Three New Resources from Pastor Bunyan
John Bunyan is most well-known for his work on the bestselling Pilgrim’s Progress. But he wrote many more volumes than just that great work of fiction. He penned numerous sermons and treatises, three of which we are excited to now provide for you on Blue Letter Bible.
Firstly, Bunyan’s work Come and Welcome to Jesus is now available. This resource focuses on Christ’s open arms of fellowship to all believers who accept Him as Lord and Savior. The editor describes the work thusly: “It is an enlightened display of the dealings of the Father in giving sinners to Christ; the Son in saving them by his atonement, mediation, and intercession; and the Holy Spirit in sanctifying and fitting them for glory.” Before you begin reading, we recommend browsing the Table of Contents or looking through the introduction.
Secondly, we offer A Treatise of the Fear of God. In this volume, Bunyan provides a biblical examination of how we are to view our Almighty God with the proper fearful and reverential worship that He so deserves. He highlights what a blessing it is to us as Christians to fear the only One Who has power over all things, and in turn, our very lives.
And thirdly, Christ: A Complete Saviour has been added. This work aims to make clear the role and significance of Christ in both our justification and sanctification. An excerpt from the section titled “The Use” reads as follows: “Let me exhort you to the study of this..the priestly office of Christ is the first and great thing that is presented to us in the gospel—namely, how he died for our sins, and gave himself to the cross, that the blessing of Abraham might come upon us through him.”
All three of these publications are immensely beneficial for a believer to engage with and read through. The experiences in Bunyan’s and his giftings in writing make any work of his a delight to read. To take a look through Bunyan’s resource library on BLB, we recommend starting on his author page.
About John Buyan (1628-1688)
John Bunyan was born at Elstow, England, about a mile from Bedford, and became one of the most influential authors of the seventeenth century. Few writers in history have left such a wealth of Christ-centered writings, the most popular of which is his famous work, The Pilgrim’s Progress, translated into over two hundred different languages. However, his story is far more than just the success of a single book.
In 1655, Bunyan was baptized by immersion at Bedford’s Baptist church and immediately was called to begin preaching. Three years later, he was indicted for preaching without a license. Nevertheless, he did not cease in teaching the Word of God outside of the Anglican Church’s influence. On November 12, 1660, he was charged with “teaching men to worship God contrary to the law” and served a 12-year sentence until January 1672. During this imprisonment, he penned The Pilgrim’s Progress. It quickly became one of the most popular publications in the British Isles, with 100,000 copies in circulation by Bunyan’s death.
Bunyan afterward became pastor of the Bedford church. In March of 1675, he was again imprisoned for preaching publicly without a license. However, this time he was only held in the Bedford town jail for six months before he was freed and was no longer bothered by the authorities. On a trip to London, John caught a severe cold and died at a friend’s house in Snow Hill on August 31, 1688. His grave lies in the cemetery at Bunhill Fields in London.