Christian encounters two travelers on the King's Highway named Formalist and Hypocrisy. They claim to be pilgrims but Christian is skeptical. He learns they came from the Land of Vainglory and joined the pilgrimage for praise and appearances rather than true faith. Christian warns them that outward rituals and long tradition do not establish truth or guarantee salvation, which only comes through repentance and faith in Christ.

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 Credits
 These Pilgrim’s Progress Presentations are as a result of Bible Studies I did at my home church in Moose
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give the Good Lord credit through my name (Michal Lopianowski).
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3. Formalist is basically a ....?
 Religious performer
Hypocrisy is basically a ….?
 Religious pretender

4. • Bogus entry - Tumbled over the wall
• Bogus upbringing - Born in the Land of Vainglory
• Bogus motivation - To receive praise

5. • Formalism: "the disposition to exalt what is formal or outward at
the expense of what is spiritual; the practice of using forms of
worship and of religious profession without real devotion or
conviction." [Oxford Dictionary]
• Hypocrite: comes from the Greek word, hypocrités, meaning
hypocrite, pretender, dissembler (to alter or disguise the semblance
of one's character, a feeling, design, or action so as to conceal, or
deceive as to, its real nature). [Arndt and Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the NT, p. 853.]
• Vainglory: Glory that is vain, empty, or worthless; inordinate or
unwarranted pride in one's accomplishments or qualities;
disposition or tendency to exalt oneself unduly; idle boasting or
vaunting. [Oxford Dictionary]

6. • Possibly, there had been some revival services, and at that exciting
meeting these two men had, all of a sudden, determined to be
Christians.
• They did not take the trouble to obtain true repentance and a living
faith in the crucified Savior.
• They did not care about real heart work, nor about the operations of
the Holy Spirit within them; but they resolved to make a profession
of being Christians, and to join the church.
• They thought that, as Christians wore a certain style of coat, they
would wear the same, but they were not concerned as to whether
their hearts were right with God or not.
• They came tumbling over the wall.

7. • "Oh!" say they, "we will try to be Christians; and, in order to be
Christians, there are such-and-such outward actions to be
performed.
• We will attend the prayer-meeting; we will go to the Bible-classes;
we will see the elders; we will be baptized; we will join the church;
and when we have done all this, we shall have got into the right
road, certainly.
• Have we not received, as it were, the certificate of God’s own
Church that we are all right?
• It is true that we have tumbled over the wall; we have not been
humbled on account of sin; we have not put our trust in the Lord
Jesus Christ; still, we are in the right way; does not everybody say
that we are? Therefore, all must be well with us."

8.  Vain-glory!
 That is where all formalists and hypocrites come from. They glory in themselves.
They think their own hearts are right. They conclude that their natural goodness
suffices, and therefore a few forms and a bare profession will serve them in the
day of judgment.
• Christian also asked them, "Whither go you?" "We are going," they
said, "for praise to Mount Zion." Alas, for love of praise! It is a most
damnable snare. We all love praise; it is useless to deny it. (Spurgeon)

9. • They respond with "I am all right; I have always attended my
parish church, or I have always gone to the youth group;" or,
• "I am all right, for I was christened," or "I am all right, for I was
baptized," etc.
• One who walked with Christ, and who even ate the dip out of
the same dish with Him, betrayed Him!
 5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its
power; Avoid such men as these. 2 Tim 3:5

10. • Christian has learnt from Evangelist not to take the initial stance of
fellow travelers at face value
 John 10:1 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into
the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber.
• How do Formalist and Hypocrisy say truth is established?
 By custom and convenience!

11. • Christian has perceived the heart of the problem,
 namely disobedience against God’s gospel. (Salvation through faith alone)
• "long established custom"
 namely, "you just have to live a good life, and be a good person!"
• Keeble suggests this thousand year period is that medieval age of spiritual
declension under Roman Catholicism which the Puritans perceived of as
preceding the Protestant Reformation.
 "established for over 1000 years – therefore that makes it right!

12. • "…it is ‘tradition’ if it is pronounced to be so by adequate
authority…It is tradition that is involved when people say ‘This is
what we have always done’ or ‘This is what we were always
taught.’" [F.F. Bruce, Tradition: Old and New, pp. 13,20.]

13. • Remember in Alice in Wonderland
• "At this moment the King, who had been for some time
busily writing in his note‐book, called out ‘Silence!’ and
read from his book, ‘Rule Forty‐Two.
• All persons more than a mile
high to leave the court.’
• Everybody looked at Alice.
• "I’m not a mile high," said Alice.
• "You are," said the King.

14. • "Nearly two miles high," added the Queen.
• "Well, I shan’t go, at any rate," said Alice:
"besides, that’s not a regular rule: you
invented it just now."
• "It’s the oldest rule in the
book," said the King.
• "Then it ought to be
Number One," said Alice.

15. • Time does not establish truth!
• Traveling on the King's highway does not mean you are a
legitimate pilgrim
 Wheat/tares, sheep/goats, wheat/chaff both go to church
 Matt 13:24 – 30, Matt 25:31 – 33, Luke 3:16 – 17
 Possession is only 9/10ths of the law!

16. • Fundamentally different in
heart, mind, affections,
and will
 He is a new creation!

17. • What is Christian's "coat" to Formalist &Hypocrisy?
 Goodness, right deeds, evangelical righteousness?
 Col 3:12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe
yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
• What do they mean by, "provided by your neighbors"?
 Assumed as a result of hanging around with other
believers/church goers.

18. • "We do not see where you differ from us in the
slightest!"
 1Cor 2:14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the
Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot
understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.
• It is well to remember, however, that though the two
thieves crucified alongside Jesus appeared similar
from man’s perspective, yet one of these was clothed
with a cloak similar to that of Christian!

19. • That unbelievers will at times recognize evident righteousness, at
least in the privacy of their hearts.
 Matt 5:16 "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your
good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
 1Pet 2:12 Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in
which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as
they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.
• This is not to say that they will necessarily desire and openly
acknowledge godliness when they see it.
• Even so, the reflection of the light of true Christian grace and virtue
is an exhibition that the unholy darkness of this world cannot
extinguish
 John 1:5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not
comprehend it.

20. • Christian tells them plainly that attempts to keep laws and
ordinances cannot save them. We can never be justified
by our works:
 Gal 2:16 nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the
Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus,
so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law;
since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.
 Rom 4:5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies
the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness

22. • Be not too fast, dear friends, in telling everybody about the secret
of the Lord, or about your inward experience.
• When you meet with anyone who can appreciate these things, then
make a point of glorifying God by your testimony; but when you are
talking with a mere formalist, or a cunning hypocrite, it is better, as
soon as you perceive that he is trusting to what he finds in himself,
to show him the falsehood of his own supposed righteousness,
than to say much concerning what the Lord has done for you.
• Beware of disobeying the command of our Lord concerning casting
pearls before swine, lest they turn again, and rend you.
• When you talk of walking humbly before God, they will at once
begin to laugh at you. [Spurgeon]

23. • Prov 26:4-5
 4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly, Or you will also be like him.
 5 Answer a fool as his folly deserves, that he not be wise in his own eyes.
• First part is easy, remember:
• 2Tim 2:24-26 24 The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but
be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, 25 with gentleness
correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them
repentance ….
• Second part begs the question why and how?
• "Why" first:
 Failure to do so could make the fool feel good about his or her foolish position,
reinforce it, and make the fool even less open to considering the truth that could
set him or her free.

24. • Prov 26:4-5
 4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly, Or you will also be like him.
 5 Answer a fool as his folly deserves, that he not be wise in his own eyes.
• "How"
 Consider lobbing the question back at him, because when a person's choice
of words or tone of voice tells you that he or she isn't looking for an answer,
it's best not to give one.
 Questioning him/her might cause them to see the foolishness of their thinking.
[Questioning Evangelism by Newman]

25. • In one of his classes a student challenged him with statements that were
both offensive and incorrect.
• Dallas paused and told the class that that was a good place to end their
discussion.
• Somebody asked Dallas afterward why he had not countered the
students' argument and put him in his place. "I'm practicing the discipline
of not having to have the last word."
• This is part of why Dallas would never debate non-believers. He would
engage in a mutual conversation where both parties could seek for truth
together.
• Through the last week of his life he was still hoping to help believers
engage non-believers by looking together at questions where people get
stuck in their actual lives rather than by trying to win arguments.

26. • Some measure of faith of a certain sort
• Will try to be Christians
 There are such-and-such outward actions to be performed:
 attend the prayer-meeting
 go to the Bible-classes
 will see the elders
 will be baptized
 will join the church
• "We do not mind being christened, confirmed, taking the
sacrament, and going to church or chapel; but this repenting of sin,
this believing, this clinging to Christ, this seeking after holiness, Ah!
It is too much!"

27. • no belief
• just a pretty story, but then it is a very respectable story
• "if I pretend to believe it, people will think the better of me"
• "if I get into the ministry, I could pick up a good living that way"
• "it makes you seem to be a good sort of person"
• get the respect and esteem of your friends
• your mother will be pleased
• your husband will be glad; all your friends will feel so satisfied,
• people will make quite a fuss over you
• does not care about the secret power of vital godliness
• It is enough for him that he has got into the Christian Church

28. 1. long to be honored by men. (Mt. 6:2).
2. love to pray in public to be seen by men. (Mt. 6:5).
3. look somber and disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. (Mt. 6:15).
4. notice the speck in their brother’s eye, but ignore the plank in their own. (Mt. 7:5).
5. nullify the word of God for the sake of their traditions. (Mt. 15:6 7).
6. have evil intent and try to trap Jesus in His words. (Mt. 22:18-19).
7. shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. (Mt. 23:13).
8. ignore the weightier matters of the law. (Mt. 23:23).
9. are only concerned about the outward appearance. (Mt. 23:25).
10. look beautiful on the outside but are full of dead man’s bones on inside. (Mt. 23:27)

29. • Formalism and Hypocrisy are opposite sides of the same coin.
 They glory in themselves
 They think their own hearts are right
 They conclude that their natural goodness suffices, and therefore a few forms
and a bare profession will serve them in the day of judgment
 Seeking after pride
 They loved the praise of men more than the praise of God
 Let each man keep to his own religion; you go your way, and leave me to mine
 "You need not trouble about faith, or those other weighty matters which concern
the soul and God; but if you go to your place of worship, and take your seat there
regularly, all will be well with you." –
 This is false religion!!!

30. • 1Cor 10:12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that
he does not fall.
• But the moment when, for any reason, the form becomes more
attractive than the spiritual fact for which it stands, when the bridge
detains rather than forwards the seeking faith of the soul, when for
any reason a man begins to love the road more than the
communion to which it leads, the altar more than the name that
sanctifies it, the cross more than the Crucified, then he begins to
pervert needed means of worship into unlawful ends. He is
ministering to worldly tastes, and though he still call it religion, he is
in fact a formalist, a promising Pharisee. [Bible Illustrator, Exell, Joseph S.]
• As John Piper puts it, you end up loving 'loving God'!

31. • Note that the story of Formalist and Hypocrisy comes between the
Cross and the Hill of Difficulty. These men took a short cut to avoid
the cross; then they take a long way around to avoid the hill (as we
shall see). Many of the longest wanderings in life have been begun
to avoid a very little hill.
• Formalist and Hypocrisy were men who wanted people to believe
they were Christians, when they were not.
• But it should always be remembered that hypocrisy is an evidence
of the existence of genuine religion.
 There would be no counterfeit coins if genuine coins were not in circulation.
 There would be no pretended pilgrims to the Celestial City if true pilgrims were
not on the road thither.
 There would be no hypocrites if there were no true servants of the Most High.