Second Greatest Book after the BIBLE

John Bunyan (1628-1688). Bunyan’s work falls into the category of the greatest masterpieces ever written by a mortal.

Commentary:

Translated into more than 200 languages and has never been out of print, The Pilgrims’s Progress has become a religious classic deemed by many second only to the Bible in terms of Christian enlightment. Its author, John Bunyan, was one of the most noteworthy products of Puritan England. Although he made his daily living with down-to-earth arts of a tinker and mender, his highly sensitive and creative disposition left him profoundly vulnerable, even as a small child, to the extraordinary religious fervor of his day; and his conversion to the Baptist faith as a young bachelor transported him to the verge of religious mania.

Finally, after serving in Cromwell’s army and marrying a woman “as poor as himself,” he could no longer resist the call; he went west out into the streets as a roving evangelist. In 1660 he was imprisoned for preaching without a license, and it was in jail that he wrote the first part of his imaginative allegory Pilgrim’s Progress. In lucid but majestic prose, the book traces the good Christian’s journey from the “City of Destruction” to the “Celestial City.”

In Bunyan’s prefatory “Author’s Apology,” a cheery and gentle defense written in doggered verse, he offers an explanation of his allegorical approach to moral edification:

“May I not write in such a style as this?/In such a method too, and yet not miss/ My end, thy good? / Why may it not be done? / Dark clouds bring waters, when the bright bring none.”

He then goes on to explain the moral purposes of his allegory:

“This book it chalketh out before thine eyes / The man that seeks the everlasting prize: / It shews you whence he comes, whither he goes: / What he leaves undone; also what he does: / It also shews you how he runs and runs / Til he unto the gate of glory comes.”

Story Overview:
Part 1

Bunyan begins by describing a marvelous dream he had:

As I walked through the wilderness of this world, I lighted down on a certain place where was a den; and I laid me down in that place to sleep; and as I slept I dreamed a dream……I saw a man clothed with rags, standing in a certain place, with his face from his own house, a book in his hand, and a great burden upon his back.

This oppressed figure was a man called Christian, shouldering the burden of his sins, and the book which he held bore horryfying revelations. “I am certainly informed that this our city will be burned with fire from heaven,” Christian lamented, speaking to his family, “in which….both myself, with thee my wife, and you my my sweet babies shall miserably come to ruin.” Walking through his fields with a prayer in his heart, Christian sought some remedy to his distress.

Suddenly the figure of Evangelist strode through the fields towards Christian. Then he gave him a parchment roll; and there was written within, “Flee from the wrath to come.” Confused, Christian asked where he might flee to. Said Evangelist, “Do you see yonder shining light? …. Keep that light in your eye, and go up directly thereto, so thou shalt see the [wicket] gate; at which when thou knockest, it shall be told thee what to do.”

Unable to convince his wife and children to follow him, Christian set out alone, running toward the light—a solitary man, a pilgrim seeking truth. His family called after him, begging him to return. But Christian put his fingers in his ears and ran on, crying, “Life! life! eternal life!” Watching his flight, some neighbors mocked him, while others tried to deliver him back to the City of Destruction.

Two of the neighbors who sought to dissuade Christian were called Obstinate and Pliable. When his attempts failed, Obstinate turned back. Pliable, however, swayed by Christian’s determination, agreed to accompany him to the Celestial City and to see it for himself.

Unfortunately, the two pilgrims soon slipped and fell into the dank and murky Slough of Despond, where they “wallowed for a time, being grievously bedaubed with the dirt.” Unnerved and disgusted, Pliable finally pulled himself out of the trough and raced for home, leaving Christian, still weighed by the burden of sin on his back, to sink in the mire.
By and by, a man named Help came to pull Christian out of the trough; and, weary yet determined, the traveler continued his journey—a solitary pilgrim in pursuit of truth. Nearly diverted from his path by the enticing words of a Worldly Wiseman, Christian was saved by the intervention of Evangelist. At last, with great difficulty he reached the wicket gate and entered onto the Straight and Narrow path.

Up this way therefore did the burdened Christian run, but not without a great of difficulty because of the load on his back. He ran thus until he came at a place somewhat ascending and upon that place stood a cross, and a little below in the bottom a sepulchre. So I saw in my dream, that just as Christian came up with the cross, his burdened loosed from his shoulders, and fell from off his back, and began to tumble, and so continued to do till it came to the mouth of the sepulchre where it fell in, and I saw it no more. At last free of his heavy load, Christian now moved more quickly.

After a long and arduous journey of ascent, the fatigued Christian finally stopped to rest at the stately Palace called Beautiful, where he was fed and fitted with armor and a sword by three damsels, Prudence, Piety, and Charity. Indeed, he would soon need this protection, for the straight and narrow path next led him down into the valley of Humiliation, where he confronted the ill-tempered lion-mouthed, bear-footed monster Apollyon. This terrible beast besieged the traveler, savagely wounding him. Bleeding profusely, Christian gathered the last of his strength to slay the fiend with his sword. A hand then appeared bearing leaves from the tree of life, instantly healing Christian’s wounds.

Ahead lay even graver peril. In the Valley of the Shadow of Death, Christian found his sword useless against the myriad demons and dragons who lined his path. Only fervent prayer and supplication carried him past the mouth of Hell and the terrible creatures and sights of the valley. Emerging at last on the other side, Christian met Faithful, a fellow pilgrim. Cheered and strengthened by the companionship, the two continued on.
While crossing the plain of Ease, Christian and Faithful passed through the town of Vanity, and there in its center they came upon Vanity Fair—a large open-air market in which was peddled all manner of ostentatious commodity. When the pilgrims refused to buy and denounced the wicked fair, an angry mob seized them. Faithful, the more vocal of the two, was tried and condemned for his stern denunciations and thrown to the mob, who scourged him . . . buffeted him . . . lanced his flesh with knives . . . stoned him with stones . . . pricked him with their swords [and, finally,] burned him to ashes at the stake.

Heartened by a vision of the martyred Faithful carried to the Celestial City in a fiery chariot, Christian escaped the brutal mob. He soon joined forces with Hopeful, a believer who had also witnessed Faithful’s execution. Distracted by their discourse, the pair soon wandered onto the property of the Giant Despair, who cast them “into a very dark dungeon, nasty and stinking.” Deprived of food and water, the prisoners were flogged by the Giant and at last ordered to take their own lives. But Christian unexpectedly found a key called Promise in his bosom, with which he unlocked the dungeon. Before fleeing the spot, however, the pilgrims erected a sign to warn others of the danger.

Next they forded the deep river of tribulation, whose waters washed over their heads as they strained against the rolling currents. Overwhelmed, Christian cried out, Jesus Christ . . . tells me, “When thou passest through waters, I will be with thee!” . . . Wherefore Christian presently found ground to stand upon, and so it followed that the rest of the river was but shallow . . .

Emerging from the river, the valiant travelers were met by two shining angels, “sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation.” These emissaries ushered them to the gates of the Celestial City, where a company of heavenly hosts came out to meet them; to whom it was said by the other two shining ones, “These are the men that have loved our Lord while they were in the world, and have left all for his holy name, and he hath sent us to fetch them, and we have brought them thus far on their desired journey, that they may go in and look their Redeemer in the face with joy.”

Upon entering the glorious gate, Christian and Hopeful were presented with “raiment . . . that shone like gold” and harps and crowns. Thus supplied, they walked down the city’s “streets paved with gold” to meet their beloved Lord.

Part II

Bunyan now reports a second dream: After refusing her husband’s entreaties to follow him through the fields towards the light, Christiana, Christian’s wife, is eventually moved to remorse. Then said she to her children . . . “I have sinned away your father, and he is gone: he would have had us with him, but I would not go myself: I also have hindered you of life.” With that the boys fell into tears and cried to go after their father. . .

The next night Christiana also had a dream: And behold she saw as if a broad parchment was opened before her, in which was recorded the sum of her ways; and the crimes, as she thought, looked very black upon her . . . and then she thought she saw a Christian her husband in a place of bliss among many immortals, with a harp in his hand, standing and playing upon it before one that sat upon a throne, with a rainbow about his head. . .

At her door the following morning stood a messenger named Secret, who handed her an invitation. “Here. . .is a letter for thee,” the messenger said, “which I have brought from thy Husband’s king: So she took it and opened it; but it smelt after the manner of the best perfume. Also it was written in letter of gold. The contents of the letter were these: that the King would have her do as did Christian her husband; for that was the only way to come to his City, and to dwell in his presence with joy forever.

And so it was with Christiana and her children, accompanied by the comforting personage of Mercy, set out on their quest—again over the objections of two neighbors, Mrs. Inconsiderate and Madame Wanton.

Fleeing the City of Destruction and holdly facing a multitude of trials and tribulations as threatening as those which her husband had endured, Christiana sped on towards the light. At last she stood on the far shores of the river which bordered the Celestial City.

. . . All the banks beyond the river were full of horses and chariots, which were come down from above, to accompany her to the city-gate. So she came forth, and entered the river with a beckon of farewell to those that followed her . . . The last words that she was heard to say were, “I come, Lord, to be with thee, and bless thee . . . ” So she went and called, and entered in at the gate, with all the ceremonies of joy that her husband Christian had entered with before her.

And though Bunyan’s book gives no account of it, we may safely assume that the reunion of Christian and Christiana was a joyous one, each having braved many perils to achieve sure and ceaseless happiness together in the service of the Lord.

The great and faithful preacher, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, had this to say about John Bunyan:

“If you cut him, (John Bunyan) he’d bleed Scripture…”

And the most learned Puritan preacher, John Owen, had this to say about the tinker (Bunyan):

“Could I possess the tinker’s abilities, please your majesty, I would gladly relinquish all my learning.”

This “tinker” John Owen was referring to was none other than John Bunyan.

The Hebrew, the Greek, & the Roman People

The Hebrews were called the Israelites, Exodus 9:7; the CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, Exodus 1:13; the SEED OF ABRAHAM, Psalm 105:6; John 8:37; or the CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM, Galatians 3:7, until after the return from the captivity, when the name JEWS was adopted. The word “Jews” was formed from the same root as Judea. It referred to the purity of blood and strictness of religion by which those who reoccupied Judea were distinguished from the more mixed populations of Galilee and Samaria, with their laxer ideas of religion. The name “Jews” was used during ancient and medieval times, until modern science began to feel the want of a term which, involving the ideas of purity of blood, strictness of religion, national tradition, community of language, etc., would designate the people as a race, and the name HEBREWS was chosen because it was found that in the oldest times it had steadily been used by foreigners just in that sense. See Genesis 14:13; 39; 14; 41:12; 1 Samuel 4:6.

The Hebrew race came from Chaldea, and Abraham from Ur, to which region he sent his servant to find a wife for Isaac, and Jacob went thither for the same purpose. But the home of the patriachs was CANAAN. That land was promised to them and their descendants, and Abraham bought the cave of Machpelah, near Hebron, for a burial-place. It was on account of a famine that Jacob went down to Egypt, but when he found his son Joseph there as the favorite and first counsellor of the reigning Pharaoh, he remained there, and the Hebrews were settled in one of the best provinces of Egypt.

How long they stayed there cannot be stated definitely on account of the uncertainty of both Egyptian and Biblical chronology, but they stayed, at all events, long enough to become thoroughly changed themselves and to see the cirmcumstances under which they lived as thoroughly changed. They came a mere tribe, but they left a host, a people. They came as nomadic shepherds, but they had the arts of industry and the science of commerce at least as germs among them when they left. And they were compelled to leave. The great achievements of Joseph were forgotten long ago and the Hebrews were suppressed, almost enslaved, by the Egyptians, when Moses arose among them and led them across the Red Sea toward the Promised Land. For forty years they wandered about in the wilderness, but when they finally approached Canaan they possessed the Law, the Tabernacle, a social organization on a religious principle, and had become a nation. Moses died in the sight of the Promised Land, and Joshua led the Hebrews into Canaan, conquered the country, and divided it among the tribes.

Then followed, under the administration of the judges, a period in which pitiable failings and heroic deeds alternated until, under Saul, a national kingdom was formed, and under the reigns of David and Solomon the Hebrews became conspicuous in the history of the world. Jerusalem grew into a rich and splendid city, the Temple was built, commercial connnections were formed with the Phoenicians, the Egyptians, etc., and in the interior nothing but order, industry, prosperity, and progress were to be seen and a brilliant literature sprang up.

Nevertheless, the very geographical position of the Hebrew kingdom was not without its peculiar dangers. There were great and ambitious empires, Egypt on one side of the Hebrews and Assyria and Babylonia on the other, and the war-path between those countries was inevitably through Palestine. Still worse, immediately after the death of Solomon the kingdom itself was divided, the ten tribes forming the kingdom of Israel, the other two (Judah and Benjamin) the kingdom of Judah. The jealousy between Israel and Judah led to wars, the wars to foreign alliances, the foreign alliances to a lowering of the national standard, and then came the doom.

After the reign of nineteen rulers (in Israel), of seven different dynasties, some of them able men, all of them bad ones, Samaria was taken, B.C. 720, by Shalmaneser, the Hebrews carried away into captivity, and the land occupied by Assyrian settler. After the reign of twenty rulers (in Judah), all from the house of David and some of them both able and good men, Jerusalem was taken, B.C. 720, by Nebuchadnezzar and the Hebrew inhabitants carried to Babylon as prisoners. One would think that such calamities must be the end of Hebrew history, but they were not. Babylon was conquered by the Persians B.C. 538, and Cyrus allowed the Hebrews to return home. One colony went back under Zerubbabel, another under Ezra, etc. The Temple was rebuilt, B.C. 520; the walls of Jerusalem, B.C. 445, under Nehemiah. Under the rule of the Persian governors it seems that the Hebrews were allowed to develop their theocratic form of government with considerable freedom and success. Nor did their first contact with the Greeks cause any conflict.

After the battle of Issus, B.C. 332, which meant the overthrow of the Persian monarchy, Alexander the Great visited Jerusalem, entered the Temple, had the book of Daniel with the prophecy of the downfall of Persia read to him, and treated the Hebrews with great friendliness. It should be not be overlooked that caused a considerable of them to settle in the new city he built in Egypt (the city of Alexandaria), on the Mediterrenean, for that event exercised a very great influence. Although Jerusalem continued to be the religious center of the Hebrew race, there now arose two foreign centres of Hebrew intelligence: one in Babylon, among the old exiles who had remained there and lived under a strongly pronounced Oriental influence, and one in Alexandria, among the recent colonists who lived there under a still more strongly pronounced Greek influence.

The first conflict, however, between Greek philosophy and Hebrew religion took place in Jerusalem. After the death of Alexander the Great, B.C. 323, and the establishment of several kingdoms on the ruins of his empire, Palestine belonged first to Egypt, but afterward to Syria, and under Antiochus Epiphanes, B.C. 175-165, a great war began. He plundered the Temple, and erected in it a statue of Jupiter to which he tried to force the Hebrews to offer sacrifices. The result was a general rebellion under the leadership of the Maccabees, and after defeating and expelling the Syrians the Hebrews again established an independent kingdom under a native dynasty. The first of the Maccabees who assumed the royal title was Aristobulus I., B.C. 107, but with Antigonus B.C. 40-37, a son of Aristobulus II., the dynasty ceased to reign and was followed by the Herodians. In the mean time Palestine had come under Roman sway, having been conquered by Pompey, B.C. 63.

The Romans were as a rule not harsh masters in their conquered provinces. Especially in the East they were always willing to allow considerable religious and national liberty. But, unfortunately, the dynasty to which they confided the government of Palestine, the Herodian, was not of pure Hebrew descent: it came from Idumea. The Idumean rulers, sometimes bearing the title of king, sometimes other titles, tried to pass themselves off as Jews among the Jews, but they were in their hearts no more or less than Greek-Roman pagans of the then prevailing type of religious indifference, and their policy was always to weaken and subdue the national feeling of the Hebrews by the introduction of Greek and Roman elements of civilization. As long as Herod the Great lived things went on with tolerable smoothness, but under his successors one insurrection followed the other, each increasing in fury and stubbornness. The Romans took a deep dislike to the Hebrews, baffled as they had been by them more than once in their undertakings, and finally their utter overthrow was decided upon.

Vespasian was sent with a great army against them. Having been elected emperor, he left the command to his son Titus, who, with extreme cruetly and resolution, worked his way onward slowly, methodically, but irrestistibly, broke down the walls around Jerusalem, burnt the Temple, and razed the city to the ground, in A.D. 70. Jesus Christ Himself had foretold of the destruction of the Temple some 37 years before. One day, as they exited the Temple complex, one of the disciples said to Jesus,

“Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”
– Mark 13:1-2.

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Personal Meditation on Death and Dying

For this Easter season, here are my Personal Meditations on Death and Dying. A Christian directive.

Thank you for reading.

– Thompson

Satan has a season when he loves to prick the saint's conscience — their dying day! Alas, he comes with all those failing spots to which the saint has succumbed! When he comes, we may as well say to him:

It is true, Satan. I have failed often, more so, broken asunder to despair and despondency. But also, listen. Christ accepted me in my wicked state; died for me whilst a whore, a swearer, a guiler, an idolater, adulterer, a fornicator, and all the filthy excercise thou thinkest about. I say Christ died for me in all these mud of sin (Rom. 5:8). All that is good in me is but by His umerited grace, undeserved mercy.

Death, to a Christian, is a doorway to glory.

To live in Christ is to keep in step with Christ. So also, he that would die well must never put off the inevitability of death — he must live as a dying man.

The Christian's death is the ending of his troubling sins, an entrance to a land whence sin and sorrow are no more.

We must look at death as a thing we must meet with, and look upon ourselves as a thing which we must part with.

It is never too soon to make friendship with death.

We never get what we think we want because God gives us always what we need. One day our need will be death.

Death is gain as to its freedom from doubt and unbelief: In heaven our faith will be turned into sight. 'Here the best are liable to doubts about their personal piety, and often experience many an anxious hour in reference to this point; in heaven, doubt will be known no more.'

Death is the grave of all temptations.

A Christian's death delivers them from the second death. Put another way, a Christian dies natural to live eternal.

In heaven there's no grave, but eternal grace.

After our death, we will be met by our believing loved ones who went ahead of us to be with Christ.

O beloved Christian, why fear death? It is natural to fear death, but we may meet it with faith in Christ.

When death knocks at your door, don't murmur and grumble about; rejoice thou art going home at last! 'Does the prisoner, long confined in a dungeon, dread the hour which is to open his prison, and permit him to return to his family and friends? Does the man in a foreign land, long an exile, dread the hour when he shall embark on the ocean [or the sky] to be conveyed where he may embrace the friends of his youth? Does the sick man dread the hour which restores him to health; the afflicted, the hour of comfort? The wanderer at night, the cheering light of returning day? And why then should the Christian dread the hour which will restore him to immortal vigor; which shall remove all his sorrows; which shall introduce him to everlasting day?' Smile at death when your time draws nigh.

Death is an awful reality to men who have made this world their only home and the things of this world their only possessions.

Do not waste any unnecessary time belowhere. Let us live as diligent laborers in a field full of harvest, harvesting men to Christ Jesus.

Live as men who appreciate the world, but let us live like men who are more in love with the world to come, the world of Christ Jesus.

To die and be with Christ is the final pilgrimage of the wounded saint. The saint finally meets with Eternal Rest and Blessed Felicity.

The door of death is inscribed thus: "Prepare to meet your God!"

Christ is best.

Death is sleep. "The girl is not dead but sleeping." The natural man is tempted to laugh. You're wise and know how to apply.

Death will very soon reveal the children of God and the Devil.

We must have our heart and mind in heaven if we are to look at death with courage in Christ. "Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth" (Colossians 3:2).

LORD God, teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

Beware of head-knowledge in the face of death! It will not comfort you. How is your heart and way of life instructed by your accumulated knowledge in the things of God? Do you know God, or things about God? That's the question! Be honest with yourself!

I've observed humble men die well.

Improve life by dying daily to self and enrich the soul by being alive in Christ.

I'm homesick for heaven.

You're not too young to die. Make peace with God.

The old fellow knows his time is nigh.

Here today, gone tomorrow.

Make no permament nest in this world.

Death is a golden carriage that lifts the soul to a golden city, celestial city.

Fellow mortal, cease playing Immortal.

The whole world is a big cemetery of dead men walking.

Them that resolve to repent tomorrow intend to be wicked today. A delay of repentance breastfeeds and strenghens our sin — and the wages of sin is death!

The conversion of the thief at the cross is not a canon that all of us are guaranteed conversion to Christ at our death-bed.

We read in the Holy Scriptures of men who were called at their infancy such as Jeremiah, Samuel, and John the Baptist. Some were chosen in their prime age of youth like the four Hebrew children, Shadrack, Meshach, Abednego, and Daniel. Others were called in their advanced adulthood such as the disciples, John, James, Peter, and Andrew. Other were called while carrying out their business of the day as Matthew, the tax-collector and Luke, the physician. Others were called while in their sin-business as the forgiven harlot and the woman at Jacob's well. Others while gazing at the fig tree or climbing a sycamore as Nathaniel and Zacchaeus. Still others were called in their old age as Joseph of Arimathea and the Jewish scholar, Nicodemus. And last of all, at their death-bed — the thief at the cross!

There's no such thing as purgatory and indulgences. When you die, you're dead!

All must die! If not now, tomorrow; if not tomorrow, the next day; if not the next day, the following day; if not the following day, the day following; and if not the day following, the day that follows. And, I say, again, if not the day that follows, then, the next!

We can only sing, "Death has lost its sting" if we truly understand what the cross of Christ accomplished for us.

Death laughs at bags of gold.

Death is a level ground where the rich and poor; proud and humble; high and low; prince and peasant, all lay and become wholesome meal for the worm.

A man's life, however great it was, is always summarized by this little word — Death!

Jesus Christ not only died, He conquered death by death itself. Christ stung death to death! He is our resurrection!

One day people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them.

Death separates us from the familiar faces belowhere, but brings us face to face with God for all eternity.

Easter exists for the sole purpose of reminding us this: the Son of the Living God died and stung death to death by His resurrection. I do not know where the idea of Easter bunnies and eggs came from.

I do not fear death, I fear that I sin everyday. What is sin? The mother of death!

There is no friend as loyal to a Christian as dying in Christ.

Friend, have you made terms of peace with Christ?

Itching ears in our churches is the death of its people. Pastor, preach death to your people as a dying man to dying men. We need more death sermons and less of "meism" tales.

Beware of life without God. Walk with God.

Your birthday date must soon meet with your death-date: 1940-2020.

Are you packed up and ready for death?

The toys of this world must ever decrease and become strangely dim in our eyes if we're to look upon death with light in Christ Jesus!

Be satisfied to die poor to the world and rich in Christ.

I'll die. Death will not kill me in the end because death will die at the end.

Death brings us near angels; angels carry us to God.

Broken for Christ.

Dead men speak. Read your Bible.

The boot of death will boot any man who is not firmly rooted in Jesus Christ.

We are living and dying people living in a dying world.

Death is never a surprise; it is a consequence of sin.

Everyone dies but us.

It is not very long until men attend your funeral; my own funeral.

Death is certain once we die; no one wants to be there when they die.

Let us leave the world that we may truly live in the world.

Have you thought of your own death, O man? Sit down. Have a talk with yourself.

Young people often limit death for old people. Let me tell you something, young person; you'd be surprised. Death is more closer to you!

The reason you are circumspect when you cross the road, and vigilant over any other life-threatening calamity, is because you're aware of your own mortality.

Birthday's we know and can estimate, but death-dates, not quite! Live readily, not wishingly!

I'm persuaded I'll die but live in Christ forevermore.

Sometimes the best humbler of proud men is their death or the death of their loved one. Death does not recognise office or estate that men boast of!

Funerals are a silent sermon to us who attend. Its constant heading does not change. What is it, you ask? You're NEXT!

We do not care, but death does.

My library is full of dead people. In short, I've a cemetery in my house.

Alas! I'm afraid some of the authors in my library are in hell! "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven" (Matt. 7:21).

Life, like a flower, dies — slowly, but surely.

Lord, when? You know.

A life without the Lord Jesus Christ is death everlasting.

The toys of this world do not matter to the worms of death. You're wise and know how to apply.

Dionysius the Elder promised to give the flatterer Damocles a taste of the life of a ruler. He placed him in a luxurious surroundings and then suspended a sword above his neck.

The music of death is the dance of a Christian.

This may sound a bit extreme: if you're not willing to die for Christ, my dear friend, you're not a Christian.

The LORD does not fellowship with living men, but dying men.

If we do not live one day at a time we'll not live one day at a time. You're wise and know how to apply.

It's either Christ or Caeser, not some Christ and Caeser.

Our friends and associations only become heroes and heroines when they die. Funerals, more often, if not observed, become a stage of propaganda and deceit. "They are in a wonderful place now..." We know the truth, but because we're conditioned to impress the masses, we dare deceive when we could have (easily and openly) used that time to impress and screw truth into people's mind!

If I understand the Cross of Christ correctly, I'll view death correctly. The Cross of Christ is the school of death and redemption.

Time is short; if we continue to waste it.

A tree should never boast during spring and summer, fall and winter is around the corner!

I believe we fear death because we do not fear sin.

Lost, weary not; patience! Find and Found are coming to your rescue. Dark underground of the soul.

The world can console us with trifles, but it is only Christ who can console and comfort us in our living and our dying.

Every time I see or hear someone has died, I reckon I'm not far away. Someone else will pass the same message; Thompson is no more.

There's no hiding from God. Ask a tortoise.

Our Lord Jesus Christ met death face to face knowing fully well He'd sting death to death. O death, where is thy sting!

As a Christian, never shun the thought of death. On the contrary. Meditate on it. For, though well and living, a Christian is a dying fellow who is looking for a city whose maker and builder is God Himself. We're but pilgrims belowehere, not boarders.

A desire to see God face to face is a call and willingness to die!

To die well is to live well; to live well is to die well. Believe me, you're not too important or unimportant to die! Death does not consult with our CV and status quo.

The reports of my death are true. Did you think I'm Immortal belowhere?

We can be too comfortable as Christians that it is only through death we can be made alive. Death is a complete surprise to a comfortable Christian, but a friend to a watchful Christian.

Death is the gate of life.

A lot of cemeteries have men who flattered themselves they will never die, or at least did not think of death when they were living. "Let us drink and be merry," they said; but they forgot to add, "tomorrow we die!"

I see no just reason for men to boast. None at all. Why? What is man but a mere breath; here now, gone tomorrow?

Death is a shadow. It will manifest itself soon. It always accompanies us, especially when our environment and life is sunny!

The enemy of death is the holiness and death of Christ. Believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ and follow Him.

The Son of God was smitten, stricken, and afflicted that we may live justified, redeemed, and keep in step with daily sanctification to be like Him until death is no more!

Every funeral we attend is our own funeral.

Death is the funeral of all our sorrows; a funeral to all our sins and temptation; a door to glory.

In Christ Jesus death has no lasting teeth.

Lord Jesus, if my memory ever abandons me, please, do not permit the memory of the cross be gone from me. Let all others fade, but not the wonder of the Cross of Christ Jesus!

My dying thoughts are dying.

I sincerely think the host of heaven had a meeting to discuss how to redeem many a man who are full blown in destroying themselves with pleasureable trifles.

God did not give His Son to die because we're good or have anything worthy of commendation; He gave His only begotten Son to die because He is Himself Good and expects us to listen to (and obey) Him because it is only in Christ Jesus He is well pleased.

The Heart of God is only found through His Son Jesus Christ. 'No one comes to the Father except through Me.'

We die at our conversion to Christ Jesus; death to self, alive in Him!

Death is fearful when all we fill ourselves with is the thoughts and ways of this world and neglect the faithful Word of God and life in the Lord Jesus Christ through the guidance and assistance of the Holy Ghost.

Psalm 23 is not an anthem for the natural man, but a cabinet of true comfort for any true child of God in Christ Jesus. The Lord is my Shepherd if I'm a true sheep, not a wolf; a restorer of my soul if my soul sinks in Him; He is my path if I walk in His righteousness; He is with me in the valley of the shadow of death if my life is hidden with Christ in God; He is my staff and rod because my life is no longer my own, but His. If all these things are true for me and you, then surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. I know one thing: I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever and ever and ever...and ever!

On Want of Nobility and Popularity

What I am about to write is so strange that I scarcely know how to make my meaning clear. Misfortune is more beneficial than good fortune, for good fortune deceives, but misfortune teaches. But do not think I am engaged in total war with Fortune; for there is a time when that “goddess” no longer deceives, and then she deserves well of men. That is the time when she unmasks herself, when she shows her face and reveals her true character.

But perhaps you do not yet understand what I mean. I am convinced that adverse fortune is more beneficial to men than prosperous fortune. When Fortune seems kind, and seems to promise happiness, she lies. On the other hand, when she shows herself unstable and changeable, she is truthful. Good fortunes deceives, adverse fortune teaches.

Good fortune enslaves the minds of good men with the beauty of the specious good which they enjoy; but bad fortune frees them by making them see the fragile nature of happiness. You will notice that good fortune is proud, insecure, ignorant of her true nature; but bad fortune is sober, self-possessed, and prudent through the experience of adversity.

Finally, good fortune seduces weak men away from the true good through flattery; but misfortune often turns them around and forcibly leads them back to the true good.

Do you think it a small matter that your terrible misfortune have revealed the feelings of those friends who are faithful to you? Fortune has separated your true friends from two-faced ones; when she left you, she took her followers with her and left you your own. Think how much you would have given in for this knowledge when you were still on top and thought yourself fortunate.

Now you complain of lost riches; but you have found your friends, and that is the most precious kind of wealth.

There are some who think fame is the highest good and they labor to spread the glory of their names. Others measure the good in terms of gaiety and enjoyment; they think that the greatest happiness is found in pleasure.

Yet, there are those who interchange the causes and results of these false goods: some desire riches in order to get power and pleasure; some desire power in order to get money or fame.

Toward such false goods, and others like them, men direct their actions and desires; they want nobility and popularity, for example, because these seem to bring fame; or they want a wife, husband and children because they regard them as sources of pleasure. With regard to friendship, the most sacred kind belongs to goods of virtue, not of Fortune; all other kinds of friendship are sought out of a desire for power or pleasure.

At this point it is a simple matter to evaluate the goods of the body: size and strength seem to give power; beauty and speed bring fame; health brings pleasure. All this shows clearly that all men seek happiness; for whatever anyone desires beyond all else, he regards as the highest good. And, since men seem to think the highest good is happiness, everyone thinks that the condition which he wants more than anything else must constitute happiness.

You see here practically the whole range of human happiness: riches, honor, power, fame, and pleasure. Epicurus, who considered only these possibilities, held pleasure to be the highest good of them all, since the rest seem to bring joy to the soul.

Or perhaps you pride yourself on fine clothes. Well, if they are handsome and beautiful to look at, I would admire either the quality of the material or the skill of the tailor. Possibly you think that a large number of servants can make you happy. But if they are unreliable or vain, they are a pernicious influence in the house and extremely troublesome to their master; on the other hand, if they are good, how can their virtue be considered any virtue of yours?

Therefore, it ought to be clear that none of these things which you are inclined to take credit for really belong to you. And if there is no desireable beauty in these things, why should you regret losing them, or be particularly elated to possess them? If they are beautiful by nature, what is that to you? They would be pleasing to you even if they belonged to someone else.

They are not precious because you have them; you have desire to have them because they seem precious.

Desperate men are greedy for things that belong to others and think that possession alone is enough to make a man worthy of riches, honor, and jewels. Now you are fearful of losing [y]our life; but, if you had walked the road of life as a poor pilgrim (not attached to materials, etc.,), you could laugh in the face of thieves.

What a blessing worldly riches are; when you have them, you have lost your safety! Everyone wants a piece of you. You’re wise and know how to apply.

To be Human is to Think

God has not called us to be lazy. God’s Word is no lazy man’s book. He [God] has called us to engage our mental faculties as we seek Him. To think hard. To think clearly. To think biblically. To think critically. Why all these thinking? Because God calls us to think. To “test these things” (Acts 17:11) as the faithful Bereans did when Paul spoke to them. To be human is to think.

True Friends from Two-Faced Ones

Now you complain of lost riches; but you have found your friends, and that is the most precious kind of wealth. You are wise and know how to apply.

Here, read my article on The Fragile Nature of Happiness & Friendship.

What is a Christian?

What is a Christian? One who, by the grace of God, confesses that he justly deserves the wrath of God, save for the mercy of Jesus Christ alone. He casts aside all hope in his self-righteousness and puts away all pride in his own goodness. One who is glad to be regarded as spiritually bankrupt, a poor sinner, saved by the free grace and righteousness of Christ and, by the sheer mercy of God, yields in allegiance to Him alone as LORD and sovereign. In a word, one who “glories in Christ Jesus and has no confidence in the flesh” (Phil. 3:13).