The Riches of Bunyan: Selected from His WorksBunyan, John
Religion
The Riches of Bunyan: Selected from His Works
Bunyan, John
Theology, Doctrinal
Further, though the fly in the web is altogether incapable of
looking for relief, yet this awakened, tempted Christian, is not.
What must he do, therefore? How should he entertain hopes of life?
If he looks to his heart, there is blasphemy; if he looks to his
duties, there is sin; if he strives to mourn and lament, perhaps he
cannot; unbelief and hardness hinder. Shall this man lie down and
despair? No. Shall he trust to his duties? No. Shall he stay from
Christ till his heart is better? No. What then? Let him NOW look to
Jesus Christ crucified; then shall he see his sins answered for,
then shall he see death dying, then shall he see guilt borne by
another, and then shall he see the devil overcome. This sight
destroys the power of the first temptation, purifies the heart, and
inclines the mind to all good things.
Didst thou never learn to outshoot the devil with his own bow, and
to cut off his head with his own sword, as David served Goliath, who
was a type of Satan?
QUESTION. O how should a poor soul do this? This is rare indeed.
ANSWER. Why, truly thus: Doth Satan tell thee thou prayest but
faintly, and with very cold devotion? answer him thus, and say, I am
glad you told me, for this will make me trust the more to Christ's
prayers, and the less to my own; also I will endeavor henceforward
to groan, to sigh, and to be so fervent in my crying at the throne
of grace, that I will, if I can, make the heavens rattle again with
the mighty groans thereof. And whereas thou sayest that I am so weak
in believing, I am glad you remind me of it; I hope it will
henceforward stir me up to cry the more heartily to God for strong
faith, make me the more restless till I have it. And seeing thou
tellest me that I run so softly, and that I shall go near to miss of
glory, this also shall be through grace to my advantage, and cause
me to press the more earnestly towards the mark for the prize of the
high calling of God in Christ Jesus. And seeing thou dost tell me
that my sins are wondrous great, hereby thou bringest the
remembrance of the unsupportable vengeance of God into my mind if I
die out of Jesus Christ, and also the necessity of the blood, death,
and merits of Christ to help me; I hope it will make me fly the
faster and press the harder after an interest in him. And so all
along, if he tell thee of thy deadness, dulness, coldness, or
unbelief, or the greatness of thy sins, answer him and say, I am
glad you told me; I hope it will be a means to make me run faster,
seek more earnestly, and be the more restless after Jesus Christ. If
thou didst but get this art, so as to outrun him in his own shoes,
as I may say, and to make his own darts to pierce himself, then thou
mightest also say, Now do Satan's temptations, as well as all other
things, work together for my good.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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