Pilgrim's Progress: Chapter Eleven

Pastor's Note: Since it's in the public domain, Pilgrim's Progress is available for free from Project Gutenberg or can be purchased on Amazon Kindle (free for Prime members, $2.99 for everyone else).

I encourage you to pick up a copy of the book and read chapter eleven before reading the rest of this. The goal here is not to explain the chapter in its entirety; it’s making some observations from my reading and facilitate a discussion amongst ourselves that hopefully results in some learning and Christian growth. Be sure to avail yourselves of the comment section at the bottom of the page to weigh in with your own thoughts so we can talk about them.

This is the last chapter! Have you enjoyed it? I know I have. Let’s take a look at chapter eleven:

1. As they got closer to the city, they were more and more conscious of it. Can you imagine coming to the river and having no promise of entrance to the city on the other side? Christian and Hopeful didn’t have that fear to face...despite what Christian may have felt.
   
   
2. The river, if you couldn’t tell, was a symbol of death. The only two men in the Bible to enter heaven deathless were Enoch and Elijah, as Bunyan referenced. 
   
   
3. The river was the same river for both men, but they both experienced it differently. Don’t ever forget that small faith is still faith, and fear doesn’t eliminate facts. The fact of the matter was this: Christian had entered at the gate and possessed a certificate of entry. Though the river may not have been pleasant, it could not keep him from the city.
   
   
4. Hopeful, on the other hand, waded across easily. I’ve known people to wade across that river gracefully. Every Christian should hope to meet death with that confidence and resolve. But don’t ever forget: Hopeful was no more saved than Christian was. Only his experience was different.
   
   
5. The stuff that happened beyond the river was speculation...the Bible doesn’t say anything about the Shining Ones coming to escort us to the gates or anything like that. But it does tell us that there is a celebration in heaven every time someone repents and turns from his sin. How much more of a celebration do you think there is when the repentant ones actually arrive?
   
   
6. Ignorance finally showed up again. If I’m not mistaken, I told you we’d see him again. He crossed the river with ease...which is by itself a bit scary. The ferryman, Vain-Hope got him across the river with no trouble at all. Everybody crosses the river. The question is not how you cross it, but what awaits you on the far bank.
   
   
7. No one waited for Ignorance. There was no one there to receive him. And there was no announcement of his arrival. Why? He didn’t belong in the city. He didn’t come in at the gate. He didn’t have a certificate that allowed him entrance. And he was stunned by his refusal.
   
   
8. Should he have been stunned? This isn’t an observation from this chapter, but from Ignorance’s story as a whole. He had been warned. He had been told that he would not be received. But his response was that his people had gone to the city that way since time immemorial. But you have to wonder...had he ever spoken to someone who came back across that river? Did anyone ever reach the city and write back to confirm his safe arrival? If the answer was no...was he really wise to be so confident?
   
   
9. How horrible to live your whole life assured that heaven is yours and be surprised by refusal at the very gate! He was sent away by the King WHILE STANDING IN SIGHT OF HEAVEN because the King never knew him. This is what Bunyan meant when he said he perceived that there was a way to hell from the City of Destruction and from heaven.

What about you? What did you observe?