BUNYAN’S DYING SAYINGS
OF SIN
Sin is the great block and bar to our happiness, the procurer of all miseries to man, both here and hereafter; take away sin, and nothing can hurt us; for death temporal, spiritual, and eternal, is the wages of it.
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 and 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.
Take heed of giving thyself liberty of committing one sin, for that will lead thee to another; till by an ill custom it become natural.
To begin sin is to lay a foundation for a continuance; this continuance is the mother of custom, and impudence at last the issue.
The death of Christ giveth us the best discovery of ourselves; in what condition we were, so that nothing could help us but that; and the most clear discovery of the dreadful nature of our sins. For if sin be such a dreadful thing as to wring the heart of the Son of God, how shall a poor wretched sinner be able to bear it?
OF AFFLICTION
Nothing can render affliction so heavy as the load of sin; would you therefore be fitted for afflictions, be sure to get the burden of your sins laid aside, and then what afflictions soever you meet with will be very easy to you.
If thou canst hear and bear the rod of affliction which God shall lay upon thee, remember this lesson, thou art beaten that thou mayst be better.
The Lord useth his flail of tribulation to separate the chaff from the wheat.
The school of the cross is the school of light; it discovers the world’s vanity, baseness, and wickedness, and lets us see more of God’s mind. Out of dark affliction comes a spiritual light.
In times of affliction we commonly meet with the sweetest experiences of the love of God.
Did we heartily renounce the pleasures of this world, we should be very little troubled for our afflictions; that which renders an afflicted state so insupportable to many, is because they are too much addicted to the pleasures of this life; and so cannot endure that which makes a separation between them.
OF REPENTANCE AND COMING TO CHRIST
The end of affliction is the discovery of sin; and of that to bring us to the Saviour; let us therefore, with the prodigal, return unto him, and we shall find ease and rest.
A returning penitent, though formerly bad as the worst of men, may by grace become as good as the best.
To be truly sensible of sin, is to sorrow for displeasing of God: to be afflicted, that he is displeased by us more than that he is displeased with us.
Your intentions to repentance, and the neglect of that soul-saving duty, will rise up in judgment against you.
Repentance carries with it a divine rhetoric, and persuades Christ to forgive multitudes of sins committed against him.
Say not to thyself, to-morrow I will repent; for it is thy duty to do it daily.
The gospel of grace and salvation is above all doctrine the most dangerous, if it be received in word only by graceless men; if it be not attended with a sensible need of a Saviour, and bring them to him; for such men only as have the notion of it, are of all men most miserable; for by reason of their knowing more than heathens, this shall only be their final portion, that they shall have greater stripes.
OF PRAYER
Before you enter into prayer, ask thy soul these questions, 1. To what end, O my soul! art thou retired into this place? Art thou come to converse with the Lord in prayer? Is he present, will he hear thee? Is he merciful, will he help thee? Is thy business slight, is it not concerning the welfare of thy soul? What words wilt thou use to move him to compassion?
To make thy preparation complete, consider that thou art but dust and ashes; and he the great God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that clothes himself with light as with a garment; that thou art a vile sinner, and he a holy God; that thou art but a poor crawling worm, and he the omnipotent Creator.
In all your prayers, forget not to thank the Lord for his mercies.
When thou prayest, rather let thy heart be without words than thy words without heart.
Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer.
The spirit of prayer is more precious than thousands of gold and silver.
Pray often, for prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for Satan.