Courage…is the indispensable requisite of any true ministry… Courage is good everywhere, but it is necessary here. If you are afraid of men and a slave to their opinion, go and do something else. Go and make shoes to fit them… But do not keep on all your life preaching sermons which shall say not what God sent you to declare, but what they hire you to say.
Quoted in: Who Will Be Saved? Edited by: House, Paul and Thornbury, Gregory, Crossway, 2000, p. 101.
The fear of the Lord tends to take away all other fears… This is the secret of Christian courage and boldness.
Grow in Grace, by permission of Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA. 1989, p. 33- 34.
After the respite, the Christians again came under persecution, this time from Marcus Aurelius, in A.D. 61. One of those who suffered this time was Polycarp, the venerable bishop pf Smyrna… As he entered the stadium with his guards, a voice from heaven was heard to say, “Be strong, Polycarp, and play the man.” No one nearby saw anyone speaking but many people heard the voice. Brought before the tribunal and the crowd, Polycarp refused to deny Christ, although the proconsul begged him to “consider yourself and have pity on your great age. Reproach Christ and I will release you.” Polycarp replied, “Eighty-six years I have served Him, and He never once wronged me. How can I blaspheme my King, who saved me?” Threatened with wild beasts and fire, Polycarp stood his ground.
It is easier to find a score of men wise enough to discover the truth than to find one intrepid enough, in the face of opposition, to stand up for it.
Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.
In every generation we who confess the Lord Jesus are confronted with well-established offenses against Him, testing our courage. If we man up, some people will inevitably say we are moving too quickly and causing unnecessary provocation. That might be true. The moral nobility of a cause elevates no one above self-judgment, and crusaders can be the most self-righteous of all. But the lordship of Christ judges everything, including both the offenses He calls us to challenge and our own excuses for not doing so.
Blog Post: Yet They Stood Their Ground, August 10, 2012, Used by Permission.
The badge of courage does not require that we walk through something dangerous. It simply requires that we continue to share God’s love whenever and wherever we are (Tom White).
Voice of the Martyrs.
Christians without courage are a strange and pathetic contradiction and a constant hindrance to revival.
Preaching that Hinders Revival, Revival Commentary, v. 2, n. 2.
Cowardice asks the question: “Is it safe?” Consensus asks the question: “Is it popular?” Courage asks the question: “Is it right?”
Copied from: Pastor Driven Stewardship: 10 Steps to Lead Your Church to Biblical Giving by Rod Rogers, © 2006, p. 11. Used by permission of Rod Rogers – www.DynamicGiving.com. All rights reserved.
Courage is that quality of mind which enables people to encounter danger or difficulty firmly, without fear or discouragement.
Spiritual Leadership, Moody Publishers, 1967, p. 59.
Yet, surely, there must be some who will fling aside the (cowardly) love of peace, and speak out for our Lord, and for His truth. A craven spirit is upon man, and their tongues are paralyzed. Oh, for an outburst of true faith and holy zeal.
He who dares to face his Maker will not tremble before the sons of men.
Treasury of David, Commentary for Psalm 4:1.
Courage we shall need, and for the exercise of it we have as much reason as necessary, if we are soldiers of King Jesus.
Exposition of Psalm 27.
Believing that further delay would be sinful, some of God’s insignificants and nobodies in particular, but trusting in our Omnipotent God, have decided on certain simple lines, according to the Book of God, to make a definite attempt to render the evangelization of the world an accomplished fact… Too long have we been waiting for one another to begin! The time for waiting is past! The hour of God has struck! In God’s holy name let us arise and build! We will not build on the sand, but on the bedrock sayings of Christ, and the gates and minions of hell shall not prevail against us. Should such men as we fear? Before the whole world, aye, before the sleepy, lukewarm, faithless, nambypamby Christian world, we will dare to trust our God, we will venture our all for Him, we will live and we will die for Him, and we will do it with His joy unspeakable singing aloud in our hearts. We will a thousand times sooner die trusting only in our God than live trusting in man. And when we come to this position the battle is already won, and the end of the glorious campaign in sight. We will have the real Holiness of God, not the sickly stuff of talk and dainty words and pretty thoughts; we will have a Masculine Holiness, one of daring faith and works for Jesus Christ.
