e. He also began to examine with great
satisfaction the coat which had been given to him, and 'after pleasing
himself for a while' he fell into a slumber, and in his sleep let the
roll fall from his hand.

Mercifully, Christian was awakened, and hasted along the road. Later,
he got into great temptation, and, desiring to reassure his own heart,
he put his hand into his bosom to find the roll, 'which was his pass to
the Celestial City'; but, to his horror, it was not there! After great
distress Christian remembered his sleeping in the arbour, and painfully
retraced his steps 'bewailing his sinful sleep in the midst of
difficulty'. He reached the place of his loss, and at last espied the
roll which had slipped out of his hand. He secured it once more, and
after giving thanks for his recovery, the Pilgrim betook himself again
to his journey.

Bunyan's other picture of Vain-hope is even more pathetic. The vision
shows the gate of the Celestial City, and the entrance of Christian and
other pilgrims. But when this man, Vain-hope, came up, he had no roll
or certificate, having lost it, if he ever had it; the poor wretch
passed away to 'a door on the side of the hill', which caused the
dreamer to write, 'Then I saw that there is a way to Hell even from the
very gates of Heaven'.

How true, therefore, it is, that at every stage of the heavenward
journey, one has to guard against the loss of that spiritual treasure
which has been secured at such a cost.

I hope you see clearly that the Divine treasure is all right, and the
possibility of its continued enjoyment is not in question. If lost, the
fault is with the bag or carrier of the bag. But by pointing out some
of the holes in the bag through which certain people have lost their
blessing, we may help them and others.

As one hole through which spiritual loss is sustained, let me first
speak of _ignorance_. I do not say that in an unkind way. By ignorance
I mean _lack of knowledge_. You cannot imagine a man putting his wages
into a faulty pocket if he knew there was a hole there.

There are traps and pitfalls for the newly sanctified. Some know of
them; others do not know, and are unprepared for dangers and the
devices of the Devil, who, if he cannot hinder a man getting the
blessing will scheme to rob him of it. For instance, temptations to
doubt are pressed on a soul just entering the path of Holiness: 'Can it
be?' 'Have I been deceiving myself?' 'I thought I should have