Throughout the years, the moving spirit of that dynamic hymn beginning with the words, "Onward, Christian soldiers," has, it is safe to assume, supported many a faltering footstep, uplifted many a despairing heart, and brought forth many a genuine triumph. It has, without a doubt, turned the erroneous trend of numerous lives by disclosing the way to higher, better things, and by helping to make possible the grand accomplishment of those things. In short, it has served to transform fear into bravery, defeat into victory, and failure into success. The opening stanza of the hymn reads:
"Onward, Christian soldiers,
Marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus
Going on before.
Christ, the royal Master,
Leads against the foe;
Forward into battle,
See, his banners go."
Never in human history has there been a more insistent call for "Christian soldiers" to go forward in the overcoming of error with Truth than there is today. Never has there been a greater demand for "the cross of Jesus" to go "on before," thereby pointing the path to ultimate victory. And never has the spirit of the "Christ, the royal Master," been more vitally and universally needed than at the present hour.
