Chapter X (1)

OF THE PORCH OF THE HOUSE OF THE FOREST OF LEBANON.

Solomon also made a porch to this house of the forest of Lebanon. He made several porches, as one for the temple, one for the house which he dwelt in, one for the throne of the kingdom, and this that was for the house of the forest of Lebanon, of all which this last is that mentioned.

'And he made a porch of pillars, the length thereof was fifty cubits, and the breadth thereof thirty cubits; and the porch was before them, and the other pillars, and the thick beam were before them' (1 Kings 7:6). This porch was famous both for length, and breadth, and strength, it was able to contain a thousand men. It was like that of the tower of David, otherwise called the stronghold, the castle of Zion, which is the city of David (2 Sam 5:7; 1 Chron 11:5; Micah 4:8).

This tower of David was built for an armoury, whereon there hanged a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men. It was fifty cubits long and thirty broad, a spacious place, a large receptable for any that liked to take shelter there. It was made of pillars, even as the house within was, or it stood upon pillars. The pillars, you know I told you before, were to show us what mighty men, or what men of mighty grace, God would have in his church in the wilderness furnished with. And it is worth your observing here also we have pillars, pillars. And he made the porch of pillars, that is, of pillars of cedar, as the rest of the pillars of the house were.

'And the porch was before them.' That is, as I take it, an entering porch, less than the space within, so that the pillars, neither as to number nor bigness, could be seen without, until at least they that had a mind to see entered the mouth of the porch. And by this was fitly prefigured how unseen the strength of the church under persecution is of all that are without her. Alas! they think that she will be run down with a push, or, as they said, 'What do these feeble Jews? Will they fortify themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they make an end in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are bunt?' Alas! 'if a fox go up he shall even break down their stone wall' (Neh 4:2,3).

But do you think these men saw the strength of the Jews now? No, no, their pillars were within, and so were shadowed from their eyes. David himself could not tell what judgment to make of the way of the world against the people of God, until he went into the sanctuary of God (Psa 73:16,17).

How then can the world judge of the condition of the saints? Alas, had they known the church's strength, surely they would not, as they have, so furiously assaulted the same. But what have they got by all they have done, either against the head or body of the same? She yet has being in the world, and will have, shall have, though all the nations on earth should gather themselves together against it. Nor is it the cutting off of many that will make her cease to flourish. Alas, were she not sometimes pruned and trimmed her boughs would stand too thick. Those therefore that are taken away with God's pruning-hooks are removed, that the under branches may grow the better.[19] But, I say, to extinguish her it is in vain for any to hope for that. She stands upon pillars, on rocks, on the munition of rocks; stand therefore she must, whether the world believes it or no.

'And the other pillars--were before them,' or, as the margin has it, 'according to them.' The other pillars, that is, they more inward, those that were in the body of the house. Christ doth not, as the poor world doth, that is, set the best leg before; the pillars that were more inward in the house were as good as those in the front. It is true some are appointed to death to show to the world the strength of grace, not that he can help nobody to that strength but they. The most feeble of his flock, when Christ shall stand by and strengthen them, are able to do and bear what the strong have underwent. For so he saith.

And 'the other pillars and the thick beams were' according to them; nay, 'before them.' Indeed, they that are left seem weak and feeble if compared to them that have already been tried with fire and sword and all the tortures of men. But that grace by which they were helped that have done such mighty acts already, can help those who seem more weak yet to go beyond them. God strengtheneth 'the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress' (Amos 5:9). Or, as another scripture has it, 'The lame take the prey' (Isa 33:23). So that you see here is all substance. All here are pillars and thick beams, both in the house and in the porch.

The conclusion therefore is:--The true members of the church in the wilderness are strong, mighty, being made able by the grace of God for their standing, and being also coupled and compacted together with the biggest bands or thickest beams that the Holy Ghost puts forth to bind and hold this church together. And there is reason for it. The church is God's tower or battery by which he beateth down Antichrist, or if you will have it in the words of the prophet, 'Thou art my battle-axe and weapons of war; for with thee [saith God] will I break in pieces,' &c. (Jer 51:19,20). Wherefore, since the church is set for defence of religion, and to be as a battery to beat down Antichrist, it is requisite that she should be made up of pillars of strong and staunch materials.[20]

The largeness of the porch was commodious; it was the next shelter, or the place whereunto they of the house of the forest of Lebanon, when pursued, might resort or retreat with the less difficulty. Thus the church in the wilderness has her porch, her place, her bosom, whereunto her discouraged may continually resort, and take up and be refreshed. As Abiathar thrust in to David and his men in the wilderness, in the day when Saul had slain his father, and of his brethren, even 'four-score and five persons that did wear a linen ephod' (1 Sam 22:17-23).

When the apostles were persecuted 'they went to their own company,' because the Lord was there (Acts 4:23). There we find the pillars, and have both solace and example. There, as Pomponius said of his person, stands Christ Jesus in the front as Captain of the Lord's host, and round about him the old fathers, prophets, apostles, and martyrs. This porch, therefore, I take to be a figure of those cordial and large affections which the church in the wilderness has to all, and for all them that love the truth, and that suffer and are afflicted for the sincere profession thereof.

This porch was bigger than that which belonged to the temple by much, to show that those that are made the objects of the enemies' rage most are usually most prepared with affection for them that are in the same condition. Fellow-feeling is a great matter. It is said of the poor afflicted people that were in Macedonia 'in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality;[21] for to their power,--yea, and beyond their power,' they showed their charity to the destroyed church of Jerusalem (2 Cor 8:1-4).

And a porch in a forest, or a bosom in a wilderness, is seasonable to them that in the wilderness are faint and weary. Nabal shut up his doors against David, and therefore he died like a beast. Poor David! thou wast bewildered, but this churl had no compassion for thee (1 Sam 25:5-13, 25-39). Blest Obadiah, thou hadst a bosom, and bread, and hiding-places for the church, when rent and torn by the fury of Jezebel, and thou hast for it thy reward in heaven (1 Kings 18:3,4; Matt 10:42). Ebedmelech, because he had compassion on Jeremiah when he was in the dungeon, God did not only give him his life for a prey, but promised him the effects of putting his trust in the Lord (Jer 38:7-11, 39:15-18).

And he made a porch of pillars. The porch is but the entrance of the house, whither many go that yet step not into the house, but make their retreat from thence; but it is because they are non-residents, they only come to see; or else, if they pretended more, it was not from the heart. 'They went out from us,' said John, 'but they were not of us; for if they had been of us they would, no doubt, have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us' (1 John 2:19).

And forasmuch as this porch was fifty cubits long, men may take many a step straight forward therein and be but in the porch yet.[22] Even as we have seen men go, as one would think, till they are out of view in the porch of this church in the wilderness, but presently you have them without the door again.

True, this porch was made of pillars, and so to every one, at first entrance, it showed the power of the place; the church in the wilderness also is so builded that men may see it is ordained for defence. Men also, at their first offer to step over the threshold there, with mouth profess that they will dwell as soldiers there. But words are but wind; when they see the storm a-coming they will take care to shift for themselves. This house, or church in the wilderness, must see to itself for all them.

As the house therefore is a figure of the church in the wilderness, so, so great a porch belonging to it may be also to show that numbers may there be entertained that, if need be, will quickly whip out again. Although therefore the porch was made of pillars, yet every one that walked there were not such. The pillars was to show them, not what they were, but what they should be that entered into this house.

The church also in the wilderness, even in her porch or first entrance into it, is full of pillars, apostles, prophets, and martyrs of Jesus. There also hang up the shields that the old warriors have used, and are plastered upon the walls the brave achievements which they have done. There are also such encouragements there for those that stand, that one would think none that came thither with pretence to serve there would, for very shame, attempt to go back again; and yet, not to their credit be it spoken, they will forsake the place without blushing, yea, and plead for this their so doing. But I have done with the explicatory part, and conclude that from these ten particulars thus handled in this book, the house of the forest of Lebanon was a type, or figure, of the church in the wilderness.

Nor do I know, if this be denied, how so fitly to apply some of these texts which speak to the church, to support her under her troubles, of the comforts that afterwards she shall enjoy, since they are presented to her under such metaphors as clearly denote she was once in a wilderness, for instance,

1. 'Sing, O ye heavens; for the Lord hath done it [that is, redeemed his servant Jacob from his sins and from the hand of the enemy]: shout, ye lower parts of the earth [or church once trampled under feet]: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein [here is comfort for the church under the name of a forest, that in which the house we have been speaking of was built]: for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel' (Isa 44:23). To what, I say, can this text more fitly be applied, than to the church in the wilderness, put here under the name of a forest as well as under the title of heaven? Yea, methinks it is cried here to her, 'O forest,' on purpose to intimate to us that the house in the forest of Lebanon was the figure of the church in this condition.

2. Again, 'Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest? And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness. The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the holy One of Israel. For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off' (Isa 29:17-20). Lebanon was a forest, but now she must be a fruitful field. What means he here by Lebanon but the church under persecution, and the fruitful field? Mistress Babylon shall become as a forest, that is, as the church under distress. But when shall this be? Why, when the terrible one is brought low and the scorner is consumed, &c.

What can be more plain than this to prove that Lebanon, even the house in the forest of Lebanon, for that is here intended, was a figure of the church in the wilderness, or in a tempted and persecuted state. For to be turned into a fruitful field signifies the recovering of the afflicted church into a state most quiet and fruitful; fruitful fields are quiet because they are fenced, and so shall the church be in that day.

3. 'The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose' (Isa 35:1).

What are we to understand by these words if they be not a prophecy of the flourishing state of Christ's kingdom, who, in the days of her persecution, is compared to a wilderness, to a desert, and to solitary places. And she 'shall be glad for them'; for what? for that she is rid of the dragons, wild beasts, satyrs, screech owls, great owl, and vulture, types of the beasts and unclean birds of Antichrist (Isa 34:13-15).

She shall be glad for them that they are taken away from her and placed far away, for then no lion shall be there nor any ravenous beast; yea, it is the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass, with reeds and rushes, as it is, Isaiah 35. And now 'the lame man shall leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing; for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.' Read the whole chapter.

For that the desert and wilderness is thus mentioned, and that to express the state of the church in trouble by, it is clear that Lebanon is not excluded, nor the thing that is signified thereby, which, I say, is the church in her low estate, in her forest, or wilderness condition.

4. 'I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah-tree, and the myrtle, and the oil-tree; I will set in the desert the fir-tree, and the pine, and the box-tree together' (Isa 41:19).

Can any think that trees are the things taken care of here? They are the men that Antichrist has murdered in his heat and rage against Christ, the which God will restore again to his church, when Antichrist is dead and buried in the sides of the pit's mouth. And that you may the better understand he meaneth so, he expresseth again the state of the church as like to a wilderness condition, and promiseth that in that very church, now so like a wilderness, to plant it again with Christians, flourishing with variety of gifts and graces, signified by the various nature and name of the trees spoken of here.

5. 'Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the owls: because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen' (Isa 43:19,20). Here God alludes to the condition of the children of Israel in the wilderness of old, and implies they shall be in a wilderness again; and as then he gave them water, and delivered them from serpents, cockatrices, vipers, dragons, so he will do now, now to his people, his chosen.

6. 'The Lord shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody' (Isa 51:3).

See here are Zion's waste places, Zion's wilderness, forest, or Lebanon. Next here is a promise that he will comfort her; and what doth this suppose but that she was in her wilderness state, uncomfortable at least as to her outward peace, her liberty, and gospel privileges and beauties? Then here is the comparison, by which he illustrates his promise as to what degree and pitch he will comfort her. 'He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord.' The effects of all which will be she will have joy and gladness; she will be thankful, and be melodious in her voice, in her soul to the Lord. This, I say, will follow upon her deliverance from her desert, her wilderness, her desolate, and comfortless state: all which is more fully expressed by her repeated hallelujahs (Rev 19:1-6). Which hallelujahs there are the effect of her deliverance from the rage of the beast and great whore, of whose greatness and ruin you read in the two foregoing chapters. Now, I say, since the church was to be in a wilderness condition under the gospel; and since we have this house of the forest of Lebanon so particularly set forth in the Scriptures; and also since this house, its furniture, its troubles, and state, do so paint out this church in this wilderness state, I take it to be for that very thing designed, that is to say, to prefigure this church in this her so solitary and wilderness state.

[CONCLUSION.]

We will now therefore here make a brief conclusion of all.

First. This may inform us of the reason of the deplorable state of a professing people. It is allotted to them in this world to be so. The world, and men of the world, must have their tranquility here, and must be possest of all; this was foreshown in Esau, who had of his sons many that were dukes and kings before there was any king in Israel (Gen 36:31). God so disposing of things that all may give place when his Son shall come to reign in Mount Zion, and before his ancients gloriously, which coming of his will be at the resurrection, and end of this world, and then shall his saints reign with him; 'when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory' (Col 3:4).

Let not therefore kings, and princes, and potentates be afraid; the saints that are such indeed, know their places, and are of a peaceable deportment; 'the earth God hath given to the children of men,' and his kingdom to the sons of God (Psa 115:16; Matt 25:34; Luke 12:32).

I know there are extravagant opinions in the world about the kingdom of Christ, as if it consisted in temporal glory in part, and as if he would take it to him by carnal weapons, and so maintain it in its greatness and grandeur; but I confess myself an alien to these notions, and believe and profess the quite contrary, and look for the coming of Christ to judgment personally, and betwixt this and that, for his coming in Spirit, and in the power of his word to destroy Antichrist, to inform kings, and so give quietness to his church on earth; which shall assuredly be accomplished,[23] when the reign of the beast, the whore, the false prophet, and of the man of sin is out (2 Thess 2:8; Isa 49:23, 52:15, 60:3,10,11,16, 62:2; Rev 21:24).

Second. Let this teach men not to think that the church is cursed of God, because she is put in a wilderness state. Alas, that is but to train her up in a way of solitariness, to make her Canaan the more welcome to her. Rest is sweet to the labouring man. Yea, this condition is the first step to heaven; yea, it is a preparation to that kingdom. God's ways are not as man's. 'I have chosen thee,' saith he, 'in the furnace of affliction.' When Israel came out of Egypt, they were led of God into the wilderness; but why? That he might have them to a land, that he had espied for them, that he might bring them to a city of habitation (Eze 20:6; Psa 107:1-7).

The world know not the way of the Lord, nor the judgment of our God. Do you think that saints that dwell in the world, and that have more of the mind of God than the world, would, could so rejoice in God, in the cross, in tribulations and distresses, were they not assured that through many tribulations is the very roadway to heaven (Acts 14:22).

Let this then encourage the saints to hope, and to rejoice in hope of the glory of God, notwithstanding present tribulations. This is our seed-time, our winter; afflictions are to try us of what mettle we are made; yea, and to shake off worm-eaten fruit, and such as are rotten at core. Troubles for Christ's sake are but like the prick of an awl in the tip of the ear, in order to hang a jewel there.

Let this also put the saints upon patience: when we know that a trial will have an end, we are by that knowledge encouraged to exercise patience. I have a bad master, but I have but a year to serve under him, and that makes me serve him with patience; I have but a mile to go in this dirty way, and then I shall have my path pleasant and green, and this makes me tread the dirty way with patience. I am now in my rags, but by that a quarter of a year is come and gone, two hundred a year comes into my hand, wherefore I will wait, and exercise patience. Thus might I multiply comparisons. Be patient then, my brethren; but how long? to the coming of the Lord. But when will that be? the coming of the Lord draws nigh.

'Be patient,' my brethren, be long patient, even 'unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh' (James 5:7,8).

FOOTNOTES:

1. The second month in the Hebrew calendar began April 7.--Ed.

2. A common expression for difference.--'What's the odds between us?'--Ed.

3. The churches of Christ have suffered under bitter persecution, and been in a wilderness state, from the primitive times, through Popish days, and under the relentless cruelties suffered by the Covenanters and Nonconformists from the Church of England. As the gospel spreads, it humanizes and softens the hearts even of the rebellious. The dread fire no longer consumes the cedars of Lebanon. Still there remains the contemptuous sneer, the scorn, the malice of the soul, against Christ and his spiritual seed. Not many years since the two daughters of an evangelical clergyman, a D.D., came out, from strong and irresistible conviction, and united with one of the straitest sects of Dissenters--the Plymouth Brethren. The unhappy parent could not brook the insult to his order, and died insane.--Ed.

4. Bunyan not only experienced the richest enjoyments in jail, but it is very probable that his life was saved for a few years by his having lain in prison during the violent heat and storm of persecution which raged in the early part of the reign of Charles II. Thus God mysteriously restrains the wrath of man, and makes it to praise him. The damp unwholesome dungeon, intended for his destruction, crowned him with peculiar honour, because, as in his Patmos, he there wrote his immortal book.--Ed.

5. Pill, to rob; poll, to exact, to extort. 'The church is pilled and polled by its own flocks.'--South, Ser. 11. v. 5.--Ed.

6. Maundrel measured a cedar which was thirty-six feet six inches in girth, and one hundred and eleven feet in the spread of its boughs; the foliage is ever green, and it mounts up to an enormous height.--Ed.

7. It is one of the strongest proofs that the human mind is disordered by sin, that man is by nature senseless to the sublime truths of Christianity--the beam, the truth which saves the world from utter moral desolation. What wonders open before the eyes of the young convert, stretching far away into that heavenly and eternal felicity which had been shut out from his vision by the gloom of death! Life and immortality is brought to light. His life, and all other things, become but dross, that he may win Christ, and maintain his cause in the world.--Ed.

8. All men have the same Bible, but all have not sought for spiritual discernment. The Beast, whether of Rome, Greece, or England, that looks through the Word to find some plausible means of tyrannising over the soul, by preventing man from using his own eyes in seeking salvation, whether it be by church canons or acts of Parliament interfering with the exercise of private judgment, is an enemy to, and hater of, the true light.--Ed.

9. Humanity, in its usual acceptation, means the inferiority of man to the divine or angelic nature, but superiority to the mere animal or brute creation. 'The nature of man, wherein he is lesse than God Almighty, and excellynge not withstandyng al other creatures in erth, is called humanitie.'--Sir T. Eliot. Bunyan's illustration of the word is curious.--Ed.

10. A common mode of picturing the virgin Mary for the devotee of Popery to worship, is a whole length beautiful woman, with rays as of the sun shooting out all round her, standing upon the moon, and upon her head a splendid crown ornamented with twelve stars. Under such a disguise, who would expect to find 'the well-favoured harlot establishing a throne for Satan?'--Ed.

11. Inventions, fictions, fables.--Ed.

12. The Hebrew words translated in the authorized version of the Bible, 'And a target' or gorget 'of brass,' are rendered, in all the earlier versions, 'And a shield of brass.' Perhaps a cuirass; it was evidently defensive brass armour, worn between the shoulders.--Ed.

13. No formal service such as that of the temple. While the churches are in the wilderness, suffering under the fangs of Antichrist, religious services must be adapted to their circumstances. At times fervent silent prayer, unheard on earth, but recorded in heaven; at other times in an upper chamber or a forest, afraid to sin, lest it should bring the enemy upon them. How ought we to bless God for giving us the full enjoyment of public worship, even while in the wilderness.--Ed.

14. One of the popular delusions of our day is, that all sects have been intolerant and persecutors when they had the opportunity. This is a gross falsehood. Who can charge the Waldenses, Albigenses, or Lollards with that spirit of Antichrist? Who dares charge the Quakers with a persecuting spirit? They had the full opportunity when governing Pennsylvania. Who can accuse the Baptists with injuring those who differed from them when Roger Williams and his Baptist brethren obtained the charter of Rhode Island, with full power to rule themselves by any form of government they preferred? His magna charta concludes with these words, 'And let the saints of the Most High walk in this colony without molestation, in the name of Jehovah their God, for ever and ever.' And it has never been violated. Persecution has never sullied its annals. Freedom to worship God was the desire of its founder--for himself and of all; and he nobly endured till it was accomplished.--Ed.

15. This word was used by Fox in translating the letter of Algerius; I cannot find it in any dictionary. It probably refers to this poor prisoner for Christ being confined in a 'soler,' or room, close under the roof of his prison, in which an Italian sun must have rendered the heat intense. The word 'sooly' may be derived from the Anglo-Saxon 'swool,' sultry; the Dutch use swoel, zoel, and zoelheid, for heat and sultry heat.--Ed.

16. The obsolete verb, to kill.--Ed.

17. This is a curious mode of expressing the awful gradation of a sinner. 1. To go in the way of sinners. 2. To enter into their counsels. 3. To sit in the scorner's seat, here called 'the chair of pestilence.' This is from the vulgate Latin, which renders it pestilentiae.--Ed.

18. Pomponius Algerius, born in Capua, a young man of great learning, was student in the University of Padua, where he, not being able to conceal the verity of Christ's gospel which he learned by the heavenly teaching of God's grace, ceased not, both by doctrine and example of life, to inform as many as he could in the same doctrine, and to bring them to Christ; for which he was accused of heresy, and brought to Rome, where he was burned alive. He wrote this letter while in prison at Venice.--See Fox's Acts and Monuments, edit. 1631. vol. ii. p. 181.

Mr. Southey thought that this letter gave Bunyan some germ of his Pilgrim's Progress!! He takes it from the words, 'In this world there is no mansion firm for me, and therefore I will travel up to the New Jerusalem, which is in heaven.'--Life of Bunyan, p. xc.--Ed.

19. Thus the blood of the martyrs was the seedtime of the church, and it produced an abundant harvest. That God suffered the choicest of his saints to pass through such dreadful sufferings in their way to glory, is a proof that God's ways are not our ways, but they are infinite in wisdom and mercy.--Ed.

20. Consult Bunyan's admirable treatise, Of Antichrist and his Ruin.

21. How easily is this riddle resolved by those who visit the afflicted. The Christian poor beat the rich out and out in charity. The poor mother rises long before her usual time, and having fitted her own children for school, runs to her sick neighbour to do the same for her little ones, frequently sharing with them her own children's food; and then, like an angel of mercy, watches over and comforts her sick neighbour. Such is the unostentatious Christian charity found among the Christian poor. O that it may more and more abound.--Ed.

22. These home-thrusts at conscience, so constantly met with in Bunyan's works, should have the effect of exciting us to solemn self-examination. May we never be contented with the porch, but enter and enjoy the riches of Divine grace.--Ed.

23. The gradual spread of the gospel, like the leaven, must eventually leaven the whole. How astonishing has been its progress since Bunyan entered the celestial city. If his happy spirit hovers as a guardian angel about the saints at Bedford, how must he rejoice in the change. The iron hand of despotic oppression laid low; his old prison swept away; the meetings in dells, and woods, and barns, exchanged for large and commodious places of worship. How he must wonder at our want of gratitude, and love, and zeal, in return for such mercies.--Ed.

***

THE WATER OF LIFE;

OR,

A DISCOURSE SHOWING THE RICHNESS AND GLORY

OF THE

GRACE AND SPIRIT OF THE GOSPEL,

AS SET FORTH IN SCRIPTURE BY THIS TERM, THE WATER OF LIFE.

BY JOHN BUNYAN.

'And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.'--Revelation 22:17

London: Printed for Nathanael Ponder, at the Peacock in the Poultry, 1688.

ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR.

Often, and in every age, the children of God have dared to doubt the sufficiency of divine grace; whether it was vast enough to reach their condition--to cleanse them from the guilt of all their sins--and to fit their souls to dwell with infinite holiness in the mansions of the blessed. To solve these doubts--to answer these anxious inquiries, Bunyan wrote many of his works; for although he was a Boanerges, or son of thunder, to awaken the impenitent, he was eminently a Barnabas--a son of consolation--an evangelist to direct the trembling inquirer to Christ the way, the truth, and the life. He proclaims first, from his own experience, that there is 'Grace abounding to the Chief of Sinners'; then he proclaims 'Good News for the Vilest of Men, the Jerusalem Sinner is Saved'--'Christ is an Advocate'--'Christ is a complete Saviour.' Every one is invited with a 'Come and welcome to Jesus Christ.' There is 'Justification by his Righteousness'--'Salvation by his Grace.' 'He is a Throne of Grace' to which all are freely invited. Even 'The Broken Heart is an acceptable sacrifice.' There is 'The Holy City, New Jerusalem,' to receive such at the end of their pilgrimage, and directions amply given to the pilgrim to guide him in his progress to the celestial city; and he now introduces us to a majestic overflowing river, 'The Water of Life,' sufficient for the refreshment and solace of the myriads of God's saints who have lived from the creation, and will live until the final consummation of all things, when the prophet in holy vision saw 'a great multitude which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, stand before the throne, and before the Lamb.' This work was the result of the author's mature experience, being published by him during the last year of his eventful life. In it he refers to one of those ten excellent manuscripts left by him at his decease, prepared for the press, and afterwards published by Mr. Doe. It is called, The Saint's Privilege and Profit. The way in which he alludes to this, as if it had been printed, shows that he had fully determined to publish it shortly, and this, if it was needed, would confirm our confidence in those treatises. He thus refers to it: 'Because I have spoken of this thing, more particularly upon that text, 'Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace,' I shall therefore here say no more.'

Two things are rather extraordinary with regard to this valuable treatise on the Water of Life. One is, that although inserted in every list of our author's works, both published by himself and by his friends after his decease, it escaped the researches of Doe, Wilson, Chandler, Whitfield, and others who collected and published Bunyan's works, excepting only the edition with Mason's notes, printed for A. Hogg about 1785. The other singular circumstance is, that although the separate treatises of Bunyan were all most wretchedly and inaccurately printed, the Water of Life has in this respect suffered more than any other of his works. A modern edition of this book, published at Derby by Thomas Richardson, is, without exception, the most erroneously printed of all books that have come under my notice. The Scriptures are misquoted--words are altered so as to pervert the sense--whole sentences and paragraphs, and even whole pages in three or four places, and, in one instance, four consecutive pages, are left out!!! I should be grieved if more penal enactments were added to our statutes, but surely there should be some punishment for such a crime as this. The other editions are more reputable, but very incorrect. One of them bears the imprint of 'London, for James Bunyan, 1760.' Another has 'London, sold by Baxter, Doolittle, & Burkit,' evidently fictitious names, adopted from those three great authors. The Pilgrim's Progress was twice published by D. Bunyan, in Fleet Street, 1763 and 1768; and the Heavenly Footman, 'London, sold by J. Bunyan, above the Monument.' All these are wretchedly printed, and with cuts that would disgrace an old Christmas carol. Thus the public have been imposed upon, and thus the revered name of Bunyan has been sacrificed to the cupidity of unprincipled men. Had his works been respectably printed they would have all been very popular and useful, and his memory have been still more venerated.

To attract his readers to come personally, and partake the blessings imparted by the water of life, Bunyan shows that, as a medicine, it alone is the specific to cure the sin-sick soul--all other applications must fail most fatally--'all other remedies come from and return to the Dead Sea'--while the water of life issues from, and leads the soul to, the throne of God. It cleanseth from the old leaven. The Divine Physician is ever ready to administer to the wearied soul. Be not misled by worldly-wisemen to take advice of the doctor's boy, but go direct to Jesus; he is ready--he is willing to cure and save to the uttermost. His medicine may be sharp, but merely so as to effect the cure 'where bad humours are tough and churlish.' 'It revives where life is, and gives life where it is not. Take man from this river, and nothing can make him live: let him have this water and nothing can make him die.' The river of water of life allegorically represents the Spirit and grace of God; thus the truth is mercifully set before us, for 'what is more free than water, and what more beneficial and more desirable than life?' Vast and majestic rivers convey but a faint idea of the immensity of Divine grace; in comparison with which 'the most mighty mountain dwindles into the least ant's egg or atom in the world.' A stream of grace issued from the same source during the patriarchal dispensation, and then mankind were directed to it by immediate revelation, or by the tradition of their fathers. It extended under the Jewish or Levitical law, in its course passing through the temple, issuing from under the threshold of God's house, revealed by types, and shadows, and an earthly priesthood, and then 'grace ran but slowly because Jesus was not glorified.' Now it flows like a majestic river from the throne of God, open to all, without limit of family or nation, revealed to every creature by the volume of inspiration. This water admits no mixture--it is pure and perfect as its origin--free as the air we breathe to sustain life. 'There is no grudge, or a piece of an upbraiding speech heard therein.' Any attempt to mix with it human merits destroys all its efficacy. In it, and in it only, spiritual life, exciting to works of mercy, and giving sure hopes of immortal bliss, is to be found. God's children can no more live separated from this river than fish can live out of water. As a fish, by natural instinct, avoids foul and unwholesome water, so a Christian has spiritual powers to judge of the purity of doctrine. Like the manna from heaven, and our daily bread, it must be supplied day by day. No church cistern of works of supererogation can supply this pure water. All such pretended supplies are poisonous. It must come direct from heaven without human interference. Those only who spiritually thirst will seek it. Some prefer wine that perisheth in the using, while this water, once received, becomes a well-spring of living waters, springing up into everlasting life. How marvellous that river which swallows up all the impurities of the myriads of the redeemed, so that they are seen no more for ever. These are the truths pressed upon our attention in this treatise. Well may our venerated Bunyan say, while richly enjoying the blessings of this river of grace, just before he waded through the black river which absorbs our earthly bodies--'O grace! O happy church of God! all things that happen to thee are, for Christ's sake, turned into grace!' It is a river that so reflects the splendour of God, that the first sight of it was to Paul above the brightness of the sun; a light that did, by the glory of it, make dark to him all the things in the world.

Reader, may your soul and mine be abundantly refreshed from this inexhaustible river, the streams whereof make glad the city of God.

GEO. OFFOR.

THE EPISTLE TO THE READER.

COURTEOUS READER,

I have now presented thee with something of a discourse of the water of life and its virtues; therefore, thou mayest, if thou wilt, call this book Bunyan's Bill of his Master's Water of Life. True, I have not set forth at large the excellent nature and quality thereof, nor can that so be done by the pen or tongue of men or angels. Yet this I have said, and so saying, said truly, that whosoever shall drink of this water shall find it in him a well of water; and not only so, but a well springing up in him to everlasting life, let his disease be what it will. And as men, in their bills for conviction to readers, do give an account to the country of the persons cured, and the diseases that have been removed by liquors and preparations, they have made for that end, so could I, were it not already (by Holy Writ) done by an infallible pen to my hand, give you accounts of numberless numbers that have not only been made to live, but to live for ever, by drinking of this water, this pure water of life. Many of them indeed are removed from hence, and live where they cannot be spoken with was yet; but abundance of them do still remain here, and have their abode yet with men.

Only, if thou wouldst drink it, drink it by itself, and that thou mayest not be deceived by that which is counterfeit, know it is as it comes from the hand of our Lord, without mixture, pure and clear as crystal. I know there are many mountebanks in the world, and every of them pretend they have this water to sell; but my advice is, that thou go directly to the throne thyself (Heb 4:16); or as thou art bidden come to the waters (Isa 55:1), and there thou shalt be sure to have that which is right and good, and that which will certainly make thee well, let thy disease, or trouble, or pain, or malady, be what it will. For the price, care not for that, it is cheap enough, this is to be had without money or price. 'I will give,' saith God and the Lamb, 'unto him that is athirst, of the fountain of the water of life freely' (Rev 21:6). Hence he says again, 'Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely' (Rev 22:17). So that thou hast no ground to keep back because of thy poverty; nay, for the poor it is prepared and set open, to the poor it is offered, the poor and needy may have it of free cost (Isa 41:17,18).[1]

But let it not be slighted because it is offered to thee upon terms so full, so free. For thou art sick, and sick unto death, if thou drinkest not of it, nor is there any other than this that can heal thee, and make thee well. Farewell. The Lord be thy physician! So prays thy friend,

JOHN BUNYAN.

THE WATER OF LIFE.

'AND HE SHOWED ME A PURE RIVER OF WATER OF LIFE, CLEAR AS CRYSTAL, PROCEEDING OUT OF THE THRONE OF GOD AND OF THE LAMB.' Revelation 22:1

These words are part of that description that one of the seven angels, which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, gave unto John of the New Jerusalem, or of the state of that gospel church, that shall be in the latter days (Rev 21:9). Wherefore he saith, 'And he showed me'; HE, the angel, showed me it.

In the text we have these things to consider of,

FIRST. The matter, the subject matter of the text, and that is the water of life. 'He showed me the water of life.' SECOND. We have also here the quantity of this water showed to him, and that is under the notion of a river: 'He showed me a river of water of life.' THIRD. He shows him also the head, or well-spring, from whence this river of water of life proceeds, and that is, 'the throne of God and of the Lamb.' 'He showed me a river of water of life, proceeding out of the throne of God, and of the Lamb.' FOURTH. We have also here the nature and quality of this water; it is pure, it is clear as crystal: 'And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.'

[THE WATER OF LIFE.]

[FIRST.] We will begin with the first of these, to wit, with the matter, the subject matter of the text, which is, THE WATER OF LIFE. These words, water of life, are metaphorical, or words by which a thing most excellent is presented to and amplified before our faces; and that thing is the Spirit of grace, the Spirit and grace of God. And the words, water of life, are words most apt to present it to us by; for what is more free than water, and what more beneficial and more desirable than life? Therefore I say it is compared to, or called, the water of life. He showed me the water of life.

That it is the Spirit of grace, or the Spirit and grace of God, that is here intended: consider, FIRST, the Spirit of grace is in other places compared to water: and, SECOND, it is also called the Spirit of life. Just as here it is presented unto us, 'He showed me the water of life.'

FIRST. The spirit of grace is compared to water. 'Whosoever,' saith the Lamb, 'drinketh of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life' (John 4:14). What can here by water be intended, but the Spirit of grace that this poor harlot, the woman of Samaria, wanted, although she was ignorant of her want, as also of the excellency thereof? Which water also is here said to be such as will spring up, in them that have it, as a well into everlasting life.

Again, 'In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.' But of what? Why of his rivers of living waters. But what are they? Why he answers, 'This spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive' (John 7:37-39).

Yes, the prophets and servants of God in the Old Testament, did take this water of life for the Spirit of grace that should in the latter days be poured out into the church. Hence, Isaiah calls water God's Spirit and blessing, and Zechariah, the Spirit of grace. 'I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring' (Isa 44:3). And Zechariah saith, 'I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication,--and they shall mourn,' &c. (Zech 12:10). Behold, in all these places the Spirit of grace is intended, and for our better understanding it is compared to water, to a well of water, to springs of water, and to floods of water.

SECOND. It is also called the Spirit of life, [either] more closely, [or] more openly.

More closely, where it is called 'living water,' 'that living water,' and 'water springing up into everlasting life' (John 4:10,11,14, 7:38).

Then more openly or expressly it is called 'the Spirit of life.' 'And after three days and an half, the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet' (Rev 11:11).

From hence, therefore, I conclude, that by these terms, water of life, is meant the Spirit of grace, or the Spirit and grace of the gospel. And the terms are such as are most apt to set forth the Spirit and grace of the gospel by: for,

[First. The term WATER.]

1. By this term, WATER, an opposition to sin is presented unto us. Sin is compared to water, to deadly waters, and man is said to drink it, as one that drinketh waters. 'How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water?' (Job 15:16). So, then, that grace and the Spirit of grace is compared to water, it is to show what an antidote grace is against sin; it is, as I may call it, counter poison to it. It is that ONLY thing by the virtue of which sin can be forgiven, vanquished, and overcome.

2. By this term WATER, you have an opposition also to the curse, that is due to sin, presented unto you. The curse, is compared to water; the remedy is compared to water. Let the curse come into the bowels of the damned, saith the psalmist, like water (Psa 109:18). The grace of God also, as you see, is compared to water. The curse is burning; water is cooling: the curse doth burn with hell-fire; cooling is by the grace of the holy gospel: but they that overstand the day of grace, shall not obtain to cool their tongues so much of this water as will hang on the tip of one's finger (Luke 16:24,25).[2]

3. Water is also of a spreading nature, and so is sin; wherefore sin may for this also be compared to water. It overspreads the whole man, and infects every member; it covereth all as doth water. Grace for this cause may be also compared to water; for that it is of a spreading nature, and can, if God will, cover the face of the whole earth; of body and soul.

4. Sin is of a fouling, defiling nature; and grace is of a washing, cleansing nature; therefore grace, and the Spirit of grace, is compared to water. 'I will,' saith God, 'sprinkle clean water upon you, [my Spirit, v 27] and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you' (Eze 36:25).

5. Water; the element of water naturally descends to and abides in low places, in valleys and places which are undermost; and the grace of God and the Spirit of grace is of that nature also; the hills and lofty mountains have not the rivers running over the tops of them; no, though they may run 'among them.' But they run among the valleys: and 'God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace unto the humble,' 'to the lowly' (John 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5; Prov 3:34).

6. The grace of God is compared to water, for that it is it which causeth fruitfulness; water causeth fruitfulness, want of water is the cause of barrenness; and this is the reason why the whole world is so empty of fruit to Godward, even because so few of the children of men have the Spirit of grace in their hearts. But,

[Second. The term LIFE.]

As there is a great special signification in this term WATER, so there is in this term LIFE, water of life. 'He showed me the water of life.' In that, therefore, there is added to this word water, that of life, it is, in the general, to show what excellent virtue and operation there is in this water. It is aquae vitae, water of life, or water that hath a health and life in it. And this term shows us,

1. That the world of graceless men are dead; dead in trespasses and sins (John 5:21,25; Eph 2:1; Col 2:13). Dead, that is, without life and motion Godward, in the way of the testament of his Son.