The Palace Beautiful

However, it was at this point that Christian saw a large, stately palace before him, which was called the Palace Beautiful. This was situated a little beyond the top of the Hill Difficulty, and when Christian saw it he decided it would be a good place to lodge. He came across the two lions which Mistrust and Timorous had seen. Unaware of the fact that they were chained, Christian hesitated; but Watchful, the porter of the lodge, called to him and said

Is thy strength so small? Fear not the lions, for they are chained, and are placed there for trial of faith where it is, and for discovery of those that have none. Keep in the midst of the path, and no hurt shall come unto thee (44).

Once past the lions, Christian asked the porter for lodging for the night. He said "Sir, what house is this?" To which Watchful replied, "This house was built by the Lord of the hill, and he built it for the relief and security of pilgrims" (45).

Before telling any more of the story, it is worth noting the meaning of the Palace Beautiful. In his lectures on the Pilgrim's Progress, Charles Overton says:

This Beautiful House is the emblem of any true church, or congregation of faithful men, in which the pure word of God is faithfully proclaimed, and the sacraments which Christ ordained are duly administered. Entrance into this house represents the public profession of religion made by any person, when he casts in his lot among the people of God, and begins to associate among those who constitute the household of faith

Lectures on the Pilgrim's Progress, p70

Spurgeon agrees. He notes that Faithful, the Christian martyr, never came to the Palace Beautiful. Church membership is not necessary for a saving relationship with Christ. Indeed, Faithful was taken to Heaven in a blaze of glory, although he had never stopped at the Palace Beautiful. But, as Spurgeon reminds us,

Christian, and Christiana, and Mercy, and almost if not all the other pilgrims, stopped at the Palace Beautiful, by which Bunyan means the place of special Christian fellowship -- the Church of God on earth.

Pictures from Pilgrim's Progress, p113-4.

The same emphasis is found in Barry Horner, who describes the Palace Beautiful as

An exquisitely beautiful and extensive portrayal of a faithful biblical local church, a nonconformist assembly, an outpost of the Celestial City, so necessary if sustained progress is to be maintained (Themes and Issues, p261).

Before looking at the events that take place in this Palace, where Christian lodges, it is important to register this emphasis on the importance for Bunyan of the local church. This is a common Puritan theme, and is worth exploring.

At its heart, Puritanism was a movement for the Reform of the Church (of England). Ironically, such reform was never fully realised. Instead, Puritans found themselves in gathered congregations, in which they sought to simplify church worship and create a society for fellowship and worship. The Puritans never formed a denomination of their own -- there is a Lutheran Church, and there are Reformed Churches, but there was never a Puritan Church. Instead, men and women of Puritan principles and ideals were scattered throughout many different denominations. As Leland Ryken puts it, "the Puritans were a scattered presence in a broad expanse of affiliations" (Worldly Saints, p111). Nonetheless, the ideal for the Puritans was the idea of the church as

A company of Christians, called by the power and mercy of God to fellowship with Christ, and by his providence to live together, and by his grace to cleave together in the unity of the faith and brotherly love, and ... bind themselves to the Lord and one to another, to walk together by the assistance of his Spirit, in all such ways of holy worship in him, and of edification one towards another (Richard Mather, quoted in Ryken, p134).

The Puritan principles of worship, such as the simplification of the ceremonies, the observance of the Sabbath, the primacy of the Word, the centrality of preaching, are important for lovers of God's word in all denominations. However, in practice, Puritan congregations tended to be independent and self-contained.

Bunyan's own experience, which explains many of the emphases of Pilgrim's Progress, is important in this regard. While assaulted by many fears and trials, Bunyan came into contact with some members of a church in Bedford pastored by John Gifford. Gifford plays an important part in the story of Bunyan and his life. He had lived a profligate life until converted through the writings of the Puritan Robert Bolton, and was ordained in 1650. Along with eleven others, Gifford had set up a church in Bedford, described by Michael Haykin as 'an open-membership Calvinistic Baptist church' (EP edition of Grace Abounding, p9). Bunyan was baptized there in the early 1650s, and although he would become an itinerant preacher, he would regard this church as his spiritual home for the next thirty years. The question of whether in fact Bunyan was a Baptist, however, remains a matter of scholarly discussion.

Bunyan talks about his admission to the church in these terms:

I shall begin with what I encountered when I first joined in fellowship with the people of God in Bedford. After I had proposed to the church that my desire was to walk in obedience to the commands and ordinances of Christ with them, and was also admitted by them, and while I thought of Christ's blessed ordinance of his last supper with his disciples before his death, the scripture 'Do this in remembrance of me' became a precious word to me; the Lord used it to come down upon my conscience with the revelation of his death for my sins and I then felt as if he had plunged me into its virtue (Grace Abounding, p124).

Bunyan goes on to speak of the temptations he faced from Satan even while in the fellowship of the saints. But the important point to note is the emphasis on the church. We need to recover it, and learn the lessons Bunyan has to teach us. What are the parallels between the Palace Beautiful and the church?

First, we might note the difficulties in the way of approaching the Palace. In particular, there are two lions in the way. I want to emphasise this because some interpreters are very definite and narrow in their view here. For example, Barry Horner says that "Here the savage opposition of civil and ecclesiastical tyranny, portrayed by two snarling lions, attempt to thwart pilgrims in their desire to associate with a nonconformist fellowship" (Themes and Issues, p262). This may be true, but whether it is actually what Bunyan intended I am not sure. It was certainly true that some independent evangelical gatherings did receive harsh treatment both from the government of the day and the established Church of England. But whether this exhausts the meaning of the metaphor is another issue.

Might we not broaden the application of the portrait of Pilgrim's Progress and suggest that Bunyan wants to show that there is always opposition whenever God's people wish to make public profession of their faith. How many of us, in our own experience as Christians, wrestled with this very point of profession of faith and membership in the church, only to be discouraged by lions in the way? And, indeed, how often do these lions continue to discourage pilgrims from associating with the church? We need to reflect the Bible's positive attitude to church membership and church belonging; it is time to raise the church's profile. It was the most precious thing in the world to Bunyan to find a church to which he could belong and with which he could identify, and did so, in spite of all the discouragements in the way.

Second, we should note that the approach to the Palace is guarded by the porter, named Watchful. I have no doubt that Bunyan meant to represent John Gifford himself as the porter of the gate of the local church to which he belonged. But more important than the identity of the porter is the emphasis on the need to keep and guard the entrance to the Palace. The door of the church needs to be watched, in a spiritual sense.

The porter makes some preliminary enquiries about Christian. In particular, he asks two questions: 'What is your name?' and 'How doth it happen that you come so late?' The answer to both of these are worth considering.

In answer to the question what is your name? Christian answers:

My name is now Christian, but my name at the first was Graceless; I came of the race of Japheth, whom God will persuade to dwell in the tents of Shem (45).

This is the first indication we have of a change of name on the part of Christian. He has gone from being without grace, to being a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, and a child of the king. But more than that, in an allusion to the Noahic oovenant of Genesis 9, Christian tells us that he was of the race of Japheth (that is, the Gentiles), and therefore a stranger to the promises of the covenant. God revealed his covenant promise to Noah with the pledge that the Japhethites, the Gentiles, would be brought in to the tents of Shem, that is, the seed of the covenant. It was a promise that finds its fulfillment in the death of Christ, by whom the blessing of Abraham comes upon the Gentiles (Galatians 3:14ff).

The second question, how is it that you have come so late? This question allows Bunyan to recount the story of the lost roll. Christian again bewails the fact that he had sinned by his sleeping:

I had been here sooner, but, wretched man that I am! I slept in the arbour that stands on the hill-side; nay, I had, notwithstanding that, been here much sooner, but that, in my sleep, I lost my evidence, and came without it to the brow of the hill; and then feeling for it, and finding it not, I was forced, with sorrow of heart, to go back to the place where I slept my sleep, where I found it, and now I am come (45).

This ought to serve as a warning to us that not only that it does not pay to sleep and to lose the assurance of our 'evidence', but also that by doing so, we could waste valuable time in our Christian pilgrimage. How many Christians are there who have wasted precious time by their delaying to profess Christ and to take their place as members of his church at his table? Their delay has neither helped them nor the church.

Third, we might note the gentle but thorough examination to which Christian was subjected at the entrance to the palace. The porter called a 'grave and beautiful damsel' called Discretion to speak with Christian. Porter describes her in this way :

I will call out one of the virgins of this place who will, if she likes your talk, bring you in to the rest of the family, according to the rules of the house (45).

The fact that Christian is not given automatic entry, and that the maiden who initially examines him is called 'discretion' gives an insight into the Puritan concern for the purity of the church. The church cannot judge who are, or who are not, Christians; but what the church can do is use discretion when it comes to admittance to public ordinances. There has to be a careful enquiry into the spiritual knowledge and walk of those who seek admission to the church and gospel ordinances. So Discretion asks Christian where he had come from, where he was going, how he had got onto the road, what he had met with, and what his name was. Being satisfied with the responses, she called three other maidens together: Prudence, Piety and Charity, who shared company with him and continue to speak of things that had happened to Christian in his pilgrimage.

Fourth, we can note the elements of Christian's experience within the Palace Beautiful. In other words, what ought the church to be like for us? There were several aspects to the refreshment that the Palace provided.

First, there was fellowship. Bunyan says that each of the maidens chose a subject with which to speak with Christian, to make the best use of time. Piety chose to speak of the journey which Christian had chosen for himself. "What moved you at first to betake yourself to a pilgrim's life?" It was an eminently suitable question. Can we answer it ourselves? Bunyan uses this technique to cover aspects of the story again, but there is more than recapitulation here: this is of the very essence of true Christian fellowship. Perhaps our time sometimes would be better spent in discussing with one another what we experienced in the way.

Prudence discussed the relationship between Christian and the city he had left behind, in a series of searching questions:

Do you not think sometimes of the country from whence you came?

Do you not yet bear away with you some of the things that then you were conversant withal?

Do you not find sometimes as if those things were vanquished which at other times are your perplexity?

Can you remember by what means you find your annoyances, at times, as if they were vanquished?

The conversation of Prudence gives an insight into the ongoing struggle in the Christian life between grace and indwelling sin. The answers are worth pondering. For example, in answer to the third of these questions, Christian answers, 'Yes, but that is but seldom; but they are to me golden hours in which such things happen to me' (48).

Charity discusses with Christian whether he is a family man, and why his wife and children did not come with him on pilgrimage. He weeps as he recalls his witness to them and his prayers for them, and says

My wife was afraid of losing this world, and my children were give to the foolish delights of youth, so what by one thing, and what by another, they left me to wander in this manner alone (50).

Such has often been the experience of many of the children of God.

The second element of the Palace experience was the supper. They sat down to eat at a table furnished with fat things, and with wine that was well refined; and Bunyan tells us 'and all their talk at the table was about the Lord of the hill' (51), especially what he had done, why he did it, and why he built the house. To which Bunyan adds the following comment in an insert:

And by what they said, I perceived that he had been a great warrior, and had fought with, and slain him that had the power of death, but not without great danger to himself, which made me love him the more (51).

The fellowship and the supper together provided Christian with such refreshing rest that he slept that night till break of day, when he woke up in the morning saying

Where am I now? Is this the love and care
Of Jesus for the men that pilgrims are?
Thus to provide! That I should be forgiven!
And dwell already the next door to heaven! (51)

How often is our experience of church like this? That we are so filled with love to Jesus through the fellowship of his people and under the gospel at his table that we feel ourselves to be living 'next door to heaven'? We need to labour and pray that our experience of church life will be so sweet that it will be to us as if Heaven came down and glory filled our soul.

The third element of Christian's stay at the Palace was his viewing of the rare treasures of the place. He was shown things that were on display nowhere else but here. He saw records of antiquity, among which was the pedigree of the Lord of the Hill, proving that 'he was the son of the Ancient of Days and came by that eternal generation' (52). There were also records of the worthy acts of his servants (quoting from Hebrews 11). There were records that showed things ancient and modern, prophecies and predictions, things to amaze enemies and comfort pilgrims. Here again is a depiction of the importance of the Bible in the life of the church and in the life of the pilgrim.

The following day, they showed Christian the armoury that God provided for his pilgrims: 'sword, shield, helmet, breastplate, all-prayer, and shoes that would not wear out' (52). And he saw that there was as much there as there were pilgrims on his side. Christian then saw the engines with which some of God's servants had done mighty things: Moses' rod, Jael's hammer, Gideon's pitchers, Shamgar's ox-goad, David's sling, and the Lord's sword with which he will kill the Man of Sin. These illustrations show a detailed familiarity with the Old Testament, and an implicit reference to the ultimate triumph of Christ over the man of sin (the Pope?).

Christian was ready to go on, but his companions asked him to stay another day, so that, if the following day was clear, they would show him the Delectable Mountains. So he stayed.

When the morning was up they had him to the top of the house and bid him look south; so he did; and behold, at a great distance, he saw a most pleasant mountainous country, beautified with woods, vineyards, fruit of all sorts, flowers also, with springs and fountains, very delectable to behold. Then he asked the name of the country. They said it was Immanuel's Land; and it is as common, said they, as this hill is, to and for all pilgrims. And when thou comest there, from thence, said they, thou mayest see to the gate of the Celestial City, as the shepherds that live there will make appear. (53)

So Christian takes his leave of the Palace, dressed in full armour, told that Faithful has just gone by, and told by his companions that the next stage of the journey will take him down to the Valley of Humiliation. Christian comments that "as it was difficult coming up, so, so far as I can see, it is dangerous going down". To which Prudence answers that 'it is a hard matter for a man to go down into the Valley of Humiliation, as thou art now'.

So, with marvellous pastoral heart and insight, Bunyan has taken us a third of the way through the story, and has the Palace Beatiful situated between the Hill Difficulty and the Valley of Humiliation. It is a fitting picture of the church, a place of rest, refreshment and preparation. In our difficulties, a fresh sight of the Lord of the hill in the Palace he built for pilgrims, is great comfort; and it is the best preparation for the valley that lies ahead. We must treasure the church, the means of grace, the blessings of the Gospel. They are the provision of the lord of the hill for the relief and comfort of all those who have set out on pilgrimage.

© Iain D. Campbell 2004