Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners: A Brief Account of God’s Exceeding Mercy through Christ to His Poor Servant, John Bunyan (Bunyan Updated Classics Book 5)

by John Bunyan

Amendment of the life is not renewal of the nature. However admirable in itself, it is insufficient for salvation. To man at his best, the oracles of God declare, You must be born again (John 3:7).

God’s Word remained certain and constant, even while Bunyan’s emotions continued to rise and fall. The grounds for his consolation in Christ was not his feelings, but the divine assurance that Christ had put away his sins by the sacrifice of Himself.

Bunyan was called forth and appointed to the more ordinary and public preaching of the Word. With great fear and trembling at the sight of his own weakness, he applied himself to the work – not, however, without God’s Spirit urging him on and with great encouragement from the Scriptures.

the important question with us all should be not so much HOW we became enlightened, but do we NOW love Christ? Do we desire constantly to be more like Jesus?

Come and hear, all who fear God, and I will tell of what He has done for my soul (Psalm 66:16).

the milk and honey are beyond this wilderness. God be merciful to you and grant that you be not slothful to go in to possess the land.

“O Lord, I am a fool and not able to know the truth from error. Lord, leave me not to my own blindness, either to approve of or to condemn this doctrine. If it is of You, let me not despise it; if it is of the devil, let me not embrace it. Lord, I lay my soul in this matter at Your feet. Let me not be deceived, I humbly ask You.”

Temptation came from Satan, from my own heart, and from worldly acquaintances, but I thank God that these were outweighed by the realization that death and the day of judgment lay ahead;

Many others have thirsted as you do, but I have quenched their zeal.”

“Though you try to be cautious,” said Satan, “I will be too difficult for you; I will cool you without you realizing it – by degrees, little by little. What do I care,” he said, “if it takes seven years to chill your heart if I can do it at last? Continual rocking will lull a crying child asleep. Though I must work at it, I will accomplish my goal. Though you are burning hot at present, if I can pull you from this fire, I will have you cold before too long.”

I remember one day as I was traveling into the country and considering the wickedness and blasphemy of my heart and the enmity that was in me toward God, that Bible verse came into my mind that He has made peace through the blood of His cross (Colossians 1:20). By this verse, I was made to see again and again that day that God and my soul were friends by this blood. Yes, I saw that the justice of God and my sinful soul could embrace and kiss each other because of the blood of Jesus.

take special care that we did not accept the teaching from anyone upon trust – but to cry mightily to God that He would convince us of the reality of the truth of His holy Word and cause us to learn by His own Spirit. Mr. Gifford said that if we accept the teachings of men without being certain that they are from God’s Word, then when temptations come, we will lack that help and strength from God’s Word to resist those temptations that we thought we had.

Cry out to God to reveal Jesus Christ to you. There is no one who can teach His truth like Him.

I knew that there was only one thing that I could do. I must go to Him and humble myself before Him and beg that He, out of His wonderful mercy, would show compassion to me and have mercy upon my wretched sinful soul.

I urge you who are reading this to learn from my negligence and beware that you do not neglect to ask God to help you resist future temptations,

“Sinner, you think that because of your sins and infirmities I cannot save your soul, but behold, My Son is by Me, and upon Him I look, and not on you. I will deal with you according as I am pleased with Him.”

(1 Corinthians 16:15-16). By this text I saw that the Holy Spirit never intended that men who have gifts and abilities should bury them in the earth but rather commanded and stirred them up to exercise their gift, and also commended those who were able and ready to do so: They have devoted themselves for ministry to the saints.

When you pray, it is better to let your heart be without words than to let your words be without heart.

Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer.