Waiting is a large part of the Christian life. And, unless you’re desperate about your need to quit sin and be holy, you won’t wait on God. Instead, you can casually waltz into the carnival of a modern church. Sanitized from any confrontation with the cross, this carnival will feature a pastor-huckster who will toss jokes and say, “You’re saved!”
On the other hand, John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress pictures what the desperate need for salvation from sin looks like. After desperate knocking and waiting, Christian enters the narrow gate. Before arriving at the cross, he visits the House of the Interpreter. He there sees a dusty parlor, two children named Passion and Patience, an inextinguishable fire, a stately palace, and a man in an iron cage.
In this final metaphor, a man who once burst with Christian joy sits in despair. In his pride, he says, “God has denied me repentance.” He rebuts Christian’s pleas that he can and should repent. Christian finally says to his guide, “Isn’t it time for me to go on my way now?”
Dear reader, it’s also time for you and me to be on our way! Have you seen your desperate need to quit sinning and your inability to do so apart from the grace of God? Are you holy by faith, in reality? Will you determine, today, that you will enter holiness and eternal life, whatever the cost?
Podcast: Download (Duration: 53:37 — 24.6MB)
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Amazon Music | Blubrry | Podchaser | Podcast Index | TuneIn
