"While awaiting the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ."
On an island in the Caribbean sea, which you have heard about in your geography lessons, there is a graveyard. In that graveyard are three tombstones which tell their own story. The inscription on the first headstone reads, "Here lies Hugh Trent. Died fighting for the king. 1621." The traveler moves to read the next headstone and sees a surprising thing. It reads, "Here lies Hugh Trent. Died fighting for the king. 1710." He shows further surprise when he reads the next stone, which says, "Here lies Hugh Trent. Died fighting for the king. 1820." The traveler would say, "The Trents must have been a fighting family. There was always one of them ready to lay down his life for the king."
Christ is a King. Perhaps in our own families we have a glorious heritage of those who died fighting for Him . What a glorious epitaph to be put over any grave, "Died fighting for Christ the King ."
The warfare in which Christ the King would have us fight is the warfare against sin. It is a struggle which is going on all the time, not in the smoke and the flash and the crack of battle, but in the silent battlefield of our own hearts. We win the battle only by obeying the King's orders. We say to ourselves, "This is the way the King wants it, and this is the way it must be." In the silent battlefield of your own hearts may be going on the struggle whether you will steal or not. You do not. Why? Because the King wants it that way. Because someone else is in the room with you you decide that you will skip your night prayers. You do not. Why? Because the King wants it that way. You have read Tom Brown's Schooldays and remember how Arthur knelt down to say his night prayers in a dormitory. When the other boys made fun of him, Tom came to his defense. That was the beginning of a lifelong friendship between h im and Arthur. You may be tempted in your own hearts to indulge in the telling of indecent stories just so that you can appear smart. You do not. Why? Because the King wants it that way. You may be tempted to be mean and cruel to your younger sister. Older sisters can sometimes be very, very cruel to the younger ones. You do not. Why? Because the King wants it that way. Conduct like that and settling your problems like that is fighting for the King. You keep fighting for the King and keep fighting to the end. When they write on your headstone "Died fighting for the King," you will have nothing to worry about, "while awaiting the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also keep you secure unto the end."
Source: Heirs of the Kingdom, Imprimatur 1949
On an island in the Caribbean sea, which you have heard about in your geography lessons, there is a graveyard. In that graveyard are three tombstones which tell their own story. The inscription on the first headstone reads, "Here lies Hugh Trent. Died fighting for the king. 1621." The traveler moves to read the next headstone and sees a surprising thing. It reads, "Here lies Hugh Trent. Died fighting for the king. 1710." He shows further surprise when he reads the next stone, which says, "Here lies Hugh Trent. Died fighting for the king. 1820." The traveler would say, "The Trents must have been a fighting family. There was always one of them ready to lay down his life for the king."
Christ is a King. Perhaps in our own families we have a glorious heritage of those who died fighting for Him . What a glorious epitaph to be put over any grave, "Died fighting for Christ the King ."
The warfare in which Christ the King would have us fight is the warfare against sin. It is a struggle which is going on all the time, not in the smoke and the flash and the crack of battle, but in the silent battlefield of our own hearts. We win the battle only by obeying the King's orders. We say to ourselves, "This is the way the King wants it, and this is the way it must be." In the silent battlefield of your own hearts may be going on the struggle whether you will steal or not. You do not. Why? Because the King wants it that way. Because someone else is in the room with you you decide that you will skip your night prayers. You do not. Why? Because the King wants it that way. You have read Tom Brown's Schooldays and remember how Arthur knelt down to say his night prayers in a dormitory. When the other boys made fun of him, Tom came to his defense. That was the beginning of a lifelong friendship between h im and Arthur. You may be tempted in your own hearts to indulge in the telling of indecent stories just so that you can appear smart. You do not. Why? Because the King wants it that way. You may be tempted to be mean and cruel to your younger sister. Older sisters can sometimes be very, very cruel to the younger ones. You do not. Why? Because the King wants it that way. Conduct like that and settling your problems like that is fighting for the King. You keep fighting for the King and keep fighting to the end. When they write on your headstone "Died fighting for the King," you will have nothing to worry about, "while awaiting the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also keep you secure unto the end."
Source: Heirs of the Kingdom, Imprimatur 1949
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