Valiant for Truth

"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 over with blood. 

Then said Mr. Great-Heart, 'Who 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 were three men that 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. (Prov. 1:11-14). To the first I answered, I had been a true man for a long season, and therefore it could not be expected that I should now cast in my lot with thieves. 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 far more dear 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. 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 valor, 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 themselves to flight.'

Mr. Great-Heart: 'But here was great odds, three against one.'

Valiant-for-Truth: 'Tis true; but little and more are nothing to him that has the truth on his side: "Though an host should encamp against me," said one, "my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident" (Ps 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!'

Mr. Great-Heart: 'Why did you not cry out, that some might have come in for your succour?'

Valiant-for-Truth: 'So I did to my King, who I knew could hear me, and afford invisible help, and that was sufficient for me.'

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, 'Ha, it is a right Jerusalem blade.'

Valiant-for-Truth: '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 edge will never blunt. It will cut flesh and bones, and soul, and spirit, and all.' (Heb. 4:12).

Mr. Great-Heart: 'But you fought a great while; I wonder you was not weary.'

Valiant-for-Truth: 'I fought till my sword did cleave to my hand; and then 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.'

Mr. Great-Heart: 'Thou hast done well; thou hast resisted unto blood, striving against sin. Thou shalt abide by us, come in and go out with us; for we are thy companions.'

Then they took him and washed his wounds, and gave him of what they had, to refresh him: and so they went together. Now, as they went on, because Mr. Great-Heart was delighted in him, (for he loved one greatly that he found to be a man of his hands,) and because there were in company those that were feeble and weak, therefore he questioned with him about many things..." 

Excerpt from: Bunyan, J. (1678) Pilgrims Progress, Michigan: Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) Web Edition, pgs. 207-208

The Main Features of a Holy Man

J.C. Ryle (1816-1900)

My heart was 'strangely warmed' as I read the following description of holiness by J.C. Ryle. What a vision for us individually and corporately. We need such vision. Without it, we dwell carelessly (Prov 29:18). 

Ryle certainly felt the weight of responsibility as he drew a picture of holiness and conceded that his finished work was "but a poor imperfect outline at the best." Ryle was a humble man – there is much gold in what he wrote.

My heart is that those who read this description of holiness will be warmed, as I was, in their inner man. Let us pursue after such holiness, without which no one will see the Lord (Heb 12:14). John the Baptist pursued holiness and Jesus called him a "burning lamp". Truly, holiness and fire dwell together. 

"I am baptizing you in water for repentance, but He who comes after me is mightier than I, for I am not worthy to pick up His sandals; He is to baptize you in The Spirit of Holiness and in fire." Matt 3:11

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"What then is true practical holiness? It is a hard question to answer. I do not mean that there is any want of scriptural matter on the subject. But I fear lest I should give a defective view of holiness, and not say all that ought to be said; or lest I should say things about it that ought not be said, and so do harm. Let me, however, try to draw a picture of holiness, that we may see it clearly before the eyes of our minds. Only let it never be forgotten, when I have said all, that my account is but a poor imperfect outline at best.

a. Holiness is the habit of being one mind with God, according as we find His mind described in Scripture. It is the habit of agreeing in God's judgement, hating what He hates, loving what He loves, and measuring everything in this world by the standard of His Word. He who most entirely agrees with God, he is the most holy man.

b. A holy man will endeavour to shun every known sin, and to keep every known commandment. He will have a decided bent of mind towards God, a hearty desire to do His will, a greater fear of displeasing Him than of displeasing the world, and a love to all His ways. He will feel what Paul felt when he said, "I delight in the law of God after the inward man' (Rom. 7:22), and what David felt when he said, 'I esteem all Thy precepts concerning all things to be right, and I hate every false way' (Ps. 119:128).

c. A holy man will strive to be like our Lord Jesus Christ. He will not only live the life of faith in Him, and draw from Him all his daily peace and strength, but he will also labour to have the mind that was in Him, and to be conformed to His image (Rom. 8:29). It will be his aim to bear with and forgive others, even as Christ forgave us; to be unselfish, even as Christ pleased not Himself; to walk in love, even as Christ loved us; to be lowly-minded and humble, even as Christ made Himself of no reputation and humbled Himself. He will remember that Christ was a faithful witness for the truth; that He came not to do His own will; that it was His meat and drink to do His Father's will; that He would continually deny Himself in order to minister to others; that He was meek and patient under undeserved insults; that He thought more of godly poor men than of kings; that He was full of love and compassion to sinners; that He was bold and uncompromising in denouncing sin; that He sought not the praise of men, when He might have had it; that He went about doing good; that He was separate from worldly people; that He continued instant in prayer; that He would not let even His nearest relations stand in His way when God's work was to be done. These things a holy man will try to remember. By them he will endeavour to shape his course in life. He will lay to heart the saying of John: 'He that saith he abideth in [Christ] ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked' (1 John 2:6), and the saying of Peter, that 'Christ ... suffered for us, leaving us an example that ye should follow His steps' (1 Peter 2:21). Happy is he who has learned to make Christ his 'all', both for salvation and example! Much time would be saved, and much sin prevented, if men would oftener ask themselves the question: 'What would Christ have said and done, if He were in my place?'

d. A holy man will follow after meekness, longsuffering, gentleness, patience, kind tempers, government of his tongue. He will bear much, forbear much, overlook much and be slow to talk of standing on his rights. We see a bright example of this in the behaviour of David when Shimei cursed him, and of Moses when Aaron and Miriam spake against him (2 Sam 16:10; Num 12:3).

Shimei curses David (2 Sam 16:5-13)

e. A holy man will follow after temperance and self-denial. He will labour to mortify the desires of his body, to crucify his flesh with his affections and lusts, to curb his passions, to restrain his carnal inclinations, lest at any time they break loose. Oh, what is that of the Lord Jesus to the apostles: 'Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life' (Luke 21:34), and that of the apostle Paul: 'I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway' (1 Cor. 9:27).

f. A holy man will follow after charity and brotherly kindness. He will endeavour to observe the golden rule of doing as he would have men do to him, and speaking as he would have men speak to him. He will be full of affection towards his brethren, towards their bodies, their property, their characters, their feelings, their souls. 'He that loveth another,' says Paul, 'hath fulfilled the law' (Rom. 13:8). He will abhor all lying, slandering, backbiting, cheating, dishonesty and unfair dealing, even in the least things. The shekel and cubit of the sanctuary were larger than those in common use. He will strive to adorn his religion by all his outward demeanour, and to make it lovely and beautiful in the eyes of all around him. Alas, what condemning words are the thirteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians, and the sermon on the mount, when laid alongside the conduct of many professing Christians!

g. A holy man will follow after a spirit of mercy and benevolence towards others. He will not stand all the day idle. He will not be content with doing no harm; he will try to do good. He will strive to be useful in his day and generation and to lessen the spiritual wants and misery around him as far as he can. Such was Dorcas: 'full of good works and almsdeeds, which she did' -- not merely purposed and talked about, but did. Such an one was Paul: 'I will very gladly spend and be spent for you,' he says, 'though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved' (Acts 9:36; 2 Cor. 12:15).

Dorcas' almsdeeds (Acts 9:36)

h. A holy man will follow after purity of heart. He will dread all filthiness and uncleanness of spirit, and seek to avoid all things that might draw him into it. He knows his own heart is like tinder, and will diligently keep clear of the sparks of temptation. Who shall dare to talk of strength when David can fall? There is many a hint to be gleaned from the ceremonial law. Under it a man who only touched a bone or a dead body or a grave or a diseased person became at once unclean in the sight of God. And these things were emblems and figures. Few Christians are ever too watchful and too particular about this point.

i. A holy man will follow after the fear of God. I do not mean the fear of a slave, who only works because he is afraid of punishment and would be idle if he did not dread discovery. I mean rather the fear of a child, who wishes to live and move as if he was always before his father's face, because he loves him. What a noble example Nehemiah gives us of this! When he became governor at Jerusalem he might have been chargeable to the Jews, and required of them money for his support. The former governors had done so. There was none to blame him if he did. But he says, 'So did not I, because of the fear of God' (Neh 5:15).

j. A holy man will follow after humility. He will desire, in lowliness of mind, to esteem all others better than himself. He will see more evil in his own heart than in any other in the world. He will understand something of Abraham's feeling, when he says, 'I am dust and ashes,' and Jacob's, when he says, 'I am least than the least of all Thy mercies,' and Job's, when he says, 'I am vile,' and Paul's, when he says, 'I am chief of sinners.' Holy Bradford, that faithful martyr of Christ, would sometimes finish his letters with these words: 'A most miserable sinner, John Bradford.' Good old Mr Grimshaw's last words, when he lay on his deathbed, were these: 'Here goes an unprofitable servant.'

k. A holy man will follow after faithfulness in all the duties and relations in life. He will try, not merely to fill his place as well as others who take no thought for their souls, but even better, because he has higher motives and more help than they. Those words of Paul should never be forgotten: 'Whatsoever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord': 'Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord' (Col. 3:23; Rom 12:11). Holy persons should aim at doing everything well, and should be ashamed of allowing themselves to do anything ill if they can help it. Like Daniel, they should seek to give no 'occasion' against themselves, except concerning the law of their God (Dan. 6:5). They should strive to be good husbands and good wives, good parents and good children, good masters and good servants, good neighbours, good friends, good subjects, good in private and good in public, good in the place of business and good by their firesides. Holiness is worth little indeed, if it does not bear this kind of fruit. The Lord Jesus puts a searching question to His people, when he says, 'What do ye more than others?' (Matt. 5:47).

l. Last, but not least, a holy man will follow after spiritual-mindedness. He will endeavour to set his affections entirely on things above, and to hold things on earth with a very loose hand. He will not neglect the business of the life that now is; but the first place in his mind and thoughts will be given to the life to come. He will aim to live like one whose treasure is in heaven, and to pass through this world like a stranger and pilgrim travelling to his home. To commune with God in prayer, in the Bible, and in the assembly of His people -- these things will be the holy man's chiefest enjoyments. He will value every thing and place and company, just in proportion as it draws him nearer to God. He will enter into something of David's feeling, when he says, 'My soul followeth hard after Thee'; 'Thou art my portion' (Ps. 63:8; 119:57).

Such is the outline of holiness which I venture to sketch out. Such is the character which those who are called 'holy' follow after. Such are the main features of a holy man."

Excerpt from: Ryle, J.C. (1879) Holiness., Pennsylvania: Evangelical Press 1979, pgs. 34-37.