Knights in Armour

by Edward S. Woods

"Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven."--ST. MATTHEW vii. 21.

"Be Thou the King, and we will work Thy will Who Love Thee."--TENNYSON.

"Jesus shall reign where'er the sun

Does his successive journeys run;

His Kingdom stretch from shore to shore,

Till moons shall wax and wane no more."--ISAAC WATTS.

V

LOYALTY

The Coronation Service of His Majesty King George V. is still a comparatively recent event. The whole ceremony is, as many will remember, full of beautiful symbolism. One of the most moving and dramatic moments is that when, after the King has been crowned, his chief subjects come forward to kneel down and do him homage. One after another the Archbishops, the Princes of the Blood Royal and the Peers of the Realm, kneel down, putting off their coronets, and pronounce the words of homage: "I do become your liege man of life and limb, and of earthly worship; and faith and truth I will bear unto you, to live and die, against all manner of folks. So help me God." And then, proceeds the rubric, "the Peers having done their Homage, the first of each Order, putting off his coronet, shall singly ascend the throne, and stretching forth his hand, touch the Crown on His Majesty's head, as promising by that ceremony for himself and his Order to be ever ready to support it with all their power; and then shall he kiss the King's cheek." This sense of owing loyal service to a King is an immemorial instinct in men. And it is a deep-rooted tradition that those who are his "Knights" are bound to him in the closest ties of honourable obligation. In the earliest centuries of our national history the King used to have his "war band," bound personally to him by their free choice, and sworn to fight for him to the death. He was their "lord," they his "thegns."

Most of us call ourselves "Christians." Have you realized that to be a Christian, in the true sense of the word, means nothing less than that you are Christ's "liege man of life and limb," and that you are utterly committed "faith and truth to bear unto Him, to live and die, against all manner of folks?" This personal devotion to the living Christ is the most central thing in Christianity. If a man is going to be a real Christian it will mean more than just assenting to the Creed, and going to Church, and "feeling religious" at favourable moments. It will mean entering into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and letting Him be in command, not on specified occasions, but every day and all the time. The difficulty with many people is that Christianity only touches the circumference of their existence and never seems to get established right at the centre of heart and life. It simply makes the whole difference when once you discover that Jesus Christ is a real Person Who, on His side, is interested in you and loves to help you and go about with you, and Whom you, on your side, can talk to and lean on and, gradually, begin to love. It is always in this personal way that God in Christ offers Himself to men. He is the Redeemer Who will release you from the iron bonds of sin, the Friend Who will stand by your side, the King Who would have your loyal service. And, in order to break for good and all the power of sin and death, and that He might found His Kingdom on the free loyalty of love, He died.... It is a common thing for men to lay down their lives for king and country; but here is a King dying for His subjects. Have you ever tried to realize what sin means? It must mean at least this: that when you and I do wrong we are doing something that hurts God, something that inevitably puts a barrier between Him and us. And is it not premature to speak of love and loyalty to Him as long as that barrier is there? Now, however amazing it may seem, there has proved to be no other way but one in which that barrier could be utterly and finally broken down--and God chose that way, the way of the Cross. Deliberately, gladly, the Son of God died. That which is a lasting puzzle to theologians and philosophers, is just sheer good tidings, and tidings found to be true, to ordinary people who are hungry in soul. I always think that at once the simplest and profoundest statement of the meaning of the death of Christ is that contained in the old children's hymn:

"He died that we might be forgiven,

He died to make us good;

That we might go at last to heaven,

Saved by His precious blood."

Can we withhold our loyalty from Him Who stands before us, not only as a King demanding our rightful allegiance, but as One Who loves us so much that He died for us?

"Were the whole realm of Nature mine,

That were an offering far too small;

Love so amazing, so Divine

Demands my soul, my life, my all.