Psalm 108:13a (KJV) Through God we shall do valiantly...
Pilgrim's Progress, Part 2, by John Bunyan, 1678
Jeremiah 9:3 (KJV)
“They bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me”, saith the Lord.
Then they went on; and just at the place where LITTLE-FAITH formerly was robbed, there stood a man with his sword drawn, and his face all bloody. Then said Mr. GREAT-HEART, “What art thou?” The man made answer, saying, “I am one whose name is VALIANT-FOR-TRUTH. I am a pilgrim, and am going to the Celestial City."
Now as I was in my way, there three men did beset me, and propounded unto me these three things:
1. Whether I would become one of them?
2. Or go back from whence I came?
3. Or die upon the place? To the first I answered, "I had been a true man a long season; and therefore it could not be expected that I now should cast in my lot with thieves.”
(“My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause: Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit: We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil: Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse” Proverbs 1:10-14)
Then they demanded what I would say to the second. So I told them that the place from whence I came, had I not found incommodity there, I had not forsaken it at all; but finding it altogether unsuitable to me, and very unprofitable for me, I forsook it for this way.
Then they asked me what I said to the third; and I told them my life cost more dear far, than that I should lightly give it away. Besides, you have nothing to do thus to put things to my choice; wherefore at your peril be it if you meddle. Then these three, to wit, WILD-HEAD, INCONSIDERATE, and PRAGMATIC, drew upon me; and I also drew upon them.
(NOTE: these three foes are both external, and of the heart.)
So we fell to it, one against three, for the space of above three hours. They have left upon me, as you see, some of the marks of their valour; and have also carried away with them some of mine. They are but just now gone. I suppose they might, as the saying is, hear your horse dash; and so they betook them to flight.
Great-heart. But here were great odds, three against one!
Valiant. Tis true; but little and more are nothing to him that has the truth on his side. “Though a host should encamp against me,” said one, “my heart shall not fear. Though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident,” etc.
(“Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.” Psalms 27:3)
“Besides”, said he, “I have read in some records, that one man has fought an army; and how many did Samson slay with the jawbone of an ass?”
Great-heart. Then said the guide, “Why did you not cry out, that some might have come in for your succour.”
Valiant. So I did, to my King, who I knew could hear, and afford invisible help; and that was sufficient for me.
Great-heart. Then said GREAT-HEART to Mr. VALIANT-FOR-TRUTH, “Thou hast worthily behaved thyself: let me see thy sword.” So he showed it him.
When he had taken it in his hand, and looked thereon awhile, he said, “Ah, it is a right Jerusalem blade!”
Valiant. It is so. Let a man have one of these blades, with a hand to wield it, and skill to use it, and he may venture upon an angel with it. He need not fear its holding, if he can but tell how to lay on. Its edges will never blunt. It will cut flesh, and bones, and soul, and spirit, and all.
(“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Ephesians 6:12-17)
(“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12)
Great-heart. But you fought a great while, I wonder you were not weary.
Valiant. I fought till my sword did cleave to my hand.
(“He arose, and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clave unto the sword: and the LORD wrought a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to spoil.” 2 Samuel 23:10)
…and when they were joined together, as if a sword grew out of my arm, and when the blood ran through my fingers, then I fought with most courage.
Great-heart. Thou hast done well; thou hast resisted unto blood, striving against sin. Then this was your victory, even your Faith. (1 John 5:4)
Valiant. It was so; I believed, and therefore came out, got into the Way, fought all that set themselves against me, and by believing am come to this place.
“Valiant for Truth's Song” - Ralph Vaughan Williams
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p76LhIqJkCY
Who would True valour see,
Let him come hither;
One here will constant be,
Come Wind, come Weather.
There's no Discouragement
Shall make him once relent
His first avow'd intent
To be a Pilgrim.
Who so beset him round
With dismal Stories,
Do but themselves confound,
His Strength the more is;
No Lion can him fright,
He'll with a Giant fight,
But he will have a right
To be a Pilgrim.
Hobgoblin nor foul Fiend
Can daunt his spirit;
He knows he at the end
Shall Life inherit.
Then Fancies fly away,
He'll fear not what men say,
He'll labour night and day
To be a Pilgrim.
Valiant for Truth crosses the “last river”
Mr. Valiant-for-truth was taken with a summons by the same post as the other, and had this for a token that the summons was true, “That his pitcher was broken at the fountain.” (Ecclesiastes 12:6) When he understood it, he called for his friends, and told them of it.
Then said he, “I am going to my Father’s; and though with great difficulty I have got hither, yet now I do not repent me of all the trouble I have been at to arrive where I am. My sword I give to him that shall succeed me in my pilgrimage, and my courage and skill to him that can get it. My marks and scars I carry with me, to be a witness for me that I have fought His battles who will now be my rewarder.”
When the day that he must go hence was come, many accompanied him to the river-side, into which as he went, he said, “Death, where is thy sting?” And as he went down deeper, he said, “Grave, where is thy victory?” (Isaiah 25:8, Hosea 13:14b, 1 Corinthians 15:55)
So he passed over, and all the trumpets sounded for him on the other side.
“Be Strong and True”, Jennie McNicholas, 1897
Be strong and valiant for the truth,
Resist the tempter’s luring pow’r;
Shun all the avenues of sin,
And trust in God each day and hour.
Refrain:
Be strong, and firmly trust,
In God through every test;
Be true, and fearless stand,
And with His grace and strength be blest.
Cast not away the Arm of Strength
To yield unto the tempting throng;
For God is always strong and true
To help and keep us from the wrong.
He is our Rock, our Tower high,
And to the meek He giveth grace;
A shield He is to them that trust,
The joy of those who seek His face.
He will forsake you not He says,
But ever in your hearts abide,
And make you lie in pastures green;
In paths of pleasantness He’ll guide.
John Calvin’s Letters, “Epistle to Marguerite de Navarre”
A dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I saw that God's truth is attacked and yet would remain silent.
Attributed to Martin Luther, but expressed by a fictional character named Fritz in a historical novel by Elizabeth Rundle Charles, Chronicles of the Schönberg-Cotta Family, 1864
If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point that the world and the devil are at the moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages is where the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battlefield besides is merely flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point.
John Collins in Sermons of the Great Ejection on Jude 3 “Earnestly contend for the faith…”
Some Christians say… that it does no good by standing out. I answer, whether we get good, or do good, or no, we are to do our duty. The Lord will honour you for suffering for the truth.
John Newton in a sermon at St Mary Woolnoth on Sunday, December 19, 1779, on Ephesians 4:15 “speaking the truth in love.”
The Bible is the grand repository of the truths that it will be the business and the pleasure of my life to set before you. It is the complete system of divine truth to which nothing can be added and from which nothing can be taken with impunity. Every attempt to disguise or soften any branch of this truth in order to accommodate it to the prevailing taste around us either to avoid the displeasure or court the favor of our fellow mortals must be an affront to the majesty of God and an act of treachery to men. My conscience bears me witness that I mean to speak the truth among you.
Charles Spurgeon “The Very Bold Prophecy”
https://www.spurgeon.org/resource-library/sermons/the-very-bold-prophecy/#flipbook/
He that is ashamed to speak the Truth of God has need to be ashamed of himself! It is treason against the King of Kings to tone down the Word of the Lord. Surely, among all cowards, he is the worst who is afraid to be true to God.
A.W. Tozer The Next Chapter after the Last
It is only necessary that we believe the truth (as revealed in Scripture). Its power over us depends upon our believing it, not upon our understanding it.
“Standing for Truth” on Isaiah 59:15 – “Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. The LORD looked and was displeased that there was no justice.”
We have developed in recent times a peace-loving, soft-spoken, tame and harmless brand of Christian of whom the world has no fear and for whom it has little respect. We are careful, for instance, never to speak in public against any of the false cults lest we be thought intolerant. We fear to talk against the destructive sins of modern civilization for fear someone will brand us as bigoted and narrow. Little by little we have been forced off the hard earth into a religious cloud-land where we are permitted to wing our harmless way around, like swallows at sundown, saying nothing that might stir the ire of the sons of this world.
That Neo-Christianity, which seems for the time to be the most popular (and is certainly the most aggressive), is very careful not to oppose sin. It wins its crowds by amusing them and its converts by hiding from them the full implications of the Christian message. It carries on its projects after the ballyhoo methods of American business. Well might we paraphrase Wordsworth and cry, "Elijah, thou shouldst be living at this hour; America has need of thee." We stand in desperate need of a few men like Elijah who will dare to face up to the brazen sinners who dictate our every way of life.
Sin in the full proportions of a revolution or a plague has all but destroyed our civilization while church people have played like children in the marketplace. What has happened to the spirit of the American Christian? Has our gold become dim? Have we lost the spirit of discernment till we can no longer recognize our captors? How much longer will we hide in caves while Ahab and Jezebel continue to pollute the temple and ravage the land?
Surely we should give this some serious thought and prayer before it is too late—if indeed it is not too late already.
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones “Girded With Truth”
https://www.mljtrust.org/sermons/book-of-ephesians/girded-with-truth/
Romans 9:1, 2 Corinthians 11:10
Speak the truth in Christ...
2 Corinthians 10:5
We demolish arguments/paradigms/models and every pretension (asserting as truth that which is false) that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
CAUTION
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
You can state the truth, you can state it boldly, you can withstand a Peter to the face, but always do it in such way that you still have the peace of God in your heart.
James 3:17 (JB Phillips)
The wisdom (knowledge of the truth and application of that truth) that comes from God is first utterly pure, then peace-loving, gentle, approachable, full of tolerant thoughts and kindly actions, with no breath of favoritism or hint of hypocrisy.