Sometimes churches recoil from the battle because the enemy is considered to be unbeatable. Yet another military example occurs to us from World War II. How tragic it was when Britain lost Singapore in 1942! It was very difficult to defend Malaya, and so four British divisions retreated into Singapore, crossing the causeway and attempting to destroy it behind them. Eventually the Japanese invaded Singapore, taking the British by surprise by approaching from an unexpected direction. Within seven days General Percival had surrendered the British and Commonwealth forces, losing 9,000 in the battle, and sending into captivity 100,000 British and Commonwealth troops. Many authorities have called this the most humiliating defeat in the history of the British Army. In addition, 25,000 Chinese males between 18 and 60 were summarily executed by theJapanese. The British POWs went into abject slavery, most of them in Burma working on the railway.

Why did they surrender? It was because they thought the Japanese were far stronger than was the case. Afterwards it emerged that Japanese supplies were stretched to breaking point, so that they had only one or two weeks’ fighting in them. But they were thought to be far stronger. Poor General Percival got the blame. He was by all accounts a gentleman, who had evidently wanted to follow Churchill’s order to fight to the last drop of blood, but he proved weak before his fellow commanders and subordinated himself to their desire to surrender. It was all because they thought the enemy was unbeatable. Is this why we will not fight in the battle for souls today?

Do we look at the walls of atheism, and at the power of the media and the entertainment world, and retreat into our shells thinking the great commission can no longer be carried out? Accordingly the fight of faith today is fought in the arenas of truth, holiness, and the maintenance of assurance, but not in the battle for souls. May I say it again, that viewed in the light of our forebears reformed Christians today are a strangely lopsided entity. We are not like our forebears. We do not have the fervour or the urgency. We do not have the soulwinning priority. If only we would recognise this, we could begin to move forward once again. But the final word must be: what about ourselves as individuals? Do we see ourselves as those saved to serve? A true spirituality, a genuine personal spiritual life, means wholehearted commitment or dedication to the Lord’s service, and to the souls of lost men, women and children. The supreme task of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, on earth, was to secure salvation. Ours is to make it known. This is our calling, our purpose, our joy, and our reward.