A PILGRIM, according to the dictionary, is one who travels a distance to some supposedly sacred place; and there are still times and seasons wherein devotees of non-Christian religions go on pilgrimage to some place or temple, such as Mecca, the birthplace of Mohammed. But the Biblical and Christian pilgrim on the earth is a sinner saved by the grace of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His precious blood, and who is now travelling on the earth to a better country, even an heavenly. And so all such pilgrims after a godly sort are a distinctive people to whom the beginning of another year brings matter for serious thought and prayerful consideration. They know what is past of their journey toward Eternity, but how long their journey still shall be, and what may befall them during it, they know not.
Other pilgrims whom they knew and loved have travelled on and have reached, in the exercise of faith and patience, the heavenly Kingdom which they desired to see. The companionship, example, prayers and gospel fellowship of such are sadly and sorely missed by pilgrims still on the journey. Nevertheless when Moses ended his earthly pilgrimage, Joshua must needs continue his travels in the way and during the time appointed him by the God of Israel. Among other things the Lord said to Joshua, “Moses my servant is dead . . . As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee; I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee” (Joshua, chap. i., vs. 2 and 5). And so, although the Lord’s people part with others who have entered into their rest in heaven, they have not lost an interest in God’s Covenant and gracious care for themselves as they continue their own journey to the eternal world. As the psalmist writes of God, “But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end. The children of thy servant shall continue, and their seed shall be establish before thee” (Ps. cii. vs. 27 and 28).
And while the Christian pilgrim contemplates the future part of his journey he may well look back to begin with, and review and meditate upon all the way the Lord has already led him. Under the blessing of God, this can be a profitable, strengthening and comforting exercise, as a pilgrim begins another stage on his journey. In the past the Lord has pardoned sins by renewed applications of the blood of Jesus; He has healed backslidings, loved freely and turned His anger away; the workings of an evil, unclean, carnal heart and mind have been subdued again and again by the power and grace of the Holy Spirit; the divine High Priest has succoured the soul in temptation; the pilgrim has been sustained in and carried through fiery trials once and again; the soul in hunger and need has been given tastes of bread from heaven, as Jeremiah records, “Thy Word was found and I did eat it; and it became unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart”; and there have been answers to prayer during the former part of the pilgrim’s journey. And what shall the pilgrim say to these things? “Hitherto hath the Lord helped us” (I Sam. chap. vii. v. 12). And surely, however long or short the journey yet shall be, the Lord will not forsake those that are His.
And not one step can be taken by the pilgrim, now or in days to come, which will bring him on the way to the heavenly country, but as it is taken in the power and strength of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, who taught His disciples, “Without me, ye can do nothing” (John chap. xv. v. 5). And that this is brought before Timothy by the Apostle Paul we see in II Tim. chap. ii. verse 1, viz.: “Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” Timothy was to endure hardness as a pilgrim as well as a preacher of the gospel of salvation, and so required strength derived only from the divine Redeemer. And so pilgrims on the earth must expect the possibility of experiencing hard things, and of being called to endure hardness right to the end of their pilgrimage, whatever they may have met with of trials in the past. Of course, what may or may not be is all in the hands of God who ruleth supremely in the affairs of His people, both in the realm of grace and of providence. And whatever may befall, the child of God has the great and precious promise held forth in the Holy Scriptures, viz., “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfection weakness” (II Cor. xii. 7).
There may well be a tendency at times to be much discouraged because of the way, and the pilgrim has need to give a sharp ear to the counsel of Jesus given to His disciples in the garden, “Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matt. xxvi. 41). Satan undoubtedly is always ready to make the pilgrim’s journey difficult. Of this we read in the Bible, as in the case of Job, and “Joshua the high priest, standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him” (Zechariah iii. 1), and also of the Apostle Paul, who writes, “But Satan hindered us” (I Thess. ii. 18). What need pilgrims have of the Holy Spirit to make them watchful and prayerful to discern and guard against what may be the temptations, insinuations and snares of the devil, brought to bear upon them, with a view to discouraging them in their minds and hindering them in the life of grace.
As a consequence, questions may be thus raised in the mind of the pilgrim, such as “Am I, after all, a genuine, converted, God-fearing traveller on the way to Eternity?” Well, if the “good work” has been begun in the soul by the blessed Spirit of grace and truth He will carry it on until the pilgrim lands safely at his heavenly destination: “Being confident of this very thing that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philip. i. 6).
While the days of gracious pilgrims on earth are few at the most, as the days of others are, and while they may frequently be sustained and consoled by “the hope of the glory of God” at the close of their earthly pilgrimage, nevertheless they are indeed under obligation to the Lord Jesus Christ to seek earnestly and faithfully while in the world, to witness for Christ and the glory of His Person and redemptive work, and to commend Christ in their life, walk and conversation to others, as they pass through the world. They will be well engaged in turning aside frequently to the throne of grace, to be endued with the power and savour of the gospel of redeeming love, by Him who is a priest upon His throne, and to carry this savour with them everywhere on their journey. In the measure that they bear this savour, even the world who have no part or lot with them will take knowledge of them that they have been with Jesus and are a people not of this world.
One pre-eminent consolation they have is that Jesus Christ, who is “the same yesterday, to-day and for ever” is their Friend. However lonely they may find and feel themselves to be on the journey, as far as being separated from other true pilgrims is concerned, Jesus Christ has given His word of promise that He will never leave them, nor forsake them. What a promise! What a privilege! In face of all their haltings and failings, His love to them and divine care for them never alters, although He will indeed correct their faults. How much they require a living faith to lean upon the arm of their divine and beloved Friend, going up through the wilderness! And is not Christ Himself the author and finisher of this same faith? “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (Heb. xii. 2).
And whatever fears may take hold of the hearts of poor pilgrims, that they will never arrive at the “better country,” yet Christ their Redeemer and Friend, says, “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom”; and enter into the Kingdom they will, in God’s appointed time. Albeit, the pilgrim must enter, at the end of his journey, into the heavenly Kingdom through the valley of the shadow of death, no evil shall befall him there, although it may be for some a dark and trying experience. Yet the Lord will be with His people, to uphold them, “For the Lord God is a sun and shield, the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will be withheld from them that walk uprightly” (Ps. lxxxiv. 11).