The Excellency Of Holy Courage In Evil Times

Puritan works by Jeremiah Burroughs are always chock-full of sound doctrine, exemplifying God’s grace and the truth of the Gospel. This book is no exception. It is a work that in his day, and ours, has profound applications. As Christians we must fear God instead of men, and we ought to live a life of holy courage daily. Burroughs takes us on a journey through the doctrines that he lifts from Hebrews 11:27 in dealing with Moses forsaking Egypt. He teaches us that wicked men (especially when they have power) are very fierce and outrageous in their wrath when anything crosses them. And then secondly, true faith will keep a gracious heart from immoderate fear of men in the world, regardless of how great they are, or how much power they think they have. God is on the side of His people, and He will be with them. It is a masterful treatise that applies to every Christian in every age. Christians should have godly faith which exemplifies HOLY COURAGE glorifying the LORD JESUS CHRIST in the sight of all men.

The truth of God is the foundation of all true religion. This is why the first commandment in Exodus 20, in order to love God with all your heart, soul and mind, is to have no other gods before him, and to take God as your God, in the way God has revealed himself. God has deposited his truth, his will, his word, into the hands of the church (into the very heart of the church). It has been delivered to them. “…that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints,” (Jude 1:3). Maynard’s exposition of the “truth” comes from Proverbs 23:23, “Buy the truth and sell it not.” He gives two propositions that serve as his doctrines: 1.) An affirmative, or precept, Buy Truth, and, 2.) A negative, or prohibition, Sell it not. In this, Maynard shows 1. What is this Truth which we are required to buy? 2. What does it mean to buy Truth? 3. From whom must it be bought? 4. Why is this purchase necessary? In his second address, he covers Philippians 3:21, “According to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.” He will argue for Christ’s kingship, that the work and merit of the Savior is both a current reality in subduing his enemies, and a future reality in its completion. In light of this, he argues that if the Lord has honored you by adopting you into his family, it behooves you to render your absolute service to the King of heaven. Not only that you would see the delights surrounding the cross of Christ, but also the wonders surrounding the crown of the King. Not only that you would love the sweet Savior, but also that you would heed his commands and his truth as the commanding King.

This very timely and advantageous work is truly a godly help to Christ’s church, a present help in a time of plague. It is filled with godly directions from various authors who took time to thoughtfully set down specific biblical directions, pleading with the people of God to forsake sin, and follow Christ’s prescription for holiness and righteousness. These authors are all of one mind, though they lived at different times over a span of almost 200 years. This is because all godly directions taken from careful Scriptural study will always end up in the same place. It is true, each writer deals with various texts, from various angles. But, still, their conclusions are the same, and they all offer the church today godly directions that will deliver the church from under the heavy hand of God’s judgments. The authors are well known to those who have taken an interest in the preachers of old, and in times of reformation. The works included have been chosen to be helpful, not overbearing. They are, however, clear in their content, though more examples could certainly be added (having whole books written on this subject of the plague). There are four sermons, one by John Hooper (on Mark 1:15) which is a shortened homily, a sermon by Lancelot Andrewes (on Psa. 106:29–30), one by John Owen (on 2 Timothy 3:1) and one by Thomas Manton (on Psalm 119:67). There is an extended prayer given by William Crashaw (which is amazing and experimentally helpful) coupled by an exhortation given by him about the plague, as well as an extended exhortation by Henry Burton on self-denial and humiliation (on Luke 9:23). Finally, Thomas Draxe sets down a series of simple questions and answers to the difficulty of a plague and how the godly should conduct themselves. In all of these the church around the world would do well to heed their godly directions in this time, that God would hear from heaven, and forgive their sin, and remember his covenant for their good.