Heb. 9. 27. Job 16. 21, 22. Ezek. 22. 14. answered, Sir, I perceive by the book in my hand that I am condemned to die, and after that, to come to judgment: and I find that I am not willing to do the first, nor able to do the second. Then said Evangelist, Why not willing to die, since this life is attended with so many evils? The man answered, Because I fear that this burden that is upon my back will sink me lower than the grave, and I shall fall into Tophet. And, Sir, if I be not fit to go to prison, I am not fit to go to judgment, and from thence to execution: and the thoughts of these things make Isa. 30. 33. me cry. Matt. 3. 7. Then said Evangelist, If this be thy condition, why standest thou still? He answered, Because I know not whither to go. Then he gave him a parchment-roll; and there was written within, "Flee from the wrath to come." The man therefore read it, and looking upon Evangelist very carefully, said, Whither must I flee? Then said Evangelist, pointing with his finger over a very wide field, Do you see yonder wicket-gate? The man said, No. Then said the other, Do you see yonder shining light? He said, I think I do. Then said Evangelist, Keep that light in your eye, and go up directly thereto, so shalt thou see the gate; at which when thou knockest it shall be told thee what thou shalt do. Matt. 7. 13, 14- I. 19. mind of God, and how stern and unbending is the justice of his throne, that prison becomes the inevitable threshold to "judgment.” Wherefore dost thou cry?-What a volume and sin, and knowing how unerring is the might be written in answer to this question! Everything conspires to draw forth his sighs and tears. The weight of his burden; the lack of sympathy at home; the derision, the chiding, the neglect which he received from friends; the musing upon his forlorn condition in the secrecy of his chamber, and in his solitary walks; the dread realisation of sin, and fear of death, and conscious unpreparedness for judgment-all these circumstances conspire to open the fountain of his tears. Prison-judgment-execution.—This progression of wrath and condemnation, arising out of conviction of sin, alarms the Pilgrim. He sees scope beyond scope, depth beyond depth, darkness beyond darkness; and being as yet without hope and without God in the world, he sees no light at all to illuminate this darksome prospect. He fears the "prison," the first stage of spiritual apprehension, into which he enters for trial; and seeing he enters that prison with a conscience deeply convicted of guilt He is still more terribly afraid of "judgment." There is no plea of innocence; there is no extenuation of his sin; there is nothing in himself to mitigate the wrath, or to turn aside the judgment of God. To him, then, judgment is the proof of his guilt, and the consequent sentence of death is pronounced against him. And this involves a yet further sequel" execution." And most of all he fears this doom of "execution." He is brought by conviction of sin into prison; and from prison to judgment; and from judgment to execution; and that is, not only death, but something after death; not only the grave, but something "lower than the grave; "-it is death of body and of soul, loss of life and loss of heaven, and all the eternity of woe, and all the unutterable misery that is wrapped up in the doom of the lost and in the destiny of hell. Christian sets out from the City of Destruction. Luke 14. 26. Gen. 19. 17. 2 Cor. So I saw in my dream that the man began to run. Now he had not run far from his own door, but his wife and children perceiving it began to cry after him to return: but the man put his fingers in his ears, and ran on crying, Life! life! eternal life! So he looked not behind him, but fled towards the middle of the plain. 4. 18. The neighbours also came out to see him run and as he ran some mocked, others threatened, and some cried after him to return: and among those that did so, there were two that were resolved to fetch him back by force. The name of the one was Obstinate, and the name of the other Pliable. Now by this time the man was got a good distance from them: but however, they were resolved to pursue him; which they did, and in a little time they overtook him. Then said the man, Neighbours, wherefore are ye come? They said, To persuade you to go back with us: but he said, That can by no means be. You dwell, said he, in the city of Destruction, the place where also I was born: I see it to be so; and dying there, sooner or later you will sink lower than the grave, into a place that burns with fire and brimstone: be content, good neighbours, and go along with me. What, said Obstinate, and leave our friends and our comforts behind us! Yes, said Christian (for that was his name), because that all is not A parchment roll.-This was Evangelist's gift to the Pilgrim, with a motto that urged him to flight. And this was quickly followed by the further counsel, whither to flee. The roll of parchment, as on other occasions, means that the advice of Evangelist is to be retained and preserved as an enduring possession. Now there is hope! Yonder wicket-gate.-Not yet attained; yet further on. The Pilgrim is short-sighted; he cannot see the gate. It is seen and may be known by its halo of light. Thus Evangelist acts as a finger-post, directing the way, and helping the power of the Pilgrim's eye-sight. spiritual way alone. It is, in fact, a family circle, which now presents just one of its members convinced of sin, but all the rest impenitent and unbelieving. This one member would desire to have all the other members to bear him company toward Zion; but they refuse. His mind is made up to go alone, rather than not to go at all. And out of the midst of the threatened overthrow he speeds his onward way, still bearing his family company in temporal things, but in things spiritual he is all alone. How often does it happen that one member of a family starts for heaven without The man began to run.-The directions once father, or mother, or brother, or sister, to given, his earnestness quickens his steps; and bear him company! It is this that divides whatever doubt or hesitancy may have been and separates families and friendships here; before, now at least he can do naught else but and if they become not one in Christ it sepaHe is on for his life, and must not delay. rates eternally hereafter. Many such separate No, not for wife or child, or the overture of pilgrimages are undertaken even now the any friend. They are content to remain in husband without the wife; the wife without sin, and to dwell in the midst of danger and the husband. It may be twain brothers, or destruction; and this being so, he takes his two fond sisters, alike in disposition and run. worthy to be compared with a little of that that I am seeking to enjoy; and if you will go along with me, and hold it, you shall fare as I myself; for there where I go is enough and to spare: come away, and prove my words. Luke 15. 17. OBST. What are the things you seek, since you leave all the world to find them? 1 Pet. 1. 4-6. Heb. 9. 6, 16. CHR. I seek an "inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away:" and it is "laid up in heaven," and safe there, to be bestowed at the time appointed on them that diliRead it so, if you will, in my book. gently seek it. Tush, said Obstinate, away with your book will you go back with us, or no? Luke 9. 62. to the plough. No, not I, said the other, because I have laid my hand OBST. Come then, neighbour Pliable, let us turn again, and go home without him: there is a company of these craz'd-headed coxcombs, that when they take a fancy by the end, are wiser in their own eyes than seven men that can render a reason. Then said Pliable, Do not revile; if what the good Christian says is true, the things he looks after are better than ours: my heart inclines to go with my neighbour. OBST. What! more fools still? be ruled by me, and go back: who knows whither such a brain-sick fellow will lead you? Go back, go back, and be wise. CHR. Come with me, neighbour Pliable; there are such things to bids him to forsake all for Christ. He even waxes angry because his words seem to take no effect. And by-and-by he rails on the Pilgrim, and reviles him for what he believes to be his folly or his fancy in committing himself to the fortunes of so strange an expedition. deportment—alike, it may be, in the externals | understand why the Pilgrim should leave his of religion, and yet separated by this dividing worldly associations, or believe the book that line. Like two rivers, rising from the selfsame fountain, and running side by side at the outset of their course, but then, by a slight and gentle deviation, parting company, and at last, in opposite directions, mingling their waters with the ocean the one amid the verdure and foliage, and fruits and flowers, of the tropics; the other amid the ice-bound regions of perpetual barrenness and desolation. Obstinate and Pliable. This personification of abstract terms adds much to the interest of "The Pilgrim's Progress," and lends a great charm to the characters introduced. These two are named from their nature, which soon manifests itself in their conduct. OBSTINATE is evidently a mocker, who scoffs at the possessors of religion. He cannot PLIABLE yields for a time; is easily turned hither and thither; but has no perseverance in the right way. He is caught by promises, and is beckoned on by hopes, but counts not the cost of the journey. He is pliable for good, or he is pliable for evil; and is ready for either way, according to circumstances. Meanwhile the Pilgrim, who is now for the first time called by the name of CHRISTIAN, is fighting a hard fight, and he is waging it well. |