"The Faithful Few"

The fight had hardly begun and we pulled back,
Afraid of being injured by the darts of the wicked.
Our sin-bearer cried out from his cross,
“Why have you stopped? I have given the battle to you.”

But we fell back under each new wave of temptations,
We held up our white flags, “Truce! We cannot overcome!”
The enemy broke through our ranks, that wicked serpent,
And laughed the savior to scorn.

A few of our number, with tears in their eyes,
Cried out to the Savior, “Lord, forgive us!”
And he looked upon them with favor and forgave them.
“Now go forth! Through me you have overcome.”

We watched the faithful drive into the enemy ranks,
Taking punishment from the enemy that we had not seen.
But though they cringed and faltered, the faithful pressed on.
Their blood flowed freely and they drew the serpent’s blood in return.

“Come, Christians,” the serpent told us,
“Watch and see the opposition. Is it worth your lives?
These men and women that come against me
Will fall into the greatest of trials.”

But the faithful few fought on, drawing nigh to the cross.
The serpent sent his minions against them
And the battle grew fiercer than before
And the darts of the wicked drove us farther back.

“Draw back!” we told the faithful few.
“He is too strong, you will die!”
“Is it better to die in the service of our Lord,” replied they,
“Or to give in to temptation, and never to fight?”

Temptations rained thick and fast upon us
Until it seemed that we had joined the enemy ranks
And we practiced warfare in the manner of the serpent,
Using guile, instead of truth.

When at last we looked again upon the cross
We saw the faithful few, dead at its base,
Their blood pooling beneath the Savior
And his tears raining down upon their bodies.

“See then how great is their loss?” the serpent asked.
“Had you stood by them the same fate would be yours.
Now you are like me, in thought and deed,
Yielders to sin, and traitors, beyond redemption.”

But the Savior cried that the serpent had lost
And the faithful dead rose around his feet.
He stepped down from the cross
And we saw that he had suffered willingly.

The faithful few were robed in white
The Savior gave to each of them a gold crown
And he gave them a new song to sing:
A song of victory that crushed the serpent’s host.

When the Serpent had been destroyed,
We wept at the Savior’s feet.
He forgave us and clothed us with white,
But the crowns of gold we did not receive.

“For whosoever will save his life shall lose it;
but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake
and the gospel's, the same shall save it.”
–Mark 8:35 (KJV)