Journey of Christian from City of Destruction to the Celestial City

2.  ACCOMPANYING PPTs and VIDEOs
 Downloading these will only give you a PDF document. If you would like to obtain the actual PowerPoint presentation
for your own use advise me as per the next bullet.
 The majority of the presentations have an accompanying video of me giving the presentation. If you would like to
download a copy, send me an email at getlopi@yahoo.ca and I will give you access to my Google Docs or Dropbox
account where they are located.
 Credits
 These Pilgrim’s Progress Presentations are as a result of Bible Studies I did at my home church in Moose
Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada. The only thing I ask is that when you use them to present to others, that you
give the Good Lord credit through my name (Michal Lopianowski).
 Τhe version of Pilgrim's Progress I am using is the one by Barry Horner
 Most of the text in the presentations, if it is not sited on the page itself, comes from Barry Horner’s
Commentary on the Pilgrim’s Progress from his website: www.bunyanministries.org
 The comic snippets come from CREATOR ART STUDIO, published by KINGSTONE Comics at
www.kingstonemedia.com
 Any place where I mention Maltese Website as a reference, the material was taken from
www.lavvanztalpellegrin.com; which no longer seems to be working
 Other pictures are from www.garretttaylor.com and illustrations from Mike Wimmer
 As I complete more presentations I will be putting them on line; usually in the winter months

3.  The Dream of the unprepared man
• A call to examine oneself!
• 2 Cor 13:5 Test yourselves to see if you
are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do
you not recognize this about yourselves,
that Jesus Christ is in you – unless indeed
you fail the test?

5. • Matt 26:64 – Jesus at His trial
• John 5:28 “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice,
• 1Cor 15:51-58 51 Rapture
• 1Thess 4:16 Rapture
• 2Thess 1:7-10 7 and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be
revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, 8 dealing out retribution to those who do not
know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 These will pay the penalty of
eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 10 when He comes
to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed–for our
testimony to you was believed.
• Jude 1:15 to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they
have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”
• Rev 20:11-14 11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and
heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small,
standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of
life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. 13
And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them;
and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown
into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.

6. • Matt 27:50-53 50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and
yielded up His spirit. 51 And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in
two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. 52
The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen
asleep were raised; 53 and coming out of the tombs after His
resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many.
• Dan 7:9-10 9 “I kept looking Until thrones were set up, And the Ancient
of Days took His seat; His vesture was like white snow And the hair of
His head like pure wool. His throne was ablaze with flames, Its wheels
were a burning fire. 10 “A river of fire was flowing And coming out from
before Him; Thousands upon thousands were attending Him, And
myriads upon myriads were standing before Him; The court sat, And the
books were opened.

7. • Matt 13:30 ‘Allow both to grow
together until the harvest; and in the
time of the harvest I will say to the
reapers, “First gather up the tares and
bind them in bundles to burn them up;
but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

8. • Rev 9:1-2 1 Then the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven which had
fallen to the earth; and the key of the bottomless pit was given to him. 2 He opened
the bottomless pit, and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke of a great
furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit.
• Rev 9:11 They have as king over them, the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew
is Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name Apollyon.
• Rev 20:1-3 1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of
the abyss and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold of the dragon, the
serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3
and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would
not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after
these things he must be released for a short time.

9. • Definitely Final Day of Judgement visions
 Verse references indicate dream is biblical, but
events are not chronological
• Examine the following:
 End Time Views
 The Rapture
 The Second Coming of Christ
 Judgment at the Throne of Christ

10. • Key Events
 Timing of the Rapture
 Placement of the Tribulation
 Christ's Second Coming wrt the Millennium

13. Trib
70AD
Trib
70AD ??

14. Trib
70AD
Trib
70AD

17.  50 Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood
cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the
perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold, I tell
you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be
changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at
the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the
dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be
changed. 53 For this perishable must put on the
imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.
1 Cor 15:50-53

18.  13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those
who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have
no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even
so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are
alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede
those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with
the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we
who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in
the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be
with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
1Thess 4:13-18

19. • Novel doctrine, only since 1800s
 Created by John Nelson Darby
 Wasn't embraced in Britain, so he came over to America
 Then Scoffield ran with it
• Any novel doctrine should always throw up red flags
• Fits well the North American world view!
• Undermines the Church
 false sense of security; no requirement to "watch"
• Prior to Darby, 1 Thess 4:13-18 and 1 Cor 15:51-58
passages were just viewed as part of the Second Coming
of Jesus

20. • In Paul's time customary to conduct a formal greeting ceremony
when an emperor or other famous dignitary came/returned to one's
city.
• In preparation for the reception, the citizens would be taxed to
fashion a golden crown him.
• On the day of his arrival, citizens typically went out beyond the city
walls and stood waiting alongside the road and ceremoniously met
him with great cheer.
• After this grand welcoming, the dignitary led the citizens in
procession back into the city, where typically he would offer
sacrifices on the local altars. (well documented by Josephus)
extract from Apostle on the Edge book by Cosbyextract from Apostle on the Edge book by Cosby

21. • On such occasions the general was usually clad in a rich purple
robe, interwoven with figures of gold, setting forth the grandeur of
his achievements, and he wore a crown, which at first was of laurel,
but was afterwards of pure gold.
• In one hand he had a branch of laurel, the emblem of victory; and
in the other, his truncheon.
• He was carried in a magnificent chariot, adorned with ivory and
plates of gold, and usually drawn by two white horses.
• To keep him humble amidst these great honours a slave stood at
his back, casting out incessant railings, and reproaches; and
carefully enumerating all his vices.
extract from Clarke Commentary 2 Cor 2:14extract from Clarke Commentary 2 Cor 2:14

23. • Constructed in c. 82 AD by the Roman Emperor
Domitian shortly after the death of his older brother
Titus to commemorate Titus' victories, including the
Siege of Jerusalem in 70 AD.
• Inscription reads, "The Roman Senate and People
(dedicate this) to the divine Titus Vespasianus
Augustus, son of the divine Vespasian."

25. • So when Paul describes Christ's coming in 1Thess 4:15-17, this
Greco-Roman practice of enthusiastically greeting and arriving
dignitary is part of the cultural background.
• Biblical Examples
 2Sam 19:15-18
 John 12:12 On the next day the large crowd who had come to the feast, when
they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took the branches of the
palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began to shout, “Hosanna!
BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, even the King
of Israel.”
 Acts 28:15 And the brethren, when they heard about us, came from there as
far as the Market of Appius and Three Inns to meet us; and when Paul saw
them, he thanked God and took courage.

26. • Unlike the planned receptions when citizens knew when to go out to greet the
dignitary, Christ returns abruptly, and an unexpected time (although Christians
are not surprised at His coming (1 Thes 5:1-4; Rev 19).
• As Christ the King of kings approaches the world, those who belong to him are
caught up to meet him (raptured) in the clouds. Instead of bringing gifts to the
king, however, they receive their resurrected bodies as a gift from Him. Instead of
human heralds announcing His arrival, He proclaims his own descent from
heaven, accompanied by an angelic trumpet blast and the shout of an archangel.
• The dead in Christ are joined by those who are still alive, and together they join
in a grand procession down to earth, where the returning king pronounces
judgement on those who have not believed in Him.
• The ear-splitting blast from the heavenly trumpet and the shout of the archangel
make this event very public, taking the non-Christians by surprise.
• Question is when in relationship to Christ's Return does this happen?
extract from Apostle on the Edge book by Cosbyextract from Apostle on the Edge book by Cosby

31. 2Thess 1:7-9 6 It is only just for God … 7to give relief to you who are afflicted and to
us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels
in flaming fire, 8 dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those
who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 These will pay the penalty of eternal
destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,

38. • Rom 8:1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who
are in Christ Jesus.
• 1Thess 5:9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining
salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
• 1John 4:15-18 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God,
God abides in him, and he in God. We have come to know and
have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the
one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By
this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in
the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because
fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in
love.

39. "Fear of the Lord" is having a right
understanding of God and a right
attitude towards God that results in
right living which is pleasing to Him
because He is Glorified.
extract from Dr. Marty Culy Bible Studyextract from Dr. Marty Culy Bible Study

40.  Rom 2:14-15 For when Gentiles who do not have
the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these,
not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that
they show the work of the Law written in their hearts,
their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts
alternately accusing or else defending them,

41. 2 Pet 1:2-11

43. • In J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel, The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins and
his 13 dwarf companions must travel through the forest of
Mirkwood on their way to the Lonely Mountain.
• The forest had once been known as Greenwood the
Great, but the evil Necromancer had crept in and infected
it with fear, corruption, and the shadow of death.
• Just before the company sets out, they are warned not to
stray from the path because the disorienting evil
influence in the forest is so strong that they might never
find the path again.
• Sure enough, as they trudge through Mirkwood they fall
under an oppressive discouragement. This has a power
full influence as we see each character’s perception of
reality become warped. Evil plays on their minds.

44. • They not only become more disheartened
than they should be, they also become
distrustful of each other. Conflicts break out.
Bad decisions are made. The quest nearly
ends in tragic disaster.
• Mirkwood gives us a helpful picture of what
it’s like for us to journey through life together
in a world that lies in the power of the evil
one (1 John 5:19). We are walking through a
dangerous, deceitful place. Many things we
perceive and feel are distortions of reality,
but they can feel so real.
John Bloom – Desiring God

45. Ditch of
DESPAIR
Ditch of
PRESUMPTION
Hedgerow of
God's GLORIOUS
PROMISES
Hedgerow of
God's PRECEPTS
and WARNINGS
The STRAIGHT
and
NARROW WAY
(Assurance of Salvation)