What is Prayer?

From John Bunyan: "Prayer is a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the heart or soul to God, through Christ, in the strength and assistance of the Holy Spirit, for such things as God has promised, or according to the Word of God, for the good of the church, with submission in faith to the will of God."

Bibline

Spurgeon said of John Bunyan: “His whole being was saturated with Scripture…Prick him anywhere; and you will find that his blood is Bibline, the very essence of the Bible flows from him. He cannot speak without quoting a text, for his soul is full of the Word of God.”

Bunyan on God's Sovereignty in Persecution

“It is not what enemies will, nor what they are resolved upon, but what God will, and what God appoints, that shall be done…And as no enemy can bring suffering upon a man when the will of God is otherwise, so no man can save himself out of their hands when God will deliver him up for his glory…God has appointed who shall suffer. Suffering comes not by chance or by the will of man, but by the will and appointment of God.”

“All the ways of the persecutors are God’s. Wherefore, as we should, so again we should not, be afraid of men: we should be afraid of them, because they will hurt us; but we should not be afraid of them, as if they were let loose to do to us, and with us, what they will. God’s bridle is upon them, God’s hook is in their nose; yea, and God has determined the bounds of their rage, and if he lets them drive his church into the sea of troubles, it shall be but up to the neck, and so far it may go, and not be drowned…I say the Lord has hold of them, and orders them; nor do they at any time come out against his people but by his license and compassion how far to go, and where to stop.”

Taken from Piper's The Hidden Smile of God.

Pilgrim's Progress

I highly recommended reading Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress in my introduction Sunday. I told the story of Christian and Hopeful being captured by Giant Despair and thrown into Doubting Castle.

So, I thought I would provide a link to a place where you can buy both Pilgrim's Progress and Dangerous Journey (an abridged children's version):

Pilgrim's Progress softcover

Pilgrim's Progress hardcover (Banner of Truth "Deluxe" edition!)

Dangerous Journey

Either of these would make fantastic Christmas gifts.

One of the Best Gifts I Have Ever Received

There were many expressions of God's kindness to me Sunday. One was a surprise appreciation from the church. As a gift, I received the above page of Romans 8 from a Geneva Bible printed between 1560 and 1644.

The Geneva Bible was the first English Bible to use numbered verses. This was the edition of the Bible that Shakespeare, the Pilgrims, and the Puritans would have used. Also, this would have been the edition that John Bunyan would have soaked in.

I am extremely grateful for such an undeserved gift. It now sits on my shelf right above my computer to remind me that, "Nowe then there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus..."

And, it reminds me of the Father, "Who spared not his own Sonne, but gave him for us all to death, howe shall he not with him give us all things also."

Starting Early on Bunyan

In case you don't recognize, that is Volume 1 of Bunyan's Works that is about to get slobbered up.

Not the Will of Man But the Gift of God

Bunyan's 8 observations on John 6:37:

1. That God the Father, and Christ his Son, are two distinct persons in the Godhead.
2. That by them, not excluding the Holy Ghost, is contrived and determined the salvation of fallen mankind.
3. The Father's role is giving; the Son's role is receiving.
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 Father.
6. That Jesus Christ will be careful to receive, and will not in any wise reject those that come, or are coming to him.
7. They that are coming to Jesus Christ are ofttimes heartily afraid that he will not recieve them.
8. Jesus Christ would not have them that in truth are coming to him once think that he will cast them out.

Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ, Works, p. 274.

God Orders Sin for My Good

From the conclusion of Bunyan's autobiography, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners:

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 what 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.

These things I continually see and feel, and am afflicted and oppressed with; yet the wisdom 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 me 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 look to God, through Christ, to help me.

Off the top of my head:
1. I "feel" each of Bunyan's abominations in my own heart (particularly #6).
2. How often do I forget to expect what I ask God for?
3. Did he just say that God uses his sin to get him to look to Christ? God orders sin for my good? He actually believes Romans 8:28?
4. Fly to Jesus...

Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ

The Puritans knew how to take a verse or a phrase and meditate long and hard on it. Most of the Puritan books are simply meditations on one verse of Scripture.

One such book is Bunyan's Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ. It is a meditation on John 6:37.

Since I'll be preaching from John 6:30-40 on Sunday and I'm reading through the works of Bunyan, I decided to go ahead and read Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ.

This is a great little book. Banner of Truth has published it in the Puritan Paperback series and you can find it in volume 1 of Bunyan's works.

Basically, Bunyan takes this verse a word at a time and draws out implications and observations.

He meditates on:
-the extent of the gift ("all").
-the Person giving the gift ("the Father").
-the importance of the word "giveth" (implies election).
-the Father's intent in giving (in order to save).
-the Son's reception of the gift ("shall come").
-what it means to "come to Christ."
-the importance of the words "to me," "him," "cometh," "in no wise," and "to cast out."

Then, the second half of the book is devoted to pondering 3 of his 8 observations about this verse. He devotes some effort to application.

Bunyan concludes the book like a good Puritan, pleading with sinners to see in Christ beauty worth coming to.

I would highly recommend slowing reading through Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ (only $5.40).

The Merit in One Drop of Christ's Blood

Bunyan meditated on the marks of a person who is coming (has come) to Christ for salvation. I have taken the liberty to update the language where I thought it would help with readability.

Do these things characterize your life?

1. Are you burdened with your sin, recognizing it as an exceedingly bitter thing?
2. Do you run from your sin as you would a deadly serpent?
3. Do you recognize and flee from the insufficiency of your own righteousness in the sight of God.
4. Do you cry to the Lord Jesus to save you?
5. Do you see more worth and merit in one drop of Christ's blood to save you, than in all the sins of the world to condemn you?
6. Are you tender of sinning against Jesus?
7. Is Jesus' name, person, and undertakings more precious to you than the glory of the world?
8. Is faith in Christ precious to you (as a means to connect you to Christ)?
9. Do you savor Christ in his Word, and do you leave all the world for his sake?
10. Are you willing (with God's help) to run in harm's way for his name?
11. Are his saints precious to you?

Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ, Works, p. 279.

"I Will in No Wise Cast Out"

In John 6:37, Jesus promises that those who come to Him will not be cast out.
Bunyan ponders: Jesus promises that those who are His will not be cast where?

Here is his list:

1. Tophet ("a burning place") - Isa. 30:33
2. Hell - Mark 9:45
3. The Wine-Press of the Wrath of God - Rev. 14:19
4. The Lake of Fire - Rev. 20:15
5. A Pit - Isa. 14:13-15
6. A Bottomless Pit - Rev. 9:1-2; 20:3
7. Outer Darkness - Mat. 23:13; 25:30
8. A Furnace of Fire - Mat. 13:40-51
9. Where the Worm Does Not Die - Mark 9:44
10. Unquenchable Fire - Mat. 3:12; Luke 3:17
11. Everlasting Destruction - 2 Thes. 1:7-9
12. Wrath Without Mixture - Rev. 14:9-10
13. The Second Death - Rev. 20:6, 14
14. Eternal Damnation - Rev. 14:11

Bunyan adds:
"Their behaviour in hell is set forth by four things as I know of; (a.) By calling for help and relief in vain; (b.) By weeping; (c.) By wailing; (d.) By gnashing of teeth."

2 Observations:
1. Flee to Christ now. He is the only Savior from these dreadful realities. You don't want to spend eternity calling for help in vain.
2. Notice how Bible-saturated Bunyan was. He didn't have ESV.org to help him find these references. He just knew them.

Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ, Works, pp. 272-273.

Are You Gospelly-Happy?

Bunyan, in meditating on the phrase "I will in no wise cast out" in John 6:37, wrote this:

"He that cometh to Christ shall not want anything that may make him gospelly-happy in this world, or that which is to come."


Christ has promised and purchased everything to make us happy in Him both now and forever. He hath made us gospelly-happy!


Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ, Works, p. 271.

How Deep The Father's Love for Us

Bunyan has me pondering something I've never seen before (take the time to look up these texts):

The Father loved us by giving His Son for us (John 3:16, Romans 5:8).

And, He loved us by giving us to His Son (John 6:37, 39, John 10:28, John 17:6, 9, 24).

Big Mouth

Bunyan's assesment of why he was struggling with assurance:

"God had a bigger mouth to speak with than I had heart to conceive with."

Works, p. 38.

Thy Righteousness is in Heaven!

Bunyan struggled with doubts regarding his soul for many years. In Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, he goes into great detail about his struggles. It is almost discouraging to read. He wondered whether he had committed the unpardonable sin. He was haunted by particular verses of Scripture. He states the temptations to forsake Christ in vivid detail. I read wondering where Bunyan was going with all of this. I asked myself, "Is all this really necessary?"

Then, in paragraph 229 everything changed.

I'll let Bunyan tell you what happened:
"One day as I was passing into the field . . . this sentence fell upon my soul. Thy righteousness is in heaven. And methought, withal, I saw with the eyes of my soul Jesus Christ at God's right hand; there, I say, was my righteousness; so that wherever I was, or whatever I was doing, God could not say of me, he wants [lacks] my righteousness, for that was just before [in front of] 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 himself, "The same yesterday, today and, and forever" (Hebrews 13:8).
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."

Works, pp. 35-36.

The Kiss and The Blood

After years of struggling, doubting, and searching, the darkness lifted for John Bunyan. Here is how he states it:

"I remember that one day, as I was travelling into the country and musing on the wickedness and blasphemy of my heart, and considering of the enmity that was in me to God, that scripture came into my mind, He hath, 'made peace through the blood of his cross.' Col. 1:20. By which I was made to see, both again, and again, and again, that day, that God and my soul were friends by this blood; yea, I saw that the justice of God and my sinful soul could embrace and kiss each other through this blood. This was a good day to me; I hope I shall not forget it."

Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, pages 19-20 of volume 1 of Bunyan's Works.

Notice 2 things:
-Bunyan was pondering the weight of his wickedness (when is the last time you did that?).
-Bunyan had previously meditated on this verse (otherwise how would it have come into his mind?).

Striving After Conversion

I need some help thinking through something.

When I read the Puritans, I am often amazed at how they fought for salvation. Take Bunyan. In his autobiography, he recounts his struggles with salvation for page after page after page. He searched his heart, read through the Scriptures, sought counsel from Christians, and was not converted. He speaks about how he longed to know if he was elect and how he wanted to believe the promises but could not.

I have never heard a modern testimony even similar to this. Today, people call themselves Christians who never search their heart, read through the Scriptues, or seek counsel from others. I have never talked to an unbeliever who was troubled by the thought of not being among the elect.

Those of you who read old books:
Have you ever noticed this? Can you think of other examples?
Why is this so?
Why is there no striving, fighting, and longing for salvation today when there seemed to be so much of it a few hundred years ago?

The Next 10 Years: John Bunyan

A long time ago (about 10 years now), I heard John Piper say that we should pick one great saint from history and saturate ourselves in his life and writings. Piper chose Jonathan Edwards. I disobeyed Piper's counsel not to pick someone who is still living. I chose Piper. In these past 10 years, I have read everything Piper has published, listened to hundreds of his sermons, and have had a handful of opportunities to talk with Dr. Piper personally. My gratefulness to God for Piper's life and ministry is abundant. I plan to continue reading his books and listening to his sermons for the rest of my life.

However, time has come to take Piper's advice seriously. As of right now, I am going to get to know John Bunyan. I am compelled by the example of this Baptist Puritan. He loved the gospel, loved his family, and loved preaching. He was uneducated but Bible-saturated. He suffered, struggled, and sang.

Anybody want to join me in learning from Bunyan?

I plan to read slowly through the Banner of Truth 3 Volume Works of Bunyan. WTS has it for 40% off! A steal of a deal.

There are no real good biographies of Bunyan.

His Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners is the best source of information about his life.

Of course, Pilgrim's Progress is his most famous book (There is a good children's version called Dangerous Journey).

The Effect of Romans 3:24

"...being justified, by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus..." - Rom. 3:24

John Bunyan (Works, p. 39):
“…just then as I was walking up and down in the house in the most dreadful state of mind, this word of God took hold upon my heart: Ye are ‘justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus’ (Rom. 3:24). Oh, what a turn this made upon me! Oh what a sudden change it made!
It was as though I had awakened out of a nightmare. Now God seemed to be saying to me: ‘Sinner, you think that I cannot save your soul because of your sins; behold my Son is here and I look upon Him not on you, and I shall deal with you according as I am pleased with Him.’ By this I was made to understand that God can justify a sinner at any time by looking upon Christ and imputing His benefits to him.”

William Cowper:
“The happy period which was to shake off my fetters and afford me a clear opening of the free mercy of God in Christ Jesus was now arrived. I flung myself into a chair near the window, and, seeing a Bible there, ventured once more to apply to it for comfort and instruction. The first verses I saw were in the third chapter of Romans: ‘Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood, to manifest his righteousness.’ Immediately I received strength to believe, and the full beams of the Sun of Righteousness shone on me. I saw the sufficiency of the atonement he had made, my pardon in his blood, and the fullness and completeness of his justification. In a moment I believed and received the gospel.”

Bunyan's Passion

John Bunyan stood before a counsel of judges. They told him he could go free if he would give up preaching the gospel. They threatened to put him back in prison for 3 months. He replied, "If I am out of prison today, I will preach the gospel again tomorrow, by the help of God."