Faithful: But I am glad we had this little discourse with
him; it may happen that he
will think of it again: however, I have dealt plainly with him, and so am clear
of his blood if he perisheth.
Christian: You
did well to talk so plainly to him as you did. There is but little of this
faithful dealing with men now-a-days, and that makes religion to stink so in
the nostrils of many as it doth; for they are these talkative fools, whose
religion is only in word, and who are debauched and vain in their conversation,
that (being so much admitted into the fellowship of the godly) do puzzle the
world, blemish Christianity, and grieve the sincere. I wish that all men would
deal with such as you have done; then should they either be made more
conformable to religion, or the company of saints would be too hot for them.
Then did Faithful say,
|
“How Talkative at first lifts up his plumes!
How bravely doth he speak! How he presumes
To drive down all before him! But so soon
As Faithful talks of heart-work, like the moon
That’s past the full, into the wane he goes;
And so will all but he that heart-work know.”
|
Thus they went
on, talking of what they had seen by the way, and so made that way easy, which
would otherwise no doubt have been tedious to them, for now they went through a
wilderness.
Now when they
were got almost quite out of this wilderness, Faithful chanced to cast 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, said Faithful, for ‘twas he
that set me on the way to the gate. Now was Evangelist come up unto them, and
thus saluted them.
Evangelist: Peace
be with you, dearly beloved, and peace be to your helpers.
Christian:
Welcome, welcome, my good Evangelist: the sight of thy countenance brings to my
remembrance thy ancient kindness and unwearied labors for my eternal good.
Faithful: And a
thousand times welcome, said good Faithful, thy company, O sweet Evangelist;
how desirable is it to us poor pilgrims!
Evangelist: 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.
Right glad am I,
said Evangelist, not that you have 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 soweth, and they that
reap, shall rejoice together,” that is, if you hold out: “for in
due season ye shall reap, if ye faint not.” The crown is before you, and it is
an incorruptible one; “so run that ye 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.” 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 the 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.
Christian: Then
Christian thanked him for his exhortations; but told him withal, that they
would have him speak farther 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.
Evangelist: My
sons, you have heard in the word 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 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
God in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.”
