The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1918-02-07

IL ptrlence touhy
~ ~ that belong to the
Christian and to
these we will give attention.
The Christians Enlistment and Oath
Of Loyalty.
Every soldier OF his country must
take an oath Of allegiance to the gov
eminent and the inclusiveness of this
oath Is very great. The Christian who
viii not make a pledge to his Lord,
ordinarily In public way. lacks the
first visible testimony that he Is a SOL
der of the Lord. Christian profess
sion II most important. and the ex-
ceptlons TO the rule but prove its i'm
portance.
The Christians Equipment for Service.
The Christian must have his equip
ment for service as the government
Of any country must equip Its soldiers,
In which case clothing. food. shelter.
arms, ammunition and other things
are absolutely necessary. In the sixth
chapter Of the Eplstle to the Ephesians
this equipment Of the soldler-C Christian
IL quite fully given. That equipment
Is spiritual OF course, but II will be
noticed that II Is both defensive and
offensive. The enemy of the Christian
often attacks. and the Christian must
defend himself. The Christian must
not make II n rule OF his life how
ever TO await the attack of the enemy.
but must attack as well. For attack
only one weapon is named, and that
Is the sword of the spirit of the word
OF God. Unlike human wars, the spir-
itual warfare has known no change
through the ages. The Bible today Is
the best weapon and there are no Yep
pellns nor other aircraft. nor subma-
rines. nor mines, nor anything else that
makes II obsolete. II is well to note
that there Is only the offensive weapon.
Many have forgotten this; the Bible
has been abandoned and the enemy
has pressed the post of righteousness
back. Courage, knowledge. faith and
all other equipment will be furnished
IL the Bible is used faithfully. The
weapon OF offense needs emphasis.
The Christians Training.
The Christian does too much unor-
ganlzed fighting. His warfare Is too
largely n guerrilla warfare. In con-
nection with the national army OF the
United States the training is most In
tenslve, the results of which are aston
fishing TO all beholding II. There are
provisions for training the Christian.
The old Methodist class-meeting, now
showing lnnocuous desuetude, was a
splendid training school In the days
gone by. Sunday schools, Y. NJ. G. AS,
young peoples societies, etc. give fair
training opportunity. For officers
training there are many theological
semlnaries, and a few Of them turn
out Napoleons and Grants and Perish
ings, but many of them are turning
out officers with a very indistinct the
ory Of real spiritual warfare and with
very little knowledge of IL practically.
There are some great Bible schools
where the training Is intensive, largely
so because the calls for workers must
be promptly met and the time Is short.
The Soldier Christian and Hardship.
Endure hardship as a good sol
der of Jesus Christ" is what Paul
said to the recruit Timothy. What
ever may be done by the government
or the people Of the various countries
for the comfort OF men ut the battle
front, ultimately there is hardship.
The soIdier-christlan Must Fight.
Slight the good fight of faith" is
the Scripture exhortation and there Is
on escaping that responsibility. To
fight Is TO oppose an enemy. TO injure
or destroy him. TO gain the victory
over him by contention. The old hymn
gives the right idea:
Fight on my soul till death
Shall bring thee to thy Godi
He'll take thee at thy parting breath
Up 70 his blessed abode.
In EphesIans e:10 the Christian IL
told that he fights against principal
tiles, against powers. against the rul-
ers OF the darkness of this world.
against spiritual wickedness In high
places. Today there Is an enemy In
the form OF false religious teaching
that he must fight The Christian
must contend for the faith once for all
delivered TO the saints.
The Christians worst enemies are
those within his own bosom-his pride.
unbelief. indifference. unholy zeal. evil
heart, all active enemies every mo
ment.
The bright ray Of cheer that comes
TO the soldier-C Christian is that ultimate
victory is assured. lie will overcome
by the blood OF the lamb. His crown
will be given him by the righteous
S..Hu. An. that dav