SERM. XXXII.] OR, REMEDIE* AGAINST. FEAR. 19 Rom. i. 16. for he whom I have trusted in is almighty to support me., Read that most generous and pathetic speech of his, Acts xxi. 13. whenthe. spirit of prophecy . bad foretold that Paul should be " bound at Jerusalem, and delivered captive into the hands of the gentiles ;" his friends and strangers besought him not to- go up to that .city. Then Paul answered, " What mean ye to weep, and to break mine heart ? For I am ready, not to be bound only; but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. I know, says he, and the Holy Ghost is witness, that bonds and afflictions wait for me,' but none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear tomyself,. that I may finish my coursewith ay, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God." Acts xx. 24. Now when .a. special occasion calls us to the exercise of this virtue, and to confess. Christ before theworld, for us to be mealy-mouthed, and baffled, and flighted at the countenances of men, this is to forsake the example of tl?é. blessed apostles, and obey men rather than God. The prophets and the apostles, the ancient saints and the primitive martyrs have given us noble patterns of this vir- tue ; andwhy should our spirits fail us, or o'ur lips trem- ble, if we are called to the same glorious confession ? Is not our religion divine?? Is not the gospel still worthy of thesame honour ? Is not our God the same almighty ? Is notour Redeemer the same Jesus. ? And does not a dy- ing, a rising, and a. reigning Saviour deserve the same homage of our tongues, and demand the same glory at nur hands ? Yes, surely he demands it of us, and he deserves,it in- finitely : And not only his apostles, but his own example :teacheth us to practise this fortitude, both of the active and the passive kind. In the Second place then, behold this perfect pattern of forti- tude, Jesus the Son of God : When he came into the world in the midst of poverty, and made but a mean figure, as the-son of a carpenter, he was called to oppose the whole nation of the Jews, and the priests and princes ofJerusalem ; he was sent to reform the vicious customs of awicked and degenerate age. How did he stand and face danger without fear ! When he went into the tem- ple, with what a sacred zeal did be scourge the buyersand c
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