Hopeful:
But, Christian, these three fellows, I am persuaded in my heart, are but
a company of cowards: would they have run else, think you, as they did, at the
noise of one that was coming on the road? Why did not Little-Faith pluck up a
greater heart? He might, methinks, have stood one brush with them, and have
yielded when there had been no remedy.
Christian: That they are cowards, many have said, but few
have found it so in the time of trial. As for a great heart, Little-Faith had
none; and I perceive by thee, my brother, hadst thou been the man concerned, thou
art but for a brush, and then to yield. And verily, since this is the height of
thy stomach now they are at a distance from us, should they appear to thee as
they did to him, they might put thee to second thoughts.
But consider again, that they are but journeymen thieves;
They serve under the king of the bottomless pit, who, if need be, will come to
their aid himself, and his voice is as the roaring of a lion. I
myself have been engaged as this Little-Faith was, and I found it a terrible
thing. These three villains set upon me, and I beginning like a Christian to
resist, they gave but a call, and in came their master. I would, as the saying
is, have given my life for a penny, but that, as God would have it, I was
clothed with armor of proof. Aye, and yet, though I was so harnessed, I found
it hard work to quit myself like a man: no man can tell what in that combat
attends us, but he that hath been in the battle himself.
Hopeful: Well, but they ran, you see, when they did but
suppose that one Great-Grace was in the way.
Christian: True, they have often fled, both they and their
master, when Great-Grace hath but appeared; and no marvel, for he is the King’s
champion. But I trow you will put some difference between Little-Faith and the
King’s champion. All the King’s subjects are not his champions; nor can they,
when tried, do such feats of war as he. Is it meet to think that a little child
should handle Goliath as David did? or that there should be the strength of an
ox in a wren? Some are strong, some are weak; some have great faith, some have
little: this man was one of the weak, and therefore he went to the wall.
Hopeful: I would it had been Great-Grace, for their sakes.
Christian: If it had been he, he might have had his hands
full: for I must tell you, that though Great-Grace is excellent good at his
weapons, and has, and can, so long as he keeps them at sword’s point, do well
enough with them; yet if they get within him, even Faint-Heart, Mistrust, or
the other, it shall go hard but they will throw up his heels. And when a man is
down, you know, what can he do?
Whoso looks well upon Great-Grace’s face, will see those
scars and cuts there that shall easily give demonstration of what I say. Yea,
once I heard that he should say, (and that when he was in the combat,) We
despaired even of life. How did these sturdy rogues and their fellows make
David groan, mourn, and roar! Yea, Heman, and Hezekiah too, though champions
in their days, were forced to bestir them when by these assaulted; and yet,
notwithstanding, they had their coats soundly brushed by them. Peter, upon a
time, would go try what he could do; but though some do say of him that he is
the prince of the apostles, they handled him so that they made him at last
afraid of a sorry girl.
Besides, their king is at their whistle; he is never out of
hearing; and if at any time they be put to the worst, he, if possible, comes in
to help them; and of him it is said, “The sword of him that layeth at him
cannot hold; the spear, the dart, nor the habergeon. He esteemeth iron as
straw, and brass as rotten wood. The arrow cannot make him fly; sling-stones
are turned with him into stubble. Darts are counted as stubble; he laugheth at
the shaking of a spear.” What can a man do in this case?
It is true, if a man could at every turn have Job’s horse, and had skill and
courage to ride him, he might do notable things. “For his neck is clothed with
thunder. He will not be afraid as a grasshopper: the glory of his nostrils is
terrible. He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength; he goeth on
to meet the armed men. He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted; neither
turneth he back from the sword. The quiver rattleth against him, the glittering
spear and the shield. He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage;
neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet. He saith among the
trumpets, Ha, ha! and he smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the
captains, and the shoutings.”
But for such footmen as thee and I are, let us never desire
to meet with an enemy, nor vaunt as if we could do better, when we hear of
others that have been foiled, nor be tickled at the thoughts of our own
manhood; for such commonly come by the worst when tried. Witness Peter, of whom
I made mention before: he would swagger, aye, he would; he would, as his vain
mind prompted him to say, do better and stand more for his Master than all men:
but who so foiled and run down by those villains as he?
When, therefore, we hear that such robberies are done on the
King’s highway, two things become us to do.
1. To go out harnessed, and be sure to take a shield with
us: for it was for want of that, that he who laid so lustily at Leviathan could
not make him yield; for, indeed, if that be wanting, he fears us not at all.
Therefore, he that had skill hath said, “Above all, take the shield of faith,
wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.”
2. It is good, also, that we desire of the King a convoy,
yea, that he will go with us himself. This made David rejoice when in the
Valley of the Shadow of Death; and Moses was rather for dying where he stood,
than to go one step without his God.
O, my brother, if he will but go along with us, what need we
be afraid of ten thousands that shall set themselves against us? But without him, the proud helpers
fall under the slain.
I, for my part, have been in the fray before now; and though
(through the goodness of Him that is best) I am, as you see, alive, yet I
cannot boast of any manhood. Glad shall I be if I meet with no more such
brunts; though I fear we are not got beyond all danger. However, since the lion
and the bear have not as yet devoured me, I hope God will also deliver us from
the next uncircumcised Philistine. Then sang Christian,
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“Poor Little-Faith! hast been among the thieves?
Wast robb’d? Remember this, whoso believes,
And get more faith; then shall you victors be
Over ten thousand-else scarce over three.”
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