News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1891-11-19
THE TEMPLE OF DIANA.
D.. TALMAGE DRAWS LESSONS FROM
THAT STRUCTURE.

BROOKLYN, Nov. 15.-Dr. Talmage
continued this morning his series Of ser
mons entitled, "From the Pyramids to
the Acropolis" This sermon, which is
the fifth of the series, is concerned with
the doctors visit to Ephesus, of which
city, with its wonderful temple and
other buildings, egives vivid descrip-
ton, with characteristic exegetical com
ments on obscure passages of Scripture.
His text was Acts xix, 81, ''Great is
Diana of the Ephesians"
We have landed this morning at
Smyrna, 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 a city that has often been shaken by
earthquake, swept by conflagration,
blasted by 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 Christian religion and save him
self from martyrdom, the proconsul
saying, Swear and l release thee; re-
proach Christ, replied, Eighty and
six years have 1 served him, and he
never did me wrong; how then can 1
revile my King and Saviour
When he was brought to the fires
into which he was about to be thrust,
and the officials were about to fasten
him to the stake, he said, LET me re-
main as l am, for he who giveth me
strength to sustain the fire will enable
me also without your securing me with
nails to remain unmoved in the fire -
History says the fires refused to con-
sumo him, and under the winds the
flames bent outward so that they did
ret touch his person, and therefore he
,-;;s slain by swords and spears. One
press bending over his grave is the
ely monument to Bishop Polycarp.
But we are on the way to the city of
Flohesus, about fifty miles from Smyr-
IL. We are advised not to go to Ephe-
sus; the bandits in that region have
had an ugly practice of cutting off the
ears of travellers and sending these
specimens of ears down to Smyrna, de-
handing a ransom. The bandits sug-
gest TO the friends of the persons from
whom the ears have been subtracted
that if they would like to have the rest
of the body they will please send an APP
propriate sum of money. If the money
is not sent the mutilated prisoners will |
be assassinated. One traveller was car
ried off to the robbers den and 81, 500 |
was paid for his rescue The bandits
were caught and beheaded, and pic |
lures of these CHASTITY heads are on sale |
in the shops of Smyrna for any persons |
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 did not feel like 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 Ephesus |
associated with the most wonderful |
apostolic scenes. We hire a special |
railway train, and in about an hour
and half we arrive at the city of
Metropolis of Asia" and cone of the
Eyes of Asia, and '|The Empress of
Ionia, :" the capital 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 that church |
where once an ecumenical council of
two thousand ministers of religion was
held
THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF ASIA.
Mark the fulfillment of the prophecy
of the seven churches of Asia; four
were commended in the Book of Reve-
lation and three 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 theater, which was $50 |
feet from wall to wall, capable of hold
ing sc, 700 spectators. Here and there
the walls arise almost unbroken, but
for the most part the building is down.
Just enough of it is left to help |
the imagination build it up as it !
was when those audiences shouted /
and clapped at some great spectacular |
Their huzzas must have been enough |
to stun the heavens.
As l took my place at the center of |
this theater and looked around at its |
broken layers of stone, gallery upon |
gallery, gallery upon gallery, piled |
up into the bleak skies of that winter
day, and thought that every hand that |
swung a trowel on those walls, and |
every foot that trod those stairs and |
every eye that gaZed on that amphi- !
theater, and every voice that greeted |
the combatants in that arena had gone |
out of hearing and sight for ages on |
ages, felt thrill of interest that al !
most Frustrated me amid the ruins
Standing there we could not forget |
that in that building once assembled a
riotous throng for Paurs condemna-
ton because what he preached col |
ided with the idOlatry. of their national
goddess. Paul tried to get into that
theater and address the excited multi
tude, bat his friends held him back
lest he be torn in pieces by the mob,
and the recorder of the city had to read
f3iC IlOb HiCb peOpIe. WIZ udQ
IslIrieked for two mortal hours till their
Ithroats 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 a stupendous
place it must have been when used for
foot races and for fights with wild
beasts. 1t was a building $50 feet long
by 200 feet wide. Paul refers to what
transpired there in the way of spectacle
when he says, 1--WE have been made a
spectacle" Yes, Paul says, II have
fought with beasts at Ephesus" an ex-
preston usually taken as figurative, but
L suppose it was literally true for one
of the amusements in that Stadium was
to put disliked man in the arena with
a hungry lion or tiger OF panther and
let the fight go on 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 missionary Paul would in the pres
enae of the crowded galleries, fight a
hungry lion. The people were early
there to get the best seats, and more
alert and enthusiastic crowd never as
senbled. They took their dinners {
with them. And was there ever a