The Christian Soldier's Shield

Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind.” — i Peter iv. i.

These words were spoken to a military empire. They were spoken amid a people who had raised themselves by the practice of arms. To such a race the exhortation must have been startling. It promised a new kind of armour, a new species of defence. Such a promise must have made the Roman start and look round. But when he saw the proposed armour he must have laughed. It had neither length, breadth, nor thickness. It could not inflict a single wound upon an enemy. Nay, it was itself a wound. The very putting of it on involved mutilation to the man who wore it. “Forasmuch as Christ hath suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves therefore with the same mind.” We can understand a Christian exhorted to the spirit of sacrifice; but is not that an exhortation to divest yourself of armour! The novelty of Peter’s exhortation does not lie in being told to cultivate the mind of Jesus, but in being told that

the mind of Jesus is a source of Roman defence. We all admit sacrifice to be a virtue, but we never think of it as a panoply. We have recognised it as a capacity to yield, but we are not accustomed to view it as a capacity to resist. And yet Peter is right. There is no power that resists danger like the sacrificial powder of love. If ever a man learned this by experience it was Peter. Whenever he b5gan to sink it was from internal causes. He went out to meet in the morning a storm from which he recoiled at night. Why? Had the storm increased in violence with the circling hours? No. It was exactly the same as in the morning — no less, no more. But in the interval there was something which had increased — Peter’s sacrificial love. He had begun to be self-conscious. He had turned his gaze from Jesus; he had directed his eye to the winds and the sea. Therefore the winds and the sea became too strong for him; he had lost his life-belt.

Put on thine armour, O my soul — the armour of self-sacrifice! Not by self-mutilation canst thou put it on; thy sacrifice must come not from thy grief but from thy joy. There is a sacrifice which comes from grief, but it is not an armour. Many have fled from the world through disappointment; yet the world has followed them into their solitude.

But thy sacrifice must come from gladness, from the greatest joy of the heart — love. Thine armour must be the breastplate of love. No selfish thought will protect thee from the sea of temptation. Fear of sickness may defend thee for an hour; dread of public opinion may support thee for a day; but these are swords that soon become blunted. Wouldst thou have an armour against temptation that will keep thee always, every where? Get the love of some one pure! Set thy heart upon a high ideal; paint it in the fairest colours; deck it with fancy’s loveliest gems! Think of it in the silence; speak to it in the secrecy; dream of it in the night; above all, walk with it in the market-place! Then — call it by what name thou wilt, it will be Christ to thee. Thou wilt refuse the flowers of evil; thou wilt reject sin’s gilded cup; thou wilt decline pride’s glittering bauble. Thine abstinence will come from thine aspiration; thy restraint will flow from the river of thy pleasures; thy sacrifice will be the fruit of thy song. Nothing can crucify the flesh like the joy of the spirit.