CHRISTIAN LIFE >> Christian Warfare
SDAH 616
Soldiers of Christ,arise,
And put your armor on,
Strong in the strength which God supplies
Through His eternal Son
Get the hymn sheet in other keys here
For Worship Leaders
Make each hymn more meaningful with these helpful tools: Short, ready-to-use hymn introductions for church bulletins, multiple ways to introduce a hymn based on your worship theme and in-depth history and insights to enrich your song service.
📖 Reference: Feel free to share but please cite hymnsforworship.org when reproducing.
Introductions for Sabbath School Song Service (based on specific lesson quarterlies):
This rousing battle cry is a very small selection from a hymn written in 1749 by Charles Wesley (1707-1788; see Biographies) and appeared in his Hymns and Sacred Poems of that year. Its title was “The Whole Armor of God,” and it consisted of 16 stanzas, of which we have Nos. 1, 2, and 16. Later his brother John divided it into three separate hymns, beginning respectively with stanzas 1, 7, and 13. Note the transliterated Greek work panoply in stanza 2, line 4, which means “all the arms, or armor,” taken from the original in Ephesians 6:13. In fact the hymn is an extended paraphrase of Paul’s vivid description of the Christian warfare and the necessary weapons. Reference is also made to Romans 8:37: “In all these things we are more than conquerors.”
The tune DIADEMATA (crowns) was composed especially for the hymn “Crown Him With Many Crowns,” by Sir George Job Elvey (1816-1893; see SDAH 223). Note that the melody of line 6 is exactly the same as in line 5, but one note higher. Elvey also composed SDAH 557, ST. GEORGE’S WINDSOR. The arrangement is by Melvin West (1930- ; see Biographies).
📖 Reference: Companion to the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal by Wayne Hooper and Edward E. White. Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1988.
Text
1
Soldiers of Christ,arise,
And put your armor 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.
2
Stand then in His great might,
With all His strength endued,
But take, to arm you for the fight,
The panoply of God;
That, having all things done,
And all your conflicts passed,
Ye may o’ercome through Christ alone,
And stand entire at last.
3
From strength to strength go on,
Wrestle and fight and pray,
Tread all the powers of darkness down
And win the well-fought day.
Still let the Spirit cry
In all His soldiers, “Come!”
Till Christ the Lord who reigns on high
Shall take the conquerors home.
Hymn Info
Biblical Reference
(a) Eph 6:10, 11 (b) Eph 6:13 (c) Eph 6:12, 18
Author
Charles Wesley (1707-1788)
Copyright
Arrangement copyright 1984 by Melvin West
Hymn Tune
DIADEMATA
Metrical Number
S.M.D.
Composer
George J. Elvey (1816-1893)
Arranged
Melvin West, 1984 (1930-)
Year Composed
1868
Alternate Harmony
SDAH 223
Recommended Reading
The general idea when it comes to hymns is that there is a close bond between the author and the composer. That the author writes a hymn and the composer invents a tune to suit it, and then provides the harmony to accompany the tune. However, such wasn’t always the case.
Many hymns actually worked vice versa wherein authors would write verses according to existing tunes. Hundreds of hymns are sung from borrowed tunes, such as secular songs, chants, and even classical works. That being said, I went ahead and researched which hymns in the SDA Hymnal were originally classical works.
