Address to Christian Warriors

ADDRESS TO CHRISTIAN WARRIORS.
SOLDIERS of Christ, be aware that you are highly
advanced in God's creation, that you occupy an
important station, that you have an arduous work
allotted to you, and that you have neither time nor
talent to throw away. For you are enlisted under the
banner of Christ, you have entered the armies of the
Most High, and have taken the oath of allegiance to
the King of Sion, and bound yourselves by an oath,
to fight the good fight of faith, against sin, Satan, the
world and the flesh. What formidable enemies are
these ! You have to encounter all the powers of hell,
and their name is Legion. Fight them you now must,
for you have put on the armour, and taken the field to
fight all the enemies of God and man. When you
survey the enemies' camp, and see their strength, their
number, their stratagems, and inveterate malice ; and
are then made to feel your own weakness and nothing-
ness, you tremble, and say, How shall I go against these
mighty hosts ! Yet I must conquer them all, or die
an eternal death. O soldiers of Christ! banish all
your guilty fears. There is, after all, far more for you
than against you. You are on the Lord's side, who
fighteth for you. He is your refuge and strength,
your sun and shield. He is with you_in the field, to
teach your hands to war, and to cover your head in
the day of battle, and hath promised you the victory.
If God be for you, who is he that can overcome you,
and put you to death, when you are hid in the Lord's
pavilion, and surrounded with the wall of salvation ? "
While in the heat of the battle, be filled with the
hope of victory, and feel assured, that you shall finally
obtain a complete and glorious conquest over all that
come against you ; for hath not the Captain of your
salvation engaged to subdue Satan and all his armies,
shortly under your feet ? Trust him, and take courage,
then, you cannot meet with disappointment, " for
faithful is he that promised, who also will do it."
With a view to strengthen your hope of victory, keep in
mind that you have not an enemy, difficulty, or danger
to encounter, but which has been already conquered
and subdued for you, by the great Captain of your
salvation. And the countless millions of his soldiers,
who are now arrived safe in glory, singing the song of
Moses and the Lamb, were once here below, wrestling
with all the enemies and difficulties which you now
have to encounter. Only war a good warfare, then,
and rest assured, that he who carried them safe through
the war, will carry you also to the triumphs of the
world to come. Not one of all his true soldiers was
ever left to perish on the field of battle. Put on
courage, ye Christian Warriors ! fight the good fight
of faith, be faithful unto death, and then, your Captain
will release you from the war, and give you the
crown of life, which you shall for ever wear, in
honour of your gracious Lord and Saviour. T. J.

[From the forward material of an edition of The Christian Warrior by Issac Ambrose.]