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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
if
our
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
serene
countenance, 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 we
bear
persecutions
of
all
sorts from the
hand
of
men with
a
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,
of
bonds and imprisonments,
they
were
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.