Works of John Bunyan — Complete

by John Bunyan

5. By this Holy Spirit we are helped to understand and apply the promises.

6. By this Holy Spirit the joy of heaven and the love of God is shed abroad in the heart of the saved.

7. By this Holy Spirit we are made to wait for the hope of righteousness by faith; that is, to stand fast through our Lord Jesus in the day when he shall judge the world.

And all this is the fruit of redemption by blood, of redemption by the blood of Christ.

This is yet further evident, (1.) Because the work of the Spirit is to lead us into the sayings of Christ, which, as to our redemption from death, are such as these—'I lay down my life, that you may have life'; 'I give my life a ransom for many'; and, 'The bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world' (John 6:51). (2.) Because the Spirit, in the wisdom of heaven, is not counted a sufficient testimony on earth, but as joined with the blood of Christ—'There are three that bear witness on earth, the Spirit, the water, and the blood'; these are the witnesses of God. The Spirit, because it quickeneth; the blood, because it hath merited; and the water—to wit, the word—because by that we are clean as to life and conversation (1 John 5:8; Eph 5:26; Rom 8:16; Psa 119:9). (3.) Because, as by the Spirit, so we are sanctified by faith in the blood of Jesus (Heb 13:12). (4.) Because, when most full of the Spirit, and when that doth work most mightily in us, we are then most in the belief and admiring apprehensions of our deliverance from death by the blood of Jesus (Rev 5:9, 15). (5.) The Holy Ghost breatheth nowhere so as in the ministry of this doctrine, this doctrine is sent with the Holy Ghost from heaven; yea, as I have hinted, one of the great works of the Holy Ghost, under the Old Testament, was to testify 'of the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow' (1 Peter 1:11,12).

Put all these things together, and see if Jesus Christ, by what he hath done, hath not paid full price to God for sinners, if he 'hath not obtained eternal redemption for them?'

THE FOURTH DEMONSTRATION.

FOURTH. That Jesus Christ, by what he hath done, hath paid full price to God for sinners, and obtained eternal redemption for them, is evident, if you consider how the preaching thereof hath been, from that time to this, a mighty conqueror over all kinds of sinners. What nation, what people, what kind of sinners have not been subdued by the preaching of a crucified Christ? He upon the white horse with his bow and his crown hath conquered, doth conquer, and goeth forth yet 'conquering and to conquer' (Rev 6:2). 'And I,' saith he, 'if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me' (John 12:32). But what was it to be lifted up from the earth? Why, it may be expounded by that saying, 'As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life' (John 3:14,15).

He was then lifted up when he was hanged upon a tree between the heavens and the earth, as the accursed of God for us. The revelation of this, it conquers all nations, tongues, and people. 'And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation' (Rev 5:9). Hence the apostle Paul chose above all doctrines to preach up a crucified Christ, and resolved so to do; 'for I determined,' saith he, 'not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified' (1 Cor 2:2).

First. The doctrine of forgiveness of sin conquered his very murderers; they could not withstand the grace; those bloody ones that would kill him, whatever it cost them, could stand no longer, but received his doctrine, fell into his bosom, and obtained the salvation which is in Christ Jesus—'They shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born' (Zech 12:10). Now was this scripture eminently fulfilled, when the kindness of a crucified Christ broke to pieces the hearts of them that had before been his betrayers and murderers. Now was there a great mourning in Jerusalem; now was there wailing and lamentation, mixed with joy and rejoicing.