John Bunyan
John Bunyan (1628–1688). Born in November 1628 in Elstow, Bedfordshire, England, to a tinker’s family, John Bunyan became a Puritan preacher and author, best known for The Pilgrim’s Progress. Largely self-educated, he learned to read and write at a village school but worked as a tinker like his father. After a tumultuous youth, he served in the Parliamentary army during the English Civil War (1644–1646) and married in 1649, adopting his wife’s Puritan faith, which deepened after reading her books, The Plain Man’s Pathway to Heaven and The Practice of Piety. Converted in the 1650s through Baptist preaching, he joined a nonconformist church in Bedford and began preaching in 1656, known for passionate, accessible sermons. Imprisoned for 12 years (1660–1672) under the Restoration for unlicensed preaching, he wrote Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners (1666). Released, he pastored the Bedford church and wrote The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678), a global Christian classic, followed by The Life and Death of Mr. Badman (1680) and The Holy War (1682). Married twice—first to an unnamed wife (died 1656), then to Elizabeth (1659)—he had six children. Bunyan died on August 31, 1688, in London from a fever, saying, “Weep not for me, but for yourselves; I go to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Download
Sermon Summary
John Bunyan emphasizes the significance of light in God's creation, illustrating how it parallels the spiritual illumination necessary for salvation. He explains that just as God commanded light to exist, the Holy Spirit first enlightens our understanding to reveal our true state, the consequences of sin, and the merits of Jesus Christ. This divine light allows us to grasp the faithfulness of God and the promises of the gospel. Bunyan draws connections between the creation of light and the transformative work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, as seen in Paul's writings to the Corinthians.
Light
"And God said, Let there be light" (Gen. 1:3). This is the first thing with which God began the order of the creation; to wit, light, 'Let there be light:' From which many profitable notes may be gathered, as to the order of God in the salvation of the soul. As, . . . When the Holy Ghost worketh upon us, and in us, in order to a new creation; he first toucheth our understanding, that great peace of the heart, with his spiritual illumination: Matt. 4:16. His first word, in order to our conversion, is, Let there be light: light, to see their state by nature; light to see the fruits and effects of sin; light, to see the truth and worth of the merits of Jesus Christ; light to see the truth and faithfulness of God, in keeping promise and covenant with them that embrace salvation upon the blessed terms of the gospel of peace. Heb. 10:32. Now that this word, Let there be light, was a semblance of the first work of the Holy Ghost upon the heart, compare it with that of Paul to the Corinthians; 'For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness,' that is, at the beginning of the world, 'hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ' (2 Co. 4:6)
- Bio
- Summary
- Transcript
- Download
John Bunyan (1628–1688). Born in November 1628 in Elstow, Bedfordshire, England, to a tinker’s family, John Bunyan became a Puritan preacher and author, best known for The Pilgrim’s Progress. Largely self-educated, he learned to read and write at a village school but worked as a tinker like his father. After a tumultuous youth, he served in the Parliamentary army during the English Civil War (1644–1646) and married in 1649, adopting his wife’s Puritan faith, which deepened after reading her books, The Plain Man’s Pathway to Heaven and The Practice of Piety. Converted in the 1650s through Baptist preaching, he joined a nonconformist church in Bedford and began preaching in 1656, known for passionate, accessible sermons. Imprisoned for 12 years (1660–1672) under the Restoration for unlicensed preaching, he wrote Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners (1666). Released, he pastored the Bedford church and wrote The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678), a global Christian classic, followed by The Life and Death of Mr. Badman (1680) and The Holy War (1682). Married twice—first to an unnamed wife (died 1656), then to Elizabeth (1659)—he had six children. Bunyan died on August 31, 1688, in London from a fever, saying, “Weep not for me, but for yourselves; I go to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”