Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like
men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love {1
Cor. 16:13}
Isaac Watts (1724)
Am I a soldier of the cross, a foll'wer of the Lamb? And shall I fear to own His cause or blush to speak His Name?
Must I be carried to the skies on flow'ry beds of ease, while others fought to win the prize and sailed through bloody seas?
Are there no foes for me to face? Must I not stem the flood? Is this vile world a friend to grace to help me on to God?
Sure I must fight, if I would reign; increase my courage, Lord; I'll bear the toil, endure the pain, supported by Thy Word.
Thy saints in all this glorious war shall conquer, though they die; they see the triumph from afar by faith's discerning eye.
When that illustrious day shall rise, and all Thine armies shine in robes of vict'ry through the skies, the glory shall be Thine.
Am I a soldier of the Cross? I. Watts. [Holy Fortitude.]
Appended to his Sermons, published in 1721-24, in 3 vols., vol. iii., and
intended to accompany a sermon on 1 Cor. xvi. 13. It is in 6 stanzas of 4 lines
and entitled “Holy Fortitude.”
