John Bunyan: The Strait (or Narrow) Gate Part 1

About the Author

John Bunyan (1628-1688) was one of the greatest preachers of the seventeenth century, and despite his humble beginnings and lack of formal education, has also been called "the most wonderfully gifted spiritual writer since the days of the Apostles." Next to the Bible, his Pilgrims Progress has been translated into more languages, and has passed through more editions (about four hundred), than any other book in the world. That book, along with his Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners and Holy War, are the records of his own deep spiritual experience, in which a profane and sinful man after a number of false conversions was wonderfully tranformed. He was later asked to preach to a small congregation, and after preaching to the brethren five years, and working at his trade (as a "tinker," one who repaired pots and pans) for the support of himself and family, he was arrested and thrown into Bedford jail twelve years (1660-1672) for "teaching men to worship God contrary to the law." During those years he continued to write, his only books being the Bible and Concordance, and Foxe's Book of Martyrs. He would have been released any day if he had promised not to preach; but he felt called of God to the work of the ministry, and he continually replied to his jailors, "If you release me today, I will preach again tomorrow." The renowned John Owen said that he would gladly relinquish all his learning for the tinker's preaching abilities.

THE STRAIT GATE
OR,
GREAT DIFFICULTY OF GOING TO HEAVEN

Plainly proving, by the Scripture, that not only
the Rude and Profane, but many great Professors,
will come short of that Kingdom.

By John Bunyan

Part 6: Scriptural Illustrations of the Saved

"Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." - Matthew 7:13, 14.

Table of Contents

Part 1: ntroduction

Part 2: An Explanation of the Text

Part 3: Heaven, Hell, & the Professing Christian

Part 4: This Thing You Lack

Part 5: Called Out From the World

Part 6: Scriptural Illustrations of the Saved

Part 7: Many Are Called But Few Are Chosen

Part 8: Why Many Miss Heaven

Part 9: Words of Warning

Part 10: Concluding Thoughts

PART Six: SCriptural Illustrations of the Saved

Before I pass this head, I will shew you to what the saved are compared in the Scriptures.

They are compared to an handful: "There shall be an handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains," (Psalm 27:16); this corn is nothing else but them that shall be saved (Matthew 3:12; Matthew 13:30). But mark, "There shall be an handful." What is an handful, when compared with the whole heap? or what is an handful out of the rest of the world?

They are compared to a lily among the thorns (Song of Solomon 2:2), which is rare, and not so commonly seen: "As the lily among thorns (saith Christ), so is my beloved among the daughters." By thorns, we understand the worst and best of men, even all that are destitute of the grace of God, “for the best of them is as a briar, and the most upright of them as a thorn-hedge” (Micah 7:4; 2 Samuel 23:6). I know that she may be called a lily amongst thorns also, because she meets with the pricks of persecution (Ezekiel 2:6; Ezekiel 29:24). She may also be thus termed, to show the disparity that is betwixt hypocrites and the church (Luke 8:14; Hebrews 7). But this is not all; the saved are compared to a lily among thorns, to show you that they are but few in the world; to show you that they are but few and rare; for as Christ compares her to a lily among thorns, so she compares him to an apple-tree among the trees of the wood, which is rare and scarce, not common.

They that are saved are called but one of many; for though there be threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and virgins without number, yet my love, saith Christ, is but one, my undefiled is but one (Song of Solomon 6:8-9); according to that of Jeremiah, “I will take you, one of a city” (Jeremiah 3). The saying of Paul is much like this: “Know you not, that they which run in a race, run all, but one receiveth the prize” (1 Corinthians 9:24); but one, that is, few of many, few of them that run; for he is not here comparing them that run with them that sit still, but with them that run, some run and lose, some run and win; they that run and win are few in comparison with them that run and lose: "They that run in a race, run all, but one receives the prize; let there then be threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and virgins without number, yet the saved are but few."

They that are saved, are compared to the gleaning after the vintage is in: “Woe is me” (said the church), “for I am as when they have gathered the summer-fruit, as the grape-gleanings after the vintage is in” (Micah 7:1). The gleanings! What is the gleanings to the whole crop? And yet you here see, to the gleanings are the saved compared: It is the devil and sin that carry away the cartloads, while Christ and his ministers come after a gleaning: But the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim are better than the vintage of Abiezer (Judges 8:2). Them that Christ and his ministers glean up and bind up in the bundle of life, a better than the loads that go the other way. You know it is often the cry of the poor in harvest, Poor gleaning, poor gleaning: And the ministers of the gospel they also cry, “Lord, who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?” (Isaiah 53:1).

When the prophet speaks of the saved under this metaphor of gleaning, how doth he amplify the matter? “Gleaning-grapes shall be left, says he, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the utmost fruitful branches thereof, saith the Lord” (Isaiah 17:6). Thus you see what gleaning is left in the vineyard, after the vintage is in; two or three here, four or five there. Alas! they that shall be saved when the devil and hell have had their due, they will be but as the gleaning, they will be but few; they that go to hell, go thither in clusters, but the saved go not so to heaven (Matthew 13:30; Micah 7). Wherefore when the prophet speaketh of the saved, he saith, there is no cluster; but when he speaketh of the damned, he saith, they are gathered by clusters (Revelation 14:18-19). O sinners! but few will be saved! O professors! but few will be saved!

They that shall be saved are compared to jewels: "And they shall be mine, saith the Lord, in the day that I make up my jewels," (Malachi 3:13). Jewels, you know, are rare things, things that are not found in every house. Jewels will lie in little room, being few and small, though lumber takes up much. In almost every house you may find brass, and iron, and lead; and in every place you may find hypocritical professors, but the saved are not these common things; they are God's peculiar treasure (Psalm 35:4). Wherefore Paul distinguisheth betwixt the lumber and the treasure in the house: “There is,” saith he, “in a great house, not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood, and of earth, and some to honor, and some to dishonor” (2 Timothy 2:20). Here is a word for wooden and earthy professors; the jewels and treasure are vessels to honor, they of wood and earth are vessels of dishonor, that is, “vessels for destruction” (Romans 9:21).

They that shall be saved, are compared to a remnant: “Except the Lord had left in us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and should have been like unto Gomorrah” (Isaiah 1:9). A remnant, a small remnant, a very small remnant; O! how doth the Holy Ghost word it! and all to shew you how few shall be saved. Every one knows what a remnant is, but this is a small remnant, a very small remnant. So again, “Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations, publish ye, praise ye, and say, O Lord, save thy people, the remnant of Israel” (Jeremiah 31:7). What shall I say? The saved are often in scripture called a remnant (Ezekiel 9:8, 14; Ezekiel 10:20-22; Ezekiel 11:11, 16; Jeremiah 23:3; Joel 2:22). But what is a remnant to the whole piece? What is a remnant of people to the whole kingdom? Or what is a remnant of wheat to the whole harvest?

The saved are compared to the tithe or tenth part; wherefore when God sendeth the prophet to make the hearts of the people fat, their ears dull, and to shut their eyes, the prophet asketh, "How long?" to which God answereth, "Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, and the Lord have removed man far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land: But yet -- as God saith in another place, "I will notmake a full end” – “in it shall be a tenth, (Isaiah 6:10-13).

But what is a tenth? What is one in ten? And yet so speaks the Holy Ghost, when he speaks of the holy seed, of those that were to be reserved from the judgment. And observe it, the fattening and blinding of the rest, it was to their everlasting destruction; and so both Christ and Paul expounds it often in the New Testament, Matthew 13:14, 15; Mark 4:12; Luke 7:10; John 12:40; Acts 28:26; Romans 11:8. So that those that are reserved from them that perish will be very few, one in ten: “A tenth shall return, “so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.”



	About the Author John Bunyan (1628-1688) was one of the greatest preachers of the seventeenth century, and despite his humble beginnings and lack of formal education, has also been called "the most wonderfully gifted spiritual writer since the days of the Apostles." Next to the Bible, his Pilgrims Progress has been translated into more languages, and has passed through more editions (about four hundred), than any other book in the world. That book, along with his Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners and Holy War, are the records of his own deep spiritual experience, in which a profane and sinful man after a number of false conversions was wonderfully tranformed. He was later asked to preach to a small congregation, and after preaching to the brethren five years, and working at his trade (as a "tinker," one who repaired pots and pans) for the support of himself and family, he was arrested and thrown into Bedford jail twelve years (1660-1672) for "teaching men to worship God contrary to the law." During those years he continued to write, his only books being the Bible and Concordance, and Foxe's Book of Martyrs. He would have been released any day if he had promised not to preach; but he felt called of God to the work of the ministry, and he continually replied to his jailors, "If you release me today, I will preach again tomorrow." The renowned John Owen said that he would gladly relinquish all his learning for the tinker's preaching abilities. THE STRAIT GATE OR, GREAT DIFFICULTY OF GOING TO HEAVEN Plainly proving, by the Scripture, that not only the Rude and Profane, but many great Professors, will come short of that Kingdom. By John Bunyan Part 6: Scriptural Illustrations of the Saved "Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." - Matthew 7:13, 14. Table of Contents Part 1: ntroduction Part 2: An Explanation of the Text Part 3: Heaven, Hell, & the Professing Christian Part 4: This Thing You Lack Part 5: Called Out From the World Part 6: Scriptural Illustrations of the Saved Part 7: Many Are Called But Few Are Chosen Part 8: Why Many Miss Heaven Part 9: Words of Warning Part 10: Concluding Thoughts PART Six: SCriptural Illustrations of the Saved Before I pass this head, I will shew you to what the saved are compared in the Scriptures. *They are compared to an handful:* "There shall be an handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains," (Psalm 27:16); this corn is nothing else but them that shall be saved (Matthew 3:12; Matthew 13:30). But mark, "There shall be an handful." What is an handful, when compared with the whole heap? or what is an handful out of the rest of the world? *They are compared to a lily among the thorns* (Song of Solomon 2:2), which is rare, and not so commonly seen: "As the lily among thorns (saith Christ), so is my beloved among the daughters." By thorns, we understand the worst and best of men, even all that are destitute of the grace of God, “for the best of them is as a briar, and the most upright of them as a thorn-hedge” (Micah 7:4; 2 Samuel 23:6). I know that she may be called a lily amongst thorns also, because she meets with the pricks of persecution (Ezekiel 2:6; Ezekiel 29:24). She may also be thus termed, to show the disparity that is betwixt hypocrites and the church (Luke 8:14; Hebrews 7). But this is not all; the saved are compared to a lily among thorns, to show you that they are but few in the world; to show you that they are but few and rare; for as Christ compares her to a lily among thorns, so she compares him to an apple-tree among the trees of the wood, which is rare and scarce, not common. *They that are saved are called but one of many; for though there be threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and virgins without number, yet my love, saith Christ, is but one, my undefiled is but one (Song of Solomon 6:8-9); according to that of Jeremiah, “I will take you, one of a city”* (Jeremiah 3). The saying of Paul is much like this: “Know you not, that they which run in a race, run all, but one receiveth the prize” (1 Corinthians 9:24); but one, that is, few of many, few of them that run; for he is not here comparing them that run with them that sit still, but with them that run, some run and lose, some run and win; they that run and win are few in comparison with them that run and lose: "They that run in a race, run all, but one receives the prize; let there then be threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and virgins without number, yet the saved are but few." *They that are saved, are compared to the gleaning after the vintage is in:* “Woe is me” (said the church), “for I am as when they have gathered the summer-fruit, as the grape-gleanings after the vintage is in” (Micah 7:1). The gleanings! What is the gleanings to the whole crop? And yet you here see, to the gleanings are the saved compared: It is the devil and sin that carry away the cartloads, while Christ and his ministers come after a gleaning: But the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim are better than the vintage of Abiezer (Judges 8:2). Them that Christ and his ministers glean up and bind up in the bundle of life, a better than the loads that go the other way. You know it is often the cry of the poor in harvest, Poor gleaning, poor gleaning: And the ministers of the gospel they also cry, “Lord, who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?” (Isaiah 53:1). When the prophet speaks of the saved under this metaphor of gleaning, how doth he amplify the matter? “Gleaning-grapes shall be left, says he, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the utmost fruitful branches thereof, saith the Lord” (Isaiah 17:6). Thus you see what gleaning is left in the vineyard, after the vintage is in; two or three here, four or five there. Alas! they that shall be saved when the devil and hell have had their due, they will be but as the gleaning, they will be but few; they that go to hell, go thither in clusters, but the saved go not so to heaven (Matthew 13:30; Micah 7). Wherefore when the prophet speaketh of the saved, he saith, there is no cluster; but when he speaketh of the damned, he saith, they are gathered by clusters (Revelation 14:18-19). O sinners! but few will be saved! O professors! but few will be saved! *They that shall be saved are compared to jewels:* "And they shall be mine, saith the Lord, in the day that I make up my jewels," (Malachi 3:13). Jewels, you know, are rare things, things that are not found in every house. Jewels will lie in little room, being few and small, though lumber takes up much. In almost every house you may find brass, and iron, and lead; and in every place you may find hypocritical professors, but the saved are not these common things; they are God's peculiar treasure (Psalm 35:4). Wherefore Paul distinguisheth betwixt the lumber and the treasure in the house: “There is,” saith he, “in a great house, not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood, and of earth, and some to honor, and some to dishonor” (2 Timothy 2:20). Here is a word for wooden and earthy professors; the jewels and treasure are vessels to honor, they of wood and earth are vessels of dishonor, that is, “vessels for destruction” (Romans 9:21). *They that shall be saved, are compared to a remnant:* “Except the Lord had left in us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and should have been like unto Gomorrah” (Isaiah 1:9). A remnant, a small remnant, a very small remnant; O! how doth the Holy Ghost word it! and all to shew you how few shall be saved. Every one knows what a remnant is, but this is a small remnant, a very small remnant. So again, “Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations, publish ye, praise ye, and say, O Lord, save thy people, the remnant of Israel” (Jeremiah 31:7). What shall I say? The saved are often in scripture called a remnant (Ezekiel 9:8, 14; Ezekiel 10:20-22; Ezekiel 11:11, 16; Jeremiah 23:3; Joel 2:22). But what is a remnant to the whole piece? What is a remnant of people to the whole kingdom? Or what is a remnant of wheat to the whole harvest? *The saved are compared to the tithe or tenth part;* wherefore when God sendeth the prophet to make the hearts of the people fat, their ears dull, and to shut their eyes, the prophet asketh, "How long?" to which God answereth, "Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, and the Lord have removed man far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land: But yet -- as God saith in another place, "I will notmake a full end” – “in it shall be a tenth, (Isaiah 6:10-13). But what is a tenth? What is one in ten? And yet so speaks the Holy Ghost, when he speaks of the holy seed, of those that were to be reserved from the judgment. And observe it, the fattening and blinding of the rest, it was to their everlasting destruction; and so both Christ and Paul expounds it often in the New Testament, Matthew 13:14, 15; Mark 4:12; Luke 7:10; John 12:40; Acts 28:26; Romans 11:8. So that those that are reserved from them that perish will be very few, one in ten: “A tenth shall return, “so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.”