THE
PILGRIM'S PROGRESS
JOHN
BUNYAN
Section
6
Evangelist
overtakes Christian and Faithful - Vanity
Fair - the Pilgrims brought to
trial - Faithful's martyrdom
EVANGELIST'S
EXHORTATION AND PROPHESY
Now
when they were got
almost quite out of this wilderness, FAITHFUL chanced to east his eye back,
and espied one coming after them, and he knew him. "Oh," said
FAITHFUL to his brother, "who comes yonder?" Then CHRISTIAN
looked, and said, "It is my good friend, EVANGELIST." "Aye,
and my good friend too," saith FAITHFUL; "for 'twas he that set me
the way to the gate." Now was EVANGELIST come up unto them, and thus
saluted them:
Evan. Peace be with you, dearly beloved; and peace be to your helpers!
Chr.
Welcome, welcome, my good EVANGELIST! the sight of thy countenance brings to
my remembrance thy ancient kindness and unwearied labouring for my eternal
good.
Faith.
"And a thousand times welcome," said good FAITHFUL; "thy
company, O sweet EVANGELIST, how desirable is it to us poor pilgrims!"
Evan.
Then said EVANGELIST, "How hath it fared with you, my friends, since
the time of our last parting? what have you met with, and how have you
behaved yourselves?"
Then
CHRISTIAN and FAITHFUL told him of all things that had happened to them in
the way; and how, and with what difficulty, they had arrived to that place.
Evan.
"Right glad am I," said EVANGELIST – "not that you met with
trials, but that you have been victors; and for that you have
(notwithstanding many weaknesses) continued in the way to this very day. I
say, right glad am I of this thing, and that for mine own sake and yours: I
have sowed, and you have reaped; and the day is coming when both he that
sowed and they that reaped shall rejoice together – that is, if you hold out:
for in due time ye shall reap, if you faint not. The crown is before you;
and it is an incorruptible one: so run that you may obtain it. Some there be
that set out for this crown; and after they have gone far for it, another
comes in and takes it from them! Hold fast, therefore, that you have: let no
man take your crown;
"And
he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that
both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together." John
4:36
"And
let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we
faint not." Galatians 6:9
"Know ye not that they which run in
a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And
every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they
do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I
therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth
the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest
that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a
castaway." 1 Corinthians
9:24
-27
"Behold,
I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy
crown." Revelation 3:11
you
are not yet out of the gunshot of the devil; you have not resisted unto
blood, striving against sin. Let the Kingdom be always before you; and
believe steadfastly concerning things that are invisible. Let nothing that
is on this side the other world get within you; and, above all, look well to
your own hearts, and to the lusts thereof, for they are deceitful above all
things, and desperately wicked. Set your faces like a flint; you have all
power in heaven and earth on your side."
Then
CHRISTIAN thanked him for his exhortation, but told him withal, that they
would have him speak further to them, for their help the rest of the way;
and the rather, for that they well knew that he was a prophet, and could
tell them of things that might happen unto them; and also how they might
resist and overcome them. To which request, FAITHFUL also consented. So
EVANGELIST began as followeth:
Evan.
My sons, you have heard in the words of the truth of the Gospel, that you
must "through many tribulations enter into the Kingdom of Heaven."
And again, that in every city bonds and afflictions abide on you; and
therefore you cannot expect that you should go long on your pilgrimage
without them, in some sort or other. You have found something of the truth
of these testimonies upon you already, and more will immediately follow; for
now, as you see, you are almost out of this wilderness, and therefore you
will soon come into a town that you will by and by see before you; and in
that town you will be hardly beset with enemies, who will strain hard but
they will kill you. And be you sure that one or both of you must seal the
testimony which you hold with blood; but be you faithful unto death, and the
King will give you a crown of life. He that shall die there, although his
death will be unnatural, and his pain perhaps great, he will yet have the
better of his fellow; not only because he will be arrived at the Celestial
City soonest, but because he will escape many miseries that the other will
meet with in the rest of his journey. But when you are come to the town, and
shall find fulfilled what I have here related, then remember your friend,
and quit yourselves like men; and commit the keeping of your souls to your
God in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.
The
Pilgrim's Progress - Vanity Fair
The
Pilgrim's Progress - Contents
