Temptations Abounding
"But in this work [preaching], as in any other, I had my different temptations. Sometimes I would suffer from discouragement, fearing that I would not be of any help to anyone and that I would not even be able to speak sense to the people. At such times I have had a strange faintness seize me. At other times I have been assaulted by thoughts of blasphemy before the congregation.
Again, there have been times when I have been about to preach on some searching portion of the Word and I have found the Tempter suggesting, 'What! Will you preach this? This condemns you. Your own soul is guilty of this, you must not preach on it. If you do, you must leave the door open for you to escape from the guilt of what you will say. If you preach like this, you will lay that guilt upon your own soul and you will never be able to get out from under it.'
I've been kept from consenting to these horrid suggestions and instead have preached against sin and transgression wherever I found it, even though it did bring guilt upon my own conscience. It is far better to bring oneself under condemnation by plain preaching to others, than to save yourself by imprisoning the truth in unrighteousness. Blessed be God for His help also in this."
~John Bunyan
Again, there have been times when I have been about to preach on some searching portion of the Word and I have found the Tempter suggesting, 'What! Will you preach this? This condemns you. Your own soul is guilty of this, you must not preach on it. If you do, you must leave the door open for you to escape from the guilt of what you will say. If you preach like this, you will lay that guilt upon your own soul and you will never be able to get out from under it.'
I've been kept from consenting to these horrid suggestions and instead have preached against sin and transgression wherever I found it, even though it did bring guilt upon my own conscience. It is far better to bring oneself under condemnation by plain preaching to others, than to save yourself by imprisoning the truth in unrighteousness. Blessed be God for His help also in this."
~John Bunyan
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