Christian Fellowship

In Pilgrim’s Progress, Christian is brought into fellowship with believers and they are preparing a feast. Once the feast is ready the following description is given of their fellowship:

“Now I saw in my dream, that thus they sat talking together until supper was ready. So when they had made ready, they sat down to eat. Now the table was furnished with fat things, and with wine that was well refined; and all their talk at the table was about the Lord of the hill: namely, about what he had done; and why he did what he did; and why he had built that house. 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 even more.

For, as they said, and as I believe (said CHRISTIAN), he did it with the loss of much blood; but the thing which put the glory of grace into all he did, was, that he did it out of pure love for his country. And besides, there were some of them of the household that said they had seen and spoke with him since he died on the cross; and they have attested that they had it from his own lips, that he is such a lover of poor pilgrims, that the like is not to be found from the east to the west.

Furthermore they gave an instance of what they affirmed, and that was, he had stripped himself of his glory that he might do this for the poor; and that they heard him say and affirm that he would not dwell in the Mountain of Zion alone. They said, moreover, that he had made many pilgrims princes, though by nature they were born beggars, and their original home had been the dunghill.

Thus they conversed together till late at night; and after they had committed themselves to their Lord for protection, they left to rest. They put the pilgrim in a large upper bedroom whose window opened towards the sun rising; the name of the room was Peace, where he slept till break of day; and then he awoke and sang–

“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!”

[taken from recoverthegospel.com]