In his allegory of the Christian life The Holy War, John Bunyan portrays the happy changes that take place in the soul of the sinner who turns to Jesus Christ in true faith. Having openly defeated His enemy Diabolus and completely won Mansoul’s surrender, King Shaddai’s Son Emmanuel makes His peace and pardon known to all the people of the town. The townspeople, who had prepared to accept Emmanuel’s wrath, rejoice to see their imprisoned leaders returning from the Prince’s camp as restored free men and to hear the proclamation of the Prince’s pardon. There is so much joy over the good news of divine pardon that no one in the town can talk about anything else…or even go to sleep! It was a grand celebration, the captains and soldiers of Emmanuel joining in the celebration with a parade through town featuring precision demonstrations of their military skills. When all this was over, the town came together to Emmanuel’s camp to thank the Prince for His favor and to humbly plead that He would take up His residence with them in Mansoul. They desire the Prince and all His men to dwell with them so that He might receive their praise and protect them from the Diabolonians lurking in the city. To this the Prince agrees, provided that the people join with Him in prosecuting His enemies that remain in Mansoul. The town agrees wholeheartedly and promises their complete submission to Him, requesting that He lead them by the hand and keep them from sinning.
It was a grand day when Prince Emmanuel made His triumphant entrance into Mansoul with His army. This time no battering rams were needed. The people opened to Him willingly and lined the streets with boughs and flowers to show how glad they were of His arrival to take up His residence with them. The whole town turned out to welcome their glorious Prince with music and dancing. So Emmanuel moved into
Upon a certain day Emmanuel made a feast for Mansoul. The town came to the banquet and enjoyed food that they had never tasted before, food that didn’t grow in Mansoul but came from King Shaddai’s court. The meal was accompanied by music and singing, also from Shaddai’s court. After the meal, Emmanuel entertained the people with some riddles drawn up by His Father’s Secretary (The Holy Spirit). These riddles were things the people could not have figured out by themselves apart from the teaching of Emmanuel. In this way the Prince taught the people about Shaddai and about Himself. Mansoul was amazed; they saw things they had never seen or even thought of before. The town was so taken with Him that they went back to their houses filled with wonder and talking of Emmanuel, even in their sleep!
Despite the rapturous joy of Mansoul, there was much work to do to make the town more pleasing to the Prince and more secure from its enemies. So a great remodeling was in order. First, Emmanuel ordered His catapults to be mounted at strategic points around the city. Then He introduced a new weapon, which He invented, that could throw great stones from the castle out at Mouth-gate, a weapon that would not miss and could not be resisted.
The remodeling included jobs for the city’s leaders. Emmanuel put Lord Willbewill in charge of the city’s gates, walls, towers, and militia, with orders to arrest any Diabolonians he found. He reinstated Lord Understanding as mayor for life and made Mr. Knowledge the new recorder. Mr. Conscience, the old recorder, was to have a new job of which he would be told later.
Last, but certainly not least in the remodeling of Mansoul, Emmanuel commanded that the image of Diabolus be destroyed, ground to powder, and cast to the wind outside the city’s walls. Then the image of Shaddai was set up again more beautifully than before, since He and Emmanuel have come to Mansoul with more grace and mercy than before. Emmanuel’s name engraved in gold and placed at the front of the town rounds out the remodeling. Mansoul has experienced a merciful and radical makeover from the inside out.
As I read this section of The Holy War I repeatedly thought of the Scripture in 2 Corinthians 5:17—“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (NASB). The people have a completely different attitude toward Emmanuel. Gone is the old animosity and rebellion; they are completely open to Him and His ministry, and they love Him with all their heart. They want Him close to them, so He dwells in
This is exactly what happens when a soul turns to the Lord. The heart becomes a habitation of Christ through faith, and He renews and redirects the happy, obedient believer. Bunyan is depicting a new believer in his or her first love. Everything is becoming new. The Christian responds with faith and obedience to the Lord where before there was only unbelief and rebellion. The Christian experiences joy and peace in place of the darker emotions associated with our natural rebellion to God. The Christian is ready to read God’s Word and cooperate with Christ in putting to death the things that remain in us that will dishonor Him and be harmful to the soul.
If you’re reading The Holy War using my church’s reading schedule, you’ll notice that we have reached a climax of sorts, but we are only halfway through the book. To our way of thinking it would be great if the story ended right after this point with all the Mansoulians taken straight to Heaven. But God has willed that His people glorify Him by remaining and serving Him faithfully until summoned. Bunyan recognizes this and gives us the second half of the book to illustrate the duties, dangers, and defenses of believers in a fallen world.
With the unbridled joy in this section of the book Bunyan gives us a subtle warning of approaching dangers. Where Bunyan tells of the people’s request for Emmanuel and His men to move into the space they’ve prepared, Bunyan writes a marginal note: “Say, and hold to it, Mansoul.” He means to exhort Christians to keep the same mindset of “first love” toward Christ always and not ever leave their first love (see Revelation 2:1-5). “Happy are they who continue in this good mind all their days. But the sequel of the story will show how changeable a creature is man” (The Holy War, Illustrated with notes by George Burder,
Another indication of danger ahead is the fact that Diabolonians are referred to as still lurking in the city. These hidden followers of Diabolus represent the sometimes subtle sins of the flesh that remain in the Christian and hinder his walk with the Lord (Romans 8:7). These must be dealt with. To that end we have spiritual weapons given to us by our Lord Jesus Christ. We have His Word, the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit, the public ministry of the Church, and prayer (probably the unnamed, irresistible weapon in the story). We should also keep firmly in mind that by God’s grace we have His image restored in us through Christ.
So, may His blessed people continue on in first love, enjoying the newness of life in Christ, confident of ultimate victory because “the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).
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