Vital Godliness: A Treatise on
Experimental and Practical Piety
CHAPTER 20
Courage
I once asked a great general what proportion of men might be
regarded as naturally brave without training and discipline? He said it was
impossible to answer the question with precision, but that the number was very
small. If the inquiry had related to the tempers of men in the performance of
their moral and religious duties, the number of the naturally courageous might
have been stated as still less. Sin has made cowards of us all. Without the
grace of God no man has heroism enough left to enable him to do his duty to God
or man. We are not only averse to holiness, but we have a very peculiar dread of
those things which by the wicked are inflicted on the conscientious. We have
need of constant support and encouragement in the path of rectitude. Accordingly
no small part of all good writings, inspired and uninspired, are designed to
give boldness in the profession and practice of that which is right. Thus in
Psalm 27:14 we read, “Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart;”
and in Psalm 31:24, “Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all
you who hope in the Lord.” When Joshua sent away the spies, his chief
exhortation to them was to “be of good courage,” (Num. 13:20). Among the dying
counsels of Moses to
Words of similar import have often been addressed to armies
about to engage in battle, (2 Sam. 10:12; 1 Chron. 19:13). Indeed, so surely as
the spirit of piety revives among any people, there will be a great revival of
courage. See Ezra 10:4, and many other places, especially Acts 4:13, 29, and 31.
In like manner Paul exhorts the Corinthians: “Watch, stand fast in the faith, be
courageous like men, be strong.” Of like import are those numerous exhortations
in both Testaments to “be strong,” to “be strong in the Lord,” etc.
In fact the Scriptures often speak in tones of high
commendation of doing things courageously, and greatly censure such as are not
valiant for the truth. Indeed, when sin is impudent and brazen-faced, it is not
right that piety should be timid and sneaking. Accordingly the genuine people of
God have in all ages manifested more or less intrepidity in the cause of truth.
And as inspired men, so also uninspired men, who have gained a just influence in
the
But
what is the courage which the
Scriptures commend? This is a question of great importance.
There are in our language four words which are often used
confusedly. These are, bravery, courage, valor, and fortitude. Bravery belongs
to the animal part of our nature; courage to the mental. The former depends on
physical temperament; the latter on the reason.
Bravery
is an instinct;
Courage
is a virtue. One may be brave without thought. He cannot be courageous unless he
calmly reflects. Bravery is often headlong and headstrong; courage is cool and
reasonable. The former acts upon an impulse; the latter upon conviction. By
delay bravery dies away; by delay courage gains strength. Bravery is blind and
furious; courage is far-seeing and prudent. Men are brave in common with the
warhorse; they have courage in common with the great patriots and bleeding
martyrs of all ages. A man may be brave without courage, and courageous without
bravery. He may be unmoved because he has no sense of danger. Or his nerves may
be upset by apprehensions of peril, and his constancy of mind be wholly
unshaken.
Valor
is supposed to have all the best qualities of both bravery
and courage. It glories in risking all upon a just cause and occasion. It looks
far ahead and is wise. But its counsels would be madness in the timid. Men are
never valiant except as they are moved by the higher aims and passions of our
nature. No man can be valiant for a trifle or a sordid end. The love of country,
the love of truth, the love of God—or something high and noble must always
actuate the valiant man.
There is also, in strict propriety of language, a difference
between courage and fortitude.
Courage faces and resists danger; fortitude endures pain. Courage is sometimes
used in a bad sense; fortitude never. Courage is for action; fortitude for
suffering. In this sense fortitude differs little from constancy and patient
endurance. Yet by many good writers these words are used interchangeably. Indeed
all these words are at times used in a good sense and synonymously. In this
chapter the word courage will be used, and in a good sense only. There is a
Christian grace of that name. It is of great value. It is the quality Peter
points out when he says, “Add to faith, virtue.” So highly did the ancient
Greeks and Romans esteem courage, that often in their classics the word by which
they express it is the word by which they express the idea of virtue generally;
as if they would assert that it was either the sum or the index of all virtue.
In the sense of courage, it is by many held that Peter uses
it in the words just quoted. Merely to believe is not the whole of our work. To
our faith, we must add courage. We have great need of this grace. But like all
other Christian virtues, courage has its counterfeits. It is therefore very
important for us soundly to discriminate. True courage is wise and calculates.
It thinks soberly, and is not inconstant rashness; but virtue fighting for a
truth. It has that prudence which foresees the evil, and hides itself. It looks
well to its ways. It chooses the best ends and the best methods of attaining
them. It never cries, “There is no danger,” but is suspicious of mere
appearances. It admits the real difficulties in its way, and provides for their
removal. It is full of wisdom and forethought. In this it wholly differs from
fanaticism, which is blind and furious, and commonly blind in proportion to its
fury.
The Bible everywhere commends “a sound mind.” It is as truly
at war with folly as with sin. Would you have a courage quite dauntless? Choose
such a course of life as God unquestionably approves, such a course as you know
you will yourself approve when standing before God in judgment. Thus you will
always be supported by your own understanding and conscience. Having no mental
misgivings, you will not grow pale at the shaking of a leaf or of a spear. This
true courage seeks worthy objects and noble aims, and is seen in great exploits
that justice warrants, and that wisdom guides; all else is towering frenzy and
distraction. It is not low and base in its aims and plans. It is expansive in
its desires. It lives for God’s glory and man’s happiness.
True Christian courage is also
humble. It does not boast, and is
not puffed up. It greatly boasts in God—but not at all in the flesh. It empties
itself—but finds its fullness in God. Just so surely as one trusts in himself
that he is strong and can do exploits—just so surely is he a poor, weak,
cowardly thing. Look at Peter. He cries out, “Though all men forsake you, yet I
will not.” It is but a few hours until he denies his Lord with oaths. Boasters
are like clouds and wind without rain. When we lay hold on God, we are girded
with omnipotence; but when we are left to ourselves—we are as weak as water.
Evans says, “Courage in general is a temper which disposes a man to do brave and
commendable actions without being daunted at the appearance of dangers and
difficulties in the way.” Buck says, “Courage is active fortitude, that meets
dangers and attempts to repel them.” Seneca, whose mind was unenlightened by
Christianity, yet says, “Courage is properly the contempt of hazards according
to reason; but that to run into danger from mere passion, is rather a daring and
brutal fierceness than an honorable courage.”
Cicero, in some respects the greatest of the heathen
philosophers, says, “That sort of courage which disregards the rules of justice,
and is displayed not for the public good, but for private selfish ends, is
altogether blamable; and so far from being a part of true virtue, it is a piece
of the most barbarous inhumanity.” Plato says, “As that sort of knowledge which
is not directed by the rules of justice, ought rather to have the name of
deceit, than wisdom and prudence; just so that bold and adventurous mind which
is hurried on by the stream of its own passions, and not for the good of the
public, should rather have the name foolhardy and daring, than valiant and
courageous.” The Duke of Sully says, “That which arms us against our friends and
countrymen, in contempt of all laws, as well divine as human, is but a brutal
fierceness, madness, and real cowardliness.”
Another says, “That hardy rashness which many account valor
is the companion of ignorance; and of all rashness, boldness to sin is the most
witless and foolish.” Addison says, “Courage that grows from constitution very
often forsakes a man when he has occasion for it; and when it is only a kind of
instinct in the soul, it breaks out on all occasions without judgment or
discretion; but that courage which arises from a sense of duty and from a fear
of offending Him who made us, always acts in a uniform manner and according to
the dictates of right reason.” He also says courage “is that heroic spirit
inspired by the conviction of our cause being just, and that God will not
forsake us.” Mr. Burke says, “The only real courage is generated by the fear of
God. He who fears God fears nothing
else.”
Indeed the Scriptures justify the remark that no man has true
courage except so far as he is a godly man. “The righteous are as bold as a
lion; but the wicked flee when no man pursues.”
“Stand but your ground, your ghostly foes will fly:
Hell trembles at a heaven-directed eye.
Choose rather to defend than to assail;
Self-confidence will in the conflict fail.
When you are challenged, you may dangers meet
True courage is a fixed, not sudden heat;
Is always humble, lives in self-distrust,
And will itself into no danger thrust.
Devote yourself to God, and you will find
God fights the battles of a will resigned.
Love Jesus. Love will no base fear endure.
Love Jesus, and of conquest rest secure.”
Collier says, “True courage is the result of reasoning. A
brave mind is always impregnable. Courage lies more in the head than in the
veins, and a just sense of honor and of infamy, of duty and of piety, will carry
us further than all the force of mere enthusiasm.” From all this it appears that
true courage is calm, rational, firm—controlled by a sense of justice, free from
raving and madness, from hatred and malignity. It is truth, justice, and honor
sitting on a throne of virtue. Because it fears God, it has not that fear of man
which brings a snare. Trials do but express and manifest it. “True courage never
exerts itself so much as when it is most pressed; and it is then we most enjoy
the feast of a good conscience when we stand in the greatest need of its
support.” One well says, “The courage which Christianity requires, is to bravery
what fortitude is to boldness—an effort of the mental principles rather than of
the spirits. It is a calm, steady determinateness of purpose, that will not be
diverted by allurement, or awed by fear.” And he very properly cites as an
illustration of his meaning those immortal words of Paul: “Behold, I go bound in
the spirit unto
So much for the general nature of courage. It may be either
active or passive. Active
courage leads to bold deeds; passive
courage is not moved by fears in times of peril and suffering. By active
courage Jonathan and his armor-bearer captured the stronghold of the
Philistines; by passive courage Joseph sustained himself in the dungeons of
Active courage bestirs itself, and uses all its resources to
avert, remove, or diminish evils; passive courage defies the worst evils that
can come, and preserves equanimity in the midst of convulsions, disasters,
revolutions, and death in all its frightful forms.
The principle of all courage is the same. He who is possessed
of the genuine virtue in one set of circumstances, will not lack it when
circumstances change. Perhaps no historical book of equal length gives more
instruction as to the nature and obligation of active courage than that of
Nehemiah. It contains an account
of one of the greatest and most difficult enterprises ever accomplished. There
was peril at every step; yet Nehemiah was never daunted. “Shall such a man as I
flee?” was the short but stern reply he gave to those who would tempt him to
cowardice. But one must read the whole book with care in order to understand the
heroism of that great governor. Verily he obtained a good report, and on the
best grounds.
Leighton well says, “It is the battle which tries the
soldier, and the storm the pilot. How would it appear that Christians can be not
only patient but cheerful in poverty, in disgrace and temptations and
persecutions—if it were not often their lot to meet with them?” It is a great
thing for us when we know our calling, and understand why we are made to suffer
severely. One of our capital errors is, that we often fall into a dreamy state,
and forget that life is full of severe realities.
“I slept, and dreamed that life was beauty;
I woke, and found that life was duty.
Was then your dream a shadowy lie?
Toil on, sad heart, courageously,
And you shall find your dream to be.
A noonday light and truth to thee.”
Let every man say with Romaine, “My time is short; I must be
up and doing; I must go briskly on with my work, leaving it to my Lord to find
me strength for it and success in it. His blessing I expect here and forever;
not for anything I have done; and yet I would labor as hard as if heaven was to
be the reward of my labors.”
True Christian courage is loudly demanded in our day. Every
duty may bring it to the test. It is not possible for us to be too entirely and
intrepidly devoted to the service of God. Yet we cannot be too guarded as to our
motives in undertaking any
service for Christ. Let us not seek our own ease, our own honor or advantage;
let us not be moved by any unholy bitterness, nor by party-spirit; let us not
follow blind impulses, nor indulge in temporary excitements; let us not neglect
the duties of the closet for those of the platform; but still let us boldly and
earnestly serve the Lord day and night.
Important as is a stirring, active courage, a
passive courage is no less so.
This we commonly need in all our Christian course. The world is never pleased
with the people of God. The son of the bond-woman still strives with the son of
the free-woman. Opposition to all that is godly—is stern, constant, and
determined. Nothing but divine grace can ever enable a child of God to endure
the fearful hostility of the enemy. Our Savior’s word is still fulfilled: “I
have come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against
her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s foes
shall be they of his own household.”
The offence of the cross has not ceased! It never can cease but by the
conversion of the soul to God. “If you were of the world, the world would love
his own; but because I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world
hates you.” Men of the world have no better attitude towards Christianity than
when they crucified its Author, and cast his followers to the wild beasts! He
who would be a Christian must be so at the risk of all he counts dear in this
life. The world will heap odium upon him, will vex his righteous soul from day
to day; and if possible, turn him away from his tender walk with God.
Of three devices the enemies of the saints are very fond: one
is seduction; another is scorning; the third is bloody persecution. The first is
used at all times. To seduce
God’s people from the path of rectitude is the business of thousands. Whether
they really design it or not, their principles and their practices are alike
evil and corrupting. They are always spreading snares for the feet of the
unwary. They tempt and allure by every flattering deceit. They use cunning
craftiness. They profess great friendship for the very objects of their deceits;
but they regard Christian principle as unnecessarily strict and severe. They
glory in not being bound by the unbending laws of God’s people; yet their
example makes them uneasy. Besides, having no love to God and holiness, they
cannot endure the exemplary life of consistent Christians. Yet they are not
prepared to show all their adversarial venom—and so they satisfy themselves with
attempts to seduce God’s servants.
Others go further, break friendship with consistent
professors, treat them fanatics, and vent upon them the utmost virulence of
their scorn. They practice those
“cruel mockings” of which Paul speaks; those cruel mockings, of which nothing is
harder to be borne with an unruffled spirit. Many take delight in subjecting to
all kinds of vileness—those whose minds seem made up to walk in the paths of
scriptural piety. In every age, the world has exhausted its vocabulary of abuse
against the people of God. Narrow-minded, obstinate, bigot, Puritan, enthusiast,
fanatic—are but a few of the terms of reproach used by the world towards
consistent Christians. I have known a man told to his face that he was a
fanatic, because he would not go with a man of the world to view his earthly
possessions on the Lord’s-day, and he professing a warm friendship all the time.
There is cruelty in the scorning of the scorners. They
delight in their trade. They love to afflict the people of God. They shoot out
the lip.
When seductions and scornings fail, the world will, as it
can, try more formal persecutions.
For three centuries together, at the first preaching of Christianity, the blood
of the martyrs rarely ceased to flow. Although the laws of some countries, and
the public sentiment of the world, do much oppose bloody persecutions in our
day, yet even to this present time dungeons and death are the portion of some of
God’s people. It is but a short time ago, in one year—eight thousand people were
doomed to death on the
A large body of men in the nominally Christian world are by
profession trained to regard themselves as doing God service when they violate
all the laws of charity towards those who differ from them in religious doctrine
and practice. Whether much of the blood of the saints is likely again to be shed
on the earth, is a point on which good men differ. But prophecy does seem to
foretell days of great trial yet to come on the church, and that before her
final triumph and universal dominion. Should that day of trial come, who is
prepared? who is full of courage? who is ready to be offered upon the sacrifice
and service of the church’s faith? Such a day will demand the faith and
fortitude of martyrs. That many cherish the principles of persecutors is
evident, by the malice they show in many forms, and by their open, bold avowals.
The Shepherd of the Valley, a Roman-catholic paper in our country, says, “If the
Catholics ever gain, as they will do, though at a distant day, an immense
majority—we will end religious freedom.” It also says, “Heresy and unbelief are
crimes which should be punished—that is the whole of the matter. In countries,
as
Ungodly men everywhere may suddenly have all restraints
removed, and then they will be wild beasts who devour the people of God. If any
would have examples of high Christian courage both in doing and suffering the
will of God, let them study the history of the church in all ages. Moses,
Joshua, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, Ehud, Stephen, Paul, Peter, and John—in
inspired history; with scores and hundreds in later ages, stand forth as bright
patterns of the grace here commended. They “through faith subdued kingdoms,
worked out righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were
made strong, grew mighty in war, and caused foreign armies to flee. Women
received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, not accepting their
deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Others were tried by
mocking and scourging, yes, moreover by bonds and imprisonment. They were
stoned. They were sawn apart. They were tempted. They were slain with the sword.
They went around in sheep skins and in goat skins; being destitute, afflicted,
ill-treated (of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts, mountains,
caves, and the holes of the earth,” (Heb. 11:33-38)
Nor were examples of great courage confined to the days of
inspiration. The pious Flavel has collected several striking instances of this
grace of courage. When Valens the emperor in a great rage threatened Basil
with banishment and torture, he replied, “As to the first, I little regard
it, for the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof; as for tortures, what
can they do upon such a poor thin body as mine, nothing but skin and bones?”
Luther had such a courage in the cause of truth, that in his last sickness
he expressed sorrow that “he must carry his blood to the grave,” and so not be
permitted to die a martyr’s death. Tertullian testifies of the Christians of his
day, “Our women and children—not to speak of men—overcome their tormentors, and
the fire cannot fetch so much as a sigh from them.”
In conclusion, take the following
principles
and observations
for guidance in this duty. The Scriptures enforces courage both by
precepts and examples. Our circumstances urgently demand that we should possess
and practice this grace. It is not probable that we shall have courage in any
high degree—unless we set a high value upon it. Mere natural courage is of no
use in enabling us to resist spiritual foes and fears. We must therefore seek
true courage by faith in Christ Jesus. He who is readily discouraged cannot rise
to great eminence in anything, surely not in the divine life. Scriptural modes
of arguing are the best to inspire courage. They are such as these: “Because I
live, you shall live also;” “As your days, so shall your strength be;” “I will
never leave you, nor forsake you;” “If God be for us, who can be against us?”
All
true spiritual heroism is based in the precious blood and righteousness of Jesus
Christ. “Time will neither wear out the guilt of
sin, nor blot out the records of conscience.” But the blood of Christ
cleanses from all sin. It speaks
better things than the blood of Abel. His righteousness is enough for us all.
Nor should we hesitate to look at anything in the most serious and solemn
manner. “Those who cannot bear to hear their duty, may prepare soon to hear
their doom.” Those who will not permit their thoughts to travel beyond the
bounds of time, will be, must be greatly surprised by eternal things. The
thoughtless and frivolous must expect eternity to flash damnation in their
consciences. It is mournful that in a world like ours, it should be said of but
one here and there, “He is a thoughtful man.”
It is as shocking as it is dangerous,
for those who possess the powers and responsibilities of men, to aim at no
higher end than is attained by the brutes which perish! Those who would
grow wiser and better, must not turn away their minds from any subject simply
because it excites painful emotions. The thoughtless die as soon as others—yet
not as safely.
Would you have dauntless courage in all coming trials and
persecutions? Die unto sin, hold fast the covenant and promises of God, and let
Christ be all in all to you. He who would not be filled with shame, must first
count the cost of all he undertakes. God’s word and Spirit are always on the
side of truth and duty, and may be infallibly relied on. The enemy has no arts
nor devices that have not been thwarted a thousand times. He can be beaten. He
has been vanquished. Never do evil—that good may come. Choose your weapons.
Maintain a good conscience. Pray to know the wiles of Satan and the cunning
sleight of men, whereby they lie in wait to deceive. If it were possible, they
would deceive the very elect. Divine desertion will make cowards of the bravest,
and fools of the wisest. As soon as the Spirit of the Lord deserted Saul, an
evil spirit rested on him. Leave your reputation, as well as soul and body—in
the hands of God. Clamor and falsehood cannot harm you—if truth is your shield,
and God your refuge. Set your face as a flint. Trust in the Lord, and do good.
“Nothing but cowardice ever finally lost the victory in the cause of God.”
