I have called to mind two remarkable touches of Bunyan, in his 'Pilgrim's Progress'. The first picture shows us Christian, weary with climbing the Hill Difficulty, turning aside into a pleasant arbour where he sat down to rest. For the comfort of his own heart he pulled out his roll of assurance. He also began to examine with great satisfaction the coat which had been given to him, and 'after pleasing himself for a while' he fell into a slumber, and in his sleep let the roll fall from his hand.
Mercifully, Christian was awakened, and hasted along the road. Later, he got into great temptation, and, desiring to reassure his own heart, he put his hand into his bosom to find the roll, 'which was his pass to the Celestial City'; but, to his horror, it was not there! After great distress Christian remembered his sleeping in the arbour, and painfully retraced his steps 'bewailing his sinful sleep in the midst of difficulty'. He reached the place of his loss, and at last espied the roll which had slipped out of his hand. He secured it once more, and after giving thanks for his recovery, the Pilgrim betook himself again to his journey.
Bunyan's other picture of Vain-hope is even more pathetic. The vision shows the gate of the Celestial City, and the entrance of Christian and other pilgrims. But when this man, Vain-hope, came up, he had no roll or certificate, having lost it, if he ever had it; the poor wretch passed away to 'a door on the side of the hill', which caused the dreamer to write, 'Then I saw that there is a way to Hell even from the very gates of Heaven'.
How true, therefore, it is, that at every stage of the heavenward journey, one has to guard against the loss of that spiritual treasure which has been secured at such a cost.
I hope you see clearly that the Divine treasure is all right, and the possibility of its continued enjoyment is not in question. If lost, the fault is with the bag or carrier of the bag. But by pointing out some of the holes in the bag through which certain people have lost their blessing, we may help them and others.
As one hole through which spiritual loss is sustained, let me first speak of ignorance. I do not say that in an unkind way. By ignorance I mean lack of knowledge. You cannot imagine a man putting his wages into a faulty pocket if he knew there was a hole there.
There are traps and pitfalls for the newly sanctified. Some know of them; others do not know, and are unprepared for dangers and the devices of the Devil, who, if he cannot hinder a man getting the blessing will scheme to rob him of it. For instance, temptations to doubt are pressed on a soul just entering the path of Holiness: 'Can it be?' 'Have I been deceiving myself?' 'I thought I should have such and such sensations; where are the feelings of ecstasy which I expected?' The uninstructed soul often confuses feelings with assurance, particularly if in the moment of deliverance some special wave of feeling swept over the soul. When this wave subsides the sensations are different, and the soul is tempted to doubt the reality of the transaction.
Personally, I am always thankful that both in the matter of conversion and getting a clean heart, the Lord left me to claim the blessing by naked faith. I had little or no special feelings; I just had to go on believing. I stepped out, as upon thin air, and found my feet on the rock.
For lack of knowledge many souls imagine that Holiness will mean ecstasy, or that the sanctified soul will not feel temptation; and Satan feeds the anxious thought until sometimes the hand of faith is unclasped, and the blessing lost for the time being.
Later on the faithful soul learns to hold on, to resist the enemy's insidious attacks, and understands the meaning of the lines—