t out unless you fight against
your unworthy self, and the temptations of the world. The garb of the
candidate for the day is armour.

And there is another side to that same thought, and that is, the more
vivid our expectations of that blessed dawn the more complete should
be our bracing on of the armour. The anticipation of that future, in
very many instances, in the Christian Church, has led to precisely
the opposite state of mind. It has induced people to drop into mere
fantastic sentiment, or to ignore this contemptible present, and
think that they have nothing to do with it, and are only 'waiting for
the coming of the Lord,' and the like. Paul says, 'Just because, on
your eastern horizon, you can see the pink flush that tells that the
night is gone, and the day is coming, therefore do not be a
sentimentalist, do not be idle, do not be negligent or contemptuous
of the daily tasks; but because you see it, put on the armour of
light, and whether the time between the rising of the whole orb of
the sun on the horizon be long or short, fill the hours with
triumphant conflict. Put on the whole armour of light.'

Again, note here what the armour is. Of course that phrase, 'the
armour of light,' may be nothing more than a little bit of colour put
in by a picturesque imagination, and may suggest simply how the
burnished steel would shine and glitter when the sunbeams smote it,
and the glistening armour, like that of Spenser's Red Cross Knight,
would make a kind of light in the dark cave, into which he went. Or
it may mean 'the armour that befits the light'; as is perhaps
suggested by the antithesis 'the works of darkness,' which are to be
'put off.' These are works that match the darkness, and similarly the
armour is to be the armour that befits the light, and that can flash
back its beams. But I think there is more than that in the
expression. I would rather take the phrase to be parallel to another
of this Apostle's, who speaks in 2nd Corinthians of the 'armour of
righteousness on the right hand and on the left.' 'Light' makes the
armour, 'righteousness' makes the armour. The two phrases say the
same thing, the one in plain English, the other in figure, which
being brought down to daily life is just this, that the true armour
and weapon of a Christian man is Christian character. 'Whatsoever
things are true, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are
of good report,' these are the pieces of armour, and these are