Soldiers of Christ, arise,
And put your armour 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.

From strength to strength go on,
Wrestle, and fight, and pray:
Tread all the powers of darkness down,
And win the well-fought day.

That, having all things done,
And all your conflicts past,
Ye may overcome, through Christ alone,
And stand complete at last.

315
To God, the Father, Son,
And Spirit, ever blest,
The One in Three, the Three in One
Be endless praise addressed.

Amen.

Scripture References:
st. 1 = Eph. 6: 1 0-11
st. 2 = Eph. 6: 14-17
st. 3 = Eph. 6:12-13, 18

Charles Wesley (PHH 267) wrote this text about the church militant in sixteen long stanzas. With the heading 'The Whole Armour of God. Ephesians 6," it was published in the section entitled "Hymns for Believers" in Charles and John Wesley's Hymns and Sacred Poems (1749). Many later hymnals have included various segments of Wesley's original stanzas. Our present version is derived primarily from the original stanzas 1, 2, and 16.

Paul's exhortations in Ephesians 6:10-18 for Christians to "put on the full armor of God" and to fight against "the powers of this dark world and … the spiritual forces of evil" are clearly the inspiration for the text. Though the ancient imagery of armor may not be current, the battle against evil is real and urgent; the encouragement to "wrestle, fight, and pray" (st. 3) is also as timely in our day as it was in Roman times and in the eighteenth century when Wesley and his fellow Methodists faced strife and trial. A note of hope and triumph appears in the final stanza: the spiritual battle has already been won by Christ. The church militant will ultimately be the church victorious!

Liturgical Use:
With preaching from Ephesians 6; other occasions of worship when Christians must exhort each other to obey God’s call to fight the powers of evil.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook