Timeless Lessons from Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress
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Sermon Summary
Sermon Clips
"Well, there are two parts. The first part is the story of how the pilgrim who lives in the City of Destruction realizes he needs to get out of the City of Destruction and make his way to the Heavenly City, and by God's grace gets there through many dangers, toils, and snares." [00:53:14]
"It's in the genre of a road trip. It's a journey from A to B. It's like Lord of the Rings. So, lots of the great books that are memorable are in fact great journeys. And this is a phenomenal journey from the City of Destruction to the Heavenly City and all the things that happened in between." [01:20:32]
"Up until, I think, the middle of the twentieth century, so 1950 or so, maybe even 1960, next to the Bible, Pilgrim's Progress was the most printed Christian book in the English language. That's no longer the case, but for almost three hundred years it was right up there as the number one book to read." [07:11:48]
"I think Bunyan is a great storyteller. He is a master at the use of allegory and clearly it's a theological text, I mean, told in the form of a story. Now, the first book published in 1678 was followed by another in 1684, part two of the story of Christian's wife, Christiana and the four boys." [11:00:76]
"And the simple answer is that this is a biography. He's describing his own personal way of coming to Jesus which had a two or three-year period when he was under conviction of sin. And I don't have that experience. I was under conviction of sin for maybe two hours, and I fell on my knees and asked Jesus to save me." [13:08:80]
"Bunyan had a firm grasp of Luther's doctrine of justification. He had read Luther's commentary on Romans. And if there is anything about R.C. that will always remember, it's his love of Luther's doctrine of justification. And Bunyan is as clear as a bell." [15:07:48]
"Some of the words and allusions are part of the English language today, like 'Vanity Fair' or 'Doubting Castle.' I mean, even the secular man in the street knows what those terms mean." [17:38:08]
"And it comes out in large pictures in their preaching, and then there is the rest of us. And if you belong to the rest of us, you shouldn't try to do that because you don't have it. It's not part of your gift, but one of the things for preachers, I think, that Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress does is it kind of says, 'If you read me every year, then I will come out in your preaching.'" [18:21:20]
"When you read the allegory of the Pilgrim's Progress, you have no doubt whatsoever what these names mean, you know. And so, the idea that an allegory would have a kind of mystical key to it, I think, is the kind of thing that this author is driving at. And, I think, that would be to miss the point of Bunyan." [24:06:00]
"The battle scene with Apollyon; I mean the description of it is very, very graphic. And if you're not moved as you would be by a movie battle scene, then you've made of stone, I think. I mean that is one thing that I like about." [25:01:52]
"The first time I read Pilgrim's Progress in the summer of 1974, the very last paragraph, there has been this beautiful description of Christian and Faithful crossing the river, a few moments in it, and then finally they have their certificates and they enter into the holy city." [26:41:04]
"And then all of a sudden there is another one trying to cross the river and he comes up but he doesn't have his certificate, and two angels come down and take him to the side of the mountain, and there is a door that leads straight to hell. And I remember screaming, 'No, it can't end like this!'" [27:07:36]
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"It's in the genre of a road trip. It's a journey from A to B. It's like Lord of the Rings. So, lots of the great books that are memorable are in fact great journeys. And this is a phenomenal journey from the City of Destruction to the Heavenly City and all the things that happened in between." [01:20:32]
"Up until, I think, the middle of the twentieth century, so 1950 or so, maybe even 1960, next to the Bible, Pilgrim's Progress was the most printed Christian book in the English language. That's no longer the case, but for almost three hundred years it was right up there as the number one book to read." [07:11:48]
"I think Bunyan is a great storyteller. He is a master at the use of allegory and clearly it's a theological text, I mean, told in the form of a story. Now, the first book published in 1678 was followed by another in 1684, part two of the story of Christian's wife, Christiana and the four boys." [11:00:76]
"And the simple answer is that this is a biography. He's describing his own personal way of coming to Jesus which had a two or three-year period when he was under conviction of sin. And I don't have that experience. I was under conviction of sin for maybe two hours, and I fell on my knees and asked Jesus to save me." [13:08:80]
"Bunyan had a firm grasp of Luther's doctrine of justification. He had read Luther's commentary on Romans. And if there is anything about R.C. that will always remember, it's his love of Luther's doctrine of justification. And Bunyan is as clear as a bell." [15:07:48]
"Some of the words and allusions are part of the English language today, like 'Vanity Fair' or 'Doubting Castle.' I mean, even the secular man in the street knows what those terms mean." [17:38:08]
"And it comes out in large pictures in their preaching, and then there is the rest of us. And if you belong to the rest of us, you shouldn't try to do that because you don't have it. It's not part of your gift, but one of the things for preachers, I think, that Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress does is it kind of says, 'If you read me every year, then I will come out in your preaching.'" [18:21:20]
"When you read the allegory of the Pilgrim's Progress, you have no doubt whatsoever what these names mean, you know. And so, the idea that an allegory would have a kind of mystical key to it, I think, is the kind of thing that this author is driving at. And, I think, that would be to miss the point of Bunyan." [24:06:00]
"The battle scene with Apollyon; I mean the description of it is very, very graphic. And if you're not moved as you would be by a movie battle scene, then you've made of stone, I think. I mean that is one thing that I like about." [25:01:52]
"The first time I read Pilgrim's Progress in the summer of 1974, the very last paragraph, there has been this beautiful description of Christian and Faithful crossing the river, a few moments in it, and then finally they have their certificates and they enter into the holy city." [26:41:04]
"And then all of a sudden there is another one trying to cross the river and he comes up but he doesn't have his certificate, and two angels come down and take him to the side of the mountain, and there is a door that leads straight to hell. And I remember screaming, 'No, it can't end like this!'" [27:07:36]
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