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Pilgrim's Progress, continued Lesson 5
The hill which Pilgrim must pass to get to Mr. Legality's house looked very high and difficult to the burdened pilgrim. Perhaps, he thought hopefully, when I get to it, it will not be as high as it appears to be. But Pilgrim's hope were in vain, for the closer he came to the hill the higher it seemed. Thunder and lightning came from it and filled the sky about him. When the lightning came so close to Pilgrim that he feared he would be burned, he became so terrified he could not move. He could not go beyond the hill and he did not have the strength to turn and run from it. Then he remembered the name of the hill. It was mount Sinai. This was the place where God had given the law to His people, Israel. Here they had seen such a manifestation of God's holiness that they dared not come near the mountain, but begged Moses, their leader, to go into the mountain and receive the law on their behalf. "Oh, I wish I had never taken Mr. Worldly Wiseman's advice," cried Pilgrim. "It would have been much better for me to have continued on the way I was traveling." Just then Pilgrim saw Evangelist coming toward him. He was both relieved and ashamed: relieved because this was the man who once before, when he was so desperate, had brought him a message of hope; ashamed, that Evangelist should find him here on the way which he should not have taken. Pilgrim stood speechless before the stern eye of Evangelist.
"Are you not the man i found crying near the City of Destruction?" asked Evangelist. "Yes, sir." answered Pilgrim, hesitantly. "I am the man." "What are you doing here so far from the way to the wicket gate?" "Soon after I got safely through the Slough of Respond," replied Pilgrim, "I met a gentleman who told me that if I came this way I would get rid of my burden more easily and quickly than if I took the way you told me to take. He told me to go to Mr. Legality, who lives just beyond this hill, and promised that he would surely take my burden. But when I came near this dreadful hill and saw the lightning and heard the thunder, I was afraid to go on. Now I do not know what to do." Then Evangelist showed him from God's Word how he had sinned in rejecting God's way for another way and old him that to continue in that way could only bring him into judgment. Upon hearing that, Pilgrim was more frightened than before and his knees trembled so that he could no longer stand, but fell to the ground before Evangelist, crying out, "Is there no hope for me?" Evangelist saw that Pilgrim was really sorry for having listened to Mr. Worldly Wiseman and was eager to find the right way again, so helped him to his feet and said, "Your sin is great, but you can be forgiven, by the grace of God. Go now to the gate where I first directed you and see that you do not turn again from that way." Pilgrim was eager to leave Mount Sinai, which spoke to him of God's holiness, of God's holy law which he had broken and of God's righteous judgment against those who break His law. Pilgrim knew that he had disobeyed God and sinned against Him, and the law condemned him to death and judgment. After Pilgrim saw the holiness of God displayed at Mount Sinai, he no longer desired to have his burden removed by Mr. Legality. He was thankful for the privilege of having another opportunity to go to the wicket gate and the shining light. To continue the
story of Pilgrim's Progress,
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