Chapter LV: Introduction: To Each Treatise, Notes, (55)

Thou mayest also doubt18 thy thoughts of the damned thus: If these poor creatures were in the world again, would they sin as they did before? would they neglect salvation as they did before? If they had sermons, 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.

Object. 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 discouraged and weakened; 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, and an hundred to one if I be saved, should I be ever so earnest for heaven.

Answ. 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 furthest 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 a 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," saith Christ, "I will in no wise cast out"; "for God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 6:37, 3:16) 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.

[USE THIRD.]--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 tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity," that is, love to God, and Christ, and saints, and holiness, "I am nothing"; no child of God, and so have nothing to do with heaven. (1 Cor 13:1,2) A prating tongue will not unlock the gates of haven, nor blind the eyes of the Judge. Look to it. "The wise in heart will receive commandments; but a prating fool shall fall." 19 (Prov 10:8)

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 is not godliness. Judas' religion lay much 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 religious for filthy lucre's sake? (Eze 33:31)

3. Wanton professors, I have a word for you; I mean you that can tell how to misplead Scripture, to maintain your pride, your banqueting, and abominable idolatry. Read 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." (2 Peter 2:18) Besides, the Holy Ghost hath a great deal against you, for your feastings, and eating without fear, not for health, but gluttony. (Jude 12) Further, Peter says, that you that count it pleasure to riot in the day-time are spots and blemishes, sporting yourselves with your own deceivings. (2 Peter 2:13) 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, remember 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 circumstantials 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 themselves 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." (2 Tim 3:5)

6. The legalist comes next, even him that hath no life but what he makes out of his duties. This man hath chosen to stand or fall by Moses, who is the condemner of the world. "There is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust." (John 5:45)

7. There is, in the next place, the libertine--he that pretendeth to be against forms and duties, as things that gender to bondage, neglecting the order of God. This man pretends 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 off 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." (Titus 1:16)

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 conscience 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 willfully ignorant professor, or him that is afraid to know more, for fear of the cross. He is for picking and choosing 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 his 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 comparing himself with others, instead of comparing himself with the Word of God. This man comforts himself, because he is as holy as such and such; he also knows as such 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. (2 Cor 10:12) 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 anything 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 water and 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 the one hand, and water in the other; he is a very anything but what he should be. This is also one of the many that "will seek to enter in, and shall not be able." 20

12. There is also that free-willer, 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,

[USE FOURTH.]--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 examples that are briefly mentioned in the Scriptures, concerning professors that have miscarried. 1. Judas perished from among the apostles. (Acts 1) 2. Demas, as I think, perished from among the evangelists. (2 Tim 4:10) 3. Diotrephes from among the ministers, or them in office in the church. (3 John 9) 4. And s for Christian professors, they have fallen by heaps, and almost by whole churches. (2 Tim 1:15, Rev 3:4,15-17) 5. Let us add to these, that the things mentioned in the Scriptures about these matters, are but brief hints and items of what is afterwards to happen; as the apostle said, "Some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after." (1 Tim 5:24)

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. O! to come short! nothing kills like 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 disappointment, I say, and that as to several things.

(1.) They will look to escape hell, and yet fall just into the mouth of hell: what a disappointment will be here! (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 compassion form them: what a disappointment is here! Again,

[USE FIFTH.]--As this disappointment will be fearful, so certainly it will be very full of amazement.

1. Will it not amaze them to be unexpectedly excluded from life and salvation? 2. 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 at another, their faces shall be as flames." (Isa 13:8) 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! "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground which didst weaken the nations!" If such a thing as this will with amazement surprise 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, and 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." (Isa 14) They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man? Is this he that professed, and disputed, and forsook us; but now he is come to us again? Is this he that separated from us, but now he is fallen with us into the same eternal damnation with us?

[USE SIXTH.]--Yet again, one word more, if I may awaken professors. Consider, though the poor carnal world shall certainly perish, yet they will want these things to aggravate their sorrow, which thou wilt meet with 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 bite 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; O how will these things sting! They will, if I may call them so, be the sting of the sting of death in hell-fire.

[USE SEVENTH.]--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 a 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 indeed. 4. Above all 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. 5. 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 fruits. (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 conscience, 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 gospel, to find it out to thine own comfort and consolation. 21

FOOTNOTES:

1 However homely this illustration, yet how striking. No family has been many years without that uneasy anxiety--earnest seeking the doctor to alleviate their sufferings, or those of a beloved relative, and then the trembling hope that "his excellent things" may produce the desired effect. Reader, have you had, at any time, equal anxiety for your soul's health and salvation? What has been the result?--Ed.

2 How delightfully but solemnly is this illustrated in the "Pilgrim's Progress." The wicket-gate, at the head of the way, at which the poor burdened sinner must knock and obtain an entrance by Christ the door. It may be like Mercy, with a trembling but sure hope. And then the glorious entrance into the Celestial City itself, after crossing the river which has no bridge. This was opened to Christian, but shut against Ignorance and against Turnaway of the Town of Apostasy.--Ed.

3 Much confusion appears to exist in the minds of many in reference to the "strait gate" mentioned in the text, as this passage is frequently introduced into exhortations to the unconverted. It is addressed exclusively to professors of religion--to those who profess to have set out for the Celestial City, and seems to say, Beware of the form of godliness without its power--of the profession without the possession! For, as old Mason truly said, "They fall deepest into hell that fall backward." The "striving" here alluded to refers to the whole course of the believers' life, with its end in view--"We labour to be accepted of him" "Give diligence," by adding to faith virtue, &c., "to make your calling and election sure; for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 1:5-11)

4 How well does our unlettered author give the meaning of strive, agonize.--Ed.

5 Reader, while we bless God for being mercifully relieved from those bodily privations and sufferings through which our pilgrim fathers passed, forget not that Satan plies all his arts to allure our souls from the narrow path. If we are saved from tedious imprisonments in damp dungeons--if Antichrist has lost much of his power, the flatterer is ever at hand to entangle us in his net--the atheist is ever ready, by his derision and scorn, to drive us back to the City of Destruction.--Ed.

6 In the edition printed 1692, "an holiday saint" is used. Saints' days were holidays upon which the gayest dress was put on; but the outward affectation of religion in pious company is better expressed by "holiday suit," and I have followed all the modern editors in concluding that the word "saint" is a typographical error.--Ed.

7 See the character of By-ends and his companions in the "Pilgrim's Progress."

8 O how few professors feel that the judgment of man is as nothing in comparison with that of a heart-searching God. Thousands would tremble at the thought of outwardly committing these great crimes, but who inwardly, in spirit, are daily guilty of them before God. He who is kept by Divine power from spiritual sins, is alone safe from the commission of carnal sins.--Ed.

9 It is an awful fact that in every age of the church these "blundering raw-headed preachers" have abounded. It is a singular appellation to make use of to those who strut in black, and vainly pride themselves upon being descended from the apostles. Alas! how many are those whose hearts and heads are raw indeed as to any influences of vital religion, and whose whole ministry is calculated to mislead the souls of their fellow-sinners as to their eternal hopes. Reader, how solemn is our duty to examine what we hear by the unerring Word--to try all things, and hold fast that only which is good.--Ed.

10 More particularly in the "Jerusalem Sinner Saved"--"He that would be saved by Jesus Christ, through faith in his blood, cannot be counted for such," &c. The sin against the Holy Ghost is an abandonment of Christianity--"to crucify the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame." (Heb 6:6) Poor trembler, wouldst thou crucify the Son of God afresh? If thy conscience says, Never! never! thou hast not committed this unpardonable sin.--Ed.

11 The wedding garments being provided by the host, this man must have refused it, and insults his King by sitting among the guests in his ordinary apparel. O reader, before you take a seat at the Lord's table, take prayerful care to be clothed with the robe of righteousness, otherwise you will eat to your utter condemnation and may, after all, be cast into outer darkness.--Ed.

12 May these searching words make an indelible impression upon the heart of every reader. How striking, and alas! how true, is this delineation of character. Religious when in company with professors--profane when with the world; pretending to be a Christian on a Sunday; striving to climb with Christian the Hill Difficulty--every other day running down the hill with Timorous and Mistrust. Such may get to the bottom of the hill, and hide themselves in the world; but they can never lie concealed from God's anger, either in this world, or in the bottomless pit, whither they are hurrying to destruction.

"Sinner, O why so thoughtless grown? Why in such dreadful hast to die?"--Ed.

13 "Tend it," or attend to it. What madness does sin engender and foster! The trifles of time entirely occupy the attention, while the momentous affairs of eternity are put off to a more convenient opportunity.--Ed.

14 Lowth's translation of this passage in Isaiah 6:13 not only confirms Bunyan, but exhibits his view in a more prominent light:--"And though there be a tenth part remaining in it, even this shall undergo a repeated destruction; yet as the ilex and the oak, though cut down, hath its stock remaining, a holy seed shall be the stock of the nation."--Ed.

15 How solemn the thought--there is but little wheat in comparison with all the grass and vegetable produce of the earth; and in the harvest how much chaff and straw, which grew with the wheat, will be cast out! Well may it be said, Look to it, professors.--Ed.

16 The word "faith" was changed in 1737 for "repentance," which has been continued in subsequent editions; "faith" is right. Awakenings and repentance are classed together under the first head, and faith under the second.--Ed.

17 Many readers will cry out, Who then can be saved? Without charity, or the love of Christ in the heart, all faith and works are but dross. Love is the touchstone of faith and works--not to glorify ourselves, but him who has bought us with his own most precious blood. Carry the solemn inquiry to the throne of grace, Have I passed from death unto life? for whosoever thus liveth believeth in Christ, and amidst the fatal wreck of professors, he shall never die.--Ed.

18 "To doubt"; to suspect, make a question of, reconsider.--Ed.

19 When Talkative asked Faithful what difference there is between crying out against and abhorring sin, he answered, "O! 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."--Pilgrim's Progress.

20 Similar to By-ends who never strove for heaven against wind or weather; was most zealous when religion walked in his silver slippers, and walked with him in the streets, while the sun shone, and people applauded him.--Pilgrim's Progress.

21 The striving inculcated in this treatise reminds us of Hopkins' bold appeal to conscience. He says, "There must be a holy roughness and violence, to break through all that stands in our way; neither caring for allurements, nor fearing opposition, but by a pious obstinacy and frowardness, we must thrust away the one and bear down the other. This is the Christian who will carry heaven by force, when the whining pusillanimous professor, who only complains of difficulty, but never attempts to conquer it, will be for ever shut out!"--Ed.

***

LIGHT FOR THEM THAT SIT IN DARKNESS;

OR,

A DISCOURSE OF JESUS CHRIST:

AND THAT HE UNDERTOOK TO ACCOMPLISH BY HIMSELF THE ETERNAL REDEMPTION OF SINNERS:

ALSO, HOW THE LORD JESUS ADDRESSED HIMSELF TO THIS WORK; WITH UNDENIABLE DEMONSTRATIONS THAT HE PERFORMED THE SAME.

OBJECTIONS TO THE CONTRARY ANSWERED.

'Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.'--Galatians 3:13.

by John Bunyan--1674

ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR.

This solemn and searching treatise was first published in 1674, a copy of which is in the Editor's possession. The author's object is to correct some fatal errors which then peculiarly abounded, and to recommend the gospel in its purity to the acceptation of his fellow-sinners. Possessing that inward peace, serenity, happiness, and safety, arising from a scriptural knowledge of Christ and him crucified, he proclaims, 'I have ventured my own soul thereon with gladness,' and 'if all the souls in the world were mine, I would venture them all.' His prayer is that others may receive the same light and life by faith.

Every age has had its peculiar delusions for the trial of the spirit--mysticism in Bunyan's time, Puseyism in our days. Prior to the Reformation, the clergy, called the church, claimed implicit obedience from the laity as essential to salvation, and taught that inquiry was the high road to eternal ruin. After the Bible had been extensively circulated, many regarded it as the letter which killeth--that it was of no importance, compared with the light within, which alone was essential. These were not the notions of any one or two sects, but had spread their influence to a considerable extent over the Christian church. To check the growth of these errors, and to recover those who had been misled by them, Bunyan published this 'Light for them that sit in darkness.' His object is to prove that all our knowledge of the Saviour must be received directly from the written Word--that to understand these holy oracles, we must seek and obtain Divine light. By this light we shall find that Christ took upon himself our nature, and, by his holy and perfect obedience to the law, and sacrifice of himself as a sin-atoning offering, he redeemed all his saints, paid the FULL price of their redemption, and will present them unblameable, unreprovable, and acceptable to him that is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. Their robes are washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb; they are perfect as Christ is perfect; there is no condemnation to them; their salvation is sure. To those whose spirits are dismayed under a fear that they have sinned the unpardonable sin, the arguments on the following pages are most consoling. Those who are under that awful curse are sunk in a deathly state of insensibility, while they sit in the seat of the scorner. To be alarmed with the fear of having so offended the Saviour, is the best evidence that no such sin can have been committed. The closing chapter is full of striking solemnity. May its beneficial effects be felt, to the glory of God and the reader's solid peace.

GEO. OFFOR.

THE AUTHOR TO THE READER.

Gentle Reader,

It was the great care of the apostle Paul to deliver his gospel to the churches in its own simplicity, because so it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. And if it was his care so to deliver it to us, it should be ours to seek so to continue it; and the rather, because of the unaptness of the minds, even of the saints themselves, to retain it without commixture. For, to say nothing of the projects of hell, and of the cunning craftiness of some that lie in wait to deceive even the godly themselves, as they are dull of hearing, so much more dull in receiving and holding fast the simplicity of the gospel of Jesus Christ. From their sense, and reason, and unbelief, and darkness, arise many imaginations and high thoughts, which exalt themselves against the knowledge of God and the obedience of Jesus Christ, wherefore they themselves have much ado to stand complete in all the will of God. And were they not concerned in electing love, by which they are bound up in the bundle of life, and blessed with the enjoyment of saving grace, which enlighteneth their souls and maintaineth their fath and hope, they would not only be assaulted and afflicted with their own corruptions, but, as others, overcome thereby.

Alas! how ordinary a thing is it for professors to fall from the knowledge they have had of the glorious gospel of the blessed God, and to be turned unto fables, seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils, through the intoxications of delusions and the witchcraft of false preachers.

Now, this their swerving from the gospel ariseth, 1. Either from their not having, or, having, not retaining, the true knowledge of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ; or, 2. From their not believing the true causes of his coming into the world, with his doing and suffering there. Upon one or both these accounts, I say, it is that they everlastingly perish; for if they have not, and do not also retain the knowledge of his person, they want the HE, on whom, if they believe not, they must die in their sins; and if they know not the reason of his coming, doing, and suffering, they are in the same condition also.

Now, those professors that have had some knowledge of these things, and yet have lost them, it hath come thus to pass with them because they first lost the knowledge of themselves and of their sins. They know not themselves to be such nothing ones as the Scriptures reporteth them to be, nor their sins to be so heinous as the law hath concluded; therefore they either turn again with the dog to his vomit, or adhere to a few of the rags of their own fleshly righteousness, and so become pure in their own eyes, yet are not purged by blood from their filthiness.

For the person and doings of Jesus Christ are only precious to them that get and retain the true knowledge of themselves, and the due reward of their sins by the law. These are desolate, being driven out of all; these embrace the rock instead of a shelter. The sensible sinner receiveth him joyfully.

And because a miscarriage in this great truth is the most dangerous and damning miscarriage, therefore should professors be the more fearful of swerving aside therefrom. The man that rejecteth the true knowledge of the person of the Lord Jesus, and the causes of his doing and suffering in the world, takes the next way to be guilty of that transgression that is not to be purged with sacrifice for ever; that fearful transgression for which is left no offering at all, nor anything to be expected by the person transgressing but fearful judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversary.

Now, for their sakes that have not sinned this sin, for their sakes that are in danger thereof, but yet not overcome, for their sakes have I written this little book, wherein is largely, and yet with few words, discovered the doctrine of the person, and doings, and sufferings of Christ, with the true cause thereof, also a removal of those objections that the crafty children of darkness have framed against the same.

And I have been the more plain and simple in my writing, because the sin against the Holy Ghost is in these days more common than formerly, and the way unto it more beautified with colour and pretence of truth. I may say of the way to this sin, it is, as was once the way to Jerusalem, strewed with boughs and branches; and by some there is cried a kind of hosanna to them that are treading these steps to hell. O the plausible pretences, the golden names, the feigned holiness, the demure behaviours, mixed with damnable hypocrisy, that attend the persons that have forsaken the Lord Jesus, that have despised his person, trampled upon him, and counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing! They have crucified him to themselves, and think that they can go to heaven without him; yea, pretend they love him, when they hate him; pretend they have him, when they have cast him off; pretend they trust in him, when they bid defiance to his undertakings for the world.

Reader, let me beseech thee to hear me patiently; read, and consider, and judge. I have presented thee with that which I have received from God; and the holy men of God, who spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, do bear me witness. Thou wilt say, All pretend to this. Well, but give me the hearing, take me to the Bible, and let me find in thy heart no favour if thou find me to swerve from the standard.

I say again, receive my doctrine; I beseech thee, in Christ's stead, receive it; I know it to be the way of salvation. I have ventured my own soul thereon with gladness; and if all the souls in the world were mine, as mine own soul is, I would, through God's grace, venture every one of them there. I have not writ at a venture, nor borrowed my doctrine from libraries. I depend upon the sayings of no man. I found it in the Scriptures of truth, among the true sayings of God.

I have done, when I have exhorted thee to pray, and give heed to the words of God as revealed in the Holy Writ. The Lord Jesus Christ himself give thee light and life by faith in him; to whom, with the Father and the good Spirit of grace, be glory and dominion, now and for ever. Amen.

JOHN BUNYAN.

LIGHT FOR THEM THAT SIT IN DARKNESS.

'OF THIS MAN'S SEED HATH GOD, ACCORDING TO HIS PROMISE, RAISED UNTO ISRAEL A SAVIOUR, JESUS.'--ACTS 13:23.

These words are part of a sermon which Paul preached to the people that lived at Antioch in Pisidia, where also inhabited many of the Jews. The preparation to his discourse he thus begins--'Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience' (v 16); by which having prepared their minds to attend, he proceeds and gives a particular relation of God's peculiar dealings with his people Israel, from Egypt to the time of David their king, of whom he treateth particularly--

That he was the son of Jesse, that he was a king, that God raised him up in mercy, that God gave testimony of him, that he was a man after God's own heart, that he should fulfil all his will (v 22).

And this he did of purpose both to engage them the more to attend, and because they well knew that of the fruit of his loins God hath promised the Messiah should come.

Having thus therefore gathered up their minds to hearken, he presenteth them with his errand--to wit, that the Messiah was come, and that the promise was indeed fulfilled that a Saviour should be born to Israel--'Of this man's seed,' saith he, 'hath God, according to his promise, raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus.'

In this assertion he concludeth--1. That the promise had kept its due course in presenting a Saviour to Israel--to wit, in David's loins--'Of this man's seed.' 2. That the time of the promise was come, and the Saviour was revealed--'God hath raised unto Israel a Saviour.' 3. That Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph, was he--'He hath raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus.'

From these things we may inquire, for the explication of the words, First. What this Jesus is? Second. What it was for this Jesus to be of the seed of David? Third. What it was for Jesus to be of this man's seed according to the promise? And, Fourth, what it was for him to be raised unto Israel? These things may give us light into what shall be spoken after.

Quest. First. What this Jesus is?

He is God, and had personal being from before all worlds; therefore not such an one as took being when he was formed in the world; he is God's natural Son, the Eternal Son of his begetting and love--'God sent forth his Son.' He was, and was his Son, before he was revealed--'What is his name, and what is his Son's name, if thou canst tell?' (Prov 30:4; Eze 21:10). He hath an eternal generation, such as none can declare, not man, not angel (Isa 53:8). He was the delight of his Father before he had made either mountain or hill. While as yet he had not made the earth or the fields, or the highest part of the dust of the world, all things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made, and he is before all things, and by him all things consist. It is he with whom the Father consulted when he was about to make man, when he intended to overthrow Babel, and when he sent Isaiah to harden the hearts of Israel (Prov 8:26; John 1:3; Heb 1:2,3; Col 1:17; Gen 1:26, 11:7; Isa 6:8). This is the person intended in the text. Hence also he testifies of himself that he came down from the Father; that he had glory with him before the world was. And 'what and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?' (John 6:62, 16:28, 17:5).

Quest. Second. What was it for Jesus to be of David's seed?

To be of David's seed is to spring from his loins, to come of his race according to the flesh; and therefore as he is David's God, so likewise is he David's Son; the root and also the offspring of David. And this the Lord himself acknowledgeth, saying, 'I am the root,' or God, 'and the offspring,' and Son, 'of David, and the bright and morning star' (Rev 22:16). This is indeed the great mystery, the mystery of godliness. 'If David then call him Lord, how is he his Son?' (Matt 22:45; Luke 2:4; Rom 1:3; 2 Tim 2:8). And hence it is that he is said to be 'wonderful,' because he is both God and man in one person--'Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful' (Isa 9:6). Wonderful indeed! Wonderful God, Wonderful man, Wonderful God-man, and so a Wonderful Jesus and Saviour. He also hath wonderful love, bore wonderful sorrows for our wonderful sins, and obtained for HIS a wonderful salvation.

Quest. Third. What was it for Jesus to be of this man's seed according to the promise?

This word 'promise' doth sometimes comprehend all the promises which God made to our fathers, from the first promise to the last, and so the Holy Ghost doth call them--'The promise made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children' (Acts 13:32,33). But the word 'promise' here doth in special intend that which God made to David himself--'Men and brethren,' said Peter, 'let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; he seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ,' &c. (Acts 2:29,30).

Quest. Fourth. What was it for Jesus to be raised thus up of God to Israel?

Here we have two things to consider of--1. Who Israel is. 2. What it was for Jesus to be raised up unto them.

1. Who Israel is. By 'Israel' sometimes we should understand the whole stock of Jacob, the natural children of his flesh; for that name they have of him, for he obtained it when he wrestled with the angel, and prevailed, and it remained with his seed in their generations (Gen 32). By 'Israel' we are to understand all those that God hath promised to Christ--'The children of the promise are counted for the seed,' the elect Jews and Gentiles. These are called 'the Israel of God,' and the seed of Abraham, whom Jesus in special regarded in his undertaking the work of man's redemption (Rom 9:8; Gal 6:16; Heb 2:14-16).

2. What it was for Jesus to be raised up unto them. This word 'raised up' is diversely taken in the Scripture. (1.) It is taken for 'sending'; as when he saith he raised them up judges, saviours, and prophets, he means he sent them such, and thus he raised up Jesus--that is, 'he sent him' (Judg 2:16,18, 3:9,15; Amos 2:11). 'I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment' (John 12:49). (2.) To be raised up, intimateth one invested with power and authority. Thus he raised up David to be the king of Israel, he anointed him and invested him with kingly power (1 Sam 16:13; Acts 13:22). And thus was Jesus Christ raised up. Hence he is called 'the horn of salvation'--'He hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David' (Luke 1:69). (3.) To be raised up, intimateth quickening and strengthening, to oppose and overcome all opposition. Thus was Jesus raised up from under sin, death, the rage of the world, and hell, that day that God raised him out of the grave.

Thus, therefore, was Jesus raised up to Israel--that is, he was sent, authorized, and strengthened to, and in the work of, their salvation, to the completing of it.

The words thus opened do lay before us these two observations--FIRST. That in all ages God gave his people a promise, and so ground for a believing remembrance, that he would one day send them a Saviour. SECOND. That when Jesus was come into the world, then was that promise of God fulfilled.

[OBSERVATION FIRST.]

To begin with the first, THAT IN ALL AGES GOD GAVE HIS PEOPLE A PROMISE, AND SO GROUND FOR A BELIEVING REMEMBRANCE, THAT HE WOULD ONE DAY SEND THEM A SAVIOUR.

This Zacharias testifies when he was filled with the Holy Ghost; for, speaking of the Messiah or the Saviour, he saith that God spake of him by the mouth of all the prophets which have been since the world began; to which I will add that of Peter, 'Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel, and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days' (Luke 1:69,70; Acts 3:24).

From these texts it is evident that in every generation or age of the world God did give his people a promise, and so ground for a believing remembrance, that he would one day send them a Saviour; for indeed the promise is not only a ground for a remembrance, but for a believing remembrance. What God saith is sufficient ground for faith, because he is truth, and cannot lie or repent. But that is not all; his heart was engaged, yea, all his heart, in the promise which he spoke of sending us a Saviour.

From this observation I shall make inquiry into these three things--FIRST. What it is to be a Saviour. SECOND. How it appears that God in all ages gave his people a promise that he would one day send them a Saviour. THIRD. That this was ground for believing remembrance that a Saviour should one day come.

FIRST. What it is to be a Saviour.

First. This word 'Saviour' is easy to be understood, it being all one with Deliverer, Redeemer, &c. 'A Saviour, Jesus,' both words are of the same signification, and are doubled, perhaps to teach us that the person mentioned in the text is not called 'Jesus' only to distinguish him from other men--for names are given to distinguish--but also and especially to specify his office; his name is Saviour, because it was to be his work, his office, his business in the world. His name shall be called Jesus, 'for he shall save his people from their sins' (Matt 1:21).

Second. This word 'Saviour' is a word so large that it hath place in all the undertakings of Christ: for whatever he doth in his mediation he doth as a Saviour. He interposeth between God and man as a Saviour; he engageth against sin, the devil, death, and hell, as a Saviour, and triumphed over them by himself as a Saviour.

Third. The word 'Saviour,' as I said, is all one with Redeemer, Deliverer, Reconciler, Peace-maker, or the like; for though there be variation in the terms, yet Saviour is the intendment of them all. By redeeming he becomes a Saviour, by delivering he becomes a Saviour, by reconciling he becomes a Saviour, and by making peace he becometh a Saviour. But I pass this now, intending to speak more to the same question afterwards.

SECOND. How it appears that God in all ages gave his people a promise that he would one day send them a Saviour.

It appears evidently; for so soon as man had sinned, God came to him with a heart full of promise, and continued to renew, and renew, till the time of the promised Messiah to be revealed was come.

[First.] He promised him under the name of 'the seed of the women,' after our first father had sinned--'I will also put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. He shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel' (Gen 3:15).[1] This the apostle hath his eye upon when he saith, 'When the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law' (Gal 4:4,5).

Second. God renewed this promise to Abraham, and there tells him Christ should be his seed, saying, 'In thy seed shall all families of the earth be blessed' (Gen 12:3). 'Now,' saith Paul, 'to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ' (Gal 3:16).

Third. He was promised in the time of Moses under the name of a 'prophet'--'I will raise them up,' saith God to him, 'a prophet from among their brethren like unto thee' (Deut 18:18). This Peter expounds of Christ, 'For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you' (Acts 3:22).

Fourth. He promised him to David under the title of a 'son,' saying, 'I will be his Father, and he shall be my Son' (2 Sam 7:14). For this the apostle expounded of the Saviour, saying, 'Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee'; and again, 'I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son' (Heb 1:5).

Fifth. He was promised in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah--

1. By the name of a 'branch'--'In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious' (Isa 4:2).

2. Under the name of the 'son of a virgin'--'Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.' This Matthew expounds of Christ (Isa 7:14; Matt 1:23).

3. He was promised under the name of a 'rod'--'There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots, and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him.' This answereth the text, David was the son of Jesse, and Christ the Son of David (Isa 11:1,2).

4. He is promised under the title of a 'king'--'Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness,--and a man shall be as an hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land' (Isa 32:1,2).

5. He was promised under the name of an 'elect servant'--'Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my Spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench' (Isa 42:1-3; Matt 12:17-20).

6. He was promised to Jeremiah under the name of 'the Lord our Righteousness'--'Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper; and shall execute judgment--in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS' (Jer 23:5,6).

7. He was promised by the prophet Ezekiel under the name of 'David, a shepherd'--'And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the Lord have spoken it' (Eze 24:23; John 10:1-3).

8. He was promised by the prophet Daniel under the name of 'Messiah, or Christ, the most holy'--'And after threescore and two weeks shall the Messiah be cut off, but not for himself' (Dan 9:26).

9. He was promised by the prophet Micah under the name of the 'ruler in Israel'--'But thou, Bethlehem-Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come--that is to be ruler in Israel' (Micah 5:2; Matt 2:6).

10. He was promised to Haggai as 'the desire of all nations'--'I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts' (Hagg 2:7).

11. He was promised by Zechariah under the name of 'servant and branch'--'For, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.' And again, 'Behold the man whose name is the BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory' (Zech 3:8, 6:12,13).

12. He was promised by Malachi under the name of 'the Lord, and the messenger of the covenant'--'Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts' (Mal 3:1).