John Bunyan's Dying Sayings
OF SIN.
Sin is the great block and bar to our happiness, the procurer of all miseries to man, both here and hereafter. Take away sin, and nothing can hurt us—for death, temporal, spiritual, and eternal, is the wages of it.
Sin, and man for sin, is the object of the wrath of God. How dreadful, therefore, must his case be who continues in sin! For who can bear or grapple with the wrath of God?
No sin against God can be 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.
Sin 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 yourself liberty of committing one sin, for that will lead you to another; until, by an ill custom, it becomes natural.
To begin a sin, is to lay a foundation for a continuance; this continuance is the mother of custom, and impudence at last the outcome.
The death of Christ gives us the best discovery of ourselves —in what condition we were, in that nothing could help us but that; and the most clear discovery of the dreadful nature 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.
Nothing can render affliction so insupportable as the load of sin; would you, therefore, be fitted for afflictions, be sure to get the burden of your sins laid aside; and then what afflictions soever you may meet with will be very easy to you.
If you can hear and bear the rod of affliction which God shall lay upon you, remember this lesson—you are beaten that you may be better .
The Lord uses 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 would be very little troubled for our afflictions; that which renders an afflicted state so insupportable to many, is because they are too much addicted to the pleasures 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 the Savior. 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 displeased with us.
Your intentions to repentance, and the neglect of that soul-saving duty, will rise up in judgment against you.
Repentance carries with it a divine rhetoric, and persuades Christ to forgive multitudes of sins committed against him.
Say not with yourself, "Tomorrow I will repent!" for it is your duty to do it daily.
The gospel of grace and salvation is above all doctrines the most dangerous, if it be received in word only by graceless men—if it be not attended with a sensible need of a Savior, and bring them to him. For such men as have only the notion of it, are of all men most miserable—for by reason of their knowing more than heathens, this only shall be their final portion, that they shall have greater stripes.
OF PRAYER.
Before you enter into prayer, ask your soul these questions: To what end, O my soul, are you retired into this place? Are you not come to discourse the Lord in prayer? Is he present—will he hear you? Is he merciful—will he help you? Is your business slight—is it not concerning the welfare of your soul? What words will you use to move him to compassion?
To make your preparation complete, consider: that you are but dust and ashes—and he the great God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who clothes himself with light as with a garment; that you are a vile sinner—and he a holy God; that you are but a poor crawling worm—and he the omnipotent Creator.
In all your prayers, forget not to thank the Lord for his mercies.
When you pray, rather let your heart be without words—than your words without 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.
OF THE LORD'S DAY, SERMONS, AND WEEK DAYS.
Have a special care to sanctify the Lord's day; for as you keep it, so it will be with you all the week long.
Make the Lord's day the market-day for your soul.
Let the whole day be spent in prayer, repetitions, or meditations.
Lay aside the affairs of the other parts of the week.
Let your sermon you have heard be converted into prayer.
Shall God allow you six days—and will you not afford him one?
In the church be careful to serve God—for you are in his eyes, and not in man's.
You may hear sermons often, and do well in practicing what you hear; but you must not expect to be told in a pulpit all that you ought to do, but be studious in searching the scriptures, and reading good books. What you hear may be forgotten, but what you read may better be retained.
Forsake not the public worship of God—lest God forsake you, not only in public, but in private.
In the week days, when you rise in the MORNING, consider: 1. You must die. 2. You may die that minute. 3. What will become of your soul? Pray often.
At NIGHT consider: 1. What sins you have committed. 2. How often you have prayed. 3. What has your mind been bent upon. 4. What has been your dealing. 5. What your conversation. 6. If you call 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 your accounts with Almighty God, and your 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 until a soul is freed from it, it can never have a true love for God.
What are the honors 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 labor for the meat that perishes—and neglect the food of eternal life?
God or the world must be neglected at parting time, for then is the time of trial.
To seek yourself in this life, is to be lost; and to be humble is to be exalted.
The epicure that delights in the dainties of this world, little thinks that those very creatures will one day witness against him!
OF SUFFERING.
It is not every suffering that makes a martyr, but suffering for the word of God after a right manner. That is, not only for righteousness, 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 requires.
It is a rare thing to suffer aright, and to have my spirit in suffering bent only against God's enemy, sin: sin in doctrine, sin in worship, sin in life, and sin in conversation.
The devil nor men of the world can kill your righteousness or, love to it, but by your own hand; or separate that and you asunder, without your own act. Nor will he who does 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 Christians 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. Noah 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?
OF DEATH AND JUDGMENT.
As the devil labors 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 has greater influence for the taking off our hearts from vanities, and for the begetting in us desires after holiness.
O sinner, what a condition will you fall into when you depart this world! If you depart unconverted, you had better have been smothered the first hour you were born; you had better have been plucked one limb from another; you had better have been made a dog, a toad, a serpent, if you die unconverted, and this you will find true if you 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 eternal happiness or misery; and yet dare we affront him?
The only way for us to escape that terrible judgment, 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. The others shall call to the mountains and hills to fall upon them, to cover them from the sight of their Judge! Let us therefore in time be posing ourselves which of the two we shall be.
OF THE JOYS OF HEAVEN.
There is no good in this life but what is mingled with some evil: honors perplex, riches disquiet, and pleasures ruin health.
But in Heaven we shall find blessings in their purity, without any ingredient to embitter, with everything to sweeten them.
O! who is able to conceive the inexpressible, 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 for joy, when the bride, the Lamb's wife, shall come to dwell with her husband forever!
Christ is . . . the desire of nations, the joy of angels, the delight of the Father! What solace then must that soul be filled with that has the possession of him to all eternity!
O! what acclamations of joy will there be when all the children of God shall meet together, without fear of being disturbed by the anti-christian 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 greatness? And what fruit in all their labor?
If you would be better satisfied what the beatific vision means, my request is that you would live holily, and go and see.
OF THE TORMENTS OF HELL.
Heaven and salvation are not surely more promised to the godly—than Hell and damnation is threatened to, and executed on the wicked.
O! who knows the power of God's wrath? None but damned ones!
Sinners' company are the devil and his angels, 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.
When once a man is damned, he may bid adieu to all pleasures.
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John Bunyan (1628 - 1688)
Was the most famous of the Puritan writers and preachers. He was born at Harrowden (1 mile south-east of Bedford), in the Parish of Elstow, England. He is most well-known for his book “The Pilgrim's Progress”, one of the most printed books in history, which he composed while in prison for the crime of preaching the Gospel without a license.John Bunyan wrote The Pilgrim's Progress in two parts, of which the first appeared at London in 1678,which he had begun during his imprisonment in 1676. The second part appeared in 1684. The earliest edition in which the two parts were combined in one volume came out in 1728. A third part falsely attributed to Bunyan appeared in 1693. The Pilgrim's Progressis the most successful allegory ever written, and like the Bible has been extensively translated into other languages.
John Bunyan was an English Christian writer and preacher, famous for writing The Pilgrim's Progress, arguably the most published book besides the Bible. In the Church of England, he is remembered with a Lesser Festival on 30 August.
He had very little schooling (about 2-4 years). He was educated at his father's house with other poor country boys and what little education he received was to benefit his father and his own future trade.
Bunyan became a popular preacher as well as a prolific author, though most of his works consist of expanded sermons. Though a Baptist preacher, in theology he was a Puritan.
His affinity for the oral tradition and his voracious reading lead to his work being primarily influenced by sermons, homilies in dialog form, folk tales, books of emblems and allegories. "Most of the didactic works of Bunyan's era have vanished into oblivion. His allegory's power derives from the imaginative force with which he brings didactic themes to life and the wonderfully living prose in which he dramatizes the conflicts of the spirit".
Bunyan wrote about 60 books and tracts, of which The Holy War ranks next to The Pilgrim's Progress in popularity. A passage from Part Two of The Pilgrim's Progress beginning "Who would true Valour see" has been used in the hymn "To be a Pilgrim".
The name of John Bunyan is forever linked with the town of Bedford. Bunyan was born in 1628 just outside the village of Elstow, on the outskirts of modern Bedford. His precise birth site is unknown, though it seems likely he was born in a now lost cottage near two fields called "Further Bunyans" and "Bunyans". A plaque on the supposed site of the cottage was erected in 1951.
He was the son of a tinker, and may well have helped his father in that occupation during his youth. Bunyan reported on his own childhood that he loved to play "tip-cat", a form of rounders, on the village green in Elstow.
Bunyan fought in the Civil War on the side of Parliament and when the conflict ended he returned to Elstow and married a local woman who's name was probably Mary. He had four children with his first wife, including a girl who was blind from birth.
It may partly have been this occurrence that led him to question his rowdy lifestyle and search for a deeper sense of meaning in his life. Bunyan began attending a new religious congregation meeting at St. John's Church, Bedford. He became good friends with the pastor, John Gifford.
When Gifford died, Bunyan took his place as head of the congregation, and he travelled the district preaching, generally out of doors. When the Restoration of the monarchy took place in 1660 preaching was forbidden in an attempt to restrain the growth of Independent Congregations. Bunyan refused to stop preaching, and he was arrested in the village of Samsell. He was tried at Bedford Assizes and ordered held in the County Gaol until he agreed to conform.
For the next 12 years Bunyan remained in gaol, in generally poor conditions, though he was allowed visitors and occasionally he was allowed out on what we would today consider "day leave". His second wife Elizabeth appeared before the Lord Chief Justice of England, Matthew Hale, to plead for her husband's release, but her appeal was refused.
Bunyan spent his time in gaol writing a number of books on religious themes, including his biography. Most importantly, he produced the religious allegorical novel, The Pilgrim's Progress, which was eventually published in 1678.
In 1672 Charles II issued his Declaration of Religious Indulgences, and Bunyan, along with other religious offenders, was released from custody. He bought a barn on Mill Street and converted the building to a home for his Independent Congregation.
But in 1673 the king was pressured into repealing his Declaration, and Bunyan was cast back into gaol until 1677.
Bunyan wrote a further 40 books before his death 1n 1688. He is buried in Bunhill Fields, City Road, London.