#23: Christian + Hopeful finally enter Beulah -sweetness, pleasure, light, safety, covenant grace, abundance + saw their glorious goal + destination before them: the Celestial City! 2 golden Shining Ones advised: only 2 more difficulties + they had to obtain them by their own faith: 1st: a deep river with no bridge over it = death. ‘You shall find it deeper or shallower, as you believe in the King of the place;’ Christian entered + began to sink, but Hopeful felt bottom + encouraged him. 2nd: apparitions of hobgoblins/evil spirits so frightened Christian he felt he’d never obtain entrance, but Hopeful kept his head above water + comforted him: Remember the Scripture: ‘wicked are not troubled,’ so if he was troubled, then he must be righteous! The enemy was stilled and both came through to the other side. They left their mortal garments in the river + went up the hill with ease to Mt Zion. Comfort + joy + heavenly host trumpeters welcomed them at the Gate. Enoch+Moses+Elijah looked down from the wall; the pilgrims handed over their certificates, the King called them in, the Gate opened, their bodies were transfigured… bells rang out! The dreamer looked in + ‘wished myself among them’. But he also looked back + saw Ignorance ferrying over the river by Vain-hope by boat. He'd come alone, knocked, supposing… without a certificate + was refused entry. 2 Shining Ones conducted him to the door in the side of the hill. Then I saw that there was a way to hell even from the gates of heaven, as well as from the City of Destruction. So I awoke + behold, it was a dream. Take heed + don’t be of either extreme: In playing with the outside of my Dream: What of my dross.. be bold to throw away, but yet preserve the gold; What if my gold be wrapped up in ore? None throws away the apple for the core: But if you shall cast all away as vain, I know not but ‘twill make me dream again. … that is, if you miss his central message, Bunyan lovingly threatens he will write another book … + he does!

#22: As foretold, they reached Enchanted Ground. Hopeful thought it good to nap + be refreshed, but Christian reminded him of the warning; so they continued talking/walking to keep one another awake. Christian asked how he’d come to faith + Hopeful recounted how Faithful had challenged him in Vanity Fair. He’d felt badly about his sin + needed perfection + ‘righteousness of a man like he’d never sinned.’ Faithful: there was only one like that = Jesus! + preached the whole gospel + prayed the Father reveal the Son to him = revelation-salvation for Hopeful … + all Bunyan’s readers! Ignorance then reappeared + their conversation cuts to the heart with gospel truth + power. Christian asked: ‘How is it with your soul + God?’ ‘I hope well. I think often of God + heaven and so I am well. My heart tells me so.’ ‘But the Bible says that he who trusts his own heart is a fool!’ ‘That is spoken of an evil heart; but mine is a good one!’ ‘Except the Word of God bears witness, other testimony = no value. It is 1 thing to have a good heart/life + another only to think so.’ ‘I think I must believe in Christ for justification.’ ‘But yours is a fantastical-false faith, making Jesus Christ justifier of your actions, but not of your person. And so it is deceitful, because salvation is not by obedience to law, but personally in Jesus Christ.’ Ignorance was offended + not only ignored this truth, but reacted in conceit + departed again! ‘Ignorance is thy name and as thy name is, so art thou!’ And such is the state of those who read, but will not heed… the gospel, Bunyan’s words… and these?!

#21: Christian + Hopeful met Ignorance, from Conceit, + asked, ‘Why did you not enter through the Gate? ‘Too far to go; I’ll follow my own religion.’ His reply exposed himself =‘Wise in his own conceit’+ they parted. But ignorance remained with them, for they soon ignored the very map + warnings they’d been given. 1st: they saw Turn-Away, from Apostasy, bound + carried by 7 devils back to the door to hell they’d seen. 2nd: they remembered Little-faith, from Sincere, who’d been attacked, robbed, and beaten there by 3 rogues: Faintheart +Mistrust +Guilt, but rescued by Great-grace, the King’s Champion. 3rd: they ‘came at a place that seemed to lie as straight as the way which they should go; + here they knew not which of the 2 to take, for both seemed straight before them.’ They forgot to heed truth, but followed Flatterer’s directions along a twisting route, turned from their destination, caught + entangled in a net of confusion. Mercifully,a Shining One freed + set them back on the right path. + 4th: they ‘perceived afar off, one all alone with his back to Zion’ coming to meet them. Now more wary, they recognized Atheist, who ‘fell into a great laughter’ when they told him they were going to the Celestial City. ‘There is no such place as you dream of in all this world. I once believed so, but I’ve been seeking this city for 20 years, longer than you, and find no more of it than I did the 1st day I set out. I’m going back again + will seek to refresh myself with the things I then cast away. I can no longer believe in what I cannot see.’ Christian looked to Hopeful: ‘Is that true?’ but Hopeful admonished his brother: ‘Didn’t we see the city gates from the Delectable Mountains? We’re to walk by faith. Stop listening to his lies! + Christian rejoiced: ‘I asked only because I wanted to hear the truth from you! Let’s go on together.’ And so once again in this journey – this revelation: 2 together are better than 1 alone!

#20: Christian + Hopeful arrive at the Delectable Mountains. I like Bunyan’s name-choice here: 1 of those onomatopoeic words that sounds like what it is: stirs appetite, good enough to eat, eh? maybe describing BC here? After all their trials, here they have time to rest, reflect + re-focus. We need to do this at intervals; otherwise we lose our perspective. Their host Shepherds: Knowledge+Experience+Watchful+Sincere, welcomed them to Immanuel’s Land + showed them wonders: 1 Hill Error: corpses dashed to pieces by a fall from the top, lying unburied at bottom = they believed enemy’s lies. Don’t go there! 2 Mountain Caution: blind men stumbling aimlessly among tombs? = they’d gone astray +Giant Despair put out their eyes in Doubting Castle + now they wandered without purpose or destiny. Our pilgrims wept as they saw what fate they'd been saved from! 3 a door open in the hillside with dark, smoky, tormented cries rising? = byway to hell for hypocrites; so close to their destination; how could this be? ‘Few of them that begin to come hither do show their face on these mountains.’ ie many begin their journey, but not many make it this far, let alone finish! eg Esau +Judas +Alexander +Ananaias +Sapphira, put on a show of pilgrimage, but end up selling their birthright for temporal lusts - unsettling? 4 Hill Clear: telescope to see beyond to their ultimate destination: the gates of the Celestial City! We all need BIG picture revelation to put trials in right perspective + not let them become towering mountains to block our way… but these are Delectable Mountains, towering sentinels of hope + our pilgrims receive gifts: a map; warnings to beware the Flatterer + not sleep on the Enchanted Ground + prayer for God-Speed … and so must we!

#19: Our pilgrims continued their journey toward the Celestial City. They ‘remembered Lot’s wife’ at a Pillar of Salt-determined to never turn back + refreshed themselves in the meadow by The River of God/Water of Life. But the path parted from the river + they became ‘discouraged because of the way’. So they looked for an easier way + turned aside into By-Path Meadow, which appeared to run parallel. Here they met Vain-Confidence - trusting his own ability – who assured them this easier route would reach the same destination, but with less effort. However, darkness fell, Vain-confidence ran ahead, fell into a deep pit + perished! Christian + Hopeful tried to return to the original way, but by then it had become too dangerous. ‘It is easier going out of the way where we are in, than going in when we are out.’ Wearied, they fell asleep =victims to Giant Despair, who imprisoned them in Doubting Castle for trespassing. They lay captive in his dungeon without food/drink/light for 4 days. Despair will do that to you! His wife, Diffidence – distrusting her own ability – told him to beat them without mercy till they so despaired they would take their own lives. The 2 seriously considered this; but decided rather to encourage one another, be patient + endure. They reminded themselves how they’d already come through so many trials + remembered they possessed a Key called Promise. By simply putting it into the lock, the prison door opened + they escaped! Safe again on the King’s Highway, they erected a pillar to warn others not to take the seemingly easier (?) detour – a warning for us today!?

#18 Hopeful heard + saw our 2 pilgrims witness in Vanity Fair + was so touched in his heart, he now joined Christian. The Gospel again proved true: ‘one died to bear testimony to the truth + another rises out of his ashes to be his companion.’ Next: Mr. By-Ends - a wealthy man from the town of Fair-Speech. He would not admit his real name, but as he spoke of his relations, his true identity was known. His wife was Lady Feigning’s daughter; his heritage was ‘looking one way and rowing another’ to ‘never strive against wind + tide’; and he preferred faith ‘when it goes in silver slippers, if the sun shines + people applaud’. In short, By-ends was a downright hypocrite: he believed ‘his end justifies his means’, so he could devise short-cuts; ie lie to get his own way and yet be an honest man? 3 of his friends also showed up. Mr.Hold-the-world+Money-love +Save-all, all taught by Gripe-man of Love-gain in county Coveting. Their names expose their greed that money answers every need, and you can accommodate life’s difficulties by merely altering some of your principles. As they reasoned thus, they came to a Plain called Ease + a Hill named Lucre, where their philosophy proved deadly. All but Christian + Hopeful yielded to Demas’ temptation to detour to a secret silver mine; they got too near the brink of the pit and ‘the ground being deceitful gave way, they fell over + in, and never were seen in the way again.’ So Bunyan sums up the fate of those who seek ill-advised prosperity short-cuts. You cannot follow Christ for loaves.

#17: Christian+Faithful enter Vanity. ‘He who will go to the Celestial City and yet not go through this town, must needs go out of world.’ Evangelist prophesied that 1 or both of them must seal their testimony with blood there + it turned true. Vanity’s Fair thrives in our world of isms: materialism, consumerism, globalism, all manner of formal-isms. Our pilgrims only passed through, yet their mere presence exposed its crass, corrupt, violent + emptiness. ‘All is vanity!’ = empty, unprofitable, circuitous nonsense, Ecclesiastes’ Preacher proclaimed + Bunyan exposes how our culture has turned vanity into celebration. He satirically gave it the name, but society ironically embraced it in pride + named a fashion magazine after it! All nations parade their goods, games+guilt here; but when our pilgrims entered, their different clothes/speech+no care for Vanity's wares were enough to create hubbub. They wanted to buy Truth! and so were beaten + caged + the populace enraged: even moreso when some of the town's own people sympathized with the pilgrims! The elite: government+media+judiciary, rallied all forces of evil to condemn these 2 … and we’re seeing this same bullying today -with even greater efficiently organized malice ! The Judge: Lord Hate-good, impeached/condemned them without any trial as dangerous divisive disturbers. False witnesses: Envy +Superstition blatantly lied. + the Jury: MrBlindman+No-good+Malice+Love-lust+Live-loose+Heady+High-mind+Enmity +Liar+ Cruelty +Hate-light+Implacable, all satirically acted out their real names; eg Blindman: ‘I see clearly the man is a heretic.’ And so they scourged+beat+stoned+burned Faithful. But Bunyan saw a chariot immediately carry him to his celestial destination + Christian miraculously escaped! His pilgrimage was not yet complete... and neither is ours.