Bunyan, John, 1628-1688 -- Criticism and interpretation
5. 'I do also,' so Mansoul's Magna Charta travels on, 'I do also give,
grant, and bestow upon them freely the world and all that is therein for
their good; yea, I grant them all the benefits of life and of death, and
of things present and things to come.' What a magnificent Charter is
that! 'All things are yours: whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the
world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are
yours.' What a superb Charter! Only, it is too high for us; we cannot
attain to it. Has any human being ever risen to anything like the full
faith, full assurance, and full victory of all that in this life? No;
the thing is impossible! Reason would fall off her throne. The heart of
a man would break with too much joy if he tried to enter into the full
belief of all that. No; it hath not entered into the heart of a still
sinful man what God hath chartered to them whom He loves. This world,
and all that therein is, and then all the coming benefits of life and of
death. What benefits do believers receive from Christ at their death? We
all drank in the answer to that with our mother's milk, but what is
behind the words of that answer no mortal tongue can yet tell. All are
yours, and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's. Till, what joy, what
comfort, what consolation, think you, did now possess the hearts of the
men of Mansoul! The bells rang, the minstrels played, the people danced,
the captains shouted, the colours waved in the wind, and the silver
trumpets sounded.
6. 'And till the glory breaks suddenly upon you, and as long as you yet
live in this life of free grace I shall give and grant you leave and free
access to Me in My palace at all seasons, there to make known all your
wants to Me; and I give you, moreover, a promise that I will hear and
redress all your grievances.' At all seasons; in season and out of
season. There to make known all your wants to Me. And all your
grievances. All that still grieves and vexes you. All your wrongs. All
your injuries. All that men can do to you. Let them do their worst to
you. My grace is sufficient for all your grievances. My goodness in you
shall make you more than a conqueror. I undertake to give you before you
have asked for it a heart full of free, full, and everlasting forgiveness
and forgetfulness of all that has begun to grieve you. No word or deed,
written or spoken, of any man shall be able to vex or grieve the spirit
that I shall put within you. You will immediately avenge yourselves of
your adversaries. You will instantly repay them all an hundredfold. For,
when thine enemy hungers, thou shalt feed him; when he is athirst, thou
shalt give him drink. For thou shalt not be overcome of evil, but thou
shalt overcome evil with good.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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