In saying this I do not lay all under the necessity of making a full and entire confession of everything which they believe, even should they be required to do so.  I am aware also of the measure observed by St. Paul, altho no man was ever more determined boldly to maintain the cause of the gospel as he ought.  And hence it is not without cause our Lord promises to give us, on such an occasion, “a mouth and wisdom” (Luke xxi., 15); as if he had said, that the office of the Holy Spirit is not only to strengthen us to be bold and valiant, but also to give us prudence and discretion, to guide us in the course which it will be expedient to take.

The substance of the whole is, that those who are in such distress are to ask and obtain such prudence from above, not following their own carnal wisdom, in searching out for a kind of loop-hole by which to escape.  There are some who tell us that our Lord Himself gave no answer to those who interrogated Him.  But I rejoin, First, That this does not abolish the rule which He has given us to make confession of our faith when so required. (I Peter iii., 15.) Secondly, That He never used any disguise to save His life:  and, Thirdly, That He never gave an answer so ambiguous as not to embody a sufficient testimony to all that He had to say; and that, moreover, He had already satisfied those who came to interrogate Him anew, with the view not obtaining information, but merely of laying traps to ensnare Him.

Let it be held, then, as a fixed point among all Christians, that they ought not to hold their life more precious than the testimony to the truth, inasmuch as God wishes to be glorified thereby.  Is it in vain that He gives the name of witnesses (for this is the meaning of the word martyr) to all who have to answer before the enemies of the faith?  Is it not because He wished to employ them for such a purpose?  Here every one is not to look for his fellow, for God does not honor all alike with the call.  And as we are inclined so to look, we must be the more on our guard against it.  Peter having heard from the lips of our Lord Jesus (John xxi., 18) that he should be led in his old age where he would not, asked, What was to become of his companion John?  There is not one among us who would not readily have put the same question; for the thought which instantly rises in our mind is, Why do I suffer rather than others?  On the contrary, Jesus Christ exhorts all of us in common, and each of us in particular, to hold ourselves “ready,” in order that according as He shall call this one or that one, we may march forth in our turn.