DURING one of the most hotly contested battles in the course of the war a certain brigade received instructions from the general in command to make an assault upon a strongly guarded entrenchment. The brave men moved forward with a cheer, but they had to cross a space where there was no shelter of any kind, and the enemy poured a hailstorm of bullets into their ranks.
In a few minutes hundreds lay dead upon the hillside, and the officer in charge, fearing the complete destruction of the brigade, gave the order to retreat. Just at that moment the color-sergeant fell, but the standard was seized by one of his comrades and carried boldly forward.
The officer, seeing the flag thus separated from the troops, shouted, "Man, bring back the colors!" The brave fellow heard the call. He turned for a moment, while his eyes flashed fire, and replied: "No! bring the men up to the colors!”
His comrades hardly needed the order to wheel round again and attack. With a determined rush they flung themselves upon the enemy, and before long their flag was floating over the earthworks that they had taken.
There is another battle being fought, a fierce encounter between the powers of good and evil.
The banner under which Christians are called to fight is that of our Lord Jesus Christ, and it is glorious with the colors of eternal truth.
In these ease-loving and superficial days truth is not valued as in other times, and there is a tendency to bring back the colors to the spot to which the enemy may have driven us, or, in other words, to accommodate the truth of God to the shallow thoughts and worldly ideas of the twentieth century.
But those who would be "good soldiers of Jesus Christ" have to see to it that the colors are kept flying in the very front of the battle line. We must not abandon the smallest iota of truth in order to win the approval of men.
It is as true to-day as ever it was that men are lost sinners; that they are in danger of eternal woe; that they must be born again in order to see the kingdom of God; that sin is of infinite seriousness in God's eyes; that nothing but the atoning blood of Christ can speak effectually on our behalf; that the world is doomed, and like a sinking ship must be abandoned by those who seek safety, for one cannot serve God and mammon. All this is not popular doctrine. People would rather hear about the Fatherhood of God, and the Brotherhood of the human race, and of a coming era of universal peace and harmony to be reached by legislative, social, and international measures.
But we must keep the colors flying, and must bear them to the forefront of the battle. This is why we address you, reader, and beg you not to lend an ear to plausible and popular theories that are utterly contrary to the Word of God.
Let me remind you, quietly, and as a true well-wisher, that you are a sinner, and, as such, are identified with the loathsome thing that has caused all the trouble in the world, and which is utterly hateful to God: sin.
What you need is something to relieve you of this connection, to break this terrible link. The blood of Christ can do it; it "cleanseth from all sin.”
But the blood of Christ which can purge our guilt away, and make us clean in God's holy sight, does something else. It can sever our links with the world and its sin. It stands as a barrier between us and that to which we once belonged. We read: "Our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world." (Gal. 1:4.) So that deliverance from our sins means also deliverance from the world. That is, when cleansed from our guilt by Christ's precious blood, we are no longer worldlings; we belong to Him.
The gospel comes to you with glad tidings of salvation. If you receive it, it does not propose to make you a better citizen of the world, but to give you another citizenship altogether, a citizenship other than the status of a "man of the world," a heavenly citizenship. This is the teaching of Phil. 3:2020For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: (Philippians 3:20).
Do you desire this heavenly citizenship? Do you want to be a partaker of the joys and privileges of the heavenly commonwealth? Would you rather be a child of God than a child of this world? Remember, you cannot be both.
Then the step for you to take is that of faith in Christ as your Savior. God has taken all the steps necessary to ensure salvation to everyone who truly trusts His Son.
Believing in Him, saved by Him, acknowledging Him to be your Lord, you will have become His servant and His soldier, you will be called to fight on His side in the great battle of the ages, and to help to keep His, standard flying. And He will afford you all the protection which you in your weakness will need. Grace upon grace He will give you, and goodness and mercy shall follow you all the days of your life, and you will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (See Psa. 23:66Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. (Psalm 23:6).)
Who would be a worldling when all this is offered to those who belong to our Lord Jesus Christ? The believer can truly sing:—
“Farewell to this world's fleeting joys,
Our home is not below;
There was no home for Jesus here,
And 'tis to Him we go.”
H. P. B.