B. W.

II. Secondly, COURAGE IS TO BE MAINTAINED. "Be of good courage." Our good Lord and Master ought not to be followed by cowards. Be of good courage, you that wait on the Lord! Have the courage of hope concerning the faith which you are exercising upon Christ. You are just beginning, some of you, to believe in Jesus, and you are afraid that He will cast you away, or fearful that you will not obtain full salvation from sin. I have already told you to continue to knock at Mercy's door—do so, but be of good courage—for that door will certainly open to you. He that asks receives, he that seeks finds and to him that knocks it shall be opened.

Take heart, poor fainting one, the Lord has a tender eye towards mourning souls! He is very good to those who seek Him. Though you are like poor trembling Mercy who fainted outside the door of the interpreter's house, yet your Lord thinks upon you and He says, "Come in, you blessed of the Lord, why do you stand outside?" He will not suffer those to perish who humbly wait on Him. The light of His countenance shall yet be yours. Be of good courage, O Seeker! Be, also,

of good courage, you who have newly found Him. Be bold to avow your faith. Remember that the trust which you repose in Jesus is a justifiable one and can be vindicated against all comers—therefore do not hide it.

I hate to see a Christian act like a rat behind the wall who comes peeping out, when everything is still, to see if anybody is about so that he may get his crumbs. If there is half a sound of a foot anywhere—away he slips and hides himself in his hole! No, if you belong to Christ, acknowledge it! What is there to be ashamed of? To believe the Truth of God—shall a man blush at that? To follow infinite purity and holiness incarnate in Christ Jesus—is there anything to be ashamed of in that? No, rather let us wear our colors before the face of all men and lift high our banner in all companies, for it is a cause for glorying rather than for blushing that we are on the Lord's side! It is the best thing about us! It is the greatest mercy we have ever received! Why should we conceal it? Wait on the Lord, be of good courage and confess your faith before men, you that have newly been brought to Jesus.

Then go farther. Be of good courage in endeavoring to spread the faith which you have received. When you go to speak to others about the great salvation, be not afraid! If it is new work for you, I dare say you will tremble, but still do it and ask the Lord to give you greater confidence in proclaiming the tidings of His Grace. If you speak with infidels, be of good courage, though for a while you cannot lead them to believe. If you speak to those who are incensed against the Truth of God, be of good courage—what harm can they do to you that shall be equal to the harm you will suffer by being a coward? Be of good courage and undertake great things for Christ! Do not expect a defeat, but dare and venture all for Him.

Do something more than you are able to do, expecting strength beyond your own to be afforded you, and it will certainly come. "Wait on the Lord: be of good courage and He shall strengthen your heart." Be of good courage, then, in the way of practical energy for the advancement of your Redeemer's cause. Be of good courage when you pray for others. Wait on the Lord about your children and be of good courage and expect to see them saved. Wait on the Lord about your servants, about your brothers and sisters, about your neighbors—be of good courage about them—believe that God hears prayer and that your intercessions will bless those for whom you pray.

Intercession has great influence with God. It is no vain thing to wait upon the Lord for the souls of others. Thousands now in Heaven owe their conversion to the prayers of the saints and, therefore, plead with great courage! Never cease to pray! And when you pray, pray not as though you spoke to a tyrant reluctant to hear, or to a forgetful God who would fail to answer, but wait on Him with quiet confidence and you shall not come away empty. Be of good courage, too, in making self-sacrifices for the cause of Christ. If you lose a situation because you are honest, be of good courage—you will be no loser in the long run.

Are there some who despise you because you are a Christian? Be of good courage, their opinion is of very little worth and in the judgment of angels and good men you stand very high. Are you like Moses when he refused the treasures of Egypt with all the honors of the court? Be of good courage, the Lord will give you, even in this life, a recompense and, in the world to come, life everlasting! If it should come to losing all you have for Jesus' sake, be of good courage, for he that loses his life for Christ's sake shall find it and he that becomes poor for the cause of Christ shall be eternally rich! Be of good courage!

Once again, if you are called to endure great affliction, sharp pain, frequent sickness. If business goes amiss, if riches take to themselves wings and fly away. If friends forsake you and foes surround you, be of good courage, for the God upon whom you wait will not forsake you. Never let it be said that a soldier of the Cross flinched in the day of battle! Bear your Father's will, glad to have such a Father's will to bear! If Grace cannot enable us to endure all that Nature can heap upon us, what is Grace worth? Now is the time, my dear Brothers and Sisters, in the floods of adversity, to see whether your faith is real faith or not! Mere sunshine faith is not worth having! We need that which will outlive the most terrible storm that ever beclouded the heavens.

Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, though heart and flesh should fail you. Though eyes grow dim and the light of day should be quite shut out. Though hearing should fail and the daughters of music be silent. Though all the doors of the senses should be closed. Though the bearers of the body should totter and the keepers of the house should tremble, yes, though death itself should remove this feeble body, yet there is no cause for fear! We may exclaim with dying Jacob, "I have waited for Your salvation, O Lord." Let not your hearts be troubled! Wait on the Lord and courage shall revive.