Pilgrim's Progress: Chapters 7, 8, and 9

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 chapters seven, eight, and nine 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.

Sorry for getting behind, everyone! I'll make it up to you by going through three chapters today with five observations each.

Chapter 7:

1. Be thankful for our persecuted brothers and sisters throughout the world. Bunyan took the time to mention that were it not for the sacrifice made by Faithful, Hopeful would not be Christian's companion on the way. Tertullian said, "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church." I disagree with his terminology; the "seed" of the church is most definitely the gospel, and we fling it far and wide. But tell me: do you think witnessing Stephen's death put a burr under Paul's saddle? If not, why did Jesus ask him how long he planned on kicking against the goads (Acts 26:14)? Does Paul end up unsettled if not for witnessing that event? It's not the martyrs' death that changes the lives of others; it's their faithfulness that unfortunately resulted in death. Whether or not we face death, let the world see your faithfulness.
   
   
2. Regarding Mr. By-ends and all his friends, I'm just going to leave this right here. Enjoy.
   
   
3. Be very careful with Mr. Hold-the-world. He's probably the most dangerous one of the group. Mr. Hold-the-world really wants to have his Christianity and the world too, and he's great at making Scripture say whatever he needs it to say to make his lifestyle acceptable to his compatriots. Also notice that when he gives his little monologue, he mixes vague biblical references with extra-biblical proverbs. Sounds smart, is actually dangerous.
   
   
4. The Giant Despair is a horrific character and don't miss the allegory. He is beating them. He is causing pain and telling them it's better for them to give up. He is the personification of despair and his goal is to make them quit...on everything. For what it's worth, I think John Bunyan may have had a blind spot here. We know a lot more about the human brain (note that I said "brain," not "mind." I'm talking biology, not psychology) now than he did then. Lots of people find themselves caught in the throes of depression, which often has a physiological cause and requires medication. If you need medical help for depression or anxiety, get it. That's not being weak or showing a lack of faith. Your depression or anxiety doesn't mean that you strayed from the way like Christian or Hopeful. THAT BEING SAID, straying from the path can take you there, and while not all depression is spiritual, some is. The best way to not suffer from that despair is to keep walking the path, but if you're found in Despair's dungeon, don't forget your key, "Promise."
   
   
5. Another note on Despair and his dungeon...never forget that we're a people of facts, not feelings. We have faith, yes; we base our faith on a historical event. Jesus Christ is risen, no matter how we may feel about our current situation. The Father has promised us life based on our faith in the risen Lord's identity and finished work, and that has nothing to do with our emotions. Despair can't handle facts very well. In the sunshine of clarity, his limbs stop working. He can't beat you if we take the battle off the field of emotion.
   

Chapter 8. 

1. Isn't it cool that the shepherds have the privileged knowledge in this story, too? It's almost like John Bunyan never got past the sheer wonder of God choosing to let shepherds be part of his first line of Truth-Tellers in the New Testament.
   
   
2. How about that warning to not dance too close to the peak of Error? Doctrine is important. Theology is important. That's why I rarely do "felt needs" preaching. Sometimes we need things we don't feel that we need. Sometimes (all the time?) an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. 
   
   
3. I never got past this exchange: "Then said the pilgrims one to another, 'We have need to cry to the Strong for strength.' Shep. 'Ay, and you will have need to use it when you have it, too.'" When we pray for something and God answers us, do we make use of what He's given us? We can't afford to pray for strength and then play the coward.
   
   
4. The shepherds provided some brilliant advice to our pilgrims…now for a brilliant question: would they listen? The shepherds gave the pilgrims wonderful resources for the journey, but they would be useless if the pilgrims didn’t use them. Almost like that Bible that hasn’t been opened outside of church in years, right?
   
   
5. Isn’t it good that there are rest stops like the Delectable Mountains along the way? But any time you find yourself on a mountain top, unless you’re in Heaven, the only way to go forward is to go down into the valley. You can’t stop while you’re walking through the valley of the shadow of death…don’t expect to stop on the mountaintop either.
   

Chapter 9

1. Bless Ignorant’s heart. He comes from the town Conceit…is there any wonder? He doesn’t know what he doesn’t know, but he’s too prideful to have someone tell him. Unfortunately, this will come back to bite him. Never be too prideful to accept that there just might be something you don’t know.
   
   
2. If I may push back on Mr. Bunyan one more time regarding Mr. Turn-Away from the town Apostasy: this story is allegory, but it is an allegory based on Scripture. When it doesn’t provide 1-1 allegory, we need to question it. While Pilgrim’s Progress is a classic, it’s not Scripture. It’s easy to tell a story about men walking down a road to reach a destination and cast a character who met an undesirable end because he turned around. It logically makes sense…but why did he turn around? The way on which they walk symbolizes the Christian life. Was he truly saved but then became lost? Scripture explicitly says in 1 John 2:19 that if someone leaves the church, it’s because they were never part of it. For the allegory to hold true to Scripture, the man who turned around must not have been a legitimate traveler.
   
   I know this is a longer answer than just about any other entry, but I want to make sure I get it right. There is a difference in believing something to be true factually and believing in something. It is possible to believe everything the Bible teaches about Jesus is factually true but still decide that Jesus’ truth is not worth following. I think this is more what apostasy shakes out to be. Hebrews defines apostasy this way in Hebrews 10:26-39: "For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins…”
   
   If you believe the factual truth that Jesus Christ is the end of sacrifice but you reject Jesus as Lord out of your love or fear of something else, you sin. And what will be your atoning sacrifice for that sin?  There is nothing left. You have not turned from God. You have failed to turn to Him despite His most generous offer. He can’t offer anything greater. You have crucial knowledge but reject it, even if you fool everyone else into believing Jesus is your greatest joy. At that point there is nothing left but for the pretender to be bound up and cast into hell.
   
   
3. Short observations the rest of the way because 12 was so long. We’d do well to take Christian’s advice to Hopeful: Don’t malign others who struggle in moments of little faith, because you don’t know how you’d react under similar circumstances. Remember that Peter, the leader of the apostles, was afraid of a servant girl at one point. Never underestimate our own potential for failure. Be gracious. And trust Jesus to bring you the victory, because you can’t trust yourself.
   
   
4. Christian and Hopeful were disciplined for listening to the Flatterer. Does that seem unfair to you? It may have been...if they hadn’t been warned. But they had been. Not listening to the warning was their sin.
   
   
5. Rather than go through Hopeful’s entire testimony of conversion, consider the encouragement they both received by recounting it. How many times have you sat down with another Christian and talked about how Jesus brought you to Himself? It would be a worthwhile thing to do!