To The Right Honourable Sir Horatio Vere, Knight

To the Right Honourable Sir Horatio Vere, Knight, Lord Vere of Tilbury and General of the English Forces under the High and Mighty Lords the States General of the United Provinces in the Netherlands, and to his pious consort, the Lady Mary Vere: increase of grace.

Right Honourable,

Soldiers who carry their lives in their hands need, above all others, to carry grace in their hearts — so that, having made peace with God, they may be fit to face men, and having disarmed death by faith in Christ before they die, they may give up their lives with greater courage and comfort. To neglect this, since it concerns eternity, is not courage but desperate madness; for in this business, as in the oversights of war, there is no second chance — the first mistake cannot be undone. Against evils too great for a man's strength to overcome or his patience to endure, God has planted in us the fear that should drive us to flee for safety to Christ. And since he is our friend, it hardly matters who else is our enemy: we may be killed, but we cannot be harmed, so safe is it to stand under the command of the one who commands death, hell, judgment, and everything we fear most. Yet such is our nature that familiarity with danger gradually and unknowingly hardens us against it, until we look no further than death itself, as though dying were merely giving up the ghost, and then the end of everything. This is why soldiers are generally not thought of as the most religious of men — which makes those of that calling all the more worthy of respect who have learned on what terms to live and die, who are sure of a better life before they leave this one, who have laid up their life in Christ. Among these, Right Honourable, the world has long taken notice of you, in whom religion and military service, gentleness of spirit and height of courage, humility and honor, have come together in a rare and happy combination. By this you have done much to clear your profession from the common charge against it, and have shown that piety can enter the tent and follow the camp — that God has his Joshuas and his Corneliuses in every age. But I will not say much about you to your own face, since though you have done much that will be spoken of, you love neither to hear nor to speak of what you have done.

It may seem unfitting to some to offer a discourse on a "bruised reed" to so strong and flourishing a cedar. But experience shows that the strongest plants in God's house are sometimes exposed to fierce winds of temptation, and so meet with bruising — that they may better know by whose strength they stand, and that even the greatest may learn to look outside themselves to the same rock and fountain of strength as the least. David was a valiant man, yet through his own repeated failures and recoveries he became, toward God, like a weaned child. Lowliness of mind toward God and greatness of spirit against his enemies can stand together very well, for the way to rise above everything else is to submit to God first. Besides, this text speaks of the prevailing government of Christ in his church and in his children, which may still encourage your lordship — not only to own the cause of Christ in an age when men are ashamed of what they should glory in and glory in their shame, but also to fight the Lord's battles when called to it and to help him against the mighty, since victory attends Christ's side in the end. Though God, to settle the score of his covenant, allows his enemies to prevail for a time — only to harden them further — they have still taken up a doomed cause. However justly the church may have provoked God, that cause will stand unbreakable against every created power of devils and men. We all naturally desire victory, and many desire it more than truth or goodness, which alone are truly victorious; and so, out of a corrupted judgment, they work against their own desires, seeking to win exactly where it would be safer for them to lose. Such people are sure to meet with shame in the end instead of victory — unless we are prepared to deny that Christ is King of his church and Judge of the world. Go on, then, honorable lord, to stand for Christ in both peace and war, and this will be found to your honor when Christ comes "to be glorified in his saints" (2 Thessalonians 1:10) — that he thought you worthy to honor himself through, while others, who oppose or betray the cause of Christ for base ends, will not dare to lift up their heads.

I would not separate you from your honorable lady, being indebted to you both, and the two of you being one — as in other bonds, so above all in your shared love for the best things. Both of you have been examples in every course of godliness; both, in your own places, have been employed in great service for the common good, so that not only this nation but others abroad have reason to bless God for you both. As you continue on in these ways, you will find God making good his promise to honor those who honor him.

I do not think so highly of this small work as to believe it worthy of your honors, but I thought it fitting to show, in this way, my well-deserved respect for you both. If I am to blame for allowing these sermons, preached long ago, to be published now, others must share the blame with me, since they brought matters to a point where this course was almost necessary. May the Lord continue to bless your honors, and all your household, and to sustain his grace in you "until he brings forth justice to victory" (Matthew 12:20).

Yours to command in the Lord,

Richard Sibbes.