John Bunyan
England
1660
�I will let you go, if you promise not to preach.� The judge looked down from his bench at John Bunyan, the tinker-preacher.
�Sir,� the Christian replied, �I will stay in prison till the moss grows on my eyelids rather than disobey God!�
�Then I hereby sentence you to six years in the Bedford jail.�
God had given Bunyan a powerful preaching gift and a great ability to touch the hearts of men. Although he wasn�t well educated � he was forced to quit school at an early age to help his father work � he could read. While in prison, Bunyan read two books, the King James Bible and John Foxe�s Book of Martyrs, and preached to his fellow prisoners. He gained a new awareness of the truth of Scripture and of the presence of Jesus Christ, declaring:
�Jesus Christ also was never more real and apparent than now: Here I have seen Him and felt Him indeed.�
During his imprisonment, he also began to write. He wrote many books and tracts, including the story of his conversion, Grace Abounding to the Chiefest of Sinners. As soon as he was released, Bunyan started preaching again, and within just a few weeks, he was back in jail. Six years later, the King of England suspended the laws against the Nonconformists, and Bunyan was released.
By now, he was in great demand as a preacher. He frequently visited London, where he preached to large congregations. Sometimes as many as 1, 200 people would attend a service at 7 o�clock on a winter morning. On Sundays, the meetinghouse could not hold all who wanted to hear him, and hundreds were turned away.
After three short years, the King of England changed his mind and began persecuting Nonconformists again. Bunyan was sent to jail for the third time. While in prison, this Jesus Freak began writing a book that helped thousands of believers for centuries to come. Pilgrim�s Progress, the first novel ever written, is the story of a dream in which Christian jo0urneys from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City. Some have called it �the most excellent map to be found anywhere.�
Today it continues to be one of the best-known Christian books of all time and has been translated into hundreds of languages. When China�s Communist government printed Pilgrim�s Progress as an example of Western cultural heritage, and initial printing of 200,000 copies was sold out in three days!
He who would valiant be �gainst all disaster,
Let him in constancy follow the Master.
There�s no discouragement shall make him once relent
His first avowed intent to be a pilgrim.
Since, Lord, Thou dost defend us with Thy Spirit,
We know we at the end shall life inherit.
Then fancies flee away! I�ll fear not what men say,
I�ll labor night and day to be a pilgrim.
-Hymn by John Bunyan
-Taken from Jesus Freaks by dc Talk and The Voice of the Martyrs