-.._.. 14 HOLY PORTTt1YT)$, CstR5T, X%]Cp4 affrighted, though the mountains should be turned upside down, and cast into the midst of the sea The Lord of hosts is our shield and defence, he is a rock above all the waves, and ifour feet are fixed upon this rock, what need have we for terror ? The name of the God of Jacob, in the xlvi. Psalm, is a match for all our foes, and a sove- reign remedy for all our fears. Christian courage appears also upon a bed of sickness, when, at the call of God, we look death in the face with a. chearful soul. When all our friends stand around us, and every one, by the lamentable air that sits in their faces, gives us notice of our approaching dissolution; then to look upon death with a serenecountenance, and not be affrighted, but venture boldly into the invisible world ; this is a glorious fortitude derived from the grace of faith. II. Another instance of passive valour is, when webear persecutions ofall sorts from the hand of men witha holy courage, for the sake of God. When we can be plun- dered of our possessions in this world, and stripped of all our comforts, and yet be easy. Ye took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, says the apostle to the Hebrews chapter x. verses 33, 34. " and ye endured a great fight of afflictions with chearfulness, knowing that in heaven ye have a better and more enduring substance." In He&: xi. verse 36. when the apostle speaks of the ancient jew-' ish saints, " they had trial of cruel mockings and scourg-' ings, ofbonds and imprisonments, theywere stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword; they wandered about in sheep skins, and goat- skins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented : but they were men above this world, of whom the world was not wor., thy :" They had a spirit of divine courage that made them too great for this world, although they were almost ba- nished out of it, and wandered among the beasts of the earth. Let not chriStians then be guilty of base and mean compliances, to preserve their substance in the world, nor to ()over their names from slanders and infa- my, nor to secure their liberties or their lives when Christ calls us to part with them. If there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things. If there be any call to the practice of such courage, for the sake of Christ, remember these exhortations, and be not afraid.
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