John Bunyan

“ When thou hast been in hell so many thousand years as there are stars in the firmament, or drops in the sea, or sands on the sea-shore, yet thou hast to lie there for ever. O this one word EVER, how will it torment thy soul!
Friends, I have only given a very short touch of the torments of hell. O! I am set, I am set, and am not able to utter what my mind conceives of the torments of hell. Yet this let me say to thee, accept of God's mercy through our Lord Jesus Christ, lest thou feel THAT with thy conscience which I cannot express with my tongue, and say, I am sorely tormented in this flame. ”

“ He loves me, he loves me with love that passeth knowledge. He loves me, and he shall have me: he loves me, and I will love him: his love stripped him of all for my sake; Lord let my love strip me of all for thy sake. I am a son of love, an object of love, a monument of love, of free love, of distinguishing love, of peculiar love, and of love that passeth knowledge: and why should not I walk in love? In love to God, in love to men, in holy love, in love unfeigned? This is the way to improve the love of God for thy advantage, for the subduing of thy passions, and for sanctifying of thy nature. ”

“ But, I say, the life of a slave will be counted a life too good for Mansoul now. Blood, blood, nothing but blood is in every blast of Shaddai’s trumpet against poor Mansoul now. Pray, be concerned; I hear he is coming. Up, and stand to your arms that now, while you have any leisure, I may learn you some feats of war. Armour for you I have, and by me it is; yea, and it is sufficient for Mansoul from top to toe; nor can you be hurt by what his force can do, if you shall keep it well girt and fastened about you. Come, therefore, to my castle, and welcome, and harness yourselves for the war. ”

“ Sinner, this is the sin against the Holy Ghost. What sayest thou? Hast thou committed it? Nay, I know thou hast not, if thou wouldst be saved by Christ. Yea, it is impossible that thou shouldst have done it, if indeed thou wouldst be saved by him. No man can desire to be saved by him, who he yet judgeth to be an impostor, a magician, a witch. No man can hope for redemption by that blood which he yet counteth an unholy thing. Nor will God ever suffer such an one to repent, who has, after light and profession of him, thus horribly, and devil-like, contemned and trampled upon him. ”

“ How art thou, when thou thinkest that thou thyself hast grace? "Oh, then," says the soul, "I am as if I could leap out of myself; joy, joy, joy then is in my heart. It is, methinks, the greatest mercy under heaven to be made a gracious man."
And is it thus with thy soul indeed? Happy man! It is grace that has thy soul, though sin at present works in thy flesh. Yea, all those breathings are the very actings of grace, even of the grace of desire, of love, of humility, and of the fear of God within thee. Be of good courage; thou art on the right side. ”

“ 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. ”

“ O grace, O happy church of God! all things that happen to thee are, for Christ's sake, turned into grace. They talk of the philosopher's stone, and how, if one had it, it would turn all things into gold. O! but can it turn all things into grace? can it make all things work together for good? No, no, this quality, virtue, excellency, what shall I call it, nothing has in it, but the grace that reigns on the throne of grace, the river that proceeds from the throne of God. This, this turns majesty, authority, the highest authority, glory, wisdom, faithfulness, justice, and all into grace. ”

“ I reconciled thee to my Father by the blood of my cross; and being reconciled, thou shalt live through me. I will pray for thee; I will fight for thee; I will yet do thee good.
‘Nothing can hurt thee but sin; nothing can grieve me but sin; nothing can make thee base before thy foes but sin: take heed of sin, my Mansoul.
‘And dost thou know why I at first, and do still, suffer Diabolonians to dwell in thy walls, O Mansoul? It is to keep thee wakening, to try thy love, to make thee watchful, and to cause thee yet to prize my noble captains, their soldiers, and my mercy. ”

“ God forbid! but, on the contrary, we hear the voice of the divinity proclaiming, 'Not many wise men after the flesh—not many mighty—not many noble.' 'Thus saith the Lord, Heaven is my throne, the earth my footstool.' He looketh upon the high and low—the learned and the noble—the mighty princes and the unlettered labourer; and then makes this wondrous declaration—'To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.' The world will treat such humble ones as it treated the Lord of life and glory, with scorn, contempt, insult, robbery—death. ”

“ What, dost thou think to run fast enough, with the world, thy sins and lusts in thy heart? I tell thee, soul, they that have laid all aside, every weight, every sin, and are got into the nimblest posture, they find work enough to run; so to run as to hold out. To run through all the opposition, all the jostles, all the rubs, over all the stumbling-blocks, over all the snares, from all the entanglements that the devil, sin, the world, and their own hearts lay before them—I tell thee, if thou art going heavenward, thou wilt find it no small or easy matter. ”

“ Where is now any room for the righteousness of men? room, I say, for man’s righteousness, as to his acceptance and justification? Bring, then, thy righteousness to the cross of Jesus Christ, and in his blood behold the demands of justice; behold them, I say, in the cries and tears, in the blood and death of Jesus Christ. Look again, and behold the person dying; such an one as never sinned nor offended at any time, yet he dies. Could a holy life, an innocent, harmless conversation, have saved one from death, Jesus had not died. But he must die; sin was charged, therefore Christ must die. ”

“ All goodness there is plenteous, And better far than gold. 13. Adorn'd with grace and righteousness, While fragrant scents of love O'erflow with everlasting bliss, All that do dwell above. 14. The heavenly majesty, whose face Doth far exceed the sun, Will there cast forth its rays of grace After this world is done. 15. Which rays and beams will so possess All things that there shall dwell, With so much glory, light, and bliss, That none can think or tell. 16. That wisdom which doth order all Shall there be fully shown; That strength that bears the world there shall By every one be known. ”

“ Hearken, therefore, thou town of Mansoul, hearken to my word, and thou shalt live. I am merciful, Mansoul, and thou shalt find me so: shut me not out of thy gates.
‘O Mansoul, neither is my commission nor inclination at all to do thee hurt. Why fliest thou so fast from thy friend, and stickest so close to thine enemy? Indeed, I would have thee, because it becomes thee to be sorry for thy sin, but do not despair of life; this great force is not to hurt thee, but to deliver thee from thy bondage, and to reduce thee to thy obedience. ”

“ Poor, lame, infirm, helpless man, cannot live without tender—great—rich—manifold—abounding mercies. 'No faith, no hope,' 'to hope without faith is to see without eyes, or expect without reason.' Faith is the anchor which enters within the vail; Christ in us the hope of glory is the mighty cable which keeps us fast to that anchor. 'Faith lays hold of that end of the promise that is nearest to us, to wit, in the Bible—Hope lays hold of that end that is fastened to the mercy-seat.' Thus the soul is kept by the mighty power of God. ”

“ Is it fit to say unto God, Thou art hard-hearted? Despair not; thou hast no ground to despair, so long as thou livest in this world. ’Tis a sin to begin to despair before one sets his foot over the threshold of hell-gates. For them that are there, let them despair and spare not; but as for thee, thou hast no ground to do it. What! despair of bread in a land that is full of corn! despair of mercy when our God is full of mercy! despair of mercy, when God goes about, by his ministers, beseeching of sinners to be reconciled unto him! ”

“ As the just shall rise in power, so the wicked and unjust in weakness and astonishment. Sin and guilt bring weakness and faintness in this life; how much more when both, with all their force and power, like a giant fasten on them? As God saith, "Can thy hands be strong, and can thy heart endure in the day that I shall deal with thee?" Now will the ghastly jaws of despair gape upon thee, and now will condemnings of conscience, like thunderclaps, continually batter against thy weary spirit. It is the godly that have boldness in the day of judgment ”

“ Barren soul, how many showers of grace, how many dews from heaven, how many times have the silver streams of the city of God run gliding by thy roots, to cause thee to bring forth fruit! These showers and streams, and the drops that hang upon thy boughs, will all be accounted for; and will they not testify against thee that thou oughtest, of right, to be burned? Hear and tremble, O thou barren professor! Fruits that become thy profession of the gospel, the God of heaven expecteth. The gospel hath in it the forgiveness of sins, the kingdom of heaven, and eternal life ”

“ For it is the soul that sins, that the soul might die! O! sin, what art thou? What hast thou done? and what still wilt thou further do, if mercy, and blood and grace doth not prevent thee? O silly soul! what a fool has sin made of thee? what an ass art thou become to sin? that ever an immortal soul, at first made in the image of God, for God, and for his delight, should so degenerate from its first station, and so abase itself that it might serve sin, as to become the devil's ape, and to play like a Jack Pudding for him upon any stage or theatre in the world! ”

“ God is holy, I am a sinner; God is just, and I have offended. No; but thou mayst say, Though I am vile, and deserve nothing, yet Christ is holy, and He deserveth all things; though I have so provoked God by breaking His law that He could not in justice look upon me, yet Christ hath so gloriously paid the debt that now God can say, Welcome, soul, I will give thee grace, I will give thee glory, thou shalt lie in My bosom, and go no more out; My Son hath pleased Me, He hath satisfied the loud cries of the Law and justice, that called for speedy vengeance on thee ”

“ Never were kind and seasonable showers more profitable to the tender new-mown grass than will this city at this day be, to the inhabitants of the world; they will come as a blessing from heaven upon them. As the prophet saith, 'The remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people, as a dew from the Lord; as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men' (Micah 5:7) . O the grace, the light and glory that will strike with spangling beams from this city, as from a sun, into the farthest parts of the world! ”

“ With God's grace in the heart, and with the gleaming gates of his heaven brightening the horizon beyond the grave, we may be reformers; but it cannot be in the destructive spirit displayed by some who, in the prophet's language, amid darkness on the earth, "fret themselves, and curse their King and their God, and look upward." Poverty cannot degrade, nor ignorance bedwarf, nor persecution crush, nor dungeon enthral the free, glad spirit of a child of God, erect in its regenerate strength, and rich in its eternal hopes and heritage. ”

“ O! a broken heart can savour pardon, can savour the consolations of the Holy Ghost. Yea, as a hungry or thirsty man prizes bread and water in the want thereof, so do the broken in heart prize and set a high esteem on the things of the Lord Jesus. His flesh, his blood, his promise, and the light of his countenance, are the only sweet things both to scent and taste, to those that are of a wounded spirit. The full soul loatheth the honey-comb; the whole despise the gospel, they savour not the things that are of God. ”

“ I shall not go to hell, nor yet burn there, alone.
Answer. What, again; is there no breaking of the league that is betwixt sin and thy soul? What, resolved to be a self-murderer, a soul murderer? what, resolved to murder thine own soul? But is there any comfort in being hanged with company? in sinking into the bottom of the sea with company? or in going to hell, in burning in hell, and in enduring the everlasting pains of hell, with company? O besotted wretch! But I tell thee, the more company, the more sorrow; the more fuel, the more fire. ”

“ Unto a dreadful burning lake, All on a fiery flame, Hell is compared, for to make All understand the same. 11. A burning lake, a furnace hot, A burning oven, too, Must be the portion, share, and lot, Of those which evil sow. 12. This plainly shows the burning heat With which it will oppress All hearts, and will like burnings eat Their souls with sore distress. 13. This burning lake, it is God's wrath Incensed by the sin Of those who do reject his path, And wicked ways walk in. 14. Which wrath will so perplex all parts Of body and of soul, As if up to the very hearts In burnings they did roll. ”

“ Thou, must, therefore, if thou wilt so lay hold of Christ as not to be rejected by Him; I say, thou must come to Him as the basest in the world, more fit to be damned, if thou hadst thy right, than to have the least smile, hope, or comfort from Him. Come with the fire of Hell in thy conscience, come with thy heart hard, dead, cold, full of wickedness and madness against thy own salvation; come as renouncing all thy tears, prayers, watchings, fastings; come as a blood-red sinner; do not stay from Christ till thou hast a greater sense of thy own misery, nor of the reality of God's mercy ”

“ That hope and the exercise of it, is as necessary in its place, as faith, and the exercise of it. All will grant that there is need of a daily exercise of faith; and we are bid to hope unto the end, because hope is the grace that relieveth the soul when dark and weary. Hope is as the bottle to the faint and sinking spirit. Hope calls upon the soul not to forget how far it is arrived in its progress towards heaven. Hope will point and show it the gate afar off; and therefore it is called the hope of salvation. Hope exerciseth itself upon God. ”

“ It is the duty of those that can to cry out against this deadly plague, yea, to lift up their voice as with a trumpet against it, that men may be awakened about it, fly from it, as from that which is the greatest of evils. Sin pulled angels out of heaven, pulls men down to hell, and overthroweth kingdoms. Who, that sees a house on fire, will not give the alarm to them that dwell therein? Who, that sees the land invaded, will not set the beacons on a flame. Who, that sees the devils as roaring lions, continually devouring souls, will not make an out-cry? ”

“ In the midst of all this violent depravity, the Holy Spirit began the work of regeneration in his soul—a long, a solemn, yea, an awful work—which was to fit this poor debauched youth for purity of conduct—for communion with heaven—for wondrous usefulness as a minister of the gospel—for patient endurance of sufferings for righteousness' sake—for the writing of works which promise to be a blessing to the Church in all ages—for his support during his passage through the black river which has no bridge—to shine all bright and glorious, as a star in the firmament of heaven. ”

“ Poor sinner, awake; eternity is coming, and HIS SON, they are both coming to judge the world; awake, art yet asleep, poor sinner? let me set the trumpet to thine ear once again! The heavens will be shortly on a burning flame; the earth, and the works thereof, shall be burned up, and then wicked men shall go into perdition; dost thou hear this, sinner? (2 Peter 3) Hark again, the sweet morsels of sin will then be fled and gone, and the bitter burning fruits of them only left. What sayest thou now, sinner? Canst thou drink hell-fire? Will the wrath of God be a pleasant dish to thy taste? ”

“ Despair! when we have a God of mercy, and a redeeming Christ alive! For shame, forbear; let them despair that dwell where there is no God, and that are confined to those chambers of death which can be reached by no redemption. A living man despair when he is chid for murmuring and complaining! (Lam 3:39) . Oh! so long as we are where promises swarm, where mercy is proclaimed, where grace reigns, and where Jerusalem sinners are privileged with the first offer of mercy, it is a base thing to despair. Despair undervalues the promise, undervalues the invitation, undervalues the proffer of grace. ”

“ O! damned souls will have thoughts that will clash with glory, clash with justice, clash with law, clash with itself, clash with hell, and with the everlastingness of misery; but the point, the edge, and the poison of all these thoughts will still be galling, and dropping, and spewing out their stings into the sore, grieved, wounded, and fretted place, which is the conscience, though not the conscience only; for I may say of the souls in hell, that they all over are but one wound, one sore! Miseries as well as mercies sharpen and make quick the apprehensions of the soul. ”

“ It is amazing to consider what hold sin has on some men's souls, spirits, will, and affections. It is to them better than heaven, better than God—than the soul, ay, than salvation; as is evident, because, though all these are offered them upon this condition, if they will but leave their sins, yet they will choose rather to abide in them, to stand and fall by them. How sayest thou, sinner? Is not this a truth? How many times hast thou had heaven and salvation offered to thee freely, wouldst thou but break thy league with this great enemy of God? ”

“ So, then, wilt thou live by the law? Fulfil it, then, perfectly till death, and afterwards go to hell and be damned, and abide there till the law and curse for thy sin be satisfied for; and then, but not till then, thou shalt have life by the law. Tell me, now, you that desire to be under the law, can you fulfil all the commands of the law, and after answer all its demands? Can you grapple with the judgment of God? Can you wrestle with the Almighty? Are you stronger than he that made the heavens, and that holdeth angels in everlasting chains? ”