The Kinsley graphic. [volume] (Kinsley, Kan.) 1890-1940, 1891-11-20
aLq9HIEg qF PHEsUs.
n. TsIHpass ooulilaes Hs SER
aE npne On Bible Lands .
EphesIsn GIorIez Wildly DsseFIbsd-vyOz-
dera OF the Famed EsmPis OF Diana
vFaFhIHgs In the Fate OF the
Once EIIghty city.

LGEIuOua EutALAEa rom the A4aa
to the AcroPOlis," Rev. T. Dewitt Tai
mage. in a sermon at RE0QlEiEE. t0sz
his text from Acts xix 81; Great is
Diana of the Ephesians- He saids
We have landed this morning at
Smyrna. 2 CITY 81 Aslatie Turkey. One
of she s5ven churches of Asia once
stoed here You reed in Revelation,
TO she H3ltreh in Smyrna write-F 1t
Is p city that has often been shaken by
earthquake, swept by cOnhngration,
blasted by plaques, and butchered by
war, and here Bishop PolycarP stood
fa a crowded 7aInpkitheater and when
he was aslsed to give mp the advocacy
of the Christian religion and save him
self from martyrdOm, the prO-cOnsul
saying: Swear and release thesi re-
proach Christ replied: Eighty and
six years have I served Him, and He
never did me wrong, now then can I
Fevile nay 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 sAsst me remain as am,
for He who EiFeth nae strength to
sustain the hF5 viii enable me also
wtshoat your securing me with nails to
remain unmOved In the fire. " History
says the fires refused TO consume him,
and under the winds the flames beat
outward so that they did not touch his
person, and therefore he was slain by
swords and spears
We are advised not to go to Ephesus;
the bandits In that region have had an
ugly practice OF cutting of the ears of
travellers, and sending these specimens
Of ears down to Smyrna, demanding
ransom The bandits suggest 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 appropriate
sum of money. If the money is not
sent the mutilated prisoners will
be assasainated. But we must see
Ephesus-associated with the most
wonderful apostolic scenes We
hire a special railway train, and
in about an hour and a half
we arrived at the city of Ephesus,
which was called 1.-THE Great Metropo-
lis OF Asia" and ''Ths Empress of
IOnia, " the capital of all learning and
mEgnihcence. Here, as I said, was one
of the seven churches of Asia. and first
of all we visit the ruins of that church
where once an Ecume1ical council Of
1000 ministers of religion was held.
Mark the fulhlment of the prophecy
OF the seven churches of Asia, four
were commended in the book of reveia-
ton and three were doomed The cities
having the four com mendsd 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 holding sc, zoo spectators
Here and there the walls arise almost
unbrOlSen. 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.
Standing there we could not forget
that in that building once assem- bled a
rictOus throng for PauI's condemns
ton, because what he preached cOllided
with the idolatry of their national god
dess- Paul tried to get into that theater
and address the excited multitude, but
his friends held him back, lest he be
torn in 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; Great is Diana
of the Ephesians-"
Now we step into the Stadium.
Enough of its walls and appointments
are left to show what a stupe ndOus
place it must have been when used for
foot races and for fights with wild
beasts 1t was building $50 feet long
by 200 feet wide. Paul refers to what
transpired there in the way of spectacle
spectacle"
Yes Paul says: 81 have fought with
beasts at Ephesus," an expression, usu-
ally taken as fgurative, but I suppose
it was literally true, for one of the
amusements in that Stadium was to
put disliked man in the arena with
q hungry lion or panther. and let the
fight GO on until either the man or
beast or both were slain. 1t must have
been great fun for these haters of
Christianity to hear that on the NOR
row in the Stadium in Ephesus the
missionary Paul would, in the presence
OF the gallaries, fight a hungry lion.
And was there ever a more unequal
combat proposed? Paul, according to
tradition, small, crOolzed-bacIEed aud
weaA-eyed, but the gTandest man in
sixty centuries, is led to the entry, as
the people shout: There he comes,
the preacher who has nearly ruined our
religion. The lion viii make but a
brief mOuthful OF him" 1t is plain
that all the sympathies of that crowd
were with the lion In one of the
underground rooms hear the growl of
one 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 PauIP
I 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 a
howl OF pain and reelring with gore,
turns back. But now the little mis-
sioEHvy has his turn of making attack,
Snd with a few well directed tkrusts
the monster lies dead in the dust of the
arena, and the apostle puts his right
foot OF the Lion and shakes him, and
then puts his left foot on him and
shakes kiE--a scene which PAM after
ward usas for an illustrates when ne
wants to show how Chrise viii triumph
over dssth-''He rnust reign till He
hath put AL eneWies under His feet;"
yes. under Hiszset Paul told the lit
eral truth when he said: IL have
fought with beasts at EPhesus-"
But We p4ss out Of the Stadium, for
we a-z in haste for other places of in
terest5ln Ephesus- In the midst of this
city OF f5Fssssus once hoated an artificial
lake, brilliant with painted boats. and
through the river CaysteF II. was con
nected with the sea. ana ships from all
parts OF this known earth 1ioated In aud