The Final Test.

      Uncle Jeff walked in one wet Saturday afternoon. Sarah was curled up on the sofa reading a book as usual, while Bobby and Betty were playing a card game on the mat in front of the fire. “Ooh, story please!” Betty cried. “Yes please, Uncle Jeff”, Sarah said, just as keen as the little ones this time, “We must be nearly to the end of the  story by now!” “Well now,” said Uncle Jeff sitting down on the couch opposite Sarah, “I seem to remember that Hopeful and Christian had escaped from the Atheist, and then they came to a large smooth plain. It was while they were walking over this that Hopeful got very sleepy, and got slower and slower. ‘All I want to do is to lie down and have a nap’, he said. ‘No, no’ said Christian, ‘You mustn’t do that. We have to be watchful and keep on our way.’ And he pulled Hopeful’s hand and they carried on. ‘Tell me how you came to leave Vanity Fair’, Christian said, ‘Did you see us trapped in the cage there?’ ‘Yes, I did’, he said, ‘And that is what made me feel ashamed and want to leave. While I was feeling like this, I thought I heard Jesus call to me from heaven saying to just believe on Him and I would be saved. So I did. And I felt as though a great burden had left me’. ‘Me too,’ said Christian, ‘That’s how I felt’.

They were soon across the plain and the next valley they came to was covered in beautiful plants and flowers. There were festoons of vines with fruit and flowers all over them. They came to a sign saying, ‘Beulah Land’. ‘I’ve heard of this place’, said Christian, ‘The King has prepared it for His servants so that they may have a glimpse of how beautiful and restful it is in the Celestial City. It can’t be much further to go, I can hardly wait to get there!’ ‘That’s how I feel too’, Hopeful said, ‘Let’s keep going’. A little further on and they saw two shining ones walking among the trees. Somehow they knew that these were angels who were keeping pace with them. These two angels had actually been with them all the way, but they hadn’t seen them until now.”

“Doesn’t the Bible say something about the angel of the Lord being with Christians?” asked Bobby. “That’s right,” said Uncle Jeff, “It says the angel of the Lord camps round about those who love God and delivers them from bad things happening”. “Does that mean I’ve got an angel with me too?” Betty asked. “If you love and obey the Lord Jesus, that is what it says Betty. So just remember that whenever you get afraid of bad things happening”, Uncle Jeff said.

“Anyway, these angels told Hopeful and Christian that there was still another test for them before they could get to the gates of the Celestial City. ‘You will come to a wide river’, they said, ‘and you will each have to get across it on your own. You can’t go together, and we can’t even go with you. We can go to the edge of the river, but there is only One person who will go across it with you. He is the One who has said He will never leave you nor forsake you’.”

“That’s a verse in the Bible too, isn’t it”, said Sarah, “Jesus has given us that promise”. “That’s right”, said Uncle Jeff, “And that is what Christian and Hopeful found for themselves.  ‘Oh, I’ve done some silly things on this trip’, said Christian, ‘You go ahead of me Hopeful’. Hopeful stepped into the water, and began to swim with strong strokes across the river. He went quietly and  determinedly, and soon disappeared from Christian’s sight. He could faintly see the angels waiting on the other side of the river, and knew he should be following his friend. But he felt so alone, and began to wonder if God really was with him. He started swimming and got halfway across when he began to struggle and half sank.  ‘Oh God, where are you?’ he cried.

 Suddenly he felt lighter and happier and was able to swim more strongly. He could almost see what the Celestial City was like, and kept going until his feet touched the bottom. The angels reached out and pulled him to safety. The relief was immense and there was a bright shining light.  ‘Oh’, he cried out loud, ‘I had no idea it was like this!’ He heard the reply from the gates, ‘When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and the rivers shall not overflow you!’

      They could both see the other side before they got to the far side of the river and it was different for both of them. Hopeful got there peacefully and quietly, while Christian had a struggle on his way, but they both got there and found the King waiting to welcome them in. They saw the bright pearly gates there, and as they each arrived they were given bright white shining clothes to put on.    Everything else just fell off  them. All their aches and pains left them, and as they looked at each other they saw themselves as at the peak of their maturity Their faces were lovely and peaceful with no more lines or marks. Their hair was thick and shining, and all the grey had gone. Yet they still looked the same. They were still the same people, and were filled with a love and peace such as they had never known before. And there waiting to welcome them was the King Himself.

    The whole scene was like nothing that Hopeful and Christian had ever seen or known. It is so wonderful that no-one on earth could ever describe it…earthly words just cannot tell us anything about it. There were so many wonderful things to explore and see that the old world was completely left behind and forgotten. The Bible tells us that the former things (that’s now) will never be remembered once we get to the new heavens and new earth that God is going to make for His people. But that is the end of the story of Christian and Hopeful,” said Uncle Jeff.

Betty sighed loudly. “Oh, that is so wonderful Uncle Jeff, I almost felt like going with Christian myself!” “I suppose we are in a way,” Sarah said thoughtfully, “After all, we are all on the road of life right from when we are born”. “But Christian did such silly things on the way”, said Bobby. “That is such a comfort to us”, Uncle Jeff said, “It just shows us that even when we do wrong things, we can be forgiven if we confess it to the Lord Jesus and He will make everything fresh and new for us. Every single silly thing we have done will be  taken away and never remembered again! So that is the end of our story of Pilgrim’s Progress, and we will leave it there for now!”