THE PILGRIM’S PROGRESS
FROM THIS WORLD, TO THAT WHICH IS TO COME
CHAPTER 13
WEEK 4 - WEDNESDAY
Pilgrims at the Vanity Fair
The Evangelist goes out again to meet the pilgrims and prepares them for new tasks. They enter Vanity Fair, where they are mocked. Persecution and death of Faithful
As soon as our pilgrims left the desert, Faithful saw behind him a person he immediately recognized, and exclaimed, addressing his companion: Look who is coming there.
Christian looked and said: It is my good friend the Evangelist! Yes, replied Faithful, mine as well, for he was the one who directed me to the gate.
Then the Evangelist approached them and greeted them saying:
Evangelist – Peace be with you, beloved, and peace with those who help you.
Christian – Welcome, welcome, my good Evangelist! Your presence reminds me of your former kindness and your tireless efforts for my eternal good.
Faithful – Yes, a thousand times welcome be your company, sweet Evangelist: how much these poor pilgrims desire it!
Evangelist – How have you been, my friends, since we last parted? What have you found, and how have you conducted yourselves?
They then told him all that had happened to them on the way, and how, despite many difficulties, they had arrived at the place where they now were.
— I greatly rejoice, said the Evangelist, not that you have gone through all these trials, but that you have come out victorious from them, and that despite your many weaknesses you have followed this path up to now. I rejoice as much for you as for myself. I have sown, and you have reaped, and the day is coming when the one who sows and the one who reaps will rejoice together (John 4:36), that is, if you remain firm, for in due time you will reap, if you do not give up (Galatians 6:9).
Before you is the incorruptible crown; run so that you may obtain it (1 Corinthians 9:24-27). Some set out to gain this crown, but after advancing far, another comes and takes it away. Therefore hold fast what you have, so that no one may take your crown. You are not yet out of Satan’s reach; you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood, fighting against sin (Revelation 3:2; Hebrews 12:4).
Always keep the kingdom before your eyes, and firmly believe in the invisible things. Do not let the things of the world invade your heart, and watch especially over your hearts and their lusts, for they are deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. You have beside you all the power there is in heaven and on earth.
Christian thanked him for this exhortation and asked him to teach them even more, to help them overcome the rest of the journey. Especially since they knew he was a prophet and could tell them some things that would happen to them, and how to overcome them with endurance. Faithful joined Christian’s request, and the Evangelist spoke again.
Evangelist – My children, you have heard in the word of truth of the Gospel that through many tribulations we enter the kingdom of God, and that in every city prisons and persecutions await us. You must therefore expect that some of these things will confront you on your way. You have already experienced part of this testimony, and the rest will not delay, for as you see, you are almost out of this desert, and soon you will arrive at a city where you will be attacked by enemies who will try to kill you.
Be sure that one of you, or both, will have to seal their testimony with their own blood. Remain faithful even unto death, and the King will give you the crown of life. Whoever dies there, though their death be disgraceful and their sufferings cruel, will be better off than their companion, not only because they will reach the Celestial City sooner, but because they will be spared many miseries the other will still face on the rest of the journey. When you reach the nearby city, and what I have announced to you is fulfilled, remember your good friend. Conduct yourselves bravely, and commit your souls to God (1 Peter 4:19).
Then I saw in my dream that, as soon as they left the desert, they sighted a settlement called Vanity, in which there is a fair, known by the same name, that lasts all year. It is called so because the city where it is held is more frivolous than Vanity itself, and because everything sold there, and all who attend, are vanity, for as the wise man said – all is vanity (Ecclesiastes 12:8; Isaiah 13:11). This fair is very old. I will tell you the story of its beginning:
Almost five thousand years ago there were already pilgrims going to the Celestial City like Christian and Faithful. Seeing this, Beelzebub, Apollyon, and Legion, with their companions, knowing that pilgrims had to pass through this city of Vanity, agreed among themselves to establish this fair here, which would last all year, and where every kind of vanity would be sold.
For this reason, all kinds of goods are found at the fair: houses, lands, businesses, jobs, honors, titles, countries, kingdoms, lusts, pleasures; and every kind of delight such as prostitutes, wives, husbands, children, masters, servants, life, blood, bodies, soul, silver, gold, pearls, precious stones, and many other things.
There are also constantly found there deceits, games, entertainments, clowns, theaters, amusements, and traders of every kind. And not only that. There are also, for free, thefts, murders, adultery, perjuries, false testimonies of every degree of seriousness. As in other fairs of lesser importance, this one has several streets and crossings, all with appropriate names, each dedicated to certain specialties.
Some of these streets are named after certain countries. Thus, the street of Spain, Italy, France, England, Germany, etc. Just as in all other fairs, there are certain kinds that are more sought after: those of Rome, which England and other nations are now opposing, as they did not like the development the commerce of Rome was acquiring. The road that leads to the Celestial City passes right through the middle of this settlement, and whoever wants to go to the Celestial City without passing here must leave the world (1 Corinthians 5:10).
Even the Prince of princes, when He was in the world, had to pass through this settlement before arriving at His own country; He also was in the fair that belonged to Beelzebub, I believe, who personally invited Him to buy his vanities, and not only that; He even offered Him everything for free if the Prince consented to bow to Him while passing through the settlement.
As He was a person of high rank, Beelzebub took Him to other streets and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in an instant, trying to persuade Him to buy some of his vanities; but he could not succeed, and the Prince left the city without having spent a penny (Matthew 4:8-10). This fair is therefore very old and of great importance.
It was necessary that the pilgrims passed through this place, and so it happened, but as soon as their presence was noticed, everyone in the settlement was upset because of them. Here is the reason:
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The pilgrims’ clothes were very different from those sold at the fair, and the people surrounded them on all sides to look at them. Some said the pilgrims were idiots, others that they were mad, and others that they were foreigners (Job 12:4; 1 Corinthians 4:9).
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And if many marveled at their clothes, they were no less amazed at their way of speaking, for few could understand them. They spoke the language of Canaan and the people of the fair spoke the language of the world; so they supposed each other to be barbarians (1 Corinthians 2:7-8).
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But what surprised the merchants most was that these pilgrims disregarded the goods and did not even bother to look at them. And if someone called them to buy, they covered their ears and exclaimed: “Turn away my eyes that they may not see vanity” (Psalm 119:37). And they looked upwards, as if to indicate their business was in heaven (Philippians 3:20-21).
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