The Secret of Progress
November 2, 2003
Hebrews 11:29; selected Scriptures

Our city and county experienced a historic tragedy this week with the wildfires. This is another example of how hard life can be sometimes, and this is frustrating to everyone. If we believe in a sovereign God, and we do, we recognize that he directly causes, or at the very least, allows all things. If asked why he allows suffering and loss, I have to say that this life is designed to be preparation for the next, and that the hardships we are forced to endure now will have positive value in the future.

This is a thoroughly biblical idea, illustrated, to name one place in Scripture, in the journey that the Israelites took from Egypt to the Promised Land. Getting the Israelite slaves out of Egypt in the first place was an awful struggle. You remember that plague after plague was visited upon Egypt in an effort to convince Pharaoh to let them go. Reluctantly, he finally relented. The terrible plague upon the firstborn was the final, convincing blow, and on that painful night the angel of the Lord struck down the eldest child in every Egyptian home but passed over the homes of the Israelites in Goshen. That night the Israelites were finally released.

But how did things go for them after that? You would expect that the journey to this "Promised Land" to which they were going would be smooth, but it was not. No sooner had they escaped from Egypt but they came up against an immovable object – a huge body of water, the Red Sea. If that were not enough, as they stood there facing the water, news came that Pharaoh's army was in hot pursuit. They couldn't go back, and they couldn't go forward. They wondered, "What kind of salvation is this?"

We know the story well. The Lord opened up a way for them to cross the Red Sea, and that sea, after they had crossed, became a tomb for their pursuers. And that was the last they saw or heard of Pharaoh and his army. Scripture puts it this way,

Heb 11:29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.

Was that the last challenge that faced them before they entered the Promised Land? Of course not. They spent forty years in the "boot camp" of the wilderness, facing hunger, thirst, wild animals, and new enemies, not to mention another body of water – the Jordan river. I know that the prolonged time, the forty years, was because of their disobedience, but even if they had gone straight to Canaan it still would have been a journey of eight days across the desert. They still would have encountered all those same obstacles. The Lord determined to take them along not an easy route but a hard one.

Another example of how the Lord deliberately causes, or allows, hardships is the case of the Apostle Paul. Before his conversion, he was an enemy of the young church, trying to stamp it out as if it were a brush fire. To his surprise, the very God he served was the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ who was sent as the promised messiah. This news made all the difference to him and he turned from trying to tear down the church to trying to build it up. He became a key leader in the spread of the Gospel in the first century. But the way was not smooth for the apostle. You might expect otherwise, since he was serving the Lord of Lords and King of Kings, but Paul didn't expect otherwise. On one occasion, after suffering terribly for preaching the Gospel he told some church leaders, "We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22).

Is that the kind of attitude you and I have when we face trouble? Not always. Instead, we complain against God and impugn his motives. "He doesn't know." "He doesn't care." "He must be unable to do anything."

Instead, let us consider that this life is preparation for the next, and that the challenges are there that we might become victorious over them.

I say all of this as a kind of introduction. Today, for the third time, we are considering the story of Christian's journey in Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress. You can outline the whole story under the heading of challenges. The pilgrim's first challenge was to get out of the City of Destruction before judgment day. Even after he was pointed in the right direction he had himself to deal with. On the one hand, his fears got in the way of his progress. On the other hand, his effort to find a better way also slowed him down. Finally, he found salvation at the foot of the cross, and the burden on his back was released. But that was not the last challenge, not by a long shot.

In Bunyan's book, the precious Celestial City was not right around the next bend. If Paul knew that "We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God" Christian knew it too. The obstacles before the pilgrim can be categorized as trials, threats, and temptations. I want to show you at least one example of each.

First of all, an example of trials.

Along the way, before things get too exciting, Christian comes to a house where he is invited to rest from his travels. The residents of the house are named Prudence, Piety and Charity, so he feels confident taking his rest there. At this house he is fed well and given rest. Not just an overnight rest, but he is encouraged to stay a couple of days. On the last day that he is there, he is shown into what is called the armory,

"The next day they took him and had him into the armory, where they showed him all manner of furniture, which their Lord had provided for pilgrims, as sword, shield, helmet, breastplate, all-prayer, and shoes that would not wear out. And there was here enough of this to harness out as many men for the service of their Lord as there be stars in the heaven for multitude... When they came there, they harnessed him from head to foot with what was of proof, lest, perhaps, he should meet with assaults in the way."

What kind of assaults were they thinking of? Well, no sooner had Christian left this peaceful place but he met Apollyon, who is described this way,

"Now the monster was hideous to behold; he was clothed with scales, like a fish, (and they are his pride), he had wings like a dragon, feet like a bear, and out of his belly came fire and smoke, and his mouth was as the mouth of a lion."

Christian had to do hand-to-hand combat with this enemy, and during the fight felt as if he would succumb to the blows, but in the end he prevailed. He didn't exactly kill the monster – the devil at best beats a retreat when we stand against him – but he survived the assault.

The armor with which Christian is fitted is a good picture of that which the Lord gives to us as Christians to help us stand against trials that we face in life. The biblical description of this armor is in Ephesians 6:10-17

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

This armor protects us not only from real trials, but from potential trials as well, which fall into the category of threats – the second kind of challenge.

Threats are symbolized in The Pilgrim's Progress as an ominous valley through which the pilgrim passes, called the Valley of the Shadow of Death, a place that is much too scary for some.

"I saw then in my dream, that when Christian was got to the borders of the shadow of Death, there met him two men... making haste to go back, to whom Christian spake as follows:

"Christian: Whither are you going?

"Men: They said, Back! back! and we would have you to do so too, if either
life or peace is prized by you.

"Christian: But what have you seen? said Christian.

"Men: Seen! Why, the Valley itself, which is as dark as pitch; we also saw there the hobgoblins, satyrs, and dragons of the pit; we heard also in that Valley a continual howling and yelling, as of a people under unutterable misery, who there sat bound in affliction and irons; and over that Valley hangs the discouraging clouds of confusion. Death also doth always spread his wings over it. In a word, it is every whit dreadful, being utterly without order."

The report of the danger was frightful, but Christian determined to press on, and kept his sword drawn as he did. It was a narrow path through the valley, and though there were ghastly sights and sounds off in the distance, Christian found that he was able to get through it as long as he kept focused on the path. This is the way of threats. Though a wise man heeds warnings from the wise, he also disregards the fears of the foolish.

Prov 28:1 (NIV) The wicked man flees though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.

So much for trials, and so much for threats. What about temptations? These are represented in our story by the pilgrim's encounter with Vanity Fair.

Along the way, Christian has picked up a companion named Faithful. Both of them come upon Vanity Fair, which is described this way,

"Almost five thousand years [ago] there were pilgrims walking to the Celestial City, as these two honest persons are: and Beelzebub, Apollyon, and Legion, with their companions, perceiving by the path that the pilgrims made, that their way to the city lay through this town of Vanity, they contrived here to set up a fair; a fair wherein, should be sold all sorts of vanity, and that it should last all the year long."

A fair, to us, is all about good fun and games, but this fair has a sinister element to it. As the two pilgrims walk through the streets of the fair, because they show no interest in the amusements, they begin to be derided by everyone in the town. They want to rise above the cheating and cursing all around them, but they are not allowed to simply walk along peacefully. Rather, they are first chided, then actually arrested as troublemakers because of the disturbance caused by their presence. A kangaroo court is set up at which "witnesses" speak against the pilgrims, witnesses with names such as Envy and Superstition. The matter is put to a jury made up of individuals such as Mr. Blind Man, Mr. No-good, and Mr. Malice. (You can see where this all is going!)

Between the two pilgrims, Faithful is singled out as the chief troublemaker and the jury finds him guilty of disturbing the peace and deserving of execution. The story goes like this,

"They, therefore, brought him out, to do with him according to their law; and, first, they scourged him, then they buffeted him, then they lanced his flesh with knives; after that, they stoned him with stones, then pricked him with their words; and, last of all, they burned him to ashes at the stake. Thus came Faithful to his end."

That may seem like a surprising and unnecessary turn of events considering that they were only peacefully walking through Vanity Fair, but it represents the danger of temptation. They themselves did not fall into temptation, but their experience illustrates what can happen. This follows the teaching of Scripture in James 114-15,

...each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

Trials, threats, and temptations are the lot of life, not just for either good people or bad people, but for everyone. The challenge is to face them, defeat them, and keep going. The sermon title today is "The Secret of Progress," and that is the secret -- keep going.

In the story, one reason Christian is able to do so is that he has his eye fixed on the goal ahead of him, a goal which he has so far only had a glimpse of, but the glimpse was inspiring. A passage in the book that I skipped over, when he was resting at the house of Prudence, Piety and Charity, says this,

"When the morning was up, they had him to the top of the house, and bid him look south; so he did: and behold, at a great distance, he saw a most pleasant mountainous country, beautified with woods, vineyards, fruits of all sorts, flowers also, with springs and fountains, very delectable to behold. Then he asked the name of the country. They said it was Immanuel's Land... And when thou comest there from thence, said they, thou mayest see to the gate of the Celestial City..."

A song comes to mind, one that is not in our hymnal, but which may be familiar,

It will be worth it all when we see Jesus;
Life's trials will seem so small when we see Christ.
One glimpse of His dear face all sorrow will erase,
So bravely run the race till we see Christ.

Today I've given one reason that the Lord leaves us on earth for what seems like a long time before taking us to our reward – it is for our maturity. There is another reason as well which I want to save for next time.