The excellency of holy courage in evil times by Jeremiah Burroughs

First, Difficult in regard of the impediments, no work hath such great impediments as this. The soul seeing an enmity between God and it, and seeing it self a polluted Creature, and seeing the Law of God in its strictness, and the Justice of God must be satisfied, and sees the wrath of God burning against it, and having nothing in its self to satisfy God, yet Faith doth break through all these, and if it can break through these, then certainly it will break through any thing; for there can be no greater impediment to any service that God calls to, than there was to this one work of believing: Let us not therefore be feared by any difficulty and mountain that lies in our way to any work, because there can never be any mountain laid in our way to hinder us in any work, as did lie in our way to hinder us from believing, ⟨p. 140⟩and if Faith did burst through those impediments, it shall be able to break through all other impediments.

First, Difficult in regard of the impediments, no work hath such great impediments as this. The soul seeing an enmity between God and it, and seeing it self a polluted Creature, and seeing the Law of God in its strictness, and the Justice of God must be satisfied, and sees the wrath of God burning against it, and having nothing in its self to satisfie God, yet Faith doth break through al these, and if it can break through these, then certainly it wil break through any thing; for there can be no greater impediment to any service that God calls to, than there was to this one work of beleeving: Let us not therefore be feared by any difficulty and mountain that lies in our way to any work, because there can never be any mountain laid in our way to hinder us in any work, as did lie in our way to hinder us from beleeving, ⟨p. 140⟩and if Faith did burst through those impediments, it shal be able to break through al other impediments.

Secondly, It is difficult, not only because of the impediments, but because it is the highest duty of all; to reach high is painful to the Body; so the high actions of the soul are difficult to the soul: now Faith is high; the object is high, the act is high, and the end is high: the object is the highest object, it is the perfect righteousness of a Mediator, God-man; and the act is of the highest nature, it is an act of uniting the soul with the Deity: as by sin the soul departed from God, so by faith the soul comes to be made one, and for the end that is high, it is for the satisfaction of infinite Justice, and for appeasing of infinite wrath, and for acceptation from infinite holiness: let God be never so holy, infinitely more than we can conceive of him, yet faith does procure acceptance; for such a polluted filthy creature as man is, from the infinite holiness of God.