1. Such a one is but deceived and disappointed touching the work of grace he supposeth to be in his heart; he thinks he is a Christian, and hath grace, as faith, hope, and the like, in his soul, yet no fruits of these things manifest themselves in him; indeed his tongue is tipt with a talk and tattle of religion. Poor man, poor empty man! Faith without works is dead; thy hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost; thy gifts with which thy soul is possessed, are but such as are common to reprobates; thou art therefore disappointed; God reputes thee still but wicked, though thou comest and goest to the place of the Holy (James 2:19, 20; Job 11:20; 1 Cor 13:1-3).

2. Therefore all thy joy and comfort must needs fall short of saving comfort, and so leave thee in the suds notwithstanding; thy joy is the joy of the Pharisees (John 5:35), and thy gladness as that of Herod (Mark 6:20), and the longest time it can last, it is but a Scripture-moment (Job 20:5). Alas! in all thy gladness and content with thy religion, thou art but like the boy that plays with brass instead of gold; and with counters instead of that which will go for current coin. Thus, 'if a man think himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceiveth [or disappoints] himself' (Gal 6:3).

3. This is not all, but look thou certainly for an eternal disappointment in the day of God; for it must be; thy lamp will out at the first sound the trump of God shall make in thine ears; thou canst not hold up at the appearance of the Son of God in his glory; his very looks will be to thy profession as a strong wind is to a blinking candle, and thou shalt be left only to smoke.

Oh the alteration that will befal a foolish virgin! She thought she was happy, and that she should have received happiness with those that were right at the heart; but behold the contrary, her lamp is going out, she is now to seek for saving grace, when the time of grace is over? Her heaven she thought of, is proved a hell, and her god is proved a devil. God hath cast her out of his presence, and claps the door upon her. She pleads her profession, and the like, and she hath for her answer repulses from heaven. 'So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite's hope shall perish; whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider's web. He shall lean upon his house but it shall not stand; he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure' (Matt 25:1-10; Luke 8:25, 26; Job 8:13-15).

Take heed therefore; thy soul, heaven, and eternity, lies at stake; yea, they turn either to thee or from thee upon the hinge of thy faith; if it be right, all is thine: if wrong, then all is lost, however thy hopes and expectations are to the contrary: 'For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of unbelief. 21 For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: but that which beareth thorns and briars is REJECTED, and is nigh unto cursing, whose end is to be burned' (Gal 5:6; Eph 5:3-6; Heb 6:7, 8).

Object. But what shall I do, who am so cold, slothful, and heartless, that I cannot find any heart to do any work for God in this world? Indeed time was when his dew rested all night upon my branches, and when I could with desire, with earnest desire, be doing and working for God; but, alas! now it is otherwise.

Answer.

If this be true, thy case is sad, thou art to be pitied; the Lord pity thee. And for thy recovery out of this condition, I would give thee no other counsel than was given to Ephesus when she had lost her first love.

1. 'Remember,' saith Christ, 'from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works,' &c. (Rev 2:5).

Mark: Thy first work is to enter into a serious considering, and remembrance from whence thou art fallen. Remember that thou hast left thy God, the stay of thy soul, and him without whom there is no stay, comfort, or strength, for thee either to do or suffer anything in this world: 'Without me,' saith he, 'ye can do nothing' (John 15:5). A sad condition; the remembrance of this, for certain, is the first step to the recovering a backsliding heart; for the right remembrance of this doth bring to mind what loss that soul hath sustained that is in this condition, how it hath lost its former visits, smiles, and consolations of God. When thy conscience was suppled with the blood of thy Saviour; when every step thou tookest was, as it were, in honey and butter; and when thy heart could meditate terror with comfort (Job 29:2-6; Isa 33:14-19). Instead of which, thou feelest darkness, hardness of heart, and the thoughts of God are terrible to thee (Psa 77:3). Now God never visits thee; or if he doth, it is but as a wayfaring man, that tarrieth but for a night (Jer 14:8, 9).

This also brings to mind how the case is altered with thee, touching thy confidence in God for thy future happiness, how uncertain thou now art of thy hopes for heaven, how much this life doth hang in doubt before thee (Deu 28:65, 66).

2. 'Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent.' These are words well put together; for a solid considering of what I have lost in my declining, will provoke in my heart a sorrow, and godly heaviness, whereby I shall be forced to bemoan my condition, and say, 'I will go and return to my first husband, for then was it better with me than now' (Hos 2:7). And believe it, the reason of God's standing off from giving the comfortable communion with himself, it is that thou mightest first see the difference between sticking close to God, and forsaking of him; and next, that thou mightest indeed acknowledge thy offence, and seek his face (Hos 5:15). He taketh no pleasure in thy forlorn condition; he had rather thou shouldest have him in thy bosom, only he will have it in his own way. 'He looketh upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not; [then] he will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light' (Job 33:27, 28).

3. 'Remember from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works.'

As there should be a remembering and a repenting so there should be a hearty doing our first works; a believing as before, a laying hold of the things of heaven and glory, as at the first; for now is God returned to thee, as before (Zech 1:16). And though thou mayest, through the loss of thy locks, with Samson, be weak at the first, yet, in short time, thy hair will grow again; that is, thy former experience will in short space be as long, large, and strong, as in the former times. Indeed at the first thou wilt find all the wheels of thy soul rusty, and all the strings of thine heart out of tune; as also when thou first beginnest to stir, the dust and filth of thy heart will, like smoke, trouble thee from that clear beholding the grace of thy God, and his love to thy soul; but yet wait, and go on, and though thou findest thyself as unable to do anything as thou formerly couldest; yet I say, up, and be doing, and the Lord will be with thee; for he hath not despised the day of thy small things (1 Chron 22:16; Zech 4:10).

I know thou wilt be afflicted with a thousand temptations to drive thee to despair, that thy faith may be faint, &c. But against all them set thou the word of God, the promise of grace, the blood of Christ, and the examples of God's goodness to the great backsliders that are for thy encouragement recorded in the scriptures of truth; and remember, that turning to God after backsliding, is the greatest piece of service thou canst do for him, and the greatest honour thou canst bring to the blood of Christ; and know farther, that God, to show his willing reception of so unworthy a creature, saith, there shall be joy in heaven at thy conversion to him again (Luke 15:7, 10).

TO CONCLUDE.

If thou yet, notwithstanding what hath been said, dost remain a backslider:

1. Then remember that thou must die; and remember also, that when the terrors of God, of death, and a backslidden heart, meet together, there will be sad work in that soul; this is the man that hangeth tilting over the mouth of hell, while death is cutting the thread of his life.

2. Remember, that though God doth sometimes, yea, often, receive backsliders, yet it is not always so. Some draw back into perdition; for, because they have flung up God, and would none of him, he in justice flings up them and their souls for ever (Prov 1:24-28).

I have observed, that sometimes God, as it were in revenge for injury done him, doth snatch away souls in the very nick of their backsliding, as he served Lot's wife, when he turned her into a pillar of salt, even while she was looking over her shoulder to Sodom (Gen 19:26). An example that every backslider should remember with astonishment (Luke 17:32).

Thus have I, in few words, written to you, before I die, a word to provoke you to faith and holiness, because I desire that you may have the life that is laid up for all them that believe in the Lord Jesus, and love one another, when I am deceased. Though there I shall rest from my labours, and be in paradise, as through grace I comfortably believe, yet it is not there, but here, I must do you good. Wherefore, I not knowing the shortness of my life, nor the hindrance that hereafter I may have of serving my God and you, I have taken this opportunity to present these few lines unto you for your edification.

Consider what hath been said; and the Lord give you understanding in all things. Farewell.

FOOTNOTES

1 Hermotimus of Lucian. During one of these wanderings his wife thought him dead, and his body was burnt. Whether the poor soul, thus suddenly ejected, obtained another habitation is not narrated.

2 'Of their relations,' related or belonging to themselves. Ed.

3 Also where the gardener hath set them, there they stand, and quarrel not one with another. Pilgrim, part 2. Interpreter's House, vol. 3. 186; see also vol. 2. 570. Ed.

4 'Where the great red dragon Satan had his seat.'Dr. Gill's Commentary. See also Revelation 12 Ed.

5 This manly, bold, and upright statement of truth, was published in 1674, only two years afer the author's deliverance from twelve years and a half's incarceration in a damp, miserable jail, for nonconformity! None but those whose close communion with God inspires them with the confessor's courage, can understand the spirit which dictated such language. Had all dissenters used such faithful words, the church would long ago have been emancipated from persecution in this country. Ed.

6 This is a very extensive and awful delusion. To mistake the 'outward and visible sign' for the 'inward and spiritual grace' is a very general and fatal error. Of it's sad effects all religious parties have warned their members. It has done infinite mischief to the souls of men. Ed.

7 The queen of Sheba was as much or more delighted with the order, harmony, and happiness of Solomon's household than she was with all his splendour and magnificence. It is to this Bunyan refers in this quotation. Ed.

8 'Though the words of the wise—are as nails fastened by the master of assemblies (Eccl. 12:11) yet sure their examples are the hammer to drive them in to take the deeper hold. A father that whipt his son for swearing, and swore himself while he whipt him, did more harm by his example than good by his correction.'Fuller's Holy State, p. 11. Ed.

9 How exceedingly admirable are all these scriptural directions, warnings, and cautions. Happy are those parents and their children where such wisdom is manifested in that painful duty of administering counsel and correction. Ed. 10 One of the Saxon laws was, that if a serf or villain work on Sunday by his lord's command, he shall be a free man. Spelman's Concilia, An. 692. Ed.

11 The rust of money in the rich man's purse, unjustly detained from the labourer, will poison and infect his whole estate. Fuller's Holy State, p. 16. Ed.

12 The apostle Peter, in his solemn injunctions to married persons, commences with the wife. Fuller observes upon this, 'And sure it was fitting that women should first have their lesson given them, because it is harder to be learned, and therefore they need have the more time to con it.' Holy State, p. 1. Ed.

13 'In her husband's absence she is wife and deputy husband, which makes her double the files of her diligence. At his return he finds all things so well, that he wonders to see himself at home when he was abroad.'Fuller's Holy State, p. 2. Ed.

14 'She never crosseth her husband in the spring-tide of his anger, but stays till it be ebbing water.'Fuller's Maxims. Ed.

15 Bunyan's words are 'to show pity,' probably taken from the word 'goodness' in the margin of the Bible; but lest it might be a typographical error, the usual rendering is given in this quotation. Ed.

16 'What is the child but a piece of the parents wrapped up in another skin.'Flavel. On seeing a Mother with her Infant asleep in her Arms. 'Thine is the morn of life, All laughing, unconscious of the evening with her anxious cares, Thy mother filled with the purest happiness and bliss Which an indulgent Heaven bestows upon a lower world, Watches and protects her dearest life, now sleeping in her arms.' German Poem. Ed.

17 Bunyan's silence, in all his writings, concerning the state of his parents as to godliness, may lead us to fear that this fervent ejaculation had often been poured forth by his own soul on behalf of his father and mother. All that we know of them is, that they were poor, but gave their children the best education their means afforded; as to their piety he is silent. Ed.

18 'To the Greeks.' Bunyan in this follows the Puritan translation. The word 'Greeks' is in the margin of the authorized Bible. Ed.

19 This is a most beautiful passage, unequalled by any ancient or modern author. Such a view of church fellowship does honour to the head and heart of the prince of allegorists. It is worthy to be printed in letters of gold, and presented to every candidate for church fellowship among all Christian societies of every denomination. See p. 550, and note. Ed.

20 To 'hold the head' is to make a very prominent profession of religion. Ed.

21 'Of unbelief' see margin of the Bible. Ed.

***

A CAUTION TO STIR UP TO WATCH AGAINST SIN

BY J. BUNYAN

ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR.

This faithful and affectionate appeal to conscience, was originally published on a half-sheet of copy paper, and being only printed on one side of the leaf was called a broadside; probably intended to hang up in the house, or to be pasted inside the cover of the family bible.

Charles Doe gives the date 1685; but a copy of this rare sheet, clean and perfect as when first printed, was lately discovered in the Stowe Library, among a great number of single-sheet poems, songs, and proclamations; a memorandum on it, in the writing of Narcissus Luttrel, shews that he bought it for one penny, on the 8th of April, 1684. By the liberal permission of Mr. Pickering, of Piccadilly, the present owner of that extraordinary collection, I have been able accurately to correct the very numerous alterations and errors which abound in all the later editions.

Reader, whoever thou art, but especially the young, this unassuming poem is most worthy of being committed to memory. It is a striking detection of the devil's sophistry. Strive, as you value your peace and happiness, to escape the depths of moral degradation and misery, by avoiding the FIRST overtures of sin.—GEO. OFFOR.

CAUTION TO STIR UP TO WATCH AGAINST SIN

The first eight lines one did commend to me, The rest I thought good to commend to thee: Reader, in reading be thou rul'd by me, With rhimes nor lines, but truths, affected be.[1] 8 April 1684

I. Sin will at first, just like a beggar, crave One penny or one half-penny to have; And if you grant its first suit, 'twill aspire, From pence to pounds, and so will still mount higher To the whole soul: but if it makes its moan, Then say, here is not for you, get you gone. For if you give it entrance at the door, It will come in, and may go out no more.

II. Sin, rather than 'twill out of action be, Will pray to stay, though but a while with thee; One night, one hour, one moment, will it cry, Embrace me in thy bosom, else I die: Time to repent [saith it] I will allow, And help, if to repent thou know'st not how. But if you give it entrance at the door, It will come in, and may go out no more.

III. If begging doth not do, sin promise will Rewards to those that shall its lusts fulfill: Penny in hand, yea pounds 'twill offer thee, If at its beck and motion thou wilt be. 'Twill seem heaven to out-bid, and all to gain Thy love, and win thee it to entertain. But give it not admittance at thy door, Lest it comes in, and so goes out no more.

IV. If begging and promising will not do, 'Twill by its wiles attempt to flatter you. I'm harmless, mean no ill, be not so shy Will ev'ry soul-destroying motion cry. 'Twill hide its sting, 'twill change its native hue, Vile 'twill not, but a beauty seem to you. But if you give it entrance at the door, Its sting will in, and may come out no more.

V. Rather than fail, sin will itself divide, Bid thee do this, and lay the rest aside. Take little ones ('twill say) throw great ones by, (As if for little sins men should not die.) Yea SIN with SIN a quarrel will maintain, On purpose that thou by it might'st be slain. Beware the cheat then, keep it out of door, It would come in, and would go out no more.

VI. Sin, if you will believe it, will accuse, What is not hurtful and itself excuse: 'Twill make a vice of virtue, and 'twill say Good is destructive, doth men's souls betray; 'Twill make a law, where God has made man free, And break those laws by which men bounded be. Look to thyself then, keep it out of door, Thee 'twould entangle, and enlarge thy score.

VII. SIN is that beastly thing that will defile Soul, body, name, and fame in little while; 'Twill make him, who some time God's image was, Look like the devil, love, and plead his cause; Like to the plague, poison, or leprosy Defile 'twill, and infect contagiously. Wherefore beware, against it shut the door; If not, it will defile thee more and more.

VIII. SIN, once possessed of the heart, will play The tyrant, force its vassal to obey: 'Twill make thee thine own happiness oppose And offer open violence to those That love thee best; yea make thee to defy The law and counsel of the deity. Beware then, keep this tyrant out of door, Lest thou be his, and so thy own no more.

IX. SIN harden can the heart against its God, Make it abuse his grace, despise his rod, 'Twill make one run upon the very pikes, Judgments foreseen bring such to no dislikes Of sinful hazards; no, they venture shall For one base lust, their soul, and heav'n and all. Take heed then, hold it, crush it at the door, It comes to rob thee, and to make thee poor.

X. SIN is a prison, hath its bolts and chains, Brings into bondage who it entertains; Hangs shackles on them, bends them to its will, Holds them, as Samson grinded at the mill, 'Twill blind them, make them deaf; yea, 'twill them gag, And ride them as the devil rides his hag. Wherefore look to it, keep it out of door, If once its slave, thou may'st be free no more.

XI. Though SIN at first its rage dissemble may, 'Twill soon upon thee as a lion prey; 'Twill roar, 'twill rend, 'twill tear, 'twill kill out- right, Its living death will gnaw thee day and night: Thy pleasures now to paws and teeth it turns, In thee its tickling lusts, like brimstone burns. Wherefore beware, and keep it out of door, Lest it should on thee as a lion roar.

XII. SIN will accuse, will stare thee in the face, Will for its witnesses quote time and place Where thou committedst it; and so appeal To conscience, who thy facts will not conceal; But on thee as a judge such sentence pass, As will to thy sweet bits prove bitter sauce. Wherefore beware, against it shut thy door, Repent what's past, believe and sin no more.

XIII. SIN is the worm of hell, the lasting fire, Hell would soon lose its heat, could SIN expire; Better sinless, in hell, than to be where Heav'n is, and to be found a sinner there. One sinless, with infernals might do well, But SIN would make a very heav'n a hell. Look to thyself then, to keep it out of door, Lest it gets in, and never leaves thee more.

XIV. No match hast sin save God in all the world, Men, angels it has from their stations hurl'd: Holds them in chains, as captives, in despite Of all that here below is called Might. Release, help, freedom from it none can give, But he by whom we also breathe and live. Watch therefore, keep this giant out of door Lest if once in, thou get him out no more.

XV. Fools make a mock at SIN, will not believe, It carries such a dagger in its sleeve; How can it be (say they) that such a thing, So full of sweet, should ever wear a sting: They know not that it is the very SPELL Of SIN, to make men laugh themselves to hell. Look to thyself then, deal with SIN no more, Lest he that saves, against thee shuts the door.

XVI. Now let the God that is above, That hath for sinners so much love; These lines so help thee to improve, That towards him thy heart may move. Keep thee from enemies external, Help thee to fight with those internal: Deliver thee from them infernal, And bring thee safe to life eternal.—AMEN.

London: Printed for N. Ponder at the Peacock in the Poultrey.



FOOTNOTE:

1. This same sentiment is well expressed in Bunyan's verses at the conclusion of the Pilgrim, part First.

'Nor let my figure or similitude Put thee into a laughter or a feud; Leave this to boys and fools, but as for thee, Do thou the substance of my matter see.'

THE END