Good Courage Discovered and Encouraged, Part 1
Gods people muſt bee of good courage.
D…ctr.I ſhall briefly ſuggeſt the Scriptures proofe, in a threefold gradation, wherein good courage is called for:
Firſt, Saint Paul an Apoſtle with Apoſtolicall authority, perſwades to it; 2 Cor. 16. 13. Quit yee like men.
Secondly, Iehoſaphat a King, with regall authority commands it, 2 Chron. 19. ult. Deale couragiouſly.
Thirdly, The great God of Heaven and Earth, putting himſelfe under a warlike notion, as the Lord Generall of all the forces in the World, the Lord of Hoſts. He peremptorily preſſeth it; Haggie. 2. 4. Now bee ſtrong ô Zorobabel ſaith the Lord and bee ſtrong ô Ioſhua, the Sonne of Iozedek the High Prieſt, and bee ſtrong the people of the Land ſaith the Lord, and worke, for I am with you ſaith the Lord of Hoſts.
Three things there be, that I ſhall ſpeake to, in the proſecution of this point.
Firſt, The explication of the vertue, the grace called for, wherein I will endeavour to diſcover what this courage is.
Secondly, The confirmation of this truth by reaſons, from which this Doctrine may undeniably bee concluded, and by which you may all bee fully convinced, that there is aboundant cauſe, why all Gods people ſhould bee couragious.
Thirdly, The application of all, by way of uſe, that my Sermon may be the more ſerviceable.
Chriſtian courage may thus bee deſcribed, It is the undauntedA Deſcription of good Courage. audacity of a ſanctified heart in adventuring upon difficulties, and undergoing hardſhips for a good cauſe upon the call of God.
There are ſix things conſiderable in the deſcription that I have given, which I will particularly point at, and prove.
Firſt, the Genus, the common nature of it: it is an undaunted audacity. This Animoſity (as ſome phraſe it,) it is common both unto men, and to ſome bruits. The Lion, Prov. 30. 30. is ſaid, to bee the ſtrongeſt among beaſts, that turneth not away from any.
And there is an elegant deſcription of the warre horſe, in regard of boldneſſe, Job 39. 19. &c. Haſt thou given the horſe ſtrength? haſt thou cloathed his neck with thunder▪ Canſt thou make him afraid as a graſ-hopper? the glory of his noſtrils is terrible, hee paweth in the valley, and rejoyeth in his ſtrength, hee goeth out to meete the armed men. Hee mocketh at feare, and is not affrighted, neither turneth hee back from the ſword. The Quiver ratleth againſt him, the glittering ſpeare and the ſheild, hee ſwallowes the ground with fierceneſſe and rage, neither beleeveth hee, that it is the ſound of the Trumpet.
And this boldneſſe that is in bruits, it is ſpoken of, as a piece of this ſame courage that God is pleaſed to give to men; Ezek. 3. 9. this is the Lords promiſe. As an Adamant, harder then the flint, have I made thy forehead.
The word Harder, is the ſame in the Hebrew, that is here in my Text, Fortiorem petra; The Rock, that is not afraid of any weather, Summer, or Winter, Sunne, and Showres, Heat, and Cold, Froſt, and Snow, it bluſheth not, ſhrinketh not, it changeth not it's complexion, it is ſtill the ſame; Such alike thing is courage, in the common nature of it.
Secondly, Conſider the ſubject, it is the Heart, the Caſtle where Courage commands, and exerciſeth Military Diſcipline; (ſhall I ſo ſay) its within the boſome, it is the Soule of a valiant Souldier.
Some conceive, our Engliſh word Courage, to bee derived from Cordis actio, the very acting of the heart.
A valiant man is deſcribed, 2 Sam 17. 10. for to bee a man; whoſe heart, is as the heart of a Lyon. And ſometime, the originall tranſlated, Couragious, as Amos 2. 16. may moſt properly bee rendred, a Man of heart.
Beloved, valour doth not conſiſt in a piercing eye, in a terrible looke, in bigge words, but it conſiſts in the mettall, the vigour that is within the boſome. Sometimes, a Coward may dwell at the ſigne of a roaring voyce, and of a ſterne countenance: whereas true fortitude may bee found within his breaſt, whoſe outward deportment promiſeth little, or nothing in that kind.
Thirdly, Note the qualfication of this ſame ſubject; I ſaid a ſanctified heart: for I am not now ſpeaking of fortitude, as a morall vertue, whereof Heathens, that have not God, are capable; and for which many among them, that are not Chriſtians, have beene worthily commended.
But I am now diſcourſing of Courage, as a vertue Theologicall, as a gracious qualification, put upon the people of God by ſpeciall covenant. And there are three things that doe characterize it, and which doe diſtinguiſh it from the morall vertue of fortitude.
The Roote, whence it ariſeth;
The Rule, whereby it is directed;
The End, to which it is referred,
The Roote, whence it riſeth, is love to God; All the Saints of God that love the Lord, bee of good Courage. The love of Chriſt conſtraineth mee to make theſe bold, and brave adventures, ſaith the Apoſtle, 2 Cor. 5. 14.
The Rule whereby it is directed, is the word of God: what the Lord hath pleaſed to leave on record for a Chriſtians guidance in holy pages, 1 Chron. 22. 12. 13. The Lord give thee wiſedome and underſtanding, that thou maiſt keepe the law. If thou take heed to the ſtatutes, and judgements, which the Lord charged Moſes with concerning Iſrael: be ſtrong and of good courage, dread not, nor be diſmai'd. Bee a man of mettall, but let thy mettall bee according to my mind, according to this rule.
And the End, to which it referres, is God. For every ſanctified man, being a ſelfe-denying, and a God-advancing man; his God is his Center, wherein his actings, his undertakings reſt, and his Soule is not, yea it cannot bee ſatisfied but in God.
The fourth thing conſiderable in the Deſcription is, the naturall, the formall, the immediate operations, that doe flow from this gracious, audacious frame of heart, they are two:
There is an adventuring upon difficulties,
And there is an undergoing of hardſhips.
Firſt, There is an adventuring upon hard ſervices, It is ſaid, 1 Sam. 31. 12. The valiant men roſe and went all night, and tooke the body of Saul, and the bodies of his Sonnes from the wale of Bethſhan, and came to Gabeſh, and burnt them there. When the Philiſtins had taken their bodies and were gone away Conquerours, and faſtened them there, as Enſignes of victory, brave blades, well mettalled men, went by night, and fetched them back againe: an hard, and a brave ſervice.
And by reaſon hereof there is an enduring of hardſhips: Thoſe Worthies of whom the world was not worthy, who are ſaid to be men valiant in fight, Heb. 11. 34. This, teſtimony is given of them, that They endured torturings, the tryall of mockings▪ or cruell mockings, of ſcourgings, of bonds, and impriſonment, of ſtoning, of being ſawne aſunder, of being ſlaine with the ſword, of wandring up and downe in ſheeps skins, and goats skins, being men deſtitute, afflicted, and tormented.
Fiftly, in my deſcription, I caſt in the cauſe, which true courage undertakes to doe, and ſuffer for, the object it workes upon, the prize it adventures for, it is a good cauſe, Matters of faith, ſtand ye faſt in the faith, quit ye like men. It is1 Cor. 16. 13 a Goſpel peice for which I am to jeopard a joynt, to hazard alimbe, to adventure life, 1 Cor. 6. 13. or matters of fact: I muſt be of good courage for my conſcience, that I may maintaine an evenneſſe of ſpirit in reference to my rule, in relation to my God, 1 Pet. 3. 14. If yee ſuffer for righteouſneſſe ſake happy are yee, be not afraid of their terrour, neither be troubled. It is a noble, a Chriſtian reſolution in any man, if hee thus determine, rather then I will make a wound upon my conſcience, a breach betweene God and my ſoul; rather then I will violate aſacred vow, and tranſgreſſe the command of my God, I will run the greateſt hazards in outward regards that can be imagined.
The goodneſſe of the cauſe (Divines ſay) for which a man ſuffers, makes the Martyr: In like manner, it is the warrantableneſſe of the worke, wherein the ſouldier, the man of mettall appeares, that gives him the credit, the honour of this title, to be accounted a valiant man.
Sixtly and laſtly, I added that good courage makes theIoſ. 1. 9. foreſaid adventures upon the call of God. Have not I commanded thee, be ſtrong and of a good courage: If the Lord pleaſe to beat up the Drum; If the Lord pleaſe to bid them arme, and come abroad, his call is ſufficient, Now God cals either by his precept, or by his providence. Either God cals his Champions for to undertake dangers, or hee commands dangers to over-take them; and hereupon being led forth by the Lord of hoaſts, they expreſſe their valour: For this they know, that whether it be eſtate, or peace, or life, or liberty, or Religion, or whatſoever elſe they hope to defend, they are all tallants that God hath entruſted them with, and that therefore only upon his Commiſſion ſigned, and ſealed by his own hand they may come forth, and muſt come forth bravely, and ſhew themſelves couragious in reference thereto.
Now for a man in an impetuous, giddy, neady way, to breake himſelfe unwiſely in his reputation, liberty, eſtate, and himſelfe knowes no other reaſon: but becauſe his ſpirit moves him, and his humours ſtirre in him, or ſome paſſionat inconſiderate perſons provoke him, this (my beloved) is not to be couragious. Wee reade in the Goſpel, of a man poſſeſſed with an evil ſpirit, that did often caſt himſelf into the water, and into the fire to deſtroy himſelf. And truly it nearely concernes many men of daring ſpirits, to conſiderMark 9. 22▪ ſeriouſly what ſpirit it is that acts in them: Theſe things we muſt marke, that the true nature of courage may bee underſtood.
This deſcription of good courage I judged meet to premiſe and to explain briefly, that we may underſtand the duty in the text, the duty, the ſeaſonable duty, which God calls for, and I plead for.