The Heavenly Footman

The Heavenly Footman

The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Heavenly Footman, by John
Bunyan
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Title: The Heavenly Footman
Author: John Bunyan
Release Date: October 14, 2004 [eBook #13750]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
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The 8th Chapter of Joshua is referenced in the phrase: "It is taken from
that xxth of Joshua"

THE HEAVENLY FOOTMAN
or, A Description of the Man That Gets to Heaven: with Directions
How to Run So As to Obtain
by
JOHN BUNYAN

"So run, that ye may obtain."--1 Cor. IX. 24.

THE AUTHOR'S EPISTLE TO ALL SLOTHFUL AND CARELESS
PEOPLE.
Friends,
Solomon saith, that "the desire of the slothful killeth him;" and if so,
what will slothfulness itself do to those that entertain it? The proverb is,
"He that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame:" and this I dare
be bold to say, no greater shame can befall a man, than to see that he
hath fooled away his soul, and sinned away eternal life. And I am sure
this is the next way to do it; namely, to be slothful; slothful, I say, in
the work of salvation. The vineyard of the slothful man, in reference to

the things of this life, is not fuller of briers, nettles, and stinking weeds,
than he that is slothful for heaven, hath his heart full of heart-choking
and soul-damning sin.
Slothfulness hath these two evils: first, to neglect the time in which it
should be getting heaven; and by that means doth, in the second place,
bring in untimely repentance. I will warrant you, that he who should
lose his soul in this world through slothfulness, will have no cause to be
glad thereat, when he comes to hell. Slothfulness is usually
accompanied with carelessness; and carelessness is for the most part
begotten by senselessness; and senselessness doth again put fresh
strength into slothfulness; and by this means the soul is left remediless.
Slothfulness shutteth out Christ; slothfulness shameth the soul.
Slothfulness is condemned even by the feeblest of all the creatures. "Go
to the ant, thou sluggard, consider her ways and be wise." "The
sluggard will not plow, by reason of the cold;" that is, he will not break
up the fallow ground of his heart, because there must be some pains
taken by him that will do it; "therefore he shall beg in harvest;" that is,
when the saints of God shall have their glorious heaven and happiness
given to them; but the sluggard "shall have nothing;" that is, be never
the better for his crying for mercy; according to that in Matthew xxv.
10-12.
If you would know a sluggard in the things of heaven, compare him
with one that is slothful in the things of this world. As 1. He that is
slothful is loath to set about the work he should follow; so is he that is
slothful for heaven. 2. He that is slothful, is one that is willing to make
delays: so is he that is slothful for heaven. 3. He that is a sluggard, any
small matter that cometh in between, he will make it a sufficient excuse
to keep him off from plying his work; so it is also with him that is
slothful for heaven. 4. He that is slothful doeth his work by the halves:
and so it is with him that is slothful for heaven. He may almost, but he
shall never altogether, obtain perfection of deliverance from hell; he
may almost, but he shall never (without he mend) be altogether a saint.
5. They that are slothful do usually lose the season in which things are
to be done: and thus it is also with them that are slothful for heaven;

they miss the seasons of grace. And therefore, 6. They that are slothful
have seldom, or never, good fruit; so also it will be with the
soul-sluggard. 7. They that are slothful, are chid for the same: so also