Works of John Bunyan Volume I Part 27

5. Of all tears, they are the 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 on our knees, with Christ in our arms, before G.o.d. I hope I know something of these things.

6. I find to this day seven abominations in my heart: 1. Inclinings to unbelief. 2. Suddenly to forget the love and mercy that Christ manifesteth. 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 G.o.d commands me, but my corruptions will thrust in themselves, "when I would do good, evil is present with me."

7. These things I continually see and feel, and am afflicted and oppressed with; yet the wisdom of G.o.d 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 me the necessity of flying to Jesus.

5. They press me to pray unto G.o.d. 6. They show me the need I have to watch and be sober. 7. And provoke me to look to G.o.d, through Christ, to help me, and carry me through this world. Amen.

FOOTNOTES:

1. Dr. Cheever.

2. Leicester was only besieged by the royal army, who took it, and cruelly treated the inhabitants; upon the republicans appearing before it, the city surrendered at once without a siege.--Ed.

3. This should be the prayer and effort of every Christian for his brethren and sisters in Christ, and more especially of those who are called to the public ministry.--Ed.

4. The people of G.o.d look back on the day of their espousals with holy joy and thanksgiving to the G.o.d of their mercies; and they delight in telling his goodness to others. "Come and hear, all ye that fear G.o.d, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul"

(Psa 66:16).--Mason.

5. How unspeakable the mercy that our omnipresent G.o.d will hear the prayer of the heart under all circ.u.mstances, at all times, in all places. Had he limited it to certain forms, in certain buildings, read by certain men, what fearful merchandise of souls they would have made.--Ed.

6. Bunyan says very little about his parents in his treatise on 'Christian Behaviour'; he concludes his observations on the duties of a pious son to unG.o.dly parents with this remarkable prayer, 'The Lord, if it be his will, convert OUR poor parents, that they, with us, may be the children of G.o.d.' Although this does not demonstrate that his own parents were unG.o.dly, yet his silence as to their piety upon all occasions when speaking of them, and the fervent feeling expressed in this short prayer, inclines me to conclude that they were not pious persons in his judgment.--Ed.

7. Mr. Bunyan alludes to the poverty of his education in several of his works. Thus, in his Scriptural poems--

'I am no poet, nor a poet's son But a mechanic, guided by no rule But what I gained in a grammar school, In my minority.'

And in the preface to 'The Law and Grace': 'Reader, if thou do find this book empty of fantastical expressions, and without light, vain, whimsical, scholar-like terms; thou must understand, it is because I never went to school to Aristotle or Plato, but was brought up at my father's house, in a very mean condition, among a company of poor countrymen.'--Ed.

8. 'I have been vile myself, but have obtained mercy; and I would have my companions in sin partake of mercy too.'--Preface to Jerusalem Sinner Saved.--Ed.

9. Every careless sinner, or wicked professor, carries upon his forehead the name of Infidel and Atheist, a practical unbeliever in the Bible, in the day of judgment, and in the existence of a holy G.o.d.--Ed.

10. Bunyan served in the wars between Charles I and his country, but it is not known on which side. Judging from his 'delight in all transgressions against the law of G.o.d,' as he describes his conduct to have been at that time, he must have served on the king's side, as one of his drunken cavaliers. Probably this event took place when Leicester was besieged by the king's troops.--Ed.

11. The notice of his wife's father being a G.o.dly man, and not mentioning anything of the kind with regard to his own parents, strengthens my conclusion that they were not professors of religion.

This very copy of the Pathway to Heaven here noticed, with the name of Bunyan on the t.i.tle, is in the Editor's possession.--Ed.

12. Asking his father this question, looks a little as if the family had been connected with the gipsy tribe.--Ed.

13. 'The king (James, 1618) put forth an order to permit everybody, as he had before given leave in the county of Lancaster, who should go to evening prayer on the Lord's day, to divertise themselves with lawful exercises, with leaping, dancing, playing at bowls, shooting with bows and arrows, as likewise to rear May poles, and to use May games and Morris dancing; but those who refused coming to prayers were forbidden to use these sports.'--(Camden's Annals).

The head of the Church of England had wondrous power thus to dispense with G.o.d's laws.--Ed.

14. 'Did cut the sinews,' first edition; properly altered by Bunyan afterwards to 'did benumb.'

15. Tip cat, or cat, is an ancient English game, thus described in Strutt's Sports and Pastimes:--The game of cat is played with a cudgel. Its denomination is derived from a piece of wood, about six inches long and two thick, diminished from the middle to form a double cone. When the cat is placed on the ground, the player strikes it smartly--it matters not at which end--and it will rise with a rotatory motion high enough for him to strike it; if he misses, another player takes his place; if he hits, he calls for a number to be scored to his game; if that number is more than as many lengths of his cudgel, he is out; if not, they are scored, and he plays again.--Ed.

16. This wish looks as if Bunyan's father had not checked him for this wicked propensity; if so, he could not have pretended to piety or religion.--Ed.

17. 'Tom of Bedlam'; a byword for an inveterate drunkard, alluding to an old interesting song describing the feelings of a poor maniac whose frenzy had been induced by intoxication, and who escaped from Bedlam.

'Poore naked Tom is very drye A little drinke for charitye!'

It ends with this verse--

'The man in the moone drinkes claret, Eates powder'd beef, turnip, and carret, But a cup of old Malaga sacke Will fire the bushe at his backe.'

Probably the tale is connected with the drummer's tune, 'Drunk or sober, go to bed Tom.'--Ed.

18. When the Lord, in his blessed work upon the soul, illuminated the mind, he opens to it a new world; he leads the blind by a way that they know not, crooked things become straight, rough places plain, and he never forsakes his charge.--Mason.

19. 'Their talk went with me; my heart would tarry with them'; nothing is so powerfully attractive as a community of feeling under the teaching of the Holy Spirit. Bunyan's wish to be 'tried and searched,' reminds me of one who, when alarmed for his soul's safety, earnestly prayed that he might be made increasingly wretched, until he had found safety in Jesus, and knew him, whom to know is joy unspeakable in this life, and felicity in the eternal world.--Ed.

20. That bitter fanatic, Ross, calls the ranters 'a sort of beasts,'

who practiced sin that grace might abound. Many under that name were openly profligate; they denied the sacraments, but were disowned by the Quakers. It seems, from Bunyan, that they were infatuated with some idea that the grossest sins of the flesh did not injure the sanct.i.ty of the spirit!--Ed.

21. Faith comes by venturing wholly on Christ, as he is freely offered in the Word--mercy to the miserable--salvation to the lost and self-condemned. If we honour G.o.d's veracity by giving credit to his Word, he will honour that faith by giving us joy and peace in believing.--Mason.

22. 'In downright earnest'; as one who is in imminent danger of drowning, or in a house on fire, eager to escape. Reader, have you ever felt thus 'in downright earnest' for salvation? Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they SHALL be filled.--Ed.

23. This is an interesting view of church fellowship; and the admission of a convert to Christian communion. See also Christiana at the Interpreter's House, and the preface to Bunyan's 'Christian Behaviour.'--Ed.

24. The Christian who is found waiting upon G.o.d, is the thriving one; the best way to be a.s.sured of our election is to examine our state with the touchstone of truth, the Scriptures. The elect of G.o.d know Christ savingly, esteem him precious, and obey him cheerfully from love and grat.i.tude.--Mason.

25. 'Gingerly'; cautiously.

'Has it a corn? or do's it walk on conscience, It treads so gingerly.'

Love's Cure, Act ii., Scene 1.--Ed.

26. Manifestations of love and grace are not to be rested in, or made a saviour of; they are given to strengthen and prepare us for future trials.--Mason.

27. Here we have Christian in the valley of the shadow of death. 'One thing I would not let slip, I took notice that now poor Christian was so confounded, that he did not know his own voice; and thus I perceived it, just when he was come over against the mouth of the burning pit, one of the wicked ones got behind him, and stept up softly to him, and whisperingly suggested many grievous blasphemies to him, which he verily thought had proceeded from his own mind.'--Pilgrim's Progress.--Ed.

28. 'Under her ap.r.o.n,' was altered in subsequent editions to 'in her arms.'--Ed.

29. 'Poor fool'; altered, in later editions, to 'poor soul.'--Ed.

30. John Gifford, Bunyan's pastor, was a Kentish man, and had been a major in the King's army, a roistering cavalier. For some crimes, he, with eleven others, was condemned to be hung, but made his escape to London, and thence to Bedford, where, being unknown, he practiced physic. Addicted to swearing, drinking, and gambling, he, in distress at a serious loss, vowed repentance; he became greatly distressed under conviction of sin; at length his mind was enlightened, the Holy Spirit led him to forgiveness by the atonement of Christ, and his heart was filled with a hitherto unknown source of blessedness. This he imparted to others, and at length, in 1650, formed a church, with which the soul-hara.s.sed pilgrim Bunyan cast in his lot as a member in 1653. There appears to have been a strong mutual affection between him and his pastor. In 1658, Mr. Gifford published a preface to Bunyan's 'Few Sighs from h.e.l.l,' in which he speaks of him with the warmest affection, as one 'that I verily believe G.o.d hath counted faithful, and put him into the ministry--one that hath acquaintance with G.o.d, and taught by his Spirit, and hath been used to do souls good. Divers have felt the power of the word delivered by him, and I doubt not but that many more may, if G.o.d continue him in his work.' Judging from Gifford's preface, he must have been an excellent teacher to train Bunyan for his important labours as a Christian minister. He uses the same fervid striking language. Thus, on the value of the soul: 'Consider what an ill bargain thou will make to sell thy precious soul for a short continuance in sin and pleasure. If that man drives an ill trade, who to gain the whole world should lose his own soul, then certainly thou art far worse that sells thy soul for a very trifle. Oh, 'tis pity that so precious a thing should be parted withal to be made a prey for the devouring lion, for that which is worse than nothing.

If they were branded for desperate wretches that caused their children to pa.s.s through the fire to Moloch, surely thou much more that gives thy soul to devouring flames. What meanest thou, O man!

to truck+ with the devil?'--See Sighs, 1st Edition, and Brooks'

Puritans.--Ed.