Pilgrim's Progress

[아브라함]

[The Pilgrim’s Progress]

John Bunyan

He was born as a son of a tinker in England in the 17C. He lived an ungodly life in the youth. He became a Christian after he got married his wife Mary. He became a preacher and later was imprisoned for 12 years because he preached without the permission of the Church of England.  

Bunyan began his work while in the Bedfordshire county gaol for violations of the Conventicle Act, which prohibited the holding of religious services outside the auspices of the established Church of England.

The Pilgrim's Progress from This World of destruction to That Which Is to Come, that is the heavenly city, is a Christian allegory written by John Bunyan and published in February, 1678. It has been translated into more than 200 languages. It became the best seller next to the Bible.

As the people of Israel, as pilgrims, progressed towards the promised land through the wilderness, so are we, as pilgrims, progressing towards the heavenly kingdom in this troubled world.

[Guidelines for Pilgrims]

1.      Know you are a pilgrim

Genesis 47:9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, "The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. My years have been few and difficult, and they do not equal the years of the pilgrimage of my fathers."

1Peter 2:11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;(KJV)

Pilgrim=(Latin) Peregrinus, meaning ‘Foreigner’

2.      Know your destination

Their final destination

Deuteronomy 1:8 See, I have given you this land. Go in and take possession of the land that the LORD swore he would give to your fathers--to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob--and to their descendants after them.

Our final destination

Hebrews 11:13-16 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers[KJV strangers and pilgrims] on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country--a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

3.      Tune  yourself to God

GPS[Global Positioning System]-Satellite navigation system of the USA

IRNSS of India

a. By listening to God

2:2-3 Then the LORD said to me, "You have made your way around this hill country long enough; now turn north.

5:32 So be careful to do what the LORD your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left.

Isaiah 30:21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it."

b. By praying to God

4:7 What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him?

Mark 1:35-38 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: "Everyone is looking for you!" Jesus replied, "Let us go somewhere else--to the nearby villages--so I can preach there also. That is why I have come."

Otherwise we will get lost in the wilderness.

Luke 9:33 As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, "Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters--one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah." (He did not know what he was saying.)

2:37 But in accordance with the command of the LORD our God, you did not encroach on any of the land of the Ammonites, neither the land along the course of the Jabbok nor that around the towns in the hills.

4.      Belong to the community

a.      By following and imitating the leaders

1:13-15 Choose some wise, understanding and respected men from each of your tribes, and I will set them over you." You answered me, "What you propose to do is good." So I took the leading men of your tribes, wise and respected men, and appointed them to have authority over you--as commanders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens and as tribal officials.
Hebrews 13:7, 17 Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.

b.      By living in harmony with others

2:9, 27 Then the LORD said to me, "Do not harass the Moabites or provoke them to war, for I will not give you any part of their land. I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as a possession." "Let us pass through your country. We will stay on the main road; we will not turn aside to the right or to the left.

3:18-20 I commanded you at that time: "The LORD your God has given you this land to take possession of it. But all your able-bodied men, armed for battle, must cross over ahead of your brother Israelites. However, your wives, your children and your livestock(I know you have much livestock) may stay in the towns I have given you, until the LORD gives rest to your brothers as he has to you, and they too have taken over the land that the LORD your God is giving them, across the Jordan. After that, each of you may go back to the possession I have given you."

1Peter 3:8 Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. 

Romans 12:16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

5.      Destroy the evil totally

a.      The evil environment

7:2 and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy.

Remove the sources of evil influence.

7:26 Do not bring a detestable thing into your house or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction. Utterly abhor and detest it, for it is set apart for destruction.

b.      The evil practice

19:19 then do to him as he intended to do to his brother. You must purge the evil from among you.

Ephesians 5:3 (NASB) But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.

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