The Chocolate Soldier
Heroism - The Lost Chord of
Christianity
Written by C. T. Studd
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Heroism is the lost chord; the missing note of present-day Christianity!
Every true soldier is a hero!
A SOLDIER WITHOUT HEROISM IS A
CHOCOLATE SOLDIER!
Who has not been stirred to scorn and
mirth at the very thought of a Chocolate Soldier? In peace true soldiers are
captive lions, fretting in their cages. War gives them their liberty and send
them, like boys bounding out of school, to obtain their heart's desire or
perish in the attempt. Battle is the soldier's vital breath! Peace turns him
into a stooping asthmatic. War makes him a whole man again, and gives him the
heart, strength, and vigor of a hero.
Every true Christian is a soldier of Christ - a hero "par excellence"! Braver than the bravest - scorning the soft seductions of peace and her oft-repeated warnings against hardship, disease, danger, and death, whom he counts among his bosom friends.
The otherwise Christian is a Chocolate Christian! Dissolving in water and melting at the smell of fire. Sweeties" they are! Bonbons, lollipops! Living their lives on a glass dish or in a cardboard box, each clad in his soft clothing, a little frilled white paper to preserve his dear little delicate constitution.
Here are some portraits of Chocolate Soldiers taken by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
"He said, 'I go, sir' and went not"; "They say and do not" - they tell others to go, and yet do not go themselves. "Never," said General Gordon to a corporal, as he himself jumped upon the parapet of a trench before Sebastopol to fix a gabion which the corporal had ordered a private fix, and wouldn't fix himself, "Never tell another man to do what you are afraid to do yourself."
To the Chocolate Christian the very thought
of war brings a violent attack of chills, while the call to battle always finds
him with the palsy. "I really cannot move," he says. "I only
wish I could, but I can sing, and here are some of my favorite lines:
John the Baptist, "It is not lawful for you to have
your brother's wife." A whole sermon in one sentence, as easy to remember
as impossible to forget. John had preached like that before. He was not above
repeating a good sermon to a king, word for word, when the king had not given
sufficient heed to it.
John received the unique distinction of a first class character from both God and the agent of the devil. Listen to the Savior indulging in an outburst of exquisite sarcasm, when He asked the crowd about John. "What did you go out in the desert to see? A reed shaken by the wind? A man dressed in fine clothes?" A Chocolate Christian? (How delicious! The Chocolates were right in front of Jesus at the time - Pharisees, Sadducees, priests, scribes, lawyers and other hypocrites. How the crowd must have enjoyed it!)
"He who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he," intimating that even greater powers than those of John are at the disposal of every Christian. What John was, each one of us can be: good, straight, bold, unconquerable, heroic.
But there are other footprints - outrageous ones; they can
only belong to one man, that grandest of Christian paradoxes, the little
giant PAUL. He made the world turn somersault. His life was a perpetual gamble
for God. Daily he faced death for Christ. Again and again he stood fearless
before crowds thirsting for his blood. He stood before kings and governors and
did not turn a hair. He did not even flinch before Nero, that vice president of
hell. His sufferings were appalling: read them. He trod in his Master's
footsteps, and so received the same splendid compliment that Jesus did, for God
is always just in His favors. "All forsook him." So there were some
Chocolate Christians in those days too. Anyone who forsook Paul must have been
made of Chocolate. Doubtless the 'chocolates' excused themselves as they do
today. "Who could abide such a fanatical fiery fool, such an uncompromising
character? Nobody could work with him, or he with them!"
The Chocolate Christians of today can at least boast of
having an ancient pedigree.
There are Chocolates ŕ la Reuben, who have great searchings of heart, and make great
resolves of heart too. But somehow they still sit among the sheepfolds,
listening to the pipings of their much loved organs, or the strumming of their
guitars. It is good to have great heart-searching. It is better to make a great
heart resolve. But if, instead of obeying, we squat among the sheep, leaving
our few hard-pressed brothers to tackle the wolves by themselves, we are only
Chocolate Christians. You made a great resolve to go to Africa for Christ a
year or two ago. Where are you now? Still in the West? In Britain? Yes! Yes!
Lollipop! (Judges 5:16)
There are Chocolates Meroz who earned the curse of the angel of the Lord. War was
declared, the battle about to begin. The odds were outrageous but Meroz
remained in England, attending conventions until the battle was over. Then he
went in comfort and security as a tourist! Doubtless they said he
"couldn't fight until they had been properly ordained, and besides, there
was so much to be done in fat, overfed Meroz. Surely to feed a flock of fat
sheep has always been considered the ideal training for war." As though
the best training for a soldier was to become a nursemaid!! (Judges 5:23,
“Curse Meroz,' said the angel of the LORD. 'Curse its people bitterly,
because they did not come to help the LORD, to help the
LORD against the mighty.'” NIV)
Chocolates du Balaam
begin first class and earn the name of prophets. Then they develop a squint,
melt, and finally run out of the frying pan into the fire! Thus was Balaam. He
had the hearty desire to die the death of the righteous, but he was not willing
to pay the price of a righteous life. He had not the pluck to curse God's
people so he made plans for others to make them sin. But one day, while his
dupes were putting his chestnuts into the fire, they fell in themselves and
Balaam with them. (Numbers 23 & 24)
"I counsel you to buy from Me salve to put on your
eyes, so that you can once again see the folly of flirting with the
world."
Chocolate Demas left
fiery, hard-hitting Paul for an easier path. He said he thought Paul should
wink at or slobber over sin instead of rebuking it. "He was so very fond
of the knife, you know. He never would use sticking plaster, because he said it
never healed the sore, but made it burrow underneath and become bigger, worse
and dangerous" (2 Timothy 4;10).
Mark joined the Chocolate Brigade once. He left Paul and
Barnabas in the lurch, and went back to Jerusalem for a rest cure - a religious
retreat. Thank God he got sick of it before long, and re-enlisting in God's
army became a useful soldier. (Acts 13;13)
Many fine youngsters are turned into Chocolates by old
prophets. Old prophets who have lost their
fire, or who fire off words (teaching) instead of deeds, usually become
great Chocolate manufacturers. That poor young prophet! He did so well when he
obeyed God only, but it was all over with him when he listened to another
voice, even though it was that of an old prophet. Did not the old prophet say
he was a prophet? And say that he had got the message straight from God? What a
damnable lie! The floor of Christendom and elsewhere is littered with WRECKS made
by old prophets. God won't stand nonsense from any man. Every man has to choose
between Christ and Barabbas, and every Christian between God and some old
prophet. Better be a silly donkey in the estimation of an old prophet than to
listen to his soft talk and flattery, and afterwards became a wreck. "
You say you believe the Bible! Do your deeds give the lie
to your words? (1 Kings 13).
THE TEN SPIES WERE CHOCOLATES. They melted and ran over the whole congregation of Israel,
turning them into Chocolate Creams - softies, afraid to face the fire and water
before them. God put them all into the saucepan again and boiled them for forty
years in the desert, and left them there. He has no use for Chocolates. It is
not small things that He despises, but 'Chocolates', for He said, "Your
little ones shall inherit the promised land which you have forfeited through
listening to men and despising Me." (Numbers 13)
Chocolates are very fond of talking loud and long against
some whom they call fanatics, as though
there were any danger of Christians being fanatics nowadays! Why, fanatics
among Christians are as rare as the dodo. God's real people have always been
called fanatics. Jesus was called mad, so was Paul; so were Whitefield, Wesley,
Moody. No one has graduated far in God's school who has not been paid the
compliment of being called a fanatic.
Alas! What stirs ordinary men's blood and turns them into
heroes makes most Christians run like a flock of frightened sheep. Militants daily
risk their lives in furtherance of their particular cause, and subscribe with
their means in a way that cries "Shame!" on us Christians, who
generally brand the braving of risks and fighting against odds as
"tempting God".
CHOCOLATE CARAMELS (stick-jaws, boys call them) jawing,
"I go, sir," and sticking fast in Christendom! Like faith, prayer
without works is dead. That is why many Prayer Meetings might well be styled
"much bleating, yet little wool". Zerubbabel did not only hold prayer
meetings; he went and cut down trees and started to build. Hence God said,
"From this day on I will bless you."
We are frittering away time and money in a multiplicity of
conventions, conferences and retreats, when the real need is to go straight and
full steam into battle.
God's summons today is to the young men and women of Great
Britain and the Commonwealth, of America and Europe, and of third world
countries, who call themselves by the name of Christ.
"New wine," said Christ, "must be poured
into new wineskins." Those superfluously labeled and patched-up
old-fashioned ones are as hopeless as the "New Theology". They cannot
be moved lest they burst with pride and spill the wine in the wrong place.
Truly we are in the last - the Laodicean stage - that of
the Lukewarm Church.
Will you be to Christ the partner or a Chocolate Christian?
Will you fear or will you fight? Shall your brothers go to
war and will you sit here? When He comes, will He find faith on the earth?
A thousand times you have admitted Christ's Love. Will you be a miser and withhold what honor demands of you?
Will you give like Ananias and Sapphira who, pretending they gave all, gave
only part?
Possessing and enjoying the vineyard, will you, like the
tenants, refuse the agreed rent? (Luke 20: 9-11). Will you fear death, or the
devil, or men, and will you not fear SHAME? Shall we refuse to emulate the
heroes of old, or shall we accomplish the double fulfillment of these glorious
words:
All these, being men of war, came
with a perfect heart to make Jesus King over all the world. They were all
mighty men of valor for the war! He that was least was equal to a hundred, and
the greatest to a thousand! They were not the faces of lions! They were as
swift as the gazelles on the mountains!
You sought in time past for Jesus to be king over you. NOW
THEN DO IT! (Compare 1 Chronicles 12:8, 33, 38, and 2 Samuel 3:17-18). Shall we
not reply, "We are Yours, Jesus, and on Your side. May God deal with me,
be it ever so severely, if I do not do what the Father promised You on oath,
and transfer the kingdom from the house of Satan and establish Your throne over
all the world." (Compare 1 Chronicles 12:18, and 2 Samuel 3:9-10).
Come then, let us restore the 'lost chord' of Christianity
- HEROISM - to the world, and the crown of the world to Christ. Christ Himself
asks you, "Will you be a malingerer or a militant?"
To your knees, man! And to your Bible! Decide at once!
Don't hedge! Time flies! Cease your insults to God. Quit consulting flesh and
blood. Stop your lame lying and cowardly excuses.
Enlist! Here are your papers and oath of allegiance.
Scratch out one side and sign the other in the presence of God and the
recording angel. Mark God's endorsements underneath.
For me to live is Christ, to die is gain. I'll be a
militant or a man of God, a gambler for
Christ. A Hero
Sign Here _____________
For me, Chocolate my name, lukewarm my temperature. A
idler, I A child of men. A self-excuser. A humbug. Sign Here _____________
God's promises are sure in either case: “Lo, I am with you always” or "I will spew thee out of My mouth."
Baptize us with the Holy Ghost, and with fire; Cure us of all this dread plague of Sleeping Sickness, This crazy talking in our sleep, That even as we unceasingly pray, Thy Name may be hallowed everywhere; Thy Kingdom come speedily; Thy Will be done on earth as it is in heaven
Amen.