It might be a result of our fallenness, but we have a strange propensity to think that because we have talked about something, we have somehow done it. After much discussion of spiritual combat, and of the King’s protection, and after resolving to go out armed for battle, and to go out in the company of saints, Christian and Hopeful are caught remarkably off-guard by a man wearing a ‘very light robe’.

They are at a path within the Path, and unsure of the direction to take. They had been given directions by the Shepherds, but had forgotten to read them. And it turns out that such forgetfulness of the Word is dangerous for Pilgrims. It’s hard to know, initially, why this character is given the name Flatterer. He doesn’t say much of anything, let alone say much that could be considered flattery. This might be the danger. Perhaps there are times when it comes to temptation, that less is more. The cunning of this one who ‘masquerades as an angel of light’ (II Cor.11:14) is that he simply lets the Pilgrims assume they know ore than they do, that they are more spiritually switched-on than they are. That is flattery enough, quietly letting them believe they are better than they are. Although he is a ‘fine-spoken man’ his words bring confusion, corruption, and catastrophe

It may be that they feel they have come so far, won so many battles, overcome so many obstacles, that they begin to trust themselves to recognize a true guide, to find the way. And even as, by degrees, the road turns away, their failure to read the instructions given by the Shepherds means they blinded by their error. Their over-confidence and self-reliance leaves them susceptible to being deceived. Which in due course they are… Until ‘he led them both within the compass of a net, in which they were both so entangled they knew not what to do’ (Prov.29:5). Their subtle arrogance leads to their disregard for Scripture, and to do disaster.

No amount of tears, or self-reproach can free them. But God’s grace comes even to those Pilgrims who forget to cry out for it. A ‘shining one’ (a genuine angel of light, this time) brings freedom (Heb.1:14), but also brings rebuke. This is a sign of the Pilgrim’s maturity. My own sense is that the LORD is gentle with the immature, but as we grow, His Fatherliness more frequently finds expression in discipline as well as tenderness. There is no conflict here: ‘Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children…God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness’ (Heb.12:7&10).

The ‘Shining One’ confronts them with their sin (for forgetting His Word is sin). He reminds them that they enjoyed the benefits of the Delectable Mountains, that they had received instruction from the Shepherds, that they had been given directions, and that the Shepherds have even ‘bid them beware of the Flatterer’. Confessing their sin, they are chastised. This may seem quaint to us, perhaps even politically incorrect, but Bunyan is drawing attention to an important dynamic in our relationship with God. He will afflict, chasten, discipline us in the Way. Rev.3:19, Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.

Of course, such discipline doesn’t automatically produce the fruit of repentance and holiness. If we are foolish, it can make us resentful and bitter… Hence the warning of Heb.12:9, that we ‘…submit to the Father of [our] spirits and live’. Too often however, our response to suffering and trial is to rage against God, to accuse Him. We wonder why, if He loves us, such things happen; not realising that it is precisely because He loves us that such things occur. His discipline is accompanied by a promise. Heb.12:11 ‘Later on, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace by those who have been trained by it’. Neither Christian nor Hopeful will resent this episode when they cross the threshold of the Celestial City.

‘They thanked him for his kindness’.

Such may seem strange to us. but it resonates with Biblical spirituality.

Ps.119:67-68 & 71, Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word. You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees … It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.

Questions to ponder:

How do we endure suffering in a way shaped by faith?

Is all suffering and trial to be understood as the discipline of God?