3 Keys to Escape Vanity Fair | The Journey

Coastal Church

3 Keys to Escape Vanity Fair | The Journey

The Journey

February 19, 2023 • Pastor Chris Karuhije

As Christian and Faithful continue their journey, they arrive at a town named Vanity, in which there is an ongoing festival called Vanity Fair. At this fair, all types of lusts, desires, and cravings are on display and the two pilgrims face temptation to stop their journey to the Celestial City and partake in Vanity Fair.

Vanity Fair represents worldliness. Every believer lives in the world and is tempted to forsake The Journey and buy this world’s empty treasures. “What will you buy?” is the question the occupants of the town of Vanity asked Christian and Faithful, and it is the question asked of every believer in the face of temptation. Yet with every temptation, God provides a way of escape.

“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” - 1 Corinthians 10:13

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Peter also faced temptation to compromise, and through his story, we find three keys we can use to escape from Vanity Fair.

The Judgment Seat of Christ | The Journey

April 16, 2023 • Pastor Dave Koop

At the conclusion of Pilgrim’s Progress, the protagonist, a man named Christian, arrives at the Celestial City. This is a metaphor for heaven, a prepared place for a prepared people. One of the most exciting and sobering events that is being prepared for every believer is the Judgment Seat of Christ. Yet sadly many believers aren’t aware of this event or what will be involved.

Finishing Strong: the Celestial City | The Journey

April 2, 2023 • Pastor Dave Koop

As we come to the end of the story of Pilgrim’s Progress, we see Christian and Hopeful enter the Celestial City. They have finished strong after facing numerous trials and challenges along the way. As they cross the river and enter into the City, they are greeted by angels who welcome them with songs of celebration.

The Trap of Ignorance | The Journey

March 26, 2023 • Pastor Fermin Garcia

As Christian and Hopeful draw closer to the end of their pilgrimage, they reach the Enchanted Grounds, a place they had been warned about by the Shepherds at the Delectable Mountains. Bunyan describes the Enchanted Grounds as a place where the air naturally tends to make one drowsy. It is a place that is meant to make one tired and sleepy rather than refreshed. In the same way, we will come across seasons in our lives where we are tempted to slumber. Satan’s tactic is that the slumber would lead us to insensibility, inaction and illusions about ourselves and God. Before the Enchanted Grounds, Christian and Hopeful had met Atheist who tried to cause them to not believe in God. Christian and Hopeful refused to yield to unbelief. If Satan cannot cause us to succumb to unbelief, he will cause us to slumber.