to be a pilgrim The life of John Bunyan 1628 - 1688 1. "Who - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

…to be a pilgrim

The life of John Bunyan

1628 - 1688

• 1. "Who would true valour see,

Let him come hither; One here will constant be, Come wind, come weather; There's no discouragement Shall make him once relent His first avowed intent To be a pilgrim.

• 2. Whoso beset him round
• 3. Hobgoblin nor foul fiend

With dismal stories, Can daunt his spirit; Do but themselves confound; He knows he at the end His strength the more is. Shall life inherit. No lion can him fright, Then fancies fly away, He'll with a giant fight, He’ll fear not what men say; But he will have a right He'll labour night and day To be a pilgrim. To be a pilgrim."

Hebrews 11 v 8 - 16

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; 10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

11 By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed,

and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude—innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.

13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but

having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

14 For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a

• homeland. 15 And truly if they had called to mind that country from

which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to

• return. 16 But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country.

Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

…to be a pilgrim

The life of John Bunyan

1628 - 1688

As I walked through the wilderness of this world, I lighted on a certain place where there was a Den, and I laid me down in that place to sleep and as I slept I dreamed a dream.

The Pilgrim’s Progress

First published and seen in print on 18th February 1678 and has never been

• ut of print since!

"Who would true valour see, Let him come hither; One here will constant be, Come wind, come weather; There's no discouragement Shall make him once relent His first avowed intent To be a pilgrim.“

The story of “Pilgrim” is graphically & engagingly told…

Rudyard Kipling called Bunyan,

“One of the great creative minds of the 17th century”.

John Owen said of Bunyan

“If I could preach as that man preaches, I would give up all my learning.”

C H Spurgeon

“…prick Bunyan anywhere,

• ut would run the Bible

– he oozes Scripture.”

Bunyan’s birthplace

“From a child I had but few equals for cursing and swearing and blaspheming the holy name of God.”

Learning from Bunyan today:

His honesty with God & with himself

“In this my relation of the merciful working of God upon my soul, it will not be amiss if in the first place I do, in a few words, give you a hint

• f my pedigree and manner of

bringing up; that thereby the goodness and bounty of God towards me may be the more advanced and magnified…”

– the opening words of “Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners” by John Bunyan

Thomas Fairfax Newport Pagnell

Roundheads Cavaliers

King Charles I 1625 – 1649

Oliver Cromwell

Commonwealth 1649 – 1653 Protectorate 1653 – 1658

Charles I and Queen Henrietta

Archbishop William Laud

“Puritans”

typified by the “Pilgrim Fathers” who left England for North America in Sept 1620

Charles I raising his standard at Nottingham

22nd August 1642

Supporters of Charles I were caricatured by the term “Cavaliers”

• Often flamboyant,

landowners & wealthy

• Supporters of the

established Church of England, its formality & its Prayer Book.

Supporters of Parliament and Oliver Cromwell were caricatured by the term

“Roundheads”

• Plain men - many who were

godly Christians

• Dissenters - who looked

for freedom of worship

• utside of the Church of

England

• Who opposed the

increasing influence of Roman Catholic doctrine & practices within the church.

A Souldier must not doe wickedly A Souldier must be valiant for God's cause A Souldier must consider that sometimes God's people have the worst in battel as well as God's enemies.

“I, with others were drawn

• ut to go to such a place to

besiege it; but when I was just ready to go, one of the company desired to go in my room to which, when I consented, he took my place; and coming to the siege, as he stood sentinel, he was shot into the head with a musket bullet, and he died.”

Nothing remains of the house where Bunyan and is family lived in Elstow village after he returned from the army

“…had not so much as a dish

• r a spoon

between them”

Mary owned two books

“…though they did not reach my heart to awaken it about my sad and sinful state, yet they did beget within me some desires after religion, so that, because I knew no better, I fell in very eagerly with the religion of the times, to wit, to go to church twice a day… and there should very devoutly both say and sing as others did, yet retaining my wicked life.”

Elstow Church, Bell Tower & village green

“Wilt thou have thy sins and go to hell or wilt thou leave thy sins and come to heaven?”

“No man in England could please God better than I, poor wretch as I was. I was all this while ignorant of Jesus Christ, going about to establish my own righteousness, and had perished therein had not God in mercy shewed me more

• f my state by nature”.

“…a brisk talker in the matters of religion”

“Their talk was about

a new birth, the work

• f God in their

hearts, and also how they were convinced

• f their miserable

state by nature, they talked of how God had visited their souls with His love in the Lord Jesus…”

“They spoke

as if joy did make them speak…”

“…shivering and shrinking in the cold, afflicted with frost, snow and dark clouds.” “…on the sunny side of a mountain refreshing themselves with the pleasant beams of the sun”

St John’s Church - Bedford

Through Gifford’s help and encouragement and through a greater understanding of the relationship of law and of grace in Luther’s commentary, eventually the light came. Bunyan stepped out of the darkness of his sin into the glorious light of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

“His burden loosed from off his shoulders and fell from off his back, and it began to tumble, and so continued to do, till it came to the mouth of the sepulchre, where it fell in, and I saw it no more”.

Learning from Bunyan today:

The varied timescale of conversion

“It would seem that in the case of Bunyan’s pilgrim, as in his own, this present experience represents not conversion itself, but an assurance of his acceptance by God and a seal of the forgiveness

• f his sins.” Faith Cook

Learning from Bunyan today:

Large-heartedness

“Nothing that the younger John could tell the older John could shock or dismay him.”

Faith Cook – writing about John Gifford & his care for John Bunyan

“I preached that I felt, that I smartingly did feel.” “I went myself in chains to preach to those in chains.”

Learning from Bunyan today:

Bunyan’s view of preaching & the preacher (in the House of the Interpreter in

Piligrim’s Progress)

Christian saw the picture of a very grave person hang up against the wall; and this was the fashion of it: It had eyes lifted up to Heaven, the best of Books in his hand, the Law of Truth was written upon his lips, the World was behind his back; it stood as if pleading with men, and a Crown of Gold did hang over its head.

King Charles II landing at Dover

“If I am freed today, I will preach tomorrow!”

“It was as if

• ne was

plucking the skin from

• ff my bones

while I was still alive.”

Learning from Bunyan today:

Readiness to suffer for the sake

• f conscience

He confessed that he felt like "a man pulling down his house upon the head of his wife and children” and yet he could see no alternative

Faith Cook quoting John Bunyan

“The Clarendon Code”

Included: 1662 The Act of Uniformity 1664 The Conventicle Act 1665 The Five Mile Act

Geneva Bible

Pilgrim’s Progress The Holy War Grace Abounding

A classic “wicket gate” has been preserved in Elstow Church

Scenes from Pilgrims Progress

Vanity Fair

Learning from Bunyan today:

The “pilgrim” emphasis to the Christian life

“I beheld then that they all went on till they came to the foot of the Hill Difficulty… the narrow way lay right up the hill…”

John Bunyan – Pilgrim’s Progress

Thy promise have I hid in my heart…

Psalm 119 v 11

Geneva Bible

“No; for then the Devil would be too hard for me!”

“Pray and read, read and pray; for a little from God is better than a great deal from men.” (John Bunyan)

“…throw away the Bible.”

Learning from Bunyan today:

The importance of the Word of God

“What contradicts the Word of God should be instantly resisted as diabolical.”

John Bunyan

“The greatest religious allegory had not The Pilgrim’s Progress been written”

Lord Macaulay

“The most beautiful and extraordinary that mere human genius ever composed in any language”

George Offor

compiler of the Banner of Truth “Works of Bunyan”

“…readers of this version will experience untold blessings and great enrichment in their spiritual lives.”

Dr D M Lloyd-Jones

Faith Cook lists 53

• ther Bunyan titles

apart from Pilgrim’s Progress !

Pilgrim's Progress

in 200 languages

1st edition copies of all Bunyan’s books

“Weep not for me, but for

• yourselves. I go to the

Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will, no doubt, through the mediation of his blessed Son, receive me, though a sinner; where I hope we ere long shall meet, to sing the new song, and remain everlastingly happy, world without end. Amen.”

John Bunyan

1628 - 1688

John Bunyan’s grave Bunhill Fields - City Road - London

What is there in a child of God which makes a place like this so good to think upon, so full of hallowed memories ? A sense of dear companionship with those whose dust lies there, A fellow feeling with the things that made their lives so rare.

Learning from Bunyan today:

The days in which we live

“Wickedness like a flood is like to drown our English world… it has almost swallowed up all; our youth, middle age, old age and all are almost carried away of this flood. O debauchery, debauchery … what hast thou done in England! ” John Bunyan

Learning from Bunyan today:

We should be fellow “pilgrims”

“Down the long centuries his life and example have pointed

• ut the path to

Christians of every generation – and will continue to do…”

Faith Cook – concluding words to “Fearless Pilgrim” – The Life and times of John Bunyan