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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.”
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Sermon Summary
John Bunyan emphasizes that suffering for righteousness is a source of happiness and spiritual growth, as it refines believers much like fire refines precious metals. He asserts that affliction enhances one's holiness and character, making them shine brighter in their faith. Bunyan warns that while some may falter under pressure, true righteousness is strengthened through trials, leading to a more profound Christian identity. He encourages believers to embrace their sufferings as a means of becoming more godly and reflective of Christ's character.
Refined
"But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled" (I Peter 3:14). Dost thou suffer for righteousness' sake? why then, thy righteousness is not diminished, but rather increased by thy sufferings. Righteousness thriveth best in affliction, the more afflicted, the more holy man; the more persecuted, the more shining man. Acts 6:15. The prison is the furnace, thy graces are the silver and the gold; wherefore, as the silver and the gold are refined by the fire, and so made more to show their native brightness, so the Christian that hath, and that loveth righteousness, and that suffereth for its sake, is by his sufferings refined and made more righteous, and made more christian, more godly. Zech. 13:9. Some, indeed, when they come there, prove lead, iron, tin, and at the best, but the dross of silver; and so are fit for nothing, but there to be left and consumed, and to bear the badge, if ever they come from thence, of reprobate silver from the mouth and sentence of their neighbours.
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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.”