THE NINTH STAGE
AND I slept, and dreamed again, and saw the same two pilgrims
going down the mountains along the highway towards the city.
Now, a little below these mountains, on the left hand, lieth the
country of Conceit, from which country there comes into the way
in which the pilgrims walked, a little crooked lane. Here,
therefore, they met with a very brisk lad that came out of that
country, and his name was Ignorance. So Christian asked him from
what parts he came, and whither he was going.
IGNORANCE: Sir, I was born in the
country that lieth off there, a little on the left hand, and I
am going to the Celestial City.
CHRISTIAN: But how do you think to get
in at the gate, for you may find some difficulty there?
IGNORANCE: As other good people do,
said he.
CHRISTIAN: But what have you to show at
that gate, that the gate should be opened to you?
IGNORANCE: I know my Lord's will, and
have been a good liver; I pay [141] every man his own; I pray,
fast, pay tithes, and give alms, and have left my country for
whither I am going.
CHRISTIAN: But thou camest not in at
the wicket-gate, that is at the head of this way; thou camest in
hither through that same crooked lane, and therefore I fear,
however thou mayest think of thyself, when the reckoning-day
shall come, thou wilt have laid to thy charge, that thou art a
thief and a robber, instead of getting admittance into the city.
IGNORANCE: Gentlemen, ye be utter
strangers to me; I know you not: be content to follow the
religion of your country, and I will follow the religion of
mine. I hope all will be well. And as for the gate that you talk
of, all the world knows that is a great way off of our country.
I cannot think that any man in all our parts doth so much as
know the way to it; nor need they matter whether they do or no,
since we have, as you see, a fine, pleasant, green lane, that
comes down from our country, the next way into the way.
When Christian saw that the man was
wise in his own conceit, he said to Hopeful whisperingly, "There
is more hope of a fool than of him." And said, moreover, "When
he that is a fool walketh by the way, his wisdom faileth him,
and he saith to every one that he is a fool. What, shall we talk
farther with him, or outgo him at present, and so leave him to
think of what he hath heard already, and then stop again for him
afterwards, and see if by degrees we can do any good to him?
Then said Hopeful,
"Let Ignorance a little while now muse
On what is said, and let him not refuse
Good counsel to embrace, lest he remain
Still ignorant of what's the chiefest
gain.
God saith, those that no understanding
have,
(Although he made them,) them he will
not save."
HOPEFUL: He further added, It is not
good, I think, to say so to him all at once; let us pass him by,
if you will, and talk to him anon, even as he is able to bear
it.
So they both went on, and Ignorance he
came after. Now, when they had passed him a little way, they
entered into a very dark lane, where they met a man whom seven
devils had bound with seven [142] strong cords, and were
carrying him back to the door that they saw on the side of the
hill. Now good Christian began to tremble, and so did Hopeful,
his companion; yet, as the devils led away the man, Christian
looked to see if he knew him; and he thought it might be one
Turn-away, that dwelt in the town of Apostacy. But he did not
perfectly see his face, for he did hang his head like a thief
that is found; but being gone past, Hopeful looked after him,
and espied on his back a paper with this inscription, "Wanton
professor, and damnable apostate."
Then said Christian to his fellow, Now
I call to remembrance that which was told me of a thing that
happened to a good man hereabout. The name of the man was
Little-Faith; but a good man, and he dwelt in the town of
Sincere. The thing was this. At the entering in at this passage,
there comes down from Broadway-gate, a lane, called Dead-Man's
lane; so called because of the murders that are commonly done
there; and this Little-Faith going on pilgrimage, as we do now,
chanced to sit down there and sleep. Now there happened at that
time to come down the lane from Broadway-gate, three sturdy
rogues, and their names were Faint-Heart, Mistrust, and Guilt,
three brothers; and they, espying Little-Faith where he was,
came galloping up with speed. Now the good man was just awaked
from his sleep, and was getting up to go on his journey. So they
came up all to him, and with threatening language bid him stand.
At this, Little-Faith looked as white as a sheet, and had
neither power to fight nor fly. Then said Faint-Heart, Deliver
thy purse; but he making no haste to do it, (for he was loth to
lose his money,) Mistrust ran up to him, and thrusting his hand
into his pocket, pulled out thence a bag of silver. Then he
cried out, Thieves, thieves! With that, Guilt, with a great club
that was in his hand, struck Little-Faith on the head, and with
that blow felled him flat to the ground, where he lay bleeding
as one that would bleed to death. All this while the thieves
stood by. But at last, they hearing that some were upon the
road, and fearing lest it should be one Great-Grace, that dwells
in the town of Good-Confidence, they betook themselves to their
heels, and left this good man to shift for himself. Now, after a
while, Little-Faith came to himself, and getting up, made shift
to scramble on his way. This was the story.
THERE HAPPENED AT
THAT TIME TO COME DOWN THE LANE FROM BROADWAY-GATE, THREE STURDY
ROGUES, AND THEIR NAMES WERE FAINT-HEART, MISTRUST, AND GUILT.
HOPEFUL: But did they take from him all
that ever he had?
CHRISTIAN: No; the place where his
jewels were they never ransacked; [143] so those he kept still.
But, as I was told, the good man was much afflicted for his
loss; for the thieves got most of his spending-money. That which
they got not, as I said, were jewels; also, he had a little odd
money left, but scarce enough to bring him to his journey's end.
Nay, (if I was not misinformed,) he was forced to beg as he
went, to keep himself alive, for his jewels he might not sell;
but beg and do what he could, he went, as we say, with many a
hungry belly the most part of the rest of the way.
HOPEFUL: But is it not a wonder they
got not from him his certificate, by which he was to receive his
admittance at the Celestial Gate?
CHRISTIAN: It is a wonder; but they got
not that, though they missed it not through any good cunning of
his; for he, being dismayed by their coming upon him, had
neither power nor skill to hide any thing; so it was more by
good providence than by his endeavor that they missed of that
good thing.
HOPEFUL: But it must needs be a comfort
to him they got not this jewel from him.
CHRISTIAN: It might have been great
comfort to him, had he used it as he should; but they that told
me the story said that he made but little use of it all the rest
of the way, and that because of the dismay that he had in their
taking away his money. Indeed, he forgot it a great part of the
rest of his journey; and besides, when at any time it came into
his mind, and he began to be comforted therewith, then would
fresh thoughts of his loss come again upon him, and these
thoughts would swallow up all.
HOPEFUL: Alas, poor man, this could not
but be a great grief to him.
CHRISTIAN: Grief? Aye, a grief indeed!
Would it not have been so to any of us, had we been used as he,
to be robbed and wounded too, and that in a strange place, as he
was? It is a wonder he did not die with grief, poor heart. I was
told that he scattered almost all the rest of the way with
nothing but doleful and bitter complaints; telling, also, to all
that overtook him, or that he overtook in the way as he went,
where he was robbed, and how; who they were that did it, and
what he had lost; how he was wounded, and that he hardly escaped
with life.
HOPEFUL: But it is a wonder that his
necessity did not put him upon selling or pawning some of his
jewels, that he might have wherewith to relieve himself in his
journey.
CHRISTIAN: Thou talkest like one upon
whose head is the shell to this very [145] day. For what should
he pawn them? or to whom should he sell them? In all that
country where he was robbed, his jewels were not accounted of;
nor did he want that relief which could from thence be
administered to him. Besides, had his jewels been missing at the
gate of the Celestial City, he had (and that he knew well
enough) been excluded from an inheritance there, and that would
have been worse to him than the appearance and villany of ten
thousand thieves.
HOPEFUL: Why art thou so tart, my
brother? Esau sold his birthright, and that for a mess of
pottage, and that birthright was his greatest jewel: and if he,
why might not Little-Faith do so too?
CHRISTIAN: Esau did sell his birthright
indeed, and so do many besides, and by so doing exclude
themselves from the chief blessing, as also that caitiff did;
but you must put a difference betwixt Esau and Little-Faith, and
also betwixt their estates. Esau's birthright was typical; but
Little-Faith's jewels were not so. Esau's belly was his god; but
Little-Faith's belly was not so. Esau's want lay in his fleshy
appetite; Little-Faith's did not so. Besides, Esau could see no
further than to the fulfilling of his lusts: For I am at the
point to die, said he: and what good will this birthright do me?
But Little-Faith, though it was his lot to have but a little
faith, was by his little faith kept from such extravagances, and
made to see and prize his jewels more than to sell them, as Esau
did his birthright. You read not any where that Esau had faith,
no, not so much as a little; therefore no marvel, where the
flesh only bears sway, (as it will in that man where no faith is
to resist,) if he sells his birthright and his soul and all, and
that to the devil of hell; for it is with such as it is with the
ass, who in her occasion cannot be turned away, when their minds
are set upon their lusts, they will have them, whatever they
cost. But Little-Faith was of another temper; his mind was on
things divine; his livelihood was upon things that were
spiritual, and from above: therefore, to what end should he that
is of such a temper sell his jewels (had there been any that
would have bought them) to fill his mind with empty things? Will
a man give a penny to fill his belly with hay? or can you
persuade the turtle-dove to live upon carrion, like the crow?
Though faithless ones can, for carnal lusts, pawn, or mortgage,
or sell what they have, and themselves outright to boot; [146]
yet they that have faith, saving faith, though but a little of
it, cannot do so. Here, therefore, my brother, is thy mistake.
HOPEFUL: I acknowledge it; but yet your
severe reflection had almost made me angry.
CHRISTIAN: Why, I did but compare thee
to some of the birds that are of the brisker sort, who will run
to and fro in untrodden paths with the shell upon their heads:
but pass by that, and consider the matter under debate, and all
shall be well betwixt thee and me.
HOPEFUL: But, Christian, these three
fellows, I am persuaded in my heart, are but a company of
cowards: would they have run else, think you, as they did, at
the noise of one that was coming on the road? Why did not
Little-Faith pluck up a greater heart? He might, methinks, have
stood one brush with them, and have yielded when there had been
no remedy.
CHRISTIAN: That they are cowards, many
have said, but few have found it so in the time of trial. As for
a great heart, Little-Faith had none; and I perceive by thee, my
brother, hadst thou been the man concerned, thou art but for a
brush, and then to yield. And verily, since this is the height
of thy stomach now they are at a distance from us, should they
appear to thee as they did to him, they might put thee to second
thoughts.
But consider again, that they are but
journeymen thieves; They serve under the king of the bottomless
pit, who, if need be, will come to their aid himself, and his
voice is as the roaring of a lion. I myself have been engaged as
this Little-Faith was, and I found it a terrible thing. These
three villains set upon me, and I beginning like a Christian to
resist, they gave but a call, and in came their master. I would,
as the saying is, have given my life for a penny, but that, as
God would have it, I was clothed with armor of proof. Aye, and
yet, though I was so harnessed, I found it hard work to quit
myself like a man: no man can tell what in that combat attends
us, but he that hath been in the battle himself.
HOPEFUL: Well, but they ran, you see,
when they did but suppose that one Great-Grace was in the way.
CHRISTIAN: True, they have often fled,
both they and their master, when [147] Great-Grace hath but
appeared; and no marvel, for he is the King's champion. But I
trow you will put some difference between Little-Faith and the
King's champion. All the King's subjects are not his champions;
nor can they, when tried, do such feats of war as he. Is it meet
to think that a little child should handle Goliath as David did?
or that there should be the strength of an ox in a wren? Some
are strong, some are weak; some have great faith, some have
little: this man was one of the weak, and therefore he went to
the wall.
HOPEFUL: I would it had been
Great-Grace, for their sakes.
CHRISTIAN: If it had been he, he might
have had his hands full: for I must tell you, that though
Great-Grace is excellent good at his weapons, and has, and can,
so long as he keeps them at sword's point, do well enough with
them; yet if they get within him, even Faint-Heart, Mistrust, or
the other, it shall go hard but they will throw up his heels.
And when a man is down, you know, what can he do?
Whoso looks well upon Great-Grace's
face, will see those scars and cuts there that shall easily give
demonstration of what I say. Yea, once I heard that he should
say, (and that when he was in the combat,) We despaired even of
life. How did these sturdy rogues and their fellows make David
groan, mourn, and roar! Yea, Heman, and Hezekiah too, though
champions in their days, were forced to be- [148] stir them when
by these assaulted; and yet, notwithstanding, they had their
coats soundly brushed by them. Peter, upon a time, would go try
what he could do; but though some do say of him that he is the
prince of the apostles, they handled him so that they made him
at last afraid of a sorry girl.
Besides, their king is at their
whistle; he is never out of hearing; and if at any time they be
put to the worst, he, if possible, comes in to help them; and of
him it is said, "The sword of him that layeth at him cannot
hold; the spear, the dart, nor the habergeon. He esteemeth iron
as straw, and brass as rotten wood. The arrow cannot make him
fly; sling-stones are turned with him into stubble. Darts are
counted as stubble; he laugheth at the shaking of a spear." What
can a man do in this case? It is true, if a man could at every
turn have Job's horse, and had skill and courage to ride him, he
might do notable things. "For his neck is clothed with thunder.
He will not be afraid as a grasshopper: the glory of his
nostrils is terrible. He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in
his strength; he goeth on to meet the armed men. He mocketh at
fear, and is not affrighted; neither turneth he back from the
sword. The quiver rattleth against him, the glittering spear and
the shield. He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage;
neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet. He
saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha! and he smelleth the battle
afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shoutings."
But for such footmen as thee and I are,
let us never desire to meet with an enemy, nor vaunt as if we
could do better, when we hear of others that have been foiled,
nor be tickled at the thoughts of our own manhood; for such
commonly come by the worst when tried. Witness Peter, of whom I
made mention before: he would swagger, aye, he would; he would,
as his vain mind prompted him to say, do better and stand more
for his Master than all men: but who so foiled and run down by
those villains as he?
When, therefore, we hear that such
robberies are done on the King's highway, two things become us
to do.
1. To go out harnessed, and be sure to
take a shield with us: for it was for want of that, that he who
laid so lustily at Leviathan could not make him yield; for,
indeed, if that be wanting, he fears us not at all. Therefore,
he that [149] had skill hath said, "Above all, take the shield
of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery
darts of the wicked."
2. It is good, also, that we desire of
the King a convoy, yea, that he will go with us himself. This
made David rejoice when in the Valley of the Shadow of Death;
and Moses was rather for dying where he stood, than to go one
step without his God.
O, my brother, if he will but go along
with us, what need we be afraid of ten thousands that shall set
themselves against us? But without him, the proud helpers fall
under the slain.
I, for my part, have been in the fray
before now; and though (through the goodness of Him that is
best) I am, as you see, alive, yet I cannot boast of any
manhood. Glad shall I be if I meet with no more such brunts;
though I fear we are not got beyond all danger. However, since
the lion and the bear have not as yet devoured me, I hope God
will also deliver us from the next uncircumcised Philistine.
Then sang Christian,
"Poor Little-Faith! hast been among the
thieves?
Wast robb'd? Remember this, whoso
believes,
And get more faith; then shall you
victors be
Over ten thousand-else scarce over
three."
So they went on, and Ignorance
followed. They went then till they came at a place where they
saw a way put itself into their way, and [151] seemed withal to
lie as strait as the way which they should go; and here they
knew not which of the two to take, for both seemed strait before
them: therefore here they stood still to consider. And as they
were thinking about the way, behold a man black of flesh, but
covered with a very light robe, come to them, and asked them why
they stood there. They answered, they were going to the
Celestial City, but knew not which of these ways to take.
"Follow me," said the man, "it is thither that I am going." So
they followed him in the way that but now came into the road,
which by degrees turned, and turned them so far from the city
that they desired to go to, that in a little time their faces
were turned away from it; yet they follow him. But by and by,
before they were aware, he led them both within the compass of a
net, in which they were both so entangled that they knew not
what to do; and with that the white robe fell off the black
man's back. Then they saw where they were. Wherefore there they
lay crying some time, for they could not get themselves out.
CHRISTIAN: Then said Christian to his
fellow, Now do I see myself in an error. Did not the shepherds
bid us beware of the Flatterer? As is the saying of the wise
man, so we have found it this day: "A man that flattereth his
neighbor, spreadeth a net for his feet."
HOPEFUL: They also gave us a note of
directions about the way, for our more sure finding thereof; but
therein we have also forgotten to read, and have not kept
ourselves from the paths of the destroyer. Here David was wiser
than we; for saith he, "Concerning the works of men, by the word
of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the Destroyer."
Thus they lay bewailing themselves in the net. At last they
espied a Shining One coming towards them with a whip of small
cords in his hand. When he was come to the place where they
were, he asked them whence they came, and what they did there.
They told him that they were poor pilgrims going to Zion, but
were led out of their way by a black man clothed in white, who
bid us, said they, follow him, for he was going thither too.
Then said he with the whip, It is Flatterer, a false apostle,
that hath transformed himself into an angel of light. So he rent
the net, and let the men out. Then said he to them, Follow me,
that I may set you in your way again. So he led them back to the
way which they had left to follow [152] the Flatterer. Then he
asked them, saying, Where did you lie the last night? They said,
With the shepherds upon the Delectable Mountains. He asked them
then if they had not of the shepherds a note of direction for
the way. They answered, Yes. But did you not, said he, when you
were at a stand, pluck out and read your note? They answered,
No. He asked them, Why? They said they forgot. He asked,
moreover, if the shepherds did not bid them beware of the
Flatterer. They answered, Yes; but we did not imagine, said
they, that this fine-spoken man had been he.
AT LAST THEY
ESPIED A SHINING ONE COMING TOWARDS THEM WITH A WHIP OF SMALL
CORDS IN HIS HAND.
Then I saw in my dream, that he
commanded them to lie down; which when they did, he chastised
them sore, to teach them the good way wherein they should walk,
and as he chastised them, he said, "As many as I love, I rebuke
and chasten; be zealous, therefore, and repent." This done, he
bids them to go on their way, and take good heed to the other
directions of the shepherds. So they thanked him for all his
kindness, and went softly along the right way, singing,
"Come hither, you that walk along the
way,
See how the pilgrims fare that go
astray:
They catched are in an entangling net,
Cause they good counsel lightly did
forget:
'Tis true, they rescued were; but yet,
you see,
They're scouged to boot; let this your
caution be."
Now, after awhile, they perceived afar
off, one coming softly, and alone, all along the highway, to
meet them. Then said Christian to his fellow, Yonder is a man
with his back towards Zion, and he is coming to meet us.
HOPEFUL: I see him; let us take heed to
ourselves now, lest he should prove a Flatterer also. So he drew
nearer and nearer, and at last came up to them. His name was
Atheist, and he asked them whither they were going.
CHRISTIAN: We are going to Mount Zion.
Then Atheist fell into a very great
laughter.
CHRISTIAN: What's the meaning of your
laughter?
ATHEIST: I laugh to see what ignorant
persons you are, to take upon you so tedious a journey, and yet
are like to have nothing but your travel for your pains.
[153] CHRISTIAN: Why, man, do you think
we shall not be received?
ATHEIST: Received! There is not such a
place as you dream of in all this world.
CHRISTIAN: But there is in the world to
come.
ATHEIST: When I was at home in mine own
country I heard as you now affirm, and from that hearing went
out to see, and have been seeking this city these twenty years,
but find no more of it than I did the first day I set out.
CHRISTIAN: We have both heard, and
believe, that there is such a place to be found.
ATHEIST: Had not I, when at home,
believed, I had not come thus far to seek; but finding none,
(and yet I should, had there been such a place to be found, for
I have gone to seek it farther than you,) I am going back again,
and will seek to refresh myself with the things that I then cast
away for hopes of that which I now see is not.
CHRISTIAN: Then said Christian to
Hopeful his companion, Is it true which this man hath said?
HOPEFUL: Take heed, he is one of the
Flatterers. Remember what it cost us once already for our
hearkening to such kind of fellows. What! no Mount Zion? Did we
not see from the Delectable Mountains the gate of the city?
Also, are we not now to walk by faith? Let us go on, lest the
man with the whip overtake us again. You should have taught me
that lesson, which I will sound you in the ears withal: "Cease,
my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from [154]
the words of knowledge." I say, my brother, cease to hear him,
and let us believe to the saving of the soul.
CHRISTIAN: My brother, I did not put
the question to thee, for that I doubted of the truth of our
belief myself, but to prove thee, and to fetch from thee a fruit
of the honesty of thy heart. As for this man, I know that he is
blinded by the God of this world. Let thee and me go on, knowing
that we have belief of the truth; and no lie is of the truth.
HOPEFUL: Now do I rejoice in hope of
the glory of God. So they turned away from the man; and he,
laughing at them, went his way.
I then saw in my dream, that they went
on until they came into a certain country whose air naturally
tended to make one drowsy, if he came a stranger into it. And
here Hopeful began to be very dull, and heavy to sleep:
wherefore he said unto Christian, I do now begin to grow so
drowsy that I can scarcely hold open mine eyes; let us lie down
here, and take one nap.
CHRISTIAN: By no means, said the other;
lest, sleeping, we never awake more.
HOPEFUL: Why, my brother? sleep is
sweet to the laboring man; we may be refreshed, if we take a
nap.
CHRISTIAN: Do you not remember that one
of the shepherds bid us beware of the Enchanted Ground? He meant
by that, that we should beware of sleeping; wherefore "let us
not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober."
DO YOU NOT
REMEMBER THAT ONE OF THE SHEPHERDS BID US BEWARE OF THE
ENCHANTED GROUND?
HOPEFUL: I acknowledge myself in a
fault; and had I been here alone, I had by sleeping run the
danger of death. I see it is true that the wise man saith, "Two
are better than one." Hitherto hath thy company been my mercy;
and thou shalt have a good reward for thy labor.
CHRISTIAN: Now, then, said Christian,
to prevent drowsiness in this place, let us fall into good
discourse.
HOPEFUL: With all my heart, said the
other.
CHRISTIAN: Where shall we begin?
HOPEFUL: Where God began with us. But
do you begin, if you please.
CHRISTIAN: I will sing you first this
song:
"When saints do sleepy grow, let them
come hither,
And hear how these two pilgrims talk
together;
[156]
Yea, let them learn of them in any
wise,
Thus to keep ope their drowsy,
slumb'ring eyes.
Saints' fellowship, if it be managed
well,
Keeps them awake, and that in spite of
hell."
Then Christian began, and said, I will
ask you a question. How came you to think at first of doing what
you do now?
HOPEFUL: Do you mean, how came I at
first to look after the good of my soul?
CHRISTIAN: Yes, that is my meaning.
HOPEFUL: I continued a great while in
the delight of those things which were seen and sold at our
fair; things which I believe now would have, had I continued in
them still, drowned me in perdition and destruction.
CHRISTIAN: What things were they?
HOPEFUL: All the treasures and riches
of the world. Also I delighted much in rioting, reveling,
drinking, swearing, lying, uncleanness, Sabbath-breaking, and
what not, that tended to destroy the soul. But I found at last,
by hearing and considering of things that are divine, which,
indeed, I heard of you, as also of beloved Faithful, that was
put to death for his faith and good living in Vanity Fair, that
the end of these things is death, and that for these things'
sake, the wrath of God cometh upon the children of disobedience.
CHRISTIAN: And did you presently fall
under the power of this conviction?
HOPEFUL: No, I was not willing
presently to know the evil of sin, nor the damnation that
follows upon the commission of it; but endeavored, when my mind
at first began to be shaken with the word, to shut mine eyes
against the light thereof.
CHRISTIAN: But what was the cause of
your carrying of it thus to the first workings of God's blessed
Spirit upon you?
HOPEFUL: The causes were, 1. I was
ignorant that this was the work of God upon me. I never thought
that by awakenings for sin, God at first begins the conversion
of a sinner. 2. Sin was yet very sweet to my flesh, and I was
loth to leave it. 3. I could not tell how to part with mine old
companions, their presence and actions were so desirable unto
me. 4. The hours in which convictions were upon me, were [157]
such troublesome and such heart-affrighting hours, that I could
not bear, no not so much as the remembrance of them upon my
heart.
CHRISTIAN: Then, as it seems, sometimes
you got rid of your trouble?
HOPEFUL: Yes, verily, but it would come
into my mind again; and then I should be as bad, nay, worse than
I was before.
CHRISTIAN: Why, what was it that
brought your sins to mind again?
HOPEFUL: Many things; as,
1. If I did but meet a good man in the
streets; or,
2. If I have heard any read in the
Bible; or,
3. If mine head did begin to ache; or,
4. If I were told that some of my
neighbors were sick; or,
5. If I heard the bell toll for some
that were dead; or,
6. If I thought of dying myself; or,
7. If I heard that sudden death
happened to others.
8. But especially when I thought of
myself, that I must quickly come to judgment.
CHRISTIAN: And could you at any time,
with ease, get off the guilt of sin, when by any of these ways
it came upon you?
HOPEFUL: No, not I; for then they got
faster hold of my conscience; and then, if I did but think of
going back to sin, (though my mind was turned against it,) it
would be double torment to me.
CHRISTIAN: And how did you do then?
HOPEFUL: I thought I must endeavor to
mend my life; for else, thought I, I am sure to be damned.
CHRISTIAN: And did you endeavor to
mend?
HOPEFUL: Yes, and fled from, not only
my sins, but sinful company too, and betook me to religious
duties, as praying, reading, weeping for sin, speaking truth to
my neighbors, etc. These things did I, with many others, too
much here to relate.
CHRISTIAN: And did you think yourself
well then?
HOPEFUL: Yes, for a while; but at the
last my trouble came tumbling upon me again, and that over the
neck of all my reformations.
CHRISTIAN: How came that about, since
you were now reformed?
HOPEFUL: There were several things
brought it upon me, especially such sayings as these: "All our
righteousnesses are as filthy rags." "By the works of the law
shall no flesh be justified." "When ye have done all these
things, say, We are unprofitable," with many more such like.
[158] From whence I began to reason with myself thus: If all my
righteousnesses are as filthy rags; if by the deeds of the law
no man can be justified; and if, when we have done all, we are
yet unprofitable, then is it but a folly to think of heaven by
the law. I farther thought thus: If a man runs a hundred pounds
into the shopkeeper's debt, and after that shall pay for all
that he shall fetch; yet if his old debt stands still in the
book uncrossed, the shopkeeper may sue him for it, and cast him
into prison, till he shall pay the debt.
CHRISTIAN: Well, and how did you apply
this to yourself?
HOPEFUL: Why, I thought thus with
myself: I have by my sins run a great way into God's book, and
my now reforming will not pay off that score; therefore I should
think still, under all my present amendments, But how shall I be
freed from that damnation that I brought myself in danger of by
my former transgressions?
CHRISTIAN: A very good application: but
pray go on.
HOPEFUL: Another thing that hath
troubled me ever since my late amendments, is, that if I look
narrowly into the best of what I do now, I still see sin, new
sin, mixing itself with the best of that I do; so that now I am
forced to conclude, that notwithstanding my former fond conceits
of myself and duties, I have committed sin enough in one day to
send me to hell, though my former life had been faultless.
CHRISTIAN: And what did you do then?
HOPEFUL: Do! I could not tell what to
do, until I broke my mind to Faithful; for he and I were well
acquainted. And he told me, that unless I could obtain the
righteousness of a man that never had sinned, neither mine own,
nor all the righteousness of the world, could save me.
CHRISTIAN: And did you think he spake
true?
HOPEFUL: Had he told me so when I was
pleased and satisfied with my own amendments, I had called him
fool for his pains; but now, since I see my own infirmity, and
the sin which cleaves to my best performance, I have been forced
to be of his opinion.
CHRISTIAN: But did you think, when at
first he suggested it to you, that there was such a man to be
found, of whom it might justly be said, that he never committed
sin?
HOPEFUL: I must confess the words at
first sounded strangely; but after a little more talk and
company with him, I had full conviction about it.
CHRISTIAN: And did you ask him what man
this was, and how you must be justified by him?
[159] HOPEFUL: Yes, and he told me it
was the Lord Jesus, that dwelleth on the right hand of the Most
High. And thus, said he, you must be justified by him, even by
trusting to what he hath done by himself in the days of his
flesh, and suffered when he did hang on the tree. I asked him
further, how that man's righteousness could be of that efficacy,
to justify another before God. And he told me he was the mighty
God, and did what he did, and died the death also, not for
himself, but for me; to whom his doings, and the worthiness of
them, should be imputed, if I believed on him.
CHRISTIAN: And what did you do then?
HOPEFUL: I made my objections against
my believing, for that I thought he was not willing to save me.
CHRISTIAN: And what said Faithful to
you then?
HOPEFUL: He bid me go to him and see.
Then I said it was presumption. He said, No; for I was invited
to come. Then he gave me a book of Jesus' inditing, to encourage
me the more freely to come; and he said concerning that book,
that every jot and tittle thereof stood firmer than heaven and
earth. Then I asked him what I must do when I came; and he told
me I must entreat upon my knees, with all my heart and soul,
Jer. the Father to reveal him to me. Then I asked him further,
how I must make my supplications to him; and he said, Go, and
thou shalt find him upon a mercy-seat, where he sits all the
year long to give pardon and forgiveness to them that come. I
told him, that I knew not what to say when I came; and he bid
say to this effect: God be merciful to me a sinner, and make me
to know and believe in Jesus Christ; for I see, that if his
righteousness had not been, or I have not faith in that
righteousness, I am utterly cast away. Lord, I have heard that
thou art a merciful God, and hast ordained that thy Son Jesus
Christ should be the Saviour of the world; and moreover, that
thou art willing to bestow him upon such a poor sinner as I
am-and I am a sinner indeed. Lord, take therefore this
opportunity, and magnify thy grace in the salvation of my soul,
through thy Son Jesus Christ. Amen.
CHRISTIAN: And did you do as you were
bidden?
HOPEFUL: Yes, over, and over, and over.
CHRISTIAN: And did the Father reveal
the Son to you?
HOPEFUL: Not at the first, nor second,
nor third, nor fourth, nor fifth, no, nor at the sixth time
neither.
[160] CHRISTIAN: What did you do then?
HOPEFUL: What? why I could not tell
what to do.
CHRISTIAN: Had you not thoughts of
leaving off praying?
HOPEFUL: Yes; an hundred times twice
told.
CHRISTIAN: And what was the reason you
did not?
HOPEFUL: I believed that it was true
which hath been told me, to wit, that without the righteousness
of this Christ, all the world could not save me; and therefore,
thought I with myself, if I leave off, I die, and I can but die
at the throne of grace. And withal this came into my mind, "If
it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, and will not
tarry." So I continued praying until the Father showed me his
Son.
CHRISTIAN: And how was he revealed unto
you?
HOPEFUL: I did not see him with my
bodily eyes, but with the eyes of my understanding, and thus it
was. One day I was very sad, I think sadder than at any one time
in my life; and this sadness was through a fresh sight of the
greatness and vileness of my sins. And as I was then looking for
nothing but hell, and the everlasting damnation of my soul,
suddenly, as I thought, I saw the Lord Jesus looking down from
heaven upon me, and saying, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved."
But I replied, Lord, I am a great, a
very great sinner: and he answered, "My grace is sufficient for
thee." Then I said, But, Lord, what is believing? And then I saw
from that saying, "He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and
he that believeth on me shall never thirst," that believing and
coming was all one; and that he that came, that is, that ran out
in his heart and affections after salvation by Christ, he indeed
believed in Christ. Then the water stood in mine eyes, and I
asked further, But, Lord, may such a great sinner as I am be
indeed accepted of thee, and be saved by thee? And I heard him
say, "And him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out."
Then I said, But how, Lord, must I consider of thee in my coming
to thee, that my faith may be placed aright upon thee? Then he
said, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." He is
the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believes.
He died for our sins, and rose again for our justification. He
loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood. He is
the Mediator between God and us. He ever liveth to make
intercession for us. From all which I gathered, [161] that I
must look for righteousness in his person, and for satisfaction
for my sins by his blood: that what he did in obedience to his
Father's law, and in submitting to the penalty thereof, was not
for himself, but for him that will accept it for his salvation,
and be thankful. And now was my heart full of joy, mine eyes
full of tears, and mine affections running over with love to the
name, people, and ways of Jesus Christ.
CHRISTIAN: This was a revelation of
Christ to your soul indeed. But tell me particularly what effect
this had upon your spirit.
HOPEFUL: It made me see that all the
world, notwithstanding all the righteousness thereof, is in a
state of condemnation. It made me see that God the Father,
though he be just, can justly justify the coming sinner. It made
me greatly ashamed of the vileness of my former life, and
confounded me with the sense of mine own ignorance; for there
never came a thought into my heart before now that showed me so
the beauty of Jesus Christ. It made me love a holy life, and
long to do something for the honor and glory of the name of the
Lord Jesus. Yea, I thought that had I now a thousand gallons of
blood in my body, I could spill it all for the sake of the Lord
Jesus.
I saw then in my dream, that Hopeful
looked back, and saw Ignorance, whom they had left behind,
coming after. Look, said he to Christian, how far yonder
youngster loitereth behind.
CHRISTIAN: Aye, aye, I see him: he
careth not for our company.
HOPEFUL: But I trow it would not have
hurt him, had he kept pace with us hitherto.
CHRISTIAN: That is true; but I warrant
you he thinketh otherwise.
HOPEFUL: That I think he doth; but,
however, let us tarry for him. (So they did.)
Then Christian said to him, Come away,
man; why do you stay so behind?
IGNORANCE: I take my pleasure in
walking alone, even more a great deal than in company, unless I
like it the better.
Then said Christian to Hopeful, (but
softly,) Did I not tell you he cared not for our company? But,
however, said he, come up, and let us talk away the time in this
solitary place. Then, directing his speech to Ignorance, he
said, Come, how do you do? How stands it between God and your
soul now?
IGNORANCE: I hope, well; for I am
always full of good motions, that come into my mind to comfort
me as I walk.
[162] CHRISTIAN: What good motions?
Pray tell us.
IGNORANCE: Why, I think of God and
heaven.
CHRISTIAN: So do the devils and damned
souls.
IGNORANCE: But I think of them, and
desire them.
CHRISTIAN: So do many that are never
like to come there. "The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath
nothing."
IGNORANCE: But I think of them, and
leave all for them.
CHRISTIAN: That I doubt: for to leave
all is a very hard matter; yea, a harder matter than many are
aware of. But why, or by what, art thou persuaded that thou hast
left all for God and heaven?
IGNORANCE: My heart tells me so.
CHRISTIAN: The wise man says, "He that
trusteth in his own heart is a fool."
IGNORANCE: That is spoken of an evil
heart; but mine is a good one.
CHRISTIAN: But how dost thou prove
that?
IGNORANCE: It comforts me in hopes of
heaven.
CHRISTIAN: That may be through its
deceitfulness; for a man's heart may minister comfort to him in
the hopes of that thing for which he has yet no ground to hope.
IGNORANCE: But my heart and life agree
together; and therefore my hope is well-grounded.
CHRISTIAN: Who told thee that thy heart
and life agree together?
IGNORANCE: My heart tells me so.
CHRISTIAN: "Ask my fellow if I be a
thief." Thy heart tells thee so! Except the word of God beareth
witness in this matter, other testimony is of no value.
IGNORANCE: But is it not a good heart
that hath good thoughts? and is not that a good life that is
according to God's commandments?
CHRISTIAN: Yes, that is a good heart
that hath good thoughts, and that is a good life that is
according to God's commandments; but it is one thing indeed to
have these, and another thing only to think so.
IGNORANCE: Pray, what count you good
thoughts, and a life according to God's commandments?
CHRISTIAN: There are good thoughts of
divers kinds; some respecting ourselves, some God, some Christ,
and some other things.
IGNORANCE: What be good thoughts
respecting ourselves?
CHRISTIAN: Such as agree with the word
of God.
IGNORANCE: When do our thoughts of
ourselves agree with the word of God?
[164] CHRISTIAN: When we pass the same
judgment upon ourselves which the word passes. To explain
myself: the word of God saith of persons in a natural condition,
"There is none righteous, there is none that doeth good." It
saith also, that, "every imagination of the heart of man is only
evil, and that continually." And again, "The imagination of
man's heart is evil from his youth." Now, then, when we think
thus of ourselves, having sense thereof, then are our thoughts
good ones, because according to the word of God.
IGNORANCE: I will never believe that my
heart is thus bad.
CHRISTIAN: Therefore thou never hadst
one good thought concerning thyself in thy life. But let me go
on. As the word passeth a judgment upon our hearts, so it
passeth a judgment upon our ways; and when the thoughts of our
hearts and ways agree with the judgment which the word giveth of
both, then are both good, because agreeing thereto.
IGNORANCE: Make out your meaning.
CHRISTIAN: Why, the word of God saith,
that man's ways are crooked ways, not good but perverse; it
saith, they are naturally out of the good way, that they have
not known it. Now, when a man thus thinketh of his ways, I say,
when he doth sensibly, and with heart-humiliation, thus think,
then hath he good thoughts of his own ways, because his thoughts
now agree with the judgment of the word of God.
IGNORANCE: What are good thoughts
concerning God?
CHRISTIAN: Even, as I have said
concerning ourselves, when our thoughts of God do agree with
what the word saith of him; and that is, when we think of his
being and attributes as the word hath taught, of which I cannot
now discourse at large. But to speak of him with reference to
us: then have we right thoughts of God when we think that he
knows us better than we know ourselves, and can see sin in us
when and where we can see none in ourselves; when we think he
knows our inmost thoughts, and that our heart, with all its
depths, is always open unto his eyes; also when we think that
all our righteousness stinks in his nostrils, and that therefore
he cannot abide to see us stand before him in any confidence,
even in all our best performances.
IGNORANCE: Do you think that I am such
a fool as to think that God can see [165] no further than I; or
that I would come to God in the best of my performances?
CHRISTIAN: Why, how dost thou think in
this matter?
IGNORANCE: Why, to be short, I think I
must believe in Christ for justification.
CHRISTIAN: How! think thou must believe
in Christ, when thou seest not thy need of him! Thou neither
seest thy original nor actual infirmities; but hast such an
opinion of thyself, and of what thou doest, as plainly renders
thee to be one that did never see the necessity of Christ's
personal righteousness to justify thee before God. How, then,
dost thou say, I believe in Christ?
IGNORANCE: I believe well enough, for
all that.
CHRISTIAN: How dost thou believe?
IGNORANCE: I believe that Christ died
for sinners; and that I shall be justified before God from the
curse, through his gracious acceptance of my obedience to his
laws. Or thus, Christ makes my duties, that are religious,
acceptable to his Father by virtue of his merits, and so shall I
be justified.
CHRISTIAN: Let me give an answer to
this confession of thy faith.
1. Thou believest with a fantastical
faith; for this faith is nowhere described in the word.
2. Thou believest with a false faith;
because it taketh justification from the personal righteousness
of Christ, and applies it to thy own.
3. This faith maketh not Christ a
justifier of thy person, but of thy actions; and of thy person
for thy action's sake, which is false.
4. Therefore this faith is deceitful,
even such as will leave thee under wrath in the day of God
Almighty: for true justifying faith puts the soul, as sensible
of its lost condition by the law, upon flying for refuge unto
Christ's righteousness; (which righteousness of his is not an
act of grace by which he maketh, for justification, thy
obedience accepted with God, but his personal obedience to the
law, in doing and suffering for us what that required at our
hands;) this righteousness, I say, true faith accepteth; under
the skirt of which the soul being shrouded, and by it presented
as spotless before God, it is accepted, and acquitted from
condemnation.
IGNORANCE: What! would you have us
trust to what Christ in his own person has done without us? This
conceit would loosen the reins of [166] our lust, and tolerate
us to live as we list: for what matter how we live, if we may be
justified by Christ's personal righteousness from all, when we
believe it?
CHRISTIAN: Ignorance is thy name, and
as thy name is, so art thou: even this thy answer demonstrateth
what I say. Ignorant thou art of what justifying righteousness
is, and as ignorant how to secure thy soul, through the faith of
it, from the heavy wrath of God. Yea, thou also art ignorant of
the true effects of saving faith in this righteousness of
Christ, which is to bow and win over the heart to God in Christ,
to love his name, his word, ways, and people, and not as thou
ignorantly imaginest.
IGNORANCE IS THY NAME, AND AS THY
NAME IS, SO ART THOU.
HOPEFUL: Ask him if ever he had Christ
revealed to him from heaven.
IGNORANCE: What! you are a man for
revelations! I do believe, that what both you and all the rest
of you say about that matter, is but the fruit of distracted
brains.
HOPEFUL: Why, man, Christ is so hid in
God from the natural apprehensions of the flesh, that he cannot
by any man be savingly known, unless God the Father reveals him
to him.
IGNORANCE: That is your faith, but not
mine, yet mine, I doubt not, is as good as yours, though I have
not in my head so many whimsies as you.
CHRISTIAN: Give me leave to put in a
word. You ought not so slightly to speak of this matter: for
this I will boldly affirm, even as my good companion hath done,
that no man can know Jesus Christ but by the revelation of the
Father: yea, and faith too, by which the soul layeth hold upon
Christ, (if it be right,) must be wrought by the exceeding
greatness of his mighty power, the working of which faith, I
perceive, poor Ignorance, thou art ignorant of. Be awakened,
then, see thine own wretchedness, and fly to the Lord Jesus; and
by his righteousness, which is the righteousness of God, (for he
himself is God,) thou shalt be delivered from condemnation.
IGNORANCE: You go so fast I cannot keep
pace with you; do you go on before: I must stay a while behind.
Then they said,
"Well, Ignorance, wilt thou yet foolish
be,
To slight good counsel, ten times given
thee?
[167]
And if thou yet refuse it, thou shalt
know,
Ere long, the evil of thy doing so.
Remember, man, in time: stoop, do not
fear:
Good counsel, taken well, saves;
therefore hear.
But if thou yet shalt slight it, thou
wilt be
The loser, Ignorance, I'll warrant
thee."
