Who among the believers at the beginning of the Christian Church would believe that the persecuting, blaspheming Saul of Tarsus would yet be one of the great preachers of the Gospel — that he would be the great Apostle of the Gentiles? Yet this was God’s plan for him. The Lord’s reply to Ananias’ protest (Acts Ch. 9 vv. 10-16) was, “Go Thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto Me, to bear My Name before the Gentiles, and Kings, and the Children of Israel.” And who among the people of God in Bedford, round about 1645, would believe that the noted swearer and blasphemer, John Bunyan would one day be a Trophy of grace and an outstanding minister of the Gospel? “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are My ways My ways, saith the Lord” (Isa. 55 v. 8).
John Bunyan was born at Elstow, near Bedford, in November 1628. He frankly admits that he could not boast of noble blood, nor of high-born state, according to the flesh. His father was a poor man, a tinker by trade, a calling that Bunyan himself also followed. However, he goes on to praise the Lord for it all, saying, “All things considered, I magnify the heavenly majesty, for that by this door He brought me into the world, to partake of the grace and life that is in Christ by the Gospel.”
He grew up without God in the world, without a thought about his state as a sinner, delighting in all manner of sin and ungodliness so that, to quote himself, “I had but few equals, both for cursing, swearing, lying, and blaspheming the holy name of God.” He served for some time in the Parliamentary Army during the Civil War and, although he does not say much of his experiences as a soldier, he does mention one occasion, when, in the good providence of God, his life was preserved. Another soldier volunteered to go in his stead to a certain place that was being besieged, and while there was shot and killed.
After being discharged from the army, Bunyan married and, as he put it, his “mercy was to light upon a wife whose father and mother were counted Godly.” The young couple were “as poor as poor could be,” yet Mrs Bunyan had two books, “The Plain Man’s Pathway to Heaven” and “The Practice of Piety” left to her by her father when he died. It is likely that Bunyan thought but little of those books at the time and yet, in the wonderful providence of God, they were to play their own part in turning him from the error of his ways. As he and his young wife read the books together and as she told him of her Godly father’s way of life, there was a desire begotten within him to reform his sinful life. He began to attend the Church and was greatly attracted by the ritual and ‘adored and that with great devotion all things belonging to the Church.’ Still there was no real change. He frankly admits that with all his religion he still retained his wicked life.
About this time he heard a sermon on the Sabbath and the evil of breaking it, which affected him for an hour or two, for though he says he went home from the sermon with a great burden on his spirit, yet, after he had had his dinner, the whole thing began to go away and he was back at his Sabbath-breaking again. Later that day, in the midst of his Sabbath-breaking, he had a remarkable experience. ‘A voice,’ he says, ‘did suddenly dart from heaven into my soul which said, “Wilt thou leave thy sins and go to heaven or have thy sins and go to hell?”‘ This certainly brought him to a stand, but he concluded that he was such a grievous sinner that he could never be forgiven — that it was now too late. “Therefore” he says, “I resolved in my mind to go on in sin.” And so it was: his cursing and swearing continued, till one day he was put to shame by the reproof of one who was herself a noted sinner. She told him that his swearing made her tremble and that his ungodliness was likely to ruin the youth of the whole town, if they came into his company. Bunyan was silenced by this unexpected rebuke, and, strange as it may seem, he tells us that he never swore again.
He continued his efforts to reform his life by Bible reading and an outward conformity to the commandments. His neighbours took notice of this apparent change in his life and spoke of him among themselves as a truly converted man. With this Bunyan was well pleased for he tells us that he was proud of his godliness; nevertheless he was still ignorant of his true state as a sinner and had he died then, he concludes that his state would have been most fearful.
Then one day the Lord, Who leads the blind by a way they know not, led the proud Pharisee to Bedford, where he heard three or four women discussing among themselves what God had done for their souls. He drew near to hear what they said, and no doubt to join in the discussion, for he was by now “a brisk talker in matters of religion.” However, he soon found out that they were far above him, for they were talking about the new birth, the work of God in their hearts, conviction of sin, etc. They also spoke of God visiting their souls in the love of Christ and how they had been upheld and comforted by the promises of the Word of God. To Bunyan they seemed so happy and gracious — he had never met their like before. Realising now that he knew nothing of the reality of true religion, he was led to see his need as a lost and ruined sinner of a righteousness not his own. “I saw that I wanted a perfect righteousness to present me without fault before God, and this righteousness was nowhere to be found but in the Person of Jesus Christ.”
Made conscious of the sinful years he had spent in the service of Satan, he was sorely tempted that the day of grace was past as far as he was concerned. After passing through deep and trying experiences he revealed his mind to those Godly women at Bedford. Understanding his case, they introduced him to their minister, Mr Gifford, who welcomed Bunyan to his house and “expounded to him the way of God more perfectly.” After some time he was enabled to close in with God’s way of salvation in the Gospel and to rejoice in God his Saviour. He was now so full of the love of God and the comforts of the Gospel that he says he felt he could not contain himself till he got home, but would tell to the very crowds of the love and mercy of God. Bunyan thought this happy frame of mind was to last but, alas! it did not, and in a short time he began to question all.
The next stage in his spiritual experience was one of trials and temptations. The tempter caused him to doubt the veracity of the scriptures, yea even the existence of God. He tells us that what he met with now was twenty times worse than all he had met before. In this mysterious way the Lord was preparing the Tinker to serve Him in the Gospel of His Son and to be yet a comforter to countless numbers.
He had practically no education, no theological training, but as M. F. Harrison says in “John Bunyan — A Story of his Life,” “the soul experiences through which he had passed had done more to equip him for what God has so definitely called him, than any academic training could do.” He searched and studied the Word of God more than most, and one has only to read his sermons or any of his writings to see that he was ‘mighty in the scriptures.’ Spurgeon says of him, “Read anything of his and you will see that it is like reading the Bible itself — he had read it till his whole being was saturated with Scripture — Prick him anywhere, and you will find that his blood is Bibline, the very essence of the Bible flows from him. He cannot speak without quoting a text, for his soul is full of the Word of God.” ‘C. H. Spurgeon — The Full Harvest,’ p. 159.
Under the faithful preaching of Mr Gifford, who was a Baptist, Bunyan made progress in the Christian way. He grew in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
After some years he was prevailed upon to begin preaching. At first he was deeply conscious of his unworthiness for such work, yet little by little the Lord in His providence and by His Word showed him that he was called to the ministry. The Word of God spoke to him regarding his duty; The Lord’s people encouraged him, and his labours were blessed. The Lord’s people were edified and sinners were awakened. Hundreds came to hear him and he was called to preach far and wide. John Bunyan served the Lord with all humility of mind, calling sinners to “repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”
During this period Bunyan’s wife died, leaving him with four young children, the eldest of whom was Mary, who was blind. After some time he remarried and this second wife, like the first, proved to be a true help meet and a source of strength to him in the sore afflictions he was yet to undergo.
With the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660 there were many changes and most of them evil. The Episcopalians returned to power and those who refused to conform were persecuted. John Bunyan was arrested, and because he ‘refused to leave off his preaching’ he was imprisoned. For such a warm-hearted and affectionate person, this separation from his family was not an easy matter. When he thought of the sufferings and misery that his stand for the truth would bring upon his family it was breaking his heart — ‘as pulling the flesh from the bones.’ But the Lord was with him and Bunyan could say of the prison in Bedford what Jacob said of Bethel, ‘this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.’ On the whole his imprisonment was not too rigorous but it was to last for about twelve years — from November 1660 till May 1672 and then for about six months in 1676. It is generally believed that he was released from prison on this last occasion by the kindly intervention of Dr John Owen. Dr Owen was a personal friend of John Bunyan and according to some authorities told the King that he would ‘willingly exchange all his learning for the tinker’s power of touching men’s hearts.’
It was while in prison that he wrote many of his great works including “The Pilgrim’s Progress.” As in the case of John, the beloved disciple on the isle of Patmos, the design of Satan to close Bunyan’s mouth was overruled to the glory of God and the edification of the Church.
From the time of his release from prison in 1676 till he died in August 1688 Bunyan was continually engaged in the work of the Lord by preaching and writing. While still in prison he had been called by his old congregation at Bedford to be their Pastor but he also had the oversight of many congregations. He was in journeys oft, going as far afield as London where he was held in great esteem — thousands gathering to hear him at times.
His end came rather suddenly. As he rode to London he was overtaken by a thunderstorm and drenched. A fever resulted and in about ten days, 31st August, 1688 the redeemed soul of John Bunyan entered the Celestial City — verily a brand plucked out of the fire. Of him it could be said that he had fought a good fight, he finished his course, he kept the faith. A few days later his mortal remains were laid to rest in the famous burying-ground of Bunhill Fields. “Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from hence forth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.” Rev. Ch. 14 v. 13.