John Bunyan and the Wayfaring Life Part 3

As the two pilgrims, Christian and Faithful, continue on their journey, they come to a town called "Vanity". And it's in the town of Vanity, in fact, that Faithful is going to be condemned to death.

In the town of Vanity, Bunyan tells us, a fair was kept, every day of the year, and at this fair, of course, all kinds of merchandise was sold, and all kinds of 'attractions' were to be seen. The town of Vanity, with its fair, is one of Bunyan's versions of the World, and the things of the world; and as he reminds us - in his own words - "...the way to the Celestial City lies just through this town where this lusty fair is kept; and he that would go to the city, and yet not go through this town 'must need go out of the world.' (1Cor. 5:10) The Prince of Princes Himself," he tells us, "when here, went through this town to his own country...Yea, and as I think, it was Beelzebub, the chief lord of this fair, that invited him to buy of his vanities; yea, would have made him lord of the fair, would he have but done him reverence, as he went through the town."

The arrival of the two pilgrims in Vanity Fair caused quite a stir; they didn't dress like the people at the fair; they didn't speak like them - for they spoke "the language of Canaan". But, the thing that caused the greatest wonder of all, Bunyan tells us, was the way that they "set very light" by all the things that were sold at the Fair. "What will you buy?" they were asked; "We buy the truth," they said; "We buy the truth." Needless to say, Vanity Fair had no time for such men, just as the world has no time for believers, when they are faithful in the things of the Lord. They were placed in an iron cage for all the inhabitants to look at, and then Faithful was sentenced to be put on trial. And, as Bunyan relates the Judge and Jury, the outcome of the trial is a foregone conclusion.

Presiding over the whole affair is Judge Hategood; and the Jury consisted of men like - Mr Malice, Mr Love-lust, Mr Live-loose, Mr High-mind, Mr Hate-light....and so on. The foreman of the jury was Mr Blind-man - who gave out the verdict, and said - "I see clearly that this man is a heretic"!! Faithful was condemned to be put to death, "according to their law," says Bunyan, and he was taken out and burnt at the stake; But, he goes on to tell us, as the multitude gathered around the place where Faithful was put to death, "I saw that there stood behind the multitude, a chariot and a couple of horses..." The world had done all that it could against Faithful, but it had only dispatched him to heaven and glory, when all was said and done.

One of Bunyan's other great pictures of this present evil world, through which we have to go on our way to the Celestial City, is found in the second part of the Pilgrim's Progress, and in a conversation that takes place between three of the pilgrims that are found in that part of the Book. The three pilgrims are, Valiant for Truth, Mr Honest, and Standfast; and it is the latter of the three who relates a confrontation that he has just had with another character of the Book, whom Bunyan names as Madame Bubble.

Madame Bubble, then, is this other picture of the world - this "present evil world" - as Bunyan views the world; and to read the description, and the behaviour, and the characteristics of the world, as Bunyan put it into the mouths of his pilgrims, is to arm ourselves with vital information that we should never forget. For example, Bunyan places the confrontation between Standfast and Madam Bubble, virtually at the end of his Pilgrim's Progress, and on a patch of ground, which he names the enchanted ground. It's called by that name, we're told, because "the air tended to make one drowsy." That doesn't mean, of course, that the world will only accost us towards the end of our journey through the world, but simply to remind us that it will never leave-off accosting us, right to the end of our days. That for as long as we are "in the world", the world will come out to entrap us, or allure us, in every way. So the description that Standfast gives of Madam Bubble to the other two pilgrims, Valiant for Truth and Mr Honest: "She was one," he says, who was "dressed in very pleasant attire, but old; who presented herself to me, and offered me three things; to wit - her body, her purse, and her bed." The description is enlarged-on when Valiant, and Mr Honest, confirm to Standfast that it was Madam Bubble indeed that he met up with at that point on his journey - and the description is a classic.

"Is she not a tall, comely dame?" says Honest, "somewhat of a swarthy complexion? Does she not speak very smoothly, and give you a smile at the end of each sentence? Doth she not wear a great purse by her side, and is not her hand often in it, fingering her money, as if it were her heart's delight?" "'Tis just so," says Standfast; and then Valiant joins in as well. "This woman is a witch," he says, "and it's by virtue of her sorceries that this ground is enchanted. Whoever lays his head down on her lap, may as well lay it down on that block over which the axe doth hang."

Madame Bubble is the world - the present evil world - the harlot who would ever waylay us - the witch who would ever enchant us. The world is "old", indeed, as Standfast saw, but still made up in "very pleasant attire" for all that; and she still offers her 'body' her 'purse' and her 'bed'. She still speaks 'very smoothly', as Mr Honest recognised; and what about that 'smile' that she gives 'at the end of each sentence'! Her purse is still as big as ever, and she still runs her fingers through her money in it, for all to see and be attracted to. And then, if we need any further persuasion with regards to this Madam Bubble of the world that we meet up with in our journey, then we have Valiant's further description - which is simply a heaping-up of Biblical facts - because, he was, after all, you see, Valiant for Truth. "'Twas she," he says, "that set Absalom against his father; Jeroboam against his master. 'Twas she that persuaded Judas to sell his Lord, and that prevailed with Demas to forsake the godly pilgrim life," and so on; "None can tell of the mischief that she has done." We are to know that world, in that sense of knowing her ploys and plots; and we are to know how to act when confronted by her.

It is no accident on the part of John Bunyan that he calls his Pilgrim who "overcame the world" at that point, Mr Standfast, for there is only one way to overcome this Madam Bubble of the world, and that is by standing fast in the things of the Lord our Saviour.

And, it is no accident either, on the part of Bunyan, that the first time we see Standfast on the pages of the Pilgrim's Progress, he is not standing at all - but kneeling! He is kneeling in prayer before the Lord, with his eyes lifted up to heaven. That is no accident; for we will ever only stand fast against the world, as we kneel before the Lord.