Scripture Verse

Put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground. Ephesians 6:13

Introduction

portrait
William P. Merrill (1867–1954)

Words: Charles Wes­ley, in Char­ac­ter of a Me­tho­dist, by John Wes­ley, cir­ca 1741. The phrase ad­a­mant and gold echoes Pa­ra­dise Lost by John Mil­ton: Sa­tan, with vast and haugh­ty strides ad­vanced, Came tow­er­ing, armed in ad­a­mant and gold. Wes­ley seems to be say­ing that we turn Sa­tan’s equip­ment against him.

Music: Sol­diers of Christ Will­iam P. Mer­rill, 1921 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tunes:

portrait
Charles Wesley (1707–1788)

Lyrics

Soldiers of Christ, arise,
And put your armor on,
Strong in the strength which God sup­plies
Through His eter­nal Son.
Strong in the Lord of hosts,
And in His mighty pow­er,
Who in the strength of Je­sus trusts
Is more than con­quer­or.

Stand then in His great might,
With all His strength en­dued,
And take, to arm you for the fight,
The panoply of God;
That, having all things done,
And all your conflicts past,
Ye may o’ercome through Christ alone
And stand entire at last.

Stand then against your foes,
In close and firm ar­ray;
Legions of wily fiends op­pose
Throughout the evil day;
But meet the sons of night,
And mock their vain de­sign,
Armed in the arms of hea­ven­ly light,
Of right­eous­ness di­vine.

Leave no un­guard­ed place,
No weakness of the soul,
Take every virtue, ev­ery grace,
And fortify the whole;
Indissolubly joined,
To battle all pro­ceed;
But arm yourselves with all the mind
That was in Christ, your head.

Let truth the gir­dle be,
That binds your ar­mor on,
In faithful, firm sin­ce­ri­ty
To Je­sus cleave alone.
Let faith and love com­bine
To guard your val­iant breast:
The plate be right­eous­ness di­vine,
Imputed, and im­pressed.

Still let your feet be shod,
Ready His will to do,
Ready in all the ways of God
His glo­ry to pur­sue:
Ruin is spread be­neath,
The Gos­pel greaves put on,
And safe through all the snares of death
To life eter­nal run.

But, above all, lay hold
On faith’s vic­to­ri­ous shield;
Armed with that ad­a­mant and gold,
Be sure to win the field:
If faith sur­round your heart,
Satan shall be sub­dued,
Repelled his ev­ery fie­ry dart,
And quenched with Je­sus’ blood.

Jesus hath died for you!
What can His love with­stand?
Believe, hold fast your shield, and who
Shall pluck you from His hand?
Believe that Je­sus reigns,
All power to Him is giv­en:
Believe, till freed from sin’s re­mains;
Believe yourselves to Hea­ven.

Your Rock can ne­ver shake:
Hither, He saith, come up!
The helmet of sal­va­tion take,
The confidence of hope:
Hope for His per­fect love,
Hope for His peo­ple’s rest,
Hope to sit down with Christ above,
And share the mar­ri­age feast.

Brandish in faith till then
The Spi­rit’s two-edged sword,
Hew all the snares of fiends and men
In pieces with the Word;
’Tis written; This ap­plied
Baffles their strength and art;
Spirit and soul with this di­vide,
And joints and mar­row part.

To keep your ar­mor bright,
Attend with con­stant care,
Still walking in your cap­tain’s sight,
And watching un­to pray­er.
Ready for all alarms,
Steadfastly set your face,
And always ex­er­cise your arms,
And use your ev­ery grace.

Pray without ceas­ing, pray,
Your captain gives the word;
His summons cheer­ful­ly obey
And call up­on the Lord;
To God your ev­ery want
In instant pray­er dis­play,
Pray always; pray and ne­ver faint,
Pray, without cea­sing, pray!

In fellowship; alone,
To God with faith draw near;
Approach His courts, be­siege His throne
With all the pow­ers of pray­er:
Go to His tem­ple, go,
Nor from His al­tar move;
Let every house His wor­ship know,
And every heart His love.

To God your spi­rits dart,
Your souls in words de­clare,
Or groan, to Him who reads the heart,
The un­ut­ter­a­ble pray­er.
His mercy now im­plore,
And now show forth His praise,
In shouts, or si­lent awe, adore
His miracles of grace.

Pour out your souls to God,
And bow them with your knees,
And spread your hearts and hands abroad,
And pray for Si­on’s peace;
Your guides, and breth­ren, bear
For ever on your mind;
Extend the arms of migh­ty pray­er,
In grasping all man­kind.

From strength to strength go on,
Wrestle, and fight, and pray,
Tread all the powers of dark­ness down,
And win the well-fought day;
Still let the Spi­rit cry
In all His sol­diers, Come!
Till Christ the Lord des­cends from high
And takes the con­quer­ors home.