There are likely very few western Christians that are not familiar with the stirring hymn "Onward, Christian Soldiers," the music by Arthur Sullivan (of Gilbert and Sullivan fame) is a march tune to which we could easily tramp off. Yet it is the words that stir above all.
Paul encourages Timothy and all who have eternal life to fight the good fight of faith. It is a personal thing as each of us has been enlisted by Him to be His soldiers here on this earth. Sometimes the fight is a personal one as temptations assault us. Other times it is a contending for the faith like Paul on Cyprus with the objective of a Sergius Paulus coming to faith. "An army is only as good as each individual soldier, trained and outfitted for war" is a maxim some hold to. Of course in our situation it depends not upon each of us but upon the objective of our faith, the Lord Jesus Christ who takes up residence in our heart as King and Servant, attaching His Spirit to our spirit.
In Horatio at the Bridge we are reminded how the individual is vital, when he and two others held off an army of 50,000. In our Christian warfare each of us is important, but not vital. He alone of the crucifixion is vital. We follow in His train to take the task He gives us and gladly perform. After encouraging Timothy to "fight" he points him to where it is all at for the Christian warrior, "our Lord Jesus Christ . . . the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light" (1 Timothy 6:15-16). He it is who sends us forth and crowns our efforts. We are at war and it all depends on Him.
O'er a faithless, fallen world
Raise your banner in the sky;
Let it float there wide unfurled;
Bear it onward, lift it high.
(The Lutheran Hymnal, 501:2) |
