Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1891-11-21
THE CITY OF EPHHSUS.
Rev. DR.. Talmage Describes It's
Splendors.
The CrucItiel of the Stadium Paul's Fight
With a Hungry Lion.


The Crucltiei of the Stadium -Paul's Fight
with Hungry Lion.
TEXT: GREATS Diana Of the Ephesians.n
Acts xix. a.
We have landed this morning at SMYRNA.
a city of Asiatic Turkey. One of the seven
churches Of Asia once stood here You read
in Revelation, ITO the church in SMYRNA
write 1t is city that has often been
shaken by earthquake, swept by confiagra-
ton, blasted ty plaques and butchered by
war, and here Bishop Polycarp stood in a
crowded amphitheater and when he was
asked to give up the advocacy Of the Chris
tan religion and save himself from martyr
DOM the proconsul saying, Swear and
release thee; reproach Christi replied.
Eighty and six years have | served Him,
and He never did me wrong; how then can
rev1e my King and Saviour"
W hen he was brought to the firas into
which he was about to be thrust, and the of
hcials were about to fasten him to the stake
be said: 'Let me remain as | am, for He
who 9iveth me strength to sustain the fire
VIII enable me also without your securing
me with mails to remain unmoved in the
hre.' History says the fires refused to con-
sumo him, and under the wind the flames
bent outward so that they did not touch his
person, and therefore he was slain BY swords
and spears. One cypress bending over his
grave is the only monument to Bishop Poly
carp.
But weare on the way to the city of Ephe-
sus. about fifty miles from Smyrna. We
are advised not to go to Ephesus. The
bandits III that region have had an ugly
practice OF cutting off the ears of travellers
and sending these specimens OF ears down to
Smyrna, demanding a ransom. The ban
I dts suggest TO the friends of the persons
from whom tine ears have been subtracted
that If they would like to have the rest oe
the body they will please send an appropriate
sum of money. If the money is not sent the
mutilated prisoners will be assassinated.
Une Traveller was carried of to the robbers
den, and $500 was paid for his rescue The
bandits were caught and beheaded, AMI
pictures of these CHASTITY heads are on sale in
the shops OF Smyrna for any person who
may desire to have something to look at on
their way to Ephesus
There have been cases where ten and
twenty and thirty and forty thousand dollars
have been demanded by these brigands We
! dld not teel BIKE putting our friends to such
expense and it was suggested that we had
better omit Ephesus. But that would have
been a disappointment from which we would
never recover We must see Epbesus-
associated with the most wonderful apostolic
scenes, We hire special railway train, and
in about an hour and a halt we arrive at tb9
Metropolis of Asia, and Zone of the Eyes OK
Asa, and The Empress of Ionan the eapi
tai OF all learning and magnificence. Here.
as L said, was one of the seven churches OF
Asia, and first of all we visit the ruins of thal
church where once an ecumenical council Of
two thousand ministers of religion was held.
Mark the fulfiilment of the prophecy. OF
the seven churches of Asia four We're COM
men6ed in the Book of Revelation and thres
were doomed. The cities having the four
commended churches still stand; the cities
having the three doomed churches are wiped
out. 1t occurred Just as the Bible said it
would occur. Drive on and you come TO the
theatre, which was $50 feet from wall to wall
capable of holding Sc, 100 spectators. Here
and there the walls arise almost unbroken,
but Tor the most part the building is down.
AS took my place at the centre OF this
theatre and looked around at its broken lay
ers OF stone, gallery upon gallery. gallery
upon gallery, and piled up into the bleak
skies OF that winter day, and thought that
every hand that swung trowel on those
walls, and every foot that trod those stairs,
and every eye that gazed on that amphi-
theatre, and every voice that greeted the
eombatants in that arena had gone cut of
hearing and sight for ages on ages, | felt a
thrill OF interest that almost penetrated me
amid the ruins
Standing there we could not forget that
in that building once assembled a riotous
throng for Pauls condemnation because
what he preached collided with the idolatry
of their national goddess Paul tried to get
into that theatre and address the excited
multitude, but his friends held him back, lest
he be torn to pieces by the mob and the re-
corder of the city had to read the riot act
among the people who had shrieked for two
mortal hours till their threats were sore and
they were black in the face, Great is Diana
of the Ephesiansn
Now we step into the Stadium. Enough
OF its walls and appointments are left TO
show what stupendous place it must have
been when used for foot-races and for fights
with wi d beasts. 1t was building $50 feet
long by 200 feet wide. Paul refers to what
tTansplred there in the way of spectacle
when be says, I'VE have been made a spec
tacle" Yes Paul says, Il have fought
with beasts at Ephesus' au expression
usually taken as fgurative, but | suppose it
was literally true, for one OF the amuse-
ments in that Sta ium was to put disliked
man in the arena with hungry lion or tiger
or panther, and let the fight go until either
the man or the beast or both were slain.
1t must have been great fun for these
haters of Christianity to hear that on the
| morrow in the Stadium in Ephesus the mis-
slonar ny Paul would, in the presence of the
! crowded galleries, fight hungry lion. Tho
people were early there to get the best seats,
and more alert and enthusiastic crowd
| never assembled. They took their dinner
/ with them And was there ever more I'M.
! equal combat proposed? Paul, according to
| tradition small crooked backed and weak
: eyed, but the grandest man in sixty cen
turtles, is led 10 the center as the people shout:
! There be comes, the preacher who has
nearly ruined our religion. The lion will
make but brief mouthful of him"
! 1t is plain that all the sympathies of that
crowd are with the lion. In one of the
underground rooms [ hear the growl of the
! wild beasts. They have been kept for several
days without food or water in order that they
may be especially ravenous and bloodthirsty.
What chance is there for Paul? But Won
cannot tell by mans size or looks how stout
blow he can strike or how keen blade he
can thrust. Witness, heaven and earth and
! hell, this struggle of Paul with wild beast
/ The coolest man in the Stadium is Paul.
/ What has he to fear2 He has dehed all the
! powers, earthly and internal, and if his body
tumble under the foot and tooth of the wild
beast, his soul viii only the sooner find dis
enthrallment. But it is his duty, IS far as
possible, to preserve his life.
Now, | hear the bolt of the wild beasts
/ door showed back ana the whole audience
1 rise to their feet as the fierce brute springs
/ for the arena and toward its small occupant.
think the first plunge that was made by
| the wild beast at the apostle was made on the
point of sharp blade, and the snarling
monster, with howl of pain and reeking
with gore turns back But now the little
missionary has his turn of making attack,
and with a few well directed thrusts the
/ monster lies died in the dust OF the arena,
/ and the apostle puts his right foot on the
! lion and shakes him, AMI then puts MS left
/ foot on him and shakes him--a scene which
/ Paul afterward uses for an illustration when
I he wants to show how Christ will triumph
! over 6eath-"He must reign till He hath
put all enemies under His feet'-yes, under
! His feet
Paul told the literal truth when he said:
! 81 have fought with beasts at Ephesus "and
as the plural is usei think he had more
than one such fight, or several beasts were
/ let loose upon him at one time. As we stood
that day in the middle Of the Stadium and
looked around at the great structure, the
whole scene came back upon Us.
( But we pass out of the Stadium, for we are
in haste for other places of interest in Ephe-
sus. To add to the excitement OF the day
one of our party was missing. No man is
safe in that region alone unless he be armed
al know how TO take sure aim and not mis-
re. Our companion, DR.. Louis Klopsch.
now the publisher of the Christian Herald,
had gone out on some explorations of his
own, and through the gate where Paul had
walked again and again, vet where no man
unaecompanle1 should adventure now. But
after some time had passed and every min
ute seemed as long as an hour, and we had
tine to imagine everything horrible in the
way of robbery and assassination. the lost
Traveller appeared, to receive froniuour entire
party voley of expostuation for the
Grousal OF so MANY anxieties.
In the midst OF this city Of Eohssus ones
Heated an artificial lake, brilliant VITA
painted boats, AMI through the river Caystar
II was connected with the sac aud -f,;r,- g.,