Latest / Reformed Thinking / The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan - Evangelist Findeth Christian under Mount Sinai, and Looketh Severely upon Him

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The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan - Evangelist Findeth Christian under Mount Sinai, and Looketh Severely upon Him · Reformed Thinking

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  Welcome to the deep dive brought to you by Reformed Thinking.
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  Glad to be digging into this one.
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  Yeah, today we're tackling a classic, aren't we?
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  John Bunyan's The Pilgrims Progress.
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  Absolutely a foundational text for many.
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  We've gathered a good stack of sources here, commentaries,
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  analysis, and our mission, you could say, for this deep dive is
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  to really pull out the key insights from Christian's very
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  first steps. Right from leaving the city of
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  destruction up to his visit with the interpreter.
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  That early part. Exactly.
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  We want to look at the challenges he hit right away,
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  the the deceptions, how he got corrected, and some really
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  essential truths he learned for the journey ahead.
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  It's packed with meaning, even that early section.
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  Think of this as getting the core takeaways from these
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  sources, giving you a clearer picture of this part of the
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  allegory and the, well, the spiritual realities it points to
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  sounds. Good.
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  Where do we start? Let's start right at the
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  beginning. Christian situation.
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  He's burdened. Heavily burdened, Bunyan paints
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  him outside the city walls, weighed down by sin, crying out.
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  It's a picture of real distress. And then Evangelist shows up.
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  Yes. And he doesn't just offer
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  sympathy, he points Christian in a very specific direction,
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  toward a little wicket gate. And that gate is significant,
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  the sources say. It's the starting point.
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  It's presented as the entrance to the Way, the only path
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  leading away from condemnation. But he doesn't make a beeline
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  straight for it, does he? He gets past that Slough of
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  despond. But then runs into someone
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  pretty quickly. Almost immediately, yeah, he
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  meets a figure described as a gentleman.
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  Mr. worldly wise man, what's what's his deal according to
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  these texts? Well, the name gives a big clue.
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  The sources really emphasize that he represents the wisdom of
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  this world. He likes doctrines that you know
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  help you avoid the cross. Avoid the difficult.
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  Parts. Precisely anything that
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  sidesteps suffering or the narrow path Evangelist pointed
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  to. And Christians still feeling
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  that awful. Burden.
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  Very much so, and worldly wise man sees this and he offers what
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  sounds like a much better deal. A shortcut really.
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  An easier way. Exactly, he says.
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  Look, forget that difficult gait.
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  Go to the village of Morality. There's a fellow there, Mr.
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  Legality and worldly, Wiseman claims Legality has the skill,
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  the power to just take that burden right off you.
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  Easy peasy. And Christian, desperate for
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  relief, he falls for. It he does, the sources describe
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  worldly wise men's arguments as flowing just from the flesh,
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  from human thinking. But Christians persuaded and
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  turns off the path Evangelist set him on.
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  He's hoping for quick relief. But this detour, it leads
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  somewhere dangerous. Very dangerous.
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  This alternative path leads him towards a huge, threatening
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  hill. The sources identify it as Mount
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  Sinai. Mount Sinai, Yeah, That name
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  alone, it evokes the law judgement.
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  What happens when he gets near it?
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  It's genuinely terrifying for him.
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  He gets closer and he sees fire flashing, hears words coming out
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  of the mountain, makes his hair stand on end.
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  He just stops, paralyzed, trembling.
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  He's afraid the whole mountain is going to fall on his head.
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  So he's trapped. Completely.
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  He knows he's off the path, he's terrified and he has absolutely
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  no idea what to do. And right then, when he's at his
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  lowest point under this scary mountain, Evangelist finds him.
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  Yes, Evangelist appears again, but this time, the sources say,
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  his face is severe, dreadful, even very stern.
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  He confronts Christian directly. Why are you here?
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  I told you to go to the wicket gate.
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  How does Christian react? I imagine shame.
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  Totally. The texts say he's speechless at
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  first, just overcome. Then eventually he confesses, he
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  admits he listened to that gentleman, worldly wise men who
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  promised an easier way to lose the burden and.
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  Evangelist doesn't just scold him, does he?
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  He brings scripture into it, right?
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  He quotes verses reminding Christian about the danger of
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  turning away from God's Word, how the righteous live by faith,
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  and the peril of drawing back. And this hits Christian hard.
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  He completely breaks down, falls to the ground, crying out.
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  I am undone. He's filled with shame for
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  listening to worldly wise men, for letting carnal reasoning
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  sway him. Calls himself a fool, basically.
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  But there's grace even here. There is Evangelist catches him,
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  lifts him up and offers hope. He reminds him that all kinds of
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  sin can be forgiven and urges him simply to believe.
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  And he makes it crystal clear who worldly wise man really is.
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  Yes, he identifies him plainly as a deceiver, someone whose aim
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  is to stop people from finding the right way.
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  Evangelist then breaks down why that advice was so bad.
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  The sources seem to focus on three key things Christian needs
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  to hate about it. That's right, three specific
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  points to utterly reject. First, the fact that it turned
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  Christian out of the way God directed him.
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  That's rejecting God's counsel for man's OK.
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  Second, worldly wise man worked hard to make the cross seem,
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  well, hateful or unnecessarily difficult.
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  He tried to make something essential for life look like
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  death itself. Trying to avoid the cost.
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  Exactly and 3rd he deliberately set Christians feet on the path
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  towards legality, which evangelist calls the way that
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  leads to the administration of death and.
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  What about legality? How does he connect to Mount
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  Sinai in these texts? The sources explain legality is
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  allegorically like a child of the Old Covenant, the covenant
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  associated with Mount Sinai and the law.
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  So trying to earn salvation through rules.
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  Precisely, and the core message is that legality representing
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  trying to be justified by works of the law is completely
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  powerless to remove Christian sin burden.
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  The law can't save. It can't.
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  According to these interpretations, the law reveals
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  sin and brings a curse, not freedom.
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  So legality is a cheat, a fraud, and his son civility is just a
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  hypocrite. Worldly wise man's whole plan
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  was to trick Christian out of true salvation.
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  And that scary scene under the mountain reinforces this.
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  It does. As Evangelist is explaining
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  this, the fire and words come from Mount Sinai again, like an
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  exclamation point, confirming the scriptural truth that those
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  who rely on the works of the law are under a curse man.
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  Christian must be despairing again.
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  He is, He curses the moment he met worldly wise men.
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  He asks. Evangelist, is there any hope?
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  Can I even go back to the gate? Maybe they won't let me in now.
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  He's truly sorry, but afraid his sin is too great.
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  What does Evangelist say? He acknowledges the sin was
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  serious. Leaving the right way for a
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  forbidden path is no small thing.
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  But then comes the grace again. He assures Christian the man at
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  the gate will receive him. Because he has goodwill.
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  Yes, goodwill for men, that's a key phrase.
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  He welcomes those who come. Evangelist just give a strong
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  warning not to turn aside again and sends Christian off.
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  And Christian is resolved this time.
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  Fully determined, he gets back to the wicked.
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  Gate. He hurries back.
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  Then, Oh yes, runs back along the path he left, feeling like
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  he's on forbidden ground until he gets back to the original way
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  Evangelist showed him. And he finally reaches the
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  little wicked gate. What do the sources highlight
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  about this moment? They point to the sign written
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  over it. Knock, and it shall be opened
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  unto you. From Scripture.
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  Right. And Christian knocks again and
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  again, pleading to be let in, calling himself an undeceiving
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  rebel. He knows he messed up.
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  And someone answers. A grave, serious looking person
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  comes to the gate. His name is Goodwill.
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  He asks who's there. And Christian explains himself.
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  He does identifies himself as a poor burdened Sinner from the
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  city of Destruction heading to Mount Zion for deliverance,
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  asking to be let in because this is the way.
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  And Goodwill's response? Immediate welcome with all my
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  heart, he says, and opens the gate.
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  But there's a bit of drama right as he enters, yes?
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  As Christian steps through, Goodwill quickly pulls him
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  inside. He explains there's a castle
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  nearby belonging to Beelzebub. The Devil.
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  Right, and his followers shoot arrows at anyone approaching the
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  gate, trying to stop them from entering, so there's danger
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  right up to the entrance. Christian must feel relieved,
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  but maybe still shaky. A mix of joy and trembling, the
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  texts say he's safe inside. Goodwill confirms Evangelist
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  sent him. Yes, and assures Christian that
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  this gate this way is an open door that no man can shut.
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  Real assurance. Christian then tells his story a
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  bit. The people who didn't come with
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  him. Yeah, he recounts coming alone,
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  how his family obstinate, Pliable, they all tried to stop
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  him. He mentions falling in the
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  Slough of Despond with Pliable. Pliable gave up.
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  Got discouraged and went home, but Christian kept going.
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  And he confesses the whole worldly wise man detour too.
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  He does. He tells Goodwill about being
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  LED astray, seeking legality and being stopped by the fear under
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  Mount Sinai. How does goodwill react to that?
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  He confirms it all. Yes, worldly wise men and
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  legality are deceivers. Yes, that mountain is incredibly
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  dangerous. Many have been ruined by trying
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  that way. Christian acknowledges it was
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  God's mercy that Evangelist found him there because he felt
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  he deserved death at that point. And this leads to a really key
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  point about the gate itself, highlighted in the sources.
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  A crucial point. Goodwill explicitly states they
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  make no objections against anyone who comes, regardless of
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  what they've done before. They are in no wise cast out.
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  Pure grace at the entrance. Exactly.
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  It illustrates that the way starts with sheer acceptance,
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  not merit. OK, so Christian is in.
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  What guidance does Goodwill give him for the path ahead?
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  He shows him the way he must now walk.
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  It's described as narrow and straight.
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  Yeah, cast up or built by a patient.
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  Patriarchs, prophets, Christ and his apostles.
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  A well established way. But goodwill warns him there are
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  many other paths that intersect it.
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  Crooked ways. Wide ways.
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  Temptations to turn off again. For sure, but the right way.
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  The one he must stay on is the only one that's truly straight
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  and narrow. Now Christian still has that
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  burden on his back. Does he ask goodwill about?
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  It he does. Can you help me off with this
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  burden? He asks.
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  And the answer. Goodwill says no, not yet.
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  Christian has to keep carrying it for a while longer.
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  He tells him he must bear it until he reaches a specific
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  place further on, called the Place of Deliverance.
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  And there. There, Goodwill promises the
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  burden will fall off his back all by itself.
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  That's. Interesting.
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  So not by Goodwill's direct action at the gate.
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  No, it's something that happens later at a specific point on the
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  path related to seeing the cross, though Goodwill doesn't
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  detail that yet. But before sending him on,
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  Goodwill gives him one more piece of crucial advice.
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  He directs him to go visit the House of the interpreter, who
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  will show him some excellent and profitable things for his
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  journey. OK, so off he goes to the
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  interpreter's house. He knocks.
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  He knocks and the interpreter invites him in, promising to
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  show him things that will help him.
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  And this is where Christian receives a series of really
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  vivid spiritual lessons through visions or emblems.
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  Like object lessons? What's the first one?
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  The first is a picture, a portrait of a very grave,
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  serious person. Describe it, eyes looking up to
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  heaven, holding the best book, the Bible in his hand, the law
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  of truth written on his lips, the world cast behind his back.
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  He's pleading with men, and there's a crown of gold hanging
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  over his head. A.
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  Very specific image. What does the interpreter say it
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  represents? He explains this is the portrait
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  of the only kind of guide authorized by the Lord of the
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  place Christian is going to. This is the true minister, the
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  true guide. Unlike worldly Wiseman.
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  Exactly. His work is to understand and
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  explain difficult spiritual truths, dark things.
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  And because he disregards the present world for his master's
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  service, glory is his certain reward.
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  The lesson for Christian, the sources emphasize, is to pay
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  close attention to this kind of guide so he won't be misled
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  again. Vital instruction.
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  What's the next vision? The dusty parlor.
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  Yes, a large room, but it's full, absolutely full of dust,
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  the interpreter explains. This room represents the heart
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  of a person that hasn't been sanctified by grace.
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  And the dust. That's original sin, inward
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  corruptions. It's settled everywhere.
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  And then someone tries to clean it up.
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  Right. A man comes in and starts
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  sweeping vigorously. This man, the interpreter says,
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  represents the law. God's commandments.
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  Yes, but what happens when he sweeps?
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  It just stirs everything up right?
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  Makes it worse. Exactly.
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  The dust flies everywhere, choking Christian.
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  The lesson is clear. The law reveals sin.
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  It stirs it up, makes us aware of it.
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  Maybe even increases its power in our consciousness because we
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  see how far short we fall. But the law itself cannot
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  cleanse the heart. It shows the problem but doesn't
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  fix it. Precisely.
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  But then a damsel comes in. And she does something
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  different. She gently sprinkles water all
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  around the room. This water represents the
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  gospel. After the water has settled the
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  dust, the room can be swept and cleansed easily, with pleasure
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  even. So the gospel makes the
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  difference. It does, the interpreter
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  explains. The Gospel.
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  Sweet, gracious influences received by faith are what
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  actually subdue sin, cleanse the soul, and make it fit for the
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  King of glory to live there. It shows a huge difference
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  between what the Law does reveals sin, and what the Gospel
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  does cleanses from sin. Powerful contrast.
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  What follows that passion and patience.
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  Yes, he shows Christian 2 little children sitting in chairs.
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  One is named Passion, the other Patience.
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  What's their situation? And passion is fidgety,
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  demanding. He wants all his good things
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  now. This year, Patience is quiet,
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  willing to wait for his inheritance.
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  And passion gets what he wants. He.
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  Does someone brings him a bag of treasure, his inheritance right
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  away and he lavishes it, wastes it all very quickly and soon has
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  nothing left but rags? Typical.
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  And patience. Patience waits quietly.
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  He will get his good things, his treasure later, but it will
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  last. What's the interpretation here?
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  What are the sources say this shows?
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  Passion represents the people of this world.
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  They want their reward now, wordly pleasures, riches,
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  honors. But these things are temporary.
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  They don't last and ultimately leave you empty in rags
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  spiritually. And patience.
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  Patience represents the people of the world to come.
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  They're willing to wait for the best things, their eternal
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  inheritance in glory. Patience has the better wisdom,
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  the interpreter says, because his treasure will last forever.
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  It connects to that idea. Things seen are temporal, things
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  unseen are eternal. A lesson in where to place your
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  hope. Then there's a fire.
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  Yes, a fire burning against a wall.
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  This fire, Christian is told, represents the work of grace in
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  the heart. OK, grace is like a fire, but
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  there's opposition. Definitely.
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  Christian sees someone standing nearby, constantly throwing
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  water on the fire, trying to put it out.
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  That's the devil. That's the devil.
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  Yes, trying to quench the work of grace.
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  But here's the thing. The more water is thrown, the
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  higher and hotter the fire burns.
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  How? Why?
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  Christian is confused too, so the interpreter takes him behind
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  the wall, and there, hidden from view on the other side, is
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  another person secretly pouring oil onto the fire.
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  Feeding it. Continuously feeding it, this
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  person is Christ maintaining the work of grace in the heart with
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  a continual supply of His Spirit and grace the oil.
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  So the take away. Is that the perseverance of
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  grace in a believer's heart, despite all the devil's attempts
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  to extinguish it isn't due to the believers own strength and
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  fighting off the water. It's due to Christ's constant,
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  often unseen work of sustaining that grace from behind the
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  scenes. The tempted soul often doesn't
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  even realize how it's being kept going.
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  That's quite encouraging. What's next?
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  The Palace. The stately palace a beautiful
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  building and Christian sees people walking on the top
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  dressed in gold. This is heaven, eternal glory.
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  A desirable sight. Very and many people are
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  standing around wanting to go in.
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  But there's a problem. Right at the door there are
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  heavily armed men blocking the way, ready to wound or kill
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  anyone who tries to enter. These represent the dangers
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  trials and opposition faced on the way to salvation.
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  Seems impossible to get past. It looks that way.
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  There's also a man sitting at a table nearby with a book writing
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  down the names of those who want to enter.
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  Then Christian sees a stout, determined looking man come
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  forward. What does he do?
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  He goes to the writer and says, set down my name, Sir.
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  Once his name is down, he draws his sword, puts on a helmet and
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  rushes towards the armed men at the door.
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  He fights. He fights fiercely.
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  They attack him, he attacks them.
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  He receives wounds, he gives wounds.
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  It's a real battle. But he pushes through, fights
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  his way into the palace and he makes it.
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  He makes it inside, and the people on top cry out.
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  Come in, come in eternal glory. Thou shalt win.
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  So what's the point of this vision?
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  What did the sources dry out? That entering the Kingdom of
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  heaven isn't passive. It requires holy violence.
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  You could say spiritual warfare, determination, A willingness to
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  fight against opposition and persevere through hardship.
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  You have to strive to enter. Not an easy stroll.
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  Then comes a stark contrast the man in the iron cage.
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  Yeah, this one's heavy. The interpreter shows Christian
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  a man sitting in a dark room, locked inside an iron cage.
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  He looks incredibly sad, sighing as if his heart would break.
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  This is a picture of despair. Utter hopelessness.
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  Complete hopelessness. The interpreter asks him why
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  he's like this, and the man says I am what I was not once.
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  He explains he was once a flourishing professor, someone
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  who seemed outwardly religious and committed what went wrong.
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  He says he stopped being watchful and sober.
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  He gave way to his lusts, sinned against the light of the Word
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  and the goodness of God. He says he grieved the Spirit
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  and the Spirit left him. He tempted the devil and the
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  devil came to him. He provoked God to anger and God
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  left him. His heart became so hard he
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  feels he cannot repent. Why did?
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  He do it for the lusts, pleasures and profits of this
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  world. But now those very things that
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  tempted him bite and nod him like burning worms.
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  He feels totally shut out from God's promises, believes he
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  sinned away his day of grace, despised Christ, and that God
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  himself has locked him in this cage of despair and denied him
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  repentance. That is terrifying.
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  A serious warning. A very fearful caution, the
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  sources stress. It's meant to impress upon
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  Christian the absolute necessity of being watchable sober,
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  staying close to God, and resisting sin lest he end up in
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  such a state. It's a warning against apostasy
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  and hardening one's heart. OK, one more vision, right?
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  The man's dream. The final one, Christian, sees a
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  man getting out of bed, trembling violently.
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  The interpreter asks why he's shaping, and the man tells him
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  about a dream he just had. A nightmare.
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  A nightmare about Judgement Day. He dreamed.
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  The heavens grew black. Thunder and lightning flashed.
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  A trumpet sounded incredibly loud.
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  He saw a man sitting on a cloud attended by hosts of heaven.
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  The judge. Yes, the heavens were on fire,
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  the earth trembling. The dead were rising from their
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  graves and coming towards the Judge.
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  He saw the Judge ordering the angels to gather people
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  together. Some were caught up to meet the
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  Judge in the clouds, but others, including himself, were left
• 18:51
  behind. And then a bottomless pit opened
• 18:54
  up right near where he stood, spewing smoke and fire.
• 18:58
  His sins came flooding back to his mind.
• 19:00
  His conscience accused him fiercely, and he felt utterly
• 19:03
  unprepared and terrified of the judge's wrath.
• 19:06
  Why was he so afraid? His greatest fear, he said, was
• 19:09
  that judgment Day had come and he was not ready for it.
• 19:12
  What's the interpreter's purpose in showing Christian this?
• 19:16
  The sources suggest it serves as both a warning and a motivation.
• 19:20
  It's meant to put the fear of God in him, a healthy fear of
• 19:23
  judgement if unprepared, but also to spur him onward to make
• 19:26
  sure he is ready when that day comes.
• 19:28
  It's a goad to keep him moving diligently on the path.
• 19:31
  Christian seems to take it all in.
• 19:33
  He tells the interpreter that these sites have indeed put him
• 19:36
  in both hope and fear and have been very profitable.
• 19:40
  The interpreter then urges him to keep all these things
• 19:43
  carefully in his mind as he continues his journey.
• 19:46
  And that wraps up the interpreters crucial lessons.
• 19:48
  Yeah, it's a significant section, setting the stage for
• 19:51
  understanding the rest of the journey.
• 19:53
  So looking back at this first part through our sources, we've
• 19:56
  seen Christians start out burdened, get pointed the right
• 19:59
  way, but then immediately get sidetracked.
• 20:02
  Right, lured by the promise of an easier path offered by
• 20:05
  worldly wise men trying to find relief through legality, through
• 20:09
  works and morality. And he learned first hand that
• 20:12
  that path, symbolized by Mount Sinai, only leads to fear,
• 20:17
  condemnation and despair. It can't remove the burden.
• 20:19
  Absolutely a dead end. But then the incredible grace
• 20:23
  shown at the Wicked Gate by goodwill that welcome despite
• 20:27
  his detour. That assurance that they are in
• 20:29
  no wise cast out, no matter the past sin, that's central.
• 20:33
  And then the interpreter's house.
• 20:34
  Those powerful visual lessons hammering home key truths.
• 20:39
  The difference between the law revealing sin and the gospel
• 20:42
  cleansing it. The folly of living for
• 20:44
  temporary things versus eternal realities.
• 20:47
  How Christ sustains grace against all opposition, even
• 20:50
  when we don't see it. The need for active striving and
• 20:53
  spiritual warfare to enter glory.
• 20:55
  And those stark warnings to the man in the iron cage, showing
• 20:58
  the danger of despair through persistent sin, and the dream
• 21:01
  reminding him of the need to be ever ready for judgement.
• 21:04
  These allegories, as our sources show, aren't just old stories.
• 21:08
  They map out timeless spiritual realities about the walk of
• 21:11
  faith, discerning truth from error, the nature of grace.
• 21:13
  Rely on God, the reality of opposition, and the need for
• 21:17
  perseverance. Definitely still relevant.
• 21:19
  It makes you think, doesn't it? Consider this in what ways might
• 21:23
  the lure of an easier, more comfortable, perhaps more
• 21:26
  culturally acceptable path tempt you today, subtly pulling you
• 21:29
  away from what Bunyan depicts as the straight, narrow way that
• 21:32
  deals honestly with sin and relies solely on grace?