Following seasons of spiritual blessing or triumph, we can often find ourselves in times of particular vulnerability. Such seasons are part of our pilgrimage, and come to us in the providence of our God. Testing and trial are the path to spiritual maturity. As Bunyan writes elsewhere, ‘I hear there are lands where the harvest is poor because they have no winters’. One of the most important things to realise is that it is the Narrow Path that Christian has been instructed to follow that leads him through the Valley of Humiliation. Sometimes we meet problems and opposition on the way as a result of our sin… other times as a result of the Lord’s will, and it takes great wisdom to discern which is which.
Bunyan gives us some clues: Christian is told of other another pilgrim who has passed through the same Valley, who is tellingly named Faithful; he is accompanied by others (Discretion, Piety, Charity and Prudence) who encourage Christian and whose counsel is designed to strengthen him for the trials ahead; he is given sustenance by them; he is pre-emptively warned of the dangers of this part of the journey; he has been taught how to fight and to secure victory. Through the testing that lies ahead, Christian will grow, and make progress in his pilgrimage. There is also the question of timing. It is important to remember that early on in his pilgrimage, when Christian is spiritually immature, he is protected from his enemy. Goodwill had pulled him in through the Gate, so that he wouldn’t be exposed to the arrows shot from Beelzebub’s Castle. Christian is not exposed to such testing until the Lord knows he is ready.
‘So he went on, and Apollyon met him’. It is, initially, a war of words - indeed it is one of the longest dialogue sections in the whole book, which is telling in itself. Apollyon is aptly named; Destroyer (Rev.9:11). There is no real subtlety about his purpose. He seeks to ruin Christian’s faith, and to bring ruin to his pilgrimage. He seeks to do so by first calling into question the validity of Christian’s conversion at all, reminding Christian of where he came from and claiming he still has jurisdiction. He seeks to bribe, promising all this world can give if he will simply desist his pilgrimage; he makes sure Christian is aware of others who have started out on the Narrow Way before turning aside, hoping to undermine Christian’s faith by the hypocrisy of others. He threatens Christian with the hardships that lie ahead should he press on, the prospect of rejection, suffering, loss and possibly even martyrdom; he assaults Christian’s confidence by questioning his motives and by reminding him of how often has already failed in his discipleship, calling into question whether Christ would still own him.
And when all these schemes and strategies failed, Apollyon ‘broke out into a grievous rage’. When such diabolical reasoning proves insufficient to his purpose, the Destroyer turns to less sophisticated methods: Brute force, bullying and intimidation. Temptation to sin (the flaming darts), and threat of physical harm (‘…prepare thyself to die’). Christian is wounded in his head, hand and foot. He gives back a little. The combat is relentless and protracted. Toward the end, ‘Christian was almost quite spent … and by reason of his wounds must needs grow weaker and weaker’.
But the moment when Christian is in most danger is when during ‘a dreadful fall … Christian’s sword flew out of hand. Then Apollyon said, I am sure of thee now. And with that he had almost pressed him to death; so that Christian began to despair of life…’.
Remember that the sword represents the Word of God. As soon as the Destroyer of our souls can cause us to lose our grip on Scripture - to remain ignorant of it, to forget it, to doubt and disbelieve it, to be critical or dismissive of it, to stand in judgement on it - he is on the verge of achieving his ends.
How can Christian stand?
A Prayer for time of battle:
O Lord my God, you are my fortress, my refuge, my shield and my strength. Fight for me and my foes must flee; uphold me and I cannot fall; strengthen me and I stand unmoved and unmoveable; equip me and I shall receive no wound; stand by me and I shall stand while Satan must flee; anoint my lips with a song of salvation and I shall shout your victory.
Give me an abhorrence of all evil. Teach me to look to Jesus on His cross, and so to know sin’s loathsomeness in your sight.
There is no pardon but through your Son’s death; no cleansing but by His precious blood; no atonement but his to expiate evil. Show me the shame, the agony of the incarnate God; that I may read boundless guilt in the boundless price.
May I discern the deadly viper in its true guise; tear it with holy indignation from my heart; resolutely turn from every snare.
Blessed Lord Jesus, at your cross, may I be taught the awful miseries from which I am saved … Then may I cling more closely to your broken Self, hold to you with firmer faith, be devoted to you with total being; detest sin as strongly as your love to me is strong; And may holiness be the atmosphere in which I live.
…taken from The Valley of Vision, Conflict.
