Jeremiah 38:4
Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death: for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them: for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt.
"It is worth noting that cowards are frequently brave about distant dangers, like the Babylonians, precisely because they are afraid of nearby pressures, such as those that might come from courtiers and princes. Because Zedekiah was this kind of coward, he lived to see his sons executed in front of him and all the words of the courageous prophet fulfilled." — Douglas Wilson, Scripture Stories: Lives and Times
It is easy to carry your bravado into hypothetical battles, but difficult to stand your ground against present danger. The Spirit of the Age can cause a man to crucify the immortal Son of God in order to avoid the sideways glance of the mortal Caesar of a temporary empire. Pressure is always felt where it comes to a point. One can sell their future for the sake of some soup or kowtow to the crowd in front of them while grandstanding against the army across the ocean, but either way, wherever the pressure is felt is where the resilience is required.
"If I profess with loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except that little point which the world and the Devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battlefield besides, is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point." — Martin Luther
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