[Second. Particularly—but few of them that profess have been saved.]

THE STRAIT GATE by JOHN BUNYAN

[Second. Particularly—but few of them that
profess have been saved.]

Therefore I come more particularly to show
you that but few shall be saved. I say, but few
of professors themselves will be saved;
for that is the truth that the text doth more directly look
at and defend. Give me, therefore, thy hand,
good reader, and let us soberly walk through
the rest of what shall be said; and let us
compare as we go each particular with the holy
Scripture.

1. It is said, “The daughter of Zion is left as a
cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of
cucumbers, as a besieged city.” (Isa 1:8) The
vineyard was the church of Israel, the cottage in
that vineyard was the daughter of Zion, or the
truly gracious amongst, or in that church. (Isa
5:1) A cottage; God had but a cottage there, but
a little habitation in the church, a very few that
were truly gracious amongst that great
multitude that professed; and had it not been
for these, for this cottage, the rest had been
ruined as Sodom: “Except the Lord of hosts
had left unto us,” in the church, a very few,
they had been as Sodom. (Isa 1:9) Wherefore,
among the multitude of them that shall be
damned, professors will make a considerable
party.

2. “For though thy people Israel be as the
sand of the sea, a remnant of them shall
return,” “a remnant shall be saved.” (Isa 10:22,
Rom 9:27) For though thy people Israel, whom
thou broughtest out of Egypt, to whom thou
hast given church-constitution, holy laws, holy
ordinances, holy prophets, and holy covenants;
thy people by separation from all people, and
thy people by profession; though this thy people
be as the sand of the sea, “a remnant shall be
saved”; wherefore, among the multitude of
them that shall be damned, professors will
make a considerable party.

3. “Reprobate silver shall men call them,
because the Lord hath rejected them.” (Jer
6:30) The people here under consideration are
called, in verse 27, God’s people, his people by
profession: “I have set thee for a tower and a
fortress among my people, that thou mayest
know, and try their way.” What follows? They
are all grievous revolters, walking with
slanders, reprobate silver; the Lord hath
rejected them. In chapter 7, verse 29, they are
called also the generation of his wrath: “For the
Lord hath rejected and forsaken the generation
of his wrath.” This, therefore, I gather out of
these holy Scriptures,—that with reference to
profession and church-constitution, a people
may be called the people of God; but, with
reference to the event and final conclusion that
God will make with some of them, they may be
truly the generation of his wrath.

4. In the fifth of Isaiah, you read again of the
vineyard of God, and that it was planted on a
very fruitful hill, planted with the choicest
vines, had a wall, a tower, a wine-press
belonging to it, and all things that could put it
into right order and good government, as a
church; but this vineyard of the Lord of hosts
brought forth wild grapes, fruits unbecoming
her constitution and government, wherefore the
Lord takes from her his hedge and wall, and
lets her be trodden down. Read Christ’s
exposition upon it in Matthew 21:33, &c. Look
to it, professors, these are the words of the text,
“For many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in,
and shall not be able.”

5. “Son of man,” said God to the prophet,
“the house of Israel is to me become dross, all
they are brass and tin, and iron and lead, in the
midst of the furnace they even are the dross of
silver.” (Eze 22:18) God had silver there, some
silver, but it was but little; the bulk of that
people was but the dross of the church, though
they were the members of it. But what doth he
mean by the dross? why, he looked upon them
as no better, notwithstanding their churchmembership,
than the rabble of the world, that
is, with respect to their latter end; for to be
called dross, it is to be put amongst the rest of
the sinners of the world, in the judgment of
God, though at present they abide in his house:
“Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth
like dross; therefore I love thy testimonies.”
(Psa 119:119)
God saith of his saved ones, “He hath chosen
them in the furnace of affliction.” The refiner,
when he putteth his silver into his furnace, he
puts lead in also among it; now this lead being
ordered as he knows how, works up the dross
from the silver, which dross, still as it riseth, he
putteth by, or taketh away with an instrument.
And thus deals God with his church; there is
silver in his church, aye, and there is also dross:
now the dross are the hypocrites and graceless
ones that are got into the church, and these will
God discover, and afterwards put away as
dross. So that it will without doubt prove a
truth of God, that many of their professors that
shall put in claim for heaven, will not have it
for their inheritance.

6. It is said of Christ, his “fan is in his hand,
and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and will
gather his wheat into the garner, but he will
burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
(Matt 3:12) The floor is the church of God: “O
my threshing, and the corn of my floor!” said
God by the prophet, to his people. (Isa 21:10)
The wheat are these good ones in his church
that shall be undoubtedly saved; therefore he
saith, “Gather my wheat into my garner.” The
chaff groweth upon the same stalk and ear, and
so is in the same visible body with the wheat,
but there is not substance in it: wherefore in
time they must be severed one from the other;
the wheat must be gathered into the garner,
which is heaven; and the chaff, or professors
that want true grace, must be gathered into hell,
that they may be burned up with unquenchable
fire. Therefore let professors look to it!15

7. Christ Jesus casts away two of the three
grounds that are said to receive the word. (Luke

8)The stony ground received it with joy, and
the thorny ground brought forth fruit almost to
perfection. Indeed the highway ground was to
show us that the carnal, whilst such, receive not
the word at all; but here is the pinch, two of the
three that received it, fell short of the kingdom
of heaven; for but one of the three received it so
as to bring forth fruit to perfection. Look to it,
professors!
8. The parable of the unprofitable servant,
the parable of the man without a wedding
garment, and the parable of the unsavoury salt,
do each of them justify this for truth. (Matt
25:24,29, 22:11-13, 5:13) That of the
unprofitable servant is to show us the sloth and
idleness of some professors; that of the man
without a wedding garment is to show us how
some professors have the shame of their
wickedness seen by God, even when they are
among the children of the bridegroom; and that
parable of the unsavoury salt is to show, that as
the salt that hath lost its savour is fit for
nothing, no, not for the dunghill, but to be
trodden under foot of men; so some professors,
yea, and great ones too, for this parable reached
one of the apostles, will in God’s day be
counted fit for nothing but to be trodden down
as the mire in the streets. O the slothful, the
naked, and unsavoury professors, how will they
be rejected of God and his Christ in the
judgment! Look to it, professors!

9. The parable of the tares also giveth
countenance to this truth: for though it be said
the field is the world, yet it is said, the tares
were sown even in the church. “And while men
slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among
the wheat, and went his way.” (Matt 13:24,25)
Object. But some may object, The tares might
be sown in the world among the wheat, though
not in the churches. Answ. But Christ, by
expounding this parable, tells us the tares were
sown in his kingdom; the tares, that is, the
children of the devil. “As therefore the tares are
gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in
the end of this world. The Son of man shall
send forth his angels, and they shall gather out
of his kingdom all things that offend, and them
which do iniquity, and shall cast them into a
furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and
gnashing of teeth.” (verse 30,39- 43) Look to it,
professors!

10. The parable of the ten virgins also suiteth
our purpose; these ten are called the kingdom
of heaven, that is, the church of Christ, the
visible rightly-constituted church of Christ; for
they went all out of the world, had all lamps,
and all went forth to meet the bridegroom; yet
behold what an overthrow the one-half of them
met with at the gate of heaven; they were shut
out, bid to depart, and Christ told them he did
not know them. (Matt 25:1-13) Tremble,
professors! Pray, professors!

11. The parable of the net that was cast into
the sea, that also countenanceth this truth. The
substance of that parable is to show that souls
may be gathered by the gospel—there compared
to a net—may be kept in that net, drawn to
shore, to the world’s end, by that net, and yet
may then prove bad fishes, and be cast away.
The parable runs thus:—“The kingdom of
heaven,” the gospel, “is like unto a net which
was cast into the sea,” the world, “and
gathered of every kind,” good and bad, “which
when it was full, they drew to shore,” to the
end of the world, “and sat down,” in judgment,
“and gathered the good into vessels, but cast
the bad away.” Some bad fishes, nay, I doubt a
great many, will be found in the net of the
gospel, at the day of judgment. (Matt 13:47,49)
Watch and be sober, professors!

12. “And - many shall come from the east
and from the west, and shall sit down with
Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom
of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall
be cast out.” (Matt 8:11,12) The children of the
kingdom, whose privileges were said to be
these, “to whom pertaineth the adoption, and
the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of
the law, and the service of God, and the
promises.” (Rom 9:4) I take liberty to harp the
more upon the first church, because that that
happened to them, happened as types and
examples, intimating, there is ground to think,
that things of as dreadful a nature are to
happen among the church of the Gentiles. (1
Cor 10:11,12) Neither, indeed, have the Gentile
churches security from God that there shall not
as dreadful things happen to them. And
concerning this very thing, sufficient caution is
given to us also. (1 Cor 6:9,10, Gal 5:19-21,
Eph 5:3-6, Phil 3:17,19, 2 Thess 2:11,12, 2 Tim
2:20,21, Heb 6:4-8, 10:26-28, 2 Peter 2, 3, 1
John 5:10, Rev 2:20-22)

13. The parable of the true vine and its
branches confirm what I have said. By the vine
there I understand Christ, Christ as head; by the
branches, I understand this church. Some of
these branches proved fruitless cast-always,
were in time cast out of the church, were
gathered by men, and burned. (John 15:1-6)

14. Lastly, I will come to particular instances.
(1.) The twelve had a devil among them.
(John 6:70) (2.) Ananias and Sapphira were in
the church of Jerusalem. (Acts 5) (3.) Simon
Magus was among them at Samaria. (Acts 8)
(4.) Among the church of Corinth were them
that had not the knowledge of God. (1 Cor
15:34) (5.) Paul tells the Galatians that false
brethren crept in unawares; and so does the
apostle Jude, and yet they were as quick-sighted
to see as any now-a-days. (Gal 2:4, Jude 4) (6.)
The church in Sardis had but a few names in
her, to whom the kingdom of heaven belonged.
“Thou hast a few names, even in Sardis, which
have not defiled their garments, and they shall
walk with me in white, for they are worthy.”
(Rev 3:4) (7.) As for the church of the
Laodiceans, it is called “wretched, and
miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.”
(Rev 3:17) So that put all things together, and I
may boldly say, as I also have said already, that
among the multitude of them that shall be
damned, professors will make a considerable
party; or, to speak in the words of the
observation, “when men have put in all the
claim they can for heaven, but few will have it
for their inheritance.”