Pilgrim's progress is attract to help Christians understand the reality of death and to be able to face it with assurance

and with expectation, with hope, with confidence that although we may fear the process of dying,

we have no need to be afraid of death itself because Christ has conquered death by His resurrection from the dead.

It's estimated that over 150,000 people die every single day. That number seems staggering,

especially because we live in a time in which our culture seeks to hide the reality of death.

It often doesn't feel real until it impacts our friends or our family directly.

But that wasn't true in John Bunyan's time. They were far more aware that our days are numbered.

I am Nathan Delby Bingham, and thanks for joining us on Renewing Your Mind as we come to the final chapter of John Bunyan's classic allegory, The Pilgrim's Progress.

Christian, the main character in the Pilgrim's Progress, is coming to the end of His pilgrimage to the celestial city.

But to enter, He must first die, or in the allegory pass through the river. This is such a beautiful and comforting portion of the story.

I remember recently simply reading this section to my family over dinner, and it has been used by God for centuries to help prepare Christians for their own death.

Here's Derek Thomas to guide us through the last leg of Christian's journey.

Welcome back to the final one in our study of Part 1 of Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan.

We come to one of the most wonderful descriptions of death and passing through the river and into the gates of the celestial city.

We were in the delectable mountains in our previous study, and you remember, one of the things Christian and hopeful were taken to a mountain,

a ridge called Clear and then with the aid of perspective glass at telescope, if you will.

They could see Buehlerland and beyond it. They could see something like the gates of the city and some of the glory of the place, so they've been given a little anticipation of heaven.

Actually in the allegory that I think was something that Christians see on the Lord's Day and in the ministry of the Word, I think that's what Bunyan was trying to say.

Now before they get to the glory of the celestial city, hopeful and Christian pass through a place called Enchanted Ground.

This is a place where they are not allowed to fall asleep. If they fall asleep, terrible things are going to happen to them.

So they must stay awake and there's a description of just how close they get to falling asleep. Once again, it's perseverance.

Once again, it's the lesson that right up to the end, you can expect opposition and trial and difficulty.

...