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ND the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done. 37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all. (Daniel 11:36-37)
This is an ancient hymn whose original composer is claimed to be Saint Andrew of Crete (or, Jerusalem) – 550-740 AD John Mason Neale translated the lyrics into English in 1862. The favored tune is Sohren by Winfred Douglas, and the alternate tune is St. Andrew of Crete by John Dykes (1938). Though more than one thousand years since written, the lyrics carry just as much application to the modern age as when first written.
Christian Dost Thou See Them
Christian, dost thou see them
On the holy ground,
How the powers of darkness
Compass thee around?
Christian, up and smite them,
Counting gain but loss;
Smite them by the merit
Of the holy cross.
Christian, dost thou feel them,
How they work within,
Striving, tempting, luring,
Goading into sin?
Christian, never tremble,
Never be downcast;
Gird thee for the conflict;
Watch, and pray, and fast.
Christian, dost thou hear them,
How they speak thee fair?
Always fast and vigil,
Always watch and prayer?
Christian, answer boldly,
While I breathe I pray;
Peace shall follow battle,
Night shall end in day.
Well I know thy trouble,
O my servant true;
Thou art very weary,
I was weary, too;
But that toil shall make thee
Someday all Mine own,
And the end of sorrow
Shall be near my Throne.
Christian, dost thou see them On the holy ground, How the powers of darkness Compass thee around? Christian, up and smite them, Counting gain but loss; Smite them by the merit Of the holy cross. There has always existed a great measure of evil in the societies of the world, and it is common to hear men say nothing has changed – it has always been this way. Based on the my observations over a span of eighty years, added to my study of world history, I must respectfully disagree it has always been this evil. A great evil has emerged over the past one hundred years which would have been unspeakable only fifty years past. Of course, there has been great evil in isolated times and places in the past, but never of such general and common practice as we see in our times. Churches in the past could have been, by and large, exempted from those forces of evil, but today, it has overtaken the pulpits and pews of the churches. From our pulpits are proclaimed obscenities that could not be uttered in the past in public forums. Though the committed Christian is an exception in most churches and the larger society, he is stronger by far than the evil ones that lurk in the gathering darkness. Does he know it? I believe he needs to be awakened to the biblical truth Stronger is He that is in you than he who is in the world. To God, numbers are insignificant, but truth is always the arbiter of victory. It is time to claim our spiritual heritage and stand up like men and women of backbone and subdue this growing evil among us, and this cleansing must begin in the churches.
Christian, dost thou feel them How they work within, Striving, tempting, luring, Goading into sin? Christian, never tremble, Never be downcast; Gird thee for the conflict; Watch, and pray, and fast. No longer does the Christin own a sanctuary of separation in society. The evil one has invaded our schools, our governments, our churches, our communities, and even our homes. We can no longer ignore its pervasive growth among us – we can now FEEL it! We are tempted to leave the field of battle and cower in our dugouts of ignorance and denial, but that is not what we are called by our Almighty Lord to do. We can no longer be defenders of our position, we must call in our spiritual vedettes and carry the Sword of the Lord to the enemy's mal-appropriated strongholds and plant our Heavenly Ensign on his breastworks for a change. Just as Spain vanquished the invading Moor from their land, we can do even greater works today.
Christian, dost thou hear them, How they speak thee fair? Always fast and vigil, Always watch and prayer? Christian, answer boldly, While I breathe I pray; Peace shall follow battle, Night shall end in day. As long as the dark Prince of the Air is before us, we can have no peace. It is only by joining the spiritual battle courageously can peace be enjoyed. The clever tongues of the devil utter outlandish lies coated with sugar for the consumption of the simple-minded, dumbed down by years of public education indoctrination. Victory belongs to the Lord, but He expects us to merit victory by our stand against evil. Gideon could field only 300 troops against the more than 120,000 of the enemy; yet, Gideon was victorious. The battle was not Gideon’s but belonged to the Lord. However, God expected Gideon to demonstrate the faith and courage to believe that promise.
Well I know thy trouble, O my servant true; Thou art very weary, I was weary, too; But that toil shall make thee Someday all Mine own, And the end of sorrow Shall be near my Throne. The is no weariness, pain, temptation, or suffering that we experience that was not experienced in manifold by our Lord and Savior. He came with full knowledge of the cross He must bear for us, and He bore it without reluctance. Our sorrows and sufferings on the part of Christian faith are nothing compared to the joy we shall have when we stand on the solid Rock that has both led, and followed us, all the days of our salvation. Just as God began His Creation of the world in darkness, and ended it in the Light of resplendent morning, so shall our dark night of the soul end with the beautiful appearing of the Sun of Righteousness.
Some may believe my remarks are too political[1]. Let me aver everything in politics has a moral point, either for good or evil. The Christian does not rid himself of his robe of faith at the threshold of public service or political office. We have been conditioned to believe that we cannot voice our moral beliefs in any government setting, but that is precisely what has led to our moral dilemma today. We are admonished to ‘trust the science’ by those who insist there is no difference in the sexes – even to the point of not being able to define a woman or a man. We are told to trust the science by those who tell us men can get pregnant, or ‘chest’ feed babies. Please point out to the doubtful mind how such deluded notions can be defined as science? I am waiting!
[1] We cannot turn our backs on evil, no matter where, for evil anywhere is evil everywhere. Unless confronted, it will hunt us down and destroy us.
