Spirit of the Lord 
 is now come to him, but not always to strive 
 with man ; yet awhile he will strive with him, 
 he will awaken, he will convince, he will call 
 to remembrance former sins, former judgments, 
 the breach of former vows and promises, the 
 misspending of former days ; he will also pre- 
 sent persuasive arguments, encouraging prom- 
 ises, dreadful judgments, the shortness of time 
 to repent in, and that there is hope if he come. 
 Further, he will show him the certainty of 
 death and of the judgment to come; yea, he 
 will pull and strive with this sinner ; but be- 
 hold the mischief now lies here — here is tug- 
 ging and striving on both sides. The Spirit 
 convinces, the man turns a deaf ear to God ; 
 the Spirit saith, Receive my instruction and 
 live, but the man pulls away his shoulder ; the 
 Spirit shows him whither he is going, but the 
 man closeth his eyes against it ; the Spirit of- 
 fereth violence, the man strives and resists; 
 they have done despite unto the Spirit of 
 grace. The Spirit parleyeth the second tinie, 
 and urgeth reasons of a new nature, but the 
 sinner answereth. No, I have loved strangers, 
 and after them I will go. At this God's furv 
 
THE BARREN FIG TREE. 
 
 649 
 
 comes up into his face ; now he comes out of 
 his holy place and isTerrible ; now he sweareth 
 in his wrath they shall never enter into his 
 rest. I exorcised towards you my patience, 
 yet you have not turned unto me, saith the 
 .Lord. I smote you in your person, in your re- 
 lations, in your estate, yet you have not re- 
 turned unto me, saith the Lord. In thy fllthi- 
 uess is lewdness : because I have purged thee, 
 and thou wast not purged, thou shalt not be 
 purged from thy filthiness any more till I 
 cause my fury to rest upon thee. Ctit it down ; 
 why doth it cumber the ground ? 
 
 The second sign that such a professor is 
 almost (if not quite) past grace is, when God 
 hath given him over or lets him alone, and 
 suffers him to do anything, and that without 
 control — helpeth him not either ii^ works of 
 holiuess or in straits and difficulties ; "Ephraim 
 is joined to idols, let him alone.'' " Woe be to 
 them when I depart from them I I will laugh 
 at their calamities, and mock when their fear 
 cometh." 
 
 Barren fig tree, thou hast heretofore been 
 digged about', and dunged ; God's mattock hath 
 heretofore been at thy roots : gospel dung hath 
 heretofore been applied to thee; thou hast 
 heretofore been striven with, convinced, awa- 
 kened, made to taste and see, and cry. Oh the 
 blessedness I Thou hast heretofore been met 
 with under the word ; thy heart hath melted, 
 thy spirit hath fallen, thy soul hath trembled, 
 and thou hast felt something of- the power of 
 the gospel. But thou hast sinned, thou hast 
 provokecl the eyes of his glory, thy iniquity is 
 found to be hateful, and now perhaps God 
 hath left thee, given thee up and lets thee 
 alone. 
 
 Heretofore thou wast tender ; thy conscience 
 startled at the tenfiptation to wickedness, for 
 thou wert taken olf from the pollution of the 
 World through the knowledge of our Lord and 
 Saviour Jesus Christ ; but that very vomit that 
 once thou wert turned from, now thou lappest 
 up (with the dog in the proverb) again, and 
 that very mire that once thou seemedst to be 
 washed from, in that very mire thou now art 
 tumbling afresh. 
 
 But, to particularize, there are three signs of 
 a man's being given over of God : 
 
 1. When ho is let alone in sinning, when 
 the reins of his lusts are loosed, and he given 
 up to them. "And even as they did not like 
 to retain God in their knowledge, God gave 
 them over to a reprobate mind, to do those 
 things which are not convenient, being filled 
 
 with all unrighteousness." Seest thou a man 
 that heretofore had the knowledge of God, and 
 that had some awe of Majesty upon him — I 
 say, seest thou such an one, sporting himself 
 in his own deceivings; "turning the grace of 
 our God into lasciviousness, and walking after 
 his own ungodly lusts ? His judgment now of 
 a long time lingereth not, and his damnation 
 slumberetli not." Dost thou hear, barren pro- 
 fessor. It is astonishing to see how those that 
 once' seemed sons of the morning, and were 
 making preparations for eternal life, now, at 
 last, for the rottenness of their hearts, by the 
 just judgment of God, to be permitted, being 
 past' feeling, " to give themselves over unto 
 lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with 
 greediness." A great number of such were in 
 the first gospel days; against whom Peter and 
 Jude couple them with the fallen angels, and 
 John forbids that prayer be made for them, be- 
 cause that is happened unto them that hath 
 happened to the fallen angels that fell — " who, 
 forsaking their first estate, and for leaving 
 their own habitation, are reserved in chains 
 under everlasting darkness, unto the judgment 
 of the great day." Barren fig tree, dost thou 
 hear? 
 
 1. These are beyond all mercy. 
 
 2. These are beyond all promises. 
 
 3. These are beyond all hopes of repentance. 
 
 4. These have no intercessor, nor any more 
 share in a sacrifice for sin. 
 
 5. For these there remains nothing but a 
 fearful looking-for of judgment. 
 
 1. Wherefore these are the true fugitives 
 and vagabonds, that, being left of God, of 
 Christ, of grace, and of- the promise, and be- 
 yond all hope, wander and straggle to and fro, 
 even as the devil, their associate, till the time 
 shall come to die or until they descend in bat- 
 tle and perish. 
 
 2. Wherefore they are let alone in hearing. 
 If these at any time come under the word, 
 there is for them no God, no savour of the 
 means of grace, no stirrings of heart, no pity 
 for themselves, no love to their own salvation. 
 Let them look on this hand or that, there they 
 see such effects of the word in others as pro- 
 ducethisigns of repentance and love to God and 
 his Christ. 'These men only have their backs 
 bowed down alway ; these men have only the 
 spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not 
 see, and ears that they should not hear, to this 
 very day. Wherefore as they go to the place 
 of the Holy, so they come from the place of 
 the Holy, and soon are forgotten in the place 
 
650 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 where they so did ; only they reap this damage, 
 " they treasure up wrath against the day of 
 wrath and revelation of the righteous judg- 
 ment of God." Look to it, barren professor. 
 
 3. If he be visited after the common way of 
 mankind, either with sickness, distress, or any 
 kind of calamity, still no God appeareth, no 
 sanctifying hand of God, no special mercy is 
 mixed with the affliction. But he falls sick 
 and grows well like the beast, or is under dis- 
 tress as Saul, who, when he was engaged by 
 the Philistines, was forsaken and left of God. 
 " And th« Philistines gathered themselves to- 
 gether, and came and pitched in Shunem, and 
 Saul gathered all Israel together, and they 
 pitched in Gilboa. And when Saul saw the 
 host of the Philistines, he was afraid and his 
 heart greatly trembled. And when Saul in- 
 quired of the Lord, the Lord answered him no 
 more, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by 
 prophets." The Lord answered him no more ; 
 he had done with him, cast him off, and re- 
 jected him, and left him to stand and fall with 
 his sins by himself. But of this more in the 
 concliision ; therefore I here forbear. 
 
 These men may go whither they will, do 
 what they will ; they may range from opinion 
 to opinion, from notion to notion, from sect to 
 sect, but are steadfast nowhere ; they are left 
 to their own uncertainties, they have not grace 
 to establish their hearts ; and though some of 
 them have boasted themselves of this liberty, 
 yet Jude calls them wandering stars, to whom 
 is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever. 
 They are left, as I told you before, to be fugi- 
 tives and vagabonds on the earth, to wander 
 everywhere, but to abide nowhere, until they 
 shall descend to their own place with Cain and 
 Judas, men of the same fate with themselves. 
 ^ A third sign that such a professor is quite 
 past grace is, when his heart is grown so hard, 
 so stony, and impenetrable that nothing will 
 pierce it. Barren fig tree, dost thou consider? 
 A hard and impenitent heart is the curse of 
 God. A heart that cannot repent is instead of 
 all plagues at once ; and hence it is that God 
 said of Pharaoh, when he spake of delivering 
 him up in the greatness of his anger, "I will 
 at this, time," saith he, "send all my plagues 
 upon thy heart." 
 
 To some men that have grievously sinned 
 under a profession of the gospel, God giveth 
 this token of his displeasure : they are denied 
 the power of repentance, their heart is bound, 
 they cannot repent ; it is impossible that they 
 should ever repent should they live a thousand 
 
 years. It is impossible for those fallaways to 
 be renewed again unto r^entance, seeing they 
 crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, 
 and put him to open shame. Now, to have 
 the heart so hardened, so judicially hardened, 
 this is as a bar put in by the Lord God against 
 the salvation of this sinner. This was the 
 burden of Spira's complaint : I cannot do it ; 
 oh now I cannot do it. 
 
 This man sees what he hath done, what 
 should help him, and what will become of 
 him, yet he cannot repent ; he pulled away his 
 shoulder before, he shut up his eyes before, 
 and in that very posture God left him, and so 
 he" stands to this very day. I have had a 
 fancy that Lot's wife, when she was turned 
 into a pillar of salt, stood yet looking over her 
 shoulder, or else with her face towards Sodom ; 
 as the judgment caught her, s^o it bound her, 
 and left her a monument of God's anger to 
 after generations. 
 
 We read of some that are seared with a hot 
 iron, and that are past feeling, for so seared 
 persons in seared parts are : their conscience is 
 seared. The conscience is the thing that must 
 be touched with feeling, fear, and remorse if 
 any good be done to those whose conscience is 
 worse than that — that is, fast asleep in sin. 
 For that conscience that is fast asleep may yet 
 be effectually awakened and saved, but that 
 conscience that is seared, dried, as it were, into 
 a cinder, can never have sense, feeling, or the 
 least regret in this world. Barren fig tree, 
 hearken ! — judicial hardening , is dreadful. 
 There is a difference betwixt that hardness of 
 heart that is incident to all men, and that 
 which comes upon some as a special judgment 
 of God. And although all kind of hardness 
 of heart, in some sense, may be called a- judg- 
 ment, yet to be hardened with this second 
 kind is a judgment peculiar only to them that 
 perish — a hardness that is sent as a punish- 
 ment for the abuse of light rciceived, for a re- 
 ward of apostacy. 
 
 This judicial hardness^'is discovered from 
 that which is incident to all men in these par- 
 ticulars : 
 
 1. It is a hardness that comes after some 
 great light received, because of some great sin 
 committed against that light and the grace 
 that gave it — such hardness as Pharaoh had 
 after the Lord had wrought wouderously be- 
 fore him; such hardness as the Gentiles had — • 
 a hardness which darkened the heart, a hard- 
 ness which made their minds reprobate. This 
 hardness is also the same with that the He- 
 
THE BARREN FIG TREE.. 
 
 651 
 
 Drfiws aro cautioned to beware of — a hardness 
 that is caused by unbelief and a departing 
 from the living God; 'a hardness completed 
 through the deceitfulness of sin; such as that 
 in the provocation, of whom God sware that 
 they should not enter into his rest. It was 
 this kind of darkness also that both Cain and 
 Ishmael and E^au were hardened with after 
 they had committed their great transgressions. 
 
 2. It is the greatest kind of hardness, and 
 hence they are said to be harder than a rock 
 or. than adamant — that is, harder than flint; 
 60 hard that nothing can enter. 
 
 3. It is a hardness given in much anger, and 
 to bind the soul up in an impossibility of re- 
 pentance. 
 
 4. It is a hardness, therefore, which is incu- 
 rable, of which a man must die and Ije damned. 
 Ban-en professor, hearken to this. 
 
 A fouitU sign that such a professor is quite 
 past grace is when he fortifies his hard heart 
 against the tenor of God's word. This is 
 called hardening themselves against God, and 
 turning of the Spirit against him; as thus, 
 when after a profession of faith in the Lord 
 Jesus, and of the doctrine that is according to 
 godliness, they shall embolden themselves in 
 courses of sin by promising themselves that 
 they shall have life and salvation notwith- 
 standing. Barren prol'cs'ior, hearken to tliis. 
 This man is called a root that beareth gall and 
 wormwood, or a poisonous herb — such an one 
 as is abominated of Ood, yea, the abhorred of 
 his soul. For this man saith, I shall have 
 peace, tliough I walk in the imagination or 
 stubbornness of my heart, to add drunkenness 
 to thirst — an opinion flat against the whole 
 word of God, yea, against the very nature of 
 God himself Wherefore he adds, "Then the 
 anger of the Lord, and his jealousy, shall 
 smoke .against that man, and all the curses 
 that are written in God's book shall lie upon 
 him, and God shall blot out his name from 
 under heaven." 
 
 Yea, that man shall not fail to be efiectually 
 destroyed, saith the text. "The I^ord shall 
 separate that man unto evil, out of all the 
 tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of 
 the covenant." 
 
 He shall separate him unto evil; he shall 
 give him up, he shall leave him to his heart; 
 he shall separate him to that or those that will 
 assuredly be too hard for him. 
 
 Now this judgment is much effected when 
 God hath given a man up unto Satan, and 
 hath given Satan leave, without fail, to com- 
 
 plete his destructiofi — I say, when God hath 
 given Satan leave effectually to complete his 
 destruction ; for all that are delivered up unto 
 Satan have not and do not come to this end. 
 But that is the man whom God shall separate 
 to evil,' and shall leave in the hands of Satan, 
 to complete without fail his destruction. 
 
 Thus he served Ahab, a man that sold him- 
 self to work wickedness in the sight of the 
 Lord. "And the Lord said, Who shall per- 
 suade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at 
 Ramoth-gilead? And one said on this man- 
 ner, and another said on that manner; and 
 there came forth a spirit and stood before the 
 Lord, and said, I will persuade him. And the 
 Lord said unto him. Wherewith? And he 
 said, I will go forth and be a lying spirit in 
 the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, 
 Thou'shalt persuade him, and prevail also; go 
 forth and do so." Thou shalt persuade him, 
 and prevail : do thy will, I leave him in thine 
 hand, go forth, and do so. 
 
 Wherefore in these judgments the Lord 
 doth much concern himself for the manage- 
 ment thereof, because of tlic provocation 
 wherewith they have provoked him. This 
 is the man whose ruin he contriveth, and 
 bringeth to pass by his own contrivance. " I 
 will choose their delusions for them; I will 
 bring their fears upon them." I will choose 
 their devices or the wickedness that their 
 hearts ar6 contriving'. I, even I, will cause 
 them to be accepted of and delightful to them. 
 But who are they that must thus be seared? 
 Why, those among professors that have chosen 
 their own ways, those whose soul delighteth in 
 their abominations. ■" 
 
 Because they receive not the love of the 
 truth, that they might be saved, for this cause 
 God shall send them strong delusions, that 
 they should believe a lie, that they all might 
 be damned who believed not the truth, but 
 had pleasure in unrighteousness. 
 
 " God shall send them." It is a great word. 
 Yea, God shall send them strong delusions — 
 delusions that shall do, that shall make them 
 believe a lie. Why so ? " That they all might 
 be damned, every one of them who believed not 
 the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteous- 
 ness." 
 
 There is nothing more provoking to the 
 Lord than for a man to promise when God 
 threateneth; for a man to he light of conceit 
 that he shall be safe, and yet to be more wicked 
 than in former days. This man's soul abhor- 
 reth the truth of God; no marvel, therefore, 
 
652 
 
 B UNTAN 'S ' COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 if God's soul abhorreth hftn : he hath invented 
 a way contrary to God, to bring about his own 
 salvation; no marvel, therefore, if God invent 
 a way to bring about this man's damnation ; 
 and seeing that these rebels are at this point, 
 we shall have peace; God will see whose word 
 shall stand, his or theirs. 
 
 A fifth sign of a man being past grace is 
 when he shall at this scoff, and inwardly grin, 
 and fret against the Lord, secretly purposing 
 to continue his course and put all to the ven- 
 ture, despising the messengers of the Lord. 
 " He that despised Moses's law died without 
 mercy ; of how much sorer punishment, sup- 
 pose ye, shall he be thought worthy who hath 
 trodden under foot the Son of God !" &e. 
 
 Wherefore against these despisers God hath 
 set himself, and foretold that they shall not 
 believe, but perish. "Behold, ye despisers, 
 and wonder and perish ; for I work a work in 
 your days which ye shall in nowise believe, 
 though a man declare it unto you." 
 
 Thus far we have treated of the barren fig 
 tree or fruitless professor, with some signs to 
 know him by, whereto is added also some signs 
 of one who neither will nor can, by any means, 
 be fruitful, but they must miserably perish. 
 Now being come to the time of execution, I 
 shall speak a word to that also : " After that 
 thou shalt cut it down.'' Christ at last turns 
 the barren fig tree over to the justice of God, 
 shakes his hands off him, and gives him up to.. 
 the fire for his unprofitableness. 
 
 After thai thou shall cut it down. 
 Two things are here to be considered : 
 
 1. The executioner; thou, the great, the 
 dreadful, the eternal God. These words, 
 therefore, as I have already said, signify that 
 Christ the Mediator, through whom alone sal- 
 vation comes, and by whom alone execution 
 hath been deferred, now giveth up the soul, 
 forbears to speak one syllable more for him, 
 or to do the least act of grace further to try 
 for his recovery, but delivereth him up to that 
 fearful dispensation, ''to fall into the hand of 
 the living God." 
 
 2. The second to be considered is, the in- 
 strument by which this execution is done,' and 
 that is death, compared here to an axe ; and 
 forasmuch as the tree is not felled at one blow, 
 therefore the strokes are here continued till 
 all the blows be struck at it that are requisite 
 for its felling, for now cutting time and cutting 
 work is come ; cutting must be his portion till 
 he be cut down. " After that thou shalt cut it 
 
 down." Death, I say, is the axe, which God 
 often useth, therewith to take the barren fig 
 tree out of the vineyard, out of a profession, 
 and also out of the world at once. But this 
 axe is now new ground ; it cometh well edged to 
 the roots of this barren fig tree. It hath been 
 whetted by sin, by the law, and by a formal 
 profession, and therefore must and will make 
 deep gashes, not only in the natural life, but 
 in the heart and conscience also of this pro- 
 fessor. " The wages of sin is death, the sting 
 of death is sin." Wherefore death comes not 
 to this man as he doth to saints, muzzled or 
 without his sting, but with open mouth, in all 
 his strength ; yea, he sends his first-born, 
 which is guilt, to devour his strength and to 
 bring him to the king of terrors. 
 
 But to give you, in a few particulars, the 
 manner of this man's dying. 
 
 1. Now he hath his fruitless fruit beleaguer 
 him round his bed, together with all the bands 
 and legions of his other wickedness. His own 
 iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and 
 he shall be holden in the cords Of his sins. 
 
 2. Now some terrible discovery of God is 
 made out unto him, to the perplexing and ter- < 
 rifying of his guilty conscience. God shall 
 cast upon him and not spare, and he shall be 
 afraid of that which is high. 
 
 3. The dark entry he is to go through will 
 be a sore amazemeht to him ; " for fear shall 
 be in the way ;" yea, terrors will take hold on 
 him when he shall see the yawning jaws of 
 death to gape upon him, and the doors of the 
 shadow of death open to give him passage out 
 of the world. Now, who will meet me in this 
 dark entry ? How shall I pass through this 
 dark entry into another world ? 
 
 4. For by reason of guilt and a shaking con- 
 science his life will hang in continual doubt 
 before him, and he shall -be afraid day and 
 night, and shall have no assurance of hia 
 life. 
 
 5. Now also want will come up agaicst him ; 
 it will come up like an armed man. This is a 
 terrible army to him that is graceless in heart 
 and fruitless in life. This want will contin- 
 tially cry in thy ears, Here is a new birth 
 wanting, a new heart and a new spirit want- 
 ing; here is faith wanting, here is love and 
 repijntance wanting, here is 'the fear of God 
 wanting, and a good conversation. "Thou 
 art weighed in the balance, and art found 
 wanting." 
 
 6. Together with these standeth by the com- 
 panions of death, death and hell, death and 
 
THE BARREN FIG TREE. 
 
 653 
 
 devils, death and endless torment in the ever- 
 lasting flames of devouring fire. When God 
 shall come up unto the people he will invade 
 them with his troops. 
 
 But how will this man die? Can his heart 
 now endure or can his hands be made strong? 
 
 1. God, and Christ, and pity have left him. 
 Sin against light, against mercy, and the long- 
 suffenng of God is come up against him; his 
 h )pe and confidence now is dying by him, and 
 his conscience totters and shakes continually 
 within him. 
 
 2. Death is at work, cutting of him down, 
 hewing both bark and heart, both body and 
 soul asunder : the man groans, but death hears 
 him not: he looks ghastly, carefully, deject- 
 edly ; he sighs, he sweats, he trembles, death 
 matters nothing. 
 
 3. Fearful cogitations haunt him, misgiv- 
 ings, direful apprehensions of God terrify him. 
 Now he hath time to think what the loss of 
 heaven will be, and what the torments of hell 
 will be; now he looks no way but he is 
 frighted. 
 
 4. Now would he live, but may not; he 
 would live, though it were but the life of a 
 
 bedrid man, but must not. He that cuts him 
 down sways him as the feller of wood sways 
 the tottering tree, now this way, then that; 
 at last a root breaks, an heart-string, an eye- 
 string snaps asunder. 
 
 5. And now, could the soul be annihilated 
 or brought to nothing, how happy would it 
 count itself! But it sees that may not be. 
 Wherefore it is put to a wonderful strait ; stay 
 in, the body it may not, go out of the body it 
 dares not. Life is going, the blood settles in 
 the flesh, and the lungs being ho more able to 
 draw breath through the nostrils, at last out 
 goes the weary, trembling soul, who is imme- 
 diately seized by devils, who lay lurking in 
 every hole in the chamber for that very pur- 
 pose. His frienijs take care of the body, wrap 
 it up in the sheet or cofiin, but the soul is out 
 of their thought and reach, going down to the 
 chambers of death. 
 
 I had thought to have enlarged, but I for- 
 bear. God, who teaches man to profit, bless 
 this brief and plain discourse to thy soul who 
 yet standest a professor in the land of the 
 living, amongst the trees of his garden I 
 Amea. 
 
A DISCOURSE ON PRAYER: 
 
 WnEHEIN AEE -BRIEFLY DI8C0TEEED 
 
 I. ■WHAT PKAYER IS.— II. WHAT IT IS TO PRAY WITH THE SPIRIT.— III. WHAT IT IS 
 TO PRAY WITH THE SPIRIT, AND WITH THE UNDERSTANDING ALSO. 
 
 For wo know not what wc should pray for as we ought; only the Spirit helpeth our infirmities. — Rom. viii. 26. 
 I will pray with the Spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also. — 1 Con. xiv. 15. 
 
 PeAyee is an ordinance of God, and that to 
 be used both, in public and private ; yea, such 
 an ordinance as brings those that have the 
 spirit of supplication into great familiarity 
 with God ; and is also so prevalent an action 
 that it getteth of God, both for the person 
 that prayeth and for them that are prayed for, 
 great things. It is the opener of the heart to 
 God, and a means by which the soul, though 
 empty, is filled. By prayer the Christian can 
 open his heart to God as to a friend, andob- 
 tain fre.sh testimony of God's friendship to 
 him. I mJght spend many vvOrds in distin- 
 guishing between public and private prayer, 
 as also between that in the heart and that 
 with the vocal voice. Something also might 
 be spoken to distinguish between the gifts 
 and graces of prayers; but, eschewing this 
 method, my business shall be at this time 
 only to show you the very heart of prayer, 
 without which all your lifting up both of 
 hands and eyes and voices will be to no pur- 
 pose at all. " I will pray with the Spirit." 
 
 The method that I shall go on in at this 
 time shall be — 1. To show you what true 
 prayer is ; 2. To show you what it is to pray 
 with the Spirit; 3. AVhat it is to pray with 
 the Spirit and understanding also ; and so, 4. 
 To make some short use and application of 
 what shall be spoken. 
 
 I. What prayer is. 
 
 Prayer is a sincere, sensible, affectionate 
 pouring out of the heart or soul to God, 
 through Christ, in the strength and assist- 
 ance of the Holy Spirit, for such things as 
 God hath promised or according to the word, 
 for the good of the Church, with submission, 
 iu faith to the will of God. 
 
 In this description are these seven things: 
 1. It is sincere; 2. A sensible; 3. An affec- 
 tionate pouring out of the soul to God, 
 through Christ ; 4. By the strength or assist- 
 ance of the Spirit ; 5. For such things as God 
 hath promised, or according to his word; 6. 
 For the good of the Church ; 7. With sub- 
 mission in faith to the will of God. 
 
 1. For the first of these, it is a sincere pour- 
 ing out of the soul to God. Sincerity is such 
 a grace as runs through all the graces of God 
 in us, and through all the actings of a Chris- 
 tian, and hath the sway in them too, or else 
 their actings are not any thing regarded of 
 God, and so of and in prayer, of which par- 
 ticularly David speaks when he mentions 
 prayer: "I cried unto the Lord with my 
 mouth, and he was extolled with my tongue. 
 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord 
 will not hear my prayer." Part of the exer- 
 cise of prayer is sincerity, without which God 
 looks not upon it as prayer in a good sense: 
 "Then shall you seek and find me, when you 
 shall search for me with your whole heart." 
 The want of this made the Lord reject their 
 prayers in Hosea vii. 14, where he saith, 
 '"They have not cried unto me with their 
 heart (that is, in sincerity) when they howled 
 upon their beds." But for -a pretence, for a 
 show in hypocrisy, to be seen of men and ap- 
 plauded for the same, they pray. Sincerity 
 was that which Christ commended in Na- 
 thaniel when he was under the fig tree, " Be- 
 hold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no 
 guile." Probably this good man was pouring 
 out of his soul to God in prayer under the fig 
 tree, and that in a sincere and unfeigned 
 spirit before the Lord. TJie prayer that hatb 
 
 655 
 
656 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE ' WORKS. 
 
 this in it as one of the principal ingredients 
 is the prayer that God looks at. Thus, " the 
 prayer of 'the upright is his delight." 
 
 And why must sincerity be one of the essen- 
 tials of prayer which is accepted of God, but 
 because sincerity carries the soul in all sim- 
 plicity to open its heart to God, and to tell 
 him the case plainly, without equivocation ; to 
 condemn itself plainly, without dissembling; 
 to cry to God heartily, without compliment- 
 iiig : " I have surely heard Ephraim bemoan- 
 ing himself thus. Thou hast chastised me, and 
 I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to 
 the yoke ?" Sincerity is the same in a corner 
 ' alone as it is before the face of all the world. 
 It knows not how to wear two vizards — one 
 for an appearance before men, and another 
 for a short snatch in a corner; but it must 
 have God, and be with him in the duty of 
 prayer. It is not a lip-labour that it doth re- 
 gard, for it is the heart that God looks at, 
 and that which prayer comes from, if it 
 be that prayer which is accompanied with 
 sincerity. 
 
 2. It is a sincere and sensible pouring out of . 
 the heart or soul. It is not, as many take it 
 to be, even a few babbling, prating, compli- 
 mentajy expressions, but a sensible feeling 
 there is in the heart. Prayer hath in it a sen- 
 sibleness of divers things ; sometimes sense of 
 sin, sometimes of mercy received, sometimes 
 of the readiness of God to give mercy, &c. 
 
 (1.) A sense of the want of mercy by reason 
 of-the danger of sin. The soul, I say, feels, 
 and from feeling sighs, groans, and breaks at 
 the heart ; for right prayer bubbleth out of the 
 heart when it is overpressed with grief and bit- 
 teVness, as blood is forced out of the flesh by 
 reason of some heavy burden that lieth upon 
 it. David roars, cries, weeps, faints at heart, 
 fails at the eyes, loseth his moisture, &c. Hez- 
 ekiah mourns like a dove ; Ephraim bemoans 
 himself; Peter weeps bitterly; Christ hath 
 strong cryings and tears ; and all this from a 
 sense of the justice of God, the guilt of sin, 
 the pains of hell and destruction. " The sor- 
 rows of death compassed me about, the pains 
 of hell gat hold upon me, and I fourid trouble 
 and sorrow. Then cried I unto the Lord." 
 And in another place, "My sore ran in the 
 night." Again, " I am bowed down greatly ; 
 I go mourning all the day long." In all these 
 instances, and in hundreds more that might be 
 named, you may see that prayer carrieth in it 
 a sensible, feeling ' disposition, and that first 
 from a sense of sin. 
 
 (2.) Sometimes there is a sweet sense of mercy 
 received — encouraging, comforting, strength- 
 ening, enlivening, enlightening mercy, &c. 
 Thus David pours out his soul to bless and 
 praise and admire the great God for his loving- 
 kindness to such poor vile wretches : " Bless 
 the Lord, my soul, and all that is, within 
 me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O 
 my soul, and forget not all his benefits ; who 
 forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all 
 thy diseases, and crowneth thee with loving- 
 kindness and fender mercies ; who redeemeth 
 thy life from destruction, who satisfieth thy 
 mouth with good thiiigs, so that thy youth is 
 renewed as the eagle's." And thus is the 
 prayer of saints sometimes turned into praise 
 and thanksgiving, and yet are prayers still. 
 This is a mystery; God's people pray with 
 their praises, as it is written, " Be careful for 
 nothing, buj; in every thing, by prayer, with 
 supplication and thanksgiving, let your re- 
 quests be made known to God." A sensible 
 thanksgiving for mercy received is a mighty 
 prayer in the sight of God; it prevails with 
 him unspeakably. 
 
 (3.) In prayer there is sometimes in the soul 
 a sense of mercy to be received. This again 
 sets the soul all on a flame : " Thou, O Lord 
 God, (said David,) hast revealed to thy ser- 
 vant, saying, I will build thee an house ; there- 
 fore hath thy servant found ^in his heart to 
 pray unto thee." This provoked Jacob, David, 
 Daniel, with others, even to, a sense of mercies 
 to be received ; which caused them, not by fits 
 and starts, nor yet in a foolish, frothy way, to 
 babble over a- few words written in a paper, 
 but mightily, fervently, and continually to 
 groan out their conditions before the Lord, as 
 being sensible — sensible, I say — of their wants, 
 their misery, and the willingness of God to 
 show mercy. 
 
 A good sense of sin and the wrath of God, 
 with some encouragement from God to come 
 unto him, is a better common prayer-book 
 than that which is taken out of the papistical' 
 mass-book, being the scraps and fragment? of 
 the devices of some popes, some friars, and 1 
 wot not what. 
 
 3. Prayer is a sincere, sensible, and' affec- 
 tionate pouring out of the soul to God. Oh 
 the heat, strength, life, vigour, and affection 
 that is in right prayer ! " As the hart pant- 
 eth after the water-brooks, so longeth my soul 
 after thee, O God. I have longed for thy pre- 
 cepts ; I have longed after thy salvation. My 
 soul longeth, yea, fainteth, for the coui-ts of the 
 
A DISCOURSE ON , PRATER. 
 
 657 
 
 Lord ; my heart and my flesh crieth out for 
 the living God. My soul breaketh for the 
 longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all 
 times." Mark ye here, " My soul longeth ; " it 
 longeth, &c. Oh what aflfeotion is here discov- 
 ered in prayer ! The like you have in Daniel : 
 " Lord, hear ; O Lord, forgive ; Lord, heark- 
 en and do ; defer not for thy name's sake, my 
 God." Every syllable carrieth a mighty ve- 
 hemency in it. This is called the fervent or 
 the working prayer by James. And so again : 
 " And being in an agony, he prayed more earn- 
 estly," or had his affections more and more 
 dr.awn out after God for his helping hand. Oh 
 how wide are the most of men with their pray- 
 ers from this prayer — that is, prayer in God's 
 account I Alas 1 the greatest part of men make 
 no conscience at all of the duty ; and as for 
 them that do, it is to be feared that many of 
 them are very great strangers to a sincere, sen- 
 sible, and affectionate pouring out their hearts 
 or souls to God, but even content themselves 
 with a little lip-labour and bodily exercise, 
 mumbling over a few imaginary prayers. 
 When the affections are indeed engaged in 
 prayer, then the whole man is engaged, and 
 that in such sort that the soul will spend itself 
 to nothing, as it were, rather than it will go 
 without that good desired, even communion 
 and solace with Christ. And hence it is that 
 the saints have spent their strength and lost 
 their lives, rather than go without the blessing. 
 
 All this is too evident by, the ignorance, pro- 
 faneness, and spirit of envy that reigns in the 
 hearts of those men that are so hot for the 
 forms and not the power of praying. Scarce 
 one of forty among them know what it is to 
 be born again, to have communion with the 
 Father through the Son, to feel the power of 
 grace sanctifying their hearts; but, for all 
 their prayers, they still lived cursed, drunken, 
 \^horish, and abominable lives, full of malice, 
 envy, deceit, persecuting of the dear children 
 of God. Oh what a dreadful after-clap is com- 
 ing upon them! which all their hypocritical 
 assembling themselves together, with all their 
 prayers, shall never be able to help them 
 against or shelter them from. 
 
 Again, it is a pouring out of the heart or 
 soul. There is in prayer an unbosoming of a 
 man's self, an opening of the heart to God, an 
 affectionate pouring out of the soul in requests, 
 sighs, and groans: "All my desires are before 
 thee, (saith David,) my groanings are not hid 
 from thee." And again, "My soul thirsteth 
 for God, even for the living God. When shall 
 42 
 
 I come and appear before God? When I re- 
 member these things, I pour out my soul in 
 me." Mark, "I pour out my soul!" It is an 
 expression signifying that in prayer there 
 goeth the very life and whole strength to God. 
 As in another place : " Trust in him at all 
 times, ye people ; pour out your hearts before 
 him." This is the prayer to which the prom" 
 ise is made for the delivering of a poor creature 
 out of captivity and thraldom. If from thence 
 thou shalt seek the Lord, thou shalt find him 
 if thou seekest him "with all thy heart and 
 with all thy soul." 
 
 Again, it is a pouring out of the heart or 
 soul to God. This showeth also the excellency 
 of the spirit of prayer : it is the great God to 
 which it retires : " When shall I come and ap- 
 pear before God?" And it argueth that the 
 soul that thus prayeth indeed sees an empti- 
 ness in all things under heaven — that in God 
 alone there is rest and satisfaction for the soul. 
 Now she that is a widow and desolate trusteth 
 in God. So saith David, " In thee, Lord, 
 do I put my trust; let me never be put to con- 
 fusion. Deliver me in thy righteousness, and 
 cause me to escape ; incline thine ear to me, 
 and save me. Be thou my strong habitation, 
 whereunto I may continually resort. For thou 
 art my rock and my fortress ; deliver me, O 
 God, out of the hand of the unrighteous and 
 cruel man ; for thou art my hope, Lord, my 
 God, thou art my trust from my youth." 
 Many in a wording way speak of God, but a 
 right prayer makes God his hope, stay, and all. 
 Eight prayers see nothing substantial and 
 worth the looking after but God. And that 
 (as I said before) they do in a sincere, sensible, 
 and affectionate way. 
 
 Again, it is a sincere, sensible, affectionate 
 pouring out of the heart or soul to God, through 
 Christ. This through Christ must needs be 
 added, or else it is to be questioned whether it 
 be prayer, though in appearance it be never so 
 eminent and eloquent. 
 
 Christ is the way through whom the sou. 
 hath admittance to God, and without whom it 
 "is impossible that so much as one desire should 
 come into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth : " If 
 you ask anything in my name, whatsoever yon 
 ask the Father in my name, I will do it." 
 This was Daniel's way in praying for the 
 people of God ; he did it in the name of Christ : 
 " Now therefore, our God ! hear the prayer 
 of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause 
 thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is 
 desolate, for the Lord's sake." And so David, 
 
658 
 
 B VNYA N 'S ■ COMPLETE WORKfi. 
 
 " For thy name sake (that is, for thy Christ's 
 sake) pardon mine iniquity, for it is great.'' 
 But now it is not every one that maketh men- 
 tion of Christ's name in prayer that doth in- 
 deed and in truth effectually pray to God in 
 the name of Christ or through him. This 
 coming to God through Christ is the hardest 
 part that is , found in prayer. A man may 
 more easily be sensible of his works, ay, and 
 sincerely too desire mercy, and yet not be able 
 to come to God by Christ. That man that 
 comes to God by Christ must first have the 
 knowledge of him, for he that comes to God 
 must believe that he is. And so he that comes 
 to God through Christ must be enabled to 
 know Christ: " Lord, (saith Moses,) show me 
 thy way, that I may know thee." 
 
 This Christ none but the Father can reveal. 
 And to come through Christ is for the soul to 
 be enabled of God to shroud itself under the 
 shadow of the Lord Jesus, as a man shroudeth 
 himself under a thing for safeguard. Hence 
 it is that David so often terms Christ his shield, 
 buckler, tower, fortress, rock of defence, &c. 
 Not only because by him he overcame his 
 enemies, but because through him he found 
 favour with God the Father. And so he saith 
 to Abraham, " Fear not, I am thy shield," &c. 
 The man, then, that comes to God through 
 Christ must have faith, by which -he puts on 
 Christ, and in him appears before God. Now 
 he that hath faith is born of God, born again, 
 and so becomes one of the sons of God ; by 
 virtue of which he is joined to Christ and 
 made a member of him. And therefore, sec- 
 ondly, he, as a member of Christ, comes to 
 God ; I say, as a member of him, so that God 
 looks on that man as part of Christ — part of 
 his body, fiesh, and bones, united to him by 
 election, conversion, illumination, the Spirit 
 being conveyed into the heart of that poor man 
 by God. So that now he comes to God in 
 Christ's merits, in his blood, righteousness, 
 victory, intercession, and so stands before him, 
 being accepted in his Beloved. And because 
 this poor creature is thus a member of the 
 Lord Jesus, and under this consideration hath 
 admittance to come to God, therefore, by vir- 
 tue of this union, also is the Holy Spirit con- 
 veyed into him, whereby he is able to pour out 
 himself (to wit, his soul) before God, with his 
 audience. And this leads me to the next or 
 fourth particular. 
 
 4. Prayer is a sincere, sensible, afiectionate 
 pouring out of the heart or soul to God through 
 Christ, by the strength or assistance of the 
 
 Spirit. For these things do 83 depend one 
 upon another that it is impossible that it 
 should be prayer without there being a joint 
 concurrence of them ; for though it be never so 
 famous, yet without these things it is only 
 such prayer as is rejected of God. For with- 
 out a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring 
 out of the heart to God it is but lip-labour ; 
 and if it be not through Christ, it falleth far 
 short of ever sounding well in the ears of God. 
 So also, if it be not in the strength and assist- 
 ance of the Spirit, it is but like the sons of 
 Aaron offering with strange fire. But I shall 
 speak more to this under the second head ; and 
 therefore, in the mean time, that which is not 
 petitioned through the teaching and assistance 
 of the Spirit, it is not possible that it should 
 be according to the will of God. 
 
 5. Prayer is a sincere, sensible, affectionate 
 pouring out of the heart or soul to God, through 
 Christ, in the strength and assistance of the 
 Spirit, for such things as God hath promised, 
 &c. Prayer it is when it is within the com- 
 pass of God's word, and it is blasphemy, or at 
 best vain babbling, when the petition is beside 
 the book. David therefore still, in his prayer, 
 kept his eye on the word of God: "My 
 soul (saith he) cleaveth to the dust; quicken 
 me according to thy word;" and again, "My 
 soul melteth for heaviness ; strengthen me ac- 
 cording to thy word;" and, "remember thy 
 word unto thy servant, on which thou hast 
 caused me to hope." And indeed the Holy 
 Ghost doth not immediately quicken and stir 
 up the heart of the Christian without, but by, 
 with, and through the word, by bringing that 
 to the heart, and by opening of that, whereby 
 the man is provoked to go to the Lord, and to 
 tell him how it is with him, and also to argue 
 and supplicate according to the word. Thus it 
 was with Daniel, that mighty prophet of the 
 Lord, he understanding by books that the cap- 
 tivity of the children of Israel was hard at an 
 end ; then according unto that word, he maketh 
 his prayer to God: "I, Daniel, (saith he,) 
 understood by books (viz., the writings r^f 
 Jeremiah) the number of the years whereof 
 the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, thai 
 he would accomplish seventy years on the deso- 
 lation of Jerusalem. And I. set my face to the 
 Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplication, 
 with ,fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes." So 
 that, I say, as the Spirit is the helper and the 
 governor of the soul when it prayeth accord- 
 ing to the will of God, so it guideth by and 
 according to the word of God and his promise. 
 
A DISCOURSE On prater. 
 
 659 
 
 Hence it is that our Lord Jesus Christ him- 
 self did make a stop, although his life lay 
 at stake for it: "I could now pray to my 
 Father, and he should give more than twelve 
 legions of angels; but how then must the 
 Scripture be fulfilled, that thus it must be?" 
 As who should say. Were there but a word for 
 it in Scripture, I should soon be out of the hands 
 of mine enemies, I should be helped by angels ; 
 but the Scripture will not warrant this kind 
 of praying, for that saith otherwise. It is a 
 praying, then, according to the word and 
 promise. The Spirit by the word must direct, 
 as weU in the manner as in the matter of 
 prayer. I will pray with the Spirit, and I will 
 pray with the understanding also. But there 
 is no understanding without the word ; for if 
 they reject the word of the Lord, what wisdom 
 is in them ? 
 
 6. For the good of the Church. This clause 
 reacheth in whatsoever tendeth either to the 
 honour of God, Christ's advafacement, or his 
 people's benefit. For God, and Christ, and his 
 people are so linked together that if the good 
 of one be prayed for — to wit, the Church — 
 the glory of God and advancement of Christ 
 must needs be included. For as Christ is in 
 the Father, so the saints are in Christ ; and he 
 that toucheth the saints toucheth the apple of 
 God's eye ; and therefore pray for the peace of 
 Jerusalem, and you pray for all that is required 
 of you. For Jerusalem will never be in per- 
 fect peace until she be in heaven ; and there 
 is nothing that Christ doth more desire than 
 to have her there. That also is the place that 
 God through Christ hath given her. He then 
 that prayeth for the peace and good of Zion, 
 or the Church, doth ask that in prayer which 
 Christ hath purchased with his blood, and also 
 that which the Father hath given to him as the 
 price thereof Now he that prayeth for this 
 must pray for abundance of grace for the 
 Church, for help against all its temptations; 
 that God would let nothing be too hard for it; 
 that all things might work together for its 
 good; that God would keep them blameless 
 and harmless, the sons of God, to his glory, in 
 the midst of a crooked and perverse nation. 
 And this is the substance of Christ's own 
 prayer in John xvii. And all Paul's prayers 
 did run that way, as one of his prayers doth 
 eminently show : " And this I pray, that your 
 love may abound yet more and more in all 
 knowledge and all judgment; that ye may 
 approve things that are excellent; that ye 
 may be sincere and without offence, until thp 
 
 day of Christ. Being filled with the fruits of 
 righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, to the 
 glory and praise of God." But a short prayer, 
 you see, and yet full of good desires for the 
 Church from the beginning to the end, that it 
 may stand and go on, aind that in the most ex- 
 cellent frame of spirit, even without blame, 
 sincere and without offence, until the day of 
 Christ, let its temptations or persecution be 
 what they will. 
 
 7. And because, as I said, prayer doth sub- 
 mit to the will of God, and say, Thy will be 
 done, as Christ hath taught, therefore the 
 people of the Lord, in all humility, are to lay 
 themselves and their prayers, and all that they 
 have, at the foot of their God, to be disposed 
 of by him as he in his heavenly wisdom seeth 
 best, yet not doubting but God will answer the 
 desire for his people that way that shall be 
 most for their advantage and his glory. When 
 the saints therefore do pray with submission 
 to the will of God, it doth not argue that they 
 are to doubt or question God's love and kind- 
 ness to them, but because they at all times are 
 not so wise but that sometimes Satan may get 
 advantage of them, as to tempt them to pray 
 for that which, if they had it, would neither 
 prove to God's glory nor his people's good; 
 yet this is the Confidence we have in him, that 
 if we ask anything according to his will he 
 heareth us ; and if we know that he heareth 
 us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have 
 the petition that we ask of him — that is, we 
 asking in the spirit of grace and supplication. 
 For, as I said before, that petition that is not 
 put up in and through the Spirit is not to be 
 answered, because it is beside the will of God ; 
 for the Spirit only knoweth that, and so con- 
 sequently knoweth how to pray according to 
 that will of God. " For what man knoweth 
 the things of a man, save the. spiii t of a man 
 that is in him? Even so the things of God 
 knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. ' But 
 more of this hereafter. 
 
 Thus you see, first, what prayer is. Now to 
 proceed : 
 
 II. I will pray with the Spirit. 
 
 Now to pray with the Spirit — for that is the 
 praying man, and none else, so as to be ac- 
 cepted of God — it is for a man (as aforesaid) 
 sincerely and sensibly, with affection, to come 
 to God through Christ, &c. ; which sincere, 
 sensible, and affectionate coming must be by 
 the working of God's Spirit. 
 
 There is no man nor Church in the world 
 that can come to God in prayer but by the 
 
660 
 
 SUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 assistance of the Holy Spirit ; " for through 
 Christ we all have access by one Spirit unto 
 the Father." 
 
 Wherefore Paul saith, " We know not what 
 we shall pray for as we ought; but the Spirit 
 itself maketh intercession for us with groan- 
 ings which cannot be uttered. And He that 
 eearcheth the heart knoweth the meaning of 
 the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for 
 the saints according to the will of God." And 
 because there is in this Scripture so full a dis- 
 covery of the spirit of prayer, and of man's in- 
 ability to pray without it, therefore I shall in 
 a few words comment upon it._ 
 
 " For we." Consider first tlie person speak- 
 ing, even Paul, and in his person all the apos- 
 tles. We apostles, we extraordinary officers, 
 the wise master-builders, that have some of us 
 been caught np into Paradise — " We know not 
 what we should pray for." 
 
 Surely, there is no man but will confess 
 that Paul and his companions were as able 
 to have done any work for God as any pope 
 or proud prelate in the Church of Rome, and 
 could as well have made a common prayer- 
 book as those who at first composed this, as 
 being not a whit behind them either in grace 
 or gifts. 
 
 " For we know not what we should pray 
 
 for." We know not the matter of the things 
 
 for which we should pray, neither the object 
 
 to whom we pray, nor the medium by or 
 
 through whom we pray; none of these .things 
 
 know we but by the help and assistance of the 
 
 Spirit. Should we pray for communion with 
 
 God through Christ? Should we pray for 
 
 faith, for justification by grace, and a truly 
 
 sanctified heart? None of these things know 
 
 we : " For as no man knoweth the things of a 
 
 J . ... 
 
 man save the spirit of a man that is in him, 
 
 ever, so the things of God knows no man, but 
 ■the Spirit of God." But here, alas! the apos- 
 tles speak of inward and spiritual things, 
 which the world knows not. 
 
 Again, as they know not the matter, &c., 
 of prayer without the help of the Spirit, so 
 neither know they the manner thereof with- 
 oiit the same; and therefore he adds: "We 
 know not what we should pray for as we 
 ought ; but the Spirit helpeth our infirmities 
 with sighs and groans which cannot be ut- 
 tered." Mark, here: they could not so well 
 a.nd so fully come off in the manner of per- 
 forming this duty as these in our days think 
 they can. 
 
 The apostles, when they were at the best. 
 
 yea, when the Holy Ghost assisted them, yet 
 then they were fain to come ofi" with sighs 
 and groans, falling short of expressing their 
 mind, but with sighs and groans which can- 
 not be uttered. 
 
 But here, now, the wise men of our days are 
 so well skilled as that tiiey have both the 
 manner and matter of their prayers at their 
 finger-ends, setting such a prayer for such a 
 day, and that twenty years before it comes — 
 one for Christmas, another for Easter, and six 
 days iafter that. They have also bounded 
 how many syllables must be said in every 
 one of them. For each saint's day also they 
 have them ready for the generations yet un- 
 born to say. They can tell you also when 
 you shall kneel, when you shall stand, when 
 you shall abide in your seats, when you should 
 go up into the chancel, and what you should 
 do when you come there. All which the 
 apostles came short of, as not being able to 
 compose so profound a manner ; and that for 
 this reason included in the Scripture — be- 
 cause the fear of God tied them to pray as 
 they ought. 
 
 " For we know not what we should pray for 
 as we ought." Mark this: "as we ought." 
 For the not thinking of this word, or at least 
 the not understanding it in the spirit and 
 truth of it, hath occasioned these men to de- 
 vise, as Jeroboam did, another way of wor- 
 ship, both for matter and manner, than is re- 
 vealed in the word of God. But, saith Paul, 
 we must pray as we ought; and this we can- 
 not do by all the art, skill, cunning, and de- 
 vice of men or angels ; " For we know not 
 what we should pray for as we ought," but 
 the Spirit; nay farther, it must be the Spirit 
 itself that helpeth our infirmities; not the 
 Spirit and man's lust. What man of his own 
 brain may imagine and devise is one thing, 
 and what they are commanded and ought to 
 do is another. Many ask and have not, be- 
 cause they ask amiss, and so are never the 
 nearer the enjoying of those things they jjeti- 
 tion for. It is not to pray at random that will 
 put off God or cause him to answer. While 
 prayer is making, God is searching the heart, 
 to see from what root and spirit it doth arise. 
 And He that searcheth the heart knoweth 
 (that is, approveth only) the meaning of the 
 Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the 
 saints according to the will of God. For in 
 that which is according to his will only he 
 heareth us, and in nothing else. And it is 
 the Spirit only that can teaon us so to ask, it 
 
A DISCOURSE ON PRAYER. 
 
 661 
 
 only being able to search out all things, even 
 the deep things of God. Without which 
 Spirit, though we had a thousand common 
 prayer-books, yet we know not what we should 
 pray for as we ought, being accompanied with 
 those infirmities that make us absolutely in- 
 capable of such a work; which infirmities, 
 although it is a hard thing to name them all, 
 yet some of them are these that follow : 
 
 1. Without the Spirit, man is so infirm that 
 he cannot with all other means whatsoever be 
 enabled to .think one right saving thought of 
 Gjd, of Christ, or of his blessed things; and 
 therefore he sitith of the wicked, " God is not 
 in all their thoughts," unless it be that they 
 imagine him altogether such a one as them^ 
 selves ; " for every imagination of the thought 
 of their heart is only evil, and that contin- 
 ually." They then, not being able to conceive 
 aright of God to whom they pray, of Christ 
 through whom they pray, nor of the things for 
 which they pray, as is before showed, how 
 shall they be able to address themselves to 
 God without the Spirit help this infirmity? 
 Peradventure you will say, By the help of the 
 common prayer-book ; but that cannot do it, 
 unl ess it can open the eyes and reveal to the 
 soul all these things before touched ; which 
 that it cannot it is evident, because that is the 
 Work of the Spirit only. The Spirit itself is 
 the revealer of these things to poor souls, and 
 that which doth give us to understand them ; 
 wherefore Christ tells his disciples, when he 
 promised to send the Spirit, the Comforter, 
 " He shall take of mine and show unto you ;" 
 as if he had said, I know you are naturally 
 dark and ignorant as to the understanding any 
 of my things ; though ye try this course and 
 the other, yet your ignorance will still remain ; 
 the veil is spread over your heart, and there is 
 none can take away the same nor give you 
 spiritual understanding but the Spirit. The 
 common prayer-book will not do it, neither 
 can any man expect that it should be instru^ 
 mental that way, it being none of God's ordi- 
 nances, but a thing since the Scriptures were 
 written, patched together, one piece at one 
 time, and anothtr at that ; a mere h-nman in- 
 vention and institution, which God is so 'far 
 from owning of, that he expressly forbids it, 
 with any other such like, and that by manifold 
 sayings in his most holy and blessed word. 
 For right prayer must, as well in the outward 
 part of it, in the outward expression, as in the 
 inward intention, come from what the soul 
 doth apprehend in the light of the Spirit; 
 
 otherwise it is condemned as vain and an 
 abomination, because the heart and tongue do 
 not go along jointly in the same; neither in- 
 deed can they unless the Spirit help our infirm- 
 ities. And this David knew full well, which 
 did make him cry, " Lord, open thou my lips, 
 and my mouth shall show forth thy praise." 
 I suppose there is none can imagine but that 
 David could speak and express himself as well 
 as others, nay as any in our generation, as is 
 clearly manifested by his word and his works; 
 nevertheless, when this good man, this prophet, 
 comes into God's worship, then the Lord must 
 help or he can do nothing : " Lord, open thou 
 my lips, and then my mouth shall show forth 
 thy praise." He could not speak one right 
 word except the Spirit itself gave utterance. 
 " For we know not what we should pray for 
 as we oughtj but the Spirit itself helpeth our 
 infirmities." But, 
 
 2. It must be praying with the Spirit — that 
 is, the effectual praying — ^because without that, 
 as men are senseless, so hypocritical, cold, and 
 unseemly in their prayers, so they, with their 
 prayers, are both rendered abominable to God. 
 It is not the excellency of the voice, nor the 
 seeming affection and earnestness of him that 
 prayeth, that is in anything regarded of God 
 without it. For man, as man, is so full of all 
 manner of wickedness that as he cannot keep 
 a word or thought, so much less a piece of 
 prayer, clean and acceptable to God through 
 
 , Christ ; and for this cause the Pharisees, with 
 their prayers, were rejected. No question but 
 they were excellently able to express them- 
 selves in words, and also for length of time too 
 they were very notable ; but they had not the 
 Spirit of Jesus Christ to help them, and there- 
 fore they did what they did with their infirmi- 
 ties or weaknesses only, and so fell short of a 
 sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of 
 their souls to God through the strength of the 
 Spirit. That is the prayer that goeth to 
 heaven that is sent thither in the strength of 
 the Spirit. For, 
 
 3. Nothing but the Spirit can show a man 
 clearly his misery by nature, and so put a man 
 into a posture of prayer. Talk is but talk, as 
 we use to say, and so it is but mouth-worship 
 if there be not a sense of misery, and that 
 effectually too. Oh the cursed hypocrisy that 
 is in most hearts, and that aocompanieth many 
 thousands of praying men that would be so 
 looked upon in this day, and all for want of a 
 sense of their misery I But now the Spirit- 
 that will sweetly show the soul its misery 
 
R62 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 where it is, and what is like to become of it, 
 also the intolerableness of that condition ; for 
 it is the Spirit that doth effectually convince 
 of sin and misery without the Lord Jesus, and 
 so puts the soul into a sweet, serious, sensible, 
 affectionate way of praying to God according 
 to his word. 
 
 4. If men did see their sins, yet without the 
 htlp of the Spirit they would not pray. For 
 they would run away from God with Cain and 
 Judas, and utterly despair of mercy, were it 
 not for the Spirit. When a man is indeed 
 sensible of his sin and God's curse, then it is a 
 hard thing to persuade him to pray ; for, saith 
 his heart. There is no hope, it is in vain to seek 
 God; I am so vile, so wretched, and so cursed 
 a creature that I shall never be regarded. Now 
 here comes the Spirit and stayeth the soul, 
 helpeth it to hold up its face to God, by letting 
 into the heart some small sense of mercy to 
 encourage it to go to God, and hence it is 
 called the Comforter. 
 
 5. It must be in or with the Spirit, for with- 
 out that no man can know how he should 
 come to God the right way. Men may easily 
 say they come to God in his Son, but it is the 
 hardest thing of a thousand to come to God 
 aright and in his own way without the Spirit. 
 It is the Spirit that search eth all things, yea, 
 the deep things of God. It is the Spirit that 
 must show us the way of coming to God, and 
 also what there is in God that makes him de- 
 sirable. "I beseech thee, (saith Moses,) show 
 me the way that I may know thee." "He 
 shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you.'' 
 
 6. Because without the Spirit, though a man 
 did see his misery, and also the way to come 
 to God, yet he would never be able to claim a 
 share in either God, Christ, or mercy without 
 God's approbation. Oh how great a task is it 
 for a poor soul that comes sensible of sin and 
 the wrath of God to say in faith but this one 
 word. Father I I tell you, however hypocrites 
 think, yet the Christian that is so indeed finds 
 all the difficulty in this very thing — it cannot 
 say God is its Father. Oh, saith he, I dare 
 not call him Father; and hence it is that the 
 Bpirit must be sent into the hearts of God's 
 people for this very thing — to cry Father ; it 
 being too great a work for any man to do 
 knowingly and believingly without it. When 
 I say knowingly, I mean knowing what it is to 
 be a child of God and to be born again. And 
 when I say believingly, I mean for the soul to 
 believe, and that from good experience, that 
 the work of grace is wrought in him. This is 
 
 the right calling of God, Father ; and not, as 
 many do, to say in a babbling way the Lord's 
 Prayer (so called) by heart, as it lieth in the 
 words of the book. No, here is the life of 
 prayer, when in or with the Spirit, a man 
 being made sensible of sin' and how to come 
 to the Lord for mercy, he comes, I say, in 
 the strength of the Spirit and crieth. Father. 
 That one word spoken in faith is better than a 
 thousand prayers, as men call them, written 
 and read in a formal, cold, lukewarm way. Oh 
 how far short are the people of being sensible 
 of this who count it enough to teach them- 
 selves and children to say the Lord's Prayer, 
 the creed, with other sayings, when, as God 
 knows, they are senseless of themselves, their 
 misery, or what it is to be brought to God 
 through Christ! Ah, poor soul! study your 
 misery, and cry to God to show you your con- 
 fused blindness and ignorance, before you be 
 too rife in calling God your Father, or learn- 
 ing your children either so to say. And know 
 that to say God is your Father in a way of 
 prayer or conference, without an experiment 
 of the work of grace on your souls, it is to say 
 you are Jews and are not, and so to lie. You 
 say, Our Father ; God saith. You blaspheme. 
 You say you are Jews, that is true Christians ; 
 God saith. You lie. Behold, I will make them 
 of the synagogue of Satan which say they are 
 Jews and are not, but do lie. And I know the 
 blasphemy of them that say they are Jews and 
 are not, but are of the synagogue of Satan. 
 And so much the greater the sin is by how 
 much the more the sinrier boasts it with a pre- 
 tended sanctity, as the Jews did to Christ, in 
 the 8th of John, which made Christ, even in 
 plain terms, to tell them their doom, for all 
 their hypocritical pretences. And yet forsooth 
 every cursed whoremaster, thief and drunkard, 
 swearer and perjured person, they that have 
 not only been such in times past, but are even 
 so still — these, I say, by some must be counted 
 Jhe only honest men, and all because with 
 their blasphemous throats and hypocritical 
 hearts they will come to church and say. Our 
 Father. Nay further, these men, though 
 every time they say to God, Our Father, do 
 most abominably blaspheme, yet they must be 
 compelled thus to do. And because others 
 that are of more sober principles scruple the 
 truth of such vain traditions, therefore they 
 must be looked upon to be the only enemies ot 
 God and the nation ; whereas it is their own 
 cursed superstition that doth set the great Goo 
 agaipst them, and cause him to count them fo« 
 
A DISCOURSE ON PRAYER. 
 
 663 
 
 hia enemies. And yet, just like to Bonner, 
 that blood-red persecutor, they commend, I 
 say, these wretches, although never so vile, (if 
 they close in with their tradition,) to be good 
 Churchmen and honest subjects, while God's 
 people are, as it hath always been, looked 
 upon to be a turbulent, seditious, and fac- 
 tious people. 
 
 Therefore give me leave a little to reason 
 with thee, thou poor, blind, ignorant sot. (1.) 
 It may be thy great prayer is to say, " Our 
 Father, which art in heaven," &c. Dost thou 
 know the meaning of the very first words of 
 this prayer 7 Canst thou indeed, with the rest 
 of the saints, cry, Our Father ? Art thou truly 
 born again? Hast thou received the Spirit of 
 adoption? Dost thou see thyself in Christ, 
 and canst thou come to God as a member of 
 him? Or art thou ignorant of tlfese things, 
 and yet darest thou say, Our Father? Is not 
 the devil thy father, and dost thou not do the 
 deeds of the flesh, and yet darest thou say to 
 God, Our Father? Nay, art thou not a des- 
 perate persecutor of the children of God? 
 Hast thou not cursed them iu thine heart numy 
 a time? And yet dost thou, out of thy blas- 
 phemous throat, suffer these words to come, 
 even Our Father? He is their Father whom 
 thou hatest and perseoutest. But as the devil 
 presented himself amongst the sons of God 
 when they were to present themselves before 
 the Fathe'r, even our Father, so it is now, be- 
 cause the saints are commanded to say. Our 
 Father, therefore all the blind, ignorant rabble 
 in the world, tliey must also use the same 
 words. Our Father. 
 
 (2.) And dost thou indeed say, Hallowed be 
 thy name, with thy heart ? Dost thou study, 
 by all honest and lawful ways, to advance the 
 name, holiness, and majesty of God ? Doth 
 thy heart and conversation agree with this pas- 
 sage? Dost thou strive to imitate Christ in 
 all the works of righteousness which God doth 
 o .mmand of thee and prompt thee forward to? 
 It is so if thou be one that can truly with God's 
 allowance cry. Our Father. Or is it not the 
 least of thy thoughts all the day? And dost 
 thou not clearly make it appear that thou art 
 a cursed hypocrite, by condemning that with 
 thy daily practice which thou pretendest in 
 thy praying with thy dissembling tongue? 
 
 (3.) Wouldst thou have the kingdom of God 
 come indeed, and also his will to be done in 
 earth as it is done in heaven ? Nay, notwith- 
 standing thou, according to the form, say est. 
 Thy kingdom come, yet would it not make 
 
 thee ready to run mad to hea the trumpet 
 sound, to see the dead arise, and thyself just 
 now to go and appear before God, to reckon 
 for all the deeds thou hast done in the body ? 
 Nay, are not the very thoughts of it altogether 
 displeasing to thee? And if God's will should 
 be done on earth as it is in heaven, must it not 
 be thy ruin? There is never a rebel in heaven 
 against God, and if he should so deal on earth 
 must he not whirl thee down to hell ? And so 
 of the rest of the petitions. Ah ! how sadly 
 would even these men look, and with what 
 terror would they walk up and down the 
 world, if they did but know the lying and 
 blaspheming that proceedeth out of their 
 mouth, even in their most pretended sanctity I 
 The Lord awaken you, and learn you, poor 
 souls I in all humility, to take heed that you 
 be not rash and unadvised with your heart, 
 and much more with your mouth ; when you 
 .appear before God, (as the wise man saith,) be 
 not rash with thy mouth, and lot not thine 
 heart be hasty to utter anything, especially to 
 call God, Father, without some blessed expe- 
 rience, when thou coniest before God. But I 
 pass this. 
 
 7. It must be a prayer with the Spirit if it 
 be accepted, because there is nothing but the 
 Spirit that can lift up the soul or heart to God 
 in prayer: "The preparation of the heart in 
 man and the answer of the tongue is from the 
 Lord." That is, in every work for God, (and 
 especially in prayer,) if the heart run with the 
 tongue, it must be prepared by the Spirit of 
 God. Indeed the tongue is very apt (of itself) 
 to run without either fear or wisdom ; but when 
 it is the answer of the hqart, and that such 
 an heart as is prepared by the Spirit of God, 
 then it speaks so as God commands and doth 
 desire. 
 
 They are mighty words of David where he 
 saith that he lifteth his heart and his soul to 
 God. It is a great work for any man without 
 the strength of the Spirit; and therefore I con- 
 ceive that this is one of the great reasons why 
 the Spirit of God is called a Spirit of suppli- 
 cation, because it is that which helpeth the 
 heart when it supplicates indeed to do it; and 
 therefore saith Paul, " Praying with all prayer 
 and supplication in the Spirit;" and so in my 
 text, "I will pray with the Spirit." 
 
 Prayer, without the ' heart be in it, is like a 
 sound without life, and an heart, without it be 
 lifted up of the Spirit, will never pray to God. 
 
 8. As the heart must be lifted up by the 
 Spirit if it pray aright, so also it must be held 
 
564 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 by the Spirit when it is up if it continue to 
 pray aright. I do not know what or how it is 
 with others' hearts, whether they be lifted up 
 by the Spirit of God, and so continued, or no, 
 but this I am sure of: 
 
 First, that it is impossible that all the 
 prayer-hooks that men have made in the world 
 should lift up or prepare the heart ; that is the 
 work of the great God himself. 
 
 And in the second place, I am sure that 
 tliey are as far from keeping it up when it is 
 up. And indeed here is the life of prayer, to 
 have the heart kept with God in the duty. It 
 was a great matter for Moses to keep his hands 
 lifted up to God in prayer, but how much more 
 then to keep the heart in it! 
 
 The want of this is that which God com- 
 plains of — that "they draw nigh' to him with 
 their mouth and know him with their lips, but 
 their hearts were far from him ;" (but chiefly) 
 they that walk after the commandments and 
 traditions of men, as the scope of Matt. xv. 8, 
 9 doth testify. And verily, may I but speak 
 my own experience, and from that tell you the 
 difficulty of praying to God as I ought, it is 
 enough to make you poor, blind, carnal men 
 to entertain strange thoughts q^ me. For as 
 for my»heart, when I go to pray I find it loth 
 to go to God, and when it is with him so loth 
 to stay with him that many times I am forced 
 in my prayers, first to beg of God that he 
 would take mine heart and set it on himself 
 in Christ, and when it is there that he would 
 keep it there. Nay, majny times I know not 
 what to pray for, I am so blind, nor how to 
 pray, I am so ignorant; only, blessed be grace!, 
 the Spirit helps our infirmities. 
 
 Oh the starting-holes that the heart hath 
 in the time of prayer! None know how many 
 by-ways the heart hath, and back lanes, to slip 
 away from the presence of God; how much 
 pride also if enabled with expressions; how 
 much hypocrisy if before others; and how 
 little conscience is there made of prayer be- 
 tween God and the soul iu secret, unless the 
 Spirit of supplication be there to help. 
 
 When the Spirit gets into the heart, then 
 ^here is prayer indeed, and not till then. 
 
 9. The soul th'at doth rightly pray, it must 
 be in and with the help and strength of the 
 Spirit, because it is impossible that a man 
 should express himself in prayer without it. 
 When I say it is impossible for a man to ex- 
 press himself in prayer without it, I mean 
 that it is impossible that the heart in a sincere 
 and sensible, affectionate way should pour out 
 
 itself before God with those groans and sighs 
 that come from a truly praying heart without 
 the assistance of the Spirit. It is not the 
 mouth that is the main thing to be looked at 
 in prayer, but whether the heart be so full of 
 affection and earnestness in prayer with God 
 that it is impossible to express theii sense and 
 desire. For then a man desires indeed when 
 his desires are so strong, many, and mighty 
 that all the words, tears, and groans that can 
 come from the heart cannot utter them: "The 
 Spirit helps our infirmities, and makes inter- 
 cession for us with sighs and groans that can- 
 not be uttered." 
 
 That is but poor prayer which is only dis- 
 covered in so many words. 
 
 A man that truly prays one prayer shall 
 after that never be able to express with his 
 mouth or pen the unutterable desires, sense, 
 affection, and longing that went to God in that 
 prayer. 
 
 The best prayers have often more groans 
 than words; and those words that it hath are 
 but a lean and shallow representation of the 
 heart, life, and spirit of that prayer. You do 
 not find any words of prayer, that we read of, 
 come out of the mouth of Moses when he was 
 gone out of Egypt and was followed by Pha- 
 raoh, and yet he made heaven ring again with 
 his cry, but it was the inexpressible and un- 
 searchable groans and cryings of Jiis soul in 
 and with the Spirit. God is the God of 
 spirits, and his eyes look farther than at the 
 outside of any duty whatsoever. I doubt this 
 is but little thought on by the most of them 
 that would be looked upon as a praying 
 people. 
 
 Th.e nearer a man comes in any work that 
 God commands him to the doing of it accord- 
 ing to his will, so much the more hard and 
 difficult it is; and the reason is, because man, 
 as man, is not able to do it. But prayer (as 
 aforesaid) is not only a duty, but one of the 
 most eminent duties, and therefore so much 
 the more difficult: therefore Paul knew not 
 what he said when he said, "I will pray with 
 the Spirit." He knew well it was not what 
 others writ or said that could make him a 
 praying person; nothing less than the Spirit 
 could do it. 
 
 10. It must be with the Spirit, or else, as 
 there will be a failing in the act itself, so there 
 will be a failing, yea, a fainting, in the pros 
 ecution of the work. Prayer is an' ordinance 
 of God, that must continue with a soul so long 
 as it is on this side glory. But, as I said be- 
 
A DISCOURSE ON PRAYEJR. 
 
 665 
 
 fnie, as it is not possible for a man to get up 
 his heart to God in prayer, so it is as difficult 
 to keep it there without the assistance of the 
 Spirit. And if so, tlien for a man to continue 
 some time in prayer with God, it must of ne- 
 cessity be with the Spirit. 
 
 Christ tells us that men ought always to 
 pray, and not to faint; and again tells us that 
 this is one definition of an hypocrite, that 
 either he will not continue in prayer, or else, 
 if he do it, it will not be in th,e power — that 
 is, in the spirit — of prayer, but in the form, 
 for a pretence only. It is the easiest thing of 
 an hundred to fall from the pov/er to the form, 
 but it is the hardest thing of many to keep in 
 the life, spirit and power of any one duty, 
 especially prayer ; that is, such a work that a 
 man without the help of the Spirit gfinnot so 
 much as pray once, much less continue, with- 
 out in a sweet praying frame, and in praying 
 so to pray as to have his prayers ascend iiito 
 the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. 
 
 Jacob did not only begin, but held it : "I 
 will not let thee go unless thou bless me." So 
 did the rest of the godly. But this could not 
 be without the spirit of prayer : " It is through 
 the Spirit that we have access to the Father." 
 
 That same is a remarkable place in Jude 
 when he stirreth up the saints, by the judg- 
 ment of God upon the wicked, to stand fast, 
 and continue to hold out in the faith of the 
 Gospel, as one excellent means thereto, with- 
 out which he knew they would never be able 
 to do it. Saith he, "Build up yourselves in 
 youi- most holy faith, praying in the Holy 
 Ghost." As if he had said, Brethren, as eter- 
 nal life is laid up for the persons that hold out 
 only, so you cannot hold out unless you con- 
 tinue praying in the Spirit. The great cheat 
 that the devil and Antichrist deludes the world 
 withal, it is to make them continue in the 
 form of any duty, the form of preaching, of 
 hearing, of praying, &c. These are they that 
 have a form of godliness, but deny the power ; 
 from such turn away. 
 
 Here foUoweth the third thing — to wit: 
 
 III. What it is to pray with the Spirit and 
 with the understanding. 
 
 And now to the next thing, what it is to 
 pray with the Spirit, and to pray with the un- 
 derstanding also. For the apostle puts a clear 
 distinction between praying with the Spirit 
 ind praying with the Spirit and understand- 
 ing. Therefore when he saith he " will pray 
 with the Spirit," he adds, " and will pray with 
 the understanding also." This distinction was 
 
 occasioned through the Corinthians not ob- 
 serving that it was their duty to do what they 
 did, to the edification of themselves and others 
 too, whereas they did it for 'heir own com- 
 mendation. So I judge, for many of them 
 having extraordinary gifts, as to speak with 
 divers tongues, &c., therefore they were moic 
 for those mighty gifts than they were for the 
 edifying of their brethren, which was the 
 cause that Paul wrote this chapter to them, to 
 let them understand that though extraordinary 
 gifts were excellent, yet to do what they did 
 for the edification of the Church was more 
 excellent. For if I will pray in an unknown 
 tongue my spirit prayeth, but my understand- 
 ing (and also the understanding of others) is 
 unfruitful. Therefore "I will pray with the 
 Spirit, and I will pray with the undcretanding 
 also." 
 
 It is expedient, then, that the understanding 
 should be occupied in prayer, as well as the 
 heart and mouth : " I will pray with the Spirit, 
 and I will pray with the understanding also." 
 That which is done with understanding is 
 done more effectually, .sensibly, and heartily, 
 as I shall show farther anon, than that which 
 is done without it. Which made the apostle 
 pray for the Colossians "that God would fill 
 them with the knowledge of his will, and in 
 all wisdom and spiritual understanding." And 
 for the Ephesians, " that God would give unto 
 them the spirit of wisdom and revelation in 
 the knowledge of him.'' And so for the Phil- 
 ippians, "that God would make them abound 
 in knowledge and in all judgment." A suit- 
 able understanding is good in every thing a 
 man undertakes, either civil or spiritual, and 
 therefore it must be desired by all them that 
 would be a praying people. In my speaking 
 to this I shall show you what it l« to pray with 
 understanding. 
 
 Understanding is to be taken both for 
 speaking -in our mother-tongue and also ex- 
 perimentally. 
 
 I pass the first, and treat only on the 
 second. 
 
 For the making of right prayers, il is to be 
 required that there should be a good or spirit- 
 ual understanding in all them who pray to 
 God. 
 
 1. To pray with understanding is to pray as 
 being instructed by ,the Spirit in the under- 
 standing of the want of those things which 
 the soul is to pray for. Though a man be in 
 never so much need of pardon of sin and de- 
 liverance from wrath to come, yet if he under- 
 
666 
 
 SUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 stand not this lie will either not desire them at 
 all, or else be so cold and lukewarm in his 
 desires after them that God will even loathe 
 their frame of spirit in asking for them. Thus 
 it was with the Church of Laodiceans; they 
 wanted knowledge of spiritual understanding; 
 they knew not that they were poor, wretched, 
 blind, and naked. The cause whereof made 
 them and all their services so loathsome to 
 Christ that he threatens to spew them out of 
 his mouth. Men without understanding may 
 say the same words in prayer as others do, but 
 if there be an understanding in the one and 
 none in the other, there is, oh there is a mighty 
 difference in speaking the very same words ! — 
 the one speaking from a spiritual understand- 
 ing of those things that he in words desires, 
 arid the other words it only, and there is all. 
 
 2. Spiritual understanding espieth in the 
 heart of God a readiness and willingness to 
 give those things to the soul that it stands 
 in need of. David by this could guess at the 
 very thoughts of God towards him. And thus 
 it was with the woman of Canaan ; she did by 
 faith and a right understanding discern (be- 
 yond all the rough carriage of Christ) tender- 
 ness and willingness in his heart to save, which 
 caused her to be vehement and earnest, yea, 
 restless, until she did enjoy the mercy she stood 
 in need of 
 
 An understanding of the willingness that is 
 in the heart of God to save sinners : there is 
 nothing will press the soul more to seek after 
 God slnd to cry for pardon than it. If a man 
 should see a pearl worth an hundred pounds 
 lie in a ditch, yet if he understood not the 
 value of it he would lightly pass it by ; but if 
 he once get the knowledge of it he would 
 venture up to the neck for it. So it is with 
 bouls concerning the things of God : if a man 
 once get an understanding of the worth of 
 ihem, tken his heart, nay, the very strength 
 of his soul, runs after them, and he .will never 
 leave crying till he have them. The two 
 blind men in the Gospel, because they did 
 certainly know that Jesus, who was going by 
 them, was both able and willing to heal such 
 infirmities as they were afflicted with, there- 
 fore they cried, and the more they were re- 
 buked the more they cried. 
 
 3. The understanding being spiritually en- 
 lightened, hereby there is the way (as afore- 
 said) discovered through which the soul should 
 come unto God ; which gives great encourage- 
 ment unto it. 
 
 It is else with a poor soul as with one who 
 
 hath a work to do, and if it be not done the 
 danger is great ; if it be done, so is the advan- 
 tage. But he knows not how to begin nor how 
 to proceed, and so, through discouragement, 
 lets all alone and runs the hazard. 
 
 4. The enlightened understanding sees large- 
 ness enough in the promises to encourage it to 
 pray, which still adds to it strength to strength. 
 As when men promise such and such things to 
 all that will come for them, it is great encour- 
 agement to those that know what promises are 
 made to come and ask for them. 
 
 5. The understanding being enlightened, 
 way is made for the soul to come to God 
 with suitable arguments, sometimes in a way 
 of expostulation, as Jacob, sometimes in a 
 way of supplication ; yet not in a verbal way 
 only, but even from the heart there is forced 
 by the Spirit, through the understanding, such 
 effectual arguments as moveth the heart of 
 God. When Ephraim gets a right under- 
 standing of his own unseemly carriages to- 
 wards the Lord, then he begins to bemoan 
 himself; and in bemoaning of himself, he 
 uses such arguments with the Lord that it 
 affects his heart, draws out forgiveness, and 
 makes Ephraim pleasant in his eyes through 
 Jesus Christ our Lord : " I have surely heard 
 Ephraim bemoaning himself thus, (saith God,) 
 Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised ; 
 as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke turn 
 thou me, and I shall be turned ; for thou art 
 the Lord my God. Surely after I was turned 
 I repented, and after I was instructed (or had 
 a right understanding of myself) I smote 
 upon my thigh ; I was ashamed, yea, even 
 confounded, because I did bear the reproach 
 of my youth." These be Ephraim's complaint 
 and bemoanings of himself, at which the Lord 
 breaks forth into these heart-melting expres- 
 sions, saying, " Is Ephraim my dear son ? Is 
 he a pleasant child ? For since I spake unto 
 him I do earnestly remember him still ; there- 
 fore my bowels are troubled for him ; I will 
 surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord." 
 Thus you see that as it is required to pray vrith 
 the Spirit, so it is to pray with the under- 
 standing also. And to illustrate what hath 
 been spoken by a similitude. Set the case: 
 there should come two a-begging to your 
 door; the one is a poor, lame, wounded, and 
 almost starved creature ; the other is a health- 
 ful, lusty person. These two use the same 
 words in their begging; the one saith he is 
 almost starved, so doth the other ; but yet the 
 man that is indeed the poor, lame, or maimed 
 
A DISCOURSE ON PRAYER. 
 
 667 
 
 person, he speaks with more sense, feeling, 
 and understanding of the misery that is men- 
 tioned in their begging than the other can do ; 
 and it is discovered more by his affectionate 
 speaking, his bemoaning himself. His pain 
 and poverty make him speak more in a spirit 
 of lamentation than the other, and he shall 
 be pitied sooner than the other by all those 
 that have the least drachm of natural affection 
 or pity. J ast thus it is with God ; there are 
 gome who out of custom and formality go and 
 pray ; there are others who go in the bitter- 
 ness of their spirits ; the one, he prays out of 
 bars notion and naked knowledge ; the other 
 hath his words forced from him by the anguish 
 of his soul. Surely that is the man that God 
 will look at, "even him that is of an humble 
 and contrite spirit, and that trembleth at his 
 words." 
 
 6. An understanding well enlightened is of 
 admirable use also both as to the matter and 
 manner of prayer. He that hath his under- 
 standing well exercised to discern between 
 good and evil, and in it placed a sense either 
 of the misery of man or the mercy of God, that 
 soul hath no need of the writings of other men 
 to teach him by forms of prayer ; for as he 
 that feels the pain needs not to be learned to 
 ciy Oh! even so he that hath his understand- 
 ing opened by the Spirit needs not so to be 
 taught of other men's prayers as that he can- 
 not pray without them ; the present sense, 
 feeling, and pressure lie upon his spirit, and 
 provoke him to groan out his requests unto 
 the Lord. When David had the pains of hell 
 catching hold on him and the sorrows of hell 
 compassing him about, he needs not a bishop 
 in a surplice to learn him to say, " Lord, I 
 beseech thee, deliver my soul!" or to look 
 into a book to teach him in a form to pour 
 out his heart before God. It is the nature of 
 the heart of sick men, in their pain and sick- 
 ness, to vent itself for ease by dolorous groans 
 and complainings to them that stand by. 
 Thus it was with David. And thus, blessed 
 be the Lord 1 it is with them that are endued 
 fl '.Ih the grace of God. 
 
 7. It is necessary that there be an enlight- 
 ened understanding, to the end that the soul be 
 kept in a continuation of the duty of prayer. 
 
 The people of God are not ignorant how 
 many wiles, tricks, and temptations the devil 
 hath to make a poor soul who is truly will- 
 ing to have the Lord Jesus Clirist, and that 
 upon Christ's terms too — I say, to tempt that 
 Boul to be weary of seeking the face f Godj 
 
 and to think that God is not willing to have 
 mercy on such a one as him. Ay, saith Satan, 
 thou mayest pray indeed, but thou shalt not pre- 
 vail. Thou seest thine heart is hard, cold, dull, 
 and dead ; thou dost not pray with the Spirit, 
 thou dost not pray in good earnest, thy thoughts 
 are running after other things when thou pre- 
 tendest to pray to God. Away, hypoci-ite I go 
 no further; it is but in vain to striTC any 
 longer. Here now, if the soul be not well in- 
 formed in its understanding, it will presently 
 cry out, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my 
 God hath forgotten me. Whereas the soul 
 rightly informed and enlightened saith, " Well, 
 I will seek the Lord, and wait: I will not 
 leave off, though the Lord keep silence and 
 speak not one word of comfort." He loved 
 Jacob dearly, and yet he made him wrestle 
 before he had the blessing. Seeming delays 
 in God are no tokens of his displeasure ; he 
 may hide his face from his dearest saints. He 
 loves to keep his people praying, and to find 
 them ever knocking at the gate of heaven. It 
 may be, says the soul, the Lord tries me, or he 
 loves to hear me groan out my condition before 
 him. The woman of Canaan would not take 
 seeming denials for real ones; she knew the 
 Lord was gracious, and the Lord will avenge 
 his people, though he bear long with them. 
 The Lord hath waited longer upon me than I 
 have waited upon him ; and thus it was with 
 David : " I waited patiently," saith he ; that 
 is, It was long before the Lord answered me, 
 though at the last he inclined his ear unto 
 me and heard my cry. And the most excel- 
 lent remedy for this is an understanding well 
 informed and enlightened. Alas ! how many 
 poor souls are there in the world that truly 
 fear the Lord, who, because they are not well 
 informed in their understanding, are oft ready 
 to give up all for lost upon almost every trick 
 and temptation of Satan I The Lord pity 
 them, and help them to pray with the Spirit, 
 and with the understanding also I Much of 
 mine own experience could I here discover 
 when I have been in my fits of agonies of 
 spirit. I have been strongly persuaded to 
 leave off and seek the Lord no longer, but 
 being made to understand what great sinners 
 the Lord hath had mercy on, and how large 
 his promises were still to sinners, and that it 
 was not the whole but the sick, not the right- 
 eous but the sinner, not the full but the empty, 
 that he extended his grace and mercy unto, 
 this made me, through the assistance of his 
 Holy Spirit, to cleave to him, to hang upon 
 
668 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 him, and yet to cry, though for the present he 
 made no answer; and the Lord help all his 
 poor, tempted, and afflicted people to do the 
 like, and to continue, though it be long, 
 according to the saying of the prophet, and 
 to help them (to that end) to pray, not by 
 the inventions of men and their stinted 
 forms, but with the Spirit and with under- 
 standing also. 
 
 And now to answer a query or two, and so 
 to pass on to the next thing. 
 
 Query 1. But what would you have us poor 
 creatures to do that cannot tell how to pray? 
 The Lord knows I know not either how to 
 pray or what to pray for. 
 
 Aiiswer. Poor heart! thou canst not, thou 
 complainest, pray ; canst thou see thy misery ? 
 Hath God showed thee that thou art by nature 
 under the curse of his law ? If so, do not mis- 
 take; I know thou dost groan, and that most 
 bitterly. I am persuaded thou canst scarcely 
 be found doing any thing in thy calling but 
 prayer breaketh from thy heart. Have not 
 thy groans gone up to heaven from every cor- 
 ner of thy house? I know it is thus, and so 
 also doth thine own sorrowful heart witness 
 thy tears, thy forgetfulness of thy calling, &c. 
 Is not thy heart so full of desires after the 
 things of another world that many times thou 
 dost even forget the things of this world? 
 Prithee read the Scripture in Job xxiii. 12. 
 
 Query 2. Yea,, but when I go into secret, 
 /nd intend to pour out my soul before God, I 
 can scarce say any thing at all. 
 
 Answer. Ah, sweet soul ! it is not ihy words 
 that God so much regards as that he will not 
 mind thee except thou comest before him with 
 some eloquent oration. His eye is on the bro- 
 kenness of thine heart, and that it is that 
 makes the very bowels of the Lord run over : 
 " A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou 
 wilt not despise." 
 
 2. The stopping of thy words may arise from 
 overmuch trouble in thy heart. David was so 
 troubled sometimes that he could not speak. 
 But this may comfort all such sorrowful hearts 
 as thou art, that though thou canst not through 
 the anguish of thy spirit speak much, yet the 
 Holy Spirit stirs up in thine heart groans and 
 sighs so much the more vehement ; when the 
 mouth iii hindered, yet the Spirit is not. 
 
 Moses (as aforesaid) made heaven so ring 
 again with his prayers (that we read of) not 
 one word came out of his mouth. But, 
 
 3. If thou wouldest more fully express thy- 
 self before the Lord, study, first, thy filthy 
 
 estate; secondly, God's promises ; thirdly, the 
 heart of Christ, which thou mayest know or 
 discern — 1. By his condescension and blood- 
 shed. 2. By the mercy he hath extended to 
 great sinners formerly, and plead thine own 
 vileness by way of bemoaning Christ's blood, 
 by way of expostulation ; and in thy prayers 
 let the mercy that he hath extended to other 
 great sinners, together with his rich prtnisea 
 of grace, be much upon thy heart. Yet !et me 
 counsel thee — 1. Take heed that thou content 
 not thyself with words. 2. That thou do not 
 think that God looks only at them. But, 3. 
 However, whether thy words be few or many, 
 let thine heart go with them ; and then shalt 
 thou seek him, and find him when thou shalt 
 seek him with thy whole heart. 
 
 Objection,. But though you have seemed to 
 speak against any other way of praying but by 
 the Spirit, yet here you yourself can give di- 
 rection how to pray. 
 
 Answer. We ought to prompt one another 
 forward to prayer, though we ought not to make 
 for each other forms of prayer. 
 
 To exhort to pray with Christian direction 
 is one thing, and to make stinted forms for the 
 tying up the Spirit of God to them is another 
 thing. 
 
 The apostle gives them no form to pray 
 withal, yet directs to prayer. 
 
 Let no man therefore conclude that because 
 we may with allowance give instructions and 
 directions to pray, therefore it is lawftil to 
 make for each other forms of prayer. 
 
 Objection. But if we do not use forms of 
 prayer, how shall we teach our children to 
 pray? 
 
 Answer. My judgment is, that men go the 
 wrong way to learn their children to pray in 
 going about so soon to learn them any set 
 company of words, as is the common use of 
 poor creatures to do. 
 
 For to me it seems to be a better way for 
 people betimes to tell their children what curs 
 ed creatures they are, and how they are under 
 the wrath of God by reason of original and 
 actual sin, also to tell them the nature of God's 
 wrath and the duration of the misery ; which 
 if they conscientiously do, they would sooner 
 learn their children to pray than they do. 
 The way that men learn to pray, it is by con- 
 viction for sin, and this is the way to make 
 our sweet babes do so too. But the other 
 way — namely, to be busy in learning children 
 forms of prayer before they know any thing 
 else — it is the next way to make them cursed 
 
A DISCOURSE ON PRAYER. 
 
 669 
 
 hypocrites and to puff tliem up with pride. 
 Learn therefore your cliildren to know their 
 wretched state and condition, tell them of hell- 
 fire and their sins, of damnation and salva- 
 tion, the way to escape the one and to enjoy 
 the other, (if you know yourselves;) and this 
 will make tears run down your sweet babes' 
 eyes and hearty groans flow from their hearts; 
 and then also you may tell them to whom they 
 Bhould pray, and through whom they should 
 pray ; you may tell them also of God's prom- 
 ises, and his former grace extended to sinnei-s 
 according to the word. 
 
 Ah I poor sweet ,babes, the Lord open their 
 eyes and make them holy Christians ! Saith 
 David, " Come, ye children, hearken unto me ; 
 I will teach you the fear of the Lord." 
 
 He doth not say, I will muzzle yoH up in a 
 form of prayer, but, " I will teach you the fear 
 of the Lord ;" which is, to see their sad state 
 by nature, and to be instructed in the truth of 
 the Gospel, which doth through the Spirit be- 
 get prayer in every one that in truth learns it. 
 And the more you learn them this the more 
 will their hearts run out to God in prayer. 
 
 God never did account Paul a praying man 
 until he was a convinced and converted man ; 
 no more will it be with any one else. 
 
 Objection. But we find that the disciples de- 
 sired that Christ would teach them to pray, as 
 John also taught his disciples, and that there- 
 upon he taught them that form called the 
 Lord's Prayer. 
 
 Answer 1. To be taught by Christ is that 
 which not only they but we desire ; and seeing 
 he is not here in his person to teach us, the 
 Lord teach us by his word and Spirit ; for the 
 Spirit it is which he hath said he would send 
 to supply in his room when he went away, as 
 it is in John xiv. 16 and xvi. 7. 
 
 2. As to that called a form, I cannot think 
 I hat Christ intended it as a stinted form of 
 jn-ayer — 
 
 (1.) Because he himself layeth it down di- 
 versely, as it is to be seen if you compare Matt. 
 vi. and Luke ix. Whereas, if he intended it 
 as a set form, it must not have been so laid 
 down, for a set form is so many words and no 
 more. 
 
 (2.) We do not find that the apostles did 
 ever observe it as such, neither did they ad- 
 monish others so to do. Search all their epis- 
 tles, yet surely they, both for knowledge to 
 discern and faithfulness to practice, were as 
 eminent as any one ever since in the world 
 which would impose it. 
 
 But, in a word, Christ by those words, " Our 
 Father," &c., doth instruct his people what 
 rules they should observe in their prayers to 
 God— 
 
 (1.) That they should pray in faith. (2.) 
 To God in the heavens. (3.) For such things 
 as are according to his will, &c. Pray thus or 
 after this manner. 
 
 Objection. But Christ bids pray for the Spirit ; 
 this implies that men without the Spirit may, 
 notwithstanding, pray and be heard. 
 
 Answer 1. The speech of Christ there is 
 directed to his own. Ver. 1. 
 
 2. Christ, in telling of them that God would 
 give his Holy Spirit to them that ask' him, is 
 to be understood of giving more of the Holy 
 Spirit; for still they are the disciples spoken 
 to, which had a measure of the Spirit already ; 
 for he saith, " When ye pray, say. Our Father," 
 (ver. 2;) "I say unto you," (ver. 8;) "And I 
 say unto you," (ver. 9;) "If ye then, being 
 evil, know how to give good things to your 
 children, how much more shall your heavenly 
 Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask 
 him?" Christians ought to pray for the 
 Spirit — ^that is, more of it — though God hath 
 endued them with it already. 
 
 Question. Then would you have none pray 
 but those that know they are disciples of 
 Christ? 
 
 Answer. Yes. 
 
 1. Let every soul tftt would be saved pour 
 out itself to God, though it cannot through 
 temptation conclude itself a child of God. 
 And 2. I know if the grace of God be in thee 
 it will be as natural to thee to groan out thy 
 condition as it is for a sucking child to cry for 
 the breast. Prayer is one of the first things 
 that discovers a man to be a Christian. But 
 yet, if it be right, it is such a prayer as fol- 
 loweth : 
 
 (L) To desire God in Christ, for himself, for 
 his holiness, love, wisdom, and glory. For 
 right prayer, as it runs on to God through 
 Christ, so it centres in him, and in him alone : 
 "Whom have I in heaven but thee? And 
 there is none in earth that I desire (long foi 
 or seek after) besides thee." 
 
 (2.) That the soul might enjoy continually 
 communion with him, both here and hereafter : 
 " I shall be satisfied when I awake with thine 
 image or in thy likeness." "For in this we 
 groan earnestly," &c. 
 
 (3.) Eight prayer is accompanied with a 
 continual labour after that which is prayed 
 for : " My soul waiteth for the Lord, more than 
 
670 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 they that watch for the morning.'' "I -will 
 arise now and seek Him whom' my soul loveth." 
 For mart, I beseech you, there are two things 
 that provoke to prayer : the one is a detestation 
 to sin and the things of this life ; the other is 
 a longing desire after communion with God in 
 an holy and undefiled state and inheritance. 
 Compare but this one thing with most of the 
 prayers that are made by men, and you shall 
 find them but mock prayers and the breathings 
 of an abominable spirit ; for even the most of 
 men either not pray at all, or else only en- 
 deavour to mock God and the world by so 
 doing; for do but compare their prayer and 
 the course of their lives together, and you may 
 easily see that the thing included in their 
 prayer is the least looked after by their lives. 
 O sad hypocrites ! 
 
 Thus have I briefly showed you — 1. What 
 prayer is; 2. What it is to pray with the 
 Spirit ; 3. What it is to pray with the Spirit 
 and with the understanding also. 
 
 IV. I shall now speak a word or two of ap- 
 plication, and so conclude with — 1. A word of 
 information ; 2. A word of encouragement ; 3. 
 A word of rebuke. 
 
 Use 1. A word of information. 
 
 For the first to inform you : As prayer is the 
 duty of every one of the children of God, and 
 carried on by the Spirit of Christ in the soul, 
 so every one that doth but offer to take upon 
 him to pray to the Lo " had need to he very 
 wary, and go about that work especially with 
 the dread of God, as well as with hopes of the 
 mercy of God through Jesus Christ. 
 
 Prayer is an ordinance of God in which a 
 man draws very near to God, and therefore it 
 calleth for so much the more of the assistance 
 of the grace of God to help a soul to pray as 
 becomes one that is in the presence of him. 
 It is a, shame for a man to behave himself 
 irreverently before a king, but a sin to do so 
 before God. And as a king (if wise) is not 
 pleased with an oration made up with un- 
 seemly words and gestures, so God takes no 
 pleasure in the sacrifice of fools. It is not 
 long discourses nor eloquent tongues that are 
 the things which are pleasing in the ears of 
 the Lord, but a humble, broken, and contrite 
 heart that is sweet in the nostrils of the heav- 
 enly Majesty. Therefore, for information, 
 know that there are these five things that are 
 obstructions to prayer, and even make void the 
 requests of the creature : 
 
 1. When men regard iniquity in their hearts 
 at the time of their prayers before God : " If I 
 
 regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not 
 hear my prayer." When there is a secret love 
 to that very thing which thou with thy dis- 
 sembling lips dost ask for strength against ; foi 
 this is the wickedness of man's heart, that it 
 will even love and hold fast that which with 
 the mouth it prays against ; and of this sort are 
 they " that honour God with their mouth, but 
 their heart is far from him." Oh how ugly 
 would it be in our eyes if we should see a beg- 
 gar ask an alms with an intention to throw it 
 to the dogs, or that should say with one breath, 
 Pray bestow this upon me, and with the next, 
 I beseech you give it me not ! And yet thus 
 it is with these kind of persons; with their 
 mouth they say, Thy will be done, and with 
 their hearts nothing less; with their mouth 
 say, Hallowed be thy name, and with their 
 hearts and lives they delight to dishonour him 
 all the day long. These be the prayers that 
 become sin, and though they put them often, 
 yet the Lord will never answer them. 
 
 2. When men pray for show, to be heard 
 and thought somebody in religion, and the 
 like. 
 
 These prayers also fall short of God's appro- 
 bation, and are never like to be answered in 
 reference to eternal life. 
 
 There are two sorts of men that pray to this 
 end: 
 
 (1.) Your trencher-chaplains, that thrust 
 themselves into great men's families, pretend- 
 ing the worship of God, when in truth the 
 great business is their own bellies ; these were 
 notably pointed out by Ahab's prophets, and 
 also Nebuchadnezzar's, who, though they pre- 
 tended great devotion, yet their lusts and their 
 bellies were the great things aimed at by them 
 in all their pieces of devotion. 
 
 (2.) Them also that seek repute aild ap- 
 plause for their eloquent terms, and seek more ' 
 to tickle the ears and heads of their hearers 
 than anything else. These be they "that pray 
 to be heard of men, and have all their reward 
 already." 
 
 These persons are discovered thus : 1. They 
 eye only their auditory in their expressions. 
 2. They look for commendation when they 
 have done. 3. Their hearts either rise or fall 
 according to their praise or enlargement. 4. 
 The length of their prayer pleaseth them, and 
 that it might be long they will vainly repeat 
 things over and over ; they study for enlarge- 
 ments, but look not from what heart they 
 come ; they look for returns, but it is the windy 
 applause of men ; and therefore they love not 
 
A DISCOURSE ON PRAYER. 
 
 671 
 
 to be in their chamber, but among company ; 
 and if at any time conscience thrusts them 
 into their closet, yet hypocrisy will cause them 
 to be heard in the streets; and when their 
 mouths have done going their prayers are 
 ended, for they wait not to hearken what the 
 Lord will say. 
 
 3. A third sort of prayer that will not be 
 accepted of God it is when either they pray 
 for wrong things, or if for right things, yet 
 that the things prayed for might he spent upon 
 their lusts and laid out to wrong ends : " Some 
 have not, because they ask not, (saith James,) 
 and others ask and have not, because they ask 
 amiss,' that they may consume it on their 
 lusts." Ends contrary to God's will is a great 
 argument with God to frustrate the petitions 
 presented before him. Hence it is that so 
 many pray for this and that, and yet receive it 
 not. God answers them only with silence; 
 they have their words for their labour ; that 
 is all. 
 
 Objection. But God hears some persons, 
 though their hearts be not right with him, as 
 he did Israel in giving quails, though they 
 spent them on their lusts. 
 
 Answer. If he doth, it is in judgment, not in 
 mercy. He gave them their desire indeed, but 
 they had better have been without, for he sent 
 leanness into their souls. Woe be to that man 
 that God answereth thus ! 
 
 4. Another sort of prayers there are that are 
 not answered ; and those are such as are made 
 by men and presented to God in their own 
 persons only, without their appearing in the 
 Lord Jesus. For though God hath appointed 
 prayer, and promised to hear the prayer of the 
 creature, yet not the prayer of any creature 
 that comes not in Christ : " If you ask any- 
 thing in my name. And whether ye eat or 
 drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all in the name 
 of the Lord Jesus Christ." If you ask any- 
 thing in my name, &c. Though you be never 
 so devout, zealous, earnest, and constant in 
 prayer, yet it is in Christ only that you must 
 be heard and accepted. But, alas! the most 
 of men know not what it is to come to him in 
 the name of our Lord Jesus, which is the reason 
 they live wicked, pray wicked, and also die 
 wicked ; or else, 2, that they attain to nothing 
 else but what a mere natural man may attain 
 unto, as to be exact in word and deed betwixt 
 man and man, and only with the righteous- 
 ness of the'law to appear before God. 
 
 5. The last thing that hindereth prayer is 
 the form of it without Ihe power. It is an 
 
 easy thing for men to be very hot for such 
 things' as forms of prayer as they are written 
 in a book, but yet they are altogether forgetful 
 to inquire with themselves whether they have 
 the spirit and power of prayer. These men 
 are like a painted man, and their prayers like 
 a false voice : they in person appear as hypo- 
 crites, and their prayers are an abomination. 
 When they say they have been pouring out 
 their souls to God, he saith they' have been 
 howling like dogs. 
 
 When therefore thou intendest or art minded 
 to pray to the Lord of heaven and earth, con- 
 sider these following particulars : 
 
 (1.) Consider seriously what thou wantest. 
 Do not as many who in their word only beat 
 the air, and ask for such things as indeed they 
 do not desire nor see that they stand in need 
 thereof 
 
 (2.) When thou seest what thou wantest, 
 keep to that, and take heed that thou prayest 
 sensibly. 
 
 Objection. But I have a sense of nothing; 
 then, by your argument, I must not pray at all. 
 
 Answer 1. If thou findest thyself senseless 
 in some sad measure, yet thou canst not com- 
 plain of that senselessness but by being 
 sensible. There is a sense of senselessness. 
 According to thy sense, then, that thou hast 
 of the need of any thing, so pray, and if thou 
 art sensible of thy senselessness, pray the 
 Lord to make thee sensible of whatever thou 
 findest thy heart senseless of This was the 
 usual practice of the holy men of God: 
 "Lord, make me to know my end." "Lord, 
 open to us this parable," said the disciples. 
 
 And to this is annexed the promise, "Call 
 upon me and I will hear thee and show thee 
 great and mighty things that thou knowest 
 not," that thou art not sensible of But, 
 
 2. Take heed that thy heart go to God as 
 well as thy mouth. Let not thy mouth go any 
 further than thou strivest to draw thine heart 
 along with it. David would lift his heart and 
 soul to the Lord, and good reason; for so far 
 as a man's mouth goeth not along with his 
 heart, so far it is but lip-labour only; and 
 though God calls for and accepteth the calves 
 of the lips, yet the lips without the heart 
 argueth not only senselessness, but our being 
 without sense of our senselessness ; and [here- 
 fore, if thou hast a mind to enlarge in prayer 
 before God, see that it be with thy heart. 
 
 3. Take heed of affecting expressions, and 
 so to please thyself with the use of them that 
 thou forget not the life of prayer. 
 
672 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. , 
 
 I shall conclude tliis use with a caution or 
 two. 
 
 And the first is, take heed you do not throw 
 off prayer through sudden persuasions that 
 thou hast not the Spirit, neither prayest 
 thereby. It is the great work of the devil 
 to do his best, or rather worst, against the 
 best jirayers. He will flatter your false, dis- 
 sembling hypocrites, and feed them with a 
 thousand fancies of well-doing, when their 
 very duties of prayer and all others stink in 
 the nostrils of God when he stands at a poor 
 Joshua's hand to resist him — that is, to per- 
 suade him that neither his person nor perform- 
 ances are accepted of God. Take heed, there- 
 fore, of such false conclusions and groundless 
 discouragements; and though such persuasions 
 do come in upon thy spirit, be so far from be- 
 ing discouraged by them that thou use them 
 to put thee upon further sincerity and restless- 
 ness of spirit in thy approaching to God. 
 
 Secondly. As such sudden temptations should 
 not stop thee from prayer and pouring out 
 thy soul to God, so neither should thine own 
 heart's corruption hinder thee. It may be 
 thou mayest find in thee all those things be- 
 fore mentioned, and that they will be endeav- 
 ouring to put forth themselves in thy praying 
 to him. Thy business then is, to judge them, 
 to pray against them, and lay thyself so much 
 the more at the foot of God in a sense of thy 
 own vileness, and rather make an argument 
 from thy vileness and corruption of heart to 
 plead with God for justifying and sanctifying 
 gi-ace than an argument of discouragement 
 and despair. David went this way : "O Lord, 
 (saith he,) pardon mine iniquity, for it is 
 great." 
 
 Use 2. A word of encouragement. 
 
 And therefore, secondly, (to speak a word 
 by way of encouragement to the poor tempted 
 and cast-down soul,) to pray to God through 
 Christ. Though all prayer that is accepted of 
 God in reference to eternal life must be in the 
 Spirit, for that only maketh intercession for us 
 according to the will of God, yet because many 
 a poor soul may have the Holy Spirit working 
 on them and stirring of them to groan unto 
 the Lord for mercy, though through unbelief 
 they do not, and for the present cannot, be- 
 lieve that they are the people of God, such as 
 he delights in, yet forasmuch as the truth of 
 grace may be in them, therefore I shall, to en- 
 courage them, lay down further these few par- 
 ticxilars: 
 
 1. That Scripture in Luke xi. 8 is very en- 
 
 couraging to any poor soul that doth hunger 
 after Christ Jesus. In the 5th, 6th, and 7th 
 verses he speaketh a parable of a man that 
 went to his friend to borrow three loaves, who 
 because he was in bed, denied him ; yet for his 
 importunity's sake, he did arise and give him; 
 clearly signifying that though poor souls, 
 through the weakness of their faith, cannot 
 see that they are the friends of God, yet they 
 should never leave asking and kno'cking at 
 God's door for mercy. " Mark, (saith Christ,) 
 I say unto you, although he will not arise and 
 give him because he is his friend, yet because 
 ■ of his importunity (of restless desires) he will 
 arise and give him as many as he nee_deth." 
 Poor heart! thou criest out that God will not 
 regard thee, thou dost not find that thou art a 
 friend to him, but rather an enemy yi thine 
 heart by wicked works; and thou art as though 
 thou didst hear the Lord saying to thee, " Trou- 
 ble me not, I cannot give unto thee," as he in 
 the parable; yet, I say, continue knocking, 
 crying, moaning, and bewailing thyself: I tell 
 thee, though he will not arise and give thee 
 because thou art his friend, yet because of thy 
 importunity he will arise and gave thee as 
 many as thou needest. The same in effect you 
 have discovered in the parable of the unjust 
 judge and the poor widow; her importunity 
 prevailed with him. And verily mine own ex- 
 perience tells me that there is nothing that 
 doth more prevail with God than importunity. 
 Is it not so with you in respect of your beg- 
 gars that come to your door? Though you 
 have no heart to give them any thing at their 
 first asking, yet if they follow you, bemoaning 
 themselves, and will take ho nay without an 
 alms, you will give them, for their continual 
 begging overcometh you. Is there bowels in 
 you that are wicked, and will they be wrought 
 upon by an importuning beggar? Go thou 
 and do the like. It is a prevailing motive^ 
 and that by experience; he will arise and give 
 thee as many as thou needest. 
 
 2. Another encouragement for a poor, trem- 
 bling, convinced soul is, to consider the place, 
 throne, or seat on which the great God hath 
 placed himself to hear the petitions and 
 prayers of poor creatures; and th.it is a 
 throne of grace, the mercy-seat, which sig- 
 nifieth that in the days of the Gospel God 
 hath taken up his seat, his abiding-place in 
 mercy and forgiveness; and from thenc* he 
 doth intend to hear the sinner apd to com- 
 mune with him, as he saith, (speaking before 
 of the mercy-seat,) "And there will [ mee( 
 
A DISCO VBSE ON PRAYER. 
 
 673 
 
 with thee." Mark, it ia upon the mercy-seat : 
 "There will I meet with thee, and there will 
 I commune with thee, from ahove the mercy- 
 Beat." Poor souls I they are very apt to enter- 
 tain strange thoughts of God and his carriage 
 towards them ; and suddenly conclude that 
 God will have no regard unto them, when yet 
 he is upon the mercy-seat, and hath taken up 
 his place on purpose there, to the end he may 
 hear and regard the prayers of poor creatures. 
 If he had said, I will commune with thee from 
 my throne of judgment, then indeed you might 
 have trembled and fled from the face of the 
 great and glorious Majesty; but when he 
 saith he will hear and commune with souls 
 upon the throne of grace, or from the mercy- 
 seat, this should encourage thee and cause 
 thee to hope, nay, " to come boldjy to the 
 throne of grace, that thou mayest obtain 
 mercy and find grace to help in time of need." 
 
 3. There is yet another encouragement to con- 
 tinue in prayer with God, and that is this : 
 
 As there is a mercy-seat from whence God 
 is willing to communicate with poor sinners, 
 80 there is also by this mercy-seat Jesus 
 Christ, who continually besprinkleth it with 
 his blood. Hence it is called the blood of 
 sprinkling. When the high priest under the 
 law was to go into the holiest, where the 
 mercy-seat was, he might not go in without 
 blood. 
 
 Why so ? Because, though God was upon 
 the mercy-seat, yet he was perfectly just as 
 well as merciful. Now the blood was to stop 
 justice from running out upon the persons 
 concerned in the intercession of the high 
 priest, as in Lev. xvi. 13-17, to signify that 
 all thine unworthiness that thou fearest should 
 not hinder thee from comipg to God in Christ 
 for mercy. Thou, criest out that thou art 
 vile, and therefore God will not regard thy 
 prayer ; it is true if thou delight in thy vile- 
 ness and come to God out of a mere pretence. 
 But if from a sense of thy vileness thou do 
 pour out thy heart to God, desiring to be 
 saved from the guilt and cleansed from the 
 filth with all thy heart, fear not, thy vileness 
 will not cause the Lord to stop his ear from 
 hearing of thee. The value of the blood of 
 Christ which is sprinkled upon the mercy-seat 
 stops the course of justice, and opens a flood- 
 gate for the mercy of the Lord to be extended 
 unto thee. Thou hast therefore, as aforesaid, 
 boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood 
 of Jesus, that hath made a new and living 
 way for thee ; thou shalt not die. 
 43 
 
 Besides, Jesus is there, not only to sprinkle 
 the mercy-seat with his blood, but he speaks 
 and his blood speaks ; he hath audience and 
 his blood hath audience, insomuch that God 
 saith when he doth but see the blood, "he 
 will pass over you, and the plague shall not 
 be upon you," &c. 
 
 I shall not detain you any longer. Be ,ic-bei 
 and humble ; go to the Father in the name of 
 the Son, and tell him your case, in the assist- 
 ance of the Spirit, and you will then feel the 
 benefit of praying with the Spirit and the un- 
 derstanding also. 
 
 Use 3. A word of reproof. 
 
 1. This speaks sadly to you who never pray 
 at all. 
 
 I will pray, saith the apostle, and so saith 
 the heart of them that are Christians. Thou, 
 then, art not a Christian that art not a pray- 
 ing persoh. The promise is, "That every one 
 that is righteous shall pray." Thou, then, 
 art a wicked wretch that prayest not. Jacob 
 got the name of Israel by wrestling with God, 
 and all his children bear that name with him. 
 But the people that forget prayer, that call 
 not on the name of the Lord, they have prayer 
 made for them, but it is such as this, " Pour 
 out thy fury upon the heathen, Lord, and 
 upon the people that call not upon thy name." 
 How likest thou this, thou that art so far 
 off from pouring out thine heart before God 
 that thou goest to bed like a dog and risest 
 like an hog or a sot, and forgettest to call upon 
 him? What wilt thou do when thou shalt be 
 damned in hell because thou eouldst not find 
 in thine heart to ask for heaven ? Who will 
 grieve for thy sorrow that didst not count 
 mercy worth asking for? I tell thee the 
 ravens, the dogs, &c., shall rise up in judg- 
 ment against thee, for they will, according to 
 their kind, make signs and a noise for some- 
 thing to refresh them when they want it ; but 
 thou hast not the heart to ask for heaven, 
 though thou must eternally perish in hell if 
 ttou hast it not. 
 
 2. This rebukes you that make it your busi- 
 ness to slight, mock at, and undervalue the 
 Spirit, and praying by that. What will you 
 do when God shall come to reckon for these 
 things ? You count it high treason to speak 
 but a word against the king, nay, you tremble 
 at the thoughts of it, and yet in the mean time 
 you will blaspheme the Spirit of the I^ord. Is 
 God indeed to be dallied with, and will the 
 end be pleasant unto you ? Did God send his 
 Holy Spirit into the hearts of his people to 
 
674 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 that end that you should taunt at it? Is this 
 to serve God, and doth this demonstrate .the 
 reformation of your Church ? Nay, is it not 
 the mark of implacable reprobates? fear- 
 ful ! can you not be content to be damned for 
 your sins against the law, but you must sin 
 against the Holy Ghost ? 
 
 Must the holy, harmless, and undefiled 
 Spirit of grace, the nature of God, the promise 
 of Christ, the Comforter of his children, that 
 without which no man can do any service ac- 
 ceptable to the Father — must this, I say, be 
 the burden of your song, to taunt, deride, and 
 mock at? If God sent Korah and his com- 
 pany headlong to hell for speaking against 
 Moses and Aaron, do you that mock at the 
 Spirit of Christ think to escape unpunished? 
 Did you ever read what God did to Ananias 
 and Sapphira for telling but one lie against it? 
 Also to Simon Magus for but undervaluing of 
 it? And will thy sin be a virtue or go unre- 
 warded with vengeance that maketh it thy 
 business to rage against and oppose its office, 
 service, and help that it giveth to the children 
 of God? It is a fearful thing to do despite 
 unto the Spirit of grace. Compare Matt. xii. 
 31 with Mark iii. 20. 
 
 3. As this is the doom of those who do 
 openly blaspheme the Holy Ghost in a way of 
 disdain and reproach to its office and service, 
 BO also it is sad for you who resist this Spirit 
 of prayer by a form of man's inventing. A 
 very juggle of the devil, that the traditions of 
 men should be of better esteem and more to 
 be owned than the Spirit of prayer ! What is 
 this less than that accursed abomination of 
 Jeroboam, which kept many from going to 
 Jerusalem, the place and way of God's ap- 
 pointment, to worship, and by that means 
 brought such displeasure from God upon them 
 as to this day is not appeased? One would 
 think that God's judgments of old upon the 
 hypocrites of that day should make them that 
 have heard of such things take heed and fear 
 to do so. Yet the doctors of our day are so 
 far from taking warning by the punishment of 
 others that they do most desperately rush into 
 the same transgression — viz., to set up an in- 
 ititution of man, neither commanded nor com- 
 mended of God — and whosoever will not obey 
 therein, they must be driven either out of the 
 land or the world. 
 
 Hath God required these things at your 
 hands? If he hath, show us where. If not, 
 (as I am sur« he has not,) then what cursed 
 presumption is it in any pope, bishop, or other 
 
 to command that in the worship of God which 
 he hath not required? Nay, further, it is not 
 that part only of the form which is several 
 texts of Scripture that we are commanded to 
 say, but even all must be confessed as the 
 divine worship of God, notwithstanding those 
 absurdities contained therein, which, because 
 they are at large discovered by others, I omit 
 the rehearsal of them. Again, though a man 
 be willing to live never so peaceably, yet be- 
 cause he cannot for conscience' sake own that 
 for one of the most eminent parts of God's 
 worship which he never commanded, therefore 
 must that man be looked upon factious, sedi- 
 tious, erroneous, heretical, a disparagement to 
 the Church, a seducer of the people, and what 
 not ? Lord, what will be the fruit of these 
 things when for the "doctrine of God there is 
 imposed (that is, more than taught) the tradi- 
 tions of men? Thus is the Spirit of prayer 
 disowned and the form imposed ; the Spirit 
 debased and the form extolled; they that pray 
 with the Spirit, though never so humble and 
 holy, counted fanatics, and they that pray with 
 the form, though with that only, counted the 
 virtuous? And how will the favourites of 
 such a practice answer that Scripture which 
 commandeth that the Church should turn 
 away from such as have a form of godliness 
 and deny the power thereof? And if I should 
 say that men that do these things aforesaid do 
 advance a form of prayer of other men's mak- 
 ing above the Spirit of prayer, it would not 
 take long time to prove it. For he that ad- 
 vanceth the book of common prayer above the 
 Spirit of prayer, he doth advance a form of 
 men's making above it. But this do all those 
 who banish, or desire to banish, them that pray 
 with the Spirit of prayer, while they hug and 
 embrace them that pray by that form only, and 
 that because they do it. Therefore they love 
 and advance the form of their own or others' 
 inventing before the Spirit of prayer, which is 
 God's special and gracious appointment. 
 
 If you desire the clearing of the minor, look 
 into the jails in England and into the ale- 
 houses of the same, and I trow you will find 
 those that plead for the Spirit of prayer in the 
 jail, and them that look after the form of 
 men's inventions only in the alehouse. It is 
 evident also by the silencing of God's dear 
 ministers, though never so powerfully enabled 
 by the Spirit of prayer, if they in conscience 
 cannot admit of that form of common prayer. 
 If this be not an exalting the common prayer- 
 book above either praying by the Spirit or 
 
A : DISCOURSE ON PRAYER. 
 
 675 
 
 preaching the word, I have taken my mark 
 amiss. It is not pleasant for me to dwell on 
 this. The Lord in mercy turn the hearts of 
 the people to seek more after the Spirit of 
 prayer, and in the strength of that to pour out 
 their souls before the Lord I Only let me say, 
 it is a sad sign that that which is one of the 
 most eminent parts of the pretended worship 
 of God is antichristian when it hath nothing 
 but the tradition of men and the strength of 
 persecution to uphold or plead for it. 
 
 I shall conclude this discourse with this 
 word of advice to all God's people : 1. Believe 
 that as sure as you' are in the way of God you 
 must meet with temptations. 2, The first day 
 
 therefore that thou dost enter Christ's congre- 
 gation look for them. 3. When they do come, 
 beg of God to carry thee through them. 4. 
 Be jealous of thine own heart, that it deceive 
 thee not in thy evidences for heaven nor in 
 thy walking with God in this world. 5. Take 
 heed of the flatteries of false brethren. 6. 
 Keep in the life and power of truth. 7. Look 
 most at the things which are not seen. 8. Take 
 heed of little sins. 9. Keep the promise warm 
 upon thy heart. 10. Eenew thy acts of faith 
 in the blood of Christ. 11. Consider the work 
 of thy regeneration. 12. Count to -un with 
 the foremost therein. 
 Grace be with you 1 
 
A Kl^iJLAiiOiN 
 
 OP THE 
 
 IMPRISONMENT OF MR. JOHN BUNYAN, 
 
 MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL AT BEDFORD, IN NOVEMBER, 1660. 
 
 aiS EXAMINATION BEFORE THE JUSTICES, HIS CONFBEENCE WITH THE CLERK OF THH 
 PEACE, WHAT PASSED BETWEEN THE JUDGES AND HIS WIFE WHEN SHE PRESENTED A 
 PETITION FOR HIS DELIVERANCE, &c. 
 
 WRITTEN BY HIMSELF. 
 
 Blessed are thoy wliioh are persecuted for righteousness* sake, for theirs Is the kingdom of heaven. 
 
 Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you 
 falsely, for my name's sake. 
 
 Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets which 
 were before you. — Matt. y. 10, 11, 12. 
 
 The relation of my imprisonment in the month of 
 November, 1660, when, by the good hand of my 
 Ood, I had for five or six years together, with- 
 out any great interruption, freely preached the 
 blessed Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, and 
 had also, through his blessed grace, some en- 
 couragement by his blessing thereupon: the 
 Devil, that old enemy of man's salvation, took 
 his opportunity to inflame the hearts of his 
 vassals against me, insomuch that at the last I 
 was laid out for by the warrant of a justice, 
 and was taken and committed to prison. The 
 relation thereof is asfolloweth. 
 
 Upon the 12th of this instant, November, 
 1660, I was desired by some of the friends in 
 the country to come to teach at Samsell, by 
 Harlington, in Bedfordshire; to whom I made 
 a promise, if the Lord permitted, to be with 
 them on the time aforesaid. The justice, hear- 
 ing thereof, (whose name is Mr. Francis Win- 
 gate,) forthwith issued out his warrant to take 
 me and bring me before him, and in the mean 
 time to keep a very strong watch about the 
 house where the meeting should be kept, as if 
 we that were to meet together in that place 
 did intend to do some fearful business, to the 
 destruction of the country, when, alas ! the 
 
 constable, when he came in, found us only 
 with our Bibles in our hands, ready to speak 
 and hear the word of God, for we were just 
 about to begin our exercise. Nay, we had be- 
 gun in prayer for the blessing of God upon our 
 opportunity, intending to have preached the 
 word of the Lord unto them there present, but 
 the constable's coming in prevented us. So 
 that I was taken and forced to depart the 
 room. 
 
 But had I been minded to have played the 
 coward, I could have escaped and kept out of 
 his hands ; for when I was come to my friend's 
 house there was whispering that that day I 
 should be taken, for there was a warrant out to 
 take me; which when my friend heard, he 
 being somewhat timorous, questioned whether 
 we had .best have our meeting or not, and 
 whether it might not be better for me to depart, 
 lest they should take me and have me before 
 the justtce, and after that send me to prison, 
 (for he knew better than I what spirit they 
 were of, living by them.) To whom I said. 
 No, by no means ; I will not stir, neither will 
 I have the meeting dismissed for this. Come, 
 be of good cheer, let us not be daunted ; our 
 cause is good, we need not be ashamed of it; 
 to preach God's word, it is so good a work that 
 
 677 
 
678 
 
 £unyan'j3 complete works. 
 
 we shall be well rewarded if we suflfer for that ; 
 or to this purpose. But as for my friend, I 
 think he was more afraid of me than of himself 
 After this I walked into the close, where, I 
 somewhat seriously considering the matter, 
 this came into my mind : That I had showed 
 myself hearty and courageous in my preach- 
 ing, and had, blessed be grace I made it my 
 business to encourage others ; therefore thought 
 I, If I should now run and make an escape, it 
 will be of a very ill favour in the country ; for 
 |what will my weak and newly-converted breth- 
 ren think of it but that I was not so strong in 
 deed as I was in word ? Also I feared that if I 
 should run now there was a warrant out for 
 me, I might by so doing make them afraid 
 to stand when great words only should be 
 spoken to them. Besides, I thought that seeing 
 God of his mercy should choose me to go upon 
 the forlorn hope in this country — that is, to be 
 the first that should be opposed for the Gospel 
 — if I should fly it might be a discouragement 
 to the whole body that might follow after. 
 And further, I thought the world thereby would 
 take occasion at my cowardliness to have blas- 
 phemed the Gospel, and to have had some 
 grounds to suspect worse of me and my profes- 
 sion than I deserved. These things with 
 others, considered by me, I came in again to 
 the house, with a full resolution to keep the 
 meeting and not to go away, though I could 
 have been gone about an hour before the offi- 
 cer apprehended me; but I would not, for I 
 was resolved to see the utmost of what they 
 could say or do unto me ; for, blessed be the 
 Lord! I knew of no evil that I had said or 
 done. And so, as aforesaid, I begun the meet- 
 ing, but, being prevented by the constable's 
 coming in with his warrant to take me, I could 
 not proceed ; but before I went away I spake 
 some few words of counsel and encouragement 
 to the people, declaring to them that they saw 
 we were prevented of our opportunity to speak 
 and hear the word of God, and were like to 
 suffer for the same; desiring them that they 
 should not be discouraged, for it was a mercy ■ 
 to suflfer upon so good account, for we might 
 have been apprehended as thieves or murder- 
 ers, or for other wickedness; but, blessed be 
 God ! it was not so, but we suflfer as Christians 
 for well-doing, and we had better be the per- 
 secuted than the persecutors, &c. But the 
 constable and the justice's man, waiting on us, 
 would not be at quiet till they had me away 
 and that we departed the house; but because 
 the justice was not at home that day, there was 
 
 a friend of mine engaged for me to bring me to 
 the constable on the morrow morning; other- 
 wise the constable must have charged a watch 
 with me, or have secured me some other way, my 
 crime was so great. So on the next morning 
 we went to the constable, and so to the justice. 
 He asked the constable what he did where we 
 were met together, and what we had with us. 
 I trow he meant whether we had armour or 
 not; but when the constable told him that 
 there were only me:t a few of us togethir Ic 
 preach and hear the word, and no sign of any 
 thing else, he could not well tell what to say , 
 yet because he had sent for me, he did adven- 
 ture to put out a few proposals to me, which 
 were to this effect: namely, what I did there? 
 and why I did not content myself with follow- 
 ing my calling, for it was against the law that 
 such as I should be admitted to do as I did ? 
 
 To which I answered that the intent of my 
 coming thither and to other places was to in- 
 struct and counsel people to forsake their sins 
 and close in with Christ, lest they did misera- 
 bly perish, and that I could do both tliese with; 
 out confusion — to wit, follow my calling and 
 preach the word also. 
 
 At which words he was in a chafe, as it ap- 
 peared, for he said that he would break the 
 neck of our meetings. 
 
 I said. It may be so. Then he wished me 
 to get me sureties to be bound for me, or else 
 he would send me to the jail. 
 
 My sureties being ready, I called them in, 
 and when the bond for my appearance was 
 made, he told them that they were bound to 
 keep me from preaching, and that if I did 
 preach their bonds would be forfeited. To 
 which I answered that then I should break 
 them, for I should not leave speaking the word 
 of God, even to counsel, comfort, exhort, and 
 teach the people among whom I came ; and I 
 thought this to be a work that had no hurt in 
 it, but was rather worthy of commendation 
 than blame. 
 
 Wingate. Whereat he toli me that if they 
 would not be so bound, my mittimus must be 
 made and I sent to the jail, there to lie to the 
 quarter sessions. 
 
 Now while my mittimus was a making the 
 justice was withdrawn, and in comes an old 
 enemy to the truth, Dr. Lindale, who, when he 
 was come in, fell to taunting at me with many 
 reviling terms. 
 
 Bunyan. To whom I answered that I did not 
 come thither to talk with him, but with the 
 justice. Whereat he supposed that I had 
 
IMPRISONMENT OF JOHN BVNYAN. 
 
 679 
 
 nothing to say for myself, triumphed as if he 
 had got the victory, charging and condemning 
 me for meddling with that for which I could 
 show no warrant, and asked me if I had taken 
 the oaths, and if I had not it was pity but that 
 I should be sent to prison, &c. 
 
 I told him that if I was minded I could an- 
 swer to any sober question that he should put 
 to me. He then urged me again how I could 
 prove it lawful for me to preach, with a great 
 deal of confidence of the victory. 
 
 But at last, because he should see that I 
 could answer him if I listed, I cited him to 
 that in Peter, which saith, "As every man 
 hath received the gift, even so let him minister 
 the same," &c. 
 
 Lindale. Ay, saith he, to whom is that 
 spoken ? , 
 
 Bumjan. To whom? said I, why to every 
 man that hath received a gift from God. 
 "Mai'k," saith the apostle, "As every man 
 that hath received a gift from God," &c. And 
 again, " You' may all prophesy, one by one." 
 Whereat the man was a little stopt and went a 
 Boftlier pace; but not being willing to lose the 
 day, he began again, and said : 
 
 Lindale. Indeed I do remember that I have 
 read of one Alexander, a coppersmith, who did 
 much oppose and disturb the apostles, (aiming, 
 it is like, at me, because I was a tinker.) 
 
 Bumjan. To which I answered that I also 
 had read of very many priests and Pharisees 
 that had their hands in the blood of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 Lindale. Ay, saith he, and you are one of 
 those scribes and Pharisees, for you, with a 
 pretence, make long prayers to devour widows' 
 houses. 
 
 Bunyan. I ^answered that if he had got no 
 more by preaching and praying than I had 
 done, he would not be so rich as now he was. 
 But that Scripture coming into my mind, 
 " Answer not a fool according to his folly," I 
 was as sparing of my speech as I could without 
 prejudice to truth. 
 
 Now by this time my mittimus was made, 
 8nd I committed to the constable, to be sent to 
 the jail in Bedford, &c. 
 
 But as I was going two of my brethren met 
 with me by the way, and desired the constable 
 to stay, supposing that they should prevail 
 with the justice, through the favour of a pre- 
 tended friend, to let me go at liberty. So we 
 did stay while they went to the justice, and 
 after much discourse with him it came to this 
 — ^thac if I would come to him again and say 
 
 some certain words to him, I should be re- 
 leased ; which when they told me I said if the 
 words were such that might be said with a 
 good conscience, I should, or else I should not. 
 So through their importunity I went back 
 ^gain, but not believing that I should be de- 
 livered. For I feared their spirit was too full 
 of opposition to the truth to let me go, unless 
 I should in something or other dishonour my 
 God and wound my conscience. Wherefore 
 as I went I lift up my heart to God for light 
 and strength to be kept, that I might not do 
 anything that might either dishonour him, or 
 wrong my own soul, or be a grief or discour- 
 agement to any that were inclining after the 
 Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 Well, when I came to the justice again, there 
 was Mr. Foster of Bedford, who coming out of 
 another i-oom, and seeing of me by the light of 
 the candle, (for it waS dark night when I went 
 thither,) he said unto me, Who is there? John 
 Bunyan? with such seeming affection as if he 
 would have leaped on my neck and kissed me; 
 which made me somewhat wonder that such a 
 man as he, with whom I had so little acquaint- 
 ance, and, besides, that had ever been a close 
 opposer of the ways of God, should carry him- 
 self so full of love to me ; but afterwards, when 
 I saw what he did, it caused me to remember 
 those sayings : " Their tongues are smoother 
 than oil, but their words are drawn swords." 
 And again, " Beware of men," &c. When I 
 had answered him that, blessed be God ! I was 
 well, be said, What is the occasion of your 
 being here? or to that purpose. To whom I 
 answered that I was at a meeting of people a 
 little way off, intending to speak a word of 
 exhortation to them; the justice hearing 
 thereof, said I, was pleased to send his warrant 
 to fetch me before him, &c. 
 
 Foster. So, said he, I understand ; but well, 
 if you will promise to call the people no more 
 together, you shall have your liberty to go 
 home, for my brother is very loth to send you 
 to prison if you will be but ruled. 
 
 Bunyan. Sir, said I, pray what do you meao 
 by calling the people together? My business 
 is not anything among them when they are 
 come together but to exhort them to look after 
 the salvation of their souls, that they may be 
 ' saved, &c. 
 
 Foster. Saith he. We must not enter into 
 explication or dispute now ; but if you will say 
 you will call the people no more together, you 
 may have your liberty ; if not, you must be 
 sent away to prison. 
 
680 
 
 SUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Bum/an. Sir, said I, I shall not force or 
 compel any man to hear me, but yet if I come 
 into any place where there is a people met 
 together, I should, according to the best of my 
 skill and wisdom, exhort and counsel them to 
 seek out after the Lord Jesus Christ, for the 
 salvation of their souls. 
 
 Foster. He said that was none of my work ; 
 I must follow my calling ; and if I would but 
 leave off preaching and follow my calling, I 
 should have the justice's favour and be ac- 
 quitted presently. 
 
 Bunyan. To whom I said that I could follow 
 my calling and that too — namely, preaching 
 the word — and I did look upon it as my duty 
 to do them both as I had an opportunity. 
 
 Foster. He said to have any such meetings 
 was against the law, and therefore he would 
 have me leave off, and say I would call the 
 people no more together. 
 
 Bunyan. To whom I said that I durst not 
 make any further promise, for my conscience 
 would not suffer me to do it. And again, I 
 did look upon it as my duty to do as much 
 good as I could, not only in my trade, but also 
 in communicating to all people wheresoever 
 I came the best knowledge I had in the 
 word. 
 
 Foster. He told me that I was the nearest 
 the Papists of any, and that he wpuld convince 
 me of immediately. 
 
 Bunyan. I asked him wherein. 
 
 Foster. He said. In that we understood the 
 Scriptures literally. 
 
 Bunyan. I told him that those that were to 
 be understood literally, we understood them 
 so, but for those that were to be understood 
 otherwise, we endeavoured to understand 
 them. 
 
 Foster. He said. Which of the Scriptures do 
 you understand literally ? 
 
 Bunyan. I said this: " He that believes shall 
 be saved." This was to be understood just as 
 it is spoken, that whosoever believeth in Christ 
 shall, according to the plain and simple words 
 of the text, be saved. 
 
 Foster. He said that I was ignorant and did 
 not Understand the Scriptures ; for how, said 
 he, can you understand them when you know 
 not the original Greek ? &c. 
 
 Bunyan. To whom I said that if that was ' 
 his opinion, that none could understand the 
 Scriptures but those that had the orignal 
 Greek, &c., then but a very few of the poorest 
 sort should be saved, (this is harsh,) yet the 
 Scripture saith "that God hides his things 
 
 from the wise and prudent, (that is, from the 
 learned of the world,) and reveals them to 
 babes and sucklings." 
 
 Foster. He said there were none tiiat heard 
 me but a company of foolish people. 
 
 Bunyan. I told him that there were the wise 
 as well as the foolish that do hear me; and 
 again, those that are most commonly counted 
 foolish by the world are the wisest before God, 
 Also, that God had rejected the wise and 
 mighty and noble, and chosen the foolish and 
 the base. • 
 
 Foster. He told me that I made people neg- 
 lect their calling, and that God hath com- 
 manded people to work six days, .and serve 
 him on the seventh. 
 
 Bunyan. I told him that it was the duty of 
 people (both rich and poor) to look out for 
 their souls on those days as well as 'for their 
 bodies, and that God would have his people 
 exhort one another daily while it is called to- 
 day. 
 
 Foster. He said again that there were none 
 but a company of poor, simple, ignorant people 
 that came to hear me. 
 
 Bunyan. I told him that the foolish and the 
 ignorant had most need of teaching and infor- 
 mation, and therefore it would be profitable 
 for me to go on in that work. 
 
 Foster. Well, said he, to conclude, but will 
 you promise that you will not call the people 
 together any more, and then you may' be re- 
 leased and go home ? 
 
 Bunyan. I told him that I durst say no more 
 than I had said, for I durst not leave off that 
 work which God had called me to. 
 
 So he withdrew from me, and then came 
 several of the justice's servants to me and told 
 me that I stood too much upon a nicety. 
 Their master, they said, was willing to let me 
 go; and if I would but say I would call the 
 people no more together, I might have my 
 liberty, &o. 
 
 Bunyan. I told them there were more ways 
 than one in which a man might be said to 
 call the people together. As, for instance, if a 
 man get upon the market-place, and there 
 read a book or the like, though he do not say 
 to the people. Sirs, come hither and hear ; yet 
 if they come to him because he reads, he by 
 his very reading may be said to call them to- 
 gether, because they would not have been there 
 to hear if he had not been there to read ; and 
 seeing this might be termed a calling the 
 people together, I durst not say I would not 
 call them together, for then, by the same argn- 
 
A.B.Wllt.:]-, Eiig 
 
 1 Lf. ro [F(oi K © JADL A»\s^ [B-;rr?D[n'GE. 
 
IMPRISONMENT OF JOHN BUNYAN. 
 
 68] 
 
 nient, my pitching might be said to call them 
 together. 
 
 Wingate and Foster. Then came the justice 
 and Mr. Foster to me again, (we had a little 
 more discourse about preaching, but because 
 the method of it is out of my mind I pass it,) 
 and when they saw that I was at a point, and 
 would not be moved nor persuaded, 
 
 Mr Foster* told the justice that then he 
 must send me away to prison, and that he 
 would do well also if he would present all 
 them that were the cause of my coming among 
 them to meetings. Thus we parted. 
 
 And verily, as I was going forth of the doors, 
 I had much ado to forbear saying to them that 
 I carried the peace of God along with me ; but 
 I held my peace, and, blessed be the Lord! 
 went away to prison with GodX comfort in my 
 poor soul. 
 
 After I had lain in the jail five or six days 
 the brethren sought means again to get me out 
 by bondsmen, (for so run my mittimus, that I 
 should lie there till I could find sureties.) 
 They went to a justice at Elstow, one Mr. 
 Crumpton, to desire him to take bond for my 
 appearing at the quarter sessions. At the iSrst 
 he told them he would, but afterwards he 
 made a demur at the business, and desired 
 first to see my mittimus, which run to this 
 purpose: That I went about to several con- 
 venticles in this country, to the great dispar- 
 agement of the government of the Church of 
 England, &c. When he had seen it he said 
 that there might be something more against 
 me than was expressed in my mittimus, and 
 that he was but a young man; therefore be 
 durst not do it. This my jailer told me. 
 Whereat I was not at all daunted, but rather 
 glad, and saw evidently that the Lord had 
 heard me; for before I went down to the jus- 
 tice I begged of God that if I might do more 
 good by being at liberty, than in prison, that 
 then I might be set at liberty, but if not, bis 
 will be done ; for I was not altogether without 
 hopes but that my imprisonment might be an 
 awakening to the saints in the country ; there- 
 fore I could not tell well which to choose, only 
 I in that manner did commit the thing to God. 
 And verily at my return I did meet my God 
 sweetly in the prison again, comforting of me 
 and satisfying of me that it was his will and 
 mind that I should be there. 
 
 When I came back again to prison, as I was 
 
 ■ 
 
 * This is the man that did at the first e.xpress so 
 much Ior6 to me. 
 
 musing at the slender answer of the justice, 
 this word dropped in upon my heart with some 
 life : " For he knew that for envy they had dc' 
 livered him." 
 
 Thus have I in short declared the manner 
 and occasion of my being in prison, where I 
 lie waiting the good will of God, to do with 
 me as he pleaseth, knowing that not one hair 
 of my head can fall to the ground without the 
 will of my Father which is in heaven. Let 
 the rage and malice, of men be never so great, 
 they can do no more nor go no farther than 
 God permits them ; but when they have done 
 their worst, we know all things shall work 
 togethsr for good to them that love God. 
 Farewell I 
 
 Here is the sum of my Examination before Jus- 
 tice Keelin, Justice Chester, Justice Blundale, 
 Justice Beecher, and Justice Snagg, &e. 
 After I had lain in prison above seven 
 weeks the quarter sessions were to be kept in 
 Bedford for the county thereof, unto which 
 place I was to be brought; and when my jailer 
 had set me before those justices, there was a 
 bill of indictment preferred against me. The 
 extent thereof was as followeth: That John 
 Bunyan, of the town of Bedford, labourer, be- 
 ing a person of such and such conditions, be 
 hath (since such a time) devilishly and per- 
 niciously abstained from coming to church to 
 hear divine service, and is a common upholder 
 of several unlawful meetings and conventi- 
 cles, to the great disturbance and distraction 
 of the good subjects of this kingdom, contrary 
 to the laws of our sovereign lord the king, &c. 
 The Clerk. When this was read, the clerk of 
 the sessions said unto me. What say you to 
 this? 
 
 Bunyan. I said that, as to the first part of it, 
 I was a common frequenter of the Church of 
 God, and was also, by grace, a member with 
 those people over whom Christ is the Head. 
 
 Keelin. But saith Justice Keelin, (who was 
 the judge in that court,) Do you come to 
 church, (you know what I mean,) to the parish 
 church, to hear divine service? 
 Bunyan. I answered, No, I did not. 
 Keelin. He asked me. Why ? 
 Bunyan. I said. Because I did not find it 
 commanded in the word of God. 
 
 Keelin. He said. We were commanded to 
 pray. 
 
 Bunyan. I said, But not by the common 
 prayer-book. 
 
 Keelin. He said, How then? 
 
682 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Bunyan. I said, With the Spirit. As the 
 apostle saith, "I will pray with the Spirit, 
 with understanding." 
 
 Keelin.^ He said. We might pray with the 
 Spirit, with understanding and with the com- 
 mon prayer-book also. 
 
 Bunyan. I said that those prayers in the 
 common prayer-book were such as were made 
 by other men, and not by the motions of the 
 Holy Ghost within our hearts ; and, as I said, 
 the apostle saith he will pray with the Spirit 
 and with understanding, not with the Spirit 
 and the common prayer-book. 
 
 Another Justice. What do you count prayer? 
 Bo you think it is to say a few words over be- 
 fore or among a people? 
 
 Bunyan. I said. No, not so; for men might 
 have many elegant or excellent words, and yet 
 not pray at all ; but when a man prayeth he 
 doth through a sense of those things which he 
 wants (which sense is begotten by the Spirit) 
 pour out his heart before God through Christ, 
 though his words be not so many and so ex- 
 cellent as others are. 
 
 Justices. They said that was true. 
 
 Bunyan. I said, This might be done without 
 the common prayer-book. 
 
 Another. One of them said, (I think it was 
 Justice Blundale or Justice Snagg,) How 
 should we know that you do not write out 
 your prayers first, and then read them after- 
 wards to the people? This he spake in a 
 laughing way. 
 
 / Bunyan. I said, It is not our use to take a 
 uen and paper and write a few words thereon, 
 and then go and read it over to a company of 
 people. 
 
 But how should we know it? said he. 
 
 Bunyan. Sir, it is none of our custom, said I. 
 
 Keelin. But, said Justice Keelin, it is lawful 
 to use common prayer, and such like forms, 
 for Christ taught his disciples to pray, as John 
 also taught his disciples. And further, said 
 ,vhe, cannot one man teach another to pray? 
 Faith comes by hearing; and one man may 
 convince another of sin, and therefore prayers 
 made by men and read over are good to teach 
 and help men to pray. 
 
 While he was speaking these words, God 
 brought that word into my mind in the eighth 
 of the Romans, at the 26th verse— I say God 
 brought it, for I thought not on it before ; but 
 as he was speaking it came so fresh into my 
 
 * If any say now that God useth means, I answer, 
 but nV)t the common prayer-book, for that is none of 
 
 mind, and was set so evidently before me, as 
 if the Scripture had ^aid. Take me, take mej 
 so when he had done speaking, 
 
 Bunyan. I said, Sir, the Scripture saith that 
 "it is the Spirit that helpeth our infirmities;" 
 for we know not what we should pray for as 
 we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh inter- 
 cession for us, with sighs and groanings which 
 cannot be uttered. Mark, said I, it doth not 
 say the common prayer-book teaches us how 
 to pray, but the Spirit. " And it is the Spirit 
 that helpeth our infirmities," saith the apcstle; 
 he doth not say it is the common prayer-book. 
 
 And as to the Lord's Prayer, although it be 
 an easy thing to say. Our Father, &c., with the 
 mouth, yet there are very few that can, in the 
 Spirit, say the two first words of that prayer — 
 that is, that can call God their Father — as 
 knowing what it is to be born again, and as 
 having experience that they are begotten of 
 the Spirit of God, which if they do not all is 
 but babbling, &c. 
 
 Keelin. Justice Keelin said that that was a 
 truth. 
 
 Bunyan. And I say further, as to your say- 
 ing that one man may convince aiiother of 
 sin, and that faith comes by hearing, and that 
 one man may tell another how he should 
 pray, &o. — I say men may tell each other of 
 their sins, but it is the Spirit that must con- 
 vince them.* 
 
 And though it be said that faith comes by 
 h earing, yet it is the Spirit that worketh faith 
 in the heart through hearing, or else "they 
 are not profited by hearing." Heb. iv., 12. 
 
 And that though one man may tell another 
 how he should pray, yet, as I said before, he 
 cannot pray, nor make his condition known to 
 God, except the Spirit help. It is not the 
 common prayer-book that can do this. It is 
 the " Spirit that showeth u^ our sins," (John 
 xvi. 16,) and the "Spirit that showeth us a 
 Saviour," (Matt. xi. 27,) and the Spirit that 
 stirreth up in our hearts desire to come to God 
 for such things as we stand in need of, even 
 sighing out our souls unto him for them with 
 groans which cannot be uttered. With other 
 words to the same purpose. At this they were set. 
 
 Keelin. But, says Justice Keelin, wh^t have 
 you against the common prayer-book ? 
 
 Bunyan. I said, sir, if you will hear me, I 
 shall lay down my reasons against it. 
 
 Keelin. He said I should have liberty. But 
 
 his institution; it is the Spirit in the word that il 
 God's ordinance. 
 
IMPRISONMENT OF JOHN BUNTAN. 
 
 683 
 
 first, said he, let me give you one caution : 
 take heed of speaking irreverently of the com- 
 mon prayer-book, for if you do so you will 
 bring great damage upon yourself 
 
 Bunyan. So I proceeded and said, My first 
 reason was, because it was not commanded 
 in the word df God, and therefore I could not 
 do it. 
 
 Another. One of tbem said, Where do you 
 find it commanded in the Scripture that you 
 should go to Elstow or Bedford, and yet it is 
 lawful to go to either of them, is it not? 
 
 Bunyan. I said. To go to Elstow or Bedford 
 was a civil thing, and not material, though 
 not commanded, and yet God's word allowed 
 me to go about my calling, and therefore if it 
 lay there then to go thither, &c. But to pray 
 was a great part of the divine worship of God, 
 and therefore it ought to be done according to 
 the rule of God's word. 
 
 Another. One of tbem said. He will do 
 harm ; let him speak no further. 
 
 Justice Keelin. Justice Keelin said. No, no, 
 never fear him ; we are better established 
 than so; he, can do no harm; we know the 
 common prayer-book has been ever since the 
 apostles' time, and is lawful to be used in the 
 church. 
 
 Bwnyan. I said, Show me the place in the 
 epistles where the common prayer-book is 
 written, or one text of Scripture that com- 
 mands me to read it, and I will use it. But 
 yet notwithstanding, said I, they that have a 
 mind to use it, they have their liberty — that 
 is,* I would not keep them from it — but for 
 our parts, we can pray to God without it. 
 Blessed be his name! 
 
 With that one of them said. Who is your 
 God — Beelzebub? Moreover, they often said 
 that I was possessed with the spirit of delu- 
 sion and of the devil. All which sayings I 
 passed over. The Lord forgive them ! And 
 further I said. Blessed be 'the Lord for it I we 
 are encouraged to meet together and to pray, 
 and exhort one another ; for we have had the 
 comfortable presence of God among us, for 
 ever blessed be his holy name I 
 
 Keelin. Justice Keelin called this pedlar's 
 French, saying that I must leave oflf my cant- 
 ing. The Lord open his eyes I 
 
 Bunyan. I said that we ought to exhort 
 one another daily while it is called to-day, &c. 
 
 Keelin. Justice Keelin said that I ought 
 
 * It is not the spirit of a Christian to persecute any 
 for their religion, but to pity them, and, if they will 
 tuio, to instruct them. 
 
 not to preach, and asked me where I had 
 my authority; with many other such like 
 words. 
 
 Bunyan. I said that I would prove that it 
 was lawful for me, and such as I am, to preach 
 the word of God. 
 
 Keelin. He said unto me. By what Scripture ? 
 
 I said. By that in the first Epistle of Peter, 
 the 4th chapter, the 11th verse, and Acta 
 xviii., with other Scriptures, which he would 
 not suffer me to mention. But hold I said he, 
 not so many : which is the first ? 
 
 Bunyan. I said. This : " As every man hath 
 received the gift, even so let him minister the 
 same unto another, as good stewards of the 
 manifold grace of God ; if any man speak, let 
 him speak as the oracles of God," &c. 
 
 Keelin. He said. Let me a little open that 
 Scripture to you. As every man hath re- 
 ceived the gift — that is, said he, as every man' 
 hath received a trade — so let him follow it. 
 If any man hath received a gift of tinkering, 
 as thou hast done, let him follow his tinkering. 
 And so other men their trades. And the 
 divine his calling, &c. 
 
 Bunyan. Nay, sir, said I, but it is most clear 
 that the apostle speaks here of preaching the 
 word ; if you do but compare both the verses 
 together, the next verse explains this gift, 
 what it is, saying, " If any man speak, let him 
 speak as the oracles of God;" so that it is 
 plain that the Holy Ghost doth not so much 
 in this place exhort to civil callings as to the 
 exercising of those gifts that we have re- 
 ceived from God. I would have gone on, but 
 he would not give me leave. 
 
 Keelin. He said we might do it in our fami- 
 lies, but not otherways. 
 
 Bunyan. I said. If it was lawful to do good 
 to some, it was lawful to do good to more. 
 If it was a good duty to exhort our fami- 
 lies, it is good to exhort others ; but if they 
 held it a sin to meet together to seek the 
 face of God and exhort one another to follow 
 Christ, I should sin still, for so we should do. 
 
 Keelin. He said he was not so well versed 
 in Scripture as to dispute, or words to that 
 purpose. And said, moreover, that they could 
 not wait upon me any longer; but said to 
 me, Then you confess the indictment, do you 
 not? Now, and not till now, I saw I was 
 indicted. 
 
 Bunyan. I said, This I confess : we have had 
 many meetings together, both to pray to God 
 and to exhort one another, and that we had 
 the sweet, comforting presence of the Lord 
 
684 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 among us for our encouragement, blessed be 
 his name therefor! I confess myself guilty 
 no otherwise. 
 
 Keelin. Then said he, Hear your judgment: 
 You must be had back again to prison, and 
 there lie for three months following ; and at 
 three months' end, if you do not submit to go 
 to church to hear divine service, and leave 
 your preaching, you must be banished the 
 realm ; and if, after such a day as shall be 
 appointed you to be gone, you shall be found 
 in this realm, &c., or be found to come over 
 again without special license from the king, 
 &c., you must stretch by the neck for it, I tell 
 you plainly ; and so he bid my jailer have me 
 away. 
 
 Bwmjan. I told him, As to this matter, I 
 was at a point with him, for if I was out of 
 prison to-day I would preach the Gospel again 
 ' to-morrow, by the help of God. 
 
 Another. To which one made me some an- 
 swer, but my jailer pulling me away to be 
 gone, I could not tell what he said. 
 
 Thus I departed from them ; and I can 
 truly say, I bless the Lord Jesus Christ for it 
 that my heart was sweetly refreshed in the 
 time of my examination, and also afterwards 
 at my returning to the prison ; so that I found 
 Christ's words more than bare trifles where 
 he ^aitli, " he will give a mouth and wisdom, 
 even such as all the adversaries shall not re- 
 sist or gainsay," and that his peace no man 
 can take from us. 
 
 Thus have I given you the substance of my 
 examination. The Lord make these profitable 
 to all that shall read or hear them !, Farewell. 
 
 ' The Substance of some Discourse had between the 
 
 Clerk of the Peace and myself, when he came 
 
 to admonish me according to the tenor of that 
 
 law btj which I was in prison. 
 
 When I had lain in prison other twelve 
 weeks, and now not knowing what they in- 
 tended to do with me, upon the third of Apiil 
 come> Mr. Cobb unto me, (as he told me,) 
 being «ent by the justices to admonish me and 
 demand of me submittance to the Church of 
 England, &c. AVhen he was come into the 
 house he sent for me out of my chamber ; and 
 when I was come unto him he said, 
 
 Cobb. Neighbour Bunyan, how do you do? 
 
 Bumjan. I thank you, sir, said I, very well, 
 blessed be the Lord I 
 
 Cohb. Saith he, I come to tell you that it is 
 desired you would submit yourself to the laws 
 of' the land, or else at the next sessions it will 
 
 go worse with you, even to be sent away out 
 of the nation, or else worse than that. 
 
 Bunyan. I said that I did desire to demean 
 myself in the world both as becometh a man 
 and a Christian. 
 
 Cobb. But, saith he, you must submit to the 
 laws of the land, and leave ofi" those meetings 
 which you were wont to have, for the statute 
 law is directly against it; and I am sent to 
 you by the justices to tell you that they do in- 
 tend to prosecute the law against you if you 
 submit not. 
 
 Bunyan. I said, Sir, I conceive that that law 
 by which I am in prison at this time doth not 
 reach or condemn either me or the meetings 
 which I do frequent: that law was made 
 against those that, being designed to do evil in 
 their meetings, make the exercise of religion 
 their pretence to cover their wickedness. It 
 doth not forbid the private meetings of those 
 that plainly and simply make it their only end 
 to worship the Lord and to exhort one another 
 to edification. My end in meeting with others 
 is simply to do as much good as I can by ex- 
 hortation and counsel, according to that small 
 measure of light which God hath given me, 
 and not to disturb the peace of the nation. 
 
 Cobb. Every one will say the same, said he : 
 you see the late insurrection at London, under 
 what glorious pretences they went, and yet in- 
 deed they intended no less than the ruin of 
 the kingdom and commonwealth. 
 
 Bunyan. That practice of theirs I abhor, 
 said I ; yet it doth not follow that because they 
 did so, therefore all others will do so. I look 
 upon it as my duty to behave myself under the 
 king's government, both as becomes a man 
 and a Christian; and if an occasion was of- 
 fered me I should willingly manifest my loy- 
 alty to my prince both by word and deed. 
 
 Cobb. Well, said he, I do not profess myself 
 to be a man that can dispute ; but this I say 
 truly, neighbour Bunyan, I would have you 
 consider this matter seriously and submit your- 
 self; you may have your liberty to exhort 
 your neighbour in private discourse, so be you 
 do not call together an assembly of people ; 
 and truly you may do much good to the 
 Church of Christ if you would go this way ; 
 and this you may do and the law not abridge 
 you of it. It is your private meetings that the 
 law is against. 
 
 Bunyan. Sir, said I, if I may do good to one 
 by my discourse, why may I not do good to 
 > two ? And if to two, why not to four, and sr 
 to eight, &c. ? 
 
IMPRISONMENT OF JOHN BUNYAN. 
 
 685 
 
 Cohh. Ay, saith he, and to an hundred, I 
 warrant you. 
 
 Bunyan. Yes, sir, said I; I think I should 
 not be forbid to do as much good as I can. 
 
 Cobb. But, said he, you may but pretend to 
 do good, and indeed, notwithstanding, do harm 
 by seducing the people ; you are therefore de- 
 nied your meeting so many together, lest you 
 should do harm. 
 
 Bunyan. And yet, said I, you say the law 
 tolerates me to discourse with my neighbour ; 
 surely there is no law tolerates me to seduce 
 any one ; therefore if I may by the law dis- 
 course with one, surely it is to do him good ; 
 and if I by discoursing may do good to one, 
 surely by the same law I may do good to 
 many. 
 
 Cobb. The law, saith he, dot]^ expressly for- 
 bid your private meetings, therefore they are 
 not to be tolerated. 
 
 Bunyan. I told him that I would not enter- 
 tain so much uncharitableness of that Parlia- 
 ment in the 35th of Elizabeth, or of the queen 
 herself, as to think th|ey did by that law intend 
 the oppressing of any of God's ordinances or 
 the interrupting any in the way of God ; but 
 men may, in the wresting of it, turn it against 
 the way of God ; but take the law in itself, and 
 it only fighteth against those that drive at mis- 
 chief in their hearts and meetings, making re- 
 ligion only their cloak, colour or pretence ; for 
 so are the words of the statute : " If any 
 meetings, under colour or pretence of relig- 
 ion," &c. 
 
 Cobb. Very good ; therefore the king seeing 
 that pretences are usually in and among peo- 
 ple as do make religion their" pretences only, 
 therefore he, and the law before him, doth for- 
 bid such private meetings and tolerates only 
 public ; you may meet in public. 
 
 Bunyan. Sir, said I, let me answer you in a 
 similitude. Set the case that, at such a wood 
 corner, there did usually come forth thieves to 
 do mischief; must there therefore a law be 
 made that every one that cometh out there 
 ghall be killed? May not there conie out true 
 men as well as thieves from thence? Just thus 
 is it in this case; I do think there may be 
 many that may design the destruction of the 
 commonwealth, but it doth not follow therefore 
 that all private, meetings are unlawful; those 
 that transgress, let them be punished ; and if 
 at any time I myself should do any act in my 
 conversation as doth not become a man and a 
 Christian, let me bear the punishment. And 
 as for your saying I may meet in public, if I 
 
 may be suffered I would be glad to do it ; let 
 me have but meetings enough in public, and I 
 shall care the less to have them in private. I 
 do not meet in private because I am afraid to 
 have meetings in public. I bless the Lord that 
 my heart is at that point that if any man cat 
 lay anything to my charge, either in doctrine 
 or practice, in this particular, that can be 
 proved error or heresy, I am willing to disown 
 it, even in the very market-place, but if it be 
 truth, then to stand to it to the last drop of 
 my blood. And, sir, said I, you ought to com- 
 mend me for so doing. To err, and to be a 
 heretic, are two things; I am no heretic, be- 
 cause I will not stand refractorily to defend 
 any one thing that is contrary to the word ; 
 prove any thing which I hold to be an error, 
 and I will recant it. 
 
 Cobb. But, goodman Bunyan, said he, me- 
 thinks you need not stand so strictly upon this 
 one thing as to have meetings of such public 
 assemblies. Cannot you submit, and notwith- 
 standing do as much good as you can in a 
 neighbourly way, without having such meet- 
 ings? 
 
 Bunyan. Truly, sir, said I, I do not desire 
 to commend myself, but to think- meanly of 
 myself; yet when I do most despise myself, 
 taking notice of that small measure of light 
 which God hath given me, also that the people 
 of the Lord (by their own saying) are edified 
 thereby— besides, when I see that the Lord 
 through grace hath in some measure blessed 
 my labour — I dare not but exercise that gift 
 which God hath given me for the good of the 
 people. And I said further that I would will- 
 ingly speak in public if I might. 
 
 Cobli. He said that I might come to the 
 public assemblies and hear. What though 
 you do not preach, you may hear. Do not 
 think yourself so well enlightened, and that 
 you have received a gift so far above others, 
 but that you may hear other men preach ; or 
 to that purpose. 
 
 Bunyan. I told him I was as willing to be 
 taught as to give instruction, and I looked 
 upon it as my duty to do both ; for, said I, a 
 man that is a teacher, he himself may learn 
 also from another that teacheth ; as the apos- 
 tle saith : " We may all prophesy, one by one, 
 that all may learn ;" that is, every mta that 
 hath/eceived a gift from God, he may dispense 
 it, that others may be comforted ; and when he 
 hath done he may heUr, and learn, and be 
 comforted himself of others. 
 
 Cobb. But, said he, what if you should for- 
 
686 
 
 B UNTAN'S' COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 bear a while and sit still, till you see further 
 how things will go ? 
 
 Bunyan. Sir, said I, Wickliife saith that he 
 which leaveth oflf preaching and hearing of the 
 word of God for fear of excommunication of 
 men, he is already excommunicated of God, 
 and shall in the day of judgment be counted a 
 traitor to Christ. 
 
 Cobb. Ay, saith he, they that do not hear 
 lihall be so counted indeed ; do you therefore 
 hear. 
 
 Bvnyan. But, sir, said I, he saith, He that 
 shall leave off either preaching or hearing, &c. ; 
 . that is, if he hath received a gift for edifica- 
 tion, it is his sin if he doth not lay it out in a 
 way of exhortation and counsel, according to 
 the proportion of his gift, as well as to spend 
 his time altogether in hearing others preach. 
 
 Cobb. But, said he, how shall we know that 
 you have received a gift? 
 
 Bunyan. Said I, Let any man hear and 
 search, and prove the doctrine by the Bible. 
 
 Cobb. But will you be willing, said he, that 
 two indifferent persons shall determine the 
 case, and will you stand by their judgment? 
 
 Bunyan. I said, Are they infallible ? 
 
 Cobb. He said. No. 
 
 Bunyan. Then said I, It is possible my judg- 
 ment may be as good as theirs, but yet I will 
 pass by either, and in this matter be judged by 
 the Scriptures : I am sure that is infallible and 
 cannot err. 
 
 Cobb. But, said he, who shall be judge be- 
 tween you, for you take the Scriptures one way 
 and they another? 
 
 Bunyan. I said. The Scriptures should, and 
 that by comparing one Scripture with another; 
 for that will open itself if it be rightly com- 
 pared. As, for instance, if under the different 
 apprehensions of the word mediator, you would 
 know the truth of it, the Scriptures open it, 
 and tell us that he that is a mediator must 
 take up the business between two, and a me- 
 diator is not a mediator of one, " but God is 
 one, and there is one Mediator between God 
 and man, even the man Jesus Qhrist." So 
 likewise the Scripture calleth Christ a com- 
 plete, or. perfect, or able high priest. That is 
 opened in that he is called man and also God. 
 His blood also is discovered to be effectually 
 efficacious by the same things. So the Scrip- 
 ture, as touching the matter of meeting toge- 
 ther, &c., doth likewise sufficiently open itself 
 and discover its meaning. 
 
 Cobb. But are you willing, said he, to stand 
 to the judgment of the Church? 
 
 Bunyan. Yes, sir, said I, to the approbation 
 of the Church of God, (the Church's judgment 
 is best expressed in Scripture.) We had much 
 other discourse, which I cannot well remem- 
 ber, about the laws of t}ie nation and submis- 
 sion to governments ; to which I did tell him 
 that I did look upon myself as bound in con- 
 science to walk according to all righteous laws, 
 and that whether there was a king or no ; and 
 if I did anything that was contrary, I did hold 
 it my duty to bear patiently the penalty of the 
 law that was provided against such offenders, 
 with many more words to the like effect ; and 
 said, moreover, that to cut off all occasions of 
 suspicion from any, as touching the harmless- 
 ness of my doctrine in private, I would willingly 
 take the pains to give any one the notes of all 
 my sermons, for I do sincerely desire to live 
 quietly in my country and to submit to the 
 present authority. 
 
 Cobb. Well, neighbour Bunyan, said he, but 
 indeed I would wish you seriously to consider 
 of these things between this and the quarter 
 sessions and to submit yourself. You may do 
 much good if you continue still in the land; 
 but, alas I what benefit will it be to your 
 friends, or what good can it do to them, if you 
 should be sent away beyond the seas into 
 Spain, or Constantinople, or some other re- 
 mote part of the world ? Pray be ruled. 
 
 Jailer. Indeed, sir, I hope he will be ruled. 
 
 Bunyan. I shall desire, said I, in all godli- 
 ness and honesty to behave myself in the na- 
 tion whilst I am in it. And if I must be so 
 dealt withal as you say, I hope God will help « 
 me to bear what they shall lay upon me. I 
 know no evil that I have done in this matter 
 to be so used. I speak as in the presence of 
 God. 
 
 Cobb. You know, saith he, that the Scrip- 
 ture saith, " The powers that are are ordained 
 of God?" 
 
 Bunyan. I said yes, and that I was to sub- 
 mit to the king as supreme, also to the gov- 
 ernors as to them that are sent by him. 
 
 Cobb. Well, then, said he, the king com- 
 mands you that you should not have any pri- 
 vate meetings, because it is against his law; 
 and he is ordained of God, therefore you should 
 not have any. 
 
 Bunyan. I told him that Paul did own the 
 powers that were in his day as to be of God, 
 and yet he was often in prison under them for 
 all that. And also, though Jesus Christ tola 
 Pilate that he had no power against him but 
 of God, yet he died under the same Pilate 
 

 "^ !^-J 
 
 
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 -t^ &. 
 
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IMPRISONMENT OF JOHN BUNTAN. 
 
 687 
 
 and yet, said I, I hope you will not say that 
 either Paul or Christ was such as did deny 
 magistracy, and so sinned against God in 
 slighting the ordinance. Sir, said I, the law 
 hath provided two ways of obeying : the one 
 to do that which I in my conscience do be- 
 lieve that I am bound to do actively; and 
 whore I cannot obey actively, there I am will- 
 ing to lie down and to suffer what they shall 
 dc unto me. At this he sat still and said 
 nc more; which when he had done, I did 
 thank him for his civil and meek discoursing 
 with me ; and so we parted. Oh that we 
 jnight meet in heaven I * Farewell. J. B. 
 
 Here followeth a Discowrse between my Wife and 
 the Judges, with others, touching my Deliver- 
 ance at the Assizes following ; the which I took 
 from her own mouih. * 
 
 Aftee that I had received this sentence of 
 banishing or hanging from them, and after the 
 former admonition touching the deterrnination 
 of justices if I did not recant, just when the 
 time drew nigh in which I should have ab- 
 jured or have done worse, (as Mr. Cobb told 
 me,) came the time in which the king was to 
 be crowned. Now at the coronation of a king 
 there is usually a releasement of divers pris- 
 oners by virtue of his coronation; in which 
 privilege also I should have had my share, but 
 that they took me for a convicted person, and 
 therefore, unless I sued out a pardon, (as they 
 called it,) I could have no benefit thereby not- 
 withstanding ; yet forasmuch as the coronation 
 proclamation did give liberty from the day the 
 king was crowned to that day twelvemonth to 
 sue them out, therefore, though they would 
 not let me out of prison as they let out thou- 
 sands, yet they could not meddle with me as 
 touching the execution of their sentence, be- 
 cause of the liberty offered for the suing out 
 of pardons. Whereupon I continued in prison 
 till the next assizes, which are called jnjdsum- 
 mer assizes, being then kept in August, 1661. 
 
 Now at that assizes, because I would not 
 leave any possible means unattempted that 
 might be lawful, I did, by my wife, present a 
 petition to the judges three times that I might 
 be heard, and that they would impartially take 
 my case into consideration. 
 The first time my wife went she presented it 
 
 * Happy would it be for Christians in general, and 
 for the interest of religion also, if ceremonials and 
 non-csscntials had no tendency to disunite them as 
 brethren and se^^ ants of the same loving Saviour; for 
 in the kingdom jf glory above there will be no party 
 
 to Judge Hales, who very mildly received it at 
 her hand, telling her that he would do her and 
 me the best good he could, but he feared, ha 
 said, he could do none. The next day again, 
 lest they should, through the multitude of 
 business, forget me, we did throw another pe- 
 tition into the coach to Judge Twisdon ; who, 
 when he had seen it, snapt her up and angrily 
 told her that I was a convicted person, and 
 could not be released unless I would promise 
 to preach no more, &c. 
 
 Well, after this she yet again presented an- 
 other to Judge Hales as he sat on the bench, 
 who, as it seemed, was willing to give her au- 
 dience,; only Justice Chester, being present, 
 stept up and said that I was convicted in the 
 court, and that I was a hot-spirited fellow, or 
 words to that purpose, whereat he waived it 
 and did not meddle therewith. But yet my 
 wife, being encouraged by the high sheriff, did 
 venture once more into their presence, (as the 
 poor widow did to the unjust judge,) to try 
 what she could do with them for my liberty 
 before they went forth of the town. The 
 place where she went to them was to the Swan 
 Chamber, where the two judges and many jus- 
 tices and gentry of the country were in com- 
 pany together. She then, coming into the 
 chamber, with a bashful face and a trembling . 
 heart began her errand to them in this manner: 
 
 Woman. My lord, (directing herself to Judge 
 Hales,) I make bold to come once again to 
 your lordship to know what may be done ta 
 my husband. 
 
 Judge Hales. To whom he said, Woman, I 
 told thee before I could do thee no good, be- 
 cause they have taken that for a conviction 
 which thy husband spoke at the sessions ; and 
 unless there be something done to undo that, 
 I can do thee no good. 
 
 Woman. My lord, said she, he is kept un- 
 lawfully in prison ; they clapped him up be- 
 fore there was any proclamation against the 
 meetings ; the indictment also is false ; besides, 
 they never asked him whether he was guilty 
 or no ; neither did he confess the indictment. 
 
 One of the Jitstices. Then cne of the justices 
 that stood by, whom she knew not, said. My 
 lord, he was lawfully convicted. 
 
 Woman. It is false, said she ; for when they 
 said to him. Do you confess the indictment? 
 he said only this, that he had been at several 
 
 spirit, no parting string, but the hearts and voices of 
 the celestial assembly will emulate each other in the 
 very sweetest and loudest notes to redeeming graof 
 and dying love 1 
 
688 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 meetings, botli where there was preaching the 
 word and prayer, and that they had God's 
 presence among them. 
 
 Judge Twisdon. Whereat Judge Twisdon an- 
 swered very angrily, saying, What I you think 
 we can do what we list; your husband is a 
 breaker of the peace and is convicted by the 
 law, &c. Whereupon Judge Hales called for 
 the statute-book. 
 
 Woman. But, said she, my lord, he was not 
 lawfully convicted. 
 
 Qhester. Then Justice Chester said. My lord, 
 he was lawfully convicted. 
 
 Woman. It is false, said she ; it was but a 
 word of discourse that they took for a convic- 
 tion, (as you heard before.) 
 
 Chester. But it is recorded, woman, it is re- 
 corded, says Justice Chester. As if it must be 
 of necessity true because it was recorded I 
 With which words he often endeavoured to 
 stop her mouth, having no other argument 
 to convince her but, It is recorded, it is re- 
 corded. 
 
 Woman. My lord, said she, I was awhile since 
 in London, to-see if I could get my husband's 
 liberty, and there I spoke with my Lord Bark- 
 w^ood, one of the House of Lords, to whom !■ 
 delivered a petition, who took it of me and 
 presented it to some of the rest of the House 
 of Lords, for my husband's releasement ; who, 
 when they had seen it, they said that they could 
 not release him, but had committed his release- 
 meat to the judges at the next assizes. This 
 he told me ; and now I come to you to see 
 if any thing may be done in this business, and 
 you give neither releasement nor relief To 
 which they gave her no answer, but made as if 
 they heard her not. 
 
 Cheater. Only Justice Chester was often up 
 with this. He is convicted, and it is recorded. 
 
 Woman. If it be, it is false, said she. 
 , Chester. My lord, said Justice Chester, he is 
 a pestilent fellow ; there is not such a fellow 
 in the country again. 
 
 Twisdon. What! will your husband leave 
 preaching? If he will do so, then send for 
 him. 
 
 Woman. My lord, said she, he dares not 
 leave preaching as long as he can speak. 
 
 Twisdon. See here, what should we talk any 
 more about such a fellow? Must he do what 
 he lists ? He is a breaker of the peace. 
 
 Woman. She told him again that he desired 
 to live peaceably and to follow his calling, that 
 his family might be maintained; and more- 
 over said, My lord, I have four small children 
 
 that cannot help themselves, of which one ia 
 blind, and- have nothing to live upon but the 
 charity of good people. 
 
 Hales. Hast thou four children ? said Judge 
 Hales ; thou art but a young woman to have 
 four children. 
 
 Woman. My lord, said she, I am but mother- 
 in-law to them, having not been married tc 
 him yet full two years. Indeed I was with 
 child when my husband was first apprehended, 
 but being young and unaccustomed to such 
 things, said she, I, being dismayed at the news, 
 fell into labour, and so continued for eight 
 days, and then was delivered, but my child 
 died. 
 
 Hales. Whereat he, looking very soberly on 
 the matter, said, Alas, poor woman ! 
 
 Twisdon. But Judge Twisdon told her that 
 she made poverty her cloak ; and said, more- 
 over, that he understood I was maintained bet- 
 ter by running up and down a-preaching than 
 by following my calling. 
 
 Hales. What is his calling? said Judge 
 Hales. 
 
 Answer. Then some. of the company that 
 stood by said, A tinker, my lord. 
 
 Woman. Yes, said she, and because he is a 
 tinker and a poor man, therefore he is despised 
 and cannot have justice. 
 
 Hales. Then Judge Hales answered, very 
 mildly, saying, I tell thee, woman, seeing it is 
 so that they have taken what thy husband 
 spak-e for a conviction, thou must either apply 
 thyself to the king, or sue out his pardon, or 
 get a writ of error. 
 
 Chester. But when Justice Chester heard 
 him give her this counsel, and especially 
 (as she supposed) because he spoke of a writ 
 of error, he chafed and seemed to be very much 
 offended, saying. My lord, he will preach and 
 do what he lists. 
 
 Woman. He preacheth nothing but the word 
 of God, said she. 
 
 Twisdon. He preach the word of God! said 
 Twisdon, (and withal she thought he would 
 have struck her;) he runneth up and down, 
 and doeth harm. 
 
 Woman. No, my lord, said she, it is not sj •, 
 God hath owned him, and done much good by 
 him. 
 
 Twisdon. God ! said he : his doctrine is the 
 doctrine of the devil. 
 
 Woman. My lord, said she, when the right- 
 eous Judge shall appear it will be known 
 that his doctrine is not the doctrine of the 
 devil. 
 
IMPRISONMENT OF JOHN BUNYAN. 
 
 689 
 
 TwUdon. My lord, said he to Judge Hales, 
 do not mind her, but send her away. 
 
 Haka. Then said Judge Hales, I am sorry, 
 woman, that I can do thee no good ; thou must 
 do one of those three things aforesaid — namely, 
 either to apply thyself to the king, or sue out 
 his pardon, or get a writ of error ; but a writ 
 of error will be cheapest. 
 
 Woman. At which Chester again seemed to 
 be in a chafe, and put off his hat, and, as she 
 thought, scratched his head for anger; but 
 when I saw, said she, that there was no pre- 
 vailing to have my husband sent for, though I 
 often desired them that they would send for 
 him that he might speak for himself, telling 
 them that he could give them better satisfac- 
 tion than I could in what they demanded of 
 him, with several other things, which now I 
 forget— only this I remember, that though I 
 was somewhat timorous at my first entrance 
 into the chamber, yet before I went out I could 
 not but break forth into tears, not so much be- 
 cause they were so hardhearted against me 
 and my husband, but to think what a sad ac- 
 count such poor creatures will have to give at 
 the coming of the Lord, when they shall there 
 answer for all things whatsoever they have 
 done in the body, whether it be good or whether 
 it be bad. 
 
 So when I departed from them the book of 
 statutes was brought, but what they said of it I 
 know nothing at all, neither did I hear any 
 more from them. 
 
 Smne Carriages of the Adversaries of God's Truth 
 with me at the next Assizes, luhich was on the 
 Nineteenth of the First Month, 1662. 
 I SHALL pass by what befell between these 
 two assizes — how I had, by my jailer, some 
 liberty granted me more than at the first, and 
 how I followed my wonted course of preach- 
 ing, taking all occasions that were put into 
 my hand to visit the people of God, exhorting 
 them to be steadfast in the faith of Jesus 
 Christ, and to take heed that they touched not 
 the common prayer, &c., but to mind the word 
 of God, which giveth direction to Christians 
 in every point, being able to make the man of 
 God perfect in all things through faith in 
 Jesus Christ, and thoroughly to furnish him 
 up to all good works. Also how I having, I 
 say, somewhat more liberty, did go to see 
 Christians at London, which my enemies hear- 
 ing of, were so angry that they had almost cast 
 my jailer out of his place, threatening to in- 
 dict him and to do what they could against 
 44 
 
 him. They charged me also that I went 
 thither to plot and raise division and make 
 insurrection, which God knows was a slander ; 
 whereupon my liberty was more straitened 
 than it was before, so that I must not look out 
 of the door. Well, when the next sessions 
 came, which was about the 10th of the 11th 
 month, I did expect to have been very roundly 
 dealt withal ; but they passed me by and. would 
 not call me, so that I rested till the assizes, 
 which was the 19th of the first month follow- 
 ing; and when they came, because I had a 
 desire to come before the judge, I desired my 
 jailer to put my name into the calendar, 
 among the felons, and made friends to the 
 judge and high sheriff, who promised that I 
 should be called ; so that: I thought what I had 
 done might have been .efiectual for the obtain- 
 ing of my desire ; but all was in vain ; for when 
 the assizes came, though my name was in the 
 calendar, and also though both the judge and 
 sheriff had promised that I should appear be- 
 fore them, yet the justices and the clerk of the 
 peace did so work it about that I, notwith- 
 standing, was deferred and might not appear. 
 And though I say I do not know of all their 
 carriages towards me, yet this I know, that the 
 clerk of the peace did discover himself to be 
 one of my greatest opposers ; for, first he came 
 to my jailer, and told -him that I must not go 
 down before the judge, and therefore must not 
 be put into the calendar ; to whom my jailer 
 said that my name was in already. He bid 
 him put me out again ; my jailer told him that 
 he could not, for he had given the judge a 
 calendar with my name in it, and also the 
 sheriff another. At which he was very much 
 displeased, and desired to see that calendar 
 that was yet in my jailer's hand ; who when he 
 had given it him he looked on it and said it 
 was a false calendar ; he also took the calendar 
 and blotted out my accusation, as my jailer 
 had writ it, (which accusation I cannot tell 
 what it was, because it was so blotted out,) 
 and he himself put in words to this purpose : 
 That John Bunyan was committed in prison, 
 being lawfully convicted for upholding of un- 
 lawful meetings and conventicles, &c. But 
 yet for all this, fearing that what he had done, 
 unless he added thereto, would not do, he first 
 ran to the clerk of 'the assizes, then to the 
 justices, and afterwards, because he would not 
 leave any means unattempted to hinder me, 
 he comes again to my jailer, and tells him that 
 if I did go down before the judge and was re- 
 leased, he would make him pay my fees, which 
 
690 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 he said were due to him ; and fujrther told Mm 
 that he would complain of him at the next 
 quarter sessions for making of false calendars, 
 though my jailer himself, as I afterwards 
 learned, had put in my accusation worse than 
 
 in itself it was hy far. And thus was I hin- 
 dered and prevented at that time also from 
 appearing before the judge, and left in prison 
 Farewell. 
 
 JOHN BUN y AN, 
 
PRISON MEDITATIONS. 
 
 DEDICATED TO THE HEART OF SUFFEEING SAINTS AND REIGNING 
 
 SINNERS. 
 
 Feiend, I salute thee in'the Lord, 
 And wish thou may'st abound 
 
 In faith, and have a good regard * 
 To keep on holy ground. 
 
 Thou dost encourage me to hold 
 
 My head above the flood ; 
 Thy counsel better is than gold : 
 
 In need thereof I stood. 
 
 Good counsel's good at any time ; 
 
 The wise will it receive, 
 Tho' fools count he commits a crime 
 
 Who doth good counsel give. 
 
 I take it kindly at thy hand 
 Thou didst unto me write ; 
 
 My feet upon Mount Zion stand, 
 In that take thou delight. . 
 
 I am indeed in prison now 
 
 In body, but my mind 
 Is free to study Christ, and how 
 
 Unto me he is kind. 
 
 For tho' men keep my outward man 
 Within their locks and bars, 
 
 Yet by the faith of Christ I can 
 Mount higher than the stars. 
 
 Their fetters cannot spirits tame, 
 Nor tie up God from me ; ■ 
 
 My faith and hope they cannot lame ; 
 Above them I shall be. 
 
 I here am very much refreshed 
 To think, when I was out • 
 
 I preached life and peace and rest 
 To sinners round about. 
 
 My business then was. souls to save 
 By preaching grace and faith, 
 
 Of which the comfort now I have, 
 And have it shall till death. 
 
 They were no fables that I taught, 
 
 Devis'd by cunning men. 
 But God's own word, by which were caught 
 
 Some sinners now and then. 
 
 Whose souls by it were made to see 
 
 The evil of their sin ; 
 And need of Christ to make them free 
 
 From death, which they were in. 
 
 And now those very hearts that then 
 
 Were foes unto the Lord, 
 Embrace his Christ and truth, like men 
 
 Conquer'd by his word. 
 
 I hear them sigh, and groan, and cry 
 
 For grace to God above ; 
 They loathe their sin, and to it die ; 
 
 'Tis holiness they love. 
 
 This was the work I was about 
 
 When hands on me were laid ; 
 'Twas this from which they pluck'd me outj 
 
 And vilely to me said : 
 
 You heretic, deceiver, come, 
 
 To prison you must go ; 
 You preach abroad, and keep not home, 
 
 You are the Church's foe. 
 
 But having peace within my soul, 
 
 And truth on every side, 
 I could with comfort them control, 
 
 And at their charge deride. 
 
 Wherefore to prison they me sent, 
 
 Where to this day I lie ; 
 And can with very much content 
 
 For my profession die. 
 
 The prison very sweet to me 
 
 Hath been since I came here. 
 And so would also hanging be. 
 
 If God Tould there appear. 
 
 691 
 
692 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Here dwells good conscience, also peace ; 
 
 Here be my garments white ; 
 Here, thougli in bonds, I have release 
 
 From guilt, which else would bite. 
 
 When they do talk of banishment, 
 Of death, or such like things, 
 
 Then to me God send heart's content, 
 That like a fountain springs. 
 
 Alas I they little think what peace 
 
 They help me to, for by 
 Their rage my comforts do increase ; 
 
 Bless God, therefore, do I. 
 
 If they do give me gall to drink, 
 Then God doth sweet'ning cast — 
 
 So much thereto that they can't think 
 How bravely it doth taste. 
 
 For as the devil sets before 
 
 Me heaviness and grief. 
 So God sets Christ and grace much more, 
 
 Whereby I take relief. 
 
 Though they say then that we are fools 
 
 Because we here do lie, 
 I answer, Jails are Christ his schools. 
 
 In them we learn to die. 
 
 'Tis not the baseness of this state 
 Doth hide us from God's face ; 
 
 He frequently, both soon and late. 
 Doth visit us with grace. 
 
 Here come the angels, here come saints. 
 Here comes the Spirit of God, 
 
 To comfort us in our restraints 
 Under the wicked's rod. 
 
 God sometimes visits prisoners more 
 
 Than lordly palaces ; 
 He often knocketh at the door 
 
 When he their houses miss. 
 
 The truth and life of heav'nly things 
 
 Lift up our hearts on high, 
 And carry us on eagles' wings 
 
 Beyond carnality. 
 
 It takes away those clogs that hold 
 
 The hearts of other men, ' 
 
 And makes us lively, strong and bold 
 ' Thus to oppose their sin. 
 
 By which means God doth frustrate 
 That which our foes expect — 
 
 Namely, our turning th' apostate, 
 Like those of Judas' sect. 
 
 Here comes to our remembrance 
 
 The troubles good men had 
 Of old, and for our furtherance 
 
 Their joys when they were sad. 
 
 To them that here for evil lie 
 
 The place is comfortless. 
 But not to me, because that I 
 
 Lie here for righteousness. 
 
 The truth and I were both here cast 
 
 Together, and we do 
 Lie arm in arm, and so hold fast 
 
 Each other ; this is true. 
 
 This jail to us is as a hill, 
 From whence we plainly see 
 
 Beyond this world, and take our fill 
 Of things that lasting be. 
 
 From hence we see the emptiness 
 
 Of all the world contains ; 
 •And here we feel the blessedness 
 
 That for us yet remains. 
 
 Here we can see how all men play 
 
 Their parts, as on a stage^ — 
 How good men suffer for God's way, 
 
 And bad men at them rage. 
 
 Here we can see who holds that ground 
 Which they in Scripture find : 
 
 Here we see also who turns round 
 Like weathercocks \^ith wind. 
 
 We can also from hence behold 
 How seeming friends appear 
 
 But hypocrites, as we are told 
 In Scripture everywhere. 
 
 When we did walk at liberty 
 
 We were deceiv'd by them. 
 Who we from hence do clearly see 
 
 Are vile, deceitful men. 
 
 These politicians that profess 
 
 For base and worldly ends, 
 Do not appear to us at best 
 
 But Machiavellian friends. 
 
 Though men do say we do disgrace 
 
 Ourselves by lying here 
 Among the rogues, yet Christ our face 
 
 From all such filth will clear. 
 
 We know there's neither flout nor frown 
 
 That we now for him bear, 
 But will add to our heavenly crown 
 
 When he comes in the air — 
 
PRISON MEDITATIONS. 
 
 693 
 
 When he our righteousness forth brings 
 
 Bright shining as the day, 
 And wipeth off those sland'rous things 
 
 That scorners on us lay. 
 
 We sell our earthly happiness 
 For heavenly house and home ; 
 
 We leave this world because 'tis less 
 And worse than that to come. 
 
 We change our drossy dust for gold, 
 
 From death to life we fly ; 
 We let go shadows, and take hold 
 
 Of immortality. 
 
 We trade for that which lasting is, 
 
 And nothing for it give 
 But that which is already His 
 
 By whom we breathe and live. , 
 
 That liberty we lose for him 
 Sickness might take away ; 
 
 Our goods might also for our sin 
 By iire or thieves decay. 
 
 Again we see what glory 'tis 
 
 Freely to bear our cros^ 
 For Him who for us took up his 
 
 When he our servant was. 
 
 I am most free that men should see 
 A hole cut through my ear ; 
 
 If others will ascertain me, 
 They'll hang a jewel there. 
 
 Just thus it is : we suffer here 
 
 For Him a little pain, 
 Who when he doth again appear 
 
 Will with him let us reign. 
 
 If all must either die for sin 
 
 A death that's natural, 
 Or else for Christ, 'tis best with him 
 
 Who for the last doth fall. 
 
 Who now dare say we throw away 
 
 Our goods or liberty, 
 When God's most holy word doth say 
 
 We gain thus much thereby ? 
 
 Hark yet again, you carnal men. 
 
 And hear what I shall say 
 In your own dialect, and then 
 
 I'll you no longer stay. 
 
 You talk sometimes of valour much. 
 And count such bravely mann'd 
 
 That will not stick to have a touch 
 With any in the land. 
 
 If these be worth commending, then. 
 That vainly show their might. 
 
 How dare you blame those holy men 
 That in God's quarrel fight? 
 
 Though you dare crack a coward's crown. 
 
 Or quarrel for a pin, 
 You dare not on the wicked frown, 
 
 Nor speak against their sin. 
 
 For all your spirits are so stout 
 
 For matters that are vain. 
 Yet sin besets you round about ; 
 
 You are in Satan's chain. 
 
 You dare not for the truth engage. 
 
 You quake at 'prisonment ; 
 You dare not make the tree your stage 
 
 For Christ, that King potent. 
 
 Know, then, true valour there doth dwell 
 
 Where men engage for God 
 Against the Devil, death and hell. 
 
 And bear the wicked's rod. 
 
 These be the men that God doth count 
 
 Of high and noble mind ; 
 These be the men that do surmount 
 
 What you in nature find. 
 
 First, they do conquer their own hearts, 
 
 All worldly fears, and then 
 Also the devil's fiery darts, 
 
 And persecuting men. 
 
 They conquer when they thus do fall, 
 
 They kill when they do die; 
 They overcome then most of all. 
 
 And get the victory. 
 
 The worldling understands not this, 
 
 'Tis clear out of his sight; 
 Therefore he counts this world his bliss. 
 
 And doth our glory slight. 
 
 The lubber knows not how to spring 
 The nimble footman's stage; 
 
 Neither can owls or jackdaws sing 
 When they are in the cage. 
 
 The swine doth not the pearls regard, 
 But them doth slight for grains, 
 
 Though the wise merchant labours hard 
 For them with greatest pains. 
 
 Consider, man, what I have said. 
 And judge of things aright; 
 
 Wheil all men's cards are fully play'd, 
 Whose will abide the light ? 
 
694 
 
 BUNT AN' S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Will those who have us hither cast? 
 
 Or they who do us scoru ? 
 Or those who do our houses waste? 
 
 Or us who this have borne? 
 
 And let us count those things the best 
 That best will prove at last ; 
 
 And count such men the only bleat 
 That do such things hold fast. 
 
 And what tho' they us dear do cost. 
 
 Yet let us buy them so ; 
 We shall not count our labour lost 
 
 When we see others' woe. 
 
 And let saints be no longer blam'd 
 
 By carnal policy, 
 But let the wicked be asham'd 
 
 Of their malignity. 
 
REPROBATION ASSERTED; 
 
 OR, 
 
 THE DOCTRINE OF ETERNAL ELECTION AND REPROBATION 
 
 PKOMISCUOUSLY HANDLED: IN ELEVEN CHAPTEES. 
 
 WHEREIN THE MOST MATERIAL OBJECTIONS MADE BY THE OPPOSERS OF THIS DOCTKINB 
 ARE FULLY ANSWERED, SEVERAL DOUBTS REMOVED, AND SUNDRY CASES OF CON- 
 SCIENCE RESOLVED. 
 
 * 
 What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the 
 
 rest were blinded. — RoK. xi. 7. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 That there is a Beprobation. 
 
 In my discourse upon this subject I shall 
 study as much brevity as clearness and edifica- 
 tion will allow me; not, adding words to make 
 the volume swell, but contracting myself with- 
 in the bounds of a few lines, for the profit and 
 convenience of those that shall take the pains 
 to read my labours. And though I might 
 abundantly multiply arguments for the evin- 
 cing and vindicating this conclusion, yet I shall 
 content myself with some few Scripture dem- 
 onstrations ; the first of which I shall gather 
 out of the ninth of the Eomans, from that dis- 
 course of the apostle's touching the children 
 of the flesh and the children of the promise. 
 
 1. At the beginning of this chapter we find 
 the apostle grievously lamenting and bemoan- 
 ing of the Jews at the consideration of their 
 miserable state. " I say the truth in Christ,'' 
 saith he, " and lie not, my conscience also 
 bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I 
 have great ■ heaviness and continual sorrow in 
 my heart; for I could wish myself accursed 
 from Christ for piy brethren, my kinsmen, ac- 
 cording to the flesh." Poor hearts I (saith he,) 
 they will perish ; they are a miserable, sad and 
 helpless people ; their eyes are darkened that 
 they may not see, and their back is bowed 
 down alway. Kom. xi. 10. Wherefore? have 
 they not the means of grace ? Yes, verily, and 
 that in goodly measure ; first, they are Israel- 
 
 ites, to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the 
 glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the 
 law, and the service of God, and the pijamises ; 
 whose are the fathers, and of whom, as con- 
 cerning the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, 
 God blessed for ever. Amen. What then 
 should be the reason? Why, saith he, 
 " though they be the children of Abraham ac- 
 cording to the flesh, yet they are the children 
 of Abraham but according to the flesh ; for 
 they are not all Israel (in the best sense) that 
 are of Israel ; neither because they are the seed 
 of Abraham are they children ; but in Isaac 
 shall thy seed be called." That is, they that 
 are the children of the flesh, they are not the 
 children of God, but the children of the prom- 
 ise shall be counted for the seed. Then, here 
 you see that they that are only the children of 
 the flesh, (as the greatest part of Israel were,) 
 they are those that are neither counted for the 
 seed, the children of the promise, nor the chil- 
 dren of God, but are rejected and of the repro- 
 bation. This therefore shall at this time serve 
 for the first Scripture demonstration. 
 
 2. Another Scripture you have in the elev- 
 enth chapter of this epistle from these words : 
 "The election hath obtained it, and the rest 
 were blinded." Eom. xi. 7. These words are 
 shedding words, they sever between men and 
 men ; the election, therest ; the chosen, the left ; 
 the embraced, the refused ; " the election have 
 obtained it, and the rest were blinded." By rest 
 here must needs be understood those not elect, 
 
 69& 
 
696 
 
 StTNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 because set one iu opposition to the other, and 
 if not elect, what then hut reprohate ? 
 
 3. A third Scripture is that in the Acts of 
 the Apostles : '' And as many as were ordained 
 to eternal life believed." And as many. By 
 these words, as by the former, you may see 
 how the Holy Ghost distinguisheth or divideth 
 between men and men, the sons and the sons 
 of Adam. "As many as were ordained to 
 eternal life believed." If by many here we 
 are to understand every individual, then not 
 only the whole world must at last believe the 
 Gospel, of which we see the most fall short, 
 but ,they must be ordained to eternal life, 
 which other Scriptures contradict; for there is 
 the rest, besides the elect; the stubble and 
 chafif, as well as wheat'; many therefore must 
 here include but some ; " fqr though Israel be 
 as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be 
 saved." 
 
 I might here multiply many other texts, but 
 in the mouth of two or thre'e witnesses shall 
 every woi'd be established. Let these there- 
 fore for this suffice to prove that there is a 
 reprobation. Por this I say, though the chil- 
 dren of the flesh, the rest besides the election, 
 and the like, were not mentioned in the word, 
 yet seeing there is such a thing as the children 
 of the promise, the seed, the children of God, 
 and the like, and that too under several other 
 phrases, as predestinated, foreknown, chosen 
 in Christ, and written in the book of life, and 
 appointed unto life, with many others — I say, 
 seeing thfese things are thus apparent, it is 
 without doubt that there is such a thing as a 
 reprobation also. 
 
 Nay, further, from the very word election it 
 foUoweth unavoidably ; for whether you take 
 it as relating to this, of distinguishing between 
 persons as touching the world to come, or with 
 reference to God's acts of choosing this or that 
 man to this or that office, work, or employ- 
 ment in this world, it still signifieth such a 
 choosing as that but some are therein con- 
 cerned, and that therefore some are thence ex- 
 cluded. Are all the elect, the seed, the saved, 
 the vessels of mercy, the chqpen and peculiar ? 
 Are not some (yea the most) the children of 
 the flosh, the rest, the lost, the vessels of 
 wrath, of dishonour, and the children of per- 
 dition?* 
 
 * Those who hold the doctrines of free grace will ac- 
 • knowledge that all salvation is of the Lord, whose 
 eternal purpose ia to save a remnant of the fallen race 
 of Adam; who accordingly in due time are quickened, 
 enlightened, justified, sanctified, and will be eternally 
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 What Reprobation is. 
 
 Having thus showed you that there is such 
 a thing as a reprobation, I come now to show 
 what it is, which, that I may do to your edifi- 
 cation, I shall first show you what this word 
 reprobation signifieth in the general, as it con- 
 cerneth persons temporary and visibly repro- 
 bate. Secondly, more particular, as it con- 
 cerneth persons that are eternally and invisibly 
 reprobate. 
 
 First generally, as it concerneth persons 
 temporary and visibly reprobate : thus, to be 
 reprobate is to be disapproved, void of judg- 
 ment, and rejected, &c. To be disapproved, that 
 is, when the word condemns them, either as 
 touching the faith or the holiness of the Gospel ; 
 the which they must needs be that are void of 
 spiritual and heavenly judgment in the mys- 
 teries of the kingdom, a manifest token they 
 are rejected. And hence it is that they are 
 said to be reprobate or void of judgment con- 
 cerning the faith ; reprobate or void of judg- 
 ment touching every good work ; having a 
 i-eprobate mind to do those things that are not 
 convenient either as to faith or manners. And 
 hence it is again that they are also said to be 
 rejected of God, cast away and the like. 
 
 I call this temporary, visible reprobation, 
 because these appear and are detected by the 
 word as such that are found under the above- 
 named errors, and so adjudged without the 
 grace of God. Yet it is possible for some of 
 these, (however for the present disapproved,) 
 through the blessed acts and dispensations of 
 grace not only to become visible saints, but 
 also saved for ever. Who doubts but that he 
 who now by examining himself concerning 
 faith doth find himself, though under profes- 
 sion, graceless, may, after that, he seeing his 
 woeful state, not only cry to God for mercy, 
 but find grace, and obtain mercy to help in 
 time of need? Though it is true that for the 
 most part the contrary is fulfilled on them. 
 
 But to pass this, and more particularly to 
 touch the eternal, invisible reprobation, which 
 I shall thus hold forth. It is to be passed by 
 in or left out of God's election, yet so as consid- 
 ered upright ; in which position you have these 
 four things considerable : 
 
 First. The act of God's election. 
 
 glorified; while the rebel angels are left to perish, 
 without the offer of a Saviour, who *' verily (aa the 
 apostle exults) took not on him the nature of angels 
 but the seed of Abraham." 
 
REPROBATION ASSERTED. 
 
 697 
 
 Secondly. The negative of that act. 
 
 Thirdly. The persons reached by that neg- 
 ative. And, 
 
 Fourthly. Their qualification when thus 
 reached by it. 
 
 For the first. This act of God in electing, 
 it is a choosing or foreappointing of some in- 
 fallibly unto eternal life, which he also hath 
 determined shall be brought to pass by the 
 means that should be made manifest and effi- 
 cacious to that very end. 
 
 Secondly. Now the negative of this act is 
 a passing by or a leaving of those not con- 
 cerned in this act — a leaving of them, I say, 
 without the bounds and so the saving privi- 
 leges of this act; as it followeth by natural 
 consequence that , because a man chooseth but 
 some, therefore he chooseth not a^, but leav- 
 eth, as the negative of that act, all others what- 
 soever. Wherefore, as I said before, those not 
 contained within this blessed act are called the 
 rest besides the election : " The election hath 
 obtained it, and the rest were blinded." 
 
 Thirdly. The persons then that are con- 
 tained under the negative of this act, they 
 are those (and those only) that pass through 
 this wicked world without the saving grace of 
 God's elect ; those, I say, that miss the most 
 holy faith which they in time are blest withal 
 who are foreappointed unto glory. 
 
 And now for the qualification they were 
 considered under when this act of reprobation 
 laid hold upon them — to wit, they were con- 
 sidered upright. 
 
 This is evident — 
 
 First, from this consideration : that reproba- 
 tion is God's act, even the negative of his 
 choosing or electing, and none of the acts of 
 God make any man a sinner. 
 
 Secondly. It is further evident by the sim- 
 ilitude that is taken from the carriage of the 
 potter in the making of his pots ; for by this 
 comparison the God of heaven is pleased to 
 show unto us the nature of his determining in 
 the act of reprobation. " Hath not the potter 
 power over the clay of the same lump?'' &c. 
 Consider a little, and you shall see that these 
 three things do necessarily fall in to complete 
 the potter's action in every pot he makes : 
 
 1. A determination in his own mind what 
 pot to make of this or that piece of clay — a de- 
 termination,' I say, precedent to the fashion 
 
 * God cannot be justly charged with partially or 
 severity in bestowing his grace upon some while he 
 withholds it from others; herein he doth what he 
 pleases with his own. So that the reprobates, not 
 
 of the pot; the which is true in the highest 
 degree in Him that is excellent in working ; 
 he determines the end before the beginning is 
 perfected : " For this very purpose have I 
 raised thee up." 
 
 2. The next thing considerable in the pot- 
 ter, it is the (so) making of the pot, even aa 
 he determine^l, a vessel to honour or a vessel 
 to dishonour. " There is no confusion or disap- 
 pointment under the hand of this eternal God; 
 his work is perfect and every way doth answer 
 to what he hath determined. 
 
 3. Observe again, that whether the vessel 
 be to honour or to dishonour, yet the potter 
 makes it good, sound, and fit for service ; his 
 foredetermining to make this a vessel to dis- 
 honour hath no persuasion at all with him to 
 break or mar the pot ; which very thing doth, 
 well resemble the state of man as under the 
 act of eternal reprobation, for " God made 
 man upright." 
 
 From these conclusions then consider — 
 
 1. That the simple act of reprobation, it is 
 a leaving or passing by, not a cursing of the 
 creature. 
 
 2. Neither doth this act alienate the heart 
 of God from the reprobate, nor tie him up from 
 loving, favouring, or blessing of him ; no, not 
 from blessing of him with the gift of Christ, 
 of faith, of hope, and many other benefits. It 
 only denieth them that benefit that will infal- 
 libly bring them to e1;grnal life, and that in 
 despite of all opposition ; it only denieth so to 
 bless them as the elect themselves are blessed. 
 Abraham loved all the children he had by all 
 his wives, and gave them portions also ; but 
 his choice blessing, as the fruit of his chiefest 
 love, he reserved for chosen Isaac. 
 
 Lastly, The act of reprobation doth harm 
 to no man, neither means him any; nay, it 
 rather decrees him upright, lets him be made 
 upright, and so be turned into the world.* 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Of the Antiquity of Reprohanon. 
 
 Having now proceeded so far as to show 
 you what reprobation is, it will not be amiss 
 in this place if I briefiy show you its an- 
 
 having the divine image reinstamped upon them 
 by the regenerating power of the Holy Ghost, are 
 consequently disapproved of Q-od and perish in their 
 
698 
 
 SUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 tiquity, even when it began its rise ; the 
 which you may gather by these following 
 particulars : 
 
 I. Reprobation is before the person cometh 
 into the world or hath done good or evil ; this 
 is evident by that of Paul to the Romans: 
 "For the children being not yet born, neither 
 having done any good or evil, that the pur- 
 pose of God, according to election, might 
 stand, it was said unto Rebecca, The elder 
 shall serve the younger." Here you find 
 twain in their mother's womb, and both re- 
 ceiving their destiny, not only before they 
 had done good or evil, but before they were in 
 a capaci ty to do it, they being yet 'unljorn — 
 tlieir destiny, I say, the one unto, the other 
 not unto, the blessing of eternal life ; the one 
 chosen, the other refused; the one elect, the 
 other reprobate. The same also might be said 
 of Ishmael and his brother Isaac, both which 
 did also receive their destiny before they came 
 into the world. For the promise that this 
 Isaac should be the heir, it was also before 
 Ishmael was born, though he was elder by 
 fourteen years or more than his brother. And 
 it is yet further evident — 
 
 1. Because election is an act of grace : 
 " There is a remnant, according to the elec- 
 tion of grace," which act of grace saw no way 
 so fit to discover its purity and independency 
 as by fastening on the object before it came 
 into the world, that b^g the state in which 
 at least no good were done, either to procure 
 good from God or to eclipse and darken this 
 precious act of grace; for though it is true 
 that no good thing that we have done before 
 conversion can obtain the grace of election, 
 yet the grace of election then appeareth most 
 when it prevents our doing good, that we 
 might be loved therefor; wherefore he saith 
 again, " That the purpose of God according to 
 election might stand, not of works, but of Him 
 that calleth, it was said unto her, The elder 
 shall serve the younger." 
 
 2. This is most agreeable to the nature of the 
 promise of giving seed to Abraham ; which pro- 
 mise, as it was made before the child was con- 
 ceived, so it was fulfilled at the best time for 
 the discovery of the act of grace that could 
 have been pitched upon : "At this time will I 
 come, (saith God,) and Sarah shall have a son ;" 
 which promise, because it carried in its bowels 
 the very grace of electing love, therefore it left 
 out Ishmael, with the children of Keturah: 
 "For in Isaac shall thy seed be called." 
 
 3. This was the best and fittest way for the 
 
 decrees to receive sound bottom, even fin God 
 both to choose and refuse before the creature 
 hath done good or evil, and- so before they 
 came into the world: "That the purpose of 
 God, according to election, might stand^ saith 
 he, therefore before the children were yet born, 
 or had done any good or evil, it was said unto 
 her," &c. God's decree would for ever want 
 foundation should it depend at all upon the 
 goodness and holiness either of men or angels; 
 especially if it were to stand upon that good 
 that is wrought before conversion, yea, or after 
 conversion either. We find by daily experience 
 how hard and difiicult it is for even the holiest 
 in the world to bear up and maintain their faith 
 and love to God ; yea, so hard as not at all to 
 do it without continual supplies from heaven. 
 How then is it possible for any so to carry it 
 before God as to lay by this his holiness a 
 foundation for election, as to maintain that 
 foundation and thereby to procure all those 
 graces that infallibly save the sinner? But 
 now the choice, I say, being a choice of grace, 
 as is manifest, it being acted before the crea- 
 ture's birth, here grace hath .laid the corner- 
 stone and determined the means to bring the 
 work to perfection. "Thus the foundation of 
 God standeth sure, having this seal. The Lord 
 knoweth who are- his;" that is, who he hath 
 chosen, having excluded works, both good and 
 bad, and founded all in an unchangeable act 
 of grace; the negative whereof is this harmless 
 reprobation. 
 
 II. But, secondly, to step a little backward, 
 and so to make all sure, this act of reprobation 
 was before the world began; which therefore 
 must needs confirm that which was said but 
 now, that they were, before they were born, 
 both destinated before they had done good or 
 evil. This is manifest by that of Paul to the 
 Ephesians at the beginning of his epis'tle; 
 where, speaking of election, whose negative is 
 reprobation, he saith, "God hath chosen us in 
 Christ before the foundation of the world." 
 Nay further, if you please, consider that as 
 Christ was ordained' to suffer before the foun- 
 dation of the world, and as we that are elected 
 were chosen in him before the foundation of 
 the world, so it was also ordained we should 
 know him before the foundation of the world ; 
 ordained that we should" be holy before him in 
 love before the foundation of the world ; and 
 that we in time should be created in him to 
 good works, and ordained before that we should 
 walk in them. Wherefore reprobation ^Iso, 
 it being the negative of electing love; that is, 
 
REPROBATION ASSERTED. 
 
 699 
 
 because God tilected but some, therefore he left 
 the rest; these rest therefore must needs be of 
 aa ancient standing under reprobation as the 
 chosen are under election; both which, it is 
 also evident, was before the world began. 
 Which serveth yet further to prove that rep- 
 robation could not be with respect to this or 
 the other sin, it being only a leaving them, 
 and that before the world, out of that free 
 choice which he was pleased to bless the other 
 with. Even as the clay with which the dis- 
 honourable vessel is made did not provoke the 
 potter, for the sake of this or that impediment, 
 therefore to make it so, but the potter of his 
 own will, of the clay of the same lump, of the 
 clay that is full as good as that of which he 
 hath made the vessel to honour, did make this 
 and the other vessel to«dishonour, &c.* 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Of the Causes of Reprobation, 
 
 Having thus in a word or two showed the 
 antiquity of reprobation, I now come in this 
 place to show you the causes thereof; for 
 doubtless this must stand a truth, that what- 
 ever God doth, there is sufficient ground there- 
 for, whether by us apprehended or else with- 
 out our reach. 
 
 First, then. It is caused from the very na- 
 ture of God. There are two things in God 
 from which or by the virtue of which all 
 things have their rise — to wit, the eternity of 
 God in general, and the eternal perfection of 
 every one of his attributes in particular; for 
 as by the first he must needs be before all 
 things, so by virtue of the second must all 
 things consist. And as he is before all things, 
 they having consistence by him, so also is he 
 before all states or their causes, be they either 
 good or. bad, of continuance or otherwise, he 
 being the first without beginning, &c., whereas 
 all other things, with their causes, have rise, 
 dependence, or toleration of being from 
 him. 
 
 Hence it follows that nothing, either person 
 or cause, &c., can by any means have a being 
 but first he knows thereof, allows thereof, and 
 
 * They who diligently attend to the Scriptures- will 
 find throughout the whole a vein of election and rep- 
 robation. The holy seed may be traced in many in- 
 stances and in divers families in the Bible, from 
 Adam to the birth of our Saviour, whose ancestors ac- 
 
 decrees it shall- be so: "Who is he that saith 
 and it cometh to pass when the Lord com 
 mandeth it not?" Now, then, because that 
 reprobation, as well as election, are subordi- 
 nate to God, his will also, which is eternally 
 perfect, being most immediately herein con- 
 cerned, it was impossible that any should be 
 reprobate before God hath both willed and de- 
 creed it should be sp. It is not the being of a 
 thing that administers matter of knowledge or 
 foresight thereof to God, but the perfection of 
 his knowledge, wisdom, and power, &c., that 
 giveth the thing its being. God did not fore- 
 decree there should be a world because hfe fore- 
 saw there would be one, but there must be one 
 because he had before decreed there should be 
 one. The same is true as touching the case in 
 hand: "For this very purpose have I raised 
 thee up, that I might show in thee my 
 power." 
 
 Secondly. A second cause of eternal repro 
 bation is the exercise of God's sovereignty; 
 for if this is true, that there is nothing either 
 visible or invisible, whether in heaven or earth, 
 but hath its being from him, then it must most 
 reasonably follow that he is therefore sovereign 
 Lord, &c., and may also according to his own 
 will, as he pleaseth himself, both exercise and 
 manifest the same, being every whit absolute, 
 and can do and may do whatsoever his soul 
 desireth ; and indeed good reason, for he hath 
 not only made them all, but for his pleasure 
 they both were and are created. 
 
 Now the very exercise of this sovereignty 
 produceth reprobation ; therefore hath he mercy 
 on whom he will have mercy, and whom he 
 will he hardeneth ; hath not the potter power 
 over the clay of the same lump ? and doth he 
 not make his pots according to his pleasure? 
 Here therefore the mercy, justice, wisdom, and 
 power of God take liberty to do what they 
 will, saying, " My counsel shall stand, and I 
 will do all my pleasure." 
 
 Thirdly. Another cause of eternal reproba- 
 tion is the act and working of distinguishing 
 love and everlasting grace. God hath univer- 
 sal love and particular love, general love and 
 distinguishing love; and so accordingly doth 
 decree, purpose, and determine, from general 
 love, the extension of general grace and mercy, 
 but from that love that is distinguishing, pe- 
 
 oording to the flesh were of the line of election or the 
 godly, which those who are only born after the flesh, 
 and not after the Spirit — namely, the reprobate — have 
 always despised and persecuted, and will do s to th< 
 end of time. 
 
700 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 euliar gra(!e and mercy: "Was not Esau Ja- 
 cob's brotLer ? Yet I loved Jacob,'' saith the 
 Lord; (yet I loved Jacob,) that is, with a bet- 
 ter love, or a love that is more distinguishing ; 
 as he farther makes appear in his answer to 
 our father Abraham, when he prayed to God 
 for Ishmael: "As for Ishmael, (saith he,) I 
 have heard thee; behold I have blessed him 
 and will also niake him fruitful ; but my cove- 
 nant will I establish with Isaac, whom Sarah 
 shall bear unto thee." Touching which words 
 there are these things observable : 
 
 1. That God had better love for Isaac than 
 he had for his brother Ishmael. Yet, 
 
 2. Not because Isaac had done more worthy 
 and goodly deeds, for Isaac was yet unborn. 
 
 3. This choice blessing could not be denied 
 to Ishmael because he had disinherited himself 
 by sin, for this blessing was entailed to Isaac 
 before Ishmael had a being also. 
 
 4. These things therefore must needs fall out 
 through the working of distinguishing love 
 and mercy, which has so cast the business 
 " that the purpose of God according to election 
 might stand." 
 
 Further. Should not God decree to show dis- 
 tinguishing love and mercy, as well as that 
 which is general and common, he must not 
 discover his best love at all to the sons of men. 
 Again, if he should reveal and extend his best 
 love to all the world in general, then there 
 would not be such a thing as love that doth dis- 
 tinguish'; for distinguishing love appeareth in 
 separating between Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob 
 and Esau, the many called and the few chosen. 
 Thus by virtue of distinguishing love some 
 must be reprobate, for distinguishing love 
 must leave some, both of the angels in heaven 
 and the inhabitants of the earth; wherefore 
 the decree also that doth establish it must 
 needs leave some. 
 
 Fourthly. Another cause of reprobation is 
 God's willingness to show his wrath and to 
 make his power known. This is one of those 
 arguments that the holy apostle setteth against 
 the most knotty and strong objection that ever 
 was framed against the doctrine of eternal 
 reprobation: "Thou wilt say then, (saith he,) 
 Why doth he yet find fault? for if it be his 
 will that some should be rejected, hardened, and 
 perish, why then is he offended that any sin 
 
 * It is of God's mere mercy and grace that any sin- 
 ners are called and admitted to the privilege of justi- 
 fication and adoption upon God's own terms. The 
 reason why the sinful and unworthy heathen (of whom 
 Britain is a part) were called to be a people who were 
 
 against him, for who jja,th resisted his will?" 
 Hold, saith the apostle ; stay a little here ; first 
 remember this: is it meet to say unto God, 
 What doest thou? Shall the thing formed 
 say to him that formed it, Why hast thou 
 made me thus? Hath not the potter powei 
 over the clay of the- same lump ?" &c. Be- 
 sides, when you have thought your worst — to 
 wit, that the efiects of reprobation must needs 
 be consummate in the eternal perdition of the 
 creature — yet again consider what if God be 
 willing to show his wrath as well as grace and 
 mercy ? And what if he, that he may so do, 
 exclude some from having share in that grace 
 that would infallibly, against all resistance, 
 bring us safe unto eternal life ? What then ? 
 Is he therefore the author of your perishing or 
 his eternal reprobation either? Do you not 
 know that he may refuse to elect who he will 
 without abusing of them ? Also that he may 
 deny to give them that grace that would jjreserve 
 them from sin without being guilty of their 
 damnation ? May he not, to show his wrath, 
 suffer with much long-suffering all that are the 
 vessels of wrath by their own voluntary will, 
 to fit themselves for wrath and for destruction ? 
 Yea, might he not even in the act of reproba- 
 tion conclude also to suffer them thus left to fall 
 frorn the state he had left them in — that is as 
 they were considered, upright — and when fallen 
 to bind them fast in chains of darkness unto 
 the judgment of the great day, but he must 
 needs be charged foolishly ? You shall see in 
 that day what a harmony and what a glory 
 there will be found in all God's judgments in 
 the overthrow of the sinner ; also how clear 
 the Lord will show himself of having any 
 working hand in that which causeth eternal 
 ruin, notwithstanding he hath reprobated 
 such, doth suffer them to sin, and that too that 
 he might show his wrath on the vessels of his 
 wrath ; the which I also after this next chap- 
 ter shall further clear up to you. As the Lord 
 knows how to deliver the godly out of tempta* 
 tion without approving of their miscarriages, 
 so he also knoweth how to reserve the ungodly 
 unto the day of judgment to be punished, yet 
 never to deserve the least of blame for his so 
 reserving of them, though none herein can 
 see his way, for he alone knows how to do 
 it.* 
 
 not a people, while the Jews were left out and cast off" 
 for their obstinate unbelief, was not because the Gen- 
 tiles were either more worthy or more willing, (forthej 
 were all dead in trespasses and sins,) but from God's 
 discriminating grace and mercy. 
 
REPROBATION ASSERTED. 
 
 701 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 OJ the Unehangeableness of Eternal Repro- 
 bation. 
 
 Many opinions have passed through the 
 hearts of the sons of men concerning reproba- 
 tion, most of them endeavouring so to hold it 
 forth as therewith they might, if not heal their 
 conscience slightly, yet maintain their own 
 opinion in their judgment of other things; 
 still wringing now the word this way, and 
 anon again that, for their purpose; also fram- 
 ing within their soul such an imagination of 
 God and his acts in eternity as would suit with 
 such opinions, and so present all to the world. 
 And the rather they have with greatest labour 
 strained unweariedly at this above many other 
 truths because of the grim and dreadful face it 
 carrieth in , most men's apprehensions. But 
 none of these things, however they may please 
 the creature, can by any means in any meas- 
 ure either cause God to undo, unsay, or unde- 
 termine what he hath concerning this decreed 
 and established. 
 
 First. Because they suit not with his nature, 
 especially in these foundation acts. The foun- 
 dation of God standeth sure, even touching 
 reprobation, that the purpose of God according 
 to election might stand. "I know (saith 
 Solomon) that whatsoever the Lord doth, it 
 abideth for ever ; nothing can be put unto it 
 nor anything taken from it, &c. Hath he said 
 it, and shall he not do it? Hath he spoken, 
 and shall he not bring' it to pass?" His de- 
 crees are compoSed according to his eternal 
 wisdom, established upon his unchangeable 
 will, governed by his knowledge, prudence, 
 power, justice, and mercy, and are brought to 
 conclusion (on his part) in perfect holiness, 
 through the abiding of his most blessed truth 
 and faithfulness : " He is a rock, his way is 
 perfect, for all his works are judgment: a God 
 of truth and without iniquity, just and right 
 is he." 
 
 Secondly. This decree is made sure by the 
 number, measure, and bounds of election, for 
 election and reprobation do enclose all reason- 
 able creatures; that is, either the one or the 
 other— election, those that are set apart for 
 glory ; and reprobation, those left out of this 
 choice. 
 
 Now as touching the elect, they are by this 
 decree confined to that limited number of per- 
 sons that must amount to the complete making 
 
 • Election is a free, unmerited favour, vouchsafed 
 K some, but not to all. God's people are chosen in 
 
 up the fulness of the mystical body of Christ ; 
 yea, so confined by his eternal purpose that 
 nothing can be diminished from or added 
 thereunto ; and hence it is that they are called 
 his body and members in particular, the ful- 
 ness of Him that fills all in all, and the measure 
 of the stature of the fulness of Christ ; which 
 body, considering him as the Head thereof, in 
 conclusion maketh up one perfect man and 
 holy temple for the Lord. These are Christ's 
 .substance, inheritance, and lot; and are said 
 to be booked, marked, and sealed with God's 
 most excellent knowledge, approbation, and 
 liking. As Christ said to his Father, "Thine 
 eyes did see my substance yet being imperfect, 
 and in thy book are all my members written, 
 which in continuance were fashioned when as 
 yet there was none of them." This being 
 thus, I say it is in the first place impossible 
 that any of those members should miscarry, 
 " for who shall lay anything to the charge of 
 God's elect?" And because they are as to 
 number every way sufiicient, being his body 
 and so by their completing to be made a per- 
 fect man, therefore all others are rejected, that 
 the "purpose of God according to election 
 might stand." Besides, it would not only 
 argue weakness in the decree, but monstrous- 
 ness in the body, if after this any appointed 
 should miscarry or any besides them be added 
 to them. 
 
 Thirdly. Nay, further, that all may see how 
 punctual, exact and to a tittle this degree of 
 election is, God hath not only as to number 
 and quantity confined the persons, but also 
 determined and measured, and that before the 
 world, the number of the gifts and graces that 
 are to be bestowed on these members in gen- 
 eral, and also what graces and gifts to be be- 
 stowed on this or that member in particular : 
 ".He hath blessed us with all spiritual bless- 
 ings in Christ, according as he hath chosen ua 
 in him before the foundation of the world;" 
 and bestoweth them in time upon us, " accord- 
 ing to the eternal purpose which he purposed 
 in Christ Jesus our Lord." He hath given to 
 the eye the grace that belongeth to the eye, 
 and to the hand that which he also hath ap- 
 pointed for it ; and so to every other member 
 of the body elect he doth deal out to them 
 their determined measures of grace and gifts 
 most fit for their place and office. Thus is the 
 decree established both of the saved and also 
 of the non-elect.* 
 
 Christ before the foundation of the world, that thej 
 should be holy, <fec. Eph. i. 4. He ohose when hv 
 
702 
 
 SVNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Fourthly. But again, another thing that 
 doth establish this decree of eternal reproba- 
 tion is the weakness that sin in the fall and 
 since hath brought all reprobates into; for 
 though it be most true that sin is no cause of 
 eternal reprobation, yet seeing sin hath seized 
 on the reprobate, it cannot be but thereby the 
 iieftree must needs be the faster fixed. If the 
 king, for this or the other weighty reason, doth 
 decree not to give this or that man (who yet 
 did never offend him) a place in his privy 
 chamber, if this man after this shall be in- 
 fected with the plague, this rather fastens than 
 loosens the king's decree; as the angels that 
 were left out of God's election, by reason of 
 the sin they committed after, are so far off 
 from being by that received into God's decree 
 that they are therefore bound for it in chains 
 of everlasting darkness to the judgment of the 
 great day. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Whether to be Reprobated be the same with 
 being Appointed- beforehand unto Eternal 
 Condemnation^ If not, how do they 
 Differ ? Ako whether Reprobation be the 
 Cause of Condemnation ? 
 
 It hath been the custom of ignorant men 
 much to quarrel at eternal reprobation, con- 
 cluding (for want of knowledge in the mystery 
 of God's will) that if he reprobate any from 
 eternity he had as good as said, " I will make 
 this man to damn him; I will decree this 
 man, without any consideration, to the ever- 
 lasting pains of hell," when, in very deed, 
 for God to reprobate, and to appoint before- 
 hand to eternal condemnation, are two distinct 
 things, properly relating to two distinct attri- 
 butes, arising from two distinct causes. 
 
 First. They are two distinct things. Eep- 
 robation is a simple leaving of the creature 
 out of the bounds of God's election, but to 
 appoini to condemnation is to bind them over 
 to everlasting punishment. Now, there is a 
 great difference between my refusing to make 
 of such a tree a pillar in my house, and of 
 condemning it unto the fire to be burned. 
 
 Secondly. As to the attributes. Reproba- 
 tion respects God's sovereignty, but to appoint 
 to condemnation, his justice. 
 
 miglit have refused : his book is a book of lore : the 
 cause of our love is in the object, not the subject ; the 
 
 Thirdly. As' to the causes. Sovereigntj 
 being according to the will of God, but justice 
 according to the sin of man. For God, though 
 he be the only sovereign Lord, and that to the 
 height of perfection, yet he appointeth no man 
 to the pains of everlasting fire merely from 
 sovereignty, but by the rule of justice. God 
 damneth not the man because he is a man, but 
 a sinner, and foreappoints him to that place 
 and state by foreseeing of him wicked. 
 
 Again, as reprobation is not the same with 
 foreappointing to eternal condemnation, 8C 
 neither is it the cause thereof. 
 
 If it be the cause, then it must either — 
 
 1. Leave him infirm ; or, 
 
 2. Infuse sin into him ; or, 
 
 3. Take from him something that otherwise 
 would keep him upright ; or, 
 
 4. Or both license Satan to tempt and the 
 reprobate to close in with the temptation. But 
 it doth none of these ; therefore it is not the 
 cause of the condemnation of the creature. 
 
 That it is not the cause of sin it is evident — 
 
 1. Because the elect are as much involved 
 therein as those that are passed by. 
 
 2. It leaveth him not infirm ; for he is by an 
 after act — to wit, of creation — formed perfectly 
 -upright. 
 
 3. That reprobation infuseth no sin appeai- 
 eth, because it is the act of God. 
 
 4. That it taketh nothing (that good is) from 
 him is also manifest, it being only a leaving 
 of him. 
 
 5. And that it is not by this act that Satan 
 is permitted to tempt or the reprobate to sin is 
 manifest ; because as Christ was tempted, so 
 the elect fall as much into the temptation, at 
 least many of them, as many of those that are 
 reprobate; whereas if these things came by 
 reprobation, then the reprobate would be only 
 concerned therein. All which will be further 
 handled in these questions yet behind. 
 
 Objection. From what hath been said, there 
 is concluded this at least, that God hath in- 
 fallibly determined, and that before the world, 
 the infallible damnation of some of his crea- 
 tures ; for if God hath before the world bound 
 some over to eternal punishment, and that, as 
 you say, for sin, then this determination must 
 either be fallible or infallible ; not fallible, for 
 then your other position of the certainty of 
 the number of God's elect is shaken, unless 
 you hold that there may be a number that 
 
 reason of God's love is in himself: "He will have 
 mercy on whom he will have mercy.*' The gifts of 
 God are sovereign as well as free. 
 
REPROBATION ASSERTED. 
 
 703 
 
 shall neither go to heaven or hell. Well, then, 
 if God hath indeed determined, foredetermined, 
 that some must infallibly perish, doth not this 
 his determination lay a necessity on the repro- 
 bate to sin, that he, may be damned? for no 
 sin, no damnation. That is your own argu- 
 ment. 
 
 Answer. That God hath ordained ( Jude 4) 
 the damnation of some of his creatures is evi- 
 dent; but whether this his determination be 
 positive and absolute, there is the question ; 
 for the better understanding whereof I shall 
 open unto you the variety of God's determi- 
 nations and their nature, as also rise. 
 
 The determinations of God touching the de- 
 struction of the creature, they are either ordi- 
 nary or extraordinary ; those I count ordinary 
 that were commonly pronounced by the proph- 
 ets and apostles, &c., in their ordinary way of 
 preaching, to the end men might be affected 
 with the love of their own salvation ; now these 
 are either bound or loosed but as the condition 
 or qualification was answered by the creature 
 under sentence, and no otherwise. 
 
 Again. These extraordinary, though they 
 respect the same conditions, yet they are not 
 grounded immediately upon them, but upon 
 the infallible foreknowledge and foresight of 
 God, and are thus distinguished : first, the or- 
 dinary determination; it stands but at best 
 upon a supposition that the creature may con- 
 tinue in sin, and admits of a possibility that it 
 may not, but the extraordinary stands upon an 
 infallible foresight that the creature will con- 
 tinue in sin; wherefore this must needs be 
 positive and as infallible as God himself 
 
 Again. These two determinations are also 
 distinguished thus : the ordinary is applicable 
 to the elect as well as to the reprobate, but the 
 other to the reprobate only ; it is proper to 
 say, even to the elect themselves, " He that 
 believeth shall be saved, and he that believeth 
 not shall be damned ;" but not to say to them, 
 These are appointed to utter destruction, or 
 that they shall utterly perish in their own cor- 
 ruptions, or that for them is reserved the black- 
 ness of darkness for ever. 
 
 So, then, though God by these determina- 
 tions doth not lay some under irrecoverable 
 condemnation, yet by one of them he doth, as 
 is further made out thus : 
 
 1. God most perfectly foreseeth the final 
 impenitency of those that do sin from the be- 
 ginning to the end of the world. 
 
 2. Now from this infallible foresight it is 
 most easy and rational to conclude, and that 
 
 positively, the infallible overthrow of every 
 such creature. Did I infallibly foresee that 
 this or that man would cut out his heart in 
 the morning, I might infallibly determine his 
 death before night. 
 
 Objection. But still the question is. Whether 
 God by this his determination doth not lay a 
 necessity on the creature to sin? for no sin, 
 no condemnation. This is true by your own 
 assertion. 
 
 Ariswer. No, by no means, for — 
 
 1. Though it be true that sin must of 
 absolute necessity go before the infallible 
 condemnation and overthrow of the sinner, 
 and that it must also be preconsidered by 
 God, yet it needs not lay a necessity upon 
 him to sin ; for let him but alone to do what 
 he will, and the determination cannot be more 
 infallible than the sin which is the cause of its 
 execution. 
 
 2. As it needs not, so it doth not; for this 
 positive determination is not grounded upon 
 what God will effect, but on what the creature 
 will ; and that not through the instigation of 
 God, but the instigation of the devil. What ! 
 might not I, if I most undoubtedly foresaw 
 that such a tree in my garden would only 
 cumber the ground, (notwithstanding reason- 
 able means,) — might not I, I say, from hence 
 determine (seven years before) to cut it down 
 and burn it in the fire, but I must, by so deter- 
 mining, necessitate this tree to be fruitless? 
 The case in hand is the very same. God 
 therefore may most positively determine the 
 infallible damnation of his creature, and yet 
 not at all necessitate the creature to sin that 
 he might be damned. 
 
 Objection. But how is this similitude perti- 
 nent? For God did not only foresee sin 
 would be the destruction of the creature, 
 but let it come into the world and so destroy 
 the creature. If you, as you foresee the fruit- 
 lessness of your tree, should withal see that 
 which makes it so, and that too before it 
 makes it so, and yet let the impediment come 
 and make it so, are not you now the cause 
 of the unfruitfulness of that tree which you 
 have before condemned to the fire to be 
 burned ? for God might have chosen whether 
 he would have let Adam sin, and so sin to 
 have got into the world by him. 
 
 Answer. Similitudes never answer every 
 way : if they be pertinent to" that for which 
 they are intended, it is enough; and to that 
 it answereth well, being brought to prove no 
 more but the natural consequence of a true 
 
704 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 and infallible foresight. And now as to what 
 ia objected further, as that God might have 
 chosen whether sin should have come into the 
 world by Adam to the destruction of so many, 
 to that I shall answer-r \ 
 
 1 That sin could not have come into the 
 world without God's permission, it is evident 
 l)0th from the perfection of his foresight and 
 power. 
 
 2. Therefore all the means, motives, and in- 
 ducements thereunto must also by him be not 
 only foreseen, but permitted. 
 
 3. Yet so that God will have the timing, 
 proceeding, bounding, and ordering thereof at 
 his disposal : "Surely the wrath of man shall 
 praise thee, and the remainder of wrath shalt 
 thou restrain." 
 
 4. Therefore it must needs come into the 
 world, not without, but by the knowledge of 
 God ; not in despite of him, but by his suffer- 
 ing of it. 
 
 Objection. But how then is he clear from , 
 having a hand in the death of him that 
 perisheth ? 
 
 Answer. Nothing is more sure than that 
 God could have kept sin out of the world 
 if it had been his will; and this is also as 
 true, that it never came into the world with 
 his liking and compliance; and for this you 
 must consider that sin came into the world by 
 two steps — 
 
 1-. By being offered. 
 
 2. By prevailing. 
 
 Touching the first of these, God, without 
 the legist injury to any creature in heaven or 
 earth, might not only suffer it, but so far 
 countenance the same that is so far forth as 
 for trial only, as it is said of Abraham, " God 
 tempted Abraham to slay his only son, and 
 led Christ by the Spirit into the wilderness to 
 be tempted of the devil." This is done with- 
 out any harm at all ; nay, it rather produceth 
 good, for it tends to discover sincerity, to ex- 
 ercise faith in and love to his Creator, also to 
 put him in mind of the continual need he hath 
 of depending on his God for the continuation 
 of help and strength, and to provoke to 
 prayers to God whenever so engaged. 
 
 Objection. But God did not only admit that 
 sin should be offered for trial, and there to 
 stay, but did suffer it to prevail and overcome 
 the world. 
 
 ATmver. Well, this is granted ; but yet con- 
 sider — 
 
 1. God did neither suffer it nor yet consent 
 It should, but under this consideration: if 
 
 Adam, upright Adam, ga te way thereto by 
 forsaking his command, " in the day thou 
 eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die " — which 
 Adam did, not because God did compel him 
 or persuade him to it, but voluntarily of his 
 own mind, contrary to his God's command — so, 
 then, God, by suffering sin to break into the 
 world, did it rather in judgment, as disliking 
 Adam's act, and as a punishment to man for 
 listening to the tempter, and as a discovery 
 of his anger at man's disobedience, fhan 
 to prove that he is guilty of the misery of his 
 creature. 
 
 2. Consider also that when God permitted 
 sin for trial, it was, when offered first, to them 
 only who were upright and ,had suflScient 
 strength to resist it. 
 
 3. They were by God's command to the 
 contrary driven to no strait, to tempt them to 
 incline to Satan : " Of every tree of the garden 
 thou mayest freely eat, saith God; only let 
 this alone." 
 
 .4. As touching the beauty and goodness 
 that was in the object unto which they were 
 allured, what was it? Was it better than 
 God ? yea, was it better than the tree of life, 
 for from that they were not exempted till 
 after they had sinned? Did not God know 
 best what was to do them good? 
 
 2. Touching him that persuaded them to do 
 this wicked act: was his word more to be 
 valued for truth, more to be ventured on for 
 safety, or more to be honoured for the worthi- 
 ness of him that spake, than was His that had 
 forbade it ; the one being the devil, with a lie, 
 and to kill them ; the other being God, with 
 his truth, and to preserve them safe? 
 
 Question. But was not Adam unexpectedly 
 surprised? Had he notice beforehand and 
 warning of the danger, for God foresaw the 
 business ? 
 
 Answer. Doubtless God was fair and faithful 
 to his creature in this thing also, as clearly 
 doth appear from these considerations : 
 
 1. The very commandment that God gave 
 him forebespake him well to look about him, 
 and did indeed insinuate that he was likely to 
 be tempted. 
 
 2. It is yet more evident, because God doth 
 even tell him of the danger : " In the day thou 
 eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.'' 
 
 3. Nay, God by speaking to him of the very 
 tree that was to be forborne, telling him also 
 where it stood, that he might the better know 
 it, did in efiect expressly say to him, " Adam, 
 if thou be tempted, it will be about that tree 
 
REPROBATION ASSERTED. 
 
 705 
 
 and the fruit thereof; wherefore, if thou findest 
 the tempter there, then beware thy life." 
 
 To conclude, then. Though sins did not 
 come into the world without God's sufferance, 
 yet it did without his liking ; God suffered also 
 Cain to kill his brother, and Ishmael to mock 
 at Isaac, but he did not like the same. 
 
 Secondly. Therefore though God was first 
 ,in concluding sin should be offered to the 
 world, yet man was the first that consented to 
 a being overcome thereby. 
 
 Thirdly, then. Though God did foredeter- 
 mine that sin should enter, yet it was not but 
 with respect to certain terms and conditions, 
 which yet were not to be enforced by virtue of 
 the determination, but permitted to be com- 
 pleted by the voluntary inclination of a per- 
 fect and upright man. And in that the deter- 
 mination was most perfectly infallible it was 
 through the foresight of the undoubted incli- 
 nation of this good and upright person. 
 
 Question. But might not God have kept 
 Adam from inclining if he would ? 
 
 Answer. What more certain 1 But yet con- 
 sider — 
 
 1. Adam being now an upright man, he was 
 able to have kept himself had he but looked to 
 it as he should and might. 
 
 2. This being so, if God had here stepped iii, 
 he had either added that which had been need- 
 less, and so had not obtained thankfulness, or 
 else had made the strength of Adam useless, 
 yea his own workmanship in so creating him 
 superfluous, or else, by consequence, imper- 
 fect. 
 
 3. If he had done so, he had taken Adam 
 from his duty, which was to trust and believe 
 his Maker ; he had also made void the end of 
 the commandment, which was to persuade to 
 watchfulness, diligence, sobriety, and content- 
 edness ; yea, and by so doing would not only 
 himself have tempted Adam to transgression, 
 even to lay aside the exercise of that strength 
 that God had already given him, but should 
 have become the pattern or the first father to 
 
 • The final condomnation of the wicked does not 
 •piing fr:m God's sovereign will to destroy any of his 
 rational creatures ; this is evident from the many 
 pressing invitations, declarations, and promises in the 
 word of God, for Jehovah swears by his great self that 
 he desires not the death of a sinner; but our Lord as- 
 signs the cause of reprobation in these words: "Ye, 
 will not como unto me that ye might have light j" 
 wherefore Christ, the only remedy for their cure, being 
 rejected, the sinner is condemned and rendered the 
 object of wrath and punishment by the law and jus- 
 45 
 
 all looseness, idleness and neglect of duty; 
 which would also not only have been an ill ex- 
 ample to Adam to continue to neglect so rea- 
 sonable and wholesome duties, but would have 
 been to himself an argument of defence to re- 
 tort upon his God when he had come another 
 time to reckon with him for his misdemean- 
 ours.* 
 
 Many other weighty reasons might here be 
 further added for God's vindication in this par- 
 ticular, but at this time let these suffice. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Whether any under Eternal Reprobation 
 have Just Cause to Quarrel udth God for ' 
 not Electing of them ? 
 
 That the answer to this question may be to 
 edification, recall again what I have before as- 
 serted—to wit, that for a man to be left out of 
 God's election, and to be made a sinner, is two 
 things ; and again, for a man to be not elect, 
 and to be condemned to hell-fire, is two things 
 also. Now I say, if non-election makes no 
 man a sinner, and if it appoints no man to 
 condemnation neither, then what ground hath 
 any reprobate to quarrel with God for not 
 electing of him? Nay, further, reprobation 
 considereth him upright, leaveth him upright, 
 and so turneth him into the world ; what 
 wrong doth God do him though he hath not ^ 
 elected him? What reason hath he that is 
 left in this case to quarrel against his Maker? 
 
 If thou say. Because God hath not chosen 
 them as well as chosen others, I answer, " Nay 
 but, O man, who art thou that repliest against 
 God ? Shall the thing formed say to him that 
 formed it, Why hast thou made me thus ? Be- 
 hold, as the clay is in the hand of the potter, 
 so are ye in my hand, O house of Israel, saith 
 the Lord God." So then, if I should say no 
 more but that God is the only Lord and Crea- 
 tor, and that by his sovereignty he hath power 
 to dispose of them according to his pleasure, 
 
 tice of God, because the same word of truth, which 
 says, " Whosoever will, let him come and take of the 
 water of life freely," also says, " The soul that sinneth 
 (or lives and dies in sin unpardoned) shall die." Thus 
 sin is the object of God's hatred, and not the man, 
 abstractedly considered. May wo therefore each of 
 us have grace to look to Christ for full and complete 
 salvation, who hath put away sin by the sacrifice of 
 himself, whereby he has perfected for ever them that 
 are sanctified I" 
 
706 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 either to choose or to refuse according to the 
 counsel of his own will, who could object 
 against him and be guiltless ? " He giveth no 
 account of any of his ways, and what his soul 
 desireth that doth he.'' 
 
 Again, God is wiser than man, and there- 
 fore can show a reason for what he acts and 
 does, both when and where at present thou 
 seest none. Shall God, the only wise, be ar- 
 raigned at the bar of thy blind reason, and 
 there be judged and condemned for his acts 
 done in eternity? "Who hath directed the 
 Spirit of the Lord, or who hath been his coun- 
 sellor?" Do you not know that he is far more 
 above us than we are above our horse or mule 
 that is without understanding? " Great things 
 doth he that we cannot comprehend; great 
 things, and unsearchable and marvellous 
 things, without number." 
 
 But, I say, should we take it well if our 
 beast should call us to account for this and the 
 other righteous act, and judge us unrighteous 
 and our acts ridiculous, and all because it sees 
 no reason for our so doing? Why, we are as 
 beasts before God. 
 
 But again, to come yet more close to the 
 point, the reprobate quarrels with God because 
 he hath not elected him ; well, but is not God 
 the master of his own love? and is not his will 
 the only rule of his mercy ? and may he not, 
 without he give offence to thee, lay hold by 
 electing love and mercy on whom himself 
 pleaseth? Must thy reason, nay, thy lust, be 
 the ruler, orderer, and disposer of his grace? 
 "May I not do what I will with mine own? 
 (saith he.) Is thine eye evil because mine is 
 good?" 
 
 Further, what harm doth God to any repro- 
 bate, by not electing of him ? He was, as hath 
 been said, considered upright, so formed in the 
 act of creation and so turned into the world ; 
 indeed he was not elected, but hath that taken 
 anything from him? No, verily, but leaveth 
 him in good condition ; there is good, and bet- 
 ter, and best of all ; he that is in a good estate 
 (tliough others through fre,e grace are in a far 
 better) hath not any cause to murmur either 
 with Him that gave him such a place or at 
 him that is placed above him. In a word, 
 reprobation maketh no man personally a sin- 
 ner, neither doth election make any man per- 
 sonally righteous: it is the consenting to sin 
 that makes a man a sinner, and the imputation 
 of grace and righteousness that makes gospelly 
 and personally just and holy. 
 
 But again, seeing it is God's act to leave 
 
 some out of the bounds of his election, it must 
 needs be, therefore, positively good; is that) 
 then which is good in itself made sin unto 
 thee? God forbid! God doth not evil by 
 leaving this or that man out of his electing 
 grace, though he chooses others to eternal life 
 through Jesus Christ our Lord. Wherefore 
 there is not a reprobate that hath any cause, 
 and therefore no just cause, to quarrel with liia 
 Maker for not electing of him. 
 
 And that, besides what hath been spoken, if 
 you consider — 
 
 1. For God to elect is an act of sovereign 
 grace, but to pass by or to refuse so to do is 
 an act of sovereign power, not of injustice. 
 
 2. God might therefore have chosen whether 
 he would have elected any, or so many, or few, 
 and also which and where he would. 
 
 3. Seeing, then, that all things are at his 
 disposal, he may fasten electing mercy where 
 he pleaseth, and other mercy, if he will, to 
 whom and when he will. 
 
 4. Seeing, also, that the least of mercies are 
 not deserved by the best of sinners, men, in- 
 stead of quarrelling against the God of grace 
 because they have not what they list, should 
 acknowledge they are unworthy of their breath, 
 and also should confess that God may give 
 mercy where he pleaseth, and that, too, both 
 which or what, as also to whom and when he 
 will, and yet be good, and just, and very 
 gracious still. Nay, Job saith, "He taketh 
 away, who can hinder him ? or who will say 
 unto him. What dost thou ?" 
 
 The will of God is the rule of all righteous- 
 ness ; neither knoweth he any other way by 
 which he governeth and ordereth any of his 
 actions. ¥/hatsoever God doth, it is good be- 
 cause he doth it, whether it be to give grace or 
 to detain it, whether in choosing or refusing. 
 The consideration of this made the holy men 
 of old ascribe righteousness to their Maker 
 even then when yet they could not see the 
 reason of his actions ; they would rather stand 
 amazed and wonder at the heights and depths 
 of his unsearchable judgments, than quarrel at 
 the strange and most obscure of them. 
 
 God did not intend that all that ever he 
 would do should be known to every man, no 
 nor yet to the wise and prudent ; it is as much 
 a duty sometimes to stay ourselves and wonder, 
 and to confess our ignorance in many things 
 of God, as it is to do other things that are duty 
 without dispute. So, then, let poor dust and 
 ashes forbfear to condemn the Lord because he 
 goeth beyond them; and also they should be- 
 
rephobation asserted. 
 
 707 
 
 wiire they speak not wickedly for him, though 
 it be, as thoy think, to justify his actions: 
 "The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and 
 holy in all his works." * 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Whether Eternal Reprobation in itself, or in 
 its Doctrine, be in very deed an Hindrance 
 to any Man in seeking the Salvation of his 
 Soulf 
 
 In my discourse upon this question I must 
 entreat the reader to mind well what is pre- 
 mised in the beginning of the former chapter, 
 which is, that reprobation mak^fe no man a 
 sinner, appoints no man to condemnation, but 
 leaveth him upright after all. So, then, though 
 God dotli leave the most of men without the 
 bounds of his Section, his so doing is neither 
 in itself nor yet its doctrine (in very deed) an 
 hindrance to any man in seeking the salvation 
 of his soul. 
 
 I. It hindereth not in itself, as is clear by 
 the ensuing considerations : 
 
 1. That which hindereth him is the weak- 
 ness that came upon him by reason of sin. 
 Now God only made the man, but man's lis- 
 tening to Satan made him a sinner, which is 
 the cause of all his weakness. This therefore 
 is it that hindereth him, and that also disen- 
 ableth him in seeking the salvation of his soul. 
 " Let no man say when he is tempted, I am 
 tempted of God ; for God cannot be tempted 
 of evil, neither tempteth he any man. God 
 made man upright, but he hath sought out 
 many inventions." 
 
 2. It hindereth not in itself, for it taketh not 
 any thing from a man that would help him 
 might it continue with him ; it takes not away 
 the least part of his strength, wisdom, courage, 
 innoceucy, or will to good ; all these were lost 
 by the fall in that day when he died the death. 
 Nay, reprobatioi under some consideration, 
 did rather establish all these upon the repro- 
 bate ; for as it decrees him left, so it left him 
 
 * "Secret things belong to God, but those that are 
 revealed belong to us." It is a vain thing for men to 
 cavil at the doctrine of peculiar election, and to quar- 
 rel with God for choosing some and passing by others. 
 Their best way would be to assure themselves of their 
 own election by using the means and walking in the 
 ways of God's appointment as laid down in the word; 
 and then they will find that God cannot deny himself. 
 
 upright. Wherefore man's hindrance cometh 
 on him from other means, even by the fall, and. 
 not by the simple act of eternal i-eprobation. 
 
 3. As reprobation hindereth not either of 
 these two ways, so neither is it from this sim- 
 ple act that Satan is permitted either to tempt 
 them, that they might be tried or that they 
 might be overthrown. 
 
 1. It is not by this act that Satan is permit- 
 ted to tempt them that they might be tried, 
 because then the Son of God himself must be 
 reached by this reprobation, he being tempted 
 by the devil as much if not more than any ; 
 yea, and then must every one of the elect be 
 under eternal reprobation ; for they also, and 
 that after their conversion, are greatly as- 
 saulted by him : " Many are the troubles of 
 the righteous," &c. 
 
 2. Neither is it from the act of reprobation 
 that sin hath entered the world, no more than 
 from election, because those under the power 
 of election did not only fall at first, but do 
 still generally, as foully, before conversion, as 
 the reprobate himself. Whereas, if either the 
 temptation or the fall were by virtue of rep- 
 robation, then the reprobates, and they only, 
 should have been tempted and . have fallen. 
 The temptation, then, and the fall, doth come 
 from other means, and so the hindrance of the 
 reprobate, than from eternal reprobation. For 
 the temptation, the fall, and hindrance being 
 universal, but the act of reprobation partic- 
 ular, the hindrance must needs come from such 
 a cause as taketh hold on all men, which in- 
 deed is the fall; the cause of which was 
 neither election nor reprobation, but man's 
 voluntary listening to the tempter. 
 
 3. It is yet far more evident that reproba- 
 tion hindereth no man from seeking the salva- 
 tion of his soul, because, notwithstanding all 
 that reprobation doth, yet God giveth to divers 
 of the reprobates great encouragements there- 
 to ; to wit, the tenders of the Gospel in general, 
 not excluding any ; great light also to under- 
 stand it, with many a sweet taste of the good 
 work of God and the powers of the world to 
 come ; he maketh them sometimes also to be 
 partakers of the Holy Ghost, and admitteth 
 
 but will make good to them every promise therein ; and 
 thus, by Scripture evidence, they will find that they 
 are elected unto life, and will be thankful and humble. 
 They will then find that an hearty, affectionate trust* 
 ing in Christ for all his salvation, as freely promised 
 to us, hath naturally enough in it to work in our soula 
 a natural bent and inclination to and ability for th« 
 practice of all holiness. 
 
708 
 
 BVNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 many of them into fellowship with his elect ; 
 yea, some of them to be rulers, teachers, and 
 governors in his house; all which, without 
 doubt, both are and ought to be great encour- 
 agements, even to the reprobates themselves, to 
 seek the salvation of their souls. 
 
 II. As it hindereth not in itself, so it hin- 
 dereth not by its doctrine; for all that this 
 doctrine saith is, that some are left out of 
 God's election, as considered upright. Now 
 this doctrine 3annot hinder any man, for — 
 
 1. No man still stands upright. 
 
 2. Though it saith some are left, yet it points 
 at no man, it nameth no man, it binds all faces 
 in secret. So, then, if it hinder, it hindereth 
 all, even the elect as well as reprobate ; for the 
 reprobate hath as much ground to judge him- 
 self elect as the very elect himself hath before 
 he be converted, being both alike in a state of 
 nature and unbelief, and both alike visibly 
 liable to the curse for the breach of the com- 
 mandment. Again, as they are equals here, 
 so also have they ground alike to close in 
 with Christ and live ; even the open, free, and 
 full invitation of the Gospel and promise 
 of life and salvation by the faith of Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 3. It is evident also by experience that this 
 doctrine doth not indeed, neither can it, hin- 
 der any, (this doctrine, I mean, when both 
 rightly stated and rightly used,) because many 
 who have been greatly afflicted about this mat- 
 ter have yet at last had comfort ; which com- 
 fort, when they have received it, hath been to 
 them as an argument that the , thing they 
 feared before was not because of reprobation, 
 rightly stated, but its doctrine much abused 
 was the cause of their affliction ; and had they 
 had the same light at first they received after- 
 wards, their troubles then would soon have 
 fled, as also now they do. Wherefore discour- 
 agement comes from want of light, because they 
 are not skilful in the word of righteousness ; 
 for had the discouragement at first been true, 
 (which yet it could not be, unless the perSon 
 
 'knew by name himself under eternal reproba- 
 tion, which is indeed impossible,) then his 
 light would have pinched him harder ; light 
 would rather have fastened this his fear than 
 at all have rid him of it. 
 Indeed the Scripture saith. The word is to 
 
 * The reader is advised to attend diligently to the 
 reasoning here advanced; which if he do it T?il] ap- 
 pear that men continue in a reprobate state by reason 
 of the depravity aad enmity of their own corrupt 
 hearts and for want of calling upon God, reading 
 
 some the savour of death unto death, when to 
 others the savour of life unto life. But mark, 
 it is not this doctrine in particular, if so much 
 as some other, that doth destroy the reprobate. 
 It was respite at which Pharaoh hardened his 
 heart, and the grace of God that the repro- 
 bates of old did turn into lasciviousness. Yea, 
 Christ the Saviour of the world is a stumbling- 
 block unto some and a rock of oflfence unto • 
 others. But yet, again, consider that neither 
 he nor any of God's doctrines are so simp!y 
 and in their own true natural force and drift; 
 for they beget no unbelief, they provoke to no 
 wantonness, neither do they in the least en- 
 courage to impenitency; all this comes from 
 that ignorance and wickedness that came by 
 the fall. Wherefore it is by reason of that also 
 that they stumble, and fall, and grow weak, 
 and are discouraged, and split themselves, 
 either at the doctrine of reprobation or at any 
 other truth of God. 
 
 Lastly. To conclude as I began, there is no 
 man while in this world that doth certainly 
 know that he is left out of the electing love of 
 the great God; neither hath he any word in 
 the whole Bible to persuade him ^o to conclude 
 and believe, for the Scriptures hold forth sal- 
 vation to the greatest of sinners. Wherefore, 
 though the act of reprobation were far more 
 harsh, and its doctrine also more sharp and 
 severe, yet it cannot properly be said to hinder 
 any. It is a foolish thing in any to be troubled 
 with those things which they have no ground 
 to believe concerns themselves, especially when 
 the latitude of their discouragement is touch- 
 ing their own persons only : " The secret things 
 belong unto the Lord our God." Indeed every 
 one of the words of God ought to put us upon 
 examination, and into a serious inquiry, of 
 our present state and condition, and how we 
 now do stand for eternity ; to wit, whether we 
 are ready to meet the Lord, or how it is with 
 us. Yet, when search is fully made, and the 
 worst comes unto the worst, the party can Snd 
 himself no more than the chief of sinners, not 
 excluded from the grace of God tendered in 
 the Gospel; not from an invitation, nay, a 
 promise, to be embraced and blest if he comes 
 to Jesus Christ. Wherefore he hath no ground 
 to be discouraged by the doctrine of reproba- 
 tion.* 
 
 his word, and using the means of grace. Instead of 
 men's perplexing their minds concerning the doctrine 
 of reprobation, calling it an horrible decree, as some 
 do, they should be looking up to God to enable them 
 to flee from the wrath to come, and then they will be 
 
REPROBATION ASSERTED. 
 
 709 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Whether God would in deed and in ti;uth 
 tlud the Gospel, with the Grace thereof, 
 diovld be tendered to those that yet he hath 
 bound up under Eternal Reprobation f 
 To this question I shall answer — 
 First. In the language of our Lord, "Go 
 preach the Gospel unto every creature ;" and 
 again, " Look unto me, all ye ends of the 
 eaith, and be ye saved; and whosoever will, 
 let him take the water of life freely." And 
 the reason is, because Christ died for all, tasted 
 death for every man, is the Saviour of the 
 world, and the propitiation for the sins of the 
 whole world. 
 
 Secondly. I gather it from those several cen- 
 sures that even every one goeth "Under that 
 doth not receive Christ when offered in the 
 general tenders of the Gospel : " He that be- 
 iieveth not shall be damned ; he that believeth 
 not makes God a liar, because he believeth not 
 the record that God hath given of his Son ;'' 
 and, " Woe unto thee, Capernaum, woe unto 
 thee, Corazin, woe unto thee, Bethsaida ;" with 
 many other sayings; all which words, with 
 many other of the same nature, carry in them 
 a very great argument to this very purpose ; 
 for if those that perish in the days of the Gos- 
 pel shall have at least their damnation height- 
 ened because they have neglected and refused 
 to receive the Gospel, it must needs be that 
 the Gospel was with all faithfulness to be ten- 
 dered unto them ; the which it could not be 
 unless the death of Christ did extend itself 
 unto them ; for the offer of the Gospel cannot, 
 with God's allowance, be offered any further 
 than the death of Jesus Christ doth go ; be- 
 cause if that be taken away there is indeed no 
 Gospel nor grace! to be extended. Besides, if 
 by every creature and the like should be meant 
 only the elect, then are all the persuasions of 
 the Gospel to no effect at all ; for still the un- 
 converted, who are here condemned for refusing 
 of it, they return it as fa^ again : I do not 
 Know I am elected, and therefore dare not 
 come to Jesus Christ ; for if the death of Jesus 
 Christ, and so the general tender of the Gospel, 
 concern the elect alone, I, not knowing myself 
 to be one of that number, am at a mighty 
 plunge; nor know I whether is the greatest 
 sin, to believe or to despair ; for I say again, 
 if Christ died only for the elect, &c., then, I,- 
 
 eheltered frou) the storm in Christ, the city of refuge; 
 and though we can have no evidence of our particular 
 election before we believed, yet we are to trust in 
 
 not knowing myself to be one of that number, 
 dare not believe the Gospel that holds forth his 
 blood to save me : nay, I think with safety may 
 not, until I first do know I am elect of God 
 and appointed thereto. 
 
 Thirdly. God the Father and Jesus Christ 
 his Son would have all men whatever invited 
 by the Gospel to lay hold of life by Christ, 
 whether elect or reprobate; for though it be 
 true that there is such a thing as election a ad 
 reprobation, yet God, by the tenders of the 
 Gospel in the ministry of his word, looks upon 
 men under another consideration — to wit, as 
 sinners — and as sinners invites them to believe, 
 lay hold of, and embrace the same. He saith 
 not to his ministers, " Go preach to the elect 
 because they are elect, and shut out others be- 
 cause they are not so." But, " Go preach the 
 Gospel to sinners ; and as they are such, go bid 
 them come to me and live." And it must 
 needs be so, otherwise the preacher could 
 neither speak in faith nor the people hear in 
 faith; first, the preacher could not speak in 
 faith, because he knoweth not the elect from 
 the reprobate; nor they again hear in faith, 
 because, as unconverted, they would be always 
 ignorant of that also; so, then, the minister 
 neither knowing whom he should offer life 
 unto, nor yet the people which of them are to 
 receive it, how could the word now be preached 
 in faith with power? and how could the people 
 believe and embrace it ? But now the preacher 
 offering mercy in the Gospel to sinners as they 
 arfe sinners, here is way made for the word to 
 be spoken in faith, because his hearers are 
 sinners ; yea, and encouragement also for the 
 people to receive and close therewith, they 
 understanding they are sinners : " Christ Jesus 
 came into the world to save sinners.'' 
 
 Fourthly. The Gospel must be preached to 
 sinners, as they are sinners, without distinction 
 of elect or reprobate, because neither the one 
 nor yet the other (as considered under these 
 simple acts) are fit subjects to embrace the 
 Gospel — for neither the one act nor yet the 
 other doth make either of them sinners — but 
 the Gospel is to be tendered to men as they are 
 sinners and personally under the curse of God 
 for sin ; wherefore to proffer grace to the elect 
 because they are elect, it is to proffer grace and 
 mercy to them as not considering them as sin- 
 ners. And, I say, to deny it to the reprobate 
 because he is not elected, it is not only a de- 
 Christ assuredly to make it evident to us, by giving 
 us that salvation which is the peculiar portion of the 
 elect only. 
 
710 
 
 BVNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 nial of grace to them that have no deed there- 
 of, but also before occasion is given on their 
 part for such a dispensation. And I say again, 
 therefore, to oifer Christ and grace to man 
 elect, as simply so considered, this administers 
 to him no comfort at all, he being here no sin- 
 ner, and so engageth not the heart at all to 
 Jesus Christ, for that comes in and is effected 
 on them as they are sinners. Yea, to deny the 
 Gospel also to the reprobate because he is not 
 elect, it will not trouble him at all ; for, saith 
 he, " So I am not a sinner, and so do not need 
 a Saviour." But now, because the elect have 
 no need of grace in Christ by the Gospel but as 
 they are sinners, nor the reprobates cause to re- 
 fuse it as they are sinners, therefore Christ, by 
 the word of the Gospel, is to be, proffered to 
 both, without considering elect or reprobate, 
 even as they are .=iinners. "The whole have 
 no need of the physician, but those that are 
 sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sin- 
 ners, to repentance." 
 
 Thus you see the Gospel is to be tendered to 
 all in general, as well to the reprobate as to 
 the elect, to sinners as sinners; and so are 
 they to receive it and to close with the tenders 
 thereof* 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Seeing, then, that the Grace of God in the 
 Gospel is by that to be Proffered to Sin- 
 ners as Sinners, as well to the Reprobate 
 as the Elect, is it possible for those who in- 
 deed are not Elect to Receive it and be 
 Saved f 
 
 To this question I shall answer several 
 things, but first I shall show you what that 
 grace is that is tendered ih the name Gospel, 
 and secondly, what it is to receive it and be 
 saved. 
 
 First, then. The grace that is offered to 
 sinners as sinners, without respect to this or 
 that person, it is a sufficiency of righteous- 
 ness, pardoning grace, and life, laid up in the 
 person of Christ, held forth in the exhorta- 
 tion and word of the Gospel, and promised to 
 be theirs that receive it; yea, I say, in so 
 
 ^ None are excluded the benefit of the great and 
 precious sahntion procured and finished by the Lord 
 Jesus Christ but they who, by perverseuess, unbelief, 
 and impenitency, exclude themselves. Sinners, mis- 
 erable, helpless, and hopeless sinners, are the objects 
 
 universal a tender that not one is by it ex- 
 cluded or checked in the least, but rather en- 
 couraged if he hath the least desire to life; 
 yea, it is held forth to beget both desires 
 and longings after the life thus laid up in 
 Christ. 
 
 Secondly. To receive this grace thus ten- 
 dered by the Gospel, it is — 
 
 1. To believe it is true. 
 
 2. To receive it heartily and unfeignedly 
 through faith. And, 
 
 3. To let it have its natural sway, ccurse 
 and authority in the soul, and that in that 
 measure as to bring forth the fruits of good 
 living in heart, word, and life, both befote 
 God and man. 
 
 Now then to the question : 
 
 Is it possible that this tender, thus offered 
 to the reprobate, should by him be thus re- 
 ceived and embraced and he live thereby? 
 
 To which I answer in the negative. Nor 
 yet to the elect themselves — I mean as con- 
 sidered dead in trespasses and sins, which is 
 the state of all men, elect as well as reprobate. 
 So, then, though there be a sufficiency of life 
 and righteousness laid up in Christ for all 
 men, and this tendered by the Gospel to them 
 without exception, yet sin coming in between 
 the soul and the tender of this grace, it hath 
 in truth disabled all men, and so, notwith- 
 standing this tender, they continue to be 
 dead. For the Gospel, I say, coming in word 
 only, saveth no man, because of man's im- 
 pediment; wherefore those that indeed are 
 saved by this Gospel, the word comes not to 
 them in word only, but also in power, and in 
 the Holy Ghost is mixed with faith, even 
 with the faith of the operation of God, by 
 whose exceeding great and mighty power 
 they are raised from this death of sin and 
 enabled to embrace the Gospel. Doubtless, 
 all men being dead in trespasses and sins, and 
 so captivated under the power of the devil, 
 the cui-se of the law, and shut up in unbelief, 
 it must be the power of God, yea, the exc?ed- 
 ing greatness of that power, that raiseth the 
 soul from this condition to receive the holy 
 Gospel. 
 
 For man by nature (consider him at best) 
 can see no more nor do no more than what 
 the principles of nature understands and helps 
 
 of this salvation." Whosoever is enabled to see, in the 
 light of God's Spirit, their wretched and forlorn state, 
 to feel their want of Christ as a suitable Saviour, and 
 to repent and forsake their sins, shall find meroj, (off 
 " God is no respecter of persons,'* 
 
REPROBATION ASSERTED. 
 
 711 
 
 to do ; which nature being below the discern- 
 inga of things truly, spiritually, and savingly 
 good, it must needs fall short of receiving, 
 loving, and delighting in them. "The nat- 
 ural man recciveth not the things of the 
 ■Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto 
 bim ; neither can he know them, because they 
 are spiritually discerned." Now, I say, if the 
 natural man at best (for the elect before con- 
 version are no more, if quite so much) cannot 
 do this, how shall they attain thereto, being 
 now not only corrupted and infected, but de- 
 praved, bewitched and dead, swallowed up of 
 unbelief, ignorance, confusion, hardness of 
 heait, hatred of God, and the like? When 
 a thorn by nature beareth grapes, and a this- 
 tle beareth figs, then may this thing be. To 
 lay hold of and receive the Gospel by a true 
 and saving faith, it is an act of the soul, has 
 made a new creature, which is the workman- 
 ship of God : " Now He that hath wrought us 
 for the selfsame thing is God. For a corrupt 
 tree cannot bring forth good fruit. Can the 
 Ethiopian change his skin 1" 
 But yet the cause of this impossibility — 
 1. Lieth not in reprobation, the elect them- 
 selves being as much unable to receive it as 
 the other. 
 
 ' 2. Neither is it because the reprobate is ex- 
 cluded in the tender, for that is universal. 
 
 3. Neither is it because there wanteth argu- 
 ments in the tenders of the Gosjjel, for there is 
 not only plenty, but such as be persuasive, 
 clear, and full of rationality. 
 
 4. Neither is it because' these creatures have 
 no need thereof, for they have broken the law. 
 
 5. Wherefore it is because indeed they are 
 by sin dead, captivated, mad, self-opposers, 
 blind, alienated in their minds, and haters of 
 the Lord. Behold the ruins that sin hath 
 made! " 
 
 Wherefore, whoever receiveth the grace that 
 is tendered in the Gospel, they must be quick- 
 ened by the power of God, their eyes must be 
 opened, their understandings illuminated, their 
 ears unstopped, their hearts circumcised, their 
 wills also rectified, and the Son of God revealed 
 in them; yet, as I said, not because there 
 wanteth argument in these tenders, but be- 
 cause men are dead, and blind, and cannot 
 hear the word. " Why do you not understand 
 my speech? (saith Christ:) even because you 
 cannot hear my word." 
 For otherwise, as I said but now, there is — 
 1. Eationality enough in the tenders of the 
 Gospel. 
 
 2. Persuasions of weight enough to provoke 
 to faith. And, 
 
 3. Arguments enough to persuade to con- 
 tinue therein. 
 
 First. Is it not reasonable that man should 
 believe God in the proffer of the Gospel and 
 live by it ? 
 
 Secondly. Is there not reason, I say, both 
 from the truth and faithfulness of God, from 
 the sufficiency of the merits of Christ, as also 
 from the freeness and fulness of the promise ? 
 What unreasonable thing doth the Gospel bid 
 thee credit ? Qr what falsehood doth it com- 
 mand thee to receive for truth? Indeed, in 
 many points the Gospel is above reason, but 
 yet in never a one against it, especially in those 
 things wherein it beginneth with the sinner in 
 order to eternal life. 
 
 Again, touching its persuasions to provoke 
 to faith — 
 
 First. With how many signs and wonders, 
 miracles and mighty deeds, hath it been once 
 and again confirmed, and that to this very 
 end! 
 
 Secondly. With how many oaths, declara- 
 tions, attestations, and proclamations is it 
 avouched, confirmed,and established! 
 
 Thirdly. And why should not credence be 
 given to that Gospel that is confirmed by blood, 
 the blood of the Son of God himself— yea, 
 that Gospel that did never yet fail any that in 
 truth have cast themselves upon it since the 
 foundation of the world ? 
 
 Again, as there is rationality enough and 
 persuasion sufficient, so there is also argument 
 most prevalent, to persuade to continue there- 
 in, and that too heartily, cheerfully, and un- 
 feignedly, unto the end, did not, as I have said, 
 blindness, madness, deadness, and wilful re- 
 bellion carry them away in the vanity of their 
 minds and overcome them. 
 
 For, first, if they could but consider how 
 they have sinned, how they have provoked 
 God, &c. — if they could but consider what a 
 dismal state the state of the damned is, and 
 also that in a moment their condition is like to 
 be the same — would they not cleave to, the Gos- 
 pel and live ? 
 
 Secondly. The enjoyment of God, and Christ, 
 and saints, and angels being the sweetest, the 
 pleasures of heaven the most comfortable, and 
 to live always in the height of light, life, joy, 
 gladness imaginable, one would think were 
 enough to persuade the very damned now in 
 hell. 
 There is no man that perisheth for want of 
 
712 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 sufficient reason in the tenders of the Gospel, 
 nor any for want of persuasions to faith, nor 
 yet because there wanteth arguments to pro- 
 voke to continue therein. But the truth is, 
 the Gospel in this hath to do with unreason- 
 able creatures, with such as will not believe it, 
 and that because it is truth : " And because I 
 tell you the truth," saith Christ, (therefore) 
 " you believe me not." 
 
 Question. Well, but if this in truth be thus, 
 how then comes it to pass that some receive it 
 and live for ever? for you have said before 
 that the elect are as bad as the reprobate, and 
 full as unable as they (as men) to close with 
 these tenders and live. 
 
 Answer. Doubtless this is true, and were the 
 elect left to themselves, they, through the 
 wickedness of their heart, would perish as do 
 others. Neither could all the reasonable, per- 
 suasive, prevalent arguments of the Gospel of 
 God in Christ prevail to make any receive it and 
 live. Wherefore here you must consider that as 
 there is mercy proclaimed in the general ten- 
 ders of the Gospel, so there is also the grace 
 of election ; which grace kindly overruleth 
 and winnetb the spirit of the chosen, working 
 in them that unfeigned closing therewith that 
 makes it effectual to their undoubted salvation ; 
 which indeed is the cause that not only in other 
 ages, but also to this day, there is a remnant 
 that receive this grace, they being appointed, 
 I say, thereto before the world began, preserved 
 in time from that which would undo them, 
 and enabled to embrace the glorious Gospel of 
 grace, and peace, and love. 
 
 Now there is a great difference between the 
 grace of election and the grace that is wrap- 
 ped up in the general tenders of the Gospel — 
 a difference, I say, and that both as to its tim- 
 ing, latituding, and working. 
 
 1. Touching its timing: it is before, yea, 
 long before, there was either tender of the 
 grace wrapped up in the Gospel to any, or any 
 need of such a tender, 
 
 2. They also differ in latitude : the tenders 
 of grace in the Gospel are cominon and uni- 
 versal to all, but the extension of that of elec- 
 tion special and peculiar to some. " There is 
 a remnant according to the election of grace." 
 
 8. Touching the working of the gi'ace of 
 election : it differs much in some things from 
 the working of the grace that is offered in the 
 general tenders of the Gospel; as is manifest 
 in these particulars : 
 
 1. The grace that is offered in the general 
 tenders of the Gospel calleth for faith to lay 
 
 hold upon and accept thereof, but the special 
 grace of election worketh that faith which doth 
 lay hold thereof. 
 
 2. The grace that is oflfered in the general 
 tenders of the Gospel calleth for faith "as a 
 condition in ug, without which there is no life, 
 but the special grace of election worketh faith 
 in us without any such conditions. 
 
 3. The grace that is offered in the general 
 tenders of the Gospel promiseth happiness 
 upon the condition of persevering in the faith 
 only, but the special grace of election causeth 
 this perseverance. 
 
 4. The grace offered in the general tenders 
 of the Gospel when it sparkleth most leaveth 
 the greatest part of men behind it, but the 
 special grace of election, when it shineth least, 
 doth infallibly bring every soul therein con- 
 cerned to everlasting life. 
 
 5. A man may overcome and put out all the 
 light and life that is begotten in him by the 
 general tenders of the Gospel, but none shall 
 overcome, or make void, or frustrate the grace 
 of election. ~ 
 
 6. The general tenders of the Gospel, con- 
 sidered without a concurrence of the grace 
 of election, help not the elect himself when 
 sadly fallen. Wherefore, when I say the grace 
 that is offered in the general, tenders of the 
 Gospel, I mean that grace when oflfered as not 
 being accompanied with a special operation of 
 God's eternal love by way of conjunction 
 therewith. Otherwise the grace that is ten- 
 dered in the general offers of the Gospel ia 
 that which saveth the sinner now and that 
 brings him to everlasting life ; that is, when 
 conjoined with that grace that blesseth and 
 maketh this general tender eflfectually effica- 
 cious. The grace of election worketh not 
 without, but by these tenders genera:lly ; neither 
 doth the grace thus tendered effectually work 
 but" by and with the grace of election: "As 
 many as were ordained to eternal life believed," 
 the word being then effectual to life, when the 
 hand of the Lord is eflTectually therewith to 
 that end. "They spake (saith the text) unto 
 the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus ; and 
 the hand of the Lord was with them, and a 
 great number believed and turned unto the 
 Lord." 
 
 We must always put difference between the 
 word of the Gospel and the power that man- 
 ageth that word ; we must put difference be- 
 tween the common and more special operations 
 of that power also, even as there is evidently 
 a difference to be put between those words of 
 
REPROBATION ASSERTED. 
 
 713 
 
 Christ that were effectual to do what was said, 
 and of those words of his which were but words 
 only, or at least not (so) accompanied with 
 power. As for instance : that same Jesus that 
 said to the leper, " Say nothing to any man," 
 said also to Lazarus, " Come forth ;" yet the 
 one obeyed, the other did not, though he that 
 obeyed was least in a capacity to do it, he 
 being now dead and stunk in his grave. In- 
 deed, unbelief hath hindered Christ much, yet 
 not when he putteth forth himself as Almighty, 
 but when he doth suffer himself by them to be 
 abused who are to be dealt with by ordinary 
 means; otherwise legions of devils, with ten 
 thousand impediments, must fall down before 
 him and give way unto him. There is a speak- 
 ing and a (so) speaking: "They (so) spake 
 that a great multitude, both of the Jews and 
 also of the Greeks, believed." Even as I have 
 hinted already, there is a difference between 
 the coming of the word when it is in power 
 and when it is in word only. So, then, the 
 blessed grace of election chooseth this man to 
 good, not because he is good ; it chooseth him 
 to believe, not because he doth believe; it 
 chooseth him to persevere, not because he doth 
 so ; it foreordains that this man shall be created 
 in Christ Jesus unto good works, not if a man 
 will create himself thereto. 
 
 What shall we say then? Is the fault in 
 God, if any perish ? Doubtless, no ; nor yet 
 in his act of eternal reprobation neither ; it is 
 grace that saveth the elect, but sin that damns 
 the rest : it is superabundant grace that causeth 
 the elect to close with the tenders of life and 
 live, and it is the abounding of sin that holds 
 off the reprobate from the rational necessity 
 and absolute tenders of grace. To conclude, 
 then : The Gospel calleth for credence as a 
 condition, and that both from the elect and 
 reprobate ; but because none of them both, as 
 dead in sin, will close therewith and live, 
 therefore grace, by virtue of electing love, puts 
 forth itself to work and do for some beyond 
 reason, and justice cuts off others for slighting 
 so good, so gracious, and necessary a means of 
 salvation, so full both of kindness, mercy, and 
 reason.* 
 
 * No man ever quickened his own soul, or had any 
 power to tal(ea single step in"the way of salvation, 
 till God u;ade hiiu willing in the day of his power. 
 This e\cry real Christian will readily allow; therefore 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Seeing it is not possible that the Reprohatf 
 should receive this Grace and live, and 
 also seeing this is infallibly Foreseen of 
 God, and again, seeing God hath Fore- 
 determined to suffer it so to be, why doth 
 he yet Will and Command that the Gospel, 
 and so Grace in the general tenders iliereof, 
 should he proffered unto them f 
 
 Why, 'then, is the Gospel offered them? 
 Well, that there is such a thing as eternal rep- 
 robation I have showed you, also what this 
 eternal reprobation is I have opened unto you; 
 and shall now show you also that though these 
 reprobates will infallibly perish, \vhich God 
 not only foresaw, but foredetermined to suffer 
 them most assuredly to do so, yet there is 
 reason, great reason, why the Gospel, and so 
 the grace of God thereby, should be tendered, 
 and that in general terms, to them as well as 
 others. 
 
 But before I come to lay the reasons before 
 you I must mind you afresh of these particu- 
 lars: 
 
 1. That eternal reprobation makes no man 
 a sinner. 
 
 2. That the foreknowledge of God that the 
 reprobate would perish makes no man a sin- 
 ner. 
 
 3. That God's infallibly determining upon 
 the damnation of him that perisheth makes no 
 man a sinner. 
 
 4. God's patience and long-suffering and for- 
 bearance until the reprobate fits himself for 
 eternal destruction makes no man a sinner. 
 
 So, then, God may reprobate, may suffer the 
 reprobate to sin, may foredetermine his infalli- 
 ble damnation, through the preconsideration 
 of him in sin, and may also forbear to work 
 that effectual work in his soul that would in- 
 fallibly bring him out of this condition, and 
 yet neither be the author, contriver, nor means 
 of man's sin and misery. 
 
 Again, God may infallibly foresee that this 
 reprobate, when he hath sinned, will be an un- 
 reasonable opposer of his own salvation, and 
 
 all is of grace, as saith the apostle : " By grace are ye 
 saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves , it is 
 the gift of God; not of works, lost any man should 
 boast." 
 
714 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 may also determine to suifer him to sin and be 
 thus unreasonable to the end, yet be gracious, 
 yea, very gracious, if he offer him life, and 
 that only upon reasonable terms, which yet he 
 denieth to close with. 
 The reasons are — 
 
 1. Because not God, but sin, hath made him 
 unreasonable, without which, reasonable terms 
 had done his work for him ; for reasonable 
 terms are the most equal and righteous terms 
 that can be propounded between parties at dif- 
 ference ; yea, the terms that most suiteth and 
 agreeth with a reasonable creature, such as 
 man ; nay, reasonable terms are, for terms, the 
 most apt to work with that man whose reason 
 is brought into and held captive by very sense 
 itself. 
 
 2. God goeth yet further : he addeth prom- 
 ises of mercy, as those that are inseparable to 
 the terms he offereth, -even to pour forth his 
 Spirit unto them : " Turn at my reproof, and 
 behold I will pour forth of my Spirit unto you, 
 and incline your ear ; come unto me, hear, and 
 your soul shall live." 
 
 Now, then, to the question itself — to wit, 
 that seeing it is impossible the reprobate 
 should be saved, seeing also this is infallibly 
 foreseen of God, and seeing also that God hath 
 beforehand determined to suffer it so to be, yet 
 I shall show you it is requisite, yea, very req- 
 uisite, that he should both will and command 
 that the Gospel, and so grace in the general 
 .tenders thereof, should be proffered unto tliem. 
 
 THE FIRST EEASON. 
 
 And that, first, to show that this reprobation 
 doth not in itself make any man absolutely in- 
 .capable of salvation ; for if God had intended 
 that by the act of reprobation the persons 
 therein concerned should also by that only act 
 have been made incapable of everlasting life, 
 then this act must also have tied up all the 
 means from them that tendeth to that end, or 
 •at least have debarred the Gospel's being of-, 
 fered to them by God's command for that in- 
 tent; otherwise who is there but would have 
 charged the Holy One as guilty of guile and 
 worthy of blame for commanding that the Gos- 
 pel of grace and salvation should be offered 
 unto this or that man, whom yet he hath made 
 incapable to receive it by his act of reproba- 
 tion ? Wherefore this very thing — to wit, that 
 the Gospel is yet to be tendered to those eter- 
 nally reprobated — showeth that it is not sim- 
 ply the act of God's reprobation, but sin, that 
 iucapacitateth the creature of life everlasting ; 
 
 which sin is no branch of this reprobation, as 
 is evident, because the elect and reprobate are 
 both alike defiled therewith. 
 
 THE SECOND EEASON. 
 
 Secondly. God also showeth by this that 
 the reprobate doth not perish for want of the 
 offers of salvation, (though he hath offended 
 God,) and that upon most righteous terms, ac- 
 cording to what is written : " As I live, saith 
 the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of 
 him that dieth, but that the wicked turn from 
 his wicked way and live. Turn unto me, saith 
 the Lord of hosts, and I will turn unto you, 
 saith the Lord of hosts." So, then, here lieth 
 the point between God and the reprobate, (I 
 mean the reprobate since he hath sinned :) God 
 is willing to save him upon reasonable terms, 
 but not upon terms above reason ; but no rear 
 sonable terms will down with the reprobate, 
 therefore he must perish for his unreasonable- 
 ness. 
 
 That God is willing to save even those that 
 perish for ever is apparent, both from the con- 
 sideration of the goodness of his nature, of 
 man's being his creature, and indeed in a mis- 
 erable state. But, I say, as I have also said 
 already, there is a great difference between his 
 being willing to save them through their com- 
 plying with these his reasonable terms, and 
 his being resolved to save them whether they, 
 as men, will close therewith or no ; so only he 
 saveth the elect themselves, even according to 
 the riches of his grace, even according to his 
 riches in glory, by Christ Jesus, working ef- 
 fectually in them what the Gospel, as a condi- 
 tion, calleth for from them. And hence it is 
 that he is said to give faith, (yea the most holy 
 faith, for that is the faith of God's elect,) to 
 give repentance, to give a new heart, to give 
 his fear, even that fear that may keep them for 
 ever from everlasting ruin, still engaging Ms 
 mercy and goodness to follow them all the days 
 of their lives, that they may dwel. in the house 
 of the Lord for ever; and as anothc » Scripture 
 saith, " Now he that hath wrought us for the 
 selfsame thing is God." 
 
 But, r say, his denying to do thug fcr every 
 man in the world cannot properly be said to 
 be because he is not heartily willing they 
 should close with the tenders of the grace held 
 forth in the Gospel and live. Wherefore you 
 must consider that there is a distinction to be 
 put between God's denying grace on reasonable 
 terms and denying it absolutely, and also that 
 there is a difference between his withholding' 
 
REPROBATION ASSERTED. 
 
 715 
 
 further grace and of hindering men from clos- 
 ing with the grace at present offered ; also that 
 God may withhold much when he taketh away 
 nothing, yea, take away much when once 
 abused, and yet be just and righteous stilL 
 Further, God may deny to do this or that ab- 
 solutely, when yet he hath promised to do not 
 only that, but more, conditionally. Which 
 things considered, you may with ease conclude 
 that he may be willing to save those not elect 
 upon reasonable terms, though not without 
 them. 
 
 It is no unrighteousness in God to offer grace 
 unto the world, though but on those terms 
 only that they are also foreseen by him infal- 
 libly to reject, both because to reject it is un- 
 reasonable, especially the terms being so rea- 
 sonable as to believe the truth and live, and 
 also because it is grace and mercy in God so 
 much as once to offer means of reconciliation 
 to a sinner, he being the offender, but the Lord 
 the God offended, they being but dust and 
 ashes, he the heavenly Majesty. If God, when 
 man had broke the law, had yet with all 
 severity kept the world to the utmost condi- 
 tion of it, had he then been unjust? had he 
 injured man at all? was not every tittle of the 
 law reasonable, both in the first and second 
 table? How much more, then, is he merciful 
 and gracious even in but mentioning terms of 
 reconciliation, especially seeing he is also will- 
 ing so to condescend if they will believe his 
 word and receive the love of the truth I 
 Though the reprobate then doth voluntarily 
 and against all strength of reason run him- 
 self upon the rocks of eternal misery, and 
 split himself thereon, he perisheth in his own 
 corruption by rejecting terms of life. 
 
 Objection 1. But the reprobate is not now 
 in a capacity to fulfil these reasonable terms. 
 
 Answer. But, I say, suppose it should be 
 granted, is it because reprobation made him 
 incapable, or sin ? Not reprobation, but sin ; 
 if sin, then before he quarrel let him consider 
 the case aright, where, in the result, he will 
 find sin, being consented to by his voVuntary 
 mind, hath thus disabled him, and because, I 
 say, it was sin by his voluntary consent that 
 did it, let him quarrel with himself for con- 
 senting so as to make himself incapable to 
 close with reasonable terms, yea, with those 
 terms because reasonable, therefore most suit- 
 able (as terms) for him, notwithstanding his 
 wickedness. And I say again, forasmuch as 
 these reasonable terms have annexed unto 
 them, as their inseparable companions, such 
 
 wonderful mercy and grace, as indeed there is, 
 let even them that perish yet justify* God, yea, 
 cry, " His goodness endureth for ever," though 
 they, through the wretchedness of their heai-ts, 
 get no benefit by it. 
 
 THE THIRD KEASON. 
 
 Thirdly. God may will and command thai 
 his Gospel, and so the grace thereof, be ten- 
 dered to those that shall never be saved, (be- 
 sides what hath been said,) to show to all 
 spectators what an enemy sin, being once em- 
 braced, is to the salvation of man. Sin, with- 
 out the tenders of the grace of the Gospel, 
 could never have appeared so exceeding sinful 
 as by that it both hath and doth : " If I had 
 not come and spoken unto them,''saith Christ, 
 " they had not had sin, but now they have no 
 cloak for their sin." As sins that oppose the 
 law are discovered by ^he law — that is, by the 
 goodness, and justness, and holiness of the 
 law — so the sins that oppose the Gospel are 
 made manifest by that, even by the love, and 
 mercy, and forgiveness of the Gospel. ("If 
 he that despised Moses's law died without 
 mercy, of how much sorer punishment, sup- 
 pose ye, shall he be thought worthy who hath 
 trodden under foot the Son of God?") Who 
 could have thought that sin would have op- 
 posed that which is just, but especially mercy 
 and grace, had we not seen it with our eyes? 
 And how could we have seen it to purpose 
 had not God left some to themselves? Here 
 indeed is sin made manifest: " For all he had 
 done so many miracles amongst them," (to 
 wit, to persuade them to mercy,) " yet they be- 
 lieved him not." Sin, where it reigneth, is a 
 mortal enemy to the soul; it blinds the eyes, 
 holds the hands, ties the legs, and stops the 
 ears, and makes the heart implacable to resist 
 the Saviour of souls. That man will neither 
 obey the law nor the Gospel who is left unto 
 his sin ; which also God is willing should be 
 discovered and made manifest, though it cost 
 the damnation of some: "For this very pur- 
 pose," saith God to Pharaoh, " have I raised 
 thee up, that I might show in thee my power, 
 and that my name might be declared in all 
 the earth." For God, by raising up Pharaoh 
 to his kingdom and suffering him to walk to 
 the height according as his sin did prompt 
 him forward, showed unto all beholders what 
 a dreadful thing sin is, and that without the 
 special assistance of his Hqly Spirit sin would 
 neither be charmed by law nor Gospel. This 
 reason, though it be nc profit unto those that 
 
716 
 
 SUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 are dami_ed, yet it is for the honour of God 
 and the ^ood of those he hath chosen. 
 
 It is for the honour of God, even for the 
 honour of his power and mercy, for his power 
 is now discovered indeed, when nothing can 
 tame sin but that ; and his mercy is here seen 
 indeed, because that doth engage him to do 
 it. Read Kom. ix. 22, 23. 
 
 THE FOUB.TH EEASON. 
 
 Fourthly. God commandeth that the tender 
 of the Gospel, and the grace thereof, be in 
 general offered to all, that means thereby 
 might be sufficiently provided for the elect, 
 both to beget them to faith and to maintain 
 it in them to the end, in what place, or state, 
 or condition soever they are. God, through 
 the operation of his manifold wisdom, hath an 
 end, and an end in his acts and doings amongst 
 the children of men, and so in that he com- 
 mandeth that his Gospel be tendered to all — an 
 end, I say, to leave the damned without excuse 
 and to provide sufficiency of means for the 
 gathering all his elect. "Oh that God would 
 epeak," saith Zophar, " and open his mouth 
 against thee, and show thee the secrets of 
 wisdom, that they are double to that which 
 is I" For though God worketh with and upon 
 the elect otherwise than with and upon the 
 reprobate, yet he worketh with and upon the 
 elect with and by the same word he com- 
 mandeth should be held forth and offered to 
 the reprobate. Now the text thus running in 
 most free and universal terms, the elect then 
 hearing thereof, do, through the mighty power 
 of God, close in with the tenders therein held 
 forth, and are saved. Thus that word that was 
 offered to the reprobate Jews, and by them 
 most fiercely rejected, even that word became 
 yet effectual to the chosen, and they were 
 saved thereby. "They gladly received the 
 word, and as many as were ordained to eternal 
 life believed.* Not as though the word of 
 God had taken none effect ; God hath not cast 
 
 » As the same sun which softens the wax hardens 
 (be clay, so it is with the preached Gospel, which is 
 to soQie " the savour of death unto death, and to 
 others the savour of life unto life." The Gospel is 
 ineffectual to any saving purpose respecting the rep- 
 robate ; partly through pride and in not enduring to 
 be reproved by it; partly through prejudice against 
 the ministers who publish it; partly through slothful- 
 ness, in not coming under the sound of it; and prin- 
 cipally through cursed infidelity, in not believing the 
 gracious. message it brings. Let it be well attended 
 to that all who hear the Gospel are obliged to the duty 
 
 away his people whom he foreknew." The 
 word shall accomplish the thing for which 
 God hath sent it, even the salvation of the 
 few that are chosen, when tendered to all, 
 though rejected by most, through the rebel- 
 lion of their hearts. 
 
 Objection 2. But if God hath elected, as you 
 have said, what need he lay a foundation so 
 general for the begetting faith in his chosen 
 particulars, seeing the same Spirit that work- 
 eth in them by such means could also work in 
 them by other, even by a word, excluding the 
 most, in the first tenders thereof, amongst men ? 
 
 Answer. I told you before that though this 
 be a principal reason of the general tenders of 
 the grace of the Gospel, yet it is not all the 
 reason why the tender should be so general as 
 the three former reasons show. 
 
 But again, in the bowels of God's decree of 
 election is contained the means that are also 
 ordained for the effectual bringing of those 
 elected to that glory for which they were fore- 
 appointed, even to gather together in one all 
 the children of God ; " whereupon he called 
 you," saith Paul, " by our Gospel, to the ob- \ 
 taining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ." 
 God's decree of election, then, destroyeth not 
 the means which his wisdom hath prepared; it 
 rather establisheth, yea, ordains and establish- 
 eth it; and maketh that means which in the 
 outward sign is indefinite and general effectual 
 to this and that man, through a special and 
 particular application ; thus that Christ that 
 in general was offered to all is by a special act 
 of faith applied to Paul in particular : " He 
 loved me and gave himself for me." 
 
 Further. As the design of the heavenly 
 Majesty is to bring his elect to glory by means, 
 so by the means^hus universal and general as 
 most behooveful and fit, if we consider not only 
 the way it doth please him to work with some 
 of his chosen, in order to this their glory, but 
 also the trials, temptations, and other calam- 
 ities they must go through thereto. 
 
 of believing as well as to all the duties of the moral law, 
 and that before they know their particular elect! "sn ; for 
 we cannot have a certain knowledge of our election . 
 to our eternal life before we do believe ; it is a thing 
 hidden in the unsearchable counsel of God until it bo 
 manifest by our effectual calling and believing on 
 Christ; therefore we must believe on Christ before we 
 know our election, or else we shall never know it and 
 shall never believe. All joy, peaie, comfort, assur- 
 ances are communicated to the soul in the way of 
 believing. May t^o Lord give and increase saving 
 faith I 
 
REPROBATION ASSERTED. 
 
 717 
 
 1. Touching his working with some, how 
 Invisible is it to those in whose souls it is yet 
 begun 1 How is the word buried under the 
 clods of their hearts for months, yea, years to- 
 gether 1 Only thus much is discovered there- 
 of: it showeth the soul its sin, the which it 
 doth also so aggravate and apply to the con- 
 science (Jesus still refraining, like Joseph, to 
 make himself known to his brethren) that were 
 there not general tenders of mercy, and that to 
 the worst of sinners, they would soon miscarry 
 and perish as do the sons of perdition. But 
 by these the Lord upholdeth and helpeth them, 
 that they stand when others fall for ever. 
 
 2. And so likewise for their trials, tempta- 
 tions and other calamities, because God will 
 not bring them to heaven without, but by 
 them, therefore he hath also provided a word 
 so large as to lie fair for the support of the soul 
 in all conditions, that it may not die for thirst. 
 
 3. I might add also in this place that their 
 imperfect state after grace received doth call 
 for such a word, yea, many other things which 
 might be named, which God, only wise, hath 
 thought fit should accompany us to the ship, 
 yea, in the sea, to our desired haven. 
 
 THE FIFTH EEASON. 
 
 Fifthly. God willeth and commandeth the 
 Gospel should be oifered to all, that thereby 
 distinguishing love, as to an inward and spirit- 
 ual work, might the more appear to be indeed 
 the fruit of special and peculiar love. For in 
 that the Gospel is tendered to all in general 
 when yet but some do receive it, yea, and 
 seeing these some are as unable, unwilling, 
 and by nature as much averse thereto as 
 those that refuse it and perish, it is evident 
 that something more of heaven and the opera- 
 tion of the Spirit of God doth accompany the 
 word thus tendered for their life and salvation 
 that enjoy it; not now as a word barely tend- 
 ered, but backed by the strength of heaven: 
 "Behold what manner of love the Father hath 
 bestowed upon us, that we should be called the 
 children of God! — even we who believe ac- 
 cording to the working of his mighty power 
 which he wrought in Christ when he raised 
 him from the dead." This provoketh to dis- 
 tinguishing admiration, yea, and also to a love 
 like that which hath fastened on the called, 
 the preserved, and the glorified: "He hath 
 not dealt so with any nation ; and as for his 
 judgments, they have not known them. Praise 
 ye the Ijord." Now are the sacrifices bound 
 even to the horns of the altar, with a " Lord, 
 
 how is it that thou shouldst manifest thyself 
 to us, and not unto the world? He sent from 
 above, he took me, he drew me out of many 
 waters, he-delivered me from my strong enemy 
 and from them that hated me, for they were 
 too strong for me." 
 
 For thus the elect considereth: Though we 
 all came alike into the world and are the chil- 
 dren of wrath by nature, yea, though we have 
 alike so weakened ourselves by sin that the 
 whole head is sick and the whole heart faint, 
 being altogether gone out of the way, and 
 every one become altogether unprofitable, both 
 to God and ourselves, yet that God should 
 open mine eyes, convert my soul, give me 
 faith, forgive my sins, raise me, when I fall, 
 fetch me again when I am gone aatray — this is 
 wonderful I Yea, that he should prepare eter- 
 nal mansions for me, and also keep me by his 
 blessed and mighty power for that ; and that 
 in a way of believing, which without his as- 
 sistance I am in no way able to perforin — that 
 he should do this notwithstanding my sins, 
 though I had no righteousness, yea, that he 
 should do it according to the riches of his 
 grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus 
 Christ our Lord, even Recording to an ever- 
 lasting covenant of grace, which yet the great- 
 est part of the world are void of, and will for 
 ever miss and fall short of I Besides, that he 
 should mollify my heart, break it, and then de- 
 light in it, put his fear in it, and then look to 
 me, and keep me as the apple of his eye ; yea, 
 resolve to guide me with his counsel, and then 
 receive me to glory! Further, that all this 
 should be the effect of unthought-of, unde- 
 served, and undesired love — ^that the Lord 
 shoi+ld think on this before he made the world, 
 and sufficiently ordain the means before he 
 had laid the foundation of the hills, — for this 
 he is worthy to be praised ; yea, " Let every 
 thing that hath breath praise the Lord ; praise 
 ye the Lord." 
 
 Objection 3. But you have said before that 
 the reprobate is also blessed with many Gos- 
 pel mercies, as with the knowledge of Christ, 
 faith, light, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and 
 the tastes or relish of the powers of the world 
 to come; if so, then what should be the reason 
 that yet he perisheth? Is it because the grace 
 that he receiveth differeth from the grace that 
 the elect are saved by? If they differ, where 
 lieth the difference? Whether in the nature, 
 or in the degree, or in the management thereof? 
 
 Answer. To this objection I might answer 
 many things, but for brevity take this reply : 
 
718 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 1. That a non-elect may travel very far both 
 in the knowledge, faith, light, and sweetness 
 of Jesus Christ, and may also attain to the 
 partaking of the Holy Ghost; yea, and by the 
 very operation of these things also escape the 
 pollution of the world and become a visible 
 saint, join in church communion and be as 
 chief amongst the very elect themselves. This 
 the Scriptures everywhere do show us. 
 
 The question then is Whether the elect and 
 reprobate receive a differing grace? To which 
 I answer, Yes, in some respects, both as to the 
 nature thereof and also the degree. 
 
 To begin, then, with the nature of it : 
 
 1. The faith that the chosen are blessed with, 
 it goeth under another name than any faith be- 
 sides, even the faith of God's elect, as of a faith 
 belonging to them only, of which none others 
 do partake ; which faith also, for the nature of 
 it, is called faith most holy, to show it goes be- 
 yond all other, and can be iitly matched no- 
 where else but with their most blessed faith 
 who infallibly attain eternal glory; even like 
 precious faith with us, saith Peter, with his 
 elect companions. And so of other things. 
 For if this be true that they differ in their 
 faith, they must needs therewith differ in other 
 things ; for faith, being the mother of grace, 
 produceth all the rest according to its own na- 
 ture — to wit, love that abounds, that never 
 fails, and that is never contented till it attain 
 the resurrection of the dead, &c. 
 
 They differ as to their nature in this: the 
 faith, and hope, and love that the chosen re- 
 ceive, it is that which floweth from election 
 itself; he hath blessed us according as he hath 
 chosen us, even with those graces he set apart 
 for us when he in eternity did appoint us to 
 life before the foundation of the world ; which 
 grace, because the decree in itself is most ab- 
 solute and infallible, they also, that they may 
 completely answer the end, will do the work 
 infallibly likewise, still through the manage- 
 ment of Christ : " I have prayed that thy faith 
 fail not." 
 
 But secondly. As they differ in nature, they 
 differ also in degree; for though it be true that 
 the reprobate is blessed with grace, yet this is 
 also as true, that the elect are blessed with more 
 grace; it is the privilege onl^ of those that 
 are chosen, to be blessed with [all] spiritual 
 blessings, and to have [all] the good pleasure 
 of the goodness of God fulfilled in and upon 
 them. Those who are blessed with [all] spir- 
 itual blessings must needs be blessed with 
 eternal life; and those in whom the Lord not 
 
 only works all his good pleasure, but fulfilleth 
 all the good pleasure of his goodness upon 
 them, they must needs be preserved to his 
 heavenly kingdom; but none of the non-elect 
 have these things conferred upon them; there- 
 fore the grace bestowed upon the one doth 
 differ both in nature and degree from the 
 other. 
 
 Thirdly. There is a difference as to the man- 
 agement also ; the reprobate is principal . for 
 the management of the grace he receivetR, but 
 Jesus Christ is principal for the management 
 of the grace the elect receiveth. When I say 
 principal, I mean chief; for though the repro- 
 bate is to have the greatest hand in the man- 
 agement of what mercy and goodness the Lord 
 bestoweth on him, yet not so as that the Lord 
 will not help him at all ; nay, contrariwise, he 
 will, if first the reprobate do truly the duty 
 that lieth on him: "If thou do well, shalt 
 thou not be accepted? But if not well, be- 
 hold sin lieth at the door." Thus it was also 
 with Saul, who was rejected of God upon this 
 account. And I say, as to the elect them- 
 selves, though Jesus Christ our blessed Saviour 
 be chief as to the management of the grace 
 bestowed on his chosen, yet not so as that he 
 quite excludeth them from striving according 
 to his working which worketh in them might- 
 ily; nay, contrariwise, if those who in truth 
 are elect shall yet be remiss and do wickedly, 
 they shall feel the stroke of God's rod, it may 
 be till their bones do break. But because the 
 work doth not lie at their door to manage as 
 chief, but at Christ's, therefore though he may 
 perform his work with much bitterness and 
 grief to them, yet he, being engaged as the 
 principal, will perform that which concerneth 
 them, even until the day (the coming) of Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 From what hath been said there ariseth this 
 conclusion : 
 
 The elect are always under eternal mercy, 
 but those not elect always under eternal jus- 
 tice; for you must consider this: there is 
 eternal mercy and eternal justice, and there is 
 present mercy and present justice. So, then, 
 for a man to be in a state of mercy, it may be 
 either a state of meroy present or both present 
 and eternal also. And so, again, for a man to 
 be in a state under justice, it may be under- 
 stood either of present justice only or of both 
 present and eternal also. 
 
 That this may yet further be opened I shall 
 somewhat enlarge. 
 
 I begin with present mercy and present jus- 
 
REPROBATION ASSERTED. 
 
 719 
 
 tice. That which I call present mercy is that 
 faith, light, knowledge, and state of the good 
 word of God that a man mayhave and pei-ish. 
 This is called in Scripture "believing for 
 awhile, during for awhile, and rejoicing in the 
 light for a season." Now I call this mercy, 
 both because none (as inen) can deserve it, and 
 also because the proper end thereof is to do 
 good to those that have it. But I call it pres- 
 ent mercy, because those that are only blessed 
 with that may sin it away and perish ; as did 
 some of the Galatians, Hebrews, Alexandrians, 
 with the Asians, and others. But yet observe 
 again, I do not call this present mercy because 
 God hath determined it shall last but awhile 
 absolutely, but because it is possible for man 
 to lose it, yea, determined he shall, condi- 
 tionally. • 
 
 Again. As to present justice, it is that which 
 lasteth but awhile also ; and as present mercy 
 is properly the portion of those left out of 
 God's election, so present justice chiefly hath 
 to do with God's beloved, who yet at that time 
 are also under eternal mercy. This is that jus- 
 tice that aflJicted Job, David, Heman, and the 
 godly, who notwithstanding do infallibly at- 
 tain, by virtue of this mercy, eternal life and 
 glory. I call this justice, because in some 
 sense God dealeth with his children according 
 to the quality of their transgression; and I 
 call it also present justice, because though the 
 hand of God. for the present be never so heavy 
 on those that are his by election, yet it lasteth 
 but awhile ; wherefore though this indeed be 
 called wrath, yet this is but a little wrath — 
 wrath for a moment, time, or season. "In a 
 little wrath I hid my face from thee for a 
 moment, but with everlasting kindness will I 
 have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Re- 
 deemer." 
 
 Thus you see there is present mercy and pres- 
 ent justice; also that the elect maybe under 
 pr^ent justice when the rest may be under 
 present mercy. 
 
 Again. As there is present mercy and present 
 justice, so there is eternal mercy and eternal 
 justice ; and I say, as the elect may be under 
 present justice when the non-elect may be 
 under present mercy, so the elect at that time 
 are also under eternal mercy, but the other 
 under eternal justice. 
 
 That the elect are under eternal mercy, and 
 that when under present justice, is evident 
 from what hath been said before — namely, 
 from their being chosen in Christ before the 
 foundation of the world, as also from the con- 
 
 sideration of their sound conversion and safe 
 preservation quite through this wicked world, 
 even safe unto eternal life ; as he also saith by 
 the prophet Jeremiah : " Yea, I have loved 
 thee with an everlasting love, therefore with 
 loving-kindness have I drawn thee;" and 
 hence it is that he calleth the elect his sheep, 
 his children, and people, and that before con- 
 version ; for though none of them as yet were 
 his children by calling, yet were they his ac- 
 cording to election. 
 
 Now the elect being under this eternal grace 
 and mercy, they must needs be under it before 
 present justice seizeth upon them, while it seiz- 
 eth them and also continueth with them longer 
 than present justice can, it being from ever- 
 lasting to everlasting. This being so, here is 
 the reason why no sin, nor yet temptation of 
 the enemy, with any other evil, can hurt or 
 destroy those thus elect of God ; yen, this is 
 that which maketh even those things that in 
 themselves are the very bane of men, yet prove 
 very much for good to those within this pur- 
 pose ; and as David saith, " It is good for me 
 that I have been afflicted ; " and again, " For 
 when we are judged of the Lord we are chas- 
 tened, that we should not be condemned with 
 the world." Now afflictions, &c , in themselves 
 are not only fruitless and unprofitable, but, 
 being unsanctified, are destructive: "I smote 
 him, and he went on frowardly'; " but now 
 eternal mercy, working with this or that af-, 
 fljction, makes it profitable to the chosen : " I 
 have seen his ways, and will heal him, and 
 will restore comfort to him and to his mourn- 
 ers ; " as he saith in another place, " Blessed is 
 the man whom thou chastisest and teachest 
 out of thy law." For eternal mercy doth not 
 look on those who are the elect and chosen of 
 God as poor sinful creatures only, but also as 
 the generation whom the Lord hath blessed, 
 in whom he hath designed to magnify his 
 name to the utmost by pardoning the trans- 
 gressions of the remnant of his heritage, hav- 
 ing predestinated us to the adoption of chil- 
 dren by Jesus Christ to himself, wherein also 
 he hath made us accepted in the beloved. 
 Wherefore, I say, the elect, as they do also re- 
 ceive that grace and mercy that may be sinned 
 away, so they have that grace and mercy which 
 cannot be lost and that sin cannot deprive 
 them of, even mercy that abounds and goeth 
 beyond all sin; such mercy as hath engaged 
 the power of God, the intercession of Christ, 
 and the communication of the blessed Spirit 
 of adoption ; which Spirit also engageth the 
 
720 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 heart, directs it into the love of God, that it 
 may not depart from God after that rate as 
 the reprobates do. " I will make an everlast- 
 ing covenant with them, {saith God,) that I 
 will not turn away from them to do them good, 
 but will put my fear in their heart, that they 
 shall not depart from me." 
 
 But now I say, God's dealing with the non- 
 elect is far otherwise, they being under the 
 consideration of eternal justice, even then 
 when in the enjoyment of present grace and 
 mercy. And hence it is that as to their stand- 
 ing before the God of heaven they are counted 
 dogs, and sows, and devils, even then when be- 
 fore the elect of God themselves they are 
 counted saints and brethren : " The dog is re- 
 turned to his own vomit again, and the sow 
 that was washed to her wallowing in the mire." 
 And the reason is, because notwithstanding all 
 their show before the world their old nature 
 and corruptions do still bear sway within, 
 which in tim^ also, according to the ordinary 
 judgment of God, is suffered so to show itself 
 that they are visible to saints that are elect, as 
 was the case of Simon Magus and that wicked 
 g{)ostate Judas, who went out from us, "but 
 they were not of us, for if they had been of us, 
 they should no doubt have continued with us ; 
 but they went out from us, that it might be 
 manifest they were not all of us:" they were 
 not elect as we, nor were they sanctified as the 
 jelect of God themselves ; wherefore eternal 
 justice counts them the sons of perdition when 
 under their profession. And I say, they being 
 
 * " It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that 
 runneth, but of God that showeth mercy." Grace, 
 mercy, and peace flow from God the Father through 
 our Lord Jesus Christ. Sin is the root and cause of 
 all moral evil; and God cannot, consistent with his 
 justice, show mercy to the sinner but on the expia- 
 tion of it. There is an infinite fulness and sufficiency 
 in Christ, out of which the elect receire, and grace for 
 grace. We presume this subject cannot be more 
 suitably closed than by transcribing the XVIIth arti- 
 cle of the Church of England, of Predestination and 
 Election, which is as follows : 
 
 *' Predestination to life is the everlasting purpose 
 of God, whereby (before the foundations of the world 
 were laid) he hath constantly decreed, by his counsel, 
 secret to us, to deliver from curse and damnation those 
 whom he hath chosen in Christ out of mankind, and 
 to bring them by Christ to everlasting salvation, as 
 vessels made to honour. Wherefore they which be 
 endued with so excellent a benefit of God he called, 
 according to God's purpose, by his Spirit working in 
 due season : they through grace obey the calling; they 
 be justified freely ; they be made sons of God by adop- 
 tion ; they be made like the image of his only-begottec 
 
 under this eternal justice, it must needs have 
 to do with them in the midst of their profes- 
 sion ; and because also it is much offeuded with 
 them for conniving with their lusts, it taketh 
 away from them, and that most righteously, 
 those gifts and graces, and benefits and privi- 
 leges that present mercy gave them ; and not 
 only so, but cuts them oft' for their iniquity,- 
 and layeth them under wrath for ever. " They 
 have forsaken the right way, (saith God,) they 
 have followed the way of Balaam, the son of 
 Bosor; these are wells without water, clouds 
 that are carried with a tempest, trees whose 
 fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, 
 plucked up by the roots, for whom is reserved 
 the blackness of darkness for ever." 
 These things thus considered, you see — 
 
 1. That there is present grace and present 
 mercy, eternal grace and eternal mercy. 
 
 2. That the elect are under eternal mercy, 
 and that when under present justice ; and that 
 the reprobate is under eternal justice, and that 
 when under present mercy. 
 
 3. Thus you see again that the non-elect 
 perish by reason of sin, notwithstanding pre 
 sent mercy, because of eternal justice; and 
 that the elect are preserved from the death 
 (though they sin and are obnoxious to the 
 strokes of present justice) by reason of eternal 
 mercy.* What shall we say, then ? Is there 
 unrighteousness with God ? God forbid ; " He 
 hath mercy on whom he will have mercy, and 
 compassion on whom he will have compas- 
 sion." 
 
 Son Jesus Christ-; they walk righteously in good 
 works ; and at length, by God's mercy, they attain to 
 everlasting felicity. 
 
 " As the godly consideration of Predestination ana 
 our Election in Christ is full of sweet, pleasant, and 
 unspeakable comfort to godly persons, and such as 
 feel in themselves the working of the Spirit of Christ, 
 mortifying the works of the flesh and their earthly 
 members and drawing up their minds to high and 
 heavenly things, as well because it doth greatly estab- 
 lish and confirm their faith of eternal salvation to be 
 enjoyed through Christ, as because it doth fervently 
 kindle their love towards God, so, for curious and 
 carnal persons, lacking the Spirit of Christ, to have 
 continually before their eyes the sentence of God's 
 predestination is a most dangerous downfall, whereby 
 the devil doth thrust them either into desperation or 
 into wretchedness of most unclean living, no less 
 perilous than desperation. 
 
 " Furthermore, we must receive God's promises in 
 Buoh wise as they be generally set forth to us in Holj 
 Scripture ; and in our doings that will of God is to be 
 followed which we have expressly declared unto us is 
 thewdcif God." 
 
THE STRAIT GATE; 
 
 THE GREAT DIFFICULTY OF GOING TO HEAVEN. 
 
 Enter yo in at the strait gate ; for wide is the gate and broad is! the way that leadeth to destructicti, and Rafluaj 
 there be whioh go in thereat; because strait is the gate and narrow is the way which l«adeth unto life, and few 
 ihuro be that find it. — Matt. vii. 13, 14. 
 
 TO THE READER. 
 
 Courteous Reader : 
 
 Goil (I hope) hath put it into my heart to 
 write unto thee another time, and that about 
 matters of the greatest moment, (for now we 
 discourse not about things controverted among 
 the godly, but directly about the saving or 
 damning of the soul : yea, moreover, this dis- 
 course is about the fewness of them that shall 
 be saved, and it proves that many an high pro- 
 fessor will come short of eternal life;) where- 
 fore the matter must needs be sharp, and so 
 disliked by some, but let it not be rejected by 
 thee. The text calls for sharpness, so do the 
 times ; yea, the faithful discliarge of my duty 
 towards thee hath put me upon it. 
 
 I do not now pipe, but mourn, and it will be 
 well for thee if thou canst graciously lament. 
 Some (say they) make the gate of heaven too 
 wide, and some make it too narrow; for my 
 part, I have here presented thee with as true a 
 measure of it as by the word of God I can. 
 Read me, therefore, yea, read me, and compare 
 me with the Bible, and if thou findest my 
 48 
 
 doctrine and that book of God concur, embrace 
 it, as thou wilt answer the contrary in the day 
 of judgment. This awakening work (if God 
 will make it so) was prepared for thee ; if there 
 be need and it wounds, get healing by blood ; 
 if it disquiets, get peace by blood ; if it takes 
 away all thou hast, because it was naught, (for 
 this book is not prepared to take away true 
 grace from any,) then buy of Christ gold tried 
 in the fire, that thou mayest be rich, and white 
 raiment, that thou mayest be clothed and that 
 the shame of thy nakedness doth not appear, 
 and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou 
 mayest see. Self-flatteries, self-deceivings are 
 easy and pleasant, but damnable. The Lord 
 give thee an heart to judge right of thyself,, 
 right of this book, and so prepare for eternity, 
 that thou mayest not only expect entrance, but 
 be received into the kingdom of Christ and of 
 God! Amen. 
 
 So prays thy friend, 
 
 JOHN BUNYAN. 
 7U 
 
THE STRAIT GATE. 
 
 strive B 1 «nter in at the strait gate ; for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and fihall not be *W«.— 
 
 Luke xiii, 24. 
 
 These are the words of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and are therefore, in especial manner, 
 to be heeded ; besides, the subject-matter of the 
 words is the most weighty — to wit, how we 
 should attain salvation^and therefore also to 
 be heeded. 
 
 The occasion of the words was a question 
 which one that was at this time in the com- 
 pany of the disciples put to Jesus Christ ; the 
 question was this: "Lord, are there few that 
 be saved?" A serious question, not such as 
 tended to the subversion of the hearers, as too 
 many now-a-days do, but such as in its own 
 nature tended to the awakening of the com- 
 pany to good, and that called for such an an- 
 swer that might profit the people also. This 
 question also well pleased Jesus Christ, and he 
 prepareth and giveth such an answer as was 
 without the least retort or show of distaste — 
 such an answer, I say, as carried in it the most 
 full resolve to the question itself and help to 
 the persons questioning : "And he said unto 
 them. Strive to enter in," &c. The words are 
 an answer and an instruction also. 
 
 1. An answer, and that in- the affirmative; 
 the gate is strait, many that seek will not be 
 able, therefore but few shall be saved. 
 
 2. The answer is an instruction also : "Strive 
 to enter in," &c. ; good counsel and instruc- 
 tion ; pray God help me, and my reader, and 
 all that love their own salvation, to take it. 
 
 My manner of handling the words will be, 
 first, by way of explication, and then by way 
 of observation. 
 
 1 . By way of explication. 
 
 The words are to be considered, first, with 
 reference to their general scope, and then with 
 reference to their several phrases. 
 • First. The general scope of the text is to be 
 considered, and that is that great thing, salva- 
 tion ; for these wprds do immediately look at, 
 point to, and give directions about salvation : 
 722 
 
 "Are there few that be saved ? Strive to enter 
 in at the strait gate." 
 
 The words, I say, are to direct us not only to 
 talk of or to wish for, but to understand how 
 we shall, and to seek tHat we may be effect- 
 ually saved, and therefore of the greatest im- 
 portance. To be saved I What is like being 
 saved ? To be saved from sin, from hell, from 
 the wrath of God, from eternal damnation ! 
 what is like it? To be made an heir of God, 
 of his grace, of his kingdom and eternal glory I 
 what is like it? And yet all this is included 
 in this word saved, and in the answer to that 
 question. Are there few that be saved ? Indeed 
 this word saved is but of little use in the world 
 save to them that are heartily afraid of damn- 
 ing. This word lies in the Bible as excellent 
 salves lie in some men's houses, thrust into a 
 hole and not thought on for many months, be- 
 cause the household peaple have no wounds 
 nor sores. In time of sickness what so set by 
 as the doctor's glasses and gallipots full of 
 his excellent things? but when the person is 
 grown well the rest is thrown to the dunghill. 
 Oh, when men are sick of sin and afraid of 
 damning, what a text is that where this word 
 saved is found ! Yea, what a word of worth, 
 and goodness, and blessedness is it to him that 
 lies continually upon the wrath of a guilty 
 conscience I " But the whole need not the 
 physician." He therefore, and he only, knows 
 what saved means that knows what hell, and 
 death, and damnation mean : " What shall I 
 do to be saved?" is the language of the tiem- 
 bling sinner. " Lord, save nie !" is the lan- 
 guage of the sinking sinner ; and none admire 
 the glory that is in that word saved but such 
 as see, without being saved, all things in 
 heaven and earth are emptiness to them ; they 
 als'o that believe themselves privileged in all 
 the blessedness that is wrapped up in that word 
 bless and admire God that hath saved them ' 
 
THE STRAIT GATE. 
 
 723 
 
 wherefore, since the thing intended both in the 
 question and the answer is no less than the 
 salvation of the soul, I beseech you to give the 
 more earnest heed. 
 
 But to come to the particular phrases in the 
 words, and to handle them orderly, I find four 
 things : 
 
 1. An intimation of the kingdom of heaven ; 
 2. A description of the entrance into it ; 3. An 
 exhortation to enter into it; and, 4. A motive 
 to enforce that exhortation. 
 
 1. An intimation of the kingdom of heaven ; 
 for when he saith, " Strive to enter in ;" and 
 in such phrases there is supposed a place or 
 state, or both, to be enjoyed. " Enter in ;" 
 enter into what, or whither, but into a state 
 or place, or both; and therefore when you 
 read these words enter in, you must say there 
 ia certainly included in the text that good 
 thing that yet is not expressed. " Enter in," 
 into heaven, that is the meaning, where the 
 '?aved are and shall be; into heaven, that 
 place, that glorious place, where God, and 
 Christ, and angels are, and the souls or spirits 
 of just men made perfect. "Enter in;" that 
 thing included, though not expressed in the 
 words, is called in another place, the Mount 
 Sion, the heavenly Jerusalem, the general as- 
 sembly and Church of the iirst-born which are 
 written in heaven. And therefore the words 
 signify unto us that there is a state most glor- 
 ious, and that when this world is ended, and 
 that this place and state is likewise to be en- 
 joyed and inherited by a generation of men 
 for ever. Besides, these words " enter in," 
 signify that salvation to the full is to be en- 
 joyed Only there, and that there'only is eter- 
 nal safety ; all other places and conditions are 
 hazardous, dangerous, full of snares, imperfec- 
 tions, temptations, and afflictions; but there 
 all is well ; there is no devil to tempt, no des- 
 perately wicked heart to deliver us up, no de- 
 ceitful lust to entangle, nor any enchanting 
 world to bewitch us ; there all shall be well to 
 all eternity. Further, all the parts of and 
 circumstances that attend salvation are only 
 there to be enjoyed; there only is immortality 
 and eternal life ; there is the glory and fulness 
 of joy and the everlasting pleasures; there is 
 God and Christ to be enjoyed by open vision ; 
 and more, there are the angels and the 
 saints; further, there is no death, nor sick- 
 ness, nor sorrow, nor sighing for ever ; there is 
 no pain, nor persecutor, nor darkness to 
 eclipse our glory. Oh this Mount Sion 1 Oh 
 this heavenly Jerusalem I 
 
 Behold, therefore, what a great thing the 
 Lord Jesus hath included by this little word, 
 in. In this word is wrapped up an whole 
 heaven and eternal life, even as there is 
 also by other little' words in the Holy Scrip- 
 tures of truth, as where he saith, " Knock, and 
 it shall be opened unto you,'' and the elect 
 have obtained it. This should teach us not 
 only to read, but to attend in reading ; not 
 only to read, but to lift up our hearts to God 
 in reading; for if we be not heedful, if he 
 gives us not light and understanding, we may 
 easily pass over withodt any great regard 
 such a word as may have have a glorious 
 kingdom and eternal salvation in the bowels 
 of it; yea, sometimes, as here, a whole heaven 
 is intimated where .it is not at all expressed. 
 The apostles of old did use to fetch great 
 things out of the Scriptures, even out of the 
 very order and timing of the several things 
 contained therein. 
 
 2. As we have here an intimation of the 
 kingdom of heaven, so we have a description 
 of the entrance into it, and that by a double 
 similitude: 1. It is called a gate; 2. A strait 
 gate : " Strive to enter in at the strait gate." 
 
 1st. It is set forth by the similitude of a 
 gate. A gate, you know, is of a double use ; it 
 is to open and shut, and so, consequently, to 
 let in or to keep out, and to do both these at 
 the season ; as he said, " Let not the gates of 
 Jerusalem be opened till the sun be hot ;" and 
 again, " I commanded that the gates should be 
 shut, and charged that they should not be 
 opened till after the sabbath." And so you 
 find of this gate of heaven, when the five wise 
 virgins came the gate was opened, but after- 
 wards came the other virgins and the door was 
 shut. So then the entrance into heaven is 
 called a gate, to show there is a time when 
 there may be entrance, and there will come 
 a time when there shall be none ; and indeed 
 this is a chief truth contained in the text: 
 " Strive to enter in at the strait gate, for many 
 I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall 
 not be able.'' I read in the Scriptures of two 
 gates or doors through which they that go to 
 heaven must enter. 
 
 (1.) There is the door of faith, the door 
 which the grace of God hath opened to ike 
 Gentiles ; this door is Jesus Christ, as also 
 himself doth testify, saying, "I am the door," 
 &c. By this door men enter into God's favour 
 and mercy, and find forgiveness through faith 
 in his blood, and live in hope of eternal life : 
 and therefore himself also said, " I am the 
 
724 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 doov; by me, if any man enter inj he shall be 
 saved ;" that is, received to mercy and inherit 
 eternal life. But, 
 
 (2.) There is another door or gate, (for that 
 v^hicli is called in the text a gate is twice in 
 the next verse called a door;) there is, I say, 
 another gate, and that is the passage into the 
 very heaven itself, the entrance into the celes- 
 tial mansion-house, and that is the gate men- 
 lioned in the text and the door mentioned 
 twice in the verse that follows. And thus 
 Jacob called it when he said Bethel was the 
 house of God, and this is the gate of heaven — 
 that is, the entrance, for he saw the entrance 
 into heaven. One end of Jacob's ladder stands 
 in Bethel, God's house, and the other end 
 reacheth up to the gate of heaven. Jacob's 
 ladder was the figure of Christ, which ladder 
 was not the gate of heaven, but the way from 
 the Church to that gate which he saw above 
 at the top of the ladder. But again, that the 
 gate in the text is the gate or entrance into 
 heaven, consider — 
 
 (1.) It is that gate that letteth men into or 
 shutteth men out of that place or kingdom 
 where Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob are; 
 which place is that paradise where Christ 
 promised the thief that he should be that day 
 that he asked to be with him in his kingdom ; 
 it is, that place into which Paul said he was 
 caught when he heard words unlawful or im- 
 possible for a man to utter. 
 
 Question. But is not Christ the gate or en- 
 trance into this heavenly place? 
 
 Answer: He is — he without whom no man 
 can get thither, because by his merits men 
 obtain that world, and also because he (as the 
 Father) is the donor and disposer of that king- 
 dom to whom he will. Further, this place is 
 called his house and himself the master of it, 
 (when once the master of the house is risen 
 up and hath shut to the door.) But we used 
 to say that the master of the house is not the 
 door. Men enter into heaven, then, by him, 
 not as he is the gate, or door, or entrance into 
 the celestial mansion-house, but as he is the 
 giver and disposer of that kingdom to them 
 whom he shall count worthy, because he hath 
 obtained it for them. 
 
 (2.) That this gate is the verj' passage into 
 heaven, consider the text hath special refer- 
 ence to the day of judgment, when Christ will 
 have laid aside his mediatory office, which 
 before he exercised for the bringing to the 
 faith his own elect, and will then act, not as 
 one that justifieth the ungodly, but as one that 
 
 judgeth sinners. He will now be risen up 
 from the throne of grace, and shut up the dooi 
 against all the impenitent, and will be' set 
 upon the throne of judgment, from thence to 
 proceed with ungodly sinners. 
 
 Objection. But Christ bids strive: "Strive 
 now to enter in at the strait gate ;" but if that 
 gate be, as you say, the gate or entrai.ee into 
 heaven, then it should seem that we should 
 not strive till the day of judgment, for we shall 
 not come at that gate till then.. 
 
 Answer. Christ, by this exhortation, Stri\ej 
 &c., doth not at all admit of or countenance 
 delays, or that a man should neglect his own 
 salvation, but putteth poor creatures upon pre- 
 paring for the judgment, and counselleth them 
 now to get those things that will then give 
 them entrance into glory; This exhortation 
 is much like these, "Be ye therefore ready 
 also, for at such an hour as you think not the 
 Son of man cometh. And they that were 
 ready went in with him to the marriage, and 
 the door was shut." 
 
 So that when he saith, " Strive to enter in," 
 it is as much as if he should say. Blessed are 
 they -that shall be admitted another day to 
 enter into the kingdom of heaven ; but they 
 that shall be accounted worthy of so unspeak- 
 able a favour must be well prepared and fitted 
 for it beforehand. Now the time to be fitted 
 is not the day of judgment, but the day of 
 grace; not then, biit now. Therefore strive 
 now for those things that will then give you 
 e-ntrance into the heavenly kingdom. But — 
 
 2dly. As it is called a gate, so' it is called a 
 strait gate: "Strive to enter in at the strait 
 gate." 
 
 The straitness of this gate is not to be un- 
 derstood carnally, but mystically. You are 
 not to understand it as if the entrance into 
 heaven was some little pinching wicket; no, 
 the straitness of this gate is quite another 
 thing. This gate is wide enough for all them 
 that are the truly gracious and sincere lovers 
 of Jesus Christ, but so strait as that not one of 
 the other can by any means enter in. •'Open 
 to me the gates of righteousness : I will go into 
 them, and I will praise the Lord, this gate of 
 the Lord into which the righteous shall en- 
 ter." By this word therefore Christ Jesus hath 
 showed unto us that without due qualifications 
 there is no possibility of entering' into heaven ; 
 the strait gate will keep all others out. When 
 Clirist spake this parable he had doubtless hia 
 eye upon some passage or passages of the Old 
 Testament with which the Jews were well sua- 
 
THE STRAIT GATE. 
 
 725 
 
 quainced. I will mention two, and so go 
 on: 
 
 (1.) The place by which God turned Adam 
 and his wife out of Paradise. Possibly our 
 Lord might have his eye upon that, for though 
 that was wide enough for them to come out at, 
 yet it was too strait for them to go in at. But 
 what should be the reason of that? Why, 
 they had sinned, and therefore "God set at 
 the east of that garden cherubims and a flam- 
 ing sword, turning every way, to keep the way 
 of the tree of life." The cherubims and this 
 flaming sword, they made the entrance too 
 Btrait for them to enter in. Souls, there are 
 cherubims and a flaming sword at the gates of 
 heaven, to keep tlie way of the tree of life; 
 therefore none but them that are duly fitted 
 for heaven can enter in at this strait gate ; the 
 flaming sword will keep all others out. " Know 
 you not that the unrighteous shall not inherit 
 the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither 
 fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor 
 effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with 
 mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunk- 
 ards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall in- 
 herit the kingdom of God." 
 
 (2.) Perhaps our Lord might have his eye 
 upon the gates of the temple when he spoke 
 this word unto the people, for though the gates 
 of the temple were six cubits wide, yet they 
 were so strait that none that were unclean in 
 anything might enter in thereat, because there 
 were placed at them porters, whose office was 
 to look that none but those that had right to 
 enter might go in thither. And so it is writ- 
 ten : " Jehoiada set porters at the gates of the 
 house of the Lord, that none that were unclean 
 in anything might enter in." Souls, God 
 hath porters at the gates of the temple, at the 
 gate of heaven — porters, I say, placed there 
 by God, to look that none that are unclean in 
 anything may come in thither. In at the gate 
 of the Church none may enter now that are 
 open profane and scandalous to religion ; no, 
 though they plead they are beloved of God: 
 " What hath my beloved to do in mine house, 
 (saith the Lord,) seeing she hath wrought 
 lewdness with many?" 
 
 I say, I am very apt to believe that our Lord 
 Jesus Christ had his thoughts upon these two 
 texts when he said. The gate is strait; and 
 that which confirms me the more in the thing 
 is this: a little below the text he saith, "There 
 shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth when 
 you shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, 
 and all the prophets in the kingdom of heaven. 
 
 and you yourselves thrust out." Thrust out, 
 which signifleth a violent act, resisting with 
 striving those that would (though unqualified) 
 enter. The porters of the temple were, for 
 this very thing, to wear arms, if need were, 
 and to be men of courage and strength, lest the 
 unsanctified or unprepared should by some 
 means enter it. We read in the book of Rev- 
 elations of the holy city, and that it had twel ve 
 gates, and at the gates twelve angels; but 
 what did they do there? Why, amongst the 
 rest of their service this was one thing, that 
 there might in nowise enter in anything that 
 defileth or worketh abomination, and that 
 maketh a lie. 
 
 But more particularly to show what it is that 
 maketh this gate so strait, There are three 
 things that maketh it strait : 1. There is sin; 
 2. There is the word of the law ; 3. There are 
 the angels of God. 
 
 1st. There is sin, the sin of the profane and 
 the sin of the professor. 
 
 (1.) The sin of the profane. But this needs 
 not be enlarged upon, because it is concluded 
 upon at all hands where there is the common 
 belief of the being of God and the judgment to 
 come, that " the wicked shall be turned into 
 hell, and all the nations that forget God." 
 
 (2.) But there is the sin of professors; or 
 take it rather thus, there is a profession that 
 will stand with an unsanctified heart and life; 
 the sin of such will overpoise the salvation of 
 their souls, the sin-end being the heaviesfj end 
 of the scale ; I say, that being the heaviest end 
 which hath sin in it, they tilt over, and so 
 are, notwithstanding their glorious professiou, 
 drowned in perdition and destruction : " For 
 none such hath any inheritance in the king- 
 dom of Christ and of God; therefore let no 
 man deceive you with vain words, for because 
 of these things comes the wrath of God upon 
 the children of disobedience;" neither will a 
 profession be able to excuse them. The gate 
 will be too strait for such as these to enter in 
 thereat. A man may partake of salvation in 
 part, but not of salvation in whole. God 
 saved the children of Israel out of Egypt, but 
 overthrew them in the wilderness: "I will 
 therefore put you in remembrance, though 
 you once knew this, how that the Lord, hav- 
 ing saved the people out of the land of Egypt, 
 afterwards destroyed them that believed not." 
 So we see that (notwithstanding their begin- 
 ning) "they could not enter in because of un- 
 belief." 
 2dly. There is the word of the law, and that 
 
726 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 •fill make the gate strait also. None must go 
 in thereat but those that can go in by the leave 
 of the law ; for though no man be, or can be, 
 justified by the works of the law, yet unless 
 the righteousness and holiness by which they 
 attempt to enter into this kingdom be justified 
 by the law, it is in rain once to think of en- 
 tering in at this strait gate. Now the law 
 justifieth not but upon the account of Christ's 
 righteousness ; if therefore thou be not indeed 
 found in that righteousness, thou wilt find the 
 law lie just in the passage into heaven to keep 
 thee out; every man's work must be tried by 
 fire, that it may be manifest of what sort it is. 
 There are two errors in the world about the 
 law: one is, when men think to enter in at the 
 strait gate by th'e righteousness of the law; 
 the other is, when men think they may enter 
 into heaven without the leave of the law. 
 Both these, I say, are errors; for as by the 
 works of the law no flesh shall be justified, so 
 without the consent of the law no flesh shall 
 be saved: "Heaven and earth shall pass away 
 before one jot or tittle of the law shall fail till 
 all be fulfilled." He therefore must be damned 
 that cannot be saved by the consent of the law. 
 And indeed this law is the flaming sword that 
 turneth every way, yea, that lieth to this day 
 in the way to heaven, for a bar to all unbe- 
 lievers and unsanotified professors, for it is 
 taken out of the way for the truly gracious 
 only. It will be found as a roaring lion to de- 
 vour all others; because of the law, therefore, 
 the gate will be found too strait for the unsanc- 
 tifled to enter in. When the apostle had told 
 the Corinthians that the unrighteous should 
 not inherit the kingdom of God, and that such 
 were some of them, he adds, "But ye are 
 washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justi- 
 fied in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the 
 Spirit of our God," clpsely concluding that 
 bad they not been washed, and sanctified, and 
 justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, the 
 law, for their transgressions, would have kept 
 them out; it would have made the gate too 
 strait for them to enter in. 
 
 3dly. There are also the angels of God, and 
 by reason of them the gate is strait. The 
 Lord Jesus calleth the end of the world his 
 harvest, and saith, moreover, that the angels 
 are his reapers ; these angels are therefore to 
 gather bis wheat into his barn, but to gather 
 the ungodly into bundle? to burn them ; un- 
 less therefore the man that is unsanctified can 
 master the law and conquer angels, unless he 
 "■.an as I may say, pull them out of the gate- 
 
 way of heaven, himself is not to come thither 
 for ever. No man goeth to heaven but by the 
 help of the angels, I mean at the day of judg- 
 ment: "For the Son of man shall send forth 
 his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, 
 and they shall gather together his elect from, 
 the four winds, from one end of heaven to the 
 other." If those that shall enter in at the 
 strait gate shall only enter in thither by the 
 conduct of the holy angels, pray when do you 
 think those men will enter in thither concern- 
 ing whom the angels are commanded to gather 
 them, to bind them in bundles to burn them? 
 This therefore is a third difiiculty : the angels 
 will make this entrance strait, yea, too strait 
 for the unjustified and unsanctified to enter in 
 thither. 
 
 3. I come now to the exhortation, which is 
 to strive to enter in : "Strive to enten in at the 
 ■strait gate.'' These words are fitly added, for 
 since the gate is strait, it follows that they who 
 will enter in must strive. 
 
 "Strive." This word strive supposeth — 1. 
 That great idleness is natural to professors; 
 they think to get to heaven by lying, as it 
 were, on their elbows. 2. It also suggesteth 
 that many will be the difficulties that profess 
 ors will meet with before they get to heaven. 
 3. It also concludeth that, only the labouring 
 Christian man or woman will get in thither. 
 "Strive," &c. 
 
 Three questions I will propound upon the 
 word, an answer to which may give us light 
 into the meaning of it: 1. What doth the 
 word strive import? 2. How should we strive ? 
 3. Why shall we strive? 
 
 1st. What doth this word strive import? 
 
 Answer. When he saith. Strive, it is as much 
 as to say. Bend yourselves to the work with all 
 your might: "Whatsoever thy hand fiudeth to 
 do, do it with all thy might, for there is no 
 Avork, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom 
 in the grave, whither thou goest." Thus 
 Samson did when he set himself to destroy the 
 Philistines; he bowed himself with all his 
 might. Thus David did also when he made 
 provision for the building and beautifying of 
 the temple of God. And this must thou do 
 if ever thou enterest into heaven. 
 
 2dly. When he saith. Strive, he calleth for 
 the mind and will, that they should be on his 
 side and on the side of the things of his king- 
 dom ; for none strive indeed but such as have 
 given the Son of God their heart, of which 
 the mind and will are a principal part; foi 
 saving conversion lieth more in the turning of 
 
THE STRAIT GATE. 
 
 727 
 
 the mind and will to Christ, and to the love 
 of his heavenly things, than in all knowledge 
 ind judgment. And this the apostle con- 
 firmeth when he saith, "Stand fast in one 
 spirit, with one mind, striving," &c. 
 
 3dly. And more particularly this word strive 
 is expressed by several other terms, as — 1. It 
 is expressed by that word, " So run that you 
 may obtain." 2. It is expressed by that word, 
 "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold of 
 eternal life." 3. It is expressed by that word, 
 " Labour not for the meat that perisheth, but 
 for that meat that endureth to everlasting life.'' 
 4. It is expressed by that word, " We wrestle 
 with principalities and powers and the rulers 
 of the darkness of this world." Therefore, 
 when he saith. Strive, it is as much as to say, 
 Kun for heaven, fight for heavenj»labour for 
 heaven, wrestle for heaven, or you are like to 
 go without it. 
 
 The second question is, How should we 
 strive ? 
 
 Answer. The answer in general is. Thou must 
 strive lawfully : " And if a man also strive for 
 the mastery, yet is he not crowned except he 
 strive lawfully." 
 
 But you will say, What is it to strive law- 
 fully? 
 
 Answer. (1.) To strive against the things 
 which are abhorred by the Lord Jesus, yea, 
 to resist to the spilling of your blood, striving 
 against sin ; to have all those things that are 
 condemned by the word, yea, though they be 
 thine own right hand, right eye, or right foot, 
 in abomination ; and to seek by all godly 
 means the utter suppression of tliem. 
 
 (2.) To strive lawfully is to strive for those 
 things that are commanded in the word. But 
 thou, O man of Q-od, fly the world and follow 
 after; that is, strive for righteousness, godli- 
 ness, faith, love, patience, meekness ; fight the 
 good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, &c. 
 
 (3.) He that striveth lawfully must be there- 
 fore very temperate in all the good and lawful 
 things of this life. And every one that striveth 
 for the mastery is temperate in all things ; now 
 ihey do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but 
 we an incorruptible. Most professors give 
 leave to the world and vanity of their hearts 
 to close with them and to hang about their 
 necks, and n;ake their striving to stand rather 
 In an outcry of words than a hearty labour 
 against the lusts and love of the world and 
 their own corruptions ; but this kind of striv- 
 ing is but a beating of the air, and will come 
 t<> just nothing at last. 
 
 (4.) He that striveth lawfully must take God 
 , and Christ along with him to the work, other- 
 wise he will certainly be undone : " Whereunto 
 (said Paul) I also labour, striving according to 
 His working, which worketh in me mightily." 
 And for the right performing of this he must 
 observe these following particulars : 
 
 (1.) He mUsttake heed that he do not strive 
 about things or words to no profit, for God will 
 not then be with him : " Of these things (saith 
 the apostle) put them in remembrance : charg- 
 ing them before the Lord that they strive not 
 about words to no profit, but to the subverting 
 of the hearers." But, alas ! how many pro- 
 fessors in our days are guilty of this transgres- 
 sion, whose religion stands chiefly, if not only, 
 in a few unprofitable questions and vain 
 wrabglings about words and things to no 
 profit, but to the destruction of the hearers! 
 
 (2.) He must take heed that whilst he strives 
 against one sin he does not harbour and shelter 
 another, or that whilst he cries out against 
 other men's sins he does not countenance his 
 own. 
 
 ^3.) In the striving strive to believe, strive 
 for the faith of the Gospel ; for the more we 
 believe the Gospel and the reality of the things 
 of the world to come, with the more stomach 
 and courage shall we labour to possess the 
 blessedness. Let us labour therefore to enter 
 into that rest, lest any man fall after the same 
 example of unbelief. 
 
 (4.) As we should strive for and by faith, so 
 we should strive by prayer, by fervent and 
 effectual prayers. Oh the swarms of our 
 prayerless professors ! What do they think of 
 themselves ? Surely the gate of heaven was 
 heretofore as wide as in these our days, but 
 what striving by prayer was there then among 
 Christians for the thing that gives admittance 
 into this kingdom over that there is in these 
 latter days ! 
 
 (5.) We should also strive by mortifying our 
 members that are upon the earth : " I there- 
 fore so run, (said Paul,) so fight I, not as one 
 that beats the air, but I keep under my body 
 and bring it into subjection, lest that by any 
 means, when I preached the Gospel to others, 
 I myself should be a castaway.'' But all this 
 is spoken principally to professors ; so I would 
 be understood. 
 
 I come now to the third question — namely, 
 But why should we strive ? 
 
 Answer. (1.) Because the thing for which 
 you are here exhorted to strive, it is worth the 
 striving for ; it is for no less than for a whole 
 
728 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 heaven and an eternity of felicity there. How 
 will men that have before them a little honour, 
 a little profit, a little pleasure, strive! I say 
 again, how will they strive for this ! Now 
 they do it for a corruptible crown, but we an 
 incorruptible. Methinks this word heaven 
 and this eternal life; what 'is there again, 
 eithei^ m heaven or earth, like them to pro- 
 voke a man to strive? 
 
 (2.) Strive, because otherwise the devil and 
 hell will assuredly have thee : " He goes about 
 like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may de- 
 vour." These fallen angels, they are always 
 watchful, diligent, unwearied; they are also 
 mighty, subtle, and malicious, seeking nothing 
 more tlian the damnation of thy soul. thou 
 that art like the harmless dove, strive ! 
 
 (3.) Strive, because every lust strives and 
 wars against thy soul. The flesh lusteth 
 against the Spirit : " Dearly beloved, I beseech 
 you, (said Peter,) as strangers and pilgrims, 
 abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against 
 the soul." It is a rare thing to see or find out 
 a Christian that indeed can bridle his lusts, 
 but no strange thing to see such professors that 
 are not only bridled, but saddled too, yea, and 
 ridden from lust to sin, from one vanity to 
 another, by the very devil himself, and the 
 corruptions of their hearts. 
 
 (4.) Strive, because thou hast a whole world 
 against thee. The world hateth thee if thou 
 art a Christian ; the men of the world hate 
 thee, the things of the world are snares for 
 thee, even thy bed and table, thy wife and 
 husband ; yea, thy most lawful enjoyments 
 have that in them that will certainly sink thy 
 soul to hell if thou dost not strive against the 
 snares that are in them. 
 
 The world will seek to keep thee out of 
 heaven with mocks, flouts, taunts, threaten- 
 ings, jails, gibbets, halters, burnings, and a 
 thousand deaths ; therefore strive. Again, if 
 it cannot overcome thee with these, it will 
 flatter, promise, allure, entice, entreat, and use 
 a thousand tricks on this hand to destroy thee; 
 and observe, many that have been stout against 
 the threats of the world have yet been over- 
 come with the bewitching flatteries of the 
 same. There ever was enmity between the 
 devil and the Church, and betwixt his seed and 
 her seed too ; Michael and his angels, and the 
 dragon and his angelsj these make war con- 
 tinually. There hath been great desires and 
 endeavours among men to reconcile these two 
 in oue — to wit, the seed of the serpent and the 
 seed of the woman — but it could never vet be 
 
 accomplished. The world says. They will 
 , never come over to us; and we again say, By 
 God's grace we will never come over to them. 
 But the business hath not ended in words ; 
 both they and we have also added our endeav- 
 ours to make each other submit, but endeav- 
 ours have proved ineffectual too. They, for 
 their part, have devised all manner of cruel 
 torments to make us submit, as slaying with 
 the sword, stoning, sawing asunder, flames, 
 wild beasts, banishments, hunger, and a thou- 
 sand miseries. We again, on the other side, 
 have laboured by prayers and tears, by pa- 
 tience and long-suffering, by gentleness and 
 love, by sound doctrine and faithful witness- 
 bearing against their enormities, to bring them 
 over to us, but yet the enmity remains ; so that 
 they must conquer us or we must conquer them. 
 One side must be overcome, but the weapons 
 of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty 
 through God. 
 
 (5.) Strive, because there is nothing of 
 Christianity got by idleness : " Idleness clothes 
 a man with rags, and the vineyard of the 
 slothful is grown over with nettles." Pro- 
 fession that is not attended with spiritual la- 
 bour cannot bring the soul to heaven. The 
 fathers before us were not slothful in business, 
 but fervent in spirit, serving the Lord: 
 " Therefore be not slothful, but followers of 
 them who through faith and patience inherit 
 the promises." 
 
 " Strive to enter in." Methinks the words 
 at the first reading do intimate to us that the 
 Christian, in all that ever he does in this world, 
 should carefully heed and regard his soul — I 
 say, in all that ever he does. Many are for 
 their souls by fits and starts, but a Christian 
 indeed, in all his doings and jjesigns which he 
 contriveth and manageth in this world, should 
 have a special eye to his own future and ever- 
 lasting good; in all his labours he should 
 strive to enter in: "Wisdom (Christ) is the 
 principal thing; therefore get wisdom, and in 
 all thy gettings get understanding." Get 
 nothing if thou canst not get Christ an^J grace 
 and further hopes of heaven in th£.t getting; 
 get nothing with a bad conscience, with the 
 hazard of thy peace with God, and that in 
 getting it thou weakenest thy graces which 
 God hath given thee; for this is not to 
 strive to enter in. Add grace to grace both 
 by religious and worldly duties, for so an en- 
 trance shall be ministered unto you abundantly 
 into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and 
 Saviour Jesus Christ. Religious duties are 
 
THE STRAIT GATE. 
 
 not the only striving times ; he that thinks so 
 IS out. Thou mayest help thy faith and thy 
 hope in the godly management of thy calling, 
 and mayest get farther footing in eternal life, 
 by studying the glory of God in all thy worldly 
 emoloyment. I am speaking now to Chris- 
 tians that are justified freely by grace, and am 
 encouraging, or rather counselling, them to 
 strive to enter in ; for there is an entering in 
 by faith and good conscience now, as well as 
 our entering in body and soul hereafter; and 
 I must add that the more common it is to thy 
 soul to enter in now by fakh, the more stead- 
 fast hope shalt thou have of entering in here- 
 after in body and soul. 
 
 "Strive to enter in." By these words also 
 the Lord Jesus giveth sharp rebuke to those 
 professors that have not eternal glojry, but other 
 temporal things in their eye, by all the bustle 
 that they malce in the world about religion. 
 Some there be, what a stir they make, what a 
 noise and clamour with their notions and 
 forms, and yet perhaps all is for the loaves, 
 because they have eaten of the loaves and are 
 tilled ! They strive indeed to enter, but it is 
 not into heaven ; they find religion hath a good 
 trade at the end of it, or they find that it is 
 the way to credit, repute, preferment, and the 
 like; and therefore they strive to enter into 
 these. But these have not the strait gate in 
 their eye, nor yet in themselves have they love 
 to their poor and perishing souls ; wherefore 
 this exhortation nippeth such by predicting of 
 their damnation. 
 
 "Strive to enter in.'' These words also 
 sharjjly rebuke them who content themselves 
 as the angel of the Church of Sardis did — to 
 *vit, " To have a name to live, and be dead" — 
 or as they of the Laodiceans, who took their 
 religion upon trust, and were content with a 
 poor, wretched, lukewarm profession ; for such 
 as these do altogether unlike to the exhorta- 
 tion in the text that says. Strive, and they sit 
 and sleep ; that says. Strive to enter in, and 
 they content themselves with a profession that 
 is never like to bring them thither. 
 
 "Strive to enter in." P^urther, these words 
 put us upon proving the truth of our graces 
 nww ; I say, they put us upon the proof of the 
 truth of them now ; for if the strait gate be 
 the gate of heaven, and yet we are to strive to 
 enter into it now, even while we live and be- 
 fore we come thither, then doubtless Christ 
 means by this exhortation that we should use 
 lawful means to prove our graces in this world 
 whether they will stand in the day of judg- 
 
 ment or not. Strive to enter in ; get those 
 graces now that will prove true graces then , 
 and therefore try them you have, and if upon 
 trial they prove not right, cast them away and 
 cry for better, lest they cast thee away when 
 better are not to be had. "Buy of me gold 
 tried in the fire ; " buy of me faith and grace 
 that will stand in the judgment; strive for 
 that faith, buy of me that grace, and also 
 white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, 
 that the shame of thy wickedness doth not 
 appear, and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, 
 that thou mayest see. Mind you this advice; 
 this is right striving to enter in. 
 
 But you will say. How should we try oui 
 graces? Would you have us run into tempta- 
 tion to try if they be sound or rotten? 
 
 Answer. You need not run into trials. God 
 hath ordained that enough of them shall over- 
 take thee to prove thy graces either rotten or 
 sound before the day of tiiy death. Sufficient 
 to the day is the evil thereof if thou hast but a 
 sufficiency of grace to withstand. I say, thou 
 shalt have trials enough overtake thee to prove 
 thy graces sound or rotten. Thou mayest, there- 
 fore, if God shall help thee, see how it is like 
 to go with thee before thou goest out of this 
 world — to wit, whether thy graces be such as 
 will carry thee in at the gates of heaven or no. 
 
 But how should we try our graces now? 
 
 Answer. How dost thou find them in out- 
 ward trials? How dost thou find thyself in 
 the inward workings of sin ? How dost thou 
 find thyself under the most high enjoyment 
 of grace in this world ? 
 
 But what do you mean by these three 
 questions ? 
 
 Answer. I mean graces show themselves at 
 these tlieir seasons whether they be rotten or 
 sound. 
 
 How do they show themselves to be true 
 under the first of these ? 
 
 Answer. By mistrusting our own sufficiency; 
 by crying to God for help ; by desiring rather 
 to 'die than to bring any dishonour to the 
 name of God ; and by counting that if God be 
 honoured in the trial thou hagt gained more 
 than all the world could give thee. 
 
 How do they show themselves to be true 
 under the second ? 
 
 Answer. By mourning, and confessing, and 
 striving, and praying against them ; by not 
 being content, shouldst thou have heaven, if 
 they live and defile thee; by counting of holi- 
 ness the greatest beauty in the world ; and by 
 flying to Jesus Christ for life. 
 
730 
 
 BVNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 How do they show themselves to be true 
 under the third? 
 
 Answer. By prizing the true graces above all 
 the world ; by praying heartily that God will 
 give thee more ; by not being content with all 
 the grace thou canst be capable of enjoying 
 on this side heaven and glory. 
 
 "Strive to enter' in." The reason why 
 Christ added these words, "to enter in," is 
 obvious— to wit, because there is no true and 
 lasting happiness on this side heaven ; I say, 
 none that is both true and lasting — I mean, as 
 to our sense and feeling, as there shall ; here 
 have we no continuing city, but we seek one 
 to come. The heaven is within — strive there- 
 fore to enter in ; the glory is within — strive 
 therefore to enter in ; the Mount Sion is with- 
 in — strive therefore to enter in ; the heavenly 
 Jerusalem is within — strive therefore to enter 
 in ; angels and saints are within — strive there- 
 fore to enter in ; and, to make up all, the God 
 and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that 
 glorious Redeemer, are within — strive there- 
 fore to enter in. 
 
 " Strive to enter in ;" for without are dogs, 
 sorcerers, whoremongers, and murderers, and 
 idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a 
 lie. Without are also the devils, and hell, 
 and death, and all damned souls ; without is 
 howling, weeping, wailing, and gnashing of 
 teeth; yea, without are all the miseries, sor- 
 rows, and plagues that an infinite God can in 
 justice and power inflict upon an evil and 
 wicked generation : " Strive therefore to enter 
 in at the strait gate." 
 
 "Strive to enter in at the strait gate, for 
 many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, 
 and shall not be able." 
 
 4. We are now come to the motive which 
 our Lord urges to enforce his exhortation. 
 
 He told us before that the gate was strait ; 
 he also exhorted us to strive to enter in thercr 
 at, or to get those things now that will fur- 
 ther our entrance then, and to set ourselves 
 against those things that will hinder our en- 
 tering in. 
 
 In this motive there are five things to be 
 mipded : 
 
 (1.) That there will be a disappointment to 
 some at the day of judgment; they will seek 
 to enter in, and shall not be able. 
 
 (2.) That not a few, but many, will meet 
 with this disappointment; "for many will 
 seek to enter in, and shall not be able." 
 
 (3.) This doctrine of the miscarriage of 
 many then, it standeth upon the validity of 
 
 the word of Christ: "For many, I say, will 
 seek to enter in, and shall not be able." 
 
 (4.) Professors shall make a great heap 
 among the many that shall fall short of 
 heaven : " For many, I say unto you, will seek 
 to enter in, and shall not be able." 
 
 (5.) Where grace and striving are wanting 
 now, seeking and contending to enter in will 
 be unprofitable then : " For many, I say unto 
 you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be 
 able." 
 
 But I will proceed in my former method— 
 to wit, to open the \j'ords unto you. 
 
 "For many," &c. If he had said. For 
 some will fall short, it had been a sentence 
 to be minded ; if he had said, For some that 
 seek will fall short, it had been very awaken- 
 ing; but when he saith. Many, many,. will 
 fall short, yea, many among professors will 
 fall short, this is not only awakening, but 
 dreadful. 
 
 " For many," &c. I find this word many 
 variously applied in Scripture. 
 
 (1.) Sometimes it intendeth the open pro- 
 fane, the wicked and ungodly world, as where 
 Christ saith, " Wide is the gate and broad is 
 the way that leadeth to destruction, and many 
 there be that go in thereat." I say by the 
 many here he intends those chiefly that go on 
 in the broad way of sin and profaneness, bear- 
 ing the tokens of their damnation in their 
 foreheads, those whose daily practice pro- 
 claims "that their feet go down to death and 
 their steps take hold of hell." 
 
 (2.) Sometimes this word many intendeth 
 those that cleave to the people of God de- 
 ceitfully and in hypocrisy, or as Daniel hath 
 it, " Many shall cleave unto the Church with 
 flatteries." The word many in this text in- 
 cludeth all those who feign themselves better 
 than they are in religion ; it includeth, I say, 
 those that have religion only tqf an holiday 
 suit, to set them out at certain times and when 
 they come among suitable company. 
 
 (3.) Sometimes this word many intendeth 
 them that apostatize from Christ, such as for 
 a while believe and in time of temptation fall 
 away, as John saith of some of Christ's disci- 
 ples : " From that time many of his disciples 
 went back, and walked no more with him." 
 
 (4.) Sometimes this word many intendeth 
 them that make a great noise and do many 
 great things in the Church, and yet want saving 
 grace : " Many (saith Christ) will say unto me 
 in that day. Lord, Lord, have we not prophe- 
 sied in thy name, and in thy name cast out 
 
THE STRAIT GATE. 
 
 731 
 
 devils, and in thy numo done many wonderful 
 •vorks?" Mark, there will be many of these. 
 
 (5.) Sometimes this word many intendeth 
 those poor, ignorant, deluded souls that are 
 led away with every wind of doctrine, those 
 who are caught with the cunning and crafty 
 deceiver who lieth in wait to beguile unstable 
 souls: "And many shall follow their pernicious 
 ways, by reason of whom the way of truth 
 shall be evil spoken of." 
 
 (6.) Sometimes this word many includeth 
 all the world, good and bad: "And many of 
 them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall 
 awake, some to everlasting life and some to 
 everlasting shame and contempt." 
 
 (7.) Lastly. Sometimes this word Tnany in- 
 tendeth the good only, " even them that shall 
 be saved." « 
 
 Since then that the word is so variously ap- 
 plied, let u^ inquire how it must be taken in 
 the text. And — 
 
 (1.) It must not be applied to the sincerely 
 godly, for they shall never perish. (2.) It 
 cannot be applied to all the world, for then no 
 flesh should be saved. (3.) Neither is it ap- 
 plied to the open profane only, for then the 
 hypocrite is by it excluded. (4.) But by the 
 many in the text our Lord intended in special 
 the professor — the professor, I say, how high 
 soever he seems to be now, that shall be found 
 without saving grace in the day of judgment. 
 
 Now that the professor is in special intended 
 in this text, consider: So soon as the Lord had 
 said, " Many will seek to enter in, and shall 
 not be able," he pointeth, as with his finger, 
 at the many that then he in special intendeth 
 — to wit, them among whom he had taught; 
 them that had eat and drunken in his pres- 
 ence ; them that had prophesied and cast out 
 devils in his name, and in his name had done 
 many wonderful works. These are the many 
 intended by the Lord in this text, though 
 others also are included under the sentence of 
 damnation by his word in other places. " For 
 many," &c. Matthew saith concerning this 
 strait gate that there are but few that find it. 
 But it seems the castaways in my text did find 
 it, for you reid that they knocked at it and 
 cried, " Lord, open unto us." 
 
 So, then, the meaning may seem to be this : 
 many of the few that find it will seek to enter 
 in. and shall not be able. I find at the day of 
 judgment some will be crying to the rocks to 
 cover them, and some at the gates of heaven 
 for entrance. Suppose that those that cry to 
 the rock<» to cover them are they whose con- 
 
 science will not suffer them once to look God 
 in the face, because they are fallen under 
 present guilt and the dreadful fears of the 
 wrath of the Lamb, and that those that stand 
 crying at the gate of heaven are those whose 
 confidence holds out to the last, even those 
 whose boldness will enable them to contend 
 even with Jesus Christ for entrance— them, I 
 say, that will have profession, casting out of 
 devils, and many wonderful works to plead. 
 Of this sort are the many in my text : " For 
 many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, 
 and shall not be able." " For many," &c. 
 'Could we compare the professors of the times 
 with the everlasting word of God, this doc- 
 trine would more easily appear to the children 
 of men. How few among the many, yea, 
 among the swarms of professors, have heart to 
 make conscience of walking before God in this 
 world and to study his glory among the chil- 
 dren of men ! How few, I say, have his name 
 lie nearer their hearts than their own carnal 
 concferns ! Nay, do not many make his word 
 and his name and his ways a stalking-horse to 
 their own worldly advantages ? God calls for 
 faith, good conscience, moderation, self-denial, 
 humility, heavenly-mindedness, love to saints, 
 to enemies, and for conformity in heart, in 
 word, and life to his will ; but where is it ? 
 
 " For many, I say unto you.'' These lattel 
 words carry in them a double argument to 
 prove the truth asserted before : First, in that 
 he directly pointeth at his followers : " I say 
 unto you." Many, I say unto you, even you 
 that are my disciples, to you that have eat and 
 drunk in my presence. I know that sometimes 
 Christ hath directed his speech to his disciples, 
 not so much upon their accounts as upon the 
 accounts of others, but here it is not so ; there- 
 fore I say unto you in this place it immedi- 
 ately concerned some of themselves : " I say 
 unto you. Ye shall begin to stand without, and 
 to knock, saying. Lord, Lord, open to us, and 
 he shall answer and say unto you, I know you 
 not whence you are; then shall ye begin to 
 say. We have eat and drunk in thy presence, 
 and thou hast taught in our streets; but he 
 shall say, I tell you I know you not whence you 
 are ; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity ;" 
 it is you, you, you that I mean. "I say unto 
 you." It is common with a professing people, 
 when they hear a smart and a thundering Ser- 
 mon, to say. Now has the preacher paid off the 
 drunkard, the swearer, the liar, the covetous, 
 and adulterer, forgetting that these sins may 
 be committed in a spiritual and mystical way. 
 
732 
 
 BVNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 There ia spiritual drunkenness, spiritual adul- 
 tery, and a man may be a liar that calls God 
 his Father when he is not, or that calls him- 
 self a Christian and is not. Wherefore per- 
 haps all these thunders and lightnings in this 
 terrible sermon Riay more concern thee than 
 thou art aware. of: "I say unto you" — unto 
 you, professors, may be the application of all 
 this thunder. 
 
 But I shall show you why the poor, carnal, 
 ignorant world miss of heaven, and then why 
 the knowing professors miss of it also. 
 
 1. The poor, carnal, ignorant world miss of 
 heaven even because they love their sins and' 
 cannot part with them : " Men love darkness 
 rather than light, because their deeds are evil." 
 The poor ignorant world miss of heaven be- 
 cause they are enemies in their minds to God, 
 
 _ his word, and holiness; they must be all 
 damned who take pleasure in unrighteousness. 
 The poor ignorant world miss of heaven be- 
 cause they stop their ears against convictions 
 and refuse to come when God calls : " Because 
 I have called and ye refused, I have stretched 
 out my hand, and no man regarded, but have 
 set at naught all my counsels,' and would none 
 of my reproofs, I also will laugh at y6ur ca- 
 lamities, and mock when your fear cometh as 
 desolation, and your destruction like a whirl- 
 wind, when distress and anguish cometh upon 
 you ; then shall you call upon me, but I will 
 not answer ; they shall seek me early, but shall 
 not find me." 
 
 2. The poor ignorant world miss of heaven 
 because the God of this world hath blinded 
 their eyes, that they can neither see the evil 
 and damnable state they are in at present, nor 
 the way to get out of it ; neither do they see 
 the beauty of Jesus Christ, nor how willing he 
 is to save poor sinners. 
 
 3. The poor ignorant world miss of heaven 
 because they put off and defer coming to 
 Christ until the time of God's patience and 
 grace is over. Some indeed are resolved never 
 
 • to come, but some again say, We will come 
 hereafter, and so it comes to pass that because 
 God called and they did not hear, so they shall 
 cry and I will not hear, saith the Lord. 
 
 4. The poor ignorant world miss of heaven 
 because they have false apprehensions of God's 
 mercy. They say in their hearts. We shall 
 have peace, though we walk in the imagination 
 of our heart, to add drunkenness to thirst. 
 But what saith the word? — "The Lord will 
 not spare him ; but then the anger of the Lord 
 aud his jealousy shall smoke against that man, 
 
 and all the curses tliat are written in this boot 
 shall be upon him, and God shall blot out his 
 name from under heaven." 
 
 5. The poor ignorant world miss of heaven, 
 because they make light of the Gospel that of- 
 fereth mercy to them freely, and because they 
 lean upon their own good meanings, and think- 
 ings, and doings. 
 
 6. The poor carnal world miss of heaven be- 
 cause by unbelief, which reigns in them, they 
 are kept for ever from being clothed with 
 Christ's righteousness and from washing in his 
 blood, without which there is neither remission 
 of sin nor justification. But to pass these till 
 anon. 
 
 I come, in the next place, to show you some 
 reasons why professors fall short of heaven. 
 
 First. In the general, they rest in things 
 below special grace, as in awakenings that are 
 not special, in repentance thai is not special, 
 &c. ; and a little to run a parallel betwixt tte 
 one and the other, that, if God will, you may 
 see and escape : 
 
 1. Have they that shall be saved awakenings 
 about their state by nature ? So have they 
 that shall be damned. They thatnever go to 
 heaven may see much of sin and of the wrath 
 of God due thereto. This had Cain-and Judas, 
 and yet they came short of the kingdom. The 
 saved have convictions in order to their eter- 
 nal life, but the others' convictions are not so. 
 The convictions of the one do drive them sin- 
 cerely to, Christ; the convictions of the other 
 do drive them to the law, and the law to des- 
 peration at last. 
 
 2. There is a repentance that will not save — 
 a repentance to be repented of, and a repent- 
 ance to salvation, not to be repented of. Yet 
 so great a similitude and likeness there is be- 
 twixt the one and the other that most times 
 the wrong is taken for the right, and through 
 this mistake professors perish. 
 
 As, (1.) In saving repentance there will be 
 an acknowledgment of sin, and one that hath 
 the other repentance may acknowledge his cins 
 also. (2.) In saving repentance there is a cry- 
 ing out under sin, but one that hath the other 
 repentance may cry out under sin also. (3.) 
 In saving repentance there will be humiliation 
 for sin, and one that hath the other repentance 
 may humble himself also. (4.) Saving repent- 
 ance is attended with self-loathing, but he that 
 hath the other repentance may have loathing 
 of sin too : a loathing of sin because it is sin, 
 that he cannot have, but a loathing of gin be- 
 t'^.use it is offensive to him, that he may have, 
 
THE STRAIT GATE. 
 
 rsa 
 
 riio dog doth not loatlie that which troubleth 
 his stomach because it is the'ie, but because it 
 troubleth him ; when it has done troubling of 
 him ho can turn to it again and liclc it up as 
 before it troubled him. (5.) Saving repent- 
 ance is attended witli prayers and tears, but he 
 that hath none but the otlier repentance may 
 have prayers and tears also. (6.) In saving 
 repentance there is fear and reverence of the 
 word and ministers that bring it, but this may 
 be also where there is none but tlie repentance 
 that is not saving, for Herod feared John, 
 knowing that he was a just man and holy, and 
 observed him ; when he heard him he did 
 many things, and heard him gladly. (7.) Sav- 
 ing repentance makes a man's heart very ten- 
 der of doing anything against the word of God, 
 but Balaam could say, " If Balak would give 
 me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot 
 go beyond the word of the Lord." 
 
 Behold, then, how far a man may go in re- 
 pentance, and yet be short of that which is 
 called "repentance unto salvation, not to be 
 repented of:" 1. He may be awakened; 2. He 
 may acknowledge his sin; 3. Pie may cry out 
 under the burden of sin ; 4. Ho may have hu- 
 mility for it; 5. He may loathe it; 6. May 
 have prayers and tears against it ; 7. May de- 
 light to do many things of God ; 8. May be 
 afraid of sinning against him ; and after all 
 this may perish for want of saving repent- 
 ance. 
 
 Secondly. Have they that shall be saved 
 faith ? Why, they that shall not be saved may 
 have faith also ; yea, a faith in many things so 
 like the faith that saveth that they can hardly 
 be distinguished, (though they differ both in 
 root and branch.) To come to particulars: 
 
 1. Saving faith hath Christ for its object, and 
 so may the faith h.ave that is not saving. 
 Those very Jews of whom it is said they be- 
 lieved on Christ, Christ tells them, and that 
 after tlieir believing, " Ye are of j-our father 
 the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will 
 do." 2. Saving faith is wrought by the word 
 of God, and so may the faith be that is not 
 saving. 3. Saving faith looks for justification 
 without works, and so may a faith do that is 
 not saving. 4. Saving faith will sanctify and 
 purify the heart, and a faith that is not saving 
 may work a man off from the pollutions of the 
 world, as it did Judas, Demaa, and others. 5. 
 Raving faith will give a man tastes of the world 
 to come, and also joy by them tastes, and so 
 will flic faith do that is not saving. 6. Saving 
 faith will help a man, if called thereto, to give 
 
 his body to be burned for his religion, and so 
 will the faith do that is not saving. 7. Saving 
 faith will help a man to look for an inheritance 
 in the world to oome, and that may the faith 
 do that is not saving: " All those virgins took 
 their lamps and went forth to meet the bride- 
 groom." 8. Saving faith will not only make a 
 man look for, but prepare to meet, the bride- 
 groom, and so may the faith do that is not sav- 
 ing : " Then all these virgins arose and trimmed 
 their lamps." 9. Saving faith will make a 
 man look for an interest in the kingdom of 
 heaven with confidence, and the faith that is 
 not saving- will even demand entrance of the 
 Lord : " Lord, Lord, open unto us." 10. Sav- 
 ing faith will have good works follow it into 
 heaven, and the faith that is not saving may 
 have great works follow it as far as to he.i ven- 
 gates: "Lord, h.ave we not prophesied in thy 
 name, and in thy name cast out devils, and in 
 thy name done wondrous works ?" 
 
 Now, then, if the faith that is not saving 
 may have Christ for its object, be wrought 
 by the word, look for justification without 
 works, work men off from the pollutions of 
 the world, and give men tastes of and joy in 
 the things of another world — I say again, if 
 it will help a man to burn for his judgment, 
 and to look for an inheritance in another 
 world, yet if it will keep a man to prepare 
 for it, claim interest in it, and if it can carry 
 great works, many great and glorious works, 
 as far as heaven-gates, then no marvel if 
 abundance of people fake this faith for the 
 saving faith, and so fall short of heaven there- 
 by. Alas, friends ! there are but few that can 
 produce such for repentance ; and such faith, 
 as yet you see, I have proved even reprobates 
 have had in several ages of the Church. But— 
 
 Thirdly. They that go to heaven are a pray- 
 ing people, but a man may pray that shall not 
 be saved. Pray! he may pray daily; yea, he 
 may ask of God the ordinances of justice, 
 and m,ay take delight in approaching to God; 
 nay, further, such souls may, as it were, cover 
 the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping 
 and crying out. 
 
 Fourthly. Do God's people keep holy fasts ? 
 They that are not his people may keep fasts 
 also, may keep fasts often, even twice a week : 
 "The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with 
 himself: God, I thank thee that I am not as 
 other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, 
 or even as this publican : I fast twice a week, 
 I give tithes of all that I possess." I might 
 enlarge upon things, but I intend but a little 
 
734 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 book. I do not question but many Balaamites 
 will appear before the judgment-seat to con- 
 demnation — men that have had visions of God, 
 and that knew the knowledge of the Most 
 High ; men that have had the Spirit of God 
 come upon them, and that have by that been 
 made other men ; yet these shall go to the 
 generations of their fathers, they shall never 
 see light. 
 
 I read of some men whose excellency in re- 
 ligion mounts up to the heavens, and their 
 heads reach unto the clouds, who yet shall 
 perish for ever like their own dung, and he 
 that in this world hath seen them shall say at 
 the judgment, Where are they? There will 
 be many a one that were gallant professors in 
 this world wanting among the saved in the day 
 of Christ's coming ; yea, many whose damna- 
 tion was never dreamed of. Which of the twelve 
 ever thought that Judas would have proved a 
 devil? Nay, when Christ suggested that one 
 among them was naught, they each were more 
 afraid of themselves than of him. Who ques- 
 tioned the salvation of the foolish virgins? 
 The wise ones did not; they gave them the 
 privilege of communion with themselves. The 
 discerning of the heart and the infallible proof 
 of the truth of saving grace is reserved to the 
 judgment of Jesus Christ at his coming ; the 
 Church and best of saints sometimes hit and 
 sometimes miss in their judgments about this 
 matter; and the cause of our missing in our 
 judgment is — 1. Partly, because we cannot in- 
 fallibly, at all times, distinguish grace that 
 saveth from that which doth but appear to do 
 so. 2. Partly also because some men have the 
 art to give right names to wrong things. 3. 
 And partly because ■ we, being commanded to 
 receive him that is weak, are afraid to exclude 
 the least Christian, by which means hypocrites 
 creep into the churches; but what saith the 
 Scripture? — "I the Lord search the heart, I 
 try the reins." And again, " All the churches 
 shall know that I am' He that searches the 
 reins and hearts, and I will give to every one 
 of you according to your works." To this 
 Searcher of hearts is the time of infallible dis- 
 cerning reserved, and then you shall see how 
 far grace that is not saving hath gone, and also 
 how few will be saved indeed. The Lord 
 awaken poor sinners by these warnings and 
 cautions ! 
 
 I come now to make some brief use and ap- 
 plication of the whole; and my first word 
 shall be to the open profane. Poor sinner, 
 thou readest here that but a few will be saved 
 
 — that many that expect heaven will go with- 
 out heaven. What sayest thou to this, poo* 
 sinner? Let me say it over again. There ars 
 but few to be saved, but very few ; let me add, 
 but few professors, but few eminent professors. 
 What sayest thou now, sinner? If judgment 
 begins at the house of God, what will the end 
 of them be that obey not the Gospel of God! 
 This is Peter's question : c,anst thou answer it, 
 sinner? Yea, I say again, if judgment must 
 begin at them, will it not make thee think, 
 What shall become of me ? And I add, when 
 thou shalt see the stars of heaven to tumblo 
 down to hell, canst thou th'ink that such a 
 muck-heap of sin as thOu art shall be lifted up 
 to heaven ? Peter asks thee another question- 
 to wit:' "If the righteous scarcely be saved, 
 where shall the ungodly and sinners appear?" 
 Canst thou answer this question, sinner ? Stand 
 among the righteous thou mayestnot: "The 
 ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor 
 sinners in the congregation of the righteous." 
 Stand among the wicked thou then wilt not 
 dare to do: where wilt thou appear, sinner? 
 To stand among the hypocrites will avail thee 
 nothing: '"The hypocrite shall not come be- 
 fore him" — that is, with acceptance — " but shall 
 perish." Because it concerns thee much, let 
 me over with it again. When thou shalt see 
 less sinners than thou art bound up by angels 
 in bundles to burn them, where wilt thou ap- 
 pear, sinner? Thou may est wish thyself 
 another man, but that will not help thee, sin- 
 ner; thou mayest wish. Would I had been 
 converted in time ! but that will not help thee 
 neither. And if, like the wife of Jeroboam, 
 thou should feign thyself to be another wo- 
 man, the Prophet, the Lord Jesus, would soon 
 find thee out. What wilt thou do, poor sin- 
 ner ? Heavy tidings, heavy tidings, will attend 
 thee except thou repent, poor sinner ! Oh the 
 dreadful state of a poor sinner, of an open 
 profane sinner I Everybody that hath but 
 common sense knows that this man is in the 
 broad way to death, yet he laughs at his own 
 damnation. 
 
 Shall I come to particulars with thee? 
 
 1. Poor unclean sinner, the harlot's house is 
 the way to hell, going down to the chambers 
 of death. 
 
 2. Poor swearing and thievish sinner, God 
 hstth prepared the curse that every one thai 
 stealeth shall be cut off as on this side, accord- 
 ing to it ; and every one that sweareth shall be 
 cut off on that side, according to it. 
 
 3. Poor drunken sinner, what shall I say to 
 
THE STEAIT GATE. 
 
 735 
 
 thee? "Woe to the drunkards of Ephraim, 
 woe to them that are mighty to drink wine, 
 and men of strong drink 1 they shall not in- 
 herit the kingdom of heaven." 
 
 4. Poor covetous, worldly man, God's word 
 says "that the covetous the Lord abhorreth; 
 that the covetous man is an idolater; and that 
 the covetous shall not inherit the kingdom of 
 God." 
 
 5. And thou, liar, what wilt thou do? "All 
 liars shall have their part in the lake that 
 burneth with fire and brimstone." 
 
 I shall not enlarge ; poor sinner, let no man 
 deceive thee, for because of these things cometh 
 the wrath of God upon the children of disobe- 
 dience. I will therefore give thee a short call 
 and so leave thee. 
 
 Sinner, awake; yea, I say unto tljee. Awake! 
 Sin lieth at thy door, and God's axe lieth at 
 thy root, and hell-fire is right underneath thee : 
 I say again, Awake! "Every tree therefore 
 that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn 
 down and cast into the fire." 
 
 Poor sinner, awake! Eternity is coming, 
 and his Son: they are both 'coming to judge 
 the world. Awake! art yet asleep, poor sin- 
 ner? Let me set the trumpet to thine ear 
 once again. The heavens will be shortly on a 
 burning flame, the earth and the works thereof, 
 shall be burned up, and then wicked men shall 
 go into perdition : dost thou hear this, sinner? 
 Hark again! The sweet morsels of sins will 
 then be fled and gone, and the bitter, burning 
 fruits of them only left. 
 
 What sayest thou now, sinner? Canst thou 
 drink hell-fire? \\'i\\ the wrath of God be a 
 pleasant dish to thy taste? This must be thine 
 every day's meat and drink in hell, sinner. 
 
 I will yet propound to thee God's ponderous 
 question, and then for this time leave thee: 
 "Can thine heart endure or can thine hands 
 be strong in the day that I shall deal with 
 thee, saith the Lord?" What sayest thou? 
 wilt thou answer this question now or wilt 
 thou take time to do it? or wilt thou be des- 
 perate and venture all? And let me put this 
 text in thine ear to keep it open, and so the 
 Lord have mercy upon thee: "Upon the 
 wicked shall the Lord rain snares, fire and 
 brimstone, and an horrible tempest; this shall 
 be the portion of their cup." 
 
 Secondly. My second word is to them that 
 are upon the potter's wheel, concerning whom 
 we know not as yet whether their convictions 
 and awakenings will end in conversion or no; 
 several things I shall say to you, both to 
 
 further your convictions and to caution you 
 from staying anywhere below or short of sav- 
 ing grace. 
 
 1. Remember that but few shall be saved, 
 and if God should count thee worthy to be 
 one of that few, what a mercy would that be 1 
 2. Be thankful therefore for convictions ; con- 
 version begins at conviction, though all con- 
 viction doth not end in conversion. It is a 
 great mercy to be convinced that we are sin- 
 ners and that we need a Saviour; count it 
 therefore a mercy; and that thy convictiona 
 may end in conversion, do thou — 
 
 1. Take heed of stifling of them ; it is the 
 way of poor sinners to look upon convictions 
 as things that are hurtful, and therefore they 
 use to shun the awakening ministry and to 
 check a convincing conscience. Such poor 
 sinners are much like to the wanton boy that 
 stands at the maid's elbow to blow out her 
 candle as fast as she lights it at the fire. Con- 
 vinced sinner, God lighteth thy candle, and 
 thou puttest it out ; God lights it again, and 
 thou puttest it out, ("yea, how oft is the candle 
 of the wicked put oui !" ) At last God resolveth 
 he will light thy candle no more ; and then, 
 like the Egyptians, you dwell all your days in 
 darkness, and never see light more but by the 
 light of hell-fire; wherefore give glory to God, 
 and if he awakens thy conscience quench not 
 thy convictions. "Do it (saith the prophet) 
 before he cause darkness, and before your feet 
 stumble upon the dark mountains, and he turn 
 your convictions into the shadow of death and 
 make them gross darkness.'' 
 
 1. Be willing to see the worst of thy condi- 
 tion ; it is better to see it here than in hell, for 
 thou must see thy misery here or there. 2. 
 Beware of little sins ; they will make way for 
 great ones, and they again will make way for 
 bigger, upon which God's wrath will follow; 
 and then may thy latter end be worse than thy 
 beginning. 3. Take heed of bad company and 
 evil communication, for that will corrupt good 
 manners. God saith evil company will turn 
 thee away from following him, and will tempt 
 thee to serve other gods, devils : " So the anger 
 of the Lord will be kindled against thee and 
 destroy thee suddenly." 4. Beware of such a 
 thought as bids thee delay repentance, for that 
 is damnable. 5. Beware of taking example 
 by some poor carnal professor, whose religion 
 lies in the tip of his tongue. Beware, I say, 
 of the man whose head swims with notions, 
 but his life is among the unclean. " He that 
 walketh with wise men shall be wise, but a 
 
736 
 
 SUJSTYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 companion of fools shall be destroyed." 6. 
 ■Give 'thyself much to the word, and prayer, 
 and good conference. 7. Labour to see the sin 
 that cleaveth to the best of thy performances, 
 and know that all is nothing if thou art not 
 found in Jesus Christ. 8. Keep in remem- 
 brance that God's eye is upon thy heart and 
 upon all thy ways : " Can any hide himself in 
 secret places that I should not see him ? saith 
 the Lord ; do not I fill heaven and earth ? saith 
 the Lord." 9. Be often meditating upon death 
 and judgment. 10. Be often thinking what a 
 dreadful end sinners that have neglected Christ 
 will make at that day of death and judgment. 
 11, Put thyself often, in thy thoughts, before 
 Christ's judgment-seat in thy sins, and con- 
 sider with thyself. Were I now before my 
 Judge how should I look, how should I shake 
 and tremble ! 12. Be often thinking of them 
 that are now in hell past all mercy : I say, be 
 often thinking of them, thus : 
 
 1. They were once in the world, as I now 
 am. 2. They once took delight in sin, as I 
 have done. 3. They once neglected repent- 
 ance, as Satan would have me do. 4. But 
 now they are gone, now they are in hell, now 
 the, pit hath shut her mouth upon them. 
 
 Thou mayest also double thy thoughts of the 
 damned, thus : 
 
 1. If these poor creatures were in the world 
 again, would they sin as they did before? 
 would they neglect saU ation as they did be- 
 fore? 2. If they had strmons, as I have; if 
 they had the Bible, as I have; if they had 
 good company, as I have, — yea, if they had a 
 day of grace, as I have, would they neglect it 
 as they did before ? Sinner, couldst thou soberly 
 think of these things, they might help (God 
 blessing them) to awaken thee, and to keep 
 thee awake to repentance — to the repentance 
 that is to salvation, never to be repented of. 
 
 Objection. But you have said . Few shall be 
 saved, and some that go a great way yet are 
 not saved. At this therefore I am even dis- 
 couraged and awakened : I think I had as good 
 go no further; I am indeed under conviction, 
 but I may perish, and if I go on in my sins I 
 can but perish ; and it is ten, twenty, an hun- 
 dred to one if I be saved should I be never so 
 earnest for heaven. 
 
 Answer. That few will be saved must needs 
 be a truth, for Christ hath said it ; that many 
 go far and come short of heaven is as true, 
 being testified by the same hand; but what 
 then? Why, then had I as good never seek. 
 Who told thee so ? Must nobody seek because 
 
 few are saved? This is just contrary to the 
 text, that bids us therefore strive, strive to 
 enter in, because the gate is strait, and because 
 many will seek to enter in, and shall not be 
 able. But why go back again, seeing that is 
 the next way to hell? Never go over hedge 
 and ditch to hell. If I must needs go thither, 
 I will go the farthest way about. But who can 
 tell, though there should not be saved so many 
 as there shall, but thou mayest be one of that 
 few? They that miss of life perish because 
 they will not let go their sins, or because they 
 take up in profession short of the saving faith 
 of the Gospel. They perish, I say, because 
 they are content with such things as will not 
 prove graces of a saving nature when they 
 come to be tried in the fire; otherwise the 
 promise is free, and full, and everlasting: 
 " Him that cometh to me (says Christ) I will 
 in nowise cast thee out, for God so loved the 
 world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that 
 whosoever believeth in him might not perish, 
 but have everlasting life.'' Wherefore let not 
 this thought, Few shall be saved, weaken thy 
 heart, but let it cause thee to mend thy pace, 
 to mend thy cries, to look well to thy grounds 
 for heaven ; let it make thee fly faster from sin 
 to Christ; let it keep thee awake and out of 
 carnal security, and thou mayest be saved. 
 
 Thirdly. My third word is to professors. 
 Sirs, give me leave to set my trumpet to your 
 ears again a little. When every man hath put 
 in all the claim they can for heaven, but few 
 will have it for their inheritance — I mean but 
 few professors, for so the text intendeth, and 
 so I have also proved : " For many, I say unto 
 you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be 
 able." 
 
 Let me therefore a little expostulate the 
 matter with you, O ye thousands of professors! 
 
 1. I begin with you whose religion lieth only 
 in your tongues ; I mean you who are little or 
 nothing known from the rest of the rabble of 
 the world, only you can talk better than they. 
 Hear me a word or two : " If I speak with the 
 tongue of men and angels, and have not charity, 
 (that is, love to God, and Christ, and saints, 
 arid holiness,) I am nothing," no child of God, 
 and so have nothing to do with heaven. A 
 prating tongue will not unlock the gates of 
 heaven nor blind the eyes of thy Judge ; look 
 to it: "The wise in heart will receive com- 
 mandments, but a prating fool shall fall." 
 
 2. Covetous professor, thou that makest a 
 gain of religion, that usest thy profession to 
 bring grist to thy mill, look to it also : gain ia 
 
THE STRAIT GATE. 
 
 737 
 
 not godliness. Judas's religion lay muoli in 
 the bag, but his soul is now burning in hell. 
 All covetousness is idolatry ; but what is that, 
 or what will you call it, when men are relig- 
 ious for filthy lucre's sake ? 
 
 3. Wanton professors-, I have a word for you : 
 I mean you that can tell how to misplead 
 Scripture, to maintain your pride, your ban- 
 queting, and abominable idolatry. Bead what 
 Peter says : You are the snare and damnation 
 of others ; " you allure through the lust of the 
 flesh, through much wantonness, those that 
 were clean escaped from them who live in 
 error." Besides, the Holy Ghost hath a great 
 deal against you for your feastings, and eating 
 without fear, not for health, but gluttony. 
 Farther, Peter says, " that you that count it 
 pleasure to riot in the daytime ar^ spots and 
 blemishes, sporting yourselves with your own 
 deeeivings." And let me ask. Did God give 
 his word to justify your wickedness ? or doth 
 grace teach you to plead for the flesh or the 
 making provision for the lusts thereof? Of 
 these also are they that feed their bodies to 
 strengthen their lusts, under pretence of 
 strengthening frail nature. But pray remem- 
 ber the text: "Many, I say unto you, will 
 seek to enter in, and shall not be able." 
 
 4. I come next to the opinionist : I mean to 
 him whose religion lieth in some circumstan- 
 tials of religion ; with this sort this kingdom 
 swarms at this day. These think all out of the 
 way that are not of their mode, when them- 
 selves may be out of the way in the midst of 
 their zeal for their opinions. Pray do you also 
 observe the text: "Many, I say unto you, 
 will seek to enter in, and shall not be able." 
 
 5. Neither is the formalist exempted from 
 this number. He is a man that hath lost all 
 but the shell of religion ; he is hot indeed for 
 his form, and no marvel, for that is his all to 
 contend for ; but his form being without the 
 power and spirit of godliness, it will leave him 
 in his sins ; nay, he standeth now in them in 
 the sight of God, and is one of the many that 
 " will seek to enter in, and shall not be able." 
 
 6. The legalist comes next, even hitn that 
 hath no life but what he makes out of his du- 
 ties. This man hath chosen to stand and fall 
 by Moses, who is the condemner of the world : 
 " There is one that accuseth you, even Moses, 
 in whom ye trust." 
 
 7. There is, in the next place, the libertine, 
 he that pretendeth to be against forms and 
 duties as things that gender to bondage, ne- 
 glecting the order of God. This man pretends 
 
 47 
 
 to pray always, but under that pretence prays 
 not at all ; he pretends to keep every day a 
 Sabbath, but this pretence serves him only to 
 cast oflF all set times for the worship of God. 
 This is also one of the many that " will seek to 
 enter in, and shall not be able." 
 
 8. There is the temporizing latitudinarian; 
 he is a man that hath no God but his belly, 
 nor any religion but that by which his belly is 
 worshipped. His religion is always like the 
 times, turning this way and that way, like the 
 cock on the steeple ; neither hath he any con- 
 science but a benumbed and seared one, and is 
 next door to a downright atheist ; and also is 
 one of the many that " will seek to enter in, 
 and shall not be able." 
 
 9. There is also the wilfully ignorant pro- 
 fessor, or him that is afraid to know more for 
 fear of the cross. He is for picking and choos- 
 ing of truth, and loveth not to hazard his all 
 for that worthy name by which he would be 
 called. When he is at any time overset by 
 arguments or awakenings of conscience he 
 uses to heal all by, I was not brought up in 
 this faith, as if it were unlawful for Christians 
 to know more than hath been taught them at 
 first conversion. There are many Scriptures 
 that lie against this man as the mouths of 
 great guns, and he is one of the many that 
 " will seek to enter in, and shall not be able." 
 
 10. We will add to all these the professor 
 that would prove himself a Christian by com- 
 paring himself with others, instead of compar- 
 ing himself with the word of God. This man 
 comforts himself because he is as holy as such 
 and such ; he also knows as much as that old 
 professor, and then concludes he shall go to 
 heaven; as if he certainly knew that those 
 with whom he compareth himself would be 
 undoubtedly saved. But how if he should be 
 mistaken ? nay, may they not both fall short ? 
 But to be sure he is in the wrong that hath 
 made the comparison, and a wrong foundation 
 will not stand in the day of judgment. This 
 man therefore is one of the many that " will 
 seek to enter in, and shall not be able." 
 
 11. There is yet another professor, and he 
 is for God and for Baal too ; he can be any- 
 thing for any company ; he can throw stones 
 with both hands ; his religion alters as fast as 
 his company ; he is a frog of Egypt, and can 
 live in the v/ater ^nd out of the water; he can 
 live in religious company and again as well 
 out. Nothing that is disorderly comes amiss 
 to him ; he will hold with the hare and run 
 with the hound; he carries fire in one hand 
 
738 
 
 SUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 and water in the otLier ; he is a very anything 
 but what lie should be ; this is also one of the 
 many that " will seek to enter in, and shall not 
 be able." 
 
 12. There is also that free-wilier who denies 
 to the Holy Ghost the sole work in conversion ; 
 and that Socinian, who denieth to Christ that 
 he hath made to God satisfaction for sin ; and 
 that Quaker, who takes from Christ the two 
 natures in his person ; and I might add as 
 many more, touching whose damnation (they 
 dying as they are) the Scripture is plain. 
 These " will seek to enter in, and shall not be 
 able." 
 
 But, fourthly. If it be so, what a strange 
 disappointment will many professors meet 
 with at the day of judgment ! I speak not now 
 to the open profane ; everybody, as I have said, 
 that hath but common understanding between 
 good and evil, knows that they are in the 
 broad way to hell and damnation, and they 
 must needs come thither ; nothing can hinder 
 it but repentance unto salvation, except God 
 should prove a liar to save them, and it is hard 
 venturing of that. 
 
 Neither is it amiss if we take notice of the 
 e.xamples that are briefly mentioned in the 
 Scriptures concerning professors that have 
 miscarried. 
 
 1. Judas perished from among the apostles. 
 2. Demas, as I think, perished from among the 
 evangelists. 3. Diotrephes, from among the 
 ministers or them in office in the Church. 4. 
 And as for Christian professors, they have 
 fallen by heaps and almost by whole churches. 
 5. Let us add to these that the things men- 
 tioned in the Scriptures about these matters 
 are but brief hints and items of what is after- 
 wards to happen ; as the apostle said, " Some 
 men's sins are open beforehand, going before 
 to judgment; and some men they follow after." 
 So that, fellow-professors, let us fear lest a 
 promise being left us of entering into this rest, 
 any of us should seem to come short of it. Oh 
 to come short ! nothing kills it, nothing will 
 burn like it. I intend not discouragements, 
 but awakenings; the churches have need of 
 awakening, and so have all professors. Do 
 not despise me, therefore, but hear me over 
 again. What a strange disappointment will 
 many professors meet with at the day of God 
 Almighty ! — a disappointm^t, I say, and that 
 as to several things : 
 
 1. They will look tO escape hell, arid yet 
 fall just into the mouth of hell : what a disap- 
 pointment will here be! 2. They will look 
 
 for heaven, but the gate of heaven will be 
 shut against them: what a disappointment 
 is here! 3. They will expect that Christ 
 should have compassion for them, but will 
 find that he hath shut up all bowels of com- 
 passion from them : what a disappointment is 
 here! 
 
 Again, fifthly. As this disappointment will 
 be fearful, so certainly it will be very full of 
 amazement. 
 
 1. Will it not amaze them to be unexpect- 
 edly excluded from life and salvation? Will 
 it not be amazing to them to see their own 
 madness and folly, while they consider how 
 they have dallied with their own souls, and 
 took lightly for granted that they had that 
 grace that would save them, but hath left 
 them in a damnable state? 3. Will they not 
 also be amazed, one at another, while they 
 remember how in their lifetime they counted 
 themselves fellow-heirs of life ? To allude to 
 that of the prophet, "They shall be amazed 
 one of another, their faces shall be as flames." 
 4. Will it not be amazing to some of the 
 damned themselves to see some come to hell 
 that then they shall see come thither ? — to see 
 preachers of the word, professors of the word, 
 practisers in the word to come thither ? What 
 wondering was there among them at the fall 
 of the king of Babylon, since he thought to 
 have swallowed up all, because he was run 
 down by the Medes and Persians I " How art 
 thou fallen from heaven, Lucifer, son of the 
 morning! How art thou cut down to the 
 ground that didst weaken the nations!" If 
 such a thing as this will with amazement sur- 
 prise the damned, what an amazement will it 
 be to them 'to see such a one as he, whose 
 head reached to the clouds — to see him come 
 down to the pit arid perish for ever like his 
 own dung ! " Hell from beneath is moved for 
 thee, to meet thee at thy coming ; it stirreth 
 up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones 
 of the earth." They that see thee shall nar- 
 rowly -look upon thee and consider thee, say- 
 ing. Is this the man? Is ,this he that pro- 
 fessed, and disputed, and forsook us? but 
 now he is come to us again. Is this he 
 that separated from us? but now is he fallen 
 with us, into the same eternal damnation 
 with us ! 
 
 Sixthly. Yet again one word more, if I 
 may awaken professors : 1. Consider, though 
 the poor carnal world shall certainly perish, 
 yet they will want these things to aggra- 
 vate their sorrow which thou wilt meet with 
 
THE STRAIT GATE. 
 
 739 
 
 in every thought that thou wilt have of the 
 condition thou wast in when thou wast in the 
 world : 
 
 1. They will not have a profession to hite 
 them when they come thither. 2. They will 
 not have a taste of a lost heaven to bite them 
 when they come thither. 3. They will not 
 have the thoughts of, I was almost at heaven, 
 to bite them when they come thither. 4. 
 They will not have the thoughts of how they 
 cheated saints, ministers, churches, to bite 
 them when they come thither. 5. They will 
 not have the dying thoughts of false faith, 
 false hope, false repentance, and false holiness 
 to bite them when they come thither : I was 
 at the gates of heaven, I looked into heaven, I 
 thought I should have entered into heaven. 
 Oh how will these things sting 1 They will, 
 if I may call them so, be the sting of the 
 sting of death in hell-fire. 
 
 Seventhly. Give me leave now in a word to 
 give you a little advice. 
 
 1. Dost thou love thine own soul? Then 
 pray to Jesus Christ for an awakened heart — 
 for an heart so awakened with all the things 
 of another world that thou mayest be allured 
 
 to Jesus Christ. 2. When thou comest there 
 beg again for more awakenings about sin, hell, 
 grace, and about the righteousness of Christ. 
 3. Cry also for a spirit of discerning, that thou 
 mayest know that which is saving grace in- 
 deed. 4. Above .ill studies apply thyself to the 
 study of those things that show thee the evil 
 of sin, the shortness of man's life, and which 
 is the way to be saved. 6. Keep company 
 with the most godly among professors. 6. 
 When thou hearest what the nature of true 
 grace is, defer not to ask thine own heart if 
 this grace be there. And here take heed — 
 
 1. That the preacher himself be sound and 
 of good life. 2. That thou takest not seeming 
 graces for real ones, nor seeming fruits for 
 real fruit?. 3. Take heed that a sin in thy 
 life goes not unrepented of, for that will make 
 a flaw in thine evidence, a wound in thy con- 
 science, and a breach in thy peace; and a 
 hundred to one if at last it doth not drive all 
 the grace in thee into so dark a corner of thy 
 heart that thou shalt not be able, for a time, 
 by all the torches that are burning in the Gos- 
 pel, to find it out to thine own comfort and 
 consolation. 
 
THE HEAVENLY FOOTMAN; 
 
 OR, 
 
 A DESCRIPTION OF THE MAN THAT GETS TO HEAVEN: 
 
 TOGETHER WITH THE WAY HE RUNS IN, THE MARKS HE GOES BY; ALSO SOME DIEEC 
 TIONS HOW TO BUN SO AS TO OBTAIN. 
 
 And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said. Escape for thy life ; look not 
 behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain. Escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. — Gen. xix. 17. 
 
 AN EPISTLE TO ALL THE SLOTHFUL AND CAEELESS PEOPLE. 
 
 Friends : 
 
 Solomon saith, " that the desire of the sloth- 
 ful killeth him ; " and if so, what will sloth- 
 fulness itself do to those thaf entertain it? 
 The proverb is, " He that sleepeth in harvest 
 is a son that causeth shame ; " and this I dare 
 be bold to say : no greater shame can befall a 
 man than to see that he hath fooled away his 
 soul and sinned away eternal life. And I am 
 sure this is the next, way to do it — namely, to 
 be slothful; slothful, I say, in the work of sal- 
 vation. The vineyard of the slothful man, in 
 reference to the things of this life, is not fuller 
 of briers, nettles, and stinking weeds than he 
 that is slothful for heaven hath his heart full 
 of heart-choking and soul-damning sin. 
 
 Slothfulne^s hath these two evils: first, to 
 neglect the time in which it should be getting 
 of heaven : and by that means doth, in the 
 second place, bring in untimely repentance. 
 I will warrant you that he who should lose his 
 soul in this world ftarough slothfulness will 
 have no cause to be glad thereat when he 
 comes to hell. 
 
 Slothfulness is usually accompanied with 
 carelessness, and carelessness is for the most 
 part begotten by senselessness, and senseless- 
 ness doth again put fresh strength into sloth- 
 fulness, and by this means the soul is left 
 remediless. 
 
 Slothfulness shutteth out Christ, slothfulness 
 Bhameth the soul. 
 
 Slothfulness is condemned even by the fee- 
 blest of all creatures. " Go to the ant, thou 
 
 sluggard; consider her ways and be wise." 
 " The sluggard will not plough by reason of 
 the cold, (that is, he will not break up the 
 fallow ground of his heart, because there must 
 be some pains taken by him that will do it ;) 
 therefore he shall beg in harvest," (that is, 
 when the saints of God shall have their glori- 
 >ous heaven and happiness given to them ;) but 
 the sluggard shall have nothing — that is, be 
 never the better for his crying for mercy, ac- 
 cording to that in Matt. xxv. 10, 11, 12. 
 
 If you would know a sluggard in the things 
 of heaven, compare him with one that is 
 slothful in the things of this world ; as — 
 
 1. He that is slothful is loth to set about the 
 work he should follow ; so is he that is sloth- 
 ful for heaven. 
 
 2. He that is slothful is one that is willing 
 to make delays ; so is he that is slothful for 
 heaven. 
 
 3. He that is a sluggard, any small matter 
 that Cometh in between he will make it a suf- 
 ficient excuse to keep him off from playing his 
 works ; so it is also with him that is slothful 
 for heaven. 
 
 4. He that is slothful doth his work by the 
 halves; and so it is with him that is slothful 
 for heaven. He may almost, but he shall 
 never altogether, obtain perfection of deliver- 
 ance from hell; he may almost, but he shall 
 never (without he mend) altogether, be a 
 saint. 
 
 5. They that are slothful do usually lose the 
 season in which things are to be done; and 
 
 741 
 
742 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WOBKS. 
 
 thus it is also with them that are slothful for 
 heaven ; they miss the seasons of grace. And 
 therefore, 
 
 6. They that are slothful have seldom or 
 never good fruit ; so also it will he with the 
 soul-sluggard. 
 
 7. They that are slothful, they are chid for 
 the same ; so also will Christ deal with those 
 that are not active for him. Thou wicked or 
 slothful servant ! out of thine own mouth will 
 I judge thee ; thou saidst I was thus and thus ; 
 wherefore then gavest not thou my money to 
 the bank ? &c. Take the unprofitable servant 
 and cast him into utter darkness, where shall 
 be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 
 
 1. What shall I say ? Time runs, and will ye 
 be slothful? 
 
 2. Much of your lives are past, and will you 
 be slothful? 
 
 3. Your soula are worth a thousand worlds, 
 and will you be slothful ? 
 
 4. The day of death and judgment is at the 
 door, and will you be slothful ? 
 
 6. The curse of God hangs over your heads, 
 and will you be slothful? 
 
 6. Besides, the devils are earnest, laborious, 
 and seek by all means, every day, by every sin, 
 to keep you out of heaven and hinder you of 
 salvation ; and will you be slothful ? 
 
 7. Also your neighbours are diligent for 
 things that will perish, and will you be sloth- 
 ful for things that will endure for ever? 
 
 8. Would you be willing to be damned for 
 slothfulness ? 
 
 9. Would you be willing the angels of God 
 should neglect to fetch your souls away to 
 heaven when you lie a-dying, and the devils 
 stand by ready to scramble for them ? 
 
 10. Was Christ slothful in the work of your 
 redemption ? 
 
 11. Are his ministers slothful in tendering 
 this unto you? 
 
 12. And lastly. If all this will not move, I 
 tell you God will not be slothful or negligent 
 to damn you, (whose damnation now of a long 
 time slumbereth not,) the devils will not ne- 
 glect to fetch thee,' nor hell neglect to shut its 
 mouth upon thee. 
 
 Sluggard, art thou asleep still ? Art thou 
 resolved to sleep the sleep of death ? Will 
 neither tidings from heaven nor hell awake 
 thee ? Wilt thou say still. Yet a little sleep, a 
 little slumber, and a little folding of the arms 
 to sleep ? Wilt thou yet turn thyself in thy 
 sloth as the door is turned upon the hinges? 
 Oh that I was one that was skilful in lamenta- 
 
 tion, and had but a yearning heart towards 
 thee, how would I pity thee ! How would I 
 bemoan thee ! Oh that I could, with Jeremiah, 
 let my eyes run down with rivers of waters for 
 thee ! Poor soul, lost soul, dying soul, what a 
 hard heart have I that I cannot mourn for 
 thee 1 If thou shouldst lose but a limb,.a child, 
 or a friend, it would not be so much, but, poor 
 map, it is thy soul ; if it was to lie in hell but 
 for a day, but for a year, nay, ten thousand 
 years, it would (in comparison) be nothing; 
 but oh it is for ever ! Oh this cutting ever ! 
 What a soul-amazing word will that be which 
 saith, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into eteb- 
 LASTING fire !" &c. 
 
 Objection. But if I should set in and run as 
 you would have me, then I must run from all 
 my friends, for none of them are running that 
 way. 
 
 Answer. And if thou dost thou wilt run into 
 the bosom of Christ and of God, and then what 
 harm will that do thee ? 
 
 Objection. But if I run this way, then I must 
 run from all my sins. 
 
 Answer. That is true, indeed, yet if thou dost 
 not, thou wilt run into hell-fire. 
 
 Objection. But if I run this way I shall be 
 hated, and lose the love of my friends and re- 
 lations, and of those that I expect benefit from 
 or havei reliance on, and I shall be mocked of 
 all my neighbours. 
 
 Armjoer. And if thou dost not, thou art sure 
 to lose the love and favour of God and Christ, 
 the benefits of heaven and glory, and be 
 mocked of God for thy folly, (" I will laugh at 
 your calamities, and mock when your fear 
 Cometh;") and if thou wouldst not be hated 
 and mocked, then take heed thou, by thy folly, 
 . dost not procure the displeasure and mockings 
 of the great God ; for his mocks and hatred 
 will be terrible, because they will fall upon 
 thee in terrible times, even when tribulation 
 and anguish taketh hold on thee; which will 
 be when death and judgment comes, when all 
 the men in the earth and all the angels in 
 heaven cannot help thee. 
 
 Objection. But surely I may begin this time 
 enough a year or two hence, may I not ? 
 
 Answer. First. Hast thou any lease of thy 
 life? Did ever God tell thee thou shalt live 
 half a year or two months Longer? Nay, it 
 may be thou mayest not live so long. And 
 therefore, 
 
 Secondly. Wilt thou be so sottish and un- 
 wise as to venture thy soul upon a little uncer- 
 tain time ? 
 
THE HEAVENLY FOOTMAN. 
 
 743 
 
 Thirdly, Host thou know whether the day 
 of grace will lust a week longer or no? For 
 nhe day of grace is past with some before their 
 life is ended; and if it should be so with thee, 
 wouldst thou not say, Oh that I had begun to 
 run before the day of grace had been past and 
 the gates of heaven shut against me I But, 
 
 i^'ourthly. If thou shouldst see any of thy 
 neighbours neglect the making sure of either 
 house or land to themselves if they had it prof- 
 fered to them, saying, Time enough hereafter, 
 when the time is uncertain, and besides, they 
 do not know whether ever it will be proffered 
 to them again or no — I say, wouldst thou not 
 then call them fools? And if so, then dost 
 thou think that thou art a wise man to let thy 
 immortal soul hang over hell by a thread of 
 uncertain time, which may soon be cut asunder 
 by death? 
 
 But, to speak plainly, all these are the words 
 
 of a slothful spirit. Arise, man ! be slothful no 
 longer; set foot, and heart, and all into the 
 way of God, and run ; the crown is at the end 
 of the race; there also standeth the' loving 
 Forerunner, even Jesus, who hath prepared 
 heavenly provision to make thy soul welcome, 
 and he will give it thee with a willinger heart 
 than ever thou canst desire it of him. Oh 
 therefore do not delay the time any longer, but 
 put into practice the words of the men of Dan 
 to their brethren after they had seen the good- 
 ness of the land of Canaan: "Arise," (say 
 they, &c.,) " for we have seen the land, and be- 
 hold it is very good," and ye are still, (or do 
 you forbear running.) "Be not slothful to 
 go and to enter to possess the land." Fare 
 well. 
 
 I wish our souls may meet with comfort at 
 the journey's end 1 
 
 JOHN BUNYAN. 
 
THE HEAVENLY FOOTMAN; 
 
 OR, 
 
 A DESCEIPTION OF THE MAN THAT GETS TO HEAVEN. 
 
 So run that ye may obtain. — 1 CoB. ix. 24. 
 
 Heaven and happiness is that which every 
 one desireth, insomuch that wicked Balaam 
 could say, " Let me die the death of the 
 righteous, and let my last end be like his ;'' 
 yet for all this there are but few that do ob- 
 tain that ever-to-be-desired glory, insomuch 
 that many eminent professors drop short of a 
 welcome from God into this pleasant place. 
 The apostle, therefore, because he did desire 
 the salvation of the Corinthians to whom he 
 writes this epistle, layeth them down in these 
 words' such counsel, which, if taken, would 
 be for their help and advantage. 
 
 First. Not to be wicked, and sit still and 
 wish for heaven, but to run for it. 
 
 Secondly. Not to content themselves with 
 every kind of running, but, saith he, "So run 
 that ye may obtain." As if he should say, 
 Some, because they would not lose their souls, 
 they begin to run betimes, they run apace, 
 they run with patience, they run the right way : 
 do you so run. Some run from both father 
 and mother, friends and companions, and 
 thus that they may have the crown : do you 
 so run. Some run through temptations, afSic- 
 tions, good report, evil report, that they may 
 win the pearl : do you so run. " So run that 
 ye may obtain," 
 
 These words are taken from men's running 
 for a wager — a very apt similitude to set before 
 the eyes of the saints of the Lord. "Know 
 you not that they which run in a race run 
 all, but one obtains the prize? So run that 
 ye may obtain." That is, do not only run, 
 but be sure you win as well as run. " So run 
 that ye may obtain." 
 
 I shall not need to make any great ado in 
 opening the words at this time, but shall 
 rather lay down one doctrine that I do find 
 744 
 
 in them; and in prosecuting that 1 shall 
 show you, in some measure, the scope of the 
 words. 
 
 The doctrine is this : They that will have 
 heaven must run for it ; I say, they that will 
 have heaven, they must run for it. I beseech 
 you to heed it well. " Know ye not that they 
 which run in a race run all, but one obtaineth 
 the prize?" So run ye. The prize is heaven, 
 and if you will have it you must run for it. 
 You have another Scripture for this in the 
 12th of the Hebrews, the 1st, 2d, and 3d 
 verses : " Wherefore, seeing also," saith the 
 apostle, "that we are compassed about with 
 so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside 
 every weight and the sin whiclPdoth so easily 
 beset us, and let us run with patience the race 
 that is set before us." And let us run, 
 saith he. 
 
 Again, saith Paul, "I so run, not as uncer- 
 tainly : so fight I," &c. 
 
 But before I go any farther. 
 
 1. Fleeing. 
 Observe, that this ranning is not an or- 
 dinary or any sort of running, but it is to be 
 understood of the swiftest sort of running; 
 and therefore in the 6th of the Hebrews it is 
 called a fleeing : " That we might have strong 
 consolation, who have fled for refuge, to lay 
 hold on the hope set before us." Mark who 
 have fled. It is taken from the 20th of 
 Joshua, concerning the man that was to flee 
 to the city of refuge when the avenger of 
 blood was hard at his heels to take vengeance 
 on him for the ofience he had committed; 
 therefore it is a running or fleeing for one's 
 life — a running with all might and main, as 
 we used to say. So run. 
 
THE HEAVENLY FOOTMAN. 
 
 745 
 
 2. Pressing. 
 Secondly. This running in anotlier place is 
 called a pressing : " I press toward the mark;" 
 which signifieth that they that will have 
 heaven, they must not stick at any difficulties 
 they meet with, but press, crowd, and^ thrust 
 through all that may stand between heaven 
 and their souls. So run. 
 
 3. Continuing. 
 This running is called in another place o 
 continuing in the way of life. "If you con- 
 tinue in the faith, grounded and settled, and 
 be not moved away from the hope of the 
 Gospel of Christ." Not to run a little now 
 and then, by fits and starts, or halfway or al- 
 most thither, but to run for thy life, to run 
 through all difficulties, and to contiiyie therein 
 to the end of the race, which must be to the 
 end of thy life. " So run that ye may obtain.'' 
 And the reasons for this point are these: 
 
 1. Because all or every one that runneth 
 doth not obtain the prize; there be many that 
 do run, yea, and run far too, who yet miss of 
 the crown that standeth at the end of the race. 
 You know that all that run in a race do not 
 obtain the victory: they all run, but one wins. 
 And so it is here ; it is not every one that run- 
 neth, nor every one that seeketh, nor every 
 one that striveth for the mastery, that hath it. 
 "Though a man do strive for the mastery," 
 saith Paul, "yet he is not crowned unless he 
 strive lawfully ;" that is, unless he so run and 
 so strive as to have God's approbation. What ! 
 do you think that every heavy-heeled professor 
 will have heaven? What! every lazy one? 
 every wanton and foolish professor, that will 
 be stopped by any thing, kept back by any 
 thing, that scarce runneth so'fast heavenward 
 as a snail creepeth on the ground? Nay, 
 there are some professors that do not go on so 
 fast in the way of (Jod as a snail doth go on 
 the wall, and yet these think that heaven and 
 happiness is for them. But stay; there be 
 many more that run than there be that ob- 
 tain ; therefore he that will have heaven must 
 run for it. 
 
 2. Because you know that though a man do 
 run, yet if he do not overcome or win as well 
 as run what will they be the better for their 
 running? They will get nothing. You know 
 the man that runneth, he doth do it that he 
 
 "may win the prize; but if he doth not obtain 
 it he doth lose his labour, spend his pains and 
 time, and that to no purpose ; I say, he getteth 
 nothing. And ah! how many such runners 
 
 will there be found in the day of judgment! 
 Even multitudes — multitudes that have run, 
 yea, run so far as to come to heaven's gates, 
 and not able to get any further, but there stand 
 knocking when it is too late, crying. Lord, 
 Lord I when they have nothing but rebukes 
 for their pains. Depart from me; you come 
 not here, you come too late, you run too lazy : 
 the door is shut. "When once the Master of 
 the house is risen up," saith Christ, "and hath 
 shut to the door, and ye begin to stand with- 
 out and knock, saying. Lord, Lord, open to us, 
 I will say, I know you not; depart," &c. Oh, 
 sad will the state of those be that run and 
 miss ; therefore, if you will have heaven you 
 must run for it, and "so run that ye may ob- 
 tain." 
 
 3. Because the way is long (I speak meta- 
 phorically) and there is many a dirty step, 
 many a high hill, much work to do, a wicked 
 heart, world, aijd devil to overcome; I say 
 there are many steps to be taken by those that 
 intend to be saved by running or walking in 
 the steps of that faitli of our father Abraham. 
 Out of Egypt thou must go through the Eed 
 Sea; thou must run a long and tedious journey 
 through the vast howling wilderness before 
 thou come to the land of promise. 
 
 4. They that will go to heaven must run for 
 it, because, as the way is- long, so the time in 
 which they are to get to the end of it is very 
 uncertain; the time present is the only time; 
 thou hast no more time allotted thee than that 
 thou now enjoyest: "Boast not thyself of to- 
 morrow, for thou knowest not what a day may 
 bring forth." Do not say, I have time enough 
 to get to heaven seven years hence; for I tell 
 thee the bell may toll for thee before seven 
 days more be ended; and when death comes 
 away thou must go, whether thou art provided 
 or not ; and therefore look to it, make no de- 
 lays ; it is not good dallying with things of so 
 great concernment as the salvation or damna- 
 tion of thy soul. You know he that hath a 
 great way to go in a little time, and less by half 
 than he thinks of, he had need 'to run for it 
 
 5. They that will have heaven must run for 
 it, because the devil, the law, sin, death and 
 hell follow them. There is never a poor soul 
 that is going to heaven but the devil, the law, 
 sin, death, and hell make after that soul. 
 "The devil, your adversary, as a roaring lion, 
 goeth about, seeking whom he may devour." 
 And I will assure you the devil is nimble, he 
 can run apace, be is light of foot, he hath over- 
 taken many, he hath turned up their heels. 
 
746 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 and Lath given them an everlasting fall. 
 Also the law, that can shoot a great way ; have 
 a care thou keep out of the reach of those 
 great guns, the ten commandments. Hell also 
 hath a wide mouth; it can stretch itself 
 farther than you are aware of. And as the 
 angel said to Lot, "Take heed, look not be- 
 hind thee, neither tarry thou in all the plain,'' 
 (that is, anywhere between this and heaven,) 
 "lest thou be consumed," so say I to thee, 
 Take heed, tarry not, lest either the devil, hell, 
 death, or the fearful curses' of the law of God 
 do overtake thee and throw thee down in the 
 midst of thy sins, so as never to rise and re- 
 cover again. If this were well considered, 
 then thou, as well as I, wouldst say. They that 
 will have heaven must run for it. 
 
 6. They that will go to heaven must run for 
 it, because, perchance, the gates of heaven 
 may shut shortly. Sometimes sinners have 
 not heaven's gates open to .them so long as 
 they suppose; and if they be once shut against 
 a man, they are so heavy that all the men in 
 the world nor all the angels in heaven are not 
 able to open them. "I shut, and no man can 
 open,'' saith Christ. And how if thou shouldst 
 come but one quarter of an hour too late ? I 
 tell thee it will cost thee an eterriity to bewail 
 thy misery in. Francis ' Spira can tell thee 
 what it is to stay till the gate of mercy be 
 quite shut, or to run so lazily that they be 
 shut before thou get within them. What! to 
 be shut out I what! out of heaven! Sinner, 
 rather than lose it run for it; yea, and "so run 
 that thou mayest obtain." 
 
 7. Lastly. Because if thou lose thou losest 
 all, thou losest soul, God, Christ, heaven, ease, 
 peace, &c. Besides, th'bu layest thyself open 
 to all the shame, contempt, and reproach that 
 either God, Christ, saints, the world, sin, the 
 devil, and all can lay upon thee. As Christ 
 saith of the foolish builder, so will I say of 
 thee if thou be such a one who runs and miss- 
 eth — I say, even all that go by will begin to 
 mock at thee, saying, This man began to run 
 well, but was not able to iinish. But more of 
 this anon. 
 
 Question. But how should a poor soul do to 
 run ? For this very thing is that which afflict- 
 eth me sore, (as you say,) to think that I may 
 run and yet fall short. Methinks to fall short 
 at last, oh it fears me greatly! Pray- tell me, 
 therefore, how I should run ? 
 
 Ansiver. That thou mayst indeed be satis- 
 fied in this particular, consider these following 
 tilings : 
 
 The First Direction. 
 
 If thou wouldst so run as to obtain the king- 
 dom of heaven, then be sure that thou get into 
 the way that leadeth thither ; for it is a vain 
 thing to think that ever thou shalt have the 
 prize, ^hough thou runnest never so fast, un- 
 less thou art in the way that le'ads to it. Set 
 the case that there should be a man in London 
 that was to run to York for a wager; now 
 though he run never so swiftly, yet if he run 
 full south, he might run himself quickly out 
 of breath and be never nearer the prize, but 
 rather the farther off. Just so it is here ; it is 
 not simply the runner, nor yet the hasty run- 
 ner, that winneth the crown, unless he be in 
 the way that leadeth thereto. I have observed, 
 that little time which I have been a professor, 
 that there is a great running to and fro, some 
 this way and some that way ; yet it is to be 
 feared most of them are out of the way, and 
 then, though they run as swift as the eagle can 
 fly, they are benefited nothing at all. 
 
 Here is one runs a-quaking, another a-rant- 
 ing; one again runs after the Baptism, and 
 another after the Independency ; here is one 
 for Free-will, and another for Presbytery ; and 
 yet, possibly, most of all these sects run quite 
 the wrong way, and yet every one is for his 
 life, his soul, either for heaven or hell. 
 
 If thou now say, Which is the way ? I tell 
 thee it is CHEIST, THE SON OF MARY, 
 THE SON OF GOD. Jesus saith, " I am the 
 way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh 
 to the Father but by me." So then thy busi- 
 ness is (if thou'wouldst have salvation) to see 
 if Christ be thine with all his benefits, whether 
 he hath covered thee with his righteousness, 
 whether he hath showed thee that thy sins are 
 washed away with his heart-blood, whether 
 thou art planted into him, and whether thou 
 have faith in him, so as to make a life out of 
 him and to confirm thee to him ; that is, such 
 faith as to conclude that thou art righteous 
 because Christ is thy righteousness, and so 
 constrained to walk with him as the joy of thy 
 heart because he saved thy soiil. And for the 
 Lord's sake take heed and do not deceive thy 
 self, and think thou art in the way upon too 
 slight grounds ; for if thou miss of the way, 
 thou wilt miss of the prize, and if thou miss 
 of that, I am sure thou wilt lose thy soul, even 
 that soul which is worth more than the whole 
 world. 
 
 But I, have treated more largely on this in 
 
 my book of the Two Covenants, and therefore 
 
 I shall pass it now ; only I beseech thee to have 
 
THE HEAVENLY FOOTMAN. 
 
 Ul 
 
 a care of thy soul, and that thou mayst so do 
 lake this counsel: 
 
 Mistrust thy own strength and throw it 
 away ; down on thy knees in prayer to the 
 Lord for the Spirit of truth ; search his word 
 for direction; flee seducers' company; keep 
 company with the soundest Christians that 
 have most experience of Christ ; and be sure 
 thou have a care of Quakers, Eanters, Free- 
 willers; also do not have too much company 
 with some Anabaptists, though I go under that 
 name myself. I tell thee this is such a serious 
 matter, and I fear thou wilt so little regard it, 
 that the thoughts of the worth of the thing 
 and of thy too light regarding of it doth even 
 make my heart ache whilst I am writing to 
 thee. The Lord teach thee the way by his 
 Spirit, and then I am sure thou ■wsilt know it I 
 So run. 
 
 Only, by the way, let me bid thee have a 
 care of two things, and so I shall pass to the 
 next thing : 
 
 1. Have a care of relying on the outward 
 obedience to any of God's commands, or think- 
 ing thyself ever the better in the sight of God 
 for that. 
 
 2. Take heed of fetching peace for thy soul 
 from any inherent righteousness. Butif thou 
 canst believe that thou art a sinner, so thou 
 art justified freely by the love of God through 
 the redemption that is in Christ; and that 
 God for Christ's sake hath forgiven thee, not 
 because he saw any thing done or to be done 
 in or by thee to move him thereunto to do it ; 
 for that is the right way; the Lord put thee 
 into it and kept thee in it I 
 
 The Second Direction. 
 As thou shouldst get into the way, so thou 
 shouldst also be much in studying and musing 
 on the way. You know men that would be 
 expert in any thing, they are usually much in 
 studying of that thing, and so likewise is it 
 with those that quickly grow expert in any 
 thing. This therefore thou shouldst do: let 
 thy study be much exercised about Christ, who 
 is the way — what he is, what be hath done, 
 and why he is what he is, and why he hath 
 done what is done ; as, why " he took upon 
 him the form of a servant;" why he was 
 "made in the likeness of man;" why he cried; 
 why he died ; why he " bare the sins of the 
 world;" why he was made sin, and wby he 
 was made righteousness ; Why he is in heaven 
 iu the nature of man, and v/hat he doth there. 
 Be much in musing and considering of these 
 
 things; be thinking also enough of those 
 places which thou must not come near, but 
 leave some on this hand, and some on that 
 hand ; as it is with those that travel into other 
 countries, they must leave such a gate on this 
 hand, and such a bush on that hand, and go by 
 such a place, where staudeth such a thing. 
 Thus, therefore, you must do. " Avoid such 
 things which are expressly forbidden in the 
 word of God." " Withdraw thy foot far from 
 -her, and come not nigh the door of her house, 
 for her steps take bold of hell, going down to 
 the chambers of death.'' And so of every thing 
 that is not in the way, have a care of it, that 
 thou go not by it; come not near it, have 
 nothing to do with it. So run. 
 
 Tlie Third Direction. 
 Not only thus, but in the next place thou 
 must strip thyself of those things that may 
 hang upon thee to the hindering of thee in 
 the way to the kingdom of heaven, as covet- 
 ousness, pride, lUst, ' or whatsoever else thy 
 heart may be inclined unto which may hinder 
 thee in this heavenly race. Men that run for 
 a wager, if they intend to win as well as run, 
 they do not use to encumber themselves or 
 carry those things about them that may be an 
 hindrance to them in their running. " Every 
 man that striveth for the mastery is temperate 
 in all things ;'' that is, he layeth aside every 
 thing that would be any wise a disadvantage 
 to him ; as saith the apostle, " Let us lay 
 aside every weight, and the sin that doth so 
 easily beset us, and let us run with patience 
 the race that is set before us." It is but a 
 vain thing to talk of going to heaven if thou 
 let thy heart be encumbered with those things 
 that would hinder. Would you not say that 
 such a man would be in danger of losing, 
 though he run, if he fill his pocket with 
 stones, hang heavy garments on his shoulders, 
 and great lumpish shoes on his feet ? So it is 
 here; thou talkest of going to heaven, and 
 yet fillest thy pocket with stones — i. e., fillest 
 thy heart with this world, lettest that hang 
 on thy shoulders, with its profits and pleas- 
 ures. Alas, alas ! thou art widely mistaken ; 
 if thou intendest to win, thou must strip, 
 thou must lay aside every weight, thou must 
 be temperate in all things. Thou must so run. 
 
 The Fourth Direction. 
 Beware of by-paths ; take heed thou dost 
 not run into those lanes which lead out of the 
 way. There are crooked paths, paths in 
 
748 
 
 BUNT AN' S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 whicli men go astray, paths that lead to 
 death and damnation, hut take heed of all 
 those. Some of them are dangerous because 
 of practice, some because of opinion, but 
 mind them not; mind the path before thee, 
 look right before thee, turn neither to the 
 right nor to the left, hut let thine eyes look 
 right on, even right before thee : " Ponder the 
 path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be estab- 
 lished." Turn not to the right hand nor to 
 the left: "Remove thy foot far from evil." 
 This counsel being not so seriously taken as 
 given is the reason of that starting from opin- 
 ion to opinion, reeling this way and that way^ 
 out of this lane into that lane, and so missing 
 the way to the kingdom. Though the way to 
 heaven be but one, yet there are many crooked 
 lanes and by-paths shoot down upon it, as I 
 may say. And again, notwithstanding the 
 kingdom of heaven he the biggest city, yet 
 usually those by-paths are most beaten, most 
 travellers go those ways ; and therefore the 
 way to heaven is hard to be found, and as 
 hard to be kept in by reason of these. Yet 
 nevertheless it is in this case as it was with 
 the harlot of Jericho ; she had one scarlet 
 thread tied in her window by which her 
 house was known. So it is here : the scarlet 
 streams of Christ's blood run throughout the 
 way to the kingdom of heaven ; therefore 
 mind that, see if thou do find the besprink- 
 ling of the blood of Christ in the way, and if 
 thou do, be of good cheer, thou art in the 
 right way ; but have a care thou beguile not 
 thyself with a fancy, for then thou mayest 
 light into any lane or way; but that thou 
 mayest not be mistaken, consider, though it 
 seem never so pleasant, yet if thou do not find 
 that in the very middle of the road there is 
 written with the heart-blood of Christ, that he 
 came into the world to save sinners, and that 
 we are justified though we are ungodly, shun 
 that way, for this it is which the apostle 
 meaneth when he saith, "We have boldness 
 to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, 
 by a new and living way which he hath con- 
 secrated for us, through the veil — that is to 
 say, his flesh." How easy a matter is it in 
 this our day for the devil to be too cunning 
 for poor souls by calling his by-paths the way 
 to the kingdom ! If such an opinion or fancy 
 be hut cried up by one or more, this inscrip- 
 tion being set upon it by the devil, This is the 
 way of God, how speedily, greedily, and by 
 neaps do poor simple souls throw away them- 
 selves upon it, especially if it be daubed over 
 
 with a few esternal acts of morality, if so 
 good I But this is because men do not know 
 painted by-paths from the plain way to the 
 kingdom of heaven. They have not yet 
 learned the true Christ, and what his right- 
 eousness is, neither have they a sense of their 
 own insuflSciency ; but are bold, proud, pre- 
 sumptuous, self-conceited. And therefore, 
 
 The Fifth Direction. 
 Do not thou be too much in looking too 
 high in thy journey heavenwards. You know 
 men that run a race do not use to stare and 
 gaze this way and that, neither do they use to 
 cast up their eyes too high, lest haply, through 
 their too much gazing with their eyes after 
 other things, they in the mean time stumble 
 and catch a fall. The very same case is this : 
 if thou gaze and stare after every opinion and 
 way that comes into the world, also if thou be 
 prying overmuch into God's secret decrees, or 
 let thy heart too much entertain questions 
 about some nice, foolish curiosities, thou may- 
 est stumble and fall, as many hundreds in 
 England have done, both in ranting and 
 quakery, to their own eternal overthrow, with- 
 out the marvellous operation of God's grace 
 be suddenly stretched forth to bring them 
 back again. Take heed, therefore; follow not 
 that proud, lofty spirit that, devil-like, can- 
 not be content with his own station. David 
 was of excellent spirit where he saith, " Lord, 
 my heart is not haughty nor mine eyes lofty, 
 neither do I exercise myself in great matters 
 or things too high for me. Surely I have be- 
 haved and quieted myself as a child that is 
 weaned of his mother. My soul is even as a 
 weaned child." Do thou so run. 
 
 ITie Sixth Direction. 
 Take heed that you have not an ear open to 
 every one that calleth after you as you are in 
 your journey. Men that run, you know, if any 
 do call after them, saying, I would speak with 
 you, or. Go not too fast and you shall have my 
 company with you, if they run for some great 
 matter, they use to say, Alas ! I cannot stay, 1 
 am in haste, pray talk not to me now ; neither 
 can I stay for you, I am running for a wager ; 
 if I win I am made, if I lose I am undone ; 
 and therefore hinder me not. Thus wise are 
 men when they run for corruptible things, and 
 thus shouldst thou do; and thou hast more 
 cause to do so than they, forasmuch as they run 
 but for things that last not, but thou for an in- 
 corruptible glory. I give thee notice of this 
 
THE HEAVENLY FOOTMAN. 
 
 749 
 
 betimes, knowing that tliou shalt have enough 
 call after thee, even the devil, sin, this world, 
 vain company, pleasure, profits, esteem among 
 men, ease, pomp, pride, together vpith an in- 
 numerable company of such companions ; one 
 crying, Stay for me : the other saying, Do not 
 leave me behind : a third saying. And take me 
 along with you. What, will you go, saith the 
 dovil, without your sins, pleasures, and profits ? 
 Are you so hasty ? Can you not stay and take 
 these along with you? Will you leave your 
 friends and companions behind you ? Cau you 
 not do as your neighbours do — carry the world, 
 sin, lust, pleasure, profit, esteem among men 
 along with you ? Have a care thou do not let 
 thine ear now be open to the tempting, enticing, 
 alluring and soul-entangling flatteries of such 
 sink-souls as these are. " My son," saith Solo- 
 mon, " if sinners entice thee, consent thou not." 
 You know what it cost the young man which 
 Solomon speaks of in the 7th of Proverbs, that 
 was enticed by a harlot : " With much fair speech 
 she won him and caused him to yield, with the 
 flattering of her lips she forced him, till he 
 went after her as an ox to the slaughter, or as 
 a fool to the correction of the stocks;" even 
 so far " till the dart struck through his liver, 
 and knew not that it was for his life. Hearken 
 unto me now therefore," saith he, " ye chil- 
 dren, and attend to the words of my mouth : 
 let not thine heart decline,>to her ways, go not 
 astray in her paths, for she hath cast down 
 many wounded, many strong men have been 
 slain (that is, kept out of heaven) by her. Her 
 house is the way to hell, going down to the 
 chambers of death." Soul, take this counsel, 
 and say, Satan, sin, lust, pleasure, profit, pride, 
 friends, companions, and every thing else, let 
 me alone, stand off, come not nigh me, for I 
 am running for heaven, for my soul, for God, 
 for Christ, from hell and everlasting damna- 
 tion ; if I win, I win all ; and if I lose, I lose 
 all ; lei. me alone, for I will not hear. So run. 
 
 The Seventh Direction. 
 In ihe next place, be not daunted though 
 thou meetest with never so many discourage- 
 ments in thy journey thither. That man that 
 is resolved for heaven, if Satan cannot win 
 him by flatteries he will endeavour to weaken 
 him by discouragements, saying, Thou art a 
 einner, thou hast broke God's law, thou art not 
 elected, thou comest too late, the day of grace 
 is past, God doth not care for thee, thy heart 
 is naught, thou art lazy, with an hundred other 
 diicouraging suggestions. And thus it was 
 
 with David, where he saith, " I had fainted, 
 unless I had believed, to see the loving-kind- 
 ness of the Lord in the land of the living." 
 As if he should say. The devil did so rage, and 
 my heart was so base, that, had I judged ac- 
 cording to my own sense and feeling, I had 
 been absolutely distracted; but I trusted to 
 Christ in the promise, and looked that God 
 would be as good as his promise in having 
 mercy upon me, an unworthy sinner ; and this 
 is that which encouraged me and kept me from 
 fainting. And thus must thou do when Satan, 
 or the law, or thy own conscience do go about 
 to dishearten thee, either by the greatness of 
 thy sins, the wickedness "of thy heart, the te- 
 diousness of the way, the loss of outward en- 
 joyments, the hatred that thou wilt procure 
 from the world, or the like ; then thou must 
 encourage thyself with the freeness of the 
 promises, the tender-heartedness of Christ, 
 the merits of his blood, the freeness of his in- 
 vitations to come in, the greatness of the sin 
 of others that have been pardoned, and that 
 the same God, through the same Christ, hold- 
 eth forth the same grace as free as ever. If 
 these be not thine meditations, thou wilt draw 
 very heavily in the way to heaven, if thou do 
 not give up all for lost, and so knock off from 
 following any farther; therefore, I say, take 
 heart in thy journey, and say to them that 
 seek thy destruction, " Kejoice not against me, 
 my enemy, for when I fall I shall arise, 
 when I sit in darkness the Lord shall be a 
 light unto me." 
 
 The Eighth Direction. 
 
 Take heed of being offended at the cross 
 that thou must go by before thou come to 
 heaven. You must understand (as I have 
 already touched) that there is no man that 
 goeth to heaven but he must go by the cross. 
 The cross is the standing waymark by which 
 all they that go to glory must pass by. 
 
 " We must through much tribulation enter 
 into the kingdom of heaven. Yea, and all that 
 will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer per- 
 secution." If thou art in thy way to the 
 kingdom, my life for thine thou wilt co'me to 
 the cross shortly, (the Lord grant thou dost 
 not shrink at it, so as to turn thee back again !) 
 " If any man will come after me," saith Christ, 
 " let him deny himself, and take up his cross 
 daily, and follow me." The cross ! it stands 
 and hath stood from the beginning as a way- 
 mark to the kingdom of heaven. You know, 
 if- one ask you the way to such and such a 
 
760 
 
 SUNYAN'S COMPLETE WOBKS. 
 
 place, you, for the better direction, do not 
 only say, This^^s the way, but then also say, 
 You must go by such a gate, by such a 
 stile, such a bush, tree, bridge, or such like. 
 Wliy, so it is here. Art thou inquiring the 
 way to heaven ? Why, I tell thee, Christ is 
 the way ; into him thou must get, into his 
 righteousness to be justified ; and if thou art 
 in him, thou wilt presently see the cross ; thou 
 must go close by it, thou must touch it, nay, 
 thou must take it up, or else thou wilt quickly 
 go out of the way that leads to heaven, and 
 turn up some of those crooked lanes that lead 
 down to the chambers of death. 
 
 Now thou mayest know the cross by these 
 six things : 
 
 1. It is known in the doctrine of justifica- 
 tion; 2. In the doctrine of mortification; 8. 
 In the doctrine of perseverance; 4. In self- 
 denial ; 5. Patience ; 6. Communion with poor 
 saints. 
 
 1. In the doctrine of justification, there is a 
 great deal of the cross in that ; a man is forced 
 to suffer the destruction of his own righteous- 
 ness for the righteousness of another. This is 
 no easy matter for a man to, do ; I assure to 
 you it stretcheth every vein in his heart before 
 he will be brought to yield to it. What ! for 
 a man to deny, reject, abhor, and -throw away 
 all his prayers, tears, alms, keeping of sabbaths, 
 hearing, reading, with the rest, in the point of 
 justification, and to count them accursed ; and 
 to be willing, in the very midst of the sense of 
 his sins, to throw himself wholly upon the 
 righteousness and obedience of another man, 
 abhorring his own, counting it as deadly sin, 
 as the open breach of the law — I say, to do 
 this in deed and in truth is the biggest piece 
 of the cross ; and therefore Paul calleth this 
 very thing a "suffering" where he saith, 
 "And I have suffered the loss of all things 
 (which principally was his righteousness) that 
 I might win Christ, and be found in him, not 
 having (but rejecting) niy own righteousness." 
 'That is the first. 
 
 2. Ir. the doctrine of mortification is also 
 much pi the cross. Is it nothing for a man to 
 lay hands on his vile opinions, on his vile sins, 
 on his bosom sins, on his beloved, pleasant, 
 darling sins, that stick as close to him as the 
 flesh sticks to the bones ? What ! to lose all 
 these brave things that my eyes behold for 
 that which I never saw with my eyes I What I 
 to lose my pride, my covetousness, my vain 
 company, sports and pleasures, and the restl 
 I tell you this is no easy matter ; if it were, 
 
 what need all these prayers, sighs, watchings? 
 What need we be so backward to it? Nay, do 
 you not see that some men, before they will 
 set about this work, they will even venture the 
 loss of their souls, heaven, God, Christ, and 
 all? What means else all those delays and 
 put-offs, saying, Stay a little longer, I am loth 
 to leave my sins while I am so young and in 
 health? Again, what is the reason else that 
 others do it so by the halves, coldly and sel- 
 dom, notwithstanding they are convinced over 
 and over, nay, and also promise to amend, and 
 yet all's in vain ? I will assure you, to cut off 
 right hands and pluck out right eyes is no 
 pleasure to the flesh. 
 
 3. The doctrine of perseverance is also cross 
 to the flesh, which is not only to begin, but to 
 hold out ; not only to bid fair and to say. Would 
 I had heaven ! but so to know Christ, to put on 
 Christ, and walk with Christ, as to come to 
 heaven. Indeed it is no great matter to begin 
 to look for heaven, to begin to seek the Lord, 
 to begin to shun sin ; oh but it is a very great 
 matter to continue with God's approbation I 
 "My servant Caleb (saith God) is a man of 
 another spirit; he hath followed me (followed 
 me always, he hath continually followed me) 
 fully ; he shall possess the land." Almost all 
 the many thousands of the children of Israel 
 in their generation fell short of perseverance 
 when they walked from Egypt toward the land 
 of Canaan. Indeed they went to work at first 
 pretty willingly, but they were very short- 
 winded, they were quickly out of breath, and in 
 their hearts they turned back again into Egypt. 
 
 It is an easy matter for a man to run hard 
 for a spurt, for a furlong, for a mile or two : 
 oh, but to hold out for a hundred, for a thou- 
 sand, for ten thousand miles ; that man that 
 doth this he must look to meet with cross, 
 pain, and wearisomeness to the flesh, especially 
 if as he goeth he meeteth with briers, and 
 quagmires, and other encumbrances that make 
 his journey so much the more painful. 
 
 Nay, do you not see with your eyes daily 
 that perseverance is a very great part of the 
 cross? Why else do men so soon grow weary? 
 I could point out many that, after they had 
 followed the ways of God about a twelvemonth, 
 others it may be two, three, or four (some 
 more, some less) years, they have been beat 
 out of wind, have taken up their lodging and 
 rest before they have got halfway to heaven, 
 some in this, some in that sin, and have se- 
 cretly, nay sometimes openly, said that the 
 way is too strait, the race too long, the religion 
 
THE HEAVENLY FOOTMAN. 
 
 751 
 
 loo holy, and I cannot hold out, I can go no 
 farther. 
 
 And so likewise of the other three — to wit, 
 patience, self-denial, communion and commun- 
 ication with and to the poor saints — how hard 
 are these things I It is an easy matter to deny 
 another man, but it is not so easy a matter to 
 deny one's self^to deny myself out of love to 
 God, to his Gospel, to his saints of this advan- 
 tage and of that gain, nay, of that which other- 
 wise I might lawfully do were it not for 
 offending them. That Scripture is but seldom 
 read, and seldomer put in practice, which saith, 
 " I will eat no flesh while the world standeth 
 if it make ray brother to offend ;" again, " We 
 that are strong ought to bear the infirmities 
 of the weak, and not to please ourselves." But 
 how forward, how hasty, how peefish, and 
 self resolved are the generality of professors at 
 this dayl Alas! how little considering the 
 poor, unless it be to say. Be thou warmed and 
 filled 1 But to give is a seldomer work, also 
 especially to give to any poor. I tell you all 
 things are cross to flesh and blood ; and that 
 man that hath but a watchful eye over the 
 flesh, and also some considerable measure of 
 strength against it, he shall find his heart in 
 these things like unto a starting horse that is 
 rid without a curbing bridle, ready to start at 
 everything that is offensive to him, yea, and 
 ready to run away too, do what the rider can. 
 
 It is the cross which keepeth those that are 
 kept from heaven. I am persuaded were it 
 not for the cross, where we have one professor 
 we should have twenty, but this cross, that is 
 it which spoileth all. 
 
 Some men, as I said before, when they come 
 at the cross, they can go no farther, but back 
 again to their sins they must go. Others, they 
 stumble at it and break their necks; others 
 again, when they see that the cross is ap- 
 proaching, they turn aside to the left hand or 
 to the right hand, and so think to get to heaven 
 another way, but they will be deceived. "For 
 all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall " 
 — mark, shall — " be sure to suffer persecution." 
 There are but few when they come at the cross 
 cry, Welcome, cross I as some of the martyrs 
 did to the stake they were burned at. There- 
 fore if you meet with the cross in thy journey, 
 in what manner so ever it be, be not daunted 
 and say, Alas I what shall I do now? But 
 rather take courage, knowing that by the cross 
 is the way to the kingdom. Can a man be- 
 lieve in Christ and not be hated by'the devil? 
 Coo he make a profession of this Christ, and 
 
 that sweetly and convincingly, and the children 
 of Satan hold their tongue? Can darkness 
 agree with light, or the devil endure that 
 Christ Jesus should be honoured both by faith 
 and a heavenly conversation, and let that soul 
 alone at quiet ? Did you never read that " the 
 dragon persecuted the woman?" And that 
 Christ saith, "In the world you shall have 
 tribulations." 
 
 The Ninth Direction. 
 
 Beg of God that he would do these two 
 things for thee: First enlighten thine under- 
 standing ; and, secondly, inflame thy will. If 
 these two be but effectually done, there is no 
 fear but thou wilt go safe to heaven. 
 
 One of the great reasons why men and 
 women do so little regard the other world, it is 
 because they see so little of it ; and the reason 
 why they see so little of it is because they have 
 their understanding darkened. And therefore, 
 saith Paul, " Do not you believers walk as do 
 other Gentiles, even in the vanity of their 
 minds, having their understandings darkened, 
 being alienated from the life of God through 
 the ignorance (or foolishness) that is in them., 
 because of the blindness of their heart." Walk 
 not as those, run not with them: Alas, poor 
 souls 1 they have their understandings dark- 
 ened, their hearts blinded, and that is the rea- 
 son they have such undervaluing thoughts of 
 the Lord Jesus Christ and the salvation of 
 their souls. For when men do come to see 
 the things of another world, what a God, what 
 a Christ, what a heaven, and what an eternal 
 glory there is to be errjoyed, also when they see 
 that it is possible for them to have a share in 
 it, I tell you it will make them run through 
 thick and thin to enjoy it. Moses having a 
 sight of this because his understanding was 
 enlightened, " he feared not the wrath of the 
 king, but chose rather to suffer afflictions witJi 
 the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures 
 of sin for a season." He refused to be called 
 the son of the king's daughter, accounting it 
 wonderful riches to be accounted worthy of so 
 much as to sufier for Christ with the poor de- 
 spised saints; and that was because he saw 
 Him who was invisible, and had respect unto 
 the recompense of reward. And. this is that 
 which the apostle usually prayeth for in his 
 epistles for the saints — namely,' "That they 
 might know what is the hope of God's calling, 
 and the riches of the glory of his inheritance 
 in the saints ; and that they might be able to 
 comprehend with all saints wliat is the breadth 
 
752 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 and length, and depth and height, and know 
 the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge." 
 Pray, therefore, that God would enlighten thy 
 understanding ; that will be a very great help 
 unto thee. It will make thee endure many a 
 hard brunt for Christ; as Paul saith, "After 
 you were illuminated ye endured a great fight 
 of afflictions. You took joyfully the spoiling 
 of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye 
 haye in hea'i'en a better and an enduring sub- 
 istance." If there be never such a rare jewel 
 lie just in a man's way, yet if he sees it not he 
 will rather trample upon it than stoop for it, 
 and it is because he sees it not. Wliy so it is 
 here : though heaven be worth never so much, 
 and thou hast never so much need of it, yet if 
 thou see it not — that is, have not thy under- 
 standing opened or enlightened to see — thou 
 wilt not regard at all; therefore cry to the 
 Lord for enlighteniiig grace, and say, " Lord, 
 open my blind eyes ; Lord, take the veil off my 
 dark heart," show me the things o-.' the other 
 world, and let me see the sweetness, glory, and 
 excellency of them for Christ his sake. This 
 is the first. 
 
 The Tenth Direction. 
 
 Cry to God that he would inflame thy will 
 also with the things of the other world; for 
 when a man's will is fully set to do such or 
 such a thing, then it must be a very hard mat- 
 ter that shall hinder that man from bringing 
 about his end. When Paul's will was set re- 
 solvedly to go up to Jerusalem, (though it was 
 signified to him before what he should there 
 suffer,) he was not daunted at all ; nay, saith 
 he, "I am ready (or willing) not only to be 
 bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the 
 name of the Lord Jesus." His will was in- 
 flamed with love to Christ, and therefore all 
 the persuasions that could be used wrought 
 nothing at all. 
 
 Your self-willed people, nobody knows what 
 to do with them ; we used to say. He will have 
 his own will, do what you can. Indeed to 
 have such a will for heaven is an admirable 
 advantage to a man that undertaketh a race 
 thither ; a man that is resolved and hath his 
 will fixed, saith he, I will do my best to ad- 
 vantage myself; I will do my worst to hinder 
 my enemies ; I will not give out as long as I 
 can stand; I will have it or I will lose my life; 
 " though he slay me, yet will I trust iu him." 
 " I will not let thee go except thou bless me." 
 r will, I will, I will. Oh this blessed inflamed 
 will for heaven I What is like it? If a man 
 
 be willing, then any argument shall be matter 
 of encouragement ; but if unwilling, then any 
 argument shall give discouragement; this is 
 seen both in saints and sinners, in them that 
 are the children of God, and also those that 
 are the children of the devil. As — 
 
 1. The saints of old, they being willing and 
 resolved for heaven, what could stop them? 
 Could fire and faggot, sword or halter, filthy 
 dungeons, whips, bears, bulls, lions, cruel rack- 
 ings, stoning, starving, nakedness, &c. ? " And 
 in all these things they were more than con- 
 querors, through Him that loved them," who 
 had also made them " willing in the day of his 
 power." 
 
 2. See again, on the other side, the children 
 of the devil, because they are not willing, how 
 many shifts and starting-holes they will have : 
 I have married a wife, I have a farm, I shall 
 offend my landlord, I shall offend my master, 
 I shall lose my trading, I shall lose my pride, 
 my pleasures, I shall be mocked and scoffed ; 
 therefore I dare not come. I, saith another, 
 will stay till I am older, till my children are 
 out, till I am; got a little aforehand in the 
 world, till I have done this and that and the 
 other business; but, alas! the thing is, they 
 are not willing; for were they but soundly 
 willing, these, and a thousand such as these, 
 would hold them no faster than the cords held 
 Samson when he broke them like burnt flax ; 
 I tell you the will is all : that is one of the 
 chief things which turns the wheel either 
 backwards or forwards; and God knoweth that 
 full well, and so likewise doth the devil, and 
 therefore they both' endeavour very much to 
 strengthen the will of their servants. God, he 
 is for making of his a willing people to serve 
 him ; and the devil, he doth what he can to 
 possess the will and affection of those that are 
 his with love to sin ; and therefore when Christ 
 comes close to the matter, indeed, saith he, 
 " You will not come to me." " How often 
 would I have gathered you as a hen doth her 
 chickens, but you would not!" The devil had 
 possessed their wills, and so long he was sure 
 enough of them. Oh therefore cry hard to 
 God to inflame thy will for heaven and Christ 
 — thy will, I say : if that be rightly set for 
 heaven, thou wilt not be beat off with discour- 
 agements ; and this was the reason that when 
 Jacob wrestled with the angel, though he lost 
 a limb as it were, and the hollow of his thigh 
 was put out of joint as he wrestled with him, 
 yet, saith he, " I will not" — mark, I will not — 
 " let thee go except thou bless me." Get thy 
 
THE HEAVENLY FOOTMAN. 
 
 753 
 
 will tipt with the heavenly grace and resolu- 
 tion against all thy discouragements, and then 
 thou goest full speed for heaven ; but if thou 
 falter in thy vfill and he not sound there, thou 
 wilt run hobbling and halting all the way thou 
 runneat, and also to be sure thou wilt fall short 
 at last. The Lord give thee a will and cour- 
 age 1 
 
 Thus have I done with directing thee how to 
 run to the kingdom ; be sure thou keep in 
 memory what I have said unto thee, lest thou 
 lose thy way. But because I would have thee 
 think of them, take all in short in this little 
 bit of paper : 
 
 1. Get into the way. 2. Then study on it. 
 3. Then strip and lay aside everything that 
 would hinder. 4. Beware of by-paths. 5. Do 
 not gaze and stare too much about thee, but be 
 sure to ponder the path of thy feet. 6. Do not 
 stop for any that call after thee, whether it be 
 tbo world, the flesh, or the devil, for all these 
 will hinder thy journey if possible. 7. Be not 
 daunted with any discouragements thou meet- 
 est with as thou goest. 8. Take heed of stum- 
 bling at the cross. 9. Cry hard to God for an 
 enlightened heart and willing mind, and God 
 give thee a prosperous journey ! 
 
 Yet before I do quite take my leave of thee 
 let me give thee a few motives along with thee. 
 It may be they will be as good as a pair "of 
 spurs to prick on thy lumpish heart in this 
 rich journey. 
 
 The First Motive. 
 Consider, there is no way but this: thou 
 must either win or lose. If thou winnest, then 
 heaven, God, Christ, glory, ease, peace, life, 
 yea, life eternal, is thine; thou shalt be made 
 equal to the angels in heaven ; thou shalt sor- 
 row no more, sigh no more, feel no more pain ; 
 thou shalt be out of the reach of sin, hell, 
 death, the devil, the grave, and whatever else 
 may endeavour thy hurt. But contrariwise, 
 and if thou lose, then thy loss is heaven, glory, 
 God, phrist, ease, peace, and whatever else 
 which tendeth to make eternity comfortable to 
 the saints ; . besides, thou procurest eternal 
 death, sorrow, pain, blackness, and darkness, 
 fellowship with devils, together with the ever- 
 lasting damnation of thy own soul. 
 
 The Second Motive. 
 
 Consider that this devil, this hell, death and 
 
 damnation follow after thee as hard as they 
 
 can drive, and have their commission so to 
 
 do by the law, against which thou hast sin- 
 
 48 
 
 ned ; and therefore, for the Lord's sake, make 
 haste. 
 
 The Third Motive. 
 If they seize upon thee before thou get h. 
 the city of refuge, they will put an everlast- 
 ing stop to thy journey. This also cries, Kun 
 for it. 
 
 The Fourth Motive. 
 Know also that now heaven-gates, the heart 
 of Christ, with his arms, are wide open to re- 
 ceive thee. Oh methinks that this considera- 
 tion, that the devil foUoweth after to destroy, 
 and that Christ standeth open-armed to re- 
 ceive, should make thee reach out aud fly with 
 all haste and speed ! And therefore 
 
 The Fifth Motive. 
 Keep thine eye upon the prize ; be sure that 
 thy eyes be continually upon the profit thou 
 art like to get. The reason why men are so 
 apt to faint in their race for heaven, it lieth 
 chiefly in either of these two things : 
 
 1. They do not seriously consider the worth 
 of the prize ; or else if they do, they are afraid 
 it is too good for them, but must lose heaven 
 for want of considering the prize and the worth 
 of it. And therefore, that thou mayest not do 
 the like, keep thine eye much upon the excel- 
 lency, the sweetness, the beauty, the comfort, 
 the peace that is to be had there by those that 
 win the prize. This was that which made the 
 apostle run through any thing — good report, 
 evil report, persecution, afliiction, hunger, 
 nakedness, peril by sea and peril by land, 
 bonds and imprisonments. Also it made 
 others endure to be stoned, sawn asunder, to 
 have their eyes bored with augers, their bodies 
 broiled on gridirons, their tongues out ouf of 
 their mouths, boiled in caldrons, thrown to 
 the wild beasts, burned at the stake, whipped 
 at posts, and a thousand other fearful torments, 
 " while they looked not at the things that are 
 seen, (as the things of this world,) but at the 
 things that are not seen; for the things which 
 are seen are temporal, but the things which 
 are not seen are eternal." Oh this word 
 " eternal I" That was it that made them, 
 when they might have had deliverance, not 
 accept of it, for they knew in the world to 
 come they should have a better resurrection. 
 
 2. And do not let the thoughts of the rare- 
 ness of the place make thee say in thy heart. 
 This is too good for me ; for I tell thee heaven 
 is prepared for whosoever will accept of it, and 
 they shall be entertained with a hearty good 
 
754 
 
 BVNYAN'S COMPLETE WOBKS. 
 
 welcome. Oonsider, therefore, that as bad as 
 thou have got thither ; thither went scrubbed, 
 beggarly Lazarus, &c. Nay, it is prepared for 
 the poor: "Hearken, my beloved brethren, 
 (saith James — take notice of it,) hath not God 
 chosen the poor of this world rich in faith and 
 heirs of the kingdom?" Therefore take heart 
 and run, man. And 
 
 The Sixth Motive. 
 Think much of them that are gone before. 
 First, how really they go into the kingdom.- 
 Secondly, how safe they are in the arms of 
 Jesus ; would they be here again for a thou- 
 sand worlds? Or if they were, would they be 
 afraid that God would not make them wel- 
 come? Thirdly, what would they judge of 
 thee if they knew thy heart began to fail thee 
 in thy journey, or thy sins began to allure thee 
 and to persuade thee to stop thy race? Would 
 they not call thee a thousand fools, and say. 
 Oh that he did but see what we see, feel what 
 we feel, and taste of the dainties that we taste 
 of I Oh if he were one quarter of an hour to 
 behold, to see, to feel, to taste and enjoy but 
 the thousandth part of what we enjoy, what 
 would he do? What would he sufler? What 
 would he leave undone? Would he favour 
 sin? Would he love this world below? Would 
 he be afraid of friends, or shrink at the most 
 fearful threatenings that the greatest tyrants 
 could invent to give him? Nay, those who 
 have had but a sight of these things by faith, 
 when they have been as far off from them as 
 heaven from earth, yet they have* been able to 
 say, with a comfortable and merry heart, as 
 the bird that sings in the spring, that this and 
 more shall not stop them from running to 
 hea,ven. Sometimes, when my base heart hath 
 been inclining to this world and to loiter in 
 my journey towards heaven, the very consid- 
 eration of the glorious saints and angels in 
 heaven, what they enjoy, and what low 
 thoughts they have of the things of this 
 world together, how they would befool me if 
 they did but know that my heart was drawing 
 back, hath caused me to rush forward, to dis- 
 dain these poor, low, empty, beggarly things, 
 and to say to my soul. Come, soul, let us not 
 be weary; let us see what this heaven is; let 
 us even venture all for it, and try if that will 
 quit the cost. Surely Abraham, David, Paul 
 and the rest of the saints of God were as wise 
 as any are now, aud yet they lost all for this 
 glorious kingdom. Oh therefore throw away 
 your lusts, follow after righteousness, love the 
 
 Lord Jesus, devote thyself unto his fear. I'll 
 warrant thee he will give thee a goodly recom- 
 pense. 'Eeader, what say est thou to this? Art 
 thou resolved to follow me? Nay, resolve if 
 thou canst to get before me. So run that ye 
 may obtain. 
 
 The Seventh Motive. 
 To encourage thee a little further, set to the 
 work, and when thou hast run thyself down 
 weary, then the Lord Jesus will take thee up 
 and carry thee. Is not this enough to make 
 any poor soul begin his race ? Thou (perhapa) 
 criest. Oh but I am feeble, I am lame, &c. 
 Well, but Christ hath a bosom; consider, 
 therefore, when thou hast run thyself down 
 weary he will put thee in his bosom-: "He 
 shall gather the lambs with his arms and carry 
 them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those 
 that are with young." This is the way that 
 fathers take to encourage their children, say- 
 ing, Run, sweet babe, until thou art weary,, 
 and then I will take thee up and carry thee. 
 " He will gather his lambs with his arms and 
 carry them in his bosom." When they are 
 weary they shall ride. 
 
 The Eighth Motive. 
 Or else he will convey new strength from 
 heaven into thy soul, which will be as well. 
 "The youths shall faint and be weary, and the 
 young men shall utterly fail, but they that 
 wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength ; 
 they shall mount up with wings like eagles, 
 they shall run and not be weary, they shall 
 walk and not be faint." What shall I say be- 
 sides what hath already been said? Thou 
 shalt have good and easy lodging, good and 
 wholesome diet, the bosom of Christ to lie in, 
 the joys of heaven to feed on. Shall I speak 
 of the satiety and of the duration of all these? 
 Verily to describe them to the height, it is a 
 work too hard for me to do. 
 
 The Ninth Motive. 
 Again, methinks the very industry of the 
 devil and the industry of his servants, &c., 
 should make you that have a desire to heaven 
 and happiness to run apace. Why, the devil, 
 he will lose no time, spare no pains, also 
 neither will his servants, both to seek the de- 
 struction of themselves and others ; and shall 
 not we be as industrious for our own salva- 
 tion? Shall the world venture the damnation 
 of their souls for a poor corruptible crown, 
 and shall not we venture the loss of a few 
 trifles for an eternal crown? Shall they ven- 
 
THE HEAVENLY FOOTMAN. 
 
 755 
 
 ture the loss of eternal friends, as God to love, 
 Christ to redeem, the Holy Spirit to comfort, 
 heaven for habitation, saints and angels for 
 company, and all this to get and hold commu- 
 nion with sin, and this world, and a few base, 
 drunken, swearing, lying, covetous wretches 
 like themstlves, and shall not we labour as 
 hard, run as fast, seek as dilijf;ntly, nay, a 
 hundred times more diligently, for the com- 
 pany of these glorious, eternal friends, though 
 with the loss of such as these, nay, with the 
 loss of ten thousand times better thin these 
 poor, low, base, contemptible things? Shall it 
 be said at the last day that wicked men made 
 more haste to hell than you did make to 
 heaven? — that they spent more hours, days, 
 and that early and late, for hell, than you 
 spent for that which is ten thousantl thousand 
 of thousand times better? Oh let it not be so, 
 but run with all might and main. 
 
 Thus you see I have here spoken some- 
 thing, though but little. Now I shall come 
 to make some use and application of what 
 hath been said, and so conclude. 
 
 TheRrat Use. 
 
 You see here that he that will go to heaven, 
 he must run for it; yea, and not only run, but 
 to run; that is, (as I have said,) to run earn- 
 estly, to run continually, to strip off every 
 thing that would hinder in his race with the 
 rest. Well, then, do you so run. 
 
 1. And now let us examine a little. Art 
 thou got into the right way? Art thou in 
 Christ's righteousness? Do not say yes in 
 thy heart, when in truth there is no such mat- 
 ter. It is a dangerous thing, you know, for a 
 man to think he is in the right way when he 
 is in the wrong. It is the next way for him 
 to lose his way, and not only so, but if he run 
 for heaven, as thou sayest thou dost, even to 
 lose that too. Oh this is the misery of most 
 men, to persuade themselves that they run 
 right, when they never had one foot in the 
 way. The Lord give thee understanding here, 
 or else thou art undone for ever. Prithee, 
 Boul, search when was it thou turned out of 
 thy sins and righteousness into the righteous- 
 ness of Jesus Christ. I say, dost thou see thy- 
 self in him, and is he more precious to thee 
 than the whole world ? Is thy mind always 
 musing on him, and also to be walking with 
 him? Dost thou count his company more 
 precious than the whole world? Dost thou 
 count all things but poor, lifeless, empty, 
 vain things without communion with him? 
 
 Doth his company sweeten all things, and his 
 absence embitter all things ? Soul, I beseech 
 thee be serious and lay it to heart, and do not 
 take things of such weighty concernment as 
 the salvation or damnation of thy soul without 
 good ground. 
 
 2. Art thou unladen of the things of this 
 world, as pride, pleasures, profits, lusts, vani- 
 ties? What I dost thou think to run fast 
 enough with the world, thy sins and lusts 
 in thy heart? I tell thee, soul, they that 
 have laid all aside, every weight, every sin, 
 and are got into the nimblest posture, they 
 find work enough to run — so to run as to hold 
 out. 
 
 To run through all that opposition, all the 
 jostles, all these rubs, over all the stumbling- 
 blocks, over all the snares, from all the en- 
 tanglements that the devil, sin, the world, and 
 their own hearts lay before them — I tell thee 
 if thou art going heavenward thou wilt find 
 it no small or easy matter. Art thou there- 
 fore discharged and unladen of these things? 
 Never talk of going to heaven if thou art not. 
 It is to be feared thou wilt be found among 
 the " many that will seek to enter in, and shall 
 not be able." 
 
 The Second Use. 
 If so, then, in the next place, what will be- 
 come of them that are grown weary before 
 they are got halfway thither? Why, man, it 
 is he that holdeth out to the end that must be 
 saved ; it is he that overcometh that shall in- 
 herit all things; it is not every one that 
 begins. Agrippa gave a fair step for a sud- 
 den ; he steps almost into the bosom of Christ 
 in less than half an hour. " Thou (saith he 
 to Paul) hast almost persuaded me to be a 
 Christian." Ah 1 but it was but almost, and 
 so he had as good have been never a whit ; he 
 stept fair indeed, but yet he stopt short ; ho 
 was hot while he was at it, but he was quickly 
 out of wind. Oh this but almost ! I tell yoii, 
 this but almost, it lost his soul. Methinks I 
 have seen sometimes how these poor wretches 
 that get but almost to heaven, how fearfully 
 their almost and their but almost will torment 
 them in hell, when they shall cry out in bit- 
 terness of their soul, saying, " Almost a Chris- 
 tian." I was almost got into the kingdom, 
 almost out of the hands of the devil, almost 
 out of my sins, almost from under the curse 
 of God ; almost, and that was all ; almost, but 
 not all together. Oh that I should be almost 
 at heaven, and should not go quite through 
 
756 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Friend, it is a sad thing to sit down before we 
 are in heaven, and to grow weary before we 
 come to the place of rest ; and if it should be 
 thy case, I am sure thou dost not so run as to 
 obtain. But again, 
 
 The Third Use. 
 In the next place. What then will become 
 of them that some time since were running 
 post-haste to heaven, (insomuch that they 
 seemed to outstrip many,) but now are run- 
 ning as fast back again? Do you think those 
 will ever come thither ? What ! to run back 
 again — back again to sin, to the world, to the 
 devil — back again to the lust of the flesh! 
 Oh, " it had been better for them not to have 
 known the way of righteousness, than after 
 they have known it to turn (to turn back 
 again) from the "holy commandment." Those 
 men shall not only be damned for sin, but for 
 professing to all the world that sin is better 
 than Christ; for the man that runs back again, 
 he doth as good as say, I have tried Christ, 
 and I have tried sin, and I do not find so much 
 profit in Christ as in sin. I say, this man de- 
 clareth this, .even by his running back again. 
 Oh sad I What a doom they will have who 
 were almost at heaven-gates and then run 
 back again I " If any draweth back," saith 
 Christ, "my soul shall have no pleasure in 
 him.'' Again, "No man having put his hand 
 to the plough, (that is, set forward in the ways 
 of God,) and looking back, (turning back 
 again,) is fit for the kingdom of heaven." 
 And if not fit for the kingdom of heaven, then 
 for certain he must needs be fit for the fire of 
 hell. And therefore (saith the apostle) those 
 that bring forth these apostatizing fruits, as 
 "briers and thorns, are rejected, being nigh 
 unto cursing, whose end is to be burned." 
 Oh there is never another Christ to save them 
 by bleeding and dying for them ! And if 
 they "shall not escape that neglect," then 
 how shall they escape that reject and turn 
 their back upon " so great a salvation ?" And 
 if the righteous — that is, they that run for it — 
 will fiod work enough to get to heaven, "then 
 where will the ungodly (backsliding) sinner 
 appear ?" Or, if Judas the traitor or Francis 
 Spira the backslider were but now alive in 
 the world to whisper these men in the ear a 
 little, and tell them what it hath cost their 
 souls for backsliding, surely it would stick by 
 them and make them afraid of running back 
 again so long as they had one day to live in 
 this world 
 
 The Fourth Use. 
 So again, fourthly. How like to these men's 
 sufferings will those be that have all this while 
 sat still, and have not so much as set one foot 
 forward to the kingdom of heaven ! Surely he 
 that backslideth and he that sitteth still in sin, 
 they are both of one mind ; the one he will not 
 stir, because he loveth his sins and the things 
 of this world ; the other he runs back again, 
 because he loveth his sins and the things of 
 this world; is it not one and the same thing? 
 They afe all one here, and shall not one and 
 the same hell hold them hereafter ? He is an 
 ungodly one that never looked after Christ, 
 and he is an ungodly one that did once look 
 after him and then ran quite back again ; and 
 therefore that word must certainly drop out of 
 thfe mouth of Christ against them both, " De- 
 part from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire 
 prepared for the devil and his angels." 
 
 The Fifth Use. 
 Again, here you may see in the next place. 
 That is, they that will have heaven must run 
 for it ; then this calls aloud to those who began 
 but a while since to run ; I say, for them to 
 mend their pace if they intend to win; you 
 know that they which come hindmost had 
 need run fastest. Friend, I tell thee there be 
 those that have run ten years to thy one, nay 
 twenty to five, and yet if thou talk with them 
 sometimes they will say they doubt they shal] 
 come late enough. How then will it be with 
 thee ? Look to it, therefore, that thou delay 
 no time, not an hour's time, but part speedily 
 with all, with everything that is an hindrance 
 to thee in thy journey, and run ; yea,, and sf. 
 run that thou mayest obtain. 
 
 The Sixth Use. 
 Again, sixthly. You that are old professors, 
 take you heed that the young striplings of 
 Jesus, that began to strip but the other day, do 
 not outrun you, so as to have that Scripture 
 fulfilled on you, " The first shall be last and 
 the last first ;" which will be a shame to you 
 and a credit for them. What! for a young 
 soldier to be more courageous than he that hath 
 been used to wars ! To you that are hinder- 
 most, I say, Strive to outrun them that are 
 before you ; and you that are foremost, I say. 
 Hold your ground, and keep before them in 
 faith and love if possible ; for indeed that is 
 the right running, for one to strive to outrun 
 another ; even for the hindermost to endeavour 
 to overtake the foremost, and he that is before 
 
THE HEAVENLY FOOTMAN. 
 
 757 
 
 should be sure to lay out himself to keep his 
 ground, even to the very utmost. But then, 
 
 The Seventh Use. 
 Again. How basely they do behave them- 
 selves, how unlike are they to win, that think 
 it enough to keep company with the hindmost I 
 There are some men that profess themselves 
 Buch as run for heaven as well as any ; yet if 
 there be but any lazy, slothful, cold, half- 
 hearted professors in the country, they will be 
 sure to take example by them ; they think if 
 they can but keep pace with them they shall 
 do fair; but these do not consider that the 
 hindmost lose the prize. You may know it if 
 you will that it cost the foolish virgins dear 
 for their coming too late : " They that were 
 ready went in with him, and the, door was 
 shut. Afterward (mark, afterward !) came the 
 other (the foolish) virgins, saying, Lord, open 
 to us; but he answered and said, Depart, I 
 know you not." Depart, lazy professors, sloth- 
 ful professors. Oh, methinks the word of God 
 is so plain for the overthrow of your lazy pro- 
 fessors that it is to be wondered men do take 
 no more notice of it. How was Lot's wife 
 served for running lazily and for giving but 
 one look behind her after the things she left 
 in Sodom ? How was Esau served for staying 
 too long before he came for the blessing? And 
 how were they served that are mentioned in 
 the 13th of Luke, for staying till "the door 
 was shut?" Also the foolish virgins ; a heavy 
 after-groan will they give that have thus stayed 
 too long. It turned Lot's wife into a pillar of 
 salt; it made Esau weep with an exceeding 
 loud and bitter cry ; it made Judas hang him- 
 self; yea, and it will make thee curse the day 
 in which thou wast born if thou miss of the 
 kingdom, as thou wilt certainly do if this be 
 thy course. But, 
 
 The Eighth Use. 
 Again. How and if thou by thy lazy run- 
 ning should not only destroy thyself, but also 
 thereby be the cause of the damnation of some 
 others? For thou being a professor, thou must 
 think that others will take notice of thee ; but 
 because thou art but a poor, cold, lazy runner, 
 and one that seeks to drive the world and 
 pleasure alor g with thee, why, thereby others 
 will think of doing so too. Nay, say they, 
 why may not we as well as he ? He is a pro- 
 fessor, and yet he seeks for pleasures, riches, 
 profits ; he loveth vain company, and he is so 
 and so, and pro£»sseth that he is going for 
 
 heaven ; yea, and he saith also he doth i.ot fear 
 but he shall have entertainment; let us there- 
 fore keep pace with him; we shall fare no 
 worse than he. Oh how fearful a thing will it 
 be if that thou shalt be instrumental to the 
 ruin of others by thy halting in the way of 
 righteousness! Look to it; thou wilt have 
 strength little enough to appear before God to 
 give ah account of the loss of thy own soul; 
 thou needest not have to give an account for 
 others why thou didst stop them from entering 
 in. How wilt thou answer that saying, You 
 would not enter in yourselves, and them that 
 would, you hinder ; for that saying is eminently 
 fulfilled on them that through their own idle- 
 ness do keep themselves out of heaven, and 
 by giving of others the same examples hinder 
 them also. 
 
 The Ninth Use. 
 Therefore, now to speak a word to both of 
 you, and so I shall conclude. 
 
 1. I beseech you in the name of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ that none of you do run so lazily 
 in the way to heaven as to hinder either your- 
 selves or others. I know that even he which 
 runs laziest, if he should see a man running 
 for a temporal life, if he should so much ne- 
 glect his own well-being in this world as to 
 venture, when he is a-running for his life, to 
 pick up here and there a lock of wool that 
 hangeth by the wayside, or to step now and 
 then aside out of the way for to gather up a 
 straw or two or any rotten stick — I say, if he 
 should do this when he is a-running for his 
 life, thou wouldst condemn him ; and dost thou 
 not condemn thyself that dost the very same 
 efiect, nay worse — that loiterest in thy race, 
 notwithstanding thy soul, heaven, glory, and 
 all is at stak^? Have a care, have a care; 
 poor, wretched sinner, have a care. 
 
 2. If yet there shall be any that, notwith- 
 standing this advice, will still be flagging and 
 loitering in the way to the kingdom of glory, 
 be thou so wise as not to take example by 
 them. Learn of no man farther than he fol- 
 loweth Christ. But look unto Jesus, who is 
 not only the author and finisher of faith, but 
 who did, for the joy that was set before him, 
 endure the cross, despise the shame, and is 
 now set down at the right hand of God ; I say, 
 look to 'no man to learn of him farther than 
 he foUoweth Christ. "Be ye followers of me," 
 saith Paul, " even as I am of Christ.'' Though 
 he was an eminent man, yet his exhortation 
 was that none should follow him any farthei 
 than he followed Christ. 
 
768 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Provocation. 
 Now, that you may be provoked to run with 
 the foremost, take notice of this. When Lot 
 and his wife were running from cursed Sodom 
 to the mountains to save their lives, it is said 
 that his wife looked back from behind him, 
 and she became a pillar of salt ; and yet you 
 see thai neither her practice, nor the judgment 
 of God that fell upon her for the same, would 
 cause Lot to look behind him. I have some- 
 times wondered at Lot in this particular ; his 
 wife looked behind her and died immediately, 
 but let what would become of her, Lot would 
 not so much as look behind him to see her. 
 We do not read that he did so much as once 
 look where she was or what was become of 
 hei-; his heart was indeed upon his journey, 
 and well it might: there was tke mountain 
 before him and the fire and brimstone behind 
 him; his life lay at stake, and he had lost it 
 if he had but looked behind him. Do thou so 
 run ; and in thy race remember Lot's wife and 
 remember her doom, and remember for what 
 that doom did overtake her, and remember that 
 God made her an example for all lazy runners 
 to the end of the world ; and take heed thou 
 fall not after the same example. But — 
 
 If this will not provoke thee, consider thus: 
 1. Thy soul is thy own soul that is either to be 
 saved or lost ; thou shalt not lose my soul by 
 thy laziness. It is thy own soul, tby own ease, 
 thy own peace, thy own advantage or disad- 
 vantage. If it were my own that thou art de- 
 sired to be good unto, methinks reason should 
 move thee somewhat to pity it. But, alas I it 
 is ,thy own, thy own soul. "What shall it 
 profit a man if he shall gain the whole world 
 and lose his own soul V God's people wish 
 well to the souls of others, and wilt not thou 
 wish well to thy own ? And if this will not 
 provoke thee, then think- 
 Again, 2. If thou lose thy soul, it is thou 
 also that must bear the blame. It made Cain 
 Btark mad to consider that he had not looked 
 to his brother Abel's soul. How much more 
 
 will it perplex thee to think that thou hadst 
 not a care of thy own! And if this will not 
 provoke thee to bestir thyself, think again — 
 
 8. That if thou, wilt not run, the people of 
 God are resolved to deal with thee even as Lot 
 dealt with his wife — that is, leave thee behind 
 them. It may be thou hast a father, mother, 
 brother, &c., going post-haste to heaven ; 
 wouldst thou be willing to be left behind 
 them ? Surely no. 
 
 Again, 4. Will it not be a dishonour to thee 
 to see the very boys and girls in the country 
 to have more wit than thyself? It may be the 
 servants of some men, as the horsekeeper, 
 ploughman, scullion, &c., are more looking 
 after heaven than their masters. I am apt to 
 think, sometimes, that more servants than mas- 
 ters, that more tenants than landlords, will in- 
 herit the kingdom of heaven. But is not this 
 a shame for them that are such ? I am per- 
 suaded you scorn that your servants should say 
 that they are wiser than you in the things of 
 the world, and yet I am bold to say that many 
 of them are wiser than you in the things of the 
 world to come, which are of greater concern- 
 ment. 
 
 Expostulation. 
 
 Well, then, sinner, what sayest thou? Where 
 is thy heart? Wilt thou run? Art thou re- 
 solved to strip, or art thou not? Think 
 quickly, man ; it is not dallying in this matter. 
 Confer not with flesh and blood ; look up to 
 heaven, and see how thou likest it; also to 
 >hell, (of which thou mayest understand some- 
 thing in my book, called "A Few Sighs from 
 Hell; or, The Groans of a Damned Soul," 
 which I wish thee to read seriously over,) and 
 accordingly devote thyself If thou dost not 
 know the way, inquire at the word of God ; if 
 thou wantest company, cry for God's Spirit ; 
 if thou wantest encouragement, entertain the 
 promises. But be sure thou begin betimes ; 
 get into the v/ay, run apace, ai d hold out to 
 the end, and the Lord give thee a prosperous 
 journey I Faeewell, 
 
SIGHS FROM HELL; 
 
 OR, 
 
 THE GEOANS OF A DAMNED SOUL: 
 
 DISCOVERING FROM LUKE IV. THE LAMENTABLE ESTATE OF THE DAMNED; J.ND MAT 
 FITLY SERVE AS A WARNING WORD TO SINNERS, BOTH OLD AND YOUNG, BY FAITH IN 
 JESUS CHRIST TO AVOID THE SAME PLACE OF TORMENT ; WITH A DISCOVEI Y OF THB 
 USEFULNESS OF THE SCRIPTURES AS OUR SAFE CONDUCT FOR AVOIDING THE TOR 
 MENTS OF HELL. • 
 
 THE AUTHOE TO THE EEADEK 
 
 Friend, because it is a dangerous thing to 
 be walking towards the place of darkness and 
 anguish, and again, because it is (notwith- 
 standing) the journey thkt most of the poor 
 souls in the world are taking, and that with 
 delight and gladiiess, as if there was the only- 
 happiness to be found, I have therefore thought 
 it my Juty, (being made sensible of the danger 
 that will befall those that fall therein,) for the 
 prevencing of thee, (0 thou poor man or wo- 
 man!) to tell thee, by opening this parable, 
 what sad success those souls have had and are 
 like to have that have been or shall be found 
 persevering therein. 
 
 We use to count him a friend that will fore- 
 warn his neighbour of the danger when he 
 knoweth thereof, and doth also see that the way 
 his ' neighbour is walking in doth lead right 
 thereto, especially when we think that our 
 neighbour may be either ignorant or careless 
 of his way. Why, friend, it may be, nay, 
 twentjr to one but thou hast been ever since 
 thou didst come into the world with thy back 
 towards heaven and thy face towards hell, and 
 thou, either through ignorance or carelessness, 
 . (which is as bad, if not worse,) hast been run- 
 ning full hastily that way ever since. Why, I 
 beseech thee, put a little stop to thy earnest 
 race, and take a view of what entertainment 
 thou art like to have if thou do indeed and in 
 truth persist in this thy course. Thy way 
 " leads down to death, and thy steps take hold 
 on hell." Prov. v. 5. It may be the path in- 
 
 deed is pleasant to the flesh, but the end there- 
 of will be bitter to thy soul. Hark I dost thou 
 not hear the bitter cries of them that are but 
 newly gone before, saying, "Let him dip the 
 tip' of his finger in water, and cool my tongue 
 that is so tormented in this flame?" Luke xiv. 
 Dost thou not hear them say. Send out from 
 the dead to prevent my father, my brother, 
 and my father's house from coming into this 
 place of torment ? Shall nqt then these mourn- 
 ful groans pierce thy flinty heart? Wilt thou 
 stop thine ears and shut thy eye? And wilt 
 thou not regard ? Take warning and stop thy 
 journey before it be too late. Wilt thou be 
 like the silly fly, that is not quiet unless she be 
 either entangled in the spider's web or burned 
 in the candle ? Wilt thou be like the bird that 
 hasteth to the snare of the fowler? Wilt thon 
 be like that simple one named in the 7th of 
 Proverbs, that will be drawn to the slaughter 
 by the cord of a silly lust? sinner, sinner ! 
 there are better things than hell to be had, and 
 at a cheaper rate by the thousandth part I Oh 
 (there is no comparison) there is heaven, 
 there is God, there is Christ, there is commu- 
 nion with an innumerable company of saints 
 and angels. Hear the message, then, that God 
 doth send, that Christ doth send, that saints 
 do bring, nay, that the dead do send unto 
 thee : " I pray thee therefore that thou wouldst 
 send him to my father's house ; if one went to 
 them from the dead they would repent." 
 " How long, ye simple ones, will ye love sim- 
 
 759 
 
760 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 plicity? Aud ye, scorners, delight in scorn- 
 ing? And ye, fools, liate knowledge? Turn 
 ye at my reproof, and behold, saith God, I will 
 pour out my Spirit upon you ; I will make 
 known my words unto you." I say, hear this 
 voice, silly one, and turn and live, thou sin- 
 ful soul, lest he make thee hear that other 
 saying : " But because I have called aivi you 
 have refused, I have stretched out my hand 
 and no man regarded, I also will laugh at 
 your calamity, and mock when your fear 
 Cometh." 
 
 poor soul, if God and Christ did wish thee 
 for thine harm, it would be another matter ; 
 then if thou didst refuse, thou mightest have 
 some excuse to make or fault to find and ground 
 to make delays. But this is for thy profit, for 
 thy advantage, for the pardoning of thy sins, 
 the salvation of thy soul, the delivering thee 
 from hell-fire, from the wrath to come, from 
 everlasting burnings, into favour with God, 
 Christ, and communion with all happiness, 
 {that is so indeed.) 
 
 But it may be thou wilt say. All that hath 
 been spoken to in this discourse is but a par- 
 able, and parables are no realities. 
 
 1 could put thee off with this answer. That 
 though it be a parable, yet> it is a truth and 
 not a lie ; and thou shalt find it so too, to thy 
 cost, if thou shalt be found a slighter of God, 
 Christ, and the salvation of thy own soul. 
 
 But secondly, know for certain that the 
 things signified by parables are wonderful 
 realities. Oh what a glorious reality was there 
 signified by that parable, "The kingdom of 
 heaven is like to a net that is cast into the 
 sea !" &c., signifying that sinners of all sorts, 
 of all nations, should be brought into God's 
 kingdom by the net of the Gospel. And oh 
 how real a thing shall the other part thereof 
 be, when it is fulfilled, which saith, "And 
 when it was full they drew it to the shore, and 
 put the good into vessels, but threw the bad 
 awayl" (Matt. xiii. 47, 48,) signifying the 
 mansions of glory that the saints should have, 
 and also the rejection that God will give to the 
 ungodly and to sinnq 3. And also that par- 
 
 able — what a glorious reality is there in it I— 
 which saith, " Except a corn of wheat fall to 
 the ground and die, it abideth alone ; but if it 
 die, it doth bring forth much fruit," (John xii. 
 ■24,) to signify that unless Jesus Christ did in- 
 deed spill his blood and die the cursed death, 
 he should abide alone — that is, have never a 
 soul into glory with him ; but if he died, he 
 should bring forth much fruit — that is, save 
 many sinners. And also how real a truth 
 there was" in that parable concerning the Jews 
 putting Christ to death, which the poor dis- 
 persed Jews can best experience to their cost ; 
 for they have been almost ever since a banish- 
 ed people, and such as have God's sore dis- 
 pleasure wonderfully manifested against them, 
 according to the truth of the parable. Matt, 
 xxi. 33--il. Oh therefore, for Jesus Christ's 
 sake, do not slight the truth because it is dis- 
 covered in a parable ! For by this argument 
 thou mayest also — nay, thou wilt also — slight 
 almost all the things that our Lord Jesua 
 Christ did speak, for he spake to them for the 
 most part (if not all) in parables. Why should 
 it be said of thee as it is said of some, "These 
 things are spoken to them that are without in 
 parables, that seeing they might not see, and 
 that hearing they might not understand?" 
 Luke viii. 10. I say, take heed of being a 
 quarreller against Christ's parables, lest Christ 
 also object against the salvation of thy soul at 
 the judgment-day. 
 
 Friend, I have no more to say to thee now. 
 If thou dost love me, pray for me, that my 
 God would not forsake me nor take his Holy 
 Spirit from me, and that God would fit me to 
 do and suffer what shall be from the world or 
 devil inflicted upon me. I must tell thee, the 
 world rages, they stamp and shake their heads, 
 and fain they would be doing ; the Lord help 
 me to take all they shall do with patience, and 
 when they smite the one cheek to turn the 
 other to them, that I may do as Christ hath 
 bidden me, for then the Spirit of God and of 
 glory shall rest upon me. Farewell. 
 
 I am thine to serve in the Lord Jesus. 
 JOHN BUNYAN, 
 
SIGHS FKOM HELL; 
 
 OR, 
 
 THE GKOANS OF A DAMNED SOUL. 
 
 LUKE XVI. 19-31. 
 
 Ver. 19. There was a certain rich mg/n, which 
 
 was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared 
 
 sumptuously every day. 
 
 This Scripture was not spoken by our Lord 
 Jesus Christ to show you the state of two 
 single persona only, (as some through igno- 
 rance of the drift of Christ in his parables do 
 dream,) but to show you the state of the godly 
 and ungodly to the world's end, as is clear to 
 him that is of an understanding heart; for he 
 spake them to the end that after generations 
 should take notice thereof, and fear lest they 
 also fall into the same condition. 
 
 Now in my discourse upon these words I 
 shall not be tedious, but as briefly as I may I 
 shall pass through the several verses, and lay 
 you down some of the several truths contained 
 therein ; and the Lord grant that they may be 
 profitable and of great advantage to those that 
 read them or hear them read ! 
 
 The 19th and 20th verses also I shall not 
 spend much time upon, only give you three or 
 four short hints, and so pass to the next verses, 
 for they are the words I do intend most especi- 
 ally to insist upon. 
 
 The 19th, 20th, and 21st verses run thus: 
 "There was a certain rich man which was 
 clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared 
 (deliciously, or) sumptuously every day. And 
 there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, 
 which was laid at his gate full of sores," &c. 
 
 1. If these verses had been spoken by Jesus 
 Christ, and no more, all the' world would have 
 gone near to have cast a wrong interpretation 
 upon them ; I saiy, if Jesus had said only this 
 much, " There was a certain rich man which 
 fared sumptuously daily, and a certain beggar 
 laid at his gate full of sores," the world would 
 have made this conclusion of them: The rich 
 
 man was the happy man, for at the first view 
 it doth represent such a thing; but take all 
 together — that is, read the whole parable — and 
 you shall find that there is no man in a worse 
 condition than he, as I shall clearly hold forth 
 afterwards. 
 
 2. Again, if a man would judge of men ac- 
 cording to outward appearance he shall ofttimes 
 take his mark amiss. Here is a man to out- 
 ward appearance appears the only blessed man, 
 better by half than the beggar, inasmuch as 
 he is rich, the beggar poor ; he is well clothed, 
 but peradventure the beggar is naked ; he hath 
 good food, but the beggar would be glad of 
 dogs' meat. " And he desired to be fed with 
 the crumbs which fell from the rich man's 
 table;" the rich ma,n fares well every day, but 
 the beggar must be glad of a bit when he can 
 get it. Oh who would not be in a rich man's 
 state ? A wealthy man, sorts of new suits, and 
 dainty dishes every day ; enough to make one 
 who minds nothing but his belly, and his back, 
 and his lusts to say, Oh that I were in that 
 man's condition ! Oh that I had about me as 
 that man has ! Then I should live a life in- 
 deed; then should I have heart's-ease good 
 store ; then I should live pleasantly, and might 
 say to my soul, " Soul, be of good cheer, eat, 
 drink, and be merry;" thou hast everythitg 
 plenty, and art in a most blessed condition. 
 
 I say, this might be the conclusion with 
 them that judge according to outward appear- 
 ance. But if the whole parable be well con- 
 sidered, you will see that which is had in high 
 estimation with men is an abomination in the 
 sight of God. And again, that condition that 
 is the saddest condition, according to outward 
 appearance, is ofttimes the most excellent, for 
 the beggar had ten thousand degrees the best 
 
 761 
 
762 
 
 BVNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 of it, thougli to outward appearance his state 
 was the saddest ; from whence we shall observe 
 thus much : 
 
 1. That those who judge according to out- 
 ward appearance do for the most .part judge 
 amiss. 
 
 2. That they that look upon their outward 
 enjoyments to be tokens of God's special grace 
 unto them are also deceived ; for, as it is here 
 in the parable, a man of wealth and a child of 
 the devil may make but one person ; or a man 
 may have abundance of outward enjoyments 
 and yet be carried by the devils into eternal 
 burning. But this is the trap in which the 
 devil hath caught many thousands of poor 
 souls — namely, by getting them to judge ac- 
 cording to outward appearance or according to 
 God's outward blessings. 
 
 Do but ask a poor, carnal, covetous wretch 
 how he should know a man to be in a happy 
 state, and he will answer. Those that God 
 blesseth and giveth abundance of this world 
 unto, when, for the most part, they are they 
 that are the cursed men. Alas, poor men ! 
 they are so ignorant as to think that because a 
 man is increased in outward things, and that 
 by a small stock, therefore God doth love that 
 man with a, special love, or else he would never 
 do so much far him, never bless him so, and 
 prosper the work of his hands. Ah, poor 
 soul 1 it is the rich man that goes to hell. And 
 the rich man died, and in hell — mark, in hell 
 — he lift up his eyes, &c. 
 
 Methinks to see how the great ones of the 
 world will go strutting up and down the street 
 sometimes, it makes me wonder. Surely they 
 look upon themselves to be the only happy 
 men, but it is because they judge according to 
 outward appearance; they look upon them- 
 selves to be the only blessed men, when the 
 Lord knows the generality are left out of that 
 blessed condition. " Not many wise men after 
 the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble 
 are called." Ah ! did those that do now so 
 brag that nobody dare scarce look on them 
 but believe this, it would make them hang 
 down their heads and cry, Oh give me a Laz- 
 arus's portion I 
 
 I might here enlarge very much, but I shall 
 not ; only thus much I shall say to you that 
 have much of this world : Have aT care that 
 you have not your portion in this world. 
 Take heed that it be not said to you hereafter, 
 when you would very willingly have heaven, 
 Eemember in your lifetime you had your good 
 things, in your lifetime you had your portion. 
 
 And, friend, thou that seekest after this 
 world and desirest riches, let me ask this ques 
 tion : Wouldst thou be content that God should 
 put thee off with a portion in this life? 
 Wouldst thou be glad to be kept out of heaven 
 with a back well clothed and a belly well filled 
 with the dainties of this world ? Wouldst thou 
 be glad to have all thy good things in thy life- 
 time, to have thy heaven to last no longer than 
 while thou dost live in this world? Wouldst 
 thou be willing to be deprived of eternal hap- 
 piness and felicity? If thou say no, then 
 have a care of the world and thy sins ; have a 
 care of desiring to be a rich man, " lest thy 
 table be made a snare unto thee," lest the 
 wealth of this world do bar thee out of glory. 
 For, as the apostle saith, " They that will be 
 rich do fall into temptation and a snare, and 
 into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which 
 drown men in perdition and destruction." 
 Thus much in general, but now particularly. 
 
 These two men here spoken of, as I said, dn 
 hold forth to us the state of the godly and un- 
 godly ; the beggar holdeth forth the godly, and 
 the rich man the ungodly. " There was a cer- 
 tain rich mail," &c. 
 
 But why are the ungodly held forth under 
 the notion of a rich man ? 
 
 1. Because Christ would not have them 
 look too high, as I said before, but th'at those 
 who have riches would have a care that they 
 be not all their portion. 
 
 2. Because rich men are most liable to the 
 devil's temptations, are most ready to be puffed 
 up with pride, stoutness, cares of this world, in 
 which things they spend most of their time — 
 in lusts, drunkenness, wantonness, idleness, to- 
 gether with other works of the flesh : " For 
 which things' sake the wrath of God cometh 
 upon the children of disobedience." 
 
 3. Because he would comf«rt the hearts of 
 his own, which are most commonly of the 
 poorer sort, but God hath chosen the poor, 
 despised, and base things of this world. 
 Should God have set the rich man in the 
 blessed state, his children would have con- 
 cluded, being poor, that they had no share iv 
 the life to come. 
 
 And again, had not God given such a dis 
 covery of the sad condition of those that are 
 for the most part rich men, we should have 
 had men conclude absolutely that the rich are 
 the blessed men. Nay, albeit the Lord him- 
 self doth so evidently declare that the rich 
 ones of the world are for the most part m the 
 saddest condition, yet they through unbelief, 
 
SIGHS FROM HELL. 
 
 763 
 
 or else presumptiou, do harden themselves 
 and seek for the glory of this world, as though 
 the Lord Jesus Christ did not mean as he said, 
 or else that he will say more than will assur- 
 edly come to pass ; but let them know that 
 the Lord hath a time to fulfil what he had a 
 tiuie to declare, for the Scripture cannot be 
 broken. 
 
 But again, the Lord by his word doth not 
 mean those are ungodly who are rich in the 
 world, and no other ; for then must all those 
 that are poor yet graceless and vain men be 
 saved and delivered from eternal vengeance; 
 which would be contrary to the word of God, 
 which saith that, together with the kings of 
 the earth, and the great men, and the chief 
 captains, and the mighty men, there are bond- 
 men or servants and slaves that cry (Hiit at the 
 appearance of the Almighty God and his Son 
 Jesus Christ to judgment. 
 
 So that, though Christ doth say, " there 
 wag a certain rich man," yet you must under- 
 stand he meaneth all the ungodly, rich or 
 poor. Nay, if you will not understand it so 
 now, you shall be made to understand it to be 
 60 meant at the day of Christ's second coming, 
 when all that are ungodly shall stand at the 
 left hand of Christ, with pale faces and guilty 
 consciences, with the vials of the Almighty's 
 wrath ready to be poured out upon them. 
 Thus much, in brief, touching the 19tli verse. 
 I might have observed other things from it, 
 but now I forbear, having other things to 
 speak of at this time. 
 
 Ver. 20. And there was a certain beggar named 
 
 Lazarus, which was laid at his gate full of 
 
 sores. 
 
 This verse doth chiefly hold forth these 
 things: 1. That the saints of God are a poor, 
 contemptible people : " There was a certain 
 beggar." If you understand the word beggar 
 to hold forth outward poverty or scarcity in 
 outward things, such are saints of the Lord ; 
 foi they are, for the most part, a poor, des- 
 pised, contemptible people. But if you alle- 
 gorize it and interpret it thus — they are such 
 as beg earnestly for heavenly food — this is 
 also the spirit of the children of God, and it 
 may be as truth in this sense, though not so 
 naturally gathered from this Scripture. 
 
 2. "That he was laid at his gate full of 
 sores." These words hold forth the distempers 
 of believers, saying, "he was full of sores;" 
 which may signify the many troubles, tempta- 
 tions, persecutions, and afflictions in body 
 
 and spirit which they meet withal while they 
 are in the world, and also the entertainment 
 they meet with at the hands of those ungodly 
 ones who live upon the ^earth. Whereas it is 
 said, " He was laid at his gate full of sores," 
 mark, he was laid at his gate, not in his 
 house; that was thought too good for him, 
 but he was laid at his gate full of sores. From 
 whence observe that the ungodly world do not 
 desire to entertain and receive the poor sainta 
 of God into their houses. If they must needs 
 be somewhere near unto them, yet they shall 
 not come into their houses, but shut them out 
 of doors; if they will needs be near us, let them 
 be at the gate. " And he was laid at his gate 
 full of sores." 2. Observe, the world are not 
 at all touched with the afHietions of God's 
 children, for all they are full of sores : a de- 
 spised, afflicted, tempted, persecuted people 
 the world doth not pity, no, but rather labour 
 to aggravate their trouble by shutting them 
 out of doors ; sink or swim, what cares the 
 world? They are resolved to disown them; 
 they will give them no entertainment ; if the 
 lying in the streets will do them any good, if 
 hard usage will do them any good, if to be 
 disowned, rejected, and shut out of doors by 
 the world will do them any good, they shall 
 have enough of that, but otherwise no refresh- 
 ment, no comfort from the world. " And he 
 was laid at his gate full of sores." 
 
 Ver. 21. And desiring to be fed with the crumbs 
 which fell from the rich man's table. More- 
 over, the dogs came and licked his sores. 
 By these words our Lord Jesus doth show 
 us the frame of a Christian's heart, and also 
 the heart and carriage of worldly men towards 
 the saints of the Lord. The Christian's heart 
 is held forth by this, that any thing will con- 
 tent him while he is on this side glory. " And 
 he desired to be fed with the crumbs,'' the 
 dogs' meat, any thing. I say, a Christian 
 will be content with any thing; if he have 
 but to keep life and soul together (as we use 
 to say) he is content, he is satisfied; he hath 
 learned (if he hath learned to be a Christian) 
 to be content with any thing ; as Paul saith, 
 " I have learned in whatsoever state I am, there- 
 with to be content." He learns in all conditions 
 to study to love God, to walk with God, to 
 give up himself to God; and if the crumbs 
 that fall from the rich man's table will but 
 satisfy nature and give him bodily strength, 
 that thereby he may be the more able to walk 
 in the way of God, he is contented." " And 
 
764 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 he desired to be fed with the crumbs which 
 fell from the rich man's table.'' But mark, 
 he had them not; you do not find that he had 
 so much as a crumb or a scrap allowed unto 
 him. No, then the dogs will be beguiled; 
 that must be preserved for the dogs. From 
 whence observe that the ungodly world do 
 love their dogs better than the children of 
 God. You will say, That is strange. It is 
 BO indeed, yet it is true, as will be clearly 
 manifested. As for instance: how many 
 pounds do some men spend on their dogs 
 when in the mean while the poor saints of 
 God may starve for hunger ! They will build 
 houses for their dogs, when the saints must be 
 glad to wander and lodge in dens- and caves 
 of the earth. And if they be in any of their 
 houses for the hire thereof, they will warn 
 them out or eject them, or pull down the 
 houses over their heads, rather than not rid 
 themselves of such tenants. Again, some 
 men cannot go half a mile from home but 
 they must have dogs at their heels, but they 
 can very willingly' go half a score miles 
 without the society of a Christian. Nay, if 
 when they are busy with their dogs they 
 should chance to meet a Christian, they would 
 willingly shift him if they could. They will 
 go on the other side the hedge or the way, 
 rather than they will have any society with 
 him. And if at any time a child of God 
 should come into a house where there are but 
 two or three ungodly wretches, they do com- 
 monly wish either themselves or the saint out 
 of doors; and why so? Because they cannot 
 down with the society of a Christian ; though 
 if there come in at the same time a dog, or a 
 drunken, swearing wretch, (which is worse 
 than a dog,) they will make him welcome; he 
 Bhall sit down with them and partake of their 
 dainties. And now tell me, you that love your 
 sins and your pleasures, had you not rather 
 keep company with a drunkard, a swearer, a 
 strumpet, a thief, nay, a dog, than with an 
 honest-hearted Christian? If you say no, 
 what means your sour carriage to the people 
 of God? Why do you look on them as if you 
 would eat them up? Yet at the very same 
 time if you can but meet your dog or a 
 drunken companion you can fawn upon them, 
 , take acquaintance with them, to the tavern or 
 alehouse with them, if it be two or three-times 
 in a week. But if the saints of God meet to- 
 gether', pray together, and labour to edify one 
 another, you will stay till doomsday before 
 you will look into the house where they are. 
 
 Ah, friends 1 when all comes to all, you will 
 be found to love drunkards, strumpets, dogs, 
 any thing, nay, to serve the devil, rather than 
 to have loving and friendly society with the 
 saints of God. 
 
 "Moreover, the dogs came and licked his 
 sores." Here again you may see not only the 
 afflicted state of saints of God in this world, 
 but also that even dogs themselves, according 
 to their kind, are more favourable to the saints 
 than the sinful world; though the ungodly 
 will have no mercy on the saints, yet it ia 
 ordered so that these creatures, dogs, lions, 
 &c., will. Though the rich man would not 
 entertain him in his house, yet his dogs will 
 come and do him the best good they can, even 
 to lick his running sores. It was thus with 
 Daniel; when the world was mad against him, 
 and would have thrown him to the lions to be 
 devoured, the lions shut their mouths at him, 
 (or rather the Lord did shut them up,) so that 
 there was not that hurt befell him as was de- 
 sired by the adversaries. And of this I am , 
 persuaded, that would the creatures do as some 
 men would have them, the saints of God should 
 not walk so quietly up and down the streets 
 and other places as they do. And as I said 
 before, so I say again, I am persuaded that at 
 the day of judgment many men's conditions 
 and carriages will be so laid open that it will 
 evidently appear they have been very merci- 
 less and mad against the children of God ; in- 
 somuch that when the providence of God did 
 fall out so as to cross their expectation they 
 have been very much' offended thereat, as is 
 very evidently seen in them who set them- 
 selves to study how to bring the saints into 
 bondage and to thrust them into corners, as in 
 these late years. And because God hath in 
 his goodness ordered things otherwise, they 
 have gnashed their teeth thereat. Hence then 
 let the saints learn not to commit themselves 
 to their enemies. Beware of men. They are 
 very merciless men, and will not so much 
 favour you (if they can help it) as you may 
 suppose they may. Nay, unless the over- 
 ruling hand of God in goodness do order 
 things contrary to their natural inclination, 
 they will not favour you so much as a dog. 
 
 Ver. 22, And it came to pass that the beggar 
 died, and was carried by the angels into Abra- 
 ham's bosom ; the rich man ako died, and woi 
 buried. 
 The former verses do briefly hold forth the 
 
 carriage of the ungodly in this life towaids thp 
 
SIGHS FROM HELL. 
 
 7tJ5 
 
 laints. Now this verse doth hold forth the de- 
 parture hoth of the godly and ungodly out of 
 this life. 
 
 Where he said, " And it came to pass that 
 the beggar died, and was carried into Abra- 
 ham's bosom; and the rich man died also." 
 This beggar died — ^that represents the godly; 
 and the rich man died — that represents the 
 ung jdly. From whence observe, neither godly 
 nor ungodly must live always without a change 
 either by death or judgment. The good man 
 died and the bad man died. The Scripture 
 doth also back this truth, that good and bad 
 must die, marvellous well, where it is said, 
 " And it is appointed unto all men once to die, 
 and after that the judgment." 
 
 Mark, he doth not say it is so that men by 
 chance may die, which might b^et in the 
 hearts of the ungodly especially some hope to 
 escape the bitterness of it; but he saith, It is 
 a thing most certain, it is appointed. Mark, 
 "It is appointed unto all men once to die, 
 and after that the judginent." God hath de- 
 creed it that since men have fallen from that 
 happy state that God at the first did set them 
 in, "they shall die.'' Now when it is said 
 the beggar died and the rich man died, part 
 of the meaning is, they ceased to be any more 
 in this world; I say, partly the meaning is, 
 but not altogether. Though it be altogether 
 the meaning when some of the creatures 
 die, and yet it is but in part the meaning 
 when it is said that men, women or chil- 
 dren die ; for there is to them something else 
 to be said, more than a barely going out of the 
 world. For if when unregenerate men and 
 women die there were an end of them, not only 
 in this world, but also in the world to come, 
 they would be happier than they will be now ; 
 for when ungodly men and women die there is 
 that to come after death that will be very ter- 
 rible to them — namely, to be carried by the 
 angels of darkness from their deathbeds to hell, 
 there to be reserved to the judgment of the 
 great day, when both body and soul shall meet 
 and be united together again, and made capa- 
 ble to undergo the utmost vengeance of the 
 Almighty to all eternity. That is that, I say, 
 which doth follow a man (that is not born 
 again) after death, as it is clear from that in 1 
 Pet. iii. 18, 19, where, before speaking of Christ 
 being raised again by the power of his eternal 
 Spirit, he saith, " By which (that is, by that 
 Spirit) he went and preached to the spirits in 
 prison." But what is the meaning of this? 
 Why, thus much, that those souls who were 
 
 once alive in the world in the time or days in 
 which Noah lived, being disobedient in their 
 times to the calls of God by his Spirit in Noah 
 — for so I understand it— was, according to that 
 which was foretold by that preacher, deprived 
 of life and overcome by the flood, and are now 
 in prison. Mark, he preached to the spirits in 
 prison. He doth not say who were in prison 
 under chains of darkness, reserved or kept 
 there in that prison in which now they are, 
 (ready, like villains in the jail, to be brought 
 before the judgment-seat of Christ at the great 
 day.) But of this I shall speak further by and 
 by. Now if this one truth, that men must die 
 and depart this world, and either enter into joy 
 or else into prison to be reserved to the day of 
 judgment, were believed, we should not have 
 so many wantons walk up and down the streets 
 as there do ; at least it would put a mighty 
 check to their filthy carriage, so that they 
 would not, could not, walk so basely and sin- 
 fully as they do. Belshazzar, notwithstanding 
 that he was so far from the fear of God as he 
 was, yet when he did but see God was offended 
 and threatened him for his wickedness, it made 
 him hang down his head and knock his knees 
 together. Dan. v. 5, 6. If you read the verses 
 before you will find he was careless, and satis- 
 fying his lusts in drinking, and playing the 
 wanton with his concubines ; but so soon as 
 he did perceive the finger of an hand writing, 
 "then (saith the Scripture) the king's coun- 
 tenance was changed and his thoughts troubled 
 him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed 
 and his knees smote one against another." 
 And when Paul told Felix of righteousness, 
 temperance, and judgment to come, it made 
 hira tremble. And let me tell thee, soul, who- 
 ever thou art, that if thou didst but verily be- 
 lieve that thou must die and come to judgment, 
 it would make thee turn over a new leaf. But 
 this is the misery : the devil doth labour by 
 all means as to keep out other things that are 
 good, so to keep out of the heart, as much as 
 in him lies, the thoughts of passing from this 
 life into another world ; for he knows if he can 
 but keep them from the serious thoughts of 
 death he shall the more easily keep them in 
 their sins, and so from closing with Jesus 
 Christ ; as Job saith, " Their houses are safe 
 from fear, neither is the rod of God upon 
 them." Which makes them say to God, " De- 
 part from us, for we desire not the knowledge 
 of thy ways." Because there is no fear of death 
 and judgment to come, therefore they do put 
 off God and his ways, and spend their days in 
 
766 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 their sins, and in a moment — that is, before 
 they are aware — go down to tlieir grave. And 
 thus it fared also with the man spolren of in 
 Luke xii. 20. The man, instead of thinking 
 on death, he thought how he might make his 
 barns bigger; but in the midst of his business 
 in the world he lost his soul before he was 
 aware, supposing that death had- been many 
 years off; but God said unto him. Thou fool! 
 thou troublest thyself about things of this life ; 
 thou puttest oif the thoughts of departing this 
 world, when this night thy soul shall be taken 
 from thee; or. This night, they — that is, the 
 devils — will fetch away thy soul from thee. 
 And here it comes to pass, men not being ex- 
 ercised with the thoughts of departing this 
 life, that they are so unexpectedly to them- 
 selves and their neighbours taken away from 
 the pleasures and profits, yea, and all the en- 
 joyments they busy themselves withal while 
 they live in this world. And hence it is again 
 that you have some in your towns and cities 
 that are so suddenly taken away — some from 
 haunting the alehouses, others from haunting 
 the whorehouses, others from playing and 
 gaming, others from the cares and covetous 
 desires after this world, unlocked for as by 
 themselves or their companions. Hence it is 
 also that men do so wonder at such tidings as 
 these — that there is such a one dead, such a 
 one departed ; it is because they do so little 
 consider both the transitoriness of themselves 
 and their neighbours ; for had they but their 
 thoughts well exercised about the shortness of 
 this life, and the danger that will befall such 
 as do miss of the Lord Jesus Christ, it would 
 make them more wary and sober, and spend 
 more time in the service of God, and be more 
 delighted and diligent in inquiring after the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, "who is the deliverer from 
 the wrath to come." For, as I said before, it 
 is evident that they who live after the flesh, in 
 the lusts thereof, do not really and seriously 
 think on death and the judgment that doth 
 follow after; neither do they indeed endeavour 
 so to do ; for did they it would make them say 
 with the holy Job, " All the days of my ap- 
 pointed time will I wait till my change come." 
 And, as I said before, not only the wicked, 
 but also the godly, have their time to depart 
 this life. And the beggar died. The saints 
 of the Lord, they must be deprived of this life 
 also; they must yield up the ghost into the 
 hands of the Lord their God ; they must also 
 be separated from their wives, children, hus- 
 bands friends, gcods, and all that they have 
 
 in the world. For God hath decreed it ; it is 
 appointed, namely, by the Lord, "for men 
 once to die, and we must appear before the 
 judgment-seat of Christ." But it may be ob- 
 jected, If the godly die as well as the wicked, 
 and if the saints must appear before the judg- 
 ment-seat as well as the sinners, then what 
 advantage have the godly more than the un- 
 godly? And how can the saints be in a better 
 condition than the wicked? 
 
 Answer. Eead the 22d verse over again, and 
 you will find a marvellous difference between 
 them, as much as is between heaven and hell, 
 everlasting joy and everlasting torments ; for 
 you find that when the beggar died, who repre- 
 sents the godly, he was carried by the angels 
 into Abraham's bosom, or into everlasting joy. 
 Ps. i. But the ungodly are not so, but are 
 hurried by the devils into the bottomless pit, 
 drawn away in their wickedness, (Prov. iv. 32,) 
 for he saith, " And in hell he lift up his eyes." 
 When the ungodly do die their misery begin- 
 neth, for then appear the devils, like so many 
 lions, waiting every moment till the soul de- 
 part from the body. Sometimes they are vis- 
 ible to the dying party, but sometimes more 
 invisible; but always this is certain, they 
 never miss of the soul if it do die out of the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, but do haul it away to the 
 prison, as I said before, there to be tormented 
 and reserved until the great and dreadful day 
 of judgment, at which day they must, body 
 and soul, receive a final sentence from the 
 righteous Judge, and from that time be shut 
 out from the presence of God into everlasting 
 woe and distress. But the godly, when the 
 time of their departure is at hand, then also 
 are the angels of the Lord at hand ; yea, they 
 are ready waiting upon the soul to conduct it 
 safe into Abraham's bosom. I do not say but 
 the devils are ofttimes very busy, doubtless, 
 and attending the saints in their sickness ; ay, 
 and no question but they should willingly de- 
 prive the soul of glory. But here is the com' 
 fort — as the devils come from hell to devour the 
 soul (if it be possible) at its departure, so the 
 angels of the Lord come from heaven to watch 
 over and conduct the soul (in spite of the 
 devils) safe into Abraham's bosom. 
 
 David had the comfort of this, and speaks it 
 forth for the comfort of his brethren, saying, 
 "The angel of the Lord encampeth round 
 about them that fear him, and delivereth 
 them." Mark, the angel of the Lord encamp- 
 eth round about his children to deliver them, 
 From what? From their enemies, of which 
 
SIGHS FROM HELL. 
 
 767 
 
 the devil is not the least. This is an excellent 
 comfort at any time, to have the holy angels 
 of God to attend a poor man or woman, but es- 
 pecially it is comfortable in the time of dis- 
 tress, at the time of death, when the devils be- 
 set the soul with all the power that hell can 
 afford them. But now it may be that the 
 glorious angels of God do not appear at the 
 first to the view of the soul ; nay, rather, hell 
 stands before it, and the devils ready as if they 
 would carry it thither ; but this is the com- 
 fort—the angels do always appear at the last, 
 and will not fail the soul, but will carry i,t safe 
 into Abraham's bosom. Ah, friends ! consider, 
 here is an ungodly man upon his deathbed, 
 and he hath none to speak for him, none to 
 speak comfort unto him ; but it is not so with 
 the children of God, for they have yje Spirit 
 to comfort them. Here are the ungodly, and 
 they have no Christ to pray for their safe con- 
 duct to glory, but the saints have an interces- 
 sor. Job xvii. 9. Here is the world ; when 
 they die they have none of the angels of God 
 to attend upon them, but the saints have their 
 company. In a word, the unconverted person, 
 when he dies, he sinks into the bottomless pit ; 
 but the saints, when they die, do ascend with 
 and by the angels into Abraham's bosom, or 
 into unspeakable glory. 
 
 Again, it is said that the rich man when he 
 died was buried, or put into the earth, but 
 when the beggar died he was carried by the 
 angels into Abraham's bosom. The one in a 
 very excellent style : where he saith he was car- 
 ried by angels into Abraham's bosom, it de- 
 notes the excellent condition of the saints of 
 God, as I said before ; and not only so, " but 
 also the preciousness of the death of the saints 
 in the eyes of the Lord," that after generations 
 may see how precious in the sight of the Lord 
 the death of his saints is, when he saith they 
 are carried by the angels into Abraham's 
 bosom. 
 
 Thus many times the Lord adornfith the 
 death and departure of his saints, to hold forth 
 to after generations how excellent they are in 
 his eyes. It is said of Enoch that God took 
 him ; of Abraham, that he died in a good old 
 age ; of Moses, that the Lord buried him ; of 
 Elijah, that he was taken up into heaven ; that 
 the saints sleep in Jesus; that they die in the 
 Lord ; that they rest from their labours ; that 
 their works follow theta ; that they are under 
 the altar; that they are with Christ; that they 
 are in light; that they are to come with the 
 Lord Jesus to judge the world. All which 
 
 sayings signify thus much, that to die as a 
 saint is a very great honour and dignity. But 
 the ungodly are not so. The rich or ungodly 
 dies and is buried; he is carried from hia 
 dwelling to his grave, and there he is buried, 
 hid in the dust, and his body doth not so fast 
 moulder and come to naught there but his 
 name doth stink as fast in the world. Aa «ailh 
 the Holy Scripture, The name of the wicked 
 shall rot. And indeed the names of the godly 
 are not in so much honour after their depart- 
 ure but the wicked and, their names do as mtich 
 rot. What a dishonour to posterity was the 
 death of Balaam, Agag, Ahithophel, Haman, 
 Judas, Herod, with the rest of his compan- 
 ions I 
 
 Thus the wicked have their names written 
 on the earth, and they do perish and rot, and 
 the names of the saints cast forth a dainty sa- 
 vour to following generations; and that the 
 Lord Jesus doth signify where he saith, " The 
 godly are carried by the angels into Abraham's 
 bosom." And the wicked are nothing worth 
 where he saith, "The ungodly die and are 
 buried." 
 
 Ver. 23. And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in 
 torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and 
 Lazarus in his bosom. 
 
 The former verse speaks only of the depart- 
 ure of the ungodly out of this life, together 
 with the glorious conduct that the godly have 
 into the kingdom of their Father. Now, our 
 Lord doth show in this verse partly what doth 
 and shall befall to the reprobate after this life 
 is ended, where he saith, "And in hell he lift 
 up his eyes." That is, the ungodly after they 
 depart this life do lift up their eyes in hell. 
 From these words may be observed these 
 things : 
 
 1. Tliat there is an hell for souls to be tor- 
 mented in when this life is ended. Mark, after 
 he was dead and buried " in hell he lift up his 
 eyes." 
 
 2. That all that are ungodly and do live and 
 die in their sins, so soon as ever they die they 
 go into hell: he died and was buried, and 
 " in hell he lift up his eyes." 
 
 3. That some are so fast asleep and secure in 
 their sins that they scarce know well where 
 they are till they come into hell, and that I 
 gather from these words : " In hell he lift up 
 his eyes." He was asleep before, but hell 
 makes him lift up his eyes. 
 
 As I said before, it is evident that there is an 
 hell for souls, yea, and bodies too, to be tor 
 
768 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 mented in after they depart this life, as is 
 clear — first, because the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 that cannot lie, did say that after the sinner 
 was dead and buried " in hell he lift up his 
 eyes." 
 
 Now, if it be objected that by hell' is here 
 jieant the grave, that I plainly deny — 
 
 1. Because there the body is not sensible of 
 torment or ease ; but in that hell into which 
 the spirits of the damned depart they are sen- 
 sible of torment, and would very willingly be 
 free from it to enjoy ease, which they are sen- 
 sible of the want of, as is clearly discovered in 
 this parable : " Send Lazarus, that he may dip 
 the tip of his finger in water to cool m}' 
 tongue." 
 
 2. It is not meant the gr^ve, but some other 
 place ; because the bodies, so long as they lie 
 there, are not capable of lifting up their eyes 
 to see the glorious condition of the children of 
 God, as the souls of the damned do : " In hell 
 he lift up his eyes." 
 
 3. It cannot be the grave ; for then it must 
 follow that the soul was buried there with the 
 body, which cannot stand with such a dead 
 state as is here mentioned ; for he saith, " The 
 rich man died" — that is, his soul was separated 
 from his body — "and in hell he lift up his 
 eyes." 
 
 If it be again objected that there is no hell 
 but in this life, that I do also deny, as I said 
 before : After he was dead and buried " in hell 
 he lift up his eyes." And let me tell thee, O 
 soul, whoever thou art, and if thou close not 
 in savingly with the Lord Jesus Christ, and 
 lay hold on what he hath done and is doing in 
 his own person for sinners, thou wilt find such 
 an hell after this life is ended that thou wilt 
 not get out of again for ever and ever. And 
 thou that art wanton, and dost but make a 
 mock .at the servants of the Lord when they 
 tell thee of the torments of hell, thou wilt find 
 that when thou departest out of this life that 
 hell, even the hell which is after this life, will 
 meet thee in thy journey thither, and will, 
 with its hellish crew, give thee such a sad 
 salutation that thou wilt not forget it to all 
 eternity — when that Scripture comes to be ful- 
 filled on thy soul, in Isa. xiv. 9 : " Hell from 
 beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy 
 coming ; it stirreth up the dead' for thee, even 
 all the chief ones of the earth ; it hath raised 
 from their thrones all the kings of the nations. 
 All they " — that is, that are in hell — '' shall say, 
 Art thou become as weak as we? Art thou 
 > become like unto us ?" Oh, sometimes when 
 
 I have had but thoughts of going to hell, and 
 considered the everla.=tingness of their ruin 
 that fall in thither, it hath stirred me up rather 
 to seek to the Lord Jesus Christ to deliver me 
 from thence, than to slight it and make a mock 
 at it. 
 
 "And in hell he lift up his eyes." The 
 second thing I told .you was this : that all the 
 ungodly that live and die in their sins so soon 
 as ever they depart this life do descend into 
 hell. This is also verified by the words in this 
 parable, where Christ saith, "He died and was 
 buried, and in hell he lift up his eyes." "As 
 the tree falls, so it shall lie, whether it be to 
 heaven or hell." And as Christ said to the 
 thief on the cross, "This day shalt thou be 
 with me in paradise," even so the devil, in like 
 manner, may say unto the saul, To-morrow 
 shalt thou be with me in hell. See, then, what 
 a miserable case he that dies in an unregenerate 
 state is in ! He departs from a long sickness 
 to a longer hell, froru the gripings of death to 
 the everlasting torments of hell. "And in 
 hell he lift up his eyes." Ah, friends ! if you 
 were but yourselves, you would have a care of 
 your souls ; if you did but regard, you would 
 see how mad they are that slight the salvation 
 of their souls : " Oh what will it profit thy soul 
 to have pleasure in this life and torment in 
 hell?" Thou hadst better part with all thy 
 sins, and pleasures, and companions, or what- 
 soever thou delightest in, than to have soul 
 and body cast into hell. "Oh then do not 
 neglect our Lord Jesus Christ, lest thou drop 
 down to hell !" Consider, would it not wound 
 thee to thine heart to come upon thy deathbed, 
 and instead of having the comfort of a well- 
 spent life, and the merits of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, together with tihe comfort of his glori- 
 ous Spirit, to have, first, the sight of an ill- 
 spent life, thy sins fiying in thy face, thy con- 
 science uttering of itself with thunderclaps 
 against thee, the thoughts of God terrifying 
 of thee, death, with his merciless paw, seizing 
 upon thee, the devils standing ready to scramble 
 for thy soul, and hell enlarging herself and 
 ready to swallow thee up, and an eternity of 
 misery and torment attending upon thee, from 
 which there will be no release ? For, mark, 
 death ^oth not come alone to an unconverted 
 soul, but with such company as, wast thou but 
 sensible of, it would make thee tremble. 1 
 pray consider that Scripture in Eev. vi. 8: 
 " And I looked and beheld a pale horse, and 
 his name that sat upon him was Death, and 
 Hell followed with him." Mark, death doth 
 
SIQHS FROM HELL. 
 
 769 
 
 not come alone to the ungodly, no, but hell 
 goeth with him. O miserable comforters ! O 
 miserable society I Here come death and hell 
 unto thee. Death goeth into thy body and 
 separates body and soul asunder ; hell stands 
 without (as I may say) to embrace, or rather 
 to crush, thy soul between its everlasting 
 grinders. Then thy mirth, thy joy, thy sinful 
 ddlights will be ended when this comes to pass. 
 Lo, it fl ill come. Blessed are all those that, 
 through Jesus Christ's mercies, by faith, do 
 escape these soul-murderiiig companions I 
 " And in hell he lift up his eyes." 
 
 The third thing, you know, that we did ob- 
 serve from these words was this — that some are 
 90 fast asleSp and secure in their sins |;hat they 
 scarce know where they are until they come' 
 into hell. And that, I told you, leather by 
 these words, "In hell he lift up his eyes." 
 Mark, it was in hell that he lift up his eyes. 
 Now some do understand by these words that 
 he came to himself, or began to consider with 
 himself, or to think with himself, in what 
 an estate he was and what he was deprived 
 of; which is .still a confirmation of the thing 
 raid down by me. There it is that they come 
 to themselves — that is, tliere they are sensible 
 where they are indeed. Thus it fares with 
 some men that they scarce know where they 
 are till they lift up their eyes in hell. It is 
 with those people as with those that fall down 
 in a swoon ; you know if a man do fall down 
 in a swoon in one room, though you take him 
 up and carry him into another, yet he is\not 
 sensible where he is till he comefh unto him- 
 self and lifts up his eyes. 
 
 Truly, thus, as it is to be feared, it is with 
 many poor souls ; they are so senseless, so hard, 
 '' so seared in their conscience," th^,! they are 
 ignorant of their state, and when death comes 
 it strikes them as it were into a swoon, (es- 
 pecially if they die suddenly,) and so they are 
 hurried away, and scarce know where they are 
 till in hell they lift up their eyes; this is he 
 who dieth in his full strength, fully at ease and 
 quiet. 
 
 Of this sort are they spoken of in Ps. 
 rxxvii., where he saith, " There are no bonds 
 in their death, but their strength is firm : they 
 are not troubled as other folk, neither are they 
 plagued like other men." And again, " They 
 spend their days in wealth, and in a moment" 
 — mark, in a moment, before they are aware — 
 they "go down into the grave." 
 
 Indeed, this is too much known by woeful 
 and daily experience ; sometimes when we go 
 49 
 
 to visit them that are sick in the towns and 
 places where we live, oh how senseless, how 
 seared in tiieir conscience are they ! They are 
 neither sensible of heaven nor of hell, of sin 
 nor of a Saviour ; speak to them of their con- 
 dition and the state of their souls, and you 
 shall find them as ignorant as if they had no 
 souls to regard. Others, though they lie ready 
 to die, yet they are busying themselves about 
 their outward affairs, as though they should 
 certainly live here, even to live and enjoy the 
 same, for ever. Again, come to others, speak 
 to them about the state of theif souls, though 
 they have no more experience of the new birth 
 than a beast, yet will they sjseak as confidently 
 of their eternal estate and the welfare of their 
 souls as if they had the most excellent experi- 
 ence of any man or woman in the world, say- 
 ing, " I shall have peace," when, as 1 said, even 
 now the Lord knows they are as ignorant of 
 the new birth, of the nature and operation of 
 faith, of the witness of the Spirit, as if there 
 was no-new birth, no faith, no witness of the 
 Spirit of Christ in any of the saints in the 
 world. Nay, thus many of them are even an 
 hour or less before their departure. Ah, poor 
 souls I though thc,y may go away here like a 
 lamb, as the world says, yet if you could but 
 follow them a little, to stand and listen soon 
 after their departure, it is to be feared you 
 shall hear them roar like a lion at their first 
 entrance into hell, far worse than ever did 
 Korah, &c., when they went down quick into 
 the ground. 
 
 Now, by this one thing doth the devil take 
 great advantage on the hearts of the ignorant, 
 suggesting unto them that because the party 
 deceased departed so quietly, without all doubt 
 they are gone to rest and joy ; when, alas I it 
 is to be feared the reason why they went away 
 so quietly was rather because they were sense- 
 less and hardened in their conscience, yea, 
 dead before in sins and trespasses. For had 
 they but some awakenings on their deathbeds, 
 as some have had, they would have made all 
 the town ring of their doleful condition, but 
 because they are seared and ignorant, and ao 
 depart quietly, therefore the world takes heart 
 of grace, (as we use to say,) and makes no great 
 matter of living and, dying they cannot tell 
 how: "Therefore pride compasseth them as 
 a chain." But let them look to themselves, 
 for if they have not an interest in the Lord 
 Jesus now while they live in the world, they 
 will, whether they die raging or still, go uuto 
 the same place and lift up their eyes in helL 
 
770 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE! WORKS. 
 
 my friends 1 did you but know wliat a 
 nuRcrable condition they are in. that go out of 
 this world without an interest in the Son of 
 ftod, it would make you smite upon your thigh 
 and in the bitterness of your souls cry out, 
 " Men and brethren, what shall we do to be 
 saved ?" And not only so, but thou wouldst 
 not be comforted until thou: didst find a rest 
 for thy soul in the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 Ver. 23. And in hell he lift up his eyes, being, in 
 Uyrmenl, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Laza- 
 rus in his bosom. 
 
 Something in brief I have observed from 
 the first part of this verse — namely, from these 
 words: "And in hell he lift up his eyes." 
 And indeed I have observed but some things, 
 for they are very full of matter and many 
 things might be taken notice of in them. 
 There is one thing more that I might touch 
 upon as couched in this saying, and that is 
 this: Methinks the Lord Jesus Christ doth 
 hereby signify that men are naturally unwilling 
 to see or to take notice of their sad state — I say 
 by nature-:-but, though now they are willingly 
 ignorant, yet in hell they shall lift up their 
 eyes. That is, in hell they shall see and un- 
 derstand their miserable condition ; and there- 
 fore to these words, "In hell he lift up his 
 eyes," he adds, " being in torment," as if he 
 had said. Though once they shut their eyes, 
 though once they were willingly ignorant, yet 
 when they depart into hell they shall be so 
 miserably handled and tormented that they 
 shall be forced to lift up their eyes. While 
 men live in this world and are in a natural 
 state they will have a good conceit of them- 
 selves and of their condition ; they will con- 
 clude that they are Christians, that Abraham 
 is their father, and their state to be as good as 
 the best; they will conclude they have faith, 
 the Spirit, good hope, an interest in the Lord 
 Jesus Christ; but when they drop into hell 
 and lift up their eyes there, and behold, first, 
 their souls to be ib extreme torments, their 
 dwelling to be the bottomless pit, their com- 
 pany thousands of damned souls, also the in- 
 numerable company of devils, and the hot 
 ' scalding vengeance of God not only to drop, 
 but to fall very violently upon them, then they 
 will be awakened who all their lifetime were 
 in a sleep — I say, when this comes to pass — for 
 lo, it will — then in hell they shall lift up their 
 eyes, in the midst of torment they shall lift up 
 their eyes. _ 
 Again, you may observe in these words. 
 
 " And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in tor- 
 ment," that ungodly men will smart for their 
 sins in the torments of hell. Now, here I am 
 put to a stand when I consider the torments 
 of hell into which the damned do fall. un- 
 speakable torments 1 O endless torments I 
 Now, that thy soul might be made to flee 
 from those intolerable torments into which, 
 the damned do go^ I shall show you briefly 
 what are the torments of hell. First,. by the 
 names of it ; secondly, by the sad state thou 
 wilt be in if thou comest there. First, the 
 names. It is called a never-dying worm, 
 (Mark ix. ;) it is called an oven, fire-hot, (Mai. 
 iv. 1;) it is called a furnace, a fiery furnace, 
 (Matt. xiii. ;) it is called the bottomless pit, 
 the unquenchable fire, fire and brimstone, 
 hell-fire, the lake of fire, devouring fire, ever- 
 lasting fire, eternal fire, a stream of fire. 
 Bev. xxi. 
 
 1. One part of thy torments will be this: 
 thou shalt have a full sight of all thy ill- 
 spent life, from first to last ; though here thou 
 canst sin to-day and forget it by to-morrow, 
 yet there thou shalt be made to remember 
 how thou didst sin against God . at such a 
 time and in such a place, for such a thing 
 and with such a one, .which will be a hell 
 unto thee. Ps. 1. 21 : " God will set them in 
 order before thine eyes." 
 
 2. Thou shalt have the guilt of them all lie 
 heavy on thy soul — not only the guilt of one 
 or two, but the guilt of them all together — 
 and there they shall lie in thy soul, as if thy 
 belly were fijU of pitch and set on a light fire. 
 Here men can sometimes think on their sins 
 with delight, but there with unspeakable tor- 
 ment, for that I understand to be the fire that 
 Christ speaketh of, which shall never be 
 quenched. While men live here, oh how 
 doth the guilt of one sin sometimes crush the 
 soul ! It makes a man in such plight that he 
 is weary of his life, so that he can neither rest 
 at home nor abroad, neither up nor in bed. 
 Nay, I do know that they have been so tor- 
 mented with the guilt of one sinful thought 
 that they have been even at their wits' ends, 
 and have hanged themselves. But now when 
 thou comest into hell, and hast not only one, 
 or two, or an hundred sins, with the guilt of 
 them all, on thy soul and body, but all the 
 sins that ever thou didst commit since thou 
 earnest into the world altogether clapped on 
 thy conscience at one time, as one should 
 clap a red-hot iron to thy breast, and there to 
 continue to all eternity, this is miserable. 
 
SIGBS FROM HELL. 
 
 771 
 
 8. Again, then thou shalt have brought into 
 thy remembrance the slighting pf the Gospel 
 of Christ ; here thou shalt consider how will- 
 ing Christ was to come into the world to save 
 sinners, and for what a trifle thou didst reject 
 him. This is plainly held forth in Isa. xxviii., 
 where, speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ, the 
 foundation of salvation, (ver. 16,) he saith of 
 them that reject the Gospel that when the 
 overflowing scourge doth pass through the 
 earth, (which I understand to be at the end 
 of the world,) then, saith he, "It shall take 
 you morning by morning, by day and by 
 night shall it pass over you;'' that is, contin- 
 ually, without any intermission. " And it 
 shall be a vexation only to hear the report." 
 A vexation — that is, a torment, or a great part 
 of hell — only to understand the r6poi;t, to un- 
 derstand the good tidings that came into the 
 world by Christ's death for poor sinners. And 
 you will find this verily to be the mind of the 
 Spirit, if you compare it with Isa. liii. 1, 
 where he speaks of men's turning their backs 
 upon the tenders of God's grace in the Gos-' 
 pel ; he saith, " Who hath believed our re- 
 port,'' or the Gospel declared by us? Now 
 this will be a mighty torment to the ungodly, 
 when they shall understand the goodness of 
 God was so great that he even sent his Son 
 out of his bosom to die for sinners, and yet 
 that they should be so foolish as to put him 
 off from one • time to another ; that they 
 should be so foolish as to lose heaven and 
 Christ and eternal life in glory for the society 
 of a company of drunkards ; that they should 
 lose their souls for a little sport, for this 
 world, for a strumpet, for that which is lighter 
 than vanity and nothing — I say, this will be a 
 very great torment unto thee. 
 
 4. Another part of thy torment will be this : 
 thou shalt see thy friends, thy acquaintance, 
 thy neighbours — nay, it may be, thy father, 
 thy mother, thy wife, thy husband, thy chil- 
 dren, thy brother, thy sister, with others— ^n 
 the kingdom of heaven, and thyself thrust 
 ' out. Luke xiii. 28. There shall be weeping, 
 &c., when you shall see Abraham, (your 
 father,) and Isaac, and Jacob, (together with 
 your brethren) the prophets, in the kingdom 
 of heaven, and you yourselves thrust out. 
 Nay, saith he, "They shall come from the 
 east and from the west " — that is, those that' 
 thou didst never see in all thy life before — 
 and they shall sit down with thy friends, and 
 thy neighbours, thy wife and children in the 
 kingdom of heaven, and thou, for thy sins and 
 
 disobedience, shall be shut, nay, thrust out 
 wonderful torment ! 
 
 5. Again, thou shalt have none but a com- 
 pany of damned souls, with an innumerable 
 company of devils, to keep company with 
 thee. While thou art in tnis world the very 
 thought of the devils appearing to thee makes 
 thy flesh to tremble and thine hair ready to 
 stand upright on thy head. But oh what wilt 
 thou do when not only the supposition of the 
 devils appearing, but the real society of all 
 devils of hell will be with thee, howling and 
 roaring, screeching and roaring in such a 
 hideous manner that thou wilt be even at thy 
 wits' end, and be ready to run stark mad again 
 for anguish and torments? 
 
 6. Again, that thou mightest be tormented 
 to purpose, the mighty God of heaven will lay 
 as great wrath and vengeance upon thee as 
 ever he can by the might of his glorious power. 
 As I said before, thou shalt have his wrath not 
 by drops, but by whole showers shall it come, 
 thunder upon thy body and soul so fast and so 
 thick that thou shalt be tormented ouf of 
 measure. And so saith the Scripture, (2 
 Thess. iii. 9,) speaking of the wicked, "who 
 shall be punished with everlasting destruction 
 from the presence of the Lord and from the 
 glory of his power," when the saints shall be 
 admiring his goodness and glory. 
 
 Again, this thou shalt have, as I said before, 
 without any intermission : thou shalt not have 
 any ease so long as while a man may turn 
 himself round ; thou shalt have it always, 
 every hour, day and night ; for their worm 
 never dies, but always gnaws, and their fire is 
 never quenched. 
 
 Again, in this condition thou must be for 
 ever, and that is as sad as all the rest. For if 
 a man were to have all his sins laid to his 
 charge, and communion with the devils, and 
 as much wrath as the great God of heaven can 
 inflict upon him — I say, if it were but for a 
 time, even ten thousand years, and so enil, 
 there would be ground of comfort and hopes 
 of deliverance ; but here is thy misery, this is 
 thy state for ever, here thou must be for ever ; 
 when thou lookest about thee, and seest what 
 an innumerable company of howling devils 
 thou art amongst, thou shalt think this again. 
 This is my portion for ever. When thou hast 
 been in hell so many thousand years as there 
 are stars in the firmament or drops in the sea 
 or sands on the sea-shore, yet thou hast to lie 
 there for ever. Oh this one word evek, how 
 will it torment thy soul ! 
 
772 
 
 SVNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Friends, I have only given a very short 
 touch of the torments of hell. Oh I am set, I 
 am set, and am not able to utter what my mind 
 conceives of the torments of hell. Yet this let 
 me say to thee : accept of God's/mercy through 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, lest thou feel that with 
 thy conscience which I cannot express with 
 my tongue, and say, I am sorely, tormented in 
 this flame. 
 
 1. " And seeth Abraham afar off, and Laz- 
 arus in his bosom." When the damned are in 
 this pitiful state, surrounded with fears, with 
 terrors, with- torment and vengeance, one thing 
 they shall have, which is this : they shall see 
 the happy and blessed state of God's children. 
 He seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his 
 bosom, which, as I said before, is the happy 
 state of the saints when this life is ended. 
 This now shall be so far from being an ease 
 unto them that it shall most wonderfully ag- 
 gravate or heighten their torment, as I said 
 ■ before. There shall be weeping or cause of 
 lamentation when they shall see Abraham and 
 Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 
 and themselves thrust out. 
 
 Observe, those that die in their sins are far 
 from going to heaven. He seeth Abraham 
 afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And in- 
 deed it is just with God to deal with them that 
 die^in their sins according to what they have 
 done, and to make them who are far from 
 righteousness now to stand far from heaven to 
 all eternity. Hearken to this, ye stout-hearted, 
 tKat are far from righteousness and that are 
 resolved to go on in your sins : when you die 
 you will be far from heaven ; you will see 
 Lazarus, but it will be afar off. 
 
 Again: "He seeth Abraham afar off, and 
 Lazarus in his bbsom." 
 
 These are some of the things the damned do 
 behold so soon as they coihe into torment. 
 Mark, " And he seeth Lazarus in Abraham's 
 bosom." Lazarus! who was he? Why, even 
 he that was so slighted, so disregarded, so un- 
 deiTalued by this ungodly one while he was in 
 the world. He seeth Lazarus in his bosom. -" 
 
 From whence observe, that those who live 
 and die the enemies of the saints of God, let 
 thern be never so great and stout, let them 
 bear never so much sway while they are in the 
 world, let them brag and boast never so much 
 while they are here, they shall, in spite of their 
 teeth, see the saints, yea, the poor saints, even 
 the Lazaruses, or the ragged ones that belong 
 to Jesus, to be in a better condition than them- 
 selves. Oh, who do you think was in the best 
 
 condition? Who do you think saw them- 
 selves in the best condition — he that was in 
 hell or he that was in heaven ? he that was in 
 darkness or he that was in light? he that was 
 in everlasting joy or he that was in everlasting 
 torments ? The one with God, Christ, saints, 
 angels ; the other in tormenting flames, under 
 the curse of God's eternal hatred. With the 
 devils and their angels, together with an innu- 
 merable company of howling, roaring, cursing, 
 ever-burning reprobates? Certainly this ob- 
 servation will be easily proved to be true here 
 in this world by him that looks upon it with 
 an understanding heart, and will clear itself to 
 be true in the world to come by such as shall 
 go either to heaven or to hell. 
 
 2. The second observation from these words, 
 " And seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus iu 
 his bosom," is this : they that are the persecu- 
 tors of the saints of the Lord now in thi.'s 
 world shall see the Lord's persecuted ones to 
 be they that are so highly esteemed by the 
 Lord as to sit or be in Abraham's bosom, (in 
 everlasting glory,) though the enemies to the 
 children of God did so lightly esteem them 
 that they scorned to let them gather up the 
 dogs' meat that fell under their table. This is 
 also verified and held forth plainly by this 
 parable. And therefore be not grieved, Q 
 you that are tempted, persecuted, afliicted, 
 sighing, praying saints of the Lord : though 
 your adversaries look upon you now with a 
 disdainful, surly, rugged, proud, and haughty 
 countenance, yet the time shall come when 
 they shall spy you in Abraham's bosom. , 
 
 I might enlarge upon these things, but shall 
 leave them to the Spirit of the Lord, which 
 can better by ten thousand degrees enlarge 
 them on thy heart and conscience than I can 
 upon a piece of paper. Therefore, leaving 
 thee to the blessing of the Lord, I shall come 
 to the next verse, and shall be brief in spealt- 
 ing to that also, and so pass to the rest. 
 
 Ver. 24. And he cried, and said, Father Abra- 
 ham, have mercy upon me, and send Lazarus, 
 that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, 
 and cool my tongue ; for I am tormented in 
 I this flame. 
 
 You know I told you that verse 22d is a 
 discovery of the departure of the godly and 
 the ungodly out of this life, where it saith, 
 "The beggar died, and the rich man also 
 died." The 23d verse is a discovery of the 
 proper places both of the godly and ungodly 
 after death, one being in Abraham's bosom or 
 
SIGHS FROM HELL. 
 
 773 
 
 in glory, the otKer in hell. Now, verse 24th is 
 a discovery of part of the too-late repentance 
 of the ungodly when they are dropped down 
 into hell : " And he cried, and said, Father 
 Abraham, have mercy on me." 
 
 From the words, " And he cried," we may 
 observe, first, what a change the ungodly will 
 have when they come into hell. He cried! 
 It is like he was laughing, jesting, jeering, 
 drinking, mocking, swearing, cursing, prating, 
 persecuting of the godly in his prosperity, 
 among his filthy companions. But now the 
 case is otherwise ; now he is in another 
 frame, now his proud, stout, currish carriage 
 is come down. And he cried! The laughter 
 of the ungodly will not last always, but will be 
 sure to end in a cry : "The triumphing of the 
 wicked is short." Consider, you must have a 
 change either here or in hell. If you be not 
 new creatures, regenerate persons, new-born 
 babes in this world before you go hence, 
 your note will be changed, your conditions 
 will be changed; for if you come into hell 
 you must cry. Oh, did but the singing 
 drunkards, when they are making merry on 
 the alehouse bench, think on this, it would 
 make them change their note and cry. What 
 shall I do ? Whither shall I go when I die ? 
 But, as I said before, the devil, as he labours 
 to g^ poor souls to follow their sins, so he 
 labours also to keep the thoughts of eternal 
 damnation out of their minds. And indeed 
 these two things are so nearly linked together 
 that the devil cannot well get the soul to go 
 on in sin with delight unless he can keep the 
 thoughts of that terrible after-clap out of their 
 minds. 
 
 But let them know that it shall not always 
 be thus with them ; for if when they depart 
 they drop down into eternal destruction, they 
 shall have such a sense of their sins and the 
 punishment due to the same that it shall 
 make them cry. And he cried ! Oh what an 
 alteration will there be among the ungodly 
 when they go out of this world ! It may be a 
 fortnight or a month before their departure ; 
 they were light, stout, surly, drinking them- 
 selves drunk, slighting God's people, mocking 
 at goodness and delighting in sin, following 
 the world, seeking after riches, faring de- 
 licicusly, keeping company with the bravest; 
 but now they are dropped down into hell they 
 cry. A little while ago they were painting 
 their faces, feeding their lusts, following their 
 whoresj robbing their neighbours, telling of 
 lies, following of plays an 1 sports to pass away 
 
 the time ; but now they are in hell they do 
 cry. It may be last year they heard some 
 good sermons, were invited to receive heaven, 
 were told their sins should be pardoned if 
 they closed in with Jesus: but refusing liia 
 proffers and slighting the grace that was once 
 tendered, they are now in hell and do cry. 
 
 Before, they had so much time they thought 
 that they could not tell how to spend it unless 
 it were in hunting and whoring, in dancing 
 and playing, and spending whole hours, yea, 
 days, nay, weeks, in the lusts of the flesh ; but 
 when they depart into another place, and 
 begin to lift up their eyes^ in hell and consider 
 their miserable and irrecoverable condition, 
 they will cry. 
 
 Oh what a condition wilt thou fall into 
 when thou dost depart this world ! If thou 
 depart unconverted and not born again, thou 
 hadst better have been smothered the first 
 hour thou wast born; thou hadst better have 
 been plucked one limb from another; thou 
 hadst better have been made a dbg, a toad, a 
 serpent, nay, any other creature in the visible 
 world, than to die unconverted ; and this thou 
 wilt find to be true when in hell thou dost lift 
 thine eyes and dost cry. 
 
 Here then, before we go any farther, you 
 may see that it is not without good ground 
 that these words are here spoken by our Lord, 
 that when any of the ungodly do depart into 
 hell they will cry. Cry ! why so ? 
 
 1. They will cry to think that they should 
 be cut off from the land of the living, never 
 more to have any footing therein. 
 
 2. They will cry to think that the Gospel 
 of Christ should be so often proffered to them, 
 and yet they are not profited by it. 
 
 3. They will cry to think that now, though 
 they would never so willingly repent and be 
 saved, yet they are past all recovery. 
 
 4. They will cry to think that they should 
 be so foolish as to follow their pleasures when 
 others were following Christ. 
 
 5. They will cry to think that they must be 
 separate from God, Christ, and the kingdom 
 of heaven, and that for ever. 
 
 6. To think that their crying will now do 
 them no good. 
 
 7. To think that at the day of judgment 
 they must stand at the left hand of Christ, 
 among an innumerable company of damned 
 ones. 
 
 8. They will cry to think that Lazarus, 
 whom once they slighted, must be of them 
 that must sit down with Christ to judge, or. 
 
774 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WOBKH. 
 
 together with Christ, to jJass sentence of con- 
 demnation on their souls for ever. 
 
 9. Cry to think that when the judgment is 
 over and others are taken into the everlasting 
 kingdom of glory, then they must depart back 
 again into that dungeon of darkness from 
 whence they came out, (to appear before the 
 terrible tribunal,) where they shall be tor- 
 mented so long as eternity lasts, without the 
 least intermission or ease. 
 
 How sayest thou, thou wanton, proud, 
 swearing, lying, ungodly wretch ! whether this 
 be to be slighted and made a mock at? And 
 again, tell me now if it be not better to leave 
 sin and to close in with Christ Jesus, notwith- 
 standing that reproach thou shalt meet with 
 for so doing, than to live a little while in tjiis 
 world, in pleasures and feeding thy lusts, in 
 neglecting the welfare of thy soul, and re- 
 fusing to be justified by Jesus, and in a mo- 
 ment to drop down to hell and to cry? Oh 
 consider, I say, consider betimes, and put not 
 off the tenders of the grace of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, lest you lift up your eyes in hell and 
 cry for anguish of spirit. 
 
 " And he cried, and said, Father Abraham, 
 have mercy upon me, and send Lazarus," &c. 
 
 These words do not only hold forth the 
 lamentable condition of the damned and their 
 lamentable howling and crying out under their 
 anguish of spirit, but also they do signify to us 
 (as I said before) their too late repentance ; 
 and also that they would very willingly, if 
 they might, be set at liberty from that ever- 
 lasting misery that by their sins they have 
 plunged themselves into. I say, those words 
 do hold a d( -sire that the damned have to be 
 delivered from those torments that they now 
 are in: "0 Father Abraham, (saith he,) have 
 mercy upon me, and send Lazarus, that he 
 ma,y dip the tip of his finger in water and cool 
 my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame." 
 These words, "Father Abraham," may have 
 some difficulty in them. It is possible that 
 some may think them to be meant of Abraham, 
 and those, or him that crieth out here, tp be 
 the Jews. Or it may be some may understand 
 it to be God or Jesus Christ his Son, which I 
 rather suppose it may be, that is here cried 
 uulo, because ypu find the same cry to him as 
 it was uttered by the ungodly in other places 
 of Scripture: "Then shall they say, Lord, 
 Lord, we have eat and drank in thy presence, 
 "and thou hast taught in our streets.'' Nay, 
 more, "lu thy name have we cast out devils, 
 and in thy name done many wonderful works." 
 
 This was just at their rejection. And agaitij 
 they cry again to him, even to Jesus, "Lord 
 Lord, open to us." And he there again gives 
 them a repulse, as also in this parable. But 
 however or whosoever Abraham js, yet these 
 truths may be observed from the words : 
 
 1. That the damned, when in an irrecover- 
 able state, will seek for or desire deliverance 
 from the wrath that they are and shall be in 
 for eternity: "Surely in the floods of great 
 waters they shall not come nigh unto him." 
 
 2. That they will pray (if I may so call it) 
 earnestly for deliverance from their miserable 
 estate. These two things are clear from the 
 words ; for, mark, he not only said. Father 
 Abraham, have mercy oh me, but he cried and 
 said. Father Abraham, have mercy on me. 
 From whence take a third observation, and that 
 is — there is a time coming wherein, though 
 men shall both cry and pray, yet they are like 
 to have no mercy at the hand of God ; for so 
 was this man served, as I shall further show 
 by and by, when I come to it. 
 
 Some people are so deluded by the devil as 
 to think that God is so merciful as to own and 
 regard anything for prayer ; they think any- 
 thing will go for current and good satisfaction 
 while they are here in this world, through 
 ignorance of the true nature of the mercy of 
 God and the knowledge in what way. God is 
 satisfied for sinners. No/W, I say, through 
 ignorance they think that if they do but mut- 
 ter over some form of prayers, though they 
 know not what they say nor what they request, 
 yet God is satisfied, yea, very well satisfied, 
 with their doings, when, alas I there is noth- 
 ing less. friends, I beseech you to look 
 about you, and seek in good earnest for the 
 Spirit of Christ so to help you now to strive 
 and pray, and to enable you to lay hold on 
 Christ, that your souls may be saved, lest the 
 time come that though you cry and pray, and 
 wish also that you had laid hold on the Lord 
 Jesus, yet you must and shall be damned. 
 
 Then again, you may see that though God 
 be willing to save sinners at some time, yet 
 this time doth not always last. No, he that 
 can find in his heart to turn his back upon 
 Jesus Christ now shall have the back tiirned 
 upon him hereafter when he may cry and pray 
 for mercy, and yet go without it. God will 
 have a time to meet with them that now do 
 not seek after him. They shall have a time, 
 yea, time enough hereafter, to repent their 
 folly and to befool themselves for turning their 
 backs upon the Lord Jesus Christ. "I will 
 
SIGHS FROM HELL. 
 
 775 
 
 laugh at their calamities, (saith he,) and mock 
 when their fear cometh." 
 
 Again, this should admonish us to take time 
 while it is proffered, lest we repent us of our 
 unbelief and rebellion when we are deprived 
 of it. Ah, friends, time is precious, an hour's 
 time to hear a sermon is precious. I have 
 sometimes thought thus with myself: Set the 
 case, the liOrd should send two or three of his 
 servants, the ministers of the Gospel, to hell, 
 among the damned, with this commission. Go 
 ye to hell, and preach my grace to those that* 
 are there ; let your sermon be an hour long, 
 and hold forth the merits of my Son's birth, 
 righteousness, death, resurrection, ascension, 
 and intercession, with all my love in him, and 
 proffer it to them, telling them that now, once, 
 do I proffer the means of reconciliation to 
 them. They who are now roaring,~being past 
 hope, would then leap at the least proffer of 
 mercy : oh they that could spend whole days, 
 weeks, nay, ye'ara, in rejecting the Son of God, 
 would now be glad of one tender of that mercy : 
 "Father, (saith he,) have mercy on me." 
 
 Again, from these words you may observe- 
 that mercy would be welcome when souls are 
 under judgment. Now this soul is in the fire, 
 now he is under the wrath of God, now he is 
 in hell, there to be tormented, now he is with 
 the devils and damned spirits, now he feels the 
 vengeance of God : Now, oh now, have mercy 
 upon me. Here you may see that mercy is 
 prized by them that are in hell ; they would be 
 glad if they could have it. Father, have mercy 
 on me ; for my poor Soul's sake send me a little 
 mercy. 
 
 "And send Lazarus, that he may dip the 
 tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue." 
 
 These words do not only hold forth that the 
 ungodly have a desire of mercy, but what those 
 mercies are that these poor creatures would be 
 glad of. 
 
 As — 1. To have the company of a Lazarus 
 granted to them: "Father Abraham, have 
 mercy upon me, and send Lazarus." Now 
 Lazarus was he that was beloved of God, and 
 also he that was hated of them. Therefore, 
 
 2. Observe, that those saints that the world 
 in their lifetime could not endure, now they 
 are departed they would be glad to have 
 society with them. Oh now send Lazarus I 
 Though the time was when I cared not for 
 him, yet now let me have some society with 
 him. 
 
 Though the world disregard the society of 
 ftod's children now, yet there is a time coming 
 
 in which they wouli be glad to havt the least 
 company with them. Nay, do but observe, 
 those of the saints that are now most rejected 
 by them, even from them shall they be glad of 
 comfort, if it might be. Send Lazarus— he 
 that I slighted more than my dogs, he that I 
 could not endure should come into my house, 
 but must lie at my gate — send him. Now 
 Lazarus shall be welcome to me, now I desire 
 some comfort from him ; but he shall go with- 
 out it. 
 
 From whence again observe that there is a 
 time coming, O ye surly, dogged persecutors 
 of the saints! that they shall. slight you as 
 much as ever you slighted them. You have 
 given them many an hard word, told many a 
 lie of them, given them many a blow; and 
 now, in your greatest need and extremity, 
 they shall not pity you; the righteous shall 
 rather rejoice when he seeth the vengeance of 
 God upon thee. 
 
 "And send Lazarus." From whence ob- 
 serve that any of the saints shall then be 
 owned by you to be saints. Now you look 
 upon them to be the sect with Hymeneus and 
 Philetus, but then you^hall see them to be the 
 Lazaruses of God, even God's dear children. 
 Though now the saints of the Lord will not 
 be owned by you, because they are beggarly, 
 low, poor, contemptible among you, yet the 
 day is coming that yqu shall own them, desire 
 their company, and wish for the least courtesy 
 from them. 
 
 " Send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of 
 his finger in water and cool rny tongue; for I 
 am tormented in this flame." 
 
 Thus shall the souls that abide in their sins 
 cry out in the bitterness of their spirits with 
 wonderful anguish and torment of conscience, 
 without intermission, "That he may dip the 
 tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue." 
 That he— namely, the man whom before I 
 scorned should eat with the dogs of my flock, 
 that before I slighted and had no regard of, 
 that I shut out of door — send him, that he 
 may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool 
 my tongue. 
 
 Now th«se words, "that he may dip the tip 
 of his finger in water," &c., do hold forth the 
 least friendship or favour; as if he should 
 have said. Now I would be glad of the least 
 mercy, now I would be glad of the least com- 
 fort, though it be but one drop of cold water 
 on the tip of his finger. One would haye 
 thought that this had been a small request, a 
 small courtesy. One drop of water I what if 
 
776 
 
 £UNYAN'S COMPLETE WOMKS. 
 
 that? Take a pailful of it, if that will do thee 
 any good. But mark, he is not permitted to 
 have so much as one drop, not so much as a 
 man may hold on the tip of his finger. This 
 signifies that they that fall short of Christ 
 shall he tormented even as long as eternity 
 lasteth, and shall not have so much as the 
 least ease, no, not so long as while a man may 
 turn himself round, not so much leave as to 
 Bwallow his spittle, not one drop of cold 
 water. 
 
 Oh that these things did take place in your 
 heaite how would it make you to seek after 
 rest for your souls before it be too late, before 
 the sun of the Gospel be set upon you ! 
 
 Consider, I say, the misery of the ungodly 
 that they shall be in, and avoid their vifes by 
 closing in with the tenders of mercy, lest you 
 partake of the same portion with them, and 
 cry out in the bitterness of your souls, One 
 drop of cold water to cool my tongue! 
 "For I am tormented in this flame." 
 Indeed, the reason why the poor world do 
 not so earnestly desire mercy is partly because 
 they do not so seriously consider the torment 
 that they must certainly fall into if they die 
 out of Christ. For,, let me tell you, did but 
 poor souls indeed' consider that wrath that 
 doth by right fall to their shares because of 
 their sins against God, they would make more 
 haste to God through Christ for mercy than 
 they do; then we should have them say. It is 
 a good closing with Christ to-day, before we 
 fall into such distress. 
 
 But why is it said, "Let him dip the tip of 
 his finger in water and cool my tongue?" Be- 
 cause that, as the several members in the body 
 have their share in sin and committing of that, 
 80 the several members of the body shall at 
 that time be punished for the same. There- 
 fore, when Christ is admonishing his disciples 
 that they should not turn aside from him, and 
 that they should rather fear and dread the 
 power of their God than another power, he 
 saith, " Fear him, therefore, that can cast both 
 body and soul into hell." And again, "Fear 
 him that can destroy both body and soul in 
 hell." Here is not one metnher only, but all 
 ' the lady, the whole body, of which the hands, 
 feet, eyes, ears, and tongue are members. And 
 I am persuaded that though this may be judged 
 carnal by som(? now, yet it will appear to be a 
 truth then, to the greater misery of those who 
 soall be forced to undergo that which God in 
 his just judgment shall inflict upon them. Oh 
 theu they will cry. One drachm of ease for my 
 
 cursing, swearing, lying, jeering tongue ! Some 
 ease for my bragging, braving, flattering, threat- 
 ening, dissembling tongue I Now men can let 
 their tongues run at random, as we use to say ; 
 now they will be apt to say. Our tongues are 
 our own, who shall control them ? Ps. xii. 4. 
 But then they will be in another mind; then, 
 Oh that I might have a little ease for my de- 
 ceitful tongue! Methinks sometimes to con- 
 sider how some men do let their tongues run 
 at random ; it makes me marvel. Surely they 
 *do not think they shall be made to give an ac- 
 count for their offending with their tongue. 
 Did they but think they shall be made to give 
 an account to Him who is ready to judge the 
 quick and the dead, surely they would be more 
 wary of and have more regard, unto their 
 tongue. 
 
 "The tongue (saith James) is an unruly 
 member, full of deadly poison ; it setteth on 
 fire the whole frame of nature, and is set on 
 fire of hell." The tongue, how much mischief 
 will it stir up in a very little time ! How many 
 blows and wounds doth it cause ! How many 
 times doth, it (as James saith) curse manl 
 How oft is the tongue made the conveyer of- 
 that hellish poison that is in the heart, both 
 to the dishonour of God, the hurt of its neigh- 
 bours, and the utter ruin of its own soul! 
 And do you think the Lord will sit still (as I ' 
 may say) and let thy tongue run as it lists, and 
 yet never bring you to an account for the 
 same? No, stay. The Lord will not always 
 keep silence, but will reprove thee and set thy 
 sins in order before thine eyes, O sinner; yea, 
 and thy tongue, together with the rest of thy 
 members, shall be tormented for sinning. And 
 I say, I am very confident that though this be 
 made light of now, yet the time is coming 
 when many poor souls will rue the day that 
 ever they did speak with a tongue. Oh, will 
 one say, that I should so disregard my tongue I 
 Oh that I, when I said so and so, had before 
 bitten off my tongue ! that I had been born 
 without a tongue! My tongue, my tongue! 
 ajittle water to cool my tongue, for I am tor- 
 mented in this flame, even in that flame which 
 my tongue, together with the rest of my mem- 
 bers, by sinning, have brought me to. Poor 
 souls will now let their tongues say any thing 
 for a little profit, for twopence or threepence 
 gain. But oh what a grief will this be at that 
 day when they, together with their tongue, 
 must smart for that which they by their 
 tongues have done while they were in this 
 world ! Then you that loveyour souls, look to 
 
SIGl^ FROM HELL. 
 
 777 
 
 your tongues, lest you bind yourselves down so 
 fast to hell with the sins of your tongues that 
 you will never be able to get loose again to all 
 eternity ; for by thy words thou shalt be con- 
 demned if thou have not a care of thy tongue. 
 " For I say unto you that for every idle word 
 that man shall speak he shall give an account 
 thereof in the day of judgment." 
 
 Ver. 25. But Abraham said, Son, remember that 
 
 thou in thy lifetime receivedstlhy good things, 
 
 and likewise Lazarus evil things ; but now he 
 
 ' is comforted, and thou art tormented. 
 
 These words are the answer to the request 
 
 of the damned. The verse before (as I told 
 
 you) is a discovery of the desires that they 
 
 have after they depart this world. Here is the 
 
 answer, Sou, remember, &c. 
 
 The answer signifies thus much : that, in- 
 stead of having any relief or ease, they are 
 hereby the more tormented, and that by fresh 
 recollections, or by bringing afresh their former 
 ill-spent life while in the world into their re- 
 membrance. Son, remember thou hadst good 
 things in thy lifttime; as much as if he had 
 said, Thou art now sensible what it is to- lose 
 thy soul ; thou art now sensible what it is to 
 put off repentance ; thou art now sensible that 
 thou hadstbefooled thyself in that thou didst 
 spend that time in seeking after outward, mo- 
 mentary, earthly things which thou shouldst 
 have speiit in seeking to make Jesus Christ 
 sure to thy soul ; and now, through thy anguish 
 of spirit in the pains of hell, thou woiildst en- 
 joy that which in former time thou didst make 
 light of; but, alas! thou art here beguiled and 
 altogether disappointed; thy crying will now 
 avail thee nothing at all; this is not the ac- 
 ceptable time, this is not a time to answer the 
 desires of damned reprobates. If thou hadst 
 cried out in good earnest while grace was of- 
 fered.^uch might have been ; but then thou 
 wast careless and didst turn the forbearance 
 and goodness of God into wantonness. Wast 
 thou not told that those who would not hear 
 the Lord when he-did call should not be heard 
 (if they turned away from him) when they did 
 call, but, contrariwise, "he would laugh at 
 their calamity, and mock when their fear did 
 come?" 
 
 Now, therefore, instead of expecting the 
 least drop of mercy and favour, call into thy 
 mind how thou didst spend those days which 
 God did permit thee to live ; I say, remember 
 that in thy lifetime thou didst behave thyself 
 rebell'iusly against the Lord, in that thou 
 
 wert careless of his word and ordinances, yea, 
 and of the welfare of thine own soul also. 
 Therefore now, I say, instead of expecting or 
 hoping for any relief, thou must he forced to 
 call to remembrance thy filthy ways, and feed 
 upon them, to thine everlasting astonishment 
 and confusion. 
 
 From these words, therefore, which aay, 
 " Remember that thou in thy lifetime receiv- 
 edst thy good things," there are these things t3 
 be taken notice of: 
 
 1. They that by putting off repentance and 
 living in their sins lose their souls shall, in- 
 stead of having the least measure of comfort 
 when they come into hell, have their ill-spent 
 life always very fresh in their remembrance. 
 While they live here they can sin and forget 
 it, but when they depart they shall have it 
 before them ; they shall have a remembrance 
 or their memory notably enlightened, and a 
 clearer and a continual sight, of all their 
 wicked practices that they wrought and did 
 while they were in the world. " Son, remem- 
 ber," saith he. Then you will be made to re- 
 member — 
 
 1. How you were born in sin, and brought 
 up in the same. 
 
 2. Remember how thou hadst many a time 
 the Gospel preached to thee for taking away 
 of the same by Him whom the Gospel doth 
 hold forth. 
 
 3. Remember that out of love to thy sins 
 and lusts thou didst turn thy back on the 
 tenders of the same Gospel of good tidings 
 and peace. 
 
 4. Remember that the reason why thou didst 
 lose thy soul was because thou didst not close 
 in with free grace and the tenders of a loving 
 and free-hearted Jesus Christ. 
 
 5. Remember how near thou wast to turn- 
 ing at such and such a time, only thou wast 
 willing to give way to thy lusts when they 
 wrought, to drunkards when they called, to 
 pleasures when they proffered themselves, to 
 the cares and eincumbrances of the world, 
 which, like so many thorns, did choke that or 
 those convictions that were set on thy heart. 
 
 6. Remember how willing thou wast to sat- 
 isfy thyself with an hypocrite's hope, and with 
 a notion of thethings of God, without the real 
 power and life of the_ same. 
 
 7. Remember how thou, when thou wast 
 admonished to turn, didst put off turning and 
 repenting till another time. 
 
 8. Remember how thou didst dissemble at 
 such a time, lie at such a time, cheat thy neigh- 
 
778 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 bour at, such a time, mock, flout, scoff, taunt, 
 hate, persecute the people of God at such a 
 time, in such a place, among such company. 
 
 9. Remember, that while others were met 
 together in the fear of the Lord to seek him, 
 thou wast. met with a company of vain com- 
 panions to sin against him ; while the saints 
 were a-praying, thou wast a-curSing; while 
 they were speaking good of the name of God, 
 thou wast speaking evil of the saints of God. 
 Oh then thou shalt have a scalding hot remem- 
 brance of all thy sinful thoughts, words, and 
 actions, from the very first to the last of them 
 that ever thou didst commit in all thy lifetime. 
 Then thou wilt find that Scripture to be a 
 truth, {Deut. xxviii. 65, 66, 67,) "The Lord 
 shall give thee there a trembling heart, and 
 failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind. And thy 
 life shall hang in doubt before thee, and thou 
 shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none 
 assurance of thy life. In the morning thou 
 shalt say. Would to God it were evening ! for 
 the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt 
 fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou 
 shalt see." Nay, thou shalt find worse things 
 to thy woe than this Scripture doth manifest, 
 for indeed there is no tongue able to express 
 the horror, terror, torment, and eternal misery 
 that those poor souls shall undergo, without 
 the least mitigation of ea?e ; a very great part 
 of it shall come from that quick, full, and con- 
 tinual remembrance of their sins that they 
 shall have. And therefore there is much 
 weight in these words: "Son, remember 
 that thou in thy lifetime hadst thy good 
 things." 
 
 From these words you see this is to be ob- 
 served, that the ungodly shall remember or 
 have in remembrance the misspending their 
 lives: Remember that in thy lifetime thou 
 hadst thy good things. You may take these 
 words, "good things," eithsr simply for the 
 things of this world, which in themselves are 
 called and may be called good things ; or else 
 with these words, namely, " the things of. this 
 life," all the pleasures, delights, profits, and 
 vanities which the ignorant people of the world 
 do count their good things, and do very much 
 cheer themselves therewith. Soul, soul, eat, 
 drink, and be merry, for thou hast much goods 
 laid up for many years. Luke xii. 20. Now, I 
 Bay, God, according to his glorious power and 
 wisdom, will make poor creatures 'have always 
 in their minds a fresh and clear remembrance 
 of their ill-spent life : he will say unto them, 
 Eemember, remember that in thy lifetime it 
 
 was thus and thus with thee, and in thy life- 
 time thy carriage'was so and so. 
 
 If sinners might have their choice they 
 would not have their sins and transgressions so 
 much in the remembrance, as it is evident by 
 their carriages here in this world ; for they will 
 not endure to entertain a serious thought of 
 their filthy life; they put far away the evil 
 day, and labour by all meatas to put the 
 thoughts of it out of their mind ; but there 
 they shall be made to remember to purpose 
 and to think continually of their ungodly 
 deeds. And therefore it is said thatiwhen our 
 Lord Jesus Christ comes to judgment, it will 
 be to convince the ungodly world of theii 
 wicked and ungodly deeds ; mark, to convince 
 them. They will not willingly take notice of 
 them now, but then they shall hereafter, in 
 spite of their teeth ; for those that die out of 
 Christ shall be made to see, acknowledge, and 
 confess their guilt, do what they can, when 
 they lift up their eyes in hell and remember 
 their transgressions. God will be a swift wit- 
 ness against them, and will say, Remember 
 what thou didst in thy lifetime, how thou didst 
 live in thy lifetime. Ha, friend! if thou dost 
 not in these days of light remember the days 
 of darkness, (the days of death, hell, and judg- 
 ment,) thou shalt be made in the days of dark- 
 ness, death, hell, and at the judgment too, to 
 remember the days of the Gospel, and how 
 thou didst disregard them too,4o thy own de- 
 struction and everlasting misery. This is inti- 
 mated in the 25th of /St. Matthew. 
 
 " Remember that in thy lifetime thou re- 
 ceivedst thy good things." 
 
 The great God, instead of giving the un- 
 godly any ease, will even aggravate their tor- 
 ments — first, by slighting their perplexities, 
 and by telling of them what they must be 
 thinking of. Remember, saith he, ye lost 
 souls,Uhat you had your joy in your lifetime, 
 your peace in your lifetime, your comforts, de- 
 lights, ease, wealth, health, your heaven, your 
 happiness, and your portion in your lifetime. 
 
 Oh miserable state! Thou wilt then be in a 
 sad condition indeed when thou shalt see that 
 thou hast had thy good things, thy be.st things, 
 thy pleasant things ; for that is clearly signi- 
 fied in these words, " Remember that thou in 
 thy lifetime hadst thy good things," or all the 
 good things thou art like to have. From 
 whence take notice of another truth, (though 
 it be a dreadful one,) which is this : there are 
 many poor creatures who have all their good, 
 sweet, and comfortable things in this life oi 
 
SIGHS FROM HELL. 
 
 779 
 
 while they are alive in this wotid: "Remem- 
 ber (saith he) that in thy lifetime thou hadst 
 thy good things." ^ 
 
 The wicked's good things will shortly have 
 an end ; they will last no longer with them 
 than this life or their lifetime. That Scripture 
 was not written in vtin : It is like the crack- 
 ling of thorns under a pot, makes a little blaze 
 for a sudden, a little heat for a while; but 
 come and consider them by and by, and in- 
 stead of a comfortable heat you will find noth- 
 ing but a few dead ashes, and instead of a 
 flaming fire, nothing but a smell of smoke. 
 
 There is a time coming that the ungodly 
 would be glad of a better portion, when they 
 shall see the vanity of this ; that is, when they 
 shall see what a poor thing it is for a man to 
 have his p6rtion in this world. It is true, 
 while they are here on this side hell they think 
 there is nothing to be compared with riches, 
 honours, and pleasures in this world, which 
 make them cry out. Who will show us any 
 good that is comparable to the pleasures, 
 profits, and glory of this world? But then 
 they will see there is another thing that is 
 better and of more value than ten thousand 
 worlds. And, seriously, friends, will it not 
 grieve you, trouble, perplex, and torment you, 
 when you shall see that you lost heaven for a 
 little pleasure and profit in your lifetime? 
 Certainly it will grieve you and perplex you 
 exceedingly to see what a blessed heaven you 
 left for a dunghill world. Oh that you did but 
 believe this! that you did but consider this, 
 and say within yourselves. What! shall I be 
 contented with my portion in this world? 
 What 1 shall I lose heaven for this world ? I 
 say, consider it while you have daylight and 
 Gospel-light, while the Son of God doth hold 
 out terms of reconciliation to you, lest yoji be 
 made to hear such a voice as this is : " Son, re- 
 member that in thy lifetime thou receivedst 
 thy good things," thy comforts, thy joys, thy 
 ease, thy peace, and all the heaven thou art 
 like to have. O poor heaven I O short pleas- 
 ares 1 What a pitiful thing it is to be left in 
 such a case 1 Soul, consider, is it not miserable 
 to lose heaven for twenty, thirty, or fifty years' 
 sinning against God ? When thy life is done 
 thy heaven is also done ! When death comes 
 to separate thy soul and body, in that day also 
 thou must have thy heaven and happiness 
 separated from thee and thou from that. Con- 
 sider these things betimes, lest thpu have thy 
 portion in thy lifetime. For if in this life only 
 we have our portion we are of all people the 
 
 most miserable. Again, consider that when 
 other men (the saints) are to receive their good 
 things, then thou hast had thine ; when others 
 are to enter into joy, then thou art to leave 
 and depart from thy joy ; when others are to 
 go to God, thou must go to the devil. O 
 miserable I thou hadst better never been born 
 than to be an heir of such a portion ; there- 
 fore, I say, have a care it be not thy condition. 
 
 " Remember that thou receivedst thy good 
 things, and Lazarus evil things.'' 
 
 These words do not only hold forth the 
 misery of the wicked in this life, but also great 
 consolation to the saints, where he saith, " And 
 Lazarus evil things ;'' that is, Lazarus had his 
 evil things in his lifetime, or when he was in 
 the world. 
 
 From whence observe — 
 
 1. That thelife of the saints, so long as they 
 are ip this world, is attended with many evils 
 or afflictions, which may be discovered to be of 
 divers natures, as saith the Scripture, "Many 
 are the troubles of the righteous, but the Lord 
 delivereth him out of thfem all." 
 
 2. Take notice that the afflictions or evils 
 that accompany the saints may continue with 
 them their lifetime, so long as they live in this 
 vale of tears ; yea, and they may be divers — 
 that is, of several sorts — some outward, some 
 inward — and that as long as they shall continue 
 here below, as hath been the experience of all 
 saints in all ages ; and this might be proved at 
 large, but I only hint at these things, though I 
 might enlarge much upon them. 
 
 3. The evils that do accompany the saints 
 will continue no longer with them than their 
 lifetime ; and here indeed lies the comfort of 
 believers, the Lazaruses, the saints : they must 
 have all their bitter cup wrung up to them in 
 ,their lifetime : here must be all their trouble, 
 here must be all their grief. " Behold, (saith 
 Christ,) the world shall rejoice, but ye shall 
 lament ; but your mourning shall " — mark, it 
 shall — "be turned into joy." You shall la- 
 ment, you shall be sorrowful, you shall weep 
 in your lifetime, but your sorrow shall be 
 turned into joy, and your joy no man (let him 
 be what he will, no man) shall take away from 
 you. Now if you think when I say the saints 
 have all their evil things in their lifetime that 
 I mean they have nothing else but trouble in 
 this their lifetime, this is your mistake ; for let 
 me tell you that though the saints have aU 
 their evil things in their lifetime, yet even in 
 their lifetime they have also joy unspeakable 
 and full of glory, while they look not at the 
 
780 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 things tliat are seen, but at the things which 
 are not seen. The joy that the saints have 
 Bometimes in their heart, by a believing con- 
 sideration of the good things to come when 
 this life is ended, doth fill them fuller of joy 
 than all the crosses, troubles, temptations, and 
 evils that aceompany them in this life can fill 
 them ^vith grief. 
 
 But some saints may say, My troubles are 
 Buch as are ready to overcome me. ) 
 
 Answer. Yet be of good comfort; they shall 
 last no longer than thy lifetime. 
 
 But my trouble is, I am perplexed with an 
 heart full of corruption and sin, so that I am 
 much hindered in walking with God. 
 
 Answer. It is like so, but thou shalt have 
 these troubles no longer than thy lifetime. 
 
 But I have a cross husband, and that is a 
 great grief to me. 
 
 Well, but thou shalt be trcJiibled with him 
 no longer than thy lifetime, and therefore be 
 not dismayed, be not discomforted ; thou shalt 
 have no trouble longer than this lifetime. 
 
 Art thou troubled with cross children, cross 
 relations, cross neighbours? They shall trouble 
 thee no longer than this lifetime. 
 
 Art thou troubled with a cunning devil, with 
 unbelief? Yea, let it be what it will, thou 
 shalt take thy farewell of them all (if thou be 
 a believer) after thy lifetime is ended. Oh ex- 
 cellent ! Then God shall wipe away all tears 
 from your eyes ; there shall be no more death, 
 nor sorrow, nor crying, nor any more pain, for 
 the former things are passed away. , 
 
 But now, on the contrary, if thou be not a 
 right and sound believer, then, thodgh thou 
 shouldst live a thousand years in this world, 
 ajid meet with sore afllictions every day, yet 
 these afllictions, be they never so great and 
 grievous, they are nothing to that torment that 
 will come upon thee, both in soul and body, 
 after this life is ended. 
 
 I say, be what thou wilt, if thou be found in 
 unbelief or under the first covenant, thou art 
 sure to smart for it at the time when thou dost 
 depart this world. But. the thing so lamented 
 is, for all this is so sad a condition to be fallen 
 into, vet poor souls are for the most part sense- 
 less of it ; yea, so senseless (at some times) as 
 though there was no such misery to come here- 
 after, because the Lord doth not immediately 
 strike with his sword, but doth bear long with 
 his creatures, waiting that he might be gra- 
 cious; therefore I say, the hearts of some of 
 the sons of men are wholly set upon it to do 
 mischief Eccles. viii. 11. And that forbear- 
 
 ance and goodness of God that one Would think 
 should lead them to repentance, the devil hard- 
 ening of them, by their continuing in sin and 
 by blinding their eyes as to the end of God's 
 forbearance toward them, they are led away 
 with a very hardened and senseless heart, even 
 until they drop into eternal destruction. 
 
 But, poor hearts ! they must have a time in 
 which they must be made sensible of theij 
 former behaviour, when the just judgments of 
 the Lord shalLflarae about their ears, insomuch 
 that they shall be made to cry out again with 
 anguish, I am sorely tormented in this flame. 
 
 " But now he is comforted, and thou art top- 
 mented." 
 
 As if he should say. Now hath God recon^- 
 peijsed both Lazarus and you according to 
 what you sought after while you were in this 
 world. As for your part, you did neglect the 
 precious mercy and goodness of God; you did 
 turn your back on the Son of God that came 
 into the world to save sinners; you made a 
 mock of preaching the Gospel; you was ad- 
 monished over and over to close in with the 
 loving-kindness of the Lord in his Son Jesus 
 Christ. The Lord let you live twenty, thirty, 
 forty, fifty, sixty years; all which time, you, 
 instead of spending it to make your calling 
 and election sure, did spend it in making of 
 eternal damnation sure to thy soul. And also 
 Lazarus, he in his lifetime did make it his 
 business to accept of my grace and salvation 
 in the Lord Jesus Christ. When thou wast in 
 the alehouse he frequented the W9rd preached ; 
 when thou wert jeering at goodness he was 
 sighing for the sins of the times. While thou 
 wert swearing he was praying. In a word, 
 while thou wert making sure of eternal ruin, 
 he by faith in the blood of the Lofd Jesus 
 Christ was making sure of eternal salvation. 
 Therefore " now he is comforted and thou art 
 tormented." 
 
 Here then you may see that as the righteous 
 shall not be always void of comfort and blessed- " 
 ness, so neither shall the ungodly go always 
 without their punishment. As sure as God is 
 in heaven it will be thus ; they must have their 
 several portions. And therefore you that are 
 the saints of the Lord, follow on, be not dis- 
 mayed, "forasmuch as you know that you» 
 labour is not in vain iv the Lord." Your por- 
 tion is eternal glory. And you that are so 
 loth now to close in with Jesus Christ and to 
 leave your sins to follow him, your day is 
 coming, (Ps. xxxvi. 13,) in which you shall 
 know that your sweet morsels of sin that you 
 
SIGHS FROM HELL. 
 
 781 
 
 so easily take down, (Job xx. 12, 13, 14,) and 
 it scarce troubles you, will have a time so to 
 work within you to your eternal ruin that you 
 will be in a worse condition than if you had 
 ten thousand devils tormenting you ; nay, you 
 had better have been plucked limb from limb 
 a thousand times (if it could be) than to be 
 partakers of this torment which will assuredly 
 without mercy lie upon you. 
 
 Ver. 26. And besides all this, between us and you 
 there is a great gulf fixed ; so that they which 
 would go from hence to you cannot, neither can 
 they come to us that would come from thence. 
 These words are still part of that answer that 
 the souls in hell shall have for all the sobbings, 
 sighings, grievous cries, tears, and desires that 
 they have to be released out of those intoler- 
 able pains they feel and are perplexed with. 
 And oh methinks the words at the first view, 
 if rightly considered, are enough to make any 
 hard-hearted sinner in the world to fall down 
 dead. The verse I last spoke to was and is a 
 very terrible one, and aggravates the torment 
 of poor sinners wonderfully, where he saith, 
 "Eemember that thou in thy .lifetime hadst 
 thy good things, and Lazarus his evil things,'' 
 &c. — I say these words are very terrible to 
 those poor souls that die out of Christ. But 
 these latter words do much more hold out their 
 sorrow. They were spoken as to the present 
 condition of the sinner. These do not only 
 back the former, but do yet further aggravate 
 their misery, holding forth that which will be 
 more intolerable. The former verse is enough 
 to smite any sinner into a swoon, but this is to 
 make them fall down dead, where he saith, 
 And besides all this, there is still something 
 to aggravate thy misery yet far more abun- 
 dantly. I shall briefly speak to the words as 
 they have relation to the terror spoken of in 
 the verses before. As if he had said, Thou 
 thinkest the present state insupportable; it 
 makes thee to rue the time that ever thou 
 nert born; now thou findest the want of mer- 
 cy ; now thou wouldest leap at the least drachm 
 of it ; now thou feelest what it is to slight the 
 tenders of the grace of God; now it makes 
 'thee to sob, sigh, and roar exceedingly for the 
 anguish that thou art in. "But besides all 
 this," I have other things to tell thee of that 
 will break thine heart indeed. Thou art now 
 deprived of a being in the world; thou art 
 deprived of hearing the Gospel ; the, devil 
 hath been too hard for thee and hath made 
 thee miss of heaven; thou art now in hell 
 
 among an innumerable company of devils, 
 and all thy sins beset thee round ; thou art all 
 overwrapped in flames, and canst not have one 
 drop of water to give thee any ease; thou 
 criest in vain, for nothing will be granted; 
 thou seest the saints in heaven, which is no 
 small trouble to thy damned soul ; thou seest 
 that neither God nor Christ takes any care to 
 ease thee or speak any comfort unto thee. 
 "But besides all this," there thou art like to 
 lie; never think of any ease, never look for 
 any comfort; repentance now will do thee no 
 good ; the time is past and can never be called 
 again; look, what thou hast now thou must 
 have for ever. 
 
 It is true, I spoke enough before to break 
 thine heart asunder, "but besides all this," 
 there lie and swim in flames for ever. These 
 words, "Besides all this," are terrible words 
 indeed. I will give you the scope of them in 
 a similitude. Set the case : You should take a 
 man and tie him to a stake, and with red-hot 
 pincers pinch ofi' his flash by little pieces for 
 two or three years together, and at last, when 
 the poor man cries out for ease and help, the 
 tormentors answer, Nay, " but besides all this," 
 you must be handled worse. AVe will serve 
 you thus these twenty years together, and after 
 that we will fill your mangled body full of 
 scalding lead, or run you through with a red- 
 hot spit. Would not this be lamentable? 
 Yet this is but a fleabiting to the sorrow of 
 those that go to hell, for if a man were served 
 so, there would, ere it were long, be an end of 
 him. But he that goes to hell shall suffer ten 
 thousand times worse torments than these, and 
 >yet shall never be quite dead under them. 
 There they shall be ever whining, pining, weep- 
 ing, mouriiing, ever tormented without ease, 
 and yet never dissolved into nothing ; if the 
 biggest devil in hell might pull thee all to 
 pieces, and rend thee small as dust, and dis- 
 solve thee into nothing, thou wouldst count 
 this a mercy. But here thou mayest lie and 
 fry, scorch and broil, and burn for ever ; — for 
 ever ! that is a long while, and yet it must be 
 so long. "Depart from me (saith Christ) 
 into everlasting fire, (into the fire that burns 
 for ever,) prepared for the devil , and his 
 angels." O thou that wast loth to foul thy 
 foot if it were but dirty or did but rain ; thou 
 that wast loth to come out of the chimney- 
 corner if the wind did but blow a little cold, 
 and was loth to go half a mile, yea, half a fuT- 
 long, to hear the word of God if it were but a 
 little dark ; thou that wast loth to leave a few 
 
782 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 vain companions to edify thy soul ! thou shalt 
 have fire enough, thou shalt have night enough, 
 and eyil company enough, thy belly full, if 
 thou miss of Jesus Christ ; and besides all this, 
 thou shalt have them for ever and for ever, 
 
 thou that dost spend whole nights in 
 carding and dicing, in rioting and wantonness ; 
 thou that countest it a brave thing to swear as 
 fast as the bravest, to spend with the greatest 
 spendthrift in the country, thou that lovest to 
 sin in a corner when nobody sees thee! O 
 thou that for by-ends dost carry on the hypo- 
 crite's profession,- because thou wouldst be 
 counted somebody among the children of God, 
 but art an enemy to the things of Christ in 
 thine heart; thou that dost satisfy thyself 
 either with sins or a bare profession of godli- 
 ness ! thy soul will fall into extreme torments 
 and anguish so soon as ever thou dost depart 
 this world, and there thou shalt be weeping 
 and gnashing thy teeth. And besides all this, 
 thou art like never to have any ease or remedy, 
 never look for any deliverance ; thou shalt die 
 in thy sins, and be tormented as many years as 
 there are stars in the firmament or sands on 
 the sea-shore ; and besides all this, thou must 
 abide it for ever. 
 
 " And besides all this, between us and you 
 there is a great gulf fixed, so that they which 
 would pass from hence to you cannot; neither 
 can they come to us that would come from 
 thence." " There is a great gulf fixed." You 
 will say. What is that? 
 
 Answer. It is a r i;e question ; therefore first 
 s^ek thou rather t enter in at the strait gate 
 than curiously to inquire what this gulf is. 
 
 But secondly. If thou wouldst needs know, 
 if thou do fall short of heaven thou wilt find it 
 this — namely, the everlasting decree of God; 
 that is, there is a decree gone forth from God 
 that those who fall short of heaven in this 
 world, God is resolved they shall never enjoy 
 it in the world to come. And thou wilt find 
 this gulf so deep that thou shalt never be able 
 to wade through it as long as eternity lasts. 
 As 'Christ saith, " Agree with thine adversary, 
 quickly, while thou art in the way with him, 
 lest he hale thee to the judge, and the judge 
 deliver thee to the o'ficer, and thou be cast 
 into prison : I tell thee thou shalt in nowise 
 come out thence," (tliere is the gulf, the de- 
 cree.) Thou shalt not depart thence till thou 
 hast paid the utmost farthing or very last mite. 
 These words, therefore, " There is a great gulf 
 fixed," I do understand to be the everlasting 
 decree of God. God hath decreed that those 
 
 who go to heaven shall never go from thence 
 again into a worse place ; and also those that 
 go to hell and would come out, they shall not 
 come out from thence again. And, friend, 
 this is such^a gulf, so fixed by Him that can- 
 not lie, that thou wilt find it so which way 
 soever thou goest, whether, it be to heaven or 
 hell. Here, therefore, thou seest how secure 
 God will make those who die in the faith. God 
 will keep them in heaven : but those that die 
 in their sins, God will throw them to hell and 
 keep them there ; so that they that would go 
 from heaven to hell cannot, neither can tliey 
 come from hell that would go to heaven. 
 Mark, he doth not say. They would not ; for 
 oh how fain would those who have lost their 
 soulii for a lust, for twopence, for a jug of ale, 
 for an harlot, for this world, come out of that 
 hot, scalding, fiery furnace of God's eternal 
 vengeance if they might! But here is their 
 misery: they that would, come from you to us 
 — that is, from hell to heaven — cannot, they 
 must not, they shall not; God hath decreed it, 
 and is resolved the contrary. Here, therefore, 
 lies the misery, not so much that they are in 
 hell, but there, they must lie for ever and ever. 
 Therefore if thy heart would at any time tempt 
 thee to sin against God, cry out, No, for then 
 I must go to hell and lie there for ever. If the 
 drunkards, swearers, liars, and hypocrites di^ 
 but take this doctrine soundly down, it woula 
 make them tremble when they think of sin- 
 ning. But, pbor souls ! now they will make a 
 mock of sin, and play with it as a child doth 
 play with a rattle ; but the time is coming that 
 these rattles that now they play with will make 
 such a noise in their ears and consciences that 
 they shall find that if all the devils in hell 
 were yelling at their heels the noise would not 
 be comparable to it. Friend, thy sins, as so 
 many bloodhounds, will first hunt thee out, 
 and then take thee and bind thee and hold 
 thee down for ever. They will gripe thee and 
 gnaw thee as if thou had a nest of poisonous 
 serpents in thy bowels, and this will not be for 
 a time, but, as I have said, for ever, for ever, 
 for ever. 
 
 Ver. 27. Then lie said, I pray thee therefore, 
 father, that thou wouldst send him to my 
 father's house. 
 
 The verse before, I told you, was spoken 
 partly to hold forth a desire that the damned 
 have to be freed of their endless misery. Now 
 this verse still holds forth the cries of those 
 poor souls very vehement; they would very 
 
SIOHS FROM HELL. 
 
 r83 
 
 fain lave something granted to them, but it 
 will not be, as will more clearly appear after- 
 ward. 
 
 " Then he said, I pray thee therefore, 
 father," &c. As if he should say. Seeing I 
 have brought myself into such a miserable 
 condition that God will not regard me, that 
 my exceeding loud and bitter cries will not be 
 heard for myself; seeing I must not be ad- 
 mitted to have so much as one drop of cold 
 water nor the least help from the poorest 
 saints ; and seeing, besides all this, here my 
 soul must lie to all eternity, broiling and fry- 
 ing; seeing I must, whether I will or no, un- 
 dergo the hand of eternal vengeance and the 
 rebukes of devouring fire ; seeing my state is 
 siich that I would not wish a dog in my condi- 
 tion, — send him to my father's hoinse. It is 
 worthy to*be taken notice of (again) who it is 
 he desired to be sent — namely, Lazarus. 
 friend, see here how the stout hearts and 
 stomachs of poor creatures will be humbled, 
 (as I said before;) they will be so brought 
 down that those- things that they disdained 
 and made light of in this world they would be 
 glad of in the life to come. He who by this 
 man was so slighted as that he thought it 
 a dishonour that he should eat with the dogs 
 of his flock — What 1 shall I regard Lazarus, 
 scrubbed, beggarly Lazarus? What I shall I 
 so far dishonour my fair, sumptuous, and gay 
 house with such a scabbed creep-hedge as he? 
 No; I scorn he should be entertained under 
 my roof. Thus in his lifetime, while he was 
 in his bravery, but now he is come into an- 
 other world, now he is parted from his pleas- 
 ures, now he sees his fine house, his dainty 
 dishes, his rich neighbours and companions 
 and he are parted asunder ; now he finds, in- 
 stead of pleasures, torments; instead of joys, 
 heaviness ; instead of heaven, hell ; instead 
 of the pleasures of sin, the horror and guilt 
 of sin — oh now send Lazarus ! 
 
 Lazarus, it may be, might have done him 
 some good if he might have been enter- 
 tained in times past, and might have per- 
 suaded him at least not to have gone on so 
 grievously wicked; but he slights him, will 
 not regard him, he is resolved to disown him, 
 though he lose his own soul for so doing. Ay, 
 but now send Lazarus — if not to me, to my 
 father's house, and let him tell them from me 
 that if they run on in sin as I have done, they 
 must and shall receive the same wages that I 
 have received. / 
 
 Take notice of this, you that are despisers 
 
 of the least of the Lazaruses of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ : it may be now you are loth to 
 receive these little ones of his, because they 
 are not gentlemerr, because they cannot, with 
 Pontius Pilate, speak Hebrew, Greek, and 
 Latin. Nay, they must not, shall not speak 
 to them to admonish them ; and all because 
 of this. 
 
 Though now the Gospel of the Lord Jesug 
 Christ may be preached to them freely and for 
 nothing, nay, they are now desired to hear 
 and receive it — though now they will not own, 
 regard, and embrace these Christian profiera 
 of the glorious truths of Jesus, because they 
 come out of some of the basest earthen vessels 
 — yet the time is coming when they will both 
 sing and cry. Send him to my father's house. 
 I say, remember this, ye that despise the day 
 of small things : the time is coming when you 
 would be glad if you might enjoy from God, 
 from Christ, or his saints one small drop of 
 cold water, though now you are unwilling to 
 receive the glorious distilling drops of the Gos- 
 pel of our Lord Jesus. 
 
 Again, see here the lamentable state they 
 are in that go to hell from their fathers, 
 mothers, sisters, brothers, &c. While they are 
 in this world men delight to set their children 
 ill examples, and also children love to follow 
 the wicked steps of their ungodly parents. 
 But when they depart this life and drop down 
 into hell, and find themselves in irrecover- 
 able misery, then they cry, Send somebody to 
 my father's house, to my brother's house. Tell 
 them my state is miserable, tell them I am 
 undone for ever, and tell them also that if they 
 will be walking in these ungodly steps where- 
 in I left them, they will assuredly fall into this 
 place of torments. 
 
 " I pray thee send him to my father's 
 house." Ah, friends and neighbours, it is 
 like you little think of this, that some of 
 your friends and relations are crying out in 
 hell, Lord, send somebody to my father's 
 house to preach the Gospel to them, lest they 
 also come into these torments. 
 
 Here, men while they live can willingly 
 walk together in the way of sin, and when 
 they are parted by death they that are living 
 seldom or never consider of the sad condition 
 that they that are dead are descended into. 
 But, ye ungodly fathers, how are your ungodly 
 children roaring now in hell 1 and your un- 
 godly parents, that lived and died ungodly, 
 now in the pains of hell also ! And one 
 drunkard is singing on the alehouse bench, 
 
784 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 and another roaring under the wrath of God, 
 saying, Oh that I was with him, how would I 
 rebulse him and persuade him by all means to 
 leave oflf these evil courses I Oh that they did 
 but consider what I now suffer for pride, cov- 
 etousness, drunkenness, lying, swearing, steal- 
 ing, whoring, and the like ! Oh did they but 
 feel the thousandth part thereof, it would 
 make them look about them, and not buy sin 
 rat so dear a rate as I have done, even with the 
 loss of my precious soul. 
 
 "Send him to my father's house." Not to 
 my father, but to my father's house. It may 
 be there are ungodly children, ther^ are un- 
 godly servants wallowing in their ungod- 
 liness ; send him therefore to my father's 
 house. It is like they are still the same that 
 I left them ; I left them wicked, and they are 
 wicked still : I left them slighters of the Gos- 
 pel, saints, and ways of God, and they do it 
 still. " Send him to my father's house ;" it is 
 like there is but little between them and the 
 place where I am; send him to-day, beforp to- 
 morrow, " lest they come into the same place 
 of torment." I pray thee thou wouldst send 
 him. I beg it on my bended khee, with cry- 
 ing and with tears, in the agony of my soul. 
 It may be they will not consider if thou do not 
 send him. I left them sottish enough, hard- 
 ened as well as I ; they have the same devil 
 to tempt them, the same lusts and world to 
 overcome them : " I pray thee therefore that 
 thou wouldst send him to my father's house." 
 Make no" delay, lest they lose their souls, lest 
 they come hither; if they do, they are like 
 never to return again. Oh, little do they 
 think how easily they may lose their souls ; 
 they are apt to think their condition to be as 
 good as the best, as I once through ignorance 
 did; but send him, send him without delay, 
 "lest they come into this place of torment." 
 Oh that thou wouldst give him commission ; 
 do thou send him thyself; the time was when 
 I, together with them, slighted those that 
 were sent of God, though we could ndt deny 
 but that he spake the word of God and was 
 sent of him, as our conscience told us ; yet we 
 preferred the calls of men before the calls of 
 God ; for though they had the one, yet because 
 they ha4 not the other in that anti-Christian 
 way which we thought meet, we could not, 
 would not, either hear him ourselves nor yet 
 give consent that others should. But now 
 a call from God is worth all. Do (thou) 
 therefore send him to my father's house. 
 
 The time was when we did not like it, ex- 
 
 cept it might be preached in the synagogue, 
 we thought it a low thing to preach and pray 
 together in houses ; we were too high-spirited, 
 too superstitious ; the Gospel would not down 
 with us unless we had it in such a place by 
 such a man; no, nor then, neither, effectually. 
 But now, oh that I was, to live in the world 
 again, and might have that privilege to have 
 some acquaintance with blessed Lazarus, some 
 familiarity with that holy man, what attend- 
 ance would I give unto his wholesome words ! ' 
 How would I affect his doctrine and close in 
 with it ! How would I square my life thereby ! 
 Now, therefore; as it is better to hear the 
 Gospel under a hedge than to sit roaring in a 
 tavern, it is better to welcome God's begging 
 Lazaruses than the wicked companions of 
 this w6rld. It is better to receive a saint in 
 the name of a saint, "a- disciple in the name 
 of a disciple," (Luke x. 16,) than to do as I 
 have done. Oh, it is bettevr to receive a child 
 of God that can by experience deliver the 
 things of God, his free love, his tender grace, 
 his rich forbearance, and also the misery of 
 man if without it, than to be "daubed up with 
 untempered mortar." Ez'ek. xiii. Oh, I may 
 curse the day I gave way to the flatteries and 
 fawning" of a company of carnal men; but 
 thi^ my repentance is too late ; I should have 
 looked about me sooner if I would have beeu 
 saved from this woeful place. Therefore send 
 him not only to the town I lived in, and to 
 some of my acquaintance, but to my father's 
 house. 
 
 In my lifetime I did not care to hear that 
 word that cut me most and showed me mine 
 estate aright. 1 was vexed to hear my sins 
 mentioned and laid to my charge; I loved 
 him best that deceived me most — that said, 
 Peace, peace, when there was no such thing. 
 Jer. V. 20, 81. But now, oh that I had been 
 soundly told of itl Oh that it had pierced 
 both mine ears and heart, and had stuck 
 so fast that nothing could have cured me 
 saving the blood of Christ! It is better to 
 be dealt plainly with than that we should be '' 
 deceived; they had better see their lost condi- 
 tion in the world than stay to be damned as I 
 have done. Therefore send Lazarus, send him 
 to my father's house. Let him go and say, I 
 saw your son, your brother, in hell, weeping 
 and wailing and gnashing his teeth. Let him 
 bear them down in it and tell them plainly it 
 is so, and that they shall see their everlasting 
 misery if they have not a special care. Send 
 him to my father's house. 
 
SIGHS FROM HELL. 
 
 785 
 
 Vcr. 28. For I have five brethren; that he may 
 ieatify unto them, lest they also come into this 
 place of torment. 
 
 These words are {if I may so say) a reason 
 given by those in bell why they are restless 
 and do cry so aloud; it is that their com- 
 panions might be delivered from those intol- 
 erable torments which they must and shall 
 undergo if they fall short of everlasting life 
 by Jesus Christ: "Send him to my father's 
 hoilsc ; for I have five brethren," &c. Though 
 while they lived among them in the world 
 they were not so sensible of their ruin, yet 
 now they are passed out of the world, and do 
 partake of that which they were before warned 
 of, they can, I say, then cry out. Now I find 
 that to be true indeed which was once and 
 again told and declared to me that it would 
 certainly come to pass. 
 
 "For I have five brethren." Here you may 
 see that there may be and are whole house- 
 holds in a damnable state and condition, as 
 our Lord Jesus doth by this signify. Send 
 him to my father's house, for they are all in 
 one state. I left all my brethren in a pitiful 
 case. People while they live here canno't en- 
 dure to hear that they should be all in a mis- 
 erable condition, but when they are under the 
 wrath of God they see it, they know it, and 
 are very sure of it; for they themselves, when 
 they were in the world, lived as they do, but 
 they fell short of heaven, and therefore, if 
 they go on, so shall they. Oh, therefore, send 
 quickly to my father's house, for all the house 
 is in an undone condition, and must be damned 
 if they continue so. 
 
 The thing observable is this — namely, that 
 those that are in hell do not desire that their 
 companions should come thither; nay, rather, 
 saith he. Send him to my father's house, and 
 let him testify to them that are therein, lest 
 tlicy also come, &c. 
 
 Question. But some may say. What would 
 be the reason that the damned should desire 
 hlI to have their companions come into the 
 (same condition that they are fallen into, but 
 rather that they might be kept from it and 
 escape that dreadful state? 
 
 Answer. I do believe there is scarce so much 
 love in any of the damned in hell as really to 
 desire the salvation of any. But in that there 
 is any desire in them that are damned that 
 their friends and relations should not come into 
 that place of torment, it appears to me to be 
 rather for their own ease than for their neigh- 
 bours' good; for, let me tell you, this I do 
 50 
 
 believe, that it will aggravate the grief and 
 horror of them to see their ungodly neighbours 
 in the like destruction with them. Tor where 
 the ungodly do live and die and descend into 
 the pit together, the one is rather a vexation 
 to the other than any thing else. And it must 
 needs be so, because there are no ungodly 
 people that so live ungodly together but they 
 do learn ill examples one of another; as thus: 
 if there live one in the town that is very ex- 
 pert and cunning for the world, why now the 
 rest that are of the same mind with him, they 
 will labour to imitate and follow his steps; 
 this is commonly seen. 
 
 Again, if there be one given to drunkenness, 
 others of the town, through his means, run the 
 more into that sin with him, and do accustom 
 themselves the more unto it because of his 
 enticing them, and also by setting such an ill 
 example before them. And so, if there be any 
 addicted to pride, and must needs be in all the 
 newest fashions, how do their examples pro- 
 voke others to love and follow the same vanity, 
 spending that upon their lusts with which they 
 should relieve their own and others' wants ! 
 Also, if there be any given to jesting, scoifiug, 
 lying, whoring, backbiting, junketing, wan- 
 tonness, or any other sin, they that are most 
 expert in these things do ofttimes entangle 
 others that peradventure would not have been 
 so vile as now they are had they not had such 
 an example; and hence they are called cor- 
 rupters. 
 
 Now these will, by their doings, exceedingly 
 aggravate the condemnation of one another. 
 He that did set his neighbour an ill example, 
 and thereby caused him to walk in sin, he will 
 be found one cause of his friend's destruction, 
 insomuch that he will have to answer for his 
 own sin and for a great part of his neighbour's 
 too, which will add to his destruction ; as the 
 Scripture in Ezekiel showeth, where, speaking 
 of the watchmen that should give the people 
 warning, if he do not, though the man did die 
 in his sins, "yet his blood shall be required at 
 the watchman's hand." 
 
 So here let me tell thee that if thou shouldst 
 be such ati one as by thy conversation and 
 practices shall be a trap and a stumbling-block 
 to cause thy neighbour to fall into eternal ruin, 
 though he be damned for his own sin, yet God 
 may, nay he will, charge thee as being guilty 
 of his blood, in that thou didst not content 
 thyself to keep from heaven thyself, but didst 
 also by thy filthy conversation keep away 
 others and cause them -to fall with thee Oh, 
 
786 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 therefore, will not this aggravate thy torment? 
 Yea, if thou shouldst die and go to hell before 
 thy neighbours or companions, besides the 
 guilt of thine own sins thou wouldst be so 
 loaded with the fear of the damnation of 
 others to be laid to thy charge that thou 
 wouldst cry out. Oh send one from the dead 
 to this companion and that companion with 
 whom I had society in my lifetime, for I see 
 my cursed carriage will be one cause of his 
 condemnation if he fall short of glory. I left 
 him living in foul and heinous offences, but I 
 was one of the first instruments to bring him 
 to them. Oh, I shall be guilty both of my own 
 and his damnation too I Oh that he might be 
 kept out hence, lest my torments be aggra- 
 vated by his coming hither ! 
 
 For where ungodly people do dwell together, 
 they being a snare and stumbling-block one to 
 another by their practice, they must be a tor- 
 ment one to another and an aggravation of 
 each other's damnation. Oh cursed be thy 
 face, saith one, that ever I set mine eyes on 
 thee I It was along of thee ; I may thank thee ; 
 it was thee that did entice me and ensnare 
 me ; it was your filthy conversation that was 
 a stumbling-block to me ; it was your covet-, 
 ousness, it was your pride, your haunting 
 the alehouse, your gaming and whoring; it 
 was along of you that I fell short of life ; if 
 you had set me a good example as you set 
 me an ill one, it may he I might have done 
 better than now I do, but I learned of you, 
 I followed your steps, I took counsel of you. 
 Oh that I had never seen your face! Oh 
 that thou hadst never been born to do my soul 
 this wrong, as you have done ! Oh, saith the 
 other, and I may as much blame you, for do 
 you not remember how at such a time and at 
 Such a time you drew me out and drew me 
 away, and asked me if I would go with you 
 when I was going about other business, about 
 my calling; but you called me away, you sent 
 for me; you are as much in fault as I. Though 
 I were covetous, you were proud, and if you 
 learned covetousness of me, I learned pride 
 and drunkenness of you. Though I learned 
 yovi to cheat, you learned me to whore, to lie, 
 to scoff at goodness. Though I, base wretch ! 
 did stunible you in some things, you did as 
 much stumble me in others ; I can blame you 
 as you blame me ; and if I have to answer for 
 some of your most filthy actions, you have to 
 answer for some of mine. I would you had 
 not come hither; the very looks of you do 
 wound my soul by bringing my sins afresh into 
 
 my mind — the time when, the manner hoW; 
 the place where, the persons with whom. It 
 was with you, you ! grief to my soul ! Since 
 I could not shun thy company there, oh that I 
 had been without thy company here I 
 
 I say, therefore, for those that have sinned 
 together to go to hell together, it will very 
 much perplex and torment ihetn both: there- 
 fore I judge this one reason why they that are 
 in hell do desire that their friends or compan- 
 ions do not come thither into the same place 
 of torment that they are in, and therefore 
 ,why Christ saith that the damned souls cry 
 out, Send to our companions, that they may be 
 warned and commanded to look to themselves. 
 Oh send to my five brethren ! It is because 
 they would not have their own torments 
 heightened by their company, and a sense, 
 yea, a continual sense, of their sins which they 
 caused them to commit when they were in the 
 world with them. For I do believe that the 
 very looks of those that have been beguiled 
 of their fellows — I say their very looks will be 
 a torment to them; for thereby will the re- 
 membrance, of their own sins be kept (if pos- 
 sible) the. fresher on their consciences which 
 they committed with them ; and also they will 
 wonderfully have the guilt of others' sins upon 
 them, in that they were partly the cause of 
 their committing them, being instruments in 
 the hands of the devil to draw them in too. 
 And therefore lest this come to pass, "I pray 
 the? send him to my father's house." For if 
 they might not ,pome hither, peradventure my 
 ■torment might have some mitigation ; that is, 
 if they might be saved, then their sins will be 
 pardoned and not so heavily charged on my 
 soul. But if they do fall in the same place 
 where I am, the sinsthat I have caused them 
 to commit will lie so heavy, not only on their 
 soul, but also on mine, that they sink me into 
 eternal misery deeper and deeper. " Oh there- 
 fore send him to my father's house, to my five 
 brethren, and let him testify to them, lest they 
 come into this place of torment." 
 
 These words being thus understood, what a 
 condition doth it show them to be iu-r-them 
 that now much delight in being the very ring- 
 leaders of their companions into sins of all 
 sorts whatsoever ! 
 
 While men live here, if they can be counted 
 the cunningest in cheating, the boldest for 
 lying, the subtlest for coveting and getting 
 the world — if they can cunningly defraud, un- 
 dermine, cross and anger their neighbours, yea, 
 and hinder them from the means of grace, the 
 
SIGHS FROM HELL. 
 
 787 
 
 Gospel of Christ — they glory in it,^take a pride 
 in it, and think themselves pretty well at ease, 
 and their minds are somewhat quiet, being be- 
 guiled with sin. 
 
 But, friend, when thou hast lost this life, 
 and dost begin to lift up thine eyes in hell, and 
 seest what thy sins have brought thee to, and 
 not only so, but that thou by thy filthy sins 
 didst cause others (devil-like) to fall into the 
 same condemnation with thee, and that one of 
 the reasons for their damnation was this, that 
 thou didst lead them to the commission of 
 those wicked practices of this world and the 
 lusts thereof, then, oh that somebody would 
 stop them from coming, lest they also come 
 into this place of torment and be damned as I 
 am ! How will it torment me I Balaam could 
 not to be contented to be damned himself, but 
 also he must by h's wickedness cause others to 
 stumble and fall. The scribes and Pharisees 
 could not be content to keep out of heaven 
 themselves, but they must labour to keep out 
 others too. Therefore theirs is the greater 
 damnation. 
 
 The deceived cannot be content to be de- 
 ceived himself, but he must labour to deceive 
 others also. The drunkard cannot be content 
 to go to hell for his sins, but he must labour to 
 cause others to fall into the same furnace with 
 him. But look to yourselves, for here will be 
 damnation upon damnation — damned for thy 
 own sins, and damned for thy being partaker 
 with others in their sins, and damned for being 
 guilty of the damnation of others. Oh how 
 will the drunkards cry for leading their neigh- 
 bours into drunkenness I How will the cov- 
 etous pereou howl for setting his neighbour, 
 his friend, his brother, his children and rela- 
 tions so wicked an example, by which he hath 
 not only wronged his own soul, but also the 
 souls of others ! The liar, by lying, learneth 
 others to lie ; the swearer learns others to swear ; 
 the whoremonger learned others to whore. 
 
 Now all these, with others of the like sort, 
 will be guilty not only of their own damnation, 
 but of others. I tell you that some men have 
 80 much been the authors of the damnation of 
 others that I am ready to think that the dam- 
 nation of them will trouble them as much 
 as their own damnation. Some men (it is to 
 be feared) at the day of judgment will be found 
 to be the authors of destroying whole nations. 
 How many souls, do you think, Balaam with 
 his deceit will have to answer for? How many 
 Mahomet? How many the Pharisees, thai 
 hired the soldiers to say the disciples stole 
 
 away Jesus, and by that means stumbled their 
 brethren to this day, and was one means of 
 binding them from believing the things of God 
 and Jesus Christ, and so the cause of the dam- 
 nation of their brethren to this very day ? 
 
 How many poor souls hath Bonner to an- 
 swer for, think you? And several filthy, blind 
 priests, how many souls have they been the 
 means of destroying by their ignorance and 
 corrupt doctrine — preaching (that was no bet- 
 'ter for their souls than ratsbane to the body) 
 for filthy lucre's sakel They shall see that 
 they, many of them, it is to be fejired, will 
 have whole towns to answer for, whole cities to 
 answer for. Ah, friend ! I tell thee, thou that 
 hast taken in hand to preach to the people, it 
 may be thou hast taken in hand thou canst not 
 tell what. Will it not grieve thee to see thy 
 whole parish come bellowing after thee to hell, 
 crying out, This we may tliank thee for, this 
 is along of thee ; thou didst not teach us the 
 truth, thou didst lead us away with fables, 
 thou wast afraid to tell us of our sins, lest we 
 should not put meat fast enough into thy 
 mouth. O cursed wretch I that ever thou 
 shouldst beguile us thus, deceive us thus, flat- 
 ter us thus 1 We would have gone out to hear 
 the word abroad, but that thou didst reprove 
 us, and also tell us that that which we see now 
 is the way of God was heresy and a deceivable 
 doctrine ; and wast not contented (blind guide 
 as thou wert !) to fall into the ditch thyself, but 
 hast also led us thither with thee. 
 
 I say, look to thyself, lest thou cry out when 
 it is too late. Send Lazarus to my people, my 
 friends, my children, my congregation to whom 
 I preached and beguiled through my folly. 
 Send him to the town in which I did preach 
 last, lest I be the cause of their damnation. 
 Send him to my friends from whence I came, 
 lest I be made to answer for their souls and 
 mine own too. 
 
 Oh send him, therefore, and let him tell 
 them and testify unto them, lest they also come; 
 into this place of torment. Consider, ye that 
 live thus in the world, while ye are in the land 
 of the living, lest you fall into this condition, 
 Set the case: thou shouldest by thy carriage 
 destroy but a soul, but one poor soul, by one 
 of thy carriages or actions, by thy sinful 
 works; consider it now, I say, lest thou be 
 forced to cry, " I pray thee therefore that thou 
 wouldst send him to my father's house, for I 
 have five brethren, that he may testify- unta 
 them, lest they also come into this place oi 
 torment." 
 
788 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 If so, then I shall not only say to the blind 
 guides, Look you to yourselves and shut not 
 out others, no, but this doth reach unto all 
 those that do not only keep souls from heaven 
 by preaching and the like, but speaks forth the 
 doom of those that shall anyways be instru- 
 mental to hinder others from closing in with 
 Jesus Christ. Oh what red lines will those be 
 against all those rich, ungodly landlords that 
 so keep under their poor tenants that they dare 
 not go out to hear the word, for fear their rent 
 should be raised or they turned out of their 
 houses! What sayest thou, landlord? Will 
 it not cut thy soul when thou shalt see that 
 thou couldst not be content to miss heaven 
 thyself, but thou must labour to hinder others 
 also? Will it not give thee an eternal wound 
 in thy heart, both at death and judgment, to 
 be accused of the ruin of thy neighbour's soul, 
 thy servant's soul, thy wife's soul, together 
 with the ruin of thine own? Think on this, 
 you drunken, proud, rich, and scornful land- 
 lords ; think on this, mad-brained, blasphemous 
 husbands, that are against the godly and chaste 
 conversation of your wives ; also you that hold 
 your servants so hard to it that you will not 
 spare them time to hear the word, unless it be 
 where and when your lusts let you. If you 
 love your own souls, your tenants' souls, your 
 wives' souls, your servants' souls, your chil- 
 dren's souls, if you would not cry, if you would 
 not howl, if you would not bear the burden of 
 the ruin of others for ever, then I beseech you, 
 consider this doleful story, and labour to avoid 
 the soul-killing torment that this poor wretch 
 groaneth under when he saith, " I pray thee 
 therefore that thou wouldst send him to my 
 father's house." 
 
 " For I have five brethren that he may tes- 
 tify '' — mark, that he may testify — " unto them, 
 lest they come into this place of torment." 
 
 These words have still something n;^ore in 
 them than I have yet observed from them ; 
 there are one or two things more that I shall 
 briefly touch upon ; and therefore mark, he 
 saith, " That he may testify unto them," &c. 
 Mark, I pray you, and take notice of the word 
 testify. He doth not say. And let him go unto 
 them, or speak with or tell them such and such 
 things. No, but let him testify or affirm it 
 constantly, in case any should oppose it. " Let 
 him testify unto them.'' It is the same word 
 the Scripture uses to set forth the vehemency 
 of Christ in his telling of his disciples of him 
 that should betray him. "And he testified, 
 saying, One of you shall betray me." And he 
 
 testified — th{it is, he spake it so as to lash oi 
 overcome any that should have said. It shall 
 not be. It is a word that signifies that in case 
 any should oppose the thing spoken of, yet 
 that the party speaking should still continue 
 constant in his saying. "And he commanded 
 them to preach and to testify that it is He that 
 was ordained of God to be the judge of quick 
 and dead." To testify — mark, that is to be 
 constant, irresistible, undaunt^I in case it 
 should be opposed and objected against. So 
 here let him testify to them, lest they come 
 into this place of torment 
 
 From whence observe that it is not an easy 
 matter to persuade them who are in their sins 
 alive in this world that they must and shall be 
 damned if they turn not and be converted to 
 God. " Let him testify to them ;" let him 
 speak confidently, though they frown upon 
 him or dislike his way of speaking. And how 
 is this truth verified and cleared by the car- 
 riage of almost all men now in the world to- 
 ward them that preach the Gospel, and show 
 their own miserable state plainly to them if 
 they close not with it ! If a man do but in- 
 deed labour to convince sinners of their sins 
 and lost condition by nature, though they must 
 be damned if they live and die in that condi- 
 tion, oh how angry are they at it I Look how 
 he judges, say they ; hark how he condemns us ; 
 he tells us we must be damned if we live and 
 die in this state. We are offended at him, we 
 cannot abide to hear him or any such as he ; 
 we will believe none of them all, but go on in 
 the way we are going. " Forbear, why shouldst 
 thou be smitten?" said the ungodly king to 
 the prophet when he told him of his sins. 
 
 I say, tell the drunkard he must be damned 
 if he leaves not his drunkenness, the swearer, 
 liar, cheater, thief, covetous, ■ railers, or any 
 ungodly persons, they must and shall lie in 
 hell for it if they die in this condition, they 
 will not believe you nor credit you. 
 
 Again. Tell others that there are many .n 
 hell that have lived and died in their condi- 
 tions, and so are they like to be if they convert 
 not to Jesus Christ and be found in him, or 
 that there are others that are more civil and 
 sober men, who, (although we know that their 
 civility will not save them,) if we do but tell 
 them plainly of the emptiness and unprofit- 
 ableness of that as to the saving' of their souls, 
 and that God will not accept them nor love 
 them, notwithstanding these things, and that 
 if they intend to be saved they must be better 
 provided than with such righteousness as this 
 
SIOHS FROM HELL. 
 
 789 
 
 they will either fling away and como to hear 
 no more, or else if they do come they will 
 bring such prejudice with them in their hearts 
 " that the word preached shall not profit them, 
 it being mixed not with faith, but with preju- 
 dice in them that hear it." Nay, there will 
 Bome of them be so full of anger that they will 
 break out and call even those that spoak the 
 truth heretics, yea, and kill them. And why 
 60? Because they tell them that if they live 
 in their sins, that will damn them ; yet if they 
 turn and live a righteous life, according to the 
 holy and just and good law of God, that will 
 not save them. Yea, because we tell them 
 plainly that unless they leave their sins and 
 unrighteousness too, and close in with a naked 
 Jesus Christ, his blood and merits, and what 
 he hath done, and is now doing for sinners, 
 they cannot be saved, and unless they do eat 
 the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his 
 blood they have no life abiding in them, they 
 gravel presently and are offended at it, (as the 
 Jews were with Christ for speaking the same 
 thing to them,) and fling away themselves, 
 their souls and all, by quarrelling against the 
 doctrine of the Son of God, as indeed they do, 
 though they will not believe they do; and 
 therefore he that is a preacher of the word had 
 need, not only to tell them, but to testify to 
 them, again and again, that their sins, if they 
 continue in them, will damn them and damn 
 them again. And tell them again their living 
 honestly according to the law, their paying 
 every one their own, their living quietly with 
 their neiglibours, their giving to the poor, their 
 notion of the Gospel, and saying they do be- 
 lieve in Christ, will do them no good at the 
 general day of judgment. Ha, friends! how 
 many of you are there at this very day that 
 have been told once and again of your lost, 
 undone condition, because you want the right,- 
 real, and saving work of God upon your souls? 
 I saj, hath not this been told you, yea, testi- 
 fied unto you from time to time, that your 
 state is miserable, that yet you are never the 
 better, but do still stand where you did,, some 
 in an open ungodly life, and some drowned 
 in a self-conceited holiness of Christianity? 
 Therefore, for God's sake, if you love your 
 souls, consider, and beg of God for Jesus 
 Christ's sake that he would work such a work 
 of grace in your hearts, and give you such a 
 faith in his Son Jesus Christ, that you may not 
 only have rest here, as you think, not only 
 think your state safe while you live here, as 
 you may be safe indeed, not only here, but 
 
 also when you art gone, lest you do cry in the 
 anguish and perplexity if your souls. Send one 
 of my companions that have been beguiled by 
 Satan, as I have been, and so by going on 
 come into this place of torment as I have 
 done. 
 
 Again, one thing more is to be observed 
 from these words, " Let him testify to them, 
 lest they come into this place of torment." 
 
 Mark, lest they come in, as if he had said, 
 Or else they will come into this place of tor- 
 ment, as sure as I am here. From whence 
 observe that though some souls do for sin fall 
 into the bottomless pit of hell before their fel- 
 lows, because they depart this world before 
 them, yet the others, abiding in the same 
 course, are as sure to go to the same place as 
 if they were there already. How so? Be- 
 cause that all are condemned together, they 
 have all fallen under the same law, and have 
 all offended the same justice, and must for cer- 
 tain, if they die in that condition, drink as 
 deep, if not deeper, of the same destruction. 
 Mark, I pray you, what the Scripture says, 
 " He that believeth not is condemned al- 
 ready." 
 
 He is condemned as well as they, having 
 broken the same law with them. If so, then 
 what hinders but they will partake of the 
 same destruction with them, only the one 
 hath not the law yet so executed upon them, 
 because they are here ; the others have had the 
 law executed upon them ; they are gone to 
 drink that which they have been brewing, 
 and thou art brewing that in this life which 
 thou must certainly drink. The same law, I 
 say, is in force against you both, only he is 
 executed and thou art not. Just as if there 
 was a company of prisoners at the bar, and all 
 condemned to die : what I because they are not 
 all executed in one day, therefore shall they 
 not be executed at all? Yes, the same law 
 that executed its severity upon the parties 
 now deceased will for certain be executed 
 upon them that are alive, in its appointed 
 time. Even so it is here: we are all con- 
 demned by nature ; if we close not in with the 
 grace of God ' by Jesus Christ, we must and 
 shall be destroyed with the same destruction ; 
 " and therefore send him," saith he, " lest "— 
 mark, lest — "they come into this place of 
 torment." 
 
 Again, " Send him to my father's house, and 
 let him' testify to them, lest they come into 
 this place of torment." As if he had said, It 
 may be he may prevail with them, it may be 
 
790 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 he may win upon them, and so they may be 
 kept from hence, from coming into t}iis griev- 
 ous place of torment. Observe, again, that 
 there is a possibility of obtaining mercy, if 
 now, I say, now in this day of grace, we turn 
 from our sins to Jesus Christ ; yea, it is more 
 than possible. And therefore, for thy encour- 
 agement, do thou know for certain that if thou 
 shalt in this thy day accept of mercy upon 
 Qod"s own terms, and close with him effect- 
 ually, God hath promised, yea, made many 
 promises, that thy soul shall be conducted 
 safe to glory, and shall for certain escape all 
 the ^ evil that I have told thee of; ay, and 
 many more that I can imagine. Do but 
 search the Scriptures, and see how full of con- 
 solation they are to a poor soul that is minded 
 to close in with Jesus Christ. "He that 
 cometh to me," saith Christ, " I will in nowise 
 cast out." Though he be an old sinner, "I 
 will in nowise cast him out" — mark, "in no- 
 wise," though he be a great sinner. " I will 
 in nowise cast him out" if he comes to me. 
 Though he has slighted me never so many 
 tiines, and not regarded the welfare of his own 
 soul, yet let him now come to me, and not- 
 withstanding this, " I will in nowise cast him 
 out" nor throw away his soul. Again, saith 
 the apostle, " Now " — mark, now — " is the ac- 
 cepted time, now is the day of salvation." 
 Now here is mercy in good store ; now God's 
 heart is open to sinners ; now he will ma^e 
 you welcome; now he will receive anybody 
 if they do but come to Christ. "He that 
 cometh to me," saith Christ, " I will in no- 
 wise cast out." And why? Because, "now 
 is the accepted time, now is the day of salva- 
 tion." As if the apostle had said, If you will 
 have mercy, have it now, receive it now, close 
 in with it now. 
 
 God hath a certain day to hold out his grace 
 to sinners ; now is the time, now is the day. 
 It is true there is a day of damnation, but this 
 is a day of salvation. There is a day coming 
 wherein sinners " must cry to the mountains 
 to fall on them, to the hills to cover them 
 from the wrath of God ;" but now, now is the 
 day in which he doth hold out his grace. 
 There is a day coming in which you will not 
 be admitted to have the privilege of one drop 
 of water to cool your tongue, if now, I say, if 
 now you slight his grace and goodness which 
 he holds out to you. Ab, friends, consider 
 there are now hopes of mercy, but then there 
 will not; now Christ holds forth mercy unto 
 you, but then he will not. Now there are his 
 
 servants that do beseech you to accept of his 
 grace, but if thou lose the opportunity that is 
 put into thine hand, thou thyself mayest be- 
 seech hereafter and no mercy be given thee. 
 "And he cried and said. Father Abraham, 
 have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he 
 may dip the tip of his finger in water, and 
 cool my tongue," and there was none given. 
 Therefore let it never be said of thee, as it 
 will be said of some, " Why is there a price 
 put into the hand of a fool, seeing he hath no 
 heart to it," seeing he hath no heart to make 
 a good use of it? Consider therefore with thy- 
 self, and say, It is better going to heaven than 
 hell; it is better to be saved than damned; it 
 is better to be with saints than with damned 
 souls ; and to' go to God is better than to go 
 to the devil. 
 
 Therefore " seek tlie Lord while he may be 
 found, and call upon him while he is near," 
 lest in thy trouble he leave thee to thyself, and 
 say unto thee plainly, " Where I am thither ye 
 cannot come." 
 
 Oh, if they that are in hell might but now 
 again have one such invitation as this, how 
 would they leap for joy! I have thought 
 sometimes. Should God send but one of his 
 ministers to the damned in hell, and give him 
 commission to preach the free love of God in 
 Christ extended to him and held out to them, 
 if now while it is proffered to them they will 
 accept of his kindness, oh how welcome would 
 they make this news and close in with it on 
 any terms 1 
 
 Certainly they would say, We will accept of 
 grace on any terms in the world, and thank 
 you too, though it cost life and limbs to boot ; 
 we will spare no cost nor charge if mercy may 
 be had. But, poor souls 1 while they live here 
 they will not part from sin, with hell-bred, 
 •devilish sin; no, they will rather lose their 
 souls than lose their filthy sins. 
 
 But, friend, thou wilt change thy note before 
 it be long, and cry, simple wretch that I am, 
 that I should damn my soul by sin 1 It is true, 
 I have had the Gospel preached to me, and 
 have been invited in ; I have been preached to 
 and have been warned of this ; but " how have 
 I hated instruction, and mine heart despised 
 reproof! I have not obeyed the voice of my 
 teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that 
 instructed me." 
 
 Oh therefore, I say, poor soul ! is there hope? 
 Then lay thine hand upon thy mouth and kiss 
 the dust, and close in with the Lord Jesua 
 Christ, and make much of his glorious mercy, 
 
SIGHS FROM HELL. 
 
 791 
 
 and invite also thy companions to close in with 
 the same Lord Jesus Christ, lest one of you do 
 go to hell beforehand, and expect with grief 
 of heart your companions to come after ; and 
 in the mean time, with anguish of heart, do 
 Bigh and say. Oh send him to my companions, 
 and let him testify to them, lest they also come 
 into this place of torment. 
 
 Now, then, from what hath been said there 
 might many things be spoken by way of use 
 and application, but I shall be very brief, and 
 but touch some things, and so wind up. 
 
 And, first, I shall begin with the sad con- 
 dition of those that die out of Christ, and 
 speak somewhat to that. 
 
 Secondly, to the latter end of the parable, 
 which more evidently concerns the Scripture, 
 and speak somewhat to that. • 
 
 1. Therefore you see that the first part of 
 the parable contains a sad declaration of the 
 state of one living and dying out of Christ — 
 how that they lose heaven for hell, God for the 
 devil, light for darkness, joy for sorrow. 
 
 2. How that they have not so much as the 
 least comfort from God who, in the time they 
 lie here ^ below, neglect coming to him for 
 mercy; not so much as one drop of cold 
 water. 
 
 3. That such souls will repent of their folly 
 when repentance will do them no good or when 
 they shall be past recovery. 
 
 4. That all the comforts such souls are like 
 to have they have in this world. 
 
 5. That all their groanings and sighs will not 
 move God to mitigate in the least his heavy 
 hand of vengeance that is upon them for the 
 transgressions they have committed against 
 him. 
 
 6. That their sad state is irrevocable, for 
 they must never — mark, never — come out of 
 that condition. 
 
 7. Their desires will not be heard for their 
 ungodly neighbours. 
 
 From these things, then, I pray you consider 
 the state of those that die out of Christ Jesus ; 
 yea, I say, consider their miserable state, and 
 think thus with thyself. Well, if I neglect 
 coming to Christ, I must go to the devil, and he 
 will not neglect to fetch me away into those 
 intolerable torments. 
 
 Think thus with thyself. What ! shall I lose 
 a long heaven for short pleasure ? Shall I buy 
 the pleasures of this world at so dear a rate as 
 to lose my soul for obtaining of them ? Shall 
 I content myself with a heaven that will last 
 no longer than my lifetime ? What advantage 
 
 will these be to me when the Lord shall sepa- 
 rate soul and body asunder, and send one to 
 the grave, the other to hell, and at the judg- 
 ment-day the 'final sentence of eternal ruin 
 must be passed upon me ? 
 
 1. Consider that the profits, pleasures, and 
 vanities of this world will not last for ever, but 
 the time is coming, yea, just at the doors, whea 
 they will give thee the slip, and leave thee in 
 the suds and in the brambles for all that thou 
 hast done. 
 
 2. And, therefore, to prevent this thy dismal 
 state, think thus with thyself. It is true, I lovo 
 my sins, my lusts, my pleasures, but what good 
 will they do me at the day of death and of 
 judgment? Will my sins do me good then? 
 Will they be able to help me when I come to 
 fetch my last breath? What good will my 
 profits do me? And what good will your 
 vanities do when death says he will have no 
 nay? What good will all companions, fellow- 
 jesters, jeerers, liars, drunkards, and all my 
 wantons do me ? Will they help to ease the 
 pains of hell? Will these help to turn the 
 hand of God from inflicting his fierce anger 
 upon me? Nay, will they not rather cause 
 God to show me no mercy, to give me no com- 
 fort, but rather to thrust me down in the 
 hottest place of hell, where I may swim in fire 
 and brimstone? ' 
 
 3. Consider thus with thyself. Would I be 
 glad to have all, every one of my sins, to come 
 in against me to inflame the justice of God 
 against me? Would I be glad to be bound up 
 in them, as the three children were bound in 
 their clothes, and to be as really thrown into 
 the fiery furnace of the wrath of Almighty 
 God as they were into Nebuchadnezzar's fiery 
 furnace? 
 
 4. Consider thus, Would I be glad to have 
 all and every one of the ten commandments to 
 discharge themselves against my soul — the 
 first saying. Damn him, for he hath broken 
 me; the second saying. Damn him, for he hath 
 broken me? &c. 
 
 Consider how terrible this will be, yea, more 
 terrible than if thou shouldst have ten of the 
 biggest pieces of ordnance in England to be 
 discharged against thy body,.thunder, thunder, 
 one after another ! Nay, this would not be com- 
 parable to the reports that the law (for the 
 breach thereof ) will give against thy soul ; for 
 those can but kill the body, but these will keep 
 both body and soul; and that not for an hour, 
 a day, a month, or a year, but they will con- 
 demn thee for ever. 
 
792 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Mark, it is for ever, for ever. It ia into 
 eTerlasting damuationi eternal destruction, 
 eternal wrath and displeasure from God, 
 eternal gnawings of consciencS, eternal con- 
 tinuance with devils. 
 
 Oh consider, it may be the thought of seeing 
 the devil doth now make thine hair to stand 
 right up on thine head. Oh but this, to be 
 damned, to be among all the devils, and that 
 not only for a time,, as I said before, but for 
 ever, to all eternity ! 
 
 This is so wonderfully miserable, ever mis- 
 erable, that no tongue of man, no nor of an- 
 gels, is ah^e to express it. 
 
 5. Ci-ns: ler much with thyself. Not only my 
 sins against the law will be laid to my charge, 
 but also the sins I have committed in slight- 
 ing the Gospel, the glorious Gospel,; these also 
 must come with a voice against me; as thus: 
 Nay, he is worthy to be damned, for he re- 
 jected the Gospel, he slighted the free grace- 
 of .God tendered in the Gospel. How many 
 times wast thou (damned wretch!) invited, 
 entreated, beseeched to come to Christ, to ac- 
 cept of mercy, that thou mightest have heaven, 
 thy sins pardoned, thy soul saved, thy body 
 and soul glorified, and all this for nothing but 
 the acceptance, and through faith forsaking 
 those imps of Satan which by their embrace- 
 ments have drawn thee down toward the gulf 
 of God's eternal displeasure! 
 
 How often .didst thou read the promises, yea, 
 the free promises, of the common salvation ! 
 How oft didst thou read the sweet counsels 
 and admonitions of the Gospel to accept of 
 the grace of God! But thou wouldst not, thou 
 regardedst it not, thou didst slight all. 
 
 Secondly. As I would have thee consider 
 the sad and woeful state of those that die out 
 of Christ and are past all recovery, so would I 
 have thee consider the many mercies and privi- 
 leges thou enjoyest above some (peradventure) 
 of thy companions that are departed to their 
 proper place. 
 
 As — 1. Consider, thou hast still the thread 
 of thy life lengthened, which for thy sins 
 might seven years ago or more have been cut 
 asunder and thou have dropped down among 
 the flames. 
 
 2. Consider, the terms of reconciliation by 
 faith in Christ ani st 11 proffered unto thee, 
 and thou invited, yea, entreated, to accept of 
 them. 
 
 3. Consider, the terms of reconciliation are 
 but (bear with me though I say but) only to 
 believe in Jesus Christ with faith that purifies 
 
 the heart, and enables thy soul to feed on him 
 effectually, and be saved from this sad state. 
 
 4. Consider, the time of thy departure is at 
 hand, and the time is uncertain, and also that, 
 for aught thou knowest, the day of grace may 
 be past to thee 'before thou diest, not lasting 
 so long as the uncertain life in this world. 
 And if so, then know for certain that thou art 
 as sure to be damned as if thou wast in hell 
 already, if thou convert not in the mean Whil& 
 
 5. Consider, it may be some of thy friends 
 are giving all diligence to make their calling 
 and election .sure, being resolved for heaven, 
 and thou thyself endeavourest as fast to make 
 sure of hell, as if resolved to have it; and to- 
 gether with this consider how it will grieve 
 thee that while thou wast making sure of hell 
 thy friends were making sure of heaven. But 
 more of this by and by. 
 
 6. Consider, what a sad reflection this will 
 have on thy soul to see thy friends in heaven 
 and thyself in hell ; thy father in heaven and 
 thou in hell ; thy mother in heaven and thou 
 in hell; thy brother, thy sister, thy children 
 in heaven and thou in hell. As Christ said to 
 the Jews of their relations according to the 
 flesh, so may I say to thee concerning thy 
 friends, "There shall be weeping, and wailing, 
 and gnashing of teeth" when you shall see 
 your fathers and mothers, brethren and sisters, 
 husbands and wives, children and kinsfolk, 
 with your friends and neighbours, in the king- 
 dom of heaven, and thou thyself thrust out. 
 
 But again, because I would not only tell 
 thee of the damnable state of those that die 
 out of Christ, but also persuade thee to take 
 hold of life and go to heaven, take notice of 
 these following things : 
 
 1. Consider, that whatever thou canst do as 
 to thy acceptance with God is not worth the 
 dirt of thy shoes, but is all as filthy rags. 
 
 2. Consider, that all the conditions of the 
 new covenant (as to salvation) are and have 
 been completely fulfilled by the Lord Jesu.? 
 Christ, and that for sinners. 
 
 3. Consider, that the Lord calls to thee for 
 to receive whatsoever Christ hath done^ and 
 that on free cost. Rev. sxii. 17. 
 
 4. Consider, that thou canst not honour 
 God more than to close in with his proffers of 
 grace, mercy, and pardon of sin. Rom. iv. 
 
 Again, that which will add to all the rest, 
 thou shalt have the very mercy of God, the 
 blood of Christ, the preachers of the word, to 
 gether with every sermon, all the promises 
 invitations, exhortations, and all the counsels 
 
SIGHS FROM HELL. 
 
 71)3 
 
 and threatenings of the blessed word of God — 
 thou shalt have all thy thoughts, words, and 
 actions, together with all thy food, thy raiment, 
 thy sleep, thy goods, and also all hours, days, 
 weeks, months, and years, together with what- 
 soever else God hath given thee — I say, thy 
 abuse of all these shall come up in judgment 
 against thy soul, for God will reckon with thee 
 for every thing, whether it be good or bad. 
 Eccles. xii. 14. 
 
 5. Nay, further, it is so unreasonable a thing 
 for a sinner to refuse the Gospel that the very 
 devils themselves will come in against thee, as 
 well as Sodom, that damned crew. May not 
 they, I say, come in against thee, and say, 
 thou simple man 1 vile wretch ! that had 
 not so much care of thy soul, thy precious soul, 
 as the beast hath of its young or tke dog of 
 the very bone that lieth before him 1 Was thy 
 soul worth so much, and didst thou so little 
 regard it ? Were the thunderclaps of the law 
 ao terrible, and didst thou so slight them? 
 Besides, was the Gospel so freely, so frequently, 
 so fully tendered to thee, and yet hast thou re- 
 jected all these things ? 
 
 Hast thou valued sin at a higher rate than 
 thy soul — than God, Christ, angels, saints, 
 and communion with them in eternal blessed- 
 ness and glory ? Wast thou not told of hell- 
 fire, those intolerable flames ? Didst thou never 
 hear of those intolerable roarings of the damned 
 ones that are therein ? Didst thou never hear 
 or read that doleful saying in the 16th of Luke, 
 how the sinful man cries out among the flames, 
 " One drop of water to cool my tongue 1" Thus, 
 I say, may the very devils, being ready to go 
 with thee into the burning furnace of fire and 
 brimstone, though not for sins of so high a na- 
 ture as thine, trembling say, Oh that Christ 
 had died for devils as he died for men 1 And, 
 Oh that the GospeL had been preached to us 
 as it hath been to thee I How would we have 
 laboured to have closed in with it I But woe 
 be to us, for we might never have it proffered ; 
 no, not in the least, though we would have 
 been glad of it ! But you, you have it proffered, 
 preached, and proclaimed unto you. Prov. viii. 
 4. Besides, you have been entreated and be- 
 Beeched to accept of it, but you would not. O 
 simple fools I that might have escaped wrath, 
 vengeance, hell-fire, and that to all eternity, 
 and had no heart at all to do it 1 
 
 6. May not the messengers of Jesus Christ 
 also come in with a shrill and terrible note 
 against thy soul when thou standest at the bar 
 of God's justice, saying, Nay, thou ungodly 
 
 one, how often hast thou been forewarned of 
 this day! Did not we sound an alarm in 
 thine ears, by the trumpet of God's word, day 
 after day? How often didst thou hear us tell 
 thee of these things! Did we not tell thee 
 sin would damn thy soul? Did we not tell 
 thee that without conversion there was no sal- 
 vation ? Did we not tell thee that they who 
 loved their sins should be damned at this dark 
 and gloomy day ? (as thou art like to be. ) Yea, 
 did we not tell thee that God, out of his love 
 to sinners, sent Christ to die for thern, that 
 they might (by coming to him) be saved ? Did 
 we not tell thee of these things? Did we not 
 run, ride, labour, and strive abundantly (if it 
 might have been) for the good of thy soul? 
 (though now a damned soul.) Did we not ven- 
 ture our goods, our names, our lives? Yea, 
 did we not even kill ourselves with our earnest 
 entreaties of thee to consider of thine estate, 
 and by Christ to escape this dreadful day? 
 Oh sad doom ! when thou shalt be forced, full 
 sore against thy will, to fall under the truth 
 of this judgment, saying, " Oh how have I 
 hated instruction, and how hath my heart de- 
 spised reproof! (for indeed) I have not obeyed 
 the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine 
 earto them that instructed me." Prov. v. 12, 13. 
 
 7. May not thy father, thy mother, thy 
 brother, thy sister, thy friend, &c., appear with 
 gladness against thee at the terrible day, say- 
 ing, thou silly wretch, how rightly hath God 
 met with thee I Oh how righteously doth his 
 sentence pass upon thee! Remember, thou 
 wouldst not be ruled nor persuaded in thy life- 
 time. As thou didst not care for us and our ad- 
 monitions then, so neither do we care for thy 
 ruin, terror, and damnation now. * No, but we 
 will stand on God's side in sentencing of thee 
 to that portion which the devils must be par- 
 takers of. " The righteous shall rejoice when 
 he seeth the vengeance ; he shall wash his foot 
 in the blood of the wicked." Ps. Iviii. 10. Oh 
 sad ! It is enough to make mountains tremble 
 and rocks rend in pieces to hear this doleful 
 sound. Consider these things, "and if thou 
 wouldst be loth to be in this condition, then 
 have a care of living in sin now. How loth 
 wilt thou be to be thrust away from the gates 
 of heaven ! and how loth wilt thou be to be 
 deprived of the mercy of God ! 
 
 How unwillingly wilt thou set foot forward 
 toward the lake of fire! Never did malefac- 
 tor so unwillingly turn off the ladder when 
 the halter was about his neck as thou wilt 
 turn from God to the devil, from heaven to 
 
794 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 bell, wHeii the sentence is passed upon thy 
 Boul. 
 
 Oh how wilt thou sigh and groan I How 
 willingly wouldst thou hide thyself and run 
 away from justice! But, alas I as it is with 
 them that are on the ladder ready to be exe- 
 cuted, so it will be with thee. They would 
 fain run away, but there are many halbert- 
 men to stay them ; and so the angels of God 
 will beset thee round, I say round on every 
 aide, so that thou mayest indeed look, but run 
 thou cauit not. Thou mayest wish thyself 
 under some rock or mountain, but how to get 
 under thou knowest not. 
 
 Oh how, unwilling wilt thou be to let thy 
 father go to heaven without thee ! thy mother 
 or friends, &c., go to heaven without thee! 
 How willingly wouldst thou hang on them and 
 not let them go ! O father I cannot you help 
 me? Mother, cannot you do me some good? 
 Oh how loth am I to burn and fry in hell while 
 you are singing in heaven! But, aljs! the 
 father, mother, or friends reject them, slight 
 them, and turn their backs upon them, saying. 
 You would have none of heaven in your life- 
 time, therefore you shall have none of it now ; 
 you slighted our counsels then, and we slight 
 your tears, cries, and condition now. What 
 sayest thou, sinner? Will .not this persuade 
 thine heart, or make thee bethink thyself? 
 This is now before thou fall into that dreadful 
 place, that fiery furnace. But oh consider 
 how dreadful the place itself, the devils them- 
 selves, the fire itself will be ! And this at the 
 end of all— here thou must lie for ever ! here 
 thou must fry for ever and for ever ! This 
 will be more to thee than any man with tongue 
 can express or with pen can write. There is 
 none that can, I say, by the ten thousandth 
 part discover the state and condition of such a 
 soul. 
 
 I shall conclude this, then, with a few con- 
 siderations of encouragement. 
 
 1. Consider, (for I would fain hav& thee 
 come in, sinner,) that there is a way made 
 by Jesus Christ for them that are under 
 the curse of God to come to this comfort- 
 able and blessed state of Lazarus I was 
 speaking of. 
 
 2. Consider, what pains Christ Jesus took 
 for the ransoming of thy soul from all the 
 curses, thunderclaps, and tempests of the law, 
 from all the intolerable flames of hell, from 
 that soul-sinking appearance of thy person 
 (on the left hand) before the judgment-seat 
 of Christ Jesus, from everlasting fellowship 
 
 with innumerable companies of yelling and 
 soul-amazing devils — I say, consider what 
 pains the Lord Jesus Christ took in bringing 
 in redemption for sinners from these things. 
 
 In that "though he was rich, yet he b? 
 came poor, that thou, through his poverty, 
 might be made rich.'' He laid aside his 
 glory (John vii.) " and became a servant." 
 Phil. ii. He left the company of angels and 
 encountered with the devil. Luke iv. He left 
 heaven's ease for a time to lie upon hard 
 mountains. John viii. In a word, he became 
 poorer than those that go with flail and rako, 
 yea, than the very birds or foxes, and all to 
 do thee good. Besides, consider a little of 
 those unspeakable and intolerable slightings 
 and rejections and the manifold abuses that 
 came from men upon him — how he was falsely 
 accused, being a sweet, harmless, and unde- 
 filed lamb ; how he was undervalued, so that 
 a murderer was counted less worthy of con- 
 demnation than he ; besides, how they mock 
 him, spit on him, beat him over the head with 
 staves, and the hair plucked from his cheeks: 
 " I gave my back to the smiters, (saith he,) and 
 my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair ; 
 I hid not my face from shame and spitting " — 
 his head- crowned with thorns, his hands 
 pierced with nails, and his side with a spear; 
 together with how they used him, scourged 
 him, and so miserably misusing him that they 
 had even spent him in a great measure before 
 they did crucify him, insomuch that there was 
 another fain to carry his cross. 
 
 Again, not only this, but lay to heart a little 
 what he received from God his dear Father, 
 though he was his dear and tender Son : first, 
 in that he did deal with him as the greatest 
 sinner and rebel in the world, for he laid the 
 sins of thousands, and ten thousands, and 
 thousands of thousands -of sinners to his 
 charge, (Isa. liii.,) and caused him to drink 
 the terrible cup tliat was due to them all; 
 and not only so, but did delight in so doing : 
 "For it pleased the Lord to bruise him." 
 God dealt indeed with his Son as Abraham 
 would have dealt with Isaac ; ay, and more 
 terribly by ten thousand parts, for he did not 
 only tear his body like a lion, but made his 
 soul an ofiering for sin. And this was not 
 done feignedly, but really, (for justice called 
 for it, he standing in the room of sinners :) 
 witness that horrible and unspeakable agony 
 that fell on him suddenly in the garden, as if 
 all the vials of God's unspeakable scalding 
 vengeance had been cast upon him all at 
 
SIGHS FROM HELL. 
 
 795 
 
 once, and all the devils in hell had broken 
 loose from thence at once to destroy him, and 
 that for ever ; insomuch that the very pangs 
 of death seized upon him in the same hour ; 
 for, saith he, " My soul is exceeding sorrowful 
 and amazed, even unto death." 
 
 Witness also that strange kind of sweat 
 that trickled down his most blessed face, 
 wheie it is said. And he sweat, as it were, 
 gr;at drops or dodders of blood, trickling 
 down to the ground. O Lord Jesus ! what a 
 load didst thou carry I what a burden didst thou 
 bear of the sins of the world and the wrath 
 of God I O thou that didst not only bleed at 
 nose and mouth with the pressure that lay 
 upon thee, but thou wast so pressed, so loaded 
 that the pure blood gushed th rough the flesh and 
 skin, and so ran trickling down to the ground ! 
 " And his sweat was as it were great drops of 
 blood, trickling or falling down to the ground." 
 Canst thou read this, thou wicked sinner ! 
 and yet go on in sin? Canst thou think of 
 this, and defer repentance one hour longer ? 
 heart of flint, yea, harder! miserable 
 wretch 1 what place in hell will be hot enough 
 for thee to have thy soul put into if thou shalt 
 persist or go on still to add iniquity to iniquity ? 
 
 Besides, his soul went down to hell (Ps. 
 xvi. 10; Acts ii. 31) and his body to the bars 
 of the grave; and had hell, death, or the 
 grave been strong enough to hold him, then 
 he had suffered the vengeance of eternal fire 
 to all eternity. But, blessed Jesus I how 
 didst thou discover thy love to man in thy 
 thus suffering ! and, God the Father I how 
 didst thou declare the purity and exactness 
 of thy justice, in that, though it was thine 
 only, holy, innocent, harmless, and undefiled 
 Son Jesus that did take on him our nature 
 and represent our persons, answering for our 
 sins instead of ourselves, thou didst so won- 
 derfully pour out thy wrath upon him to the 
 making of him to cry out, " My God, my God, 
 why hast thou forsaken me?" And, Lord 
 Jesus 1 what a glorious conquest hast thou 
 made over the enemies of our souls, even 
 wrath, sin, death, hell, and devils, in that 
 thou didst wring thyself from under the 
 power of them all I and not only so, but hast 
 led them captive which would have led us 
 captive, and also hast received for us that 
 glorious and unspeakable inheritance "that 
 eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath 
 it entered into the heart of man to conceive," 
 and also hast given them some discovery 
 thereof through the Spirit. 
 
 And now, sinner, together with this, con- 
 sider — 
 
 Fourthly. That though Jesus Christ hath 
 done all these things for sinners, yet the devil 
 makes it his whole work and continual study 
 how he may keep thee and others from enjoy- 
 ing of these blessed privileges that have been 
 thus obtained for sinners by this sweet Jesus. 
 He labours, I say, 
 
 1. To keep thee ignorant of thy state by na- 
 ture. 
 
 2. To harden thy heart against the ways of 
 God. 
 
 3. To inflame thy heart with love to sin and 
 the ways Of darkness. 
 
 And, 4. To get thee to continue herein. For 
 that is the way, he knows, to get thee to be a 
 partaker with him of flaming hell-fire, even 
 the same that he himself is fallen into, together 
 with the rest of the wicked world, by reason 
 of sin. Look to it, therefore. 
 
 But now, in the next place, a word of en- 
 couragement to you that are the saints of the 
 Lord. 
 
 1. Consider what a happy state thou art in 
 that hast gotten the faith of the Lord Jesus 
 into thy soul. (But be sure thou have it.) I 
 say, how safe, how sure, how happy art thou. 
 For when others go to hell, thou must go to 
 heaven ; when others go to the devil, thou must 
 go to God; when others go to prison, thou 
 must be set at liberty, at ease, and at freedom ; 
 when others must roar for sorrow of heart, thou 
 shalt also sing for the joy of heart. 
 
 2. Consider, thou must have all thy well- 
 spent life to follow thee, instead of all thy sins, 
 and the glorious blessings of the Gospel, in- 
 stead of the dreadful curses and condemna- 
 tions of the law ; the blessings of the Father, 
 instead of a fiery sentence from the Judge. 
 
 3. Let dissolution come when it will, it can 
 do thee no harm ; for it will be only a passage 
 out of a prison into a palace ; out of a sea of 
 troubles into an heaven of rest ; out of a cloud 
 of enemies to an innumerable company of 
 true, loving, and faithful friends ; out of shame, 
 reproach and contempt into exceeding great 
 and eternal glory; for death shall not hurt 
 thee with his sting nor bite thee with his soul- 
 murdering teeth, but shall be a welcome guest 
 to thee, even to thy soul, in that it is sent to 
 free thee from thy troubles which thou art in 
 whilst here in this world, dwelling in the tab- 
 ernacle of clay. 
 
 4. Consider, however it goes with friends 
 and relations, yet it will go well wth thee. 
 
7y« 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WOBKS. 
 
 However it goes with tlie wicked, yet I know 
 —mark, yet I know, saith lie — that it shall go 
 well with them that fear the Lord, that fear 
 before him. 
 
 And therefore let this, in the first place, 
 cause thee cheerfully to exercise thy patience 
 under all the calamities, crosses, troubles and 
 afiiictions that may come upon thee, and by 
 patient coutinuancfe in well-doing to commit 
 both thyself and thine affairs and actions into 
 the hands of God through Jesus Christ, as to a 
 faithful Creator, who is true to his word, and 
 lo'.eth to give unto, thee whatsoever he hath 
 promised to thee. 
 
 And therefore to encourage thee, while thou 
 art here, with comfort to hold on for all thy 
 crosses in this thy journey, be much in consid- 
 ering the place that thou must go into so soon 
 as dissolution comes. 
 
 It must be into heaven, to God the Judge 
 of all, to an innumerable company of angels, 
 to the spirits of just men made perfect, to the 
 genera,l assembly and Church of the first-born 
 whose names are written in heaven, and to 
 Jesus, (to the Redeemer,) who is the mediator 
 of the new covenant, and to the blood of 
 sprinkling, that speaks better things for thee 
 than Abel's did for Cain. 
 
 Consider, that when the time of the dead 
 that they shall be raised is come, then shall 
 thy body be raised out of the grave and be 
 glorified, and be made like to Jesus Christ. 
 Phil. iii. 21. excellent condition ! 
 
 When Jesus Christ shall sit on the throne 
 of his glory, you shall also sit with him, even 
 whfen he shall sit on the throne of his glory. 
 Oh, will not this be glorious, that when thou- 
 sands and thousands of thousands shall be 
 arraigned before the judgment-seat of Christ, 
 then for them to sit with him upon the throne, 
 together with him to pass the sentence upon 
 the ungodly? Will it not be glorious to enjoy 
 those things that eye hath not seen nor ear 
 heard, neither hath entered into the heart of 
 man to conceive? 
 
 Will it not be glorious to have this sentence, 
 "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the 
 kingdom prepared for you before the founda- 
 tion of the world?" Will it not be glorious to 
 enter then with the angels and saints into that 
 glorious kingdom? Will it not be glorious for 
 thee to be in glory with them, while others are 
 in unutterable torments ? Oh then how will it 
 comfort thee to see thou hast not lost that 
 glory, to think that the devil hath not got thy 
 soul, that thy soul should be saved, and that 
 
 not from a little, but a great, exceeding dan- 
 ger — not with a little, but a great salvation ! 
 Oh therefore let the saints be joyful in glory, 
 let them triumph over all their enemies. Let 
 them begin to sing heaven upon earth, triumph 
 before they come to glory, even when they are 
 in the midst of their enemies ; " for this hon- 
 our shall all his saints have." 
 
 Ver. 29. Abraham sa,id unto him, They have 
 Moses and the prophets ; let them hear them. 
 In the verse foregoing you see there is a dis- 
 covery of the lamentable state of the poor soul 
 that dies out of Christ and the special favour 
 of God, and also how little the glorious God 
 of heaven doth regard and take notice of their 
 most miserable condition. 
 
 Now, in this verse he doth magnify the 
 words which were spoken to the people by the 
 prophets and apostles. " They have Moses and 
 the prophets ; let them hear them." As if he 
 should say. Thou askest me that I should send 
 Lazarus back again into the world to preach 
 to them that live there, that they might escape 
 that doleful place that thou art in. What 
 needs that? Have they not Moses and the 
 prophets? Have they not had my ministers 
 and servants sent unto them and coming as 
 from me? I sent Enoch and Noah, Moses and 
 Samuel ; I sent David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Eze- 
 kiel, Daniel, Hosea, and the rest of the proph- 
 ets, together with Peter, Paul, John, Matthew, 
 James, Jude, with the rest. "Let them hear 
 them." What they have spoken by divine in- 
 spiration I will own, whether it be for the dam- 
 nation of those that, reject or the saving of 
 them that receive their doctrine. And there- 
 fore what need have they that one should be 
 sent unto them in another way? " They have 
 Moses and the prophets; let them hear them;" 
 let them receive their word, close in with the 
 doctrine declared by them. I shall not at this 
 time speak anything to that word Abrahani, 
 having touched upon it already, but shall tell 
 you what is to be understood by these words, 
 "They have Moses and the prophets; let them 
 hear them." The things that I shall observe 
 from hence are these : 1. That the Scriptures 
 spoken by the holy men of God are a sufficient 
 rule to instruct to salvation them that do as- 
 suredly believe and close in with what they hold 
 forth. " They have Moses and the prophets ; 
 let them hear them." That is, if they would 
 escape that doleful place, and be saved indeed 
 from the intolerable pains of hell-fire, as they 
 desire, they have that which is sufiicient to 
 
SIGHS FROM HELL. 
 
 797 
 
 eounsel them, "They have Moses and the 
 prophets ;" let them be instructed by them, 
 "let them hear them." 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17. "For 
 all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, 
 and is proiitable for doctrine, for reproof, for 
 correction, for instruction in righteousness." 
 Why ? " That the man of, God may be per- 
 fect, thoroughly furnished to every good 
 work." 
 
 Do but mark these words : " All Scripture is 
 profitable." All — take it where you will and 
 what place you will — all is profitable. For 
 what? "That the man of God," or he that is 
 bound for heaven, would instruct others in 
 their progress thither. 
 
 It is profitable to instruct him in case he be* 
 ignorant ; to reprove him in case he transgress ; 
 to correct him if he hath need of j,t ; to con- 
 firm him if he be wavering. It is profitable 
 for doctrine, and all this in a very righteous 
 way, that the poor soul may not only be helped, 
 but thoroughly furnished, not only to some, 
 but to all, good works. And when Paul would 
 counsel Timothy to stick close to the things 
 that are sound and sure, presently he puts him 
 upon the Scripture, saying, " Thou hast from 
 a child known the Scriptures, which are able 
 to make thee wise unto salvation, through 
 faith which is in Christ Jesus." The Scrip- 
 ture holds forth God's mind and will, his love 
 and mercy towards man, and also the crea- 
 ture's carriage towards him from first to last; 
 so if thou wouldst know the love of God in 
 Christ to sinners, " then search the Scriptures, 
 for they are they that testify of him." 
 
 Wouldst thou know what thou art and what 
 is in thine heart? Then search the Scriptures, 
 and see what is written in them. (Eom. iii. 9- 
 18; i. 29, 30, 31; Jer. xvii. 9; Gen. vi. 5; viii. 
 21; Eph. iv. 18, with many others.) The 
 Scriptures, I say, they are able to give a man 
 perfect instruction into any of the things of 
 God necessary to faith and godliness, if he 
 hath but an honest heart seriously to weigh 
 and ponder the several things contained in 
 them. As to instance in things more partic- 
 ular for the further clearing up of this. 
 And first, if we come to the creation of the 
 world. 
 
 Wouldst thou know somewhat concerning 
 that? Then read Gen. i. and ii., and compare 
 them with Ps. xxsiii., at the 6th verse; al^o 
 Isa. Ixvi. 2; Prov. viii., towards the end. 
 
 Wouldst thou know whether he made them 
 of something or nothing? Head Heb. xi. 3. 
 
 Wouldst thou know whether he put forth 
 
 any labour in making them, as we do in mak- 
 ing things ? Eead Ps. xxxiii. 2. 
 
 If thou wouldst know whether man was 
 made by God corrupt or upright, read Eccles. 
 vii. 26 ; Gen. i. 10, 18, 25, 31. 
 
 Wouldst thou know whither God did place 
 man after he had made him ? Eead Gen. ii. 15. 
 
 Wouldst thou know whether that man did 
 live there all his time or not? Then read Gen. 
 iii. 23, 24. 
 
 If thou wouldst know whether man be %till 
 in that state by nature that God did place him 
 in, then read Eccles. vii. 26, and compare it 
 with Eom. v. 16 and Eph. ii. 1, 2, 3: "God 
 made man upright, but he hath found out 
 vfiany inventions." 
 
 If thou wouldst know whether man was first 
 beguiled, or the woman that God made an 
 helpmate for him, read Gen. iii. 6, and com- 
 pare it with 1 Tim. ii. 14. « 
 
 Wouldst thou know whether God looked 
 upon Adam's eating the forbidden tree to be 
 sin or no? Eead Eom. v. 12, 13, 14, 15, and 
 compare it with Gen. iii. 17. 
 
 Wouldst thou know whether it were the 
 devil who beguiled them, or whether it was a 
 natural serpent, such as do haunt the desolate 
 places? Eead Gen. iii. 12, with Eev. xx. 1, 
 2,3. 
 
 Wouldst thou know whether that sin be im- 
 puted to us? Eead Eom. v. 12, 13, 14, 15, and 
 compare it with Eph. ii. 2. 
 
 Wouldst thou know whether man was cursed 
 for his sin ? Eead Gal. iii. 10 ; Kom. v. 15. 
 
 Wouldst thou know whether the curse did 
 fall on man, or on the whole creation with 
 him ? Compare Gen. iii. 7 with Eom. viii. 20, 
 21, 22. 
 
 Wouldst thou know whether am^n be de- 
 filed in every part of him by the sin he hath 
 indulged in? Then read Isa. i. 6. 
 
 Wouldst thou know man's inclination so 
 soon as he is born? Eead Ps. Iviii. 3 : "The 
 wicked are estranged from the womb, they go 
 astray so soon as they be born." 
 
 Wouldst thou know whether man, once 
 fallen from God by transgression', can recover 
 himself by all he can do ? Then read Eom. 
 iii. 20, 23. 
 
 Wouldst thou know whether it be the de- 
 sire of the heart of man by nature to follow 
 God in his own way or no? Compare Gen. vi. 
 5 and Gen viii. 21 with Hos. xi. 7. 
 
 Wouldst thou know how God's heart stood 
 affected towards man before the world began? 
 Compare Eph. i. 4 with 2 Tim. i. 9. 
 
798 
 
 £UNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Wouldst thou know whether sin were suf- 
 ficient to draw God's love from his creatures ? 
 Compare Jer. iii..7 and Mic. vii. 18 with Eom. 
 V. 6, 7, 8. 
 
 Wouldst thou know whether God's love did 
 still abide towards his creatures for any thing 
 they could do to make him amends? Then 
 read Deut. xi. 5, 6, 7, 8. 
 
 Wouldst thou know how God could still love 
 his creatures, and do his justice no wrong? 
 Read Rom. iii. 24, 25, 26: "Being justified 
 freely by his grace, through the redemption 
 that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set 
 forth to be a propitiation for sin, through faith 
 in his blood, to declare his righteousness for 
 the remission of sins that are past, through the 
 forbearance of God. To declare (I say) at this 
 time, his righteousness, that he might be just 
 and the justifier of him that believeth in 
 Jesus." • That is, God having his justice satis- 
 fied in the blood, and righteousness, and death 
 of his own Son Jesus Christ for the sins of poor 
 sinners, he can now save them that come to 
 him, though never so great sinners, and do his 
 justice no wrong, because it hath had a full 
 and complete satisfaction given it by that 
 blood. 
 
 Wouldst thou know who he was and what 
 he was that did out of his love die for sinners? 
 Then compare John iii. 17, 19; Eom. v. 8 with 
 Isa, ix. 6. 
 
 Wouldst thou know whether this Saviour 
 had a body of flesh and bones before the world 
 was, ox took it from the Virgin Mary ? Then 
 read Gal. iv. 4. 
 
 Wouldst thou know whether he di(J in that 
 body bear all our sins, and where? Then 
 read 1 Pet. ii. 4 : " Who bore our sins in his 
 own body on the tree." 
 
 Wouldst thou know whether he did rise 
 again after he was crucified with the very same 
 body ? Then read Luke xxiv. 38, 39, 40, 41. 
 
 Wouldst thou know whether he did eat or 
 drink with his disciples after he rose out of the 
 grave? Then read Luke xxiv. 42 ; Acts x. 41. 
 
 If thou wouldst be persuaded of the truth 
 of this, that that very body is now above the 
 clouds and stars, read Acts i. 9, 10, 11 and 
 Luke xxiv. to the end. 
 
 If thou wouldst know that the Quakers hold 
 an error that say the body of Christ is within 
 them, consider the same Scripture. 
 
 Wouldst thou know what that Christ that 
 died for sinners is doing in that place whither 
 he is gone? Then read Heb. vii. 24. 
 
 Wouldst thou know who shall have life by 
 
 him ? Read 1 Tim. i. 14, 15 and Rom. v. 6, f 
 8, which say, Christ died for sinners, for the 
 ungodly. 
 
 Wouldst thou know whether they that live 
 and die in their sins shall go to heaven or not? 
 Then read 1 Cor. vi. 10 ; Rev. xxi. 8, 27, which 
 saith, " They shall have their part in the lake 
 that burns with fire and brimstone." 
 
 Wouldst thou know whether men's obe- 
 dience will obtain that Christ should die for 
 them or save them ? Then read Mark ii. 17 ; 
 Rom. V. 7. 
 
 Wouldst thou know whether righteousness, 
 justification, and sanctification do comethrough 
 the virtue of Christ's blood ? - Compare Rom. 
 .V. 9 with Heb. xii. 12. 
 
 Wouldst thou know whether a natural man 
 abstains from the outward act of sin against 
 the law merely by a principle of nature ? Then 
 compare well Rom. ii. 14 with Phil. iii. 6. 
 
 Wouldst thou know whether a man by na- 
 ture may know something of the invisible 
 things of God? Compare seriously Rom. i. 
 20, 31 with Rom. ii. 14, 15. 
 
 Wouldst thou know how far a man may go 
 in a profession of the Gospel and yet fall away? 
 Then read Heb. vi. 4, 5, 6 : " They may taste 
 the good word of God and the powers of the 
 world to come : they may taste the heavenly 
 gift and be partakers of the Holy Ghost," and 
 yet so fall as never to be recovered or renewed 
 again unto repentance. See also Luke xiii. 
 
 Wouldst thou know how hard it is to go to 
 heaven ? Read Matt. vii. 13, 14 ; Luke xiii. 24. 
 
 Wouldst thou know whether a man by na- 
 ture be a friend to God or an enemy ? Then 
 read Eom. v. 11 ; Col. i. 21. 
 
 Wouldst thou know what or who they are 
 that shall go to heaven? Then read John iii. 
 3, 6, 7 and 2 Cor. v. 7. Also, wouldst thou 
 know what a sad thing it is for any to turn 
 their backs upon the Gospel of Jesus Christ ? 
 Then read Heb. x. 28, 29 and Mark xvi. 16. 
 
 Wouldst thou know what is the wages of 
 sin ? Then read Rom. vi. 23. 
 
 Wouldst thou know whither those do go 
 that die unconverted to the faith of Christ? 
 Then read Ps. ix. 17 and Isa. xiv. 9. 
 
 Reader, here might I spend many sheets of 
 paper, yea, I might upon this subject write a 
 very great book, but I shall now forbear, de 
 siring thee to be very conversant in the Scrip- 
 tures, " for they are they that will testify of 
 Jesus Christ." The Bereans were counted 
 noble upon this account : " These were nobler 
 than those of Thessalonica, in that tiiey re- 
 
SIGHS FROM SELL. 
 
 799 
 
 ceived the word with all readiness of mind and 
 searched the Scriptures daily." But here let 
 me give thee one caution : that is, have a care 
 that thou do not satisfy thyself with a bare 
 search of them, without a real application of 
 Him whom they testify of to thy soul, lest, in- 
 stead of faring better for thy doing this work, 
 thou dost fare a great deal worse, and thy con- 
 demnation be very much heightened, in that 
 though thou didst read so often the sad state 
 of those that die in sin, and the glorious estate 
 of them that close in with Christ, yet thou thy- 
 self shouldst be such a fool as to lose Jesus 
 Christ, notwithstanding thy hearing and read- 
 ing so plentifully of him. 
 
 "They have Moses and the prophets; let 
 them hear them." 
 
 As if he should say. What need have they 
 that one should be sent to them froni the dead ? 
 Have they not Moses and the prophets ? Hath 
 not Moses told them the danger of living in 
 sin? Hath he not told them what a sad state 
 those persons are in that- deceive themselves 
 with the deceit of their hearts, saying, they 
 shall have peace though they follow their sins, 
 in ithese words : " And when he heareth the 
 words of this curse, he blesseth himself in his 
 heart, saying, I shall have peace though I go 
 on or walk in the imagination of my heart, to 
 add drunkenness to thirst. The Lord will not 
 spare that man, but then the anger of the 
 Lord and his jealousy shall smoke against 
 him, and all the curses that are written in this 
 book shall lie upon him ; and the Lord shall 
 blot out his name from under heaven." Again, 
 did not Moses write of the Saviour that was to 
 come afterwards into the world? Nay, have 
 not all the prophets from Samuel, with all 
 those that follow after, prophesied and foretold 
 these things? Therefore what need have they 
 that I should work such a miracle as to send 
 one from the dead unto them ? ^ " They have 
 Moses and the prophets; let them hear them." 
 
 From whence observe again that God doth 
 honour the writings of Moses and the prophets 
 as much, nay more, than if one should rise 
 from the dead. "Should not a people seek 
 unto their God? Whatl seek for the living 
 among the dead? To the law and to the testi- 
 mony," (saith God;) "if they speak not ac- 
 cording to this word, it is because there is no 
 light in them." And let me tell you plainly, 
 I do believe that the devil knows this full well, 
 which makes him labour to beget in the hearts 
 of his disciples and followers light thoughts of 
 them, and doth persuade them that even a 
 
 motion from their own beguiled conscience or 
 from his own wicked spirit is to be observed 
 and obeyed before' them. When the very 
 apostle of Jesus ' Christ, though he heard a 
 voice from the Excellent Glory, saying, "This 
 is my beloved Son," &c., yet, writing to the 
 churches, he commends the writing of the 
 prophets before it, saying, "We have also a 
 more sure word of the prophets, unto \Yhich 
 ye do well to take heed." Now, if thou doubt- 
 est whether in that place he meant the Scrip- 
 tures, the words of the prophets or no, read 
 but the next verse, where he addeth, for a 
 certain confirmation thereof, these words: 
 " Knowing this first, that there is no prophecy 
 of the Scriptures of any private interpretation. 
 For prophecy came not in old time by the will 
 of man, but holy men of God spake as they 
 were moved by the Holy Ghost." 
 
 And therefore what a sad thing is it for those 
 that go about to disown the Scriptures ! I tell 
 you, however, they may slight them now, yet 
 when they come into hell they will see their 
 folly: "They have Moses and the prophets; 
 let them hear them." 
 
 Further. Who are they that are so tossed to 
 and fro with the several winds of doctrfce that 
 have been broached in these days but such, for 
 the most part, as have had a light esteem of 
 the Scriptures? for the ground of error (as 
 Christ saith) is because they know them not. 
 And indeed it is just with God to give them 
 over to follow their own dark, blind consciences, 
 to be led into errors, that they might be damned 
 in hell who did not believe that the things 
 contained in the Scripture were the truth, that 
 they might be saved and go to heaven. I can- 
 not well tell how to have done speaking for 
 and on the Scriptures' side • «"ly this I con- 
 sider, a word is enough to the wise, and there- 
 fore I shall commit these things into the hands 
 of them that are of God ; and as for the rest, I 
 shall say to them, Kather than God will save 
 them from hell with the breach of his holy 
 word, if they had a thousand souls apiece God 
 would destroy them all; "for the Scriptures 
 cannot be broken." 
 
 Ver. 30. And he said, Nay, father Abraham ; 
 
 hut if one wad unto them from the dead, they 
 
 will repent. 
 
 The verse before, you know, as I told you, it 
 was part of an answer to such as lose their 
 souls, for it is a vindication of the Scripture 
 of Moses and the prophets : " They have Moses 
 and the prophets ; let them hear them." 
 
800 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Now tliis verse is an answer to what was 
 eaid in the former, and such an one as hath 
 in it a rejection of the former answer. " Nay, 
 father Abraham." Nay, saith he, do not say 
 so, do not put tliem off with this ; send one 
 from the dead, and there will be some hopes. 
 It is true, thou speakest of the- Scripture, of 
 Moses and the prophets, and sayest, " let them 
 hear them," but these things are not so well as 
 I could wish ; I had rather thou wouldst send 
 one from the dead. In these words, therefore, 
 "Nay, father Abraham," there is a repulse 
 given — Nay, let it not be so. Nay, I do not 
 like of that answer, Hear Moses and the proph- 
 ets. Nay. The same expression is used by 
 Christ. " Think you that they upon whom the 
 tower of Siloam fell were sinners above others ? 
 I tell you nay ; for except ye repent, ye shall 
 all likewise perish." So here, "Nay, father 
 Abraham," &o. By this word. Nay, therefore, 
 is signified a rejecting the first answer. 
 
 Now observe, I pray you, the reason why he 
 says nay is, because God doth put over all those 
 that would be saved to observe and receive the 
 truth contained in Scripture, and believe that, 
 to hav^ a high esteem of them, and to love and 
 search them ; as Christ saith, " Search the 
 Scriptures, for they are they which testify of 
 me." But the damned says. Nay, as if he had 
 said, This is the thing : to be short, my brethren 
 are unbelievers, and do not regard the word of 
 God. I know it by myself; for when I was in 
 the world it was so with me; many a good 
 sermon did I hear ; many a time was I admon- 
 ished, desired, entreated, beseeched, threatened, 
 forewarned of what I now suffer ; but, alas ! I 
 was ignorant, self-conceited, surly, obstinate, 
 and rebellious. Many a time the preachers 
 told me hell would be my portion, the devil 
 would wreak his malice on me, God would 
 pour on me his sore displeasure ; but he had 
 as good have preached to the stock, to the post, 
 to the stones I trod on ; his words rang in mine 
 ears, but I kept them from mine heart. I re- 
 member he alleged many a Scripture, but those 
 I valued not ; The Scriptures, thought I, what 
 are they 1 A dead letter, a little ink and paper, 
 of three or four shillings' price. Alas I what 
 is the Scripture? Give me a ballad, a news- 
 book, George on horseback or Bevis of South* 
 ampton. Give me some book that teaches 
 curious arts, that tells of old fables ; but for 
 the Holy Scriptures, I cared not. And as it was 
 with me then, so it is with my brethren now ; 
 we were all in one spirit, loved, all the same 
 sins, slighted all the same counsels, promises, 
 
 encouragements, and threatenings of the Scrip- 
 ture ; they are still as I left them — still in un- 
 belief, still provoking God, and rejecting good 
 counsel ; so hardened in their ways, so bent to 
 follow sin, that let the Scriptures be showed to 
 them daily, let the messengers of Christ preach 
 till their hearts ache, till they fall down dead 
 with preaching, they will rather trample it 
 under foot, and swine-like rend them, than 
 close in with those gentle and blessed profiere 
 of the Gospel. 
 
 "Nay, father Abraham; but if one should 
 rise from the dead, they would repent." 
 Though they have Moses and the prophets, 
 (the Scriptures,) they will not repent and 
 close in with Jesus Christ, though the Scrip 
 tures do witness against them. If therefore 
 there be any good done to them, they must 
 have it another way. I think, saith he, it 
 would work much on them "if one should 
 rise from the dead." And this truth is so 
 evident that ungodly ones have a light esteem 
 of the Scriptures that it needs not many strong 
 arguments to prove it, being so evidently mani- 
 fested by their every day's practice, both in 
 words and actions, almost in all things they 
 say and do. Yet for the satisfaction of the 
 reader I shall show you, by a Scripture or two, 
 (though I might show many,) that this was 
 and is true with the generality of the world. 
 See the words of Nehemiah in his 9th chapter 
 concerning the children of Israel, who, though 
 the Lord offered them mercy upon mercy, 
 "Nevertheless they were disobedient for all 
 thy goodness towards them, and rebelled 
 against thee," (but how?) "and cast thy law 
 behind their back; slew the prophets which 
 testified against them to turn them to thee, 
 and they wrought great provocations." Ob- 
 serve — 1. They sinned against mercy. And 
 then, 2. They slighted the law or word of 
 God. 3. Tl>ey slew the prophets that de- 
 clared it unto them. 4. The Lord counts it a 
 great provocation. "But they refused to 
 hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and 
 stopped their ears, that they should not hear 
 the law. Yea, they made their hearts hard as 
 an adamant stone, lest they should hear the 
 law and the words which the Lord of hosts 
 sent unto them by his Spirit in the former 
 prophets,'' &c. Mark, I pray you, here is 
 also — 
 
 1. A refusing to hearken to the words of the 
 prophets. 
 
 2. That they might so do they stopped then 
 
SIGHS FROM HELL. 
 
 801 
 
 8. If any thing was to be done they pulled 
 away their shoulder. 
 
 4. To effect this they labour to make their 
 hearts as an adamant stoue. 
 
 5. And all this lest they should hear and 
 close in with Jesus and liye, and be delivered 
 from the wrath to come. All which things do 
 hold out an unwillingness to submit to and 
 ombraee the wprds of God, and so Jesus Christ, 
 whi:U is testified of by them. Many other 
 Scriptures I might bring in for confirmation 
 of the thing. Bead seriously -that saying in 
 2 Chroa., where he saith, " And the Lord God 
 of their fathers sent unto them by his messen- 
 gers rising up betimes, because he had com- 
 passion on his people and on his dwelling- 
 place." And did they make them welcome? 
 No, " but mocked the messengers jf God and 
 despised his words." And was that all? No, 
 "they misused his prophets." How long? 
 "Until the wrath of the Lord arose against 
 them, till there was no'remedy." 
 
 And besides; the conversion of almost all 
 men doth bear witness- to the same, both re- 
 ligious and profane persons, in that they daily 
 neglect, reject, and turn their backs upon the 
 plain testimony of the Scriptures. 
 
 As — 1. Take the threatenings laid down in 
 holy writ, and how are they disregarded! 
 There are but a few places in tlie Bible but 
 there are threatenings against one sinner or 
 other — against drunkards, swearers, liars, 
 proud persons, strumpets, whoremongers, 
 covetous, railers, extortioners, thieves, lazy 
 persons; iaa word, all manner of sins are re- 
 proved ; and without faith in the Lord Jesus 
 there is a sore punishment to be executed on 
 the committers of them; and all this made 
 mention of in the Scriptures. 
 
 But for all this, how thick and by heaps do 
 these wretches \valk up and down our streets I 
 Do but go into the alehouse, and you shall see 
 almost every room besprinkled with them, so 
 foaming out their own shame that it is enough 
 to make the heart of a saint to tremble, inso- 
 much that they would not be bound to have 
 Society with them any longer while for all the 
 world, For as the ways of the godly are not 
 liked of by the wicked, even "so the' ways of 
 the wicked are an abomination to the just." 
 
 The Scriptures say, "Cursed is the man that 
 trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm, and 
 whose heart departeth from the Lord." 
 
 And yet how many poor souls are there in 
 the world that stand in so much awe and dread 
 of men, and do so highly esteem their favour, 
 
 51 
 
 that they will rather venture their souls in the 
 hands of the devil with their favour than they 
 will fly to Jesus Christ for the salvation of 
 their souls! Nay, though they be convinced 
 in their souls that the way is the way of God, 
 yet how do they labour to stifle conviction and 
 turn their ears away from the truth, and all 
 because they will not lose the favour of an op- 
 posite neighbour. Oh I dare liot for my master, 
 my brother, my landlord ; I shall lose his favour, 
 his house of work, and so decay my calling. 
 Oh, saith another, I- would willingly go in this 
 way but for my father ; he chides, and tells me 
 he will not stand my friend When 1 come to 
 want; I shall never enjoy a pennyworth of 
 his goods, he will disinherit me. And I dare 
 not, saith another, for my husband; for l)e will 
 be a-railing, and tells me he will turn me out 
 of doors, he will beat me and cut off my legs. 
 But I tell you, if any of these or any other 
 things be so prevalent with thee now as to 
 keep thee from seeking after Christ .in his 
 ways, they will also be so prevalent with God 
 against thee as to make him cast off thy soul, 
 because thou didst rather trust man than God, 
 and delight in the embracing of maij rather 
 than in the favour of the Lord. 
 
 2. Again the Scripture saith, " He that be- 
 ing often reproved hardeneth his neck shall 
 suddenly be destroyed, and that without 
 remedy." Yet many are so far from turning, 
 though they have been convinced of their 
 wretched state an hundred times, thaJt when 
 conviction or trouble for sin comes on their 
 consciences they go on still in the same man- 
 ner, resisting and choking the same, though 
 remediless destruction be hard at their heels. 
 
 3. Again, thou hast heard say, " Unless a 
 man be born again he cannot enter the king- 
 dom of heaven." And yet' thou goest on 
 in a natural state,, an unregenerate condition ; 
 nay, thou dost resolve never to turn nor be 
 changed, though hell be appointed on pur- 
 pose to swallow up such. " The wicked shall 
 be turned into hell, and all the nations that 
 forget God." 
 
 4. Again the Scripture saith plainly that 
 " he that loveth and maketh a lie shall have 
 his part in the lake that burneth with fire 
 and brimstone." And yet thou art so far from 
 dreading it that it is thy delight to jeer znd 
 jest and lie for a penny, or twopence, or six- 
 pence again. And also, if thou make the rest 
 of thy companions merry by telling things 
 that are false of them that are better than thy- 
 self, thnu dost not care a straw : or if thou 
 
802 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WOBKS. 
 
 hearest a lie from or of anotlier, thou wilt 
 tell it and swear to the truth of it. 
 miserable I 
 
 5. Thou hast heard and read that " he that 
 believes not shall be damned," "and that all 
 men have not faith," and yet thou dost so 
 much disregard these things that it is like 
 thou didst scarce ever so much as examine 
 ■eriously whether thou wast in the faith or no ; 
 but doth content thyself with the hypocrite's 
 hope, which at the last God will cut off. count 
 it n3 better than the spider's web or the house 
 that is built on the sand. Nay, thou per- 
 adventure didst flatter thyself, and thinkest 
 
 ■ that thy faith is aa good as the best of them 
 all; when, alas, poor soul ! thou mayest have 
 no saving faith at all, which thou hast not 
 if thou art not born again and made a new 
 creature. 
 
 6. Thou hast heard that "he that neglects 
 God's great salvation shall never escape his 
 great . damnation." And yet when thou art 
 invited, entreated, and beseeched to come in 
 thou wilt make any excuse to serve the turn. 
 Nay, thou wilt be so wicked as to put off 
 Christ time after time, notwithstanding he is 
 so freely proffered to thee ; a little ground, a 
 few oxen, a farm, a wife, a twopenny matter, 
 a play, nay, the fear of a mock, a scoff or a 
 jeer is of greater weight to draw thee back 
 than the salvation of thy soul to draw thee 
 forward. 
 
 7. And thou haat heard that "whosoever 
 would be a friend of the world is the enemy 
 of God." But thou regardest not these things, 
 but, contrariwise, rather than thou wilt be out 
 of the friendship and favour of this world thou 
 wilt sin against thine own conscience, and get 
 thyself into favour by fawning and flattering 
 of the world ; yea, rather than thou wilt go 
 without it thou wilt dissemble, lie,- backbite 
 thy neighbour, and an hundred other tricks 
 thou wilt have. 
 
 8. You have heard that the day of judgment 
 is near, in which you and I, all of us, must 
 appear before the tribunal of Jesus Christ, and 
 there be made to give an account to Him that 
 ii rf ady to judge the quick and the dead, even 
 of all that we ever did, yea, of all our sins in 
 thought, word, and deed, and shall be cer- 
 tainly damned for them too if we close not 
 with our Lord Jesus Christ, and what he hath 
 done and suffered for eternal life ; and that not 
 notionally or traditionally, but really and 
 savingly, in the power and by the operation 
 of the Spirit through faith. " And I saw the 
 
 dead, small and great, stand before God, and 
 the books were opened, and another book was 
 opened, which is the book of life, and. the dead 
 were judged out of those things t]iat were 
 written in the books." Theie is the book of 
 the creature, the book of conscience, the book 
 of the Lord's remembrance, the book of the 
 law, the book of the Gospel. " Then shall Le 
 separate them from one another, as a shep- 
 herd divideth his sheep on the right hand 
 and the goats on his left. ■ And shall say tfl 
 them on his right hand. Come, ye blessed; 
 but to the other. Go, or depart, ye Cursed." 
 Yet, notwithstanding the Scriptures do so 
 plainly and plentifully speak' of these things, 
 alas! who is there that is weaned from the 
 world and from their sin and pleasures to fly 
 the wrath to come, notwithstanding the Scrip- 
 ture saith also " that heaven and earth shall 
 pass away, rather than one jot or tittle of the 
 word shall fail till all be fulfilled," they are 
 so certain ? 
 
 But, leaving the threatenings, let us come 
 to the promises, and speak somewhat of them, 
 and you may see how light men make of 
 them and how little they set by them, not- 
 withstanding the mouth of the Lord hath 
 ' spoken them. 
 
 As — 1. " Turn, ye fools, ye scorners, ye sim 
 pie ones, at my reproof, and behold I will 
 pour out my Spirit upon you." And yet per- 
 sons had rather be in their foolishness and 
 scorning still, and had rather embrace some 
 filthy lust, than the holy, undefiled, and 
 blessed Spirit of Christ through the promise, 
 though by it as many as receive it " are sealed 
 unto the day of redemption," and although he 
 that lives and dies without it is none of 
 Christ's. 
 
 . 2. God hath said if you do but come to him 
 in Christ, "though your sins be as red aa 
 scarlet, they shall be as white as snow ; and 
 he will by no means cast thee away ;" yet 
 poor souls will not " come to Christ that thej 
 might have life,'' but rather, " after their 
 hardness and impenitent heart, treasure up- 
 unto themselves wrath against the day of 
 wrath and revelation of the righteous judg- 
 ment of God." 
 
 3. Christ Jesus hath said in the word of 
 truth that if any man will serve and follow 
 him, "whgre he is there ahall his servant 
 be;" but yet poor souls choose rather to fol- 
 low sin, Satan, and the world, though their 
 companions be devils and danined souls for 
 ever. 
 
SIGHS FROM HELL. 
 
 803 
 
 4. He hath also said, " Seek first the king- 
 dom of God, and all other things shall he 
 added." But let whoso will seek after the 
 kingdom of heaven first for them ; for they 
 will take the first time, while time serves, to 
 get the things of this life. And if it be so 
 that they must needs seek after heaven or 
 else be damned, they must stay till they have 
 more leisure, or till they can better attend to, 
 it, or till they have other things handsome 
 aboiit them, or till they are older; when they 
 have little else to do, or when they come to be 
 sick and die. Then Lord have mercy upon 
 them I though it be ten thousand to one but 
 they perish for everi 
 
 For, commonly, the Lord hath his way to 
 deal with sinners who put him ofi" when he is 
 striving with them — either- " to laugh at their 
 calamity, and mock when their fear cometh," 
 or else send them to the gods they have served, 
 which are the devils. Judg. x. 13, 14. " Go to 
 the gods ye have saved, and let them deliver 
 you," saith he. 
 
 5. He hath said, " There is no man that for- 
 saketh father, or mother, wife, children, or 
 lands, for his sake and the Gospel's, but he 
 shall have a hundred-fold in this world, with 
 persecutions, and in the world to come life 
 everlasting." 
 
 But men, for the most part, are so far off 
 from believing the certainty of this, they will 
 scarce lose the earning of a penny to hear the 
 word of God, the Gospel of salvation. IJay, 
 they will neither go themselves, nor suffer 
 others to go (if they can help it) without 
 threatening to do them a mischief if it lie in 
 their way. Nay, further, many , are so far 
 from parting from any wprldly gain for Christ's 
 sake and the Gospel's that they are still striv- 
 ing by hook and crook, as we say, by swearing, 
 lying, cozening, stealing, covetousuess, extor- 
 tion, oppression, forgeiy, bribery, flattery, or 
 any other way to get more, though they get, 
 together with these, death, wrath, damnation, 
 hell, the devil, and all the plagues that God 
 can pour upon them. And if any do not run 
 with them on the same excess of riot, but 
 rather from all their threats will be so bold 
 and careless (as they call it) as to follow 
 the ways of God, if they can do no more, yet 
 they will whet their tongues like a sword to 
 wound them and do them the greatest mis- 
 chief they can, both in speaking against them 
 to neighbours, to wives, to husbands, to land- 
 lords, and raising false reports of them. But 
 let such take heed, lest they be in such a state 
 
 and woeful condition as he was in who said, 
 in vexation and anguish of soul. One drop of 
 cold water to cool my tongue 1 
 
 Thus might I add many things out of the 
 holy writ, both threatenings and promises,.be- 
 Sides those heavenly counsels, loving reproofs, 
 free invitations to all sorts of sinners, both 
 old and young, rich and poor, bond and free, 
 wise and unwise. All which have been, now 
 are, and, it is to be feared, as long as tliis world 
 lasts will be, trampled under the feet of fhoas 
 swine (I call them not men) who will con- 
 tinue in the same. But take a review of some 
 of them : 
 
 1. Counsel. What heavenly counsel is that 
 where Christ saith, "Buy of me gold tried 
 with fire, that thou^ mayest be rich, and white 
 raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, that the 
 shame of thy nakedness do not appear. — Ho, 
 every one that thirsteth, come to the waters; 
 yea, come, buy wine and milk, without money' 
 and without price. — Hear, and your souls shall 
 live. — Lay hold of my strength, that you may 
 make peace with me, and you shall make peace 
 with me 1" 
 
 2. Instruction. What instriiction is here! 
 
 " Hear instruction and be wise, and refuse it 
 not,^ — Blessed is the man that heareth me, 
 (saith Christ,) watching daily at my gates, 
 waiting at the posts of my doors ; for whoso 
 findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour 
 of the Lord. — Take heed that no man deceive 
 you by any means. — Labour not for the meat 
 that perish eth, but for that which endureth unljo 
 everlasting life. — Strive to enter in at the 
 strait gate. — ^Believe on the Lord Jesus and 
 thou shalt be saved. Believe not on every 
 spirit, but try the spirits. — Quench not the 
 Spirit. — Lay hold on eternal life. — Let' your 
 light so shine before men that they may see 
 your good works and glorify your Father 
 which is in heaven. — Take heed and beware 
 of hypocrisy — watch and be sober — learn of 
 me, (saith Christ.) — Come unto me." 
 
 3. Forewarning. What forewarning is here I 
 " Because there is wrath, beware lest he take 
 
 away with his stroke; then a great ransom 
 cannot deliver thee. — Be ye not mockers, lest 
 your bands be made strong ; for I have • heard 
 from the Lord of hosts, a consumption even 
 determined upon the whole earth. — Beware, 
 therefore, lest that come upon you that is writ- 
 ten, Behold, ye despisers, and wonder and per- 
 ish. — For behold I work a work in your days 
 which ye shall in nowise believe, though a 
 man declare it unto you. — Let him that think- 
 
8U4 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 eth he standeth take heed lest Ife fall. — ^Watch 
 and pray, lest you enter into temptation. — Let 
 us fear, therefore, lest a proinise being left us 
 of entering into his rest, any of you should 
 seem to come short of it. — I will therefore put 
 you in remembrance, though you once knew 
 this, how that the Lord, having saved the peo- 
 ple out of Egypt, afterward destroyed them 
 that believed not. — Hold fast that thou hast ; 
 let no man take thy crown.'' 
 
 4.' Comfort. What comfort is here ! 
 
 " He that cometh unto me I will in nowise 
 cast out. — Come unto me, all ye tiiat labour 
 and are heavy Faden, and I will give you rest. — 
 Be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee. — 
 I will never leave thee nor forsake thee, (for) 
 I have loved thee with an everlasting love. — I 
 lay down my life for my sheep, I lay down my 
 life that they may have life ; I am come that 
 they might have life, and that they may have 
 it more abundantly. — I have heard thee in a 
 time accepted, and in the day of salvation 
 have I succoured thee. — Though their sins be 
 as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; 
 though they are as crimson, they shall be as 
 wool. — For I have blotted out as a thick cloud 
 thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins ; re- 
 turn unto me, for I have redeemed thee." 
 
 5. Grief to those that fall short. Oh sad 
 grief ! 
 
 "How have I hated instruction, and my 
 heart despised reproof, and have not obeyed 
 the voicg of my teachers, nor inclined my ear 
 tp them that instructed me ! — They shall curse 
 their king and their God, and look upward. 
 And they shall look to the earth, and behold 
 trouble, and darkness, and dimness of anguish, 
 and they shall be driven into darkness. — He 
 hath dispersed abroad, he hath given to the 
 poor, his righteousness eudureth for ever. The 
 wicked shall see it and be grieved,- he shall 
 gnash his teeth, and melt away ; the desire of 
 the wicked shall perish." 
 
 " There shall be weeping when ye shall see 
 Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the 
 prophets in the kingdom of heaven, and your- 
 selves thrust out;" all which things are 
 slighted by the world. 
 
 Thus niuoh in short touching this, that un- 
 godly men undervalue the Scriptures, and give 
 no credit to them when the truth that is con- 
 tained in them is held forth in simplicity unto 
 them, but rather cry out, ''Nay, but if one 
 should rise from the dead ;" then they think 
 something might be done ; when, alas ! though 
 eigns and wonders are wrought by the hands 
 
 of those that preach the Gospel, those poor 
 creatures ■yvould never the sooner convert, 
 though they suppose they should, as is evident 
 by the carriages of their forerunners, who, 
 albeit the Lord Jesus Christ himself did con- 
 firm his doctrines by miracles, as opeping 
 blind eyes, casting out devils, and raising the 
 dead, they were so far from receiving either 
 him or his doctrine that they put him to death 
 for his pains ; though he had done so many 
 miracles among them, yet they believed not in 
 him. But to pass this, I shall lay down some 
 of the grounds of their rejecting and under- 
 valuing the Scriptures, and so pass on : 
 
 1. Because they do not believe that they are 
 the word of God, but rather suppose them to 
 be the inventions of men, written by some 
 politicians on purpose to make poor ignorant 
 people to submit to some religion and govern- 
 ment. Though they do not say this, yet their 
 practices testify the same, as he that when he 
 hears the word of the curse yet blesseth him- 
 self in his heart, and saith he shall have peace, 
 though God saith he shall have none. And 
 this must needs be, for did men but believe 
 this, that it is the word of God, then they 
 must believe that He that spake it is true, 
 therefore shall every word and tittle be fulfilled. 
 And if they come once to this, unless they be 
 stark mad, they will have a care how they do 
 throw themselves under the lash of eternal 
 vengeance. For the reason why the Thessa- 
 lonians received the vpord was, because they 
 believed it was the word of God, and not the 
 word of man, which did effectually work in 
 them by their thus believing. " When ye re- 
 ceived the word which ye heard of us, (saith 
 he,) ye received it not as the word of man, 
 but (as it is indeed) the word of God, which 
 effectually worketh in you that believe." So 
 that, did but a man receive, it in hearing, or 
 reading, or meditating, as it is the word of 
 God, they would be converted. " But the word 
 preached doth not profit, not being mixed with 
 faith in them that hear it." 
 
 2. Because they do not indeed see them- 
 selves by nature heirs of that exceeding wrath 
 and vengeance that the Scriptures testify of. 
 For did, they but consider what God intends to 
 do with those that live and die in a natural 
 state, it would either sink them into despair 
 or make them fly for refuge to the hope that is 
 set before them. But if there be never so great 
 sins committed, and never so great wrath de- 
 nounced, and the time of execution be never 
 so near, yet if the party that is guilty be 
 
Siom FROM HELL. 
 
 805 
 
 lenseless and altogether ignorant thereof, he 
 will be careless and regard it nothing at all. 
 And that man by nature is in this condition is 
 evident. For take the.same man that is sense- 
 less and ignorant of that misery he is in by 
 nature — I say, take him at another time, when 
 he is a little awakened, and then you will hear 
 him roar and cry out so long as trouble is upon 
 him and a sense of the wrath of God han^ 
 over his head, " Good sirs, what mtist I do to 
 be saved?" 
 
 Though the same man at another time (when 
 his. conscience is fallen asleep and grown hard) 
 will lie like the smith's dog at the foot of the 
 ■ anvil, though the fire-sparks fly in his face. 
 But, as I said before, when any one is a little 
 awakened, oh what work will one verse, one 
 line, nay, one word, of the Holy Scriptures 
 make in his heart ! He cannot eat, sleep, 
 work, nor keep company with his former com- 
 panions ; and all because he is fifraid that the 
 damnation spoken of in Scripture will fall to 
 his share ; like Balaam, who said, " I cannot 
 go beyond the word of the Lord," so long as 
 he had something of the word of the Lord 
 with authority, severity, and power on his 
 heart; but at another time he could teach 
 " Balak to cast a stumbling-block before the 
 children of Israel." . , 
 
 3. Because the carnal priests do tickle the ' 
 ears of their hearers with vain philosophy and 
 deceit, and thereby harden their hearts against 
 the simplicity of the Gospel and word of God, 
 which things the apostle admonished those 
 that have a mind to close in with Christ to 
 avoid, saying, " Beware lest any man (be he 
 v.'hat he will) spoil you through philosophy 
 and vain deceit, after the traditions of men 
 and rudiments of the world, and not after 
 Christ." And you who muzzle up. your people 
 in ignorance with Aristotle, Plato, and the rest 
 of the heathenish philosophers, and preach 
 little if any thing of Christ rightly, I say unto 
 you jhat you will find you have sinned against 
 God and beguiled your hearers when God 
 shall, in the judgment-day, lay the cause of 
 tha damnation of many thousands of souls to 
 your charge, and say he will require their 
 blood at your hands. 
 
 4. Anotlier reason why the carnal, unbeliev- 
 ing world do so slight the Scriptures, the word 
 of God, is because the judgment spoken of in 
 the Scripture is not presently executed on the 
 transgressors : " Because sentence against an 
 evil act is not speedily executed, therefore the 
 hearts of the sons of men are wholly set in 
 
 them to do evil." Because God doth not 
 presently strike the poor wretch as soon as he 
 sins, but waits and forbears and is patient, 
 therefore the world, judging God to be unfaith- 
 ful, go to it again and again, and every time 
 grow harder and harder, till at last God is 
 forced either to stretch out his mighty power 
 to turn them, or else send death with the deci) 
 and hell to fetch them. "Thou thought^ 
 (saith God) that I was altogether such an one 
 as thyself, but I will reprove thee and set them 
 in order before thy face. Now, consider this, 
 ye that forget God, lest I tear vou in pieces 
 and there be none to deliver." 
 
 5. Another reason why the blind world do 
 slight the authority of Scripture is because 
 they give ear to the devil, who through his 
 subtlety casteth false evasions and corrupt in- 
 terpretations on them, rendering them not so 
 point-blank the mind of God and a rule for 
 direction to poor souls, persuading them that 
 they must give ear and way to st)mething else 
 besides and beyond that; or else he labours to 
 render it vile and contemptible, by persuading 
 them that it is a dead letter, which indeed 
 they know not what they say or whereof they 
 affirm. For the Scripture is not so dead but 
 that the knowledge of it is able to make any 
 man wise unto salvation through faith and 
 love which is in Christ Jesus, and is profitable 
 for instruction, reproof, and correction in 
 righteousness, that the man of God may be 
 thoroughly furnished to all good works. 
 
 And where it is said the letter killeth he 
 nieaneth the law, as it is the ministration of 
 damnation or a covenant of works ; and so in- 
 deed it doth kill, and doth do so because it is 
 just, forasmuch as the party'that is under the 
 same is not able to yield to it a complete and 
 continual obedience. But yet I will call Peter 
 and Paul to witness that the Scriptures are of 
 a very glorious concernment, inasmuch as in 
 them is held forth to us the way of life, and 
 also in that they do administer good ground of 
 hope to us. " For whatsoever things were 
 written aforetime were written for our learning, 
 that we, through patience and comfort of the 
 Scripture, might have hope." And again 
 " Now to Him that is of power to establish you 
 according to my Gospel and the preaching 'of 
 Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the 
 mystery which was kept hid since the world 
 began, but now is made manifest, and by the 
 Scriptures of the prophets, according to the 
 commandments of the everlasting God, made 
 known to all nations for the obedience of 
 
806 
 
 BUNTAyS COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 fiiitli." And therefore whosoever they be that 
 slight the Scriptures, they slight that which is 
 no less than the word of God; and they who 
 slight that slight Him that spake it ; and they 
 that do so, let them look to themselves, for 
 God will be revenged on such. Much more 
 might be said to this thing, but I would not be 
 tedious. 
 
 A word or two more, so I have done with 
 this. Consider the danger of slighting the 
 woids of the prophets or apostles, whether they 
 . be correction, reproof, admonition, forewarn- 
 Itig, or the blessed invitations and promises 
 contained in them. 
 
 1. Such souls do provoke God to anger and> 
 to execute his vengeance on them". "They 
 refused to hearken, they pulled away their 
 shoulders, they stopped their ears, lest they 
 should hear the law, and they make their 
 hearts as an adamant stone, that they might 
 not hear the law and the words that were 
 spoken to thfem by his Spirit in the former 
 prophets: therefore came a great wrath upon 
 them." 
 
 2. God will not regard them in their calam- 
 ity. "Because I called, and ye refused, I 
 stretched out my hand, and no' man regarded, 
 but set at naught all my counsels and would 
 have none of my reproof, I also will laugh at 
 your calamities, and mock when your fear 
 6ometh. When their fear cometh as desolation 
 and destruction like a whirlwind, then shall 
 they call, but I will not answer: they shall 
 seek me early, but they shall not find me." 
 
 3. God doth commonly give up such men to 
 delusions,^ to believe lies. " Because they re- 
 ceived not the 'love of the truth, that they 
 might be saved, therefore God shall send them 
 strong delusions, that they should believe a 
 lie, that they all might be damned." 
 
 4. In a word, they that do continue to reject 
 and slight the word of God, they are such, for 
 the most part, as are ordained to be damned. 
 Old Eli, his sons not hearkening to the voice 
 of their father, reproved them for- their sins, 
 but disobeying his voice, it is said, "it was 
 because the Lord would slay them." Again, 
 Amaziah having sinned against the Lord, he 
 sends him , a prophet to. reprove him ; but 
 Amaziah says, "Forbear, wherefore shouldst 
 thou be smitten?" (He did not hearken to 
 the word of God.) " Then the prophet for- 
 boi'e, saying, I know, that God hath determined • 
 to destroy thee, because thou hast not heark- 
 ened to my counsels." Bead, therefore, and 
 the Lord give thee understanding. For , a 
 
 miserable end will those have that go on in 
 sinning against God, rejecting his word. 
 
 Other things might have been observed 
 from this verse which at this time I shall pass 
 by, partly because the sum of them hath been 
 touched already, and may be more clearly 
 hinted at in the following verse; and therefore 
 1 shall speak a few words to the next verse, 
 and so draw towards a conclusion. 
 
 Ver. 31. And he said unto him, If they hear 
 not Moses and the prophets, neither will they 
 be persuaded though one rose from the dead. 
 "And he said" — that is, God made answer 
 to the words spoken in the verse before — 
 "And he said unto him, If they hear not 
 Moses,". &c. As if he had said, Moses was a 
 man of great renown, a man of worthy note, a 
 man that talked with God face to face, as a 
 man speaketh to his friend. The words that 
 Moses spake Tyere such as I commanded him 
 to speak. Let him who will question them, I 
 will own theni, credit them, bless them that 
 close in with them, and curse those that reject 
 them. 
 
 I myself sent the prophets, they did not run 
 of their own heads : I gave them commission ; 
 I thrust them out and told them what they 
 should say. In a. word, they have told the 
 world what my mind is to do both to sinners 
 and to saints : " They have Moses and the 
 prophets; let them hear them." Therefore, 
 he that shall reject and turn his back either 
 upon the threatenings, counsels, admonitions, 
 invitations, promises, or whatsoever else I have 
 commanded them to speak as to salvation and 
 life, and to directions therein, shall be sure to 
 have a share in the many curses that thpy 
 have spoken and the doctrine that is pro- 
 nounced by them. Again, " If they hear not 
 Moses and the prophets," &c. As if he had 
 said. Thou wouldst have me send one from the 
 dead unto them : what needs that? They have 
 my mind already ; I have deelared unto them, 
 what I intend to stand to, both for saving 
 them that believe and damning them that do 
 not. That, therefore, which I have said I will 
 make good, whether they hear or forbear. 
 And as for this desire of yours, you had as 
 good desire me to make a new Bible, and so to 
 revoke my first sayings by the mouth of my 
 prophets. But I am God and not man, and 
 my word ig immutable, unchangeable, and 
 shall stand as fast as my decrees can make it 
 "heaven and earth shall pass away, but one 
 jot or tittle of my word shall not pass." If 
 
SIGHS FROM HELL. 
 
 807 
 
 thou hadst ten thousand brethren, and every 
 ODC in danger of losing his soul if he did not 
 close in with what is contained and recorded 
 in the Scriptures of truth, they must even 
 every one of them perish and be for ever 
 damned in hell, for the Scriptures cannot be 
 broken ; I did not send, them so unadvisedly to 
 recall them again by another consideration. 
 No ; " for I speajc in righteousness and in 
 judgment," and in much wisdom and counsel. 
 It being therefore gone out of my mouth in 
 this manner, "it shall not return in vain until 
 it hath accomplished the thing whereunto I 
 have sent it." 
 
 ^ut again, thou supposeth that miracles 
 and wonders will w6rk on them, which makes 
 thee say, "Send one from the dead.'' But 
 herein thou art mistaken ; for I hrave proved 
 them with that once and again, by more than 
 ■one, or two, or three of my servants. How 
 many miracles did my servant Moses work by 
 commandment from me in the land of Egypt, 
 at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness! Yet 
 they of that generation were never the sooner, 
 converted for that, but notwithstanding re- 
 belled and lusted, and in their hearts turned 
 back into Egypt. Acts vii. How many mira- 
 cles did Samuel, David, Ellas, Elisha, Daniel, 
 and the prophets, together with my Son,- who 
 raised the dead, cast out devils, made them to 
 see that they were born blind, gave and re- 
 stored limbs! Yet for all this (as I said 
 before) they hated him, they crucified him. 
 He raised him again from the dead, and. he 
 appeared to ' his disciples, who were called, 
 and chosen, and faithful, and he gave them 
 commandment and commission to go and tes- 
 tify the truth of this to the world ; and to con- 
 firm the same, he enabled them to speak with 
 divers tongues and to work miracles most 
 plentifully, yet there was so great a persecu- 
 tion raised against them, insomuch that, but 
 a few of them died in their beds, and there- 
 fore, though thou thinkest that a miracle will 
 do 60 much with the world, yet I say. No; 
 " for if they will not believe Moses and the 
 piophets, neither will they be persuaded 
 though one should rise from the dead." 
 
 From these words, therefore, tjike notice of 
 this truth — namely, that those who reject and 
 believe not Moses and the prophets are a very 
 hard-hearted people, that will not- be per- 
 suaded though one rise from the dead. 
 
 They that regard not the Holy Scriptures to 
 turn to God, finding them to testify of his 
 goodness and mercy, there is but little hopes 
 
 of their salvation ; ' for if they will not " — 
 mark, they will not — " be persuaded though 
 one should rise from the dead." This truth is 
 confirmed by Jesus himself. If you read John 
 v., where the Lord is speaking of himself that 
 he is the very Christ, he brings in four or five 
 witnesses to back what he said : 1. John Bap- 
 tist; 2, The works thai his Father gave him 
 to do ; 3. His Father speaking from heaven ; 
 4. The testimony of the Scriptures. When all 
 this was done, seeing yet they would not be- 
 lieve, he lays the fault upon one of these two 
 things : 
 
 1. Their regarding an esteem amoug men. 
 
 2. Their not believing of the prophets' 
 writings, even Moses and the rest. " For 
 had ye believed Moses, (saith he,) ye would 
 have believed me, for he wrote of me. But 
 if ye believe not his writings, how can ye be- 
 lieve my words?" Now, I say, he that shall 
 slight the Scriptures, and the testimony of the 
 prophets in them concerning Jesus Christ, 
 must needs be in great danger of losing his 
 soul if he abide in this condition, because he 
 that slights the testimony doth also slight the 
 thing testified of, ^et him say the contrary 
 never so often. For as Jesus Christ hath 
 here laid down the reason' of men's _ not re- 
 ceiving him, so the apostle in another place 
 lays down the reason again with high and 
 mighty aggravation, saying, " He that be* 
 lieveth on the Son of God hath the witness in 
 himself; he that believeth not on God hath 
 made him a liar, because he believeth not the 
 record" — mark, the record — "that God gave 
 of his Son." The record, you will say, what is 
 that? Why, even the testimony that God 
 gave of him by the mouth of all the holy 
 prophets since the world began. Acts iii. 20. 
 That is, God sending his Holy Spirit into the 
 hearts of his servants the prophets and apos- 
 tles, he, by his Spirit in them, did bear wit- 
 ness or record to the truth of salvation by his 
 Son Jesus, both before and after his coming. 
 
 .And thus is that place also to be undeirstood 
 which saith, "There are three that bear 
 record in earth — the Spirit, the water, and 
 the blood ;" that is, the Spirit in the apostles, 
 which preached him to the world, as is clear 
 if you read seriously 1 Thess. iv. 8. The apos- 
 tle, speaking of Jesus Christ and obedience 
 through him, saith thus, "Now he that de- 
 spiseth, despiseth not us, but God." But it is 
 you that speak; True, but it is by and 
 through the Spirit: "He therefore that de- 
 spiseth, despiseth not man, but God, whc 
 
808 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 also hatli given us of his Holy Spirit." This 
 is therefore a mighty confirmation of this 
 truth, that he that slights the record or testi- 
 mony that God by his Spirit, in his prophets 
 and apostles, hath testified unto us, slights 
 the testimony of the Spirit, who moved them 
 to speak these things ; and if so, then I would 
 fain know how any man can be saved by 
 Jesus Christ that slights the testimony con- 
 cerning Christ, yea, the testimony of his own 
 Spirit concerning his own self. It is true, 
 men may pretend to have the testimony of the 
 Spirit, and from that conceit set a low esteem 
 on the Holy Scriptures ; but that spirit that 
 dwelleth in them and teacheth them so to do 
 it is no better than the spirit of Satan, though 
 it calls itself by the name of the Spirit of 
 Christ. "To tlie law, therefore, and to the 
 testimony ;" try them by that ; "if they speak 
 not according to the word, it is because there 
 is no light in them." 
 
 The apostle Peter when he speaks of the 
 glorious voice that he had from his excellent 
 Majesty, saying 'of Christ, "This is. my be- 
 loved Son, hear him," saith thus to them 
 whom he wrote unto : " You have also a more 
 sure 'word of prophecy," (or of the prophets, 
 for so you may read it,) "unto which you do 
 well that you take heed." That is, though we 
 tell you that we had this excellent testimony 
 from his own mouth evidently, yet you have 
 the prophets. We tell you this, and ye need 
 not doubt of the truth of it ; but if you should, 
 yet you may not, must not, ought not to ques- 
 tion them. Search, therefore, unto them until 
 the day dawn and the day-star arise in your 
 hearts ; that is, until by the same Spirit that 
 gave forth the Scriptures you find the truth 
 confirmed to your souls which you have re- 
 corded in the Scriptures. That this word of 
 prophecy or of the prophets is the Scriptures, 
 read on ; for, saith he, " knowing this first, 
 that no prophecy of the Scriptures is of any 
 private interpretation," &c. 
 
 But you will say. What needs all this ado, 
 and why is all this time and pains spent in 
 speaking to this that is surely believed already? 
 This is a thing received by all, that they be- 
 lieve the Scripture^ to be the word of God, that 
 sure word of prophecy ; and therefore you need 
 not spend your time in proving these things 
 and the truth of them, seeing we grant and 
 confess the truth of it before you begin to 
 speak your judgment of them. 
 
 Answer 1. The truths of God cannot be 
 borne witness unto too often. You may as 
 
 well say, You need not preach Jesus Christ so 
 much, seeing he hath been and is received for 
 the true Messias already. 
 
 2. Though you may suppose that they do be- 
 lieve the Scriptures, yet if they were but well 
 examined you will find them either by word 
 of mouth, or else by conversation, to deny, re- 
 ject, and slight the Holy Scriptures. It is 
 true, there is a notional and historical assent 
 in the head^I say, in the head — of many or 
 most to the truth contained in Scripture ; but 
 try them, I say, and you shall find but a little, 
 if any, of the faith of the operation of God in 
 the hearts of poor men to believe the Scrip- 
 tures and things contained in them. Many, 
 yea, most men, believe the Scriptures as they 
 believe a fable, a story, a tale, of which there 
 is no certainty. But, alas ! there are but few 
 that do indeed and in truth believe the Scrip' 
 tures to be the very word of God. 
 
 Objection. But you will say, This seems 
 strange to me. 
 
 Answer. And it seems as true to me ; and I 
 doubt not but to make it manifest that there 
 are but few, yea, very few, that do effectually 
 (for that I aim at) believe the Scriptures and 
 the truth contained in and spoken of by them. 
 But to make this appear, and that to purpose, 
 (if God will,) I shall lay you down the several 
 operations that the Scriptures have on them 
 who do effectually believe the things contained 
 in them. 
 
 1. He that doth effectually believe the Scrip- 
 tures hath, in the first place, been killed — ^I 
 say, killed — by the authority of the Holy Scrip- 
 tures, struck stark dead, in a spiritual sense, 
 by the Holy Scriptures being set home by that 
 Spirit which gave them forth upon the soul. 
 " The letter killeth ;" the letter strikes men 
 dead. And this Paul witnessed and found be- 
 fore he could say, "I believe all thtt the 
 prophets have. spoken ;" where he saith, "I 
 was alive without the law once " — that is, in 
 my natural state, before the law was set on my 
 heart with power — "but when the command- 
 ment came, sin revived, and I died. And that 
 law that was ordained to life I found to be 
 unto death ; for sin, taking occasion by the 
 commandmept, deceived me, and thereby slew 
 me." Now that which is called the letter iii 
 2 Cor. is called the law in Horn, vii., which, by 
 its power and operation, as it is wielded by the 
 ■Spirit of God, doth in the first place kill and 
 slay all those that are enabled to believe the 
 Scriptures. I kill, saith God ; that is, with mj 
 law I pierce, I wound, I prick men into th« 
 
SIOHS FROM HELL. 
 
 809 
 
 very heart, by showing them their sins against 
 the law ; and he that is ignorant of this is also 
 ignorant of, and doth not really and eflfectually 
 believe, the Scripture. 
 
 But you will say. How doth the law kill and 
 strike dead the poor creatures? 
 
 Answer. First, the letter or law doth kill 
 thus : it is set home upon the soul, and dis- 
 covers to the soul its transgressions against the 
 law, and shows the soul also that it cannot 
 completely satisfy the justice of God for the 
 breach of his law, therefore it is condemned. 
 Mark, "He that believeth not is condemned 
 already ;" to wit, by the law ; that is, the law 
 doth condemn him ; yea, it hath condemned 
 him already for his sins against it ; as it is 
 written, " Cursed is every one that continueth 
 not in all things that are written m the book 
 of the law to do them." Now all men, as they 
 come into the world, are in this condition — 
 that is, condemned by the law ; yet not believ- 
 ing their condemnation by the law really, they 
 do not also believe really and effectually the 
 law that doth condemn them. For as men . 
 have but a notion of the one — ^that is, their 
 condemnation because of sins against the law 
 — so they have but a notion of the Condemning, 
 killing, and destroying power of the law ; for, 
 as the one is, so in these things always is the 
 other. There iS' no man that doth really be- 
 lieve the law or Gospel further than they do 
 feel the power and authority of them in their 
 hearts. "Ye err, not knowing the Scrip- 
 tures nor the power of God." Now, this letter 
 or law is not to be taken in the largest sense, 
 but is strictly to be tied to the ten command- 
 ments, whose proper work is only, by showing 
 the soul its sin against the law, to kill, and 
 there leaves him stark dead, not giving him 
 the least life or support or comfort, but leaves 
 the soul in an helpless and hopeless condition 
 as from itself or any other mere creature. 
 
 It is true, the law hath laid all men for dead 
 as they come into the world, but all men do 
 not see themselves dead until they see the law 
 that struck them dead striking in their souls 
 and having struck them that fatal blow. As a 
 man that is fast asleep in a house, and that on 
 fire about his ears, and he not knowing of it 
 because he is asleep, even so, because poor 
 souls are asleep in sin, though the wrath of 
 God, the curse of his law, and the flames of 
 hell have beset them round about, yet they do 
 not believe it, because they are asleep in sin. 
 Now, as he that is awakened and sees this, sees 
 that through this he is a dead man, even so 
 
 they that do see their state by nature, being 
 such a sad condition, do also see themselves by 
 that law to be dead men naturally. ■ 
 
 But now, when didst thou feel the power of 
 this first part of the Scripture, the law, so 
 mighty as to strike thee dead ? If not, thou 
 dost not so much as verily believe that part of 
 the Scripture that doth contain the law in it tc 
 be the truth of God. Yet if thou shouldsl 
 have felt something — I say, something — of the 
 killing power of the law of God in thine heart, 
 this is not an argument to prove that thou be- 
 lievest all the things contained in the Scripture , 
 for there is Gospel as well as law ; and there- 
 fore I shall speak to that also — that is, whether 
 thou hast felt the power of the Gospel, as well 
 as something of the power of the law. 
 
 2. Then thou hast found the power of the 
 Gospel, and so believed it; thou hast found it 
 thus with thy soul. 
 
 1. Thou hast been showed by the word of 
 truth of the Gospel, in the light of the Spirit 
 of Christ, that by nature thou wert without 
 the true faith of the Spirit of Christ, that by 
 nature thou wert without the true faith of the 
 Son of God in thy soul ; for when " he, the 
 Spirit, is come, he shall show men that they 
 believe not in me,'' saith Christ. Mark, though 
 thou hast, as I said before, felt somewhat of the 
 power of the law, letter, or ten commandments, 
 yet as thou hast not been brought to this, to 
 see by the Spirit in the Gospel that thou art 
 without faith by nature, thou hast not yet 
 tasted, much less believed, any part of the 
 Gospel; for the Gospel and the law are two 
 distinct covenants; and they that are under 
 the law may be convinced by it, and so believe 
 the law or first covenant, and yet in the mean 
 time be strangers to the covenant of promise, 
 that is, the Gospel, and so have no hope in 
 them. There is not any promise that can, be 
 savingly believed until the soul be by the Gos- 
 pel converted to Jesus Christ. For though 
 men do think never so much that they believe 
 the things or the word of the Gospel of oui 
 salvation, yet unless they have the work of 
 grace in their souls, they do not, cannot, 
 rightly believe the things contained in the 
 Scriptures. 
 
 2. Again, as the law killeth those that believe 
 it, even so the promises contained in the Gos- 
 pel do, through faith, administer comfort to 
 those that believe it aright. "My words," 
 saith Christ, "my words they are spirit and 
 they are life." As if he had said. The words 
 contained in the law as a covenant of works. 
 
810 
 
 BUN¥AN',S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 they wound, they kill, they strike dead those 
 that are under them. But as for me, "The 
 words that I speak unto you, they are spirit 
 and they are life." That is, whosoever doth 
 receive them believingly shall find them full 
 of operation to comfort, quicken, and revive 
 the soul.. For as I did not come into the world 
 to destroy men's lives, so that the words that I 
 speak, (as I am sent to preach the Gospel,) 
 they have no such tendency unto those that 
 believe them. The promises that are in the 
 Gospel, oh how do they comfort them ! Such 
 a promise, and such a promise, oh how sweet 
 it is r How comfortable to those that believe 
 them ! Alas ! there are many poor souls that 
 think they believe the Scriptures to be the 
 word of Ood, and yet they never enjoyed any 
 thing of the life and promises ; they come in 
 upon the heart to quicken, to revive thee, to 
 raise thee from sentence of death that is passed 
 on thee by the law, and through the faith that 
 is wrought in thy soul by the operation of 
 God's Holy Spirit (though once killed by the 
 law or letter) thou art made alive in the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, who is presented to thy soul in 
 the promises. 
 
 3. Dost thou indeed and in truth believe the 
 Scriptures to be the word of God ? Then the 
 things contained in them, especially the things 
 of the Gospel, are very excellent to thy soul, 
 as the birth of Christ, the death, the resurrec- 
 tion, intercession and second coming. Oh how 
 precious and excellent are they to thy soul, 
 insomuch that thou regardest nothing in com- 
 parison of them ! Oh it is Christ's birth, death, 
 blood, resurrection, &c., according to the Scrip- 
 tures, that thou dost rejoice in exceedingly and 
 abundantly desire after; whom having not 
 seen ye love; in whom, though now ye see 
 him not, yet, believing, ye rejoice with joy un- 
 speakable and full of glory. 
 
 4. Dost thou believe the Scriptures to be the 
 word of God ? Then thou standest in awe of 
 and dost much reverence them. Why, they 
 are the word of God, .the true sayings of God ; 
 they are the counsel of God; they are his 
 promises and his threatenings. Poor souls 
 are apt to think. If I could hear God speak to 
 me from heaven with an audible voice, then 
 sure I should be serious and believe it. But 
 iTuly, if God should speak to thee from heaven, 
 except thou wert . converted thou wouldst not 
 regard nor really believe him. But if thou 
 dost believe the Scriptures, thou seest that 
 they are the truth as really as if God should 
 speak to thee from heaven through the clouds; 
 
 and therefore never flatter thyself, foolishly 
 thinking that if it were- so and so then thou 
 couldst believe. I tell thee, saith Christ, "If 
 they believe not Moses and the prophets, 
 neither will they believe though one should 
 rise from the dead." But — 
 
 5. Dost thou believe the Scriptures to be the 
 word of God ? Then through faith in Christ 
 thou endeavourest to have thy life squared ac- 
 cording to the Scriptures, both in word and 
 practice. Nay, I say, thou mayest have, 
 though thou do not believe them all. My 
 meaning is, that if thou believe none but the 
 ten commandments, tjay life may be, according 
 to them, a legal, holy life ; and if thou do be- 
 lieve the Gospel too, then thy life will be the 
 faith of our Lord Jesus Christ ; that is, either 
 thou'wilt live in the blessed and holy enjoy- 
 ment of what is testified in the Scripture con- 
 cerning the glorious things of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, or else thou wilt be exceedingly pant- 
 ing after them. For the Scriptures cany such 
 a blessed beauty in them to that soul that hath 
 faith in the things contained in them that they 
 do take the heart and captivate the soul of him 
 that believeth them into the love and liking of 
 them, believing all things that are written in 
 the law and the prophets, and have hope to- 
 wards God that there shall be a resurrection 
 of the dead, both of the just and unjust; and 
 herein do I exercise myself to have always a 
 conscience void of offence both towards God 
 and towards man. 
 
 6. He that believes the Scriptures to be the 
 word of God, if he do but suppose that any 
 one place of Scripture doth exclude him and 
 shut him out of and from a- share in the 
 promises contained iu them', oh it will trouble 
 him, grieve him, perplex him; yea, he will 
 not be satisiied until he be resolved and the 
 contrary sealed to his soul, for he knows that 
 the Scriptures are the word of God, all truth, 
 and therefore he knows that if any one sen- 
 tence doth exclude or bar him out for want of 
 this or the other qualifications, he knows also 
 that not the word alone shuts him out, but He 
 that speaks it, even God himself; and there- 
 fore he cannot, will not, dare not, be contented 
 until he and his soul and Scripture together 
 (with the things contained therein) do em- 
 brace each other, and a sweet correspondency 
 and agreement exist between them. For you 
 must know that to him that believes the Scrip- 
 tures aright the promises or threatenings are 
 of more power to comfort or cast down than 
 all the promises or threatenings of all the men 
 
SIGHS FROM HELL. 
 
 811 
 
 ill the world. And this was the cause why the 
 maityrs of Jesus did so slight both the prom- 
 ises of their adversaries when they would have 
 overcome them with proffering the great things 
 of (his world unto them, and also their threat- 
 enings when they told them they would rack 
 them, hang them, burn them. None of these 
 things could prevail upon them or against 
 Ihcm, because they did most really believe 
 the Scriptures and the things contained in 
 them, as is clearly found and to be seen in 
 Heb. xi., and also in Mr. Fox's record of their 
 brethren. 
 
 7. He that believeth the Scriptures to be the 
 word of God believeth that men must be born 
 again, and also be partakers of that faith 
 which is of the operation of God, (according 
 as he hath read and believed,) or else he must 
 and shall be dainned. And he .that believeth 
 this a1 ight will not be contented until (accord- 
 ing as it is written) he do partake of and en- 
 joy the new birth, and until he do find through 
 grace that faith that is wrought by the opera- 
 tion of God in his soul. For this is the cause 
 why men do satisfy themselves with so slender 
 a conceited hope that their state is good, (when 
 it is nothing so,) — namely, because they do not 
 credit the Scriptures; for did they, they would 
 look into their own hearts, and examine seri- 
 ously whether that faith, that hope, that grace 
 which they think they have be of that nature 
 and wrought by that Spirit and power which 
 the Scripture speaketh of. I speak this of an 
 effectual believing, without which all other is 
 nothing, unto salvation. Now, then, because I 
 would not be tedious, I shall at this time lay 
 down no more discoveries of such an one as 
 doth savingly believe the Scriptures and the 
 things contained in them, but shall speak' a 
 few words of examination concerning the 
 things a/lready mentioned. As — 
 
 1. Thou sayest thou dost indeed and in truth 
 effectually believe the Scriptures. I ask, there- 
 fore, Wast thou ever killed stark dead by the 
 law of works contained in the Scriptures — 
 killed by the law or letter, and made to see 
 tl'T sins against it, and left in an helpless con- 
 dition by the law? For, as I said, the proper 
 work of the law is to slay the soul and to leave 
 it deaii, in an helpless state. For it doth 
 neither give the soul any comfort itself when 
 It comes, nor doth it show the soul where com- 
 fort is to be had; aiid therefore it is called 
 "the ministration of condemnation, the min- 
 istration of death." For though men may 
 have a notion of the blessed word of God, as 
 
 the children had, yet before they be converted 
 it may be truly said of them, "Ye err, not 
 knowing the Scriptures nor the power, of 
 God." 
 
 2. You say you do believe the Scriptures to 
 be the word of God. I say again, Examine : 
 wert thou ever quickened from a dead state by 
 the power of the Spirit of Christ through the 
 other part of the Scriptures — that is to say, by 
 the power of God in his Son Jesus Christ 
 though the covenant of promise? I tell thee 
 from the Lord, if thou hast, thou hast felt such 
 a quickening power in the words of Christ 
 (John vi.) that thou hast been lifted out of 
 that dead condition that thou before wert in ; 
 and that when thou wast under the guilt of 
 sin, the curse of the law, and the power of the 
 devil, and the justice of the great God, thou 
 hast been enabled by the power of God in 
 Christ, revealed to thee by the Spirit through 
 and by the Scripture, to look sin, death, the 
 'devil, and the law, and all things that are at 
 enmity with thee with boldness and comfort in 
 the face, through the blood, death, righteous- 
 ness, resurrection, and intercession of Christ, 
 made mention of in the Scriptures. 
 
 And, 3. On this account oh how excellent 
 are the Scriptures to thy soul ! Oh how much 
 virtue dost thou see in such a promise, in such 
 an invitation I They are so large' as to say, 
 Christ will in nowise cast me out; my crimson 
 sins shall be white as snow. I tell thee, friend, 
 there are some promises that the Lord hath 
 helped me to lay hold of, Jesus Christ through 
 and by, that I would not have out of the Bible 
 for as much gold and silver as can lie between 
 York and London, piled up to the stars, be- 
 cause through them Christ is pleased by his 
 Spirit to convey comfort to my soul. I say,- 
 when the law curses, when the devil tempts 
 when hell-fire flames in my conscience, my 
 sins, with the guilt of them, tearing of me, 
 then is Christ revealed so sweetly to my soul 
 through the promises that all is forced to fly 
 and leave off to accuse my soul. So also when 
 the world frowns, when the enemies rage and 
 threaten to kill me, then also the precious, 
 the exceeding great and precious, promises do 
 weigh down all and comfort the soul against 
 all. This is the effect of believing the Scrip- 
 tures savingly; for they that do so have, by 
 and through the Scriptures, good comfort and 
 also ground of hope, believing those things, to 
 be its own which the Scriptures hold forth. 
 
 4. Exalnine : dost thou stand in awe of sin- 
 ning against God because he hath in the Scrip 
 
812 
 
 SUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 tures commanded thee to abstain from it? 
 Dost thou give diligence to make thy calling- 
 and election sure bjecause God commanded it 
 in Scripture? Dost thou examine thyself 
 whether thou be in the faith or no, having a 
 command in Scripture so to do ? Or dost thou 
 (ndtwithstanding what thou readest in the 
 Scripture) follow the world, delight in sin, ne- 
 glect coming to Jesus Christ, speak evil of the 
 saints, slight and make "a mock at the ordi- 
 nance of God, delight in wicked company, and 
 the like? Then know that it is because thou, 
 dosi not indeed and in truth believe the Scrip- 
 tures effectually. For, as I said before, if a 
 man do believe them, and that savingly, then 
 he stands in awe, he looks to his steps, he turns 
 his feet from evil, and endeavours to follow 
 that which is good, which God hath com- 
 manded in the Scriptures of truth, yet not from 
 a legal or natural principle — that is, to seek for 
 life by doing that good thing — but knowing 
 that salvation is already obtained for him by 
 the blood of that man, Christ Jesus,' on the 
 cross, because he believes the Scriptures ; there- 
 fore (mark, I pray, therefore) I say, he labours 
 to walk with his God in all well-pleasing and 
 godliness, because the sweet power of the love 
 of Christ, which he feels in his soul by the 
 Spirit according to the Scriptures, constrains 
 him so to do. 
 
 5. Examine again: dost thou labour after 
 those qualifications that the Scriptures do de- 
 scribe a child of God by — that is, faith, yea, 
 the right faith, the most holy faith, the faith 
 of the operation of God ? And .also dost thou 
 examine whether thiBre is a real growth of 
 grace in thy soul, as love, zeal, self-denial, and 
 a seeking by all means to attain (if possible) 
 -to the resurrection of the dead — that is, not to 
 satisfy thyself until thou be dissolved and rid 
 of this body of death, and be transformed into 
 that glory that the saints should be in after the 
 resurrection-day? And in the mean time dost 
 labour and take all opportunities to walk as 
 near as may be to the pitch, though thou know- 
 est thou canst not attain it perfectly ? Yes, I 
 say, thou dost aim at it, seek after it, press toward 
 it ; and to hold on in thy race thou shunnest 
 that which n ay any way hinder thee, and also 
 closest in with what may any way further the 
 same, knowing that that m-ust be or desiring 
 that it should be thine eternal frame, and 
 therefore out of love and liking to it thou 
 dost desire and long after it as being the'thing 
 that doth most please thy soul. 
 
 Or how is it with thy soul? Art thou such 
 
 ' an one as regards not these things, but rathei 
 busiest thy thoughts about the things here be- 
 low, following those things that have no scent 
 of divine glory upon them ? If so, look to thy- 
 self; thou art an unbeliever, and so under the 
 wrath of God, and wilt for certain fall into the 
 same place of torment that thy fellows have 
 fallen into before thee, to the grief of thy own 
 soul and thy everlasting destruction. 
 
 Consider and regard these things, and lay 
 them to thy heart before it be too late to recover 
 thyself by repenting of the one and desiiing 
 to close in with the other. Oh, I say, regard, 
 regard, . for hell is hot. God's hand is up ! 
 the law is resolved to discharge against thy 
 soul ! the judgment-day is at hand ! the graves 
 are ready to fly open ! the trumpet is near the 
 sounding ! the sentence will ere long be past, 
 and then you and I cannot call time again ! 
 
 But again, seeing they are so certain, so sure, 
 so irrecoverable, and firm, and seeing the sav- 
 ing faith of the things contained therein is to 
 reform the soul and bring it over to the things 
 of God, really conforming it to the things con- 
 tained therein, both to the point -of justifica- 
 tion and also an impartial walking, and giving 
 up thy soul and body to a conformity to all the 
 commands, counsels, instructions, and exhort- 
 ations contained therein, this then will learn 
 us how to judge of those who give up them- 
 selves to walk in the imaginations of their own 
 hearts, who slight and lay aside the Scriptures, 
 counting them but empty and uncertain things, 
 and will live ev-ery day in open contradiction to 
 what is contained, commanded, and forbidden 
 therein. 
 
 As, first. This will show us that all your 
 drunkards, whoremasters, liars, thieves, swear- 
 eft, backbiters, slanderers, scoffers at goodness, 
 &c. — I say, we may see by this that they that 
 live in such things' have not the faith of these 
 things contained in their hearts, seeing they 
 delight to practice those things that are foibid' 
 den by and in them. And so they continuing 
 living and dying in this state, we may conclude 
 without fear that these portions of Holy Scrip- 
 ture belong unto them, and shall for certain be 
 fulfilled upon them : " He that believeth not 
 shall be damned.— The unrighteous shall not 
 inherit the kingdom of God. — But the abomi- 
 nable, the unbelieving, the whoremongers, and 
 all liars shall have their part in the lake that 
 burneth with fire and brimstone. — Depart, ye 
 cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the 
 devils and his angels." Depart, depart from 
 me, for I will not save you. Depart, for mv 
 
SIOHS FROM HELL. 
 
 813 
 
 blood shall not at all wasli you. Depart, for 
 you shall not set one foot into the kingdom of 
 heaven. 
 
 Depart, ye cursed I Ye are cursed of God, 
 cursed of his law, cursed of me, cursed by the 
 saints, and cursed by the angels, cursed all 
 over, nothing but cursed, and therefore depart 
 from me. And whither? Into everlasting 
 fire; fire that will scald, scorch, burn, and 
 flame to purpose; "fire that shall never be 
 quenched ; " fire that will last to eternity. 
 And must we be all alone ? No, you shall have 
 company, store of company with you — name- 
 ly, all the raging, roaring devils, together with 
 an innumerable company of fellow-damned 
 sinners, men, women, and children. And if 
 the Scriptures be true, (as they will one day 
 wonderfully appear to be^) then tlws must and 
 shall be thy portion if thou live and die in 
 this state, and of all theijt-who continue in 
 sinning against the truth contained in the 
 Scriptures. 
 
 As — 1. Dost thou delight to sin against 
 plain commands? ■ "Thou art gone.'' 
 
 2. Dost thou slight and scorn thfc counsels 
 contained in the Scriptures, and continue in 
 60 doing? " Then thou art gone." 
 
 3.*Dost thou continually neglect to come to 
 Christ, and use arguments in thine own heart 
 to satisfy thy soul in so doing? "Then thou 
 art gone." Luke xiv. 17, 18 compare with 
 verse ' 24 and Heb. ii. 3. " How shall we es- 
 cape if we neglect so great salvation 1" How 
 shall we escape ? — that is, there is no way to 
 escape. 
 
 1. Because God hath said we shall not. 
 " See that ye refuse not him that speaketh ; 
 for if they escaped not who refused him that 
 Bpake on earth, (that was Moses,) much more 
 uhall not we escape if we turn away from Him 
 that speaketh from heaven." 
 
 2. Because he hath not only said they shall 
 not, but also hath bound it with an oath, say- 
 ing, "So I sware in my wrath, They shall not 
 entei into my rest." To whom did he swear 
 that they should not enter into his rest? 
 Answer, To them that believed not. " So we 
 see they could not enter in, because of un- 
 belief" 
 
 Secondly. This will teach us what to think 
 and conclude of such who, though they do not 
 BO openly discover their folly by open and 
 gross sins against the law, yet will give more 
 heed to their own spirits and the movings 
 thereof, though they be neither commanded 
 nor commended for the same in Scripture, nay,. 
 
 though the Scripture command and- commend 
 the contrary, than they will to the holy and 
 revealed will of God. I say, such men are in 
 as bad a state as the other to the full, being 
 disobedient to God's will revealed in his word 
 as well as they, though in a' different manner; 
 the one openly transgressing against the plain 
 and well-known truths revealed in it; the 
 other, - though more close and hidden, yet 
 secretly rejecting and slighting them, giving 
 more heed to their own spirits and the notions 
 thereof, although not warranted by the Scrip- 
 tures. 
 
 A few words more, and so I shall conclude. 
 
 And — 1. Take heed that you content not 
 yourselves with a bare notion of the Scriptures 
 in your heads', by which you may go far, even 
 so far as to be able to dispute for the truth, to 
 preach the Gospel, and labour to vindicate it 
 in opposition to gainsayers, and yet be found 
 at the left hand of Christ at the judgment-day, 
 forasmuch as thou didst content thyself with 
 a portion of traditional knowledge of them. 
 
 2. Have a care that thou own the whole 
 Scripture, and not own one part and neglect 
 another or slight it ; as thus, to own the law 
 and slight the Gospel, or to think that thou 
 must be saved by thy good doings and works, 
 for that is all one as if thou didst thrust Christ 
 away from thee ; or else so to own the Gospel 
 as if by it thoU wert exempted from all obedi- 
 ence to the ten commandments and conformity 
 to the law in life and conversation, for in so 
 doing thou wilt for certain make sure of 
 eternal vengeance. 
 
 3. Have a care that thou put not wrong 
 names on the things contained in the Scrip- 
 ture, as to call the law Christ and Christ the 
 law, for some having done so (in my know- 
 ledge) have so darkened to themselves the 
 glorious truth of the Gospel that in a very 
 little time they have been resolved to thwart 
 and oppose them, and so have made room in 
 their own souls for the devil to inhabit, and 
 obtained a place in hell for their own souls to 
 be tormented for ever and ever. 
 
 Against this danger, therefore, in reading 
 and receiving the testimomy of Scripture, 
 learn to distinguish between the law and the 
 Gospel, and to keep them clear asunder as to 
 the salvation of thy soul. And that thou 
 mayest so do, in the first place beg of God that 
 he would show thee the nature of the Gospel,, 
 and set it home effectually with life and p)wer 
 upon thy soul by faith; which is this, that 
 God would show thee that as thou, being man, 
 
814 
 
 BVNTAN'S COMPLETE. WORKS. 
 
 hast sinned against God, so Christ, being God- 
 man, hath bought thee again, and with his 
 most precious blood set thee free from the 
 bondage thou hadst fallen into by thy sins; 
 and that not upon condition that thou wilt do 
 thus and thus, this and the other good work, 
 but rather that thou, being justified freely by 
 mere grace through the blood of Jesus, 
 shouldst also receive thy strength from Him 
 who hath bought thee, to walk before him in 
 all well-pleasing, being enabled thereto by 
 virtue of his Spirit, which hath revealed to thy 
 soul that thou art delivered already from wrath 
 to come, by the obedience, not of thee, but of 
 another man^viz., Jesus Christ. 
 
 1. Then if the law thou readest of tell thee 
 in thy conscience thou must do this and the 
 other good work of the law if ever thou wilt 
 be saved, answer plainly that for thy part, 
 thou art resolved not only to work for life, but 
 to believe in the virtue of that blood shed upon 
 the cross, upon Mount Calvary, for the remis- 
 sion of sins ; and yet, because Christ hath jus- 
 tified thee freely by his grace, thou wilt serve 
 him in holiness and righteousness all the days 
 of thy life, yet not in a legal spirit or in a 
 covenant of works, but mine obedience (say 
 thou) I will endeavour to have it free and 
 cheerful, out of love to my Lord Jesus. 
 
 2. Have a care thou receive riot this doc- 
 trine in the notion only, lest thou bring a just 
 damnation upon thy soul by professing thyself 
 to be freed by Christ's blood from the guilt of 
 
 sin, while thou remainest still a servant to the 
 filth of sin. For I must tell you that unless 
 you have the true and saving work of the faith 
 and grace of the Gospel in your hearts, you 
 will either go on in a legal holiness, according 
 to the tenor of the law, or else, through a no- 
 tion of the Gospel, (the devil bewitching and 
 beguiling thy understanding, will, and afieo- 
 tions,) thou wilt, Eanter-like, turn the grace of 
 God into wantonness, and bring upon thysoUl 
 double if not treble damnation, in that thou 
 couldst not be contented to be damned for thy 
 sins against the law, but also, to make ruin sure 
 to thy soul, thou wouldst dishonour the Gos- 
 pel, and turn the grace of God held forth and 
 discovered to men by that into licentiousness. 
 But, that thou mightest be sure to escape thesp 
 dangerous rocks on the right hand and on the 
 left, see that thy faith be such as is spoken of 
 in the Scripture, and that thou be not satisfied 
 without that, which is a faith wrought by the 
 mighty operation of God, revealing Christ to 
 and in thee, as having wholly freed thee from 
 thy sins by his most precious blood; which 
 faith, if thou attain unto, will so work in thy 
 heart, that first thou wilt see the nature of the 
 law, and also the nature of the Gospel, and 
 delight in the glory of it; and also thou wilt 
 find an engaging of thy heart and soul to Je- 
 sus Christ, even to the giving up of thy whole 
 man unto him, to be ruled and governed by 
 him to his glory and thy comfort, by the faith 
 of the Lord Jesua. 
 
CONFESSION OF MY FAITH 
 
 AND 
 
 A EEASON OF MY PEACTICE; 
 
 OR, WITH WHO, AND WHO NOT, I CAN HOLD CHURCH FELLOWSHIP OR THE COMMUNION 
 OF SAINTS: SHOWING, BY DIVERS ARSUMENTS, THAT THOUGH I DARE NOT COMMUNI- 
 CATE WITH THE OPEN PR-OFANB, tET I CAN WITH THOSE VISIBLE SAINTS THAT DIFFER 
 ABOUT WATER BAPTISM; WHEREIN' IS ALSO DISCOURSED WHETHER THAT BE THE 
 ENTERING' ORDINANCE INTO FELLOWSHIP OR NO. 
 
 I belieyed, and tterefore have I spoken. — Pg. cxvi. 10. 
 
 TO THE READER. 
 
 Sir: 
 
 I marvel not that both yourself and others 
 do think my long imprisonment strange, or 
 rather strangely of me for the sake of that ; for 
 verily I should also have done it myself had not 
 the Holy Ghost long since forbidden me. Nay, 
 verily, that notwithstanding, had the adver- 
 sary but fastened the supposition of guilt upon 
 me, my long trials might by this time have 
 put it beyond dispute ; for I have not hitherto 
 been so sordid as to stand to a doctrine right 
 or wrong, much less when so weighty an argu- 
 ment as above eleven years' imprisonment is 
 continually dogging of me to weigh and pause, 
 and pause again, the grounds and foundation 
 of those principles for which 1 thus have suf- 
 fered ; but having not only at my trial asserted 
 them, but also since, even all this tedious track 
 of time, in cold blood, a thousand times, by 
 the word of God, examined them and found 
 them good, I cannot, I dare not, now revolt or 
 deny the same, on pain of eternal damnation. 
 
 And that my principles and practice may be 
 open to the view and judgment of all men, 
 (though they stand and fall to none but the 
 word of God alone,) I have in this small treat- 
 ise presented to this generation A Confession of 
 my Faith and a Reason of my Practice in the 
 Worship of God; by which, although it be 
 brief, candid Christians may, I hope, without 
 
 a violation to faith or love, judge I may have 
 the root of the matter found in me. 
 
 Neither have I in tliis relation abusively 
 presented my reader with other doctrines or 
 practices than what I held, professed and 
 preached when apprehended and cast into 
 prison. Nor did I then or. now retain a doc- 
 trine besides or which is not thereon grounded. 
 The subject I should have preached upon, 
 even then when the constable came, was, Bost 
 thou believe on the Son of Gcd f From whence 
 I intended to show the absolute need of faith 
 in Jesus Christ, and that it was also a thing of 
 the highest concern for men to inquire into, 
 and to ask their own hearts whether they had 
 it or no. 
 
 Faith and holiness are my professed prind- 
 pies, with an endeavour, so far as in me lieth, 
 to be at peace with all men. What shall ] 
 say? Let mine enemies themselves be judges 
 if anything in these following doctrines, or if 
 aught that any man hath heard me preach, 
 doth or hath, according to the true intent of 
 my words, savoured either of heresy or rebel- 
 lion. I say again, let they themselves be 
 judges if aught they find in my writing or 
 preaching doth render me worthy of almost 
 twelve years' imprisonment, or one that de- 
 serveth to be hanged or banished for ever, 
 according to their tiremendous sentence. In» 
 
 815 
 
816 
 
 JBUNYAN'S complete: WOUKS. 
 
 deed, my principles are such as lead me to a 
 denial to communicate in the things of the 
 kingdom of Christ with the ungodly and open 
 profane; neither can I, in or by the supersti- 
 tious inventions of this world, consent that my 
 soul should be governed in any of my ap- 
 proaches to God, because commanded to the 
 contrary and commended for so refusing. 
 Wherefore, excepting this one thing, for which 
 I ought not to be rebuked, I shall, I trust, in 
 despite of slander and falsehood, discover my- 
 self at all times a peaceable and an obedient 
 servant. But if nothing will do unless I make 
 of my conscience a continual butchery and 
 slaughter-shop, unless, putting out my own 
 eyes, I commit me to the blind to lead me, as 
 I doubt is desired by some, I have determined, 
 the Almighty God being my help and shield, 
 yet to suffer, if frail life might continue so 
 
 long, even till the moss shall grow on mini 
 eyebrows, rather than thus to violate my faith 
 and principles. Will a man leave the snow 
 of Lebanon that cometh from the rock of the 
 field ■? or shall the cold flowing waters that 
 come from another place be forsaken ? "Hath 
 a nation changed their gods which yet are no 
 gods? For all people will walk every one 
 in the name of his god, and we will walk in 
 the name of the Lord our God for ever and 
 ever." 
 
 Touching my practice as to communion 
 with visible saints, although not baptized 
 with water, I say it is my present judgment 
 so to Ao, and am willing to render a farther 
 reason thereof, shall I see the leading hand 
 of God thereto. Thine, jn the bonds of the 
 Gospel, 
 
 JOHN BUNYAN. 
 
A CONFESSION OF MY FAITH. 
 
 1. I BIJjIEVE that there is but one only 
 true God, and that there is none other but he: 
 "To us there is but one God, the Father, of 
 whom are all things. And this is life eternal, 
 that they might know thee, the only true 
 God," &c'. 
 
 2. I believe that Jhis God is almighty, eter- 
 nal, invisible, incomprehensible, &o. : " I am 
 the Almighty God ; walk before me, and be 
 thou perfect." " The eternal God is thy re- 
 fuge." " Now unto the King eternal, immor- 
 tal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour 
 and glory for ever and ever." 
 
 3. I believe that this God is unspeakably 
 perfect in all his atti-ibutes of power, wisdom, 
 justice, truth, holiness, mercy, love, &c. His 
 power is said to be eternal, his understanding 
 and wisdom infinite; he is called the just 
 Lord, in opposition to all things ; he is said 
 to be truth itself, and the God thereof There 
 is none holy as the Lord. "God is love." 
 "Canst thou by searching find out God? 
 Canst thou find out the Almighty unto per- 
 fection?" 
 
 4. I believe that in the Godhead there are 
 three persons or subsistences : " There are 
 three that bear record in heaven, the Father, 
 the Word, and the Holy Ghost." 
 
 5. I believe that these three are, in nature, 
 essence, and eternity, equally one : " These 
 three are one." 
 
 6. I believe " there is a world to come." 
 
 7. I believe that there shall be a resurrec- 
 tion of the dead, both of the just and unjust. 
 " Many that sleep in the dust of the earth 
 shall awake, some to everlasting life, and 
 some to everlasting shame and contempt. 
 Marvel not at this. For the hour is coming 
 in the which all that are in the^graves shall 
 hear his voice, and shall come forth ; they 
 that have done good, to the resurrection of 
 life; and they that have done evil, to the re- 
 surrection of damnation." 
 
 8. I believe thai they that shall be counted 
 
 52 
 
 worthy of that world and of the resurrection 
 from the dead neither marry nor are given in 
 marriage, neither can they die any more; 
 " for they are equal to the angels, and are the 
 children of God, being the children of the 
 resurrection." 
 
 9. I believe that those that die impenitent 
 shall be tormented with the devil and his 
 angels, and shall be cast with them into the 
 lake that burns with fire and brimstone, 
 "where the worm dieth not and the fire ia 
 not quenched." 
 
 10. I believe that, because God is naturally 
 holy and just, even as he is good and merci- 
 ful, therefore, all having sinned, nojie can be 
 saved without the means of a Eedeemer. 
 "Then he is gracious unto him, and saith. 
 Deliver him from going down to the pit; I 
 have found a ransom. We have redemption 
 "through his blood, even the forgiveness of our 
 sins. For which, without shedding of blood, 
 is no remission." 
 
 11. I believe that Jesus Christ our Lord 
 himself is the Redeemer. "They remem- 
 bered that God was their rock and the high 
 God their Redeemer." " Forasmuch as ye 
 know that ye were not redeemed with cor- 
 ruptible things, such as silver and gold, from 
 your vain conversation, received by tradition 
 from your fathers, but with the precious blood 
 of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and 
 without spot." 
 
 12. I believe that the great reason why the 
 Lord, the second person in the Godhead, did 
 clothe himself with our flesh and blood was, 
 that he might be capable of obtaining the re- 
 demption that before the world was intended 
 for us. "Forasmuch, then, as "the children 
 were made partakers of flesh and blood, he 
 also himself likewise took part of the same; 
 (mark,) that through death he might destroy 
 him that had the power of death, that is, the 
 devil, and deliver them who through fear of 
 death were all their lifetime subject to bond- 
 
 817 
 
818 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 age. When the fulness of time was come, 
 God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, 
 made under the law, to redeem them that 
 were under the law. Wherefore it behooved 
 him in all things to be made like unto his 
 brethren, that he might be a merciful and 
 faithful high priest in things pertaining to 
 God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the 
 people ; for in that himself hath suffered, being 
 tempted, he is able to succour them that are 
 tempted. Christ hath redeemed us from the 
 curse of the law, being made a curse for us. 
 As it is written, Cursed is every one that 
 hangeth on a tre^. That the blessing of 
 Abraham might come upon the Gentiles, 
 through faith in Jesus Christ.'' 
 
 13. I believe that the time when he clothed 
 himself with our flesh was in the days of the 
 reign of Cjesar Augustus ; then, I say, and not 
 till then, was the Word made flesh or clothed 
 with our nature. 
 
 "And it came to pass in those days that 
 there went out a decree from Csesar Augustus 
 that all the world should be taxed ; and Joseph 
 went up from Galilee, out of the city of 
 Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, 
 which is called Bethlehem, because he was 
 of the house and lineage of David, (to be 
 taxed, with Mary his espoused wife,) being 
 great with child; and so it was that while 
 they were there the days were accomplished 
 that she should be delivered." This child 
 was he of whom godly Simeon was told by 
 the Holy Ghost, when he said that he should 
 not see death until he had seen the Lord 
 Christ. 
 
 14. I believe, therefore, that this very child, 
 as afore is testified, is both God and man, the 
 Christ of the living God. " And she brought 
 forth her first-born son, and wrapt him in 
 swaddling-clothes, and laid him in a manger, 
 because there was no room for them in the 
 inn. And there were in the same country 
 shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by 
 night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came 
 upon them, and the glory of the Lord shined 
 round about them; and they were sore afraid. 
 And the angel said unto them. Fear not; for 
 behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, 
 which shall be to all people. For unto you is 
 born this day, in the city of David, a SUviour, 
 which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be 
 a sign unto you: ye shall find the babe 
 wrapped in sv/addling-clotbes, lying in a man- 
 ger." Again : " But while he thought 6n these 
 things behold the angel of the Lord appeared 
 
 unto him, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, 
 fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for 
 that which is conceived in her is of the Holy 
 Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and 
 th,ou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall 
 save his people from their sins. Now all this 
 was done that it might be fulfilled which was 
 spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, 
 Behold a virgin shall be with child, and sji&ll 
 bring forth a son, and they shall call his name 
 Immanuel, which, being interpreted, is God 
 with us." 
 
 15. I believe, therefore, that the righteous- 
 ness and redemption by which we that believe 
 stand just before God, as saved from the curse 
 of the law, is the righteousness and redemp- 
 tion that consists in the personal acts and per- 
 formances of this child Jesus, the God-man, 
 the Lord's Christ ; it consisteth, I say, in his 
 personal fulfilling the law for us to the utmost 
 requirement of the justice of God. " Do not 
 think (saith he) that I am come to destroy the 
 law or the prophets; I am not come to de- 
 stroy, hut to fulfil. By which means he be- 
 came the end of the law fori righteousness tc 
 every one that believeth. For what the law 
 could not do, in that it was weak through the 
 flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness 
 of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in 
 the flesh. So, flnishing transgressions, and 
 making an end of sins, and making recon- 
 ciliation for iniquity, he brought in everlast- 
 ing righteousness." 
 
 16. I believe that for the completing of this 
 work he was always sinless, did always the 
 things that pleased God's justice ; that every 
 one of his acts, both of doing and suffering, 
 and rising again from the- dead, was really 
 and infinitely perfect, being done by him as 
 God-man ; wherefore his acts before he died 
 are called " the righteousness of God," his 
 blood, " the blood of God ;" and " herein per- 
 ceive we the love of God, in that he laid down 
 his life for us." The Godhead, which gave 
 virtue to all the acts of the human nature^ 
 was then in perfect union with it when he 
 hanged upon the cross for our sins. 
 
 17. I believe, then, that the righteousness 
 that saveth the sinner from the wrath to come 
 is projpe4^nd personally Christ's, and ours 
 but as we qlpe union with him, God by grace 
 imputing If to us. "Yea doubtless, and I 
 count all things loss for the excellency of the 
 knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom 
 I have suffered the loss of all things, and do 
 count them but dung, that I may win Chrisi 
 
A CONFESSION OF MY FAITH. 
 
 819 
 
 and be found in him, not having my own 
 righteousness, which is of the law, but that 
 which is through the faith of Christ, the right- 
 eousness which is of God by faith. For of 
 him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is 
 made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and 
 sanctification, and redemption. For he hath 
 made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin, 
 that we might be made the righteousness of 
 God in him." 
 
 18. I believe that God, as the reward of 
 Christ's undertaking for us, hath exalted him 
 to his own right hand as our Mediator, and 
 given him a name above every name; and 
 hath made him Lord of all, and judge of quick 
 and dead; and all this that we who believe 
 might take courage to believe and hope in 
 God. " And being found in fashion as a man, 
 he humbled himself unto death, even the 
 death of the cross, where he died for our sins ; 
 wherefore God hath highly exalted him, and 
 given him a name above every name, that at 
 the name of Jesus every knee should bow, 
 both of things in heaven, and things in earth, 
 and things that are under the earth ; and that 
 every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ 
 is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. And 
 he commanded us to preach unto the people, 
 and to testify that it was he that was or- 
 dained of God to be the judge of quick and 
 dead; who verily was foreordained befoi'e 
 the foundation of the world, but was manifest 
 in the last times for you who by him do be- 
 lieve in God, who raised him from the dead, 
 and gave him glory, that your faith and hope 
 might be in God." 
 
 19. I believe that, being at the right hand 
 of God in heaven, -he doth there effectually ex- 
 orcise all the offices of his excellent priesthood 
 and mediatorship, presenting himself before 
 God in the righteousness which was accom- 
 plished for us when he was in the world ; for 
 by the efficacy of his blood he not only went 
 into the holy place, but being there, and hav- 
 ing by it obtained eternal redemption for us, 
 now is receiving the worth and merit thereof 
 from the Father, doth bestow upon us grace, 
 repentance, faith, and the remission of sins; 
 yea, he also received for us the Holy Ghost, to 
 be sent unto us to ascertain us of oul- adoption 
 and giory ; for if he were on earth, he should 
 not be a priest. " Seeing then we have a great 
 high priest that is entered into the heavens, 
 Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our pro- 
 fession. For there is one God and one Medi- 
 ator between God and man, the man Christ 
 
 Jesus. For by his own blood he entered into 
 the holy place, having obtained eternal re- 
 demption for us. For Christ is not entered 
 into the holy place made with hands, which is 
 the figure of the true, but into heaven itself, 
 now to appear in the presence of God for us. 
 Therefore being by the right hand of God ex- 
 alted, and having received of the Father the 
 promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth 
 this which ye now see and hear." 
 
 20. I believe that, being there, he shall so 
 continue till the res^tution of all things ; and 
 then he shall come again in glory, and shall 
 sit in judgment upon all flesh ; and I believe 
 that according to. his sentence, so shall their 
 judgment be. " Eepent ye, therefore, and be 
 converted, that your sins may he blotted out 
 when the times of refreshing shall come from 
 the presence of the Lord. And he shall send 
 Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto 
 you, whom the heavens must Receive, until the 
 restitution of all things, spoken of by the 
 mouth of all the holy prophets since the world 
 began. For this same Jesus, which ye have 
 seen go up into heaven, shall so come in like 
 manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. 
 For the Lord himself shall descend from 
 heaven with a shout/ and with the voice of the 
 archangel and the trumpet of God,", &c. 
 " When the Son of man shall come in his 
 glory, and all the holy angels with him, then 
 he shall sit upon the throne of his glory.' And 
 before him shall be gathered all nations ; and 
 he shall separate them one from another, as a 
 shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. 
 And he shall set his sheep on his right hand, 
 but the goats on the left. Then shall the 
 King say to them on his right hand, Coine, ye 
 blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom 
 prepared for you from the foundation of the 
 world. Then shall he say to them on the left 
 hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into ever- 
 lasting fire, prepared for the devil and his 
 angels. And these shall go away into everlast- 
 ing punishment, but the righteous into life 
 eternal. For the day of the Lord will come as 
 a thief in the night, in the which the heavens 
 shall pass away with a great noise, and the ele- 
 ments shall melt with fervent heat ; the earth 
 also, and the works that are therein, shall be 
 burnt up. Seeing, then, that all these things 
 must be dissolved, what manner of persons 
 ought we to be in all holy conversation and 
 godliness, looking for and hastening unto the 
 coming of the day of God, wherein the 
 heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved. 
 
820 
 
 svjs'yan's complete works. 
 
 and the elements shall melt with fervent 
 heat?" 
 
 21. I believe that when he comes his saints 
 shall have a reward of grace for all their work 
 and labour of love which they showed, to his 
 name in the world : " And every man shall re- 
 ceive his own reward, according to his own la- 
 bour. And then shall every man have praise 
 of God. And behold I come quickly, and my 
 reward is with me, to give to every man ac- 
 cording as his work shall be. Wherefore, my 
 beloved brethren,. ,be steadfast, immovable, 
 always abounding in the work of the Lord, 
 forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not 
 in vain in the Lord, knowing that of the Lord 
 ye shall receive the reward of inheritance, for 
 you serve the Lord Christ." 
 
 How Christ is made ours ; or hy what means this 
 or that man hath that benefit by him as to stand 
 just before God now and in the day of judg- 
 ment. 
 
 1. I believe, we being sinful creatures in our- 
 selves, that no good thing done by us can pro- 
 cure of God the imputation of the righteous- 
 ness of Jesus Christ, but that the imputation 
 thereof is an act of grace, a free gift without 
 our deserving: "Being justified freely by his 
 grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus 
 Christ. He called us, and saved us with an 
 holy calling ; not according to our works, but 
 according to his own purpose and grace, which 
 was given us in Christ Jesus." 
 
 2. I believe also that the power of imputing 
 righteousness resideth only in God by Christ : 
 \. Sin bping the transgression of the law. 2. 
 The soul that hath sinned being his creature, 
 and the righteousness also his, and his only; 
 even as David also desci-ibeth the blessedness 
 of the man to whom God imputeth righteous- 
 ness without works, saying, " Blessed are they 
 whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sin is 
 covered. Blessed is the man to whom the 
 Irord will not impute sin." Hence, therefore, 
 it is said again, " That men shall abundantly 
 liter the memory of his great goodness and 
 ping of his' righteousness. For he saith to 
 Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have 
 mercy, and I will have compassion on whom 
 I will have compassion. So, then, it is pot in 
 him that willeth nor in him that runneth, but 
 in God that showeth mercy." 
 
 3. I believe that the offer of this righteous- 
 ness, as tendered in the Gospel, is to be re- 
 ceived by faith, we still in the very act of re- 
 ceiving it judging ourselves sinners in our- 
 
 selves. "O wretched man tha.. I am! who 
 shall deliver me from the body of this death? 
 I thank God through Jesus Christ. Believe 
 in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be 
 saved. The Gospel is preached in all nations 
 for the obedience of faith. Being justified 
 freely by his grace, through the redemption 
 that is in Jesus Christ, whom God hath set 
 forth to be a propitiation" (a sacrifice to ap- 
 pease the displeasure of God) " through faith 
 in his blood; to declare his righteousness for 
 the remission of sins that are past, through the 
 forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this 
 time, his righteousness, that he might be just 
 and the justifier of him that believeth on 
 Jesus. Be it known unto you, therefore, men 
 and brethren, that through this man is 
 preached unto you the forgiveness of sins, and 
 by him all that believe are justified from all 
 things from which they could not be justified 
 by the law of Moses." 
 
 4. I believe that this faith, as it respecteth 
 the imputation of this righteousness for justi- 
 fication before God, doth put forth itself in 
 such acts as purely respect the offer of a gift. 
 It receiveth, accepteth of, embraceth, or trust- 
 eth to it. "As many as received him, to 
 them he gave power to become the sons of 
 God, even to them that believe on his name. 
 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all ac- 
 ceptation, That Jesus Christ came into the . 
 world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. In 
 whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the 
 word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation; 
 in whom also, after that ye believed, ye were 
 sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise." 1 
 believe, therefore, that as to my justification 
 from the curse of the law T am, as I stand in ■ 
 myself, unworthy to receive, accept of, em- 
 brace, and trust to the righteousness that is 
 already provided by and wrapped up in the 
 personal doings and sufferings of Christ, it be- 
 ing faith in that, and that only, that can jus- 
 tify a sinner in the sight of God. 
 
 5. I believe that the faith that so doth is not 
 to be found with any but those in whom the 
 Spirit of God, by mighty power, doth work it; 
 all others, being fearful and incredulous, dare 
 not venture their souls and eternity upon it. 
 And hence it is called the faith that is wrought 
 by the " exceeding great and mighty power of 
 God,!' the faith "of the operation of God." 
 And hence it is that othere are said to be fear- 
 ful, and so unbelieving. These, with othei 
 ungodly sinners, " must have their part in the 
 lake of fire." 
 
A CONFESSION OF MY FAITH. 
 
 821 
 
 6. I believe that this faith is effectually 
 wrought in none but those which, before the 
 world, were appointed unto glory. "And as 
 many as were ordained unto eternal life be- 
 lieved, that he might make known the riches 
 of his glory upon the vessels of mercy which 
 he had before prepared unto glory. We give 
 thanks unto God always for you all, making 
 mention always of you in our prayers, remem- 
 bering without ceasing your work of faith, 
 and labour of love, and patience of hope in 
 our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of God: 
 kr.Dwing, brethren beloved, your election of 
 God." But of the rest he- saith, " Ye believed 
 not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said," 
 which latter words relate to the 16th verse, 
 which respecteth the election of God. " There- 
 fore they could not believe, bejause (Esaias 
 said again) he hath blinded their eyes and 
 hardened their hearts, that they should not 
 see with their eyes nor understand with their 
 heart, and I should heal them.'' 
 
 Of Election. 
 
 1. I believe that election is free and perma- 
 nent, being founded in grace and the un- 
 changeable will of God. "Even so, then, at 
 this present time also there is a remnant ac- 
 cording to the election of grace; and if by 
 grace, then it is no more of works; otherwise 
 grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, 
 then it is no more of grace, otherwise work is 
 no more work. Nevertheless, the foundation 
 of God standeth sure, having this seal. The 
 Lord knoweth who are his. In whom also we 
 have obtained an inheritance, being predesti- 
 nated, according to the purpose of Him who 
 worketh all things after the counsel of his own 
 will." 
 
 2. I believe that this decree, choice, or elec- 
 tion was before the foundation of the world, 
 and so before the elect themselves had being 
 in themselves; for God, who quickeneth the 
 dead, and calleth those things which be not as 
 though they were, stays not for the being of 
 things to determine his eternal purpose by; 
 but having all things present to him, in his 
 wisdom he made his choice before the world 
 was. 
 
 3. I believe that the decree of election is so 
 far from making works in us foreseen the 
 ground or cause of the choice that it con- 
 taineth in the bowels of it not only the per- 
 sons, but the graces that accompany their sal- 
 vation. And hence it is said that "we are 
 predestinated to be conformed to the image of 
 
 his Son;" not because we are, but 'tnat we 
 should be, holy and without blame before him 
 in love. For we are his workmanship, created 
 in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God 
 hath before ordained that we should walk in 
 them. He blessed us according as he chose us 
 in Christ." And hence it is again that the 
 salvation and calling of which we are now 
 made partakers is no other than what was 
 .given us in Christ Jesus before the world be- 
 gan, according to his eternal purpose which he 
 purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord. 
 
 4. I belieye that Christ Jesus is he in whom 
 the elect are always considered, and that with- 
 out him there is neither election, grace, nor 
 salvation, "Having predestinated us to the 
 adoption of children, by Jesus Christ, to him- 
 self, according to the good pleasure of his will^ 
 to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein 
 he hath made us accepted in the Beloved; in 
 whom we have redemption through his blood, 
 the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches 
 of his grace. That in the dispensation of the 
 fulness of time he might gather together in 
 one all things in Christ, both which are in 
 heaven and which are in earth, even in him. 
 Neither is there salvation in any other; for 
 there is none other name under heaven given 
 among men whereby we must be saved." 
 
 5. ,1 believe that there is not any impedi- 
 ment attending the elect of God that can hinder 
 their conversion and eternal salvation. "More- 
 over, whom he did predestinate, them he also 
 called; and whom he called, them he also 
 justified; and whom he justified, them he also 
 glorified. What shall we say then to these 
 things? If God be for us, who can be against 
 us? Who shall lay anything to the charge of 
 God's elect? It is God that justifieth; who is 
 he thatcondemneth? &c. What, then? Israel 
 hath not obtained that which he seekeih for, 
 but the elect hath obtained it, and the rest 
 were blinded. For Israel hath not been for- 
 saken, nor Judah of his God, of the Lord of 
 hosts, though their -land was filkd with sin 
 against the Holy One of Israel." When An- 
 anias made intercession against Saul, saying, 
 Lord, I have heard by many of this man how 
 much evil h3 hath done to thy saints at Jeru- 
 salem, and here he hath authority from the 
 high priest to bind all that call upon thy name, 
 what said God unto him? — "Go thy w.T,y, for 
 he isa chosen vessel unto me to bear my name 
 before the Gentiles and kings, and the chil- 
 dren of Israel." 
 
 6. I believe that no man can know his elec 
 
822 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 tion but by his calling. The vessels of mercy 
 which God afore prepared unto glory do thus 
 claim a share therein: "Even us, say they, 
 whom he hath called, not only of the Jews, 
 but also of the Gentiles;'' as he also saith in 
 ' Rosea, "I will call them my people which 
 were not my people, and her beloved which 
 was not beloved." 
 
 7. I believe, therefore, that election doth not 
 fore.stall or prevent the means which are of 
 Ciud appointed to bring us to Christ, to grace, 
 and to glory, but rather putteth a necessity 
 upon the use and effect thereof, because they 
 are chosen to be brought to heaven that way ; 
 that is, by the faith of Jesus Christ, which is 
 the end of eflfectual calling. " Wherefore the 
 rather, brethren, give diligence to make your 
 calling and election sure." 
 
 Of Calling. 
 1. I believe that to eflfectual calling the Holy 
 Ghost must accompany the word of the Gospel, 
 and that with mighty power: I mean that 
 calling which of God is made to be the fruit 
 of electing love. "Knowing," saith Paul to 
 the Thessalonians, "brethren beloved, your 
 election of God ; for our Gospel came not unto 
 you in word only, but also in power, and in 
 the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance," &c. 
 Otherwise men will not, cannot, hear^ and 
 turn. Samuel was called four times before he 
 knew the voice of Him that spake from heaven. 
 It is said of them in Hosea that, as the proph- 
 ets called them, so they went from them ; and 
 instead of turning to them, "sacrificed to 
 Baalim and burnt incense to graven images." 
 The reason is, because men by nature are not 
 only dead in sins, " but enemies in their minds, 
 by reason of wicked works." The call then is, 
 " Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the 
 dead, and Christ shall give thee light." Un- 
 derstand, therefore, that eflfectual calling is 
 like that word of Christ that raised Lazarus 
 from the dead — a word attended with an arm 
 that was omnipotent: " Lazarus, come forth." 
 It was a word to the dead ; but not only so, it 
 rtas a word for the dead — a word that raised 
 him from the dead ; a word that outwent all 
 opposition, and that brought him forth from 
 the grave, though bound hand and foot therein. 
 And hence it is that calling is sometimes ex- 
 pressed by quickening, awakening, illumi- 
 nating, or bringing them forth of darkness to 
 light, that amazeth and astonisheth them. 
 For as it is a strange thing for a man that lay 
 long dead, or never saw the light with his 
 
 eyes, to be raised out of the grave, or to be 
 made to see that which he could not so much 
 as once think of before, so it is with eflfectual 
 calling. Hence it is that Paul, when called, 
 stood "trembling and was astonished," and 
 that Peter saith, "He hath called us out of 
 darkness into his marvellous light." In eflfect- 
 ual calling the voice of God is heard and the 
 gates of heaven are opened. When God called 
 Abraham he appeared to him in glory. That 
 of Ananias to Saul is experienced but by few : 
 " The God of our fathers hath chosen thee," 
 saith he, "that thou shouldst know his will 
 and see that just One, and shouldst hear the 
 voice of his mouth." True, Saul's call was out 
 of the ordinary way, but yet, as the^matter and 
 truth of the work, it was no other than all the 
 chosen have — viz. : 
 
 1st. An effectual awakening about the evil 
 of sin, and especially of unbelief. And there- 
 fore when the Lord God called Adam he also 
 made unto him an eflfectual discovery of sin, 
 insomuch that he stripped him of all his right- 
 eousness. Thus he also setved the jailer. Yea, 
 it is such an awakening as by it he sees he was 
 without Christ, without hope, and a stranger 
 to the commonwealth of Israel, and without 
 God in the world. Oh the dread and amaze- 
 ment that the guilt of sin brings with it when 
 it is revealed by the God of heaven ! And like 
 to it is the sight of mercy when it pleaseth 
 God, " who calleth us by his grace, to reveal 
 his Son in us." 
 
 2dly. In eflfectual calling there are great ■ 
 awakenings about the world to come and the 
 glory of unseen things. The resurrection of 
 the dead and eternal judgment, the salvation 
 that God hath prepared for them that love 
 him, with the blessedness that will attend us 
 and be upon us at the coming of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, are great things in the soul that is 
 under the awakening calls of God. And hence 
 we are said to be "called to glory, to the ob- 
 taining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ." 
 
 3dly. In eflfectual calling there is also a 
 sanctifying virtue ; and "hence we are said to 
 be called with an holy calling, with an heav- 
 enly calling, called to glory and virtue. "But 
 ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, 
 a holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should 
 show forth the praises of Him who hath called 
 you out of darkness into maTvellous light." 
 Yea, eflfectual calling hath annexed to it, as its 
 inseparable companion, the promise of thorough 
 sanctification : " Faithful is He that hath callecj 
 you, who also will do it." 
 
A CONFESSION OF MY FAITH. 
 
 823 
 
 2. I believe that effectual calling doth there- 
 fore produce — 
 
 iBt. Faith ; and therefore it is said that faith 
 Cometh by hearing — by hearing the word that 
 calleth us unto the grace of Christ. For by 
 the word that calleth us is Jesus Christ held 
 forth to us, and offered to be our righteousness. 
 And therefore the apostle saith again, that 
 "God hath called us unto the fellowship of 
 his Son Jesus Christ ; that is, to be made par- 
 takers of the riches of grace and the right- 
 eousness that is in him." 
 
 2dly. It produceth hope, it giveth a ground 
 to hope ; and therefore hope is said to be the 
 " hope of our calling." And again, " Even as 
 ye are called in one hope of your calling." 
 Now the godly wise know whoso misseth of 
 effectual calling misseth of eternal life, because 
 God justifieth none but them whom he calleth, 
 and glorifies none but those whom he justifies; 
 and therefore it is that Peter said before, 
 "Make your calling, and (so) your election 
 sure." Make it sure ; that is, prove your call- 
 ing right by the word of God, for whoso stag- 
 gereth at the certainty of his calling cannot 
 comfortably hope for a share in eternal life. 
 " Remember the word unto thy servant where- 
 on thou hast caused me to hope. My soul 
 fainted for thy salvation, but I hope in thy 
 word." 
 
 3dly. It produceth repentance. For when a 
 man hath heaven and hell before his eyes, (as 
 he will have if he be under the power of effect- 
 ual calling,) or when a man hath a revelation 
 of the mercy and justice of God, with an heart- 
 drawing invitation to lay hold on the tender 
 forgiveness of sins, and being made also to be- 
 hold the goodly beauty of holiness, it must 
 needs be that repentance appears, and puts 
 forth itself unto self-revenging acts for all its 
 wickedness which in the days of ignorance it 
 delighted in. And hence is that saying, "I 
 came not to call the righteous, but sinners to 
 repentance." For the effecting of which the 
 preaching of the word of the kingdom is most 
 proper. " Eepent, for the kingdom of God is 
 at hand." 
 
 1. Repentance is a turning the heart to God 
 in Christ — a turning of it from sin, and the 
 devil, and darkness to the goodness, and grace, 
 and holiness that is in him. Wherefore they 
 that of old are said to repent, are said to loathe 
 and abhor themselves for all their abomina- 
 tions. " I abhor myself," said Job, " and re- 
 pent in dust and ashes." 
 
 2. Godly repentance doth not only affect the 
 
 soul with the loathsome naturt of si i that is 
 past, but filleth the heart with godly hatred of 
 sins that yet may come. When Moses feared 
 that through his being overburdened with the 
 care of the children of Israel some unruly or 
 sinful passions might show themselves in him, 
 what saith he? — "I beseech thee kill me out 
 of hand if I have found grace in thy sight, 
 and let me not see my wretchedness." 
 
 3. See also how that which Paul calleth godly 
 repentance wrought in the upright Corinthians : 
 "Behold, (saith he,) this selfsame thing that 
 ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what careful- 
 ness it wrought in you ; what clearing of your- 
 selves; yea, what fear; yea, what vehement 
 desire ; yea, what zeal ; yea, what revenge. In 
 all things ye have approved yourselves to be 
 clear in this matter." 
 
 4. It produceth also love; wherefore Paul, 
 when he had put the Church in remembrance 
 that they were called of God, adds that con- 
 cerning brotherly love they had no need that 
 he should write unto them. As who should 
 say. If God be so kind to us to forgive us our 
 sins, to save our souls, and to give us the king- 
 dom of heaven, let these be motives, beyond 
 all other, to provoke us to love again. Farther, 
 if we that are thus beloved of God are made 
 members of one man's body, all partakers of 
 his grace, clothed all with his glorious right- 
 eousness, and are together appointed to be the 
 children of the next world, why should we not 
 love one another ? " Beloved, if God so loved 
 us, we ought also to love one another." And 
 truly so we shall if the true grace of God be 
 upon us, because we also see them to be the 
 called of Jesus. Travellers that are of the 
 same country love and take pleasure one in 
 another when they meet in, a strange land. 
 Why, we sojourn here in a strange country 
 with them that are heirs together with us of 
 the promised kingdom and glory. Now, as I 
 said, this holy love worketh by love. Mark, 
 love in God and Christ, when discovered, con- 
 straineth us to love. 
 
 The name, therefore, and word, and truth of 
 God in Christ, together with the sincerity of 
 grace, of faith and holiness in us, are the de- 
 lightful objects of this love. For itembraceth 
 with delight and complacency but as it dis- 
 oerneth the image of God and of Christ in the 
 soul, his presence in the ministry, and a suit- 
 ableness in our worship to the word and mind 
 of Christ. 
 
 Love also hath a blessed faculty and heav- 
 enly in bearing and suffering afflictions, putting 
 
824 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 up with wrongs, overlooking the infirmities of 
 the brethren, and in serving in all Christian 
 ofiices the necessities of the saints. " Charity 
 Buffereth long and is kind; charity envieth 
 not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed 
 up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh 
 not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh 
 no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth 
 in the truth ; beareth all things, believeth all 
 things, hopeth all things, endureth all things ; 
 charity never faileth." In a word, it designeth 
 a holy conversation in this world, that God, 
 and Clirist, and the word of Christ may be 
 glorified thereby. 
 
 Of the Scriptures. 
 Touching which word of God I thus believe 
 and confess : 
 
 1. That all the Holy Scriptures are the words 
 of God. " All Scripture is given by inspira- 
 tion of God. For the prophecy of the Scrip- 
 ture came not in old time by the will of man, 
 but holy men of God spake as they were moved 
 by the Holy Ghost." 
 
 2. I believe that the Holy Scriptures, of 
 themselves, without the addition of human 
 inventions, are able to make the man of God 
 perfect in all things, and thoroughly to furnish 
 him unto all good works. They are able to 
 make thee wise unto salvation through faith 
 in Jesus Clirist, and to instruct thee in all 
 other things that either respect the worship of 
 God or thy walking before all men. 
 
 3. I believe the great end why God commit- 
 ted the Scriptures to writing was, that we 
 might be instructed to Christ, taught how to 
 believe, encouraged to patience and hope for 
 the grace that is to be brought unto us at the 
 revelation of Jesus Christ ; also that we might 
 understand what is' sin, and how to avoid the 
 commission thereof. " Concerning the works 
 of men, (said David,) by the word of thy lips 
 I have kept me from the paths of the de- 
 stroyer. Through thy precepts I get under- 
 standing, therefore I hate every false way. I 
 have hid thy word m my heart, that I might 
 not sin against thee." 
 
 4. I believe that they cannot be broken, but 
 will certainly be fulfilled in all the prophecies, 
 threatenings, and promises, either to the salva- 
 tion or damnation of men. They are like that 
 flying roll that will go over all the earth to cut 
 off and curse. In them is contained also the 
 blessing ; they preach to us also the way of 
 
 salvation. " Take heed, therefore, lest Ihaf 
 come upon you which is written in the proph- 
 ets: Behold, ye despisers, and wonder and 
 perish. For I work a work in your days — a 
 work which you shall in nowise believe, though 
 a man declare it unto you." 
 
 5. I believe Jesus Christ, by the word of the 
 Scriptures, will judge all men at the day of 
 doom, for that is the book of the aw of the 
 Lord according to Paul's Gospel. 
 
 6. I believe that this God made the wor^d 
 and all things that are therein. " For in six 
 days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, 
 and all that in them is ; " also, that after the 
 time of the making thereof he disposed of it 
 to the children of men, with a reserve thereof 
 for the children of God that should in all ages 
 be born thereunto. WJien the Most High di- 
 vided to the nations their inheritance, when 
 he separated the sons of Adam, he set the 
 bounds of the people according to the number 
 of the children of Israel ; for, as " he made of 
 one blood all nations of men for to dwell upon 
 the face of the earth, so he hath determined 
 the times before appointed and the bounds of 
 their habitation." 
 
 Of Magistracy. 
 I believe that magistracy is God's ordinance, 
 which he hath appointed for the government 
 of the whole world, and that it is a judgment 
 of God to be without those ministers of God 
 which he hath ordained to put wickedness to 
 shame. "Whosoever, therefore, resisteth the 
 power, resisteth the ordinance of God; and 
 they that resist shall receive to themselves 
 damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good 
 works, but to the evil. Wilt thou not then be 
 afraid of the power? Do that which is good, 
 and thou shalt have praise of the same ; for he 
 is the minister of God to thee for good. But 
 if thou do that which is evil, be afraid, for he 
 beareth not the sword in vain; for he is the 
 minister of God, a revenger, to execute wrath 
 upon him that doth evil. Wherefore ye must 
 needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for 
 conscience' sake. For this cause pay ye tribute 
 also, for tliey are God's ministers attending 
 continually unto this very thing." Many are 
 the mercies we receive by a well-qualified 
 magistrate; and if any shall at any time be 
 otherwise inclined, let us sliow our Christianity 
 in a patient suffering for well-doing what it ' 
 shall please God to inflict by them. 
 
A BEASON OF MT PRACTICE IN WORSHIP. 
 
 825 
 
 A EEASON OF MY PRACTICE IN WORSHIP. 
 
 Having tb is made confession of my faith, I 
 now, come to show you my practice in worship, 
 with the reasons thereof; the which I shall 
 have occasion to touch under two distinct heads : 
 
 1. With whom I dare not hold communion ; 
 
 2. With whom I dare. 
 
 ■ Only, first, note that by the word communion 
 I mean fellowship in the things of the king- 
 dom of Christ, or that which is commonly 
 called church communion, the communion of 
 saints; for in civil affairs and in things of this 
 world that are honest I am not altogether tied 
 up from the fornicators thereof; wherefore in 
 my following discourse understand me in the 
 first sense. 
 
 Now, then, I dare not have communion with 
 them that profess not faith and holiness, or 
 that are not visible saints by calling ; but note 
 that by this assertion I meddle not with the 
 elect but as he is a visible saint by calling, 
 neither do I exclude the secret hypocrite if he 
 be hid from me by visible saintship. Where- 
 fore I dare not have communion with men 
 from a single supposition that they may be 
 elect, neither dare I exclude the other from a 
 single supposing that he may be a secret hypo- 
 .crite. I meddle not here with these things; I 
 only exclude him that is not a visible saint ; 
 now he that is visibly or openly profane can- 
 not be then a visible saint, for he that is a 
 visible saint must profess faith and repentance, 
 and consequently holiness of life; and with 
 none else dare I communicate. 
 
 First. Because God himself hath so strictly 
 put the difference, both by word and deed; for 
 from the beginning he did not only put a 
 difference between the seed of the woman and 
 the children of the wicked, only the instinct 
 of grace and change of the mind as his own, 
 but did cast out from his presence the father 
 of all the ungodly, even cursed Cain, when he 
 showed himself openly profane, and banished 
 him to go into the land of the runagate or 
 vagabond, where from God's face and the 
 privileges of the communion of saints he was 
 ever afterward hid. 
 
 Besides, when after this, through the policy 
 of Satan, the children of Cain and the seed of 
 Seth did commix themselves in worship, and 
 by that means had corrupted the way of God, 
 what followed but first God judged it wicked- 
 ness, raised up Noah to preach against it ; and, 
 
 after that, because they would not be re« 
 claimed, he brought the Flood upon the whole 
 world of these ungodly, and saved only Noah 
 alive and his, because he had kept himself 
 righteous. 
 
 Here I could enlarge abundantly, and add 
 many more instances of a like nature, but I 
 am here only for a touch upon things. 
 
 Secondly. Because it is so often commanded 
 in the Scriptures that all the congregation 
 should be holy. "I am the Lord your God; 
 ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye 
 shall be holy, for I am holy. Ye shall be holy, 
 for I the Lord your God am holy. Sanctify 
 yourselves, therefore, and be ye holy, for I am 
 the Lord your God." Besides— 1. The gates 
 of the temple were to be shut against all other. 
 " Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation 
 that keepeth the truth may enter in — this 
 gate of the Lord into which the righteous shall 
 enter. Thus saith the Lord, No stranger, un- 
 circumcised inheart oruncircumcised in flesh, 
 shall enter into my sanctuary, of any stranger 
 which is amongst the children of Israel." 2. 
 Because the things of worship are holy. " Be 
 ye holy that bear the vessels of the Lord." 
 3. Because all the limits and bounds of com- 
 munion are holy. " This is the law of the 
 house upon the top of the mountain: the 
 whole limit thereof shall be most holy; be- 
 hold, this is the law of the house." 
 
 Thirdly. I dare not have communion with 
 them, because the example of the New Testa- 
 ment churches before us have been a commu- 
 nity of visible saints. Paul to the Romans 
 writes thus : " To all that are at Rome beloved 
 of God, called to be saints;" and to the rest 
 of the churches thus: "Unto the Church of 
 God which is at Corinth, to them that are 
 sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints. 
 To the saints that are at Ephesus, and to the 
 faithful in Christ Jesus. To all the saints that 
 are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons. 
 To the saints and faithful brethren which are 
 at Colosse. To the Church of the Thessalo- , 
 nians, which is in God the Father and in our 
 Lord Jesus Christ," &c. Thus you see under 
 what denomination those persons went of old 
 who were counted worthy to be members of a 
 visible Church of Christ. Besides, the mem 
 bers of such churches go under such characters 
 as these: 
 
826 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 1. The called of Christ Jesus. Eom. i. 6. 
 
 2. Men that have drank into the Spirit of 
 Jesus Christ. 1 Cor. vii. 13. 
 
 3. Persons in whom was God the Father. 
 Eph. iv. 6. 
 
 4. They were all made partakers of the joy 
 of the Gospel. Phil. i. 7. 
 
 5. Persons that were circumcised inwardly. 
 Col. ii. 11. 
 
 6. Persons that turned from idols to serve 
 the living and true God. 1 Thess. i. 4. 
 
 7. Those that were the body of Christ and 
 members in particular; that is, those that 
 were visibly such, because they made profes- 
 sion of faith, of holiness, of repentance, of 
 love to Christ, and of self-denial at their re- 
 ceiving into fellowship. 
 
 Fourthly. I dare not hold communion with 
 the open profane. 
 
 1. Because it is promised to the Church 
 that she shall dwell by herself; that is, as she 
 is a Chwch and spiritual. " Lo, the people 
 shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned 
 among the nations." Num. xxiii. 9. 
 
 2. Because this is their privilege : " But ye 
 are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an 
 holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should 
 show forth the praises of Him who hath 
 called you out of darkness into marvellous 
 light." 1 Pet. i. 9, 10. 
 
 3. Because this is the fruit of the death of 
 Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might 
 redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto 
 himself a peculiar people, zealous of good 
 works. 
 
 4. Because this is the commandment : "Save 
 yourselves from the untoward generation." 
 Acts ii. 40. 
 
 5. Because with such it is not possible we 
 should have true and spiritual communion. 
 " Be not unequally yoked together with unbe- 
 lievers, for what fellowship hath righteousness 
 with unrighteousness? and what communion 
 hath light with darkness? and what concord 
 hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he 
 that believeth with an infidel ? or what agree- 
 ment hath the teipple of God with idols ? For 
 ye are the temple of the living God ; as God 
 hath said, I will dwell in them and walk in 
 them, and I will be their God and they shall 
 be my people. Wherefore come out from 
 among them and be ye separate, saith the 
 Lord, and touch not the unclean thing ; and 
 I will receive you and will be a father unto 
 you, saith the Lord Almighty." 
 
 Fifthly. I dare not hold communion with 
 the open profane — 
 
 1. Because this would be ploughing with an 
 ox and an ass together. Heavenly persons 
 suit best for communion in heavenly matters. 
 Deut. xxii. 10. 
 
 2. It subjecteth not the nature of our dis- 
 cipline, which is not forced, but free, in a pro- 
 fessed subjection to the will and -command- 
 ment of Christ, others being excluded by 
 God's own prohibition. Lev. i. 3 ; Eom. vi. 
 17; 2 Cor. viii. 12; ix. 7, 13; viii. 5. 
 
 Paul also, when he exhorteth Timothy to 
 follow after righteousness, faith, charity, peace, 
 &c., which are the bowels of church commu- 
 nion, he saith, " Do it with those that call on 
 the name of the Lord out of a pure heart." 
 
 Sixthly. In a word, to hold communion with 
 the open profane is most pernicious and de- 
 structive. 
 
 1. It was the wicked multitude that feU 
 a-lusting and that tempted Christ in the 
 desert. Num. xi. 4. 
 
 2. It was the profane heathen of whom 
 Israel learned to worship idols. They were 
 mingled among the heathen, and learned 
 their works and served their idols, which 
 were a snare to them. 
 
 3. It is the mingled people that God hath 
 threatened to plague with those deadly pun- 
 ishments of his with which he hath threat- 
 ened to punish Babylon itself, saying, " When 
 a sword is upon her liars, her mighty, her 
 chariots and treasures, a sword also shall be 
 upon her mingled people that are in the midst 
 of her." 
 
 And no marvel ; for— 
 
 1. Mixed cordmunion polluteth the ordi- 
 nances of God. " Say to the rebels, saith the 
 Lord God, Let it suffice you of all your abom- 
 inations that you have brought into my sanc- 
 tuary strangers, uncircumcised in heart and 
 uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary 
 to pollute it, eVen my house,' when ye oifered 
 my bread and the fat and the blood ; and they 
 have broken my covenant because of all their 
 abominations." 
 
 2. It violateth the law . " Her priests have 
 violated my law and profaned my holy things, 
 (How?) They have put no difference be- 
 tween the holy and profane, neither have they 
 showed difference between the unclean and 
 the clean." 
 
 3. It profaneth the holiness of God : "Judah 
 hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination 
 
A REAHOy OF MY PRACTICE IN WORSHIP. 
 
 827 
 
 is committed in Israel and Jerusalem ; for 
 Judah hath profaned the holiness of the Lord 
 which he loved, and hath married the daugh- 
 ter of a strange god." 
 
 4. It defileth the truly gracious : " Know ye 
 ».ot that a little leaven leaveneth the whole 
 lump? Look diligently, therefore, lest any 
 root of bitterness, springing up, trouble you, 
 and thereby many be defiled." 
 
 Lastly. To conclude, as I said before, it pro- 
 voketh God to punish with severe judgments, 
 and therefore heed well. 
 
 1. As I said before, the drowning of the 
 whole world was occasioned by the sons of 
 God commixing themselves with the daugh- 
 ters of men, and the corruption of worship 
 that followed thereupon. 
 
 2. He sent a plague upon the children of 
 Israel for joining themselves unto the people 
 of Moab, and for following their abominations 
 in worship. And let no man think that now 
 I have altered the state of the question, for it 
 is all one with the Church to communicate 
 with the profane and to sacrifice and offer 
 their gifts to the devil. The reason is, be- 
 cause such have by their sin forsaken the 
 protection of Heaven, and are given up to 
 their own heart-lusts, and left to be over- 
 come of the wicked, to whom they have joined 
 themselves. ' 
 
 "Join not yourselves (saith God) to the 
 wicked, neither in religion nor marriages ; for 
 they will turn away thy sons from following 
 me, that they may serve other gods ; so will the 
 anger of the Lord be kindled against you and 
 destroy thee suddenly." Did not Solomon, 
 king of Israel, sin by these things? yet among 
 many nations was there no king like. him who 
 was beloved of his God. 
 
 Hear how Paul handleth the point : " This 
 I say, (saith he,) that the things which the 
 Gentiles (or open profane) sacrifice, they sacri- 
 fice to devils and not to God; and I would 
 not that you should have fellowship with 
 devils. Ye cannot drink of the cup of the 
 Lord and the cup of devils; ye cannot be 
 partakers of the table of the Lord and of the 
 table of de>ils. Do we provoke the Lord to 
 jealousy? Are we stronger than he?" I con- 
 clude that therefore it is an evil and a danger- 
 ous thing to hold church communion with the 
 open profane and ungodly. It poUuteth his 
 ordinances, it violateth his law, it profaneth 
 his holiness, it defileth his people, and pro- 
 voketh the Lord to severe and terrible judg- 
 ments. 
 
 Objection. But we can prove in all ages 
 there have been the open and profaue in the 
 Church of God. 
 
 Answer. In many ages indeed it hath been 
 so ; but mark, they appeared not such when 
 first they were received into communion, 
 neither were they, with God's liking, as such 
 to be retained among them, but in order to 
 their admonition, repentance, and amendment 
 of life ; of which if they failed God presently 
 threatened the Church, and either cut them 
 off from the Church, as he did idolaters, for- 
 nicators, murmurers, tempters, sabbath -break- 
 ers, with Korah, Dathan, Achan, and others, 
 or else cut ofl" them, with the Church and all, 
 as he served the ten tribes at one time and the 
 two tribes at another. " My God shall cast 
 them away, because they did not hearken to 
 him, and they shall be wanderers among the 
 nations." 
 
 Many have pleaded for the profane that 
 they should abide in the Church of God, but 
 such have not considered that God's wrath at 
 all times hath, with great indignation, been 
 showed against such offenders and their con- 
 ceits. Indeed, they like not to.plead for them 
 under that notion, but rather as Korah and 
 his company, "All the congregation is holy, 
 every one of them." Num. xvi. 3. But it 
 maketh no matter by what name they are 
 called if by their deeds they show themselves 
 openly wicked, for names and notions sanctify 
 not the heart and nature; they make not vir- 
 tues of vices, neither can it save such advo- 
 cates from the heavy curse both of God and 
 men. "The righteous men, they shall judge 
 thfem after the manner of adulteresses, and 
 after the manner of women that shed blood ; 
 because they are adulteresses and blood is in 
 their hands." 
 
 Thus have I showed you with whom I dare 
 not have communion, and now to show you 
 with whom I dare. But in order thereto I 
 desire you first to take notice that, touching 
 shadowish or figurative ordinances, I believe 
 that Christ hath ordained but two in his 
 Church — viz., water baptism and the supper 
 of the Lord, both which are of excellent use 
 to the Church in this world, they being to us 
 representations of the death and resurrection 
 of Christ, and are, as God shall ma,ke them, 
 helps to our faith therein. But I count them 
 not the fundamentals of our Christianity, nor 
 grounds of rule to communion with saints. 
 Servants they are, and O-ir mystical ministers 
 to teach and instruct us in the most weighty 
 
828 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 matters of the kingdom of God. I therefore 
 here declare my reverent esteem of them, yet 
 dare not remove them, as some do, from the 
 place and end where by God they are set and 
 appointed, nor ascribe unto them more than 
 they were ordered to have in their first and 
 primitive institution. It is possible to commit 
 idolatry even with God's own appointments. 
 But I pass this, and come to the thing 
 propounded. 
 
 Secondly, then. I dare have communion, 
 church communion, with those that are visible 
 saints by calling, with those that by the word 
 of the Gospel have been brought over to faith 
 and holiuess. And it maketh no matter to me 
 what their life was heretofore "if they now be 
 washed, if they be sanctified, if they be justified 
 in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and by 
 the Spirit of our God." Now, in order to the 
 discovery of this faith and holiness, and so to 
 fellowship in church communion, I hold it re- 
 quisite that a faithful relation be made thereof 
 by the party thus to be received, yea, if n-eed 
 be, by witnesses also, for the satisfaction of the 
 Church, that she may receive in faith and 
 judgment such as best shall suit her holy pro- 
 fession. Observe it, these texts do resi^ect ex- 
 traordinary oflioers, and yet see that, in order 
 to their reception by the Church, there was 
 made to them a faithful relation of the faith 
 and holiness of these very persons ; for no man 
 may intrude himself upon, or thrust himself 
 upon, or thrust himself into, a Church of Christ 
 without the Church have first the knowledge 
 and liking of the person to be received ; if 
 otherwise, there is a door opened for all the 
 heretics in the world ; yea, for devils also, if 
 they appear in human shapes. But Paul shows 
 you the manner of receiving by pleading (after 
 some disgrace thrown upon him by false apos- 
 tles) for his own admission of his companions : 
 "Receive us, {saith he,) we have wronged no 
 man ; we have defrauded no man ; we have 
 corrupted no man." And so concerning Tim- 
 othy: "If Timothy come, (saith he,), see that 
 he may be with you without fear; for he 
 worketh the work of the Lord, as I also do." 
 Also when Paul supposed that Titus might be 
 suspected by some, see how he pleads for him : 
 " If any do inquire of Titus, he is my partner 
 and fellow-helper concerning you; or our 
 brethren be inquired of, they are the messen- 
 gers of the churches and the glory of Christ." 
 Phebe also, when she was to be received by 
 the Church at Eome, see how he speaketh in 
 her behalf: " I commend unto you Phebe our 
 
 sister, which is a servant of the Church which 
 is at Cenchrea, that ye receive her in the Lord, 
 as becometh-saints; and that ye assist her in 
 whatsoever business she hath need of you ; for 
 she hath been a succourer of many and of my- 
 self also." Yea, when the apostles and 
 brethren sent their epistles from Jerusalem to 
 Antiooh, under what characters do those go 
 that were the messengers to them ? — "It seemed 
 good unto the Holy Ghost and to us to send 
 chosen men unto you, with our beloved Bar- 
 nabas and Saul — men that have hazarded theii 
 lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ," 
 &c. Now, though the occasion upon which 
 these commendations were written were not 
 simply or only in order to church relation, but 
 also for other causes, yet, because the persons 
 concerned were of the churches to be received 
 as faithful, and such who would partake of 
 church privileges with them, they have there- 
 fore their faith and faithfulness related to the 
 churches as those that were particularly em- 
 bodied there. Besides, Timothy and Titus, 
 being extraordinary ofiicers, stood as members 
 and officers in every Church where they were 
 received. Likewise Barnabas and Saul, Judas 
 and Silas abode as members and ofiScera where 
 they were sent. It was requisite, therefore, 
 that the letters of recommendation should be 
 in substance the same with that relation that 
 ought to be made to the Church by or for the 
 person that is to be embodied there. But to 
 return ; I dare have communion, church com- 
 munion, with those that are visible saints by 
 calling. 
 
 Question. But by what rule would you re- 
 ceive them into fellowship with yourselves ? 
 
 Answer. Even by a discovery of their faith 
 and holiness, and their declaration of willing- 
 ness to subject themselves to the laws and gov- 
 ernment of Christ in his Church. 
 
 Question. But do you not count that by 
 water baptism, and not otherwise, that being 
 the iuitiating and entering ordinance, they 
 ought to be received into fellowship ? 
 
 Answer. No. But tarry and take my sense 
 with my word ; for herein lies the mistake, to 
 think that because in time past baptism was 
 administered upon conversion, that therefore 
 it is the initiating and entering ordinance into 
 church communion, when by the word no such 
 thing is testified of it. Besides, that it is not 
 so will be manifest if we consider the nature 
 and power of such an ordinance. That ordi- 
 nance, then, that is the initiating or entering 
 ordinance, as before, doth give to them that 
 
A REASON OF MY PRACTICE IN WORSHIP. 
 
 829 
 
 partake thereof a right to, and a being of 
 membership with, that particular church by 
 which it is administered ; I say, a right to and 
 a being of membersliip without the addition 
 of another church act. This is evident by the 
 law of circumcision, which was the initiating 
 law of old ; for by the administration of that 
 very ordinance the partaker thereof waa forth- 
 with a member of that congregation, without 
 the addition of another church act. Gen. xvii. 
 This is declared in the first institution, and 
 Iherefere it is called the token of the covenajat, 
 tlie token or sign of righteousness, of Abra- 
 ham's faith, and of the visible membership of 
 those that joined themselves to the Church 
 with him — the very inlet into church commu- 
 nion that gave a being of membership among 
 them. And thus Moses himself expounds it: 
 " Every man-servant (saith he) that is bought 
 with money, when thou hast circumcised him, 
 he shall eat of the passover;" without the ad- 
 dition of another church act to empower him 
 thereunto, his circumcision hath already given 
 him a being there, and so a right to and priv- 
 ilege in church relation. " A foreigner and a 
 hired servant shall not cat thereof," bec.iuse 
 not circumcised; "but when a stranger that so- 
 journeth with thee will keep the passover to 
 the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and 
 then let him come near and keep it," for then 
 he is one of the Church ; " and he shall be as 
 one bom in the land; for no uncircumcised 
 person shall eat thereof." Ex. xii. 4.3-50. 
 Neither could any other thing, according to 
 the law of circumoi.sion, give the devoutest 
 person that hath breathed a being of member- 
 ship with them : "He that is born in thy house 
 and he that is bought witli thy money must 
 needs be circumcised ; and the uncircumcised 
 man-child, whose flesh of his foreskin is not 
 circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his 
 people." 
 
 Note, then, that that which is the initiating 
 ordinance admitteth none into church com- 
 munion but those that first partake thereof. 
 1 he angel sought to kill Moses himself for 
 attempting to make his child a member with- 
 out it. Note, again^ that as it admitteth of 
 none to membership without it, so, as I said, 
 the very act of circumcising them, without the 
 addition of another church act, gave them ;■. 
 being of membership with that very Church 
 by whom they were circumcised. But none 
 of this can be said of baptism. First. There 
 is none debarred nor threatened to be cut off 
 from the Church if they be not first baptized. 
 
 Secondly. Neither doth it give to the person 
 baptized a being of membership with this or 
 that Church by whose members he hath been 
 baptized. John gathered no particular Church, 
 yet was he the first and great baptizer with 
 water. He preached Christ to come, and bap- 
 tized with the baptism of repentance, and left 
 his disciples to be gathered by him : " And to 
 him shall the gathering of the people be.'' 
 Besides, after Christ's ascension, Philip bap- 
 tized the eunuch, but made him by that no 
 member of any particular Church. We only 
 read that Philip was caught away from him, 
 and that the eunuch saw him no more, but 
 went on his way rejoicing to his master and 
 country of Ethiopia. Neither was Cornelius 
 made a member of the Church at Jerusalem 
 by his being baptized at Peter's command at 
 Csesarea. Neither were they that were con- 
 verted at Antioch by them that were scattered 
 from the Church at Jerusalem, by their bap- 
 tism, if they were baptized at all, joined to the 
 Church at Jerusalem. No, they were after 
 gathered and embodied among themselves by 
 other church acts. What shall I say ? Into 
 what particular Church was Lydia baptized by 
 Paul or those fii'st converts at Philippi? Yea, 
 even in the 2d of the Acts baptizing and adding 
 to the Church appear to be acts distinct; but 
 if baptism were the initiating ordinance, then 
 was he that we baptized made a member, made 
 a member of u particular Church, by the very 
 act of water baptism. Neither ought any, by 
 God's ordinance, to have baptized any but with 
 respect to the admitting them by that act to a 
 being of membership of this particular Church. 
 For if it be the initiating ordinance, it entereth 
 them into the Church. What Church ? Into 
 a visible Church. Now there is no Church 
 visible but that which is particular, the uni- 
 versal being utterly invisible and known to 
 none but God. The person, then, that is bap- 
 tized stands by that a member of no Church at 
 all, neither of the visible nor yet of the invis- 
 ible. A visible saint lie is, but not made so 
 by baptism; for he must be a visible saint 
 before, else he ought not to be baptized. 
 
 Take it again. Baptism makes thee no mem- 
 ber of the Church, neither particular nor uni- 
 versal; neither doth it make thee a visible 
 saint; it therefore gives thee neither right to 
 nor being of membership at all. 
 
 Question. But why, then, were they bap- 
 tized? 
 
 Answer. That their own faith by that figure 
 might be strengthened in the death and resur 
 
830 
 
 SUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 rection of Christ, and that themselves might 
 see that they have professed themselves dead 
 and huried, and risen with him to newness of 
 life. It did not seal to the Church that they 
 were so, (their satisfaction as to that arose 
 from better arguments,) but taught the party 
 himself that he ought so to be. Farther, it 
 confirmed to his own conscience the forgive- 
 ness of sins if by unfeigned faith he laid hold 
 upon Jesus Christ. 
 
 Now, then, if baptism be not the initiating 
 ordinance, we must seek for entering some 
 other way, by some other appointment of 
 Christ, unless we will say that, without rule, 
 without order, and without an appointment of 
 Christ, we may enter into his visible kingdom. 
 The Church under the law had their initiating 
 and entering ordinance ; it must not therefore 
 be, unless we should think that Moses was 
 more punctual and exact than Christ, but that 
 also our Lord hath his entering appointment. 
 Now, that which by Christ is made the door 
 of entrance into the Church, by that we may 
 doubtless enter; and, seeing baptism is not 
 that ordinance, we ought not to seek to enter 
 thereby, but may with good conscience enter 
 without it. 
 
 Question. But by what rule, then, wbuld you 
 gather persons into church communion? 
 
 Answer. Even by that rule by which they 
 are discovered to the Church to be visible 
 saints and willing to be gathered into their 
 body and fellowship. By that word of God, 
 therefore, by which their faith, experience, 
 and conversation (being examined) is found 
 good; by that the Church should receive them 
 into fellowship with them. Mark, not as they 
 practise things that are circumstantial, but as 
 their faith is commended by a word of faith 
 and their conversation by a moral precept. 
 Wherefore that is observable that after Paul 
 had declared himself sound of faith he falls 
 down to the body of the law: "Eeceive us, 
 (saith he;) we have wronged no man, we have 
 corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man." 
 He saith not, " 1 am baptized, but I have 
 wronged no man," &c. And if churches, after 
 the confession of faith, made more use of the 
 ten commandments to judge of the fitness of 
 persons by, they might not exceed, by this 
 seeming strictness. Christian tenderness to- 
 wards them they receive to communion. 
 
 I will say, therefore, that by the word of 
 faith and of good works, moral duties Gospel- 
 ized, we ought to judge of the fitness of mem- 
 bers by — by which we ought also to receive 
 
 them to fellowship: "For he that in these 
 things proveth sound," he hath the antitype 
 of circumcision, which was before the entering 
 ordinance. "For he is not a Jew which is 
 one outwardly, neither is that circumcision 
 which is outwardly in the flesh ; but he is a 
 Jew which is one inwardly, and circumcision 
 is that of the heart, in the spirit, whose praise 
 is not of men, but of God." 
 
 Now, a confession of this by word and life 
 makes this inward circumcision visible. When 
 you know him therefore to be thus cjrcuni- 
 cised, you ought to admit him to the Lord's 
 passover; he, if any, hath a share, not only in 
 church communion, but a visible right to the 
 kingdom of heaven. 
 
 Again, "For the kingdom of God (or our 
 service to Christ) consisteth not in meats nor 
 in drinks, but in righteousness, peace, and joy 
 in the Holy Ghost; and he that in these things 
 serveth Christ is accepted of God and ap- 
 proved of men."' By which word righteous^iesg 
 he meaneth, as James doth, the royal law, the 
 perfect law, which is the moral precept evan- 
 gelized or delivered to us by the hand of 
 Christ. James ii. 8, 9. The law was given 
 twice at Sinai; the last time it was given with 
 a proclamation of grace and mercy of God 
 and of the pardon of sins going before. Ex. 
 xix. ; xxxiv. 1-10. The second giving is 
 here intended, for so it cometh after faith, 
 which first receiveth the proclamation of for- 
 giveness. Hence we are said to do this right- 
 eousness in the joy and peace of the Holy 
 Ghost. Now, he that in these things serveth 
 Christ is accepted of God and approved of 
 men. For who is he that can justly find 
 fault with him that fulfilleth the royal law 
 from a principle of faith and love? "If ye 
 fulfil the royal law according to the Scrip- 
 tures, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy- 
 self, ye do well," ye are approved of men. 
 Again, he that hath loved another hath ful- 
 filled the law, for love is the fulfilling of the 
 law. He, then, that serveth Christ according 
 the royal law, from faith and love going before, 
 he is a fit person for church communion. God 
 accepteth him, men approve him. Now, that 
 the royal law is the moral precept read the 
 place in James ii. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. It is also 
 called the " law of liberty," because the bond- 
 age is taken'away by forgiveness going before; 
 and this is it by which we are judged, as is 
 said, meet or unmeet for church communion, 
 &c. 
 
 Therefore, I say, the rule by which we re- 
 
A REASON OF MY PRACTICE IN WORSHIP. 
 
 831 
 
 ceive church members, it is the word of the 
 faith of Christ and of the mora precept evan- 
 gelized, aa I said before. "I am under the 
 law to Christ," saith Paul. So, when he for- 
 biddeth us communion with men, they be such 
 as are destitute of the faith of Christ and live 
 in the transgression of a moral precept. "I 
 have written unto you (saith he) not to keep 
 company if any man that is called a brother 
 be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or 
 a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; 
 with such an one no not to eat." He saith 
 not, "If any man be not baptized, have not 
 hands laid on him, or join with the unbap- 
 tized;" these are fictions, Scriptureless no- 
 tions. "For this, Thou shalt not commit 
 adultery. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not 
 steaji, Thou shalt not bear false ■fitness. Thou 
 shalt not covet; and if there be any other 
 commandment, it is briefly comprehended in 
 this saying. Thou shalt love thy neighbour as 
 thyself Love thinketh no ill to his neigh- 
 bour; therefore love is the fulfilling of the 
 law." Rom. xiii. 9, 10. 
 
 The word of faith and the moral precept is 
 that which Paul enjoins the Galatians and Phil- 
 ippians, still avoiding outward circumstances. 
 Hence, therefore, when he had to the Gala- 
 tians treated of faith, he falls point-blank 
 upon moral duties: "For in Christ Jesus 
 neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor 
 uncircumcision, but a new creature; and as 
 many as walk according to this rule, peace be 
 on them and mercy, and upon the Israel of 
 God." "As many as walk according to this 
 rule." What rule? The rule by which men 
 are proved new creatures — the word of faith 
 and the moral precept. "Wherefore Paul ex- 
 horteth the Ephesians not to walk, as other 
 Gentiles, in the vanity of their mind, seeing 
 they had received Christ, and had heard him, 
 and had been taught by him, as the truth is in 
 Jesus — that they should put off the old man. 
 What is that? Why the former conversation, 
 which is corrupt, according to the deceitful 
 lusts, lying, anger, sin, giving place to the 
 devil, corrupt communications, all bitterness, 
 wrath, clamour, evil-speaking, with all malice, 
 and that they would put on a new man. What 
 is that? That which is created in righteous- 
 ness and true holiness, a being renewed in the 
 spirit of their mind, and, a putting away all 
 these things. Eph. iv. "For in Christ Jesus;" 
 these words are" put in on purpose to show us 
 the nature of New Testament administrations, 
 and how they difier from the Old. In Moses 
 
 an outward conformity to an outward and 
 carnal ordinance was sufficient to give (they 
 subjecting themselves thereto) a being of 
 membership with the Jews. But in Christ 
 Jesus it is not so. Of Abraham's flesh was 
 the national Jewish congregation, but it is 
 Abraham's- faith that makes the New Testa- 
 ment churches. "They that are of faith are 
 the children of faithful Abraham. They iliat 
 are of faith, the same are the children of 
 Abraham." So then, the seed being now 
 spiritual, the rule must needs be spiritual also 
 — viz., the word of faith and holiness. Tliis is 
 the Gospel concision-knife, sharper than any 
 two-edged sword, and that by which New Tes- 
 tament saints are circumcised in heart, ears, 
 and lips. For in Christ Jesus no outward and 
 circumstantial thing, but the new creature; 
 none subjects of the visible kingdom of Christ, 
 but visible saints by calling. Now, that which 
 manifesteth a person to be a visible saint 
 must be conformity to the word of faith and 
 holiness: "And they that are Christ's have 
 crucified the flesh, with the affections and 
 lusts." Hearken how delightfully Paul handled 
 the point: "The new creatures are the Israel 
 of God. The new creature hath a rule by him- 
 self to walk by ; and as many as walk accord- 
 ing to this rule, peace be on them and mercy, 
 and upon the Israel of God." Paul to the 
 Philippians commandeth as much, where, 
 treating of his own practice in the doctrine of 
 faith and holiness, ho requireth them to walk 
 by the same rule, to mind the same thing : " I 
 desire to be found in Christ, (saith he ;) I reach 
 forward toward the things that are before ; my 
 conversation is in heaven, and flatly opposite 
 to them whose God is their belly, whose glory 
 is their shame, and who mind earthly things." 
 " Brethren, (saith he,) be ye followers together 
 ■with me, and mark them that walk so." ' Mark 
 them — for what? For persons that are to be 
 received into fellowship and the chiefest com- 
 munion of saints. And indeed this is the 
 safest way to judge of the raeetness of persons 
 by, for take away the confession of faith and 
 holiness, and what can distinguish a Christian 
 from a Turk? He that indeed receiveth faith, 
 that squareth his life by the royal, jierfect 
 moral precept, and that walketh therein in the 
 joy and peace of the Holy Ghost, no man can 
 reject him ; he cannot be a man if he object 
 against him — -not a man in Christ, not a man 
 in understanding. " The law is not made for 
 a righteous man," neither to debar him the 
 communion of saints if he desire it, nor to 
 
832 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 cast him out if he were in, " but for the law- 
 less and disobedient, for the ungodly and for 
 sinners-,' for unholy and profane, for murderers 
 of fathers 'and for murderers of mothers, for 
 man-slayers, for whoremongers, for them that 
 defile themselves with mankind, for men- 
 Btealers, for perjured persons, and if there be 
 any other thing contrary to sound doctrine ac- 
 cording to the glorious Gospel whifli is com- 
 ,mitted to my trust." 1 Tim. i. 9, 10, 11. Paul 
 also, when he would leave an everlasting con- 
 viction upon the Ephesians concerning his faith 
 and holiness, treating first of the sufficiency 
 of Christ's blood and the grace of God to save 
 us, he adds, "I have coveted no man's silver, 
 or gold, or apparel." He bringeth them to the 
 moral precept, to prove the sincerity of his 
 good conversation, by Acts xx. 28, 32, 33. And 
 when men have juggled what they can, and 
 made never- such a prattle about religion, yet 
 if their greatest excellency, as to the visibility 
 of their saintship, lieth in an outward con- 
 formity to an outward circumstance in religion, 
 their profession is not worth two mites : " Let 
 us walk honestly as in the day ; not in rioting 
 and drunkenness, not in chambering and 
 wantonness, not in strife and envy; but put 
 ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no 
 provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts 
 thereof." Eom. xiii. 18, 14. And it is observ- 
 able that after the apostle had, in the 9th and 
 10th verses of this chapter, told us that the 
 moral precept is the rule of a good conversa- 
 tion, and exhorted us to make no provision for 
 the flesh, he adds (these things provided) we 
 may receive any that believe in Christ Jesus 
 unto communion with us, how weak soever 
 and dark in circumstantials, and chiefly designs 
 the proof thereof in the remaining part of his 
 epistle. For he that is of sound faith and of 
 conversation honest in the world, no man, 
 however he may fail in circumstances, may 
 lightly reproach or vilify him. And indeed 
 such persons are the honour of Christian con- 
 gregations. Indeed he is prejudiced for want of 
 light in those things about which he is dark, as 
 of baptism or the like ; but seeing that is not 
 the initiating ordinance, or the visible charac- 
 ter of a saint, yea, seeing it maketh no breach 
 in a good and holy life, nor entrencheth upon 
 any man's right but his own, and seeing his 
 faith may be effectual without it and his life 
 approved by the worst of his enemies, why 
 should his friends, while he keeps the law, 
 dishonour God by breaking of the same? 
 " Speak not evil one of another, brethren ; he 
 
 that speaketh evil of his brother and judgeth 
 his brother, speaketh evil of the. law and judg- 
 eth the law ; but if thou judge the law, thou 
 art not a doer of the law, but a judge." He 
 that is judged must needs fail somewhere in 
 the apprehension of him that judgeth him, 
 else why is he judged? But he must fail in 
 substance, for then he is worthy to be judged. 
 1 Cor. V. 12. His failure is then in a circum- 
 stance for which he ought not to be judged. 
 
 Objection. But, notwithstanding all that you 
 have said, water baptism ought to go before 
 church membership. Show me one in all the 
 New Testament that was received into fellow- 
 ship without it. 
 
 Ansioer 1. That water baptism hath formerly 
 gone first is granted, but that it ought of ne- 
 cessity so to do I never saw proof. 
 
 2. JS'one ever received it without light going 
 before, unless they did play the hypocrite; 
 and besides, no marvel, though in the prim- 
 itive times it was so generally practised first, 
 for the unconverted themselves know it be- 
 longed to the disciples of Jesus Christ. John 
 i. 24, 25, 26, 27. Yet that all that were receiv- 
 ed into fellowship were even then baptized 
 first would strain a weak man's wit to prove if 
 arguments were closely made upon these three 
 texts of Holy Scriptures: 1 Cor. i. 14, 15, 19; 
 Gal. iii. 27 ; Rom. vi. 3. But I pass them, and 
 say, if you can show me the Christian that in 
 the primitive times remained dark about it, I 
 will show you the Christian that 'n'as received 
 without it. 
 
 But should I grant more than can be proved 
 — viz., that baptism was the initiating ordi- 
 nance, and that ii once did, as circumcision of 
 old, give a being of membership to the par- 
 takers — yea, set the case, that men are forbid- 
 den then to enter into fellowship without it, 
 yet the ca^e may so be that, these things not- 
 withstanding, men might be received into 
 fellowship without it. All these things en- 
 tailed to circumcision ; that was the initiating 
 ordinance that gave being of membership; 
 that was it without which it was positively 
 commanded none should be received into fel- 
 lowship. Josh. V. Yet, for all this, more than 
 six hundred thousand were received into the 
 Church without it ; yea, received and also re- 
 tained there, and that by Moses and Joshua, 
 even those to whom the land was promised 
 when the uncircumcised were cut off. But why 
 then, were they not circumcised? Doubtless 
 there was a reason ; either they wanted time, 
 or opportunity, or instruments, or something. 
 
A REASON OF MY PRACTICE IN WORSHIP. 
 
 833 
 
 But they could not render a bigger reason than 
 this — / have no light therein; which is the 
 cause at this day that many a faithful man 
 denieth to take up the ordinance of baptism. 
 But I say, whatever the hindrance was it mat- 
 tereth not ; our brethren have a manifest one, 
 an invincible one — one that all the men on 
 earth and angels in heaven cannot remove; 
 for it is God that createth light, and for them 
 to do it without light would but prove them 
 unfaithful to themselves and make them sin- 
 ners against God : " For whatsoever is not of 
 faith is sin." If, therefore, Moses and Joshua 
 thought fit to communicate with six hundred 
 thousand uncircumcised persons, when by the 
 law not one such ought to have been received 
 among them, why may not I have communion, 
 the closest communion, with visjble saints as 
 afore described, although they want light in, 
 and so cannot submit to, that which of God 
 was never made the wall of division betwixt 
 us ? I shall therefore hold communion with 
 such — 
 
 First. Because the true visible saint hath 
 already subjected to that which is better, even 
 to the righteousness of God, which is by faith 
 of Jesus Christ, by which he stands just before 
 God; he alsd hath made the most exact and 
 strict rule under heaven, that whereby he 
 squares his life before men. He hath like 
 precious faith with the best of saints, and a 
 conversation according to light received, be- 
 coming the Gospel of Christ; he is therefore 
 to be received — received I say, not by thy light, 
 not for that in circumstances he jumpeth with 
 thy opinion, but according to his own faith, 
 which he ought to keep to himself before God. 
 '' Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the 
 other ; for why is my liberty judged by an- 
 other man's conscience?'' Some indeed do 
 object that what the apostles wrote they wrote 
 to gathered churches, and bo to such as were 
 baptized, and therefore the arguments that 
 are in the epistles about things circumstantial 
 respect not the case in hand. But I will tell 
 such as to the first part of their objection they 
 are utterly under a mistake. The first to the 
 Corinthians, the epistle of James, both them 
 of Peter, and the first epistle of John were 
 expressly written to all the godly, as well as 
 particular churches. Again, if water baptism, 
 as the circumstances with which the churches 
 were pestered of old, trouble their peace, 
 wound the consciences of the godly, dismem- 
 ber and break their fellowship, it is, although 
 an ordinance, for the present to be prudently 
 53 
 
 shunned; for the edification of the Church, 
 as I shall show anon, is to be preferred before 
 it. 
 
 Secondly, and observe it. " One Spirit, one 
 hope, one Lord, one faith, -one baptism, (not 
 of water, for by one Spirit are we all baptized 
 into one body,) one God and Father of all, 
 who is above all, and through all, and in all," 
 is a suflicient rule for us to hold communion 
 by, and also to endeavour the maintaining that 
 communion, and to keep it in unity within the 
 bond of peace against all attempts whatsoever. 
 Eph. iv. 1, 6 ; Cor. xii. 16. 
 
 Thirdly. I am bold therefore to have com- 
 munion with such (Heb. vi. 2) because they 
 also have the doctrine of baptisms. I say the 
 doctrine of them ; for here you must note I 
 distinguish between the doctrine and practice 
 of water, baptism — the doctrine being that 
 which by the outward sign is presented to us, 
 or which by the outward circumstances of the 
 act is preached to the beli-cver, viz.: "The 
 death of Christ, my death with Christ; also 
 his resurrection from the dead, and mine with 
 him to newness of life.'' This is the doctrine 
 which bajjtism preacheth, or that which by 
 the outward action is signified to the believing 
 receiver. Now, I say, he that believeth in 
 Jesus Christ, that richer and better than that, 
 viz., is dead to sin, and that lives to God by 
 him; he hath the heart, power, and doctrine of 
 baptism ; all then that he wanteth is but the 
 sign, the shadow, or the outward circumstances 
 thereof; nor yet is that despised, but forborne 
 for want of light. The best of baptisms he 
 hath; he is baptized by that one Spirit; he 
 hath the heart of water baptism ; he wanteth 
 only the outward show, which, if he had, 
 would not prove him a truly visible saint; it 
 would not tell me he had grace in his heart ; 
 it is no characteristic note to another of my 
 sonship with God. Indeed it is a sign to the 
 person baptized and an help to his own faith : 
 he should know by that circumstance that he 
 hath received remission of sins, if his faith be 
 as true as his being baptized is felt by him. 
 But if for want of light he partake not of that 
 sign, his faith can see it in other things, ex- 
 ceeding great and precious promises. Yea, as 
 I also have hinted already, if he appear not a 
 brother before, he appeareth not a brother by 
 that; and those that shall content themselves 
 to make that the note of visible church mem- 
 bership, I doubt make things not much better 
 the note of their sonship with God. 
 
 Fourthly. I am bold to hold communion 
 
834 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 witli visible saints as afore, because God hath 
 communion with tliem, whose example in the 
 case we are straightly commanded to follow: 
 "Receive ye one another, as Christ hath re- 
 ceived you, (saith Paul,) to the glory of God." 
 Yea, though they be saints of opinions con- 
 trary to you, though it goeth against the mind 
 of them that are strong, " We that are strong 
 ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and 
 not to please ourselves.'' What infirmities? 
 Those that are natural are incident to all ; 
 they are infirmities then that are sinful, that 
 cause a man for want of light to err in circum- 
 stantials. And the reason ujjon which he 
 grounds this admonition is, "that Christ 
 pleased not himself; but as it is written. The 
 reproaches of them that reproached thee have 
 fallen upon me." You say, to have commu- 
 nion with such weak brethren reproacheth 
 your opinions and practice. Grant it; your 
 dulness, and deadness, and imperfections also 
 reproach the holiness of God. If you say, 
 No, for Christ hath born our sins, the answer 
 is still the same, Their sins also are fallen upon 
 Christ. He, tlien, that hath taken away thy 
 s^ns from before the throne of God hath taken 
 away their shortness in conformity to an out- 
 ward circumstance in religion. ' Both your 
 infirmities are fallen upon Christ; yea, if not- 
 withstanding thy great sins, thou standest by 
 Christ complete before the .throne of God, why 
 may not thy brother, notwithstanding his lit- 
 tle ones, stand complete before thee in the 
 Church? 
 
 Vain man! think not by the straitness of 
 thine order in outward and bodily conformity 
 to outward and shadowish circumstances that 
 thy peace is maintained with God ; for peace' 
 with God is by faith in the blood of His cross 
 who hath borne the reproaches of you both. 
 Wherefore he that hath communion with God 
 for Christ's sake is as good and as worthy of 
 the communion of saints as thyself He erreth 
 in a circumstance, thou errest in a substance. 
 Who must bear these errors? Upon whom 
 must these reproaches fall ? Some of the things 
 of God that are excellent have not been ajo- 
 proved by some of the saints. What then? 
 Must these for this be cast out of the Church ? 
 No ; these reproaches by which the wisdom of 
 heaven is reproached have, fallen upon me, 
 saith Christ. But to return: God hath received 
 him, Christ hath received him, therefore do 
 you receive him. There is more solidity in 
 this argument than if all the churches of God 
 had received him. This receiving, then', be- 
 
 cause it is set an example to the Church, is 
 such as must needs be visible to them, and is 
 best described by that word which discovereth 
 the visible saint. Whoso, therefore, you can, 
 by the word, judge a visible saint, one that 
 walketh with God, you may judge by the self- 
 same word that God hath received him. Now, 
 him that God receiveth and holdeth commu- 
 nion with, him you should receive and hold 
 communion with. Will any say, We cannot 
 believe that God hath received any but such 
 as are baptized? I will not suppose a brother 
 so stupefied, and therefore to that I will not 
 answer. 
 
 " Receive him to the glory of God." " To 
 the glory of God" is put in on purpose to show 
 what dishonour they bring to God who despise 
 to have communion with them who yet they 
 know have communion with God. For how doth 
 this man or that Church glorify God or count 
 the wisdom and holiness of heaven beyond 
 them, when they refuse communion with them 
 concerning whom they are by the word con- 
 vinced that they have communion with God? 
 
 " Now the God of patience and consolation 
 grant you to be like-minded one towards 
 another, according to Christ Jesus." By this 
 word "patience" Paul insinuateth how many 
 imperfections the choicest Christians do mingle 
 their best performances with, and by this of 
 "consolation," how readily God overlooks, 
 passeth by them, and comforteth you, notwith- 
 standing. Now, that this mind should be in 
 Christians one to another is manifest, because 
 Paul prays that it might be so. But this is an 
 heavenly gift, and therefore must be fetched 
 from thence. But let the patience of God, and 
 the willingness of Christ to bear the reproaches 
 of the weak, and the consolations that they 
 have in God, notwithstanding, moderate your 
 passions, and put you upon prayer to be minded 
 like Jesus Christ. 
 
 Fifthly, Because a failure in such a circum- 
 stance as water doth not unchristian us. This 
 must needs be granted, not only from what 
 was said before, but for that thousands of thou- 
 sands that could not consent thereto as wa 
 have, more gloriously than we are like to Jo, 
 acquitted themselves and their Christianity be- 
 fore men, and are now with the innumerable 
 company of angels and the spirits of just men 
 made perfect. What is said of eating, or the 
 contrary, may, as to this, be said of water bap- 
 tism. Neither if I be baptized, am I the better • 
 neither if I be not, am I the worse — not the 
 better before God, not the worse before ni«n 
 
A REASON OF MY PRACTICE IN WORSHIP. 
 
 835 
 
 still meaning as Paul doth, provided I walk 
 according to my light with God ; otherwise it 
 is false ; for if a man that seeth it to be his 
 duty shall despisingly neglect it, or if he that 
 hath no faith therein shall foolishly take it up, 
 both these are for this the worse, being con- 
 victed in themselves for transgressors. He 
 therefore that doth it according to his light 
 doth well ; and he that doth it not, or dare not 
 do it for want of light, doth not ill ; for he ap-' 
 proveth his heart to be sincere with God ; he 
 dare not do any thing but by light in the word. 
 If therefore he be not by grace a partaker of 
 light in that circumstance which thou pro- 
 fessest, yet he is a partaker of that libei:ty and 
 mercy by which thou standest. He hath lib- 
 erty to call God Father, as thou, and to believe 
 he shall be saved by Jesus ; his fiyth, as thine, 
 hath purified his heart ; he is tender of the 
 glory of God as thou art, and can claim by 
 grace an interest in heaven, which thou must 
 not do because of water ; ye are both, then. 
 Christians before God, and men without it: 
 he that can, let him preach to himself by that ; 
 he that cannot, let him preach to himself by 
 the promises ; but yet let us rejoice in God to- 
 gether, let us exalt his name together. Indeed, 
 the baptized can thank God for that for which 
 another cannot ; but may not he that is unbap- 
 tized thank God for that which the baptized 
 cannot? Wouldst thou be content that I 
 should judge thee because thou .canst not for 
 my light give thanks with me? Why, then, 
 should he judge me for that I cannot give, 
 thanks with him for his ? " Let us not 
 therefore judge one another any more ; but 
 judge this rather, that no man put a stumb- 
 ling-block or occasion of offence in his broth- 
 er's way." And seeing the things wherein we 
 exceed each other are such as neither make 
 nor mar Christianity, let us love one another, 
 and walk together by that glorious rule above 
 specified, leaving each other in all such cir- 
 cumstances to our own Master, to our own 
 own faith. "Who art thou that judgest 
 another man's servant? To his own master 
 he standeth or falleth : yea, he shall be holden 
 up, for God is able to make him stand." 
 
 Sixthly. I am therefore for holding commu- 
 nion thus, because the edification of souls in 
 the faith and holiness of the Gospel is of 
 greater concernment than an agreement in out- 
 ward things : I say, it is of greater concern- 
 ment with us, and of far more profit to our 
 brother, than our agreeing in or contesting for 
 the business cf water baptism. That the edi- 
 
 fication of the soul is of the greatest concern 
 is out of measure evident, because heaven and 
 eternal happiness are so immediately con- 
 cerned therein. Besides, this is that for which 
 Christ died, for which the Holy Ghost was 
 given, yea, for which the Scriptures and the 
 gifts of all the godly are given to the Church j 
 yea, and if gifts are not bent to this very work, 
 the persons are said to be proud or uncharitable 
 that have them, and stand but for ciphers, oi 
 worse, among the churches of God. Further, 
 edification is that that cherisheth all grace, 
 and maketh the Christian quick and lively, 
 and maketh sin lean and dwindling, and fiUeth 
 the mouth with thanksgiving to God. But to 
 contest with gracious men, with men that walk 
 with God, to shut such out of the churches be- 
 cause they will not sin against their souls, ren- 
 dereth thee uncharitable. Thou seekest to 
 destroy the word of God ; thou begettest con- 
 tentions, janglings, murmurings, and evil-sur- 
 misings ; thou ministerest occasion for whis- 
 perings, backbitings, slanders and the like, 
 rather than godly edifying, contrary to the 
 whole current of the Scriptures and peace of 
 all communities. Let us, therefore, le.ave off 
 these contentions; and follow after things that 
 make for peace, and things wherewith one may 
 edify another. And know thiit the edification 
 of the Church of God dependetli not upon, 
 neither is tied to, this or that circumstance. 
 Especially when there are in the hearts of the 
 godly different persuasions about it, then it be- 
 cometh them, in the wisdom of God, to take 
 more care for their peace and unity than to 
 widen or make large their uncomfortable dif- 
 ferences. 
 
 Although Aaron transgressed the law be- 
 cause he ate not the sin-offering of the people, 
 yet seeing he could not do it with satisfaction 
 to his own conscience, Moses was content that 
 he left it undone. Lev. x. 16-20. 
 
 Joshua was so zealous against Eldad and 
 Medad for prophesying in the camp, without 
 first going to the Lord to the door of the tab- 
 ernacle, as they were commanded, that he de- 
 sired Moses to forbid them, (Num. xi. 16- 
 26;) but Moses calls his zeal envy, and prays 
 to God for more such prophets, knowing that, 
 although they failed in a circumstance, they 
 were right in that which was better. The edi- 
 fication of the people in the camp was that 
 which pleased Moses. 
 
 In Hezekiah's time, though the people came 
 to the passover in an undue manner, and did 
 eat it otherwise than it was written, yet th« 
 
836 
 
 BVNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 wise king would not forbid them, but rather 
 admitted it, knowing that their ediiication 
 was of greater concern than to hold them to a 
 circumstance or two. 2 Chron. xxx. 13-27. 
 Yea, God himself did like the wisdom of the 
 king, and healed — that is, forgave — the people 
 at the prayer of Hezekiah. And observe it, 
 uotwithstanding this disorder as to circum- 
 stances, the feast was kept with great glad- 
 ness, and the Levites and priests praised the 
 Ijord day by day, singing with loud instru- 
 ments unto the Lord ; yea, there was not the 
 like joy in Jerusalem from the time of Solo- 
 mon unto that same time. What shall we 
 say? All things must give place to the profit 
 of the people of God, yea, sometimes laws 
 themselves for their outward preservation, 
 much more for godly edifying. When Christ's 
 disciples plucked the ears of corn on the sab- 
 bath, no doubt for very hunger, and were re- 
 buked by the Pharisees for it, as for that 
 which was unlawful, how did their Lord suc- 
 cour them ? By excusing them and rebuking 
 their adversaries : " Have ye not read (said he) 
 what David did when he was an hungered, 
 and they that were with him — how he entered 
 into the house of God, and did eat the shew- 
 bread, which was not lawful for him to eat, 
 neither for them that were with him, but for 
 the priests only? Or have ye not read in the 
 law how that on the sabbath-day the priests 
 in the temple profaned the sabbath, and were 
 blameless?" Why blameless ? Because they 
 did it in order to the edification of the people. 
 If laws and ordinances of old have been broken, 
 and the breach of them borne with (when yet 
 the observance of outward things were more 
 strictly commanded than now) when the profit 
 and edification of the people came in competi- 
 tion, how much more may not we have com- 
 munion, church communion, where no law is 
 transgressed thereby ! 
 
 Seventhly. Therefore I am for holding com- 
 munion thus, because love, which, above all 
 things we are commanded to put on, is of 
 much more worth than to break about baptism. 
 Love is also more discovered when it receiveth 
 for the sake of Christ and grace than when it 
 refuseth for want of water. And observe it, as 
 I have also said before, this exhortation to 
 love is grounded upon the putting on of the 
 new creature, which new creature hath swal- 
 lowed up all distinctions that have before been 
 common among the churches. As I am a Jew, 
 you are a Greek; I am circumcised, you are 
 not ; I am free, you are bound, because Christ 
 
 was all in all these : " Put on therefore, (saith 
 he,) as the elect of God, holy and beloved, 
 bowels of mercy,, kindness, humbleness of 
 mind, long-suffering, (that is, with reference 
 to the infirmities of the weak,) forbearing one 
 with another and forgiving one another. If 
 any man have a quarrel against any, even as 
 Christ forgave you, so also do ye ; and, above 
 all things, put on charity, which is the bond 
 of perfectness ;" which forbearing and forgiv- 
 ing respecteth not only private , and personal 
 injuries, but also errors in judgment about in- 
 clinations and distinctions, tending to divis- 
 ions and separating upon the grounds laid 
 down, which, how little soever they now seem 
 to us who are beyond them, were strong and 
 of weight to them ypho in that day were en- 
 tangled with them. Some saints then were 
 not free to preach to any but the Jews, deny- 
 ing the word of life to the Gentiles, and con- 
 tending with them who proffered it to them ; 
 which was a greater error than this of bap- 
 tism. But what should we do with such kind 
 of saints? Why, love them still, forgive them, 
 bear with them, and maintain church commu- 
 nion with them. Why ? Because they are 
 new creatures, because they are Christ's, for 
 these swallow up all distinctions; further, be- 
 cause they are elect and beloved of God. 
 Divisions and distinctions are of a shorter 
 date of flection. Let not them, therefore, 
 that are but momentary and hatched in dark- 
 ness break that bond that is from everlasting. 
 It is love, not baptism, that discovereth us to 
 the world to be Christ's disciples. It is love 
 that is the undoubted character of our interest 
 in and sonship with God ; I mean, when we 
 love as saints and desire communion with 
 others because they have fellowship one with 
 another in their fellowship with God the 
 Father and his Son Jesus Christ. And now, 
 though the truth and sincerity of our love to 
 God be then discovered when we keep hia 
 commandments in love to his name, yet we 
 should remember again that the two head 
 and chief commandments are, faith in Jesus 
 and love to the brethren. So, then, he that 
 pretendeth to love, and yet seeks not the 
 profit of his brother in chief, he loveth, but 
 they are his own opinions and froward notions. 
 " Love is the fulfilling of the law," but he ful- 
 fils it not who judgeth and setteth at naught 
 his brother, who stumbleth, offendeth, and 
 maketh weak his brother; and all for the 
 sake of a circumstance — that to which he can- 
 not consent except he sin against his own 
 
A REASON OF MY PRACTICE IN WORSHIP. 
 
 837 
 
 (oul, or, papist-like, live by an implicit faith. 
 Love, therefore, is sometimes more seen and 
 showed in forbearing to urge and pfess what 
 we know than in publishing and imposing. 
 " I could not," saith Paul — love would not let 
 me — "speak unto you as unto spiritual, but &h 
 unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ; I 
 have fed you with milk, and not with strong 
 meat; for hitherto you have not been able to 
 bear it, neither yet now are you able." 
 
 The apostle considered not only the know- 
 ledge that he had in the mysteries of Christ, 
 but the temper, the growth, and strength of 
 the churches, and accordingly kept back or 
 communicated to them what might be their 
 . profit. So Christ: "I have many things to 
 say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now." 
 It may be some will count these old and 
 threadbare texts, but such must know that the 
 word of the Lord must stand for ever. And I 
 should dare to say to such. If the best of thy 
 new shifts be to slight and abuse old Scrip- 
 tures, it shows thou art more fond of thy un- 
 warrantable opinion than swift to hear and 
 ready to yield to the authority that is infalli- 
 ble. But to conclude this : when we attempt 
 to force our brother beyond his light or to 
 break his heart with grief, to thrust him be- 
 yond his faith or to bar him from his privilege, 
 how can we say, I love? What shall I say? 
 To have fellowship one with another for the 
 sake of an outward circumstance, or to make 
 that the door to fellowship which God hath 
 not — yea, to make that the including, excluding 
 charter, the bounds, bar, and rule of com- 
 munion, when by the word of the everlasting 
 testament there is no warrant for it — to speak 
 charitably, if it be not for want of love it is for 
 want of knowledge in the mysteries of the 
 kingdom of Christ. Strange 1 Take two 
 Christians equal in all points but this, nay, 
 let one go beyond the other far for grace and 
 holiness — yet this circumstance of water shall 
 drown and sweep away all his excellencies, 
 not counting him worthy of that reception that 
 with hand and heart shall be given a novice 
 in religion because he consents to water. 
 
 Eighthly. But for God's people to divide 
 into parties, or to shut each other from church 
 communion, though from greater points and 
 upon higher pretences than this of water bap- 
 tism, hath heretofore been counted carnal and 
 the actors herein babyish Christians. Paul 
 and ApoUos, Cephas and Christ were doubt- 
 less higher things than those about which we 
 contend, yet when they made divisions for 
 
 them how sharply are they rebuked! Are ye 
 not carnal, carnal, carnal? For whereas 
 there are among you envyings, strife, divis- 
 ions, or factions, are ye not carnal ? 1 Cor. i. 
 11, 12, and iii. 1, 2, 3, 4. While one.saith, I 
 am of Paul, and another, I am of Apollos^ are 
 ye not carnal? See therefore from whence 
 arise all thy endeavours, zeal, and labour to 
 accomplish divisions among the godly. Let 
 Paul, or Cephas, or Christ himself be the bur- 
 den of thy song, yet the heart from whence 
 they flow is carnal, and thy actions discoveries 
 of childishness. But doubtless, when these 
 contentions were among the Corinthians, and 
 one man vilified that another might be pro- 
 moted, a lift with a carnal brother was thought 
 great wisdom to widen the breach. But why 
 should he be rebuked that said he was for 
 Christ? Because he was for him in opposition 
 to his holy apostles. Hence'he saith. Is Christ 
 divided or separate from his servants ? Note, 
 therefore, that these divisions are deserted by 
 the persons the divisions were made about; 
 neither Paul, nor ApoUos, nor Cephas, nor 
 Christ is here. Let the cry he never so loud, 
 Christ, Order, The rule, The command, or the 
 like, carnality is at the bottom, and they are 
 but babes that do it ; their zeal is but a puff. 
 1 Cor. iv. 6. And observe it, the great divis- 
 ion at Corinth was helped forward by water 
 baptism.. This the apostle intimates by, 
 " Were ye baptized in the name of Paul 1" 
 Ah, brethren ! carnal Christians, with outward 
 circumstances, will, if they be let alone, make 
 sad work in the churches of Christ against the 
 spiritual growth of the same. " But I thank 
 God (saith Paul) that I baptized none of you," 
 &c. Not but that it was then an ordinance of 
 God, but they abused it in making parties 
 thereby. " I baptized none of you but Crispus 
 and Gaius, and the household of Stephanas;" 
 men of note among the brethren, men of good 
 judgment, and reverenced by the rest; they 
 can tell you I intended not to make a party to 
 myself thereby. " Besides, I know not whetlier 
 I baptized any other." By this negligent re- 
 lating of whom were baptized by him he 
 showeth that he made no such matter of bap 
 tism as some in these days do ; nay, that he 
 made no matter at all thereof with respect to 
 church communion; for if he did not heed 
 who himself had baptized, he much less heeded 
 who were baptized by others. But if baptism 
 had been the initiating or entering ordinance, 
 and so appointed of God, no doubt he had 
 made more conscience thereof than so lightly 
 
B38 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 to pass it over. "For Christ sent me not to 
 baptizp, but to preacli tlie Gospel." The 
 Gospel then may be effectually preached, and 
 yet baptism neither administered nor men- 
 tioned — the Gospel being good tidings to sin- 
 ners upon the account of free grace through 
 Christ; but baptism, with things of like na- 
 ture, are duties enjoined such a, people who 
 received the Gospel before. I speak not this 
 because I would teach men to break the least 
 of the commandments of God, but to persuade 
 my brethren of the baptized way not to hold 
 too much thereupon, not to make it an essen- 
 ti al of the Gospel of Christ, nor yet of com- 
 n.union of saints. "He sent me not to baptize." 
 These words are spoken with a holy indigna- 
 tion against them that abuse this ordinance of 
 Christ. So, when he speaketh of the ministers 
 themselves, which also they had abused, in 
 his speaking he as it were trampled upon them 
 as if they were nothing at all: "Who then is 
 Paul ? And who is Apollos ? He that plant- 
 eth is not anything, neither is he that watereth, 
 but God that giveth the increase." Yet for all 
 this the ministers and their ministry are a 
 glorious appointment of God in the world. 
 Baptism also is a holy ordinance ; but when 
 Satan abuseth it and wrencheth it out of its 
 place, making that which was ordained of God 
 for the edification of believers the only weapon 
 to break in pieces the love, the unity, the con- 
 cord of saints, then what is baptism? then 
 neither is baptism any thing. And this is no 
 new doctrine ; for God, by the mouth of his 
 prophets of old, cried out against his own in- 
 stitutions when abused by his people : " To 
 what purpose is the multitude of your sacri- 
 fices to me? saith the Lord: I am full of 
 burnt-offerings of rams and the fat of fed 
 beasts : I delight not in the blood of bullocks, 
 or of lambs, or of he-goats. When you come 
 to appear before me, who hath required these 
 things at your hands to tread my courts? 
 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an 
 abomination to me ; the new moons and the 
 sabbaths and the calling of assemblies I can- 
 not away with ; it is iniquity, even the solemn 
 meeting. Your new moons and your ap- 
 pointed feasts my soul hateth; they are a 
 trouble unto me; I am even weary to bear 
 them." And yet all these were his own ap- 
 pointments. But why then did he thus abhor 
 them? Because they retained the evil of their 
 doings, and used them as they did other of his 
 appointments — viz., for strife and debate, and 
 to strike with the fist of wickedness. Isa. Iviii. 
 
 4. Wherefore when that of God that is great 
 is overweighed by that which is small, it is the 
 wisdom of them that see it to put a load to_ the 
 other end of the scale, until the things thuf 
 abused poise in their own place. But to pass 
 this and proceed. 
 
 Ninthly. If we shall reject visible saints by 
 calling, saints that have communion with God, 
 that have received the law at the hand of 
 Christ, that are of holy conversation among 
 men, they desiring to have communion with 
 us, as much as in us lieth we take from them 
 their very privilege and the blessings to which 
 they are born of God. For Paul saith, not 
 only to the gathered Church at Corinth, but to 
 all scattered saints that in every place call . 
 upon the name of the Lord, " That Jesus 
 Christ is theirs, that Paul and Apollos, and 
 the world, and life, and death, and all things 
 are theirs," because they are Christ's and 
 Christ is God's. "But (saith he) let no man 
 glory in men,'' such as Paul and Cephas, 
 though these were excellent, because this priv- 
 ilege comes to you upon another bottom, even 
 by faith of Jesus Christ. "Drink ye all of 
 this" is entailed to faith, not baptism. Nay, 
 baptized persons may yet be excluded this 
 when he that discerncth the Lord's body hath 
 right and privilege to it. 1 Cor. xi. 28, 29. But 
 to exclude Christians from church communion, 
 and to debar them their heaven-born priv- 
 ileges, for the want of that which yet God 
 never made a wall of division between us — 
 
 1. This looks too like a spirit of persecution. 
 
 2. It respecteth more a form than the spirit 
 and power of godliness. 
 
 3. This is to make laws where God hath 
 made none, and to be wise above what is writ- 
 ten, contrary to God's word and our own prin- 
 ciples. 
 
 4. It is a directing of the Spirit of God. 
 
 5. It bindeth all men's faith and light to 
 mine opinion. 
 
 6. It taketh away the children's bread. 
 
 7. It witbholdeth from them the increase of 
 faith. 
 
 8. It tendeth to harden the hearts of the 
 wicked. 
 
 9. It tendeth to make wicked the hearts of 
 weak Christians. 
 
 10. It setteth open a door to all temptations, 
 
 11. It tempteth the devil to fall upon those 
 that are alone and have none to help them. 
 
 1^. It is the nursery of all vain janglings, 
 backbitings, and strangeness among the Chris- 
 tians. 
 
A REASOy OF MT PRACTICE IN WORSHIP. 
 
 13. It occasioneth the world to reproach us. 
 
 14. It holdeth staggering consciences in 
 doabt of the right way of the Lord. 
 
 15. It giveth occasion to many to turn aside 
 to most dangerous heresies. 
 
 16. It abuseth the Holy Scriptures ; it wreat- 
 eth God's ordinances out of their place. 
 
 17. It is a prop to Antichrist. 
 
 18. Shall I add, is it not that which greatly 
 prevailed to bring down those judgments which 
 at present we feel and groan under ? I will 
 dare to say it was the cause thereof 
 
 Tenthly, and lastly. Bear with one word 
 fcrther. What greater contempt can be thrown 
 upon the saints than for their brethren to cast 
 them off or to debar them church communion? 
 Think you not that the world may groundly 
 say, " Some great iniquity lies hi^ in the skirts 
 of your brethrsn," when in truth the trans- 
 gression is yet your own? But I say, what 
 can the Church do more to the sinners or 
 open profane? Civil commerce you will have 
 with the worst, and what more will you have 
 with these ? Perhaps you will say, " We can 
 pray and preach with these, and hold them 
 Christians, saints, and godly.'' Well, but let 
 me ask you one word farther : Do you believe 
 that, of very conscience, they cannot consent, 
 as you, to that of water baptism, and that if 
 they had light therein, they would as willingly 
 do it as you? Why then, as I have showed 
 you, our refusal to hold communion with them 
 is without a ground from the word of God. 
 
 But can you commit your soul to their min- 
 istry and join with them in prayer, and yet not 
 count them meet for other Gospel privileges? 
 I would know by what Scripture you do it. 
 Perhaps you will say, I commit not my soul to 
 their ministry, only hear them occasionally for 
 trial. If this be all the respect thou hast for 
 them and their ministry, thou mayest have as 
 much for the worst that pisseth against the 
 wall. But if thou canst hear them as God's 
 ministers, and sit under their ministry as God's 
 ordinance, then show me where God hath such 
 a Gospel ministry as that the persons minis- 
 tering may not, though desiring it, be admitted 
 with you to the closest communion of saints. 
 But if thou sittest under their ministry for 
 fleshly, politic ends, thou hearest the word like 
 an atheist, and art thyself, while thou judgest 
 thy brother, in the practice of the worst of men. 
 But I gay, where do you find this piecemeal 
 communion with men that profess faith and 
 holiness as you and separation from the world? 
 
 If yoij object that my principles lead me to 
 
 have communion with all, I answer, With a'.' 
 as afore described, if they will have commu- 
 nion with me. 
 
 Objection. Then you may have communion 
 with the members of Antichrist? 
 
 Answer. If there be a visible saint yet re- 
 maining in that Church, let him come to us 
 and we will have communion with him. 
 
 Question. 'WTiat ! though he yet stand a mem- 
 ber of that sinful number and profess himself 
 one of them? 
 
 Answer. You suppose an impossibility; for 
 it cannot be that at the same time a man 
 should visibly stand a member of two bodies 
 diametrically opposite one to another. Where- 
 fore it must be supposed that he who pro- 
 fesseth himself a member of a Church of 
 Christ must forthwith, nay before, forsake the 
 antichristian one. The which, if he refuseth 
 to do, it is evident he doth not sincerely de- 
 sire to have fellowship with the saints. 
 
 But he saith he cannot see that that com- 
 pany to which you stand opposite, and con- 
 clude antichristian, is indeed the antichristian 
 Church. 
 
 If so, he cannot desire to join with another 
 if he know them to be professedly and directly 
 opposite. 
 
 I hold, therefore, to what I. said at first: 
 "That if there be any saints in the antichris- 
 tian Church, my heart and the door of on. 
 congregation are open to receive them hiU. 
 closest fellowship with us." 
 
 Objection. But how if they yet retain som» 
 antichristian principles ? 
 
 Ansv.-er. If they be such as eat out the 
 bowels of a Church so soon as they are de- 
 tected, they must either be kept out while out 
 or cast out if in. For it must be the prudence 
 of every community to preserve its own unity 
 with peace and truth; the vi-hich the churches 
 of Christ may do, and yet, as I have showed 
 already, receive such persons as differ upon 
 the point of water baptism, for the doing or pot 
 doing of that neither maketh nor niarreth the 
 bowels or foundation of church communion. 
 
 Objection. But this is receiving for opinion's 
 sake, as before you said of us. 
 
 Amwer. So; we receive him for the sake of 
 Christ and grace, and for our mutual edifica- 
 tion in the faith; and that we respect not 
 opinions, I mean in lesser matters, it is evi- 
 dent, for things wherein we differ are no 
 breach of communion among us ; we let every 
 man have his own faith in such things to him- 
 self before God. 
 
840 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 I now come to a short application. 
 
 1. Keep a strict separation, I pray you, from 
 communion with the open profane, and let no 
 man use his liberty in church relation as an 
 occasion to the flesh; but in love serve one 
 another, looking diligently lest any root of 
 bitterness, (any poisonous herb, Deut. xxix. 
 18,) springing up, trouble you, and thereby 
 many be defiled; and let those that before 
 were reasons for thy separation be motives to 
 you to maintain the like; and remember that 
 when men have said what they can for a sinful 
 mixture in the worship of God, the arm of the 
 Lord is made bare against it. 
 
 2. In the midst of your zeal for the Lord 
 remember that the visible saint is his, and is 
 privileged in all those spiritual things that 
 you have in the word and live in the practice 
 of, and that he is to partake thereof according 
 to his light therein. Quarrel not with him 
 about things that are circumstantial, but re- 
 ceive him in the l/ord, as becoraeth saints ; if 
 he will not have communion with you, the ne- 
 glect is his, not yours. But, saith the open 
 profane, " Why cannot we be reckoned saints 
 also? We have been christened, we go to 
 church, ,we take the communion." Poor' 
 people! this will not do; for so long as in 
 life and conversation you appear to be open 
 profane, we cannot, unless we sin, receive, 
 you into our fellowship, for by your ungodly 
 lives you shnw that you know not Christ; 
 and while you are such by the word, you are 
 reputed but beasts. Now, then, judge your- 
 selves if it be not a strange community that 
 consisteth of men and beasts. Let beasts be 
 with the beasts ; you know yourselves do so ; 
 you receive not your horse nor your hog to 
 your table; you put them in a room by them- 
 selves. Besides, I have showed you before 
 that for many reasons we cannot have com- 
 munion with you. 
 
 1st. The Church of God must be holy. Lev. 
 xi..44; xix. 2; xx. 7; 1 Pet. i. 15, 16; Isa. 
 xxvi. 2; Ps. cxxviii. 20; Ezek. xliii. 12; xliv. 
 9; Isa. lii. 11. 
 
 2dly. The example of the churches of 
 Christ before hath been a community of visi- 
 ble saints. Eom. i. 7; 1 Cor. i. 2; Eph. i. 1, 
 2; Col. i. 1; 1 Thess. i. 1, 2; 2 Thess. i. 1. 
 Poor, carnal man! there are many other 
 reasons urged in this little book that show 
 why we cannot have communion with thee; 
 not that we refuse of pride or stoutness, or be- 
 cause we scorn you as men ; no, we pity you, 
 and pray to God for you, and could, if you 
 
 were converted, with joy receive you to fellow- 
 ship with us. Did you never read in Daniel 
 that "iron is not mixed with miry clay?" 
 Dan. ii. 43. No more can the saints with you 
 in the worship of God and fellowship of the 
 Gospel. When those you read of in the 4th 
 of Ezra attempted to join in temple-work 
 with the children of the captivity, what said 
 the children 'of Judah? — "You have nothing 
 to do with us, to build an house to tee Lord 
 our God ; but we ourselves together will build 
 unto the Lord God of Israel," &c. 
 
 I return now to those that are visible saints 
 by calling, that stand at a distance one from 
 another upon the accounts before specified. 
 Brethren, close, close; be one, as the Father 
 and Christ are one. 
 
 1. This is the way to convince the world 
 that you are Christ's and the subjects of one 
 Lord, whereas the contrary makes them doubt 
 it. John xiii. 34, 35; xvii. 23. 
 
 2. This is the way to increase love, that 
 gi'ace so much desired by some and so little 
 enjoyed by others. 2 Cor. vii. 14, 15. 
 
 3. This is the way to savour and taste the 
 Spirit of God in each other's experience; for 
 which, if you find it in truth, you cannot but 
 bless (if you be saints) the name of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ. 1 Thess. i. 2, 3, 4. 
 
 4. This is the way to increase knowledge, or 
 to see more in the word of God, for that may be 
 known by two that is not seen by one. Isa. lii. 8. 
 
 5. This is the way to remove secret jeal- 
 ousies and murmurings one against the other, 
 yea, this is the way to prevent much sin and 
 greatly to frustrate that design of hell. Prov. 
 vi. 16-20. 
 
 6. This is the way to bring them out of the 
 world into fellowship that now stand off from 
 our Gospel privileges for the sake of our vain 
 janglings. 
 
 7. This is the way to make Antichrist shake, 
 totter, and tremble. Isa. xi. 13, 14. 
 
 8. This is the way to leave Babylon as an 
 habitation for devils only, and to make it an 
 hold for foul spirits and a cage only for every 
 unclean and hateful bird. 
 
 9. This is the way to hasten the works of 
 Christ's kingdom in the world, and to forward 
 his coming to the eternal judgment. 
 
 10. And this is the way to obtain much of 
 that, " Well done, good and faithful servant 1" 
 when you stand before his face. 
 
 I beseech you, brethren, suffer the words of 
 exhortation ; for I have written a letter uuto 
 you in few words. Heb. xiii. 22. 
 
DIFFERENCES IN JUDGMENT ABOUT WATER 
 BAPTISM NO BAR TO COMMUNION. 
 
 TO COMMUNICATE WITH SAINTS, AS SAINTS, PROVED LAWFUL, IN ANSWER TO A BOOK 
 WRITTEN BY THE BAPTISTS, AND PUBLISHED BY MR. T. P. AND MR. W. K., ENTITLED 
 "SOME SERIOUS REFLECTIONS ON THAT PART OF MR. BUNYAN'S CONFESSION OF FAITH 
 TOUCHING CHURCH COMMUNION WITH UNBAPTIZED BELIEVERS;" WHEREIN THEIR 
 OBJECTIONS AND ARGUMENTS ARE ANSWERED, AND THE DOCTRINE OF COMMUNION 
 STILL ASSERTED AND VINDICATED. HERE IS ALSO MR. HENRY JESSE'S JUDGMENT IN 
 THE CASE, FULLY DECLARIN(S- THE DOCTRINE I HAVE ASSERTED. 
 
 " Should not tbo muUitudo of words be answered? And should a man full of talk he justified? Should 
 thy lies make men bold their peace? And when thou meekest, shall no man make thee an answer?".;— Jo3 
 xi. 2, 3. 
 
 " I am for peace ; hut when I speak, they are for war."^— Ps. oxx. 1. 
 
 TO THE EEADER. 
 
 CoTjKTEOus Reader: 
 
 Be entreated to believe me I had not set 
 pen to paper about this controversy had we 
 been let at quiet alone in our Christian com- 
 munion. But being assaulted for more than 
 sixteen years, wherein the brethren of the 
 baptized way, as they had their opportunity, 
 have sought to break us in pieces merely be- 
 cause we are not, in their way, all baptized 
 first, I could not, I durst not, forbear to do a 
 little, if it might be, to settle the brethren, and 
 to arm them against the attempts which also 
 of late they began to revive upon us. That I 
 deny the ordinance of baptism, or that I have 
 placed one piece of an argument against it, 
 though they feign it, is quite without colour of 
 truth. All I say is, that the Church of Christ 
 hath not warrant to keep out of their commu- 
 nion the Christian that is discovered to be a vis- 
 >ble saint by the word, the Christian that walk- 
 eth according to his'light with God. I will 
 not make reflections upon those unhandsome 
 brands that my brethren have laid upon me 
 for this, as that I am a Machiavellian, a man 
 
 devilish, proud, insolent, presumptuous, and 
 the like; neither will I say, as they, "The 
 Lord rebuke thee !" — words fitter to be spoken 
 to the devil than a brother. But, "reader, read 
 and compare, lay aside prejudice and judge. 
 What Mr. Kiffin hath done in the matter I 
 forgive, and love him never the worse, but 
 must stand by my principles, because they are 
 peaceable, godly, profitable, and such as tend 
 to the edification of my brother, and, as I be- 
 lieve, will be justified in the day of judg- 
 ment. 
 
 I have also here presented thee with the 
 opinion of Mr. Henry Jesse in the case, 
 which providentially I met with as I was 
 coming to London to put my papers to the 
 press. And that it was his judgment is, as- 
 serted to me, known many years since to some 
 of the Baptists, to whom it was sent, but 
 never yet answered; and will yet be attested 
 if need shall require. Farewell. 
 Thine, in all Christian service. 
 According to my light and power, 
 
 JOHN BUNYAN. 
 841 
 
DIFFERENCES IN JUDGMENT, &c. 
 
 BiR, 
 
 Your seemingly serious reflections upon 
 that part of my plain-hearted Confession of 
 Faith which rendereth a reason of my free- 
 dom to communicate with those of the saints 
 and faithful who differ from me about water 
 baptism, I have read and considered, and have 
 weighed them so well as my rank and abilities 
 will admit me to do. But finding yours (if I 
 mistake not) far short of a candid replication, 
 I thought convenient, not only to tell you of 
 those impertinencies everywhere scattered up 
 and down in your book, but also that, in my 
 simple opinion, your rigid and church-dis- 
 quieting principles are not fit for any age and 
 state of the Church. 
 
 But before I enter the body of your book 
 give me leave a little to discourse with you 
 about your preamble to the same, wherein 
 are two miscarriages unworthy your pre- 
 tended seriousness, because void of love and 
 humility. 
 
 The first is in that you closely disdain my 
 person because of my low descent among 
 men, stigmatizing me for a person of that 
 rank that need not to be heeded or attended 
 unto. P. 1. 
 
 Answer. What it is that gives a man rever- 
 ence with you I know not, but for certain 
 " he that despiseth the poor reproacheth his 
 Maker ;" yet a poor n^an is better than a liar. 
 To have gay clothing or gold rings, or the 
 persons that wear them, in admiration, or to 
 be partial in your judgment or respects for 
 the sake or upon the account of flesh and 
 blood, doubtless convicteth you to be of the 
 law a transgressor, and not without partiality, 
 &c., in the midst of your seeming sanctity. 
 
 Again, you say, "I had not meddled with 
 the controversy at all, had I found any of 
 parts that would divert themselves to take 
 notice of you." P. 2. 
 
 Answer. What need you, before you have 
 showed one syllable of a reasonable argument 
 842 
 
 in opposition to what I assert, thus trample 
 my person, my gifts, and grace (have I any) 
 so disdainfully under your feet? What a 
 kind of you am If and why is my rank so 
 mean that the most gracious and godly among 
 you may not duly and soberly consider of 
 what I have said? Was it not the art of the 
 false apostles of old to say thus — to bespatter 
 a man that his doctrine might be disregarded? 
 "Is not this the carpenter?" and " His bodily 
 presence is weak and contemptible," did not 
 use to be in the mouths of the saints, for they 
 knew " the wind blew where it listed." Neither 
 is it high birth, worldly breeding, or wealth, 
 but electing love, grace, and the wisdom that 
 comes from heaven, that those who strive for 
 strictness of order in the things and kingdom 
 of Christ should have in regard and esteem. 
 Need I read you a lecture? "Hath not God 
 chosen the foolish, the weak, the base, yea, 
 and even things that are not, to bring to 
 naught things that are?" Why, then, do you 
 despise my rank, my state, and quality in the 
 world? 
 
 As for my Confession of Faith, which you 
 also secretly despise, (p. 1,) if it be good and 
 godly why may it not be accepted? "If I 
 have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; but 
 if well, why smitest thou rae?" If you and 
 the brethren of your way did think it conve- 
 nient to show to the world what you held, if 
 perhaps by that means you might escape the 
 prison, why might not I, after above eleven 
 years' endurance there, give the world a view 
 of my faith and practice, if peradventure 
 wrong thoughts and false judgments of me 
 might by that means be abated and removed? 
 
 But you suggest I did it because I was so 
 willing to be known in the world by my sin- 
 gular faith and practice. 
 
 How singular my faith and practice is may 
 be better known to you hereafter ; but that I 
 did it for a popular applause and fame, aa 
 your words seem to bear, (for they proceed 
 
DIFFERENCES ABOUT BAPTISM NO BAB TO COMMUNION. 
 
 843 
 
 from a taunting spirit,) that will be known to 
 you better in the day of God, when your evil 
 surmises of your brother and my designs in 
 writing my book will be published upon the 
 house-tops. 
 
 And even now, before I go any further, I 
 will give you a touch of the reason of my pub- 
 lishing that part thereof which you so hotly 
 oppose. 
 
 It was because of those continual assaults 
 that the rigid brethren'of your way made, not 
 only upon this congregation to rend it, but 
 also upon many others about us, if peradven- 
 ture they might break ua in pieces and draw 
 •from us disciples after them. 
 
 Assaults, I say, upon this congregation by 
 times, for no less than these sixteen or eighteen 
 years ; yea, myself they have sent for and en- 
 deavoured to persuade me to break communion 
 with my brethren ; also with many others they 
 have often tampered if haply their seeds of 
 division might take. Neither did they alto- 
 gether fail of their purpose ; for some they did 
 rend and dismember from us, but none but 
 those of whom now they begin to be ashamed; 
 the judgment of God so following their design 
 that the persons which then they prevailed 
 upon are now a stain and reproach to religion. 
 Neither were these spirits content with that 
 discord they did sow among us, but they pro- 
 ceeded to seize upon others. But to pass these, 
 the wild and unsound positions they have 
 urged to maintain their practice would be too 
 large here to insert. 
 
 Now, sir, to settle the brethren (the brethren 
 of our community) and to prevent such disor- 
 ders among others was the cause of my pub- 
 lishing my papers ; and, considering my con- 
 cern in the house of God, I could do no less 
 than to give them warning, that every man 
 might deliver his soul. 
 
 You proceed, saying, "It is my liberty, as 
 well as others into whose hands it falls, to 
 weigh what you have said in truth's balance ; 
 and if it be found too light to reject it, whether 
 you will or no." 
 
 Answer. Do but grant me, without mocking 
 of me, the liberty you desire to take, and, God 
 helping me, I desire no more to shift for my- 
 self among you. 
 
 As to your saying that I proudly and impe- 
 riously insult because I say they are babes and 
 carnal that attempt to break the peace and 
 communion of churches, though upon no bet- 
 ter pretences than water, you must know I am 
 still of that mind, and shall be so long as I see 
 
 the efiects 'that follow — viz., the breach of 
 love, taking off Christians from the more 
 weighty things of God, and to make them 
 quarrel and have heart-burnings one against 
 another. 
 
 Where you are pleased to charge me with 
 raging for laying those eighteen particular 
 crimes to the charge of such who exclude 
 Christians from church communion, and debar 
 them their heaven-born privileges, for the 
 want of that which yet God never made the 
 wall of division between us, (p. 116,) I say, 
 when you can prove that God hath made water 
 baptism that wall, and that the stress of the 
 after eighteen charges lies wholly and only 
 in that, then you may, time enough, call my 
 language such as wanteth charity; but I ques- 
 tion, though that was granted, whether your 
 saying I rage will be justified in the day of 
 judgment. My great noise, as you call it, 
 about an initiating ordinance you say jow 
 shall take no notice of. P. 3. 
 
 Ansvier. Although you do not, I must. For 
 if baptism be not that, but another, and if vis- 
 ible saints may enter into fellowship by that 
 other, and are nowhere forbidden so to do, be- 
 cause they have no light into water baptism, it 
 is of weight to be considered by me, yea, and 
 of others too who are unprejudiced. 
 
 2. How ignorant you are of such as hold it 
 the initiating ordinance I know not, and how 
 long j'ou have been of that persuasion I know 
 not. This I know, that men of your own 
 party, as serious, godly, and it may be more 
 learned than yourself, have within less than 
 this twelvemonth urged it. Mr. D., in my 
 hearing did, from Rom. vi. 1, 2, in the meeting 
 in Lothbury, affirm it ; also my much-esteemed 
 Mr. D. A. did twice in a conference with me 
 assert it. 
 
 8. But whatever you say, whether for or 
 against, it is no matter ; for while you deny it 
 to be the entering ordinance, you account it 
 the wall, bar, bolt and door, even that which 
 must separate between the righteous and the 
 righteous ; nay, you make waut of light there- 
 in a ground to exclude the most godly from 
 your communion, when every novice in re- 
 ligion shall be received into your bosom and 
 be of esteem with you because he hath (and 
 from what ground God knows) submitted to 
 water baptism. 
 
 I am glad that in p. 4 you conclude with me 
 what is the initiating ordinance; but withal 
 give me leave to correct, as I think, one ex- 
 travagant expression of yours. 
 
844 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 You say, " It is consent on all' hands, and 
 nothing else, that makes them members of 
 particular churches; and not faith and bap- 
 tismJ' P. 4. 
 
 ■ You might have stopped at "and nothing 
 else." You need not, in particular, have re- 
 jected faith; your first error was bad enough. 
 What! nothing else but consent? What! not 
 so much as a respect to the matter or end? 
 Why, then, are not all the communities of all 
 the highwaymen in the land truly constituted 
 churches of Christ, unless you can prove that 
 they' hold together, but not by consent? 
 
 What! consent and nothing else? But why 
 do you throw out faith? Why, I throw out 
 baptism ; which, because you cannot as to the 
 case in hand fetch in again, therefore out must 
 faith go too. Your action is much like that 
 harlot's that stood to be judged by Solomon, 
 who, because her own child was dead, would 
 have her neighbour's killed also. Faith, sir, 
 both in the profession and confession of it, iS 
 of immediate and absolute concern, even in 
 the very act of the Church's reception of this 
 or another member. Throw out faith, and 
 there is no such thing as a Christian, neither 
 visible or invisible. You ought t,o receive no 
 man but upon a comfortable satisfaction to the 
 Church that you are now receiving a believer. 
 Faith, whether it be savingly there or no, is 
 the great argument with the Church in receiv- 
 ing any ; we receive not men as men, but the 
 man immediately under that supposition : He 
 hath faith, he is a Christian. Sir, consent 
 simply, without faith, makes no man a mem- 
 ber of the Church of God, because then would 
 a Church not cease to be a Church, whoever 
 they received among them ; yea, by this asser- 
 tion you have justified the Church of Rome 
 itself to be to this day both good and godly, 
 unless you can prove that they did at first and 
 do now receive their unbelieving members 
 without their own consent. 
 . The Church hath no such liberty to receive 
 men without respect to faith ; yea, faith and 
 holiness must be the essentials or basis upon 
 and for the sake of which you receive them — 
 holiness, I say, yet not such as is circumstan- 
 tial, but that which is such in the very heart 
 of it. Pray you, in your next, therefore, word 
 it better, lest while you slight and trample 
 upon me, you stand before all blameworthy 
 yourself. 
 
 The Scriptures you speak of I did not in my 
 first (p. 68) produce to show that persons un- 
 baptized might hold communion with the 
 
 Church, (though I am fully convinced they 
 may,) but to show that knowledge of those 
 persons, of their faith and holiness in general, 
 ought first to be showed to the Church, before 
 she can lawfully receive them. Acts ix. 25, 
 26, 27 ; 1 Cor. xvi. 10 ; 2 Cor. viii. 23. 
 
 As to my answer to a question (p. 70) which 
 you have at p. 5 of yours corrupted, and then 
 abused, I tell you, again, that a discovery of 
 the faith and holiness, and a declaration of the 
 willingness of a person to subject himself to 
 the laws and government of Christ in his 
 Church, is a ground sufficient to receive such 
 a member. 
 
 But you descant, "Is baptism none of the' 
 laws of Christ?" 
 
 Answer. It is none of those laws, neither any 
 part of them, that the Church, as a Church, 
 should show her -obedience by. For albeit 
 that baptism be given by Christ our Lord to 
 the Church, yet not for them to worship him 
 by as a Church. Show me what church ordi- 
 nance it is, and when or where the Church as 
 a Church is to practice it as one of those laws 
 and appointments that be hath commanded 
 his Church to show to him her obedience 
 by? 
 
 Again, that submitting to water baptism is a 
 sign or note that was ever required by any of 
 the primitive churches of him that would hold 
 fellowship with them, or that it infuseth such 
 grace and holiness into those that submit there- 
 to as to capacitate them for such a privilege, or 
 that they did acknowledge it a sign thereof, I 
 find not in all the Bible. 
 
 I find not, as I told you in my first, that 
 baptism is a sign to any but the person that ia 
 baptized. The Church hath her satisfactions 
 of the person from better proof. Col. ii. 12 ; 
 Rom. vi. 1, 2, 3, 4; 1 Cor. xv. 29; Acts ii. 38; 
 xxii. 16 ; 1 Pet. iii. 21. 
 
 I told you also that baptism makes thee no 
 member of the Church, neither doth it make 
 thee a visible saint ; it giveth thee, therefore, 
 neither right to nor being of membership at 
 all. Why, sir, did you not answer these things, 
 but slip them with others, as if you were un- 
 concerned, troubling your reader with such 
 kind of insinuations as must needs be unsa- 
 voury to godly ears ? 
 
 You make the moral law none of Christ's 
 but Moses's ; not the Son's, but the servant's ; 
 and tell me, because I plead for faith and holi- 
 ness, according to moral duties gospelized, 
 (they are my words, p. 79,) whereby we ought 
 to judge of the fitness of members, that there- 
 
DIFFERENCES ABOUT BAPTISM NO BAR TO COMMUNION. 
 
 845 
 
 fore Moses is more beholden to me tlian Christ. 
 P. 6. 
 
 Sir, know you not yet that a difference is to 
 be put betwixt those rules that discover the 
 essentials of holiness and those that in them- 
 selves are not such, and that that of faith and 
 the moral law is the one, and baptism, &c., the 
 other? 
 
 Is not love to God, abhorrence of idols, to 
 forbear blaspheming, to honour our parents, to 
 do no murder, to forbear theft, not to bear false 
 witness, nor covet, &c. — are not, I say, these 
 the precepts of the Lord Jesus, because de- 
 livered by Moses ? Or are these such as may 
 better be broken than, for want of light, to 
 forbear baptism with water? Or doth a man, 
 while he liveth in the neglect of these, and in 
 the mean time bustles about tfeose you call 
 Gospel commands, most honour Christ or best 
 fit himself for fellowship with the saints? 
 Need I tell you that the faith of Christ, with 
 the ten commandments, are as much now Gos- 
 pel commands as baptism, and ought to be in 
 as much and far more respect with the holy 
 ones than that or other the like ? 
 
 Yea, shall I tell you that baptism will neither 
 admit a man into fellowship nor keep him there 
 if he be a transgressor of a moral precept ; and 
 that a man who believetli in Jesus and fulfilleth 
 the moral law doth more glorify God and hon- 
 our religion in the w-orld than he that keepeth, 
 if there were so many, ten thousand figurative 
 laws? 
 
 As to those commands that respect God's in- 
 stituted worship in a Church as a Church, I 
 have told you that baptism is none of them, 
 and you have been driven to confess it; the 
 Church, then, must first look to faith, then to 
 good living according to the teif command- 
 ments; after that she must respect those^ ap- 
 pointments of our Lord Jesus that respect her 
 outward order and discipline'; and then she 
 walks as becomes her, sinning if she neglecteth 
 either, sinning if she overvalueth either. 
 
 But why did you not answer tliose texts I 
 produced for the strengthening of my argu- 
 ment — viz., Kora. xiv. 18 ; Deut. xxiii. 47 ; 
 James ii. 8-12; 1 Cor. ix. 21; v. 9, 10, 11 ; Gal. 
 vi.l5, 16; Philem.3; 1 Tim. i. 9, 10, 11 ; Acts 
 XX. 28, 32; Eom. xiii. 13; James iv. 11; 1 
 Cor. V. 12? 
 
 Deal fairly; answer those texts, witli the 
 argument made upon them; and when you 
 have, after a godly manner, done that, you 
 may the more boldly condemn. 
 
 Ynu tell me that in p. 93 of mine I say, 
 
 "None ever received baptism without light 
 therein." 
 
 What if I did, as I did not? but you grant 
 it. And now I will ask you — and pray deal 
 fairly in your answer — May a man be a visible 
 saint without light therein ? May he have a 
 good conscience without light therein ? And 
 seeing that baptism is none of the worship that 
 Christ instituted in his Church for them to 
 practice as a Church, must he be kept dark 
 about all other things concerning the worship 
 of God in his Church until he receive light 
 therein ? 
 
 You have answered already (p. 7) " that 
 they ought to be ashamed, and to repent of 
 that abomination, (their sprinkling,) before 
 they come to have a sight of the pattern of 
 the house of God, the goings in and the 
 comings out thereof" Ezek. xliii. 10, 11. 
 
 But, sir, whereof do you find that want of 
 light in water baptism, or because a man hath 
 been sprinkled, that he is to be kept dark in 
 all other temple institutions till he be ashamed 
 and repent of that? Pray produce the texts, 
 for Ezekiel helps you nothing. He speaks 
 only of the pattern of the house, the goings 
 out and comings in thereof. As for the coming 
 in, you have already confessed that baptism is 
 not the entering ordinance. And as for the 
 worship that Christ hath instituted in hia 
 Church as a Church, I say, and you also have 
 said it, (p. 40,) baptism is 'none of the forms 
 thereof, none of the ordinances thereof; for 
 baptism is, as to the practice of it, that which 
 is without the Church, without the house of 
 God. Then, by your own text, if a man do 
 repent him of his christening in his childhood, 
 he may be received into fellowship without 
 submitting to baptism. But I will not strain 
 you too far. 
 
 You add, " Is it a person's light that giveth 
 being to a precept?" 
 
 Answer. Who said it? Yet it is his light 
 and faith about it that can make him do it 
 acceptably. 
 
 You ask again, " Suppose men plead want 
 of light in other commands?" 
 
 Answer. If they be not such the forbearance 
 of which discapacitates him of membership, 
 he may yet be received to felIow.ship. 
 
 " But what if a man want light in the sup- 
 per?" P. 7. 
 
 Answer. There is more to be said in that 
 case than in the other, for that is a part of 
 that worship which Christ hath instituted for 
 his Church to be conversant in as a Church, 
 
846 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 presentiug them as such, with their commu- 
 nion with their Head and with one 3,nother as 
 members of him. " The cup of blessing which 
 we bless, is it not the communion of the blood 
 of Christ? The bread which we break, is it 
 not the communion of the body of Christ? 
 For we being many, are one bread and one 
 body, for we are all partakers of that one 
 bread." 1 Cor. x. 16, 17. Wherefore this being 
 a duty incumbent on the Church as a Church, 
 and on every member of that body as such, 
 they are obliged in that case more closely to 
 deal with the members than in that wherein 
 they are not so concerned, and with which 
 as such they have nothing to do. No man 
 baptizeth by virtue of his office in the Church ; 
 no man is baptized by virtue of his member- 
 ship there. 
 
 " Bui what if a man want light in his duty 
 to the poor?" P. 8. 
 
 Answer. If he doth, God must give it him — 
 I mean, to know his duty as a church mem- 
 ber. Now I will add. But what if he that can 
 give a shilling giveth nothing? I suppose 
 all that the Cliurch can do in that case is but 
 to warn, to exhort, and charge, and to show 
 him his duty ; and if he neglect, to show him 
 " that he that soweth sparingly shall not reap 
 plentifully." But to cut a man off for this, 
 as you frowardly urge, (page 8,) would argue 
 that Church (at least I think so) a little too 
 bold with so high and weighty a censure. I 
 plead not here for the churl, but seek to allay 
 your heat ; and should it be granted that such 
 deserve as you would have it, this makes no 
 matter to the case in hand. 
 
 Now, whereas you suggest that "moral evils 
 are but sins against men," (p. 8,) you are too 
 much unadvised. The moral evil, as you call 
 it, whether you respect the breach of the first 
 or second table, is first and immediately a 
 sin against God; and more insufferable, yea 
 and damnable, than for a man for want of light 
 to forbear either baptism or the Lord's Supper. 
 
 But you say, " We have now found an ad- 
 vocate for sin against God in the breach of one 
 of his holy commands." 
 
 Answer. As if none of the moral precepts, 
 were his ! But, sir, who have I pleaded for in 
 the denial of any one ordinance of God, yea, 
 or for their neglect of it either? AVhat I say 
 is but that men must have light, that they 
 may not do in darkness, or papist-like live by 
 an implicit faith. 
 
 But I see you put no difference between an 
 open breach of the law and a forbearing that 
 
 which to him is doubtful. But I will suppose 
 a case : There is a man wants light in bap- 
 tism, yet by his neighbour is pressed to it; he 
 saith he seeth it not to be his duty ; the other 
 saith he sins if he doth it not. Now, seeing 
 whatsoever is not of faith is sin, what should 
 this man do? If ycu 6ay, "Let him use the 
 means," I say so too. But what if, when he 
 hath used, he still continueth dark about it, 
 what will you advise him now? If you bid 
 him wait, do you not encourage him to live in 
 sin as much as I do? Nay, and seeing you 
 will not let him, for want of light in that, 
 obey God in other his institutions, what is it 
 but to say, " Seeing you live for want of light 
 in the neglect of baptism, we will make you, 
 while you continue so, live, though quite 
 against your light, in the breach of all the 
 rest?" And where you are commanded thus, 
 you may show the place when you find it. 
 
 Now, where you urge that you are one of 
 them that say, "The epistles were writ to 
 particular churches, and so serve nothing at 
 all for our kind of communion," urging fur- 
 ther, " That it will be difficult for me to prove 
 that they were also directed to particular 
 saints." 
 
 Answer. I wish there were nothing harder 
 that were good for me to do. 
 
 But what should be the reason that our 
 author, with others of his opinion, should 
 stickle so hard to prove all the epistles were 
 wrote to particular churches ? Why, because 
 those members were, as they think, every one 
 baptized ; and so the epistles from which we 
 fetch our arguments for the love and concord 
 of saints to be only proper to themselves. But 
 if this be true, there is virtue indeed, and 
 more than ever I dreamed of, in partaking of 
 wat£r baptism ; for if that shall take away the 
 epistles, and consequently the whole Bible, 
 from all that are not baptized, then are the 
 other churches, and also particular saints, in a 
 very deplorable condition. For he asketh me 
 very devoutly, " Whether any unbaptized per- 
 sons were concerned in these epistles?" P. 9. 
 But why would they take from us the Holy 
 Scriptures? Verily, that we might have 
 naught to justify our practice withal; for 
 if the Scriptures belong only to baptized 
 believers, they then belong not to the rest ; 
 and in truth if they could persuade us to 
 yield them this grant, we should but sorrily 
 justify our practice. But I would ask these 
 men if the word of God came out from them ? 
 or if it came to them only? or whether 
 
DIFFERENCES ABOUT BAPTISM NO BAR TO COMMUNION. 
 
 847 
 
 Christ hath not given hia whole word to 
 every one that belicveth, whether they be 
 baptized or in or out of chui'ch fellowship? 
 (Jehu xviii.,) or whether every saint, in some 
 sort, hath not the Iceys of the kingdom of 
 heaven, which are the Scriptures and their 
 power? 
 
 Would to God they had learned more mod- 
 esty than thus to take from all others and 
 appropriate to themselves, and that for the 
 sake of their observing a circumstance in re- 
 ligion, so high and glorious a privilege! 
 
 But we will come a little to proof. What 
 Church will this author find in Eome, that 
 time the epistle was sent to the brethren there, 
 besides that Church that was in Aquila's house, 
 although many more saints were then in the 
 city? Yea, the apostle, in his galutation at 
 the beginning, embraceth them only as breth- 
 ren, without the least intimation of their being 
 gathered into fellowship. "To all that be at 
 Eome, beloved of God, called to be saints, 
 grace to you," &c. To all there, to all in that 
 city, beloved of God and that are converted to 
 the Lord Jesus Christ. A Church there was 
 in Aquila's house, and that there were many 
 more saints besides is, and that by the text, 
 manifest. Besides, considering the rules that 
 are given them in the 14th and 15th chapters 
 about their receiving one another, doth yet 
 strongly suggest to me that they were not yet 
 in fellowship, but aa it were now about it, 
 when Paul wrote his epistle to them. 
 
 The first epistle written to Corinth was also 
 wrote to "all them that. in every place called 
 upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ." 1 
 Cor. i. 2. But it will be hard work for our 
 author to make it manifest that none in those 
 dayS' did call on the name of our Lord but 
 those that were first bapfized. 
 
 The second epistle, also, was not only writ- 
 ten to the Church at Corinth, but also "to all 
 the saints which were in all Achaia." To the 
 Galatians and Thessalonians, indeed, his salu- 
 tation was only to the churches there, but the 
 three epistles before were as well to all other, 
 as also that to the Ephesians, Philippians, and 
 Colossians, in which the faithful and saints in 
 Christ Jesus were also every one compre- 
 hended. Besides, to what particular Church 
 was the epistle to the Hebrews wrote? or the 
 epistle of James ? both those of Peter and the 
 first of John ? Nay, that of John was wrote 
 to some at that time out of fellowship, " that 
 they might have fellowship with the Church." 
 Chap. i. 1, 2, 3, 4. So that these brethren 
 
 must not have all the Scriptures. We have, 
 then, a like privilege with all the saints 
 to use the Scriptures for our godly edi- 
 fying, and to defend ourselves thereby from 
 the assaults of those that would make spoil of 
 us. But to pass this and come to the next. 
 
 You object for that I said, " If water bap« 
 tism (as the circumstances with which the 
 Church was pestered of old) trouble the peace 
 and wound the consciences of the godly, dis- 
 member and break their fellowship, it is, al- 
 though an ordinance, for the present prudently 
 to be shunned." P. 86. 
 
 At this, as I said, you object and say, "Did 
 I ever find baptism a pest or a plague to the 
 churches? and did ever God send an ordinance 
 to be a pest and a plague to his people?" 
 
 I answer, I said not that God did send it for 
 any such end at all : God's ordinances are 
 none of this in themselves ; not if used as and 
 for the end for which God sent them. But yet 
 both baptism and the supper of the Lord have 
 (by being wrested out of their place) been a 
 great afiliction to the godly both in this and 
 other ages. What say you to breaking of 
 bread, which the devil, by abusing, made an 
 engine in the hands of pg,pists to burn, starve, 
 hang, and draw thousands ? What say you to 
 John of Leyden ? What work did he make 
 by the abuse of the ordinance of water bap- 
 tism ! And I wish this age had not given 
 cause, through the church-rending spirit that 
 some are possessed with, to make complaint of 
 this matter, who have also had for their engine 
 the baptism with water. Yea, yourself, sir, so 
 far as I can perceive, could you get but the 
 opportunity — yourself, I say, under pretence 
 of this innocent ordinance, as you terra it — 
 would not stick to make inroads, and outroads 
 too, in all the churches that suit not your fancy 
 in the laud. For you have already been bold 
 to affirm, "That all those that have been 
 baptized infants ought to be ashamed and re- 
 pent before they be showed the pattern of the 
 house." And what is this but to threaten that 
 could you have your will of them you would 
 quickly take from them their present church 
 privileges, and let them see nothing thereof 
 till those qualifications, especially subjection 
 to water baptism, were found to attend to each 
 of them ? 
 
 As to the persons you speak of, " who have 
 rent churches in pieces by making preaching 
 by method, doctrine, reason, and use to be an- 
 tichristian," or because they could not have 
 other ministrations performed after their fan 
 
848 
 
 SUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 cies, (pp. 11, 12,) the imprudence of such witli 
 yourselves hath been heartbreaking to many 
 it gracious soul, an high occasion of stumbling 
 to the weal;:, and a reproach to the ways of 
 the Lord. That it may be prudently shunned, 
 I referred you then for proof to what should 
 be offered after ; but to this you cry out, and 
 so pass it. 
 
 And now, reader, although this author hath 
 thus objected against some passages in this my 
 first argument for communion with persons un- 
 baptized, yet the body of my argument he 
 misseth and passeth over, as a thing not worth 
 the answering ; whether because he forgot, or 
 because he was conscious to himself that he 
 knew not what to do therewith, I will not now 
 determine. 
 
 1. I effectually prove, '"That baptism is not 
 the initiating ordinance." Pp. 71, 75. 
 
 2. I prove, " That though' it was, yet the 
 case may so fall out that members might be re- 
 ceived without it." Pp. 82, 83. 
 
 3. I prove, " That baptism makes no man a 
 visible saint, nor giveth any right to church 
 fellowship." P. 76. 
 
 4. I prove, " That faith, and a life becoming 
 the law of the ten commandments, should be 
 the chief and most solid argument with the 
 true churches to receive saints to fellowship." 
 
 5. I prove, " That circumcision in the flesh, 
 which was the entering ordinance of old, was 
 a type of circumcision in the heart." Pp. 79, 80. 
 
 These things, with others, our author letteth 
 pass, although in the proof of them abideth 
 the strength of this first argument, to which I 
 must entreat him in his .next to cast his eye 
 and give a fair answer, as also to the Scriptures 
 on which each are built, or he must suffer me 
 to say I am abused. Further, I make a ques- 
 tion upon three Scriptures: Whether all the 
 saints, even in the primitive times, were bap- 
 tized with water ? To which also he answereth 
 nothing; whereas he ought to have done it if 
 he will take in hand to confute. The Scrip- 
 tures are — 1 Cor. i. 14, 15, 16; Kom. vi. 2; 
 Gal. iii. 27. Yet were they effectually an- 
 swered my argument is nothing weakened. 
 
 You come to my second argument, drawn 
 from Eph. iv. 4, 5, 6, upon which a little more 
 now to enlarge, and then to take notice of 
 your objection. 
 
 The apostle, then, in that 4th of the Ephe- 
 sians, exho'rteth the Church there, " with all 
 lowliness, and meekness, with long-suffering 
 and forbearing one another, to endeavour to 
 keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of 
 
 peace." This done, he presents them with 
 such arguments as might fasten his exhorta- 
 tion to purpose upon them. 
 
 1. The first is, because the body is one: 
 "There is one body;" therefore they should 
 not divide ; for if the Church of Christ be a 
 body, there ought not to be a rent or schism 
 among them. ; 
 
 2. His second argument is, "There is one 
 Spirit," or one quickening principle, by which 
 the body is made to live. For having asserted 
 before that Christ hath indeed a body, it was 
 meet that he showed also that this body hath 
 life and motion. Now that life, being none 
 other than that nourishment or spirit of life 
 from which the "' whole body, fitly joined to- 
 gether, and compact by that which every joint 
 supplieth, according to the effectual working 
 of the measure in every part, maketh increase 
 of the body, to the edifying of itself in love" 
 — now this spirit, being first and chiefly in the 
 head, therefore none other but those that hold 
 the head can have this nourishment ministered 
 to them. Besides, this is the spirit that knits 
 the body together, and makes it increase with 
 the increase of God. Col. ii. 16. This is the 
 unity of the Spirit which he beforS exhorts 
 them to keep. 
 
 3. The third argument is, because their hope 
 is also but one : '.' Even as you are called (saith 
 he) in one hope of your calling." As who 
 should say, Jfy brethren, if you are called 
 with one calling — if your hope, both as to the 
 grace of hope and also the object, be but one — 
 if you hopu ior one heaven and for one eternal 
 life, then maintain that unity of the Spirit and 
 hope, while hero, in love and the bond of 
 peace. i 
 
 4. The fourth argument is, "There is one 
 Lord," or Husband, Br Prince, to whom this 
 Church belongs; therefore if we have hus- 
 band but one, lord and prince but one, let 
 us not rend into many parties, as if we had 
 many husbands, lords, and princes to govern 
 us as his wife, his house, and kingdom. Is 
 Christ divided ? 
 
 5. The fifth argument is, "There is one 
 faith," by which we all stand justified by one 
 Lord Jesus Christ ; one faith by which we es- 
 cape the wrath of God ; one faith by which 
 only they that have it are blessed. Yea, seeing 
 there is but one faith, by which we are all put 
 into one way of salvation, let us hold together 
 as such. 
 
 6. The sixth argument, "There is one bap- 
 tism." Now we are come to the pinch — viz., 
 
DIFFERENCES ABOUT BAPTISM NO BAB TO COMMUNION. 
 
 849 
 
 Whether it be that of water or no? which I 
 must positively deny — 
 
 1. Because water baptism hath nothing to do 
 in a Church as a Church; it neither bringeth 
 U3 into the Church, nor is any part of our wor- 
 ship when we come there : how, then, can the 
 peace and unity of the Church depend upon 
 water baptism? Besides, he saith expressly it 
 
 " is the unity of the Spirit, not water, that is 
 here intended ; and the arguments brought to 
 enforce it are such as wholly and immediate- 
 ly relate to the duty pf the Church as a 
 Church. 
 
 2. Further, that other text that treateth of 
 our being baptized into a body saith expressly 
 it is done by the Spirit : " For by one Spirit 
 we are all baptized into one body." 1 Cor. xii. 
 13. Here is the Church present^ as under 
 the notion of a body ; here is a baptism men- 
 tioned by which they are brought or initiated 
 into this body ; now that this is the baptism 
 of water is utterly against the words of the 
 text : " For by one Spirit are we all baptized 
 into one body." Besides, if the baptism here 
 be of water, then is it the initiating ordi- 
 nance ; but the contrary I have proved, and this 
 author stands by my doctrine. So, then, the 
 baptism here respecting the Church as a body, 
 and water having nothing to do to enter men 
 into the Church nor to command them to prac- 
 tice it as a Church in order to their peace or 
 communion, or respecting the worship of God 
 as such — and I say again the baptism in the 
 sixth argument being urged precisely for no 
 other purpose but with respect to the Church's 
 peace as a body — it must needs be that bap- 
 tism by virtue of which they were initiated, 
 and joined together in one ; .and that baptism 
 being only that which the Spirit executeth, 
 this therefore is that one baptism. 
 
 7. The other argument is also effectual: 
 "There is one God and Father of all, who is 
 above all, and through all, and in you all." 
 If we are one body, if to it there be but one 
 Spirit, if we have but one hope, one fajth, and 
 be all baptized by one Spirit into that one 
 body, and if we have but one Lord, one God, 
 and he in every one Of us, let us be also one, 
 and let them that are thiis qualified both join 
 together and hold in one. 
 
 But our author against this objecteth, "That 
 now I employ my pen against every man, and 
 give the lie to all expositors ; for they hold this 
 one baptism to be none other than that of 
 water." P. 13. 
 
 Answer. What if I should also send you to 
 54 
 
 answer those expositors that expound certain 
 Scriptures for infant baptism, and that by them 
 brand us for Anabaptists? Must this drive 
 you from your belief of the truth? Exposi- 
 tors I feverence, but must live bv mine own 
 faith. God hath nowhere bound himself to 
 them more than to others with respect to the 
 revelation of his mind in his word. 
 
 But it becomes not you to run thus to ex- 
 positors, who are, as to your notions in many 
 things, but of yesterday: "To the law and to 
 the testimony," for out of the mouth of babes 
 the Lord hath ordained strength. 
 
 But you bid me tell you "what I mean by 
 Spirit baptism." 
 
 Answer. Sir, you mistake me: I treat not 
 here of our being baptized with the Spirit, 
 with respect to its coming from heaven into 
 us, but of that act of the Spirit, when come, 
 which baptizeth us into a body or Church. It 
 is one thing to be baptized with the Spirit in 
 the first sense, and another to be baptized by 
 it in the sense I treat of: for the Spirit to come 
 upon me is one thing, and for that, when comey 
 to implant, embody, or baptize me into the 
 body of Christ is another. 
 
 Your question therefore is grounded on a 
 mistake both of my judgment and the words 
 of the apostle. Wherefore thus I soon put an 
 end to your objections. P. 14. For the Spirit 
 to come down upon me is one thing, and for 
 the Spirit to baptize or implant me into the 
 Church is another; for to be possessed with 
 the Spirit is one thing, and to be led by that 
 Spirit is another. I conclude, then, seeing 
 the argument taken from that one baptism 
 respecteth church fellowship properly, and 
 seeing water baptism meddleth not with it as 
 such, it is the other, even that in 1 Cor. xii. 
 16, that is here intended, and no other. ' 
 
 But you add; "If nothing but extraordinary 
 gifts are called the baptism of the Spirit in a 
 strict sense, then that baptism (1 Cor. xii.) 
 must be water baptism, as well aa that in 
 Ephesians." 
 
 Hold : you make your conclusions before you 
 have cause. First prove that in tne Ephe- 
 sians to be meant of water 1/aptism, and that 
 the baptism in 1 Cor. xii. 16 is the baptism 
 you would have it, and then conclude my ar- 
 gument void. ' 
 
 That is the baptism of the Holy Ghost, ac- 
 cording to the common notion, I say not ; for 
 you to assert it is the baptism of water gives 
 the lie to the text; but that it is an act of the 
 Holy Ghost baptizing the saints into a body 
 
850 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 or Church, you will hardly be able to make 
 the contrary appear to be truth. 
 
 But behold, while here you would have this 
 to be baptism with water, how you contradict 
 and condemn your own notion! You say 
 water baptism ia not the entering ordinance, 
 yet the baptism here is such as baptizeth us 
 into a -body; wherefore, before you say next 
 time that this in 1 Cor. xii. 13 is meant of 
 water baptism, afiirm that water baptism Is 
 the initiating or entering ordinance, 'that your 
 opinion and doctrine' may hang better to- 
 gether. 
 
 We come to my third argument, which is. 
 
 To prove it is lawful to hold church commu- 
 nion with the godly, sincere believer, though 
 he hath not been baptized with water, because 
 he hath the doctrine of baptism. Heb. vi." 
 Which doctrine I distinguish from the practice 
 of it; the doctrine being that which by the 
 outward sign is presented to us, or which 
 by the outward circumstance of the act is 
 preached to the believer — viz., the death of 
 Christ, my death with Christ; also his resur- 
 rection from the dead, and mine with him to 
 newness of life. This our author calleth "one 
 of the strangest paradoxes that he hath lightly 
 observed." 
 
 Answer. How light he is in his observation 
 of things I know not; this I am sure, the 
 apostle makes mention of the doctrine of bap- 
 tism; now that the doctrine of a man or ordi- 
 nance is the signification of what is preached 
 is apparent to very sense. What is Christ's 
 doctrine, Paul's doctrine, Scripture doctrine, 
 but the truth couched under the words that 
 are spoken ? So the doctrine of baptism, yea, 
 and the doctrine of the Lord's Supper, are 
 those truths or mysteries that such ordinances 
 preach unto us. And that the doctrine of 
 baptism in this sense is the great end for 
 which that and the Lord's Supper were in- 
 stituted is apparent from all the Scriptures. 
 It is that which the apostle seeketh for in that 
 eminent 6th of the Eomans: "Know you not 
 that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus 
 Christ were baptized into his death? There- 
 fore we are, buried with him by baptism, that 
 like as Christ was raised from the dead by the 
 glory of the Father, so we should walk in new- 
 ness of life. For if we have been planted to- 
 gether in the ' likeness of his death, we shall 
 also be in the likeness of his resurrection." 
 What is here discoursed but the doctrine of or 
 that which baptism teacheth ; with an intima- 
 tion that that was the chief for the sake of 
 
 which that shadow was instituted, as also that 
 they that have the doctrine, or that which is 
 signified thereby, they only must reign with 
 Christ? 
 
 Again. This is that which he seeketh for 
 among the Corinthians : " If the dead rise not 
 at all, (saith he,) why then were you baptized 
 for the dead?" Why then were you baptized? 
 what did baptism teach you? what doctrine 
 did it preach to you? Further, "Buried with 
 him in baptism, wherein also you are riseu 
 again with him through the faith of the ope- 
 ration of God, who raised him from the dead." 
 What is here in chief asserted but the doc- 
 trine only which water baptism preacheth 
 with an intimation that they, and they onlj 
 are the saved of the Lord that have heard, re 
 ceived, and that live in this doctrine? Col. ii. 
 12, 13. 
 
 The same may be said of the Lord's Supper ; 
 it also hath its doctrine. But against this our 
 author objecteth, saying, "That this is called 
 ths doctrine of baptism I am yet to learn." 
 
 Answer. Your ignorance of the truth makes 
 it not an error ; but I pray you, what is the 
 doctrine of baptism if not that which baptism 
 teacheth, even that which is signified thereby 
 as that is the doctrine of Christ and the Scrip- 
 tures which he and they teach as the mind of 
 God? 
 
 But you say, " I took the doctrine of baptism 
 to be the command that a believer should be 
 baptized for such ends as the Gospel express- 
 eth." 
 
 Answer. To assert that a figurative ordinance 
 is of God is one thing, but the doctrinal signi- 
 fication of that ordinance, is another ; a man 
 may preach the command, yet none of the 
 doctrines which baptism preacheth. The doc- 
 trine lieth not in the command, but the mystery 
 discovered to faith by the act. 
 
 You object, "If the resurrection be the doc- 
 trine of baptism, why doth the apostle make 
 that and the doctrine of baptism things distinct 
 inHeb. vi.?" 
 
 Answer. The resurrection, simply considered, 
 is not the doctrine of baptism, buf Christ's, 
 and mine by him. Besides, there is more in 
 it than the mystisry of this resurrection ; there 
 is my death first, and then my rising with him. 
 
 But you add, " Under the law, all the sacri- 
 fices of that dispensation, with their sabbaths, 
 were types of that Christ who was the sub- 
 stance of all those ceremonies. If any of 
 them, then, that professed faith in the Messias 
 to come should, upon scruples or want of jpre- 
 
DIFFERENCES ABOUT BAPTISM NO BAB TO COMMUNION. 
 
 851 
 
 tended light, neglect the whole or part of that 
 typical worship, why may not a man say of 
 them, (IS this advocate of the practice under 
 debate, They had the richer and better sacri- 
 fice?" 
 
 Answer. First, that the brethren which re- 
 fuse lo be baptized, as you and I would have 
 them, refuse it for want of pretended light, be- 
 comes you not to imagine, unless your boldness 
 will lead you to judge that all men want sin- 
 cerity that come not up to our judgment. 
 Their conscience may be better than either 
 yours or mihe, yet God, for purposes best 
 known to himself, may forbear to give them 
 conviction of their duty in this particular. 
 But what ! because they are not baptized, have 
 they not Jesus Christ? or must we now be 
 afraid to say, Christ is better than water bap- 
 tism? Yea, God himself, for the sake of this 
 better thing, hath suffered in his Church a 
 suspension of some of his ordinances, yet- 
 owned them for his truly constituted congre- 
 gation. What say you to the Church in the 
 wilderness ? I touched you with it in my first, 
 but perceived you listed not to meddle there- 
 with. That Church received members the way 
 which was not prescribed by, but directly 
 against, the revealed mind of God, yet stood a 
 true Church, their members true members; 
 also that Church in that state was such before 
 whom, among whom, and to whom God con- 
 tinually made known himself to be their God 
 and owned them for his peculiar treasure. 
 
 And now I am fallen upon it, let me a little 
 enlarge. This Church, according to the then 
 instituted worship of God, had circumcision 
 for their entering ordinance, (Gen. xvii. 13, 
 14,) without which it was unlawful to receive 
 any into fellowship with them; yea, he that 
 without it was received was to be cut off and 
 cast out again. Further, as to the passover, 
 the uncircumcised was utterly forbidden to eat 
 it. Ex. xii. Now if our brethren had as express 
 prohibition lo jujitify'their groundless opinion 
 as here is to exclude the uncircumcised from 
 the communion of the Church and the pass-, 
 over — I say, if they could find it written, "No 
 uubaptized person shall enter, no unbaptized 
 person shall eat of the supper " — what a noise 
 would they make about it! But yet let the 
 reader observe that although circumcision was 
 the entering ordinance, and our author saith 
 baptism is not, yea, though this Church was 
 expressly forbidden to receive the uncircum- 
 cised, (and we have not a syllable now to forbid 
 the unbaptized,) yet this Church received 
 
 members without and otherwise than by this 
 entering ordinance. They also admitted them 
 to the passover; yea, entertained, retained, 
 and held communion with them so long a.s 
 forty years without it. I say again, that the 
 number of this sort of communicants vas not 
 so few as six hundred thousand. Moreover, to 
 these uncircumcised was the land of Canaan 
 given, yea, a possession of part thereof, before 
 they were circumcised, but the old circumcised 
 ones might not enter therein. I am the larger 
 in this because our author hath overlooked my 
 first mention thereof. And now I ask. What 
 was the reason that God continued his presence 
 with this Church, notwithstanding this trans- 
 gression? Was it not because they had that 
 richer and better thing, the Lord Jesus Christ? 
 " For they did all eat of that spiritual bread, 
 and drank of that spiritual rock which follow- 
 ed them ; and that rock was Christ." 1 Cor. x. 
 I confess I find them under rebukes and judg- 
 ments in the wilderness,' and that they were 
 many times threatened to be destroyed, but yet 
 I find not so much aa one check for their re- 
 ceiving of members uncircumcised. Further, 
 in the New Testament, where we have a cata- 
 logue of their sins, and also of their punish- 
 ment for them, we find not a word about 
 circumcision, nor the smallest intimation of 
 the least rebuke for neglecting the entering 
 ordinance. 1 Cor. x. 5, 10. I will therefore 
 say of them, as I have also said of my brethren, 
 " They had the richer and better thing." 
 
 But you object, " This putteth the whole of 
 God's instituted worship, both under the law 
 and Gospel, to the highest uncertainties." P. 
 17. 
 
 Answer. This putteth our opposers out of 
 their road, and quencheth the flame of their 
 unwarrantable zeal. For if the entering ordi- 
 nance, if the ordinance without which no man 
 might be added to the Church, was laid aside 
 for forty years — yea, if more than six hundred 
 thousand did communicate with them without 
 it — I say again, if they did it, and held com- 
 muni6n with God, that notwithstanding, yea, 
 and had not, that we read of, all that time one 
 small check for so doing, why may not we now 
 enter communion, hold communion, maintain 
 communion, church communion, without be- 
 ing judged and condemned by you, because 
 we cannot, for want of light, Ke all baptized 
 before, especially considering baptism makes 
 no man a saint, is not the entering ordinance, 
 is no part of the worship of God enjoined the 
 Church as a Church ? To conclude, although 
 
852 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 we receive members unbaptized, we leave not 
 God's instituted worship at uncertainties, es- 
 pecially what lie hath commanded us as his 
 Church : we only profess our want of light in 
 some things, but see no word to warrant the 
 forbearance of our duty in all for want of per- 
 suasion in one. 
 
 You object, "I call baptism a circumstance 
 — an outward show I nickname it.'' 
 
 Answer. Deep reproof! But why did you 
 not show me my evil in thus calling it when 
 opposed to the substance and the thing signi- 
 fied? Is it the substance? Is it the thing 
 signified? And why may not I give it the 
 name of a show, when you call it a symbol 
 and compare it to a gentlemen's livery? P. 52. 
 
 But you say I call it an outward show. 
 
 Answer. Is it an inward one? What is it? 
 "It is a command." 
 
 'Answer. But doth that install it in that 
 place and dignity that was never intended for 
 it? 
 
 You object further, "They cannot have the 
 doctrine of baptism that understand not our 
 way of administering it." P. 18. 
 
 This is your, mistake,. both of the doctrine 
 and thing itself. But if you will not scorn to 
 take notice of me, I advise you again to con- 
 sider that a man may find baptism to be com- 
 manded, may be informed who ought to ad- 
 minister it, may also know the proper subject, 
 and that the manner of baptizing is dipping, 
 and may desire to practice it because it is 
 commanded, and yet know nothing of what 
 water baptism preacheth or of the mystery 
 baptism showeth to faith. But that the doc- 
 trine of baptism is not the practice of it, not 
 the outward act, but the thing signified, and 
 that every believer hath that, must argue you 
 more than bold to deny it. 
 
 ;But say you, "Who taught you to divide 
 betwixt Christ and his precepts, that you word 
 it at such a rate. That he that hath the one?" 
 &c. 
 
 Answer. To say nothing of faith and the 
 word, verily reason itself teacheth it. For if 
 Christ be my righteousness, and not water, if 
 Christ be my advocate, and not water, if there 
 be that good and blessedness in Christ that is 
 not in water, then is Jesus Christ better than 
 water, and also in these to be eternally divided 
 from watery^unless we will make them co-sa- 
 viours, co-advocates, and such as are equally 
 good and profitable to men. 
 
 But say you, " I thought that he that hath 
 Christ had an orderly right to all Christ's 
 
 promises and precepts, and that the precepts 
 of Christ are part of the riches that a believer 
 hath in and by Christ." 
 
 Answer. A believer hath more in Christ 
 than either promise or precept, but all believ- 
 ers know not all things that of God are given 
 to them by Christ. But must they not use and 
 enjoy that which they know because they 
 ^know not all? or must they neglect the 
 weightier matters because they want mint, 
 anise, and cummin? Your pretended orderly 
 rite is your fancy : there is not a syllable in 
 the whole Bible that bids a Christian to for- 
 bear his duty in other things, because he 
 wanteth, as you term it, the symbol or watei 
 baptism. 
 
 But say you, " He that despiseth his birth- 
 right of ordinances, our church privileges, 
 will be found to be a profane person, as Esau, 
 in God's account." 
 
 Baptism is not the privilege of a Church as 
 such. But what! are they all Esaus indeed? 
 Must we go to hell and be damned for want of 
 faith in water baptism? And take notice, 
 do not plead for a despising of baptism, but a 
 bearing with our brother that cannot do it foi 
 want of light. The best of baptism he hath — 
 viz., the signification thereof; he wanteth only 
 the outward show, which, if he had, would not 
 prove him a truly visible saint ; it would not 
 tell me he had the grace of God in his heart; 
 it is no charaoteristical note to another of my 
 sonship with God. 
 
 But why did you not answer these parts of 
 my argument? Why did you only cavil at 
 words, which, if they had been left out, the 
 argument yet stands good? "He that is not 
 baptized, if yet a true believer, hath the doC' 
 trine of baptism ; yea, he ought to have it 
 before he be convinced it is his duty to be bap- 
 tized, or else he playeth the hypocrite. There 
 is therefore no difference between that believer 
 that is and he that is not yet baptized with 
 water, but only his going down into the water, 
 there to perform an outward ceremony of the 
 substance which he hath already ; which yet 
 he is not commanded to do with respect to 
 membership with the Church, but to obtain 
 by that further understanding of his privilege 
 by Christ, which before he made profession of, 
 and that as a visible believer." 
 - But to come to my fourth argument, which 
 you so tenderly touch as if it burnt your 
 fingers: "I am bold, say I, to have commu- 
 nion with visible saints as before, because (Jod 
 hath communion with them, whose example 
 
DIFFERENCES ABOUT BAPTISM NO BAB TO COMMUNION. 
 
 853 
 
 m the case we are strictly commanded to fol- 
 low." Keceive ye one another, as Christ 
 Jesus hath received you to the glory of God. 
 Yea, though they be saints iu opinion contrary 
 to you or I, " we that are strong, ought to 
 bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to 
 please ourselves" — infirmities that are sinful, 
 for they that are natural are incident to all. 
 Infirmities, therefore, they are that for want 
 of light cause a man to err in circumstantials. 
 And the reason upon which Paul groundeth 
 this admonition is, "For Christ pleased not 
 himself, but, as it is written. The reproaches 
 of them that reproached thee are fallen on 
 me." 
 
 You say to this, (p. 20,) "That it is Paul's 
 direction to the Church at Rome how to re- 
 ceive their brethren church niembers." 
 
 I answer : 
 
 1. What! are not the poorsaints now in this 
 city, are not they concerned in these instruc- 
 tions? Or is not the Church, by these words, 
 at all directed how to carry it to those that 
 were not yet in fellowship? A bold assertion, 
 but grounded upon nothing but that you 
 would have it so. 
 
 2. But how will you prove that there was a 
 Church, a right-constituted Church at Rome, 
 besides that in Aquila's house ? Chap. xvi. 
 Neither doth this epistle, nor any other in 
 the whole book of God, affirm it. Besides, 
 since Paul, in this last chapter, saluteth 
 the Church in this man's house, but the other 
 only as particular saints, it giveth farther 
 ground of conviction to you that those others 
 were not as yet embodied in such a fellowship. 
 
 3. But suppose there was another .Church 
 besides, it doth not therefore follow that the 
 apostle exhorteth them only to receive persons 
 already in fellowship, but him, even every 
 him, that there was weak in faith, but not to 
 doubtful disputations. 
 
 4. Suppose, again, the receiving here ex- 
 horted to be such as you would have it, yet 
 the rule by which they are directed to do it is 
 that by which we perceive that Christ hath 
 received them ; but Christ did not receive 
 them by baptism, but as given to him by 
 the Father. Him therefore concerning whom 
 we are convinced that he by the Father is 
 given to Christ, him should we receive. 
 
 5. But what need I grant you 'that which 
 cannot be proved ? Yet if you could prove it, 
 it availeth nothing at all, because you may 
 not, cannot, ought not, to dare to limit the 
 exhortation to receiving one another into each 
 
 other's affections only, and not also receiving 
 paints into communion. 
 
 But you object, " To make God's receiving 
 the rule of our receiving in all cases will not 
 hold." P. 21. 
 
 AnMoer. Keep to the thing, man : if it hold 
 in the case in hand, it is enough, the which 
 you have not denied. And that it holds thus 
 is plain, because commanded. But let the 
 reader know that your putting in that way 
 of his receiving which is invisible to us is but 
 an unhandsome straddling over my argument, 
 which treateth only of a visible receiving, 
 such as is manifest to the Church. This you 
 knew, but sought, by evading, to turn the 
 reader from considering the strength of this 
 my argument. " The recei-ving, then, (said I, 
 p. 29,) because it is set as an example to the 
 Church, is such as must needs be visible unto 
 them, and is best discovered by that word that 
 describeth the visible saints. Whoso then you 
 can judge a visible saint, one that walketh 
 with God, you may, nay, ought to, judge by 
 the same word God hath received him. Now, 
 him that God receiveth, him should you re- 
 ceive." But will any' object they cannot be- 
 lieve that God receiveth the unbaptized saints ? 
 I will not suppose you so much stupefied, and 
 therefore shall make no ansvvei". But you 
 seem to be much offended because I said, 
 " Vain man 1 think not, by the straitness of 
 thine order in outward and bodily conformity 
 to outward and shadowish circumstances, that 
 thy peace is maintained with God." 
 
 But why so much offended at this? 
 
 " Because you intend by this the brethren 
 of the baptized way." 
 
 Answer. If they be vain men and set up 
 their own order, how strait soever they make 
 it, they are worthy to be reproved. "If they 
 have rejected the word of the Lord, what wis- 
 dom is in them?" And as you suggest the 
 first, I affirm the second. But if you would 
 be justified in excluding those with whom yet 
 you see God hath communion, because they 
 yet see not a shadow with you, produce the 
 Scripture for such order, that we may believe 
 it is the order of God; but deal fairly, lest we 
 show your nakedness and others see your 
 shame. 
 
 You tell me of the order of the Colossians. 
 Chap. ii. 5. But if you can prove that that 
 Church refused to hold communion with that 
 saint whom they knew to be received by 
 Christ and held communion with him, or that 
 none but those that are baptized are received 
 
854 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 by and hold communion with him, then you 
 justify your order. In the mean while the 
 whole , of my argument stands firm against 
 you: "You must have communion with visi- 
 Me saints, because God hath communion with 
 ■ them, whose example in the case we are 
 strictly commanded to follow." 
 
 But you ask me, "If outward and bodily 
 conformity has become a crime ?" P. 23. 
 
 Annoer. I nowhere said it, but know that 
 to glorify God with our bodies respecteth 
 chiefly far higher and more weighty things 
 than that of water baptism : " Whatsoever is 
 not of faith is sin ;'' and to set up an ordi- 
 nance, though an ordinance of ' God, that 
 by it the Church may be pulled in pieces 
 or the truly visible saints excluded commu- 
 nion with their brethren-:— I say again, to 
 make water baptism a bar and division be- 
 tween saint and saint every whit otherwise 
 gracious and holy alike, " this is like fasting 
 for strife and debate, and to smite with the 
 fist of wickedness," and is not to be found 
 within the whole Bible, but is only an order 
 of your own devising. As to the peace you 
 make an objection about, (p. 23,) you have 
 granted me what I intended ; and now I add 
 further, that for church peace to be founded 
 in baptism or any other external rite, not 
 having to do with the Church as a Church, is 
 pure peace indeed. Church peace is founded 
 in ^blood and lov'e to each other for Jesus' 
 sake, bearing with and forbearing one another 
 in all things circumstantial that concern not 
 church worship as such. And in my other I 
 have proved that baptism is not such, and 
 therefore ought not to be urged to make rents 
 and divisions among brethren. 
 
 But you ask, " Is my peace maintained in a 
 way of disobedience ?" and conclude, if it be, 
 " you fear it is false." P. 24. 
 
 Answer. If the first were true, you need not 
 to doubt of the second ; but it may be thought 
 he hath little' to say in the controversy who is 
 forced to stuff out his papers with such need- 
 less prattles as these. 
 
 My fifth argument is, "That a failure in 
 such a circumstance as water baptism doth not 
 unchristian us." This you are compelled to 
 grant. P. 25. And I conclude with your words, 
 persons ought to be Christians before visible 
 Christians, such as any congregation in the land 
 may recdve to communionwith themselves, be- 
 cause God hath showed us that he has received 
 them. Receive him to the glory of God. " To 
 the glory of God " is put in on purpose to show 
 
 what dishonour they bring to him who despise 
 to have communion with such whom they 
 know do maintain communion with God. I 
 say again, How doth this man, or that Church 
 glorify God, or count the wisdom an/1 holiness of 
 heaven beyond them, when they refuse commu- 
 nion with them concerning whom yet they are 
 convinced that they have communion with God? 
 
 But my argument you have not denied, nor 
 meddled with the conclusion at all ; which is, 
 "That therefore, even because a failure here 
 doth not unchristian us, doth not make us in- 
 sincere, and I add, doth not lay us open to any 
 revealed judgment or displeasure of God, (if it 
 doth, show where,) therefore it should not, it . 
 ought not, to make us obnoxious to the dis- 
 pleasure of the Church of God." 
 
 But you say, "I rank Gospel precepts with 
 Old Testament abrogated ceremonies." P. 25. 
 
 Ancwer. You should have given your reader 
 my words, that he might have judged from my 
 own mouth. I said then, (speaking before of 
 Christianity itself, p. 94,) "That thousands of 
 thousands that could not consent to water, as 
 we, are now with the innumerable company of 
 angels and the spirits of just men made per- 
 fect." What was said of eating or the con- 
 trary may as to this be said of water baptism : 
 Neither if I be baptized am I the better, 
 neither if I be not am I the worse ; not the 
 better before God, not the worse before men; 
 still meaning, as Paul, provided I walk ac- 
 cording to my light with God. Otherwise it is 
 false ; for if i. man that seeth it to be his duty 
 shall despisingly neglect it, or if he that hath 
 not faith about it shall foolishly take it up, 
 both these are for this the worse ; I mean as to 
 their own sense, being convicted in themselves 
 as transgressors. He therefore that doeth ac- 
 cording to this light, doeth well, and he that 
 doth it not foJr want of light, doth not ill, for 
 he approveth his heart to be sincere with God, 
 even by that his forbearance. And I tell you 
 again, it is nowhere recorded that this man is 
 under any revealed threatening of God for his 
 not being baptized with water, he not having 
 light therein, but is admitted through his grace 
 to as many promises as you. If therefore he be 
 not a partaker of that circumstance, yet he is 
 of that liberty and mercy by which you stand 
 with God. 
 
 But that I practice instituted worship upon 
 the same account as Paul did circumcision and 
 shaving is too bold for you to presume to im- 
 agine. What I because I will not puffer watei 
 to carry away the epistles from the Christian^ 
 
DIFFERENCES ABOUT BAPTISM NO BAR TO COMMUNION. 
 
 855 
 
 and because I will not let water baptism be the 
 rule, the door, the bolt, the bar, the wall of di- 
 vision between the righteous and the righteous, 
 must I therefore be judged to be a man with- 
 out conscience to the worship of Jesus Christ? 
 The Lord deliver me from superstitious and 
 idolatrous thoughts about any of the ordi- 
 nances of Christ and of God 1 But my fifth 
 aigument standeth against you untouched; 
 • you have not denied, much less confuted, the 
 least syllable thereof. 
 
 You tell me my sixth argument is, " Edifi- 
 cation." 
 
 Answer. If it be^ why is it not embraced? 
 But my own words are these,: " I am for hold- 
 ing communion thus, because the edification 
 of souls in the faith and holiness of the Gos- 
 pel is of greater concern than an agreement in 
 outward things ; I say, it is of greater concern 
 with us, and of far more profit to our brother, 
 than our agreeing in or contesting for water 
 baptism. John xvi. 13 ; 1 Cor. xiv. 12 ; xiii. 1, 2 ; 
 viii. 1." Now why did you not take this argu- 
 ment in pieces, and answer those Scriptures,- 
 on which the strength thereof depends ? But 
 if to contest, and fall out about water baptism, 
 be better than to edify the house of God, pro- 
 duce the texts, that we may be informed. 
 
 You say, " Edification is the end of all com- 
 munion, but all things must be done in order, 
 orderly." P. 26. 
 
 Answer. When you have proved that there 
 is no such thing as an orderly edifying of the 
 Church without water baptism precede, then 
 it will be time enough to think you have said 
 Bomethirig. 
 
 You add, " Edification as to church fellow- 
 ship, being a building up, doth suppose the 
 being of a Church, but pray you show us a 
 Church without baptism." P. 26. 
 
 Answer. See here the spirit of these men, 
 who, for the want of water baptism, have at 
 once unchurched all such congregations of God 
 in the world. But against this I have and do 
 urge that water baptism giveth neither being 
 nor well-being to a Church ; neither is any 
 part of tl^e instituted worship of God, that the 
 Church, as such, should be found in the prac- 
 tice of. Therefore her edification as a Church 
 may, yea, ought to be, attained unto without it. 
 
 But you say, "Show us a New Testament 
 Church without baptism." P. 26. 
 
 Armuer. What say you to the Church all 
 along the Eevelation, quite through the reign 
 of Antichrist? Was that a New Testament 
 Church or no ? 
 
 Again. If baptism be without the Church as 
 a Church, if it hath nothing to do jn the onn- 
 stituting of a Church, if it be not the door of 
 entrance into the Church, if it be no part of 
 church worship as such, then, although all the 
 members of that Church were baptized, yet the 
 Church is a Church without water baptism. 
 But all the churches in the New Testament 
 were such ; therefore, &c. 
 
 Again. If- baptism respects believers a.i 
 particular persons only, if it respects their own 
 conscience only, if it makes a man no visible 
 believer to me, then it hath nothing to do with 
 church membership, because that which re- 
 spects my own person only, my own conscience 
 only, that which is no character of my visible 
 saintship to the Church, cannot be an argu- 
 ment unto them tb receive me into fellowship 
 with themselves. But this is true; there- 
 fore, &c. 
 
 You proceed, " If by edification be meant 
 the private increase of grace in one another, in 
 the use of private means, as private Christians 
 in meeting together, how doth the principle 
 you oppose hinder that? Endeavour to make 
 men as holy as you can, that they may be fitted 
 for church fellowship when God shall show 
 them the orderly way to it." P. 66. 
 
 Answer. What a number of private things 
 have we now brought out to public view ? Pri- 
 vate Christians, private means, and a private 
 increase of grace. But, sir, are none but those 
 of your way the public Christians? or ought 
 none but those that are baptized to have the 
 public means of grace? or must their graces 
 be increased by none but private means? Are 
 you awake now ? or are you become so high in 
 your own fantasies that none have, or are to 
 have, but private means of grace ? And are 
 there no public Christians or public Christian 
 meetings but them of your way ? I did not 
 think that all but Baptists should only abide 
 in holes. 
 
 But you find fault because I said, " Edifica- 
 tion is greater than contesting about water 
 baptism." P. 27. 
 
 Answer. If it be not, confute me ; if it be, 
 forbear to cavil. Water baptism and all God's 
 ordinances are to be used to edification, not to 
 beget heats and contentions among the godly; 
 wherefore edification is best. 
 
 Objection. I had thought that the preaching 
 and opening baptism might have been reck- 
 oned a part of our edification. 
 
 Answer. The act of water baptism hath not 
 place in churph worship, neither in whole noi 
 
856 
 
 SUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 in part; wherefore, pressing it upon the Church 
 is to iio purpose at all. 
 
 Objection. Why may you not as well say 
 that edification is greater thap breaking of 
 bread? P. 27. 
 
 Answer. So it is, else that should never have 
 been instituted to edify withal. That which 
 servetb is not greater than he that is served 
 thereby. Baptism and the Lord's Supper 
 both were made for ug, not we for them ; 
 wherefore both were made for our edification, 
 but no one for our destruction. 
 
 But again : The Lord's Supper, not baptism, 
 is for the Church as a Church ; therefore, as we 
 will maintain the Church's edifying, that must 
 be maintained in it ; yea, used oft to show 
 the Lord's death till he come. 1 Cor. xi. 22- 
 26. 
 
 Besides, because it is a great part of church 
 worship, as such, therefore it is pronounced 
 blessed ; the Lord did openly bless it also : 
 "The cup of blessing which we bless." Not 
 to say more, therefore, your reasoning from one 
 to the other will not hold. 
 
 Objection. How comes contesting for water 
 baptism to be so much against you ? 
 
 Answer. First. Because weak brethren can- 
 not bear it, whom yet we are commanded to 
 receive, but not to doubtful disputation — ■ 
 doubtful to them ; therefore, for their sakes I 
 must forbear it. B/om. xiv. 1. 
 
 Secondly. Because I have not seen any good- 
 effect, but the contrary, wherever such hot 
 spirits have gone before me : " For where envy 
 and" strife is, there is confusion (or tumults) 
 and every evil work." 
 
 Thirdly. Because by the example of the 
 Lord and Paul we must consider the present 
 state of the Church, and not trouble them 
 v^ith what they cannot bear. John xvi. 13; 
 1 Cor. iii. 1, 2, 3. 
 
 I conclude, then, edification in the Church 
 is to be preferred above what the Church as a 
 Church hath nothing to do withal. All things, 
 deariy beloved, are for our edifying. 1 Cor. 
 xiv. 5 ; xii. 26 ; 2 Cor. xii. 19 ; Eph. iv. 26 ; 
 XV. 2; 1 Cor. xiv. 3; 2 Cor. x. 8; xiii.""lO; 
 Kom. xiv. 19. 
 
 Before I wind up this argument I present 
 you with several instances showing that the 
 breach of some of God's precepts have been 
 borne with when they came in competition 
 with edification. As first, that of Aaron, who 
 let the offering for sin be burnt that should in- 
 deed have been eaten, (Lev. x. ;) yet because he 
 could not do it to his edification, Moses was 
 
 content. But the law was thereby trans- 
 gressed: "The priest that offereth it for sin 
 shall eat it." 
 
 To this you reply, " That was not a constant 
 continued forbearing of God's worship, but a 
 suspending of it for a season." 
 
 Answer. We also suspend it but for a season : 
 when persons can be baptized to their edifica- 
 tion they have the liberty. 
 
 But, secondly. This was not a bare suspen- 
 sion, but a 'flat transgression of the law. " Ye 
 should indeed have eaten it." Yet Moses was 
 content. 
 
 But say you, "Perhaps it was suspended 
 upon just and legal grounds, though not ex- 
 pressed." 
 
 Answer. The express rule was against it: 
 " Ye should indeed (saith Moses) have eaten it 
 in the holy place, as I commanded." But, 
 good sir, are you now for unwritten verities? 
 for legal grounds, though not expressed? I 
 will not drive you farther; here is room 
 enough. 
 
 As for El dad and Medad, it cannot be denied 
 but that their edifying of the people was pre- 
 ferred before their conforming to every circum- 
 stance. Num. xi. 16-26. 
 
 You add, "That Paul, for ^ seeming low 
 thing, did withstand Peter.'' 
 
 Sir, if you make but a seeming low thing of 
 dissembling and teaching others so to do, es- 
 pecially where the doctrine of justification is 
 endangered, I cannot expect much good con- 
 science from you. 
 
 As for your answer to the case of Hezekiah, 
 it is faulty in two respects : 
 
 1. For that you make the passover a type of 
 the Lord's' Supper, when it was only a type of 
 the body and blood of the Lord : " For even 
 Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us." 
 
 2. In that you make it an example to you to 
 admit persons unprepared to the Lord's Sup- 
 per. P. 29. 
 
 Answer. May you indeed receive persona 
 into the Church unprepared for the Lord's 
 Supper: yea, unprepared for that, with other 
 solemn appointments? For so you word it. 
 P. 29. Oh what an engine have you made 
 of water baptism I 
 
 Thus, gentle reader, while this author teareth 
 us in pieces for not making baptism the or- 
 derly rule for receiving the goodly and con 
 scieutious into communion, he can receive 
 persons, if baptized, though, unprepared for 
 the supper and other solemn appointmeiits. I 
 would have thee consult the place, and see if 
 
DIFFERENCES ABOUT BAPTISM NO BAB TO COMMUNION. 
 
 857 
 
 it counteuanceth such an act, that a man who 
 pleadeth for water baptism above the peace 
 and edification of tlie Church ought to be re- 
 ceived, although unprepared, into the Church 
 to the Lord's Supper and other solemn ap- 
 pointments, especially considering the nature 
 of right church constitution, and the severity 
 of God towards those that came unprepared to 
 his table of old. 1 Cor. xi. 28, 29, 30. A riddle 
 indeed, that the Lord should, without a word, 
 so severely command that all which want 
 light in baptism be excluded church privi- 
 leges, and yet against his word admit of per- 
 sons unprepared to the Lord's table and other 
 solemn appointments! 
 
 But, good sir, why so short-winded? Why 
 could not you make the same work with the 
 other Scriptures as you' did with these? I 
 must leave them upon you unanswered, and 
 standing by my argument conclude that if 
 laws and ordinances of old have been broken, 
 and the breach of them borne with, when yet 
 the observation of outward things was more 
 strictly commanded than now, if the profit 
 and edification of the Church-come in compe- 
 tition, how much more may not we have com- 
 munion, church communion, when no law of 
 God is transgressed thereby I 
 
 And note, that all this while I plead not (as 
 ' you) for persons unprepared, but godly and 
 such as walk with God. 
 
 We come now to my seveinth argument for 
 communion with the godly, though baptized 
 persons, which you say is love. P. 29. 
 
 My argument is this: "Therefore I am for 
 communion thus, because love, which above 
 all things we are commanded to put on, is of 
 much more worth than to break about bap- 
 tism." And let the reader note that of this 
 argument you deny not so much as one sylla- 
 ble, but run to another story; but I will follow 
 you. 
 
 I add further, that love is more discovered 
 when we receive for the sake of Christ than 
 when we refuse his children for want of water; 
 and tell you again that this exhortation to love 
 is grounded not upon baptism, but the putting 
 on of the new creature, which hath swallowe.d 
 up all distinctions. Col. iii. 9-14. Yea, there 
 are ten arguments in this one which you have 
 not so much as touched, but thus object, 
 'That man that makes affection the rule of 
 his walking, rather than judgment, it is no 
 wonder if he go out of the way." 
 
 Answer. Love to them we are persuaded that 
 God hath received is love thati is guided by 
 
 judgment; and to receive them that are such 
 because God hath bidden us (Rom. xiv.) is 
 judgment guided by rule. My argument, 
 therefore, hath forestalled all your noise, and 
 standeth still on its legs against you. 
 
 As to the duties of piety and charity you 
 boast of, (p. 30,) sound not a trumpet, tell not 
 your left hand of it; we are talking now of 
 communion of saints, church coramunio^, and 
 I plead that to love and hold together as such 
 is better than to break in pieces for want of 
 water baptism. My reason is, because we are 
 exhorted in all things to put on love, the love 
 of church communion; contrariwise, you op- 
 pose, "above all things put on water," for the 
 best saint under heaven that hath not that, with 
 him you refuse communion. Thus you make 
 baptism, though no church ordinance, a bar to 
 shut out the godly and a trap-door to let the 
 unprepared into churches, to the Lord's Sup- 
 per and other solemn appointments. P. 79. 
 
 But you object, "Must our love to the un- 
 baptized indulge them in an act of disobedi- 
 ence? Cannot we love their persons, parts, 
 graces, but we must love their sins?" P. 80. 
 
 Answer. We plead not for indulgence. " But 
 are there not with you, even with you, sins 
 against the Lord your God?" 2 Chron. xxviii. 
 10. But why can you indulge the Baptists in 
 any acts of disobedience? for to come unpre- 
 pared into the Church is an act of disobedi- 
 ence; to come unprepared to the supper is an 
 act of disobedience; and to come so also to 
 other solemn appointments are acts of disobe- 
 dience. 
 
 " But for these things {you say) you do not 
 ca.st nor keep any out of the Church." 
 
 Answer. But what acts of disobedience do 
 we indulge them in? 
 
 "In the sin of infant baptism." 
 
 Answer. We indulge them not, but, being 
 commanded to bear with the infirmities of 
 each other, suffer it, it being indeed in our 
 eyes such, but in theirs they say a (juty, till 
 God shall otherwise persuade them. If ycu 
 be without infirmity, do you first throw a 
 stone at them ; they keep their faith in that to 
 themselves and trouble not the brethren there- 
 with; we believe that God hath received them; 
 they do not want to us a proof of their son- 
 ship with God ; neither hath he made water a 
 wall of division between us; and therefore do 
 we receive them. 
 
 Objection. " I take it to be the highest act 
 of friendship to be faithful to these professors, 
 and to tell them they want this one thing in 
 
858 
 
 JBUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Gospel order, whicli ought not to be left un- 
 done." P. 30. 
 
 Answer. If it be the highest piece of friend- 
 ship to preach water baptism to unbaptized 
 believers, the lowest act thereof must needs be. 
 very low. But, contrariwise, I count it so far 
 off from being any act of friendship to press 
 baptism in our notion on those that cannot 
 bei,T it that it is a great abuse of the peace of 
 mj brother, the law of love, the law of Christ, 
 or the society of the faithful. Love suifereth 
 long and is kind, is not easily provoked: let us 
 therefor", follow after the things that make for 
 peace and things wherewith one may edify 
 another: let every one of us please his neigh- 
 bour, for his good to edification : bear you one 
 another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of 
 Christ. 1 Cor. xiii.; Eom. xiv. 19; xv. 2; Gal. 
 vi. 2. 
 
 But say you, " I doubt when this comes to 
 be weighed in God's balance it will be found 
 no less than flattery, for which you will be 
 reproved." 
 
 , Answer. It seems you do but doubt it, 
 wherefore the principles from which you 
 doubt it, of that methinks you sh'ould not be 
 certain. But this- is of little weight to me; 
 for he that will presume to appropriate the epis- 
 tles to himself and fellows for the sake of bap- 
 tism, and that will condemn all the churches 
 " of Christ in the land for want of baptism, and 
 that will accouDt his brother as profane Esau, 
 (p. 20,) and rejected as idolatrous Ephraim, 
 (p. 32,) because he wanteth his way of water 
 baptism, he acts out of his wonted way of 
 rigidness when he doth but doubt and not 
 affirm his brother to be a flatterer. I leave 
 therefore this your doubt to be resolved at the 
 dayof judgment, and in the mean time trample 
 upon your harsh and unchristian surmises. 
 
 As to our love to Christians in other cases, I 
 hope we shall also endeavour to follow the law 
 of the Lord ; but because it respects not the 
 matter in hand, it concerns us not now to 
 treat thereof. 
 
 , My argument treateth of church commu- 
 nion, in the prosecution of which I prove — 
 
 1. That love is grounded upon the new 
 creature. Col. iii. 9, &c. 
 
 2. Upon our fellowship with the Father and 
 Son. 1 John i. 2, 3. 
 
 3. That with respect to this it is the fulfill- 
 ing of the moral law. James iv. 11; Eom. 
 xiv. 21. 
 
 4 That it shows itself in acts of forbear; 
 ing rather than in publishing some truths, 
 
 communicating only what is profitable, for- 
 bearing to publish what cannot be borna 
 1 Cor. iii. 1, 2 ; Acts xx. 18, 19, 20 ; John 
 xvi. 17. 
 
 5. I show further, that to have fellowshij 
 for, to make' that the ground of, or to receive 
 one another chiefly upon the account of an 
 outward circumstance, to make baptism the 
 including and excluding charter, the bounds, 
 bar, and rule of communion, when by the 
 word of the everlasting Testament there is no 
 word for it, (to speak charitably,) if it be not 
 for want of love, it is for want of light in the 
 mysteries of the kingdom of Christ. Strange ! 
 Take two Christians equal in all points but 
 this, nay, let one go beyond the other in 
 grace and goodness as far as a man is beyond 
 a babe, yet water shall turn the scale, shall 
 open the door of communion to the less, and 
 command the other to stand back ; yet it is no , 
 proof to the Church of this babe's faith and 
 hope, hath nothing to do with his entering 
 into fellowship, is no part of the worship of 
 the Church. These things should have been 
 answered, seeing you will take upon you so 
 roundly to condemn our practice. 
 
 You con;ie now to my eighth argument, 
 which you do not only render falsely, but by 
 so doing abuse your reader. I said not that 
 the Church at Corinth did shut each other 
 out of communion, but, for God's people to 
 divide into parties, or to shut each other from 
 church communion, though for greater points 
 and upon higher pretences than that of water 
 baptism, hath hitherto been counted carnal, 
 and the actors therein babyish Christians ; and 
 then bring in the factions that were in the 
 Church at Corinth. But why may not the 
 evil of denying church communion now, if 
 proved naught by a less crime in the Church 
 at Corinth, be counted carnal and babyish,' 
 but the breach of communion must be charged 
 upon them at Corinth also? 
 
 That my argument is good you grant, (p. 
 82,) saying, " The divisions of the Church at 
 Corinth were about the highest fundamental 
 principles, for which they are often called 
 carnal," yet you cavil at it. But if they were 
 to be blamed for dividing, though for the 
 highest points, are not you much more for 
 condemning your brethren to perpetual ban- 
 ishment from church communion, though 
 found in all the great points of the Gospel, 
 and right in all church ordinances also, be- 
 cause for want of light they fail only in the 
 point of baptism? 
 
DIFFERENCES ABOUT BAPTISM NO BAB TO COMMUNION. 
 
 859 
 
 As to your quibble about Paul and ApoUos, 
 (vhether they or others were the persons, 
 (though I am satisfied you are out,) yet it 
 weakeneth not my argument; for if they were 
 blameworthy for dividing, though about the 
 highest fundamental principles, (as you say,) 
 how ought you to blush for carrying it as you 
 do to persons perhaps more godly than your- 
 selves, because they jump not with you in a 
 circumstance ? 
 
 That the divisions at Corinth were helped 
 on by the abuse of baptism to me is evident 
 from Paul's so oft suggesting it : " Were you 
 baptized in the name of Paul ? I thank God 
 I baptized none of you, lest any should say I 
 had baptized in my own name." 
 
 I do not say that- they who baptized them 
 designed this, or that baptism ir( itself effected 
 it, nor yet (though our author fefgns it) " that 
 they were most of them baptized by their fac- 
 tious leaders.'' P. -65. But that they had their 
 factious leaders is evident, and that these 
 leaders made use of the names of Paul, Apol- 
 los, and Christ . is as evident ; for by these 
 names they were beguiled by ^ the help of 
 abused baptism. 
 
 But say you, "Wherein lies the force of 
 this man's argument against baptism, as to 
 its place, worth, and continuance?" 
 
 I answer, I have no argument as to its 
 place, worth, or continuance, although you 
 seek thus to scandalize me. But this kind of 
 sincerity of yours will never make me one of 
 your disciples. 
 
 Have not I told you even in this argument, 
 " Tiiat I speak not as I do to persuade or 
 teach men to break the least of God's com- 
 mandiiients, but that my brethren of the bap- 
 tized way may not hold too much thereupon, 
 may not make it an essential of the Gospel 
 nor yet of the communion of saints 1" Yet he 
 feigns that I urge two arguments against it. 
 Pp. 36, 38. But, reader, thou mayest.know I 
 have no such reasons in my book. Besides, I 
 should be a fool indeed, were I against, it, 
 should I make use of such weak arguments. 
 My words, then, are these : " ' I thank God 
 (saith Paul) that I baptized none of you but 
 Crispus,' &c. Not but that then it >vas an or- 
 dinance, but they abused it in making parties 
 thereby, as they abused also Paul ajid Cephas. 
 'Besides, (said he,) I know not whether I bap- 
 tized any other.' By this negligent relating 
 who were baptized by him he showeth that 
 he made no such matter thereof, as some in 
 these days do, nay, that he made no matter at 
 
 all thereof with respect to a chu:ch commu 
 nion ; for if he did not heed who himself bd,d 
 baptized, much less did he heed who were 
 baptized by others. But if baptism had been 
 the initiating ordinance (and I now add) es- 
 sential to church communion, then no doubt 
 he had made more conscienfae of it than thus 
 lightly to pass it by." 
 
 I add further: where he saith he was not 
 sent to baptize, that he spake with an holy in- 
 dignation against those that had abused that 
 ordinance. " Baptism is a holy ordinance, but 
 when Satan abuseth it and wrencheth it out of 
 its place, making that which is ordained of 
 God for the edification of believers the only 
 weapon to break in pieces the love, unity, 
 and concord of the saints, then, as Paul said 
 of himself and fellows, 'What is baptisrti? 
 Neither is baptism any thing.' This is no 
 new doctrine, for God by the mouth of the 
 prophet of old cried out against his own ap- 
 pointments when abused by his own people, 
 ' because they used them for strife and debate, 
 and to smite with the fist of wickedness.'" 
 But to forbear to take notice thus of these 
 things, my argument stands firm against you : 
 " For if they at Corinth ^v'ere blameworthy foi 
 dividing, though their divisions were (if you 
 say true) about the highest fundamentals, you 
 ought to be ashamed thus to banish your 
 brethren from the privileges of church com- 
 munion for ever for the want of so low a thing 
 as water baptism." I call it not low with re- 
 spect to God's appointment, though it is far- 
 from the highest place in comparison of those 
 fundamentals about which you say "the Cor- 
 inthians made their division." 
 
 You come next to my ninth argument, and 
 serve it as Hanun served David's servants, (2 
 Sam. X. 4 ;) you have cut off one half of its 
 beard and its garments to its buttocks, think- 
 ing to send it home with shame. You state it 
 thus: 
 
 " That by denying communion with unbap- 
 tized believers you take from them their privi- 
 leges to which they are born." P. 40. 
 
 Answer. Have I such an argument in all my 
 little book ? Are not my words verbatim these ? 
 "If we shall reject visible saints by calling, 
 saints that have communion with God, that 
 have received the law at the hand of Christ, 
 that are of a holy conversation among men, 
 they desiring to have communion with us, as 
 much as in us lieth we take from them their 
 very privileges and the blessings to which they 
 were born of God." 
 
860 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Tliig is my argument : now confute, it. 
 
 Paul saith (1 Cor. i. 1, 2 ; iii. 22) not only to 
 the gathered Church at Corinth, hut to all 
 scattered saints that in every place call upon 
 the name of the liOrd, " that Jesus Christ is 
 theirs ; "that Paul, and Apollos, and Cephas^ 
 and the world, and all things else were theirs." 
 
 But you answer, "We take from them 
 nothing, but we keep them from a disorderly 
 practice of Gospel ordinances; we offer them 
 their privileges in the way of Gospel order." 
 
 Ansjier. Where have you one word of God 
 that forbiddeth a person so qualified, as is sig- 
 nified in mine argument, the best communion 
 of saints for want of water ? There is not a 
 syllable for this in the word of God. So then, 
 you, in this your plausible defence, do make 
 your scriptureless light, which in very deed is 
 darkness, (Isa. viii. 20, 21,) the rule of your 
 brother's faith ; and how well you will come 
 off for this in the day of God you might, were 
 you not wedded to your worthless opinion, 
 soon begin to conceive. 
 
 I know your reply : " New Testament saints 
 are all baptized first." 
 
 ATiswer. Suppose it granted, were they bap- 
 tized that thereby they might be qualified for 
 their right to communion of saints, so that 
 without their submitting to water they were to 
 be der.ied the other? Further, suppose I 
 should grant this groundless notion, were not 
 the Jews in Old Testament times to enter the 
 Church by circumcision, for that, though water 
 is not, was the very entering ordinance? Be- 
 sides, as I said before, there was a full forbid- 
 ding of all that were not circumcised from 
 entering into fellowship, with a threateiring to 
 cut them off from the Church if they entered 
 in without it, yet more than six -hundred thou- 
 sand entered that Church without it. But how 
 now if such an one as y&u had then stood up 
 and objected. Sir Moses, what is the reason 
 that you transgress the order of God to receive 
 members without circumcision? Is not that 
 the very entering ordinance? Are not you 
 commanded to keep out of the Church all that 
 are not circumcised? Yea, and for all those 
 that you thus received are you not commanded 
 to cast them out again, " to cut them off' from 
 among his people?" 
 
 I say, would not this man have had a far 
 better argument to have resisted Moses than 
 you in your wordless notion have to shut out 
 men from the Church more holy than many of 
 ourselves ? But do you think that Moses and 
 ' Joshua and all the elders of Israel would have 
 
 thanked this fellow, or have concluded that he 
 spake on God's behalf? or that they should 
 then, for the sake of a better than what you 
 call order, have set to the work that you woulQ 
 be doing, even to break the Church in pieces 
 for this? 
 
 But say you, "If ahy will find or force 
 another way into the sheepfold than by the 
 footsteps of the flock, we have no such cus- 
 toms, nor the churches of God." P. 41. 
 
 Answer. What was done of old ] have show- 
 ed you; that Christ, not baptism, " is the way 
 to the sheepfold" is apparent; and that the 
 person in mine argument is entitled to all 
 these— viz., Christ, grace, and all the things 
 of the kingdom of Christ in the Church — is, 
 upon the Scriptures urged, as evident. 
 
 But you add, "That according to mine old 
 confidence I affirm, ' That drink ye all of this' 
 is entailed to faith, not baptism — a thing, say 
 you, soon said, but yet never proved." 
 
 Answer 1. That it is entailed to faith must 
 be confessed of all hands. 2. That it is the 
 privilege of him "that discerneth llie Lord's 
 body," and that no man is to deny him it, is 
 also by the text as evident, (and so let him eat,) 
 because he is worthy. Wherefore he, and he 
 only, "that discerneth the Loi'd's body," he is 
 the worthy receiver, in God's estimation; .but 
 that none "discerneth the Lord's body" but 
 the baptized is both fond and ridiculous once 
 to surmise. 
 
 Wherefore to exclude Christians, and to de- 
 bar them their heaven-born privileges, for want 
 of that which yet God never made the wall of 
 division betwixt us, this looks too like a spirit 
 of persecution, (Job xix. 25, 26, 27, 28, &c.,) 
 and carrieth in it those eighteen absurdities 
 which you have so hotly cried out against. 
 And I do still add, "Is it not that which 
 greatly prevaileth with God to bring down 
 those judgments, which at present we (the peo- 
 ple of God) groan under? I will dare to say 
 it was a cause thereof." Yea, I will yet pro- 
 ceed : I fear, I strongly fear, that the rod of 
 God is not yet to be taken from us ; for what 
 more provoking sin among Christians than to 
 deny one another their rights and privileges toj 
 which they are born of God? And then to 
 father these their doings upon God, when yet 
 he hath not commanded it, neither in the New 
 Testament nor the Old I 
 
 But I may not lightly pass this by, for be- 
 cause I have gathered eighteen absurdities 
 from this abuse of God's ordinances, or from 
 the sin of binding the brethren to observe or- 
 
DIFFERENCES ABOUT BAPTISM NO BAR TO COMMUNION. 
 
 8G1 
 
 der Dot founded on the command of God, (and 
 I am sure you have none to shut out men as 
 good, as holy and as sound in faith as ourselves 
 from communion,) therefore you call my con- 
 clusion devilish, (p. 43 ;) topfull of ignorance and 
 prejudice, (p. 41 ;) and me one of MachiaveVs 
 scholars, (p. 42;) also proud, presumptuous, im- 
 peaching the judgment of Ood. 
 
 Answer. But what is there in my proposition 
 that men considerate can be offended at? 
 These are my words : " But to exclude Chris- 
 tians from church communion, and to debar 
 them their heaven-born privileges, for the 
 want of that which yet God never made a wall 
 of division between us, this looks too like a 
 spirit of persecution, this respecteth more the 
 form than the spirit and the power of godli- 
 ness, &c. Shall I add, is it no^ that which 
 greatly prevailed to bring down those judg- 
 ments which at present we feel and groan 
 under? I will dare to say it was a cause 
 thereof." Pp. 116, 117. A was in my copy, 
 instead whereof the printer put in the; for 
 this, although I speak ouly the truth, I will 
 not beg of your belief; besides, f^he bookseller 
 desired me, because of the printer's haste, to 
 leave the last sheet to be overlooked by him, 
 which was the cause it Was not among the er- 
 rata. 
 
 But, I say, wherein is the proposition offen- 
 sive? Is it not a wicked thing to make bars to 
 communion where God hath made none? Is 
 it not a wickedness to make that a wall of di- 
 vision betwixt us which God never commanded 
 to be so? If it be not, justify your practice; 
 if it be, take shame. Besides, the proposition 
 is universal ; why then should you be the chief 
 intended? But you have in this done like to 
 the lawyers of old, who when Christ reproved 
 the Pharisees of wickedness before them, said, 
 " Master, thus saying thou reproachest us 
 also." 
 
 But you feign, and would also that the world 
 ihould believe, that the eighteen absurdities 
 which naturally flow from the proposition I 
 make to be the effects of baptism, saying to 
 me, " None but yourself could find an innocent 
 truth big with so many monstrous absurdities." 
 P. 42. 
 
 I answer : this is but speaking wickedly of 
 God, or rather to justify your wordless prac- 
 tice. I say not that baptism hath any ab- 
 surdity in it, though your abusing it hath them 
 all, and many more, while you make it, with- 
 out warrant from the word, as the flaming 
 iword to keep the brotherhood out of commu- 
 
 nion, because they, after your manner, cannot 
 consent thereto. 
 
 And let no man be offended for that I sug- 
 gest that baptism may be abused to the breed- 
 ing such monstrous absurdities, for greatei 
 truths than that ha've been as much abused. 
 What say you to, " This.is my body 1" To in- 
 stance, no more, although I could instance 
 many, are not they the words of our Lord? 
 Are not they part 6f the Scriptures- of truth? 
 And yet behold, even with those words, the 
 devil by abusing them made an engine to let 
 out the heart-blood of thousands. Baptism 
 also may be abused, and is, when more is laid 
 upon it by us than is commanded by God. 
 And that you do so is manifest by what I have 
 said already, and shall yet say to your fourteen 
 arguments. 
 
 My last argument, you say, is this : 
 
 " The world may wonder at your carriage to 
 these unbaptized persons in keeping them out 
 of communion." 
 
 Answer. You will set up your own words 
 and then flght against them ; but my words 
 are these : " What greater contempt can be 
 thrown upon the saints than for their brethren 
 to cut them off from or to debar them church 
 communion I" 
 
 And now I add, is not this to deliver them 
 to the devil, (1 Cor. v.,) or to put them to 
 shame before all that see your acts ? There is 
 but one thing can hinder this, and that is, 
 bystanders see that these your brethren, that 
 you thus abuse, are as holy jnen as ourselves. 
 Do you more to the open profane, yea, to all 
 wizards and witches in the land ? For all you 
 can do to them (I speak now as to church acts) 
 is no other than to debar them the communion 
 of saints. 
 
 And now I say again, the world may well 
 wonder when they seft you deny holy men of 
 God that liberty of the communion of saints 
 which you monopolize to yourselves; and 
 though they do not understand the grounds of 
 profession or communion, yet they can both 
 see and say those holy men of God, in all vis- 
 ible acts of ioliness, are not one inch behind 
 you. Yea, I will put it to yourselves, if those 
 many, yea very many, who thus severely (but 
 with how little ground is seen by men of God) 
 you deny communion with are not of aa good, 
 as holy, as unblamable in life, as sound, if not 
 sounder, in the faith than many among our- 
 selves ? Here only they make the stop — ^they 
 cannot, without light, be driven into water 
 baptism — I mean after our notion of it ; but 
 
862 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 what if they were, it would be little sign to 
 me that they were sincere with God. 
 
 To conclude this : when you have proved that^ 
 water baptism (which you yourself have said 
 is not a church ordinance, p. 40) is essential to 
 church communion, and that the Church may, 
 by the word of God, bolt, bar, and for ever 
 shut out those far better than ourselves that 
 have not, according to our notion, been bap- 
 tized with water, then it will be time enough 
 to talk of ground for so doing. In the mean 
 time I must take leave to tell you there is not 
 in all the Bible one syllable for such a practice ; 
 wherefore your great cry about your order is 
 wordless, and therefore faithless, and is a mere 
 human invention. 
 
 I come now to your fourteen arguments, 
 and shall impartially consider them. 
 
 Your first argument, to prove it lawful to re- 
 ject the unbaptized saint, is: "Because the 
 great commission of Christ (Matt, xxviii.) from 
 which all persons have their authority for their 
 ministry (if any authority at all) doth clearly 
 direct the contrary. By that commission 
 ministers are first to disciple, and then to bap- 
 tize them so made disciples, and afterwards to 
 teach them to observe all that Christ com- 
 mands them as to other ordinances of worship. 
 If ministers have no other authority to teach 
 them other parts of Gospel worship before 
 they believe and are baptized, it may be 
 strongly supposed they are not to admit them 
 to other ordinances before they have passed 
 this first ejijoined in the commission." 
 
 Answer 1. That the ministers are to disci- 
 ple and baptize is granted. But that they are 
 prohibited (by the commission, Matt, xxviii.) 
 to teach the disciples other parts of Gospel 
 worship that have not light in baptisaj, re- 
 mains for you to prove. Shall I add, this 
 position is so absurd and void of truth that 
 none Who have ever read of the love of Christ, 
 the nature of faith, the end of the Gospel, or 
 of the reason of instituted worship, which is 
 edification with understanding, should so much 
 as once imagine. 
 
 But where are they here forbidden to teach 
 them other truths before they be baptized? 
 This text as fairly denieth to the unbaptized 
 believer heaven and glory. Nay, our author 
 in the midst of all his flutter about the 28th 
 of Matthew dare venture to gather no more 
 therefrom but that it may be strohgly sup- 
 posed. Behold, therefore, gentle reader, the 
 ground on which these brethren lay the stress 
 
 of their separation from their fellows is noth- 
 ing else but a supposition, without warrant, 
 screwed out of this blessed word of God. 
 Strongly supposed! But may it not be as 
 strongly supposed that the presence and bless- 
 ing of the Lord Jesus with his ministers is 
 laid upon the same grounds also? For thus 
 he concludes the text : " And lo ! I am with 
 you always, even to the end of the world." 
 But would, I say, any man from these words 
 conclude that Christ Jesus hath here promised 
 his presence only to them that after disciplin- 
 ing baptize those that are so made, and that 
 they that do not baptize shall neither have his 
 presence nor his blessing? I say again, 
 should any so conclude hence, would not all 
 experience prove him void of truth? The 
 words therefore must be left by you as you 
 found them; they favour not at all your 
 groundless supposition. 
 
 To conclude, these words have not laid bap- 
 tism in the way to debar the saint from fellow- 
 ship of his brethren, no more than to hinder 
 his inheritance in life and glory. Mark reads 
 it thus: "He that believeth and is baptized 
 shall be saved ; but he that believeth not shall 
 be damned ;" letting baptism, which he men- 
 tioned in the promise, fall when he came at 
 the threatening. 
 
 God also doth thus with respect to his wor- 
 ship in the Church; he commands all and 
 every whit 6f his will to be done, but beareth 
 with our coming short in this, and that, and 
 the other duty. But let us go on. 
 
 Your second argument is' : 
 
 " That the order of Christ's commission, as 
 well as the matter therein contained to be ob- 
 served, may easily be concluded from God's 
 severity towards them that sought him not ac- 
 cording to due order. 1 Chron. xv. 13. Was God 
 so exact with his people then that all things 
 to a pin must be according to the pattern in 
 the mount, (Heb. vii. 16 ; ix. 11,) whose worship 
 then, comparatively to the Gospel, was but 
 after the law of a carnal commandment, and 
 can it be supposed he should be so indifferent 
 now to leave men to their own liberty to time 
 and place his appointments, contrary to what 
 he hath given an express rule for in his word 
 as before? Ezek. xliv. 7, 9, 10, It was the 
 priest's sin formerly to bring the uncircum- 
 cised in heart and flesh into his house.'' 
 
 Answer. That there is no such order in that 
 commission as you feign I have proved. As 
 for your far-fetched instance, (1 Chron, xv.,) 
 it is Quite beside your purpose. The express 
 
DIFFERENCES ABOUT BAPTISM NO BAR TO COMMUNION. 
 
 863 
 
 word was, that the priest, not a cart, should 
 bear the ark of God. Also they were not to 
 touch it, and yet Uzza did. Ex. xxv. 14; 1 
 Chron. XV. 12-16; Num. iv. 15 ; 1 Chron. xiii. 
 Now if you can make the 28th of Matthew 
 Bay, "Receive none that are "not baptized 
 first, or that Christ would have them of his 
 that are not yet baptized kept ignorant of all 
 other truths that respect church communion, 
 then you say something, else you do but raise 
 a mist before the simple reader; but whoso 
 listeth may hang on your sleeve. 
 
 As for the pins and tacks of- the tabernacle, 
 they were expressly commanded; and when 
 you have proved by the word of God that you 
 ought to shut saints out of your communion 
 for want of baptism, then you may begin more 
 justly to make your parallel. How fitly you 
 have urged Ezek. xliv. to insinuate that un- 
 baptized believers are like the uncircumcised 
 in heart and flesh, I leave it to all Gospel 
 novices to consider. 
 
 Your third argument is : 
 
 " The practice of the first Gospel ministers 
 with them that first trusted in Christ discovers 
 the truth of what I assert. Certainly, they 
 that lived at the spring-head or fountain of 
 truth, and had ^he law of Christ's own mouth, 
 knew the meaning of his commission better 
 than we ; but their constant practice in con- 
 formity to that commission, all along the acts 
 of the apostles, discovers that they never 
 arrived' to such a latitude as men plead for 
 now-a-days. They that gladly received the 
 word were baptized, and they, yea, they only, 
 were received into the Church." 
 
 Aiiswer. How well you have proved what 
 you have asserted is manifest by my answer to 
 the two former arguments. I add, that the 
 ministers and servants of Jesus Christ in the 
 first churches (for that you are to prove) were 
 commanded to forbear to preach other truths 
 to the unbaptized believers, or that they were 
 • to keep them out of the Church, or that the 
 apostles and first fathers have given you to un- 
 derstand by their example that you ought to 
 keep as good out of churches as yourselves, 
 hath not yet been showed by the authority of 
 the word. The second of the Acts proveth 
 not that the three thousand ■^'ere necessitated 
 o be baptized in order to their fellowship with 
 the Church; neither doth it say they, yea, 
 they only, were received into the Church. 
 But suppose all this, as much was done at the 
 first institution of circumcision, <fec., yet after- 
 wards thousands were received without it. 
 
 Your fourth argument is : 
 
 "None of the Scripture saints ever at- 
 tempted this church privilege without bap- 
 tism, (if they did, let it be shown.) The 
 eunuch first desired baptism before any thing 
 else; Paul was first baptized before he did 
 essay to join with the Church. Our Lord 
 Christ, the great example of the New Testa- 
 ment, entered not upon his public ministry, 
 much less any other Gospel ordinance of wor- 
 ship, till he was baptized." 
 
 Answer. That none of the Scripture saints 
 (if there be any unscripture ones) so much as 
 attempted this church privilege, first remains 
 for you to prove. But suppose they were all 
 baptized because they had light therein, what 
 then ? Doth this prove that baptism is essen- 
 tial to church communion, or that Christ com- 
 manded in the 28th of Matthew, or gave his 
 ministers by that authority, not to make known 
 to believers other parts of Gospel worship if 
 they shall want light in baptism ? The eunuch, 
 Paul, and our blessed Lord Jesus did none of 
 them, by their baptism, set themselves to us 
 examples how to enter into church commu- 
 nion. What Church was the eunuch baptized 
 into or made a member of? But where is it 
 said that the unbaptized believer, how excel- 
 lent soever in faith and holiness, must, for want 
 of water baptism, be fehut out from the com- 
 munion of saints or be debarred the privilege 
 of his Father's house? This you are to prove. 
 
 Your fifth argument is : 
 
 " If Christ himself was made manifest to be 
 the Sent of God by baptism, as appears, (Mark 
 i. 9, 10,) then why may not baptism, as the 
 first-fruits of faith and the first step of Gospel 
 * obedience as to instituted worship, be a mani- 
 festing, discovering ordinance upon others who 
 thus follow Christ's steps ?" 
 
 Answer. That Jesus Christ was manifested 
 as the Sent of God by baptism, or that baptism 
 is the first-fruit of faith and the first step of 
 Gospel obedience as to instituted worship, is 
 both without proof and truth : the text saith 
 not he was manifest to be the Sent of God by 
 baptism ; nay, it saith not that by that he was 
 manifest to others to be anything: you have 
 therefore but wronged the text to prove your 
 wordless practice by. Yea, John himself, 
 though he knew him before he was baptized to 
 be a man of God ; for, saith he, " I have need 
 to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me ?" 
 and knew him after to be the Sent of God ; 
 yet not in or by, but after he was baptized — 
 viz., by the descending of the Holy Ghost 
 
864 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 after he was come out of the water, as he was 
 in prayer ; for the heavens' were opened to 
 John, and he saw and bpre record, because he 
 saw theSpiric descend from heaven and abide 
 upon Jesus after his baptism, as he was in 
 prayer. Matt. iii. 13-17; Luke iii. 21, 22. 
 Thus we find him made known before and 
 after, but not at' all by baptism, to be the Sent 
 of God. 
 
 And that baptism is the fruit of faith, or 
 that faith ought to be tied to take its first step 
 in water baptism in the instituted worship of 
 God, (this you must prove,) is not found ex- 
 pressed within the whole Bible. Faith acts 
 according to its strength and as it sees ; it is 
 not tied or bound to any outward circumstance ; 
 one believeth he may and another believeth he 
 may not either do this or that. 
 
 Your sixth argument is : 
 
 " If baptism be in any sense any part of the 
 foundation of a Church as to. order, (Heb. vi. 
 1, 2,) it must have place here or nowhere : why 
 are those things called first principles if not 
 first to be believed and practised ? Why are 
 they rendered by the learned the A, B, C, of a 
 Christian and the beginning of Christianity 
 milk for babes if it be no matter whether bap- 
 tism be practised or no ? If it be said. Water 
 baptism is not there intended, let them show 
 me how manyl)aptisms there are besides water 
 baptism. Can you build and leave out a stone 
 in the foundation ? I intend not baptism a foun- 
 dation any other way but in respect of order, 
 and it is either intended for that or nothing." 
 
 Answer. Baptism is in no sense the founda- 
 tion of a Church. I find no foundati6n of 
 a Church but Jesus Christ himself. Matt. 
 xvi. 18 ; 1 Cor. iii. 11. Yea, the founda- 
 tion mentioned (Heb. iv. 1, 2) is nothing else 
 but this very Christ. For he is the founda- 
 tion, not only of the Church, but of all that 
 good that at any time is found in her. He is 
 the foundation of our repentance and of our 
 faith towards God. Ver. 1, 2. Further, bap- 
 tisms are not here mentioned with respect to 
 the act in water, but of the doctrine — that is, 
 the signification thereof, the doctrine of bap- 
 tisms. And observe, neither faith, nor re- 
 pentance, nor baptisms are called here founda- 
 tions. Another thing for a foundation is here 
 by the Holy Ghost intended, even a foundation 
 for them all — a foundation of faith, of re- 
 pentance, of the doctrine of baptisms, of the 
 resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judg- 
 ment. Aud this foundation is Jesus Christ 
 himself, and these are the first principles, the 
 
 milk, the A, B, C, and the beginning of th« 
 Christian religion in the world. 
 
 I dare not say, No matter whether water 
 baptism be practised or no. But it is not s 
 stone in the foundation of a Church, no not 
 respecting order; it is not to another a sign of 
 my sonship with God ; it is not the door into 
 fellowship with the saints ; it is no church or- 
 dinance, as you yourself have testified. P. 40. 
 So, then, as to church worlv, it hath no place 
 at all therein. 
 
 Your seventh argument is : 
 
 "If Paul knew the Galatians only upon the 
 account of charity, no other ways to be the 
 sons of God by faith but by this part of their 
 obedience, as he seems to import, then the 
 same we may judge of the truth of men's 
 profession of faith when it shows itself by 
 this self-same obedience, (Gal. iii. 26, 27;) 
 baptism being an obligation to all following 
 duties." 
 
 Ansioer. This your argument, being builded 
 upon no more than a seeming import, and 
 having been above ten 'times overthrown 
 already, I might leave still with you till your 
 seeming import is come to a real one, and both 
 to a greater persuasion upon your own con- 
 science. But verily, sir, you grossly abuse 
 your reader. Must imports, yea, must seem- 
 ing imports, now stand for arguments, thereby 
 to maintain your confident separation from 
 your brethren? Yea, must such things as 
 these be the basis on which you build those - 
 heavy censures and condemnations you raise 
 against your brethren that cannot comply 
 without you, because you want the word? A 
 seeming import I But are these words of 
 faith? or do the Scriptures only help you to 
 seeming imports and me-hap-soes for your 
 practice? No, nor yet to them neither, for I 
 dare boldly afiirm it, and demand if you can 
 to prove that there is so much as a seeming 
 import in all the word of God that counte- 
 nanceth your shutting men better than our- " 
 selves from the things and privileges of our 
 Father's house. 
 
 , That to the Galatians saith not that Paul 
 knew them to be the sons of God by faith no 
 other way but by this 'part of their obedience; 
 but puts them upon concluding themselves the 
 sons of God if they were baptized into the 
 Lord Jesus, which could not (ordinarily) be 
 known but unto themselves alone, because be- 
 ing thus baptized respecteth a special act of 
 faith, which only God and him that hath and 
 acteth it can be privy to. It is one thing ioi 
 
DIFFERENCES ABOUT BAPTISM NO BAR TO COMMUNION. 
 
 865 
 
 niin that administereth to baptize in the name 
 cf Jesus; another thing for him that is the 
 subject by that to be baptized into Jesus 
 Christ. Baptizing into Christ is rather the 
 act of the faith of him that is baptized than 
 his going into water and coming out again; 
 but that Paul knew this to be the state of the 
 Galatians no other wcy but by their external 
 acts of being baptized with water is both wild 
 and unsound, and a miserable import indeed. 
 
 Your eighth argument is: 
 
 " If being baptized into Christ be a putting 
 on of Christ, as Paul expresses, then they 
 have not put on Christ, in that sense he means, 
 that ara not baptized; if this putting on of 
 Christ doth not respect the visibility of Chris- 
 tianity, assign something else as its significa- 
 tion ; great men's servants are known by their 
 master's liveries, so are Gospel oelievers by 
 this livery of water baptism, that all that first 
 trusted in Christ submitted unto, which is in 
 itself as much an obligation to all Gospel obe- 
 dience as circumcision was to keep the whole 
 law." 
 
 Answer. For a reply to the first part of this 
 argument go back to the answer of the 
 seventh. 
 
 Now that none have put on Christ in Paul's 
 sense, yea, in a saving, in the best sense, but 
 them that have, as you would have them, gone 
 into water, will be hard for you to prove, yea, 
 is ungodly for you to assert. 
 
 Your comparing water baptism to a gentle- 
 man's livery, by which his man is known to bo 
 his, is fantastical. 
 
 Go you but ten doors from where men have 
 knowledge of you, and see how many of the 
 world or Christians will know you by this 
 goodly livery to be one that hath put on 
 Christ. What I known by water baptism to 
 be one that hath put on Christ,. as a gentle- 
 man's man is known to be his master's ser- 
 vant by the gay garment his master gave him! 
 Away, fond man ! you do quite forget the text: 
 " By this shall all men know that you are my 
 disciples, if you love one another." 
 
 That baptism is in itself obliging, to speak 
 properly, it is false, for set it by itself and it 
 stands \yithout the stamp of heaven upon it, 
 and without its signification also; and how, as 
 such, it should be obliging I see not. 
 
 Where you insinuated it comes in the room 
 of and obligeth as circumcision, you say you 
 know not what. Circumcision was the initiat- 
 ing ordinance, but this you have denied to 
 baptism. Further, circumcision then bound 
 65 
 
 men to the whole obedience of the law when 
 urged by the false apostles and received by an 
 erroneous conscience. Would you thus urge 
 water baptism? Would you have men to re- 
 ceive it with such consciences? Circumcision 
 in the flesh was a type of circumcision in the 
 heart, and not of water baptism. 
 
 Your ninth argument is : 
 
 " If it were commendable in the Thessalo- 
 nians that they follow the footsteps of the 
 Church of Judea, (1 Thess. ii. 24,) who it ap- 
 pears followed this order of adding baptized 
 believers unto the Church, then they that 
 have found out another way of making church 
 members are not by that rule praiseworthy, 
 but rather to be blamed: it was not what was 
 since in corrupted times, but that which was 
 from the beginning: the first churches were 
 the purest pattern." 
 
 Ansioer. That the text saith there was a 
 Church of Judea I find not. 1 Thess. ii. 14. 
 And that the Thessalonians are commended 
 for refusing to have communion with the un- 
 baptized believers, (for that is our question,) 
 prove it by the word, and then you do some- 
 thing. Again, that the commendations (1 
 Thess. ii. 14) do chiefiy or at all respect theii 
 being baptized, " or because they followed the 
 churches- of God which in Judea were in 
 Christ Jesus" in the example of water bap- 
 tism, is quite beside the word. The verse 
 runs thus: "For the brethren became fol- 
 lowers of the churches of God which in Judea 
 are in Christ Jesus, for ye also have suffered 
 like things of your own countrymen, even aa 
 they have of the Jews," &c. This text then 
 commends them, not for that they were bap- 
 tized with water, but for that they stood their 
 ground although baptized with sufiering, like 
 them in Judea, for the name of the Lord 
 Jesus: "For sufiering like things of their 
 own countrymen, as they did of the Jews." 
 Will you not leave off! to abuse the word of 
 God, and forbear turning it out of its place to 
 maintain your unchristian practice of reject- 
 ing the people of God and excluding them 
 their blessed privileges? 
 
 The unbaptized believer, instead of taiing 
 shame for entering into fellowship without it, 
 will be ready, I doubt, to put you to shame for 
 bringing Scriptures so much beside the pur- 
 pose, and for stretching them so miserably to 
 uphold you in your fancies. 
 
 Your tenth argument is: 
 
 " If it so be that any of the members at Co- 
 rinth, Qalatia, Colosse, Rome, or them that 
 
866 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Peter wrote to, were not baptized, then Paul's 
 arguments for the resurrection to thera, or to 
 press them to holiness from that ground, 
 (Bom. vi. ; Col. ii. ; 1 Cor. xv.,) was out of 
 doors and altogether needless; yea, it be- 
 speaks his ignorance, and throweth contempt 
 upon the Spirit's wisdom (Heb. vi. ; 1 Pet. 
 ill. 12) by which he wrote; if that must be 
 asserted as a ground to provoke them to such 
 an end which had no being, and if all the 
 members of all those churches were baptized, 
 why should any plead for an exemption from 
 baptism for any such member now?" 
 
 Aiiswer. Suppose all, if all these churches 
 were baptized, what then ? that answereth not 
 our question. We ask where you find it 
 written that those that are baptized should 
 keep men as holy and as much beloved of the 
 Lord Jesus as themselves out of church, com- 
 munion for want of light in water baptism ? 
 
 Why we plead for their admission, though 
 they see not yet that that is their duty, is be- 
 cause we are not forbidden, but commanded, 
 to receive them, because God and Christ hath 
 done it. Rom. xiv. 15. 
 
 Your eleventh argument is : 
 
 "If unbaptized persons must be received 
 into .churches only because they are believers, 
 though they deny baptism, then why may not 
 others plead for the like privileges that are 
 negligent in any other Gospel ordinance of 
 worship, from the same ground of want of 
 light, let it be what it will ? So, then, as the 
 consequence of this principle, churches may 
 be made up of visible sinners instead of visi- 
 ble saints." 
 
 Aiuwer. I plead not for believers simply be- 
 cause they are believers, but for such believers 
 of whom we are persuaded by the word that 
 God hath received them. 
 
 2. There are some of the ordinances that, 
 De they neglected, the being of a Church, as 
 to her visible Gospel constitution, is taken 
 quite away; but baptism is none of them, it 
 being no church ordinance as such, nor any 
 part of faith, nor of that holiness of heart or 
 life that showeth me to the Church to be in- 
 deed a visible saint. The saint is a saint be- 
 fore, and may walk with God, and be faithful 
 with the saints and to his own light also, 
 though he never be baptized. Therefore to 
 plead for his admission makes no way at all 
 for the admission of the open profane, or to 
 receive, as you profess you do, persons unpre- 
 pared to the Lord's table and other solemn 
 appointments. P. 29. 
 
 Your twelfth argument is : 
 
 '- Why should professors have more light in 
 breaking of bread than baptism, that this 
 must be so urged for their excuse? Hath 
 God been more sparing in making out hia 
 mind in the one rather than the other? Is 
 there more of precept or precedent for the 
 supper than baptism? Hath God been so 
 bountiful in making out himself about the 
 supper that few or none that own ordinances 
 scruple at it? And must baptism be such a 
 rock of offence to professors that few will in- 
 quire after it or submit to it? Hath not man's 
 wisdom interposed to darken this part of 
 God's counsel, by which professors seem will- 
 ingly led, though against so many plain com- 
 mands and examples, written as with a sun- 
 beam, that he that runs may read? And 
 must an advocate be entertained to plead for 
 so gross a piece of ignorance that the meanest 
 babes of the first Gospel times were never 
 guilty of?" 
 
 Answer. Many words to little purpose. 
 
 1. Must God be called to an account by 
 you why he giveth more light about the sup- 
 per than baptism ? May he not show to or 
 conceal from this or any other of his ser- 
 vants which of his truths he pleaseth ? Some 
 of the members of Jerusalem had a greater 
 truth than this kept from them, for aught 
 I know, as long as they lived, (Acts xi. 19,) 
 yet God was not called in question about it. 
 
 2. Breaking of bread, not baptism, being a 
 church ordinance, and that such also as must 
 be often reiter.ated, yea, it being an ordinance 
 so full of blessedness as likely to present union 
 and communion with Christ to all the mem- 
 bers that worthily eat thereof — I say, the 
 Lord's Supper being such that while the 
 members sit at that feast they show to each 
 other the death and blood of the Lord, as 
 they ought to do, till he comes, (1 Cor. x. 15, 
 16, 17; xi. 22, 23, 24, 25, 26,) the Church as 
 a Church is much more concerned in thst 
 than in water baptism, both as to her faiih 
 and comfort, both as to her union and com- 
 munion. 
 
 3. Your supposition that very few profeasoru 
 will seriously inquire after water baptism is 
 too rude. What! must all the children of God 
 that are not baptized for want of light be still 
 stigmatized with want of serious inquiry after 
 God's mind in it? 
 
 3. That I am an advocate, entertained to 
 plead for so gross a piece of ignorance as warn 
 of light in baptism, is but like the rest of your 
 
DIFFERENCES ABOUT BAPTISM NO BAB TO COMMUNION. 
 
 867 
 
 jumbling. I plead for communion with men 
 godly and faithful ; I plead that they may be 
 received that God hath showed us he hath re- 
 ceived and commanded we should receive 
 them. 
 
 Your thirteenth argument is : 
 
 " If obedience must discover the truth of a 
 man's faith to others, why must baptism be 
 shut out, as if it was no part of Gospel obedi- 
 dience ? ' Is there no precept for this practice, 
 that it must be thus despised as a matter of 
 little use ? ' Or shall one of Christ's precious 
 commands be blotted out of a Christian's obe- 
 dience, to make way for a church fellowship 
 of man's devising?" 
 
 Answer 1. This is but round, round, the 
 same thing over and over. That my obedience 
 to water is not a discovery of jny faith to 
 others is evident ; from the body of the Bible 
 we find nothing that affirms it. 
 
 And I will now add, that if a man cannot 
 show himself a Christian without water bap- 
 tism, " he shall never show either saint or 
 sinner that he is a Christian by it." 
 
 2. Who they are that despise it I know not ; 
 but that church membership may be without 
 it (seeing even you yourself have concluded it 
 is no church ordinance, p. 40, nor the entering 
 ordinance, pp. 3, 4) standeth both with Scrip- 
 ture and reason, as mine arguments make 
 manifest. So that all your arguments prove 
 no more than this, " that you are so wedded to 
 your wordless notions that charity can have 
 no place with you." Have you all this while 
 so much as given me one small piece of a text 
 to prove it unlawful for the Church to receive 
 those whom she, by the word, perceiveth the 
 Lord God and her Christ hath received ? No ; 
 and therefore you have said so much as 
 amounts to nothing. 
 
 Your last argument is : 
 
 " The baptism of Jbhn was so far honoured 
 and dignified that they that did submit to it 
 are said to justify God, and those that did it 
 not are said to reject his counsel against them- 
 selves ; so that their receiving or rejecting the 
 whole doctrine of God hath its denomination 
 from this single practice. And is there not as 
 much to be said of the baptism of Christ, un- 
 less you will say it is inferior to John's in 
 worth and use?" 
 
 Answer 1. That our denomination of be- 
 lievers, and of our receiving the doctrine of 
 the Lord Jesus is not to be reckoned from our 
 baptism is evident, because, according to our 
 notion of it, they only that have before re- 
 
 ceived the doctrine of the Gospel, and so show 
 it us by their confession of faith, they only 
 ought to be baptized. This might serve for 
 an answer for all ; but — 
 
 2. The baptism of .John was "the baptism 
 of repentance for the remission of sins," of 
 which water was but an outward signification, 
 Mark i. 4. Now what is the baptism of re- 
 pentance but an unfeigned acknowledgment 
 that they were sinners, and so stood in need of 
 a Saviour, Jesus Christ. This baptism, or 
 baptism under this notion, the Pharisees would 
 not receive, "for they trusted to themselves 
 that they were righteous, that they were not 
 as other men, that they had need of no repent- 
 ance ;" nol but that they would have been 
 baptized with water, might that h.ave been 
 without an acknowledgment that thfey were 
 sinners ; wherefore, seeing the counsel of God 
 respected rather the remission of sins by Jesus 
 Christ than the outward act of water baptism, 
 ye ought not, as you do by this your reason- 
 ing, to make it rather, at least in the revela- 
 tion of it, to terminate in the outward act of 
 being baptized, but in unfeigned and sound 
 repentance and the receiving Jesus Christ by 
 faith. 
 
 Further. A desire to submit to John's water 
 baptism, or of being baptized by him in water, 
 did not demonstrate by that single act the re- 
 ceiving of the whole doctrine of God, as you 
 suggest. 
 
 Why did John reject the Pharisees that 
 would have been baptized, and Paul examine 
 them that were ? Matt. iii. 7 ; Acts xix. 2, 3. 
 
 If your doctrine be true, why did they not 
 rather say, Oh, seeing you desire to be bap- 
 tized, and seeing you have been baptized, you 
 need not to be questioned any further; your 
 submitting to John's water to us is a sufficient 
 testimony, even that single act, that you have 
 received the whole doctrine of God. 
 
 But I say, why did John call them vipers, 
 and Paul ask them whether they had yet re- 
 ceived the Holy Ghost? Yea, it is evident 
 that a man may be desirous of water, that a 
 man may be baptized, and neither own the 
 doctrine of repentance nor know on whom 
 he should believe — evident I say, and that by 
 the same texts. 
 
 You have grounded therefore this your last 
 argument, as also the rest, upon an utter mis- 
 take of things. 
 
 I come now to your questions; which 
 although they be mixed with gall, I will 
 
868 
 
 EUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 with patience see if I can turn them into 
 food. 
 
 Your first question is : 
 
 "I ask your own heart whether popularity 
 and applause of variety of professors be not 
 in the bottom of what you have said — that 
 hath been your snare to pervert the right ways 
 of the Lord, and lead others into a path 
 wherein we can find none of the footsteps of 
 the flock of the first ages?" 
 
 Amwer. Setting aside a retaliation like your 
 question, I say, and God knows I speak the 
 truth, I have contemplated to do what I have 
 done by a provocation of sixteen years long — 
 tempted, I say, by the brethren of your way, 
 who, whenever they saw their opportunity, 
 have made it their business to seek to rend us 
 in pieces; mine own self they have endeav- 
 oured to persuade to forsake the Church ; some 
 they have rent quite ofi' from us, others they 
 have attempted and attempted to divide and 
 break off from us, but by the mercy of God 
 have hitherto prevented. 
 
 A more large account you may have in my 
 next, if you think good to demand it; but I 
 thank God that I have written what I have 
 written. 
 
 Question 2. "Have you dealt brotherly or 
 like a Christian to throw so much dirt upon . 
 your brethren, in print, in the face of the 
 world, when you had opportunity to converse 
 with them of reputation amongst us before 
 printing, being allowed the libei'ty by them at 
 the same time for you to speak among them 1" 
 
 Answer. I have thrown no dirt upon them, 
 nor laid anything to their charge, if their 
 practice be warrantable by the word ; but you 
 have not been oifended at the dirt yourselves 
 have thrown at all the godly in the land that 
 are not of your persuasion, in counting them 
 unfit to be communicated with or to be accom- 
 panied with in the house of God. This dirt 
 you never complained of, nor would, I doubt, 
 to this day, might you be still let alone to 
 throw it. As to my book, it was printed be- 
 fore I spake with any of you or knew whether 
 I might be accepted of you. As to them of 
 reputation among you, I know others not one 
 tittle inferior to them, and have my liberty to 
 consult with whom I like best. 
 
 Question 3. " Doth your carriage answer the 
 law of love or civility, when the brethren used 
 means to send for you for a conference, and 
 their letter was received by you, that you 
 should go out again from the city, after know- 
 ledge of their desires and not vouchsafe a 
 
 meeting with them, when the glory of God 
 and the vindication of so many churches ia 
 concerned?" 
 
 Answer. The reason why I came not amongst 
 you was, partly because I consulted mine own 
 weakness, and counted not myself (being a 
 dull-headed man) able to engage so many of 
 the chief of you as I was then infornied in- 
 tended to meet me ; I also feared, in personal 
 disputes, heats and bitter contentions might 
 arise, a thing my spirit hath no pleasure in. 
 I feared also that both myself and words would 
 be misrepresented, and that not without cause ; 
 for if they that answer a book will alter and 
 screw arguments out of their places, and make 
 my sentences stand in their own words, not 
 mine — when (I say) my words are in a book to 
 be seen, what would you have done, had I in 
 the le'kst, either in matter or manner, though 
 but seemingly, miscarried among you ? 
 
 As for the many churches which you say are 
 concerned, as also the glory of God, I doubt 
 not to say they are only your wordless opinions 
 that are concerned; the glory of God is vindi- 
 cated: "We receive him that God hath re- 
 ceived, and that to the glory of God." Eom 
 XV. 16. 
 
 Question 4. " Is it not the spirit of Diotre- 
 phes of old in you, who loved to have the pre- 
 eminence, that you are so bold to keep out all 
 the brethren that are not of your mind in this 
 matter from having any entertainment in the 
 churches or meetings to which you belong, 
 though you yourself have not been denied the 
 like liberty among them that are contrary- 
 minded to you ? Is this the way of your re- 
 taliation? Or are you afraid lest the truth 
 should invade your quarters?" 
 
 Answer. I can say I would not have the 
 spirit you talk of; what I have of it, God take 
 it from me. But what was the spirit of Dio- 
 trephes? Why, not to receive the brethren 
 into the Church and to forbid them that would. 
 3 John 9, 10. This do not I ; I am for com- 
 munion with saints because they are saints ; I 
 shut none' of the brethren out of the churches, 
 nor forbid them that would receive them. I 
 say again, show me the man that is a visible 
 believer and that walketh with God, and though 
 he differ with me about baptism, the doors of 
 the Church stand open for him, and all oui 
 heaven-born privileges, he shall be admitted 
 to them. But how came Diotrephes so lately 
 into our parts? Where was he in those days 
 that our brethren of the bapt'zed way would 
 neither receive into the Church nor pray with 
 
DIFFERENCES ABOUT BAPTISM NO BAR TO COMMUNION. 
 
 869 
 
 men as go ■"d as themselves, because they were 
 not baptized, but would either, like Quakers, 
 stand with their hats on their heads or else 
 withdraw till we had done ? 
 
 As to our not suffering those you plead for to 
 preach in our assemblies, the reason is because 
 we cannot yet prevail with them to repent of 
 their church-rending principles. As to the re- 
 taliation, mind the hand of God and remember 
 Adonibezek. Judg. i. 7. 
 
 Let the truth come into our quarters and wel- 
 come, but sowers of discord, because the Lord 
 hates it, we also ourselves will avoid them. 
 
 Question 5. " Is there no contempt cast upon 
 the brethren who desired your satisfaction, that 
 at the same time when you had opportunity to 
 speak to them, instead of that you committed 
 the letters to others by way of r^ection upon 
 them?" 
 
 Answer. It is no contempt at all to consult 
 men more wise and judicious than him that 
 wrote or myself either. But why not consult 
 with others? " Is wisdom to die with you? Or 
 do you count all that yourselves have uo hand 
 in done to your disparagement ? 
 
 Question 6. " Did not your presumption 
 prompt you to provoke them to printing in 
 your letter to them, when they desired to be 
 found in no such practice, lest the enemies of 
 truth should take. advantage by it?" 
 
 Answer. What prov6ked you to print will be 
 best known at the day of judgment — whether 
 you fear of losing your wordless opinion or my 
 plain answer to your letter. The words in my 
 letter are, "As for my book, never defer its 
 answer till you speak with me, for I strive not 
 for mastery, but truth." Though you did not 
 desire to write, yet with us there was continual 
 labour to rend us to pieces, and to prevent that 
 which was in my first book written. And let 
 who will take advantage, so the truth of God 
 and the edification of my brother be promoted. 
 
 Qtiestion 7. "Whether your principle and 
 practice is not equally against others as well as 
 us — viz., Episcopals, Presbyterians, and Inde- 
 pendents — who are also of our side for our 
 practice, though they differ with us about the 
 subject of baptism? Do you delight to have 
 your hand against every man 1" 
 
 Answer. I own water baptism to be God's 
 ordinance, but I make no idol of it. Where 
 you call now the Episcopal to side with you, 
 and also the Presbyterian, &c., you will not 
 find them easily persuaded to conclude with 
 you against me. They are against your man- 
 ner of dipping, as well as the subject of water 
 
 baptism; neither do you, for all you flatter 
 them, agree together in all but the subject. 
 Do you allow their sprinkling? Do you 
 allow their signing with the cross ? Why 
 then have you so stoutly, an hundred times 
 over, condemned these things as antichristian? 
 I am not against every man, though by your 
 abusive language you would set every one 
 against me ; but I am for union, concord, and 
 communion of saints as saints, and for thai 
 cause I wrote my book. 
 To conclude : 
 
 1. In all I have said I put a difference be- 
 tween my brethren of the baptized way ; I 
 know some are more moderate than some. 
 
 2. When I plead for the unbaptized, I 
 chiefly intend those that are not so baptized 
 as my brethren judge right, according to the 
 first pattern. 
 
 3. If any shall count my papers worth the 
 scribbling against, let him deal with mine 
 arguments and things immediately depend- 
 ing upon them, and not conclude he hath 
 confuted a book when he hath only quar- 
 relled at words. 
 
 4. I have done when I have told you that 1 
 strive not for mastery nor to show myself sin- 
 gular, but, if it might be, for union and com- 
 munion among the godly. And count me not 
 as an enemy because I tell you the truth. 
 
 5. And now, dissenting brethren, I com- 
 mend you to God, who can pardon your sin, 
 and give you more grace and an inheritance 
 among them that are sanctified by faith in 
 Jesus Christ. Amen. 
 
 HEBE EOLLOWETH MR. HENRY JESSE'S 
 JUDGMENT UPON THE SAME ARGU- 
 MENT. 
 Sucfi as are weak in the faith receive you, &t, — 
 EOM. xiv. 1. 
 Wheeeas some suppose the receiving thfere 
 mentioned was but receiving into brotherly 
 affection such as were in church fellowship, 
 but not a receiving of such as were weak into 
 the Church ; 
 
 For answer unto which, consider — 
 That in the text are two things to be in- 
 quired into : 
 
 First. What weakness of faith this is that 
 must not hinder receiving. 
 
 Secondly. By whom and to what he that i* 
 weak in the faith is to be received. 
 
870 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 To the first, What weakness of faith this is 
 that must not hinder receiving — whether was 
 it weakness in the graces of faith or in the 
 doctrine of faith? It is conceived the first 
 is included, but the second principally in- 
 tended. 
 
 First. That some of the Lord's people are 
 weak in the graces of faith will he confessed 
 by all, and that the Lord would have his 
 lambs fed as well as his sheep, and his chil- 
 dren as well as grown men, and that he hath 
 given the right to Gospel privileges not to de- 
 grees of grace, but to the truth. " Him that 
 is weak in the faith receive you," or unto 
 you, as some good translations read it. Eom. 
 xiv. 1. 
 
 Secondly. It is supposed this command of 
 receiving him that is weak in the faith doth 
 principally intend he that is weak in the doc- 
 trine of faith, and that not so much in the 
 doctrine of justification as in Gospel institu- 
 tions, as doth appear by the second and sixth 
 verses, which show that it was in matters of 
 practice, wherein some were weak and at 
 which others were offended; notwithstanding 
 the glorious Lord, who bears all Israel upon 
 his heart, receives (verse 3) and commandeth, 
 " Him that is weak in the faith receive you," 
 or unto you. 
 
 Therefore, here we are to inquire of the 
 receiving in the text, "by whom and to 
 what" he that is weak in the faith should 
 be received? 
 
 In which inquiry there are two parts : 
 
 First. By whom ? 
 
 Secondly. To what? 
 
 To the first. The text makes answer, " Him 
 that is weak in the faith receive you," or 
 unto you; which rnust be the Church at 
 Rome, to whom the epistle was writ, as also 
 to all the beloved of God, called to be saints. 
 Eom. i. 7. And as lo them, so unto all 
 churches and saints beloved and called through- 
 out the world. 
 
 Note, that epistles are as well to direct how 
 churches are to carry things towards saints 
 without as to saints within, and also towards all 
 men, so as to give no ofience to Jew or Gen- 
 tile, nor to the Church of God. 
 
 The second part of the inquiry is. To what 
 he that is weak in the faith is to be received ? 
 Whether only unto mutual affection, as some 
 affirm, as if he were in church fellowship 
 before that were weak in the faith? Or 
 whether the text doth as well, if not rather, 
 intend the receiving such as were and are 
 
 weak in the faith nol only unto mutua' affec- 
 tion if in the Church but unto church mellow- 
 ship also if they were out. For clearing of 
 which consider to whom the epistle was writ- 
 ten. Eom. i. 7. Not only to the Church there, 
 but unto all that were beloved of God and 
 called to be saints in all ages. And as at 
 Eome it is like there then were, and in other 
 places now are, saints weak in the faith, both 
 in and out of church fellowship, so it is prob- 
 able there then were, and elsewhere now are, 
 those that will cast such out of their mutual 
 affection. And if they will cast such out of 
 their mutual affection that are within, no 
 doubt they will keep out of their church fel- 
 lowship those that are without. 
 
 Argument 1. Whereas the Lord's care ex- 
 tends to all his, and if it were a good argu- 
 ment in the third verse for them to receive 
 those within because God hath received them, 
 it would be as good an argument to receive in 
 those without, for God hath received them 
 also ; unless it could be proved that all that 
 were aud are weak in the faith were and are 
 in church fellowship, which is nOt likely, for 
 if they would cast such out of their aflfection 
 that are within, they would, upon, the same 
 account, keep them out of church fellowship 
 that were without. Therefore, as it is a duty 
 to receive those within unto mutual affection, 
 so it is no less a duty, by the text, to receive 
 such weak ones as are without into church 
 fellowship. 
 
 Argument 2 is urged from the words them- 
 selves, which are, "Eeceive him that is weak 
 in the faith,'' wherein the Lord puts no lim- 
 itation in this text or in any other ; and who is 
 he then that can restrain it, unless he will 
 limit the Holy One of Israel ? And how would 
 such an interpretation foolishly charge the 
 Lord, as if he took care only of those within, 
 but not like care of those without ; whereas he 
 commandeth them to receive them, and ueeth 
 this motive, he had received them- ; and he re- 
 ceiveth those that are weak in the faith, if 
 without as well as those within. 
 
 From the example, viz., that God had re- 
 ceived them; whereas had he been of the 
 Church, they would have been persuaded of 
 that before the motive |Was urged, for nj true 
 Church of Christ's would take in or keep in 
 any whom they judged the Lord had not re- 
 ceived ; but those weak ones were such as they 
 questioned whether the Lord had received 
 them, else the text had not been an answer 
 sufficient for their receiving them. There 
 
DIFFEnEXCES ABOUT BAPTISM NO BAR TO COMMUNION. 
 
 871 
 
 might have been objected, They hold up Jew- 
 ish observations of meats and days, which by 
 the death of Christ were abolished, and so did 
 deny some of the effects of his death ; yet the 
 Lord, who was principally wronged, could pass 
 this by, and commandeth others to receive 
 them also. And if it be a good argument to 
 receive such as are weak in anything whom 
 the Lord hath received, theil there can be no 
 good argument to reject for anything for which 
 the Lord will not reject them; for el^e the 
 command in the first verse and this example 
 in the third verse were insufficient without 
 some other arguments, unto the Church, be- 
 sides his command and exailiple. 
 
 Some object, "Receive ye one another, as 
 Christ hath received us unto the glory of God," 
 and from thence supposing they were all in 
 church fellowship before, whereas the text 
 saith not so ; for if you consider the 8th and 
 9th verses, you may see he speaks unto Jews 
 and Gentiles in general, that if the Jews had 
 tlie receiving, they should receive Gentiles, 
 and if the Gentiles had the receiving, they 
 should receive Jews ; for had they not been on 
 both sides commanded, the Jews might have 
 said to the Gentiles, You are commanded to 
 receive us, but we are not commanded to re- 
 ceive you ; and if the weak had the receiving, 
 they should receive the strong, and if the 
 strong had the receiving, they should not keep 
 out the weak; and the text is reinforced with 
 the example of the Son's receiving us unto 
 the glory of God, that as be receiveth Jews 
 and poor Gentiles, weak and strong*, in church 
 fellowship or out of church fellowship, so 
 should they, to the glory of God. And as the 
 Lord Jesus received some, though they held 
 some things more than were commanded and 
 some things less than were commanded, and 
 as those that were weak and in church fellow- 
 ship, so those that were weak and out of church 
 fellowship, and that not only into mutual af- 
 fection, but unto fellowship with himself; 
 and so should they not only receive such 
 a« were weak within into mutual affection, 
 but such as were without both to mutual 
 affection and to church fellowship, or else such 
 weak ones as were without had been excluded 
 by the text. Oh how is the heart of God the 
 Father and the Son set upon this, to have his 
 children in his house and in one another's 
 hearts as they are in his, and are borne upon 
 the shoulders and breasts of his Son, their 
 High Priest 1 And as if all this will not do it, 
 but the devil will divide them still, whose work 
 
 it properly is; "But the God of peace will 
 come in shortly, and bruise Satan under their 
 feet," as in Eom. xvi. 20. And they will agree 
 to be in one bouse when they are more of one 
 heart; in the mean time pray as in Rom. xv. 
 5 : " Now the God of patience and consolation 
 grant that we be like-diinded one towards 
 another, to Christ Jesus." 
 
 I shall endeavour the answering of some ob- 
 jections, and leave it unto consideration. 
 
 Objection. Some say, "This bearing or re- 
 ceiving was but in things indifferent." 
 
 Answer. That eating or forbearing upon a 
 civil account are things indifferent is true, but 
 not when done upon the account of worship, 
 as keeping of days and establishing Jewish 
 observations about meats, which by the death 
 of Christ are taken away ; and it is not fairly 
 to be imagined the same Church at Rome 
 looked so upon them as indifferent, nor that 
 the Lord doth. That it were all alike to him 
 to hold up Jewish observations or to keep days 
 or no days, right days or wrong days, as indif- 
 ferent things, which is a great mistake, and no 
 less than to make God's grace little in receiv- 
 ing such ; for if it were but in things wherein 
 they had not sinned, it were no great matter 
 for the Lord to receive, and it would have been 
 as good an argument or motive to the Church 
 to say the things were indifferent as to say the 
 Lord had received them. 
 
 Whereas the text is to set out the riches of 
 grace to the vessels of mercy, as Rom. ix. 15. 
 That as at first he did freely choose and accept 
 them, so when they fail and miscarry in many 
 things, yea, about his worship also, although 
 he be most injured thereby, yet he is first in 
 passing it by, and persuading others to do the 
 like : that as the good Samaritan did in the 
 Old Testament, so our good Samaritan doth in 
 the New, v^hen priest and Levite passed by, 
 pastor and people pass by, yet he will not, but 
 pours in oil, and carries them to his inn, and 
 calls for receiving and setting it upon his ac- 
 count. 
 
 Objection. " That this bearing with and re- 
 ceiving such as are weak in the faith must be 
 limited to meats, and days, and such like 
 things that had been old Jewish observations, 
 but not unto the being ignorant in or doubting 
 of any New Testament institution.'' 
 
 Answer. Where the Lord'puts no limitation, 
 men should be wary how they do it, for they 
 must have a command or example before they 
 can limit this command; for although the 
 Lord took this occasion from their difference 
 
872 
 
 SUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 about meats and Jays to give this command, 
 yet tlae command is not limited there, no more 
 than in Matt, xii, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. That when 
 they made use of his good law rigorously in 
 the letter, he presently published an act of 
 grace in the 7ih verse, and tells them, " Had 
 they known what this meaneth, I will have 
 mercy and not sacrifice, they would not have 
 condemned the guiltless;" as also in Matt. ix. 
 13 : " Go learn what this meaneth : I will have 
 mercy and not sacrifice," which is not to be 
 limited unto what was the present occasion of 
 publishing the command, but observed as a 
 general rule upon all occasions wherein mercy 
 and sacrifice come in competition, to show 
 the Lord will rather have a duty omitted that 
 is due to him than mercy to his creatures 
 omitted by them. So in the text, when some 
 would not receive such as were weak in the 
 faith as to matters of practice, the Lord was 
 pleased to publish this act of grace : " Him 
 that is weak in the faith receive you, but not 
 to doubtful disputation." Now unless it be 
 proved that no saint can be weak in the faith 
 in anything but moats and days or in some Old 
 Testament observations, and that he ought not 
 to be judged a saint that is weak in the faith 
 as it relates to Gospel institutions in matters 
 of practice, you cannot limit the text, and you 
 must also prove his weakness such as that the 
 Lord will not receive him, else the command 
 in the first verse, and the reason or motive in 
 the third verse, will both be in force upon you 
 — viz., " Him that is weak in the faith receive 
 you, (or unto you,) for God hath received 
 him." 
 
 Objection. But some may object from 1 Cor. 
 xii. 13, "For by one Spirit are we all bap- 
 tized into one body, whether we be Jews or 
 Gentiles." Some there are that affirm this to 
 be meant of water baptism, and that particular 
 churches are formed thereby, and all persons 
 are to be admitted and joined unto such 
 churches by water baptism. 
 
 Answer. That the baptism intended in the 
 text is the Spirit's baptism, and not water bap- 
 tism, and that the body the text intends is not 
 principally the Church of Corinth, but all be- 
 lievers, both Jews and Gentiles, being baptized 
 into one mystical body, as in Eph. iv. 4: 
 " There is one body and one Spirit," wherein 
 there is set out the uniter and the united; 
 therefore in the third verse they are exhorted 
 to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of 
 peace, The united are all the faithful in one 
 body Into whom ? In the fifth verse, in one 
 
 Lord Jesus Christ. By what? One faith, 
 one baptism ; which cannot be meant of water 
 baptism, for water baptism doth not unite all 
 this body, for some of them never had water 
 baptism, and are yet of this body and by the 
 Spirit gathered into one Lord Jesus Christ, 
 (Eph. i. 10,) both which are in heaven and in 
 earth, Jew and Gentile, (Eph. ii. 16,) that he 
 might reconcile both unto God in one body by 
 his cross ; the instrument you have in ver. 18, 
 " by one Spirit." That the Gentiles should be 
 fellow-heirs of the same body, (ver. 15,) "of 
 whom the whole family in heaven and earth 
 is named." And the reason of their keeping the 
 unity of the Spirit in Eph. iv. 3 is laid down 
 in verses 4, 5, being one body, one Spirit, 
 having one hope, one Lord, one faith, .one bap- 
 tism, whether they were Jews or Gentiles, such 
 as were in heaven or in earth ; which cannot 
 be meant of water baptism, for in that sense 
 they had not all one baptism, nor admitted and 
 united thereby: "For by one Spirit we are all 
 baptized into one body, whether Jews or Gen- 
 tiles, whether we be bond or free, we having 
 been all made to drink into one Spirit ; " which 
 cannot be meant of water baptism, in regard 
 all the body of Christ, Jews and Gentiles, bond 
 and free, partook not thereof. 
 
 Objection. " But Eph. iv. 5 saith. There is 
 but ' one baptism,' and by what hath been 
 said, if granted, water baptism will be ex- 
 cluded, or else there is more baptisms than 
 one." 
 
 Answer. It followeth not that because the 
 Spirit will have no co-rival, that therefore 
 other things may not be in their places ; that 
 because the Spirit of God taketh the pre-emi- 
 nence, therefore other things may not be sub- 
 servient. The apostle tells them, "That the 
 anointing which they had received of him 
 abideth in them ; and you need not (saith he) 
 that any man teach you, but as the same 
 anointing teacheth you all things." By this 
 some may think John excludes the ministry ; 
 no such matter, though the Holy Ghost hath 
 confirmed and instructed them so in the truth 
 of the Gospel as that they were furnished 
 against seducers in ver. 26, yet you see John 
 goes on still teaching them in many things as 
 also in Eph. iv. 11, 12, 18; he gave some 
 apostles, some evangelists, some pastors, and 
 teachers, (ver. 12,) for the perfecting of the 
 saints, for tlie work of the ministry, for the edi- 
 fying of the body of Christ; verse 13: "Till 
 we all come in the unity of the faith, and of 
 the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a per- 
 
DIFFERENCES ABOUT BAPTISM NO BAB TO COMMUNION. 
 
 873 
 
 feet man, unto the measure of the stature of 
 ^,he fulness of Christ." So in the Spirit's bap- 
 tism, though it have the pre-eminence, and 
 appropriateth some things as peculiar to itself, 
 it doth not thereby destroy the use and end of 
 water baptism, or any other ordinance in its 
 place ; for water baptism is a means to increase 
 grace, and in it and by it sanctification is for- 
 warded and remission of sins more cleared and 
 witnessed ; yet the giving graces and regenerat- 
 ing and renewing is the Holy Spirit's pecu- 
 liar. Consider Tit. iii. 5 : "By the washing 
 of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy 
 Ghost," baptism being the outward sign of the 
 inward graces wrought by the Spirit, a repre- 
 sentation or figure, as in 1 Pet. iii. 21 : " The 
 lilce figure whereunto baptism doth now also 
 save us, not the putting away of the filth of 
 the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience 
 towards God, by the resurrection of Jesus 
 Christ," not excluding water baptism, but 
 showing that the spiritual part is chiefly to be 
 looked at ; though euch as slight water bap- 
 tism, as the Pharisees and lawyers did, (Lulse 
 vii. 30,) reject the counsel of God against 
 themselves, not being baptized; and such as 
 would set water baptism in the Spirit's place 
 exalt a duty against the deity and dignity of 
 the Spirit, and do give the glory due unto him, 
 as God blessed for ever, unto a duty. 
 
 By which mistake of setting up water bap- 
 tism in the Spirit's place, and assigning it a 
 work which was never appointed unto it, of 
 forming the body of Christ, either in general, 
 (as in 1 Cor. xii. 13; Eph. iv. 5,) or as to par- 
 ticular churches of Christ, we may see the 
 fruit, that instead of being the means of unit- 
 ing as the Spirit doth, that it hath not only 
 rent his seamless coat, but divided his body, 
 which he hath purchased with his own blood, 
 and opposed that great design of Father, Son, 
 and Spirit in uniting poor saints, thereby pull- 
 ing in pieces what the Spirit hath put together. 
 " Him that is weak in the faith receive you, 
 for God hath received him;" being such as 
 the Spirit bad baptized and admitted of the 
 body of Christ, he would have his churches 
 receive them also ; whose baptism is the only 
 baptism, and so is called the one baptism. 
 Therefore consider whether such a practice 
 hath a command or an example that persons 
 must be joined into church fellowship by 
 water baptism ; for John baptized many, yet 
 he did not baptize some into one Church and 
 gome into another, nor all into one Church, (as 
 the Church of Kome doth;) and into what 
 
 Church did Philip baptize the eunuch, or the 
 apostle the jailer and his house? And all 
 the rest they baptized, were they not left free 
 to join themselves for their convenience and 
 edification? All which Z leave to considera- 
 tion. I might have named some inconveni- 
 encies, if not absurdities, that would follow 
 the assertion; as to father the mistakes of the 
 baptizers on the Spirit's act, who is not mis- 
 taken in any he baptized; no false brelhien 
 creep in unawares into the mystical body by 
 him ; and also how this manner of forming 
 churches would suit a country where many are 
 converted and willing to be baptized, but 
 there being no Church to be baptized into, 
 how shall such a church state begin? The 
 first must be baptized into no Church, and the 
 rest into him as the Church, or the work stand 
 still for want of a Church. 
 
 Objection. " But God is a God of order, and 
 hath ordained order in all the churches of 
 Christ; and for to receive one that holds the 
 baptism he had in his infancy, there is no 
 command nor example for, and by the same 
 rule children will be brought in to be church 
 members." 
 
 Answer. That God is a God of order, and 
 hath ordained orders in all the churches of 
 Christ, is true, and that this is one of the or- 
 ders, to receive him that is weak in the faith, 
 is as true. And though there be no example or 
 command in so many words — Receive such an 
 one that holds the baptism he had in his in- 
 fancy, nor to reject such an one — but there is 
 a command to receive him that is weak in the 
 faith, without limitation; and it is like this 
 might not be a doubt in those days, and so 
 not spoken of in particular. 
 
 But the Lord provides a remedy for all times 
 in the text, "Him that is weak in the faith re- 
 ceive you;" for else receiving would not be 
 upon the account of saintship, but upon know- 
 ing and doing all things according to rule and 
 order ; and" that must be perfectly, else for to 
 deny any thing or affirm too much is disor- 
 derly and would hinder receiving; but the 
 Lord deals not so with his people, but ac- 
 counts love the fulfilling of the law, though 
 they be ignorant in many things both as to 
 knowing and doing; and receives them into 
 communion and fellowship with himself, and 
 would have others do the same also; and if he 
 would have so much in bearing apostles' days, 
 when they had infallible helps to expound 
 truths unto them, much more now the Church 
 hath been so long in the wilderness and in 
 
874 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 captivity, and not that his people should be 
 driven away in the dark day, though they are 
 sick and weak. And that it should be sup- 
 posed such tenderness would bring in children 
 in age to be church members, yea, and wel- 
 come, if anybody could prove them in the 
 faith, though never so weak; for the text is, 
 "Him that is weak in the faith receive you;" 
 it is not he, and his wife, and children, unless 
 it can be proved they are in the faith. 
 
 Objection. " By this some ordinances may be 
 /ost or omitted ; and is it to be supposed the 
 Lord would suffer any of his ordinances to be 
 lost or omittod in the Old or New Testament, 
 or the right use of them, and yet own such 
 for true churches? and what reason can there 
 be for it?" 
 
 Answer. The Lord hath suffered some ordi- 
 nances to be omitted and lost in the Old Tes- 
 tament, and yet owned the Church. Though 
 circumcision were omitted in the wilderness, 
 yet he owned them to be his Church, and 
 many of the. ordinances were lost in the cap- 
 tivity. See Ainsworth upon Ex. xxviii. 30, 
 &o., which showed what the high priest was 
 to put on, and were not to be omitted upon 
 pain of death, as the TJrim and Thummim; 
 yet being lost, and several other ordinances, 
 the ark, with the mercy-seat and cherubims, 
 the fire fi'om heaven, the majesty and divine 
 presence, &o., yet he owns the second temple, 
 though short of the first, and filled it with his 
 glory, and honoured it with his Son being a 
 member and a minister therein: "The Lord 
 whom you seek will suddenly come to his tem- 
 ple." So in the New Testament, since their 
 wilderness condition and great and long cap- 
 tivity, there is some darkness and doubts and 
 want of light in the best of the Lord's people 
 in many of his ordinances, and that for several 
 ages; and yet how hath the Lord owned them 
 for his churches, wherein he is to have "glory 
 and praise throughout all ages!" And so 
 should we own them, unless we will condemn 
 the generation of the just. It must be con- 
 fessed that if exact practice be required and 
 ciearness in Gospel institutions before commu- 
 nion, who dare be so bold as to say his hands 
 are clean, and that he hath done all the Lord's 
 commands as to institutions in his worship? 
 and must not confess the change of times doth 
 necessitate some variation, if not alteration, 
 either in the matter or manner of things ac- 
 cording to primitive practice? yet owned for 
 true churches and received as visible saints, 
 though ignorant either wholly or in great 
 
 measure in laying on of hand-4, singing, wash- 
 ing of feet, and anointing with oil, in the gifts 
 of the Spirit, which is the Urim and Thum- 
 mim of the Gospel? And it cannot be proved 
 that the churches were so ignorant in the 
 primitive times, nor yet that such were re- 
 ceived into fellowship; yet now herein it is 
 thought meet there should be bearing, and why 
 not in baptism, especially in such as own it 
 for an ordinance, though in some things miss 
 it, and do yet show their love unto it and unto 
 the Lord, and unto his law therein, that they 
 could be willing to die for it rather than to 
 deny it, and to be baptized in their blood; 
 which showeth they hold it in conscience their 
 duty, while they have further light from above, 
 and are willing to hear and obey as far as they 
 know, though weak in the faith as to clearness 
 in Gospel institutions; surely the text is on 
 their side, or else it will exclude all the former: 
 " Him that is weak in the faith receive you, 
 but not to doubtful disputation." Let every 
 man be fully persuaded in- his own mind, and 
 such the Lord hath received. 
 
 As to the query, " What reason is there why 
 the Lord should suffer any of his ordinances 
 to be lost?" 
 
 Answer, If there were no reasomto be shown 
 it should teach us silence, for he doth nothing 
 without the highest reason ; and there doth 
 appear some reason in the Old Testament why 
 those ordinances of Urim and Thummim, &c., 
 were suffered to be lost in the captivity, that 
 they might long and look for the Lord Jesus, 
 the Priest that was to stand up with Urim and 
 Thummim, which the Lord by this puts them 
 upon the hoping for, and to be in expectation 
 of so great a mercy, which was the promise of. 
 the Old Testament, and all the churches' losses 
 in the New Testament. By all the dark night 
 of ignorance she hath been in, and long cap"- 
 tivity she hath been under in her wandering 
 wilderness state, therein she hath rather been 
 fed with manna from heaven than by men 
 upon earth ; and after all her crosses and losses 
 the Lord lets light break in by degrees and 
 deliverance by little and little; "and she is 
 coming out of the wilderness leaning upon her 
 Beloved ; and the Lord hath given the valley 
 of Achor for a door of hope," that ere long she 
 may receive the promise of the Gospel richly by 
 the Spirit, to be poured upon us from on high, 
 " and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the 
 fruitful field become a forest, and then the 
 Lord will take away the covering cast over all 
 people and the veil that is spread ever all na- 
 
DIFFERENCES ABOUT BAPTISM NO BAR TO COMMUNION. 
 
 875 
 
 tions ; for the earth shall be filled with the 
 knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the 
 sea. Then Ephraim shall not envy Judah, 
 <ind Judah shall not vex Ephraim." Thus 
 will the God of peace bruise Satan under fopt 
 shortly; and one reason why the Lord may 
 suffer all the darkness and differences that 
 have been, and yet are, is, that we might long 
 and look for this blessed promise of the Gospel, 
 tlie pourings out of the Spirit. 
 
 Objection. " But many authors do judge that 
 the weak and strong were all in church fellow- 
 ship before, and that the receiving was but 
 into mutual affection." 
 
 Armiier. It ought to be seriously weighed 
 how any differ from so many wortSiy authors 
 is confessed, to whom the world is so much 
 beholden for their help in many things ; but 
 it would be of dangerous conseqilence to take 
 all for granted they say, and unlike the noble 
 Bereans. Though they had some infallible 
 teachers, yet they took not their words or doc- 
 trines, upon trust ; and there may be more 
 ground to question expositors on this text, in 
 regard their principles necessitate them to 
 judge that the sense ; for if it be in their judg- 
 ments a duty to compel all to come in, and to 
 deceive all and their children, they must needs 
 judge by that text they were all of the Church 
 and in fellowship before their scrupling meats 
 and days, because that is an act of grown per- 
 sons at years of discretion, and therefore the 
 receiving is judged by them to be only into 
 mutual affection, for it is impossible for them 
 to hold their opinion and judge otherwise of 
 the text; for in baptism they judge infants 
 should be received into church fellowship, and 
 then scrupling meats and days must needs be 
 after joining. Their judgments might as well 
 be taken that it is a duty to baptize infants as 
 that they can judge of this text rightly and 
 hold their practice. 
 
 Objection. "But no uncircumcised person 
 was to eat the passover. And doth not the 
 Lord as well require the sign of baptism now 
 as of circumcision then? And is there not 
 like reason for it?" 
 
 Answer. The Lord, in the Old Testament, 
 expressly commanded no uncircumcised per- 
 son should eat the passover, (Ex. xii. 28,) and 
 in Ezek. xxxiv. 9 that no stranger, uncircum- 
 
 cised in heart or uncircumcised in flesh, should 
 enter into his sanctuary; and had the Lord 
 commanded that no unbaptized person should 
 enter into his churches, it had been clear ; and 
 no doubt Christ was as faithful as a Son in all 
 his house as -Moses was as a servant; and al- 
 though there had been but little reason if the 
 Lord had commanded it so to be ; yet in God's 
 worship we must not make the likeness of any 
 thing in our reason, but the will of God, the 
 ground of duty ; for upon such a foundation 
 some wouM build the baptizing of infants, be- 
 cause it would be like unto circumcision, and 
 so break the second commandment, in making 
 the likeness of things of their own contrivance 
 of force with institutions in the worship of God. 
 
 The most that I think can be said is, that 
 we have no Gospel example for receiving with- 
 out baptism or rejecting any for want of it; 
 therefore it is desired what hath been said 
 may be considered, lest while we look for an 
 example we do not overlook a command upon 
 a mistake, supposing that they were all in 
 church fellowship before ; whereas the text 
 saith not so, but "him that is weak in the faith 
 receive you," or unto you. 
 
 We may see also how the Lord proceeds 
 under the law: though he accounts those 
 things that were done contrary to his law sin- 
 ful, though done ignorantly, yet never required 
 the offender to offer sacrifice till he knew 
 thereof. Lev. v. 5, compared with 15th and 
 16th verses. And that may be a man's own 
 sin through his ignorance, that though it may 
 be another's duty to endeavour to inform him 
 in, yet not thereupon to keep him out of his 
 Father's house; for surely the Lord would not 
 have any of his children kept out without we 
 have a word for it. And though they scruple 
 some meats in their Father's house, yet it may 
 be dangerous for the stronger children to deny 
 them all the rest of the dainties therein till 
 the weak and sick can eat strong meat; 
 whereas Peter had meat for one and milk for 
 another, and Peter must feed the poor lambs 
 as well as the sheep ; and if others will not do 
 it, the great Shepherd will come ere long and 
 look up what hath been driven away. " He 
 will feed his flock like a shepherd ; he shall 
 gather the lambs into his bosom, and gently 
 lead those that are with young.'' 
 
PEACEABLE PRINCIPLES AND TRUE; 
 
 A BRIEF ANSWER 
 
 MR. DANVEBS' AND MR. PAUL'S BOOKS AGAINST MT CONFESSION OP FAITH, AND DIP. 
 FEKENOES IN JUDGMENT ABOUT WATER BAPTISM NO BAR TO COMMUNION; WHERE. 
 IN THEIR SCRIPTURELESS NOTIONS ARE OVERTHROWN AND MY PEACEABLE PRINCI- 
 PLES STILL MAINTAINED. 
 
 Do ye indeed speak righteousness, congregation? Do ye judge uprightly, ye sons of men? — Ps. Iviii. 1 
 
 Sir: 
 
 I HAVE received and considered your short 
 reply to my " Differences in Judgment about 
 Water Baptism no Bar to Communion," and 
 observe that you touch not the argument at 
 all, but rather labour what you can, and be- 
 yond what you ought, to throw odiums upon 
 your brother for reproving you for your error 
 ^— viz. : "That those believers that have been 
 baptized after confession of faith made by 
 themselves ought and are in duty bound to 
 exclude from their church fellowship and 
 communion at the table of the Lord those of 
 their holy brethren that have not been so bap- 
 tized." This is your error : error, I call it, be- 
 cause it is not founded upon the word, but a 
 mere human device; for although I do not 
 deny, but acknowledge, that baptism is God's 
 ordinance, yet I have denied that baptism 
 was ever ordained of God to be a wall of 
 division between the holy and the holy — the 
 holy that are, and the holy that are not so 
 baptized with water as we. You, on the con- 
 trary, both by doctrine and practice, assert 
 that it is, and therefore do separate yourself 
 from all your brethren that in that matter 
 differ from you, accounting them, notwith- 
 standing their saving faith and holy lives, not 
 fitly qualified for church communion, and all 
 because they have not been, as you, baptized ; 
 further, you count their communion among 
 themselves unlawful, and therefore unwar- 
 rantable; and have concluded, "They are 
 
 joined to idols, and that they ought not to be 
 showed the pattern of the house of God until 
 they be ashamed of their sprinkling in their 
 infancy, and accept of and receive baptism 
 as you." Yea, you count them as they stand 
 not the churches of God, saying, We have no 
 such custom, nor the churches of God. 
 
 At this I have called for your proofs, the 
 which you have attempted to produce ; but in 
 conclusion have showed none other, but " that 
 the primitive churches had those they re- 
 ceived, baptized before so received." 
 
 I have told you that this, though it were 
 granted, comes not up to the question : " For 
 we ask not whether they were so baptized, but 
 whether you find a word in the Bible that jus- 
 tifieth your concluding that it is your duty to 
 exclude those of your holy brethren that have 
 not been so baptized ?" From this you cry out 
 that I take up the arguments of them that plead 
 for infant baptism. I answer, I take up no 
 other argument but your own — viz., "That 
 there being no precept, precedent, nor example 
 in all the Scripture for our excluding our holy 
 brethren that differ in this point from us, there- 
 fore we ought not to dare to do it," but, con- 
 trariwise, to receive them, because God hath 
 given us sufficient proof that himself hath re- 
 ceived them, whose example in this case ha 
 hath commanded us to follow. Eom. xiv. 15. 
 
 This might serve for an answer to your reply, 
 but because, perhaps, should I thus conclude, 
 some might make an ill use of my brevity, 1 
 
 87T 
 
878 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 shall therefore briefly step after you, and ex- 
 amine your short reply, at least where show of 
 argument is, / 
 
 Your first five pages are spent to prove me 
 either proud or a liar for inserting in the title- 
 page of my BifferenceSj'&c., that your book was 
 written by the Baptists or brethren of your way. 
 
 in answer to which, whoso (if unbiassed) 
 readeth your second, your fifth and sixth ques- 
 tions to me may not perhaps be easily persuad- 
 ed to the contrary ; but the two last in your 
 reply are omitted by you, whether for brevity's 
 sake, or because you were conscious to your- 
 self that the sight of them would overthrow 
 your insinuations, I leave to the sober to judge. 
 But put the case I had failed herein, doth this 
 warrant your unlawful practice ? 
 
 You. ask me next, " How long js it since I 
 was a Baptist?" and then add, '"Tis an ill 
 bird that bewrays his own nest." 
 
 Ansvjer. I must tell you, (avoiding your slov- 
 enly language,) I know none to whom that 
 title is so proper as to the disciples of John. 
 And since you would know by what name I 
 would be distinguished from others, I tell you, 
 I would be, and hope I am, a Christian ; and 
 choose, if God should count me worthy, to be 
 called a Christian, a believer, or other such 
 name which is approved by the Holy Ghost. 
 And as for those factious titles of Anabaptists, 
 Independents, Presbyterians, or the like, I 
 conclude that they came neither from Jerusa- 
 lem nor Antioch, but rather from hell and 
 Babylon, for they naturally tend to divisions : 
 you may know them by their fruits. 
 
 Next, you tell me of " your goodly harmony 
 in London, or of the amicable Christian cor- 
 respondency betwixt those of divers persua- 
 sions there until my turbulent and mutineer- 
 ing spirit got up." 
 
 Answer. The cause of my writing I told you 
 of, which you have neither disapproved in 
 whole nor in part. And now I ask what kind 
 of Christian correspondency you have with 
 them? Is it such as relates to church com- 
 munion, or such only as you are commanded 
 to have with every brother that walketh dis- 
 orderly, that they may be ashamed of their 
 church communion, which you condemn? If 
 BO, your great flourish will add no praise to 
 them ; and why they should glory in a corre- 
 spondency with them as Christians who yet 
 count them under such deadly sin, which will 
 not by any means, as they now stand, suffer 
 you to admit them to their Father's table, to 
 me is not f asy to believe. 
 
 Further, your Christian correspondency (as 
 you call it) will not keep you now and then 
 from fingering some of their members from 
 them, nor from teaching them that you so take 
 away to judge and condemn them that are left 
 behind. Now who boasteth in this besides 
 yourself I know not. 
 
 Touching Mr. Jesse's judgment in the ca.se 
 in hand, you know it condemned your practice ; 
 and since in your first you have called for an 
 author's testimony, I have presented you with 
 one whose arguments you have not condemned. 
 
 For your insinuating my abusive and unwor- 
 thy behaviour as the cause of the brethren"iS 
 attempting to break our Christian communion 
 is not only false, but ridiculous — false, for they 
 have attempted to make me also one of their 
 disciples, and sent to me and for me for that 
 purpose. Besides, it is ridiculous : surely their 
 pretended order and, as they call it, our dis- 
 order, was the cause, or they must render 
 themselves very malicious, to seek the over- 
 throw of a whole congregation for (if it had 
 been so) the unworthy behaviour of one. 
 
 Now since you tell me (p. 9) "that Mr. 
 Kiffin had no need of my forgiveness for the 
 wrong he hath done me in his epistle " — 
 
 I ask, Did he tell you so ? But let it lie as 
 it doth ; I will at this time turn his argument 
 upon him, and desire his direct answer: 
 "There being no precept, precedent, or ex- 
 ample for Mr. Kiffin to exclude his holy breth- 
 ren from Christian communion that diflTer with 
 him about water baptism, he ought not to do 
 it ; but there is neither precept, precedent, nor 
 example; therefore," &c. 
 
 You blame me for writing his name at length, 
 but I know he is not ashamed of his name ; 
 and for you, though at the remotest rate, to in- 
 sinuate it, must needs be damage to him. 
 
 Your artificial, squibbing suggestions to the 
 world about myself, imprisonment, and the 
 like I freely bind upon me as an ornament, 
 among the rest of my reproaches, till the Lord 
 shall wipe them off at his coming. But they 
 are no argument that you have a word that 
 binds you to exclude the holy brethren com- 
 munion. 
 
 Now what if (as you suggest) the sober Dr. 
 Owen, though he told me and others at first he 
 would write an epistle to my book, yet waived 
 it afterwards ? This is also to my advantage, 
 because it was through the earnest solicitation.s 
 of several of you that at that time his hand 
 was stopped ; and perhaps it was more for the 
 glory of God that truth should go naked into 
 
PEACEABLE PRINCIPLES AND TRUE. 
 
 879 
 
 the world than as seconded by so miglity an 
 armour-bearer as he. 
 
 You tell me also that some of the sober In- 
 dependents have showed dislike to my writing 
 on this subject: what then? If I should also 
 say, as I can without lying, that several of the 
 Baptists have wished youra burnt before it had 
 come to light, is your book ever the worse for 
 that? 
 
 In p. 13 you tell us, " You meddle not with 
 Presbyterians, Independents, Mixed Commu- 
 nionists, (a new name,) but are for liberty for 
 all, according to their light." 
 
 Answer. I ask then, suppose an holy man of 
 God that differeth from you, as those above 
 named do, in the manner of water baptism — I 
 say, suppose such an one should desire com- 
 munion with you, yet abiding by his own light 
 as to the things in question, would you receive 
 him to fellowship? If no, do you not dis- 
 semble? 
 
 But you add, "If un baptized believers do 
 not walk with us they may walk with them 
 with whom they are better agreed." 
 
 Answer. Then it seems you do but flatter 
 them. You are not, for all you pretend to give 
 them their liberty, agreed they should have it 
 with you; thus do the Papists give the Prot- 
 estants their liberty, because they can neither 
 '(fill nor choose. 
 
 Again. But do you not follow them with 
 clamours and outcries that their communion, 
 even amongst themselves, is unwarrantable? 
 Now, how then do you give them their liberty? 
 Nay, do not even these things declare that you 
 WQuld take it away if you could? 
 
 " For the time that I have been a Baptist 
 (say you) I do not remember that ever I knew 
 that one unbaptized person did so much as 
 offer himself to us for church fellowship." 
 
 Armoer. This is no proof of your love to your 
 brethren, but rather an argument that your 
 rigidness was from that day to this so appar- 
 ent that those good souls despaired to make 
 such attempts ; we know they have done it 
 elsewhere where they hoped to meet with en- 
 couragement. 
 
 In p. 14 you seem to retract your denial of 
 baptism to be the initiating ordinance. And 
 indeed Mr. Danvers told me that you must re- 
 tract that opinion, and that' he had or would 
 speak to you to do it ; yet by some it is still so 
 acknowledged to be, and in particular by your 
 great helper, Mr. Deune, who strives to main- 
 tain it by several arguments ; but your denial 
 may be a sufficient confutation to him, so I 
 
 leave you together to agree about it, and con- 
 clude you have overthrown him. 
 
 But it seems, though you do not now own it, 
 to be the inlet into a particular Church, yet 
 (as you tell us in p. l4 of your last) "you 
 never denied that baptism doth not make a be- 
 liever a member of the universal, orderly 
 Clmrch visible." And in this Mr. Danvera 
 and you agree. " Persons enter into the visi- 
 ■ ble Church thereby," saith he. 
 
 Answer. Universal — that is, the whole 
 Church. This word now comprehendeth all 
 the parts of it, even from Adam to the very 
 world's end, whether in heaven or earth, &c. 
 Now that baptism makes a man a member ot 
 this Church I do not yet believe, nor can you 
 show me why I should. 
 
 1. The universal, orderly Church. What 
 Church this should be (if by orderly you mean 
 harmony or agreement in the outward parts 
 of worship) I do not understand neither. 
 
 And yet thus you should mean, because you- 
 add the word visible to all at the last — the uni- 
 versal, orderly, visible Church. Now I would 
 learn of this brother where this Church is, for 
 if it be visible he can tell and also show it. 
 But to be short, there is no such Church; the 
 universal Church cannot be visible; a great 
 part of that vast body being already in heaven, 
 and a great part as yet (perhaps) unborn. 
 
 But if he should mean by universal, the whole 
 of that part of this Church that is on earth, 
 then neither is it visible nor orderly. 
 
 1. Not visible; for the part remains always 
 to the best man's eye utterly invisible. 
 
 2. This Church is not orderly ; that is, hath 
 not harmony in its outward and visible parts 
 of worship, some parts opposing and contra- 
 dicting the other most severely. Yea, would it 
 be uncharitable to believe that some of the 
 members of this body could willingly die in 
 opposing that which others of the members 
 hold to be a truth of Christ? As for instance 
 at home : could not some of those called Bap- 
 tists die in opposing infant baptism? And 
 again, some of them that are for infant baji- 
 tism die for that as a truth? Here therefore 
 is no order, but an evident contradiction, and 
 that too in such parts of worship as both count 
 visible parts of worship indeed. 
 
 So then by universal, orderly, visible Church 
 this brother must mean those of the saints 
 only that have been or are baptized as we; 
 this is clear, because baptism (saith he) maketh 
 a believer a member of this Church ; his mean- 
 ing then is, that there is an universal, orderly, 
 
880 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 visible Church, and they alone are the Bap- 
 tists ; and that every one that is baptized is by 
 that made a member of the universal, orderly, 
 visible Church of Baptists, and that the whole 
 number of the rest of the saints are utterly 
 excluded. * 
 
 But now if other men should do as this man, 
 how many universal churches should we have? 
 An universal, orderly, visible Church of Inde- 
 pendents ; an universal, orderly, visible Church 
 of Presbyterians, and the like: and who of 
 them, if as much confused in their notions 
 as this brother, might not (they judging by 
 their own light) contend for their universal 
 Church as he for his? But they have more 
 wit. 
 
 But suppose that this unheard-of, fictitious 
 Church were the only true universal Church, 
 yet whoever they baptize must be a visible 
 saint first ; and if a visible saint, then a visible 
 member of Christ ; and if so, then a visible 
 member of his body, which is the Church, be- 
 fore they be baptized ; now he that is a visible 
 member of the Church already, that which 
 hath so made him hath prevented all those 
 claims that by any may be made or imputed 
 to this or that ordinance to make him so. His 
 visibility is already; he is already a visible 
 member of the body of Christ, and after that 
 baptized. His baptism, then, neither makes 
 him a member nor visible member of the body 
 of Christ. 
 
 You go on : " That I said it was consent 
 that makes persons members of particular 
 churches is true." 
 
 Answer. But that it is consent and noth- 
 ing else; consent without faith, &c., is false. 
 Your after endeavour to heal your unsound 
 saying will do you no good ; faith gives being 
 to, as well as probation for, membership. 
 
 What you say now of the epistles, that they 
 were written to particular saints, and those 
 too out of churches as well as in, I always 
 believed ; but in your first you were pleased 
 ^o say, " You were one of them that objected 
 against our proofs out of the epistles, because 
 they were written to particular churches, (in- 
 tending these baptized,) and that they were 
 written to other saints would be hard for me 
 to prove ;" but you do well to give way to the 
 truth. 
 
 What I said about baptism being a pest, 
 take my words as they lie and I stand still 
 thereto : " Knowing that Satan can make any 
 of God's ordinances a pest and plague to his 
 people, even baptism, the Lord's table, and 
 
 the Holy Scriptures; yea, the ministers also 
 of Jesus Christ may be suffered to abuse them, 
 and wrench them out of their place.'' Where- 
 fore I pray, if you write again, either consent 
 to or deny this position before you proceed in 
 your outcry. 
 
 But I must still continue to tell you, though 
 you love not to hear thereof, that, supposing 
 your opinion hath hold of your conscience, if 
 you might have your will you would make in- 
 roads and outroads too in all the churches that 
 are not as you in the land. You reckon that 
 church privileges belong not to them who are 
 not baptized as we, saying, " How can we take 
 these privileges from them before they have 
 them ? We keep them from a disorderly prac- 
 tice of ordinances, especially among ourselves," 
 intimating you do what you can also among 
 others ; and he that shall judge those he walk- 
 eth not with, or say, as you, that " they, like 
 Ephraim, are joined to an idol, and ought to 
 repent and be ashamed of that idol before 
 they be showed the pattern of the house," and 
 then shall back all with the citation of a text, 
 doth it either in jest or in earnest: if in jest, 
 it is abominable ; if in earnest, his conscience 
 is engaged ; and being engaged, it putteth him 
 upon doing what he can to extirpate the thing 
 he counteth idolatrous and abominable out of 
 the churches abroad, as well as that he stands 
 in relation unto. This being thus, 'tis reason- 
 able to conclude you want not an heart, but 
 opportunity, for your inroads and outroads 
 among them. 
 
 Touching those five things I mentioned in 
 my second, you should not have counted they 
 were found nowhere because not found under 
 that head which I mention ; and now, lest you 
 miss them again, I will present you with them 
 here: 
 
 1. Baptism. is not the initiating ordinance. 
 
 2. That though it was, the case may so 
 fall out that members might be received with- 
 out it. 
 
 3. That baptism makes no man a visible 
 saint. 
 
 4. That faith and a life becoming the ten 
 commandments should be the chief and most 
 solid argument with churches to receive to 
 fellowship. 
 
 5. That circumcision in the flesh was a type 
 of circumcision in the heart, and not of water 
 baptism. 
 
 To these you should have given fair an- 
 swers ; then you had done like a workman. 
 Now we are come to pp. 22 and 23 of yours 
 
PEACEABLE PRINCIPLES AND TRUE. 
 
 881 
 
 where you labour to insinuate " that a trans- 
 gression against a positive precept respecting 
 instituted worship hath been punished with 
 the utmost severity that God hath executed 
 against men, on record, on this side hell." 
 
 Answer. Mr. Danvers says, "That to trans- 
 gress a" positive precept respecting worship is 
 a breach of the first and second command- 
 ments." If so, then 'tis for the breach of them 
 that these severe rebukes befall the sons of men. 
 
 1. But you instance the case of Adam, his 
 eating the forbidden fruit, yet to no great 
 purpose. Adam's first transgression was, that 
 he violated the law that was written in his 
 heart in that he hearkened to the tempting 
 voice of his wife, and after because he did eat 
 of the tree : he was bad, then, before he did eat 
 of the tree, which badness was infused over his 
 whole nature, and then he bare'this evil fruit 
 of eating things that God hath forbidden. 
 " Either make the tree good and Lis fruit 
 good, or the tree bad and his fruit bad ;" men 
 must be bad ere they do evil, and good ere 
 they do good. 
 
 Again, which was the greatest judgment, to 
 be defiled and depraved or to be put out of 
 paradise, do you in your next determine. 
 
 But as to the matter in hand : " What posi- 
 tive precept do they transgress that will not 
 reject him 'that God bids us receive" if he 
 want light in baptism ? 
 
 As for my calling for Scripture to prove it 
 lawful thus to exclude them, blame me for it 
 no more ; verily I still must do it ; and had 
 you but one to give, I had had it long before 
 this. But you wonder I should ask for a 
 Scripture to prove a negative. 
 
 Answer. Are you at that door, my brother? 
 If a drunkard, a swearer, or whoremonger 
 should desire communion with you, and upon 
 your refusal demand your groun.ds, would you 
 think his demands such you ought not to an- 
 swer ? Would you not readily give him by 
 icores? So doubtless would you deal with us 
 but that in this you are without the lids of the 
 Bible. 
 
 2. But again, you have acted as those that 
 must produce a positive rule. You count it 
 your duty, a part of your obedience to God, to 
 keep those out of church fellowship that are 
 not baptized as you. I then demand what 
 precept bids you do this? Where are you 
 commanded to do it? 
 
 You object that in Eph. iv. and 1 Cor. 
 xii. is not meant of Spirit baptism, but Mr. 
 Jesse says it is not, cannot be, the baptism 
 66 
 
 with water ; and you have not at all reiuted 
 him. 
 
 And now for the Church in the wilderness : 
 you thought, as you say, I would have an- 
 swered myself in the thing, but yet I have not, 
 neither have you. But let us see what you 
 urge for an answer. 
 
 1. Say you, "Though God dispensed with 
 their obedience to circumcision in that time, 
 it follows not that you or I should dis- 
 pense with the ordinance of water baptism 
 now." 
 
 Answer. God commanded it and made it the 
 initiating ordinance to Church communion. 
 But Moses, and Aaron, and Joshua, and the 
 elders of Israel dispensed with it for forty 
 years; therefore the dispensing with it was 
 ministerial, and that with God's allowance, as 
 you affirm. Now if they might dispense with 
 circumcision, tjiough the initiating ordinance, 
 why may not we receive God's holy ones into 
 fellowship, since we are not forbidden it, but 
 commanded? yea, why should we make water 
 baptism, which God never ordained to that 
 end, a bar to shut out and let in to church 
 communion? 
 
 2. You ask, "Was circumcision dispensed 
 with for want of light, it being plainly com- 
 manded ?" 
 
 Answer. Whatever was the cause, want of 
 light is as great a cause; and that it must 
 necessarily follow, they must needs see it, be- 
 cause commanded savours too much of a tang 
 of free will, or of the suflBciency of our under- 
 standing, and entrencheth too hard on tho 
 glory of 'the Holy Ghost, whose work it is "to 
 bring all things to our remembrance, whatso- 
 ever Christ hath said to us." 
 
 3. You ask, "Cannot you give yourself a 
 reason that their moving, travelling state 
 made them uncapable, and that God was mer- 
 ciful? Can the same reason, or any thing like 
 it, for refusing baptism be given now?" 
 
 Answer. I cannot give myself this reason, 
 nor can you by it give me any satisfaction. 
 
 First. Because their travelling state could 
 not hinder, if you consider that they might, 
 and doubtless did, lie still in one place yeara 
 together. 
 
 1. They were forty years going from Egypt 
 to Canaan, and they had but forty-two jour- 
 neys thither. 
 
 2. They at times went several of these jour- 
 neys in one and the same year. They went 
 (as I take it) eleven of them by the end of 
 the third month after they came out of the 
 
882 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 laud ol Egypt. Compare Ex. xix. 1 with 
 Num. xxxiii. 15. 
 
 3. Again, in the fortieth year we find them 
 in Mount Hor, where Aaron died and was 
 buried. Now that was the year they went into 
 Canaan, and in that year they had nine jour- 
 neys more, or ten by that they got over Jordan. 
 Here, then, were twenty journeys in less than 
 a year and a half. Divide then the rest of 
 the time to the rest of the journeys, and they 
 had above thirty-eight years to go their two 
 and twenty journeys in. And how this should 
 be such a travelling, moving state as that it 
 should hinder their keeping this ordinance in 
 its season viz., "to circumcise their children 
 the eighth day" — especially considering to 
 circumcise them in their childhood, as they 
 were born, might be with more security than 
 to let them live while they were men — I see 
 not. 
 
 If you should think that their wars in the 
 wilderness might hinder them, I answer, they 
 had, for aught I can discern, ten times as much 
 fighting in the land of Canaan where they 
 were circumcised as in the wilderness where 
 they were not. And if carnal or outward 
 safety had been the argument, doubtless they 
 would not have circumcised themselves in the 
 sight (as it were) of one and thirty kings — I 
 say, they would not have circumcised their six 
 hundred thousand warriors and have laid them 
 open to the attempts and dangers of their ene- 
 mies. No such thing, therefore, as you are 
 pleased to suggest, was the cause of their not 
 being as yet circumcised. 
 
 Fourthly. "An extraordinary instance to be 
 brought into a standing rule are no parellels." 
 That is the sum of your fourth. 
 
 Answer. The rule was ordinary, which was 
 circumcision ; the laying aside of this rule be- 
 came as ordinary so long a time as forty years, 
 and in the whole Church also. But this is a 
 poor shift, to have nothing to say but that the 
 case was extraordinary when it was not. 
 
 But you ask, "Might they do so when they 
 came in Canaan?" 
 
 Answer. No, no. No more shall we do as 
 we do now when that which is perfect is come. 
 
 You add, " Because the Church in the wil- 
 derness could not come by ordinances, &c., 
 therefore when they may be come at we need 
 not practise them." 
 
 Answer. Nobody told you so. But are you 
 out of that wilderness mentioned in Eev. xii. ? 
 Is Antichrist down and dead to aught but 
 your faith? Or are we only out of that Egyp- 
 
 tian darkness that in baptism have got the 
 start of our brethren? For shame, be silent: 
 yourselves are yet under so great a cloud as to 
 imagine to yourselves a rule of practice not 
 found in the Bible; that is, "to count it a sin 
 to receive your holy brethren, though not for- 
 bidden, but commanded to do it." 
 
 Your great flourish against my fourth argu- 
 ment I leave to them that can judge of the 
 weight of your words, as also what you say of 
 the fifth or sixth. 
 
 For the instance I give you of Aaron, David, 
 and Hezekiah, who did things not commanded, 
 and that about holy matters, and yet were held 
 excusable, you, nor yet your abettors for you, 
 can by any means overthrow. Aaron trans- 
 gressed the commandment; David did what 
 was not lawful; and they in Hezekiah's time 
 did eat the passover otherwise than it was 
 written. But here I perceive the shoe pincheth, 
 which makes you glad of Mr. Denne's evasion 
 for help. At this also Mr. Danvers (but you 
 to no purpose) cries out, charging me with as- 
 serting "that ignorance absolves from sin of 
 omission and commission." But, sirs, fairly 
 take from me the texts, with others that I can 
 urge, and then begin to accuse. 
 
 You have healed your suggestion of unwrit- 
 ten verities poorly. But any shift to shift off" 
 the force of truth. After the same manner 
 also you have helped your asserting, "That 
 you neither keep out nor cast out from the 
 Church, if baptized, such as come unprepared 
 to the supper and other solemn appointments." 
 Let us leave yours and mine to the pondering 
 of wiser men. 
 
 My seventh argument (as I said) you havfe 
 not so much as touched, nor the ten in that 
 one, but only derided at the ten. But we will 
 show them to the reader: 
 
 1. Love, which above all other things we 
 are commanded to put on, is much more worth 
 than to break about baptism. 
 
 2. Love is more discovered when we receive 
 for the sake of Christ and grace than when we 
 refuse for want of water. 
 
 3. The Church at Colosse was charged to re- 
 ceive and forbear the saints because they were 
 new creatures. 
 
 4. Some saints were in the Church at Jeru- 
 salem that opposed the preaching of salvation 
 to the Gentiles, and yet retained their mem- 
 bership. 
 
 5. Divisions and distinctions among saints 
 are of later date than election and the signs 
 of that, and therefore should give place. 
 
PEACEABLE PRINCIPLES AND TRUE. 
 
 883 
 
 6. It is love, not baptism, that discovereth 
 ns to the world to be Christ's disciples. John 
 xiii. 85. 
 
 7. It is love that is the undoubted character 
 of our interest in and fellowship with Christ. 
 
 8. Fellow.ship with Christ is sufficient to in- 
 vite t6, and the new creature the great rule 
 of, our fellowship with Christ. i 
 
 9. Love is the fulfilling of the law ; where- 
 fore he that hath it is accepted with God, and 
 oughi to be approved of men ; but he fulfils it 
 not who judgeth and setteth at naught his 
 brother. 
 
 10. Love is sometimes more seen aud showed 
 in forbearing to urge and press what we know 
 than in publishing and imposing. John xvi. 
 12 ; 1 Cor. iii. 1, 2. 
 
 11. When we attempt to force our brother 
 beyond his light or to break ifis heart with 
 grief, to thrust him beyond his faith or bar him 
 from his privileges, how can we say, I love? 
 
 12. To -make that the door to communion 
 which God hath not, to make that the includ- 
 ing, excluding charter, the bar, bounds, and 
 rule of communion, is for want of love. 
 
 Here are two into the bargain. 
 
 If any of these, sir, please you not in this 
 dress, give me a word and I shall, as well as 
 my wit will serve, give you them in a syllogis- 
 tical mode. 
 
 Now that you say, (practically,) "foo- some 
 speak with their feet" (their walking) that 
 water is above love and all other things, is ev- 
 ident, because have they all but water you re- 
 fuse them for want of that, yea, and will be so 
 hardy, though "without God's word, to refuse 
 communion with them. 
 
 In our discourse about the carnality that was 
 Aie cause of the divisions that were at Corinth 
 you ask, " Who must the charge of carnality 
 fall upon — them that defen.d or them that op- 
 pose the truth ?" 
 
 Answer. Perhaps on both, but be sure upon 
 them that oppose: "Wherefore look ye to 
 yourselves, who, without any command of God 
 to warrant you, exclude your brother from 
 communion — your brother, whom God hath 
 commanded you to receive." 
 
 My ninth argument you make yourself 
 merry with in the beginning, but why do 
 you, by and by, so cut and hack and cast it as 
 it were in the fire ? These seventeen absurdi- 
 ties you can by no meahs avoid. For if you 
 have not, as indeed you have not, (though you 
 mock me for speaking a word in Latin,) one 
 word of God that commands you to shut out 
 
 your brethren for want of water baptism from 
 your communion— I say, if you have not one 
 word of God to make this a duty to you, then 
 unavoidably — 
 
 1. You do it by a spirit of persecution. 
 
 2. With more respect to a form than the 
 spirit and power of godliness. 
 
 3. This also makes laws where God makes 
 none, and is to be wise above what is written. 
 
 4. It is a directing the Spirit of the Lord. 
 
 5. And bindeth all men's consciences to our 
 light and opinion. 
 
 6. It taketh away the children's bread. 
 
 7. And withholdeth from them the increa.'>e 
 of faith. 
 
 8. It tendeth to make wicked the hearts of 
 weak Christians. 
 
 9. It tendeth to harden the hearts of 4he 
 wicked. 
 
 10. It setteth open a door to all temptation. 
 
 11. It tempeth the devil to fall upon them 
 that are alone. 
 
 12. It is the nursery of all vain janglings. 
 
 13. It occasioneth the world to reproach us. 
 
 14. It holdeth staggering consciences in 
 doubt of the right ways of the Lord. 
 
 15. It abuseth the Holy Scriptures. 
 
 16. It is a prop to Antichrist. 
 
 17. And giveth occasion to many to turn 
 aside to most dangerous errors. 
 
 And though the last is so abhorred by you 
 that you cannot contain yourselves when you 
 read it, yet do I affirm, as I did in my first, 
 (p. 116,) "That to exclude Christians from 
 church communion, and to debar them their 
 heaven-born privileges, for the want of that 
 which God never yet made a wall of division 
 between us, did, and doth, and will prevail 
 with God to send those judgments we have or 
 may hereafter feel." Like me yet as you 
 will. . 
 
 I come next to what you have said in justi- 
 fication of your fourteen arguments. " Such 
 as they were, (say you,) I am willing to stand 
 by them: what I have oifered I have offered 
 modestly, according to the utmost light I have 
 into those Scriptures upon which they are bot- 
 tomed; having not arrived unto such a pe- 
 remptory way of dictatorship as what I render 
 must be taken for laws binding to others in 
 faith and practice, and therefore express my- 
 self by suppositions, strong presumptions, and 
 fair-seeming conclusions from the premises.'' 
 
 Answer. Your arguments, as you truly say, 
 are builded upon or drawn from suppositions 
 and presumptions, and all because you want 
 
884 
 
 SUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 for your help tlie words of the Holy Scripture. 
 Aud let the reader note, for as I have often 
 called for the word, but as yet could never get 
 it, because you have it not, neither in precept, 
 precedent, nor examj)le, therefore come you 
 forth with your seeming imports and presump- 
 tion* 
 
 The judicious reader will see in this last 
 that not only here, but in other places, to 
 whafc poor shifts you are driven to keep your 
 pen going. 
 
 But, sir, since you are not peremptory in 
 your proof, how came you to be so absolute in 
 your practice? For notwithstanding all your 
 seeming modesty, you will neither grant these 
 communion with you nor allow of their com- 
 munion among themselves that turn aside from 
 yifar seeming imports and that go not with 
 you in your strong presumptions. You must 
 not, you dare not, lest you countenance their 
 idolatry and nourish them up in sin; they 
 live in the breach of Gospel order, and, Eph- 
 raim-like, are joined to an idol. And as for 
 your love, it amounts to this : you deal with 
 them and withdraw from them, and all because 
 of some strong presumptions and suppositions. 
 
 But you tell me, " I use the arguments of 
 the Pedobaptist, viz;. : But where are infants 
 forbidden to be baptized ?" 
 
 But I ingenuously tell you I know not what 
 Pedo means, and how then should I know his 
 arguments ? 
 
 I take no man's argument but Mr. K.'s, (T 
 must not name him farther;) — I say, I take 
 no man's argument but his now, viz.: "Xhat 
 there being no precept, precedent, or example 
 for you to shut your holy brethren out of 
 church communion, therefore you should not 
 do it." That you have no command to do it 
 is clear, and you must of necessity grant it. 
 Now, where there is no precept for a founda- 
 tion, it is not what you by all your' reasonings 
 can suggest can deliver you from the guilt of 
 adding to his word. 
 
 Are you commanded to reject them? If yea, 
 where is it ? If nay, for shame be silent. 
 
 " Let us say what we will (say you) for our 
 own practice, unless we bring positive Scrip- 
 tures that yours is forbidden, though nowhere 
 written, you will be as a man in a rage without 
 it, and would have it thought you go away 
 with the garland." 
 
 Answer. 1. I am not in a rage, but contend 
 with you earnestly for the _truth. And say 
 what you will or can, though with much more 
 squibbling, frumps, and taunts than hitherto 
 
 you have mixed your writing wiA, Scripture, 
 Scripture, we cry .still ; and it is a bad sign 
 that your cause is naught when you snap and 
 snarl because I call for Scripture. 
 
 2. Had you a Scripture for this practice 
 that you ought to keep your brethren out of 
 communion for want of water baptism! I had 
 done ; but you are left of the word of God, and 
 confess it. 
 
 3. And as you have not a text that justifies 
 your own, so neither that condemns our holy 
 and Christian communion; we are commanded 
 also to "receive him that is weak in the faith, 
 for God hath received him." I read not of 
 garlands, but those in the Acts ; take you them. 
 And I say, moreover, that honest and holy Mr. 
 Jesse hath justified our practice, and you have 
 not condemned his arguments; they therefore 
 stand upon their feet against you. 
 
 I leave your 2d, 3d, 4th, 5th, and 6th argu- 
 ments under my answers, where they are sup- 
 pressed. In your 7th you again coinplain for 
 that I touch your seeming import, saying, "I 
 do not use to say, as John Bunyan^This I say, 
 and I dare to say. I please myself by com- 
 mending my apprehension soberly and submis- 
 sively to others much above me." 
 
 Answer 1. Seeming imports are a base and 
 unworthy foundation for a practice in religion, 
 and therefore I speak against them. 
 
 2. Where you say you submit your appre- 
 hensions soberly to those much above you, it 
 is false, unless you conclude none are above 
 you but those of your own opinion. Have 
 you soberly and submissively commended your 
 apprehensions to those congregations in Lon- 
 don that are not of your persuasion in the case 
 in hand? and have you consented to stand by 
 their opinion? Have you commended your 
 apprehensions soberly and submissively to 
 those you call Independents and Presbyters? 
 and are you willing to stand by their judgment 
 in the case? Do you not reserve to yourself 
 the liberty of judging what they say, and of 
 choosing what you judge is right, whether they 
 conclude with you or no? If so, why do you 
 so much dissemble with all the world in print 
 to pretend to submit to others' judgment arid 
 yet abide to condemn their judgments? You 
 have but one help; perhaps you think they 
 are not above yon, and by that proviso secure 
 yourself; but it will not do. 
 
 For the offence you take at my comment 
 upon your calling baptism a livery, and for 
 your calling it the Spirit's metaphorical de- 
 scription of baptism, both phrases are boldness 
 
PEACEABLE PRINCIPLES AND TRUE. 
 
 885 
 
 without the word ; neither do I find it called a 
 listing ordinance nor the solemnization of the 
 marriage betwixt Christ and a believer. But 
 perhaps you had this from Mr. Danvers, who 
 pleascth himself with this kind of wording it, 
 and says, moreover, in justification of you, 
 " That persons entering into the visible Church 
 thereby (by baptism, which is untrue, though 
 Mr. Baxter also saith it) are by consent ad- 
 mitted into particular congregations, where 
 they may claim the privileges due to baptized 
 believers, being orderly put into the body, and 
 put on Christ by their baptismal vow and cov- 
 enant; for by that public declaration of con- 
 sent is the marriage and solemn contract made 
 betwixt Christ and a believer in baptism. 
 And (saith he) if it be preposterous and 
 wicked for a man and woman to cohabit to- 
 gether and to enjoy the privileges 8F a married 
 estate without the passing of that public so- 
 lemnity, so it is no less disorderly, upon a 
 spiritual account, for any to claini the privi- 
 leges of a Church, or be admitted to the same, 
 till the passing of this solemnity by them." 
 
 Answer. But these words are very black. 
 
 First. Here he hath not only implicitly for- 
 bidden Jesus Christ to hold communion with 
 the saints that are not yet his by baptism, but 
 is bold to charge him with being as preposter- 
 ous and wicked if he do as a man that liveth 
 with a woman in the privileges of a married 
 state, without passing that public solemnity. 
 
 Secondly. He here also chargeth him as 
 guilty of the same wickedness that shall but 
 dare to claim church communion without it ; 
 yea, and the whole Church too, if they shall 
 admit such members to their fellowship. 
 
 And now, since cleaving to Christ by vow 
 and covenant will not do without baptism 
 after personal confession of faith, what a state 
 are all those poor saints of Jesus in that have 
 avowed themselves to be his a thousand times 
 without this baptism ! yea, and ^at a case is 
 Jesus Christ in too, by your argument, to 
 hold that communion with them that belong- 
 eth only unto them that are married to him by 
 this solemnity! 
 
 Brother, God gave him repentance. I wot 
 that through ignorance and a preposterous 
 zeal he said it. Unsay it again with tears, 
 and by a public renunciation of so wicked 
 and horrible words. But I thus sparingly 
 pass you by. 
 
 I shall not trouble the world any farther 
 with an answer to the rest of your books. 
 The books are public to the world ; let men 
 
 read and judge. And had it not been foi 
 your endeavouring to stigmatize me with re 
 proach and scandal, (a thing that does not 
 become you,) I need not have given you two 
 lines in answer. 
 
 And now, my angry brother, if you shall 
 write again, pray keep to the question — 
 namely, " What precept, precedent, or exam* 
 pie have you in God's word to exclude your 
 holy brethren from church communion for 
 want of water baptism ?" 
 
 Mr. Denne's great measure, please yourself 
 with it ; and when you shall make his argu- 
 ments your own, and tell me so, you perhaps 
 may have an answer; but considering him, 
 and comparing his notions with his conversa- 
 tion, I count it will be better for him to be 
 better in morals before he be worthy of an 
 answer. 
 
 THE CONCLUSION. 
 
 Keader: When Moses sought to set the 
 brethren that strove against each other at one, 
 he that did the wrong thrust him away, as un- 
 willing to be hindered in his ungodly attempts ; 
 but Moses continuing to make peace betwixt 
 them, the same person attempted to charge 
 him with a murderous and bloody design, 
 saying, " Wilt thou kill me as thou didst the 
 Egyptian yesterday 1" — a thing too commonly 
 thrown upon those that seek peace and ensue 
 it. "My soul (saith David) hath long dwelt 
 with liim that hatoth peace. I am for peace, 
 (saith he,) but when I speak they are for wan" 
 One would think that even nature itself should 
 count peace and concord a thing of greatest 
 worth among saints, especially since they, 
 above all- men, know themselves ; for he that 
 best knoweth himself is best able to pity and 
 bear with another; yet even among these 
 such will arise as will make divisions among 
 their brethren, and seek to draw away dis- 
 ciples after them, crying still that they, even 
 they, are in the right, and all that hold not 
 with them in the wrong and to be withdrawn 
 from. 
 
 But whenever he hath said all that he can, 
 it is one of the things which the Lord hatetli, 
 to sow discord among brethren. 
 
 Yet many years' experience we have had 
 of these mischievous attempts, as also have 
 others in other places, as may be instanced if 
 occasion require it; and that especially by 
 
886 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 those of tlie rigid way of our brethren, the 
 Baptists so called, whose principles will neither 
 allow them to admit to communion the saint 
 that differeth from them about baptism, nor 
 consent they should communicate in. a church 
 state among themselves; but take occasion 
 still, ever as they can, both to reproach their 
 church state and to finger from amongst them 
 who they can to themselves. These things 
 being grievous to those concerned, (as we are, 
 though perhaps those at quiet are too little 
 concerned in the matter,) therefore, when I 
 could no longer forbear, I thought, good to 
 present to public view the warrantableness of 
 our holy communion and the unreasonable- 
 ness of their seeking to break us to pieces. 
 At this Mr. William K., Mr. Thomas Paul, 
 and Mr. Henry Danvers, and Mr. Denne, fell 
 in might and main upon me ; some comparing 
 me to the devil, others to a bedlam, others to 
 a sot, and the like, for my seeking peace and 
 truth among the godly. Nay, further, they 
 began to cry out murder, as if I intended 
 nothing less than to accuse them to the mag- 
 istrate and to render them incapable of a 
 share in the commonwealth, when I only 
 struck at their heart-breaking, church-rend- 
 ing principles and practice, in their excluding 
 their holy brethren's communion from them, 
 and their condemning of it among them- 
 selves. They also follow me with slanders 
 and reproaches, counting (it seems) such 
 things arguments to defend themselves. 
 
 But I, in the mean time, call for proof. 
 Scripture proof, to cbnvince me it is a duty to 
 refuse communion with those of the saints 
 tlrat differ from tliem about baptism. At this 
 Mr. P. takes offence, calling my demanding 
 of proof for their rejecting the unbaptized be- 
 liever, how excellent soever in faith and holi- 
 ness, a clamorous calling for proof with high 
 and swelling words, which he counteth not 
 worthy of answer ; but I know the reason — he, 
 by this demand, is shut out of the Bible, as 
 himself also suggesteth ; wherefore, when 
 coming to assault me with arguments, he can 
 do it but by seeming import, suppositions, 
 and strong presumptions ; and tells you fur- 
 ther, in his reply, " That this is the utmost 
 of his light in the Scriptures urged for his 
 practice ;" of which light thou mayest easily 
 judge, good reader, that hast but the common 
 understanding of the mind of God concerning 
 brotherly love. Strange ! that the Scripture, that 
 everywhere commandeth and presseth to love, 
 to forbearance, and bearing the burden of our 
 
 brother, should yet imply or implicitly import 
 that we should shut them out of our Father's 
 house, or that those Scriptures that command 
 us to receive the weak should yet command us 
 to shut out the strong I Thinkest thou, reader, 
 that the Scripture hath two faces and speakest 
 with two mouths? Yet we must do so by 
 these men's doctrine. It saith expressly, 
 "Eeceive one another, aa Christ also receive(? 
 Us to the glory of God." But these men eay 
 it is not our duty ; it is preposterous and idol- 
 atrous; concluding that to receive this brother 
 is not a custom of them nor yet of the churches 
 of God; consequently telling thee that those 
 who receive such a brother are not (let them 
 talk while they will) any of the churches of 
 God. See their charity, their candour, and 
 love in the midst of their great pretensions of 
 love! 
 
 But be thus assured. Christian reader, that 
 for these their uncharitable words and actions 
 they have no footing in the word of God, 
 neither can they heal themselves with suggest- 
 ing their amicable correspondence to the world. 
 Church communion I plead for, church com- 
 munion they deny them; yet church com- 
 munion is Scripture communion, and we read 
 of none other among the saints. True, we are 
 commanded to withdraw from every brother 
 that walks disorderly, that they may be asham- 
 ed, yet not to count him an enemy, but to ad- 
 monish him as a brother. If this be that they 
 intend, for I know not of another communion 
 that we ought to have with those to whom we 
 deny church communion, then what ground of 
 rejoicing those have that are thus respected by 
 their brethren, I leave it to themselves to con- 
 sider of. 
 
 In the mean while I affirm that baptism with 
 water is neither a bar nor bolt to communion 
 of saints, nor a door nor inlet to communion 
 of saints. The same which is the argument 
 of my books; and, as some of the moderate 
 among themselves have affirmed, that neither 
 Mr. K., Mr. P., nor Mr. Danvers have made 
 invalid, though sufficiently they have made 
 their assault. 
 
 For Mr. Denne, I suppose they count him 
 none of themselves, though both he and Mr. 
 Lamb (like to like) are brought for authors 
 and abettors of their practice and to repel my 
 peaceable principles. For Mr. Denne, if either 
 of the three will make his arguments their 
 own, they may see what their servant can do ; 
 but I shall not bestow paper and ink upon him, 
 Aor yet upon. Mr. Lamb — the one already 
 
PEACEABLE PRINCIPLES AND TRUE. 
 
 887 
 
 having given liis profession the lie, and for tlie 
 other, perhaps they that know his life will see 
 little of conscience in the whole of his re- 
 ligion, and conclude him not worth the taking 
 notice of. Besides, Mr. P. hath also concluded 
 against Mr. Denne that baptism is not the in- 
 itiating ordinance, and that his utmost strength 
 for the justification of his own practice is sup- 
 positions, imports, and strong presumptions- 
 things that they laugh at, despise, and deride 
 when brought by their brethren to prpve in- 
 fant baptism. 
 
 Railing for railing I will not render, though 
 one of these opposers (Mr. Dan by name) did 
 tell me that TVIr. Paul's reply, when it came 
 out, would sufficiently provoke me to so beastly 
 a work ; but what is the reason of his so writ- 
 ing if not the peevishness of his own spirit or 
 the want of better matter ? 
 
 This I thank God for, that some of the 
 brethren of this way are of late more moderate 
 than formerly, and that those that retain their 
 former sourness still are left by the brethren 
 to the vinegar of their own spirits, their breth- 
 ren ingenuously confessing that could these of 
 their company bear it they have liberty in 
 their own souls to communicate with saints as 
 
 saints, though they differ about water bap- 
 tism. 
 
 Well, God banish bitterness out of the 
 churches, and pardon them that are the main- 
 tainers of schisms and divisions among the 
 godly. " Behold how good and how pleasant 
 it is for brethren to dwell together in unity 1 
 It is like the precious ointment upon the head, 
 that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's 
 beard, and that went down to the skirts of his 
 garment ; (farther) it is as the dew of Hermon, 
 that descended on the mountains of Sion. 
 (Mark!) For there the Lord commanded the 
 blessing, even life for evermore." 
 
 I was advised by some, who considered the 
 wise man's proverb, not to let Mr. Paul pass 
 with all his bitter invectives, but I considered 
 that the wrath of man worketh not the right- 
 eousness of God ; therefore I shall leave him 
 to the censure and rebuke of the sober, where 
 I doubt not but his unsavoury ways with me 
 will be seasonably brought to his remem- 
 brance. Farewell. 
 
 I am thine to serve thee. Christian, so long 
 as I can look out at those eyes that have had 
 so much dirt thrown at them by many. 
 
 JOHN BUNYAN. 
 
QUESTIONS 
 
 THE NATURE AND PERPETUITY OF THE SEVENTH-DAY SABBATH ; 
 
 AND PROOF THAT THE FIRST DAY OP THE WEEK IS THE TRUE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 
 
 The Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath day. 
 
 TO THE EEADER. 
 
 Some may thiuk it strange, since God's 
 Cliurch has already been so well furnished 
 with s(jund grounds and reasons by so many 
 wise and godly men for proof that the first day 
 of the week is our true Christian sabbath, that 
 I should now offer this small treatise upon the 
 same account. But when the scales are even by 
 what already is put in, a little more, you know, 
 makes the weight the better. 
 
 Or grant that we had down-weight before, 
 yet something over and above mjiy make his 
 work the harder who shall, by hanging fictions 
 on the other end, endeavour to make things 
 seem too light. 
 
 Besides, this book, being little, may best suit 
 such as have .but shallow purses, short memo- 
 ries, and but little time to spare, which usually 
 is the lot of the mean and poorest sort of men. 
 
 I have also written upon this subject for that 
 I would, as in other Gospel truths, be a fellow- 
 witness with good men that the day in which 
 our Lord rose from the dead should be much 
 set by of Christians. 
 
 I have observed that some, otherwise sound 
 in faith, are apt to be entangled with a Jewish 
 sabbath, &c. ; and that some also that are far 
 off from the observation of that, have but 
 little to say for their own practice,^ though 
 good ; and might I help them I should be glad. 
 
 A Jewish seventh-day sabbath has no prom- 
 ise of grace belonging to it, if that be true (as 
 to be sure it is) where Paul says, " The com- 
 mand to honour parents is the first command- 
 ment with promise." 
 
 Also it follows from hence that the sabbath 
 
 that has a promise annexed to the keeping of 
 it is rather that which the Lord Jesus shall 
 give to the churches of the Gentiles. Isa. Ivi. 
 
 Perhaps my method here may not in all 
 things keep the common path of argumenta- 
 tion with them that have gone before me ; but 
 I trust the godly wise will find a taste of Scrip- 
 ture truth in what I present them with as to 
 the sanction of our Christian sabbath. 
 
 I have here, by handling four questions, 
 proved that the seventh-day sabbath was not 
 moral. For that must of necessity be done 
 before it can be made to appear that the first 
 day of the week is that which is the sabbath 
 day for Christians. But withal it follows that 
 if the seventh-day sabbath was not moral, the 
 first day is not so. What is it then ? Why a 
 sabbath for holy worship is moral, but this or 
 thai day appointed for such service is sanctified 
 by precept or by approved example. The 
 timing, then, of a sabbath for us lies in God, 
 not man ; in grace, not nature ; nor in the min- 
 istration of death written and engraven in 
 stones; God always reserving to himself a 
 power to alter and change both time and modes 
 of worship according to his own will. 
 
 A sabbath, then, or day of rest from worldly 
 affeirs, to solemnize worship to God in, all good 
 men do by nature conclude is meet, yea, neces- 
 sary ; yet that, not nature, but God reveals. 
 
 Nor is that day or time by God so fixed on, 
 in its own nature, better than any other; the 
 holiness then of a sabbath lies not in the na- 
 ture or place of a day, but in the ordinance of 
 God. 
 
 888 
 
890 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Nor doth our sanctifying of it to the ends 
 ior which it is ordained lie in a bare confession 
 that it is such, but in a holy performance of 
 the duty of the day to God by Christ accord- 
 ing to his word. 
 
 But I will not enlarge to .detain the reader 
 longer from the following sheets, but shall 
 commit both him anf them to the wise dis- 
 posal of God, and rest. 
 
 Thine to serve thee, 
 JOHN BUNYAN. 
 
QUESTIONS, &c. 
 
 QUESTION I. 
 
 Whether the seventh-day sabbath is of, or made 
 irumn to man by, the law and light of nature ? 
 
 Something must be here premised before I 
 show the grounds of this question. 
 
 First, then. By the law or light of nature 
 I mean that law which was concreate with 
 man ; that which is natural to him, being orig- 
 inal with and essential to himself; consequently 
 that which is invariable and unalterable, as is 
 that nature. 
 
 Secondly. I grant that by this law of nature 
 man understands that there is one eternal 
 God; that this God is to be worshipped ac- 
 cording to his own will ; consequently that 
 time must be allowed to do it in ; but whether 
 the law or light of nature teacheth, and that of 
 itself, without the help of revelation, that the 
 seventh day of the week is that time sanctified 
 of God and set apart for his worship, that is 
 the question ; and the grounds of it are these : 
 
 First. Because the law of nature is antece- 
 dent to this day, yea, completed as a law before 
 it was known or revealed to man that God 
 either did or would sanctify the seventh day 
 of the week at all. 
 
 Now this law, as was said, being natural to 
 a man, (for "man is a law unto himself,") 
 could only teach the things of a man, and 
 there the apostle stints it. But to be able to 
 determine, and that about things that were yet 
 without being either in nature or by revela- 
 tion, is that which belongs not to a man as a 
 man; and the seventh-day sabbath, as yet, 
 was such. For Adam was completely made 
 the day before, and God did not sanctify the 
 seventh day before it was none otherwise than 
 by his secret decree. Therefore, by the law of 
 nature Adam understood it not; it was not 
 made known to him thereby. 
 
 Secondly. To aflBrm the contrary is to make 
 the law of nature supernatural, which is an 
 impossibility. Yea, they that do so make it a 
 predicter, a prophet — a prophet about divine 
 
 things to come ; yea, a prophet able to foretell 
 what shall be, and that without a revelation, 
 ■which is a strain that never yet prophet pre- 
 tended to. 
 
 Besides, to grant this is to run into a griev- 
 ous error, for this doth not only make the law , 
 of nature the first of prophets, contrary to 
 Gen. iii. 10, compared with John i. 1, but it 
 seems to make the will of God made known 
 by a revelation a needless thing. For if the 
 law of nature, as such, can predict or foretell 
 God's secrets, and that before he reveals them, 
 and this law of nature is universal iiv every 
 individual man in the world, what need is 
 there of particular prophets or of their holy 
 writings? (and indeed here the Quakers and 
 others split themselves.) For if the law of 
 nature can of itself reveal unto me one thing 
 pertaining to instituted worship, for that we 
 are treating of now, and the exact time which 
 God has not yet sanctified and set apart for the 
 performance thereof, why may it not reveal 
 unto me more, and so still more, and at last all 
 that is requisite for me to know, both as to my 
 salvation and how God is to be worshipped in 
 the Church on earth ? 
 
 Thirdly. If it be of the law of nature, then 
 all men by nature are convinced of the neces- 
 sity of keeping it, and that though they never, 
 read o? heard of the revealed will of God 
 about it ; but this we find not in the world. 
 
 For though it is true that the law of nature 
 is common to all, and that all men are to this 
 day tinder the power and command thereof, 
 yet we find not that they are by nature under 
 a conviction of the necessity of keeping of a 
 seventh-day sabbath. Yea, the Gentiles, 
 though we read not that they ever despised 
 the law of nature, yet never had, as such, a 
 reverence of a seventh^day sabbath, but rather 
 the contrary. 
 
 Fourthly. If, therefore, the seventh-day 
 sabbath is not of the law of nature, then it 
 should seem not to be obligatory to all. For 
 instituted worship and the nece«sar/ circiira- 
 
 891 
 
892 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 stances thereunto belonging is obligatory but 
 to some. The tree that Adam was forbid to 
 eat of, we read not but that his children might 
 have eaten the fruit thereof; and circumcision, 
 the passover, and other parts of the instituted 
 worship were enjoined but to some. 
 
 Fifthly. I doubt the seventh-day sabbath is 
 not of the law of nature, and so not moral ; 
 because though we read that the law of 
 nature, and that before Moses, was charged 
 upon the world, yet I find not till then that 
 the profanation of a seveutb-day sabbath was 
 charged upon the world; and indeed to me 
 this very thing makes a great scruple in the 
 case. 
 
 A law, as I said, we read of, and that from 
 Adam to Moses. The transgression also of 
 that law we read of then, and that particu- 
 larly, as in Genesis, Ezekiel, Deuteronomy, 
 and Romans the first and second chapters. 
 
 But in all the Scriptures we do not read 
 that the breach of the seventh-day sabbath 
 was charged upon men as men all that time. 
 Whence I gather, that either a seventh-day 
 sabbath was not discerned by the liglit of 
 nature, and so not by that law imposed; or 
 else that men, by the help and assistance of 
 that, (for we speak of men as men,) in old 
 time kept it better than in after ages did the 
 Church of God with better assistance by far, 
 for they are there yet found fault with as 
 breakers of that sabbath. 
 
 It follows, therefore, that if the law of 
 nature doth not of itself reveal to us, as men, 
 that the seventh day is the holy sabbath of 
 God, that that day, as to the sauction of it, 
 is not moral, but rather arbitrary — to wit, im- 
 posed by the ivill of God upon his people until 
 the time he thought fit to change it for an- 
 other day. 
 
 And if so, it is hence to be concluded that, 
 though by the light of nature men might see 
 that time must be allowed and set apart for 
 the performance of that worship that God 
 would set up in his house, yet, as such, it 
 could not see what time the Lord would to 
 that end choose. Nature therefore saw thai 
 by a positive precept or a word revealing it, 
 and by no other means. 
 
 Nor doth this at all take away a whit of that 
 sanction which God once put upon the seventh- 
 day sabbath, unless any will say, and by suf- 
 ficient argument prove, that an ordinance for 
 divine worship receiveth greater sanction 
 from the law of nature than from a divine 
 l)recept, or gtandeth stronger when it is es- 
 
 tablished by a law human, for such is the 
 law of nature, than when imposed by revela- 
 tion of God. 
 
 But the text .will put this controversy to 
 an end. The sanction of the seventh-day 
 sabbath, even as it was the " rest of God," 
 was not till after the law of nature was com- 
 pleted: "God rested the seventh day, and 
 sanctified it" — sanctified it; that is, set it 
 apart to the end there mentioned — to wit, to 
 rest thereon. 
 
 Other grounds of this question I might pro- 
 duce, but at present I will stop here, and con- 
 clude that if a seventh-day sabbath was an 
 essential necessary to the instituted worship 
 of God, then itself also, as to its sanction for 
 that work, was not founded but by a positive 
 precept, consequently not known of man at 
 first but by the revelation of God. 
 
 QUESTION II. 
 
 Whether the seventh-day sabbath, as to man's 
 keeping of it holy, was ever made Icnown to or 
 imposed by a positive precept upon him until 
 tlie time of Moses, which frora Adam was aho'u.t 
 two thousand years f 
 
 Something must also be here premised in 
 order to my propounding of my grounds for 
 this question ; and that is, that the seventh 
 day was sanctified so soon as it had being in 
 the world unto tlie rest of God, (as it is Gen. 
 ii. 2, 3,) and he did rest from all his works 
 which he had made therein. But the ques- 
 tion is. Whether^ when Qod did thus sanctify 
 this day to his own rest, he did also, by the space 
 of time above mentioned, impose H. as an holy sab- 
 bath of rest upon men, to. the end they might 
 solemnize worship to him in special manner 
 thereon ? And I question this — 
 
 Fij'st. Because, that we read not that it was. 
 And reading — I mean of the divine testimony 
 ■ — is ordained of God, for us to find out the 
 mind of God, both as to our faith and our per- 
 formance of acceptable service to him. 
 
 In reading also we are to have regard tc two 
 things : 
 
 1. To see if we can find a precept; or, 
 
 2. A countenanced practice for whJit we do. 
 For both these ways we are to search, that we 
 may find out what is that good, that accept- 
 able will of God. 
 
 For the first of these we have Gen. ii. 16, 17 ; 
 and for the second. Gen. viii. 20, 21. 
 
 Now as to the imposing of a seventh-day 
 sabbath upon men from Adam to Moses, of 
 
QUESTIONS RELATIVE TO THE SEVENTH-DAY SABBATH. 
 
 893 
 
 that we find nothing in holy writ either from I 
 precept or example. True, we und that sol- ' 
 emn worship was performed by the saints that 
 then lived — for both Abel, Noah, Abraham, 
 Isaac, Jacob sacrificed unto God — but we read 
 not that the seventh day was the time prefixed 
 of God for their so worshipping, or that they 
 took any notice of it. Some say that Adam 
 in eating the forbidden fruit broke also the 
 eeventh-day sabbath, because he fell on that 
 day, but we read not that the breach of the 
 sabbath was cbarged upon him. That which 
 we read is this: "Hast thou eaten of the tree 
 whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst 
 » not eat?" Some say also that Cain killed 
 Abel on a sabbath day, but we read not that 
 in his charge God laid any such thing at his 
 door. This was it of which he stood guilty 
 before God — namely, "That his brother's 
 blood cried unto God against him from the 
 ground." 
 
 I therefore take little notice of what a man 
 saith, though he flourisheth his matter with 
 many brave words, if he bring not with him, 
 ' Thus saith the Lord." For that, and that 
 only, ought to be my ground of faith as to 
 how my God would be worshipped by me. 
 For in the matters material to the worship of 
 God it is safest that thus I be guided in my 
 judgment, for here only I perceive " the foot- 
 steps of the flock." They say further that for 
 God to sanctify a thing is to set it apart. This 
 being true, then it follows that the seventh-day 
 sabbath was sanctified — that is, set apart — for 
 Adam in paradise; and so that it, was or- 
 dained a sabbath of rest to the saints from the 
 beginning. 
 
 But I answer, as I hinted before, that God 
 did sanctify it to his own rest. "The Lord 
 also hath set apart him that is godly for him- 
 self" But again, it is one thing for God to 
 sanctify this or that thing to an use, and 
 another thing to command that that thing be 
 forthwith in being to us. As for instance, the 
 laud of Canaan was set apart many years for 
 the children of Israel before they possessed 
 that land. Christ Jesus was long sanctified— 
 that is, set apart to be our Redeemer — before 
 God sent him into the world. 
 
 If, then, by God's sanctifying of the sev- 
 enth day for a sabbath you understand it for 
 a sabbath for man, (but the text saith not so,) 
 yet it might be so set apart for man long 
 before it should be, as s<r.ch, made known unto 
 him. And that the seventh-day sabbath was 
 not as yet made known to men, consider- 
 
 Secondly. Moses himself seems to have the 
 knowledge of it at first, not by tradition, but 
 hy revelation ; as it is, (Ex. xvi. 23,) "This la 
 that," saith he, "that the Lord -hath said," 
 (namely, to me, for we read not, as yet, that 
 he said it to anybody else,) "To-morrow is 
 the sabbath of the holy rest unto the Lord." 
 
 Also holy Nehemiah suggesteth this when 
 he saith of Israel to God, "Thou madest 
 known to them thy holy sabbaths." The first 
 of these texts shows us that tidings of a 
 seventh-day sabbath for men came first to 
 Moses from heaven; and the second, that it 
 was to Israel before unknown. 
 
 But how could be either the one or the 
 other if the seventh-day sabbath was taught 
 men by the light of nature, which is the moral 
 law, or if from the beginning it was given to 
 men by a positive precept for to be kept? 
 
 This therefore strengthen eth my doubt about 
 the affirmative of the first question, and also 
 prepareth an argument for what I plead as to 
 this we have now under consideration. 
 
 Thirdly. This yet seems to me more scrupu- 
 lous because that the punishment due to the 
 breach of the seventh-day sabbath was hid 
 from men to the time of Moses, as is clear foi 
 that it is said of the breaker of the sabbath, 
 "They put him in ward, because it was not as 
 yet declared what should be done unto him." 
 But methinks, had this seventh-day sabbath 
 been imposed upon men from the beginning, 
 the penalty or punishment due to the breach 
 thereof had certainly been known before now. 
 
 When Adam was forbidden to eat of the 
 tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the 
 penalty was then, if he disobeyed, annexed to 
 the prohibition. So also it was it was as to 
 circumcision, the passover, and other ordi- 
 nances for worship. How then can it be 
 thought that the seventh-day sabbath Should 
 be imposed upon men from the beginning, 
 and that the punishment for the breach thereof 
 should be hid with God for the space of two 
 thousand years? 
 
 Fourthly. God's giving of the seventh-day 
 sabbath was with respect to stated and stinted 
 worship in his Church; the which, until the 
 time of Moses, was not set up among his 
 people. Things till then were adjing or 
 growing — now a sacrifice, then circumcision, 
 then again, long after that, the passover, &c. 
 But when Israel was come into the wilderness, 
 there to receive, as God's congregation, a 
 stated, stinted, limited way of worship, then he 
 appoints them a time and times to perform this 
 
894 
 
 JSUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 worship in ; but, as I said afore, before that it 
 was not so, as tlie whole five boolcs of Moses 
 plainly show; wherefore the seventh-day sab- 
 bath, as such a limited day, cannot be moral 
 or of the law of nature, nor imposed till then. 
 
 And methiuks Christ Jesus and his apostles 
 do plainly enough declare this very thing; 
 for that when they repeat unto the people or 
 expound before them the moral law, they 
 quite exclude the seventh-day sabbath; yea, 
 Paul makes that law to us complete without it. 
 
 We will first touch upon what Christ doth 
 in this case. 
 
 As in his sermon upon the mount, in all that 
 large and heavenly discourse upon this law, 
 you have not one syllable about the seventh- 
 day sabbath. 
 
 So when the young man came running and 
 kneeling, and asking what good thing he 
 should do to inherit eternal life, Christ bids him 
 keep the commandments ; but when the young 
 man asked which, Christ quite leaves out the 
 seventh day and puts him upon the other. 
 
 You will say he left out the first, and second, 
 and third likewise. To which I say, that was 
 because the young man by his question did 
 presuppose that he had been a doer of them, 
 for he professed in his supplication that he was 
 a lover of that which is naturally good, which 
 is God, in that his petition was so universal 
 for every thing which he had commanded. 
 
 Paul also, when he makes mention of the 
 moral law, quite leaves out of that the very 
 name of the seventh-day sabbath, and profess- 
 eth that to us Christians the law of nature is 
 complete without it. 
 
 "He that loveth another,'' saith he, "hath 
 fulfilled the law. Foj- this. Thou shalt not 
 commit adultery, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt 
 not steal, thou shalt not covet; and if there be 
 any other commandment, it is briefly compre- 
 hended under this saying, Thou shalt love thy 
 neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to 
 his neighbour ; therefore love is the fulfilling of 
 the law." 
 
 I make not an argument of this, but take 
 an occasion to mention it as I go. But, cer- 
 tainly, had the seventh-day sabbath been moral 
 or of the law of nature, (as some would fain 
 persuade themselves,) it would not so slenderly 
 have been passed over in all these repetitions 
 of this law, but would by Christ or his apos- 
 tles have been pressed upon the people where 
 80 fair an opportunity as at these times offered 
 itself unto them. But they knew what they 
 did, and wherefore they were so silent as to 
 
 the mention of the seventh-day sabbath when 
 they so well talked of' the law as moral. 
 
 Fifthly. Moses and the prophet Ezekiel both 
 do fully confirm what has been insinuated by 
 us — to wit, that the seventh day as a sabbath 
 was not imposed upon men until Israel waa 
 brought into the wilderness. 
 
 1. Moses saith to Israel, "Eemember that 
 thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and 
 that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence 
 through a mighty hand and by a stretched-out 
 arm ; therefore the Lord thy God commandeth 
 thee to keep the sabbath day." 
 
 Yea, he tells us that the covenant which God 
 made with them in Horeb, that written in» 
 stones, " was not made with their forefathers, 
 (to wit, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,) but with 
 them." 
 
 2. Ezekiel also is punctual as to this: "I 
 caused them," saith God by that prophet, " to 
 go forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought 
 them into the wilderness. And I gave them 
 my statutes and showed them my judgments, 
 which if a man do he shall even live in them. 
 Moreover, I gave them my sabbaths to be a 
 sign between me and them, that they might 
 know that I am the Lord that, sanctifieth 
 them." 
 
 What can be more plain ? And these, to be 
 sure are two notable witnesses of God, who, as 
 you see, do jointly concur in this — to wit, that 
 it was not from paradise, nor from the fathers, 
 but from the wilderness and from Sinai that 
 men received the seventh-day sabbath to keep 
 it holy.. 
 
 True, it was God's sabbath before, for on the 
 first seventh day we read that God rested there- 
 on and sanctified it. Hence he calls it, in the 
 first place, my sabbath : " I gave them my sab- 
 bath." But it seems it was not given to the 
 Church till he had brought them into the wil- 
 derness. 
 
 But, I say, if it'had been moral it had been 
 natural to man, and by the light of nature men 
 would have understood it, even both before 
 was, and otherwise. But of this you see we 
 read nothing, either by positive law or counte- 
 nanced example, or any other way, but rather 
 the flat contrary — to wit, that Moses had the 
 knowledge of it first from heaven, not by tra- 
 dition ; that Israel had it not of or from their 
 fathers, but in the wilderness from him, to wit, 
 Moses, after he had brought them out of the 
 land of Egypt; and that that whole law in 
 which this seventh-day sabbath is placed was 
 given for the bounding and better ordering of 
 
QUESTIONS RELATIVE TO TEE SEVENTH-DAY SABBATH. 
 
 895 
 
 them in their church state for their time, till 
 the Messias should come -and put, by a better 
 ministration, this out of his Church, as we 
 ihall further show anon. 
 
 The seventh-day sabbath, therefore, was not 
 from paradise, nor from nature, nor from the 
 fathers, but from the wilderness and from 
 Sinai. 
 
 QUESTION III. 
 
 Whether, when the seventh-day sabbath was 
 given to Israel in the wilderness, the Gentiles, 
 as such, were concerned therein f 
 
 Before I show my ground for this question 
 I must also iirst premise that the Gentiles, as 
 such, were then without the Church of God 
 and pale thereof; consequently had nothing to 
 do with the essentials or necessary circum- 
 stances of that worship which God had set up 
 for himself now among the children of Israel. 
 
 Now then for the ground of the question : 
 
 First. We read not that God gave it to any 
 but to the seed of Jacob. Hence it is said to 
 Israel, and to Israel only, "The Lord hath 
 given (you) his sabbath ;" and again, " I also 
 gave (them) my sabbaths." 
 
 Now if the gift of the seventh-day sabbath 
 was only to Israel, as these texts do more than 
 seem to say, then to the Gentiles, as such, it 
 was not given; unless any should conclude 
 that God by thus doing preferred the Jew to a 
 . state of Gentilism, or that he bestowed on 
 them by thus doing some high Gentile privi- 
 lege ; but this would be very fictious ; for, to 
 lay aside reason, the text always, as to prefer- 
 ence, did set the Jew in the first of places, 
 (Kom. ii. 10,) nor was his giving the seventh- 
 day sabbath to them but a sign and token 
 thereof. 
 
 But the great objection is because the sev- 
 enth-day sabbath is found amongst the rest of 
 those precepts which is so commonly called 
 the Moral Law, for thence it is concluded to be 
 of a perpetual duration. 
 
 But I answer, that neither that, as given on 
 Sinai, is moral ; I mean as to the manner and 
 ends of its ministration, of which, God per- 
 mitting, we shall say more in our answer to 
 the fourth question, whither I direct you for 
 satisfaction. But, 
 
 Secondly. The Gentiles could not be con- 
 cerned, as such, with God's giving of a seventh- 
 day sabbath to Israel, because, as I have show- 
 ed before, it was given to Israel considered as 
 the Church of God. Acts vii. 31. 
 
 Nor was it given to them as such, but with 
 rites and ceremonies thereto belonging. Lev. 
 xxiv. 5-9 ; Num. xxviii. 9, 10 ; Neh. xiii. 22 ; 
 Ezek. xlvi. 4. 
 
 Now, I say, if this sabbath hath ceremonies 
 thereto belonging, and if these ceremonies 
 were essential to the right keeping of the sab- 
 bath, and again, if these ceremonies were given 
 to Israel only, excluding all but such as were 
 their proselytes, then this sabbath wa.s giveu to 
 them as excluding the Gentiles as such. But 
 if it had been moral, the Gentiles could a» 
 soon have been deprived of their nature as of 
 a seventh-day sabbath, though the Jews should 
 have appropriated it unto themselves only. 
 , Again, to say that God gave this seventh- 
 day sabbath to the Gentiles, as such, (and yet 
 so he must if it be of the moral law,) is as 
 much as to say that God hath ordained that 
 that sabbath should be kept by the Gentiles 
 without, but by the Jews not without, her cere- 
 monies. And what conclusion will follow 
 from hence but that God did at one and the 
 same time set up two sorts of acceptable wor- 
 ship in the world — one among the Jews, an- 
 other among the Gentiles ? But how ridiculous 
 such a thought would be, and how repugnant 
 to the wisdom of God, you may easily perceive. 
 Yea, what a diminutiou would this be to 
 God's Church that then was, for one to say the 
 Gentiles were to serve God with more liberty 
 than the Jew ! For the law was a yohe, and 
 yet the Gentile is called the dog, and said to be 
 without God in the world. Dent. vii. 7 ; Ps. 
 cxlvii. 19, 20 ; Matt. xv. 26 ; Eph. ii. 11, 12. 
 
 Thirdly. When the Gentiles, at the Jews' 
 return from Babylon, came and oifered their 
 wares to sell to the children of Israel at Jeru- 
 salem on this sabbath, yea, and sold them too, 
 yet not they, but the Jews, were rebuked as 
 the only breakers of that sabbath. Nay, there 
 dwelt then at Jerusalem men of Tyre that on 
 this sabbath sold their commodities to the 
 Jews and men of Judah, yet not iheij, but the 
 men of Judah, were contended with as the 
 breakers of this sabbath. 
 
 True, good Nehemiah did threaten the Gen- 
 tiles that were merchants for lying then about 
 the walls of the city, for that by that means 
 they were a temptation to the Jews to, break 
 their sabbaths, but still he charged the breach 
 thereof only upon his own people. Neh. xiii. 
 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20. 
 
 But can it be imagined, had the Gentiles now 
 been concerned with this sabbath by the law 
 divine, that so holy a man as Nehemiah would 
 
896 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 have let tliem escape witliout a rebuke for so 
 notorious a transgression thereof, especially 
 concerning that now also they were upon God's 
 ground — to wit, within and without the walls of 
 Jerusalem ? 
 
 Fourthly. Wherefore he saith to Israel again, 
 " Verily, my sabbaths (ye) shall keep." And 
 again, (Ye) " shall keep my sabbaths." And 
 again, " The children of Israel shall keep my 
 sabbaths, to observe my sabbath throughout 
 (their) generations." 
 
 What can be more plain, these things thus 
 standing in the Testament of God, than that 
 the seventh-day sabbaths, as such, were given 
 to Israel, to Israel only, and that the Gentiles, 
 as such, were not concerned therein? 
 
 Fifthly. The very reason also of God's giving 
 of the seventh-day sabbath to the Jews doth 
 exclude the Gentiles, as such, from having any 
 concern therein. For it was given to the Jews, 
 as was said before, as they were considered 
 God's Church, and for a sign and token by 
 which they should know that he had chosen 
 and sanctified them to himself for a peculiar 
 people.' Ex. xxxi. 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 ; Ezek. xx. 
 12, 13. And a great token and sign it was 
 that lie had so chosen them, for in that he had 
 given to them this sabbath he had given to 
 them (his own rest) a figure and pledge of his 
 sending his Son into the world to redeem them 
 from the bondage and slavery of the devil ; of 
 whom, indeed, this sabbath was a shadow or 
 type. Col. ii. 16, 17. 
 
 Thus have I concluded my ground for this 
 third question: I shall therefore propound 
 another. 
 
 QUESTION IV. 
 
 Whether the seventh-day sabbath did not fall, as 
 such, with the rest of the Jewish rites and cere- 
 monial ? Or whether that day, as a sabbath, 
 was afterwards by the apostles imposed upon 
 the churches of the Qentilesf 
 
 IwouLD now also, before I show the grounds 
 of my proposing this question, premise what 
 is necessary thereunto^ — to wit, that time and 
 day were both fixed upon by law for the solemn 
 performance of divine worship among the 
 Jews, and that time and day is also by law fixed 
 for the solemnizing of divine worship to God 
 in the churches of the Gentiles ; but that the 
 seventh-day sabbath, as such, is that time, that 
 day, that still I question. 
 
 Now, before I show the grounds of my ques- 
 tioning of it, I shall inquire into the nature of 
 
 that ministration in the bowels of which this 
 seventh-day sabbath is placed. And — 
 
 First. I say, as to that, the nature of the law 
 is moral, but the ministration and circum- 
 stances thereunto belonging are ihadovrlsh and 
 figurative. 
 
 By the nature of it, I mean the matter there- 
 of; by the ministration and circumstanc'es 
 thereto belonging, I do mean the giving of it 
 by such hands, at such a place and time, in 
 such a mode, as when it was given to Israel in 
 the wilderness. 
 
 The matter therefore — to wit, "Thou shalt 
 love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and 
 with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and 
 with all thy strength, and thy neighbour as 
 thyself "—is everlasting, (Mark xii. 29, 30, 31,) 
 and is not from Sinai nor from the two tables 
 of stone, but in nature; for this law com- 
 menced and took- being and place that day in 
 which man was created ; yea, it was concreate 
 with him, and without it he cannot be a ra- 
 tional creature, as he was in the day in which 
 God created him. But for the ministration of 
 it from Sinai, with the circumstances belong- 
 ing to that ministration, they are not moral, 
 not everlasting, but shadowish and figurative 
 only. 
 
 That ministration cannot be moral, for three 
 reasons : 
 
 1. It commenced not when morality com 
 menced, but two thousand years after. 
 
 2. It was not universal, as the moral law is ,' 
 it was given only to the Church of the Jews 
 in those tables. 
 
 3. Its end is passed as such a ministration, 
 though the same law, as td the morality thereof, 
 abides. Where are the tables of stone and 
 this law as therein contained ? We only, as 
 to that, have the notice of such a ministration 
 and a rehearsal of the law, with that mode of 
 giving it, in the Testament of God. 
 
 But to come to particulars : 
 
 1. The very preface to that ministration 
 carrieth in it a type of our deliverance from 
 the bondage of sin, the devil, and hell, Pha- 
 raoh, and Egypt, and Israel's bondage there 
 being a type of these. 
 
 2. The very stones in which this law was 
 engraven were a figure of the tables of the 
 heart. The first two were a figure of the 
 heart carnal, by which the law was broken ; 
 the last two of the heart spiritual, in which 
 the new law, the law of grace, is written and 
 preserved. Ex. xxxiv. 1 ; 2 Cor. iii. 3, 
 
 2. The very mount on which this ministra- 
 
QUESTIONS RELATIVE TO THE SEVENTH-DAY SABBATH. 
 
 897 
 
 tion was given was typical of Mount Zion. 
 See Heb. xii., whefe they are compared. 
 
 3. Yea, the very Church whom that minis- 
 tration was given to was a figure of the 
 Church of the Gospel that is on Mount Zion. 
 See the same Scripture, and compare it with 
 Acts vii. 38 ; Eev. xiv. 
 
 6. That ministration was given in the hand 
 8nd by the disposition of angels, to prefigure 
 how the new law or ministration of the Spirit 
 was to be given afterwards to the churches, 
 under the New Testament, by the hands of 
 the angel of God's everlasting covenant of 
 grace, who is his only-begotten Son. 
 
 6. It was given to Israel also in the hand 
 of Moses as a mediator, to show or typify out 
 that the law of grace was in aftertimes to 
 come to the Church of Christ 'by the hand 
 and mediation of Jesus our Lord. 
 
 7. As to this ministration, it was to con- 
 tinue " but till the Seed should come," and 
 then must, as such, give place to a better 
 ministration. Gal. iii. 19. "A better cove- 
 nant, established upon better promises." Heb. 
 viii. 6. 
 
 From all this, therefore, I conclude ' that 
 there is a difference to be put between the 
 morality of the law anij the ministration 
 of it upon Sinai. The law, as to its moral- 
 ity, was before, but as to this ministration, 
 it was not till the Church was with Moses 
 and he with the angels on Mount Sinai in 
 the wilderness. 
 
 Now in the law, as moral, we conclude a 
 time propounded, but no seventh-day sabbath 
 enjoined ; but in that law as thus ministered, 
 which ministration is already out of doors, we 
 find a seventh day — that seventh day on which 
 God rested, on which God rested from all bis 
 works — enjoined. What is it, then? Why, 
 the whole ministration as written and en- 
 graven iu stones being removed, the seventh- 
 day sabbath must also be removed; for that 
 the time, nor yet the day, was, as to our holy 
 sabbath or rest, moral, but imposed with that 
 whole ministration, as such, upon the Church,. 
 until the time of reformation; which time 
 being come, this ministration, as I said, as 
 such, ceaseth, and the whole law, as to the 
 morality of it, is delivered into the hand of 
 Christ, who imposes it now also, but not as a 
 law of works, nor as that ministration written 
 and engraven in stones, but as a rule of life 
 to those that have believed in him. 1 Cor. 
 ix. 21. 
 
 So, then, that law is still morr I and still 
 
 S7 
 
 supposes, since it teaches that there is a God, 
 that time must be set apart for liis Church to 
 worship him in, according to that will of his 
 that he hath revealed in his word. But 
 though by that law'time is required, yet by 
 that, as moral, the time never was prefixed. 
 The time, then, of old was appointed by such 
 a ministration of that law as we have been 
 now discoursing of, and when that ministra- 
 tion ceased that time did also vanish with it. 
 And now by our new Lawgiver, the Son of 
 God, he being " Lord also of the sabbath day," 
 we have a time prefixed, as the law of nature 
 requireth, a new day, by him who is Lord of 
 it — I say, appointed, wherein we may worship, 
 not in the oldness of that letter written and 
 engraven in stones, but according to, and most 
 agreeing with, his new and holy Testament. 
 And this I confirm further by those reasons 
 that now shall follow : 
 
 First. Because we find not, from the resur- 
 rection of Christ to the end of the Bible, any 
 thing writteii by which is imposed that sev- 
 enth-day sabbath upon the churches. Time, 
 as I said, the law as moral requires, but that 
 time we fir\d no longer imposed ; and in all 
 duties pertaining to God and his true worship 
 in his churches we must be guided by his 
 laws and testaments — by his old laws when 
 his old worship was in force, and by his new 
 laws when his new worship is in force. And 
 he hath verily now said, "Behold, I make all 
 things new.'' 
 
 Secondly. I find, as I have showed, that 
 this seventh-day sabbath is confined not to 
 the law of nature, as such, but to that minis- 
 tration of it which was given on Sinai ; which 
 ministration, as it is come to an end as such, 
 for it is rejected by Paul as a ministration no 
 ways capable of abiding in the Cliurch now, 
 since the ministration of the Spirit also hath 
 taken its place. 2 Cor. iii. Wherefore, in- 
 stead of propounding it to the churches with 
 arguments tending to its reception, he seeks, 
 by degrading it of its own lustre and glory, to 
 wean the churches from any likement thereof. 
 
 Thirdly. 1. By calling of it the ministration 
 of death, of the letter, and of condemnation — 
 a term more frightful, but no ways alluring to 
 the godly. 
 
 2. By calling it a ministration, that now 
 has NO glory, by reason of the exceeding 
 glory of that ministration under which by the 
 Holy Spirit the New Testament churches 
 are ; and these are weaning considerations. S 
 Cor. iii. 
 
898 
 
 SUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 3. By telling of them it is a ministration 
 that tendeth to blind the mind and to veil the 
 heart as to the knowledge of their Christ ; so 
 that they cannot, while under that, behold his 
 beauteous face but as their heart shall turn 
 from it to him. 2 Cor. iii. 
 
 4. And that they might not be left in the 
 dark, but perfectly know what ministration it 
 is that he means, he saith expressly it is " that 
 written and engraven in stones." See again 2 
 Cor. iii. And in that ministration it is that 
 this seventh-day sabbath is found. 
 
 But shall we think that the apostle speaks 
 any thing of all here said to wean saints from 
 the law of nature, as such ? No, verily ; that 
 he retains in the Church, as being managed 
 there by Christ. But this ministration is 
 dangerous now, because it cannot be main- 
 tained in the Church but in a way of con- 
 tempt to the ministration of the Spirit, and is 
 derogatory to the glory of that. 
 
 Now these, as 1 said, are weaning consid- 
 erations. No man, I do think, that knows 
 himself or the glory of a Gospel ministration, 
 can, if he understands what Paul says here, 
 desire that such a ministration should be re- 
 tained in the churches. 
 
 Fourthly. This seventh-day sabbath has lost 
 its ceremonies, (those unto which before you 
 are cited by the texts,) which were with it im- 
 posed upon the old Church for her due per- 
 formance of worship to God thereon. How 
 then can this sabbath now be kept — kept, I 
 say, according to law ? For if the Church on 
 which it was at first imposed was not to keep 
 it, yea could not keep it legally without the 
 practising of those ceremonies, and if those 
 ceremonies are long ago dead and gone, how 
 will those that pretend to a belief of a contin- 
 uation of the sanction ther^eof keep it, I say, 
 according as it is written ? 
 
 If they say they retain the day, but change 
 their manner of observation thereof, I ask, 
 Who has commanded them so to do? This is 
 one of the laws of the sabbath : " Thou shalt 
 take fine flour and bake twelve cakes thereof: 
 two tenth deals shall be in one cake. And 
 thou ahalt set them in two rows, six on a row, 
 upon the pure table of the Lord. And thou 
 shalt put pure frankincense upon each row, 
 that it may be on the bread for a memorial, 
 even an offering made by fire unto the Lord. 
 Every sabbath he shall set it in order before 
 the Lord continually, being taken from the 
 children of Israel by an everlasting covena,nt." 
 Lev. xxiv. 5-9. 
 
 Now if these be the laws of the sabbath, 
 this seventh-day sabbath, and if God did never 
 command that this sabbath should by his 
 Church be sanctified without them, and, as 
 was said before, if these ceremonies have been 
 long since dead and buried, how must this 
 sabbath be kept? 
 
 Let men take heed, lest while they plead for 
 law, and pretend themselves to be the only 
 doers of God's will, they be not found the big- 
 gest transgressors thereof. And why can they 
 not as well keep the other sabbaths as the sab- 
 baths of months, of years, and the jubilee? 
 For this, as I have showed, is no moral pre- 
 cept ; it is only a branch of the ministration 
 of death and condemnation. 
 
 Fifthly. The seventh-day sabbath, as such, 
 was a sign and shadow of things to come ; and 
 a sign cannot be the thing signified and sub- 
 stance too. Wherefore when the thing signi- 
 fied or substance is come, the sign or thing 
 shadowing ceaseth. And I say, the seventh- 
 day sabbath being so, as a seventh-day sab- 
 bath it ceaseth also. See again Ex. xxxi. 13, 
 14; Ezek. xx. 12, 21; Col. ii. 14. 
 
 Nor do I find that our Protestant writers, 
 notwithstanding their reverence of the sab- 
 bath, do conclude otherwise, but that though 
 time, as to worshipping God, must needs be 
 contained in the bowels of the moral law as 
 moral, yet they, for good reasons, forbear to 
 affix the seventh day as that time thereto. 
 They do it, I say, for good reasons — reasons 
 drawn from the Scripture — or rather for that 
 the Scripture draws them so to conclude, yet 
 they cast not away the morality of a sabbath 
 of rest to the Church. It is to be granted, 
 then, that time for God's worship abideth for 
 ever, but the seventh day vanishes as a shadow 
 and sign, because such indeed it was, as the 
 Scripture above cited declares as to the sanc- 
 tion thereof as a sabbath. 
 
 The law of nature, then, calls for time, but 
 the God of nature assigns it, and has given 
 power to his Son to continue such time as 
 himself shall, by his eternal wisdom, judge 
 most meet for the churches of the Gentiles to 
 solemnize worship to God by him in. Hence 
 he is said to be the " Lord even of the sabbath 
 day." Matt. xii. 9. 
 
 Sixthly. I find by reading God's word that 
 Paul, by authority apostolical, takes away the 
 sanctions of all the Jews' festivals and sab- 
 baths. 
 
 This is manifest for that he leaves the ob- 
 servation or non-observation of theraas things 
 
QUESTIONS RELATIVE TO THE SEVENTH-BAY SABBATH. 
 
 899 
 
 Indifferent to the mind and discretion of the 
 believers : " One man esteemeth one day above 
 another: another esteemeth every day alike. 
 Let every man be fully persuaded in his own 
 mind." 
 
 By this last clause of the verse, " Let every 
 man be fully persuaded in his own mind," he 
 doth plainly declare that such days are now 
 Btript of their sanction ; for none of God's 
 laws, while they retain their sanction, are left 
 to the will and mind of the believers as to 
 whether they will observe them or no. Men, 
 I say, are not left to their liberty in such a 
 case ; for when a stamp of divine authority is 
 upon the law, and abides, so long we are bound 
 not to our mind, but to that law ; but when a 
 thing once sacred has lost its sanction, then 
 it falls, as to faith and conscience, among 
 other common or indifferent things. And so 
 the seventh-day sabbath did. Again — 
 
 Seventhly. Thus Paul writes to the Church 
 of Colossians : " Let no man judge you in 
 meat, or in drink, or in respect of any holy day, 
 or of the new moon, or of the sabbath, which 
 are a shadow of things to come, but the body 
 is Christ." Here also as he serveth other holy 
 days he serveth the sabbath; he gives a liberty 
 to believers to refuse the observation of it, and 
 commands that no man should judge against 
 them for their so doing. And as you read the 
 reason of his so doing is because the body, the 
 substance, is come : Christ saith he, is the 
 body, or that which these things were a shadow 
 or figure of. " The body is Christ." 
 
 Nor hath the apostle, (since he saith, " or of 
 the sabbath,") one would think, left any hole 
 out at which men's inventions could get, but 
 man has sought out many, and so many he 
 will use. 
 
 But again. That the apostle by this word 
 tabbalh intends the seventh-day sabbath is 
 clear, for that it is by Moses himself counted 
 for a sign, as we have showed, and for that 
 none of the other sabbaths were a more clear 
 shadow of the Lord Jesus Christ than this. 
 For that, and that alone, is called " the rest of 
 God ;" in it God rested from all his works., 
 Hence he calls it, by way of eminency, my 
 sabbath and my holy day. 
 
 Yet could that rest be nothing else but typi- 
 cal, for God never since the world began really 
 rested but in his Son: "This is he (saith God) 
 in whom I am well pleased." This sabbath, 
 then, was God's rest typically, and was given 
 to Israel as a sign of his grace towards them 
 
 in Christ; wherefore when Christ was risen it 
 ceased, and was no longer of obligation to bind 
 the conscience to the observation thereof. 
 ("Or of the sabbath.") He distinctly singleth 
 out this seventh day as that which was a noble 
 shadow, a most exact shadow. And then puts 
 that with the other together, saying they are a 
 shadow of things to come, and that Christ 
 hath answered them all. "The body ia 
 Christ." 
 
 Eighthly. No man will, I think, deny b-'it 
 that Heb. iv. 4 intends the seventh-day sab- 
 bath, on which " God rested from all his works," 
 for the text doth plainly say so ; yet may the 
 observing reader easily perceive that both it 
 and the rest of Canaan also, made mention of 
 in verse 5, were typical as to a day made men> 
 tion of in verse 7 and 8, which day he calls 
 another. He would not afterwards have made 
 mention of another day : If Joshua had given 
 them rest, he would not. Now if they had 
 not that rest in Joshua's days, be sure they 
 had it not by Moses, for he was still before. 
 
 And all the rests therefore that Moses gave 
 them, and that Joshua gave them too, were 
 but typical of another day, in which God 
 would give them rest. Verses 9, 10. And 
 whether the day to come was Christ or heaven, 
 it makes no matter: it is enough that they be- 
 fore did fail," as always shadows do, and that 
 therefore mention by David is, and that after- 
 ward, made of another day. "There remains, 
 therefore, a rest to the people of God." A 
 rest to come, of which the seventh day in which 
 God rested and the land of Canaan was a type ; 
 which rest begins in Christ now, and shall be 
 consummated in glory. ' 
 
 And in that he saith, "There remains a 
 rest," referring to that of David, what is it if 
 it signifies not that the other rests remain nott 
 There remains therefore a rest — a rest pre- 
 figured by the seventh day and by the rest of 
 Canaan, though they are fled and gone. 
 
 "There remains a resf'^a rest which stands 
 not now in signs or shadows in the seventh 
 day or Canaan, but in the Son of God and his 
 kingdom, to whom and to which the weary are 
 invited to come for rest. Isa. xxxviii. 12; 
 Matt. xi. 28; Heb. iv. 11. 
 
 Yet this casts not out the Christian's holy 
 day or sabbath ; for that was not ordained to 
 be a type or shadow of things to come, but to 
 sanctify the name of their God in, and to per- 
 form that worship to him which was also in a 
 shadow signified by the ceremonies if the law 
 
900 
 
 BVNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 as the epistle to the Hebrews doth plentifully 
 declare. 
 
 And I say again, the seventh-day sabbath 
 cannot be it, for the reason showed afore. 
 
 Ninthly. Especially if you add to all this 
 that nothing of the ministration of death 
 written and engraven in stones is brought by 
 Jesus or his apostles into the kingdom of 
 Christ as a part of his instituted worship. 
 Hence it is said of that ministration in the 
 bowels of which this seventh-day sabbath is. 
 found that it has now no glory, that its glory 
 is done away in or by Christ, and so is laid 
 aside, the ministration of the Spirit that 
 excels in gloiy being come in the room 
 thereof. 
 
 I will read the text to you : 
 
 "But if the ministration of death, written 
 and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that 
 the children of Israel could not steadfastly be- 
 hold the face of Moses for the glory of his 
 countenance, which glory was to be done away, 
 (it was given at first with this proviso, that it 
 should not always retain its glory, that sanc- 
 tion, as a ministration,) how shall not the min- 
 istration of the Spirit be rather glorious ! For 
 if the ministration of condemnation be glorj^, 
 much more doth the ministration of right- 
 eousness exceed in glory. For even that which 
 was made glorious had no glory in this re- 
 spect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. 
 For if tliat which was done away was glorious, 
 much more that which remaineth is glorious !" 
 2 Cor. iii. 
 
 What can be more plain? The text says 
 expressly that this ministration doth not re- 
 main ; yea, and insinuates that in its first in- 
 stitution it was ordained with this proviso, "It 
 was to be done away." Xow if in its first in- 
 stitution upon Sinai it was thus ordained, and 
 if by the coming in of the mitiistration of the 
 Spirit this ordination is now executed — that is, 
 if by it, and the apostle saith it, it is done 
 away by a ministration that remains — then 
 w nere is that seventh-day sabbath ? 
 
 Thus, therefore, I have discoursed upon this 
 fourth question; and having showed by this 
 discourse that the old seventh-day sabbath is 
 abolished and done away, and that it has 
 nothing to do with the churches of the Gen- 
 tiles, I am next to show what dity it is that 
 must abide, that must abide as holy to the 
 Christians, and for them to perform their 
 Hew Testament church service in. Take the 
 question thus : 
 
 QUESTION V. 
 
 Since it is denied that the seventh-day sabbath ii 
 moral, and found that it is not to abide as a 
 sabbath for ever in the Church, what time is to 
 be fixed on for New Testament saints to per- 
 form together divine worship to God by Christ 
 inf 
 
 Upon this question hangs the stress of all 
 as to the subject now under consideration. 
 But before I can speak distinctly to it I must 
 premise, as I have in order to my speaking to 
 the questions before, something for the better 
 clearing of our way : 
 
 Firsit, then. We are not now speaking of 
 all manner of worshipping God, nor of all 
 times in which all manner of worship is to be 
 performed, but of that worship which is church 
 worship, or worship that is to be performed by 
 the assembly of saints, when by the will of 
 God they, in all parts of his dominion, as- 
 semble together to worship him ; which wor- 
 ship hath a prefixed time allotted to or for its 
 performance, and without which it cannot, ac- 
 cording, to the mind of God, be done. This is 
 the time, I say, that we are to discourse of, 
 and not of all time appointed for all manner 
 of worship. 
 
 I do not question but that worship by the 
 godly is performed to God every day of the 
 week, yea, and every night too, and that time 
 is appointed or allowed of God for the per- 
 formance of such worship. But this time is 
 not fixed to the same moment or hour univer- 
 sally, but is left to the discretion of the be- 
 lievers, as their frame of spirit, or occasions, 
 or exigences, or temptations, or duty shall 
 require. 
 
 AVe meddle then only with that ^ioze-that the 
 worship aforesaid is to be performed in ; which 
 time the law of nature, as such, supposes, but 
 the God of nature chooses. And this time, as 
 to the churches of the Gentiles, we have proved 
 is not that ' time which was assigned to the 
 Jews — to wit, THAT seventh day which was 
 imposed upon them by the ministration of 
 death — for, as we have showed already, that 
 ministration indeed is done away by a better 
 and more glorious ministration, the ministra- 
 tion of the Spirit, which ministration surely 
 would be much more inferior than that which 
 has now no glory, was it defective as to this — 
 that is, if it imposed a Gospel service, but ap- 
 pointed no time to perform that worship in, or 
 if, notwithstanding all its commendation, il 
 
QUESTIONS RELATIVE TO THE SEVENTH-DAY SABBATH. 
 
 901 
 
 ■houlcl be forced to borrow of a ministration 
 inferior to itself — thai, to wit, the time witliout 
 which by no means its most solemn worship 
 can be performed. 
 
 This, then, is the conclusion, that time to 
 worship God in is required by the law of 
 nature; but that the law of nature doth, as 
 such, fix it on the seventh day from the crea- 
 tion of the world, that I utterly deny, for what 
 I have said already and have yet to say on that 
 behalf Yea, I hope to make it manifest, as I 
 have, that this seventh day is removed — that 
 God, by the ministration of the Spirit, has 
 changed the day to another time— to wit, the 
 first day of the week. Therefore we conclude 
 the time is fixed for the worship of the New 
 Testament Christians or churches of the Gen- 
 tiles unto that day. ^ . 
 
 Now in my discourse upon this subject I 
 shall — 
 
 1. Touch upon th'ose texts that are more 
 close, yet have a divine intimation of this 
 thing in them. 
 
 2. And then I shall come to texts more ex- 
 press. 
 
 First, for those texts that are more close, 
 yet have a divine intimation of this thing in 
 them. 
 
 First. The comparison that the Holy Ghost 
 makes between the rest of God from his works 
 and the rest of Christ from his doth intimate 
 such a thing : " He that hath entered into his 
 rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, 
 as God did from his.'' Heb. iv. 10. 
 
 Now God rested from his works, and sancti- 
 iied a day of rest to himself, as a signal of that 
 rest ; which day he also gave to his Church as 
 a day of holy rest likewise. And if Christ 
 thus rested from his own works, (and the Holy 
 Ghost says he did thus rest,) he also hath 
 sanctified a day to himself as that in which he 
 hath finished his work, and given it also to his 
 Church to be an everlasting memento of his so 
 doing, and that they should keep it holy for 
 his sake. 
 
 And see, as the Father's work was first, so 
 his day went before, and as the Son's work 
 came after, so his day accordingly succeeded. 
 The Father's day was on the seventh day from 
 the creation — the Son's, the first &?/ following. 
 
 Nor may this be slighted, because the text 
 says as God finished his work, so Christ finish- 
 ed his: "He also hath ceased from his own 
 works, as God did from his.'' He rested, I 
 say, as God did ; but God rested on his resting- 
 day, and therefore so did Christ. Not that he 
 
 rested on the Father's resting-day, for it is 
 evident that then he had great part of his 
 work to do, for he had not as then got his con- 
 quest over death; but the next day he also 
 entered into his rest, having, by his rising ' 
 again, finished his work — viz., made a conquest 
 over the powers of darkness, and brought life 
 and immortality to light through his so doint;. 
 
 So, then, that being the day of the rest of 
 the Son of God, it must needs be the day of 
 the rest of his churches also. For God gave 
 his resting-day to his Church to be a sabbath : 
 " and Christr rested from his own works as God 
 did from his ;" therefore he also gave the day 
 in which he rested from his works a sabbath 
 to the churches, as did the Father: Not that 
 there are two sabbaths at once. The Father's 
 was imposed for a time, even until the Son's 
 should come ; yea, as I have showed you, even 
 in the very time of its imposing it was also or- 
 dained to be done away. Hence he saith that 
 ministration was to be do:?.e away. 2 Cor. iii. 
 Therefore we plead not for two sabbaths to be 
 at one time, but that a succession of .time was 
 ordained to the New Testament saints oi 
 churches of the Gentiles to worship in ; which 
 time is that in which the Son rested from his 
 own works, as God did from his. 
 
 Secondly. Hence he calls himself " the Lord 
 even of the sabbath day," as Luke v. and 
 Matt. xii. show. Now, to be a Lord is to 
 have dominion, dominion over a thing, and so 
 power to alter or change it according to that 
 power ; and where is he that dares say Christ 
 has not this absolutely? 
 
 We will therefore conclude that it is granted 
 on all hands he hath. The question then is, 
 Whether he hath exercised that power to the 
 demolishing or removing of the Jews' seventh 
 day and establishing another in its room ? The 
 which I think is easily answered in that he did 
 not rest from his own works therein, but chose 
 for his own rest to himself another day. 
 
 Surely had the Lord Jesus intended to have 
 established the seventh day to the churches of 
 the Gentiles, he would himself in the first 
 place have rested from his own works therein ; 
 but since he passed by that day and took no 
 notice of it as to the finishing of his own 
 works, as God took notice of it when he had 
 finished his, it remains that he fixed upon 
 another day, even the first day of the week ; 
 on which, by his rising again and showing 
 himself to his disciples before his passion, he 
 made it manifest that he had chosen, as Lord 
 of the sabbath, that day for his own rest ; con 
 
902 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 sequently, and for the rest of his churches and 
 for his worship to be solemnized in. 
 
 Thirdly. And on this day some of the saints 
 that slept arose and began their eternal sab- 
 bath. See how the Lord Jesus had glorified 
 this day I Never was such a stamp of divine 
 honour put upon any other day, no not since 
 the world began. "And the graves were 
 opened, and many bodies of the saints which 
 slept 'arose and came out of their graves after 
 his resurrection," &c. That is, they rose as 
 soon as he was risen. But why was not all 
 this done on the seventh day ? No, that day 
 was set apart that saints might adore God for 
 the works of creation, and that saints through 
 that might look for redemption by Christ. 
 But now a work more glorious than that is to 
 be done, and therefore another day is assigned 
 for the doing of it in — a work, I say, of re- 
 demption completed. A day, therefore, by it- 
 self must be assigned for this, and some of the 
 saints to begin their eternal sabbath with God 
 in heaven ; therefore a day by itself must be 
 appointed for this. Yea, and that this day 
 might not want that glory that might attract 
 the most dim-sighted Christian to a desire 
 after the sanction of it, the resurrection of 
 Christ and also of those saints met together on 
 it ; yea, they both did begin their eternal rest 
 thereon. 
 
 Fourthly. The Psalmist speaks of a day that 
 the Lord Jehovah, the Son of God, has made, 
 and saith, " We will rejoice and be glad in it." 
 But what day is this ? Why, the day in which 
 Christ was made "the head of the corner," 
 which must be applied to the day in which he 
 was raised from the dead, which is the first of 
 the week. 
 
 Hence Peter saith to the Jews, when he 
 treateth of Christ before them, and particu- 
 larly of his resurrection, " This is the stone 
 which (was) set at naught of you builders, 
 which (is) become the head of the corner." 
 He was- set at naught by them the whole 
 course of his ministry unto his death, and 
 w as made the head of the corner by God that 
 day he rose from the dead. This day, there- 
 fore, is the day that the Lord Jehovah has 
 made a day of rejoicing to the Church of 
 Christ, and we will rejoice and be glad in it. 
 
 For can it be imagined that the Spirit by 
 the prophet should thus signalize this day for 
 nothing, saying, " This is the day which the 
 Lord hath made," to no purpose ? Yes, you 
 may say, for the resurrection of his Son. 
 
 But 1 add that this is not all ; it is a day 
 
 that the Lord has both made fur that, and 
 that "we might rejoipe and be glad in it." 
 Kejoice, that is, before the Lord, while solemn 
 divine worship is perforilied on "it by all the 
 people that shall partake of the redemption 
 accomplished then. 
 
 Fifthly. God the Father again leaves such 
 another stamp of divine note and honour upon 
 this day as he never before did leave upon any, 
 where he saith to our Lord, "Thou art my 
 Sou, this day have I begotten thee ;" still, I 
 say, having respect to "the first day cf the 
 week," for that, and no other, is the day here 
 intended by the apostle ; This day, saith God, 
 is the day. "And as concerning that he 
 raised him up from the dead, now no more to 
 return to corruption, he saith on this wise : I 
 will give thee the sure mercies of David;" 
 wherefore he saith in another Psalm, " Thou 
 shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corrup- 
 tion." Wherefore, the day in which God did 
 this work is greater than that in which he fin- 
 ished the work of the creation ; for his making 
 of the creation saved it not from corruption, 
 but now he hath done a work which corrup- 
 tion cannot touch ; wherefore, the day on 
 which he did this has this note from his 
 own mouth, This day, as a day that doth 
 transcend. 
 
 And, as I said, this day is the first of the 
 week, for it was in that day that God begat 
 his beloved Son from the dead. This first day 
 of the week, therefore on it God found that 
 pleasure which he found not in the seventh 
 day from the world's creation, for that in it 
 his Son did live again to him. 
 
 Now shall not Christians, when they do 
 read that God saith. This day, and that too 
 with reference to a work done on it by him 
 so full of delight to him and so full of life and 
 heaven to them, set also a remark upon it? 
 " This was the day of God's pleasure," for that 
 his Son did rise thereon, " and shall it not be 
 the day of my delight in him ?" This is the 
 day in which his Son was both begotten, 
 and born, and became the first fruits td God 
 of them that sleep ; yea, and in which also 
 he was made by him the chief and head 
 of the corner; and shall not we rejoice 
 in it? 
 
 Shall kings, and princes, and griat men set 
 a remark upon the day of their birth and 
 coronation, and expect that both subjects and 
 servants should do them high honour on that 
 day, and shall the day in which Christ waa 
 both begotten and born be a day contemned 
 
QUESTIONS RELATIVE TO THE SEVENTH-DAY SABBATH. 
 
 903 
 
 by CLristians, and his name not be but of a 
 common regard on that day? 
 
 I say again, shall God, as with his finger, 
 point, and that in the face of the world, at 
 this day, saying, "Thou art my Son, this 
 day," &c., and shall not Christians fear and 
 awake from their employments to worship the 
 Lord on this day? 
 
 If God remembers it, well may I. If God 
 says, and that with all gladness of heart, 
 "Thou art my Son, this day have I begot- 
 ten thee," may not, ought not, I also to set 
 this day apart to sing the songs of my re- 
 demption in ? 
 
 This day my redemption was finished. 
 
 This day my dear Jesus reviyed. 
 
 This day he was declared to be the Son of 
 God with power. ^ 
 
 Yea, this is the day in which the Lord 
 Jesus finished a greater work than ever yet 
 was done in the world ; yea, a work in which 
 the Father himself was more delighted than 
 he was in making of heaven and earth. And 
 shall darkness and the shadow of death stain 
 this day, or shall a cloud dwell on this day ? 
 Shall God regard this day from above, and 
 shall not his light shine upon this day ? What 
 shall be done to them that curse this day, and 
 would not that the stars should give their light 
 thereon ? This day 1 After this day was come, 
 God never, that we read of, made mention 
 with delight of the old seventh-day sabbath 
 more. 
 
 Sixthly. Nor is that altogether to be slighted 
 when he saith, " When he bringeth his first- 
 begotten into the world let all the angels of 
 God worship him" — to wit, at that very time 
 and day. • 
 
 I know not what our expositors say of this 
 text, but to me it seems to be meant of his res- 
 urrection from the dead, both because the 
 apostle is speaking of that and closes that ar- 
 gument with this text, "Thou art my Son, 
 this day have I begotten thee." And again, 
 " I v ill be his Father, and he shall be my Son." 
 And again, when he bringeth his first-begotten 
 into the world he saith, " And let all the angels 
 of God worship him." 
 
 So, then, for God's bringing of his first-be- 
 gotten now into the world, was by his raising 
 him again from the dead after they by cruci- 
 fying of him had turned him out of the 
 same. 
 
 Thus, then, God brought him into the world, 
 never by them to be hurried out of it again : 
 for " Christ, being now raised from the dead, 
 
 dies no more; death hath no more dominion 
 over him." 
 
 Now, saith the text, when he bringeth him 
 thus into the world he requireth that worship 
 to be done unto him. When?- That very 
 day, and that by all the aqgels of God. And 
 if by all, then ministers are not excluded ; and 
 if not ministers, then not churches ; for what 
 is said to the angels is said to the Church 
 itself. 
 
 So, then, if the question be asked, When 
 must they worship him? the answer is. When 
 he brought him into the world, which was " on 
 the first day of the week ; " for then he bring- 
 eth him again from the dead, and gave the 
 whole world and the government thereof into 
 his holy hand. This text, therefore, is of 
 weight as to what we have now under con- 
 sideration — to wit, that the firs|; day of the 
 week, the day in which God brought his firat- 
 , begotten into the world, should be the day of 
 worshipping him by all the angels of God. 
 
 Seventhly. Hence this day is called the 
 Lord's day, as John saith, " I was in the Spirit 
 on the Lord's day," the day in which he rose 
 from the dead. 
 
 The Lord's day I Every day, say some, is 
 the Lord's day. Indeed this, 'for discourse 
 sake, may be granted, but, strictly, no day can 
 so properly be called the Lord's day as this 
 first day of the week, for that no day of the 
 week or of the year has those badges of the 
 Lord's glory upon it, nor such divine grace 
 put upon it, as his first day of the week. This 
 we have already made appear in part, and sha'l 
 make appear much more before we have done 
 therewith. , 
 
 There is nothing, as I know of, that bears 
 this title but the Lord's Supper and this day. 
 And since Christians count it an abuse to alle- 
 gorize the first, let them also be ashamed to 
 fantasticalize the last. The Lord's day is 
 doubtless the day in which he rose from the 
 dead. To be sure it is not the old seventh- 
 day, for from the day that he arose to the end 
 of the Bible we find not that he did hang so 
 much as one twist of glory upon that; but 
 this day is beautified with glory upon glory, 
 and that both by the Father and the Son, by 
 the prophets, and those that were raised from 
 the dead thereon ; therefore this day must be 
 more than the rest. 
 
 But we are as yet but upon divine intima- 
 tions drawn from such texts, which, if can- 
 didly considered, do very much smile upon 
 this great truth — namely, that the first day of 
 
904 
 
 EUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 the week is to be accounted the Christian sab- 
 bath or holy day for divine worship in the 
 churches of the saints. And now I come to 
 the texts'that are more express. 
 
 Secondly, then : 
 
 First. This was the day in the which he did 
 use to show himself to his people and to con- 
 gregate with them after he rose from the dead. 
 On the first day, even on the day on which 
 he rose from the dead, he visited his people," 
 both when together and apart, over and over 
 and over, as both Luke and John do testify, 
 " And preached such sermons of his resurrec- 
 tion, and gave unto them," yea, and gave them 
 such demonstration of .the truth of all as was 
 never given them from the foundation of the 
 world. Showing, he showed them his risen 
 body; opening, he opened their understand- 
 ings ; and dissipating, he so scattered their un- 
 belief on this day as he never had done before • 
 and thiiS continued one way or another even 
 from before day until the evening. 
 
 Secondly. On the next first day following 
 the Church was within again — that is, congre- 
 gated to wait upon their Lord. And John so 
 relates the matter as to give us to understand 
 that they were not so assembled together again 
 till then. " After eight days," saith he, " again 
 the disciples were within," clearly concluding 
 that they were not so on the days between, no, 
 not on the old seventh day. 
 
 Now, why should the Holy Ghost thus pre- 
 cisely speak of their assembling together upon 
 the first day if not to confirm us in this, that 
 the Lord hath chosen that day for the new 
 sabbath of his Church? Surely the apostles 
 knew what they did in their meeting together 
 upon that day ; yea, and the Lord Jesus also, 
 for that he used so to visit them, when so as- 
 sembled made his practice a law unto them ; 
 for practice is enough for us New Testament 
 saints, especially when the Lord Jesus himself 
 is in the head of that practice, and that after 
 he rose from the dead. 
 
 Perhaps some may stumble at the word 
 afta — " after eight days ; " but the meaning is, 
 at the conclusion of the eighth day, or when 
 they had spent in a manner the whole of their 
 sabbath in waiting upon their Lord, then in 
 comes their Lord and finisheth that their day's 
 service to him with confirming Thomas's faith, 
 and by letting drop other most heavenly treasure 
 among them. Christ said he must lie three 
 days and three nights in the heart of the earth, 
 yet it is evident that he rose the third day. 
 
 We must take, then, a part for the whole, 
 
 and conclude that from thetime that the Lord 
 Jesus rose from the dead to the time that he 
 showed his hands and his side to Thomas, 
 eight days were almost expired; that is, he 
 had sanctified unto them the two first days, 
 and had accepted that service they had per- 
 formed to him therein, as he testified by giving 
 of them so blessed a farewell at the conclusion 
 of both those days. 
 
 Hence now we conclude that this was the 
 custom of the Church at this day — to wit, 
 upon the first day of the week — to meet to- 
 gether and to wait upon their Lord therein. 
 For the Holy Ghost counts it needless to make 
 a continued repetition of things ; it is enough, 
 therefore, if we have now and then mention 
 made thereof. 
 
 Ohjection. " But Christ showed himself alive 
 to them at other times also." 
 
 Answer. The names of all those days in 
 which he so did are obliterated and blotted out, 
 that they might not be idolized, for Christ did 
 not set them apart for worship; but this day, 
 the first day of the week, by its name is kept 
 alive in the Church, the Holy Ghost surely 
 signifying thus much, that, how hidden soever 
 other days were, Christ would have his day, 
 the first day, had in everlasting remembrance 
 among saints. 
 
 Churches also meet together now on the 
 week-days, and have the presence of Christ 
 with them too in their employments ; but that 
 takes not off from them the sanction of the old 
 seventh day had it still continued holy to 
 them ; wherefore this is no let or objection to 
 hinder our sanctifying of the first day of the 
 week to our God. But, 
 
 Thirdly. Add to this, that upon Pentecost, 
 which was \h& first day of the weeJc, mention is 
 made of their being together again ; for Pen- 
 tecost was always the morrow after the sabbath, 
 the old seventh-day sabbath. Upon this day, 
 I say, the Holy Ghost saith, " they were with 
 one accord together in one place." 
 
 But oh the glory that then attended them by 
 the presence of the Holy Ghost among them ! 
 Never was such a thing done as was done on 
 that first day till then. We will read the text : 
 " And when the day of Pentecost was fully 
 come, they were all with one accord in one 
 place. And suddenly there came a sound from 
 heaven as of a rushing, mighty wind, and it 
 filled all the house where they were sitting. 
 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues, 
 as of fire. And it sat upon each of them, and 
 they were all filled with the Holy Ghost." 
 
QUESTIONS RELATIVE TO THE SEVENTH-DAY SABBATH. 
 
 905 
 
 Here's a first day glorified I Here's a coun- 
 tenance given to tlie day of their Christian 
 assembling. But we will note a few things 
 upon it : 
 
 First. The Church was now, as on other first 
 days, all with one accord in one place. We 
 read not that they came together by virtue of 
 any precedent revelation, not by accident, but 
 contrariwise, by agreement; they were to- 
 gether with one accord, or by appointment, in 
 pursuance of their duty, setting apart that day, 
 as they had done the first days before, to the 
 holy service of their blessed Lord and Saviour 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 Secondly. We read that this meeting of 
 theirs was not begun on the old sabbath, but 
 when Pentecost was fully come; the Holy 
 Ghost intimating that they had Iftft now, and 
 begun to leave, the seventh-day sabbath to the 
 unbelieving Jews. 
 
 Thirdly. Nor did the Holy Ghost come down 
 upon them till every moment of the old sab- 
 bath was past; Pentecost, as was said, was 
 fully come first: "And when the day of Pen- 
 tecost was fully come, they were all with one 
 accord in one place, and then,'' &c. 
 
 And why was not this done on the seventh- 
 day sabbath but, possibly, to show that the min- 
 istration of death and condemnation was not 
 that by or through which Christ the Lord would 
 communicate so good a gift unto his churches ? 
 
 This gift must be referred to the Lord's day, 
 the first day of the week, to fulfil the Scrip- 
 ture, and to sanctify yet further this holy day 
 unto tho use of all New Testament churches 
 of the saints. For since on the first day of 
 the week our Lord did rise from the dead, and 
 by his special presence— I mean his personal 
 — did accompany his Church therein, and so 
 preach, as he did, his holy truths unto them, 
 it was most meet that they on the same day 
 also should receive the first fruits of their 
 eternal life most gloriously. 
 
 And, I say again, since from the resurrec- 
 tion of Christ to this day the Church then did 
 receive upon the first day (but, as we read, 
 upon no other) such glorious things as we 
 have mentioned, it is enough to beget in the 
 hearts of them that love the Son of God a 
 high esteem of the first day of the week. But 
 how much more when there shall be joined to 
 these proof that it was the custom of the first 
 Gospel Church, the Church of Christ at Jeru- 
 salem, after our Lord was risen, to assemble 
 together to wait upon God on the first day of 
 the week, with their Lord as leader. 
 
 To say little more to this head, but only to 
 repeat what is written of this day of old — tn 
 wit, that it should be proclaimed the self-same 
 day— to wit, the morrow after the' sabbath, 
 which is the first day of the week, " that it 
 may be an holy convocation unto you; you 
 shall do no servile work therein : it shall be a 
 statute for ever in all your dwellings." 
 
 This ceremony was about the sheaf that was 
 to be waved and the bread of first fruits, which 
 was a type of Christ, for he is unto God " the 
 first fruits of them that sleep." 
 
 This sheaf or bread must not be waved on 
 the old seventh day, but on the morrow after, 
 which is the first day of the week, the day in 
 which Christ rose from the dead and waved 
 himself as the first fruits of the elect unto 
 God. Now from this day they were to count 
 seven sabbaths complete, and on 1 he morrow 
 after the seventh sabbath, which was the first 
 day of the week again, and this Pentecost 
 upon which we now are, then they were to 
 have a new meat-offering, with meat-offerings 
 and drink-offerings, &c. 
 
 And on the selfsame day they were to pro- 
 claim that that first day should be a holy con; 
 vocation unto them: the which th6 apostles 
 did, and grounded that their proclamation so 
 on the resurrection of .Jesus Christ, not on 
 ceremonies, that at the same day they brought 
 three thousand souls to God. 
 
 Now, what another signal was here put upon 
 the first day of the week ! — the day in which 
 our Lord rose from the dead, assembled with 
 his disciples, poured out so abundantly of the 
 Spirit, and gathered, even by the first draught 
 that his fishermen made by the Gospel, such a 
 number of souls to God. 
 
 Thus then they proclaimed and thus they ga- 
 thered sinners on the first day they preached ; 
 for though they had assembled together over 
 and over with their Lord before therein, yet 
 they began not jointly to preach until this first 
 day of Pentecost. 
 
 Now after this the apostles to the churches 
 did never make mention of a seventh-day sab- 
 bath. For as the wave-sheaf and the bread 
 of first fruits were a figure of the Lord Jesus 
 and the waving of his life from the dead, so 
 that morrow after the sabbath on which the 
 Jews waved their sheaf was a figure of that in 
 which our Lord did rise; consequently, when 
 their morrow after the sabbath ceased, our 
 morrow after that began, and so has continued 
 a blessed morrow after tfieir sabbath, as a holy 
 sabbath to Christians from that time ever since. 
 
906 
 
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 Fourthly. We come yet more close to the 
 custom of churches — I mean, to the custom of 
 the churches of the Gentiles — for as yet we 
 have spoken but of the practice of the Church 
 of God which was at Jerusalem ; only we will 
 add, tliat the customs that were laudable and 
 binding with the Church at Jerusalem were 
 with reverence to be imitated by the churches 
 of the Gentiles, for there was but one law of 
 Christ for them both to worship by. 
 
 Now, then, to come to the point — to wit, 
 that it was the custom of the churches of the 
 Gentiles on the first day of the week, but upon 
 no other that we read of, to come together to 
 perform divine worship to their Lord. 
 
 Hence it is said, " And upon the first day of 
 the week, when the disciples were come to- 
 gether to break bread," &c. Acts xx. 7. This 
 is a text that, as to matter of fact, cannot be 
 contradicted by any, for the text saith plainly 
 they did so ; the disciples then came together 
 to break bread — the disciples among the Gen- 
 tiles did so. 
 
 Thus you see that the solemnizing of a first 
 day to holy uses was not limited to, though 
 first preached by, the Church that was at 
 Jerusalem. The Church at Jerusalem was 
 the mother Church, and not that at Rome, as 
 some falsely imagine, for from this Church 
 went out the law and the holy word of God to 
 the Gentiles. Wherefore it must be supposed 
 that this meeting of the Gentiles on the first 
 day of the week to break bread came to them 
 by holy traditions from the Church at Jerusa- 
 lem, since they were the first that kept the 
 first day as holy unto the Lord their God. 
 
 And indeed they had the best advantage to 
 do it, for they had their Lord at the head of 
 them to back thein to it by his presence and 
 preaching thereon. 
 
 But we will a little comment upon the text. 
 
 " Upon the first day of the week." Thus 
 you see the day is nominated, and so is kept 
 alive among the churches ; for in that the day 
 is nominated on which this religious exercise 
 was performed it is to be supposed that the 
 ' ' Holy Ghost would have it 'live and be taken 
 notice of by the churches that succeed. 
 
 It may also be nominated to show that both 
 the Church at Jerusalem and those of the Gen- 
 tiles did harmonize in their sabbath, jointly 
 concluding to solemnize worship on one day ; 
 and then again to show that they all had left 
 the old sabbath to the unbelievers, and jointly 
 chose to sanctify the day of the rising of their 
 I<ord to this work. 
 
 " They came together to break bread — to pai 
 take of the supper of the Lord " And what 
 day so fit as the Lord's day for this? This 
 was to be the work of that day — to wit, to 
 solemnize thai ordinance among themselves, 
 adjoining other solemn worship thereto to fill 
 up the day, as the following part of the verse 
 shows. This day, therefore, was designed for 
 this woik — the whole day, for the next declares 
 it. The first day of the week was set by them 
 apart for this work. 
 
 "Upon the first day;" not upon a first, or 
 upon one first day, or upon such a first day, 
 for had he said so, we had had from thence 
 not so strong an argument for our purpose; 
 but when he saith " upon the first day of the 
 week " they did it, he insinuates it was their 
 custom : (also upon one of these Paul, being 
 among them, preached unto them, ready to 
 depart on the morrow.) Upon the first day. 
 What or which first day? — of this, or that, of 
 the third or fourth week of the month ? No, 
 but upon the first day, every first day, for so 
 the text admits us to judge. 
 
 "Upon the first day of the week, when the 
 disciples were come together," supposes a cus- 
 tom when or as they were wont to come to- 
 gether to perform such service among them- 
 selves to God : then Paul preached to them, &c 
 
 It is a text also that supposes an agreement 
 among themselves as to this thing. They 
 came together then to break bread ; they had 
 appointed to do it then, for that then was the 
 day of their Lord's resurrection, and that iu 
 which he himself congregated, after he revived, 
 with the first Gospel Church, the Church at 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 Thus you see, breaking of bread was the 
 work — the work that by general consent was 
 agreed to be by the churches of the Gentiles 
 performed upon the first day of the week. I 
 say, by the churches, for I doubt not but that 
 the practice here was also the practice of the 
 rest of the Gentile churches, even as it had 
 been before the practice of the Church at Je- 
 rusalem. For this practice now did become 
 universal, and so this text implies; for he 
 speaks here universally of the practice of all 
 disciples, as such, though he limits Paul's 
 preaching to that Church with whom he at 
 present personally was. Upon the first day of 
 the week, " when the disciples were come to- 
 gether to break bread," Paul, being at that 
 time at Troas, preached to them on that day. 
 
 Thus then you see how the Gentile churches 
 did use to break bread, not on the old sabbath. 
 
QUESTIONS RELATIVE TO THE SEVENTH-DAY SABBATH. 
 
 907 
 
 but on the first day of the week. And I say 
 they had it from the Church of Jerusalem, 
 where the apostles were first seated and beheld 
 the way of their Lord with their eyes. 
 
 Now, I say, since we have so ample an ex- 
 ample, not only of the Church at Jerusalem, 
 but also of the churches of the Gentiles, for 
 the keeping of the first day to the Lord, and 
 that as countenanced by Christ and his apos- 
 tles, we should not be afraid to tread in their 
 steps, for their practice is the same with the 
 law and commandment. 
 
 But, fifthly. We will add to this another 
 text: "Now, {saith Paul,) concerning the col- 
 lection for the saints, as I have given order to 
 the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon 
 the first day of the week let every one of you 
 lay by him as God has proapesed him, that 
 there be no gatherings when I come." 
 
 This text some have greatly sought to evade, 
 counting the duty here on this day to be done 
 a duty too inferior for the sanction of an old 
 seventh-day sabbath, when yet to show mercy 
 to an ass on the old sabbath was a work which 
 our Lord no way condemns. 
 
 But to pursue our design. "We have a duty 
 enjoined, and that of no inferior sort, if charity 
 be indeed, as it is, the very bond of perfect- 
 ness, and if without it all our doings, yea, and 
 Bufierings too, are not worth as much as a 
 rush. 
 
 We have here a duty, I say, that a seventh- 
 day sabbath, when in force, was not too big for 
 it to be performed in. 
 
 The work now to be done was, as you see, 
 to bestow their charity upon the poor, yea, to 
 provide for time to come. And, I say, it must 
 be collected upon the first day of the week. 
 Upon THE first day, not A first day, as signify- 
 ing one or two, but upon the first day, even 
 every first day, for so your ancient Bibles have 
 it; also our later must be so understood, or 
 else Paul had left them to whom he did write 
 utterly at a loss. For if he intended not every 
 first day, and yet did not specify a particular 
 one, it could hardly even have been under- 
 stood which first day he meant. But we need 
 not jtand upon this : this work was a work for 
 A first day, for eveey first day of the week. 
 
 Note again, that we have this duty here 
 commanded and enforced by an apostolical 
 order: "I have given order (saith Paul) for 
 this ;" and his orders, as he saith in another 
 place, "are the commandments of the Lord." 
 You have it in the same epistle, chap. xiv. 
 verse 3'', 
 
 Whence it follows that there was given, 
 even by the apostles themselves, a holy re- 
 spect to the first day of the week above all 
 the days of the week, yea, of the year besides. 
 
 Further, I find also by this text that this 
 order is universal: "I have (saith he) given 
 this order not only to you, but to the churches 
 in Galatia;" consequently to all others that 
 were concerned in this collection. 2 Cor. viii. 
 and ix., &c. 
 
 Now this, whatever others 'may think, puts 
 yet more glory upon the first day of the week, 
 for in that all the churches are commanded, as 
 to make their collections, so to make them on 
 THIS day, what is it but that this day, by 
 reason of the sanction that Christ put upon it, 
 was of virtue to sanctify the offering through 
 and by Christ Jesus, as the altar and temple 
 afore did sanctify the gift and gold that were 
 oflTered on theni. The proverb is, "The better 
 day the better deed." And I believe that 
 things done on the Lord's day are better done 
 than on other days of the week, in his wor- 
 ship. 
 
 Objection. But yet, say some, here are no 
 orders to keep this firat day holy to the Lord. 
 
 Answer 1. That is supplied for that by this 
 very text this day is appointed, above all the 
 days of the week, to do this holy duty in. 
 
 2. You must understand that this order is 
 additional, and now enjoined 'to fill up that 
 which was begun, as to holy exercise of re- 
 ligious worship, by the churches long before. 
 
 3. The universality of the duty being en- 
 joined to this day, supposes that this day 
 was universally kept by the churches as holy 
 already. 
 
 4. And let him that scrupleth this show me, 
 if he can, that God, by the mouth of his apos- 
 tles, did ever command that all the churches 
 should be confined to this or that duty on such 
 a day, and yet put no sanction upon that day; 
 or that he has commanded that this work 
 should be done on the first day of the week, 
 and yet has reserved other church ordinances 
 as a public solemnization of worship to him to 
 be done of another day, as of a day more fit or 
 more holy. 
 
 5. If charity, if a general collection for the 
 saints in the churches, is commanded on this 
 day, and on no other day but this day, (for 
 church collection is commanded on no other,) 
 there must be a reason for it; and if that 
 reason hath not respect to the sanction of the 
 day, I know not why the duty should be so 
 strictly confined to it. 
 
908 
 
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 6. But for this, the apostle now to give a 
 particular command to the churches to sanc- 
 tify tliat day as holy unto the Lord had been 
 utterly superfluous ; for.that they already, and 
 that by the countenance of their Lord and his 
 Church at Jerusalem, had done. 
 
 Before now, I say, it was become a custom, 
 as by what hath been said already is manifest; 
 wherefore what need that their so solemn a 
 practice be imposed again upon the brethren? 
 An intimation now of a continued respect 
 thereto, by the very naming of the day, is 
 enough to keep the saliotity thereof on foot in 
 the churches. How much more, then, when the 
 Lord is still adding holy duty to holy duty, be 
 performed upon that day. So, then, in that the 
 apostle writes to the churches to do this holy 
 duty on the first day of the week, he puts 
 them in mind of the sanction of the day, and 
 insinuates that he would still have them have 
 a due respect thereto. 
 
 Question. But is there yet another reason 
 why this holy duty should in special, as it is, 
 be commanded to be performed on the first 
 day of the week? 
 
 Answer. Yes; for that now the churches 
 were come together in their respective places, 
 the better to agree about collections and to 
 gather them. You know chui'ch worship is a 
 duty so long as we are in the world, and so 
 long also is this of making collections for the 
 Baints. And forasmuch as the apostle speaks 
 here, as I have hinted afore, of a church col- 
 lection, when is it more fit to be done than 
 when the Church is come together upon the 
 first day of the week to worship God? 
 
 2. This part of worship is most comely to 
 be done upon the first day of the week, and 
 that at the close of that day's work ; for there- 
 by the Church shows not only her thankful- 
 ness to God for a sabbath day's mercy, but 
 also returneth him, by giving to the poor, 
 that sacrifice for their benefit that is most 
 behooveful to make manifest their professed 
 Bubjection to Christ. Prov. xix. 17 ; 2 Cor. ix. 
 
 It is therefore necessary that this work be 
 done on the first day of the week for a comely 
 close of the worship that we perform to the 
 Lord our God on that day. 
 
 3. On the first day of the week, when the 
 Church is performing of holy worship unto 
 God, then that of collection for the saints is 
 most meet to be performed, because then, iu 
 all likelihood, our hearts will be most warm 
 with the divine presence, consequently most 
 open and free to contribute to the necessity 
 
 of the saints. You know that a man when 
 his heart is open is taken with some excellent 
 thing; then, if at all, it is most free to Jo 
 something for the promotion thereof. 
 
 Why ? Waiting upon God- in the way cf 
 his appointments opens and makes free the 
 heart to the poor ; and because the first day 
 of the week was it in which now such solemo 
 service to him was done, therefore also the 
 apostle commanded that upon the same day 
 also, as on a day most fit, this duty of collect- 
 ing for the poor should be done : " For the 
 Lord loves a cheerful giver." 2 Cor. ix. 6, 7. 
 
 Wherefore the apostle by this takes the 
 churches as it were at the advantage, and, 
 as we might say, while the iron is hot, to the 
 intent he might, what in him lay, make their - 
 collections not sparing nor of a grudging 
 mind, but to flow from cheerfulness. And 
 the first day of the week, though its institu- 
 tion was set aside, doth most naturally tend to 
 this, because it is the day, the only day, in 
 which we received such blessings from God. 
 Acts iii. 26. 
 
 This is the day on which at first it rained 
 manna all day long from heaven upon the 
 New Testament Church, and so continues to 
 do to this day. Oh the resurrection of Christ, 
 which was on this day, and the riches that we 
 receive thereby, though it should be, and is, I 
 hope, thought on every day, yet when the first 
 day of the week is ftiUy come ! Then ^-day I 
 this day I This is the day to be warmed ; this 
 day he was begotten from the dead. The 
 thought of this will do much with an honest 
 mind. This is the day, I say, that the first 
 saints did find, and that after saints Do find, 
 the blessings of God come down upon them ; 
 and therefore this is the day here commanded 
 to be set apart for holy duties. 
 
 And although what I have said may be but 
 little set by of some, yet for a closing word as 
 to this, I do think could but half so much be 
 produced (as for the day Christ rose from the 
 dead) quite down for the sanction of a seventh- 
 day sabbath in the churches of the Gentiles, it 
 would much sway with me. But the truth is, 
 neither doth the Apostle Paul nor any of his 
 fellows so much as once speak one word to 
 the churches that shows the least regard, as to 
 conscience to God, of a seventh-day sabbath 
 more. No, the first day, the first day, the 
 first day, is now all the cry in the churches by 
 the apostles for the performing church wor- 
 ship unto God. Christ began it on that day ; 
 then the Holy Ghost seconded it on that day ; 
 
QUESTIONS RELATIVE TO THE SEVENTH-DAY SABBATH. 
 
 yuo 
 
 then the churches practised it on that day; 
 and, to conclude, the apostle, by the com- 
 mand now under consideration, continues the 
 sanction of that day to the churches to the end 
 of the world. 
 
 But as to the old seventh-day sabbath, as 
 hath been said afore in this treatise, Paul, 
 who is the apostle of the Gentiles, has so 
 taken away that whole ministration in the 
 , bowels of which it is, yea, and has so stript it 
 of its Old Testament grandeur, both by terms 
 and arguments, that it is strange to me it 
 should by any be still kept up in the churches, 
 especially since the same apostle, and that at 
 the same time, has put a better ministration 
 in its place. 
 
 But wh?n the consciences of good men are 
 captivated with an error, none gan stop them 
 from a prosecution thereof as if it were itself 
 of the best of truths. 
 
 Objection. But Paul preached frequently on 
 the old sabbath, and that after the resurrec- 
 tion of Christ. 
 
 Answer. To the unbelieving Jews and their 
 proselytes I grant he did. But we read not 
 that he did it to any New Testament Church 
 on that day, nor did he celebrate the insti- 
 tuted worship of Christ in the churches on 
 that day. For Paul, who had before cast out 
 the ministration of death, as that which had 
 no glory, would not now take thereof any part 
 for New Testament instituted worship ; for he 
 knew that that would veil the heart and blind 
 the mind from that which yet instituted wor- 
 ship was ordained to discover. 
 
 He preached, 'then, on the seventh-day sab- 
 bath, of a divine and crafty love, to the salva- 
 tion of the unbelieving Jews. 
 
 I say, he preached now on that day to them 
 and their proselytes, because that day was 
 theirs by their estimation : he did it, I say, of 
 great love to their souls, that, if possible, he 
 might save some of them. 
 
 Wherefore, if you observe you shall still 
 find that where it is said that he preached on 
 that day,- it was to that people, not to the 
 churches of Christ. 
 
 Thus, though he had put away the sanction 
 of that day as to himself, and had left the 
 Christians that were weak to their liberty as 
 to conscience to it, yet he takes occasion upon 
 it to preach, to the Jews that still were wedded 
 to it, the faith, that they might be saved by 
 grace. 
 
 Paul did also many other things that were 
 Jewisli and ceremonial, for which he had, as 
 
 then, no conscience at all as to any sjinction 
 that he believed was in them — 
 
 As his circumcising of Timothy ; 
 
 His shaving of his head ; 
 
 His submitting to Jewish purifications ; 
 
 His acknowledging of himself a Pharisee ; 
 
 His implicit owning of Ananias for high 
 priest after Christ was risen from the dead. 
 
 He tells us also, "that to the Jew he be- 
 came as a Jew, that he might save the Jew. 
 And without law to them that were without 
 law," that also he might gain them. Yea, he 
 became, as he saith, " all things to all men, that 
 he might gain the more." 
 
 But these things, as I said, he did not of 
 conscience to the things, for he knew that 
 their sanction was gone ; nor would he suffer 
 them to be imposed upon the churches directly 
 or indirectly ; no, not by Peter himself. 
 
 Were I in Turkey with a Church of Jesus 
 Christ, I would keep the first day of the week 
 to God and for the edification of his people, 
 and would also preach the word to the infidels 
 on their sabbath day, which is our Friday; 
 and be glad too if I might have such oppor- 
 tunity to try to persuade them to a love of 
 their own salvation. 
 
 Objection. But if the seventh-day sabbath is, 
 as you say, to be laid aside by the churches of 
 the Gentiles, why doth Christ say to his, " Pray 
 that your flight be not in the winter nor on the 
 sabbath day 1" for, say some, by this saying it 
 appears that the old seventh-day sabbath, as 
 you have called it, will, as to the sanction of 
 it, abide in force after Christ is ascended into 
 heaven. 
 
 Answer. I say first, these words were spoken 
 to the Jewish Christians, not to the Gentile 
 churches ; and the reason of this first hint you 
 will see clearly afterwards. 
 
 The Jews had several sabbaths, as their 
 seventh-day sabbath, their monthly sabbath, 
 their sabbath of years, and their jubilee. Now 
 if he means their ordinary sabbaths, or that 
 called the seventh-day sabbath, why doth he 
 join the winter thereto? for in that he joineth 
 the winter with that sabbath that he exhorteth 
 them to pray their fiight might not be in, it 
 should seem he meaneth rather their sabbath 
 of years, or their jubilee, which did better 
 answer one to another than one day and a 
 \v inter could. 
 
 And I say again, that Christ should suppose 
 that their flight should or might last some con 
 siderable part of a winter, and yet that then 
 they should have their rest on those seventh 
 
910 
 
 SUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 day sabbaths, is a little beside my reason, if it 
 be considered again that the Gentiles, before 
 whom they were then to fly, were enemies to 
 their sabbath, and consequently would take 
 opportunity at their sabbaths to afflict them so 
 much the more. Wherefore I would that they 
 who plead for a continuation of the seventh- 
 day sabbath from this text would both better 
 consider it and the incoherence that seems to 
 be betwixt such a sabbath and a winter. 
 
 But again, were it granted that it is the 
 seventh-day sabbath that Christ here intendeth, 
 yet since, as we have proved, the sanction be- 
 fore this was taken away — I mean, before this 
 flight should be — he did not press them to pray 
 thus because by any law of Heaven they 
 should then be commanded to keep it holy, 
 but because some would, through their weak- , 
 ness, have conscience of it till then. And 
 such would, if their flight should happen 
 thereon, be as much grieved and perplexed as 
 if it yet stood obligatory to them by a law. 
 
 This seems to have some truth in it, because 
 among the Jews that believed there continued 
 a long time many that were wedded yet to the 
 law, to the ceremonial part thereof, and were 
 not so clearly evangelized as the churches of 
 the Gentiles were. "Thou seest, brother, 
 (said James to Paul,) how many thousands of 
 the Jews there are that believe, and they are 
 all zealous of the law.'' 
 
 Of these, and such weak, unbelieving Jews, 
 perhaps Christ speaks when he gives this ex- 
 hortation to them to pray thus, whose con- 
 sciences he knew would be weak, and, being 
 so, would bind when they were entangled with 
 an error as fast as if they were bound by a law 
 indeed. 
 
 Again, though the seventh-day sabbath and 
 ceremonies lost their sanction at the resurrec- 
 tion of Christ, yet they retained some kind of 
 being in the Church of the Jews until the des- 
 olation spoken of by Daniel should be. 
 
 Hence it is said that then the oblation and 
 sacrifices shall cease. And hence it is that 
 Jerusalem and the temple are still called the 
 holy place, even until this flight should be. 
 
 Now if Jerusalem and the temple are still 
 called holy, even after the body and substance 
 of which they were shadows was come, then 
 no marvel though some to that day who be- ' 
 lieved were entangled therewith, &c. For it 
 may very well be supposed that all conscience 
 of them would not be quite taken away until 
 all reason for that conscience should be taken 
 awa) also. But when Jerusalem and the tem- 
 
 ple, and the Jews' worship by the Gentiles was 
 quite extinct by ruins, then in reason that con- 
 science did cease. And it seems, by some 
 texts, that all conscience to them was not 
 taken away till then. 
 
 Question. But what kind of being had the 
 seventh-day sabbath and other Jewish rites 
 and ceremonies that by Christ's resurrection 
 was taken away ? 
 
 Answer. These things had a virtual and a 
 nominal being. As to their virtual being, 
 that died that day Christ did rise from the 
 dead, they being crucified with him on the 
 cross. 
 
 But now, when the virtual being was gone, 
 they still with the weak retained their name 
 (among many of the Jews that believed) until 
 the abomination that maketh desolate stood in 
 the holy place ; for in Paul's time they were, 
 as to that, but ready to vanish away. 
 
 Now, I say, they still retaining their nominal 
 grandeur, though not by virtue of a law, they 
 could not, till time and dispensation came, be 
 swept out of the way. We will make out what 
 hath been said as to this by a familiar simili- 
 tude: 
 
 There is a lord or great man dies; now, 
 being dead, he has lost his virtual life. He 
 has now no relation to a wife, to children, 
 virtually, yet his name still abides, and that in 
 that family to which otherwise he is dead. 
 Wherefore they embalm him, and also keep 
 him above ground for many days ; yea, he is 
 still reverenced by those of the family, and 
 that in several respects, nor doth any thing 
 but time and dispensation wear this name 
 away. 
 
 Thus, then, the Old Testament signs and 
 shadows went off the stage in the Church of 
 Christ among the Jews. They lost their virtm 
 and signification when Christ nailed them to 
 his cross. But as to their name and the gran- 
 deur that attended that, it continued with many 
 that were weak, and vanished not but when 
 the abomination that made them desolate came. 
 
 The sum then and conclusion of the matter 
 is this : The seventh-day sabbath lost its glory 
 when that ministration in which it was was lost, 
 but yet the nmne thereof might abide a long 
 time with the Jewish legal Christians, and so 
 might become obligatory still, though not by 
 the law, to their conscience, even as circum- 
 cision and other ceremonies did; and to their 
 it would be as grievous to fly on that day as if 
 by law it was still in force. 
 
 For I say, to a weak conscience that law 
 
QUES2I0NS RELATIVE TO THE SEVENTH-DAY SABBATH. 
 
 911 
 
 wliicli has lost its life may yet, through their 
 ignorance, be as binding as if it stood still 
 upon the authority of God. 
 
 Things, then, become obligatory these two 
 ways : 
 
 1 By an imtihilion of God. 
 
 2. By the overruling power of man's misin- 
 formed conscience. And although by virtue 
 of an institution divine worship is acceptable 
 to God by Christ, yet conscience will make 
 that a man shall have but little ease if such 
 rules and dictates as it imposes be not observed 
 by him. • 
 
 This is my answer upon a supposition that 
 the seventh-day sabbath is in this text in- 
 tended ; and the answer, I think, stands firm 
 and good. 
 
 A.lso there remains, notwithstanding this ob- 
 jection, no divine sanction in or upon the old 
 seventh-day sabbath. 
 
 Some indeed will urge that Christ here meant 
 the first day of the week, which here he puts 
 under the term of sabbath. But this is foreign 
 to me, so I waive it till I receive more satis- 
 faction in the thing. 
 
 Question. But if indeed the first day of the 
 week be the new Christian sabbath, why is 
 there no more spoken of its institution in the 
 Testament of Christ ? 
 
 Answer, No more ! What need is there of 
 more than enough ? Yea, there is a great deal 
 found in the Testament of the Lord Jesus to 
 prove its authority divine : 
 
 1. For we have showed from' sundry Scrip- 
 ■ tures that from the very day our Lord did rise 
 
 from the dead, the Church at Jerusalem, in 
 which the twelve apostles were, did meet to- 
 gether on that day, and had the Lord himself 
 for their preacher, while they were auditors ; 
 and thus the day began. 
 
 2. We have showed that the Holy Ghost, 
 the third person in the Trinity, did second this 
 of Christ in coming down from heaven upon 
 this day to manage the apostles in their preach- 
 ing; and in that very day so managed them 
 in that work that by this help they then did 
 bring three thousand souls to God. 
 
 3. We have showed also that after this the 
 Gentile churches did solemnize this day for 
 holy worship, and that they had from Paul 
 both countenance and order so to do. 
 
 And now I will add that more need not be 
 spoken, for the practice of the first Church, 
 with tlieir Lord at the head of them to 
 manage them in that practice, is as good as 
 many co:nmanJs. What, then, shall we say 
 
 when we see a first practice turned into holy 
 custom ? 
 
 I say, moreover, that though a seventh-day 
 sabbath is not natural to man as man, yet our 
 Christian holy day is natural to us as saints if 
 our consciences are not clogged before with 
 some old fables or Jewish customs. 
 
 But if an old religion shall get footing and 
 rooting in us, though the grounds thereof be 
 vanished away, yet the man concerned will bo 
 hard put to it, should he be saved, to get clear 
 of his clouds and devote himself to that ser- 
 vice of God which is of his own prescribing. 
 
 Luther himself, though he saw many things 
 were without ground which he had received 
 for truth, had yet work hard enough, as him- 
 self' intimates, to get his conscience clear from 
 all those roots and strings of inbred error. 
 
 But, I say, to an untainted and well-bred 
 Christian we have good measure, shaken to- 
 gether and running over, for our Christian 
 Lord's day. And I say again, that the first day 
 of the week and the spirit of such a Christian 
 suit one another, as nature suiteth nature; for 
 there is, as it were, a natural instinct in Chris- 
 tians, as such, when they understand what in 
 a first day was brought forth, to fall in there- 
 with to keep it holy to their Lord. 
 
 1. The first day of the week! Why it was 
 the day of onr life. After two days he will re- 
 ceive us, and in the third day we 'shall live in 
 his sight. After two dhys. There is the Jews' 
 preparation and seventh-day sabbath quite passed 
 over ; and in the third day — that is, the first day 
 of the week, which is the day our Lord did 
 rise from the dead — we began to live by him 
 in the sight of God. 
 
 2. The first day of the week 1 That is the 
 day in which, as I hinted before, our Lord was 
 wont to preach to his disciples after he rose 
 from the dead ; in which also he did use to 
 show them his hands and his feet, to the end 
 they might be 'confirmed in the truth of his 
 victory over death and the grave for them ; the 
 day in which he made himself known to them 
 in breaking bread; the day in which he so 
 plentifully poured out the Holy Ghost upon 
 them ; the day in which the Church, both al 
 Jerusalem and those of the Gentiles, did use to 
 perform to God divine worship ; all which has 
 before been sufficiently proved. And shall we 
 not imitate our Lord, nor the Church that was 
 immediately actuated by him in this, and the 
 churches their fellows ? Shall, I say, the Lord 
 Jesus do all this in his Church, and they to- 
 gether with him; shall the churches of the 
 
912 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 frentiles also fall in with their Lord and with 
 their mother at Jerusalem herein ; and again, 
 shall all this be so punctually committed to 
 sacred story, with the day in which these 
 things were done, under denomination over 
 and over, saying. These things were done on 
 the, first day, on \h.& first day of the week, while 
 all other days are, as to name, buried in ever- 
 lasting oblivion, — and shall we not take that 
 , notice thereof as to follow the Lord Jesus and 
 the churches herein? stupidity I 
 
 3. This day of the week ! They that make 
 but observation of what the Lord did of old to 
 many sinners and with his churches on this 
 day must need conclude that in ,this day the 
 treasures of heaven were broken up and the 
 richest things therein communicated to his 
 Church. Shall the children of this world be, 
 as to this also, wiser in their generation than 
 the children of light, and former saints, upon 
 whose shoulders we pretend to stand, go be- 
 yond us here also ? 
 
 Jacob could, by observation, gather that the 
 place where he lay down to sleep was no other 
 but the house of God and the very gate of 
 heaven. ^ 
 
 Laban could gather by observation that the 
 Lord blessed him for Jacob's sake. 
 
 David could gather by what he met with 
 upon Mount Moriah that that was the place 
 where God would have the temple builded: 
 therefore he sacrificed there. 
 
 Euth was to mark the place where Boaz lay 
 down to sleep ; and shall not Christians also 
 mark the day in which our Lord " rose from 
 the dead?" 
 
 I say, shall we not mark it when so many 
 memorable things were done on it for, and to, 
 and in the churches of God! Let saints be 
 ashamed to think that such a day should be 
 looked over or counted common (when tempted 
 to it by Satan) when kept to religious service 
 of old, and when beautified with so many di- 
 vine characters of sanctity as we have proved 
 by Christ, his Church, the Holy Ghost, and 
 the command of apostolical authority it 
 was. 
 
 But why, I say, is this day, on which our 
 Lord rose from the dead, nominated as it is ? 
 Why was it not sufficient to say, " He rose 
 again," or, He rose again the third day, with- 
 out a specification of the very name of the 
 day? For, as we said afore, Christ appeared 
 to his disciples after his resurrection on other 
 days also, yea, and thereon did miracles too. 
 Why, then, did not these days live ? why was 
 
 their name, for all that, blotted out, and thi* 
 day only kept alive in the churches ? 
 
 The day on which Christ was born of a vir- 
 gin, the day of his circumcision, the day of 
 his baptism and transfiguration, are not, by 
 their names, committed by the Holy Ghost to 
 Holy Writ to be kept alive in the word, nor 
 yet such days in which he did many great and 
 wonderful things. But this day, this day, is 
 still nominated — -the first day of the week is 
 the day. I say, why are things thus left with 
 us but because we, as saints of old, should 
 gather and separate what is of divine author- 
 ity from the rest ? For in that this day is so 
 Tjften nominated while all other days lie dead 
 in their grave, it is as much as if God should 
 say. Remember the first day of the week t« 
 keep it holy to the Lord your God. 
 
 And, set this aside, I know not what reason 
 can be rendered or what prophecy should be 
 fulfilled by the bare naming of the day. 
 
 When God of old did sanctify for the use of 
 his Church a day, as he did many, he always 
 caljed them either by the name of the day of 
 the month or of the week, or by some other 
 signal by which they might be certainly known. 
 Why should it not then be concluded that for 
 this reason the first day of the week is thus 
 often nominated by the Holy Ghost in the 
 Testament of Christ? 
 
 Moreover, he that takes away the first day 
 as to his service, leaves us now no day as 
 sanctified of God for his solemn worship to be 
 by his churches performed in. As for the 
 seventh-day aabbrith, that, as we see, is gone 
 to its grave with the signs and shadows of the 
 Old Testamant ; yea, and has such a dash left 
 upon it by apostolical authority that it is 
 enough to make a Christian fly from it foi 
 ever. 2 Cor. iii. 
 
 Now, I say, since that is removed by God, if 
 we should suffer the first day also to be taken 
 away by man, what day that has a divine 
 stamp upon it would be left for us to worship 
 God in ? 
 
 Alas ! the first day of the week is the Chris 
 tian's marhet-day — that which they so solemnly 
 trade in for soul-provision for all the week fol- 
 lowing. This is th'e day that they gather 
 manna in. To be sure, the seventh- day sab- 
 bath is not that, for of old the people of God 
 could never find manna on that day. " On the 
 seventh day," said Moses, '' which is the sab- 
 bath, in it there shall be none." 
 
 Any day of the week manna could be 
 found, but on that day it was not to be found 
 
QUESTIONS RELATIVE TO THE SEVEhTH-DAY SABBATH. 
 
 913 
 
 upon the face of the ground. But now our 
 flni day is the manna-day, the only day that 
 the churches of the New Testament, even of 
 old, did gather manna in. But more of this 
 anou. 
 
 Nor will it out of mind but that it is a very 
 high piece of ingratitude and of uncomely be- 
 haviour to deny the Son of God his day, the 
 Lord's day, the day that he has made; and, as 
 we have showed already, this firs^ day of the 
 week is it ; yea, and a great piece of unman- 
 uerliness is it too for any, notwithstanding the 
 old seventh day is so degraded as it is, to at- 
 tempt to impose it on the Son of God — to im- 
 pose a day upon him which yet Paul denies to 
 be a branch of the ministration of the Spirit 
 and of righteousness. Yea, to impose a part 
 of that ministration which he says plainly was 
 to be done away, for that a bettbr ministra- 
 tion stript it of its glory, is a high attempt 
 indeed. 
 
 Yet again the apostle smites the teachers of 
 the law upon the mouth, saying, " They un- 
 derstand neither what they say nor whereof 
 they affirm." 
 
 The seventh-day sabbath was indeed God's 
 rest from the works of creation; but yet the 
 rest that he found in what the iirst day of the 
 week did produce, for Christ was born from 
 the dead in it, more pleased him' than did all 
 the seventh days that ever the world brought 
 forth ; wherefore, as I said before, it cannot be 
 but the well-bred Christian must set apart this 
 day for solemn worship to God and to sanctify 
 his name therein. 
 
 Must the Church of old be bound to remem- 
 ber that night in which they did come out of 
 Egypt ; must Jephthah's daughter have four 
 days for the virgins of Israel yearly to lament 
 her hard case in ; yea, must two days be kept 
 by the Church of old yearly for their being 
 delivered from Haman's fury; and must not 
 one to the world's end be kept by the saints 
 for the Son of God their Bedeemer, for all he 
 has delivered them from a worse than Pha- 
 raoh or Haman, even /rom the devil, and death, 
 and dn, and hellf O stupidity! 
 
 A day! say some — God forbid but he 
 should have a day ! But what day? Oh, the 
 old day comprised within the bounds and 
 bowels of the ministration of death. 
 
 And is this the love that thou hast to thy 
 Redeemer, to keep that day to him for all the 
 service that he hath done for thee, which has 
 a natural tendency in it to draw thee off 
 from the consideration of the works of thy 
 58 
 
 redemption to the creation of the world? 
 stupidity ! 
 
 But why must he be imposed upon? Has 
 he chosen that day? did he finish his work 
 thereon? Is there, in all the New Testament 
 of our Lord, from the day he rose from the 
 dead to the end of his holy book, one syllable 
 that signifies in the least the tenth part of 
 such a thing? Where is the Scripture that 
 saith that this Lord of the sabbath com- 
 manded his Church, from that time, to do 
 any part of church service thereon ? Where 
 do we find the churches to gather together 
 thereon 7 
 
 But why the seventh day? What is it, 
 take but the shadow thereof away ? Or what 
 shadow now is left in it since its institution aa 
 to divine service is taken long since from it? 
 
 Is there any thing in the works that were 
 done in that day more than shadow, or that in 
 the least tends otherwise to put us in mind of 
 Christ? and, he being come, what need have 
 we of that shadow? And I say again, since 
 that day was to be observed by a ceremonial 
 method, and no way else, as we find, and 
 since ceremonies are ceased, w.hat way by 
 divine appointment is there left to keep that 
 old sabbath by Christians in ? 
 
 If they say. Ceremonies are ceased, by the 
 same argument so is the sanction of the day 
 in which they were to be performed. I would 
 gladly see the place, if it is to be found, where 
 it is said that day retains its sanction which 
 yet has lost that method of service which was 
 of God appointed for the performance of wor- 
 ship to him thereon. 
 
 When Canaan worship fell the sanction of 
 Canaan fell. When temple worship, and altar 
 worship, and the sacrifices of the Levitical 
 priesthood fell, down also came the things 
 themselves. Likewise so when the service 
 or shadow and ceremonies of the seventh- 
 day sabbath fell, the seventh-day sabbath fell 
 likewise. 
 
 On the seventh-day sabbath, as I told you, 
 manna was not to be found. But why ? For 
 that day was of Moses and of the ministration 
 of death. But manna was not of him. 
 "Moses," says Christ, "gave you not that 
 bread from heaven." Moses, as was said, 
 gave that sabbath in tables of stone, and God 
 gave that manna from heaven. Christ nor 
 his Father gives grace by the law, no not by 
 that law in which is contained the old seventh- 
 day sabbath itself. 
 
 The law is not of faith; why then should 
 
914 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 grace be by Christians expected by observa- 
 tion of the law? The law, even the law writ- 
 ten and engraven in stones, enjoins perfect 
 obedience thereto on pain of the curse of God. 
 Nor can that part of it now under considera- 
 tion, according as is required, be fulfilled by 
 any man was the ceremony thereto belonging 
 allowed to be laid aside. Never man yet did 
 keep it perfectly, except he whose name is 
 Jesus Christ; in him, therefore, we have 
 kept it, and by him are set free from that law 
 and brought under the ministration of the 
 Spirit. 
 
 But why should we be bound to seek manna 
 on that day on which God says " none shall 
 be found?" 
 
 Perhaps-it will be said that the sanction of 
 that day would not admit that manna should 
 be gathered on it. 
 
 But that was not all, for on that day there 
 was none to be found. And might I choose, I 
 had rather sanctify that day to God on which 
 T might gather this bread of God all day long 
 than set my mind at all upon that in which no 
 such bread was to be had. 
 
 The Lord's day, as was said, is to Christians 
 the principal manna-day. 
 
 On this day, even on it, manna in the morn- 
 ing very early gathered was, by the disciples 
 of our Lord, as newly springing out of the 
 ground. The true bread of God, the sheaf of 
 first fruits, which is Christ from the dead, was 
 ordained to be waved before the Lord on the 
 morrow after the sabbath, the day on which 
 " our Lord ceased from his own work, as God 
 did from his." 
 
 Now, therefore, the disciples found their 
 green ears of corn indeed. Now they read 
 life, both in and out of the sepulchre in 
 which the Lord was laid. Now they could 
 not come together, nor speak to one another, 
 but either their Lord was with them or they 
 had heart-inflaming tidings from him. Now 
 cries one and says. The Lord is risen; and 
 then another and says, He hath appeared to 
 such and such. 
 
 Now come tidings to the eleven that their 
 women were early at the sepulchre, where 
 they had a vision of angels that told them 
 their Lord was risen: then comes another, 
 and says. The Lord is risen indeed. Two 
 also come from Emmaus and cry. We have 
 seen the Lord; and by and by, while they 
 were speaking, their Lord showed himself in 
 the midst of them. 
 
 Now he calls to their mind some of the 
 
 eminent passages of his life, and eats and 
 drinks in their presence, and opens the Scrip- 
 tures to them; yea, and opens their under- . 
 standing too, that their hearing might not be 
 unprofitable to them ; all which continued 
 from early in the morning till late at night. 
 Oh what a manna-day was this to the Church 1 
 And more than all this you will find, if 
 you read but the four evangelists upon this 
 subject. I 
 
 Thus began the day after the sabbath, and 
 thus it has continued through all ages to this 
 very day. Never did the seventh-day sabbath 
 yield manna to Christians. A new world was 
 now begun with the poor Church of God, for 
 so said the Lord of the sabbath, " Behold I 
 make all things new.'' A new covenant! and 
 why not then a new resting-day to the Church, 
 or why must the old sabbath be joined to this 
 new ministration ? Let him that cain show a 
 reason for it. 
 
 Christians, if I have not been so large upon 
 things as some, might expect, know that my 
 brevity on this subject is from consideration 
 that much needs not be spoken thereto, and 
 because I may have occasion to write a Second 
 Part. 
 
 Christians, beware of being entangled with 
 Old Testament ministrations, lest by one you 
 be brought into many inconveniences. 
 
 I have observed that though the Jewish rites 
 have lost their sanction, yet some that are weak 
 in judgment do bring- themselves into bondage 
 by them. Yea, so high have some been car- 
 ried as to a pretended conscience to these that 
 they have at last proceeded to circumcision, to 
 many wives, and the observation of many bad 
 things besides. 
 
 Yea, I have talked with some pretending to 
 Christianity who have said, and afiirmed as 
 well as they could, that the Jewish sacrifices 
 must up again. 
 
 But do you give no heed to these Jewish 
 fables "that turn from the truth." Do you, I 
 say, that love the Lord Jesus keep close to his 
 Testament, his word, his GoSpel, and observe 
 his holy day. 
 
 And this caution in conclusion I would give 
 to put a stop to this Jewish ceremony : to wit, 
 that a seventh-day sabbath, pursued according 
 to its imposition by law, (and I know not that 
 it is imposed byJhe apostles,) leads to blood 
 and stoning to death those that do but gather 
 sticks thereon — a thing which no way becomes 
 the Gospel, that ministration of the Spirit and 
 of righteousness, nor yet the professors thereof 
 
QUESTIJNS RELATIVE TO THE SEVENTH-DAY SABBATH. 
 
 915 
 
 Nor can it with fairness be said that that 
 sabbath day remains, though the law thereof 
 ia repealed, for confident I am that there is no 
 more ground to make such a conclusion than 
 there is to say that circumcision is still of 
 force, though the law for cutting off the uncir- 
 cumcised is by the Gospel made null and 
 Toid. 
 
 I told you also in the epistle that if the fifth 
 commandment was the first that was with 
 promise, then it follows that the fourth, or that 
 seventh-day sabbath, had no promise entailed 
 to it ; whence it follows that where you read in 
 the prophet of a promise annexed to a sab- 
 bath, it is best to understand it of our Gospel 
 sabbath. 
 
 Now, if it be asked. What promise is en- 
 tailed to our first-day sabbath ? J answer, the 
 biggest of promises. For — 
 
 First. The resurrection of Christ was tied by 
 promise to this day, and to none other. He 
 rose the third day after his death, and that was 
 the first day of the week, according to what 
 was forepromised in the Scriptures. 
 
 Second. That we should live before God by 
 him is a promise to be fulfilled on this day : 
 " After two days he will revive us, and in the 
 third day we shall live in his sight." Hos. vi. 
 2. See also Isa. xxvi. 19, and compare them 
 again with 1 Cor. xv. 4. 
 
 Third. The great promise of the New Testa- 
 ment — to wit, the pouring out of the Spirit — 
 fixeth upon these days, and so he began in the 
 most wonderful effusion of it upon Pentecost, 
 which was the first day of the week, that the 
 Scriptures might be fulfilled. 
 
 Nor could these three promises be fulfilled 
 upon any other days, for that the Scripture 
 had fixed them to the first day of the week. 
 
 I am of opinion that these things, though 
 but briefly touched upon, cannot be fairly ob- 
 jected against, however they may be disrel- 
 ished by some. 
 
 Nor can 1 believe that any part of our relig- 
 ion, as we are Christians, stands in not kind- 
 ling of fires and not seething of victuals, or in 
 binding of men not to stir out of those places 
 on the seventh day in which, at the dawning 
 thereof, they were found ; and yet these are or- 
 dinances belonging to that seventh-day sab- 
 bath. 
 
 Certainly it must needs be an error to im- 
 pose these things by divine authority upon 
 New Testament believers, our worship stand- 
 ing now in things more weighty, spiritual, and 
 heavenly. 
 
 Nor can it be proved, as I have hinted be- 
 fore, that this day was or is to be imposed 
 without those ordinances, with others in other 
 places mentioned and adjoined, for the saao- 
 tion of that day, they being made necessary 
 parts of that worship that was to be performed 
 thereon. 
 
 I have charity for those that abuse them- 
 selves and their Lord by their preposterous 
 zeal and affection for the continuing of this 
 day in the churches; for I conclude that if 
 they did either believe or think of the incoher- 
 ence that this day with its rites and ceremonies 
 has with the ministration of the Spirit, obi 
 New Testament ministration, they would not 
 so stand in their own light as they do, nor so 
 stiffly plead for a place for it in the churches 
 of the Gentiles. But, as Paul insinuates ia 
 other cases, there is an aptness in men to be 
 under the law because they do not hear it. 
 
 Nor will it out of my mind but if lie 
 seventh-day sabbath was by divine authority, 
 and to be kept holy by the churches of the 
 Gentiles, it should not have so remained among 
 the Jews, Christ's deadliest enemies, and been 
 kept so much hid from the believers, his best 
 friends. For who has retained the pretended 
 sanction of that day from Christ's time quite 
 down in the world but the Jews and a few 
 Jewish Gentiles? (I will except some.) But, 
 I say, since a sabbath is that without which 
 the great worship of God under the Gospel 
 cannot be well performed, how can it be 
 thought that it should, as to the knowledge of 
 it, be confined to so blasphemous a generation 
 as the Jews, with whom that worship is not ? 
 
 I will rather conclude that those Gentile 
 professors that adhere thereto are Jewified, 
 legalized, and so far gone back from the aa- 
 thority of God, who from such bondages has 
 set his churches free. 
 
 I do at this time but hint u^n things, re- 
 serving a fuller argument upon them for a time 
 and place more fit; where and when I may 
 perhaps also show some other wild notions of 
 those that so stiffly cleave to this. 
 
 Meantime, I entreat those who are captivated 
 with this opinion not to take it ill at my hand 
 that I thus freely speak my mind. I entreat 
 them also to peruse my book without preju- 
 dice to my person. The truth is, one thing 
 that has moved me to this work is the shame 
 that has covered the face of my soul when I 
 have thought of the fictions and fancies that 
 are growing among professors, and when I set 
 each fiction turn itself to a faction, to the loss 
 
916 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 of that good spirit of lOve and that oneness 
 that formerly was with good men. 
 
 I doubt not but some unto whom this book 
 may come have had seal from God that the 
 first day of the week is to be sanctified by the 
 Church to Jesus Christ; not only from his 
 testimony, which is and should be the ground 
 of our practice, but also for that the first con- 
 viction that the Holy Ghost made upon their 
 consciences to make them known that they 
 were sinners began with them for breaking 
 this sabbath day; which day, by that same 
 
 Spirit was told them, was that now called the 
 first day, and not the day before, {and the 
 Holy Ghost doth not use to begin this work 
 with a lie;) which first conviction the Spirit 
 has followed so close, with other things tend- 
 ing to complete the same work, that the soul 
 from so good a beginning could not rest until 
 it found rest in Christ. Let this, then, to such 
 be a second token that the Lord's day is by 
 them to be kept in commemoration of their 
 Lord and his resurrection, and of what he did 
 on this day for their salvation. AMEif, 
 
MR. BUNYAN'S LAST SERMON. 
 
 PREACHED JULY, 1688. 
 
 Whi:h were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God Jouit i, 13. 
 
 The words have a dependence on what goes 
 before, and therefore I must direct you to them 
 for th£ right understanding of it. You have 
 it thus: "He came to his own, but his own re- 
 ceived him not; but as many as believed on 
 him, to them gave he power to become the 
 sons of God, even to them which believe on 
 his name; which were born not of blood, nor 
 of the will of the flesh, but of God." In the 
 words before you have two things : 
 
 First. Some of his own rejecting him when 
 he offered himself to them. 
 
 Secondly. Others of his own receiving him 
 and making him welcome; those that reject 
 him he also passes by, but those that receive 
 him, he gives them power to become the sons 
 of God. Now, lest any one should look upon 
 it as a good luck or fortune, says he, " They 
 were born not of blood, nor of the will of the 
 flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." 
 They that did not receive him, they were only 
 born of flesh and blood, but those that receive 
 him, they have God to their Father, they re- 
 ceive the doctrine of Christ with a vehement 
 desire. 
 
 First. I'll show you what he means by 
 blood. They that believe are born to it as an 
 heir is to an inheritance; they are born of 
 God, not of flesh, nor of the will of man, but 
 of God; not of blood — that is, not by genera- 
 tion — not born to the kingdom of heaven by 
 the flesh ; not because I am the son of a godly 
 man or woman — that is meant by blood. He 
 has made of one blood all nations, but when 
 he says here, "Not of blood," he rejects all 
 carnal privileges they did boast of. They 
 boasted they were Abraham's seed. No, no, 
 saya he, it is not of blood; think not to say 
 70U have Abraham to your father; you must 
 
 he born of God if you go to the kingdom cif 
 heaven. 
 
 Secondly. "Nor of the will of the flesh." 
 What must we understand by that? 
 
 First. It is taken for those vehement incli- 
 nations that are in man to all manner of 
 looseness; fulfilling the desires of the flesh — 
 that must be understood here. Men are not 
 made the children of God by fulfilling their 
 lustful desires ; it must be understood here in 
 the best sense; there is not only in carnal men 
 a will to be vile, but there is in them a will to 
 be saved also, a will to go to heaven also. But 
 this it will not do ; it willjiot privilege a man 
 in the things of the kingdom of God ; natural 
 desires after the things of another world, they 
 are not an argument to prove a man shall go 
 to heaven whenever he dies. I am not a free- 
 wilier, I do abhor it; yet there is not the 
 wickedest man but he desires some time or 
 other to be saved; he will read some time or 
 other, or it may be pray; but this will not do: 
 " It is not in him that wills, nor in him that 
 runs, but in God that showeth mercy;" there 
 is willing and running, and yet to no purpose. 
 Eom. ix. 16. "Israel, which followed after 
 the law of righteousness, have not obtained 
 it." Here I do not understand as if the apos- 
 tle had denied a virtuous course of life to be 
 the way to heaven, but that a man without 
 grace, though he have natural gifts, yet he 
 shall not obtain privilege to go to heaven and 
 be the son of God. Though a man without 
 grace may have a will to be saved, yet he can- 
 not have that will, God's way. Nature, it can- 
 not know any thing but the things of nature ; 
 the things of God knows no man, but by the 
 Spirit of God ; unless the Spirit of God be in 
 you, it will leave you on this side the gates of 
 
»18 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 heaven : " Not of blood, nor of the will of the 
 fteah, nor of the will of man, but of God." It 
 may bo some may have a will, a desire that 
 Ishmael may be saved; know this, it will not 
 save thy child. If it was our will I would 
 have you all go to heaven. How many are 
 there in the world that pray for their chil- 
 dren, and cry for them and ready to die, and 
 this will not do ! God's wiU is the rule of all ; 
 it is only through Jesus Christ. "Which 
 were born not of flesh, nor of the will of man, 
 bat of God." Now I come to the doctrine. 
 
 Men that, believe in Jesus Christ to the 
 effectual receiving of Jesus Christ, they are 
 born to it. He does not say they shall be born 
 to it, but they are born to it — born of God unto 
 Ctod and the things of God, before he receives 
 God to eternal salvation : " Except a man be 
 born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." 
 Now unless he be born of God he cannot see 
 it. Suppose the kingdom of God be what it 
 will, he cannot see it before he be begotten of 
 God ; suppose it be the Gospel, he cannot see 
 it before he be brought into a state of regenera- 
 tion; believing is the consequenqe of the new 
 binth : " Not of blood, nor of the will of man, 
 but of God." 
 
 First. I will give you a clear description of 
 it under one similitude or two : A child, before 
 it be born into the world, is in the dark dun- 
 geon of its mother's womb ; so a child of God, 
 before he be born again, in the dark dungeon 
 of' sin sees nothing of the kingdom of God, 
 therefore it is called a new birth; the same 
 soul has love one way in its carnal condition, 
 another way when it is born again. 
 
 Secondly. As it is compared to a fjirth — re- 
 sembling a child in its mother's womb — so it 
 is compared to a man being raised out of the 
 grave ; and to be born again is to be raised out 
 of the grave of sin : " Awake, thou that sleep- 
 est, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall 
 g^ve thee life.'' To be raised from the grave 
 of sin is to be begotten and born. In Rev. i. 
 5 there is a famous instance of Christ : " He is 
 the flrst-begotten from the dead, the first-born 
 from the dead," unto which our regeneration 
 alludetli; that is, if you be born again by 
 seeing those things that are above, then there 
 is a similitude betwixt Christ's resurrection 
 and the new birth ; which was born, which 
 was restored out of this dark world, and trans- 
 lated out of the kingdom of this dark world 
 into the kingdom of his dear Son, and made 
 U.S live a new life ; this is to be born again ; 
 and he that is delivered from the mother's 
 
 womb, it is by the help of the mother; sc he - 
 that is born of God, it is by the Spirit of God. 
 I must give you a few consequences of a new 
 birth. 
 
 First of all. A child, you know, is incident 
 to cry as soon as it comes into the world, foi 
 if there be no noise, they say it is dead ; you 
 that are born of God and Christians, if you be 
 not criers there is no spiritual life in you ; if 
 you be born of God you are crying ones ; as 
 soon as he has raised you out of the dark dun- 
 geon of sin you cannot but cry to God, What 
 shall I do to be saved ? As soon as ever God 
 had touched the jailer, he cries out, " Men and 
 brethren, what must I do to be saved ?" Oh I 
 how many prayerless professors are there in 
 London that never pray! Coffee-houses will' 
 not let you pray ; trades will not let you pray; 
 looking-glasses will not let you pray ; but if 
 you was born of God you would. 
 
 Secondly. It is not only natural for a child 
 to cry, but it must crave the breast, it cannot 
 live without the breast ; therefore Peter makes 
 it the true trial of a new-born babe : the new- 
 born babe desires the sincere milk of the word, 
 that he may grow thereby ; if you be born of 
 God, make it manifest by desiring to be nour- 
 ished of God. Do you long for the milk of 
 promises? A man lives one way when he is 
 in the world — another way when he is brought 
 unto Jesus Christ. Isa. Ixvi. ; " They shall 
 suck and he satisfied." If you be born again 
 there is no satisfaction till you get the milk of 
 God's word into your souls. Isa. Ixvi. 11: "To 
 suck and be satisfied with the breasts of conso- 
 lation." Oh, what is a promise to a carnal 
 man I A brothel it may be is more sweet to 
 him, but if you be born again you cannot live 
 without the milk of God's word. What is a 
 woman's breast to a horse ? but what is it to a 
 child? There is its comfort night and day, 
 there is its succour night and day ; oh, how 
 loth are they it should be taken from them I 
 Minding heavenly things, says a carnal man, 
 is but vanity, but to a child of God there is hia 
 comfort. 
 
 Thirdly. A child that is newly born, if it 
 have not other comforts to keep it warm than 
 it had in its mother's womb, it dies : it must 
 have something got for its succour ; so Christ 
 had swaddling-clothes prepared for him: so 
 those that are born again, they must have 
 some promise of Christ to keep them alive ; 
 those that are in a carnal state, they warm 
 themselves with other things ; but those that 
 are born again, they cannot live without some 
 
MM. BUNYAN'S LAST SERMON. 
 
 91d 
 
 proQiise of Christ to keep them alive, as he did 
 to the poor infant in Ezekiel xvii. : " I covered 
 thee with embroidered gold ;" and when women 
 are with child what fine things will they pre- 
 pare for their child 1 Oh but what fine things 
 has Christ prepared to wrap all in that are 
 born again I Oh what wrappings of gold has 
 Christ prepared for all that are born again I 
 Women will dress their children that every 
 one may see them how fine they are ; so he in 
 Ezekiel xvi. 11 : "I decked thee also with or- 
 naments, and I also put bracelets upon thine 
 hand and a chain on thy neck, and I put a 
 jewel on thy forehead and earrings in thine 
 ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head ;'' 
 and says he in the 13th verse, "Thou didst 
 •prosper to a kingdom." This is to set out 
 nothing in the world but the righteousness of 
 Christ and the graces of the Spirit, without 
 which a new-born babe cannot live, unless it 
 have the golden righteousness of Christ. 
 
 Fourthly. A child when it is in his mother's 
 lap, the mother takes great delight to have 
 that which will be for its comfort; so it is 
 with God's children ; they shall be kept on his 
 knee. Isa. Ixvi. 11 : " They shall suck and be 
 satisfied with the breasts of her consolation." 
 Verse 13th : " As one whom his mother com- 
 forteth, so I will comfort you." There is a 
 similitude in these things that nobody knows 
 of but those that are born again. 
 
 Fifthly. There is usually some similitude 
 betwixt the father and the child : it may be 
 the child looks like its father ; so those that 
 are born again, they have a new similitude, 
 they have the image of Jesus Christ. Gal. iv. 
 Every one that is born of God has something 
 of the features of heaven upon him. Men 
 love those children that are likest them most 
 usually; so does God his children, therefore 
 they are called the children of God; but 
 others do not look like him, therefore they are 
 called sodomites. Christ describes children of 
 the devil by their features ; the children of the 
 devil, liis works they will do ; all works of un- 
 righteousness they are the devil's works; if 
 you are earthly, you have borne the image of 
 the earthly, if heavenly you have borne the 
 image of the heavenly. 
 
 Sixthly. When a man has a child he trains 
 him up to his own liking ; such children have 
 learned the custom of their father's house ; so 
 are those that are born of God, they have 
 learned the custom of the true Church of God ; 
 there they learn to cry, My Father and my 
 God; they are brought up in God's house, 
 
 they learn the method and form )f God'a 
 house f(3r regulating their lives in this world. 
 
 Seventhly. Children, it is natural for them 
 to depend upon their father for what they 
 want: if they want a pair of shoes they go 
 and tell him ; if they want bread they go and 
 tell him ; so should the children of God do. 
 Do you want spiritual bread? Go tell God of 
 it. Do you want strength of grace ? Ask it 
 of God. Do you want strength against Sa- 
 tan's temptations? Go and tell God of it. 
 When the devil tempts you run home and tell 
 your heavenly Father; go pour out your com- 
 plaints to God; this is natural to children : if 
 any wrong them, they go and tell their father; 
 SO do those that are born of God, when they 
 m_eet with temptations, go and tell God of 
 them. 
 
 The first use is this, to make a strict inquiry 
 whether you be born of God or not. Examine 
 by those things I laid down before of a child 
 of nature and a child of grace. Are you 
 brought out of the dark dungeon of this world 
 into Christ? Have you learned to cry. My 
 Father? Jer. iii. 16 : "And I said, Thou shalt 
 call me thy Father." All God's children are 
 criers; cannot you be quiet without you are 
 filled with the milk of God's word; cannot 
 you be satisfied without you have peace with 
 God? Pray you consider it, and be serious 
 with yourselves ; if you have not these marks 
 you will fall short of the kingdom of God, 
 you shall never have au interest there ; there 
 is no intruding : they will say, " Lord, Lord, 
 open to us, and he will say, I know you not ;" 
 no child of God, no heavenly inheritance. 
 We sometimes give something to those that are 
 not our children, but not our lauds. Oh do 
 not flatter yourselves with a portion among the 
 sons unless you live like sons. When we see 
 a king's son playing with a beggar, thif is un- 
 becoming ; so if you be the King's children, 
 live like the King's children ; if you be risen 
 with Christ, set your affections on things 
 above and not on things below; when you 
 come together, talk of what your Father 
 promised you ; you should all love your Fa- 
 ther's will, and be content and pleased with 
 the exercises you meet with in. the world. If 
 you are the children of God, live together 
 lovingly ; if the world quarrel with you, it is 
 no matter, but it is sad if you quarrel to- 
 gether; if this be among you it is a sign of 
 ill breeding; it is according to no rules you 
 have in the word of God. Dost thou see a 
 soul that has the image of God in him? Love 
 
920 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 him, love him ; say, This man and I must go 
 to heaven one day ; serve one another, do good 
 for one another; and if any wrong you, pray 
 to God to right you and love the brother- 
 hood. 
 
 Lastly. If you be the children of God learn 
 that lesson, gird up the loins of your mind as 
 
 obedient children, not fashioning yourselves 
 according to your former conversation, but be 
 ye holy in all manner of conversation ; con- 
 sider that the holy God is your Father, and let 
 this oblige you to live like the children of God, 
 that you may look your Father in the fae« 
 with comfort another day. 
 
OF THE TRINITY AND A CHRISTIAN. 
 
 HOW A YOUNG OR SHAKEN CHRISTIAN SHOULD DEMEAN HIMSELF UNDER THE WEIGHTY 
 THOUGHTS OF THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY OR PLURALITY OF PERSONS IN THE 
 ETERNAL GODHEAD. 
 
 The reason why I say a young or shaken 
 Christian, it is because some that are not 
 young, but of an ancient standi^g, may not 
 only be assaulted with violent temptations 
 concerning Gospel principles, but a second 
 time may become a child, a babe, a shallow 
 man in the things of God ; especially, either 
 when by backsliding he hath provoked God to 
 leave him, or when some new, unexpected, and 
 (as to present strength) over-weighty objection 
 doth fall upon the spirit ; by means of which 
 great shakings of mind do commonly attend 
 such a soul in the most weighty matters of 
 the concerns of faith, of which this is one that 
 I have supposed in the abovenamed question. 
 Wherefore, passing other things, I will come 
 directly to that, and briefly propose some helps 
 to a soul in such a case. 
 
 I. The first preparative. 
 
 First, then, be sure thou keep close to the 
 word of God, for that is the revelation o£ the 
 mind and will of God, both as to the truth of 
 what is either in himself or ways, and also as 
 to what he requireth and expecteth of thee, 
 either concerning faith in or obedience to what 
 he hath so revealed. Now, for thy better per- 
 forming of this, I shall give thee in brief 
 these following directions : 
 
 1. Suffer thyself, by the authority of the 
 word, tc be persuaded that the Scripture indeed 
 is the word of God, the Scriptures of truth, 
 the words of the Holy One, and that they there- 
 fore must be every one true, pure, and for ever 
 settled in heaven. 
 
 2. Conclude therefore from the former doc- 
 trine that tha!t God whose words they are is 
 able to make a reconciliation and most sweet 
 and harmonious agreement with all the sayings 
 therein, how obscure, cross, dark arid contra- 
 dictory soever they seem to thee. To un- 
 derstand all mysteries, to have all knowledge. 
 
 to be able to comprehend with all saints is a 
 great work, enough to crush the spirit, and to 
 stretch the strings of the most capacious and 
 widened soul that breatheth on this side glory, 
 be they notwithstanding exceedingly enlarged 
 by revelation. Paul, when he was caught up 
 to heaven, saw that which was unlawful, be- 
 cause impossible, for man to utter. And saith 
 Christ to the reasoning Pharisee, " If I have 
 told you earthly things, and ye believe not, 
 how shall you believe if I tell you of things 
 that are heavenly?" It is great lewdness and 
 also unsufiferable arrogancy to come to the 
 word of God as conceiting already that what- 
 ever thou readest must either by thee be un- 
 derstood or of itself fall to the ground as a 
 senseless error. But God is wiser than man, 
 wherefore fear thou him and tremble at his 
 word, saying still, with godly suspicion of thine 
 own infirmity. What I see not teach thou me, 
 for thou art God only wise ; but as for me, I 
 was as a beast before thee. 
 
 4. Take heed of taking a part of the word 
 only, lest thou thereby go away with the .truth 
 as mangled in pieces. For instance, where 
 thou readest, " The Lord our God is one Lord," 
 there take heed that thou dost not thence con- 
 clude, Then there are not three persons in the 
 Godhead ; or when thou readest of the Father, 
 the Son, and the Holy Spirit, then lake heed 
 of concluding there must therefore either be 
 three Gods, or else that Jesus Christ and the 
 Holy Ghost are not true God, but the Father 
 only. "Wherefore, to help thee here, observe — 
 
 II. The second preparative. 
 
 1. That the Christian religion requireth 
 credit concerning every doctrine contained iu 
 the word — credit, I say, according to the true 
 relation of every sentence that the Holy GhcBt 
 hath revealed for the asserting, maintaining 
 or vindicating that same truth. 
 
 821 
 
922 
 
 SUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 2. And therefore hence it is that a Chris- 
 tian is not called a doer, a reasoner, an objec- 
 tor, and perverse disputer, but a believer. Be 
 thou an example to tlfe believers ; " and be- 
 lievers were added to the Church," &c. 
 
 3. Therefore know again that the word, if it 
 saith or expresseth that this or that is so and 
 so as to the matter in hand, thou art bound 
 and obliged, both by the name, profession, and 
 the truth unto which thou hast joined thyself, 
 to assent to, confess, and acknowledge the 
 same, even when thy carnal reason will not 
 stoop thereto. " Righteous art tliou, O God, 
 (saith Jeremiah,) yet let me plead with thee : 
 Wherefore do the wicked live?" Mark, iirst 
 he ackuowledgeth that God's way with the 
 wicked is just and right, even then when yet 
 he could not see the reason of his actings and 
 dispensations towards them. The same reason 
 is good as to our present case. And hence it 
 is that the apostle saith the spiritual armour 
 of Christians should be much exercised against 
 those high-towering and self-exalting imagina- 
 tions that within our own bosoms do exalt 
 themselves against the knowledge of God, 
 that every thought or carnal reasoning may 
 be not only taken, but brought as captive into 
 
 obedience to Christ ; that is, be made to stoop 
 to the word of God, and to give way and place 
 to the doctrine therein contained, how cross 
 soever our thoughts and the word lie to each 
 other. And it is observable that he here saith,. 
 They exalt themselves against the knowledge 
 of God, which cannot be understood that our 
 carnal or natural reason doth exalt itself against 
 an eternal Deity, simply considered, for that 
 nature itself doth gather from the very things 
 that are made, even his eternal power and God- 
 head. It must be then that they exalt them- 
 selves against that God as thus and thus revealed 
 in the word^ — to wit, against the knowledge of 
 one God consisting of three persons. Father, 
 Son, and Spirit, for this is the doctrine of the 
 Scriptures of truth ; and therefore it is observ-. 
 able these thoughts must be brought captive and 
 .be made subject in particular to the Lord Jesus 
 Christ as to the second person in the Godhead ; 
 for the Father is ever acknowledged by all that 
 profess the least of religion, but the Son is that 
 stumbling-stone and rock of offence against 
 which thousands dash themselves in pieces, 
 though in him are hid all the treasures of wis- 
 dom and knowledge, and in him dwells the 
 fulness of the Godhead bodily. 
 
OF THE LAW AND A CHRISTIAN. 
 
 The law was given twice upon Mount Sinai, 
 but the appearance of the Lord, when he gave 
 It the second time, was wonderfully different 
 from that of hia when at first he delivered it 
 to Israel. 
 
 1. When he gave it the first tim^ he caused 
 his terror and severity to appear before Moses 
 to the shaking of his soul and the dismaying 
 of Israel; but when he gave it the second 
 time, he caused all hia goodness to pass before 
 Moses, to the comfort of his conscience and 
 the bowing of his heart. 
 
 2. When he gave it the'first time it was with 
 thunderings and lightnings, with blackness 
 and darkness, with flame and smoke, and a 
 tearing sound of the trumpet ; but when he 
 gave it the second time, it was'with a procla- 
 mation of his name to be merciful, gracious, 
 long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and 
 truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving 
 iniquity, transgressions, and sins. 
 
 3. When he gave it the first time, Moses was 
 called to go up to receive it through the fire, 
 which made him exceedingly to fear and quake ; 
 but when he went to receive it the second time, 
 he was laid in a cleft of the rock. 
 
 4. From all which I gather that though as to 
 the matter of the law, both as to its being given 
 the first time and the second, it binds the un- 
 believer under thfi pains of eternal damnation, 
 (if he close not with Christ by faith,) yet as to 
 the manner of its giving at these two times, I 
 think the first doth more principally intend its 
 force as a covenailt of works, not at all respect- 
 ing the Lord Jesus ; but this second time not 
 (at least in the manner of its being given) re- 
 specting such a covenant, but rather as a rule 
 or directory to those who already are found in 
 the cleft of the rock, Christ; for the saint 
 himself, though he be without law to God, as 
 it is considered the first or old covenant, yet 
 even he is not without law to him as consider- 
 ed under grace, nor without law to God, but 
 under the law to Christ. 
 
 5. Though therefore it be sad with the un- 
 believer, because he only and wholly standeth 
 under the law as it is given in fire, in smoke, 
 in blackness, and darkness, and thunder, all 
 which threaten him with eternal ruin if he 
 fulfil not the utmost tittle thereof, yet the be- 
 liever stands to the law under no such con- 
 sideration, neither is he so at all to hear or re- 
 gard it, for he is now removed from thence to 
 the blessed mountain of Zion, to grace and 
 forgiveness of sins ; he is now, I say, by faith 
 in the Lord Jesus, shrouded under so perfect 
 and blessed a righteousness that this thunder- 
 ing law of Mount Sinai cannot find the least 
 fault or diminution therein, but rather ap- 
 proveth and alloweth thereof either when or 
 wherever it find it. This is called the right- 
 eousness of God without the law, and is also 
 said to be witnessed by both the law and the 
 prophets; even the righteousness of God, 
 which is by faith in Jesus Christ unto all and 
 upon all them that believe, for there is no 
 difference. 
 
 6. Wherefore, whenever thou who believest 
 in Jesus doth hear the law in its thundering 
 and lightning fits as if it would burn up heaven 
 and earth, then, say thou, I am freed from this 
 law ; these thunderings have nothing to do with 
 my soul; nay, even this law, while it thus 
 thunders and roareth, it doth both allow and 
 approve of my righteousness. I know that 
 Hagar would sometimes be domineering and 
 high even in Sarah's house and against her ; 
 but this she is not to be suffered to do, nay, 
 though Sarah herself be barren; wherefore 
 serve it also as Sarah serveth her, and expel 
 her out of thy house. My meaning is, when 
 this law with its thundering threatenings doth 
 attempt to Jay hold on thy conscience, shut it 
 out with a promise of grace ; cry. The inn is 
 t4ken up already ; the Lord Jesus is here en- 
 tertained, and here is no room for the law. 
 Indeed, if it will be content with being my in- 
 former, and so lovingly leave off to judge me, 
 
 g23 
 
924 
 
 BVNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 I will be content ; it shall be my sight, I will 
 also delight therein; but otherwise, I being 
 now made upright without it, and that too 
 with that righteousness which this law speaks 
 well of and approveth, I may not, will not, 
 cannot, dare not, make it my saviour and 
 judge, nor suffer it to set up its government 
 in my conscience; for by so doing I fall 
 from grace, and Christ Jesus doth profit me 
 nothing. 
 
 7. Thus, therefore, the soul that is married 
 to Hini that is raised up from the dead both 
 may and ought to deal with this law of God ; 
 yea, it doth greatly dishonour its Lord and 
 refuse its Gospel privileges if at any time it 
 otherwise doth whatever it seeth or feels. The 
 law hath power over the wife so long as her 
 husband liveth, but if her husband be dead 
 she is freed from that law, so that she is not 
 an adulteress though she be married to an- 
 other man. Indeed', so long as thou art alive 
 to sin and to thy righteousness, which is of 
 the law, so long thou hast them for thy hus- 
 band, and they must reign over thee. But 
 vrhen once they are become dead unto thee, 
 
 as they then most certainly will when thou 
 closest with the Lord Jesus Christ, then, I 
 say, thy former husbands have no more to 
 meddle with thee, thou art freed from their 
 law. Set the case: A woman be cast into 
 prison for a debt of hundreds of pounds ; if 
 after this she marry, yea, though while she is 
 in the jailer's hand, in the same day that she is 
 joined to her husband her debt is all become 
 his ; yea, and the law also, that arrested and 
 imprisoned this woman, as freely tells her, Go; 
 she is freed, saith Paul, from that, and so 
 saith the law of this land. The sum, then, 
 of what hath been said is this : The Christian 
 hath now nothing to do with the law as it 
 thundereth and burneth on Sinai, or as it 
 bindeth the conscience to wrath and the dis- 
 pleasure of God for sin ; for from its thus ap- 
 pearing it is freed by faith in Christ. Yet it 
 is to have regard thereto and is to count it 
 holy, just, and good, which that it may do it' 
 is always, when it seeth or regards it, to re- 
 member that He who giveth it to us is merci- 
 ful, gracious, long-suffering, and abundant io 
 goodness and truth, &c. 
 
INSTRUCTION FOR THE IGNORANT: 
 
 A SALVE TO CURE THAT GREAT WANT OF KNOWLEDGE IN 
 BOTH OLD AND YOUNG. 
 
 PEEPARED AND PRESENTED TO THEM IN A PLAIN AND EASY DIALOfltJE, FITTED TO 
 THE CAPACITY OF THE WEAKEST. 
 
 My people perish for lack of knowledge. — Hos. iv. 6. 
 
 TO THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN AND ABOUT BEDFORD. 
 
 Holy and Beloved: 
 
 Although I have designed this little treatise 
 for public and common benefit, yet consider- 
 ing that I am to you a debtor, not only in 
 common charity, but , by reason of special 
 bonds which the Lord hath laid upon me to 
 you-ward, I could do no less (being driven 
 from you in presence, not affection) but first 
 present you with this little book ; not for that 
 you are wanting in the things contained here- 
 in, but to put you again in remembrance of 
 first things, and to give you occasion to pre- 
 sent something to your carnal relations, that 
 may be (if God will) for their awakening and 
 conversion. Accept it, therefore, as a token 
 of my Christian remembrance of you. 
 
 * Formal, customary, unconverted hearers of the 
 true Gospel, especially those of long standing, may 
 be compared to rank, weeds in the garden of paradise. 
 
 Next, I present it to all those unconverted, 
 old and young, who have been at any time 
 under my preaching and yet remain in their 
 sins.* And I entreat them also that they re- 
 ceive it as a. token of my love to their immor- 
 tal souls. Yea, I charge them, as they will 
 answer it in the day of terrible judgment, 
 that they read, ponder, and receive this whole- 
 some medicine prepared for them. Now the 
 God of blessing bless it to the awakening of 
 many sinners and the salvation of their souls 
 by faith in Jesus Christ ! Amen. 
 
 Yours, to serve you by my ministry (when I 
 can) to your edification and consolation, 
 
 JOHN BUNYAN. 
 
 Let all suoh know that without union to Christ there 
 is no Christianity; and without the life, spirit and 
 power of religion in the heart professors are mere - 
 skeletons. See Ezek. zxxrii. 8, 9. 
 
 926 
 
INSTRUCTION FOR THE IGNORANT. 
 
 Question. How many gods are there ? 
 
 Answer. To the Christians there is but one 
 God, the Father, of whom are all things and 
 we of him. 1 Cor. viii. 9. 
 
 Q. Why is not the God of the Christians the 
 God of them that are no Christians ? 
 
 ■A. He is their Maker and Preserver, but 
 they have not chosen him to be their God. 
 Acts xvii. 24 ; Ps. xxxvi. 6 ; Judg. x. 14. 
 
 Q. Are there then other gods besides the 
 God of the Christians ? 
 
 A. There is none other true God but he; 
 but because they want the grace of Christians, 
 therefore they choose not him, but such gods 
 as will suit with and eountenance their lusts. 
 John viii. 44. 
 
 Q. What gods are they that countenance 
 the lusts of wicked men? 
 
 A. The devil, who is the god of this world ; 
 the belly, that god of gluttons, drunkards, and 
 riotous persons ; and idle pleasures and vani- 
 ties, which are for the most part the gods of 
 the youth. 
 
 Q. Who is a Christian ? 
 
 A. One that is born again, a new creature ; 
 one that sits at Jesus's feet to hear his word; 
 one that hath his heart purified and sanctified 
 by faith which is in Christ.* 
 
 Q. How do you distinguish the God of the 
 Christians from the gods of other people ? 
 
 A. He is a Spirit. John iv. 24. 
 
 Q. Is there no other Spirit but the true 
 God? 
 
 A. Yes, there are many spirits. 1 John iv. 1. 
 
 Q. What spirits are they ? 
 
 A. The good angels are spirits, the bad 
 angels are spirits, and the souls of men are 
 spirits. 
 
 Q. How then is the true God distinguished 
 from other spirits ? 
 
 A. Thus : No spirit is eternal but he ; no 
 spirit is almighty but he ; no spirit is incom- 
 
 * The new creation, wrought in the soul by the 
 word and Spirit of Q-od, is an undoubted evidence of 
 an inte .'est in Christ and title to salvation j for where 
 92fl 
 
 prehensible and unsearchable but he: he u 
 also most merciful, most just, most holy. 
 
 Q. Is this God, being a spirit, to be known ? 
 
 A. Yes, and that by his works of creation, 
 by .his providences, by the judgments that he 
 executeth, and by his word. 
 
 Q. Do you understand him by the works of 
 creation ? 
 
 A. " The heavens declare the glory of God, 
 and the firmament showeth his handiwork ; so 
 that the invisible things of him from the crea- 
 tion of the world, are clearly seen, being un- 
 derstood by the things that are made, even his 
 eternal power and Godhead." 
 
 Q. Do his works of providence also declare 
 him? 
 
 A. They must needs do it, since through his 
 providence the whole creation is kept in such 
 harmony as it is, and that in despite of sin and 
 devils ; also if you consider that from an angel 
 to a sparrow nothing falls to the ground with- 
 out the providence of our heavenly Father. 
 Matt. X. 29. 
 
 Q. Is he known by his judgmepts ? 
 
 A. God is known by his judgments which he 
 executeth ; the wicked is snared in the 'work 
 of his own hands. Ps. ix. 16. 
 
 Q. Is he known by his word ? 
 
 A. Yes, most clearly; for by that he ra- 
 vealeth his attributes, his decrees, his prom- 
 ises, his way of worship, and how he is to be 
 pleased by us. 
 
 Q.' Of what did God make the world? 
 
 A. Things that are seen were not made of 
 things that do appear. Heb. xi. 3. 
 
 Q. How long was he in making the world ? 
 
 A. In six days the Lord made heaven and 
 earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and on 
 the seventh day God ended all his works which 
 he had made. Ex. xx. 11 ; Gen. ii. 2. 
 
 Q. Of what did God make man ? 
 
 A. The Lord God formed man of the dust 
 
 the now creature is, there all the saving and sanctify- 
 ing graces of the Spirit are, as a pledge and earnest 
 of future glory and felicity. 
 
INSTRUCTION FOR THE IGNORANT. 
 
 927 
 
 of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils 
 the breath of life, and man became a living 
 Boul. Gen ii. 7. 
 
 Q, Why doth it say, God breathed into him 
 the breath of life ? — ^is man's soul of the very 
 nature of the Godhead? 
 
 A. This doth not teach that the soul is of 
 the nature of the Godhead, but showeth that 
 it is not of the same matter as his body, which 
 is dust. Gen. xviii. 27. 
 
 Q. Is not the soul, then, of the nature of 
 the Godhead? 
 
 A. No; for God cannot sin, but the soul 
 doth :* God cannot be destroyed in hell, but 
 the souls of the impenitent shall. Ezek. xviii. 
 4; Matt. x. 28. 
 
 Q. How did God make man in the day of 
 his first creation ? 
 
 A. God made man upright: in fhe image of 
 God created he him. Eccles. vii. 29; Gen. i. 27. 
 
 Q. Did God, when he made man, leave him 
 without a rule to walk by? 
 
 A. No ; he gave him a law in his nature, 
 and imfiosed upon him a positive precept, but 
 he offered violence to them and brake them 
 both. Gen. iii. 3, 6. 
 
 Q. What was the due desert of that trans- 
 gression? 
 
 A. Spiritual death in the day he did it, 
 temporal death afterwards, aud everlasting 
 death last of all. 
 
 Q. What is it to be spiritually dead? 
 
 A. To be alienate from God, and to live 
 without him in the world, through the ignor- 
 ance that is in men and thrJugh the power of 
 their sins. Eph. iv. 18, 1,9. 
 
 Q. Whereiii doth this alienation from God 
 appear ? 
 
 A. In the love they have to their sins ; in 
 their being loth to come to him ; in their plead- 
 ing idle excuses for their sins, and in their 
 ignorance of the excellent mysteries of his 
 blessed Gospel. 
 
 Q. What is temporal death ? 
 
 A. To have body and soul separated asunder,, 
 the body returning to the dust as it was, and 
 the soul to God that gave it. Gen. iii. 19; 
 Eccles. xii. 7. 
 
 Q. What is everlasting death ? 
 
 A. For body and soul to be separated for 
 ever from God and to be cast into hell-fire. 
 Luke xiii. 27; Mart ix. 43. . 
 
 * The soul was originally pure and holy, in the 
 image of God, which the sin of our first parents to- 
 tally defaced. 
 
 i Original sin is manifested in all natural men, who 
 
 Q. Do men go body and soul to jell so soon 
 as they die? 
 
 A. The body abideth in the grave till the 
 sound of the last trump; but the soul, if *ho 
 man dies wicked, goes presently from the face 
 of God into hell as into a prison, there to be 
 kept till the day of judgment. 1 Cor. xv. 52; 
 Isa. xxiv. 22; Luke xii. 20. 
 
 Q. Do we come into the world as upright aa 
 did our first parent? 
 
 A. No; he came into the world sinless, 
 being made so of God Almighty, but we come 
 into the world sinners, being made so by his 
 poUution.f 
 
 Q. How doth it appear that we came into 
 the world polluted? 
 
 A. We are the fruit of an unclean thing, 
 are defiled in our very conception, and are by 
 nature the children of wrath. Job xiv. 4; Ps. 
 li. 5; Eph. ii. 3. 
 
 Q. Can you make further proof of this? 
 
 A. Yes; it is said that by one man came sin, 
 death, judgment, and condemnation upon all 
 men. Rom. v. 
 
 Q. Do we then come sinners into the world? 
 
 A. Yes : we are transgressors from the womb, 
 and go astray as soon as we are born, speaking 
 lies. 
 
 Q. But as Adam fell with us in him, so did 
 he not by faith rise with us in him? for he had 
 no seed until he had the promise. 
 
 A. He fell as a public person, but believed 
 the promise as a single person. Adam's faith 
 saved not the world, though Adam's sin over- 
 threw it. 
 
 Q. But do not some hold that we are sin- 
 ners only by imitation ? 
 
 A. Yea, being themselves deceived. But 
 God's word saith we are children of wrath by 
 nature — that is, by birth and generation. 
 
 Q. Can you bring further proof of this? 
 
 A. Yes. In that day that we were born we 
 were polluted in our own blood, and cast out 
 to the loathing of our persons. Again, the 
 children of old that were dedicated unto the 
 Lord, a sacrifice was offered for them at a 
 month old, which was before they were sinners 
 by imitation. Ezek. xvi. 4-9; Num. sfiii. 14, 
 15, 16. 
 
 Q. Can you make this appear by experi- 
 ence? 
 
 A. Yes. The first things that bloom and 
 
 have an enmity against the being and sovereignty of 
 God, against his holy nature and his holy law; they 
 hate the Gospel of his Son, the doctrines of his grace, 
 aud the work of bis Spirit upon the heart. 
 
928 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 put foi-tli themselves in children show their 
 ignorance of God, their disobedience to pa- 
 rents, and their innate enmity to holiness of 
 life; their inclinations naturally run to vanity. 
 Besides, little children die, but that they could 
 not were they not of God counted sinners ; for 
 "death is the wages of sin." Eom. vi. 23. 
 
 Q. What is sin? 
 
 A. "It is a transgression of the law." 1 
 John iii. 4. 
 
 Q. A transgression of what law? 
 
 A. Of the law of our nature, and of the 
 law of the ten commandments, as written iu 
 the Holy Scriptures. Rom. ii. 12, 14, 15; Ex. 
 
 XX. 
 
 Q. When doth one sin against the law of 
 nature? 
 
 A. When you do any thing that your con- 
 science tells you is a transgression against God 
 or man. Eom. ii. 14, 15. 
 
 Q. When do we sin against the law as writ- 
 ten in the ten commandments? 
 
 A. When you do any thing that they forbid, 
 although you be ignorant of it. Ps. xix. 12. 
 
 Q. How many ways are there to sin against 
 this law? 
 
 A. Three : by sinful thoughts, by sinful 
 words, and also by sinful actions.* 
 
 Q. What if we sin but against one of the 
 ten commandments? 
 
 A. " Whosoever shall keep the -whole law 
 and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all ; 
 for he that said. Do not commit adultery, said 
 also, Do not kill; now if thou commit, no 
 adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art a trans- 
 gressor of the law." James ii. 10, 11. 
 
 Q. Where will God punish sinners for their 
 sins? 
 
 A. " Both in this world and in that which 
 is to come." 
 
 Q. How are men punished in this world for 
 sin? 
 
 A. Many ways, as with sickness, losses, 
 crosses, disappointinents, and the like : some- 
 times, also, God giveth them up to' their own 
 hearts' lusts, to blindness of mind also and 
 hardness of heart; yea, and sometimes to 
 strong delusions, that they might believe lies 
 and be damned. 
 
 - Not only the sin of Adam is imputed to us by 
 original transgression, but a defiled nature communi- 
 cated to us, which breaks out into numberless. actual 
 ■ sins : being therefore, on this account, exposed to the 
 curse and infinite wrath of God, there is no way of 
 escape but by the God-man Christ Jesus, whose blood 
 Is an effioaoioua antidote to sin. 
 
 Q. How are sinners punished in the world 
 to come? 
 
 A. " With a worm that never dies, and 
 with a fire that never shall be quenched." 
 Mark ix. 44. 
 
 Q. Whither do sinners go to receive this 
 punishment? 
 
 A. " The wicked shall be turned into hell, 
 and all the nations that forget God." Ps. ix. 27. 
 
 Q. What is hell? 
 
 A. It is a place and a state most fearful. 
 Luke xvi. 28 ; Acts i. 25 ; Luke xvi. 21. 
 
 Q. Why do you call it a place ? 
 
 A. Because in hell shall all the damned be 
 confined as in a prison^ in their chains of 
 darkness for ever. Luke xii. 5, 58 ; xvi. 26 ; 
 Jude 6. "■ 
 
 Q. What a place is hell ? 
 
 A. It is a dark, bottomless, burning lake of 
 fire, large enough to hold all that perish. 
 Matt. xxii. 13 ; Rev. xx. 1, 25 ; Isa. xxx. 37 ; 
 Prov. xxvii. 20. 
 
 Q. What do you mean when you say it is a 
 fearful state ? 
 
 A. I mean that it is the lot of those that are 
 cast in thither to be tormented in' most fearful 
 manner^ — to wit, with wrath and fiery indigna- 
 tion. Rom. ii. 9 ; Heb. x. 26, 27. 
 
 Q. In what parts shall they be thus fear-^ 
 fully tormented? 
 
 A. In body and soul; for hell-fire shall 
 kindle upon both beyond what now can 
 be thought.* Matt. x. 28 ; Luke xvi. 24 ; James 
 V. 3. 
 
 Q. How long shall they be in this con- 
 dition? 
 
 A. "These shall go away into everlasting 
 punishment, and the smoke of their torment/ 
 asoendeth up for ever and ever, and they 
 have no rest day nor night; for they shall be 
 punished with everlasting destruction from 
 the presence of the Lord and from the glory 
 of his power." Matt. xxv. 46; Rev. xiv. 11 ; 2 
 Thess. i. 9. 
 
 Q. But why might not the ungodly be 
 punished with this punishment in this world, 
 that we might have seen it and believe ? 
 
 A. If the ungodly should with punishment 
 have been rewarded in. this world; it would in 
 
 *" Hell consists chiefly in the separation of the soul 
 from God and happiness for ever. Nothing less than 
 God can make rational creatures happy; therefore a 
 disunion from him is the privation of every desirable 
 good, and the being plunged into mental darkness, 
 rage, horror, anguish, despair, and endless and irre- 
 trievable misery and woe. 
 
INSTRUCTION FOR THE IGNORANT. 
 
 929 
 
 all probability have overthrown the whole 
 order that God hath settled here among men. 
 For who could have endured here to have 
 Been the flames of fire, to have heard the 
 • • groans, and to have seen the tears perhaps of 
 damned relations, as parents or children? 
 Therefore, as Tophet of old was without the 
 city, and as the gallows and gibbets are built 
 without the town, so Christ hath ordered that 
 tliey who are to be punished with this kind 
 of torment shall betaken away: "Take him 
 away (saith he, out of this world) and cast 
 him into utter darkness, and let him have his 
 punishment; there there shall be weeping and 
 gnashing of teeth." Besides, faith is not to 
 be wrought by looking into hell and seeing 
 the damned tormented before our eyes, but 
 by hearing the word of God ; for l^e that shall 
 not believe Moses and the prophets, wiU not 
 be persuaded should one come from the dead, 
 yea, should one come to them in flames to 
 persuade them. Matt. xxii. 13 ; Kom. x. 17 ; 
 Luke xvi. 27-32. 
 
 Q. Are there degrees of torments in hell ? 
 
 A. Yes ; for " God will reward every one 
 according to their works. Woe to the wicked I 
 It shall go ill with him, for the reward of his 
 hands shall be given unto him." Isa. iii. 11. 
 
 Q.- Who are like to be most punished there 
 — men or children ? 
 
 A. The punishment in hell comes not upon 
 sinners according to age, but sin; so that 
 whether they be men or children, the greater 
 sin the greater punishment, for there is no re- 
 spect of persons with God. Eom. ii. 11. 
 
 Q. How do you distinguish between great 
 sins and little ones? 
 
 A. By their nature and by the circum- 
 stances that attend them. 
 
 Q. What do you mean by their nature? 
 
 A, I mean when they are very gross in 
 themselves. 
 
 Q. What kind of sins are the greatest? 
 
 A. Adultery, fornication, murder, theft, 
 Bwcaring, lying, covetousness, witchcraft, se- 
 dition, h( resies, or any the like. 
 
 Q. What do you mean by circumstances 
 that attend sin ? 
 
 A. I mean light, knowledge, the preaching 
 of the word, godly acquaintance, timely cau- 
 tion, &c, 
 
 Q. Will these make an alteration in the ain ? 
 
 * There are no little sins : every sin is an affront to 
 
 and rebellion against the Majesty of heaven, who is 
 
 infinitely pure and holy. But sin is the more aggra- 
 
 Tkted and provoking in proportion to the degree of 
 
 69 
 
 A. These things attending sinners will make 
 little sins* great — yea, greater than greater 
 sins that are committed in grossest ignorance. 
 Q. How do you prove that? 
 A. Sodom and Gomorrah wallowed in all 
 or most, of those gross transgressions above 
 mentioned; yea, they were said to be sinners 
 exceedingly ; they lived in such sins as may 
 not be spoken of without blushing; and yet 
 God swears that Israel, his Church, had done 
 worse than they, and the Lord Jesus also 
 seconds it in that threatening of his, " I say 
 unto you that it shall be more tolerable in 
 that day for Sodom than for thee." Ezek. xvi, 
 48; Matt. xi. 24; Luke x, 12. 
 
 Q. And was this the reason — namely, be- 
 cause they had such circumstances attending 
 them as Sodom had not? 
 
 A. Yes ; as will plainly appear if you read 
 the three chapters above mentioned. 
 
 Q. When do I sin against light and know- 
 ledge? 
 
 A. When you sin against convictions of 
 conscience, when you sin against a known law 
 of God, when you sin against counsels and 
 dissuasion of friends, then you sin against 
 light and knowledge. Rom. i. 32. 
 
 Q. When do I sin against preaching of the 
 word? 
 
 A. When you refuse to hear God's ministers, 
 or, hearing them, refuse to follow their whole- 
 some doctrine. 
 
 Q. When else do I sin against preaching of 
 the word ? 
 
 A. When you mock, or despise, or reproach 
 the ministers ; also when you raise lies and 
 scandals of them, or receive such lies or scan- 
 dals raised; you then also sin against the 
 preaching of the word when you persecute 
 them that preach it or are secretly glad to see 
 them so used. 
 
 Q. How will godly acquaintance greaten 
 my sin ? 
 
 A. When you sin against their counsels, 
 warnings, or persuasions to the contrary ; also 
 when their lives and conversations are reproof 
 to you, and yet against all you will sin. Thus 
 sinned Ishmael, Esau, Eli's sons, Absalom and 
 Judas; they had good company, good coun- 
 sels, and a good life set before them by their 
 godly acquaintance, but they sinned against 
 all, and their judgment was the greater. 
 
 light and conviction in the sinner by whom it is com- 
 mitted. This accounts for God's very severe punish- 
 ments to his own people at this day. Professing 
 Christian, watch and pray. 
 
930 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Ishinael was cast away, Esau hated, Eli's 
 Bons died suddenly, Absalom and Judas were 
 both strangely hanged. 
 
 Q. Are sins thus heightened distinguished 
 from others by any special name? 
 
 A, Yea^ they are called rebellion, and are 
 'eotnpared to the sin of witchcraft; they are 
 called wilful sins, they are called briers and 
 thorns, and they that bring them forth are 
 nigh unto cursing, whose end is to be burned.* 
 
 Q. Are there any other things that can 
 make little sins great ones? 
 
 A. Yes, as when you sin against the judg- 
 ments of God ; as, for example, you see the 
 judgments of God come upon some for their 
 transgressions, and you go on in their iniqui- 
 ties ; as also when you sin against the patience, 
 long^suffering, and forbearance of God; this 
 will make little sins great ones. 
 
 Q. Did God ever punish little children for 
 Bin against him ? 
 
 A. Yes; when the flood came he drowned all 
 the little children that were in the old world ; 
 he also burned up all the little children which 
 were in Sodom ; and because, upon a time, the 
 little children at Bethel mocked the prophet 
 as he was a-going to worship God, God let 
 loose two she-bears upon them, which tore 
 forty-and-two of them to pieces. 2 Kings ii. 
 22, 23. 
 
 Q. Alas! what shall we little children do? 
 
 A. Either go on in your sins, or " remem-' 
 ber now your Creator in the days of your 
 youth, before the evil days come." Eccles. 
 xii. 1. 
 
 Q. Why do you mock us to bid us go on in 
 our sins ? You had need pray for us that God 
 would save us. 
 
 A. I do not mock you, but as the wise man 
 doth ; and besides, I pray for you and wish 
 your salvation. 
 
 Q. How doth the wise man mock us ? 
 
 A. Thus: "Rejoice, O young man, in thy 
 youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the 
 days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of 
 thy heart 'and in the sight of thine eyes ; but 
 know thou that for all these things God will 
 bring thee to judgment." Eccles. xi. 9. 
 
 Q. What a kind of mocking is this? 
 
 A. Such an one as is mixed with the great- 
 
 * The friendly warnings and admonitions of pious 
 ministers and private Cliristians will add exceedingly 
 to the condemnation of the ungodly and impenitent, 
 who to the last have slighted the Lord's counsel 'by 
 them, and would have none of their reproof. Prov. i. 
 26, 30, 
 
 est seriousness ; as if he sh Duld say, Ay, do, 
 sinner, go on in your sins if you dare; do 
 live in your vanities, but God will have a iima 
 to judge you for them. 
 
 Q. Is not this just as when my father bids 
 me be naught if I will, but if I be naught he 
 will beat me for it? 
 
 A. Yes ; or like that saying of Joshua, " If 
 it seem evil to you to serve the Lord, cho(ee 
 you this day whom you will serve :" serve 
 your sins at your peril. Josh. xxiv. 15. 
 
 Q. Is it not best, then, for me to serve God? 
 
 A. Yes ; for they that serve the devil must 
 be where he is, and theythat serve God and 
 Christ must be where they are. John xii. 16; 
 Matt. XXV. 41. 
 
 Q. But when had I best begin to serve 
 God? 
 
 A. Just now:t "Eemember now thy Cre- 
 ator;" now thou hast the Gospel before thee; 
 now thy heart is tender and will be soonest 
 broken. 
 
 Q. But if I follow my play and sports a lit- 
 tle longer, may I not come time enough? 
 
 A. I cannot promise thee that, for there be 
 little graves in the churchyard ; and who can 
 tell but that thy young life is short; or, if 
 thou dost live, perhaps thy day of grace may 
 be as short as was Ishmael's of old. Bead also 
 Prov. i. 24-26. 
 
 Q. But if I stay a. little longer before I turn, 
 I may have more wit to serve God than now I 
 have, may I not? 
 
 A. If thou stayest longer thou wilt have 
 more sin, and perhaps less wit; for the bigger 
 sinner the bigger fool. Prov.,i. 22. 
 
 Q. If I serve God sometimes and my sin 
 sometimes, how then? 
 
 A. No man can serve two masters : tho'j 
 canst not serve God and thy sins. God saith, 
 "My son, give me thy heart." Also thy soul 
 and body are his ; but the double-minded man 
 is forbidden to think that he shall receive any 
 thing of the Lord. Matt. vi. 24 ; Prov. xxiii. 
 26 ; 1 Cor. vi. 28 ; James i. 7, 8. 
 
 Q. Do you find many such little children as 
 I am serve God ? 
 
 A. Not many, yet some I do : Samuel served 
 him being a child ; when Josiah was young he 
 began to seek after the God of his father David ; 
 
 ■j- " Now is the accepted time, now is the day of sal- 
 vation." The next moment is not our own : the soul 
 may then be launched into the world of spirits. 
 Moreover, a continuance in sin augments the hard- " 
 ness and impenitence of the heart. Oh therefore 
 " seek the Lord while he may be found." Isa. Iv. 6, ke. 
 
INSTRUCTION FOR THE IGNORANT. 
 
 931 
 
 »nd how kindly did our Lord Jesus talce it to 
 see the little children run tripping before him 
 and crying, " Hosannah to the Son of David !" 
 Q. Then I am not like to have many com- 
 panions if I, thus young, begin to serve God, 
 ami? 
 
 A. "Strait is the gate and narrow is the 
 way that leadeth unto life, and few there be 
 that find it." Yet some companions thou wilt 
 hare. David counted himself a companion of 
 all them that love God's testimonies ; all the 
 godly, though gray-headed, will be thy com- 
 panions ; yea, and thou shalt have either one 
 or more of the angels of God in heaven to at- 
 tend on and niinister for thee. 
 
 Q. But I am like to be slighted and despised 
 by other little children if I begin already to 
 serve God, am I not? 
 
 A. If children be so rude as to mock the 
 prophets and ministers of God, no marvel if 
 they also mock thee ; but it is a poor heaven 
 that is not worth enduring worse things than 
 to be mocked for the seeking and obtaining of.* 
 
 Q. But how should I serve God ? I do not 
 know how to worship him ? 
 
 A. The true worshippers worship God in 
 spirit and in truth. John iv. 24 ; Phil. iii. 3. 
 
 Q. What is meant by worshipping him in 
 the spirit? 
 
 A. To worship him in God's Spirit and in 
 mine own ; that is, to worship him, being 
 wrought over in my very heart by the good 
 Spirit of God to an hearty compliance with his 
 will. Rom. i. 9; vi. 17; Ps. ci. 3. 
 
 Q. What is it to worship him in truth. 
 
 A. To do all that we do in his worship ac- 
 cording to his word, for his word is truth, and 
 to do it without dissimulation. Heb. viii. 5; 
 John xvii. 17 ; Ps. xxvi. 6 ; cxviii. 19, 20. Yon 
 may take the whole thus : Then do you wor- _ 
 ship God aright when in heart and life you 
 walk according to his word. 
 
 Q. How must I do to worship him with my 
 spirit and heart? 
 
 A. Thou must first get the good knowledge 
 ti' him : " And thou Solomon, my son, (said 
 David,) know thou the God of thy father, and 
 serve him with a perfect heart." Mind you, 
 he 3rst bids him know him, and then serve 
 hilt with a perfect heart. 1 Chron. xxviii. 9. 
 
 Q. Is it easy to get a true knowledge of 
 God? 
 
 • Sincere Christiaas who, through dirine grace, are 
 separated from the world in judgment, afiection, and 
 practice, must expect to be hated and persecuted bj 
 it; but the now exalted Jesus, whose cause they es- 
 
 A. No, Thou must cry after knowledge, 
 and lift up tliy voice for understanding : " If 
 thou seekost for her as silver, and searchest 
 for her sb for hid treasure, then shalt thou 
 understand the fear of the Lord, and find the 
 knowledge of God." Prov. iL 1-5. 
 
 Q. How comes it to be so difficult i thing to 
 attain the true knowledge of God? 
 
 A. By reas(m of the pride and ignorance 
 that is in us, as also by reason of our wicked 
 ways. 
 
 Q. But do not every one profess they know 
 God? 
 
 A. Yes," but their supposed knowledge of 
 him varieth as much as do their faces or com- 
 plexions, some thinking he is tliifi and some 
 that. 
 
 Q. Will yom show me a little how they vary 
 in their thoughts about him ? 
 
 A. Yes. Some count him a kind of an 
 heartless God, that will neither do evil nor 
 good ; some count him a kind of an ignorant 
 and blind God, that can neither knonv nor see 
 through the clouds ; some again count him an 
 inconsiderable God, not worth the enjoying if 
 it must not be but with the loss of this world 
 and their lusts. Moreover, some think him to 
 be altogether such an one as themselves — one 
 that hath as little hatred to sin as them- 
 selves, and as little love to holiness as them- 
 selves. 
 
 Q. Are there any more false opinions of 
 God? 
 
 A. Yes. There are three other fialse opin- 
 ions of God : 1. Some think he is all mercy 
 and no justice, and that therefore they may 
 live as they list. 2. Others think he is all 
 justice and no mercy, and that therefore they 
 had as good go in their eins and be damned as 
 turn and be never the better. 3. Others think 
 he is both justice and mercy, but yet think also 
 that his justice is sucji as they can pacify with 
 their own good works and save themselves 
 with their own right hand. 
 
 Q. How, then, shall I know when I have 
 the true knowledge of God? 
 
 A. When the knowledge of him and the 
 Holy Scriptures agree. 
 
 Q. The Scriptures ! Do not all false opin- 
 ions of him flow from the Scriptures ? 
 
 A. No, in nowise. It is true, men father 
 their errors upon the Scriptures, when indeed 
 
 pouse, will stand by them: in his strength, then, let 
 them boldly proclaim his name and truth, in spite of 
 all opposition, and he will mako them more than coa 
 querora. 
 
932 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Ihey flow from the ignorance of their hearts. 
 Eph. iv. 18. 
 
 Q. But how if I do not understand the Holy 
 Bible, must I then go without the true know- 
 ledge of God? 
 
 A. His name is manifested by his word; the 
 Scriptures are they that testify of him, and 
 they are able to make the man of God perfect 
 iu all things and wise unto salvation through 
 faith in Jesus Christ. John xvii. 6, 7, 8; v. 
 39 ; 2 Tim. iii. 15, 16. 
 
 Q. But what must one that knoweth not 
 God do to get the knowledge of God? 
 
 A. Let him apply his heart unto the Scrip- 
 tures, as unto a light that ahineth in a dark 
 place, (even this world,) until the day dawn 
 and the day-star arise in his heart. 
 
 Q. But how shall I know when I have found 
 by the Scriptures the true knowledge of God ? 
 
 A. When thou hast also found a true know- 
 ledge of thyself. Isa. vi. 5; Job xlii. 5. 
 
 Q. What is it for me to know myself? 
 
 A. Then thou knowest thyself when thou 
 art in thine own eyes a loathsome, polluted, 
 wretched, miserable sinner, and that not any 
 thing done by thee can pacify God unto thee.* 
 
 OF CONFESSION OF SIN, 
 
 Q. You have showed me if I will indeed 
 worship God, I must first know him aright; 
 now, then, to the question in hand : Pray how 
 must I worship him? 
 
 A. In confessing unto him. Neh. ix. 1, 2, 3. 
 
 Q. What must I confess ? 
 
 A. Thou must confess thy transgressions 
 unto the Lord. Ps. xxxii. 5. 
 
 Q. Was this the way of the godly of old? 
 
 A. Yes ; Nehemiah confessed his sins, David 
 confessed his sins, Daniel confessed his sins, 
 and they that were baptized by John in Jor- 
 dan confessed their sins. 
 
 Q. What sins must I ccnfess to God? 
 
 A. All sins whatsoever ; for he that covereth 
 his sins shall not prosper, but whoso confesseth 
 and foisaketh them shall find mercy. Prov. 
 xxviii. 13; 1 John i. 9. 
 
 Q. But how if I do neither know nor re- 
 member all my sins ? 
 
 A. Thou must then search and try thy ways 
 
 * The knowledge of ourselves asvile and abomin- 
 able, deserving God's wrath and damnation, and, as 
 Buob, hopeless and helpless, is one great step to- 
 wards our recovery j the next is, " to know the only 
 true God, and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent," 
 as revealed in the word of truth; this is eternal 
 life. 
 
 by the holy word of God. Lam. iii. 40; Ps. 
 Ixxvii. 6. 
 
 Q. But how if I do not make this search 
 after my sins ? 
 
 A. If thou dost not, God will ; if thou dosl 
 not search them out and confess them, God will 
 search them out and charge them upon thee, 
 and tear thee in pieces for them. Ps. 1. 21, 22. 
 
 Q. Where must I begin to confess my sins ? 
 
 A. Where God beginneth to show thee them. 
 Observe, then, where God beginneth with con- 
 viction for sin, and there begin thou with con- 
 fession of it. Thus David began to confess, 
 thus Daniel began to confess. 2 Sam. vii. 18 ; 
 Dan. ix. 3-9. 
 
 Q. What must I do, when God hath showed 
 me any sin, to make right confession thereof? 
 
 A. Thou must follow that conviction until it 
 shall bring thee to the original and fountain of 
 that sin, which is thine own heart. 1 Kings 
 viii. 38 ; Ps. li. 5. 
 
 Q. Is my heart, then, the fountain and orig- 
 inal of sin ? 
 
 A. Yes : " For from within, out of the heart 
 of man, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, for- 
 nication, murders, thefts, covetousness, wick- 
 edness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, 
 blasphemy, pride, foolishness ;" all these evil 
 things come from within, and defile the man. 
 
 Q. When a man sees this what will he think 
 of himself? 
 
 A. Then he will not only think,' but con- 
 clude, that he is an unclean thing; that his 
 heart has deceived him ; that it is most despe- 
 rate and wicked ; that it may not be trusted by 
 any means ; that every imagination and thought 
 of his heart (naturally) is only evil, and that 
 continually. 
 
 Q. You have given me a very bad character 
 of the heart, but how shall I know that it is so 
 bad as you count it? 
 
 A. Both by the text and by experience. 
 
 Q. What do you mean by experience ? 
 
 A. Keep thine eyes upon thy heart and also 
 upon God's word, and thou shalt see with thine 
 own eyes the desperate wickedness that is in 
 thine heart; for thou must know sin by the 
 law, that bidding thee do one thing and thy 
 heart inclining to another.f Kom. vii. 7, 8, 9. 
 
 f The heart of man is the very sink of sin and the 
 fountain of all pollution ; all the irregularity of our 
 lives flows from the impurities of our hearts and 
 natures ; for, as our Lord observes, " out of the heart 
 proceeds evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornica. 
 tions, thefts, false-witness, blasphemies : these defile 
 a man.'' Create in us a clean heart, Godl 
 
INSTRUCTION FOR THE IGNORANT. 
 
 933 
 
 Q, May 1 thus, then, know my heart? 
 
 A. Yes ; that is, something of it, especially 
 the carnality of thy mind, because the carnal 
 mind is enmity against God; for "it is not 
 subject to the law of God, neither indeed can 
 be." Eom. viii. 7. 
 
 Q. Can you particularize some few things 
 wherein the wickedness of the heart of man 
 shows itself? 
 
 A. Yes; by its secret hankering after sin, 
 although the word forbids it ; by its deferring 
 of repentance; by its being weary of holy 
 duties ; by its aptness to forget God ; by its 
 studying to lessen and hide sin ; by its feigning 
 itself to be better than it is ; by being glad 
 when it can sin without being seen of men ; 
 by its hardening itself against the threaten- 
 ings and judgments of God ; by its desperate 
 inclinings to unbelief, atheism, and the 
 like. 
 
 Q.t Is there any thing else to be done in 
 order to a right confession of sin ? 
 
 A. Yes ; let this conviction sink down into 
 thy heart, that God sees much more wicked- 
 ness in thee than thou canst see in thyself If 
 thy heart condemn thee, God is greater than 
 thy heart and he knows all things ; besides, he 
 hath set thy secret sins in the light of his 
 countenance. 1 John iii. 20 ; Ps. xo. 8. 
 
 Q. Is there any thing else that must go to a 
 right confession of sin ? 
 
 A. Yes ; in thy confession thou must greaten 
 and aggravate thy sin by all just circumstances. 
 
 Q. How must I do that? 
 
 A. By considering against how much light 
 and mercy thou hast sinned, against how much 
 patience and forbearance thou hast sinned; 
 also against what warnings and judgments 
 thou hast sinned, and against how many of 
 thine own vows, promises, and engagements 
 thou hast sinned; these things heighten and 
 aggravate sin. Ezra ix. 10-16. 
 
 Q. But what need I confess my sins to God, 
 seeing he knows them already ? 
 
 A. Confession of sin is necessary for many 
 reasons. 
 
 Q. Will you show me some of those reasons ? 
 
 A. Yes ; one is, by a sincere and hearty con- 
 fession of sin thou acknowledgest God to be 
 thy Sovereign Lord, and that he hath right to 
 impose his law upon thee. Ex. xx. 
 
 Q. Can you show me another reason? 
 
 * It is the blessed office of the heavenly Comforter, 
 the Spirit of God, to convince of sin, righteousness, 
 »nd judgment; "Behold, I am vile!" was the lan- 
 gaage of one of old; and of another, "Enter not into 
 
 A. Yes ; by confessing thy sin thou subscrib 
 est to his righteous judgments that are pro- 
 nounced against it. Ps. li. 3, 4. 
 
 Q. Can you show me another reason ? 
 
 A. Yes ; by confessing of sin thou showest 
 how little thou deservest the least mercy from 
 God.* 
 
 Q. Have you yet another reason why I 
 should confess my sin ? 
 
 A. Yes ; by so doing thou showest whether 
 thy heart loves it or hates it. He that heartily 
 confesseth his sin is like him who, having a 
 thief or traitor in big house, brings him out to 
 condign punishment ; but he that forbears to 
 confess is like him who hideth a thief or trai- 
 tor against the laws and peace of our Lord the 
 King. 
 
 Q. Give me one more reason why I should 
 confess my sins to God. 
 
 A. He that confesseth his sin casteth him- 
 self at the feet of God's mercy, utterly con- 
 demns and casts away his own righteousness, 
 concludeth there is no way to stand just and 
 acquit before God but by and through the 
 righteousness of another, whither God is re- 
 solved to bring thee if ever he saves thy soul. 
 Ps. li. 1, 2, 3; 1 John i. 9 ; Phil. iii. 6, 7, 8. 
 
 Q. What frame of heart should I be in when 
 I confess my sins ? 
 
 A. Do it heartily, and to the best of thy 
 power thoroughly, for to feign in this work is 
 abominable ; to do it by halves is wickedness ; 
 to do it without sense of sin cannot be accept- 
 able ; and to confess it with the mouth and to 
 love it with the heart is a lying unto God and 
 a provocation of the eyes of his glory. 
 
 Q. What do you mean by feigning and dis- 
 sembling in this work? 
 
 A. When men confess it, yet know not what 
 it is; or if they think they know it, do noi 
 conclude it so bad as it is ; or when men ask 
 pardon of God, but do not see their need of 
 pardon ; such men must need dissemble. 
 
 Q. What do you mean by doing it by the 
 halves ? 
 
 A. When men confess some, but not all that 
 they are convinced of, or if they confess all, 
 yet labour in their confession to lessen it ; or 
 when in their confession they turn not from all 
 sin to God, but from one sin to another : " They 
 turned, but not to the Most High, none of them 
 did exalt him.'' Prov. xviii. 13. 
 
 judgment with thy servant, Lord; for in thy sight 
 shall no flesh living be justified." This also should 
 be ours, for " we have all sinned, and come short of 
 God." 
 
934 
 
 SUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Q. "What is it to confess sin without the 
 sense of sin ? 
 
 A. To do it through custom or, tradition when 
 there is no guilt upon the conscience : now this 
 eannot be acceptable. 
 
 Q, What is it to confess it with the mouth, 
 to love it with the heart? 
 
 A. When men condemn it with their mouth, 
 but 1 efuse to let it go ; when with their mouth 
 they show much love, but their heart goeth 
 aftei their covetoQsness. 
 
 Q. But I ask you what frame of heart I 
 should be in in my confessions? 
 
 A. I have showed you how you should not 
 be ; well, I will show you now what frame of 
 heart becomes you in your confessions of sin. 
 Labour by all means for a sense of the evil 
 that is in sin. 
 
 Q. What evil is there in sin ? 
 
 A. No man with tongue can express what 
 may by the heart be felt of the evil of sin ;* 
 but this know, it dishonoureth God, it provok- 
 eth him to wrath, it damneth the soul. Eom. 
 ii. 23. 
 
 Q. What else woijld you advise me to in this 
 great work? 
 
 A. When you confess sin, tears, shame, and 
 Drokenness of heart become us. Jer. 1. 4. 
 
 Q. What else becomes me in my confessions 
 of sin? 
 
 A. Great detestation of sin, with unfeigned 
 sighsj and groans that express that thou dost it 
 heartily. Job xlii. 5, 6. 
 
 Q. Is here all? 
 
 A. No; tremble at the word of God; trem- 
 ble at every judgment, lest it overtake thee; 
 tremble at every promise, lest thou shouldst 
 miss thereof: "For (saith God) to this man 
 will I look, even to him that is poor and of a 
 #contrite spirit, and that trembles at my word." 
 Isa. Ixvi. 2 ; Heb. iv. 1, 2. 
 
 Q. What if I cannot thus confess my sins? 
 
 A. Bewail the hardness of thy heart, keep 
 close to the best preachers, remember that thou 
 hy-ngest over hell by the weak thread of an un- 
 certain life; and know God counts it a great 
 evil not to be ashamed of, not to blush at sin. 
 
 Q. Are there no thanks to be rendered to 
 God in confessions ? 
 
 * To make a verbal confession of our sing, how just 
 soever, will not avail ua, unless the -heart be touched 
 with a feeling of the aggravated nature of them, so as 
 to make the soul cry out ^ith the roj'al penitent, 
 ■* Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this 
 .5vil in thy sight, that thou mightest be justiiied," (fco. 
 ?s. li. 4. 
 
 A. Oh yes. Thank him for that he hath let 
 thee see thy sins; thank him that he hath 
 given thee time to acknowledge thy sins— thou 
 mightest now have been confessing in hell; 
 thank him also that he hath so far condescended 
 as to hear the self-bemoaning sinner, and that 
 he hath promised surely to have mercy upon 
 such. Jer. xxxi. 18, 19, 20. 
 
 or FAITH IN CHRIST. 
 
 Q. I AM glad that you have instructed me 
 into this part of the worship of God ; I pray 
 thee tell me also how else I should worship him. 
 
 A. Thou must believe his word. 
 
 Q. Is that worshipping of God? 
 
 A. Yes: "After the way which you call 
 heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, 
 believing all things that are written in the la;w 
 and the prophets," &c. Acts xxiv. 14. 
 
 Q. Why should believing be considered a 
 part of God's worship? 
 
 A. Because without faith it is impossible to 
 please him. Heb. xi. 6. 
 
 Q. Why not possible to please him without 
 believing? 
 
 A. Because in all true worship a man must 
 believe that God is, and that he is a rewarder 
 of them that diligently seek him. Besides, he 
 that worships God must also of necessity be- 
 lieve his word, else he cannot worship with 
 that reverence and fear that becomes him, but 
 will do it in a superstitious, profane manner ;f 
 " for whatsoever is not of faith is sin." Rom. 
 xiv. 23. 
 
 Q. But do not all believe as you have said? 
 
 A. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, 
 and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." 
 And again, "The children of the flesh, these are 
 not the children of God, but the children of 
 the promise are counted for the" seed." John 
 iii. 6; Rom. ix. 8. 
 
 Q. What do you mean by that? 
 
 A. Thou must be born twice before thou 
 canst truly believe once. 
 
 Q. How do you prove that? 
 
 A. Because believing is a Christian act, and 
 none are true Christians but those that are 
 born again. But I meau by believing, believ- 
 ing unto salvation. 
 
 Q. Can you prove this ? 
 
 t If you would draw near to God in a duty of hia 
 worship with a true heart, you must do it in full as- 
 surance of faith concerning your enjoyment of Christ 
 and his salvation, looking for grace to be enabled to 
 hear and receive the word as the word of God, and t9 
 meditate upon it with profit and delight. 
 
mSTRUCTION FOR THE IGNORANT. 
 
 935 
 
 A. Yes; they that believe in the name of 
 Christ are such which are born not of blood, 
 nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of 
 man, but of God. John i. 12, 13. 
 
 Q, What is believing? 
 
 A. It is such an act of a gracious soul as 
 layeth hold on God's mercy through Christ. 
 Acta XV. 11. 
 
 Q. Why do you call it an act of a gracious 
 soul '? 
 
 A Because their minds are disposed that 
 way by the power of the Holy Gliost. Eom. 
 XV. 13. 
 
 Q. If such a poor sinner as I ara would be 
 saved from the wrath to come, how must I be- 
 lieve ? 
 
 A. Thy first question should be. On whom 
 must I believe? John ix. 35, 36.. 
 
 Q. On whom, then, must I believe? 
 
 A. On the Lord Jesus Christ. Acts xvi. 31, 
 32. 
 
 Q. Who is Jesus Christ, that I might believe 
 in him? 
 
 A. He is the only-begotten Son of God. 
 John iii. 16. 
 
 Q. Why must I believe on him ? 
 
 A. Because he is the Saviour of the world. 
 2 Pet. i. ; 1 John iv. 14. 
 
 Q. How is he the Saviour of the world ? 
 
 A. By the Father's designation and send- 
 ing ; " For God sent not his Son into the world 
 to condemn the world, but that the world 
 through him might be saved." John iii. 13. 
 
 Q. How did he come into the world? 
 
 A. In man's flesh, in which flesh he fulfilled 
 the law, died for our sins, conquered the devil 
 and death, and obtained eternal redemption 
 for us.* 
 
 Q. But is there no other way to be saved 
 but by believing in Jesus Christ? 
 
 A. There is no other name given under 
 heaven among men whereby we must be 
 saved; and therefore he that believeth not 
 shall he damned. Acts iv. 12; Mark xvi. 16; 
 John iii. 18, 36. 
 ^ Q. What is believing on Jesus Christ? 
 ' A. It is a receiving of him, with what is in 
 him, as the gift of God to thee a sinner., John 
 i. 12, 
 
 * The adorable God-man lived and suffered and 
 died as the representative of his people. The right- 
 eousness of his life was to be their right and title to 
 life, and the righteousness of his sufferings and death 
 was tosave them from all the sufferings iae to their 
 «ins. Hereby the law, justice, faithfulness, and holi- 
 ness of God will be eternally glorified. 
 
 Q. What is in Jesus Christ to encourage me 
 to receive him? 
 
 A. Infinite righteousness to justify thee, and 
 the Spirit without measure to sanctify thee. 
 Isa. xlv. 24, 25. 
 
 Q. Is this made mine if I receive Christ? 
 
 A. Yes, if thou receive him as God ofiereth 
 him to thee. John iii. 16. 
 
 Q. How doth God offer him to me? 
 
 A. Even as a rich man freely offereth an 
 alms to a beggar, and so must thou receive 
 him. John vi. 32-36. 
 
 Q. Hath he indeed made amends for sin, 
 and would indeed have me accept of what he 
 hath done ? 
 
 A. That he hath made amends for sin, it is 
 evident, because God for Christ's sake forgiv- 
 eth thee. And it is as evident that he would 
 have thee accept thereof, because he offereth it 
 to thee, and hath sworn to give thee the ut- 
 most benefit — to wit, eternal life — if thou dost 
 receive it ; yea, and hath threatened thee with 
 eternal damnation if, after all this, thou shalt 
 neglect so great salvation. 
 
 Q. But how must I be qualified before I 
 shall dare to believe in Christ ? 
 
 A.. Come sensible of thy sins and of the 
 wrath of God due unto them, for thus thou art 
 bid to come. Matt. xi. 28. 
 
 Q. Did ever any come thus to Christ? 
 
 A. David came thus, Paul and the jailer 
 came thus; also Christ's murderers came thus. 
 Ps. li. 1, 2, 3 ; Acts ix. 6 ; xvi. 30, 31 ; ii. 37. 
 
 Q. But doth it not seem most reasonable 
 that we should first mend and be good ? 
 
 A. " The whole have no need of the physi- 
 cian, but those that are sick. Christ came not 
 to call the righteous, but sinners, to repent- 
 ance." Mark ii. 17. 
 
 Q. But is it not the best way, if one can, to 
 mend first? 
 
 A. This is just as if a sick man should say. 
 Is it not best for me to be well before I go to 
 the physician ? or as if a wounded man should 
 say. When I am cured I will lay on the pias- 
 ter.! 
 
 Q. But when a poor creature sees its vile- 
 ness it is afraid to come to Christ, is it not? 
 
 A, Yes; but without ground, for he hath 
 
 f God will give us his consolations before our good 
 works as well as after them, that we may know that 
 he giveth everlasting consolation and good hope 
 through grace, and not through the procurement of 
 our works. 2 Thess. li, 16. ■ The more desperate our 
 disease the faster we should Hee to Christ for ft 
 
936 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WOBKS. 
 
 said, " Say to them that are of a fearful heart, 
 Be strong, fear not; and to this man will I 
 look, even to him that ia poor and*of a con- 
 trite spirit, and trembles at my word." Isa. 
 XXXV. 4 ; Ixvi. 2. 
 
 Q. What encouragement can be given us 
 thus to come ? 
 
 A. The prodigal came thus, and his father 
 received him and fell upon his neck and 
 kissed him. Thus he received the Colossians, 
 and consequently all that are saved. Luke 
 XV. ; Col. ii. 13. 
 
 Q. Will you give me one more encourage- 
 ment? 
 
 A. The promises are so worded that they 
 that are scarlet sinners, crimson sinners, blas- 
 phemous sinners have encouragement to come 
 to him witli hopes of life. Isa. i. 18; Mark 
 iii. 28 ; John vi. 36 ; Luke xxxiv. 47 ; Acts 
 xiii. 36. 
 
 Q. Shall any one that believeth be saved ? 
 
 A. If they believe as the Scriptures have 
 said, if the Scriptures be fulfilled in their be- 
 lieving. John vii. 38; James ii. 23. 
 
 Q. What do you mean by that? 
 
 A. When faith which a man saith he hath 
 proveth itself to be of the right kind by \t% acts 
 and operations in the mind of a poor sinner. 
 James ii. 19-23. 
 
 Q. Why, are there many kinds of faith ? 
 
 A. Yes ; there is a faith that will stand 
 with a heart as hard as a rock ; a short- 
 winded faith, which dureth for a while, and 
 in time of temptation such fall away. Luke 
 viii. 13. 
 
 Q. Is there any other kind of faith? 
 
 A. Yes ; there is a faith that hath no more 
 life in it than hath the body of a dead man. 
 James ii. 26. 
 
 Q. Is there yet another of these unprofit- 
 able faiths? 
 
 A. Yes ; there is a faith that is of our- 
 selves, and not of the special grace of God? 
 Eph. ii. 8. 
 
 Q. Tell me if there be yet another? 
 
 A. There is a faith that standeth in the 
 wisdom of men and not in the power of God. 
 1 Cor. ii. 5. 
 
 Q. Is here all? 
 
 A. No ; there is a faith that seems to be 
 holy, but it will not do, because it is not the 
 m.ost holy faith. 2 Pet. ii. 20 ; Jude 20. 
 
 * Divine and saving faith brings us to believe in 
 Christ as alone sufficient and all-sufficient for our hap- 
 vineBS and salvation, despairing altogether of any at- 
 
 Q. Alas ! if there be so many kinds of faith 
 that will not profit to salvation, how e(asy is it 
 for me to be deceived I 
 
 A. It is easy indeed; and therefore the 
 Holy Ghost doth in this thing so often cau- 
 tion us, " Be not deceived, let no man deceive 
 you, and if a man thiuketh himself to be 
 something when he is nothing, he deceiveth 
 himself." 
 
 Q. But is there no way to distinguish the 
 right faith from that which is wrong ? * 
 
 A. Yes; and that by the manner of ita 
 coming and operation? 
 
 Q. What do you mean by the manner of its 
 coming? 
 
 A. Nay, you must make two questions of 
 this one ; that is, What is it for faith to come t 
 and. In what manner doth it come ? 
 
 Q. Well, then, what is it for faith to come? 
 
 A. This word, faith comes, supposeth thou 
 wert once without it; it also supposeth that 
 thou didst not fetch it whence it was ; it also 
 supposeth it hath a way of coming. Gal. iii. 
 23, 25. 
 
 Q. That I was once without it you inti- 
 mated before, but must I take it, without 
 proof, for granted? 
 
 A. I will give you a proof or two : God hath 
 concluded them all in unbelief; and again it is 
 said, Faith comes, and again, the Holy Ghost 
 insinuateth our estate to be dreadful before 
 faith come. 
 
 Q. Why, how is it with men before faith 
 comes? 
 
 A. Without faith, or before faith comes, it 
 is impossible to please God; for whether their 
 actions be civil or religious, they sin in all 
 they do: "The sacrifice of the wicked is an 
 abomination, and the ploughing of the wicked 
 is sin." Prov. xxi. 4, 27. 
 
 Q. Is not this a very sad condition ? 
 
 A. Yes ; but this is not all ; for their preS" 
 ent unbelief bindeth them over to wrath by 
 shutting tiiem up to the law ; it also draweth 
 them away from God, and will drown them in 
 everlasting damnation if the grace of God 
 prevent not. 
 
 Q. What if a man saw himself in this 
 condition ? 
 
 A. There are many see themselves in this 
 condition ? 
 
 Q. How came they to see it ? 
 
 tainment of happiness by our own wisdom, strength, 
 works of righteousness, or any fleshly, worldly, oon- 
 iidences whatsoever. 
 
INSTRUCTION FOB THE IGNORANT. 
 
 937 
 
 A. By the preaching and hearing the word 
 of God. John xvi. 8, 9. 
 
 Q. And what do such think of themselves? 
 
 A. They do not only think, but know, that 
 in this condition they are without Christ, 
 without hope, and without God in the world. 
 Eph. ii. 11, 12. 
 
 Q. Are not they happy that see not them- 
 selves in this condition ? 
 
 A. Yes ; if they have seen themselves de- 
 livered therefrom by a work of faith in their 
 Bouls, else not. 
 
 Q. How do you mean? 
 
 A. I mean, if they have seen themselves de- 
 livered from this state by being by the word 
 and Spirit of God implanted into the faith of 
 Christ. 
 
 Q. Are not they happy that ace never trou- 
 bled with this sad sight of their condition ? 
 
 A. They are just so happy as is that man 
 who lieth fast asleep in his house while it is 
 on fire about his ears. Can a man be happy 
 that is ignorant that he is without God, and 
 Christ, and hope? Can a man be happy that 
 is ignorant that he is hanging over hell by 
 the poor weak thread of an uncertain life?* 
 for this is the state of such an one. 
 
 Q. But may not faith come to a man without 
 he see himself to be first in this condition? 
 
 A. It is God's ordinary way to convince men 
 of this their sad condition before he revealeth 
 to them the righteousness of faith, or work 
 faith in them to lay hold of that righteous- 
 ness. 
 
 Q. How, then, do you conclude of them that 
 never saw themselves shut up by unbelief under 
 sin and the curse of God ? 
 
 A. I will not judge them for the future; 
 God may convert them before they die, but at 
 present their state is miserable; for because 
 they are shut up and held prisoners by the 
 law, by their lusts, and by the devil and unbe- 
 lief, therefore they cannot so much as with 
 their hearts desire that God would have mercy 
 upon them and bring them out of their snares 
 and chains. 
 
 Q. Then do you count it better for a man to 
 see his condition by nature than to be ignorant 
 thereof? . 
 
 A. Better a thousand times to see it in this 
 
 * Tho awful condition of the unconverted consists 
 in their being in a state of separation from God, in- 
 sensible of that dismal state, utterly unable to extri- 
 cate themselves out of it, and loathsome to God while 
 they continue in it. The unregenerate are twice 
 dead; being legally ana spiritually so. 
 
 world than to see it in hell-fire, for he must 
 see it there or here. Now if he sees it here, 
 this is the place of prayer, here is the preach 
 ing of the word, which is God's ordinance -to 
 beget faith. Besides, here God applieth prom- 
 ises of mercy to the desolate, and Christ also 
 hath protested that he that cometh to him he 
 will in nowise cast out. John vi. 37. 
 
 Q. I am convinced that I was once without 
 faith, and also that I cannot fetch it; but pray 
 tell me the way of its coming? 
 
 A. " Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by 
 the word of God." 
 
 Q. How by hearing? 
 
 A. God mixed it with the word when he ab- 
 solutely intendeth the salvation of the sinner. 
 
 Q. And how do, men hear when faith is 
 mixed with the word? 
 
 A. They hear the word not as the word of 
 man, but, as it is in truth, the word of God, 
 which worketh effectually in them that believe. 
 1 Thess. ii. 13. 
 
 Q. Pray tell me now the manner of its com- 
 ing? 
 
 A. It comes through difficulty, it comes 
 gradually. 
 
 Q. What are the difficulties which oppose it 
 at its coming? 
 
 A. Sense of unworthiness, guilt of con- 
 science, natural reason, unbelief, and argu- 
 ments forged in hell, and thence suggested by 
 the devil into the heart against it. 
 
 Q. How doth faith come gradually ? 
 
 A. Perhaps at first it is but like a grain of 
 mustard seed, small and weak. Matt. xvii. 20. 
 
 Q. Will you explain it further? 
 
 A. Faith at first, perhaps, may have its ex- 
 cellency lie in view only — that is, in seeing 
 where justification and salvation is;t after 
 that it may step a degree higher, and be able 
 to say. It may be or who can tell but I may 
 obtain this salvation? Again, it may perhaps 
 go yet a step higher, and arrive to some short 
 and transient assurance. 
 
 Q. But doth faith come only by hearing? 
 
 A. It is usually begotten by the word 
 preached, but after it is begotten it is in- 
 creased several ways. It is increased by 
 prayer; it is increased by Christian confer- 
 ence; it is increased by reading; it is in- 
 
 f The most effectual knowledge for our salvation is, 
 to understand these two points : the desperate sinful- 
 ness and misery of our own natural condition, and the 
 alone-sufBoiency of the grace of God in Christ for our 
 salvation, that we may be abased as to the flesh, and 
 exalted in Christ alone. 
 
938 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 creased by meditation ; it is increased by tbe' 
 remembrance of former experiences. 
 
 Q. What do these things teach us? 
 
 A. They teach us that the men of this world 
 are very ignorant of, and as much without de- 
 sire after, faith; they neither hear nor pray, 
 confer nor read, nor meditate for the sake of 
 faitli. 
 
 Q. But you said even now that this faith 
 was distinguished from that which profiteth 
 not to salvation, as by the manner of its com- 
 ing, so by its operation : pray what is its ope- 
 ration? 
 
 A. It causeth the soul to see in the light 
 thereof that there is no righteousness in this 
 world that can save the sinner. Isa. Ixiv. 6. 
 
 Q. How doth it give the soul this sight? 
 
 A. By giving him to understand the law, 
 and his own inability to do it. Gal. ii. 15, 16. 
 
 Q. And doth it always show the soul where 
 justifying righteousness is? 
 
 A. Yes; it shows that justifying righteous- 
 ness is only to be found in the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, in what he hath done and sufiered in 
 the flesh. Isa. xlv. 24, 25; Phil. iii. 3-9. 
 
 Q. How doth faith find this righteousness in 
 Christ? 
 
 A. By the word, which is therefore called 
 the word of faith, because faith by that 
 findeth suflBcient righteousness in him. Eom.- 
 X. 6-9. 
 
 Q. How else doth it operate in the soul? 
 
 A. It applieth this righteousness to the sin- 
 ner, and also helps him to embrace it.* 
 
 Q. How else doth it operate? 
 
 A. By this application of Christ the soul is 
 quickened to life, spiritualized, and made 
 heavenly. For right faith quickeneth to spir- 
 itual life, purifies and sanctifies the heart, and 
 worketh up the man that hath it into the im- 
 age of Jesus Christ. 
 
 Q. How else doth it operate? 
 
 A. It giveth the soul peace with God through 
 Jesus Christ. Rom. v. 1. 
 
 Q. Surely Christ is of great esteem with 
 , them that have this faith in him, is he not? 
 
 A. Yes, yes. Unto them therefore which 
 believe he is precious — precious in his person, 
 precious in his undertakings, precious in his 
 word. 
 
 * Faith ia the instrumental cause of justification, for 
 it is the proper act of faith to receive remission of sins, 
 (Acts xxvi. 18,) to receive the gift of righteousness^ 
 (Rom. v. 17,) to receive Christ in the promise as the 
 gift of the Father. John i. 12; iv. 10. This is the only 
 "way to obtain peace with God. 
 
 Q. Can these people, ther , that ha . e this faitli 
 endure to have this Christ -jpoken against? 
 
 A. Oh no. This is a sword in their bonea 
 and a burden that they cannot bear. Ps. xlii. 
 10; Zeph. iii. 18, 19. 
 
 Q. Doth it not go near them when they see 
 his ways and people discountenanced ? 
 
 A. Yes ; and they also choose rather to be 
 despised and persecuted with them than to 
 enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. Heb. 
 xi. 24, 25. 
 
 Q. Do they not pray much for his second 
 coming? 
 
 A. Yes, yes; they would fain see him on 
 this side the clouds of heaven ; their conver- 
 sation is in heaven, from whence they look for 
 the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Phil. iii. 
 20. 
 
 Q. And do they live in this world as if he 
 were to come presently ? 
 
 A. Yes; for his coming will be glorious and 
 dreadful, full of mercy and judgment : " The 
 day of the Lord will come as a thief in the 
 night, in which the heavens shall pass away 
 with a great noise, and the elements shall 
 melt with fervent heat ; the earth also and the 
 works therein shall be burnt up. Seeing, then, 
 that all these things shall be dissolved, what 
 manner of persons ought we to be in all holy 
 conversation and godliness ?" 2 Pet. iii. 10, 11. 
 
 OP PEAYER. 
 
 Q. Well, I am glad that you have showed 
 me that I must worship God by confession of 
 sin and faith in Jesus Christ. Is there any 
 other thing a part of the true worship of God? 
 
 A. Yes, several; I wiU mention only two 
 more at this time. 
 
 Q. What are they? 
 
 A. Prayer and self-denial.t 
 
 Q, Is prayer, then, a part of the worship of 
 God? 
 
 A. Yes ; a great part of it. 
 
 Q. How do you prove that? 
 
 A. " Oh come let us worship and bow down, 
 let us kneel before the Lord our Maker." Ps. 
 xov. 6. 
 
 Q. Is there another Scripture proves it ? 
 
 A. Yes; "Then she came and worshipped 
 him, saying. Lord, help me." Matt. xv. 25. 
 
 Q. What is prayer ? 
 
 ■f " The effectual fervent prayer of the righteous 
 (or justified person) availeth much." James iv. 16, 
 "In all things, by prayer and supplication, with 
 thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto 
 God." Phil. iv. 
 
INSTRUCTION FOR THE IGNORANT. 
 
 939 
 
 A. A. sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring 
 cut of tlie soul to God, in the name of Christ, 
 for what God hath promised. 
 
 Q. Doth not everybody pray ? 
 
 A. No: "The wicked, through the pride of 
 bis countenance, will not seek after God; God 
 is not in all his thoughts." Ps. xl. 4. 
 
 Q. What will become of them that do not 
 pray? 
 
 A. They do not worship God, and he will 
 destroy them : " Pour out thy fury (saith the 
 prophet) up»n the heathen, and upon the 
 families that call not upon thy name." Ps. 
 Ixxix. 6 ; Jer. x. 25. 
 
 Q. But seeing God knoweth what we want, 
 why doth he not give us what we need without 
 praying? 
 
 A. His counsel and wisdom "leadeth him 
 otherwise: "Thus saith the Lord, I will yet 
 be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it 
 for them." Ezek. xxxvi. 37. 
 
 Q. Why will God have us pray ? 
 
 A. Because he would be acknowledged by 
 
 thee that'he is above thee, and therefore would 
 
 have thee come to him as the mean come to 
 
 the mighty. Thus Abraham came unto him. 
 
 ' Gen. xviii. 27, 30. 
 
 Q. Is there another reason why I should 
 pray? 
 
 A. Yes ; for by prayer thou acknowledgest 
 that help is not in thine own power. 2 Chron. 
 XX. 6, 12. 
 
 Q. What reason else have you why I should 
 pray? 
 
 A. By prayer thou confesses! that help is 
 only in him. Ps. Ixii. 1. 
 
 Q. What other reasons have you ? 
 
 A. By prayer thou confessest thou canst not 
 live without his grace and mercy. Matt. xiv. 
 30; Heb. iv. 16. 
 
 Q. Are all that pray heard of the Lord? 
 
 A. No: "They looked, (that is, prayed,) 
 but there was none to save them ; even unto 
 the liOrd, but he answered them not." * 2 Sam. 
 xxii. 42. \ 
 
 Q. To what doth God compare the prayers 
 which he refuseth to answer? 
 
 A. He compareth them to the howling of a 
 dog. Hos. vii. 14. 
 
 Q. Who be they whose prayers God will not 
 answer ? 
 
 A. Theirs who think to be heard for their 
 much speaking and vain repetition. Matt. vi. 7. 
 
 * " The SHorifice of the wicked is an abomination to 
 >ae Lord, but the prayer of the upright is his delight." 
 ProT, XT. 8. That our prayers may be heard, the 
 
 Q. Is there any other whose prayer God re- 
 fuseth ? 
 
 A. Yes; there are that ask and have not, 
 because what they ask they would spend upon 
 their lusts. James iv. 3. 
 
 Q. Is there any other whose prayer God re- 
 fuseth ? 
 
 A. Yes : " If I regard iniquity in my heart 
 the Lord will not hear my prayer." Ps. Ixvi 
 18. 
 
 Q. Is the regarding of sin in our heart such 
 a deadly hindrance to prayer? 
 
 A. "Son of man, (saith God,) these men 
 have set up their' idols in their heart, and 
 have put the stumbling-block of their iniquity 
 before their face ; should I be inquired of at 
 all by them? I will set my face against that 
 man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, 
 and I will cut him off from the midst of my 
 people." Ezek. xiv. 3, 8. 
 
 Q. Whose prayers be they that God will 
 hear? 
 
 A. The prayers of the poor and needy. Ps. 
 xxxiv. 6 ; Isa. xli. 17. 
 
 Q. What do you mean by the poor? 
 
 A. Such as have poverty in spirit. Matt. v. 
 3. 
 
 Q. W^ho are they that are poor in spirit? 
 
 A. They that are sensible of the want and 
 necessity of all those things of God that pre- 
 pare a man to the kingdom of heaven. 
 
 Q. What things are they? 
 
 A. Faith, hope, love, joy, peace, a new 
 heart, the Holy Ghost, sauctification. See 
 James iii. 5; 2 Thess. ii. 16. 
 
 Q. What do you mean by the needy? 
 
 A. Those whose souls long and cannot be 
 satisfied without the enjoyment of these blessed 
 things. Ps. Ixiii. 1 ; cxix. 20. 
 
 Q. Will God hear the prayers of such ? 
 
 A. Yes ; " P^or he saTIsfieth the longing 
 soul, and fiUeth the hungry soul with good 
 things." Ps. cvii. 9. 
 
 Q. How shall I know that I am one of those 
 to whom God will give these things? 
 
 A. If thou seest- a beauty in them beyond 
 the beauty of all other things. Ps. ex. 3. 
 
 Q. How else shall I know he heareth me? 
 
 A. If thou desirest them for their beauties' 
 sake. Ps. xc. 14, 17. 
 
 Q. How else should I know I shall have 
 them? 
 
 A. When thy groanings after them are be- 
 yond expression. Kom. viii. 26. 
 
 heart should be right with God and the soul at peace 
 with him, through the Son of his love. 
 
840 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Q. How else should I know, and so be en- 
 couraged to pray ? 
 
 A. When thou followest hard after God in 
 all his ordinances for the obtaining of them. 
 Isa. iv. 31 ; Ixiv. 5. 
 
 Q. How else should I know ? 
 
 A. When thou makest good use of that lit- 
 tle thou hast already. Rev. iii. 8. 
 
 Q. Are liere all the good signs that my 
 prayers shall be heard ? 
 
 A. No ; there is one more, without which 
 thou shalt never obtain. 
 
 Q. Pray what is that? 
 
 A. Thou must plead with God the name and 
 merits of Jesus Christ, for whose sake only 
 God giveth thee these things: " If we ask any 
 thing in his name, he heareth us, and whatso- 
 ever you ask the Father in my name, (saith 
 Christ,) I will do it."* John xiv. 13, 14. 
 
 Q. Doth God always answer presently ? 
 
 A. Sometimes he doth, and sometimes he 
 doth not. Isa. xxx. 19; Dan. x. 12. 
 
 Q. Is not God's deferring a sign of his 
 anger ? 
 
 A. Sometimes it is not, and sometimes it is. 
 
 Q. When is it no sign of his anger? 
 
 A. AVhen we have not wickedly departed 
 from him by our sins. Luke xviii. 7. 
 
 Q. When is it a sign of his anger ? 
 
 A. When we have backslidden, when we 
 have not repented some former miscarriages. 
 Hos. V. 14, 15. 
 
 Q. Why doth God defer to hear their pray- 
 ers that have not wickedly departed from him ? 
 
 A. He loves to hear their voice, to try their 
 faith, to see their importunity, and to observe 
 how they can wrestle with him for a blessing. 
 
 Q. But is not deferring to answer prayer a 
 great discouragement tppraying ? 
 
 A. Though it is. because of our unbelief, 
 yet it ought not, because God is faithful : 
 " Therefore men ought always to pray, and not 
 to faint." Luke x. 1-7. 
 
 OP SELF-DENIAL. 
 Q. I am glad you have .thus far granted my 
 request; but you told me that there was an- 
 other part of God's worship ; pray repeat that 
 again. 
 
 *Iu Christ, God is always well pleased; our pray- 
 ers must be offered up through his mediation, in obe- 
 dience to God's command, with an eye to his glory, 
 and for what is agreeable to his will and heavenly 
 wisdom to grant, "lifting up hjly hands, without 
 wrath or doubting," (1 Tim. ii. 8,) for God's service 
 must bo in faith, love, and purity of heart. 
 
 A. It is self-denial. 
 
 Q. Now I remember it well; pray how do 
 you prove that self-denial is called a part of 
 God's worship? 
 
 A. It is said of Abraham that when he went 
 to offer up his son Isaac upon the altar for a 
 burnt-offering, which was to hiin a very great 
 part of self-denial, that he counted that act 
 of his worshipping God. 
 
 Q. Will you be pleased to read the text ? 
 
 A. Yes : " A,nd Abraham said unto his 
 young men, Abide ye here with the ass, and 
 I and the lad will go yonder and worship," 
 &c. This now was when he was going to slay 
 his son Isaac. Gen. xxii. 5. 
 
 Q. What is self-denial? 
 
 A. It is for a man to forsaketis all for the 
 sake of Jesus Christ.t 
 
 Q. Will you prove this by a Scripture or 
 two? 
 
 A. Yes : "Whosoever he be of you that for- 
 saketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my 
 disciple." Luke xiv. 33. 
 
 Q. Indeed this is a full place : can you give 
 me one more? 
 
 A. Yes: "What things were gain to me, 
 those I counted loss for Christ; yea doubtless, 
 and I count all things but loss for the excel- 
 lency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my 
 Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all 
 things, and do count them but dung, that I 
 may win Christ,'' &c. Phil. iii. 7, 8. 
 
 Q. These two are indeed a sufEicient answer 
 to my question ; but pray will you now give 
 me some particular instances of the self-denial 
 of them that have heretofore been the follow- 
 ers of Christ? 
 
 A. Yes : Abel denied himself, to the losing 
 of his blood: Abraham denied himself, to the 
 losing of his country and his father's house: 
 Moses denied himself a crown and a kingdom 
 and of ease and tranquillity : Joseph denied 
 himself of fleshly lusts. Gen. iv. 8 ; xii. 1-4 ; 
 Heb. ix. 24^27 ; Gen. xxxix. 7, 8, 9. 
 
 Q. But these men each of them denied 
 themselves but of some things ; did tljey ? 
 
 A. You see Abel lost all, his blood and 
 all; Abraham left his country, to the hazard j 
 of his life ; so did Moses, in leaving the crown 
 
 "f" Meaning that we prefer Christ above all things 
 this world affords or the heart can wish for, which the 
 Christian may with good reason do, for in him dwells 
 the fulness Of the Godhead ; he has unsearchable 
 riches of wisdom and knowledge to bestckw, all-suffi- 
 cient grace and strength to enable us to do and suffer 
 his will, and everlasting glory in heaven. 
 
INSTRUCTION FOB TEE IGNORANT. 
 
 941 
 
 and kingdom ; and Joseph in denying his 
 mistress. Gen. xii. 13 ; Heb. xi. 27 ; Gen. xxxix. 
 10-15. 
 
 Q. Will you discourse a little particular of 
 Belf-denial ? 
 
 A. With all my heart, 
 
 Q. First, then, pray, in what spirit must 
 this self-denial be performed ? 
 
 A. It must be done in th« spirit of faith, 
 of love, and of a sound mind ; otherwise, " if 
 a man should sell all that he hath and give 
 to the poor, and his body to be burnt be- 
 sides, it would profit him nothing.'' 1 Cor. 
 xiii. 1, 2, 3. 
 
 Q. Who are like to miscarry here ? 
 
 A. They whose ends in self-denial are not 
 according to the proposals of the Gospel. 
 
 Q. Who are they ? , 
 
 A. They that suffer through strife and vain- 
 glory ; or thus, they who seek in their suffer- 
 ings the praise of men more than the glory of 
 Christ and profit of their neighbour. 
 
 Q. Who else are like to miscarry here ? 
 
 A. They that have designs, like Ziba, to 
 ingratiate themselves by their pretended self- 
 denial into the affections of the godly, and to 
 enrich themselves by this means. 2 Sam. xiv. 
 1-4. 
 
 Q. Are there any other like to miscarry 
 here? 
 
 A. Yes; they that by denying themselves 
 think with the Pharisee to make themselves 
 stand more righteous in God's eyes than 
 others. Luke xviii. 11, 12. 
 
 Q. Who else are in danger of miscarrying 
 here? 
 
 A. They who have fainted in their works, 
 they whose self-denial hath at last been over- 
 come by self-love.* Gal. iii. 4 ; vi. 9. 
 
 Q. Shall I propound a few more questions ? 
 
 A If you please. 
 
 Q. What, then, if a man promiseth to deny 
 himself hereafter and not now, is not this one 
 •tep to this kind of worship ? 
 
 A. NOj by no means; for the reason why 
 this man refuseth to deny himself now is be- 
 cause his heart at present sticks closer to his 
 lusts and the world than to God and Christ. 
 
 * The consideration of the immense price and value 
 of our redemption by the Son of God, whose lore was 
 stronger than death, should la; us under the strictest 
 obligations to holj obedience j for no tongue can utter 
 or heart conceive the unspeakable reward which an 
 unwearied, unfainting diligence in well-doing will 
 procure to the humble believer in the next life, 
 Uirougb the rich, unmerited grace of his covenant Qod. 
 
 Q. Can you give me a Scripture instance to 
 make this out? 
 
 A. Yes; Esau never intended for ever to 
 part with the blessing, he intended to have it 
 hereafter; but God counted his not choosing 
 of it at present a-despising of it and a prefer- 
 ring of his lusts before it : and therefore when 
 he would, God would not but reject both him 
 and his tears. Gen. xxv. 30-34 ; Heb. xii. 14, 
 15, 16. 
 
 Q. How and if a man shall say thus, I am 
 willing to deny myself in many things, though 
 he cannot deny himself in all, is not this one 
 step in this part of this worship of God ? 
 
 A. No, in nowise ; for this man doth just 
 like Saul ; he will slay a part, and will keep a 
 part alive ; the kingdom must be taken from 
 him also. 1 Sam. xv. 
 
 Q. How if a man be willing to lose all but 
 his life? 
 
 A. He that will save his life shall lose it, 
 but he that will lose his life for my sake, saith 
 Christ, shall save it unto life eternal. Matt, 
 xvi. 25 ; John xii. 25. 
 
 Q. How if a man has been willing to lose 
 all that he hath, but is not now, will not God 
 accept of his willingness in time past, though 
 he be otherwise now ? 
 
 A. No ; for the true disciple must deny him- 
 self daily, take up his cross daily, and go after 
 Jesus Christ. Luke ix. 23. 
 
 Q. But how if a man carrieth it well out- 
 wardly, so that he doth not dishonour the 
 Gospel before men, may not this be counted 
 self-denial ? 
 
 A. No, if he be not right at heart; for 
 though man looketh on the outward appear- 
 ance, God looketh at the heart. 1 Sam. xvi. 7. 
 
 Q. But if I be afraid my heart may deceive 
 me in this great work, if hard things come 
 upon me hereafter, is there no way to find out 
 whether it will deceive me then or no ? 
 
 A. I will give you a few answers to this 
 question, and will show you first whose heart 
 is like to deceive him in this work. 
 
 Q. Will you befriend me so much ? 
 
 A. Yes. 1. He that makes not daily con- 
 science of self-denial is very unlike to abide 
 a disciple for times to come if difficult.f 
 
 ■j" Christ came not to do his own will, but his heav- 
 enly Father's; let us Iqok for grace to tread in his 
 steps. If we please ourselves we are not the servants 
 of the crucified Jesus. Let us remember that this sin- 
 ful, polluted, destruction-devoted world is not our resl^ 
 but heaven. Oh that our hearts' desires and affectioni 
 may be there also by a blessed anticipation ! 
 
942 
 
 BVNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 'Judas did not deny himself daily, and there- 
 fore fell vvlien the temptation came. John 
 xii. 6. 
 
 Q. Will you give me another sign ? 
 
 A. Yes; he that indulgeth any one secret 
 lust under a profession is not like to deny 
 himself in all things for Christ. 
 
 Q. Who are they that indulge their lusts? 
 
 A. They that make provision for them 
 either in apparel or diet, or otherwise. Eom. 
 xiii. 12, 13, 14; Isa. iii. 6-21; Amos vi. 3-6. 
 
 Q. Who else do so? 
 
 A. They that excuse their sins, and keep 
 them disguised that they may not be repre- 
 hended, as Saul did, &c. 1 Sam. xv. 18-22. 
 
 Q. Who else are they that indulge their 
 lusts ? 
 
 A. They that heap up to themselves such 
 teachers as favour their lusts. 2 Tim. iv. 3, 4; 
 Isa. XXX. 10. 
 
 Q. Who else do indulge their sins? 
 
 A. They that choose rather to walk by the 
 imperfect lives of professors than by the holy 
 word of God ; or thus, they that make the 
 miscarriages of some good men an encour- 
 agement unto themselves to forbear to be 
 exact in self-denial; these eat up the sins of 
 God's people as men eat bread. Hos. iv. 7-9. 
 
 Q. Will you now show me who are like to 
 do this part of God's worship acceptably? 
 
 A. Yes ; he whose heart is set against sin as 
 sin is like to deny himself acceptably. Eom. 
 vii. 13, 14. 
 
 Q. Who else ? 
 
 A. He that hath the sense and savour of for- 
 giveness of sins upon his heart. 2 Cor. v. 14. 
 
 Q. Who else is like to deny himself well? 
 
 A. He that hath his afiections set upon 
 things above, where Christ sitteth at the right 
 hand of God. Col. iii. 1-5. 
 
 Q. Who else is like to deny himself well for 
 Christ? 
 
 A. 'He that seeth a greater treasure in self- 
 denial than in self-seeking. 2 Cor. xii. 9, 10, 
 11 ; Heb. xi. 24, 25, 26. 
 
 Q. Are there none other signs of one that is 
 like to do this part of God's worship accept- 
 ably? 
 
 A. Yes ; he that takes up his cross daily and 
 makes Christ's doctrine his example. Luke vi. 
 47, 48 ; John xii. 25, 26. 
 
 * Tbere cannot, surely, be* a greater grief to the 
 einoere and loving Christian than to see that many 
 content themselves with a customary attendance on 
 the service of God while they are strangers to the 
 power of religion. The reason is, they lull themselves 
 
 Q. But how do you discover a man to be 
 such a one ? 
 
 A. He keepeth his heart with all diligence, 
 he had rather die than sin ; ill carriages of 
 professors break his heart;* nothing is so dear 
 to him as the glory of Christ. 
 
 Q. Pray can you give me some motive to 
 self-denial ? 
 
 A. Yes ; the Lord Jesus denied himself for 
 thee. What sayest thou to that ? 
 
 Q. Wherein did Christ deny himself for 
 
 A. He left his heaven for thee, he denied for 
 thy sake to have so much of this world as hath 
 a fox or a bird, and he spilt his most precious 
 blood for thee. 
 
 Q. Can you give another motive to self-de- 
 nial? 
 
 A. Yes : " What shall it profit a man if he 
 shall gain the whole world and lose his own 
 soul?" Luke viii. 36. 
 
 Q. But why doth God require self-denial of 
 them that will be saved? 
 
 A. God doth not require self-denial as the 
 means to obtain salvation, but hath laid it 
 down as a proof of the truth of a man's affec- 
 tions to God and Christ. 
 
 Q. How is self-denial a proof of the trutV 
 of a man's affections to God ? 
 
 A. In that for the sake of his service he 
 leaveth all his enjoyments in this world. Thus 
 he proved Abraham's affections, thus he proved 
 Peter's affections, and thus he proved their af 
 fections that you read of in the Gospel. Gen. 
 xxii. 12; Matt. iv. 18-22; Luke ix. 57-63. 
 
 Q. What reason else can you produce whv 
 God requireth self-denial ? 
 
 A. Self-denial is one of the distinguishing 
 characters by which true Christians are mani- 
 fested from the feigned ones ; for those that are 
 feigned flatter God with their mouth, but their 
 hearts seek themselves ; but the sincere, for the 
 love that he hath to Christ, forsaketh all that 
 he hath for his sake. Ps. Ixxviii. 36, 37 ; Ezek, 
 xxxiii. 31, 32. 
 
 Q. Is there yet another reason why Gcd re- 
 quireth self-denial of them that profess his 
 name? 
 
 A. Yes; because by self-denial the power 
 and goodness of the truths of God are made 
 manifest to the incredulous world. For they 
 
 in a carnal sleep in the arms of ease and security, 
 while they are enemies to the cross of Christ and des- 
 titute of that grace which bringeth salvation. Let 
 these remember that the decisive day of the Lord ia at 
 hand. 
 
INSTRUCTION FOB THE IGNORANT. 
 
 943 
 
 cannot f?ee but by the self-denial of God's peo- 
 ple tliat there is such power, glory, goodness, 
 and desirableness in God's truth as indeed 
 there is. 
 
 Q. Have you another reason why God re- 
 quireth self-denial? 
 
 A. Yes ; because self-denial prepareth a 
 man, though not for the pardon of his sin, yet 
 for that far more exceeding and eternal weight 
 of glory that is laid up only for them that deny 
 all that they hate for the Lord Jesus, his 
 name, and cause in this world. 
 
 Q. Before you conclude will you give me a 
 few instances of the. severity of God's hand 
 upon some professors that have not denied 
 themselves when called thereto by him ? 
 
 A. Yes, willingly; Lot's wife, for but look- 
 ing behind her towards Sodom when God 
 called her from it, was stricken from heaven 
 and turned into a pillar of salt; therefore re- 
 memb,er Lot's wife.* 
 
 Q. Can you give me another instance? 
 
 A. Yes ; Esau, for not denying himself of 
 one morsel of meal, was denied a share in the 
 blessing, and could never obtain it after, though 
 he sought it carefully with tears. 
 
 Q. Have you at hand another instance ? 
 
 A. Yes; Judas, for not denying himself, 
 lost Christ, his soul, and heaven, and is con- 
 tinued the great object of God's wrath among 
 all damned souls. 
 
 Q. Will you give one more instance, and so 
 conclude ? 
 
 A. Yes; Ananias, and Sapphira his wife, 
 did, for the want of self-denial, pull upon 
 themselves such wrath of God that he slew 
 
 • Unbelief, disobedience, worldly-mindedness, con- 
 tempt of God's threatenings, and lingerings after tbe 
 forbidden society of lewd and wicked persons prove 
 the destruction of many precious souls. Considering 
 therefore our own wealiness and depravity, we should 
 be ever attentive to the good word of infallible truth, 
 believe it, and entreat the Lord to make us happy 
 paftakers of all its great and precious promises. 
 
 them while they stood in the midst before the 
 apostles. Acts v. 1-15. 
 
 THE CONCLUSION. 
 Before I wind up this discourse I would lay 
 down these few things for you to consider of 
 and meditate upon. 
 
 1. Consider that, seeing every one by nature 
 are accounted sinners, it is no matter whether 
 thy actual sins be little or great, few or many, 
 thy sinful nature hath already laid thee under 
 the curse of .the law. 
 
 2. Consider that, therefore, thou hast already 
 ground for humiliation, sins to repent of, wrath 
 to fly from, or a soul to be damned. 
 
 3. Consider that time stays not for thee, and 
 also that as time goes sin increaseth ; so that 
 at last the end of thy time and the completing 
 of thy sin are like to come upon thee in one 
 moment. 
 
 4. Bring thy last day often to thy bedside, 
 and ask thy heart, if this morning thou wast to 
 die, if thou be ready to die or no ? 
 
 5. Know it is a sad thing to lie a-dying, and 
 to be afraid to die ; to lie a-dying, and not to 
 know whither thou art going ; to lie a-dying, 
 and not to know whether good angels or bad 
 must conduct thee out of this miserable world. 
 
 6. Be often remembering what a blessed 
 thing it is to be saved, to go to heaven, to be 
 made like angels, and to dwell with God and 
 Christ to all eternity. 
 
 7. Consider how sweet the thought of salva- 
 tion will be to thee when thou seest thyself in 
 heaven while others are roaring in hell.f 
 
 The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit 1 
 
 f iha kingdom of God comes with life, power, and 
 much assurance. The salvation of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ is infinitely preoi9us, as it redeems the soul 
 from all possible misery, and reinstates it in the 
 favour, love and protection of almighty God, whose 
 glorious perfections and attributes are all engaged to 
 save it from the ruins of time till possessed of the 
 riches of eternity. 
 
OF JUSTIFICATION 
 
 BY 
 
 AN, IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS ; 
 
 on, 
 
 NO WAY TO HEAVEN BUT BY JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 Justification is to be diversely taken in 
 the Scripture. 
 
 1 Sometimes it is taken for the justification 
 of persons ; 
 
 2. Sometimes for the justification of actions ; 
 
 3. And sometimes for the justification of 
 the person and action too. 
 
 It is taken for the justification of persons, 
 and tliat — 
 
 1. As to justification with God; or, 
 
 2. As to justification with men. 
 
 As to justification with God : tliat is, when 
 a man stands clear, quit, free, or in a saved 
 condition before him, in the approbation of his 
 holy law. 
 
 As to justification with men ; that is, when 
 a man stands clear and quit from just ground 
 of reprehension with them. 
 
 Justification also is to be taken with refer- 
 ence to actions ; and that may be when they 
 are considered — 
 
 1. A'j llowing from true faith; or, 
 
 2, Because the act done fulfils some transient 
 law 
 
 1. &.S actions flow from faith, so they are 
 justified, because done before God in, and 
 made complete through, the perfections of 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 2. As by the doing of the act some transient 
 law is fulfilled, as when Jehu executed judg- 
 ment upon the house of Ahab. " Thou hast 
 done well," said God to him, " in executing 
 that which is righteous in mine eyes, and hast 
 done to the house of Ahab all that was in mine 
 heart." 2 Kings x. 30. 
 
 As to such acts, God may or may not look at 
 60 
 
 the qualification of those that do them, and it 
 is clear that he had not respect to any good 
 that was in Jehu in the justifying of this ac- 
 tion ; nor could he, for Jehu stuck close yet to 
 the sins of Jeroboam, but " took no heed to 
 walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel." 
 2 Kings X. 29, 31. 
 
 I might hence also show you that a man may 
 be justified even then when his action is con- 
 demned ; also that a man may be in' a state of 
 condemnation when his action may be jus- 
 tified. But with these distinctions I will not 
 take up time, my intention being to treat of 
 justification as it sets a man I'ree or quit from 
 sin, the curse and condemnation of the law in 
 the sight of God in order to eternal salvation. 
 
 And that I may with the more clearness 
 handle this point before you, I will lay down 
 and speak to this proposition : 
 
 That there is no other way for sinners to be 
 justified from the curse of the law in the sight 
 of God than by the imputation of that right- 
 eousness long ago performed by, and still re- 
 siding with the person of, J&us Christ. 
 
 The terms of this proposition are easy, yet 
 if it will help I will speak a word or two for 
 explication. 
 
 1. By a sinner I mean one that has trans- 
 gressed the law, for sin is the transgression of 
 the law. 
 
 2. By the curse of the law I mean that sen- 
 tence, judgment or condemnation which the 
 law pronounceth against the transgressor. 
 
 3. By justifying righteousness, I mean that 
 which stands in the doing and suffering of 
 Christ when he was in the world. 
 
 94S 
 
946 
 
 SUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 4. By the residing of this righteousness in 
 Christ's person, I mean it still abides with him 
 as to the action, though the benefit is bestowed 
 upon those that are his. 
 
 5. By the imputation of it to us, I mean 
 God's making of it ours by an act of his grace, 
 that we by it might be secured from the curse 
 of the law. 
 
 6. When I say there is no other way to be 
 justified, I cast away, to that end, the law, 
 and all the works of the law as done by 
 us. 
 
 Thus I have opened the terms of the propo- 
 sition. 
 
 Now the two first — to wit. What sin and the 
 curse is — stand clear in all men's sight, unless 
 they be atheists or desperately heretical. I 
 shall therefore in few words clear the other 
 four. 
 
 First, therefore, justifying righteousness is 
 the doing and suffering of Christ when he was 
 in the world. This is clear, because we are 
 said to be justified by his obedience, (Eom. v. 
 19,) by his obedience to the law. Hence he is 
 said again to be the end of the > law for that 
 very thing. " Christ is the end of the law for 
 righteousness," &c. Bom. x. 4. The end. 
 What is that? Why, the requirement or de- 
 mand of the law. But what are they ? Why, 
 righteousness, perfect righteousness. Gal. iii. 
 10. Perfect righteousness! Perfect right- 
 eousness, what to do? That the soul con- 
 cerned might stand spotless in the sight of 
 God. Now, this lies only in the doings and 
 sufferings of Christ; for, "by his obedience 
 many are made righteous." Wherefore, as to 
 this Christ is the end of the law, that being 
 found in that obedience, that becomes to us 
 sufficient for our justification. Hence we are 
 said to be made righteous by his obedience, 
 yea, and to be washed, purged, and justified by 
 his blood. 
 
 Secondly. That this righteousness still re- 
 sides in and with the person of Christ, even 
 then when we stand just before God thereby, 
 ' is clear, for that we are said when justified to 
 be justified in him. "In the Lord shall all 
 the seed of Israel be justified." And again, 
 "Surely, shall one say. In the Loid I have 
 righteousness," &c. And again, "For him 
 are ye in Christ Jesus, who is made unto us 
 of God righteousness." 
 
 Mark. The righteousness is still in him, 
 not in us, even then when we are made par- 
 takers of the benefit of it, even as the wing 
 and feathers still abide in the hen when the 
 
 chickens^ are covered, kept, and warmed 
 thereby. 
 
 For as my doings, though my children are 
 fed and clothed thereby, are still my doings, 
 not theirs, so the righteousness wherewith we 
 stand just before God from the curse still re- 
 sides in Christ, not in us. Our sins, when 
 laid upon Christ, were yet personally ours, 
 not his; so his righteousness, when put upon 
 us, is yet personally his, not ours. What is it 
 then? Why, "He was made to be sin for ua 
 who knew no sin, that we might be made ths 
 righteousness of God in him." 
 
 Thirdly. It is therefore of a justify::: r vfrhie 
 only by imputation, or as God reckoneth it to 
 us ; even as our sins made the Lord Jesus a 
 sinner, nay, sin, by God's reckoning of them 
 to him. 
 
 It is absolutely necessary that this be known 
 of us ; for if the understanding be muddy as 
 to this it is impossible that such should be 
 found in the faith. Also in temptation that 
 man will be at a loss that looketh for a 
 righteousness, for justification in himself, 
 when it is to be found nowhere but in Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 The apostle, who was his craftsmaster as to 
 this, was always looking to Jesus, that he 
 might be found in him, knowing that nowhere 
 else could peace or safety be had. 
 
 And indeed this is one of the greatest mys- 
 teries in the world — namely, that a righteous- 
 ness that resides with a persori in heaven 
 should justify me, a sinner, on earth. 
 
 Fourthly. Therefore the law and the works 
 thereof, as to this, must by us be cast away, 
 not only because they here are useless, but" 
 also, they being retained, are an hindrance. 
 That they are useless is evident, for that sal- 
 vation comes by another name. Acts iv. 12. 
 And that they are an hindrance, it is clear ; 
 for the very adhering to the law, though it be 
 but a little or in a little part, prevents justifi- 
 cation by the righteousness of Christ. 
 
 What shall I say? As to this, the moral 
 law is rejected, the ceremonial law is rejected, 
 and man's righteousness is rejected, for that 
 they are here both weak and unprofitable. 
 
 Now, if all these and our works, as to our 
 justification, are rejected, where but in Christ 
 is righteousness to be found? 
 
 Thus much therefore for the explication of 
 the proposition— namely, that there is no other 
 way for sinners to be justifjied from the cursa 
 of the law in the sight of God than by the im- 
 putation of that righteousness long ago per 
 
OF JUSliFICATION ^Y AN IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 947 
 
 funneil by, and still residing with, the person 
 of. JoRiis Christ. 
 
 Now, from this proi)osition I drew these two 
 positions : 
 
 First. Tli.'it men are justified from the curse 
 of till law before God while sinners in them- 
 Bclve.-i. 
 
 Secondly. That this can be done by no other 
 righteousness than that long ago performed by, 
 and residing with the person of, Jesus Christ. 
 
 Let U9 then now enter into the consideration 
 of the first of these — namely, that men are 
 justified from the course of the law before 
 Gocl while sinners in themselves. 
 
 This I shall manifest — 
 
 1. By touching, upon the mysterious act of 
 our redemption ; 
 
 2. By giving of you plain texts wljich dis- 
 cover ii; and, 
 
 3. By reasons drawn from the texts. 
 
 For the first of these — to wit, the mysterious 
 act of our redemption — and that I shall speak 
 to under these two heads : 
 
 1. I shall show you what that is; and, 
 
 2. How we were concerned thereiu. 
 
 That which I call, and that rightly, the 
 mysterious act of our redemption, is Christ's 
 Bufferings as a common though a particular 
 person, and as a sinner, though always com- 
 pletely righteous. ' 
 
 That he suffered as a common person is true. 
 By common, I mean a public person, or one 
 that presents the body of mankind in himself. 
 This a multitude of Scriptures bear witness to, 
 •^specially that 5th chapter to the Romans 
 where by the apostles he is set before us as the 
 jJead of all the elect, even as Adam was once 
 head of all the world. Thus he lived and 
 thus he died ; and this was avinysterious act. 
 
 And that he should die as a sinner when 
 yet himself "did no sin nor had any guile 
 found iu his mouth," madv? this act more mys- 
 terious. That he died as a sinner is plain: 
 "lie hath made him to be sin. And the Lord 
 laid upon him the iniquity of us all." Isa. liii.. 
 That then, as to his own person, he was com- 
 pletely sinless is also as truly manifest, and 
 that by a multitude of Scriptures. 
 
 Now, I say, that Christ Jesus should be thus 
 considered and thus die was the great mystery 
 of God. Hence Paul tells us that when he 
 preached Christ crucified, he preached not 
 itnly the wisdom of God, but the wisdom of 
 God in a mystery, even hidden wisdom; for 
 indeed this wisdom is hidden and kept close 
 from the fowls of the air. 
 
 It is also so mysterious that it goes beyond 
 the reach of all men, except those to whom an 
 understanding is given of God to apprehend it. 
 
 That one particular man should represent all 
 the elect in himself, and that the most right- 
 eous should die as a sinner by the hand of a 
 just and holy God, is a mystery of the greatest 
 depth. 
 
 Secondly. And now I come to show you how 
 the elect are concerned therein — that is, ia 
 this mysterious act of this most blessed On(!-— 
 and this will make this act yet more mysteri- 
 ous to you. 
 
 Now, then, we will speak of this first — as to 
 how Christ prepared himself thus mysteriously 
 to act: 
 
 1. He took hold" of our nature. I say, he 
 took hold of us by taking upon him flesh and 
 blood. The Son of God, therefore, took not 
 upon him a particular person, though he took 
 to him a human body and soul ; but that 
 which he took was, as I may call it, a lump of 
 the common nature of man, an(J, by that, hold 
 of the whole elect seed of Abraham. Heb. ii. 
 16: "For verily he took not on him the na- 
 ture of angels, but he took on him the sfeed of 
 Abraham." 
 
 Hence he, in a mystery, became us, and was 
 counted as all the men that were or would be 
 saved. And this is the reason why we are said 
 to do when only Jesus Christ did do. As, for 
 Instance, 
 
 First. When Jesus Christ fulfilled the right- 
 eousness of the law it is said it was fulfilled in 
 us, because indeed fulfilled in our nature: 
 "For what the law could not do, in that it 
 was weak through the flesh, God sending his 
 own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and 
 for sin condemned sin iu the flesh, that the 
 righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in 
 us,'' &c. But because none should appropriate 
 this unto themselves that have not had passed 
 upon them a work of conversion, therefore he 
 adds, "who walk not after the flesh, but after 
 the Spirit." For there being an union between 
 head and membei's, though things may be done 
 by the head, and that for the memlers, the 
 things are counted to the members as if not 
 done only by the head. The righteousness of 
 the law is fulfilled in us, and that truly, be- 
 cause fulfilled in that common nature which 
 the Son of God look of the Virgin. Where- 
 fore in this sense we are said to do what only 
 was done by him, even as the client d^th by 
 his lawyer when his lawyer personates him. 
 The client is said to do when it is the lawyei 
 
948 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 only that does, and to overcome by doing, 
 when it is the lawyer that overcomes. The 
 reason is, because the lawyer does in the cli- 
 ent's name. How much more, then, may it be 
 said we do when only Christ does, since he 
 does what he does not in our name only, but 
 in our nature too ! " For the law of the spirit 
 of life in Christ (not in me) has set me free 
 from the law of sin and death;" he doing in 
 his common flesh what could not be done in 
 my jjarticular person, that so I might have the 
 righteousness of the law fulfilled in me, my 
 flesh assumed'by Christ, though impossible to 
 be 'done, because of the weakness of my per- , 
 son. 
 
 The reason of all this is because we are said 
 to be in him, in his doing — in him by our flesh 
 and also by the election of God. So, then, as 
 all men sinned when Adam fell, so all the 
 elect did righteousness when Christ wrought 
 and fulfilled the law; for "as in Adam all 
 died, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." 
 
 Seeondly. As we are said to do by Christ, so 
 we are said to suffer by him, to suffer with him. 
 "I am crucified with Christ," said Paul. And 
 again, " Forasmuch, then, as Christ hath suf- 
 fered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves like- 
 wise with the same mind; for he that hath 
 suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin." 
 Mark how the apostle seems to change the 
 person. First, he says it is Christ tha.t suf- 
 fered, and that is true; but then he insinuates 
 that it is us that suffered, for the exhortation 
 is to believers to walk in newness of life, and 
 the argument is because they have suffered in 
 the flesh: "For lie that hath suffered in the 
 flesh hath ceased from sin, that he no longer, 
 should live the rest of his time in the flesh, to 
 the lusts of men, but to the will of God." 
 
 We. then suffered when Christ suffered. We 
 then suffered in his flesh, and also our old man 
 was crucified with him — that is, in his cruci- 
 fixion ; for when he hanged on the cross all 
 the elect hanged there in their common flesh 
 which he assumed, and because he suffered 
 there as a public man. 
 
 Thirdly. As we are said to suffer with him, 
 so we are said to die, to be dead with him — 
 ■^v^th him, that is, by the dying of his body: 
 " Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe 
 'that we shall also live with him." 
 
 Wherefore he saith in other places, "Breth- 
 ren, ye are become dead to the law by the 
 body of Christ," for indeed we died then to it 
 by him — to the law — that is, the law now has 
 nothing to do with us, for that it has already 
 
 executed its curse to the full upon us by ita 
 slaying of the body of Christ, for the body of 
 Christ was our flesh ; upon it also was laid our 
 sin. The law too spent that curse that was 
 due to us upon him when it condemned, 
 killed, and cast him into the grave. Where- 
 fore, it having thus spent its whole curse 
 upon him, as standing in our stead, we are 
 exempted from its curse for ever ; we are be- 
 come dead to it by that body; it has done 
 with us as to justifying righteousness; nor 
 need we fear its damning threats any more, 
 for by the death of this body we are freed from 
 it, and are for ever now coupled to a living 
 Christ. 
 
 Fourthly. As we are said thus to be dead, 
 so we are said also to rise again by him: 
 " Thy dead 'men (saith he to the Father) shall 
 live ; together with my dead body shall they 
 arise." And again, " After two days he will , 
 revive us, and in the third day we shall live in 
 his sight." 
 
 Both these Scriptures speak of the resurrec- 
 tion of Christ, of the resurrection of his body 
 on the third day.- But behold, as we were 
 said before to suffer and be dead with him, so 
 now we are said also to rise and live in God's 
 sight by the resurrection of his body. For, 
 as was said, the flesh was ours ; he took part 
 of our flesh when he came into the world, 
 and in it he suffered, died, and rose again 
 Heb. ii. 14. We also were therefore counted 
 by God in that God-man when he did this, 
 yea, he suffered, died, and rose as a common 
 Head. 
 
 Hence also the New Testarnent is full of 
 this saying: " If ye be dead with Christ : if ye 
 be risen with Christ.'' And again, " He hath 
 quickened us together with him.'' 
 
 "We are quickened together with him." 
 Quickened, and quiekened together with him. 
 The apostle hath words that cannot easily be 
 shifted or evaded. Christ then was quick- 
 ened when he was raised from the dead. Nor 
 is it proper to say that he was ever quickened 
 either before or since. This text also con- 
 cludes that we — to wit, the whole body of 
 God's elect — were also quickened then, and 
 made to live with him together. True, we 
 also are quickened personally by grace the 
 day in which we are born unto God by the 
 Gospel, yet afore that .we are quickened in 
 our Head — quickened when he was raised from 
 the dead, quickened together with him. 
 
 Fifthly. Nor are we ihus considered — to 
 wit, as dying and rising — and so left; but the 
 
OF JUSTIFICATION BY AN IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 949 
 
 apustle pursues his arguments, and tells us 
 tliat wc also reap by him, as being considered 
 in him the benefit which Christ received, both 
 in order to his resurrection and the blessed 
 etVect thereof. 
 
 1. We received, by our thus being counted 
 in hira, that benefit which did precede his 
 rising from the dead ; and what was that but 
 the forgiveness of sins? For this stands clear 
 to reason, that if Christ had our sins charged 
 upon him at his death, he then must be dis- 
 charged of them in order to his resurrection. 
 Now, though it is not proper to say they were 
 forgiven to him because they were purged 
 from him by merit, yet they may be said to be 
 forgiven us because we receive this benefit by 
 grace. 
 
 And this, I say, was done precedeat to his 
 resurrection from the -dead: "He hath quick- 
 ened us together with him, hai'ing forgiven us 
 all trespasses." He could not be quickened 
 till we were discharged, because it was not for 
 himself but for us that he died. Hence we 
 are said to be at that time (as to our own per- 
 sonal estate) dead in our sins, even when we 
 are "quickened with liim." 
 
 Therefore, both the quickening and forgive- 
 ness too, so far as we are in this text con- 
 cerned, is to him as we are considered in him, 
 or hira with respect to us. 
 
 "Having forgiven you all trespasses;" for 
 necessity so required, because else how was it 
 possible that the pains of death should be 
 loosed in order to his rising so long as one sin 
 stood still charged on him as that for the com- 
 mission of whicli God had not received a plen- 
 ary satisfaction? As therefore we suffered, 
 died, and rose again by him, so, in order to 
 his so rising, he,, as presenting of us in his 
 person and suffering, received ibr us remission 
 of all our trespasses. A full discharge, there- 
 fore, was in and by Christ received of God of 
 all our sins afore he arose from the dead, as 
 his resurrection truly declared, for he " was 
 delivered for our pfTences, and was raised again 
 for our justification." 
 
 This therefore is one of the privileges we 
 receive by the rising again of our Lord, for 
 that we were in his flesh considered, yea, and 
 In his death and suffering too. 
 
 2. By this means also we have now escaped 
 death. "Knowing that Christ, being raised 
 from the dead, dies no more, death hath no 
 more dominion over him ; for in that he died, 
 he died unto (or for) sin once, but in that he 
 liveth, he liveth unto God." 
 
 Now in all this, considering what has been 
 said before, we that are of the elect are privi- 
 leged, for that we also are raised up by the ' 
 rising of the body of Christ from the dead. 
 And thus the apostle bids us reckon : " Like- 
 wise (saith he) reckon also yourselves to be 
 dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God 
 through Jesus Christ." 
 
 Hence Christ says, "He is the resurrection 
 and the life," for that all his are safe iu hiin, 
 suffering, dying, and rising. He is the life, 
 our life ; yea, so our life that by him the elect 
 do live before God, even then when, as to 
 themselves, tliey yet are dead in their sins. 
 Wherefore, hence it is that in time they par- 
 take of quickening grace from this their 
 Head, to the making of them also live by 
 faith, in order to their living hereafter with 
 him in glory. For if Christ lives they cannot 
 die that were sharers with him in his resurrec- 
 tion. Hence they are said to live, being quick- 
 ened together with him. Also, as sure as at 
 his resurrection they lived by him, so sure at 
 his coming shall they be gathered to him. 
 Nay, from that day to this all that, as aforesaid, 
 were in him at his death and resurrection are 
 already in the fulness of the dispensation of 
 time daily, gathering to him. For this he 
 hath proposed, wherefore none can disannul 
 it: "In the fulness of the dispensation of time 
 to gather together in one all things in Christ, 
 both which are in heaven and which are in 
 earth, even in him." 
 
 8. To secure this the more to our faith that 
 believe, as we are said to be " raised up to- 
 gether with him," so we are said " to be made 
 to sit together in heavenly places in Christ 
 Jesus." Eph. ii. 6. We died by him, we rose 
 by him, and are together, even all the elect, 
 set down together in heavenly places in Christ 
 'Jesus; for still, even now he is on the right 
 hand of God, he is to be considered as our 
 public man, our Head, and so one in whom is 
 concluded all the elect of God. We then are 
 by him already in heaven — in heaven, I say, 
 by him ; yea, set down there in our places of 
 glory by him. Hence the apostle, speaking 
 of us again, saith that as we are predestinate, 
 we are called, justified, and glorified — called, 
 justified, glorified. All is done, already done, 
 as thus considered in Christ, (Rom. viii. 30,) 
 for that in his pulDlic work there is nothing 
 yet to do as to this. Is not he called? Is 
 not he justified? Is not he glorified? And 
 are we not in him, even as so considered? 
 
 Nor doth this doctrine hinder or forestall the 
 
950 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE W0BK8. 
 
 loctrine o/" regeneration or conversion. Nay, 
 it lays a foundation for it; for by this doctrine 
 «ve gallier assurance that Christ will have his 
 own ; for if already they live in their Head, 
 whal, is that but a pledge that they shall live 
 in their persons with him, and consequently 
 that to that end they shall, in the times allotted 
 for that end, be called to a state of faith which 
 Gcid has ordained shall precede and go before 
 thejr jsersonal enjoyment of glory ? 
 
 Nor doth this hinder their partaking Qf the 
 gymbol of regeneration, and of their other 
 privih^gca to which they are called in the day 
 of gra[;e ; yea, it lays a foundation for all these 
 things ; for if I am dead with Christ, let me be 
 like one lead with him, even to all things to 
 which Christ died when he hanged^'on the tree; 
 and then he died to sin, to the law, and to the - 
 rudiments of this world. 
 
 And if I be risen with Christ, let me live 
 like one born from the dead, in newness of 
 life, and having my mind and affections on the 
 things where Christ now sitteth on the right 
 hand of God. And indeed he professes in 
 vain that talketh of these things and careth 
 - not to have them also answered in himself. 
 This was the apostle's way — namely, "To 
 covet to know him and the power of his resur- 
 rection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, 
 being made conformable to his death." 
 
 And -when we are thus, that thing is true 
 both in him and us. Then, as is the heavenly 
 such are they that are heavenly ;i for he that 
 saith he is in him, and by being in him a. par- 
 taker of these privileges by him, " ought him- 
 self to walk even, as he walked:" * 
 
 But to pass this digression and to come to 
 my argument — namely, that men are justified 
 from the curse of the law before God while 
 sinners in themselves. , 
 
 This is evident by what hath already been 
 said ; for if the justification of their persons is 
 by, in, and through Christ, then it is not by, in, 
 and through their own doings. Nor was Christ 
 engaged in this work but of necessity, even 
 because else there had not been salvation for 
 the elect. " Father," saith he, " if it be pos- 
 sible, let this cup pass from me." If what be 
 possible ? Why, that my elect may be saved 
 and I not spill my blood. Wherefore he saith 
 again, Christ ought to suffer. Christ must 
 needs have suffered, for without shedding of 
 blood is no remission of sin. 
 
 * If thou hast 'righteousness in Christ, God will 
 make thee holy. The new covenant which promiseth 
 t, new heart is coniirmecl in Christ. If sin be for- 
 
 2. We will now coijie to the present state 
 and condition of those that are justified-—! 
 mean with respect to their own qualifications— 
 and so prove the truth of this our great posi- 
 tion. And this-I will do — • 
 
 1. By giving of you plain texts that discover 
 it, and that consequently prove our point. 
 
 2. And after that, by giving of you reason^ 
 drawn from the texts. 
 
 For the first of these — 
 
 First. "Speak not in thine heart, (no, not in 
 thine hekrt,) after that the Lord thy God hath 
 cast out thine enemies before thee, saying. For 
 my righteousness do I possess the land. Not 
 for thy righteousness or for the uprightness of 
 thine heart dost thou go in to possess the land. 
 Understand, therefore, that the Lord thy God 
 giveth thee not this good land to possess it for 
 thy righteousness, for thou art a stiff-necked 
 people." 
 
 In these words, very pat for our purpose) 
 two things are worthy our consideration : 
 
 1. The people here spoken to were the peo- 
 ple of God, and so by God himself are they 
 here twice acknowledged to be : " The Lord ' 
 thy God,- the Lord thy God." So, then the 
 righteousness here intended is not the right- 
 eousness that is in the world, but that which 
 the people of God perform. 
 
 2. The righteousness here intended is not 
 some, but all and every whit, of that the 
 Church performs to God. " Say not in tliino 
 heart, after the Lord hath brought thee in. It 
 was for my righteousness." No ; all thy right- 
 eousness, from Egypt to Canaan, will not pur- 
 
 I chase Canaan for thee. 
 
 That this is true is evident, because it is 
 thrice repeated : " Not for thy righteousness, not 
 for thy righteousness, not for thy righ.teou^ness, 
 dost thou possess the land." Now, if the right- 
 eousness of the people of God of old could not 
 merit for them Canaan, which was but a type 
 of heaven, how can the righteousness of the 
 world now obtain heaven itself? I say again, 
 if godly "men, as these were, could not by theii 
 works -purchase the type of heaven, then must 
 the ungodly be justified, if ever they be justi- 
 fied from the curse and sentence of the law, 
 while sinners in themselves. The argument is 
 clear ; for if good men, by wha^ they do, can- 
 not merit the less, bad men, bj what they do, 
 cannot merit more. 
 
 Secondly. "Remember me, O my God, for 
 
 given, thou shall be delivered from its power, and 
 quickened by the same death and resurrection of 
 Christ whereby thou art justified. Col. ii. 12, 13. 
 
OF JUSTIFICATION BY AN IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 951 
 
 thi» ; and wipe not out my good deeds that I 
 have done." 
 
 These words were spoken by holy Nehemiah, 
 and that at the end of all the good that we 
 read he did in the world. Also, the deeds here 
 spoken of were deeds done for God, for his peo- 
 ple, for his house, and for the offices thereof. 
 
 Yet godly Nehemiah durst not stand before 
 God in these, nor yet suffer them to stand to 
 his judgment by the law, but prays to God to 
 be merciful both to him and them, and to spare 
 him " according to the multitude of liis mercy.'' 
 
 God blots out no good but for the sake of sin ; 
 and forasmuch as this man prays God would 
 not blot out Ilia, it is evident that he was con- 
 scious to himself that in his good works were 
 sin. Now, I say, if a good man's works -are in 
 danger of being overthrown because there is 
 in them a tang of sin, how can bad men think 
 to stand just before God in their works, which 
 are, in all parts, full of sin ? Yea, if the works 
 of a sanctified man are blameworthy, how 
 shall the works of a bad man set him clear iu 
 the eyes of divine justice? ' 
 
 Thirdly. " But we are all as an unclean 
 thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy 
 rags ; and we do all fade away as a leaf; and 
 our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us 
 away." 
 
 In tliese words we 'have a relation both of 
 persons and things. 
 
 1. Of persons: And they are a righteous 
 people, a righteous people put all together: 
 We, we all are, &c. 
 
 2. The conditions of this people, even of all 
 of them, take them at the best, are, and that 
 by their own confession, as an unclean thing. 
 
 3. Again ; the things here attending this 
 people are their good things, put down under 
 this large character, righteousnesses, " All our 
 righteousnesses." These expressions, there- 
 fore, comprehend all their religious duties; 
 both before and after faith too. But what are 
 all these righteousnesses ? ^■V^y, they are all as 
 filthy rags when set before the justice of the 
 law. Yea, it is also confessed, and that by 
 these people, that' their iniquities, notwith- 
 standing all their righteousness, like the wind, 
 if grace prevent not, would carry them away. 
 This being so, how is it possible for one that 
 is in his sins to work himself into a spotless 
 condition by works done before faith, by works 
 done by natural abilities, or to perform a right- 
 eousness which is able to look God in the face, 
 his law in the face, and to demand and obtain 
 the forgiveness of sins and the life that is eter- 
 
 nal? It cannot be. Men must therefore be jus- 
 tified from the curse in the sight of God while 
 sinners in themselves, or not at all. 
 
 Fourthly. ".There is not a just man upon 
 -the earth, that doth good and sinneth not." 
 
 Although the words before are large, yet these 
 seem far larger : There is not a man, not a just 
 man, upon the earth, that doth good and sin- 
 neth not. Now, if no good man, if no good 
 man upon earth, doth good and sinneth not, 
 then no good man upon earth can set himself 
 by his own actions justified in the sight of God, 
 for he has sin mixed with his good. How, 
 then, shall a bad man, any bad man, the best 
 bad man upon earth, think to set himself by 
 his best things just in the sight of God ? And 
 if the tree makes the fruit either good or evil, 
 then a bad tree {and a bad man is a bad tree) 
 can bring forth no good fruit ; how then shall 
 such an one do that that shall "cleanse him 
 from his sin" and set him as " spotless before 
 the face of God?" 
 
 Fifthly. " Hearken to me, ye stout-hearted, 
 that are far from righteousness : I bring here 
 my righteousness," &c. 
 
 1. This call is general, and so proves, what- 
 ever men think of themselves, that in the judg- 
 ment of God there is none at all righteous 
 men, as men are far from being so. 
 
 2. This general ofl'er of righteousness, of the 
 righteousness of God, declares that it is in 
 vain for men to think to be set just and right- 
 eous before God by any other means-. 
 
 3. There is here also insinuated that for him 
 that thinks himself the worst, God. has pre- 
 pared a righteousness, and therefore would not 
 have him despair of life that sees himself far 
 from righteousness. From all these Scriptures, 
 therefore, it is manifest that men must be jus- 
 tified from the curse of the law in the sight of 
 God while sinners in themselves. 
 
 Sixthly. " Come unto me, all ye that labour 
 and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." 
 
 Here we have a labouring people, a people 
 labouring for life. But by all their labour, you 
 see, they cannot ease themselves ; their burden 
 still remains upon them ; they yet are heavy 
 laden. The load here is, doubtless, guilt of sin, 
 such as David had when he said by reason 
 thereof "he was not able to look up." 
 
 Hence, therefore, you have an experiment set 
 before you of those that are trying what they 
 can do for life. But behold, the more they stir 
 the more they sink under the weight of the 
 burden that lies upon them. 
 
 And the conclusion — to wit, Christ's call to 
 
952 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 them to come to Lim for rest declares that in 
 his judgment rest was not to be had elsewhere. 
 And I think one may with as much safety ad- 
 here to Christ's judgment as to any man's 
 alive. Wherefore men must be justified from 
 the curse in the sight pf God while sinners in 
 themselves. 
 
 Seventhly. " There is none righteous, no not 
 one; there is none that understandeth, there 
 is none that seeketh after God ; they are all 
 gone out of the way ; they are together become 
 unprofitable ; there is none that doth good, no, 
 not one." 
 
 These words have respect to a righteousness 
 which is justified by the law, and they con- 
 clude that none by his own performances is 
 righteous with such a righteousness. And it 
 is concluded from five reasons: 
 
 1. Because they are not good, for a man 
 must be good before he doth good, and per- 
 fectly good before he doth good and sinneth 
 not. 
 
 2. Because they -understand not: how, then, 
 should they do good? For a man must know 
 before he does, else how should he divert him- 
 self to do? 
 
 8. Because they want a heart: they seek not 
 after God according to the way of his own ap- 
 pointment. 
 
 4. They are all gone out of the way: how, 
 then, can they walk therein? 
 
 5. They are together become unprofitable : 
 what worth or value then can there be in any 
 of their doings? 
 
 These are the reasons by which he pro'veth 
 that there is none righteous, no, not one." 
 And the reasons are weighty, for by them he 
 Jsroves the tree is not good; how then can it 
 yield good fruit? 
 
 Now, as he concludes from these five reasons 
 that not one indeed is righteous, so he con- 
 cludes by five more that none can do good to 
 make him so: 
 
 1. For that internally they are as an open 
 sepulchre, as full of dead men's bones; their 
 iiiinds and consciences are defiled : how, then, 
 can sweet and good proceed from thence? 
 
 2. Their throat is filled with this stink: all 
 their vocal duties therefore smell thereof. 
 
 3. Their inouth is full of cursing and bit- 
 terness: how, then, can there.be found one 
 word that should please God ? 
 
 4. Their tongue, which should present their 
 praise to God, has been used to work deceit: 
 how then, till it is made a new one, should it 
 »peak in righteousness? 
 
 5. The poison of asps is under their lips, 
 therefore whatever comes from them must be 
 polluted. 
 
 Thus you see he sets forth their internal 
 part, which being a true report, as to be sure 
 it is, it is impossible that any good should so 
 much as be framed in such an inward part, or 
 come clean out of such a throat, by such a 
 tongue, through such lips as these. 
 
 And yet this is not all. He also proves, and 
 that by five reasons more, that it is not pos- 
 sible they should do good : 
 
 1. "Their feet are swift to shed blood." 
 This implies an inclination, an inward incli- 
 nation, to evil courses^a quickness of motion 
 to do evil, but a backwardness to do good. 
 
 2. " Destruction and miseries are in their 
 ways." Take ways for their doings, and in the 
 best of them destruction lurks, and misery yet 
 follows them at the heels. 
 
 3. " The way of peace they have not known : 
 that is far above, out of their sight." Where- 
 fore the labour of these foolish ones will weary 
 every one of them, because "they know not 
 the way that goes to the city." 
 
 4. " There is no fear of God before their 
 eyes." How, then, can they do any thing 
 with that godly reverence of his holy majesty 
 that is and must be essential to every good 
 work? For to do things, but not in" God's 
 fear, to' what will it amount? Will it avail? 
 
 5. All this while they are under a law that 
 calls for works that are perfectly good, that 
 will accept of none but what are perfectly 
 good, and that will certainly condemn them, 
 because they neither are nor can be iierfectly 
 good>: "For whatever things the law saith, it 
 saith it to them that are under the law, that 
 every mouth may be stopped and all the world 
 may become guilty before God." , 
 
 Thus you see that Paul here proves by fif- 
 teen reasons that none are nor can be right- 
 eous before God by works that they can do. 
 Therefore men mi/st be justified from the curse- 
 in the sight of God while sinners in them- 
 selves. 
 
 Eighthly. "But now the righteousness of 
 God, without the law, is manifest, being wit- 
 nessed by the law and the prophets." Eom., 
 iii. 21. 
 
 This text utterly excludes the law. What 
 law? The law of works, the moral law, (ver. 
 27,) and m^kes mention of another righteous- 
 ness, even a righteousness of God ; for the 
 righteousness of the law is the rij^hteousness 
 of men, men's own righteousness 
 
OF JUSTIFICATION BY AN IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 953 
 
 Now if the law, as to a justifying righteous- 
 ness, is rejected, then the very matter upon 
 and by which man should work is rejected; 
 and if so, then he must be justified by the 
 rigliteousness of God or not at all ; for he 
 must be justified by a righteousness that is 
 without the law — to wit, the righteousness of 
 God. Now this righteousness of God, what- 
 BTer it is, to he sure it is not a righteousness 
 that Hows from men, for that, as I said, is re- 
 jected, and the righteousness of God opposed 
 unto it, being called a righteousness that is 
 without the law, without our personal obedi- 
 ence to it. 
 
 The righteousness of God, or a righteous- 
 ness of God's completing, a righteousness of 
 God's bestowing, a righteousness that God also 
 gives unto and puts upon all themAhat believe, 
 (ver. 22,) a righteousness that stands in the 
 works of Christ, and that is imputed both by 
 the grace and justice of God. 
 ; Where now is room for man's righteousness, 
 either in the whole or as to any part thereof — 
 I say. where as to justification with God? 
 
 Ninthly. " What shall we say, then, that 
 Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, 
 hath found?" 
 
 Now the apostle is at the root of the matter, 
 For Abraham is counted the father of the 
 faithful, consequently the man whose way of 
 attainiiig justification must needs be exem- 
 plary to all the children of Abraham. 
 
 Now the question is, How Abraham found? 
 — how he found that which some of his chil- 
 dren sought and missed? (Rom. ix. 32;) that 
 is, how he found justifying righteousness ?^for 
 it was that which Israel sought and attained 
 not unto. 
 
 " Did he find it (saith Paul) by the flesh ?" 
 Or as he was in the flesh? Or by acts and 
 works of the flesh ? But what are they ? Why, 
 the next verse tells you, " They are the works 
 of the law." 
 
 If Abraham was justified by works — that is, 
 as pertaining to the flesh, for the works of the 
 law are none other but the best sort of the 
 woiks of the flesh; and so Paul calls all they 
 that he had tjefore his conversion to Christ: 
 "If any other man (saith he) thinketh he hath 
 whereof he may trust in the flesh, I more." 
 And then he counteth up several of his privi- 
 leges, to which he at last adjoineth the right- 
 eousness of the moral law, saying, " Touching 
 the righteousness which is in the law, I was 
 blameless." 
 
 Ami it is proper to rail the righteousness of | 
 
 the law the work of the flesh, because it is the 
 work of a man, of a man in the flesh ; for the 
 Holy Ghost doth uot attend the law, or the 
 work thereof, as to this, in man as man ; that 
 has confined itself to another ministration, 
 whose glorious name it bears. 
 
 I say, it is proper' to call the works of the 
 law the works of the flesh, because they are 
 done by that selfsame nature in and out of 
 which come all those things that are n\ore 
 grossly so called, (Gal. v. 19,' 20,)— to wit, Irom 
 the corrupt fountain of fallen man's polluted 
 nature. 
 
 This, saith he, was not the righteousness by 
 which Abraham found justification with God; 
 for if Abraham was justified by works, he hath 
 whereof to glory, but not before God. But 
 what saith the Scripture?^— "Abraham be- 
 lieved God, and it was counted to him for 
 righteousness." This believing is also set in 
 flat opposition to works and to the law of 
 works ; wherefore, upon pain of great con- 
 tempt to God, it must not be reckoned as a 
 work to justify withal, but rather as that which 
 receiveth and applieth that righteousness. 
 
 From all this, therefore, it is manifest that 
 men must be justified from the curse of the 
 law in the sight of God while sinners in them- 
 selves. But — 
 
 Tenthly. "Now to him that worketh is the 
 reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt." 
 
 These words do not only back what went be- 
 fore as to the rejection of the law for right- 
 eousness as to justification with God, but, sup- 
 posing the law was of force to justify, life must 
 not be admitted to come that way, because of, 
 the evil consequences .that will unavoidably 
 flow therefrom. 
 
 First. By this means, grace and justification 
 by grace would be rejected, and that would be 
 a foul business ; it would not be reckoned of 
 grace. 
 
 Secondly. By this God would become the 
 debtor and so the underling, and so we in this 
 the more honourable. It would not be reck- 
 oned of grace, but of debt. And what would 
 follow from hence ? Why — 
 
 1. By this we should frustrate the design of 
 heaven, which is to justify us freely by grace 
 through a redemption brought in by Christ. 
 
 2. By this we should make ourselves the sa- 
 viours, and jostle Christ quite out of doors. 
 
 4. We should have heaven at our own dis- 
 posal as a debt, not by promise, and so not be 
 beholden to God for it. It must then be of 
 grace, not of works, for the preventing of these 
 
954 
 
 SUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 evils. Again, it must not be of works, because 
 if it should, then God would be the debtor and 
 we the creditor. Now much blasphemy would 
 flow from hence; as. 
 
 First. God himself would not be his own to 
 dispose of; for the inheritance being God, as 
 well. as his kingdom, for so it is written, " Heirs 
 of God,'" himself, I say, must needs be our pur- 
 chase. 
 
 Secondly. If so, then we have a right to dis- 
 pose of him, of his kingdom and glory and all. 
 Bfc !i-!lonished, O heavens, at this! for if he be 
 ours by works, then-he is ours of debt ; if he be 
 ours of debt, then he is ours by purchase ; and 
 then again, if so he is no longer his own, but 
 ours, and at our disposal, &c. 
 
 Therefore, for these reasons, were there suf- 
 ficiency in our personal works to justify us, it 
 would be even inconsistent with the being of 
 God to suffer it. 
 
 So, then, men are justified from the curse in 
 the sight of God while sinners in themselves. 
 
 Eleventhly. " But to him that worketh not, 
 but believeth on Him that justifieth the un- 
 godly, his faith is counted- for righteous- 
 ness." 
 
 These words show how we must stand just 
 in the sight of God from the curse of the law, 
 both as it respecteth justification itself, and also 
 the instrument or means that receiveth that 
 righteousness which justifieth. 
 
 First. As for that righteousness thatjusti- 
 fieth, it is not personal performances in us; for 
 the person here justified'stands in thai respect 
 as one that worketh not, as one that is un- 
 g'odly. 
 
 Secondly. As it respecteth the instrument 
 that receiveth it, that faith, as in the point of 
 justifying righteousness, will not work, but be- 
 lieve, but receive the works and righteousness 
 of another, for works and faith in this are set 
 in opposition : " He doth not work, he doth 
 believe." He worketh not, but believeth on 
 Him who justifieth us ungodly ; as Paul also 
 saith in another place, "The law is not of 
 faith." And again, works say on this wise, 
 faith far different. The law saith, " Do this, 
 and live," but the doctrine of faith saith, "If 
 thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord 
 Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that 
 God. hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt 
 be saved ; for with the heart man believeth 
 untO' righteousness," &c. 
 
 Objeciion. But faith is counted for righteous- 
 ness. 
 
 Answer. True, but yet consider that by faith 
 
 we do often understand the doct.une of reinis- 
 sion of sins as well as the act of believing. 
 
 But again, faith when it hath received the 
 Lord Jesus, it hath done that which pleaseth 
 God ; therefore the very act of believing is the 
 most noble in the world: believing sets the 
 crown upon the head of graCe; it seals to the 
 truth of the sufficiency of the righteousness of 
 Christ, and giveth all the glory to God, and 
 "therefore it is a righteous act; but Christ him- 
 self, he is the " righteousness that justifieth." 
 
 Besides, faith is a relative, and hath its rela- 
 tion as such. Its relation is the righteousnesa 
 that justifieth, which is therefore called the 
 righteousness of faith, or that with which faith 
 hath to do. Separate these two, and justifica- 
 tion cannot be, because faith now wants his 
 righteousness; and hence it is you have so 
 often such sayings as these, "He that be- 
 lieveth in me; He that believeth on him; Be- 
 lieve in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt 
 be saved." Faith, then, as separate from 
 Christ, doth nothing — nothing neither with 
 God nor man — because it wants its relative. 
 But let it go to the Lord Jesus, let it behold 
 him as dying, &c., and it fetches righteousness, 
 and life, and peace, out of the virtue of .his 
 blood, &o. ; or rather sees it there as sufficient 
 for me to stand just thereby in the sight of 
 eternal justice: "For him hath God set forth 
 to be a propitiation," through faith (belief) in 
 his blood, with intent to justify him that be- 
 lieveth in Jesus. 
 
 Twelfthly. "Even as David also describeth 
 the blessedness of the man to whom God im- 
 puted righteousness without works." 
 
 Did our adversaries understand this one text, 
 they would not so boldly affirm, as they do 
 that the words impute, imputed, impufeth, im- 
 puting, &c., are not used in Scripture but to 
 express men really and personally to be that 
 which is imputed unto them; for men are not 
 really and personally faith, yet faith is im- 
 puted to men; nay, they are not really and 
 personally sin, nor really and personally right- 
 eousness, yet these are imputed to men; so, 
 then, both good things and bad may sometimes 
 be imputed to men, yet themselves be really 
 and personally neither. 
 
 But to come to the point. What righteous- 
 ness hath that man that hath no works? 
 Doubtless none of his own, yet God imputeth 
 righteousness to him; yea, what works of that 
 man doth God impute to him that he yet jus- 
 tifies as ungodly? 
 
 Further. He that hath works as to justifica- • 
 
OF JUSTIFICATION BY AN IMPUTED RIQHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 955 
 
 tion from the curse before God, not one of 
 them is regarded of God; so, then, it mat- 
 tereth not whether thou hast righteousness of 
 thine own or none. 
 
 " Blessed is the man to whom the Lord im- 
 puteth righteousness without worlds." Man's 
 ble^sodnew, then, the blessedness of justifica- 
 tion from the curse in the sight of God, lieth 
 not in good works done by us, either before or 
 after faith received, but in a righteousness 
 which God J.mputeth without works, as we 
 work not as we are ungodly: "Blessed is the 
 man whose iniquities are forgiven and whose 
 sin is covered." To forgive and to cover are 
 acts of mercy, not the cause of our merit. 
 Besides, where sin is real there can be no per- 
 fect righteousness, but the way of justification 
 must be through perfect righSftousness, there- 
 fore by another than our own : " Blessed is the 
 man to whom the Lord will not impute s'in.'' 
 The first cause, then, of justification before 
 God -dependeth upon the will of God, who 
 will justify because he will; therefore the 
 meritorious cause must also be of his own 
 providing, else his will cannot herein be abso- 
 lute; for if justification depend upon our per- 
 sonal performances, then not upon the will of 
 God. He may not have mercy upon whom he 
 will, but on whom man's righteousness will 
 give him leave; but his will, not ours, must 
 rule here; therefore his righteousness, and his 
 only. So then men are justified from the 
 curse in the sight of God while sinners in 
 themselves. 
 
 Having passed over those few Scriptures, I 
 shall come to particular instances of persons 
 who have been justified, and shall briefly 
 touch their qualifications in the act of God's 
 justifying them. 
 
 First. By the Old Testament types. 
 
 Secondly. By the New. , 
 
 First. By the Old. 
 
 "And unto Adam also, and to his wife, did 
 tiie Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed 
 them.'' 
 
 In the beginning of this chapter you find 
 these two persons reasoning with the serpent; 
 the effect of which discourse was, they take 
 of the forbidden fruit, and so break the com- 
 mand of God; this done, they hide themselves 
 and cover their nakedness with aprons; but 
 God finds out their sin, from the highest 
 branch even to (he roots thereof. 
 
 What followeth ? Not one precept by which 
 they should by works obtain the favour of God, 
 oat the promise of a Saviour; of which prom- 
 
 ise Gen. iii. 21 is a mystical interpretation 
 "The Lord God made them coats of skins; 
 coats of skins, and clothed them.'' 
 
 Hence observe — 
 
 First. That these coals were made not be- 
 fore, but after, they had made themselves 
 aprons— a plain proof their aprons were not 
 sufficient to hide their shame from the sight 
 of God. 
 
 Secondly. These coats were made not of 
 Adam's inherent righteousness, for that was 
 lost before by sin, but of the skins of the 
 slain, types of the death of Christ and of the 
 righteousness brought in thereby: "By whose 
 stripes we are healed." 
 
 Thirdly. This is further manifest: for the 
 coats, God made them ; and for the persons, 
 God clothed them therewith, to show that as 
 the righteousness by which we must stand just 
 before God from the curse is a righteousness 
 of Christ's performing, not of their, so' he, not 
 they, must put it on them also ; for of God we 
 are in Christ, and of God his righteousness is 
 made ours. 
 
 But, I say, if you would see their antecedent 
 qualifications, you find them under two heads: 
 
 First. Rebellion. 
 
 Secondly. Hypocrisy. 
 
 Rebellion, in ^breaking God's command; 
 hypocrisy, in seeking how to hide their faults 
 from God. Expound this by Gospel language, 
 and then it shows that men are justified from 
 the curse in the sight of God while sinners in 
 themselves. 
 
 Secondly. "The Lord had respect to Abel 
 and his offering." 
 
 By these words we find the person first ac- 
 cepted : " The Lord had respect unto Abel." 
 And indeed where the person is not first ac- 
 cepted the offering will not be pleasing; the 
 altar sanctifies the gift, and the temple sanc- 
 tifieth the gold; so the person, the condition 
 of the person, is that which makes the offering 
 either pleasing or displeasjng. In the epistla 
 to the Hebrews it is said, "By faith Abel 
 offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice 
 than Cain, by which he obtained witness that 
 he was righteous" — righteous before he offered 
 his gift, as his sacrifice testified, for God 
 accepted of it. 
 
 "By faith .he offered." Wherefore faith 
 was precedent or before he offered. Now 
 faith hathto do with God through, Christ, not 
 with him through our works of righteousness. 
 Besides, Abel was righteous before lie offered, 
 before he did do good, otherwise God would 
 
356 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 not have testified of his gift. By faith he ob- 
 tained witness that h« was righteous, for God 
 approved of his gifts. . Now faith, I say, as to 
 our standing quit before the Father, respects 
 the promise of forgiveness of sins through the 
 undertaljing of the Lord Jesus. Wherefore 
 Abel's faith, as to justifying righteousness 
 before God, loolied not forward to what should 
 be done by himself, but back to the promise 
 of the Seed of the woman that was to destroy 
 the power of hell and to redeem them that 
 were under the law. By this faith he shrouds 
 himself under tlie promise of victory and the 
 merits of the Lord Jesus ; now, being there, 
 God finds him righteous, and being righteous, 
 he offered to God a more excellent sacrifice 
 than his brother, for Cain's person was not 
 first accepted through the righteousness of 
 faith going before, although he seemed fore- 
 most as to personal acts of righteousness. 
 Abel therefore was righteous before he did 
 good works, but that could not be but alone 
 through that respect God hud to him for the 
 sake of the Messias, promised before. Gen. iii. 
 15. But the Lord's so respecting Abel pre- 
 supposeth that at that time he stqod in him- 
 self by the law a sinner, otherwise he needed 
 not to be respected for and upon the a,ccount 
 of another. Yea, Abel also, forasmuch as he 
 acted faith before he offered sacrifice, must 
 thereby entirely respect the promise; which 
 promise was not grounded upon a condition 
 of works to be found in Abel, but in and for 
 the sake of the Seed of the woman, which is 
 Christ; which promise he believed, and so 
 took it for granted that this Clirist should 
 break the serpent's head ; that is, destroy by 
 himself the works of the devil — to wit, sin, 
 death, the curse, and hell. By this feith 
 he stood before God righteous, because he 
 had put on Christ, and being thus he offered ; 
 by which act of faith God declared he was 
 pleased with him, because he accepted of his 
 sacrifice. 
 
 Thirdly. "And the Lord said unto her. 
 The elder shall serve the younger." These 
 words, after Paul's exposition, are to be un- 
 derstood of justification in the sight of God, 
 according to the purpose and decree of elect- 
 ing love, which had so determined long before 
 that one of these children should be received 
 to eternal grace. But mark ! not by works of 
 righteousness which they should do, but before 
 they had done either good or evil; otherwise 
 the purpose of God according to election — not 
 our works, but of Him that calleth— could not 
 
 stand, but fall in pieces. But none are re- 
 ceived into eternal mercy but such as are just 
 before the Lord by a righteousness that is 
 complete ; and Jacob, having done no good, 
 could by no means have that of his own, 
 and therefore it must be by some other right- 
 eousness, and so himself be justified from the 
 eurse in the sight of God while a sinner in 
 himself. 
 
 Fourthly. The same may be said concerning 
 Solomon, whom the Lord loved with special 
 love as soon as born into the world, which he 
 also confirmed with signal characters: "He 
 sent (saith the Holy Ghost) by the hand of 
 Nathan the prophet, and he called his- name 
 Jedidiah, because the Lord loved him." -Was 
 this love of God extended to him because of 
 his personal virtues? No, verily, for he was 
 yet an infant. He was justified then in the 
 sight of God from the curse by another than 
 his own righteousness. 
 
 Fifthly. "And when I passed by thee, and 
 saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said 
 unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; 
 yea, I said unto thee, wheu thou wast in thy 
 blood, Live." The state of this people you 
 have in the former verses described, both as 
 to their rise and practice in the world. 
 
 (1.) As to their rise, their origin was the 
 same with Canaan, the men of God's curse. 
 "Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of 
 Canaan ;" the same with other carnal men : 
 "Thy father was an Amorite aud thy mother 
 an Hittite." 
 
 (2.) Their condition is showed us by this 
 emblem : 
 
 1. ,They had not been washed in watery, t^ 
 They had not been swaddled; 3. They i.ss 
 not been salted; 4. They brought filth wi(& 
 them into the world ; 5. They lay stinking in 
 their cradle ; 6. They were without strength, 
 to help themselves. Thus they appear and 
 come by generation. 
 
 Again, as to their practice: 
 
 1.' They polluted themselves in their own 
 blood; 2. They so continued till God passed 
 by. " And when I passed by thee, I saw thee 
 polluted in thine own blood;" in thy blood, in ' 
 thy blood; it is doubled. Thus we see they 
 were polluted born, they continued in their 
 blood till the day that the Lord looked upon 
 them ; I say, to " the loathing of their per 
 sons," &c. Now, this was the time of love. 
 " And when I passed by thee, and saw thee 
 polluted in thine own blood, I said unto ' 
 thee, when thou wast in thy blood. Live ; yea, 
 
OF JUSTIFICATION BY AN IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 957 
 
 I said uuto thee, when thou wast in thy blood, 
 Live." 
 
 Question. But how could an holy God say, 
 Live, to such a sinful people? 
 
 Answer. Though they had naught but sin, 
 yet he had love and righteousness. He had — 
 1. Love to pity them ; 2. Eighteousness to 
 cover them. "Now when I passed by thee, 
 and looljed upon thee, behold, thy time was 
 the time of love." What' follows? 1. "I 
 spread my skirt over thee ;" and 2. " Covered 
 thy nakedness ;" yea, 3. " I sware unto thee ;" 
 and 4. "Entered into covenant with thee;" 
 and 5. " Thou becamest mine." My. love 
 pitied thee : my skirt covered thee. Thus 
 God delivered them from the curse in his 
 sight. "Then I washed thee with water, 
 (after thou wast justified;) yi^, I thoroughly 
 washed away thy" blood from thee, and anointed 
 thee with oil." Sanctification, then, is conse- 
 quential ; justification goes before. The Holy 
 Ghost, by this Scripture, setteth forth to the 
 life free grace to the sons of men while they 
 themselves are sinners. I say, while they are 
 unwashed, unswaddled, unsalted, but bloody 
 sinners; for by these words not washed, not 
 salted, not swaddled, he setteth forth their un- 
 sanctified state ; yea, they were not only un- 
 sanctifled, but also cast out without pity, to the 
 loathing of their persons ; yea, no eye pitied 
 them to do any of these things for them ; no 
 eye but His whose glorious grace is unsearch- 
 able, no eye but His who could look and 
 love; all others looked and loathed. But 
 blessed be God that hath passed by us in that 
 day that we wallowed in our own blood ; and 
 blessed be God for the skirt of his glorious 
 righteousness, wherewith he covered us when 
 we lay before him naked in blood. It was 
 when we were in our blood that lie loved 
 us; when we were in our blood he, said, Live. 
 Therefore, men are justified from the curse 
 in the sight of God while sinners in them- 
 selves. 
 
 Sixthly. " Now Joshua was clothed with 
 filthy garments, and stood before the angel. 
 
 The standing of Joshua here is as men used 
 to stand that were arraigned before a judge. 
 Joshua stood before the angel of the Lord, and 
 Satan standing at his ri^t hand to resist him 
 — the same posture as Judas stood in when he 
 was to be condemned : " Set thou (saith David) 
 a wicked man over him, and let Satan stand at 
 his right hand." Thus therefore Joshua stood. 
 Now Joshua was clothed (not with righteous- 
 ness, but) with filthy rags! Sin upon, him 
 
 and Satan by him, and this before the angel ' 
 What must he do now ? Go away ? No ; there 
 he must stand. Can he speak for himself? 
 Not a word : guilt had made him dumb. Had 
 he no place clean ? No ; he was clothed with 
 filthy garments. But his lot was to stand be 
 fore Jesus Christ, that maketh intercession for 
 transgressors : " And the Lord said unto Satan 
 The Lord rebuke thee, Satan ; even the Lord 
 that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee." 
 (Thus Christ saveth from present condemna- 
 tion those that be still in their sin and blood.) 
 
 Biit is he now quit? No; he standeth yet 
 in filthy garments; neither can he by aught 
 that is in him or done by him clear himself 
 from them. How then? Why the Lord clothes 
 him with change of raiment; the iniquities 
 were his own, the raiment was the Lord's : 
 " This is the heritage of the servants of the 
 Lord ; and their righteousness is of me, saith 
 the Lord." We will not here discourse of 
 Joshua's sin, what it was or when committed: 
 it is enough to our purpose that he was clothed 
 with filthy garments, and that the Lord made 
 a change with him, by causing his iniquities 
 to pass from him and by clothing him with 
 change of raiment. But what had Joshua 
 antecedent to this glorious and heavenly cloth- 
 ing? The devil at his right hand to r'esist him, 
 and himself in filthy garments : " Now Joshua 
 was clothed with filthy garments, a'ad stood 
 before the ^ngel. And he answered and spake 
 to those that stood before him, saying, Take 
 away the filthy garments from him. And unto 
 him he said. Behold, I have caused thy iniquity 
 to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with 
 change of raiment." 
 
 But to pass the Old Testament types, and to 
 come to the New : 
 
 First. "And when he was come into the 
 ship, he that had been possessed with the devil 
 prayed him that he might go with him; but 
 Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him. Go 
 home to thy friends, and tell them how great 
 things God hath done for thee, and hath had 
 compassion on thee." 
 
 The present state of this man is sufficiently 
 declared in these particulars : 
 
 1. He was possessed with a devil — with 
 devils, with many, with a whole legion, which 
 some say is six thousand or thereabouts. 
 
 2. These devils had so the mastery of him 
 as to drive him from place to place into the 
 wilderness, among the mountains, and so to 
 dwell in the tombs among the dead. 
 
 3. He was out of his wits ; he would out hi* 
 
958 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 flesh, hrealc his chains, uay, no man could 
 tame him. 
 
 4. When he saw Jesus, the devil in him, as 
 being lord and governor there, cried out against 
 the 'Lord Jesus. In all this what qualification 
 shows itself as precedent to justification? 
 None but such as devils work or as rank bed- 
 lams have. Yet this poor man weis dispos- 
 sessed, taken into God's compassion, and was 
 bid to show it to the world : " Go home to thy 
 friends, and tell them how great things 'the 
 IjOrd hath done for thee, and hath had com- 
 passion on thee ;" which last words, because 
 they are added over and above his being dis- 
 possessed of the devils, I understand to be the 
 fruit of electing love : " I will have compassion 
 on whom I will have compassion," which bless- 
 eth us with the mercy of a justifying righteous- 
 ness ; and all this, as by this is manifest, with- 
 out the least precedent qualifications of ours. 
 
 Secondly. " And when they had nothing to 
 pay, he frankly forgave them both." 
 
 The occasion of these words was for that tho 
 Pharisee murmured against the woman that 
 washed Jesus's feet, because she v.-as a sinner ; 
 for so said the Pharisee and so saith the Holy 
 Ghost. But, saith Christ, Simon, I will ask 
 thee a question; "A certain man had two 
 debtors : the one owed him five hundred pence, 
 and the other fifty ; and when they had noth- 
 ing to pay, he frankly forgave them both." 
 
 Hence I gather these conclusions : 
 
 1. That men that are wedded to their own 
 righteousness understand not the doctrine of 
 the forgiveness of sin. This is manifested by 
 the poor Phai-isee; he objected against the 
 woman because she was a sinner. 
 
 2. Let Pharisees murmur still, yet Christ 
 hath pity and mercy for sinners. 
 
 3. Yet Jesus doth not usually manifest mercy 
 until the sinner hath nothing to pay; and 
 when they had nothing to pay, he frankly (or 
 freely, or heartily) forgave them both. If 
 they had nothing to pay, then they were sin- 
 ners ; but he forgiveth no man but with respect 
 to a righteousness. Therefore that righteous- 
 ness must be another's, for in the very act of 
 mercy they are found sinners. They had 
 nothing but debt, nothing but sin, nothing to 
 pay. "Then they were justified freely by 
 grace through that redemption that is in Jesus 
 Christ.'' So, then, men are justified from the 
 curse in the sight of God, while sinners in 
 themselves. 
 
 Thirdly. " And when he saw their faith, he 
 said unto the mai;, Thy sins be forgiven thee." 
 
 This man had not righteousness to stand 
 just before. God withal, for his sins aa yet re- 
 mained unforgiven. Wherefore, seeing guilt 
 remained until Christ remitted him, he was 
 discharged while ungodly. 
 
 And observe it: The faith here mentioned 
 is not to be reckoned so much the man's as 
 the faith of them that brought him: neither 
 did it reach to the forgiveness of sins, but to - 
 the miracle of healing ; yet this man, in this 
 condition, had his sins forgiven him. 
 
 But again, set the case, the faith was only 
 his, (as it was not,) and that it reacheil to the 
 doctrine of forgivjness, yet it did it without 
 respect to righteousness in himself, for guilt 
 lay still upon him ; he had now his sins for- 
 given him,. 
 
 But this act of grace was a surprisal, it was 
 unlocked for: "I am found of them that 
 sought me not.'' They came for one thing, he 
 gave them another : the^came for a cure upon 
 his body, but to their amazement he cured first 
 his soul: "Thy sins are forgiven thee." 
 
 Besides, to have his sins forgiven betokeneth 
 an act of grace ; but grace and works as to this 
 are opposite: therefore men are justified from 
 the curse in the sight of God while sinners in 
 themselves. 
 
 Fourthly. "Father, I have sinned against 
 Heaven and in thy sight, and am no more 
 worthy to be called thy son." 
 
 What this man was is sufiiciently declared 
 in Luke xv. 13, &c. ; as — 1. A riotous spender 
 of all — of time, talent, body, and soul. 
 
 2. He added to this his rebellion great con- 
 tempt of his father's house: "He joined him- 
 self to a stranger " and became an associate 
 with ^wine. 
 
 At last, indeed, he came" to himself, But 
 then observe — 1. He sought not justification 
 by personal performances of his own ; 2. , 
 Neither did he mitigate his wickedness; 3. 
 Nor excuse himself before his father, but first 
 resolveth to confess his sin ; and, coming to his 
 father, did confess it, and that with aggravating 
 circumstances : " I have sinned against Heaven ; 
 I have sinned against thee; I am no more 
 worthy to be called thy son." Now, what he 
 said was true or false : if true, then he had not 
 righteousness ; if false, he could not stand just 
 in the sight of his father by virtue of his own 
 performances. And indeed the sequel of the 
 parable clears it. His father said to his ser- 
 vant, " Bring forth the best robe, fthe justify- 
 ing righteousness,) and put it upon him, and 
 put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet." 
 
OF JUSTIFICATION BY AN IMPUTED RIGHTFOUSNESS. 
 
 959 
 
 This best robe then, being in his father's house, 
 was not in the prodigal's lieart; neitlier stayed 
 the father for further qualifications, but put it 
 upon him as he was, surrounded with sin and 
 oppressed with guilt ; therefore men are justi- 
 fied from the curse in the sight of God while 
 sinners in themselves. 
 
 Fifthly. " For the Son of man came to seek 
 and to save that which was lost." 
 
 The occasion of these words was, for that the 
 Pharisees murmured because Jesus was gone 
 to be a guest to one that was a sinner, yea, ft 
 sinner of the publicans, and ai;e most fitly ap- 
 plied to the case in hand ; for though Zaccheus 
 climbed tlie tree, yet Jesus Christ found him 
 first, and called him down by his name ; add- 
 ing withal, " For to-day I must abide at thy 
 house ;" which, being opened by Luke xix. 9, 
 is as much as to say, I am come to be thy sal- 
 vation. Now this being believed by Zaccheus, 
 he made haste and came down and received 
 him joyfully. And not only so, but to declare 
 to all the simplicity of his faith, and that he 
 unfeignedly accepted of this word of salvation, 
 he said unto the Lord, and that before all 
 present; " Behold, Lord, the half of my goods 
 I give- to the pDor, and if I have taken any 
 thing from any man by false accusation, (a 
 supposition intimating an affirmative,) I re- 
 store him fourfold." This being thus, Christ 
 doubleth his comfort, saying to him also, and 
 that before the people, " This day is salvation 
 come to this house." Then, by adding the 
 next words, he expounds the whole of the mat- 
 ter : " For I am come to seek and to save that 
 which was lost ;" to seek it till I find it, to save 
 it when I find it. He finds them that sought 
 him not. And saith Zaccheus, " Behold me !" 
 to a people that asked not after him. So then, 
 seeing Jesus findeth this publican first, preach- 
 ing salvation to him before he came down from 
 the tree, it is evident he received this as he was 
 a sinner. From which faith flowed his follow- 
 ing words and works as a consequence. 
 
 Sixthly. " Jesus saith unto him. Verily I say 
 unto thee. This day shalt thou be with me in 
 paradise." 
 
 This was spoken to the thief upon the cross, 
 who had lived in widkedness all his days; 
 neither had he so much as truly repented, no 
 not till he came to die ; nay, when he first was 
 nanged he then fell to railing on Christ ; for 
 though Luke leaves it out, beginning but at his 
 conversion, yet by Matthew's relating the whole 
 tragedy, we find him at first as bad as the other. 
 This man then had no moral righteousness, for 
 
 he had lived in the breach of the law of God. 
 Indeed, by faith he believed Christ to be King, 
 and that when dying with him. But what was 
 this to a personal performing the command- 
 ments, or of restoring what he had oft taken 
 away ? Yea, he confesseth his death to be just 
 for his sin, and so, leaning upon the mediation 
 of Christ, he goeth out of the world. Now, he 
 that truly confesseth and acknowledgeth his 
 sin acknowledgeth also the curse to be due 
 thereto from the righteous hand of God ; so 
 then, where the curse of God is due, that man 
 wanteth righteousness. Besides, he that makes 
 to another for help hath by that condemned 
 his own (had he any) of utter insuflieiency. 
 But all these did this poor creature; where- 
 fore he must stand just from the law, in the 
 sight of God, while sinful in himself. 
 
 Seventhly. " Lord, what wilt thou have me 
 to do?" What wilt thou have me to do? Ig- 
 norance is here set forth to the full. He hith- 
 erto knew not Jesus, neither what he would 
 have him to do; yet a mighty man for the law 
 of works, and for zeal towards God according 
 to that. Thus you see that he neither knew 
 that Christ was Lord nor what was his mind 
 and will. "I did it ignorantly in unbelief:" 
 I did not know him, I did not believe he was 
 to save us. I thought I must be saved by liv- 
 ing righteously, by keeping the law of God. 
 This thought kept me ignorant of Jesus and 
 of justification from the curse by him. Poor 
 SauJI how many fellows hast thou yet alive I 
 Every man zealous of the law of works, yet 
 none of them know the law of grace ; each of 
 them seeking for life by doing the law, when 
 life is to be had by naught but believing in 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 Eighthly. " Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 and thou shalt be saved." 
 
 A little before we find Paul and Silas in the 
 stocks for preaching of Jesus Christ — in the 
 stocks in the inward prison, by the hands of a 
 sturdy jailer; but at midnight, when Paul and 
 his companion sang praises to God, the foun- 
 dations of the prison shook and every man's 
 bands were loosed. Now, the jailer being awali - 
 enedby the noise ofthisshaking, and supposing 
 he had lost his prisoners, drew his sword with 
 intent to kill himself, but Paul cried out, " Do 
 thyself no harm, for we are all here.'' Then 
 he called for a light, and sprang in and came 
 trembling, and fell down before Paul and Sila«. 
 and brought them out, and said, " Sirs, what 
 must I do to be saved ?" In all this relation here 
 is not aught that can justify the jailer. For— 
 
960 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 1. , His whole life was idolatry, cruelty, and 
 enmity to God ; yea, 
 
 2. Even now, while the earthquake shook 
 the prison, he had nsurder in his heart, yea, 
 and in his intentionstoo. Murder, I say, and 
 that of an high nature — even to haveTiilled his 
 own body and soul at once. Well — 
 
 8. When he began to shake under the fears 
 of everlasting burnings, yet then his heart was 
 wrapped up in ignorance as to the way of sal- 
 vation by Jesus Christ. What must I do to 
 be saved? He knew not what; no, not he. 
 His condition then was this: he neither had 
 righteousness to save him, nor knew he how to 
 get it. Now, what was Paul's answer 1 Why, 
 " Believe in .the Lord Jesus Christ, (look for 
 righteousness in Christ,) and then thoti shalt 
 be saved." This, then, still holdeth true, 
 "Men are justified from the curse in the sight 
 of God while sinners in themselves." 
 
 I should now come to the second conclu- 
 sion — viz.. That this can be done "by no other 
 righteousness than that long ago performed 
 by, and remaining with the person of, Christ. 
 But before I speak to that I will a.little further 
 press this, by urging for it several reasons : 
 
 I. First. Men must be justified from the 
 curse while sinners in themselves, because 
 "by nature all are Under sin. All have sin- 
 ned, and come short of the glory of God. He 
 hath concluded all in unbelief; he hath con- 
 cluded all under sin." Now, having sinned, 
 they are in body and soul defiled and become 
 an unclean thing; wherefore, whatever they 
 touch, with an intent to work out righteous- 
 ness thereby, they defile that also.. And 
 hence, as I have said, all the righteousness 
 they seek to accomplish is but as filthy rag^; 
 therefore they are sinners still. 
 
 ^ Indeed, to some men's thinking, the Phari- 
 see is holier than the publican, but in God's 
 sight, in the eyes of divine justice, they stand 
 alike condemned. "All have sinned;" there 
 is the poison. Therefore, as to God without 
 Christ, " all throats are an open sepulchre." 
 
 The world in general is divided into two 
 scitg cf sinners: 
 
 1. The open profane. 
 
 2. The man that seeks life by the works of 
 the law. The profane is judged by all, but 
 the other by a few. Oh, but God judge*h 
 him — 
 
 First, for an hypocrite, because that, not- 
 withstanding he hath sinned, "he would be 
 thought to be good and righteous.'' And 
 aence it is that Christ calls such kind of holy 
 
 ones, Pharisees, hypocrites — Phaiisees, hyp-, 
 ocrites, because by their gay outside they de- 
 ceived those that beheld them. But, saith he, 
 "God sees your hearts:" you are but like 
 " painted sepulchres, within you are full of 
 dead men's bones." Such is the root from 
 whence flows all their righteousness. 
 
 But doth the blind Pharisee think his state 
 is such? No, his thoughts of himself are far 
 otherwise. "God, I thank thee (sailh he) I 
 am not as other men, extortioners, unjust, 
 adulterers, or even like tfiis publican.'' Ay, 
 but still God judgeth him for an hypocrite. 
 
 Secondly. God judgeth him for one that 
 spurneth against Christ, even by every such 
 work he doth. And hence it is when Paul 
 was converted to Jesus Christ that he calls the 
 righteousness he had before madness, bias- 
 phemy, injury, because what he did to save 
 himself by works was in direct opposition to 
 grace by Jesus Chris^t. 
 
 Behold, then, the evil that is in a man's own 
 righteousness ! 
 
 1. It curseth and condemneth the righteous- 
 ness of Christ. 
 
 2. It blindeth the man from seeing hia 
 misery. 
 
 3. It hardeneth his heart against his own 
 salvation. 
 
 Thirdly. But again, God judgeth such for 
 those that condemn him of foolishness. " The 
 preaching of the cro.ss (that is, Christ crucified) 
 is to them that perish foolishness." AVhatI 
 (saith the merit-monger,) will you look for 
 life by the obedience of another man? will 
 you trust to the blood that was shed upon the 
 cross, that run down to the ground and per- 
 ished in the du.st? Thus deridingly they scoff 
 at, stumble upon, and are taken in the gin 
 that attends the Gospel; not to salvation, but 
 to their condemnation, because they have con- 
 demned the Just, that they might justify their 
 own filthy righteousness. 
 
 But, I say, if all have sinned, if all are de- 
 filed, if the best of a man's righteousness "be but 
 madness, blasphemy, injury, if for their right- 
 eousness they are judged hypocrites, condemned 
 as opposers of the Gospel, and as such have 
 counted God foolish for sending his Son into 
 the world, then must the best of men be justi- 
 fied from the curse in the sight of God while 
 sinners in themselves, because they still stand 
 guilty in the sight of God; their hearts are 
 also still filthy, infected. " Though tbou wash 
 thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet 
 thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the 
 
OF JUSTIFICATION BY AN IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 961 
 
 Lord God." It stands marked still before. God. 
 Bo, then, what esteem soever men have of the 
 righteousness of the world, yet God accounts 
 it horrible wickedness, and the greatest enemy 
 that Jesus hath. Wherefore, this vine is the 
 vine of Sodom ; these clusters are the clusters 
 of Gomorrah ; these grapes are grapes of gall ; 
 these clusters are bitter ; they are the poison 
 of dragons and the cruel venom of asps. No 
 marvel, then, if John in his ministry gives the 
 first rebuke and jostle to such, still calling 
 them serpents and vipers, and concluding it is 
 almost impossible they should escape the dam- 
 nation'of hell ; for, of all sin, man's own right- 
 eousness in special bids defiance to Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 II. Another reason why not one under heav- 
 en can be justified by the law or by his own per- 
 sonal performances to it is, because sin was in 
 the world, God hath rejected the law and the 
 works thereof for life. 
 
 It is true before man had sinned it was or- 
 dained to be unto life, but since, and because 
 of sin, the God of love gave the word of grace. 
 Take the law, then, as God hath established 
 it— to wit, to condemn all iiesh — and then there 
 is rooni for the promise and the law — the one 
 to kill, the other to heal. And so the law is 
 not against the promise ; but make the law a 
 justifier, and faith is made void, and the prom- 
 ise is made of none effect, and the everlasting 
 Gospel, by so doing, thou endeavourest to root 
 out of the world. 
 
 Methinks, since it hath pleased God to reject 
 the law and the righteousness thereof for life, 
 such dust and ashes as we are should strive to 
 consent to his holy will, especially when in the 
 room of this of works there is established a bet- 
 ter covenant, and that upon better promises. 
 
 The Lord hath rejected the law for the weak- 
 ness and unprofitableness thereof: " For (find- 
 ing fault with them of the law) the days come, 
 saith the Lord, that I will make a new cove- 
 nant with the house of Israel," &c. Give God 
 leave to find fault with us, and to condemn 
 our personal performances to death, as to our 
 justification before him thereby— let him do it, 
 I say, and the rather because he doth by the 
 Gospel present us with the better, and certainly, 
 if ever he be pleased with us, it will be when he 
 findeth us in that righteousness that is of his 
 own appointing. 
 
 To conclude. Notwithstanding all that hath 
 
 or can be said, there are six things that have 
 
 great power with the heart to bend it to seek 
 
 life before God by the law; of all which I 
 
 «l 
 
 would caution that soul to beware that would 
 have happiness in another world: 
 
 1. Take heed thou be not made to seek to the 
 law for life because of that name and majesty 
 of God which thou findest upon the doctrine 
 of the law. God indeed spake all the words 
 of the law, and delivered them in that dread 
 and majesty to men that shook the hearts of 
 all that heard it. Now this is of great au- 
 thority with some, even to seek for life and 
 bliss by the law. " We know," said some, 
 "that God spake to Moses." And Saul re- 
 jected Christ, even of zeal towards God. What 
 zeal? Zeal towards God according to the 
 law, which afterwards he left and rejected 
 because he had found out a better way. The 
 life that he once lived, it was by the law ; but 
 afterwards, saith he, " The life that I now live, 
 it is by faith," by the faith of Jesus Christ. 
 So that, though the law was the appointment 
 of God, and had also his name and majesty 
 upon it, yet now he will not live by the law. 
 Indeed, God is in the law, but yet only as just 
 and holy, not as gracious and merciful ; so he 
 is only in Jesus Christ. " The law (the word 
 of justice) was given by Moses, but grace and 
 truth came by Jesus Christ." Wherefore, 
 whatever of God thou findest in the law, yet, 
 seeing grace and mercy are not there, let 
 neither the name of God, nor that majesty 
 that thou findest of him in the law, prevail 
 with thee to seek life by all the holy commands 
 of the law. 
 
 2. Take heed that the law, by taking hold 
 on thy conscience, doth not make thee seek 
 life by the law. The heart of man is the seat 
 of the law. This being so, the understanding 
 and conscience must needs be in danger of 
 being bound by the law. Man is a. law unto 
 himself, and showeth that the works of the 
 law are written in his heart.^ Now, the law 
 being thus nearly .related to man, it easily 
 takes hold of the understanding and conscience ; 
 by which hold, if it be not quickly broken off 
 by the promise and grace of the Gospel, it is 
 captivated to the works of the law. For con- 
 science is such a thing that, if it once be pos- 
 sessed with a doctrine, yea, though but with 
 the doctrine of an idol, it will cleave so fast 
 thereto that nothing but an hand from heaven 
 can loosen it ; and if it be not loosed, no Gos- 
 pefcan be there embraced. Conscience is little 
 ease if man resist it, whether it be rightly or 
 wrongly informed. How fast then will it hold 
 when it knows it cleaves to the law of God I 
 Upon this account the condition of the im- 
 
962 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 believer is most miserable; for not having 
 faith in the Gospel of grace, through which is 
 tendered the forgiveness of sins, they like men 
 drowning hold fast that which they have found ; 
 which being the law of God, they follow it ; 
 but because righteousness flies from them, they 
 at last are found only accursed and condemned 
 to hell by the law. Take heed, therefore, that 
 thy conscience be not entangled by the law. 
 
 8. Take heed of fleshly wisdom. Reasoning 
 suiteth much with the law. I thought, verily, 
 that I ought to do many things against the 
 name of Jesus, and so to have sought for life 
 by the law; my reason told me so; for thus 
 will reason say. Here is a righteous law, the 
 rule of life and death. Besides, what can be 
 better than to love God and my neighbour as 
 myself? Again, God hath thus commanded, 
 and his commands are just and good ; there- 
 fore doubtless life must come by the law. 
 Further, to love God and keep the law are 
 better than to sin and break it; and seeing 
 men lost heaven by sin, how should they get 
 it again but by working righteousness? Be- 
 sides, God is righteous, and will therefore bless 
 the righteous. Oh the hojiness of the law I 
 It mightily swayeth with 'reason when a man 
 addicteth himself to religion. The light of 
 nature teacheth that sin is not -the way to 
 heaven; and seeing no word doth more con- 
 demn sin than the words of the ten command- 
 ments, it must needs be, therefore, the most 
 perfect rule for holiness. Wherefore, saith 
 reason, the safest way to life and glory is to 
 keep myself close to the law. But a little 
 here to correct. Though the law indeed be 
 holy, yet the mistake as to the matter in hand 
 is as wide as the east from the west. For 
 therefore the law can do thee no good because 
 it is holy and just, for what can he that hath 
 sinned expect from a law that is holy and 
 just? Naught but condemnation. Let them 
 lean to it while they will : " There is one that 
 accuseth you, (saith Christ,) even Moses, in 
 whom you trust." 
 
 4. Man's ignorarnce of the Gospel suiteth 
 well with the doctrine of the law. They, 
 through their being jgnorant of God's right- 
 eousness, fall in love with that. Yea, they do 
 not only suit, but when joined in act the one 
 gtrengtheneth the other; that is, the law 
 etrengtheneth our blindness, and bindeth'the 
 veil more fast about the face of our souls. 
 The law suiteth much our blindness of mind, 
 for until this day remains the veil untaken 
 away in the reading of the Old Testament, 
 
 especially in the reading of that which was 
 written and engraven in stones — to wit, the 
 ten commandments, that perfect rule for holi- 
 ness; which veil is done away in Christ. But 
 even to this day, when Moses is read, the veil 
 is over their hearts; they are blinded by the 
 duties enjoined by the law from the sight and 
 hopes of forgiveness of sins by grace. Never- 
 theless, when it (the heart) shall turn to the 
 Lord, the veil shall be taken away. The law 
 then doth veil the heart from Christ, and 
 holds the man so down to doing and working 
 for the kingdom of heaven that he quite for- 
 gets the forgiveness of sins by mercy through 
 Christ. Now this veiling or blinding by the 
 law is occasioned — 
 
 1st. By reason of the contrariety of doc- 
 trine that is in the law to that which was in 
 the Gospel. The law requireth obedience to 
 all its demands, upon pain of everlasting 
 burnings: the Gospel promiseth forgiveness 
 of sins to him that worketh not, but believeth. 
 Now the heart caunot receive both these doc- 
 trines; it must either let go doing or believ- 
 ing. If it believe, it is dead to doing ; if it be 
 set to doing for life, it is dead to believing. 
 Besides, he that shall think both to do knd be- 
 lieve for justification before God from the 
 curse, he seeks for life but, as it were, by the 
 law; he seeks for life but, as it were, by Christ; 
 and he, being direct in neither, shall for cer- 
 tain be forsaken of either. Wherefore? Be- 
 cause " he seeks it not by faith, but, as it were, 
 by the works of the law.'' 
 
 2dly. The law veils and blinds by that guilt 
 and hjorror for sin that seizeth the soul by the 
 law; for guilt, when charged close upon the 
 conscience, is attended with such aggravations^ 
 and that with such power and evidence, that 
 the conscience cannot hear nor see nor feel 
 any thing else but that. When David's guilt 
 for murder and blood did roar by the law 
 in his conscience, notwithstanding he knew 
 much of the grace of the Gospel, he could 
 hear nothing else but terror: the sound of 
 blood, the murder of Uriah, was the only 
 noise that he heard. Wherefore he crieth to 
 God that he would make him hear the Gos- 
 pel: "Make me (saith he) to hear jay and 
 gladness, that the bones which thou hast 
 broken may rejoice." And as he could not 
 hear, so neither could he see; the law had 
 struck him deaf and blind. "I am (saith 
 he) not able to look up," not up to Christ 
 for mercy: As if David had said, Lord, 
 .the guilt of sin which is by the ■ law makes 
 
OF JUSTIFICATION BY AN IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 963 
 
 Buch a noise and horror in my conscience 
 that I can neither hear nor see the word 
 of peace unless it is spoken with a voice from 
 heaven. The serpents that bit the people in 
 the days of old were types of guilt and sin. 
 Now th^se were fiery serpents, and such as (I 
 think) could fly; wherefore, in my judgment, 
 they stung the people about their faces, and so 
 swelled up their eyes, which made it the more 
 difficult for them to look up to the brazen ser- 
 pent, which was the type of Christ. Just so 
 doth sin by the law do now ; it stings the soul, 
 the very face of the soul, which is the cause 
 that looking up to Jesus or believing in him 
 is so difficult a task in time of terror of con- 
 science. 
 
 3dly. This is not only so at present, but so 
 long as guilt is on the conscience, so long re- 
 mains the blindness ; for guilt Standing before 
 the soul, the grace of God is intercepted, even 
 as the sun is hid from the sight of mine eyes 
 by the cloud that cometh between. "My sin 
 (said David) is ever before me," and so kept 
 other things out of his sight — sin, I say, when 
 applied by the law. When the law came to 
 Paul he remained without sight until the good 
 man came unto him with the word of forgive- 
 ness of sins. 
 
 4thly. Again, where the law comes with 
 power, there it begettethmany doubts against 
 the grace of God, for it is only a revealer of 
 sin and the ministration of death; that is, a 
 doctrine that showeth sin and condemneth for 
 the same. Hence, therefore, as was hinted be- 
 fore, the law being the revealer of sin, where 
 that is embraced, there sin must needs be dis- 
 covered and condemned, and the soul for the 
 sake of that. Further, it is not only a re- 
 vealer of sin, but that which makes it abound. 
 So that the closer any man sticks to the law 
 for life, the faster sin doth ' cleave to him. 
 " That law (saith Paul) which was ordained to 
 be unto life I found to be unto death," for by 
 the law I became a notorious sinner. I thought 
 to have obtained life by obeying the law, but 
 sin, taking occasion by the commandment, de- 
 ceived rne, and thereby slew me. A strange 
 way of deceivableness, and it is hid from the 
 most of men ! but, as I have already told you, 
 you see how it comes to pass. 
 
 (1.) Man by nature is carnal, and the law 
 itself is spiritual. Now, betwixt these two 
 ariseth great difference ; the law is exceeding 
 good, the heart exceeding bad : these two op- 
 posites therefore (the heart so abiding) can by 
 ao means agree. 
 
 (2.) Therefore, at every approach of the law 
 to the heart, with intent to impose duty or to 
 condemn for the neglect thereof, at every such 
 approach the heart starteth back, especially 
 when the law comes home indeed and is 
 heard in his own language. This being thus, 
 the conscience perceiving this is a fault, begins 
 "to trenjble at the sense of judgment ; the law 
 still continueth to command to duty and to 
 condemn for the neglect thereof. From this 
 struggling of these two opposites arise, I say, 
 those doubts and fears that drive the heart 
 into unbelief; and that makes it so blind to 
 the work of the Gospel that it can neither see 
 nor understand any thing but that it is a sin- 
 ner, and that the law must he fulfilled by it 
 if ever it be saved. 
 
 5. But again, another thing that hath great 
 influence upon the heart to make it lean to 
 the law for life is, the false names that Satan 
 and his instruments have put upon it; such 
 as these — to call the law the Gospel ; conscience, 
 the Spirit of Christ ; works, faith ; and the like. 
 With these weak consciences have been might- 
 ily pestered, yea, thousands deluded and de- 
 stroyed. This was the way whereby the en- 
 emy attempted to overthrow the Church of 
 Christ of old ; as, namely, those in Galatia 
 and at Corinth. &c. I say, by the feigned 
 notion that the law was the Gospel, the Gala- 
 tians were removed from the Gospel of Christ, 
 and Satan, by appropriating to himself and 
 his ministers the names and titles of the min- 
 isters of the Lord Jesus, prevailed with many 
 at Corinth to forsake Paul and his doctrine. 
 Where the Lord Jesus hath been preached'in 
 truth and something of his doctrine known, it 
 is not there so easy to turn people aside from 
 the sound of the promise of grace, unless it be 
 by the noise and sound of a Gospel. There- 
 fore, I say, the false apostles came thus among 
 the churches ; another Gospel, another Gos- 
 pel, which, in truth, s^ith Paul, " is not an- 
 other, but some would pervert the Gospel of 
 Christ," and thrust that out of doors, by gild- 
 ing the law with that glorious name. So 
 again for the ministers of Satan, they mu.=t be 
 called the apostles of Christ and ministers of 
 righteousness ; which thing, I say, is of great 
 force, especially being accompanied with so 
 holy and just a doctrine as the word of the law 
 is ; for what better to the eye of reason than 
 to love God above all, and our neighbour as 
 ourselves ? which doctrine, being the scope of 
 the ten words given on Sinai, no man can con- 
 tradict, for in truth they are holy and good 
 
964 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE ■ WORKS. 
 
 But here is the poison — to set this law in the 
 room of a mediator, as those do that seek to 
 stand just before God thereby ; and then noth- 
 ing is so dishonourable to Christ nor of so 
 soul-destroying a nature as the law ; for that 
 thus placed hath not only power when souls 
 are deluded, but power to delude by its real 
 holiness the understanding, conscience, and 
 reason of a man, and by giving the soul a sem- 
 blance of heaven to cause it to throw away 
 Christ, grace, and faith. Wherefore it be- 
 liooveth all men to tal^e heed of names and of 
 appearances of holiness and goodness. 
 
 Lastly. Satan will yet go further; he will 
 make use of something that may be at a dis- 
 tance from a moral precept, and .therewith 
 bring souls under the law. Thus he did with 
 Bome of old : he did not make the Galatians 
 fall from Christ by virtue of one of the ten 
 words, but by something th.at was aloof of — by 
 circumcision, days and months, that were 
 Levitical ceremonies ; for he knows it is no 
 matter nor in what testament he found it, if he 
 can therewith hide Christ from the soul : " Be- 
 hold I, Paul, say unto you that if you be 
 circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing; 
 for I testify again to every man that is cir- 
 cumcised that he is a debtor to ^the whole 
 law." Why so, seeing circumcision is not 
 one of the ten words? Why, because they 
 did it in conscience to God, to stand just, 
 before him thereby. Now, here we may be- 
 hold much cunning of the devil; he begins 
 with some at a distance from that law which 
 curseth, and so by little and little bringeth them 
 under it ; even as by circumcision the Gala- 
 tians were at length brought under the law 
 that condemneth all men to the wrath and 
 judgment of God. I have often wondered 
 when I have read how God cried out against 
 the Jews for observing his own command- 
 ment, (Isa. i. ;) but I perceive by Paul that by 
 these things a man may rej.ect and condemn 
 the Lord Jesus, which those do that for life 
 set up aught, whether moral or other institu- 
 tion, besides the faith of Jesus. 
 
 Let men, therefore, warily distinguish be- 
 twixt names and things, between statutes and 
 commandments, lest they by doing the one 
 transgress against the other. Study, there- 
 fore, the nature and end of the law with the 
 nature and end of the Gospel; and if thou 
 canst keep them distinct in thy understand- 
 ing and conscience, neither names nor things, 
 neither statutes nor commandments, can draw 
 thee from the faith of the Gospel. 
 
 And that thou mayest yet be helped in this 
 matter, I shall now come to speak to the 
 second conclusion, viz. : 
 
 That men can be justified from the curse 
 before God while sinners in themselves by no 
 other righteousness than that long «go per- 
 formed by and remaining with the person of 
 Christ. 
 
 For the better prosecuting of this position I 
 shall observe two things: 
 
 1. That the righteousness by which we 
 stand just before God from the curse was per- 
 formed by the person of Christ. 
 
 2. That this righteousness is inherent only 
 in him. 
 
 I. As to the first of these I shall be but 
 brief. 
 
 Now that the righteousness that justifieth us 
 was performed long ago by the person of 
 Christ, besides what hath already been said, is 
 further manifest thus : 
 
 1. He is said to have purged our sin? by 
 HIMSELF : " When he had by himself purged 
 our sins, he sat down on the right hand of 
 God." I have showed that in Christ, for the 
 accomplishing of righteousness, there were 
 both doing and suflFering — doing, to fulfil all 
 the commands of the law ; suffering, to answer 
 its penalty for sin. The second is that which, 
 in this to the Hebrews, is in special intended 
 by the apostle, where he saith he hath 
 ''purged our sins" — that is, by his precious 
 blood, for it is that alone can purge our sins, 
 either out of the sight of God or out of the 
 sight of the soul. Now this was done by him- 
 self, saith the apostle ; that is, in or by his 
 personal doings and sufferings. And hence it 
 is that when God had rejected the offerings of 
 the law he said, "Lo, I come I A body hast 
 thou prepared me to do thy will, O God." 
 Now by this will of God (saith the Scripture) 
 we are sanctified. By what will? Why, by 
 the " offering up of the body of Jesus Christ," 
 for that was God's will, that thereby we might 
 be an habitation for him. As he saith again, 
 " Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people 
 with his own blood, suffered without the 
 gate." 
 
 2. As it is said he hath " purged our sins by" 
 himself, so it was by himself at once : " For by 
 one offering hath he perfected for ever them 
 that are sanctified." Now by this word, at 
 once, or by one offering, are cut off all those im- 
 aginary sufferings of Christ which foolish men 
 conceive of; as that he in all ages hath suf- 
 fered or suffereth for sin in us. No, he did 
 
OF JUSTIFICATION BY AN IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 9C5 
 
 this work but mce : " Not that he should offer 
 himself often, as the high priest entered into 
 the holy .place every year, with the blood of 
 others ; for then must he often have suffered 
 since the foundation of the world. But now 
 once, in the end of the world, (in the time of 
 Pilate,) hath he appeared to put away sin by 
 the sacrifice of himself." Mark how to the 
 purpose the Holy Ghost expresseth it: he hath 
 suffered but once ; and that once, now; novj once. 
 Now he is God and man in one person ; now he 
 hath taken the body that was prepared of God ; 
 now once, " in the end of the world, hath he 
 appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of 
 himself," by the offering up of the body of 
 Jesus Christ once for all. 
 
 3. It further appears in that by his resurrec- 
 tion from the dead the mercies of God are made 
 sure to the soul, God declaring by that, as was 
 said before, how well pleased he is by the un- 
 dertaking of his Son for the salvation of the 
 world: "And as concerning that he raised him 
 up from the dead, now no more to return to 
 corruption, he said on this wise, I will give 
 thee the sure mercies of David." For Christ 
 being clothed with man's flesh, and undertak- 
 ing for man's sins, did then confirm all sure to 
 us by his resurrection from the dead. So that 
 by the rising of that man again mercy and 
 grace are made sure to him that hath believed 
 on Jesus. Wherefore, from these things, to- 
 gether with what hath been discovered about 
 his addressing himself to the work, I conclude 
 that men can be justified from the curse before 
 God while sinners in themselves by no other 
 righteousness than that long ago performed by 
 the person of Christ. Now the conclusion is 
 true from all show of contradiction, for the 
 Holy Ghost saith, He hath done it ; hath done 
 it by himself, and that by the will of God, at 
 once, even then when he took the prepared 
 body upon him. " By the will of God we are 
 sanctified, through the offering up of the body 
 of' Jesus Christ once for all." 
 
 II. This being so, the second position is also 
 manifest — namely, that the righteousness by 
 which we stand just from the curse before God 
 is only inherent in Jesus Christ. For if he 
 hath undertaken to bring in a justifying right- 
 eousness, and that by works and merits of his 
 own, then that righteousness must of necessity 
 be inherent in him alone, and ours only by im- 
 putation ; and hence it is called, in that 5th to 
 the Romans, the gift, the gift of righteousness, 
 because neither wrought nor obtained by 
 works of ours, but bestowed upon us as a gar- 
 
 ment already prepared by the mercy of God in 
 
 Christ. 
 
 There are four things that confirm this for a 
 truth : 
 
 1. This righteousness is said to be the right- 
 eousness of one, not of many ; I mean, of ona 
 properly and personally, as his own particular 
 personal righteousness. The gift of grace, 
 which is the gift of righteousness, it is by one 
 man, Jesus Christ : " Much more they that re- 
 ceive abundance of grace and of the gift of 
 righteousness shall reign in life by one Jesus 
 Christ. Therefore, as by the offence of one 
 judgment came upon all to condemnation, 
 even so by the righteousness of one the free 
 gift came upon all men to justification of lil'e; 
 for as by one man's disobedience many were 
 made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall 
 many be made righteous." Mark, the right- 
 eousness of one, the obedience of orec — the right- 
 eousness of one man, of one man, Jems. Where- 
 fore, the righteousness that justifieth a sinner, 
 it is personally and, inherently the righteous- 
 ness of that person only who by works and acts 
 of obedience did complete it, even the obedi- 
 ence of one, of one man, Jesus Christ ; and so 
 ours only by imputation. It is improper to 
 say Adam's eating of the forbidden fruit was 
 personally and inherently an act of mine : it 
 was personally his, and imputatively mine; 
 personally his, because he did it ; imputatively 
 mine, because I was then in him. Indeed, the 
 effects of his personal eating is found in my 
 person — to wit, defilement and pravity. The 
 effects also of the imputation of Christ's per- 
 sonal righteousness is truly found in those that 
 are in him by electing love and unfeigned faith, 
 even holy and heavenly dispositions; but a 
 personal act is one thing, and the effects of 
 that act another. The act may be done by and 
 be only inherent in one; the imputation of the 
 merit of the act, as also the effects of the same, 
 maybe in a manner universal, extending itself 
 unto the most or all. This the cases of Adam 
 and Christ doth manifest : the sin of one is 
 imputed to his posterity ; the righteousness of 
 the other is reckoned the righteousness of those 
 that are his. 
 
 2. The righteousness by which we stand just 
 before God from the curse is called " the right- 
 eousness of the Lord, the righteousness of 
 God,' the righteousness of Jesus Christ," &c., 
 and that by way of opposition to the right- 
 eousness of God's own holy law : " That I 
 might be found in him, not having on my own 
 righteousness, which is of the law, but tliai 
 
dm 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 which is through the faith of Christ, the right- 
 eousness which is of God by faith." Now, by 
 this opposition (as by what was said before) 
 the truth is made exceedingly clear; for by 
 these words, " not having my own righteous- 
 ness,'' is not only excluded what qualifications 
 we suppose to be in- us, but the righteousness 
 through which we stand just in the sight of 
 God by them is limited and confined to a per- 
 son absolutely distinct — distinct, I say, as to 
 his person and performances who here is 
 called God and Jesus Christ ; as he saith also 
 in the prophet Isaiah : " In the Lord shall all 
 the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory." 
 In the Lord, not in the law ; in the Lord, not 
 in themselves. "And their righteousness is 
 of me, saith the Lord." Of me, not of them- 
 selves; of me, not of the law. And again, 
 "Surely shall one say. In the Lord have I 
 righteousness and strength." Now, as I have 
 already said, all this is to be understood of the 
 righteousness that was fulfilled by acts and 
 works of obedience, which the person of the 
 Son of God accomplished in the days of his 
 llesh in the world — by that man, I say, " thfe 
 Ijord our righteousness." Christ indeed is 
 naturally and essentially righteousness ; but 
 as he is simply such, so he justifieth no man ; 
 for then he need not to bear our sins in his 
 flesh and become obedient in all points, of the 
 law for us ; but the righteousness by which we 
 stand just before God is a righteousness con- 
 sisting of works and deeds, of the doings and 
 sufferings of such a person, who also is essen- 
 tially righteousness. And hence, as before I 
 have hinted, we are said to be justified by the 
 obedience and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 by the doings and sufierings of the Son of God. 
 And hence again it is that he first is called 
 King of righteousness ; that is, " a King of 
 righteousness," as God-man, which of necessity 
 supposeth his personal performances, and after 
 that " King of peace ;" for what he is naturally 
 and eternally in his Godhead he is not to us, 
 but himself; but what he is actively and by 
 works he is not -to himself, but to us. So, 
 then, he is neither King of righteousness nor 
 of peace to us, as he is only the eternal Son of 
 the Father, without his being considered as 
 our priest and undertaker ; he hath obtained 
 (by works of righteousness) eternal redemption 
 for us. So, then, the righteousness by which 
 we stand just before God is a righteousness in- 
 herent (only) in Christ, because a righteous-' 
 ness performed by him alone. 
 Now, that righteousness by which we stand 
 
 just before God must be a righteousness con- 
 sisting of personal performances. The reason 
 is, because persons had sinned. This the 
 nature of justice requireth, that "since by 
 man came death, by man shall come also the 
 resurrection from the dead." The angels 
 therefore, for this very reason, abide under 
 the chains of everlasting darkness, because ho 
 " took not hold on them " — that is, by fulfill- 
 ing the righteousness for them in their nature. 
 That is a, blessed word: "To you, to you, is 
 born this day in the city of David a Saviour,, 
 which is Christ the Lord." To you, not to 
 angels ; to ymi is born a Saviour. 
 
 3. It is yet further evident that the right- 
 eousness by which we stand just before God 
 from the curse is a righteousness inherent not 
 in us, but Christ, because it is a righteousness 
 besides and without the law itself. Now, take 
 away the law and you take away the rule of 
 righteousness. Again, take away the rule and 
 the act as to us must cease: "But now the 
 righteousness of God without the law is mani- 
 fested, being witnessed by the law and the 
 prophets.'.' So, then, by such a righteousness 
 we are justified as is not within the power of 
 the law to command of us. 
 
 Question. But what love is that which hath 
 not power to cominand our obedience in the 
 point of our justification with God? 
 
 Answer. The moral law, or that called the 
 ten commandments. Therefore we are neither 
 commanded to love God or our neighbour as 
 the means or part of our justifying righteous- 
 ness. Nay, he that shall attempt to do these 
 things, to be delivered from the curse thereby, 
 by the Scripture is holden accursed of God : 
 " As many as are of the works (or duties) of 
 the law are under the curse," &c., because we 
 are justified, not by that of the law, but by the 
 righteousness of God, without the law — that is, 
 without its commanding of us, without our 
 obedience to it, "Freely by his grace, through 
 the redemption that is in Jesus Christ, whota 
 God hath set forth to be a propitiation, through 
 faith in his blood." This is the righteousness 
 of God without the law ; that is, without any 
 of our obedience to the law. Wherefore, the 
 righteousness by which we stand just in the 
 sight of God cannot be inherent in us, but in 
 Christ the King thereof. 
 
 4. This is further made apparent by the ca- 
 pacity that God will consider that soul in to 
 whom he imputeth justifying righteousness; 
 and that is as one that worketh not, as one 
 that stands ungodly in the judgment of the 
 
OF JUSTIFICATION BY AN IMPUTED RIGETEOUSNESS. 
 
 96? 
 
 law. But this I have handled before, and 
 therefore shall pass it here. 
 
 5. To conclude. If any works of ours could 
 justify us before God, they would be works 
 after faith received, but it is evident that these 
 do not. Therefore the righteousness that jus- 
 tifies ns from the curse before God is a right- 
 eousness inherent only in Christ. 
 
 That works after faith do not justify us from 
 the curse in the sight of God is evident — 
 
 1. Because no works of the saints can be 
 justified by the moral law, considering it as 
 the law of works for life, for this must stand 
 a truth for ever. Whatsoever justifieth us 
 must be justified by the moral law, for that it 
 is that pronounceth the curse; unless then 
 that curse be taken away by the work, the 
 work cannot justify us before God. But the 
 curse cannot be taken away but by a righteous- 
 ness that is first approved of by that law that 
 socur-seth; for if that shall yet complain for 
 want of a full satisfaction, the penalty rernain- 
 eth. This is evident to reason, and confirmed 
 hy the authority of God's word^ as hath been 
 already proved, because the- law, once broken, 
 pronounceth death, expecteth death, and ex- 
 ecuteth the same on him that will stand to the 
 judgment of the law. But no work of a be- 
 liever is capable of answering this demand of 
 the law ; therefore none of his works can justify 
 him before God, for the law that notwithstand- 
 ing complaineth. 
 
 2. No works of faith can justify us from the 
 curse before God, because of the want of per- 
 fection that is in the greatest faith in us. Now 
 if faith be not perfect, the work ^cannot be 
 perfect — I mean with that perfection as to 
 please divine justice. Consider the person, 
 one that hath to do with God immediately by 
 himself. Now, that faith is not capable of 
 this kind of perfection it is evident, because 
 when men here know most they know but in 
 part. Now, he that knows but in part can do 
 but in part, and he that doth but in part hath 
 a part wanting in the judgment of the justice 
 of God. So, then, when thou hast done all 
 thou canst, thou hast done but part of thy 
 duty, and so art short of justification from the 
 curse by what thou hast done. 
 
 3. Besides, it looks too like a monster that 
 the works of faith should justify us before 
 God, because then faith is turned, as it were, 
 with its neck behind it. Faith, in its own 
 nature and natural course, respecteth the 
 mercy of God through the mediator Jesus 
 Christ, and as such its virtue and excellency 
 
 is to expect justification by grace through 
 him ; but by this doctrine faith is turned 
 round about, and now makes a life out of what 
 itself hath done. But methinks faith should 
 be as noble as its fruits, that being the first, 
 and they but the fruits of that. 
 
 Besides, seeing the work is only good be- 
 cause it floweth from faith, (for "faith puri- 
 fieth the heart,") therefore faith is it that 
 justifieth all its works. If, then, we be justified 
 by either, it is by faith, and not by his works, 
 unless we will say there is more virtue in the 
 less than in the greater. Now, what is faith 
 but a believing, a trusting, a relying act of the 
 soul? What, then, must it rely upon or trust 
 in ? Not in itself— that is without Scripture ; 
 not in its works — they are inferior to itself: 
 besides, this is the way to make even the 
 works of faith the mediator between God and 
 the soul, and so by them thrust Christ out of 
 doors. Therefore it must trust in Christ ; and 
 if so, then no man can be justified from the 
 curse before God by the works that flow from 
 faith. 
 
 4. To put all out of doubt, the saint when 
 he hath done what he can to bring forth good 
 works by faith, yet he dares not show these 
 works before God but as they pass through the 
 mediator Christ, but as they are washed in the 
 blood of the Lamb. And therefore Peter 
 saith those sacrifices of ours that are truly 
 spiritual are only then accepted of God when 
 offered up by Jesus Christ. And therefore it is 
 said again that the prayers of the saints, which 
 are the fruits of faith, " come up before the 
 throne of God through the angel's hand" — 
 that is, through the hand of Christ, through 
 his golden censer, perfumed with his incense, 
 made acceptable by his intercession. 
 
 It is said in the hook of the Eevelationa 
 that it is granted to the bride, the Lamb's 
 wife, that she should be "arrayed in fine linen, 
 clean and white," which "white linen is the 
 righteousness of saints." This fine linen, in 
 my judgment, is the works of godly men, their 
 works that sprang from faith. But how came 
 they clean? How came they white? Not 
 simply because they were the works of faith. 
 But mark, "They washed their robes and 
 made them white in the blood of the Lamb; 
 and therefore they stand before the throne of 
 God." Yea, therefore it is that their good 
 works stand there too. 
 
 I conclude, then, our persons are justified 
 while we are sinners in ourselves : our workSj 
 even the works of faith, are no otherwise ac- 
 
968 
 
 SUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 cepted but as they come through Jesus Christ, 
 even through his intercessiou and blood. So, 
 then, Christ doth justify both our person and 
 works, not by way of approbation, as we stand 
 in ourselves or works before God, but by pre- 
 senting of us to his Father by himself, wash- 
 ing what we are and have from guilt in his 
 blood, and clothing us with his own perform- 
 ances. This is the cause of our acceptance 
 with God, and that our works are not cast 
 forth of his presence. 
 
 Use. — Is justifying righteousness to be 
 found in the person of Christ pnly? Then 
 this should admonish us to take heed of seek- 
 ing it in ourselves — that is, of working right- 
 eousness, thereby to appease the justice of 
 God, lest by so doing we affront and blaspheme 
 the righteousness of Christ. He that shall go 
 about to establish hisown righteousness, he as 
 yet doth defiance to that which is of God, of 
 God's appointing, of God's providing, and that 
 only wherewith the justice of the law must be 
 well pleased. Wherefore, take heed, I say, of 
 doing such a thing, lest it provoke the eyes of 
 the Lord's glory. " When I shall say to the 
 righteous that he shall surely live, if he trust 
 to his own righteousness and commit iniquity 
 all his righteousness shall not be remembered, 
 but for his iniquity that he hath committed, 
 he shall die for it." Mark, though he be 
 righteous, yea, though he have a promise of 
 life, yet he shall die. But why? Because he 
 sinned against the Lord by trusting to his own 
 righteousness ; therefore he must die for it. 
 
 There are some things that will preserve a 
 man from splitting upon this rock; as — 
 
 1. Get good acquaintance with the covenant 
 of grace, and of the persons concerned in the 
 conditions of that covenant. The conditions 
 (of that covenant) are — that a righteousness 
 shall be brought into the world that shall 
 please the justice of God and answer ■( and so 
 remove the curse of) the law. Now, he that 
 doth perform this condition is Christ ; there- 
 fore the covenant is not immediately with 
 man, but with Him that will be the mediator 
 betwixt God and man. 
 
 " As for thee, by the blood of thy covenant," 
 (speaking of Christ.) So then Christ, the man 
 Christ, is he who was to bring in these con- 
 ditions — to wit, everlasting righteousness. 
 And hence it is that God hath said, " Christ 
 shall be the covenant of the people ;" that is, 
 he shall be our condition to God-ward. He 
 therefore is all our righteousness as to the 
 point of our justification before God; he is 
 
 the covenant of the people as well as the light 
 of the Gentiles ; for as no man can see but in 
 the light of his Spirit, so no man can stand 
 but in and by him : " He is the covenant of 
 the people, the conditions and qualifications 
 of the people." So that to God-ward " Christ 
 is all in all," and no man any thing at all. 
 " He hath made with me an everlasting cov- 
 enant ;" with me as I stand in my head, Christ, 
 ' who, because he hath brought in everlasting 
 righteousness, therefore hath removed the 
 curse of the law. Wherefore he adds, this 
 covenant " is ordered in all things and sure," 
 because all points that concern me, as to re- 
 demption from the curse, are taken away by 
 Christ, (as before is discoursed.) Look, then, 
 upon Christ as the man, mediator, undertaker, 
 and accomplisher of that righteousness in him- 
 self wherein thou must stand just before God, 
 and that he is the covenant or conditions of the 
 people to God-ward, always having in himself 
 the righteousness that the law is well pleased 
 with, and always presenting himself before 
 God as our only righteousness. 
 
 2. That this truth may be the more heartily 
 inquired into by thee, consider thine own per- 
 fections ; I say, study how polluted thou art, 
 even from the heart throughout. No man 
 hath an high esteem of the Lord Jesus that is 
 a stranger to his own sore. "Christ's Church is 
 an hospital of sick, wounded, and afldicted peo- 
 ple, even as when he was in the world the 
 afiiicted and distressed set the highest price 
 upon Jesus Christ. Why? They were sick 
 and he was the physician, but the whole have 
 no need q|' him. And just thus it is now: 
 Christ is offered to the world to be the right- 
 eousness and life of sinners ; but no man will 
 regard him save he that seeth his own pollution, 
 he that seeth he cannot answer the demands 
 of the law, he that sees himself from top to 
 toe polluted, and that therefore his service 
 cannot be clean as to justify him from the 
 curse before God; he is the man that must 
 needs die in despair and be damned, or must 
 trust in Jesus Christ for life. 
 
 Further, this rule I would have all receive 
 that come to Jesus Christ for life and salva- 
 tion: 
 
 1. Not to stick at the acknowledgment of 
 sin, but to make that of it which the law makes 
 of it. "Acknowledge thine iniquity," saitk 
 the Lord. This is a hard pinch, (I know what 
 I say,) for a man to fall down under the sense 
 of sins by acknowledging them to be what the 
 Lord saith they are — ^to acknowledge them, I 
 
OF JUSTIFICATION BY AN IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 969 
 
 Bay, in their own defiling and polluting nature ; 
 to acknowledge tliem in their unreasonable and 
 aggravated circumstances; to acknowledge 
 them in their God-offending and soul-destroy- 
 ing nature, especially when the conscience is 
 burdened with the guilt of them. Yet this is 
 duty : " If we confess our sins, he is faithful 
 and just to forgive ;" yea, to this is annexed 
 the promise, " He that confesseth and forsaketh 
 them shall find mercy." This made David as 
 it were lay claim to the mercy of God. " Wash 
 me thoroughly," said he, " from mine iniquity, 
 and cleanse me from my sin, for I acknowledge 
 my transgression, and my sin is ever before 
 me." Though then thou art to blush and be 
 ashamed when thou rememberest thy sins and 
 iniquities, yet do not hide them: "He that 
 hideth his sins shall not prosper." Do not 
 lessen them ; do not speak of them before God 
 after a mincing way : " Acknowledge thine in- 
 iquities, that thou hast sinned against the Lord 
 thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the 
 strangers under every green tree ; and ye have 
 not obeyed my voice, saith the Lord." 
 
 2. If we would come to Christ aright, we 
 must only acknowledge our sins, we must only 
 acknowledge them, and there stop ; stop, I say, 
 from attempting to do aught to present us 
 good before God, but only to receive the mercy 
 offered. Only acknowledge thine iniquities. 
 Men are subject to two extremes^ — either to 
 confess sins notionally and by the halves, or 
 else, together with the confession of them, to 
 labour to do some holy work, thereby to ease 
 their burdened conscience and beget faith in 
 the mercy of God. Now, both these are 
 dangerous and very ungodly — dangerous, be- 
 cause the wound is healed falsely; and un- 
 godly, because the command is transgressed. 
 Only acknowledge thy sin, and there stand (as 
 David) till thy guilt is taken away. Joshua 
 stood before the angel from top to toe in filthy 
 garments till the Lord put other clothes upon 
 him. In the matter of thy justification thou 
 mu.st know nothing, see nothing, hear nothing 
 but thine own sins and Christ's righteousness. 
 Only acknowledge thine iniquities. Now the 
 Saviour and the soul come rightly together; 
 the Saviour to do his work, which is to spread 
 his skirt over the sinner ; and the sinner to re- 
 ceive by believing this blessed imputed right- 
 eousness. And hence the Church, when she 
 comes to God, lieth down in her shame, and 
 her confusion covereth her, and so lieth till 
 pardon comes. 
 
 Use II.— I cime now to the second use: 
 
 Have faith in Christ. But what are we to 
 understand by faith ? 
 
 Anmier. Faith importeth as much as to say, 
 Receive, embrace, accept of or trust in the 
 benefit offered ; all which are (by holy men of 
 God) words used on purpose to show that the 
 mercy of God, the forgiveness of sins, and 
 eternal life are not to be had by doing or by 
 the law, but by receiving, embracing, accept- 
 ing, or trusting to the mercy of God through 
 Christ : " We believe that through the grace of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even 
 as they." Thus you see what the Gospel is, 
 and what faith doth do in the salvation of the 
 soul.' 
 
 Now, that faith might be helped in this 
 work, (for great are they that oppose it,) there- 
 fore the Scriptures (the word of truth) have 
 presented us with the invitation in most plain 
 and suitable sentences ; ^s, that " Christ came 
 into the world to save sinners ; Christ died for 
 our sins; Christ gave himself for our sins; 
 Christ bare our sins in his body on the tree ;" 
 and that " God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven 
 you." Further, as the invitations are plain 
 and easy, so the threatening to the opposers 
 are sore and astonishing : " He that believeth 
 not shall be damned; Because they received 
 not the love of the truth, that they might be 
 saved, God gave them up to strong delusions, 
 that they all might be damned." 
 
 Objection. But faith is said to be an act of 
 obedience. 
 
 Answer. And well it may, for it is the most 
 submitting act that a man can do ; it tliroweth 
 out all our righteousness ; it makes the soul 
 poor in itself; it liveth upon God and Christ, 
 as the alms-man doth upon his lord ; it con- 
 senteth to the Gospel, that it is true ; it giveth 
 God and Christ the glory of their mercy and 
 merit; it loveth God for his mercy and Jesus 
 Christ for his service ; whatever good it doth, 
 it still crieth. Hereby am I not justified, but 
 He that justifieth me is the Lord. 
 
 Well, but is there in truth such a thing aa 
 the obedience of faith ? Then let Christiana 
 labour to understand it, and distinguish it 
 aright, and to separate it from the law and 
 all man's righteousness; and remember that it 
 is a receiving of mercy, an embracing of for- 
 giveness, an accepting of the righteousness of 
 Christ, and a trusting to these for life. Ee- 
 member again that it putteth the soul upon 
 coming to Christ as a sinner, and to receive 
 forgiveness as a sinner, as such. We now 
 treat of justification. 
 
a 70 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 But a little to insert at large a few more of 
 the excellencies of it, and so draw towards a 
 conclusion. 
 
 First. The more thou believest for remis- 
 sion of sins, the more of the light of the glori- 
 ous Gospel of Christ thou receivest into thy 
 soul. "For therein is the righteousness of 
 God revealed from faith to faith ;" that is, ac- 
 cording to the degree of faith: little faith 
 seeth but little, but great faith seeth much; 
 and therefore he saith again that by faith we 
 Lave " access into the grace of God." The 
 reason is — 
 
 1. Because faith, having laid hold upon 
 Christ, " hath found Him in whom are hid all 
 the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." In 
 him therefore it finds and sees those heights 
 and depths of Gospel mysteries that are no- 
 where else to be found; nay, let a man be 
 destitute of faith, and it is not possible he 
 should once think of some of them. 
 
 2. By this means the Holy Spirit is plenti- 
 fully received. Now the Spirit of God -is a 
 spirit of wisdom and revelation, but yet so as 
 in the knowledge of Christ; otherwise the 
 Spirit will show to man not any mighty 
 thing, its great delight being to open Christ 
 and to reveal him unto faith. Faith indeed 
 can see him, for that is the eye of the soul ; 
 and the Spirit alone can reveal him, that 
 being the searcher of the deep things of God. 
 By these, therefore, the mysteries of heaven 
 are revealed and received ; and hence it is 
 that the mystery of the Gospel is called the 
 mystery of faith, or the mystery with which 
 faith only hath to do. Wouldst thou then 
 know the greatest things of God? Accustom 
 thyself to the obedience of faith, live upon thy 
 justifying righteousness. 
 
 And never think that to live always on 
 Christ for justification is a low and beggarly 
 thing, and, as it were, a staying at the founda- 
 tion ; for, let me tell you, depart from a sense 
 of the meritorious means of your justification 
 with God, and you will quickly grow light, 
 and frothy, and vain : besides, you will always 
 be subject to errors and delusions ; for this is 
 not to hold the head, from or " through which 
 nourishment is administered." Further, no 
 man that buildeth forsakes the good founda- 
 tion — that is, the ground of his encouragement 
 to work — for upon that is laid the stress of all, 
 and without it nothing that is framed can be 
 supported, but must inevitably fall to the 
 ground. Again, why not live upon Christ 
 always, and especially as he standeth the me- 
 
 diator between God and the soul, defending 
 thee with the merit of his blood, and covering 
 thee with his infinite righteousness from the 
 wrath of God and curse of the law? Can 
 there be any greater comfort ministered to 
 thee than to know thy person stands just 
 before God— just and justified from all. things 
 that would otherwise swallow thee up? Is 
 peace with God and assurance of heaven of so 
 little respect with thee that thou slightest the 
 very foundation thereof, even faith in the 
 blood and righteousness of Christ? And are 
 notions and whimsies of such credit with thee 
 that thou must leave the foundation to follow 
 them ? But again, what mystery is desirable 
 to be known that is not to be found in Jesus 
 Christ, as priest, prophet, or King of saints? 
 " In him is hid all the treasures of them," and 
 he alone hath the key of David to open them. 
 Paul was so taken with Jesus Christ and the 
 knowledge of this, that he was crucified for us, 
 that he desired, nay, determined, not to know 
 any thing else among the Corinthians, that 
 itched after other wisdom. 
 
 Objeciion. But I see not that in Chi-ist now 
 that I have seen in him in former days : besides, 
 I find the Spirit leads me forth to study other 
 things. 
 
 Answer. To the first part of this objection I 
 would answer several things : 
 
 1. The cause why thou seest not that' in 
 Christ now which thou hast seen in him in 
 former days is not in Christ, but in thy faith ; 
 he is the same, as fresh, and as good, and as 
 full of blessedness as when thou did most re- 
 joice in him. 
 
 3. Sin is the same as ever, and so is th« 
 curse of the law : the devil is as busy as ever, 
 and beware of the law in thy members. Re- 
 turn therefore to thy rest, soul I for he is 
 thy life and the length of thy days. 
 
 4. Guilt is to be taken off now, as it was 
 years ago ; and whether thou seest it or no, 
 thou sinnest in all thy works: how, then, 
 canst thou stand clear from guilt in thy soul 
 who neglectest to act faith in the blood of 
 the Lamb ? There thou must wash thy robes, 
 and there thou must make them white. Rev. 
 vii. 14, 15. 
 
 5. I conclude, then, thou art a polluted, sur- 
 feited, corrupted, hardened creature, whosoever 
 thou art that thus objectest. 
 
 But 1 find (say est thou) as if the Spirit led 
 me forth to study other matters. 
 
 Answer. What other matters? "What mat- 
 ters' besides, above, or beyond the glorious Gos- 
 
OF JUSTIFICATION BY AN IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 971 
 
 pel of JesUs Christ and of our acceptance witli 
 God through him? What spirit, or doctrine, 
 or wisdom soever it be that centres not in, that 
 Cometh not from, and that terminates not 
 within the bonds of the Gospel of Jesus Christ 
 ia not wortliy the study of the sons of God ; 
 neither is it food for the faith of Jesus Christ, 
 fof that is the flesh of Christ, (and that is eter- 
 nal life.) Whither will you go? Beware of 
 the spirit of Antichrist, for many false spirits 
 are gone out into the world. I told you before 
 that the Spirit of God is the spirit of wisdom 
 and revelation in the knowledge of Christ, and 
 that without and besides the Lord Jesus it dis- 
 covereth nothing ; it is sent to testify of him ; 
 it is sent to bring his words to our remem- 
 brance ; it is sent to take of his things and 
 show them unto us. Wherefore, never call 
 that the Spirit of Jesus which leads you away 
 from the blood and righteousness of Christ; 
 that is but the spirit of delusion and of the 
 devil, whose teachings end in perdition and 
 destruction. Tempt not Christ as they of old 
 did. But how did they tempt him ? Why, in 
 loathing the manna, which was the type of his 
 flesh and blood, which we are to eat of by be- 
 lieving. I say, tempt him not; lest you be de- 
 stroyed by the serpent, by the gnawing guilt 
 of sin ; for take away Christ and sin remains, 
 and there is no more sacrifice for sin ; if so, 
 thou wilt be destroyed by the destroyer, &c. 
 
 But again, Living by faith begets in the 
 heart a son-like boldness and confidence to 
 God-ward in all our Gospel-duties, under all 
 our weaknesses and under all our tempations. 
 It is a blessed thing to be privileged with an 
 holy boldness and confidence God-ward that 
 he is on our side, that he taketh part with us, 
 and that he will plead our cause with them 
 that rise up against us. But this boldness 
 faith helpeth us to do, and also manageth in 
 our heart. This is that which made Paul 
 aJways triumph and rejoice in God and the 
 L ird Jesus. He lived the life of faith, for 
 laith sets a man in the favour of God by Christ, 
 and makes a man see that what befalls him in 
 this life, it shall, through the wisdom and 
 mercy of God, not only prove for his forward- 
 ing to heaven, but to augment his glory when 
 he comes there. This man now stands on 
 high ; he lives, he is rid of slavish fears and 
 carking cares, and in all his straits he hath a 
 God to go to. Thus David, "when all things 
 looked awry upon him, " encouraged himself 
 in the Lord his God." Daniel also believed 
 in his God, and knew that all his trouble. 
 
 losses, and crosses would be abundantly made 
 up in/his God. And David said, " I had fainted 
 unless I had believed." Believing, therefore, 
 is a great preservative against all such impedi- 
 ments, and makes us confident in our God and 
 with boldness to come into his presence, claim 
 ing privilege in what he is and hath. For, by 
 faith, I say, he seeth his acceptance through 
 the Beloved, and himself interested in the 
 mercy of God and riches of Christ and glory 
 in the world to come. Thus man can look 
 upon all the dangers in hell and earth without 
 paleness of countenance; he shall meditate 
 terror with comfort, "-because he beholds the 
 King in his beauty." 
 
 Again, living by faith makes a man exercise 
 patience and quietness under all his afflictions, 
 for faith shows him that his best part is safe 
 that his soul is in God's special care and pro- 
 tection, purged from sin in the blood of Christ. 
 Faith also shows him that after a little while 
 he shall be in the full enjoyment of that which 
 now he believes is coming : " We, through the 
 Spirit, wait for the hope of righteousness by 
 faith." Wherefore, upon this ground it is that 
 James exhorteth the saints to whom he wrote 
 to patience, because they knew the harvest 
 would in due time come. Faith lodgeth the 
 soul with Christ : " I know (saith Paul) on 
 whom I have believed," and to whom I have 
 committed my soul, " and am persuaded (I be- 
 lieve it) that he is able to keep that which I 
 have committed unto him against that day." 
 Therefore it were no shame to him to wear a 
 chain for his name and sake. Oh it is a blessed 
 thing to see, I say, by the faith of the Lord 
 Jesus, that we are embarked in the same ship 
 with him; this will help us greatly both to 
 "hope and quietly wait for the salvation of 
 the Lord." 
 
 Further, I might add that living by faith ia 
 the way to receive fresh strength from heaven, 
 thereby to manage thine every- day's work with 
 life and vigour ; yea, every look by faith upon 
 Jesus Christ as thine doth this great work. It 
 is said when Paul saw the brethren that came 
 to meet him " he thanked God and tool? cour- 
 age." Oh how much more then shall the 
 Christian be blessed with fresh strength and 
 courage, even at the beholding of Christ! 
 " whom beholding as in a glass, we are changed 
 (even by beholding of him by faith in the 
 word) into the same image from glory to glory, 
 even as by the Spirit of the Lord." 
 
 But to be brief. Make conscience of th,e 
 duty of believing, and be as afraid of falling 
 
972 
 
 SUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 short liere as in auy other command of God. 
 "This is his commandment, that you believe ; " 
 believe, therefore, in the name of the Lord 
 Jesus. This is the will of God, that you be- 
 lieve ; believe, therefore, to the saving of the 
 soul. Unbelief is a fine-spun thread, not so 
 easily discerned as grosser sins, and therefore 
 that is truly the sin that doth so easily beset 
 us. The light of nature will show those sins 
 that are against the law of nature, but th-e law 
 of faith is a. command beyond what flesh or 
 nature teacheth. Therefore to live by faith is 
 so much the harder work ; yet it must be done, 
 otherwise thine other duties profit thee noth- 
 ing ; for if a man give way to unbelief, though 
 he be most frequent in all other duties besides, 
 so often as he worshippeth God in these^he yet 
 saith God is a liar in the other, even because 
 he hath not believed: " He that believeth not 
 God hath made him a liar, because he believ- 
 eth not the record that God gave of his Son. 
 And this is the record that God hath given us 
 of eternal life; and this life is in his Son." 
 So, then, when thou givest way to unbelief, 
 when thou dost not venture the salvation of 
 thy soul upon the justifying life that is in 
 Christ, that is in his blood, &c., at once thou 
 givest the lie to the whole testament of God ; 
 yea, thou tramplest upon the promise of grace, 
 and countest .this precious blood an unholy 
 and unworthy thing. Now how (thou doing 
 thus) the Lord should accept of thy other du- 
 ties, of prayer, alms, thanksgiving, self'denial, 
 or any other, will be hard for thee to prove. 
 In the mean time remember that faith pleaseth 
 God, and that without faith it is impossible to 
 please him. Remember also that for this 
 cause it was that the offering of Cain was not 
 accepted. " By faith Abel offered unto God a 
 more excellent sacrifice than Cain ; " for by 
 faith Abel first justified the promise of the 
 Messias, by whom a conquest should be ob- 
 tained over the devil and all the combination 
 of hell against us. Then he honoured Christ 
 by believing. that he was able to save him ; and 
 'in token that he believed these things indeed 
 he presented the Lord with the firstlings of 
 his flock, as a remembrance before God that 
 he believed in his Christ ; and therefore it is 
 said, " By faith he offered ; " by which means 
 the offering was accepted of God, for no man's 
 offering can be accepted with God but his that 
 stands righteous before him first. But unbe- 
 lief holdeth men under their guilt, because 
 they have not believed in Christ and by that 
 means put on his righteousness. Again, he 
 
 that believeth not hath made invalid (what in 
 him lies) the promise of God, and merits of 
 Christ, of whom the Father hath spoken so 
 worthily. Therefore what duties or acts of 
 obedience soever he performeth, God by no 
 means can be pleased with him. 
 
 By this, therefore, you see this miserable 
 state of the people that have not faith : what- 
 ever they do, they sin ; if they break the law, 
 they sin ; if they endeavour to keep it, they 
 sin. They sin, I say, upon a double account . 
 first, because they do it but imperfectly ; and, 
 secondly, because they yet stay upon that, re- 
 sisting that which is perfect, even that which 
 God hath appointed. It mattereth not (as to 
 justification from the curse) therefore, men 
 wanting faith, whether they be civil or pro- 
 fane, they are such ^s stand accursed of the 
 law, " because .they have not believed," and 
 " because they have given the lie to the truth," 
 and to the God of truth. Let all men, there- 
 fore, that would please God, make conscience 
 of believing — on pain, I say, of displeasing 
 him, on pain of being with Cain rejected, and 
 on pain of being damned in hell. "He that 
 believeth not shall be damned." Faith is the 
 very quintessence of all Gospel obedience, it 
 being that which must go before other duties, 
 and that which also must accompany whatever 
 I do in the worship of God if it be accepted of 
 him. Here you may see a reason why the 
 force and power of hell is so bent against be- 
 lief: Satan hateth all the parts of our Chris- 
 tian obedience, but the best and chiefest most. 
 And hence the apostle saith to the Thessalo- 
 nians that he sent to know their faith, lest by 
 some means the tempter have tempted them, 
 and so his labour had been in vain;- Indeed, 
 where faith is wanting or hath been destroyed, 
 all the labour is in vain ; nothing can profit 
 any man, neither as to peace with God nor the 
 acceptance of any religious duty ; and this, I 
 say, Satan knows, which makes him so to bend 
 his force against us. 
 
 There are three things in the act of believ- 
 ing which make this grace displeasing to the 
 wicked one: 
 
 1. Faith discovereth the truth of things to 
 the soul — the truth of things as, they are, 
 whether they be things that are of this world 
 or of that which is to come, the things and 
 pleasures above, and also those beneath. 
 Faith discovereth to the soul the blessedness, 
 and goodness, and durableness of the one, the 
 vanity, fdolishness, and transitoriness of the 
 other. Faith giveth credit to all things that 
 
OF JUSTIFICATION BY AN IMPUTED MIOHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 973 
 
 are -written in the law and in the prophets, 
 both 18 to the being, nature, and attributes of 
 God, the blessed undertaking of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, the glory of heaven and torments 
 of hetl, the sweetness of the promise and the 
 terror of the threatenings and curses of the 
 word, By which means Satan is greatly frus- 
 trated in his assaults when he tempteth either to 
 love this world or slight that which is to come ; 
 for he can do no great matter in these things 
 to any but those who want the faith. " In 
 vain is the snare laid in the sight of any bird ;'' 
 therefore he must first blind and hold blind 
 the minds of men, " that the light of the glor- 
 ious Gospel of Christ, who iS the image of God, 
 should not shine into them," else he can do no 
 harm to the soul. Now, faith is the eye of the 
 godly man, and that sees the truth of things, 
 whatever Satan suggests, either abotft the glory 
 of this world, the sweetness of sin, the uncer- 
 tainty of another world, or the like. 
 
 2. Faith wraps the soul up in the bundle of 
 life with God ; it encloseth it in the righteous- 
 ness of Jesus, and presents it so perfect in that, 
 that whatever he can do, with all his cunning, 
 cannot render the soul spotted or wrinkled be- 
 fore the justice of the law; yea, though the 
 man, as to his own person and acts, be full of 
 Bin from top to toe, Jesus Christ covereth all ; 
 faith sees it, and holds the soul in its godly 
 sense and comfort of it. The man, therefore, 
 standing here stands shrouded under that 
 goodly robe that makes him glisten in the eye 
 of justice ; yea, all the answer that Satan can 
 get from God against such a soul is that he 
 "doth not see iniquity in Jacob nor behold 
 perverseness in Israel ; for here Israel hath not 
 been forsaken, nor Judali of his God, of the 
 Lord of hosts, though (as to their own persons) 
 their land was filled with sin against the Holy 
 One of Israel." Thus, therefore, the soul be- 
 lieving is hid from all the power of the enemy, 
 and dwells safely under the dominion of grace. 
 
 3. Faith keeps the soul from giving credit to 
 any of his insinuations; for, whatever Satan 
 saith, either about the acceptance of my person 
 or performances, so long as I believe that both 
 are accepted of God for Christ's sake, he sug- 
 gestethto the wind; wherefore faith doth the 
 same against the devil that unbelief doth to 
 God. Doth unbelief count God a liar? Faith 
 counts the devil a liar. Doth unbelief hold 
 the soul from the mercy of God? Faith holds 
 the soul from the malice of the devil. Doth 
 unbelief quench thy graces? Faith kindleth 
 them even into a flame. Doth unbelief fill thy 
 
 soul full of sorrow? Faith fills it full of the 
 joy of the Holy Ghost. Jn a word. Doth un- 
 belief bind down thy sins upon thee? Why, 
 faith in Jesus Christ releaaeth thee of them 
 all. 
 
 4. As faith keeps the soul from giving credit 
 to the insinuations of Satan, so when he makes 
 his assaults it overmasters him and makes him 
 retreat: '■ Eesist the devil and he will flee from 
 you ; whom resist, steadfast in the faith." Be- 
 lieve, as I have already said, that God loveth 
 you, that the blood of Christ was shed for you, 
 that your person is presented complete before 
 him through the righteousness of Christ, and 
 Satan must give place; thy crediting of, the 
 Gospel makes him fly before thee ; but thou 
 must do it steadfast in the faith ; every waver 
 giveth him advantage. And indeed this is 
 the reason that the godly are so foiled with 
 his assaults ; they do not resist him steadfast 
 in the faith ; they often stagger through unbe- 
 lief. Now at every stagger he reoovereth lost 
 ground again, and giveth battle another time. 
 Besides, by this and the other stagger he 
 taketh heart to attempt by other means, and 
 so doubleth the afilictions with manifold 
 temptations. This is, I say, for want of being 
 steadfast. "Above all, taking the shield of 
 faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench 
 all the fiery darts of the wicked " — to quench 
 them, though they come from him as kindled 
 with the very fire of hell. None know save 
 him that feels it how burning hot the fiery 
 darts of Satan are, and how, when darted, they 
 kindle upon our flesh and unbelief; neither 
 can any know the power and worth of faith 
 to quench them but he that hath it and hath 
 power to act it. 
 
 5. Lastly. If justifying righteousness be 
 alon.e to be found in the person of Jesus 
 Christ, then this shows us the sad condition 
 of two sorts of men : 
 
 1. Of those that hang in doubt betwixt 
 Christ and the law. 
 
 2. Of those that do professedly make denial 
 of the sufficiency of this most blessed right- 
 eousness. 
 
 1. The first sort, though they may seek life, 
 yet thus continuing are never like to find it. 
 Wherefore? Because they seek it not by 
 faith, but as it were by the works of the law. 
 Indeed they will not be merit-mongers ; they 
 will not wholly trust to the law; they -vsill 
 partly venture on Christ and partly trust to 
 the law. Well, but therefore they shall be 
 damned, because they trust to Christ but in 
 
974 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 part, and in part, as it were, to the works of 
 the law ; for such sinners make Christ but a 
 Saviour in part. Why then should he be 
 their Saviour in whole? No; because they 
 halt between Christ and the law, therefore 
 they shall fall between Christ and the law ; 
 yea, because they will trust to their works in 
 part, they shall be but almost saved by Christ: „ 
 "Let not that man think that he shall obtain 
 any thing from the Lord." What man.? 
 Why, he that doubteth or wavereth in his 
 mind about the truth of the mercy of God in 
 Christ; therefore the exhortation is, "But let 
 him ask in faith; for he that wavereth (or 
 that halteth between law and Christ for life) is 
 like a wave of the sea driven of the wind and 
 tossed." In conclusion, he resteth nowhere: 
 " A double-minded man is unstable in all his 
 ways." This man, therefore, must miscarry; 
 he must not see the good land that flows with 
 milk and honey; no, let him not have a 
 thought of life in his heart: "Let not that 
 man think that he shall receive any thing of 
 the Lord." 
 
 This was the case of many in the primitive 
 times, for whose sake this caution was writ- 
 ten ; for the devout and religious Jew and 
 proselyte when they fell away from the word 
 of the Gospel, they did not fall to those gross 
 and abominable pollutions in which the open 
 profane, like sows and swine, do wallow, but 
 they fell from the grace of God to the law, or 
 at least did rest betwixt them both, doubting 
 of the sufficiency of either ; and, thus being 
 fearful, they distrust; wherefore, being found 
 at length unbelieving, they are reputed of 
 God abominable, as murderers, whoremongers, 
 sorcerers, idolaters, and liars, and so have 
 their portion in the lake (with them) that 
 burn with iire and brimstone. The reason is, 
 because where Christ is rejected sin remaineth, 
 and so the wrath of God for sin. Neither will 
 he be a Saviour in part; he must be all thy 
 salvation or none : " Let not that man think 
 that he shall receive any thing of the Lord." 
 
 Not any thing. There is no promise for 
 him, no pardon for him, no heaven for him, 
 no salvation for him, no escaping of his fire. 
 What condition is this man in ! yet he is a re- 
 ligious man, for he prays: he is a seeking 
 man, a desiring man, for he prays. But he 
 halts between two, he leaneth to his righteous- 
 ness and committeth iniquity ; he is afraid to 
 venture all upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Let 
 not that man think of receiving any thing 
 from the Lord. 
 
 Yet the words suggest that he- is apt to 
 think he shall receive something because God 
 is merciful, because his promise is great; but 
 this expectation is by this word cut off", and 
 this sinner is cast away. Let not that man 
 think, let him forbear to think, of having any 
 thing at the hand of God. The Israelites 
 thought to go up to the land the day after 
 they had despised it. Agag thought the bit- 
 terness of death was past, even that day in 
 which he was hewn in pieces. Eechab and 
 Baanah his brother thought to have received 
 reward of David that day they were hanged 
 over the pool in Hebron, Let not that man 
 think that he shall receive any thing of the 
 Lord. 
 
 2. As for those that do professedly make 
 denial of the sufficiency of this most blessed 
 righteousness, the whole book is conviction to 
 them,' and shall assuredly, if it- comes to their 
 hands, rise up in judgment against them. 
 They have rejected the wisdom and mercy of 
 God; they have rejected the means of their 
 salvation ; they have trampled upon the blood 
 of the Son of God ; wherefore judgment wait- 
 eth for them, and fiery indignations, which 
 shall devour the adversaries. 
 
 To conclude. One word also to you that are 
 neglecters of Jesus Christ: "How shall we es- 
 cape if we neglect so great salvation?" Here, 
 then, we may see how we ought to judge of 
 all such persons as neglect the Lord Jesus, 
 under what guise, name, or notion soever they 
 be. We ought, I say, to judge of such "that 
 they are at present in a state of condemna- 
 tion" — of condemnation, "because they have 
 not believed in the only-begotten Son of God." 
 
 It is true there is no man more at ease in 
 his mind (with such ease as it is) than the man 
 that hath not closed with the Lord Jesus, but 
 is shut up in unbelief. Oh but that is the 
 man that stands convict before God, and that 
 is bound over to the great amze. That is the 
 man whose sins are still his own, and upon 
 whom the wrath of God abideth. Tor the 
 ease and peace of such, though it keep them 
 far from fear, is but like to that of the secure 
 thief that is ignorant that the constable standeih 
 at the door; the first sight of an officer makes 
 his peace to give up the ghost. Ah I how 
 many thousands that can now glory that they 
 never were troubled for sin against God — I 
 say, how many be there that God will trouble 
 worse than he troubled cursed Achan, because 
 their peace (though false and of the devil) was 
 rather chosen by them than "peace by Jesus 
 
OF JUSTIFICATION BY AN IMPUTED EIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 975 
 
 Christ," than "peace with God by the blood 
 of his cross I" 
 
 Awake! careless sinners, awake! and arise 
 from the dead, and Christ shall give you light. 
 Content not yourselves eithei' with sin or right- 
 eousness if you be destitute of Jesus Christ; 
 but cry, cry, oh cry to God for light to see your 
 condition by — for light in the word of God, for 
 therein is the righteousness of God revealed. 
 Cry, therefore, for light to see this righteous- 
 ness by; it is a. righteousness of Christ's finish- 
 ing, of God's accepting, and that which alone 
 can save the soul from the stroke of eternal 
 justice. 
 
 There are six things that on man's part are 
 the cause he receiveth not the Gospel of Christ, 
 and go life by him: 
 
 1. Thby see not "their state by nature," how 
 polluted they are with original sin.* 
 
 2. They see not the justice of God against 
 sin ; they know not Him that hath said, " Ven- 
 geance belongeth unto me, I will recompense." 
 
 3. They cannot see the beauty of Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 4. Unbelief being mighty in them, they dare 
 not venture their souls with Jesus Christ; they 
 dare not trust to his righteousuess, and to that 
 only; for, 
 
 5. Their carnal reason also sets itself against 
 the word of faith, and cannot stoop to the 
 grace of Jesus Christ. 
 
 6. They love to have honour one of another ; 
 they love to be commended for their own vain- 
 glorious righteousness; and the fools think 
 that because they are commended of men they 
 shall be commended of God also. Hew can 
 you believe who seek honour one of another, 
 and seek not the honour that cometh from 
 God only? This last thing— to wit, desire of 
 vain-glory — is the bane of thousands; it is the 
 legalist's bane; it is the civilian's bane; it 
 is the formalist's bane; yea, (which yet is 
 stranger,) it is the bane of the vicious and de- 
 bauched also ; for though there be a genera- 
 tion that, to one's thinking, have not regard to 
 righteousness, yet watch them narrowly, and 
 they have their times of doing something that 
 looks like good; and though possibly it be but 
 seldom, yet this wretch counteth that for the 
 sake of that God accepteth him and counteth 
 his glorious righteousness. 
 
 I might add a seventh cause, which is, want 
 of serious meditation upon eternal judgment 
 and what shall follow. This consideration, did 
 it take a deep place in the heart, would doubt- 
 less produce the workings of spirit after Jesus 
 
 Christ for justification that now is wanting in 
 the most of men. This made Felix, yea, it 
 makes the devils, tremble ; and would, I say, 
 couldat thou deeply meditate, make thee start 
 and turn thy wanton thoughts into heavy sighs 
 after God's mercy in Jesus Christ, lest thou 
 also come into their place of torment. 
 
 Before I conclude this use, I would lay down 
 a few motives if so be thou mayest be pie- 
 vailed with to look after thine own everlasting 
 state. 
 
 1. Consider God hath put men (above all 
 the creatures in this visible world) into a stale 
 of abiding for ever; they cannot be annihi- 
 lated, they shall never again be turned into 
 nothing, but must live with»God or the devil 
 for ever and ever. And though the Scripture 
 saith, "Man hath not pre-eminence over a 
 beast in his death," yet the beast hath pre- 
 eminence above many men, for he shall not 
 rise again to come into judgment, as man 
 must, nor receive that dismal sentence for sin 
 and transgression, as man shall. This, there- 
 fore, is worthy to be considered with serious- 
 ness of all that have souls to be saved or 
 damned. They must one day come to judg- 
 ment, there to stand before that Judge of all 
 the earth, whose eyes are like a flame of fire, 
 from the sight of which thou canst not hide 
 one of thy words, or thoughts, or actions, be- 
 cause thou wantest the righteousness of God. 
 The fire of his justice shall burn up all thy 
 rags of righteousness, wherewith by the law 
 thou hast clothed thyself, and will leave thee 
 nothing but a soul full of sin to bemoan and 
 eternal burnings to grapple with. Oh the 
 burnings that will then beset sinners on every 
 side, and that will eat their flesh, and torment 
 their spirit with far more terror than if they 
 were stricken with scorpions! And, observe 
 it, the torment will there be higher than other 
 where : there is the guilt of neglecting Jesus 
 Christ, he being indeed the Saviour and him 
 that was sent on purpose to deliver men from 
 the wrath to come. 
 
 2. Consider, once past grace and ever past 
 grace. When the door is shut against thee, it 
 will open no more, and then repentings, de- 
 sires, wishings, and wouldings come all too 
 late; good may be done to others, but to thee 
 none; and this shall be because, even because, 
 thou hast withstood the time of thy visitation, 
 and not received grace when ofiered: "My 
 God shall cast them away, because they did net 
 hearken unto him." Cain was driven out 
 from the presence of God (for aught I know) 
 
976 
 
 BVNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 some hundreds of years before his death : Ish- 
 mael was cast away after seventeen years of 
 age ; Esau lived thirty or forty years after he 
 had sold his birth-right. Oh many, very many, 
 are in this condition ; for though God be gra- 
 cious, yea, very gracious, yet he will not be 
 slighted nor abused always; there are plenty 
 of sinners in the world — if one will not, 
 another will. Christ was soon repulsed by 
 and sent away from the country of the Gada- 
 renes, but on the other side of the sea "there 
 were many ready with joy to receive him.'' 
 Acts xiii. 46, 47, 48. So, when the Jews con- 
 tradicted and blasphemed, " the Gentiles gladly 
 received the word." Look to it, sinner : here 
 is life and death set before thee — life, if it 
 be not too late to receive it; but if it be it 
 is not too late for death to swallow thee up ; 
 and, tell me, will it not be dreadful to be 
 carried from under the Gospel to the damned, 
 there to lie in endless torment, because thou 
 wouldst not be delivered therefrom? Will it 
 be comfort to thee to see the Saviour turn 
 judge, to see Him that wept and died for the 
 sin of the world now ease his mind on Christ- 
 abhorring sinners by rendering to them the 
 just judgment of God? For all their abomi- 
 nable lilthiness, had they closed with Christ, 
 they had been shrouded from the justice of 
 the law, and should not have come into con- 
 demnation, but had been passed from death to 
 life; but they would not take shelter there, 
 they would venture to meet the justice of 
 God in its fury; wherefore now it shall 
 swallow them up for ever and ever. And let 
 me ask further, is not he a madman who, 
 being loaded with combustible matter, will 
 run headlong into the fire upon a bravado, or, 
 being guilty of felony or murder, will despe- 
 rately run himself into the hand of the officer, 
 as if the law, the judge, the sentence, execu- 
 tion were but a jest or a thing to be played 
 withal? And yet thus mad are poor, wretched, 
 
 miserable sinners, who, flying from Christ as 
 if he were a viper, they are overcome and 
 cast off for ever by "the just judgment of the 
 law." But ah! how poorly will these be able 
 to plead the virtues of the law to which they 
 have cleaved when God shall answer them, 
 "Whom dost thou pass in beauty? Go dowUj 
 and be thou laid with the uncircumcised." 
 Ezek. xxxii. 19. Go down to hell, and there be 
 laid with those that refused the grace of God. 
 Sinners, take my advice, with which I shall 
 conclude this use. Call often to remembrance 
 that thou hast a precious soul within thee, that 
 thou 'art in the way to thine end, av which thy 
 precious soul will be in special concerned, it 
 being then time to delay no longer, the time 
 of reward being come. I say again, bring thy 
 end home; put thyself in thy thoughts into 
 the last day thou must live in the world, seri- 
 ously arguing thus : How if this day were my 
 last ! How if I never see the sun rise more I 
 How if the first -soice that rings to-morrow 
 morning in my heavy ears be, " Arise, ye dead, 
 and come to judgment ?" or. How if the next 
 sight I see with mine eyes be the Lord in the 
 clouds, with all his angels raining floods of fire 
 and brimstone upon the world? Am I in a 
 case to be thus near mine end — to hear this 
 triumph of God, or to see this great appearance 
 of this great God and the Lord Jesus Christ ? 
 Will my profession or the faith I think I have 
 carry me through all the trials of God's tri- 
 bunal ? Cannot his eyes, which are as a ^ame 
 of fire, see in my words, thoughts, and actions 
 enough to make me culpable of the wrath of 
 God? Oh how serious should sinners be in 
 this work of remembering things to come, of 
 laying to their heart the greatness and terror 
 of that notable day of God Almighty, and in 
 examining themselves how it is like to go with 
 their souls when they shall stand before the 
 Judge indeed? To this end, God make this 
 word effectual I Amen. 
 
POETICAL PIECES OF MR. JOHN BUNYAN. 
 
EBAL AND GERIZIM; 
 
 OB, 
 
 THE BLESSING ATs^D THE CURSE: 
 
 BEIKG A SHORT EXHOKTATION TO SINNERS, BY THE MERCY AND SEVERITY OF «0D. 
 
 FROM MOUNT GERIZIM. 
 Besides what I said of the four last things, 
 A.nd of the weal and woe that from them 
 
 springs, 
 An after-word still runneth in my mind, 
 Which I shall here expose unto that wind. 
 That may it blow into that very hand 
 That needs it. Also, that it may be scann'd 
 With great soberness shall be my pray'r, 
 As well as diligence and godly care 
 So to present it unto public view 
 That only truth and peace may thence 'ensue. 
 
 My talk shall be of that amazing love 
 Of God we read of; which, that it may prove 
 By its engaging arguments to save 
 Thee, I shall lay out that poor help I have 
 Thee to entice, that thou wouldst dearly fall 
 In love with thy salvation, and with all 
 That doth thereto concur, that thou mayst be 
 As blessed as the blessed can make thee; 
 Not only here, but in the world to come. 
 In bliss which I pray God may be thy home. 
 
 But, first, I would advise thee to bethink 
 Thyself how sin hath laid thee at the brink 
 Of hell, where thon art lulled fast asleep 
 In Satan's arms, who also will thee keep 
 As senseless and secure as e'er he may. 
 Lest thou shouldst . wake and see't and run 
 
 away 
 Unto that Jesus whom the Father sent 
 Into the world for this cause and intent — 
 That such as thou from such a thrall as this 
 Mightst be released and made heir of bliss. 
 Now, that thou mayst awake, the danger fly, 
 And so escape the death that others die. 
 Come, let me set my trumpet to thine ear ; 
 Be willing all my message for to hear. 
 'Tis for thy life ; oh do it not refuse ; 
 Woe untc them good counsel do abuse. 
 
 Thou art at present in that very case, 
 Which argues thou art destitute of grace. 
 
 Thou art like him that sleepeth in the sea 
 On broken boards, which, without guide or stay 
 Are driven whither winds and water will. 
 While greedy beasts do wait to have their fill 
 By feeding on his carcass when he shall 
 Turn overboard, and without mercy fall 
 Into the jaws of such as make a prey 
 Of those whom justice drowneth in the sea. 
 
 Thou art like him that, snoring, still doth lie 
 Upon the bed of vain security. 
 Whilst all about him into burning flam j 
 By fire is turned, yea, and while the frame 
 And building where he lies consuming is. 
 And while himself these burnings cannot miss. 
 What shall I say ? wilt thou not yet awake, 
 Nor yet of thy poor soul some pity take ? 
 Among the lions it hoodwinked lies ; 
 Oh that the Lord would open once thine eyes, 
 That thou mightst see it I Then I dare say 
 
 thou. 
 As half bereft of wits, wouldst cry out. How 
 Shall I escape? Lord, help, oh help with 
 
 speed ! 
 Eeach down thy hand from heav'n, for help I 
 
 need 
 To save me from the lions, for I fear 
 This soul of mine they will in pieces tear. 
 Come, then, and let us both expostulate 
 The case betwixt us, till we animate 
 And kindle in our hearts that burning love 
 To Christ, to grace, to life, that we may move 
 Swifter than eagles to this blessed prey: 
 Then shall it well be with us in that day 
 The trumpet shall sound, the dead may arise 
 
 and stand. 
 Then to receive, for breach of God's com- 
 mand, 
 
 979 
 
980 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Such thunderclaps as these : " Depart from me " 
 Into hell-fire, you that the wicked he, 
 Prepared for the devil, and for those 
 That with him and his angels rather chose 
 To live in filthy sin and wickedness, 
 Whose fruit is everlasting bitterness. 
 
 We both are yet on this side of the grave, 
 We also Gospel-privileges have — 
 The word and time to pray : God give us hearts 
 That, like the wise man, we may act our parts 
 To get the pearl of price ; then we shall be 
 Like godly Mary, Peter, Paul ; and we, 
 Xiike Jacob too, the blessing shall obtain 
 While Esau rides a hunting for the gain 
 Of worldly pelf, which will him not avail 
 When death or judgment shall him sore assail. 
 
 If guilt of sin still lieth at our door, 
 Us to discourage, let us set before 
 Our eyes a bleeding Jesus, who did die 
 The death ; and let's believe the reason why 
 He did it was, that we might ever be 
 From death, and sin, and hell, and wrath set free. 
 Yea, let's remember for that very end 
 It was his blessed Father did him send, 
 That he the law of God might here fulfil. 
 That so the mystery of his blessed will 
 Might be revealed in the blessedness 
 Of those that fly to Christ for righteousness. 
 
 Now let us argue with ourselves, then, thus : 
 That Jesus Christ our Lord came to save us. 
 By bearing of our sins upon his back. 
 By hanging on a cross as on a rack. 
 While justice cut him off on every side. 
 While smiles divine themselves from him did 
 
 hide. 
 While earth did quake, and rocks in pieces rent, 
 And, while the sun as veiled, did lament 
 To see the innocent and harmless die 
 So sore a death, so full of misery. 
 
 Blood was his sweat too in his agony 
 That we may live in joyful ecstacy ; 
 He apprehended was and led away. 
 That grace to usward never might decay — 
 With swords and bills, and outrage in the night, 
 That to the peace of heaven we might have 
 
 right. 
 Condemn'd he was between two thieves to die. 
 That we might ever in his bosom lie ; 
 His head was crown'd with thorns, that we 
 
 might be 
 Crowned with glory and felicity ; 
 He hanged was upon a cursed tree, 
 That we delivered from death might be ; 
 His Father from him hides his smiles and face, 
 That we might have them in the heav'nly 
 place. 
 
 He cried, " My God, why hast thou forsaken 
 
 me?" 
 That we forsaken of him might not be ; 
 Into his side was thrust a bloody spear, 
 That we the sting oi death might never fear , 
 He went into the grave after all this, 
 That we might up to heav'n go and have bliss 
 Yea, rise again he did out of the earth, 
 And shook off from him all the chains of death. 
 Then at his chariot wheels he captive led 
 His foes, and trod upon the serpent's head, 
 Eiding in triumph to his Father's throne, 
 There to possess his kingdom as his own. 
 What say'st thou ? Wilt not yet unto him come? 
 His arms are open, in his heart is room 
 To lay thee. Be not then discouraged. 
 Although thy sins be many, great and red. 
 
 For us God made him perfect righteousness, 
 That he his love might to the height express, 
 And us present complete before the throne. 
 Sanctification, too, of his own. 
 He hath prepared, in which we do stand. 
 Complete in holiness at his right hand. 
 Now this sanctification is not 
 That holiness which is in us, but that 
 Which in the person of this Jesus is, 
 And can inherently be only his ; 
 But it is imputed to us for our good 
 As his active righteousness and blood ; 
 Which is the cause, though we infirm are found, 
 That mercy and forgiveness doth abound 
 To usward, and that why we are hot spent 
 And empty, and away rebuked sent^ 
 Because that all we do imperfect is. 
 Bless God, then, for this holiness of his, 
 And learn to look by faith on that alone. 
 When thou seest thou hast nothing of thy own , 
 Yea, when thy heart most willing is to do 
 What God by his good word doth call thee to, 
 And when thou findest most holiness within. 
 And greatest power over every sin. 
 Yet then to Jesus look, and thou shalt seti 
 In him sanctification for thee 
 Far more complete than all that thou canst find 
 In the most upright heart and willing mind 
 That ever man or angels did possess 
 When most fill'd with inherent righteous- 
 ness. 
 Besides, if thou forgettest here to live. 
 And Satan get thee once into his sieve. 
 He will so hide thy wheat and show thy bran 
 That thou wilt quickly cry, I am undone. 
 
 Alas ! thy godliest attainments here, 
 Tho' like the fairest blossoms they appear, 
 How quickly will they lower and decay, 
 And be as if they all were fled away, 
 
EBAL AND GEEIZIM. 
 
 981 
 
 When once the east winds of temptation beat 
 Upon thee with their dry and blasting heat ! 
 
 If thou be wise, consider what I say, 
 And look for all in Christ, where no decay 
 Is like to be ; then, though thy present fame 
 Be much in up and down, yet he the same 
 Abideth, yea, and still at God's right hand 
 As thy most perfect holiness will stand. 
 Yea, this will fill thy mouth with argument 
 Against the tempter, when he shall present 
 Before thee all thy weakness, and shall hide 
 From thee thy graces that thou mayst abide 
 Under the fretting fumes of unbelief. 
 Which never yielded Christian man relief; 
 Nor help thyself thou mayest against him 
 thug, 
 
 Satan, though my heart indeed be worse 
 Than 'twas a while ago, yet I perceive 
 Thou shalt me not of happiness b^eave ; 
 Nor yet of holiness, for by the word 
 
 1 find that Jesus Christ, our blessed Lord, 
 Is made sarictiflcation for me 
 
 In his own person, where all graces be 
 As water in thfc fountain, and that I 
 By means of that have yet a sanctity 
 Both personal and perfect every way ; 
 And that is Christ himself, as Paul doth say. 
 Now, tho' my crazy pitcher oft doth leak. 
 By means of which my graces are so weak 
 And so much spent that one I cannot find 
 Able to stay or help my feeble mind ; 
 Yet then I look to Jesus, and see all 
 In him that wanting is in me, and shall 
 Again take courage, and believe he will 
 Present me upright in his person, till ^ 
 
 He humble me for all my foolishness. 
 And then again fill me with holiness. 
 Now, if thou lovest inward sanctity, 
 As all the saints do most unfeignedly, 
 Then add to what I have already said 
 Faith in the promise, and be not afraid 
 To urge it often at the throne of grace 
 And to expect it in its time and place ; 
 Then He that true is and that cannot lie 
 Will give it unto thee, that thou thereby 
 Mayest serve with faith, with fear, in truth 
 
 and love 
 That God did at the first thy spirit move 
 To ask it to his praise, that he might be 
 Thy God, and that be might delight in thee. 
 If I should here particulars.relate, 
 Methiuks it could not but much animate . 
 Thy heart, though very listless to inquire 
 How thou mayst that enjoy which all desire 
 That love themselves and future happiness. 
 But oh I cannot fully it express : 
 
 The promise is so open and so free 
 In all respects to those that humble be. 
 That want they cannot what for them is good. 
 But there 'tis, and confirmed is with blood ; 
 A certain sign all those enjoy it may 
 That see they want it, and sincerely pray 
 To God the Father in that Jesus' name 
 Who bled on purpose to confirm the same. 
 Now wouldst thou have a heart that tender is, 
 A heart that forward is to close with bliss, 
 A heart that will impressions freely take 
 Of the new covenant, and that will make 
 The best improvement of the word of grace, 
 And that to wickedness will not give place? 
 All this is in the promise, and it may 
 Obtained be of them that humbly pray. 
 Wouldst thou enjoy that Spirit that is free, 
 And looseth those that in their spirits be 
 Oppressed with guilt, or filth, or unbelief— 
 That Spirit that will where it dwells be chief. 
 Which breaketh Samson's cord as rotten thread, 
 And raiseth up the spirit that is dead — 
 That sets the will at liberty to choose 
 Those-thiiiga that God hath promis'd to infuse 
 Into the humble heart? All this, I say, 
 The promise holdeth out to them that pray. 
 Wouldst thou have that good, that blessed mind 
 That is so much to heavenly things inclin'd 
 That it aloft will soar, and always be 
 Contemplating on blest eternity — 
 That mind that never thinks itself at rest 
 But when it knows it is for ever blest — 
 That mind that can be here no more content 
 Than he that in the prison doth lament — 
 That blessed mind that counts itself then free 
 When it can at the throne with Jesus be. 
 There to behold the mansions he prepares 
 For such as be with him and his co-heirs? 
 This mind is in the covenant of grace, 
 And shall be theirs that truly seek his face. 
 Is godly fear delightful unto thee^- 
 That fear that God himself delights to see 
 Bear sway in them that love him ? Then he 
 
 will 
 Thy godly mind in this request fulfil 
 By giving thee a fear that tremble shall 
 At every trip thou takest, lest thou fall 
 And him offend, or hurt thyself by sin. 
 Or cause poor souls that always blind have beee 
 To stumble at thy falls, and harder be 
 Against their own salvation and thee — 
 That fear that of itself would rather, choose 
 The rod than to offend or to abuse 
 In anything that blessed worthy name 
 That hath thee saved from that death and 
 
 shame 
 
982 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 That sin would soon have brought thee to, if he 
 
 Had not imputed righteousness to thee. 
 
 " T will love them,'' saith God, " and not depart 
 
 From them, but put my fear within their heart. 
 
 That I to them may always loyely be, 
 
 And that they never may depart from me." 
 
 The next word that I would unto thee say 
 la how thou mayst attain without delay 
 Those blessed graces and that holiness 
 Thou dost with so much godly zeal express ; 
 Thy love to and thy longing to enjoy. 
 That sins and weakness might thee less annoy. 
 Know, then, as I have hinted theretofore. 
 And shall now speak unto a little more. 
 All graces in the person of the Son 
 Are by the Father hid, and therefore none 
 Can them obtain but they who with him close; 
 All others graceless are but only those'; 
 For of his fulness 'tis that we receive, 
 And grace for grace ; let no man then deceive 
 Himself or others by a feigned show 
 Of holiness, if Jesus they eschew. 
 When he ascended to his Father, then 
 It was that he received gifts for men. 
 Faith, hope, and love, true zeal, an upright 
 
 heart, 
 Right humbleness of mind, and every part 
 Of what the word of God counts holiness, 
 God then laid up in him, that we redress 
 And help might have who do unto him fly 
 For righteousness and Gospel sanctity. 
 
 Now if thou wouldst inherit righteousness, 
 And so sanctification possess 
 In body, soul and spirit, then thou must 
 To Jesus fly as one ungodly first ; 
 And so by him crave pardon for thy sin 
 Which thou hast loved and hast lived in ; 
 For this cannot at all forgiven be 
 For any righteousness that is in thee. 
 
 Then righteousness imputed thou must have, 
 Thee from that guilt and punishment to save 
 Thou liest under as a sinful man. 
 Throughout polluted, and that never can 
 By any other means acquitted be. 
 Or ever have true holiness in thee. 
 The reason is, because all graces are 
 Only in Christ, and be infused where 
 Or into those whom he doth justify 
 By what himself hath done, that he thereby 
 Might be the whole of all that happiness 
 The sinner shall enjoy here and possess : 
 Besides, if holiness should first be found 
 In those whom God doth pardon, then the 
 
 ground 
 Why we forgiven are would seem to be, 
 He first found holiness in thee and me. 
 
 But this the Holy Scriptures will refute, 
 And prove that righteousness he doth impute 
 Without respect to goodness first in man ; 
 For, to speak truth indeed, no goodness can 
 Be found in those that underneath the law 
 Do stand ; for if God goodness in them saw, 
 Why doth he once and twice say, " There ia 
 
 none 
 That righteous be, no, not so much as one :" 
 None understandeth, none seek after God, 
 His ways they have not known, but have abode 
 In wickedness : unprofitable they 
 Must needs appear to be, then, eveiy wayj 
 Their throats an open sepulchre also, 
 Their mouths are full of filthy cursings too, 
 And bitterness ; yea, underneath their lips 
 The asp has poison. Oh how many slips 
 And falls in sin must such poor people have I 
 Now Where's the holiness that should 'em save, 
 Or as a preparation go before, / 
 
 To move God to do for them less or more ? 
 No, grace must on thee righteousness bestow, 
 Or else sin will for ever thee undo. 
 Sweet Paul this doctrine also doth express 
 Where he saith, " Some may have righteous- 
 ness, 
 Tho' works they have not ;" and it thus may 
 
 stand : 
 Grace by the promise gives what the command 
 Requireth us to do, and so are we 
 Quitted by doings and by grace made free. 
 
 The word of faith unto me pardon brings, 
 Shows me the ground and reason whence it 
 
 springs — 
 To wit, free grace, which moved God to give 
 His Son to die and bleed that I might live. 
 This word doth also loudly preach to me. 
 Though I a miserable sinner be, 
 Yet in this Son of God I stand complete, 
 Whose righteousness is without all deceit; 
 'Tis that which God himself delighteth in, 
 And that by which all his have saved been. 
 
 When I do this begin to apprehend. 
 My heart, my soul, and mind begin to bend 
 To God-ward, and sincerely for to love 
 His Son, his ways, his people, and to move 
 With brokenness of spirit after Him 
 Who broken was and killed for my sin. 
 Now is mine heart grown holy, now it cleaves 
 To Jesus Christ my Lord, and now it leaves 
 Those ways that wicked be; it mourns because 
 It can conform no more unto the laws 
 Of God, who loved me when I was vile, 
 And of sweet Jesus, who did reconcile 
 Me unto his justice by his precious blood. 
 When no way else was left to do me good. 
 
EBAL AND QERIZIM. 
 
 983 
 
 If you would know how this can operate 
 Thus on the soul, I shall to you relate 
 A little farther what my soul hath seen 
 feince I have with the Lord acquainted been. 
 
 The word of grace, when it doth rightly seize 
 The spirit of a man, and so at ease 
 Doth set the soul, the Spirit of the Lord 
 Doth then with might accompany the word. 
 In which it sets forth Christ as crucified, 
 And by that means the Father pacified 
 With such a wretch as thou, and by this sight 
 Thy guilt is in the first place put to flight. 
 For thus the Spirit doth expostulate : 
 Behold how God doth now communicate 
 (By changing of the person) grace to thee, 
 A sinner, but to Christ great misery, 
 Tho' he the Just One was, and so could not 
 Deserve the punishment: behold then what 
 The love of God is ! how 'tis manffest, 
 And where! the reason lies that thou art blest. 
 This doctrine being spoken to the heart, 
 Which also is made yield to every part 
 Thereof, it doth the same with sweetness fill. 
 And so doth sins and wickednesses kill ; 
 For when the love of God is thus revealed, 
 And thy poor drooping spirit thereby sealed, 
 And when thy heart, as dry ground, drinks 
 
 this in 
 Unto the roots thereof, which nourish sin, 
 It smites them as the worm did Jonah's 
 
 gourd. 
 And makes them dwindle of their own accord. 
 And die away ; instead of which there springs 
 Up life and love, and other holy things. 
 Besides, the Holy Spirit now is come, 
 And takes possession of thee as its home ; 
 By which a war maintained always is 
 Against the old man and the deeds of his. 
 
 When God at first upon Mount Sinai spake 
 He made his very servant Moses quake ; 
 But when he heard the law the second time 
 His heart was comforted, his face did shine. 
 What was the reason of this difference. 
 Seeing no change was in the ordinance? 
 Altho' a change was in the manner when 
 The second time he gave it unto men. 
 At first "twas given in severity, 
 In thunder, blackness, darkness, tempest high ; 
 In fiery flames it was delivered. 
 This struck both Moses and the host as dead ; 
 But Moses, when he went into the mount 
 The second time upon the same account. 
 No fear, nor dread, nor shaking of his mind 
 Do we in all the Holy Scriptures find, 
 But rather in his spirit he had rest. 
 And look'd upon himself as greatly blest. 
 
 Jehosaphat, when he was sore opprest 
 By Ammon, and by Moab, and the rest 
 Of them that sought his life, no rest 'he found. 
 Until a word of faith became a ground 
 To stay himself upon ; oh then they fell ; 
 His very song became their passing bell. 
 
 Then understand my meaning by my words, 
 How sense of mercy unto faith affords 
 Both grace to sanctify and holy make 
 That soul that of forgiveness doth partake. 
 
 Thus having briefly showed you what is 
 The way of life, of sanctity, of bliss, 
 I would not in conclusion have you think. 
 By what I say, that Christian men should drink 
 In these words with lightness, or that they 
 Are not exempted from what every day 
 Their duty is. No, God doth still expect. 
 Yea, doth command, that they do not neglect 
 To pray, to read, to hear, and not dissent 
 From being sober, grave, and diligent 
 In watching, self-denial, and with fear 
 To serve him all the time thou livest here. 
 Indeed I have endeavoured to lay 
 Before your eyes the right and only way 
 Pardon to get, and also holiness ; 
 Without which never think that God will bless 
 Thee with the kingdom he shall give to those 
 That Christ embrace, and holy lives do choose 
 To live where all others go astray, 
 And shall in time to come be cast away. 
 
 FROM MOUNT EBAL. , 
 
 Thus having heard from Gerizim, I shall 
 Next come to Ebal, and you thither call — 
 Not there to curse you, but to let you hear 
 How God doth curse that soul that shall appear 
 An unbelieving man, a graceless wretch. 
 Because he doth continue in the breach 
 Of Moses' law, and also doth neglect 
 To close with Jesus; him will God reject 
 And cast behind him, for of right his due 
 Is that from whence all miseries ensue. 
 "Cursed," saith he, "are they that do trans- 
 gress 
 The least of my commandments, more or less.' 
 
 First, thou must know that God, as he is love, 
 So he is justice, therefore cannot move, 
 Or in the least be brought to favour those 
 His holiness and justice do oppose. 
 
 For tho' thou mayest imagine in thy heart ' 
 That God is this or that, yet if thou art 
 At all beside the truth of what he is, 
 And so dost build thy hope for life amiss, 
 
984 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Still he the same abideth, and will be 
 Tte same — the same for ever unto thee. 
 
 As God is true unto his promise, so 
 Unto his threatening he is faithful too : 
 Cease to be God he must, if he should break 
 One tittle that his blessed mouth did speak. 
 
 Now, then, none can be saved but the men 
 With whom the Godhead is contented when 
 It them beholds with the severest eye 
 Of justice, holiness, and yet can spy 
 No fault or blemish in them ; these be they 
 That must be saved, as the Scriptures say. 
 
 If this be true, as 'tis assuredly, 
 Woe be to them that wicked live and die I 
 
 Alas ! our God is a consuming fire ; 
 So is his law, by which he doth require 
 That thou submit to him, and ever be 
 In that pure justice found that can save thee. 
 
 What I have said will yet evinced be, 
 And manifest abundantly to thee. 
 If what I have already spoken to 
 Be joined with these lines that do ensue. 
 Justice discovers its antipathy 
 Against profaneness and malignity, 
 Not only by the law it gave to men. 
 And threatenings' thereunto annexed then. 
 But inasmuch as long before that day 
 He did prepare for such as go astray 
 That dreadful, that so much amazing place. 
 Hell, with its torments, for those men that grace 
 And holiness of life slight and disdain. 
 There to bemoan themselves with hellish pain. 
 
 This place also, the pains so dismal be. 
 Both as to name and nature, that in me 
 It is not -to express the damning weights. 
 The hellish torture, and the fearful plights 
 Thereof; for as intolerable they 
 Must needs be found by those that disobey 
 The Lord, so can no word or thought express 
 Unto the full the height of that distress — 
 Such miserable caitiffs that shall there 
 Rebukes of vengeance for transgressions bear. 
 
 Indeed the Holy Scriptures do make use 
 Of many metaphors that do conduce 
 Much to the symbolizing of the place 
 Unto our apprehension ; but the case. 
 The sad, the woeful case of those that lie 
 As racked there in endless misery 
 By all similitudes no mortals may- 
 Set forth in its own nature ; for I say 
 Similitudes are but a shade and show 
 Of those or that they signify to you. 
 The fire that doth within thy oven burn. 
 The prison where poor people sit and mourn, 
 Chaias, racks and darkness, and such others, be 
 As paintings on the wall, to let thee see 
 
 By words and figures the extremity 
 
 Of such as shall within these burnings lie. 
 
 But certainly, if wickedness and sin 
 Had only foolish toys and trifles been, 
 And if God had not greatly hated it. 
 Yea, could he any ways thereof admit 
 And let it pass, he would not thus have dona 
 He doth not use to punish any one 
 With any place or punishment that is 
 Above or sharper than the sin of his 
 Hath merited, and justice seeth due ; 
 Eead sin, then, by the death that doth ensue. 
 
 Most men do judge of sin, not by the fruita 
 It bears and bringeth forth, but as it suits 
 Their carnal and deluded hearts, that be 
 With sensual pleasures eaten up ; but he 
 That now so judgeth shall shortly perceive 
 That God will judge thereof himself, and leave 
 Such men no longer to their carnal lusts. 
 To judge of wickedness, and of the just 
 And righteous punishments that doth of right 
 Belong thereto ; and will too, in despite , 
 Of all their carnal reason, justify 
 Himself in their eternal misery. 
 Then hell will be no fancy ; neither will 
 Men's sin be pleasant to them, but so ill 
 And bitter, yea, so bitter that none can 
 Fully express the same, or ever staM 
 Under the burden that will on them lay 
 When they from life and bliss are sent away. 
 When I have thought how often God doth speak 
 Of their destruction who his law do break, 
 And when the nature of the punishment 
 I find so dreadful, and that God's intent, 
 Yea, resolution is, it to inflict 
 On every sinner that shall stand convict, 
 I have amazed been yet to behold 
 And see poor sinners yet with sin so bold. 
 That like the horse that to the battle runs 
 Without all fear, and that no danger shuns 
 Till down he falls. resolute attempts 1 
 O sad, amazing, damnable events 
 The end of such proceeding needs must be 1 
 From which, O Lord, save and deliver me 1 
 But if thou think that God thy noble race 
 Will more respect than into such a place 
 To put thee, hold, the' thou his ofispring be, 
 And art so lovely, yet sin hath made thee 
 Another kind of creature than when thou 
 Didst from his fingers drop, and therefore now 
 Thy first creation stands thee in no stead ; 
 Thou hast transgressed, and in every deed 
 Set God against thee, who is infinite, 
 And that for certain never will forget 
 Thy sins, nor favour thee if thou shalt die 
 A graceless man ; this is thy misery. 
 
EBAL AND GERIZIM. 
 
 985 
 
 When angels sinned, tho' of higher race 
 Than thou, and also put in higher place, 
 Yet them he spared not, but cast them down 
 From, heaven to hell, where also they lie bound 
 In everlasting chains, and no release 
 Shall ever have, but wrath, that shall increase 
 Upon them, to their everlasting woe. 
 As for the state they were exalted to. 
 That will by no means mitigate their fear. 
 But aggravate their hellish torment here ; 
 For he that highest stands, if he shall fall. 
 His danger needs must be the great'st of all. 
 Now if God notable angels did not spare 
 Because they did transgress, will he forbear 
 Poor dust and ashes? Will he sufier them 
 To break his law and sin, and not condemn 
 Them for so doing? Let no man deceive 
 Himself or others; they that do bereave 
 Themselves by sin of happiness Shall be 
 Out off by justice, and have misery. 
 
 Witness his great severity upon 
 The world that first was plantfed, wherein none 
 But only eight the Deluge did escape ; 
 All others of that vengeance did partake. 
 The reason was, that world ungodly stood 
 Before him, therefore he did send the flood, 
 
 Which swept them all away — a just reward 
 For their most wicked ways against the Lord, 
 Who could no longer bear them and theii 
 
 ways. 
 Therefore into their bosom vengeance pays. 
 We read of Sodom and Gomorrah too, 
 What judgments they for sin did undergo — 
 How God from heaven did fire upon them rain 
 Because they would not wicked ways refrain, 
 Condemning of them with an overthrow. 
 And turned them to ashes. Who can know 
 The miseries that these poor people felt 
 While they -did underneath these burnings 
 
 melt? 
 Now these, and many more that I could nam* 
 That have been made partakers of the flame 
 And sword of justice, God did them cut oiT, 
 And make examples unto all that sooflf 
 At holiness or do the Gospel slight ; 
 And long it will not be before the night 
 And judgment painted out by what he did 
 To Sodom and Gomorrah, fulfilled 
 Upon such sinners be, that they may know 
 That God doth hate the sin and persons too 
 Of such as still rebellious shall abide. 
 Although they now at judgment may deride 
 
ONE THING IS NEEDFUL; 
 
 SEKIOUS MEDITATIONS UPON THE FOUE LAST THINGS— DEATH 
 AND JUDGMENT, HEAVEN AND HELL. 
 
 A.N INTEODUOTION TO THE ENSUING 
 DISCOURSE. 
 
 1. These lines I at this time present 
 
 To all that will them heed, 
 Wherein I show to what intent 
 God aaith. Convert with speed ; 
 
 2. For these four things come on apace, 
 
 Which we would know full well — 
 Both death and judgment, and, in place 
 Next to them, heaven and hell. 
 
 3. For doubtless man was never born 
 
 For this life and no more ; 
 No, in the resurrection-morn 
 They must have weal or woe. 
 
 4. Can any think that God should take 
 
 That pains to form a man 
 So like himself, only to make 
 Him here a moment stand? 
 
 5. Or that he should make much ado. 
 
 By justice and by grace. 
 By prophets and apostles too. 
 That men might see his face ? 
 
 6. Or that the promise he hath made, 
 
 Also the threatenings great. 
 Should in a moment end and fade ? 
 Oh no ; this is a cheat. 
 
 7. Besides, who is so mad (or worse) 
 
 To think that Christ should come 
 From glory to be made a curse, 
 And that in sinners' room, 
 
 8. If nothing should by us be had 
 
 When we are gone from hence, 
 But vanities while here ? mad 
 And foolish confidence I 
 
 9. Again, shall God, who is the truth. 
 Say there is heaven and hell, 
 And shall men play that trick of youth, 
 To say, But who can tell ? 
 
 10. Shall He that keeps his promise sure 
 
 In things both low and small. 
 Yet break it like a man impure 
 In matters great'st of all? 
 
 11. Oh let all tr.emble at that thought 
 
 That puts on God the lie — 
 That saith, Men shall turn unto naught 
 When they be sick and die. 
 
 12. Alas ! death is but as the door 
 
 Through which all men do pass 
 To that which they for evermore 
 Shall have by wrath or grace. 
 
 18. Let all therefore that read my lines 
 Apply them to the heart ; 
 Yea, let them read, and turn betimes 
 And get the better part. 
 
 14. Mind, therefore, what I treat on here- 
 Yea, mind and weigh it well : 
 'Tis death and judgment, and a clear 
 Discourse of heaven and hell. 
 
 OF DEATH. 
 
 Death, as a king rampant and stout, 
 The world he dare engage ; 
 
 He conquers all, yea, and doth rout 
 The great, strong, wise, and sage. 
 
988 
 
 BUNTAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 2. No king so great, nor prince so strong, 
 
 But death can make to yield. 
 
 Yea, bind and lay them all along, 
 
 And make them quit the field. 
 
 3. Where are the victors of the world, 
 
 With all their men of might? - 
 Those that together kingdoms hurl'd 
 By death are put to iiight. 
 
 4 . How feeble is the strongest hand 
 
 WheA death begins to gripe ! 
 The giant now leaves off to stand. 
 Much less withstand and fight. 
 
 5. The man that hath a lion's face 
 
 Must here give place and bend ; 
 Yea, tho' his bones were bars of brass, 
 'Tis vain here to contend. 
 
 6. Submit he must to feeble ones, 
 
 To worms, who will enclose 
 His skin and flesh, sinews and bones. 
 And will thereof dispose 
 
 7. Among themselves, as merchants do 
 
 The prizes they liave got. 
 Or as the soldiers give unto 
 Each man the share and lot 
 
 8. Which they by dint of sword have won 
 
 From their most daring foe, > 
 While he lies by as still as stone. 
 Not knowing what they do. 
 
 9. Beauty, death turns to rottenness, 
 
 And youth to wrinkled face ; 
 The witty he brings to distress. 
 And wantons to disgrace. 
 
 10. The wild he tames, and spoils the mirth 
 
 Of all that wanton are ; 
 He takes the worldling from his worth. 
 And poor man from his care. 
 
 11. Death favours none ; he lays at all 
 
 Of all sorts and degree ; 
 Both old and young, both great and small, 
 Eich, poor, and bond, and free. 
 
 12. No fawning words will flatter him. 
 
 Nor threatenings make him start ; 
 He favours none for worth or kin ; 
 All must taste of his dart. 
 
 18. What shall I say ? The graves declare 
 That death shall conquer all; 
 There lie the skulls, dust, bones, and there 
 The mighty daily fall. 
 
 14. Death puts on things another face 
 
 Than we in health do see ; 
 Sin, Satan, hell, death, life and grace 
 Now great and weighty be. 
 
 15. Yea, now the-sick man's eye is set 
 
 Upon a world to come ; 
 He also knows too, without let, 
 That there must be his home, 
 
 16. Either in joy, in bliss, and light. 
 
 Or sorrow, woe, and grief; 
 Either with Christ and saints in white, 
 Or fiends without relief. 
 
 17. But oh the sad estate that then 
 
 They will be in that die 
 Both void of grace and life ! Poor men , 
 How will they fear and cry ! 
 
 18. Ha ! live I may not, though I would 
 
 For life give more than all ; 
 And die I dare not, though I should 
 The world gain by my fall. 
 
 19. No, here he must no longer stay. 
 
 He feels his life run out ; 
 His night is come, Also the day 
 That makes him fear and doubt. 
 
 20. Death doth already strike his heart 
 
 With his most fearful sting 
 Of guilt, which makes his conscience start 
 And quake at every thing. 
 
 21. For only he that God doth fear 
 
 Will now be counted wise ; 
 Yea, he that feareth him while here, 
 He only wins the prize. 
 
 22. 'Tis he that shall by angels be 
 
 Attended to that bliss 
 That angels have ; for he, oh he, 
 Of glory shall not miss. 
 
 23. Those weapons and those instruments 
 
 Of death that others fright. 
 Those dreadful fears and discontents 
 That bring on some that night 
 
 24. That never more shall have a day, 
 
 Bring this man to that rest 
 Which none can win but only they 
 Whom God hath call'd and blest 
 
 25. With the first fruits of saving grace, 
 
 With faith, hope, love, and fear 
 Him to offend; this man his face 
 In visions high and clear 
 
SERIOUS MEDITATIONS UPON THE FOUM LAST THINGS. 
 
 989 
 
 26. Shall in that light which no eye can 
 Approach unto — behold 
 The rays and beams of glory, and 
 Find there his name enroU'd 
 
 W. Among those glittering stars of light 
 That Christ still holdeth fast 
 In his right hand, with all his might. 
 Until that danger's past 
 
 28 That shakes the world, and most have dropt 
 Into grief and distress. 
 Oh blessed then is he that's wrapt 
 In Christ his righteousness. 
 
 29. This is the man death cannot kill. 
 
 For he hath put on arms ; 
 Him sin or Satan hath not skill 
 'To hurt with all their charms. 
 
 30. An helmet on his head doth stand ; 
 
 A breastplate on his heart : 
 A shield also is in his hand 
 That turneth every dart. 
 
 81. Truth girds him round the reins, also 
 His sword is on his thigh ; 
 His feet on shoes of peace do go 
 The ways of purity. 
 
 32. His heart, it groaneth to the Lord, 
 
 Who hears him at his call. 
 And doth him help and strength afford, 
 "Wherewith he conquers all. 
 
 33. Thus fortified, he keeps the field. 
 
 While death is gone and fled ; 
 
 And then lies down upon his shield 
 
 Till Christ doth raise the dead. 
 
 OF JUDGMENT. 
 
 1. As 'tis appointed men should die. 
 
 So judgment is the next 
 That meets them most assuredly; 
 For so saith holy text. 
 
 2. Wherefore of judgment I shall now 
 
 Inform you what I may. 
 That yon may see what 'tis, and how 
 'Twill be with men that day. 
 
 8. This world, it hath a time to stand ; 
 Which time once ended, then 
 Will issue judgment out of hand 
 Upon all sorts of men. 
 
 4. The Judge we find in God's record 
 
 The Son of man, for he 
 By God's appointment is made Lord , 
 And Judge of all that be. 
 
 5. Wherefore this Son of man shall come 
 
 At last to 'count with all. 
 And unto them shall give just doom. 
 Whether they stand or fall. 
 
 6. Behold ye now the majesty 
 
 And state that shall attend 
 This Lord, this Judge and Justice high 
 When he doth now descend. 
 
 7. He comes with head as white as snow, 
 
 With eyes like flames of fire. 
 In justice clad from top to toe, 
 Most glorious in attire. 
 
 8. His face is fill'd with gravity ; 
 
 His tongue is like a sword ; 
 His presence awes both stout and high; 
 The world shakes at his word. 
 
 9. He comes in flaming fire, and 
 
 With angels clear and bright. 
 Each with a trumpet in his hand. 
 Clothed in shining white. 
 
 10. The trump of God sounds in the air, 
 
 The dead do hear his voice ; 
 The living do run here and there 
 Who made not him their choice. 
 
 11. Thus to his place he doth repair, 
 
 (Appointed for his throne,) 
 Where he will sit to judge, and where 
 He'll 'count with every one. 
 
 12. Angels attending on his hand 
 
 By thousands on a row ; 
 Yea, thousands, thousands by him stand 
 And at his word do go. 
 
 18. Thus being sate, the books do ope 
 In which all crimes are writ — 
 All virtues too, of faith and hope, 
 Of love, and every whit 
 
 14. Of all that man hath done or said. 
 
 Or did intend to do. 
 Whether they sinn'd, or were afraid 
 Evil to come into. 
 
 15. Before this bar each sinner now 
 
 In person must appear. 
 Under his judgment there to bow 
 With trembling and with fear ; 
 
990 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS 
 
 16. Within whose breast a witness then 
 
 Will certainly arise 
 That to each charge will say, Amen, 
 While they seek and devise 
 
 17. To shun the sentence which the Lord 
 
 Against them then will read 
 Out of the boftk of God's record. 
 With majesty and dread. 
 
 18 But every heart shall opened be 
 Before this Judge most high ; 
 Yea, every thought to judgment he 
 Will bring assuredly. 
 
 19. And every word and action too 
 
 He there will manifest; 
 Yea, all that ever thou didst do 
 Or keep within thy breast 
 
 20. Shall then be seen and laid before 
 
 The world, that then will stand 
 To see thy Judge ope every sore, 
 And all thy evils soann'd, 
 
 21. Weighing each sin and wickedness 
 
 With so much equity, 
 Proportioning of thy distress 
 And woeful misery; 
 
 22. With so much justice doing right 
 
 That thou thyself shalt say. 
 My sins have brought me to this plight ; 
 I threw myself away. 
 
 23. Into the gulf my sins have brought 
 
 Me justly to possess, 
 For which I blame not Christ; I wrought 
 It out by wickedness. 
 
 24. But oh how willingly would these 
 
 That thus in judgment be. 
 If that they might have help or ease, 
 Unto the mountains flee I , 
 
 25. They would rejoice, if that they might 
 
 But underneath them creep. 
 To hide them from revenging right, 
 For fear of which they weep. 
 
 26 No mask nor vizor here can hide 
 The heart that rotten is ; 
 All cloaks now must be laid aside, 
 No sinner must have bliss. 
 
 27. The tree of life this paradise 
 Doth alvays beautify, 
 'Cause of our health t is the rise 
 And perpetuity. 
 
 28. Here stands the golden throne of grace. 
 
 From out of which do run 
 Those crystal streams that make this place 
 Far brighter than the sun. 
 
 29. Here stands Mount Zion with her King, 
 
 Jerusalem above. 
 That holy and delightful thing. 
 So beautified with love. 
 
 30. That as a mother succours those 
 
 Which of her body be, 
 So she far more all such as close 
 In with her Lord; and she 
 
 31. Her grace, her everlasting doors. 
 
 Will open wide unto 
 Them all, with welcome, welcome — poor, 
 Eich, bond, free, high and low — 
 
 32. Unto the kingdom which our Lord 
 
 Appointed hath for all 
 That hath his name and word ador'd 
 Because he did them call; 
 
 33. Unto that work which also they 
 
 Sincerely did fulfil, 
 Not shunning always to obey 
 His gracious, holy will. 
 
 34. Besides, this much doth beautify 
 
 This godly paradise. 
 That from all quarters constantly 
 Whole thousands, as the price 
 
 35. Of precious blood, do here arrive, 
 
 As safe escaping all 
 Sin, hell, and Satan did contrive 
 To bring them into thrall ; 
 
 36. Each telling his deliverance 
 
 In open face of heaven. 
 Still calling to remembrance 
 How fiercely they were driven 
 
 37. By deadly foe, who did pursue 
 
 As swift as eagles fly ; 
 Which if you have not, down thou must 
 
 With those that then shall die 
 The second death, and be accurst 
 
 Of God. For certainly, 
 
 38. The truth of grace shall only here 
 
 Without a blush be bold 
 To stand, whilst others quake and fear 
 And dare not once behold. 
 
SERIOUS MEDITATIONS UPON THE FOUR LAST THINGS. 
 
 991 
 
 8S. That heart that here was right for God 
 
 Shall there be comforted; 
 ^ But those that evil ways have trod 
 Shall then hang down their head; 
 
 40. For every one must now receive 
 
 According to their ways — 
 They that unto the Lord did cleave 
 The everlasting joys; 
 
 41. Those that die in wickedness 
 
 To execution sent, 
 There still to grapple with distress, 
 Which nothing can prevent. 
 
 42. Of which two states I next shall write, 
 
 Wherefore I pray give ear, 
 And to them bend, with all your might. 
 Your heart with filial fear. 
 
 OF HEAVEN. 
 
 1. HEAVEN is a place, also a state; 
 It doth all things excel ; 
 No man can fully it relate. 
 Nor of its glory tell. 
 
 J. God made it for his residence. 
 To sit on as a throne. 
 Which shows to us the excellence 
 Whereby it may be known. 
 
 3. Doubtless the fabric that was built 
 
 For this so great a King 
 Must needs surprise thee, if thou wilt 
 But duly mind the thing. 
 
 4. If all that build do build to suit 
 
 The glory of their state. 
 What orator (though most acute) 
 Can fully heaven relate? 
 
 5. If palaces that princes build 
 
 (Which yet are made of clay) 
 
 Do so amaze when much beheld. 
 
 Of heaven what shall we say? 
 
 6. It is the high and holy place ; 
 
 No moth can there annoy. 
 Nor make to fade that goodly grace 
 That saints shall there enjoy. 
 
 7. Mansions for glory and for rest 
 
 Do there prepared stand ; 
 Buildings eternal for the blest 
 Are there provided, and 
 
 8. The glory and the comeliness 
 By deepest thought none may. 
 With heart or mouth, fully express. 
 Nor can before that day 
 
 9 These heavens we see be as a scroll 
 Or garment folded up. 
 Before they do together roll, 
 And we called in to sup 
 
 10. There with the King, the Bridegroom, and 
 
 By him are led into 
 His palace-chambers, there to stand 
 With his prospect to view ; 
 
 11. And taste, and smell, and be inflam'd 
 
 And ravished to see 
 The buildings he hath for us fram'd. 
 How full of heaven they be. 
 
 12. Its state also is marvellous. 
 
 For beauty to behold ; 
 All goodness there is plenteous, 
 And better far than gold ; 
 
 13. Adorn'd with grace and righteousness. 
 
 While fragrant scents of love 
 O'erflow with everlasting bliss 
 All that do well above. 
 
 14. The heavenly Majesty, whose face 
 
 Doth far exceed the sun, 
 Will there cast forth its ray of grace 
 After this world is done ; 
 
 15. Which rays and beams will so possess 
 
 All things that there shall dwell 
 With so much glory, light and bliss 
 That none can think or tell. 
 
 16. That wisdom which doth order all 
 
 Shall there be fully shown ; 
 That strength that bears the world there 
 shall 
 By every one be known. 
 
 17. That holiness and sanctity 
 
 Which doth all thought surpass 
 Shall there in present purity 
 Outshine the crystal glaSs. 
 
 18. The beauty and the comeliness 
 
 Of this Almighty shall 
 Make amiable with lasting bliss 
 Those he thereto shall call. 
 
 19. The presence of this God will be 
 
 Eternal life in all. 
 And health and gladness, while we see 
 Thy face, Immortal 1 
 
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 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 20. Here will the Lord make clear and plain 
 
 How sweetly did agree 
 His attributes when Christ was slain, 
 Our Saviour for to be ; 
 
 21. How wisdom did find out the way ; 
 
 ^ How strength did make him stand ; 
 
 How holiness did bear the sway 
 And answer just demand ; 
 
 22. How all these attributes did bend 
 
 Themselves to work our life 
 Through Jesus Christ, whom God did send 
 To save us by his might. 
 
 23. All this will sparkle in our eye 
 
 Within the holy place. 
 And greatly laise our melody, 
 And flow our hearts with grace, 
 
 24. The largest thought that can' arise 
 
 Within the widest heart 
 Shall then be filled with surprise, 
 And pleas'd in every part. 
 
 25. All mysteries shall here be seen, 
 
 And ev'ry knot untied ; 
 Electing love, that hid hath been. 
 Shall shine on every side. 
 
 26. The God of glory here wi J ue 
 
 The life of every one, 
 Whose godly attributes shall we 
 Possess them as our own. 
 
 27. By wisdom we all things shall know. 
 
 By light all things shall see ; 
 By strength (too) all things we shall do 
 When we in glory be. 
 
 28. The Holy Lamb of God also, 
 
 Who for our sakes did die. 
 The holy ones of God shall know. 
 And that most perfectly. 
 
 29. Those small and short discoveries 
 
 That we have of him here 
 Will there be seen with open eyes. 
 In visions full and clear. 
 
 30. Those many thousand acts of grace 
 
 That here we feel and find 
 Shall there be read with open face 
 Upon his heart most kind. 
 
 81. There he will show us how he was 
 Our Prophet, Priest, and King, 
 And how he did maintain oxir cause. 
 And us to glory bring. 
 
 32. There we shall see how he was touch'd 
 
 With all our grief and pain, 
 (As in his word he hath avouch'd,) 
 When we with him shall reign : 
 
 33. He'll show us also how he did 
 
 Maintain our faith and love. 
 And why his face sometimes he hid 
 From us, who are his dove. 
 
 34. That head that once was crowned with 
 
 thorns 
 Shall now with glory shine. 
 That heart that broken was with scorns 
 Shall flow with life divine. 
 
 35. That man that here met with disgrace 
 
 We there shall see so bright 
 That angels can't behold his face 
 For its exceeding light. 
 
 36. What gladness shall possess our heart 
 
 When we shall see these things I 
 What light and life in every part 
 Will rise like lasting springs I 
 
 37. Oh blessed face and holy grace I > 
 
 When shall we see this day? 
 Lord, fetch us to this goodly place. 
 We humbly do thee pray. 
 
 38. Next to this Lamb we shall behold 
 
 AU saints, both more and less, 
 
 With whited robes in glory roll'd, 
 
 'Cause him they did confess ; 
 
 39. Each walking in his righteousness, 
 
 With shining crowns of gold. 
 Triumphing still in heavenly bliss 
 Amazing to behold. 
 
 40. Thus as they shine in their estate, 
 
 So too in their degree ; 
 Which is most goodly to relate 
 And ravishing to see. 
 
 41. The Majesty whom they adore 
 
 Doth them in wisdom place 
 Upon the thrones, and that before 
 The angels, to their grace. 
 
 42. The saints of the Old Testament, 
 
 Full right to their degree. 
 Likewise the New, in excellent 
 • Magnificency be. 
 
 43. Each one his badge of glory weara 
 
 According to his place. 
 According as were his afiairs 
 Here in the time of grace. 
 
SERIOUS MEDITATIONS UPON THE FOUR LAST THINGS. 
 
 993 
 
 44. Some on the right hand of the Lamb, 
 
 Likewise some on the left, 
 With robes and golden chains do stand, 
 Most grave, most sage, and deft. 
 
 45. The martyr here is known from him 
 
 Who peaceably did die. 
 Both by the place he sitteth in 
 And by his dignity. 
 
 46 Each father, saint, and prophet shaft, 
 According to his worth. 
 Enjoy the honour of his call, 
 And plainly hold it forth. 
 
 47. Those bodies which sometimes were torn. 
 
 And bones that broken were, 
 For God's word, he doth now adorn 
 With health and glory fair. 
 
 48. Thus, when in heav'nly harmony 
 
 These blessed saints appear, 
 
 Adorn'd with grace and majesty, 
 
 What gladness will be there 1 
 
 49. This shall we see, thus shall we be : 
 
 Oh would the day were come 1 
 Lord Jesus, take us up to thee. 
 To this desired home. 
 
 50. Angels also we shall behold 
 
 When we on high ascend. 
 Each shining like to men of gold, 
 And on the Lord attend. 
 
 51. These goodly creatures, full of grace, 
 
 Shall stand about the throne, 
 Each one with lightning in his face, 
 And shall to us be known. 
 
 52. These cherubiilis with one accord 
 
 Shall cry continually, 
 Ah, holy, holy, holy Lord, 
 And heavenly Majesty ! 
 
 53. These will us in their arms embrace, 
 
 And welcome us to rest. 
 And joy to see us clad with grace, 
 And of the heavens possessed. 
 
 64. This we shall hear, this we shall see. 
 While raptures take us up. 
 When we with blessed Jesus be, 
 And at his table sup. 
 
 55. shining angels ! what I must we 
 With you lift up our voice? 
 We must, and with you ever be, 
 And with you must rejoice. 
 03 
 
 56. Our friends that lived godly here 
 
 Shall there be found again — • 
 The wife, the child, and father dear, 
 With others of our train ; 
 
 57. Each one down to the foot in white, 
 
 Fill'd to the brim with grace, 
 Walking among the saints in light, 
 With glad and joyful face. 
 
 58. Those God did use us to convert 
 
 We there with joy shall meet, 
 And jointly shall with all our heart 
 In life each other greet. 
 
 59. A crown to them we then shall be, 
 
 A glory and a joy, 
 And that before the Lord, when he 
 The world comes to destroy. 
 
 60. This is the place, this is the state 
 
 Of all that fear the Lord; 
 Which men nor angels may relate 
 With tongue, or pen, or word. 
 
 61. No night is here for to eclipse 
 
 Its spangling rays so bright. 
 Nor doubt nor fear to shut the lips 
 Of those within this light. 
 
 62. The strings of music here are tun'd 
 
 For heavenly harmony, 
 And every spirit here perfum'd 
 With perfect sanctity. 
 
 63. Here run the crystal streams of life 
 
 Quite througli all our veins. 
 
 And here by love we do unite 
 
 With glory's golden chains. 
 
 64. Now, that which sweeteneth all will be 
 
 The lasting of this ptate ; 
 This heightens all we hear and see 
 To a transcendent rate ; 
 
 65. For should the saints enjoy all this 
 
 But for a certain time. 
 Oh how would they their mark then miss, 
 And at this thing repine I 
 
 66. Yea, 'tis not possible that they 
 
 • Who then shall dwell on high 
 Should be content, unless they may 
 Dwell there eternally. 
 
 67. A thought of parting with this place 
 
 Would bitter all their sweet, 
 And darkness put upon the face 
 Of all they there do meet. 
 
994 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 68. But far from this the saints shall be ; 
 Their portion is the Lord, 
 Whose face for ever they shall see, 
 As saith the holy word ; 
 
 09. And that with everlasting peace, 
 Joy, and felicity : 
 From this time forth they shall increase 
 Unto eternity. 
 
 OF HELL, AND THE ESTATE OF 
 THOSE THAT PEEISH. 
 
 1. Thus having show'd you what I see 
 
 Of heaven, I now will tell 
 
 You also, after search, who'll be 
 
 The damned wights of hell. 
 
 2. And oh that they that read my lines 
 
 Would ponder soberly. 
 And lay to heart such things betimes 
 As touch eternity 1 
 
 3. The sleepy sinner little thinks 
 
 What sorrows will abound 
 Within him when upon the brinks 
 Of Tophet he is found. 
 
 4. Hell is beyond all thought a state 
 
 So doubtful and forlorn. 
 So fearful, that none can relate 
 The pangs that there are borne. 
 
 5. God will exclude them utterly 
 
 From his most blessed face. 
 And then involve in misery. 
 In shame, and in disgrace. 
 
 6. God is the fountain of all bliss. 
 
 Of life, of light, and peace ; 
 They then must needs be comfortless 
 Who are depriv'd of these. 
 
 7. Instead of life, a living death 
 
 Will there in all be found ; 
 Dyings will be in every breath — 
 Thus sorrow will abound. 
 
 8. No light, but darkness here doth dwell, 
 
 No peace, but horror strange ; * 
 
 The fearful, damning wights of hell 
 In all will make this change. 
 
 9. To many things the damneds' woe 
 
 Is likened in the word ; 
 And that because no one can show 
 The vengeance of the Lord. 
 
 10. Unto a dreadful burning lake. 
 
 All on a fiery flame, 
 Hell is compared, for to make 
 All understand the same. 
 
 11. A burning lake, a furnace hot, 
 
 A burning oven too. 
 Must be the portion, share, and lot 
 Of those which evU sow. 
 
 12. TKis plainly shows the burning heat 
 
 With which it will oppress 
 • All hearts, and will like burnings eat 
 Their souls with sore distress. 
 
 i 
 
 13. This burning lake, it is God's wrath, 
 
 Incensed by the sin 
 Of those who do reject his path, 
 And wicked ways walk in ; 
 
 14. Which wrath will so perplex all parts 
 
 Of body and of soul. 
 As if up to the very hearts 
 In burnings they did roll. 
 
 15. Again, to show the loathsome state 
 
 Of this so sad a case, 
 Like burning brimstone God doth make 
 The hidings of his face. 
 
 16. And truly as the stream and smoke 
 
 And flames of brimstone smell. 
 To blind the eyes and stomach choke. 
 So are the pangs of hell. 
 
 17. To see a sea of brimstone burn. 
 
 Who would it not affright? 
 But they whom God to hell doth turn 
 Are in most woeful plight. 
 
 18. This burning cannot quenched be, 
 
 No, not with tears of blood ; 
 No mournful groans in misery 
 Will here do any good. 
 
 19. damned men I this is your fate ; 
 
 The day of grace is done ; 
 Repentance now doth come too late, 
 Mercy is fled and gone. 
 
 20. Your groans and cries the sooner should 
 
 Have sounded in mine ears, 
 If grace you would have had, or would 
 Have me regard your tears. 
 
 21. Me you offended with your sin. 
 
 Instructions you did slight ; 
 Your sins against my law hath been: 
 Justice shall have his right. 
 
SERIOUS MEDITATIONS UPON THE FOUR LAST THINGS. 
 
 996 
 
 22. I gave my Son to do you good, 
 
 I gave you space and time 
 With him to close, which you withstood, 
 And did with hell combine. 
 
 23. Justice against you now is set, 
 
 Which you cannot appease : 
 Eternal Justice doth you let 
 From either life or ease. 
 
 24. Thus he that to this place doth come 
 
 May groan, and sigh, and weep. 
 But sin hath made that place his home, 
 And there it will him keep ; 
 
 25. Wherefore hell, in another place, 
 
 Is called a prison too. 
 And all to show the evil case 
 Of all sin doth undo. 
 
 26. Which prison, with its locks and bars 
 
 Of God's lasting decree. 
 Will hold them fast. Oh how this mars 
 All thought of being 'free 1 
 
 27. Out at these brazen bars they may 
 
 The saints in glory see, 
 But this will not their grief allay, 
 But to them torment be. 
 
 28. Thus they in this infernal cave 
 
 Will now be holden fast 
 From heavenly freedom ; tho' they crave. 
 Of it they may not taste. 
 
 29. The chains that darkness on them hangs, 
 
 Still rattling in their ears. 
 Create within them heavy pangs. 
 And still augment their fears. 
 
 30. Thus, hopeless of all remedy. 
 
 They dyingly do sink 
 Into the jaws of misery, 
 An^eas of sorrow drink ; 
 
 • 31. For being copp'd on every side 
 With helplessness and grief. 
 Headlong into despair they slide. 
 Bereft of all relief. 
 
 32, Therefore this hell is call'd a pit, 
 Prepar'd for those that die 
 The second death — a term most fit 
 To show their misery. 
 
 83. A pit that's bottomless is this, 
 A gulf of grief and woe, 
 A dungeon which they cannot miss 
 That will themselves undo. I 
 
 34. Thus without stay they always sink, 
 
 Thus fainting still they fail ; 
 
 Despair they up like water drink ; 
 
 These prisoners have no bail. 
 
 35. Here meets them now that worm that gnawE 
 
 And plucks their bowels out ; 
 The pit too on them shuts her jaws; 
 This dreadful is, no doubt. 
 
 36. This ghastly .worm is guilt for sin. 
 
 That on the conscience feeds 
 With viper's teeth, both sharp and keen, 
 Whereat it sorely bleeds. 
 
 37. This worm is fed by memory. 
 
 Which strictly brings to mind 
 All things done in prosperity, 
 As we in Scripture find. 
 
 38. No word, nor thought, nor act they did 
 
 But now is set in sight ; 
 Not one of them can now be hid — 
 Memory gives them light ; 
 
 39. On which the understanding still 
 
 Will judge and sentence pass ; 
 This kills the mind, and wounds the will; 
 Alas I alas ! alas ! 
 
 40. Oh, conscience is the slaughter-shop; 
 
 There hangs the axe and knife; 
 'Tis there the worm makes all things hot, 
 And wearies out the life. 
 
 41. Here, then, is execution done 
 
 On body and on soul ; 
 For conscience will be bribed of none. 
 But gives to all their dole. 
 
 42. This worm, 'tis said, shall never die. 
 
 But in the belly be 
 Of all that in the flames shall lie : 
 Oh dreadful sight to see I 
 
 43. This worm now needs must in them live 
 
 For sin will still be there. 
 And guilt, for God will not forgive. 
 Nor Christ their burden bear, 
 
 44. But take from them all help and stay. 
 
 And leave them! to despair, 
 Which feeds upon them night and day : 
 This is the damneds' share. 
 
 45. Now will confusion so possess 
 
 These monuments of ire, 
 And so confound them with distress, 
 And trouble their desire. 
 
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 'IG! That what to think, or what to do, 
 Or where to lay their head, 
 They know not; 'tis the damneds' woe 
 To live, and yet be dead. 
 
 47. These castaways would fain have life, 
 
 But no, they never shall ; 
 They would forget their dreadful plight. 
 But that sticks fast'st of all. 
 
 48. God, Clirist, and heaven they know are best. 
 
 Yet dare not on them think ; 
 The saints they know in joys do rest. 
 Whilst they their tears do drink. 
 
 49. They cry, alas 1 but all in vain, 
 
 They stick fast in the mire ; 
 They would be rid of present pain. 
 Yet set themselves on fire. 
 
 f)0. Darkness is their perplexity. 
 Yet do they hate the light ; 
 They always see their misery. 
 Yet are themselves all night. 
 
 51. They are all dead, yet live they do ; 
 
 Yet neither live nor die : 
 They die to weal, and live to woe; 
 This is their misery. 
 
 52. Now is the joy they lived in 
 
 All turn'd to brinish tears 
 And resolute attempts to sin 
 , Turn'd into hellish fears. 
 
 53. Their dolour, in their bitterness. 
 
 So greatly they bemoan 
 That hell itself this to express 
 Doth echo with their groan : 
 
 5-1. I once was fair for light and grace, 
 My days were long and good ; 
 I lived in a blessed place. 
 Where was most heav'nly food ; 
 
 55. But, wretch I am, I slighted life, 
 And chose in death to live ; 
 O^ for these days now, if I might, 
 Ten thousand worlds would give. 
 
 oG. Ah, golden time !' I did thee spend 
 In sin and idleness ; 
 Ah, health and wealth I I did you lend 
 To bring me to distress. 
 
 57. My feet to evil I let run. 
 
 And tongue of folly talk ; 
 
 My eyes to vanity have gone : 
 
 Thus did I pls/nly walk. 
 
 58. I did as greatly toil and strain 
 
 Myself with sin to please 
 As if that everlasting gain 
 
 Could have been found in these. 
 
 59. But nothing, nothing have I found 
 
 But weeping and alas ! 
 And sorrow which doth now surround 
 Me, and augment my cross. 
 
 60. Ah, bleeding conscience! how did I 
 
 Thee check when thou didst tell 
 Me of my faults, for which I lie 
 Dead, while I live in hell ! 
 
 61. I took thee for some peevish foe 
 
 When thou didst me accuse ; 
 Therefore I did thee buffet so, 
 And counsel did refuse. 
 
 62. Ah, mind I why didst thou do those things 
 
 That now do work my woe ? 
 Ah, will ! why wast thou thus inclin'd 
 Me ever to undo? 
 
 63. My senses ! how were you beguiled. 
 
 When you said sin was good I 
 It hath in all parts me defiled, 
 And drown'd me like a flood. 
 
 64. Ah ! that I now a being have 
 
 In sorrow and in pain ! 
 Mother, would you had been my grave I 
 But this I wish in vain. 
 
 65. Had I been made a cockatrice, 
 
 A toad, or such-like thing. 
 Yea, had I been made snow or ice, 
 Then had I had no sin. 
 
 66. A stock, a stock, a stone, or clot 
 
 Is happier than I ; 
 For they know neither cold nor hot, 
 To live, nor yet to die. 
 
 67. I envy now the happiness . 
 
 Of those that are in light ; 
 I hate the very name of bliss, 
 'Cause I have there no right. 
 
 68. Again, still as they in this muse 
 
 Are feeding on the fire. 
 To mind there comes yet other news 
 To screw their torments higher ; 
 
 69. Which is the length of this estate 
 
 Where they at present lie, 
 Which in a word I thus relate : 
 'Tis to eternity 1 
 
SEMIOUS MEDITATIONS UPON THE FOUR LAST THINGS. 
 
 997 
 
 70. This thought now is so firmly fix'd 
 In all that comes to mind, 
 And also is so strongly mix'd 
 With wrath of every kind, 
 
 71 So that whatever they do know, 
 Or see, or think, or feel, 
 FOR EVER still doth strike them through. 
 As with a bar of steel. 
 
 72. For EVER shineth in the iire, 
 Ever is on the chains ; 
 'Tis also in the pit of ire, 
 And tastes in all their pains. 
 
 73 For ever separate from God, 
 
 From peace, and life, and rest; 
 Fyr ever underneath the rod 
 Th&t vengeance liketh best. 
 
 74. Oh ever, ever 1 this will drown 
 
 Them quite, and make them cry : 
 We never shall get o'er thy hound, 
 O great eternity I 
 
 75. They sooner now the stars may count 
 
 Than loose these dismal bands. 
 Or see to what the motes amount. 
 Or number up the sands, 
 
 76. Than see an end of this their woe 
 
 Which now for sin they have ; 
 O wantons ! take heed what you do ; 
 Sin will you never save. 
 
 77. Yea, when they have, time out of mind. 
 
 Been in this case so ill. 
 For ever, ever is behind, 
 Yet for them to fulfil. 
 
A CAUTION 
 
 TO STIE UP TO WATCH AGAINST SIN. 
 
 T!ie first eight lines one did commend to me, 
 The rest I thought good to commend to thee : 
 Keader, in reading be thou rul'd by me ; 
 With rhymes nor lines, but truths, affected he. 
 
 Sin will at first, just like a beggar, crave 
 One penny or one halfpenny to liave ; 
 But if you grant its first suit, 'twill aspire 
 From pence to pounds, and still will mount up 
 
 higher, 
 To the whole soul ; but if it makes its moan, 
 Then say. Here is not for you ; get you gone I 
 For if you give it entrance at the door, 
 It. will come in, and may go out no more. 
 
 Sin, rather than 'twill out of action be. 
 
 Will pray to stay, though a short space, with 
 
 thee: 
 One night, one hour, one moment, will it cry. 
 Embrace me in thy bosom, or I die. 
 Time to repent (saith it) I will allow. 
 And help if to repent thou know'st not how. 
 But if you give it entrance at the door, 
 It will come in, and may go out no more. 
 
 If begging doth not do. Sin promise will 
 Rewards to those that shall his lusts fulfil ; , 
 Some pence in hand, yea pounds, 'twill offer 
 
 thee, 
 If at its motion and its beck thou'lt be. 
 'Twill Heaven seem to outbid, and all to gain 
 Thy love, and win thee it to entertain. 
 But give it not admittance at thy door. 
 Lest it comes in, and so goes out ho more. 
 
 If promising and begging will not do 
 'Twill by its wiles attempt to flatter you : 
 I'm harmless, mean no ill, be not so shy, 
 Will every soul-destroying motion cry. 
 Its sting 'twill hide, 'twill change its native hue ; 
 Vile 'twill not, but a beauty seem, to you. 
 But if you give it entrance at the door, 
 Its sting will in, and may come out no more. 
 
 Eather than fail. Sin will itself divide, 
 Bid thee do this, and lay the rest aside, 
 Take little ones, ('twill say, ) throw great ones by, 
 (As if for little sins men should not die.) 
 Yea, Sin with itself a quarrel will maintain. 
 On purpose that by it thou mightst be slain. 
 
 Beware the cheat, then keep it out of door ; 
 
 It would come in, and would go out no more. 
 
 Sin, if you will believe it, will accuse 
 What is not hurtful, and itself excuse ; 
 'Twill make a vice of virtue, and 'twill say. 
 Good is destructive, doth men's souls betray : 
 'Twill make a law where God has made man 
 
 free. 
 And break those laws by which men bounded be. 
 
 Look to thyself, then, keep it out of door ; 
 
 Thee 'twould entangle and enlarge thy score. 
 
 Sin is that beastly thing that will defile 
 Soul, body, name, and fame in little while ; 
 'Twill make him who some time God's image 
 
 was 
 Look like the devil, love and plead his cause 
 Like to the plague, poison, or leprosy. 
 Defile it will and infect contagiously. 
 
 Wherefore beware, against it shut the door ; 
 
 If not, it will defile thee more and more. 
 
 Sin, once possessed 'of the heart, will play 
 
 The tyrant, force its vassal to obey : 
 
 'Twill make thee thine own happiness oppose, 
 
 And offer open violence to those 
 
 That love thee best; yea, make thee to defy 
 
 The law and counsel of the Deity. 
 
 Beware, then, keep this tyrant out of door, 
 Lest thou be his, and so thine own no more, 
 
 Sin harden can thy heart against thy God, 
 Make thee abuse his grace, despise his rod ; 
 'Twill make you run upon the very pikes ; 
 Judgments foreseen bring such to no dislikes 
 
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 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Of sinful hazards ; no, they venture shall, 
 For one base lust, their soul, and heaven, and all. 
 
 Take heed, then, hold it, crush it at the door ; 
 
 It comes to rob thee and to make thee poor. 
 
 Sin is a prison, hath its bolts, its chains. 
 Brings into bondage who it entertains. 
 Hangs shackles on them, bends them to its will, 
 Holds them, as Samsons, grinding at the mill ; 
 'Twill blind them, make them deaf; yea, 'twill 
 
 them gag, 
 And ride them as the devil rides his hag. 
 
 Wherefore look to it, keep it out of door ; 
 
 If once its slave, thou mayst be free no more. 
 
 Though Sin at first its rage dissemble may, 
 
 'Twill soon upon thee as a lion prey ; 
 
 'Twill roar, 'twill rend, 'twill tear, 'twill kill 
 outright ; 
 
 Its living death will gnaw thee day and night. 
 
 Thy pu-asures now to paws and teeth it turns ; 
 
 In thee its tickling lusts like brimstone burns. 
 Wherefore beware, and keep it out of door. 
 Lest it should on thee as a lion roar. 
 
 Sin will accuse, will stare thee in the face. 
 Will, for its witness, quote both time and place 
 Where thou it didst commit and so appeal 
 To conscience, who thy facts dare not conceal. 
 But on thee as a judge such sentence pass 
 As will to thy sweet meats prove bitter sauce. 
 
 Wherefore beware, against it shut thy door ; 
 
 Repent what's past, believe, and sin no more. 
 
 Bi n is the living worm, the lasting fire ; 
 
 W ell would soon lose its heat could sin expire : 
 
 Better sinless in hell than to be where 
 Heaven is and to be found a sinner there. 
 One sinless with infernals might do well. 
 But sin would make a very heaven a hell. 
 Look to thyself, then, to keep it out of door, 
 Lest it gets in, and never leaves thee more. 
 
 No match has Sin but God, in all the world ; 
 Men, angels it has from their station hurl'd, 
 Holds them in chains as captives, in despite 
 Of all that here below is called might. 
 Release, help, freedom from it none can give 
 But even He by whom we breathe and live. 
 Watch, therefore, keep this giant out of door 
 Lest, if once in, thou get him out no more. 
 
 Fools make a mock at sin, will not believe 
 
 It carries such a dagger in its sleeve : 
 
 How can it be (say they) that such a thing. 
 
 So full of sweetness, should e'er wear a sting 7 
 
 They know not that it is the very spell 
 
 Of Sin to make men laugh themselves to 
 
 hell. 
 Look to thyself, then, deal with sin no 
 
 more. 
 Lest He that saves against thee shuts the door. 
 
 Now let the God that is above. 
 That hath for sinners so much love, 
 These lines so help thee to improve 
 That he to him thy heart may move ; 
 Keep thee from outward enemies. 
 Help the infernal to despise. 
 Deliver thee from them infernal, 
 And bring thee safe to life eterual. 
 
 AiTKN. 
 
DIVINE EMBLEMS; 
 
 OR, 
 
 TEMPORAL THINGS SPIRITUALIZED; 
 
 FITTED FOR THE USE OF BOYS AND GIRLS. 
 
 TO THE READER. 
 
 CotTRTEous Reader: * 
 
 The title-page will show, if thou wilt look, 
 Who are the projier subjects of this book : 
 They're boys and girls, of all sorts and degrees, 
 From those of age to children on the knees. 
 Thus comprehensive am I in my notions; 
 They tempt me to it by their childish motions. 
 We now have boys with beards, and girls that 
 
 be 
 Huge as old women, wanting gravity. 
 
 Then do not blame me, since I thus describe 
 
 'em; 
 Flatter I may not, lest thereby I bribe them 
 To have a better judgment of themselves 
 Than wise men have of babies on the shelves. 
 Their antic tricks, fantastic modes and way 
 Show mey like very boys and girls do play 
 With all the frantic fooleries of the age, 
 And that in open view, as on a stage : 
 Our bearded men do act like beardless boys. 
 Our women please themselves with childish 
 
 toys. 
 
 Our ministers long time by word and pen 
 Dealt with them, counting them not boys, but 
 
 men : 
 They shot their thunders at them and their toys, 
 Bi.t hit them not, 'cause they were girls and 
 
 boys. 
 The better charg'd the wilder still they sbot, 
 Or else so high these dwarfs they touched not. 
 Instead of men, they found them girls and boys, 
 To naught addicted but to childish toys. 
 
 Wherefore, dear reader, that I save them may 
 I now with them the very dotril play ; 
 And since at gravity they make a tush, 
 My very beard I cast behind a bush, 
 
 And like a fool stand flng'ring of their toys, 
 And all to show they are but girls and boys. 
 
 Nor do I blush, altho' I think some may 
 Call me a child, because I with them play : 
 I aim to show them how each fingle-fangle 
 On which they dote does but their souls entan- 
 gle, 
 As with a web, a trap, a gin, a snare. 
 And will destroy them, have they not a care. 
 
 Paul seem'd to play the fool, that he might 
 gain 
 Those that were fools indeed, if not in grain ; 
 He did it by. such things, to let them see 
 Their emptiness, their sin and vanity — 
 A noble act and full of honesty I 
 
 Nor he, nor I, would like them be in vice. 
 But by their playthings I would them entice, 
 That they might raise their thoughts from 
 
 childisb toys 
 To heaven, for that's prepar'd for girls and boys. 
 Nor would I so confine myself to these 
 As to shun graver things, but seek to please 
 Those more composed with better things than 
 
 toys, 
 Tho' I would thus be catching girls and boys. 
 
 Wherefore, if men inclined are to look, 
 Perhaps their graver fancies may be took 
 With what is here, tho' but in homely rhymes ; 
 But he who pleases all must rise betimes. 
 Some, I persuade me, will be finding fault, 
 Concluding here I trip and there I halt: 
 No doubt some could those grovelling notions 
 
 raise 
 By fine-spun terms, that challenge might the 
 
 bays. 
 
 1001 
 
1002 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Blionld all be forc'd their brains to lay aside 
 
 That cannot regulate the flowing tide 
 
 By tbis or that man's fancy, we should have 
 
 The wise unto the fool become a slave. 
 
 What, tbo' my text seems mean, my morals be 
 
 Grave, as if fetch'd from a sublimer tree. 
 
 And if some better handle can a fly 
 
 Thau some a text, wherefore should we deny 
 
 Their making proof or good experiment 
 
 Of smallest things, great mischiefs to prevent? 
 
 Wise Solomon did fools to pismires send 
 To learn true wisdom, and their lives to 
 
 mend; 
 Yea, God, by swallows, cuckoos, and the ass, 
 Shows they are fools who let the season pass 
 Which he put in their hand, that to obtain 
 Which is both present and eternal gain. 
 
 I think the wiser sort my rhyme may 
 slight; 
 While I peruse them fools will take delight. 
 
 Then what care I? The foolish God has chose, 
 And doth by foolish things their minds com- 
 pose. 
 And settle upon that which isdivine: 
 Great things by little ones are made to shine. 
 
 I could, were I so pleas'd, use higher strains. 
 And for applause or tenters stretch my brains ; 
 But what needs that? The arrow out of sight 
 Does not the sleeper nor the watchman fright: 
 To shoot too high doth make but children gaze • 
 'Tisthat which hits the man doth hiin amaze. 
 
 As for the inconsiderableness 
 Of things by which I do my mind express, 
 May I by them bring some good thing to pas« 
 As Samson with the jawbone of an ass. 
 Or as brave Shamgar with his ox's goad, 
 (Both things unmanly, not for war in mode,) 
 I have my end, tho' I myself expose. 
 For God will have the glorv at the close. 
 
 J. B. 
 
DIVINE EMBLEMS, &c. 
 
 UPON THE LARK AND THE FOWLER. 
 
 Thou simple bird, what makes thee here to 
 
 play? 
 Look, there's the fowler, prithee come away. 
 Dost not behold the net? Look, there 'tis 
 
 spread; * 
 
 Venture a little further, thou art dead. 
 
 ts there not room enough in all the field 
 For thee to play in, but thou needs must yield 
 To the deceitful glitt'ring of a glass 
 Between nets placed, to bring thy death to pass ? 
 
 Bird, if thou art so much for dazzling light, 
 Look, there's the sun above thee, dart up- 
 right; 
 Thy nature is to soar ^p to the sky ; 
 Why wilt thou, then, come down to the nets 
 and die ? 
 
 Heed not the fowler's tempting, flattering 
 call; 
 This whistle he enchanteth birds withal. 
 What tho' thou seest a live bird in his net? 
 She's there because from thence she cannot get. 
 
 Look' how he tempteth thee with his decoy, 
 That he may rob thee of thy life, thy joy. 
 Come, prithee, bird; I prithee come away; / 
 Why shouldst thou to this net become a pre^? 
 
 Hadst thou not wings, or were thy feathers 
 pull'd, 
 Or wast thou blind, or fast asleep wert lull'd. 
 The case would somewhat alter, but for thee, 
 Thy eyes are ope, and thou hast wings to flee. 
 
 Remember that thy song is in thy rise. 
 Not in thy fall ; earth's not thy paradise. 
 Keep up aloft, then; let thy circuits be 
 Above, where birds from fowlers' nets are free. 
 
 COMPAEISON. 
 
 This fowler is an emblem of the devil, 
 His nets and whistle fingers of all evil ; 
 
 His glass an emblem is of sinful pleasure, 
 Decoying such who reckon sin a treasure. 
 
 This simple lark's a shadow of a saint, 
 Under allurings ready now to faint. 
 What you have read a needful warning is, 
 Design'd to show the soul its share and bliss. 
 
 MEDITATIONS UPON AN EGG. 
 
 The egg's no chick by falling from the hen, 
 Nor man a Christian till he's born again. 
 
 The egg's at first contained in the shell ; 
 Men afore grace in sins and darkness dwell. 
 The egg, when laid, by warmth is made a 
 
 chicken. 
 And Christ by grace the dead in sin doth 
 
 quicken, 
 The chick at first is in the cell confin'd ; 
 So heaven-born souls are in the flesh detain'd. 
 The shell doth crack, the chick doth chirp and 
 
 peep; 
 The flesh decays, and men then pray and weep. 
 The shell doth break, the chick's at liberty ; 
 The flesh falls ofi", the soul mounts up on high. 
 But both do not enjoy the selfsame plight — 
 The soul is safe, the chick now fears the kite. 
 
 But chicks .from rotten eggs do not proceed 
 Nor is an hypocrite a saint indeed. 
 The rotten egg, tho' underneath the hen, 
 If crack'd, is foul, and loathsome unto men; 
 Nor doth her warmth make what is rotten 
 
 sound : 
 What's rotten, rotten will at last be found. 
 The hypocrite, sin has in him possession ; 
 He is a rptten egg under profession. 
 
 Some eggs bring cockatrices ; and some met 
 Seem hatch'd and brooded in the viper's den. 
 
 1003 
 
1004 
 
 SUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Some eggs bring wild-fowls; and some men 
 
 there be 
 As wild as are the wildest fowls that flee. 
 Borne eggs bring spiders ; and some men appear 
 More venom'd than the worst of spiders are. 
 Some eggs bring pismires ; and some seem to me 
 As much for trifles as the pismires be. 
 And thus do divers eggs form difi"'rent shapes, 
 As like some men as monkeys are like apes ; 
 But this is but an egg ; were it a chick, 
 Here had been legs, and wings, and bones to 
 
 pick. 
 
 UPON THE FLINT IN THE WATER. 
 
 This flint time out of mind hath there abode 
 Where crystal streams make, their continual 
 
 road, 
 Yet it abides a flint as much as 'twere 
 Before it touch'd the water or came there. 
 
 V Its hardness is not in the least abated, 
 'Tis not at all by water penetrated ; 
 Though water hath a soft'ning virtue in't. 
 It can't dissolve the stone, for 'tis a flint. 
 
 Yea, tho' in the water it doth still remain, 
 Its fiery nature still it does retain ; 
 If you oppose it with its opposite. 
 Then in your very face its flre 'twill spit. 
 
 COMPAMSON. 
 
 This flint an emblem is of those that lie 
 Under the word like stones until they die ; 
 Its crystal streams have not their natures 
 
 chang'd ; 
 They are not from their lusts by grace estrang'd, 
 
 UPON THE FISH IN THE WATEE. 
 
 The water is the fish's element.: 
 Jake her from thence, none can her death 
 
 prevent ; 
 And some have said, who have transgressors 
 
 been, 
 As good not be as to be kept from sin. 
 
 The water is the fish's element : 
 Leave her but there and she will be content ; 
 So's he who in the path of life doth plod ; 
 Take all, says he ; let me but have my God. 
 
 The water is the fish's element : 
 Her sportings there to her are excellent; 
 So is God's service unto holy men ; 
 They are not in their element till then. 
 
 UPON THE SWALLOW. 
 
 This pretty bird, oh how she flies and sings I 
 But could she do so if she had not wings ' 
 Her wings bespeak my faith, her songs my 
 
 peace ; 
 When I believe and sing my doubtings cease. 
 
 UPON THE BEE. 
 
 The bee goes out, and honey home doth bring, 
 And some who seek that honey find a sting. 
 Now wouldst thou have the honey, and be free 
 From stinging, in the first place kill the bee. 
 
 COMPAEISOir. 
 This bee an emblem truly is of sin. 
 Whose sweet unto a many death hath been : 
 Wouldst thou have sweet from sin, and yet not 
 
 die. 
 Sin, in the first place, thou must mortiiy. 
 
 UPON OVERMUCH NICENESS. 
 
 'Tis strange to see how overnice are some 
 About their clothes, their bodies, and their 
 
 home. 
 While what's of worth they slightly pass it by, 
 Not doing it at all, or slovenly. 
 
 Their houses must well furnish'd be in print. 
 While their immortal soul has no good in't ; 
 Its outside also they must beautify. 
 While there is in't scarce common honesty. 
 
 Their bodies they must have trick'd up and 
 trim. 
 Their inside full of filth up to the brim ; 
 Upon their clothes there must not be a spot. 
 Whereas their lives are but one common blot. 
 
 How nice, how coy are some about their diet 
 That can their crying souls with hogs' meat 
 
 quiet I 
 All must be drest to a hair, or else 'tis naught, 
 While of the living bread they haveno thought. 
 
DIVINE EMBLEMS FOB YOUTH. 
 
 1005 
 
 MEDITATIONS UrON A CANDLE. 
 
 Man's like a candle In a candlestick, 
 Made up of tallow and a little wick ; 
 For what the candle is before 'tis lighted, 
 Just such be they who are in sin benighted; 
 Nor can a man his soul with grace inspire. 
 More than the candles set themselves on fire. 
 
 Candles receive their light from what they 
 are not ; 
 Jlen grace from Him for whom at first they 
 care not. 
 
 We manage candles when they take the fire ; 
 God, men, when he with grace doth them in- 
 spire. 
 
 And biggest candles give the better light. 
 As grace on biggest sinners shines most bright. 
 
 The candle shines to make another see ; 
 A saint unto his neighbbur light should be. 
 
 The blinking candle we do much despise ; 
 Saints dim of light are high in no man's eyes. 
 
 Again, though it may seem to some a riddle. 
 We use to light our candle at the middle. 
 True light doth at the candle's end appear, 
 And grace the heart first reaches by the ear ; 
 But 'tis the wick the fire doth kindle on, 
 As 'tis the heart that grace first works upon. 
 Thus both do fasten upon what's the main, 
 And so their life and vigour do maintain. 
 
 The tallow makes the wick yield to the fire. 
 And sinful flesh doth make the soul desire 
 That grace may kindle on it, in it burn ; 
 So evil makes the soul from evil turn. 
 
 But candles in the wind afe apt to flare, 
 And Christians in a tempest to despair. 
 We see the flame with smoke attended is, 
 And in our holy lives there's much amiss. ' 
 
 Sometimes a thief will candlelight annoy. 
 And lusts do seek our graces to destroy. 
 What brackish is will make a candle splutter ; 
 'Twixt sin and grace there's oft a heavy clutter. 
 Sometimes the light burns dim, 'cause of the 
 
 snuff, 
 And sometimes 'tis blown quite out with a puff; 
 But watchfulness preventeth both these evils. 
 Keeps candles light, and grace, in spite of 
 
 devils. 
 
 But let not snuflTs nor pufls make us to doubt ; 
 Our candles may be lighted, tho' pufl''d out. 
 
 The candle in the night doth all excel ; 
 Nor sun, nor moon, nor stars then shine so welL 
 So is the Christian in our hemisphere, 
 Whose light shows others how their course to 
 
 steer. 
 When candles are put out, all's in confusion ; 
 Where Christians are not devils make intrusion. 
 They then are happy who such candles hare ; 
 All others dwell in darkness and the grave. 
 But candles that do blink within the socket. 
 And saints whose eyes are always in theit 
 
 pocket, 
 Are much alike ; such candles make us fumble, 
 And at such saints good men and bad do stumble. 
 
 Good candles don't ofiend, except sore eyes, 
 Nor hurt, unless it be the silly flies ; 
 Thus some hate burning candles in the night, 
 As some do living holy for delight. 
 But let us draw towards the candle's end. 
 The fire, you see, doth wick and tallow spend. 
 As grace man's life, until his glass is run ; 
 And so the candle and the man is done. 
 
 The man now lays him down upon his bed ; 
 The wick yields up its fire, and so is dead. 
 The candle now extinct is, but the man 
 By grace mounts up tp glory, there to stand. 
 
 UPON THE SACEAMENTS. 
 
 Two sacraments I do believe there be, 
 Ev'n Baptism and the Supper of the Lord . 
 
 Both mysteries divine, which do to me. 
 By God's appointment, benefit afford. 
 
 But shall they be my God, or shall I have 
 Of them so foul and impious a thought 
 
 To think that from the curse they can me savo ? 
 Bread, wine, or water me no ransom bought. 
 
 UPON THE SUN'S REFLECTION UPON 
 THE CLOUDS IN A FAIE MORNING. 
 
 Look yonder! Ah I me thinks mine eyes 
 
 do see 
 Clouds edg'd with silver, as fine garments be : 
 They look as if they saw the golden face 
 That makes black clouds most beautiful witi 
 
 grace. 
 
1006 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Unto the saints' sweet incense of their prayer 
 These smoky, curled clouds I do compare ; 
 For as these clouds seem edg'd or lac'd with 
 
 gold, 
 Their prayers return with blessings manifold. 
 
 THE SINNER AND THE SPIDER. 
 
 SiNNEE. 
 
 What black, what ugly, crawling thing art 
 thou? 
 
 Spider. 
 
 I am a spider- 
 
 SlNNEE. 
 
 A spider, ay ; truly a filthy creature. 
 
 Spider. 
 Not filthy as thyself in name or feature. 
 My name entailed is to my creation. 
 My feature from the God of thy salvation. 
 
 SllSTNEE. 
 
 I am a man, and in God's image made ; 
 I have a soul shall neither die nor fade ; 
 God has possessed me with human reason; 
 Speak not against me, lest thou speakest 
 
 treason, 
 For if I am the image of my Maker, 
 Of slanders laid on me he is partaker. 
 
 Spider. 
 I know thou art a creature far above me. 
 Therefore I shun, I fear, and also love thee. 
 But tho' thy God hath made thee such a 
 
 creature, 
 Thou hast against him often play'd the traitor. 
 Thy sin has fetch'd thee down : leave ofi' to 
 
 boast ; 
 Nature thou hast defiled, God's image lost. 
 Yea, thou thyself a very beast hast made. 
 And art become like grass, which soon doth 
 
 fade. 
 Thy soul, thy reason, yea, thy spotless state, 
 Sin has subjected to th' most dreadful fate; 
 But I retain my primitive condition; 
 I've all but what I lost by thy ambition. 
 
 Sinner. 
 Thou venom'd thing, I know not what to 
 call thee : 
 The dregs of nature surely did befall thee ; 
 
 Thou wast compos'd o' th' dross and scum of 
 
 all; 
 Men hate thee, and in scorn ttiee Spider calL 
 
 Spidee. 
 My venom's good for something, since God 
 made it ; 
 
 Thy nature sin hath spoil'd and doth degrade 
 it. 
 
 Thou art despoil'd of good, and, tho' I foar 
 thee, 
 
 I will not, tho' I might, despise and jeer thee. 
 
 Thou sayst I am the very dregs of nature; 
 
 Thy sin's the spawn of devils, 'tis no creature. 
 
 Thou sayst man hates me 'cause I am a spider; 
 
 Poor man I thou of thy God art a derider ; 
 
 My vemon tendeth to my preservation; 
 
 Thy pleasing follies work out thy damnation. 
 
 Poor man ! I keep the rules of my creation ; 
 
 Thy sin has cast thee headlong from thy sta- 
 tion. 
 
 I hurt nobody willingly, but thou 
 
 Art a self-murderer ; thou knowst not how 
 
 To do what's good ; no, for thou lovest evil-; 
 
 Thou fly'st God's law, adherest to the devil. 
 
 Sinner. 
 Thou ill-shap'd thing ! there's an antipathy 
 'Twixt man and spiders, 'tis in vain to lie; 
 Stand ofi', I hate thee ; if thou dost come nigh 
 
 me, 
 I'll crush thee with my foot ; I do defy thee. 
 
 Spider. 
 They are ill-shap'd who warped are by sin : 
 Hatred in thee to God hath long time been ; 
 No marvel then, indeed, if me his creature 
 Thou dost defy, pretending name and feature ; 
 But why stand off? My presence shall not 
 
 throng thee ; 
 'Tis not my venom, but thy sin, doth wrong 
 thee. 
 
 Come, I will teach thee wisdom ; do but hear 
 me: 
 I was made for thy profit — do not fear me. 
 
 But if thy God thou wilt not hearken to, 
 What can the swallow, ant, and spider do ? 
 Yet I will speak ; I can but be rejected : 
 Sometimes great things by small means are 
 efiected. 
 
 Hark, then I Tho' man is noble by creation, 
 He's lapsed now to such degeneration 
 As not to grieve, so careless is he grown, 
 Tho' he himself has sadly overthrown 
 
DIVINE EMBLEMS FOB. YOUTH. 
 
 1007 
 
 A.nd brought to bondage every earthly thing, 
 Ev'n from the very spider to the king. 
 This we poor sensitives do feel and see, 
 For subject to the curse you made us be. 
 Tread not upon me, neither from me go ; 
 'Tis man which has brought all the world to 
 woe. 
 
 The law of my creation bids me teach thee : 
 I will not for thy pride to God impeach thee. 
 I spin, I weave, and all to let thee see 
 Thy best performances but cobwebs be. 
 Thy glory now is brought to such an ebb 
 It doth not much excel the spider's web. 
 My webs, becoming snares and traps for flies, 
 Do set the wiles of hell before thine eyes ; 
 Their tangling nature is to let thee see 
 Thy sins (too) of a tangling nature be. 
 My den or hole, for that 'tis bottomless, 
 Doth of damnation show the lastingness. 
 My lying quiet till the fly is catch t. 
 Shows secretly hell hath thy ruin hatch t ; 
 In that I on her seize when she is taken, 
 I show who gathers whom God hath forsaken. 
 The fly lies buzzing in my web to tell 
 How sinners always roar and howl in hell. 
 
 Now, since I show thee all these mysteries. 
 How canst thou hate me or me scandalize ? 
 
 SlNNEE. 
 
 Well, well ; I will no more be a derider ; 
 I did not look for such things from a spider. 
 
 Spider. 
 Come, hold thy peace. What I have yet to 
 
 say. 
 If heeded, may help thee another day. 
 Since I an ugly, ven'mous creature be. 
 There's some resemblance 'twixt vile man and 
 
 me. 
 
 My wild and heedless runnings are like those 
 Whose ways to ruin do their souls expose. 
 Daylight is not my time; I work i' th' night. 
 To show they are like me who hate the light. 
 The maid sweeps one web down ; I make an- 
 other. 
 To show how heedless ones convictions^ 
 
 smother. 
 My web is no defence at all for me. 
 Nor will false hopes at judgment be to thee. 
 
 Sinner. 
 O spider, I have heard thee, and do wonder 
 A. spider should thus lighten and thus thunder. 
 
 Spider. 
 Do but hold still, and I will let thee see 
 Yet in my ways more mysteries there be. 
 Shall not I do thee good if I thee tell, 
 I show to thee a fourfold way to nell ? 
 For since I set my web in sundry places, 
 I show men go to hell in divers traces. 
 
 One I set in the window, that I might 
 Show some go down to hell with Gospel light 
 
 One I set in a corner, as you see. 
 To show how some in secret snared be. 
 
 Gross webs great store I set in darksome 
 places. 
 To show how many sin with brazen faces. 
 
 Another web I set aloft on high. 
 To show there's some professing men must die. 
 Thus in my ways God's wisdom doth conceal, 
 And by my ways that wisdom doth reveal. 
 
 I hide myself when I for flies do wait. 
 So doth the devil when he lays his bait; 
 If I do fear the losing of my prey, 
 I stir me and more snares upon her lay : 
 This way and that her wings and legs I tie, 
 That sure as she is catch'd so she must die; 
 But if I see she's like to get away. 
 Then with my venom I her journey stay; 
 All which my ways the devil imitates 
 To catch men, 'cause he their salvation hates. 
 
 Sinner. 
 
 spider, thou delight'st.me with thy skill : 
 I pray thee spit this venom at me still. 
 
 Spider. 
 
 1 am a spider, yet I can possess 
 The palace of a king, where happiness 
 
 So much abounds. Nor when I do go thither, 
 Do they ask what or whence I come, or whithei 
 I make my hasty travels ; no, not they ; 
 They let me pass, and I go on my way. 
 I seize the palace, do with hands take hold 
 Of doors, of locks, or bolts ; yet I am bold, 
 When in, to clamber up unto the throne, 
 And to possess it, as if 'twere my own ; 
 Nor is there any law forbidding me 
 Here to abide or in this palace be. 
 
 At pleasure I ascend the highest stories. 
 And then I sit, and so behold the glories 
 Myself is compass'd with, as if I were 
 One of the chiefest courtiers that be there. 
 
 Here lords and ladies do come round about me 
 With grave demeanour, nor do any flout me 
 
J 008 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 For this my brave adventure; no, not they : 
 Tliey come, they go, but leave me there to stay. 
 
 Now, my reproacher, I do by all this 
 Show how thou mayst possess thyself of bliss. 
 THou art worse than a spider, but take hold 
 On Christ the door; thou shalt not be con- 
 
 troll'd : 
 By him do thou the heavenly palace enter; 
 None e'er will chide thee for thy brave adven- 
 ture. 
 Approach thou then unto the very throne; 
 There speak thy mind, fear not, the day's 
 
 thine own. 
 Nor saint nor angel will thee stop or stay. 
 But rather tumble blocks out of the way. 
 My venom stops not me ; let not thy vice 
 Stop thee ; possess thyself of paradise. 
 
 Go on, I say, although thou be a sinner. 
 Learn to be bold in faith of me, a spinner. 
 This is the way true glories to possess. 
 And to enjoy what no man can express. 
 
 Sometimes I find the palace door up-lockt. 
 And so my entrance thither has up-blockt ; 
 But am I daunted? No, I here and there 
 Do feel and search ; and so if anywhere, 
 At any chink or crevice, find my way, 
 I crowd, I press for passage, make no stay ; 
 And so thro' difficulty I attain 
 The palace, yea, the throne, where princes reign. 
 
 I crowd, sometimes, as if I'd burst in sunder. 
 And art thou crush' d with striving? Do not 
 
 wonder. 
 Some scarce get in ; and yet indeed they enter. 
 Knock, for they nothing have that nothing 
 
 venture. 
 
 Nor will the King himself throw dirt on thee, 
 As thou hast cast reproaches upon me. 
 He will not hate thee, thou foul backslider ! 
 As thou didst me because I am a spider. 
 
 Now to conclude : since I much doctrine 
 bring. 
 Slight me no more, call me not ugly thing. 
 God wisdom hath unto the pismire given, 
 A nd spiders may teach men the way to heaven. 
 
 Sinner. 
 Well, my good spider, I my errors see ; 
 1 was a fool for railing so at thee : 
 Thy nature, venom, and thy fearful hue 
 But show what sinners are and what they do. 
 
 Thy way and works do .ilso darkly tell 
 How some men go to heaven, and some to 
 
 hell. 
 Thou art my monitor, and" I am a fool: 
 They may learn that to spiders go to school. 
 
 OF THE MOLE IN THE GROUND. 
 
 The mole's a creature very smooth and 
 
 sleek ; 
 She digs i' th' dirt, but 'twill not on her 
 
 stick ; 
 So's he who counts this world his greatest gains, 
 Yet nothing gets but labour for his pains. 
 Earth's the mole's element; she can't abide 
 To be above ground, dirt-heaps are her pride. 
 And he is like her who the worldling plays ; 
 He imitates her in her works and ways. 
 
 Poor silly mole I that thou shouldst love to ba 
 Where thou nor sun, nor moon, nor stars canst 
 
 see; 
 But oh how silly's he who doth not care, 
 So he gets earth, to have of heav'n a share ! 
 
 OF THE CUCKOO. 
 
 Thott booby I say'st thou nothing but Cuckoo T 
 The robin and the wren can thee outdo : 
 They to us play through their little throats, 
 Not one, but sundry pretty tuneful notes. 
 But thou hast fellows : some like thee can do 
 Little but suck our eggs and sing Cuckoo. 
 
 Thy notes do not first welcome in our spring. 
 Nor dost thou its first tokens to us bring : 
 Birds less than thee by far, like prophets, do 
 Tell us 'tis coming, tho' not by Cuckoo. 
 
 Nor dost thou summer have away with thee, 
 Though thou a yawling, bawling cuckoo be; 
 When thou dost cease among us to appear, 
 Then doth our harvest bravely crown our year. 
 But thou hast fellows : some like thee can do 
 Little but suck our eggs, and sing Cuckoo. 
 
 Since cuckoos forward not our early spring, 
 Nor help with notes to bring our harvest in, 
 And since, while here, she only makes a noise, 
 So pleasing unto none as girls and boys. 
 The formalist \^e may compare her to, 
 For he doth suck our eggs and sing Cuckoo. 
 
DIVINE EMBLEMS FOR YOUTH. 
 
 1009 
 
 OF THE BOY AND THE BUTTERFLY. 
 
 Behold, how eager this our little boy 
 Is for this butterfly, as if all joy, 
 All profits, honours, yea, and lasting pleasures, 
 Were wrapt up in her, or the richest treasures 
 Found in her would be bundled up together, 
 When all her all is lighter than a feather. 
 
 He halloos, runs, and cries out, Here, boys, 
 here 1 • 
 
 Nor doth he brambles or the nettles fear : 
 He stumbles at the molehills ; up he gets, 
 And runs again, as one bereft of wits ; 
 And all his labour and this large outcry 
 Is only for a silly butterfly. 
 
 COMPARISON. 
 
 This little boy an emblem is of those 
 Whose hearts are wholly at the wflrld's dispose. 
 The butterfly doth represent to me 
 The world's best things at best but fading be : 
 All are but painted nothings and false joys. 
 Like this poor butterfly to these our boys, 
 His running through nettles, thorns and briers 
 To gratify his boyish, fond desires. 
 His tumbling over molehills to attain 
 His end — namely, his butterfly to gain — 
 Doth plainly show what hazards some men run 
 To get what will be lost as soon as won. 
 Men seem in choice than children far more Avise, 
 Because they run not after butterflies, 
 When yet, alas ! for what are empty toys 
 They follow children, like to beardless boys. 
 
 OF THE FLY AT THE CANDLE. 
 
 ' What ails this fly, thus desperately to enter 
 A combat with the candle? Will she venture 
 To clash at light? Away, thou silly fly 1 ' 
 Thus doing thou wilt burn thy wings and die. 
 
 But 'tis a folly here advice to give ; 
 She'll kill the candle, or she will not live. 
 Slap, says she, at it : then she makes retreat. 
 So wheels about and does her blows repeat. 
 
 Nor doth the candle let her quite escape. 
 But gives some little check unto the ape. 
 Throws up her nimble heels, and down she falls, 
 Where she lies sprawling and for succour calls. 
 
 When she recovers, up she gets again, 
 And at the candle comes with might and main ; 
 But now behold, the candle takes the fly, 
 And holds her till she doth by burnings die. 
 64 
 
 COMPARISON. 
 
 This candle is an emblem of that light 
 Our Gospel gives in this our darksome night: 
 The fly a lively picture is of those 
 That hate and do this Gospel light oppose. 
 At last the Gospel doth become their snare — 
 Doth them with burning hands in pieces tear. 
 
 ON THE RISING OF THE SUN. 
 
 Look, look I Brave Sol doth peep up from 
 beneath, 
 Shows us his golden face, doth on us breathe ; 
 Yea, he doth compass us around with glories. 
 Whilst he ascends up to his highest stories. 
 Where he his banner over us displays. 
 And gives us light to see our works and ways. 
 
 Nor are we now, as at the peep of light. 
 To question, Is it day or is it night ? 
 The night is gone, the shadows fled away, 
 And now we are most certain that 'tis day. 
 
 And thus it is when Jesus shows his face. 
 And doth assure us of his love and grace. 
 
 UPON THE PROMISING FRUITFUL- 
 NESS OF A TREE. 
 
 A COMELY sight indeed it is to see 
 A world of blossoms on an apple tree ; 
 Yet far more comely would this tree appear 
 If all its dainty blooms young apples were ; 
 But how much more might one upon it see 
 If each would hang there till it ripe should be I 
 But most of all in beauty would abound 
 If every one should then be truly sound. 
 
 But we, alas I do commonly behold 
 Blooms fall apace if mornings be but cold. 
 They, too, which hang till they young apples 
 
 are, 
 By blazing winds and vermin take despair. 
 Store that do hang while almost ripe, we see, 
 By blust'ring winds are shaken from the tree ; 
 So that of many only some there be 
 That grow and thrive to full maturity. • 
 
 COMPARISON. « 
 
 This tree a perfect emblem is of those 
 Which do the garden of the Lord compose. 
 
1010 
 
 BVNYAN'S complete: WORKS. 
 
 Its l)lasted blooms are motions unto good, 
 Which chill affections do nip in the bud. 
 
 Those little apples which yet blasted are 
 Show some good purposes — no good fruit bear. 
 Those spoil'd by vermin are to let us see 
 How good attempts by bad thoughts ruin'd be. 
 
 Those which the wind blows down while 
 they are green 
 Show good works have by trials spoiled been. 
 Those that abide while ripe upon the tree 
 Show in a good man some ripe fruit will be. 
 
 Behold, then, how abortive some fruits are 
 Which at the first most promising appear I 
 The frost, the wind, the worm, with time doth 
 
 show 
 There flow from much appearance works but 
 
 few. 
 
 UPON THE THIEF. 
 The thief, when he doth steal, thinks he 
 doth gain, 
 Yet then the greatest loss he doth sustain. 
 Come, thief, tell me thy gains, but do not falter. 
 When summ'd, what comes it to more than the 
 halter? 
 
 Perhaps thou'lt say. The halter I defy ; 
 So thou mayst say, yet by the halter die. 
 Thou'lt say, Then there's an end; no, prithee, 
 
 hold. 
 He was no friend of thine that thee so told. 
 Hear thou the word of God : that will thee tell 
 Without repentance thieves must go to hell. 
 But should it be as thy false prophet says, 
 Yet naught but loss doth come by thievish ways. 
 
 All honest men will flee thy companv ; 
 Thou liv'st a rogue, and so a rogue will die ; 
 Innocent boldness thou hast none at all ; 
 Thy inward thoughts do thee a villain call. 
 
 Sometimes, when thou liest warmly on thy 
 bed. 
 Thou aj-t like one unto the gallows led ; 
 Fear as a constable breaks in upon thee ; 
 Thou art as if the town was up to stone thee. 
 • 
 If hogs do grunt or silly rats do rustle, 
 Thou art in consternation ; think'st a bustle 
 By men about the door is made to take thee ; 
 And all because good conscience doth forsake 
 thee. 
 
 Thy case is so deplorable and bad 
 Thou shunn'st to think on't lest thou shouldst 
 
 be mad ; 
 Thou art beset with mischiefs every way ; 
 The gallows groaneth for thee every day. 
 
 Wherefore, I prithee, thief, thy theft forbear; 
 Consult thy safety, prithee have a care ; 
 If once thy head be got within the noose, 
 'Twill be too late a longer life to choose. 
 
 As to the penitent thou readest of. 
 What's that to them who at repentance scoflT? 
 Nor is that grace at thy command or pow'r. 
 That thou shouldst put it off to the last hour. 
 
 I prithee, thief, think on't and turn betime ; 
 Few go to life who do the gallows climb. 
 
 OF THE CHILD WITH THE BIED ON 
 ■ THE BUSH. 
 
 My little bird, how canst thou sit 
 And sing amidst so many thorns ? 
 
 Let me but hold upon thee get, 
 My love with honour thee adorns. 
 
 Thou art at present little worth ; 
 
 Five farthings none will give for thee ; 
 But prithee, little bird, come forth ; 
 
 Thou of more value art to me. 
 
 'Tis true it is sunshine to-day. 
 To-morrow birds will have a storm ; 
 
 My pretty one, come thou away ; 
 My bosom then shall keep thee warm. 
 
 Thou subject art to cold o' nights. 
 
 When darkness is thy covering ; 
 At days thy danger's great by kites ; 
 
 How canst thou then sit there and sing? 
 
 Thy food is scarce and scanty too ; 
 
 'Tis worms and trash which thou dost eat : 
 Thy present state I pity do ; 
 
 Come, I'll provide thee better meat. 
 
 I'll feed thee with white bread and milk. 
 And sugar-plums, if thou them crave ; 
 
 I'll cover thee with finest silk. 
 That from the cold I may thee save. 
 
 My father's palace shall be thine ; 
 
 Yea, in it thou shalt sit and sing : 
 My little bird, if thou'lt be mine, 
 
 The whole year round shall be thy spring 
 
DIVINE EMBLEMS FOR YOUTH. 
 
 ion 
 
 I'll teach thee all the notes at court; 
 
 Unthought-of music thou shalt play, 
 And all that thither do resort 
 
 Shall praise thee for it ev'ry day. 
 
 I'll keep thee safe from cat and cur, 
 No manner o' harm shall come to thee ; 
 
 yea, I will be thy succourer. 
 My bosom shall thy cabin be. 
 
 'But lo, behold, the bird is gone 1 
 
 These charmings would not make her yield : 
 The child's left at the bush alone. 
 
 The bird flies yonder o'er the field. 
 
 COMPAEISON. 
 
 This child of Christ an emblem is. 
 
 The birds to sinners I compare ; 
 The thorns are like those sins of his 
 
 Which do surround him ev'rywhere. 
 
 Her songs, her food, and sunshine day 
 Are emblems of those foolish toys 
 
 Which to destruction lead the way — 
 The fruit of worldly, empty joys. 
 
 The arguments this child doth choose 
 To draw to him a bird thus wild, 
 
 Show Christ familiar speech doth use 
 To make to him be reconcil'd. 
 
 The bird, in that she takes her wing 
 
 To speed her from him after all, 
 Shows us vain man loves any thing 
 
 Much better than the heavenly call. 
 
 OF THE ROSE BUSH. 
 
 This homely bush doth to mine eyes expose 
 A very fair, yea, comely, ruddy rose. 
 
 This rose doth always bow its head to me. 
 Baying, Come pluck me, I thyrose will be; 
 Yet offer I to gather rose or bud. 
 Ten to one but the bush will have my blood. 
 
 This looks like a trepan or a decoy, 
 To offer, and yet snap who would enjoy ; 
 Yea, the more eager on't, the more in danger, 
 Be he the master of it or a stranger. 
 
 Bush, why dost thou bear a rose" if none 
 must have it? 
 Why dost expose it, yel claw those that crave it? 
 Art become freakish, dost the wanton play. 
 Or doth thy testy humour tend this way ? 
 
 COMPAEISOSr. 
 
 The rose God's Son is, with his rv.ddy looks; 
 But what's the bush, whose pricks, like tenter- 
 hooks. 
 Do scratch and claw the finest lady's hands. 
 Or rend her clothes if she too noar it stands? 
 
 This bush an emblem is of Adam s race, 
 Of which Christ came when he his Father*! 
 
 grace 
 Commended to us in his crimson blood, 
 While he in sinners' stead and nature stood. 
 
 Thus Adam's race did bear this dainty rose. 
 And doth the same to Adam's race expose; 
 But those of Adam's race which at it catch. 
 Them will the race of Adam claw and scratch. 
 
 UPON THE BEGGAR. 
 He wants, he asks, he pleads his poverty ; 
 They within doors to him an alms deny: 
 He doth repeat and aggravate his grief. 
 But they repulse him, give him io relief; 
 He begs; they say. Begone: he will not hear, 
 He coughs and sighs, to show he still is there; 
 They disregard him; he repeats his groans: 
 They still say, Nay; and he himself bemoans; 
 They call him vagrant, and more rugged grow; 
 He cries the shriller, trumpets out his woe. 
 At last, when they perceive he'll take no nay. 
 An alms they give him without more delay. 
 
 COMPARISON. 
 
 This beggar doth resemble them that pray 
 To God for mercy and will take no nay. 
 But wait, and count that all his hard gainsays 
 Are nothing else but fatherly delays. ' 
 
 Then imitate him, praying souls, and cry : 
 Theie's nothing like to importunity. 
 
 UPON THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER. 
 There's one rides very sagely on the road, 
 Showing that he affects the gravest mode; 
 Another rides tantivy or full trot. 
 To show such gravity he matters not. 
 
 Lo, here comes one amain; he rides full 
 speed; 
 Hedge, ditch, or miry bog he doth not heed ; 
 One claws it up-hill without stop or check ; 
 Another down, as if he'd break his neck. 
 
1012 
 
 'BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 Now every horse has his especial guider ; 
 Then by his going you may know the rider. 
 
 COMPARISON. 
 
 Now let us turn our horse into a man, 
 The rider to a spirit, if we can : 
 Then let us by the methods of the guider 
 Tell every horse how he should know his rider. 
 
 Some go as men direct, in a right way. 
 Nor are they suffer'd e'er to go astray : 
 As with a bridle they are govern'd well, 
 And so are kept from paths that lead to hell : 
 Now this good man has his especial guider, 
 Then by his going let him know his rider. 
 
 Another goes as if he did not care 
 Whether of heav'n or hell he should be heir; 
 The rein, it seems, is laid upon his neck, 
 And he pursues his way without a check : 
 Now this man (too) has his especial guider, 
 And by his going he may know his rider. 
 
 Ag.ain, some run as if resolved to die. 
 
 Body and soul, to all eternity; 
 
 G-ood counsel they by no means can abide; 
 
 They'll have their course whatever them be- 
 tide: 
 
 Now these poor men have their especial 
 guider ; 
 
 Were they not fools, they soon might know 
 their rider. 
 
 There's one makes head against all godli- 
 ness; 
 Those (too) that do profess it he'll distress; 
 He'll taunt and flout if goodness doth appear, 
 And those that love it he will mock and jeer : 
 Now this man (too) has his especial guider, 
 And by his going he may know his rider. 
 
 UPON A PENNY LOAF. 
 
 Thy price one penny is in time' of plenty ; 
 In famine doubled 'tis from one to twenty; 
 Yea, no man knows what price on thee to set 
 When there is but one penny loaf to get. 
 
 COMPARISON. 
 
 This loaf's an emblem of the word of God — 
 A thing of low esteem before the rod 
 Of famine smites the soul with fear of death; 
 But then it is our all, our life, our breath. 
 
 THE BOY AND WATCHMAKER. 
 
 Boy. 
 This watch my father did on me bestow ; 
 A golden one it is, but 'twill not go, 
 Unless it be at an uncertainty; 
 But as good none as one to tell a lie. 
 
 When 'tis high day my hand will stand at nine ; 
 T think there's no man's watch so bad as mine. 
 Sometimes 'tis sullen, 'twill not go at all, 
 And yet 'twas never broke nor had a fall. 
 
 Watchmaker. 
 Your watch, tho' it be good, through want 
 of skill 
 May fail to do according to your will. 
 Suppose the balance-wheels and spring be good. 
 And all things else, unless you understood 
 To manage it as watches ought to be. 
 Your watch will still be at uncertainty. 
 Come, tell me : do you keep it from the dust, 
 And wind it duly that it may not rust? 
 Take heed (too) that you do not strain the 
 spring. , 
 
 You must be circumspect in ev'ry thing, 
 Or else your watch will not exactly go ; 
 'Twill stand, or run too fast, or move too slow. 
 
 comparison. 
 
 This boy resembles one that's turned from 
 sin — 
 His watch the curious work of grace within- 
 The Watchmaker is Jesus Christ our Lord ; 
 Hi§ counsel, the directions of his word. 
 Then, convert, if thy heart be out of frame. 
 Of this Watchmaker learn to mend the same 
 Do not lay ope thy heart to worldly dust. 
 Nor let thy graces overgrow with rust; 
 Be oft renew'd in th' spirit of thy mind, 
 Or else uncertain thou thy watch will find. 
 
 ON THE CACKLING OF A HEN. 
 The hen, so soon as she an egg doth lay, 
 Spreads the fame of her doing what she may,- 
 About the yard a cackling she doth go, 
 To tell what 'twas she at her nest did do. 
 
 Just thus it is with some professing men : 
 If they do aught that's good, they, like our hen 
 Cannot but cackle on't where'er they go, 
 And what their right hand doth their left mugi 
 know. 
 
DIVINE EMBLEMS FOR YOUTH. 
 
 1013 
 
 UPON A SNAIL. 
 
 3he goes but softly, but she goeth sure ; 
 
 She stumbles not, as stronger creatures do ; 
 Her journey's shorter, so she may endure, 
 
 Better than they which do much farther go. 
 
 She makes no noise, but stilly seizeth on 
 The flow'r or herb appointed foi- her food ; 
 
 The which she quietly doth feed upon. 
 
 While others range and glare, but find no 
 good. 
 
 And tho' she doth but very softly go, 
 However slow her pace be, yet 'tis sure : 
 
 And certainly they that do travel so 
 The prize which they do aim at they procure. 
 
 Altho' they seem not much to stir or go 
 Who thirst for Christ, and who from wrath 
 do flee. 
 
 Yet what they seek for, quickly they come to, 
 Tho' it doth seem the farthest off to be. 
 
 One act of faith doth bring them to that flow'r 
 They so long for, that they may eat and live ; 
 
 Which to attain is not in others' power, 
 Tho' for it a king's ransom they would give. 
 
 Then let none faint nor be at all dismay'd 
 That life by Christ do seek; they shall not 
 fail 
 
 To have it ; let them nothing be afraid : 
 The herb and flow'r are eaten by the snail. 
 
 UPON A SKILFUL PLAYER ON AN 
 INSTRUMENT. 
 
 He that can play well on an instrument 
 Will take the ear and captivate the mind 
 
 With mirth or sadness when it is intent; 
 And music into it a way doth find. 
 
 But if one hears that hath therein no skill, 
 (As often music lights of such a chance,) 
 
 Of its brave notes they soon be wearj- will ; 
 And there are some can neither sing nor 
 dance. 
 
 COMPAEISON. 
 
 To him that thus most skilfully doth play 
 God doth compare a Gospel-minister, 
 
 That doth with life and vigour preach and pray. 
 Applying right wha '■ he doth there infer. 
 
 Whether this man of wrath or grace doth 
 preach, 
 
 So skilfully he handles every word, 
 And by his saying doth the heart so reach. 
 
 That it doth joy or sigh before the Lord. 
 
 But some there be which, as the brute, do lie 
 Under the word without the least advance ; 
 
 Such do despise the Gospel-ministry ; 
 They weep not at it, neither to it dance. 
 
 OF MAN BY NATURE. 
 
 From God he's a backslider, 
 Of ways he loves the wider ; 
 With wickedness a sider. 
 More venom than a spider. 
 
 In sin he's a confider, 
 A make-bait and divider ; 
 Blind reason is his guider, 
 The devil is his rider. 
 
 UPON THE DISOBEDIENT CHILD. 
 
 Chi:PDREN, when little, how do they delight 
 
 us! 
 When they grow bigger, they begin to fright us. 
 Their sinful nature prompts them to rebel, 
 And to delight in paths that lead to hell ; 
 Their parents' love and care they overlook. 
 As if relation had them quite forsook. 
 They take the counsels of the wanton, rather 
 Than the most grave instructions of a father. 
 They reckon parents ought to do for them, 
 Tho' they the fifth commandment do contemn. 
 They snap and snarl if parents them control, 
 Altho' in things most hurtful to the soul. 
 They reckon they are masters, and that we 
 Who parents are should to them subject be. 
 If parents fain would have a hand in choosing, 
 The children have a heart still in refusing. 
 They by wrong-doings from their parents 
 
 gather. 
 And say it is no sin to rob a father. 
 They'll jostle parents out of place and pow'r. 
 They'll 'make themselves the head, and then 
 
 devour. 
 How many children, by becoming head. 
 Have brought their parents to a piece of bread i 
 Thus they who at the first were parents' joy 
 Turn that to bitterness, themselves destroy. 
 
lOU 
 
 BUNYAN'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 But, wretcli'd child! how canst thou thus 
 
 requite 
 Thy aged parents for that great delight 
 They took in thee when thou as helpless lay 
 In their indulgent bosoms day by day? 
 Thy mother, long before she brought thee forth, 
 Took care thou shouldst want neither food nor 
 
 cloth. 
 Thy father glad was at the very heart 
 Had he to thee » portion to impart. 
 Comfort they promised themselves in thee, 
 15ut thou, it seems, to them a grief will be. 
 How oft, how willingly, brake they their sleep 
 If thou, their bantling, didst but wince or weep ! 
 Their love to thee was such they could have 
 
 giv'n, 
 That thou mightst live, all but their part of 
 
 heav'n. 
 
 But now, behold, how they rewarded are 
 For their indulgent love and tender care ! 
 All is forgot, this love they do despise ; 
 They brought this bird up to pick out their eyes. 
 
 UPON A SHEET OF AVHITE PAPER. 
 
 This paper's handled by the sons of men 
 Both with the fairest and the foulest pen. 
 'Twill also show what is upon it writ, 
 Whether 'tis wisely done or void of wit. 
 Each blut and blur it also will expose 
 To the next readers, be they friends or foes. 
 
 COMPAKISON. 
 
 Some souls are like unto this blank or sheet, 
 (Tho' not in whiteness:) the next man they 
 
 meet, 
 Be what he will, a good man or deluder, 
 A knave or fool, the dangerous intruder 
 May write thereon, to cause that man to err 
 In doctrine or in life, with blot and blur. 
 Nor will that soul conceal wherein it swerves. 
 But show itself to each one that observes. 
 A reading man may know wlio was the writer. 
 And by the hellish nonsense the inditer. 
 
 UPON THE FROG. 
 
 The frog by nature is both damp and cold ; 
 Hermouth is large, her belly much will hold ; 
 She sits somewhat ascending — loves to be 
 Croaking in gardens, tho' unpleasantly. 
 
 COMPARISON. 
 
 The hypocrite is like unto this frog — 
 As like as is the puppy to the dog. 
 He is of nature cold, his mouth is wide 
 To prate and at true godliness to deride ; 
 And tho' the world is that which has his love 
 He mounts his bed as if he liv'd above ; 
 And though he seeks in churches for to croak 
 He neither loveth Jesus nor his yoke. 
 
 ON THE BAEEEN FIG TREE IN GOD'S 
 VINEYARD. 
 
 What ! barren here, in this so good a soil? 
 The sight of this doth make God's heart recoil 
 From giving thee his blessing, barren tree ; 
 B«ar fruit, or else thine end will cursed be! 
 
 Art thou not planted by the water side ? 
 Know'st not thy Lord by fruit is glorified? 
 The sentence is. Cut down the barren tree : 
 Bear fruit, or else thine end will cursed be ! 
 
 Thou hast been digg'd about, and dunged too : 
 AVill neither patience nor yet dressing do ? 
 The executioner is come, O tree ; 
 Bear fruit, or else thine end will cursed be ! 
 
 He that about thy roots takes pains to dig 
 Would, if on thee were found but one good fig, 
 Preserve thee from the axe : but, barren tree, 
 Bear fruit, or else thine end will cursed be ! 
 
 The utmost end of patience is at hand ; 
 'Tis much if thou much longer here doth stand ; 
 cumber-ground ! thou art a barren tree ; 
 Bear fruit, or else thy end will cursed be ! 
 
 'Thy standing nor thy name will help at all ; 
 When fruitful trees are spared, thou must fall. 
 The axe is laid unto thy roots, O tree ! 
 Bear fruit, or else thine end will cursed be 
 
 OF THE GOING DOWN OP THE SUN. 
 
 What ! hast thou run thy race? art going 
 down ? 
 AVhy, as one angry, dost thou on us frown ? 
 Why wrap thy head with clouds and hide thy 
 
 face, 
 As threatening to withdraw from us thy grace f 
 
DIVINE EMBLEMS FOR YOUTH. 
 
 lOlJ 
 
 Ob leave us not ! When once thou hidest thy 
 
 head 
 Our horizon with darkness will be spread. 
 Tell, who bath thee offended. Turn again ; 
 Alas I too late ; entreaties are in vain I 
 
 COMPARISON. 
 
 The Gospel here has had a summer's day, 
 But in its sunshine we, like fools, did play, 
 
 Or else fall out, and with each other wrangle, 
 And did, instead of work, not much but 
 jangle. 
 
 And if our sun seems angry, hides bis face, 
 Shall it go down, shall night possess thia 
 
 place ? 
 Let not the voice of night-birds us afflict, 
 And of our misspent summer us convict. 
 
 THK BN1>. 
 
 WBSTCOTT A THOMSON, STEREOTYrEKS. PHILAnELPHIA.