Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners (Classics)

I found this book very penetrating and personal, and it should be required reading for a seminary student,,with a view to giving them a firm biblical foundation for pastoral practice.
A book to be cherished I think.

The classics are hard to beat and certainly at the price it was offered as a download to the kindle, free. If you are a Christian that is reading the drivel that is being delivered on TV and in the self help books you will be shocked to see the truth revealed in this book. Bunyon spent years in prison to get the revelation of Grace, I'm sure he was not "Enjoying Everday Life".

This book presents a wonderfully detailed account of the author's journey from spiritual depravity to saving faith in Christ, as well as his struggles with doubt and faith along the way. It is an encouraging read for any born again believer struggling with their faith.

This is an outstanding detail of the conversion of one of the greatest preachers who ever lived. I am sure as you read you will be touched by the afflictions of heart Mr Bunyan went through in order to come at last to true faith in Christ.

The content is great, navigation is terrible. Because there is no active table of contents you have 2 choices, read everything in order, skip randomly around and hope to find the story you want to read.

I enjoyed the candid way the author expressed how he truly came to know and love Jesus the Christ. For Wavering and uncertain church goers this book helps you come in contact with the truth of your belief or dis belief in Jesus.

John Bunyan was a non-conformist English pastor who lived from 1628-1688. During his years of ministry, he spent approximately 14 years in prison for preaching without a legal license as required by England at the time. Bunyan’s best known work is certainly The Pilgrim’s Progress, a book that I feel every Christian should read. Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners is Bunyan’s autobiographical account, which he wrote in 1666 while in prison primarily for the benefit of the people under his ministry.

Bunyan first describes his pre-conversion lifestyle and attitude towards the church and Christianity. God used various people and incidents in his life to gradually bring him to true faith and repentance, but not without a long struggle with guilt, doubt, and assurance of salvation.

If you’re familiar with Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, it is interesting to note that many of the incidents that take place in the story reflect Bunyan’s personal life and experiences.

Following his testimony of his conversion, Bunyan gives an account of how he came to be a minister. At first, he would share his thoughts with acquaintances in small groups, then he was encouraged to speak in meetings, which he felt unworthy but willing to do. He came to acknowledge that God had given him a gift for teaching and preaching, so he must not bury it but must use it for the good of God’s people. He remarks,

"I concluded, a little grace, a little love, a little of the true fear of God, is better than all the gifts…Let all men therefore prize a little with the fear of the Lord (gifts indeed are desirable), but yet great grace and small gifts are better than great gifts and no grace."

I found it interesting that what Bunyan was personally going through spiritually often influenced his preaching style and subject matter. He comments, “I preached what I felt, what I smartingly did feel; even that under which my poor soul did groan and tremble to astonishment.” When he was feeling the weight of sin on his conscious and a sense of his own unworthiness, he preached messages on the burden of the law and the seriousness of sin. As he experienced the peace and comfort of Christ within himself, he preached the person, grace and benefits of Christ. Bunyan’s description of being called to the ministry and what he experienced as a preacher provides insight into what many true ministers of God’s Word likely experience, and provide words of encouragement and warning to other pastors, preachers, and teachers of the Word. The humility, pure heart, and godly desires of Bunyan are evident in many ways; consider his concluding remarks for example:

"I find to this day seven abominations in my heart:
• Inclining to unbelief.
• Suddenly to forget the love and mercy that Christ manifests.
• A leaning to the works of the law.
• Wanderings and coldness in prayer.
• To forget to watch for that I pray for.
• Apt to murmur because I have no more, and yet ready to abuse what I have.
• I can do none of those things which God commands me, but my corruptions will thrust in themselves. When I would do good, evil is present with me."

"These things I continually see and feel, and am afflicted and oppressed with, yet the wisdom of God orders them for my good:
• They make me abhor myself.
• They keep me from trusting my heart.
• They convince me of the insufficiency of all inherent righteousness.
• They show me the necessity of flying to Jesus.
• They press me to pray unto God.
• They show me the need I have to watch and be sober.
• They provoke me to pray unto God, through Christ, to help me, and carry me through this world."

Grace Abounding gives us a glimpse into the life of a man whose traveled a long, hard path to true faith in Christ, and into the heart of a man whose primary desire was to please God in every aspect of his life.