Welcome back once again to another of our studies of John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress. We have just been to the Delectable Mountains and now Christian and hopeful are going forth from the Delectable Mountains and today we will encounter ignorance and also hear of the story of little faith. So ignorance and little faith. Well Bunyan says, and I slept and I 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 lies the country of conceit from which country there comes into the way in which 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 where he was going. And he says, I was born in the country that lies off here, a little hill on the left, and I'm going to the celestial city. And Christian asks him, as he has done before, but how do you think to get in at the gate? For you may find some difficulty there. And ignorance says, well, I expect to get in as other good people do. And Christian says, but what of you to show at the gate that the gate should be open to you? Where is your certificate of authenticity that the shining ones gave me when I came through the wicked gate, along with the stripping me of my rags and clothing me with the righteousness of Christ, and then giving to me the seal of assurance and security and the certificate of my authenticity that I'm to hand into the gate? Do you have anything like that? And ignorance says, well, I know my Lord's will and have been a good liver. I pay every man his own. I pray, fast, pay tithes, and give alms, and have left my country. When you get to the celestial gate, the gate of the celestial city, and they ask you, why should you be let in to the celestial city? What do you have to show at that point that the gate would be open to you? What is the ground of your hope of salvation? This is a question that folks at Grace Church are somewhat familiar with. If you've been to the member center and gotten the membership application, one of the things that at least has been done, I don't know if we're still doing it this way, but in that initial interview, aside from taking your information, there's been a question that was asked, and that was, if you were to die tonight and stand before Christ, and he was to ask you, why should I let you into heaven, what would you say? It's a question that aims at getting at the ground of someone's hope. Why should you go to heaven? What is the basis of your salvation? And ignorance says, well, I know my Lord's will, okay, so I have knowledge of divine things. I know what God wants me to do. I've been a good liver. Not only do I know, but I've lived in a way that has been acceptable, for the most part, according to that will of God that I know. I pay every man his own. I don't deal dishonestly with others. I pray, I fast, I pay tithes, I give alms. And not only that, but I've left my country. I've come away from the outward world, the association with sinners. I'm journeying on my way to heaven. This answer sounds a lot like the answer given by the Pharisee in Luke chapter 18 in the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. Jesus told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and viewed others with contempt. Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself, God, I thank you that I am not like other people, swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I pay tithes of all that I get. What's that man's hope for justification? What's that man's hope for righteousness? It's what God has accomplished in him. rather than what God has accomplished outside of him in Christ. Verse 13, but the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. Literally, be propitious to me. Be satisfied in your anger against my sin. I tell you, this man, Jesus says, this man, went to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted." The man says, God, I thank you that I'm not sinful like these other men. I appreciate and attribute to your grace in my life that I am not engaging in open, sinful rebellion against you. And so Jesus says that man didn't go to his house justified. His hope, his ground for his righteousness, his ground for his hope of salvation was in himself. Even if it wasn't in himself as if to say he worked up all of those good things by himself. No God, I thank you. I acknowledge that it's your grace that lets me do these things. Nevertheless, even a spirit wrought righteousness that is inherent to or native in ourselves is not a righteousness on the basis of which we will be justified, Jesus says. It is only on the righteousness which comes outside of us. As Paul says in Philippians 3, I want to know him and the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his sufferings. Just before he says, I want to know him that way, he says, I want to be found in him, Philippians 3, 9. Not having a righteousness of my own derived from the law, but that righteousness which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God by faith that I may know him. You see, the righteousness that avails for us on behalf of God, in God's courtroom, isn't even the good works that God works in us by His Spirit. That's true, He does work good works in us, but those are the evidence of our justification and not the ground of it. And so, ignorance is ignorant of the way of salvation, as much as the Pharisee was in the parable of the Pharisee and tax collector. thinking that what was internal to me, even if grace produced, is meritorious with God. And so how does Christian respond? But you came not in at the wicked gate that is at the head of this way. It doesn't matter what your life is like. It matters that you come through the door of the sheep. It matters that you enter through the narrow gate by faith. Christ is the door of the sheep. His righteousness is what you need to be trusting in. It's the believer, not the worker, that is justified. Romans 4, but to the one who does not work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, to him faith is credited as righteousness. So Christian says, you came in here through that same crooked lane, and therefore I fear, however you may think of yourself, When the reckoning day shall come, you'll have laid to your charge that you are a thief and a robber, instead of getting admittance into the city. He's said this before. Again, if you have my copy of Pilgrim's Progress on page 40, as a Christian deals with formalist and hypocrisy who jump over the wall into the way, he says, but how do you expect to get in at the Celestial City when you don't come in through the Wicked Gate? And they say, oh, we have custom for this. Plenty of people do this. And don't worry. We're in the way like you're in the way. Don't worry about it. It'll all work itself out. And Christian says, but will your practice stand a trial at law? It doesn't matter what you think. It matters whether the means by which you hope to gain admittance into heaven are in accordance with the law of Christ, whose it is to give entry into heaven or not. And ignorance says, come on now, you don't know me. I don't know you. You can do things your way. I'll do things my way. I'll hope that all will be well with you and with me. And besides, the gate that we're talking about, that's a great way off from our country. So these are the comments of someone who is ignorant of the way of salvation but is hoping to play the part of a Christian and make it into heaven on his own wisdom. He says, oh, you don't know me, stop judging me. He says, you do things your way, I'll do things my way. And then he says, you know, death, that's a long time away. There's a lot of time to worry about stuff like that. That's gonna come, sure, but that's someday out there. And then he says things like, I cannot think that any man in all our parts do 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. And don't trouble me with these thoughts of the hereafter when we have such a beautiful day right here at present. When things are good right now in the present, don't worry and live so much for the world to come. This is someone who does not have the burden of sin on his back. This is someone who does not feel the weight of his guilt before God. This man is ignorant. And when Christian saw that the man was wise in his own conceit, he said to Hopeful, whisperingly, there's more hopes for a fool than for him. whoever's wise in his own eyes. There's more hope for a fool than for him, says Proverbs 26. And he said, moreover, when he that is a fool walketh by the way, his wisdom faileth him and he saith to everyone that he is a fool. Ecclesiastes chapter 10. And so they say, well, what should we do? Should we talk more with him or should we just let him go? And they decide, interestingly, Hopeful says, it is not good, I think, to say all to him at once. Let us pass him by, if you will, and talk to him anon, even as he is able to bear it. You know what, we've brought conviction, we've spoken plainly, we've explained that you can't hope to get to heaven on your own scheming and certainly not on your own righteousness, even a righteousness that is wrought in you by the Spirit. And he's not received it, and he's really presented some very foolish replies in response. let's not overburden him. And I think that's a great lesson for us as we deal with unbelievers in the world. I think some of us are given to sheepishness, and we would say, you know, I wouldn't even say the first thing that Christian said about, oh, how do you expect to get into the Celestial City if you've not come in through the Wicked Gate? You know, you think of this way of yourself, but I think that you're self-deceived. Some of us would think, man, I don't even know that I would say such a thing to somebody because that's very forward. It's, you know, maybe impolite or it might cause conflict. Others of us fall off the other side of that horse and are so quick for an argument and ready to disprove someone or to own the unbeliever with our argumentation that somebody rejects our counsel right away. And we want to fight. We want to press further. And of course, we would say it's because there's urgency and this man, he may not hear the gospel again. He may not meet with someone who is as earnest about his soul as we are, and so we love him, we care for him. And Bunyan's teaching us that we can be more confident in God's sovereignty than that. If God is meaning to save someone who pretty obstinately rejects truth right at the outset, it may be that the time is for us to persist, right? Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes. But it may be that the better part of wisdom is to let it go for now and to try to bring the conversation up at a later time. Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him, Proverbs 26, 4 and 5. And so this concept of, you know, maybe he won't be able to bear it now, it reminds me of Ephesians chapter 4. which speaks of speech, and it's not only let no unwholesome word proceed forth from your mouth, you know, don't speak profanely, don't use foul language, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment so that it will give grace to those who hear. You speak not merely not filthily, you speak always for edification according to the need of the moment in order to give grace. And the brothers, Christian and Hopeful, they decide that it's more than ignorance can bear right now. And so therefore we ought to let him go and we'll catch up with him another time. I think that's a valuable lesson for us in our evangelism, to trust God's sovereignty, to give us another opportunity with someone, or to trust that if we have no more opportunity with them, someone else will. Much better to do that than to harangue the person or to exasperate them by involving them, embroiling them, ceaseless argument that they don't want to have, and then perhaps steal them against any other conversation with any other Christian for some time into the future. So anyway, they both go on, and ignorance comes after them. And when they pass a little way, they run into somebody else. They run into a man called Turnaway, who dwelt in the town of Apostasy. And it says, a man whom seven devils had bound with seven strong cords and were carrying him back to the door that they saw on the side of the hill. So here's a man bound by demons being carried to hell. And his name is Turnaway, who dwelt in the town of Apostasy. And on his back, they saw a sign. A paper with this inscription saying, wanton professor and damnable apostate. A professor meaning someone not who lectures at a university, but a professor who is one who professes Christ, but this one is a mere professor. He's a wanton professor. He's someone who lives wantonly, with abandon, without restraint, and he's a damnable apostate. Here's somebody who is committing apostasy. Here's someone who is not persevering all the way to the end like the shepherds warned a Christian and hopeful that was necessary to do even from the delectable mountains, that some venture on even from there, within spitting distance of the celestial gate, and commit apostasy. They don't turn, or they don't persevere to the end, but turn away. So this reminds Christian of a story he wants to tell, and he says, I called to remembrance that which was told to 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." So here's a true believer who's sincere, but his faith is weak. He's not a great heart. He's a faint-hearted person. He believes, but his faith is weak. And he tells the story of Little Faith being assaulted by robbers. He'd come down to a place like this and slept, but he fell upon, he was fallen upon by three sturdy rogues, he calls them, faint heart, mistrust, and guilt, three brothers. And they came and they robbed him, pulled out a bag of silver, struck him on the head, he fell to the ground. They thought, oh man, there might be one great grace who is dwelling in the city of good confidence that could come and protect little Faith. And so they were a little bit afraid of that and they galloped off. But that's the story this little faith this man little faith was robbed Along the way by three brigands and hopeful says well Did they take from him everything all that he ever had and Christian said no the place where his jewels were they never ransacked So those he kept still What are these jewels? I think it's the reality of his salvation, the treasure that was hidden in a field that a man found and hid again and from joy over it sold all that he had so that he could buy that field and have that treasure. This is the treasure of salvation. It's the treasure of Christ, the treasure of even assurance of salvation. So they didn't take that from him. You can't do that. 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, 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, and the most part of the rest of the way. And Hopeful says, but isn't it not a wonder that they got not from him his certificate by which he was to receive admittance at the celestial gate? How did they not steal his assurance? And Christian says, no, it is a wonder that they didn't get that, but they missed it, not through any good cunning of his, for he being dismayed with their coming upon him had neither power nor skill to hide anything. So it was more by good providence than by his endeavor that they missed that good thing. 2 Peter 2.9 says the Lord knows how to rescue his godly ones from temptation. So it's God's providence, not our courage, that sometimes protects us from losing the assurance of our salvation. And Hopeful says, well, that must be a comfort to him that they didn't get his jewel. And Christian says something instructive for us. He says, it might have been great comfort to him. It might have been, 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 of his money, indeed he forgot it a great part of the rest of his journey. He forgot that they hadn't gotten the most precious things in his life. He just focused, it says, and besides, when at any time it came into his mind and he began to be comforted by that thought, then would fresh thoughts of his loss come again upon him, and those thoughts would swallow up all. Here's a man that something terrible has happened to. Here's a man who's suffered an extremely terrible, hurtful experience of being robbed. And yet, rather than focusing on the fact that they didn't get everything, rather than focusing on the blessings he still had remaining, he allowed himself to be so wrapped up in what he had lost that he forfeited the joy he could have had in the things that remained. Certainly, it's grieving to have lost anything, and he would mourn that. But by keeping so preoccupied on what he didn't have, he wasn't able to enjoy what he did have. That's a great little pastoral counsel from Bunyan. There are some of us who experience things, maybe a robbery, maybe the loss of great earthly treasure, maybe the loss of other earthly comforts. And that's going to happen in the way where there are evil men and wicked men who come to assail good people. But the reality is that when you're experiencing those kinds of dark providences, The proper response is to count your blessings, to grieve the loss for sure, but not to be so consumed by the loss that it steals from you the joy that is yours from being a child of God, from being known of Jesus, from being able to carry on communion with him, from the hope of escaping this life of corruption and sorrow and eventually being welcomed into the city of heaven. We ought not to spoil what we do have by mourning over what we can't get back. And so Hopeful says, alas, poor man, this could not be but a great grief to him. And Christian says, grief indeed. And it would have been to any of us if we were robbed and wounded too in such a strange place. And he says, I was told that he scattered himself almost all the rest of the way with nothing but doleful and bitter complaints, telling also to all that overtook him, or that he overtaken the way as he went, where he was robbed, and how, and who they were that did it, and what he lost, and how he was wounded, and had he hardly escaped with his life. You know people like that, too. Maybe that's you. Something terrible has happened to you, and now that's what's on your lips for the rest of your days. Rather than the praise of your deliverer, your rescuer, rather than the joy of your coming inheritance, what you're preoccupied with is the negative thing that happened to you. And so you come along to somebody, oh, can I tell you my troubles? Can I tell you my miseries? Rather than Philippians 4, 8, dwelling on what is honorable, true, praiseworthy, noble, worthy of being meditated on and spoken about. Forget what lies behind of those discouragements and press on to what lies ahead. That's a good lesson that little faith teaches us. Then Hopeful says, but it's a wonder that his necessities didn't put on him selling some of his jewels or pawning some of his jewels. And Christian reproves him. He says, you know, you're not speaking well. In all the country where he was robbed, his jewels were not accounted of. This is the world. What would he sell the blessings of salvation to get? Who would want those? The world countenances them as foolishness and worthless. So he couldn't have done that. And Hopeful sort of says, hey, you know, take it easy, all right? Esau sold his birthright. It's not entirely outside the realm of possibility that this kind of a thing could be done. And Christian says, yeah, but you need to put a difference between Esau and Little Faith and also between their estates. Esau's birthright was typical. Little Faith's jewels were not so. They were real. They were the substance of the type. They were real salvation. Esau's belly was his God, but Little Faith's belly was not his God. Esau's want lay in his fleshly appetite. Little Faith's did not so. Besides, Esau could see no further than to the fulfilling of his lusts. But Little Faith, though it was his lot to have but a little faith, was by his little faith kept from such extravagancies and made to see and prize his jewels more than to sell them as Esau did his birthright. So he's saying, look, little faith might have had faith that was but little, but genuine faith it was indeed. That wasn't the case with Esau. And I think we can take courage, as has been said, that you who have but a weak faith have nevertheless a strong Christ. You who have a weak faith have a strong Christ, and it's not the quality or character of your faith that matters in terms of your having truly laid hold of Christ. So long as it's genuine faith, that faith lays hold of Christ as well and as truly as any strong faith. The difference, of course, is what trials you'll meet with in the way and how you can deal with the difficulties of life. But as long as it's God-given, graciously worked, saving faith, whether it's big or little, strong or weak, it lays hold of the same strong Christ who therefore lays hold of you. And so be encouraged by that. And then hopeful sort of, He starts to get angry at these men. He says, these were a bunch of cowards, these thieves. And of course they were. And he's like, man, if I had my shot at them, I would hope that I'd have the courage to withstand them pretty severely. And Christian says, well, that they're cowards, many have said, but few have found it to be so at their time of trial. In other words, a lot of people talk the talk and say, oh, these men are nothing but cowards. But when the time came to do battle, they found that they were more difficult to tangle with than you'd expect them to be or want them to be. And he says to Hopeful, I perceive by thee, my brother, had you been the man concerned, you were but for a brush and then to yield. He says, you may think that you're ready to fight, but yeah, you'd put up a little bit of a resistance, but you'd yield pretty fast amongst these three men. And verily, since this is the height of thy stomach, now that they are at a distance from us, should they appear to thee as they did to them, they might put thee to second thoughts. Sometimes when we hear of others facing temptations, whether internal or external, trials, whether internal or external, we have something, even if we don't vocalize it, which says something like, man, I don't know why that was such a hard trial for that person. I think that I could have done a fine job of withstanding that temptation. Or if, man, if I found myself in a situation where I had to defend my family, I don't want anybody to mess with me. And it's easy to talk that way. It's easy to speak as if you'd conquer whatever resistance you'd come upon. But Christian in Bunyan, through Christian here, is teaching us that we ought not to be like hopeful who sort of swaggers in that situation, but we ought to be humble and be certain that we pray that we wouldn't enter into any sort of temptation or trial, that we wouldn't go seek trouble, but that we would be happy when the Lord delivers us from it. The prayer is deliver us from temptation. not send me into temptation so I could demonstrate how strong I am for you, God. No, we want no part of the trials of the enemy. If God wills it so, we go, but we certainly don't seek that. You know, sometimes you hear about this, like, oh, like something's got demons going on with there? Oh, let me at them. I'll go and cast those demons out. No, look, 2 Peter 2 talks about that, about reviling angelic majesties, and Jude talks about how they don't know what they're talking about, and they say things about beings that are greater than them in strength, and for that they're severely reproved. Or in Acts 19, the seven sons of Sceva want to cast out a demon, and they say, look, I know Paul, and I know about Jesus, but who are you? And they give him such a beating that the sons of Sceva run from the house naked and bleeding. So we ought not to go boasting about our spiritual authority, our spirituality, our power to cast out demons, our power to withstand temptations, our power to defeat the enemies of righteousness. We need to be humbled and recognize that when we do face those challenges, they're no small thing. And so we would just pray that God goes with us and sustains us. He says this on page 152, 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 they have been foiled, nor be tickled to the thoughts of our own manhood for such commonly come by the worst Peter says, Lord, if they all fall away, I'll not fall away. And what happened? The rooster crows three times and he weeps bitterly over his denial of him. And so Christian says if we were ever foiled by robberies on the king's highway, two things it becomes to us to do. First, to go out harnessed, to take on the armor of God, to do battle with temptation with the weapons of the spirit. But two, to desire that the king go with us. 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, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil because you are with me. When Moses was leading the people through the wilderness, he says, look, if you don't go with us, Exodus 33, I'm not going, I'm just gonna die here, because if you don't go with us, we've got no hope. And of course, in the Psalms, it says, oh my brother, if he will but go along with us, what need we be afraid of 10,000s that shall set themselves against us, but without him the proud helpers fall under the slain. God needs to go with us in these trials. That's our hope, that's our confidence, not in our own strength, not in our own manhood or courage, but in God's own sovereign protection. That's how it connects to ignorance, right? And the previous scenario with ignorance. Ignorance thinks, I've got confidence in myself for my justification, and little faith, or rather hopeful, would have made it seem like he had confidence in himself for his sanctification. Oh, I can handle that trial. No, no, no. Both in justification and sanctification, you are at the mercy of the grace of God. If He goes with you, you can withstand it by His grace, but boast not of what you think to be wrought in yourself. Continue to trust outside of yourself for what God does for you. Christian says, 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 my manhood. Glad I shall be if I meet with no more such brunts, though I fear we're not got beyond all danger. However, since the lion and the bear have not yet devoured me, I hope God will also deliver us from the next uncircumcised Philistine. So our hope and our trust for both our justification and our sanctification need to be entirely outside of us. We don't look to our own merits to justify us and we don't look to our own graces to sanctify us and prepare us for battle with the forces of wickedness. We look entirely to Christ, humbly confessing our dependence upon Him every step of the way, and trusting ourselves to the providence of His guidance as a righteous judge, 1 Peter 2 says, as one who can shepherd and guard our souls.