Hymn Devotionals (4)
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he song before us should motivate Christians to march forth
in battle for the Lord. The New Testament gives many examples to illustrate the
Christian life, and the one before us is very essential to faithfulness to the
Lord. Let us now consider three important truths from this hymn.
It may be easy for us to forget that
Christians are fighting the world’s greatest battle. There have been many wars
and battles fought on this earth over the centuries, but if all of these could
be combined into one battle, such would not compare to the one that is being
fought in Christ Jesus. The reason for this is that soldiers of Christ are
fighting to win a victory for their eternal souls.
But
it is not enough just to learn that we are soldiers, but the hymn calls upon us
to arise. The nature of a soldier
is to arise, prepare, and fight! From the moment that soldiers
enlist, they are trained to be active and to fight the enemy. The same is true
with Christian soldiers. Paul instructed Timothy to: “Fight the good fight
of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have
confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses” (1 Timothy 6:12). There is no time
to back away from fighting the enemy!
The hymn calls upon soldiers of
Christ to put your armor on! This is not a physical armor, but all the parts of
it are spiritual in nature. Paul called upon the Ephesians Christians to “Put
on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of
the devil. Therefore take up the
whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and
having done all, to stand” (Ephesians 6:11,13). Then Paul numerates the various parts of the
armor, and calls upon these soldiers to use them.
“Stand
therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
and having shod your feet with the
preparation of the gospel of peace;
above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to
quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation,
and the sword of the Spirit, which is
the word of God;”
(Ephesians 6:14-17).
This is the same armor that we need
today, because we are involved with the same battle and with the same enemy.
Even though many do not think so, the Bible declares that soldiers of Christ
can fall in battle. In fact, anyone who removes any of the parts from this
armor will fall. Paul wrote about his own struggle: “But I discipline my
body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I
myself should become disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:27). Also he warned, “Therefore let him
who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12).
Therefore,
may we never be found trying to fight without our complete armor fully in
place!
One of the reasons why we need on
God’s armor is because we have a powerful enemy—the devil! In fact, the reason that Paul gave for
needing this special armor was because of the powerful enemy we must face. He
reminds the Christians at Ephesus: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and
blood, but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of
this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness
in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).
Thus, the enemy is not ordinary! He
is scheming in his ways (Ephesians
6:12), deceitful (2 Corinthians
11:3), a hypocrite (2 Corinthians
11:14), a murderer and liar from the beginning (John 8:44), and is
always going about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter
5:8). Only God’s armor with its shield of faith can “quench all the fiery
darts of the wicked one” (Ephesians 6:16).
Are you a soldier of Christ? God will
never force you to be a soldier, but you must choose to enlist by obedience to
the gospel of Jesus Christ. To be
a soldier of the cross, one must become a penitent believer who confesses Jesus
to be the Christ, and then puts Him on through baptism to reach His saving
blood (Romans 6:4; Galatians 3:27). Only then can anyone rise, put on the
armor, and fight the good fight of faith. If you have been an unfaithful
soldier—gone spiritually AWOL, then you need to return by confessing your sins,
repenting of them, and asking God through prayer to forgive you.
Remember, the Lord wants faithful soldiers! —BBBristow