The Riches of Bunyan: Selected from His WorksBunyan, John
Religion
The Riches of Bunyan: Selected from His Works
Bunyan, John
Theology, Doctrinal
Be not daunted though thou meetest with never so many
discouragements in thy journey thither. That man that is resolved
for heaven, if Satan cannot win him by flatteries, he will endeavor
to weaken him by discouragements, saying, Thou art a sinner, thou
hast broke God's law, thou art not elected, thou comest too late,
the day of grace & past, God doth not care for thee, thy heart is
naught, thou art lazy--with a hundred other discouraging
suggestions. Then thou must encourage thyself with the freeness of
the promises, the tender-heartedness of Christ, the freeness of his
invitations to come in, the greatness of the sin of others that have
been pardoned, and that the same God through the same Christ holdeth
forth the same grace free as ever. If these be not thy meditations,
thou wilt draw very heavily in the way to heaven if thou do not give
up all for lost; therefore I say, take heart in thy journey, and say
to them that seek thy destruction, "Rejoice not against me, O my
enemy, for when I fall I shall arise, when I sit in darkness the
Lord shall be a light unto me."
Let me give thee a few motives along with thee. It may be they will
be as good as a pair of spurs to prick on thy lumpish heart in this
rich journey.
1. Consider there is no way but this; thou must either win or lose.
If thou winnest, then heaven, God, Christ, glory, ease, peace, life,
yea, life eternal, are thine; thou shalt be made equal to the angels
in heaven; thou shalt sorrow no more, sigh no more, feel no more
pain; thou shalt be out of the reach of sin, hell, death, the devil,
the grave, and whatever else may endeavor thy hurt.
But contrariwise, if thou lose, then thy loss is heaven, glory, God,
Christ, ease, peace, and whatever else tends to make eternity
comfortable to the saints; besides, thou procurest eternal death,
sorrow, pain, blackness and darkness, fellowship with devils,
together with the everlasting damnation of thy own soul.
2. Consider that this devil, this hell, death, and damnation follow
after thee as hard as they can, and have their commission so to do
by the law, against which thou hast sinned; and therefore for thy
soul's sake make haste.
3. If they seize upon thee before thou get to the city of refuge,
they will put an everlasting stop to thy journey. This also cries,
Run for it.
4. Know also, that now heaven-gates, the heart of Christ with his
arms are wide open to receive thee O methinks that this
consideration, that the devil followeth after to destroy, and that
Christ standeth open-armed to receive, should make thee reach out
and fly with all haste and speed!
5. Keep thine eyes upon the prize: be sure that thine eyes be
continually upon the profit thou art like to get. The reason why men
are so apt to faint in their race for heaven, lies chiefly in either
of these two things:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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