A man in iron cage

(The Interpreter now takes Christian to a room in which there is a man in an iron cage)

Now the man, to look on, seemed very sad; he sat with his eyes looking down to the ground, his hands folded together; and he sighed as if he would break his heart. Then said Christian, What means this? At which the Interpreter bid him talk with the man.

Then said Christian to the man, What art thou? The Man answered, I am what I was not once.

Christian: What wast thou once?

Man: I was once a fair and flourishing Professor, both in mine own eyes, and also in the eyes of others; I once was, as I thought, fair for the Celestial City, and had then even joy at the thoughts that I should get thither.

Christian: Well, but what art thou now?

Man: I am now a man of despair, and am shut up in it, as in this Iron Cage. I cannot get out; O now I cannot.

Christian: But how camest thou in this condition?

Man: I left off to watch and be sober; I laid the reins upon the neck of my lusts; I sinned against the light of the Word and the goodness of God; I have grieved the Spirit, and he is gone; I tempted the Devil, and he is come to me; I have provoked God to anger, and He has left me; I have so hardened my heart, that I cannot repent.

Then said Christian to the Interpreter, But are there no hopes for such a man as this? Ask him, said the Interpreter.

Christian: Is there no hope, but you must be kept in the Iron Cage of Despair?

Man: No, none at all.

Christian: Why? the Son of the Blessed is very pitiful.

Man: I have crucified Him to myself afresh, I have despised His Person, I have despised His Righteousness, I have counted His Blood an unholy thing; I have done despite to the Spirit of Grace: Therefore I have shut myself out of all the promises, and there now remains to me nothing but threatenings, dreadful threatenings, fearful threatenings of certain Judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour me as an adversary.

Christian: For what did you bring yourself into this condition?

Man: For the lusts, pleasures, and profits of this world; in the enjoyment of which I did then promise myself much delight; but now every one of those things also bites me, and gnaws me like a burning worm.

Christian: But canst thou not now repent and turn?

Man: God hath denied me repentance: His Word gives me no encouragement to believe; yea, Himself hath shut me up in this Iron Cage; nor can all the men in the world let me out. O Eternity! Eternity! how shall I grapple with the misery that I must meet with in Eternity!

Interpreter: Then said the Interpreter to Christian, Let this man's misery be remembered by thee, and be an everlasting caution to thee.

Christian: Well, said Christian, this is fearful; God help me to watch and be sober, and to pray that I may shun the cause of this man's misery. Sir, is it not time for me to go on my way now?

Interpreter: Tarry till I shall shew thee one thing more, and then thou shalt go thy way.

So he took Christian by the hand again, and led him into a Chamber, where there was one rising out of bed; and as he put on his raiment, he shook and trembled.

Then said Christian, Why doth this man thus tremble? The Interpreter then bid him tell to the Christian the reason of his so doing. So he began and said, This night, as I was in my sleep, I dreamed, and behold the Heavens grew exceeding black; also it thundered and lightened in most fearful wise, that it put me into an agony; so I looked up in my Dream, and saw the Clouds rack at an unusual rate, upon which I heard a great sound of a Trumpet, and saw also a Man sit upon a Cloud, attended with the thousands of Heaven; they were all in flaming fire, also the Heavens were in a burning flame. I heard then a Voice saying, Arise ye dead, and come to Judgment; and with that the Rocks rent, the Graves opened, and the Dead that were therein came forth. Some of them were exceeding glad, and looked upward; and some sought to hide themselves under the Mountains.

Then I saw the Man that sat upon the Cloud open the Book, and bid the World to draw near. Yet there was, by reason of a fierce flame which issued out and came from before Him, a convenient distance betwixt Him and them, as betwixt the Judge and the Prisoners at the bar. I heard it also proclaimed to them that attended on the Man that sat on the Cloud, Gather together the Tares, the Chaff, and Stubble, and cast them into the burning Lake. And with that, the bottomless pit opened, just whereabout I stood; out of the mouth of which there came in an abundant manner, smoke and coals of fire, with hideous noises. It was also said to the same persons, Gather my Wheat into the Garner. And with that I saw many catch'd up and carried away into the Clouds, but I was left behind. I also sought to hide myself, but I could not, for the Man that sat upon the Cloud still kept His eye upon me: my sins also came into my mind; and my conscience did accuse me on every side. Upon this I awoke from my sleep.

Christian: But what was it that made you so afraid of this sight?

Man: Why, I thought that the day of Judgment was come, and that I was not ready for it: but this frightened me most, that the Angels gathered up several, and left me behind; also the pit of Hell opened her mouth just where I stood: my conscience too afflicted me; and as I thought, the Judge had always his eye upon me, shewing indignation in his countenance.

Then said the Interpreter to Christian, Hast thou considered all these things?

Christian: Yes, and they put me in hope and fear.

Interpreter: Well, keep all things so in thy mind that they may be as a goad in thy sides, to prick thee forward in the way thou must go.

Then Christian began to gird up his loins, and address himself to his journey. Then said the Interpreter, "The Comforter be always with thee, good Christian, to guide thee in the way that leads to the City". So Christian went on his way saying,

Here I have seen things rare and profitable; Things pleasant, dreadful, things to make me stable In what I have begun to take in hand; Then let me think on them, and understand Wherefore they shew'd me was, and let me be Thankful, O good Interpreter, to thee.

Interpretation:

The man in the iron cage is a backsliding believer who has hardened his heart after tasting of the heavenly gift and being made partaker of the Holy Ghost. "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame"(Heb.6:4 to 5).

This man in the cage had grieved the Spirit of grace and crucified the Son of God afresh. John Bunyan has left this man in the cage for eternal condemnation. But I quote the Word of God from it's other side to show that even a backsliding sinner can repent looking at the Crucified Christ.

"Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;

Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself". (Heb.7:25 to 27).

If the man in the cage repents even after many backslidings and goes to the Calvary, which is the uttermost, Christ meets him there.

Let us now read the Pauline epistle to Romans, "For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me…….For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not: but what I hate, that do I. ….Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me….O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord……" (Rom.7:11-25).

It is Christ who delivers a backsliding sinner from the sin as there is no good in his or her flesh. He or she cannot live a life on his or her own but can lead a victorious life depending on Christ day in and day out. None can live a life trusting in his or her own righteousness without abiding in Christ. The man in the iron cage should have the experience of crucifixion with Christ Jesus. "I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me……" (Gal.2:20).

Let us proceed to read the same 6th chapter in the book of Hebrews. "But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak. For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love, which ye have shewed toward His Name, in, that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister…." (Verses 9-10). God does remember the work and the labor of love which the caged man showed toward His Name.

Romans 8:33, 34 and I John 2:1, 2 may be read. "My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One" (I John 1:2). John writes this epistle to the saints. The man in the iron cage is not finished. He can still repent looking unto the Crucified Christ and get deliverance from the sin. He can become an over-comer finally after coming out of the iron cage.

Those souls who rejected Jesus Christ and ended in the Hell are likened to the man in iron cage awaiting the final judgment

by the Son of God. They would be lamenting in the hell about the lost opportunities to get saved.

I am now taking the caged man of the Pilgrim's Progress out of the cage of the eternal condemnation because he was on the earth alive. If he does not repent finally, then he will definitely find himself in the iron cage of the hell after his death. I quote a parable. Under the law of the land, a condemned prisoner awaiting gallows makes a final mercy petition to the King or the President after exhausting all the channels of appeal and review before the judiciary. The King grants mercy not on merit of the case but purely by virtue of his sovereignty. Our King of Kings is sovereign and merciful. On the earth, He saves any sinner to the uttermost. The devil or the Law and Prophets may condemn him.

This man, in the cage, now gets a vision of the crucified Christ. He sees the crucified Christ surrounded by a cloud of witnesses. There are no Roman soldiers nor the accusing Pharisees and the Scribes there. The surrounding witnesses talk amongst themselves pointing their accusing fingers at this caged man. This man identifies the Christ on the Cross as he was acquainted with Him as His Savior. Though he knows that he has been condemned for ever without any ray of hope, he thinks he should have a final glimpse of the One Who loved him eternally and Whom he loved and served. When he approaches His presence, the Appollyon makes a debut and prevents him from approaching His presence quoting Heb.6:4 to 5. Now a voice emanates from the side of the crucified Christ, "Come unto me, my beloved". The caged man thinks this must be for some saint in the cloud of witnesses. But this voice persists calling him, "O my beloved, rise up and come to me. You are fair; there is no spot in thee". Summoning courage, he now goes near the crucified Christ. A saint standing there quotes the word of God from Rom.7:11-25 and comforts the caged man. Now the scene changes. The iron cage breaks into asunder and the man is delivered from the cage. After deliverance from the cage, he sets himself on his journey to the Celestial City.

Please read my blog in this regard about the vision of Calvary.