THE GARLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 3336, 20 February 1918, Page 47

THE GARLAND.

FOR THE QUIET HOUR. No. 234. By Duncan Wright, Dunedin. WHAT IS A PANOPLIST? In part the question is answered in a well-known hymn by" J. g. B. Monsell: Fight the gocd fight With .all your might; Christ is thy strength, and Christ thy right. - Lay hold on life and it shall be Thy joy and crown eternally. Run the straight race Through God's good grace, Lift up thine eyes, and seek His face; Life with its way before v lies; Christ is the path, and Christ th© prize. Cast care aside; Upon thy Guide Lean, and His mercy will provide,— Lean, and the trusting soul shall prove Christ is its life, and Christ its love. Faint not, nor fear; His arms are near; He changeth not, and thou art dear; Only believe, and thou shalt see That Christ is all in all to thee. The dictionary is not very exhaustive, and after the word panoplist we read, "One completely dressed in armour." Nor is that explanation specially illuminative. We shall therefore turn to the Old Book, as we have often done, for light and guidance: " Fight the good fight of faith, laying hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses." (I Timothy vi, 12.) " Finally, my brethren, be strong tn the Lord and in the power of His might. " Put on the whole armour of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. "For Ave wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. " Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand. " Stand therefore, having your loins girt about Avith truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; " And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; "Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fierv" darts of the wicked. "And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints." The man Avho, by the Holy Spirit, wrote these Avords Avas no shirker, but one of the bravest soldiers in the army of Jesus Christ. Is it possible to name among a euo sage oqi \\n jo saoiotr jo isoq A'^qSiut

—even one—who could say what Paul the dauntless soldier, said of himself? "Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I, Are they the seed of Abraham ? So am I.

"Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. " Of the Jews five times I received forty stripes save one. "Thrice was I fceaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in -the deep; "In journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, .in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; "In -weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness." (II Cor. xi, verses 22 to 27.) Now we begin to see and understand what is meant by and included in the simple-looking word, " Panoplist." When the end came this perfectly unique aged soldier of the Cross modestly, yet triumphantly, said: "I have fought a good fight; I have finished my course; I have kept the faith. ." Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing." (II Timothy iv, 7 and 8.) In her excellent book we are told by Miss Stoddart the following: "Wesley wrote in his journal for January 5, 1772: —'I buried the remains of Elizabeth Hartland, an Israelite indeed! I know not that in 30 years she had ever dishonoured her profession by word or deed. Some of her last words were, " I have fought the good fight; I have finished my course; I have kept the faith." ' " The Rev. S. Baring Gould, in his book, "The Land of Teck," describes the Church of Owen, which contains the tomb of the early Dukes of Teck. He says that a tragic incident once occurred in the church. After the battle of Nordlingen, 1634, the evangelical preacher Wolflin took refuge in the building from the Spanish soldiers who were plundering the town. A soldier entered and found him reading the Bible. He ran him through with his sword, which also pierced the Book and stained it with his blood at the words (II Timothy iv, 7): "I have fought a good fight; I have finished my course." In one of her lovely letters Florence Nightingale, in 1846, wrote to her friend Miss Nicholson: "The crown of righteousness! That word always strikes me more than anything in the Bible. Strange that not happiness, not rest, not forgiveness, not glory, should have been the thought of that glorious man's mind when at the eve of the last and greatest of his labours; all desires so swallowed up in the one great craving after righteousness that, at the end of # all his struggles, it was mightier within him than ever, mightier even than the desire of peace. How can people tell one to dwell within a good conscience, when the chief of all the Apostles so panted after righteousness that ho considered it the last best gift, unattainable on earth, to be bestowed in heaven? 1 "

That highly-gifted singer and hardy soldier of Christ, Charles Wesley, sang in his day, and Ave sing noAV: Soldiers of Christ, arise, And put your armour on, Strong in the strength which Cod supplies Through His eternal Son. Stand, then, in His great might, "With all His strength endued; And take to arm you- for the fight, The panoply of God. To keep your armour bright Attend with constant care, Still walking in your Captain's sight, And Avatching unto prayer. Henry Ward Beecher said: "I have seen men Avho said : ' Who could expect a man to do anything who Avas stricken in life as I have been? What do you suppose a man can do Avho has to Avork 12 hours a day and is only just able to get his bread and cheese, and sweats at that?' "What do I suppose he can do? I suppose he' can do a great deal. I suppose" (continues the preacher) " that poor living and high thinking are Avorth every man's endeavour. A man Avho can take the place which God gives him, and stick to it, and fight it through, and stand a man every inch, has, I think, awaiting him an estate of glory that has not been known in this Avorld. " ' Why,' you say, 'I could have borne this yoke, only it cuts right across the sore spot on my neck.' When I was a boy nothing suited me as to have my father Avhip me when my clothes Avere on. I could then bear it with the utmost equanimity. It Avas Avhen he took advantage in the morning, before I was dressed, that I did not like whipping. I have heard many people say, 'lf God only tempered affliction so that it came on the spot where I did not feel it I could bear it.' " But Avhat sort of affliction Avould that be ? What does the bullock, with his tough, hard skin care for the yoke? But if it be a younnr ox, Avhose neck is yet tender, on Avhich the yoke is put, how hard it is for him to bear it! "Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." (II Timothy ii, 3.) Isaac Watts's hymn is Avell known but not often sung : Am I a soldier the Cross A follower of the Lamb ? And shall I four to own His cause Or blush to speak His name? Must I bo carried to tho skies On fiow'ry beds of ease, While others fought to win tho prize And sailed thro' stormy sens? Since I must fight if I would reign, Increase my courage, Lord; I'll bear the toil, endure the pain, Supported by Thy "Word.

J. G. Pilkington writes: — " The Christian is a member of Christ's church militant, and his duty is ever to be fighting against sin, the world, and the devil. If you read Paul's description of the armour of the Christian mail you will find every place armed but one. There is a helmet for the head and greaves for the legs, and a breastplato for the chest, but no armour for the back. His duty is to stand with his face to the foe. I well remember how in my schoolboy days I was struck by the fact of the lords of Eoslin all being laid in the vaults of the chapel dressed in their knightly armour. The Christian has not, it is true, to carry his warfare beyond the hour of death, but like that great Duke of thumberJand, who, when he came to die, insisted on beinqr clothed in his armour, and, sitting on his bed, faced the last enemy, lance in hand, we must, till the last breath pass from us, never cease from fighting against sin.'-'