Pilgrim’s Progress: The Valley of Humiliation

The Palace Beautiful has rested and refreshed Christian, preparing him for upcoming challenges, including monsters, demons, smooth talk, and other dangers around each corner

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After being armed and dressed in armor, Christian descends into the Valley of Humiliation. He is attacked by a “foul fiend coming over the field to meet him; his name is Apollyon.”

Apollyon taunts Christian with reminders of his failures, of the family he left behind, of the others who left the King’s Path. He even begins to attack him. The monster sends his flaming missiles and direct blows.

Endurance

Christian, though, stands his ground.

“Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us!”

-Pilgrim’s Progress, also Romans 8:37

Valiantly combating his enemy’s lies with the TRUTH, Christian wins the battle with Apollyon and “sends him away for a season”.

Talking is Not the Same as Doing

After his fight, Christian finds a fellow pilgrim named Faithful. The two of them walk together, and come upon another supposed pilgrim, whose name is Talkative.

(I already don’t like him)

Talkative seems nice, and is very handsome, but Christian tells Faithful that he is a liar, and does not really do what he says.

One conversation later: Faithful finds out that Christian is correct, that Talkative has a skilled tongue but no heart to do what is truly right.

• Some people know exactly what to say to make others believe them…even longtime christians, like Faithful, can be fooled for a time. But the truth ALWAYS comes out.
• Christian knew that Talkative was a liar because Christian read the book that Evangelist gave him (the Bible). We should be able to recognize the lies that those ‘Talkative’ people say.

Talkative leaves them, embarrassed and disgusted by the fact that they found out he was lying.

Whispers

Something that stuck out to me in this section of Pilgrim’s Progress was the part when Christian is walking past demons and ‘wicked ones’ and goblins , and they’re trying to attack him. He’s able to fend them off, though.

Then, one of the monsters comes up silently behind Christian and begis to whisper. Doubts, lies, and fears begin to fill Christian’s ears. He’s so alone and in such a dark place that he thinks the voice is his own.

He makes it through, continuing forward, even if he “had not the discretion to stop his ears…”

Two Deceptions

Christian faced two dangers in the Valley of Humiliation. Loud, physical assault from Apollyon, and sly, subtle lies from the monsters.

We, too, deal with these.

People insult christians for their faith. Somebody laughs and teases a christian after they mention God. Some christian kids might even be physically bullied for it.

Then there’s the quiet, but powerful, lies that slip into our minds and plant doubts. I’m not good enough. God doesn’t care about me. I’m a disgrace. It’s fine if I give into sin, just a little bit, just this once.

Both of these, head-on attacks and discreet doubts, are challenges we face every day.

Follow Christian’s example–fight the lies with the truth. Declare that you live for the King, and follow His Way.

Continue On

Christian and Faithful, after being rid of Talkative, keep going along the Path.

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I hope you liked this post!! Sorry if it was a little long. I’ll keep you updated on Pilgrim’s Progress, and until next time, happy reading.