Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1892-09-08
LIES GREAT ARENA,
MANKIND FIGHTING OFF HUN
CRY BEASTS.
pr rnlmaEc Draws Conciusions--Co
i5;3a II Have Fought with iieusts
at Ephesus''--rictnro OF u sccnc In
tho Great Roman Colosseum.

LoNpoN, sept Tho great outpourlnrs to
hcar Or TamaSc preach continue, Probably
the greatest dtmonstra' ion duriug the past
month was that ut the Tuws hall Birmingham,
when he delivered three ad 3rcsSes the same
evening, Ia audiences aggrcgating 5000 per.
sons Az Shculcld, Derby, Leicester Exeter
ard 'hHtol ALSO phenomenal audiences NJ
scmblcd tho most cordial Welcome tcing
everywhere uccordodh him rhc sermon selected
for publication this week IS entitled: celestial
Sympathi crs," the text being taken from
Cor i5:& II have fought with beasts ~
Ephcsus,' aud Hebrews lsl Seeing we also
are comprised about With SO great cloud OF
Witnesses
Crossing the Alps by the Mont Gents
pass, or through the Mont Cents tun-
mel, you are in II few hours set down at
Verona, Italy, and in u few minutes
begin examining one of the gmudcst
ruins of the world the Amphithcater,
The whole building sweeps around
you in circle, You stand in the
arena where the combat was once
fought or the race run, and On ull sides
the seats rise, tier ABOVE tier, until You
count forty elevations, or galleries, rs |
shall see III to call them, in which sat
900 excited spectators. At the sides of
the arena, and under the galleries, are
the cages In which the lions and tigers
are kept without food, until, frcnaied
with hunger and thirst they are let
out upon some poor victim, who, with
his sword and alone, is condemned to
meet them. ! think that Paul himself
once stood in such place, and that IL
was not only hgmatively, but literally,
that he had fought with beasts At
Ephcsus,"
The gala-day has come, From all
the world the people are pouring into
Verona, Men, women and children,
orators and senators, great men aud
small, thousands upon thousands come,
until the first gallery Is full, and the
second, the third, the fourth, the fifth
all the way up to the twentieth, all
the way up to the thirtieth, all the
way up to the fortieth Every place is
filled Immensely of audience sweep
ing the great circle. Silence! The
| time for the contest hns come. A
! Roman official leads forth the victim
| into the arena, Let him get his
sword, with firm grip, into his right
! hand, The twenty-five thousand sit
breathlessly watching hear the
| door at the side of the arena crcalS
open. Out plunges the half-starved
lion, his tongue athirst for blood, and,
with roar that brings all the galleries
10 their feet, he rushes against the,
| sword of the combatant. DO you know
how strong stroke n man viii strike
when his life depends upon the first
thrust Of his blade? The wild beast,
lame and bleeding, sinks back toward
/ the side of the arena; then, rullying
his wasting strength, he comes up with
6erccr eye and more terrible roar than
ever, only 10 De driven back with u
| fatal wound, while the combntauL
comes in with stroke after stroke, un-
| til the monster is dead at his feet, and
! the twenty-five thousand people clap
| u cir hands and utter shout that
makes the city trcmblc.
! Sometimes the audience came to see
a face; sometimes TO see gadiators fight
each other, until the people, compass
sionatc for the fallen, turned their
thumbs down as an appeal that the
! vanquishcd be spared; and sometimes
the combat was with wild beasts.
70 one of the Roman ampithcatrical
audiences of one hundred thousand
people Paul refers when he says; Eve
are compassed about with SO grea' IA
crowd of witnesses. - The direct refer.
cnce in the last passage Is made TO n
race, but elsewhere, having discussed
that, | take now Paul's favorite idea OF
the Christian life as a combat
The fact is that every Christian man
has lion To fight. Yours Is bad
temper. The gates of the arena have
been opened and this tiger has come
out 70 destroy your soul. IL has LAGER
ated you with many wound. You
have been thrown by IL time and again,
but in the strength of God you have
arisen 10 drive IL back, | verify be-
live you will conquer think that the
temptation is getting weaker and
wcsker. You have given IL so many
wounds that the prospect is that it will
die, and you shall be victor, through
Christ. Courage, brother Do not let
the sands Of the arena drink the blood
| of your soul!
Your lion is the passion for strong
drink. You may have contended
against il twenty years; but IL is strong
of body and thirsty of tongue. You
have tried to fight IL back with broken
/ bottle or empty wine flask Nay! that
is not the weapon. With one horrible
roar he will seize thee by the throat
and rend thee limb from limb. Take
this weapon, sharp and keen-rcach
mp and get II from Gods armory: the
Sw ord of the Spirit. With that thou
mayest drive him back and conquer!
But why specify, when every man
an woman has lion TO fight. IL
there be one here who has no besetting
sin, let him speak out for him3have L
offended II you have not fought the lion
it is because you have let the lion eat
you up. This very moment the contest
| goes on. The Trajan celebration,
where 10000 gladiators fought and -
4 wv VIII DtdStS WHY Sihii. wac NV ~
| terrific a struggle as that which Mt this
moment goes on in many soul. The
combat was for the life of the body;
this is for the life of the soul. That was
with wild beasts from the jungle; this
is with the roaring lion of hell
Men think, when they contend
against an evil habit, that they have to
fight it all alone. MOI They stand in
the center Of an immense circle of
sympathy. Paul had been reciting the
names OF Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abra-
ham, Sarah, Isaac, Joseph, Gideon and
Barak, and then says: Being com
passed about with SO great cloud of
witnesses"
Before get through ] will show you
that you fight in an arena, around
which circles, in galleries above each
other, all the kindling eyes and all the
| sympathetic hearts Of the ages: aud at
every victory gained there comes down
The laundering applause Of a great
multitude that no man can
number Being comprised about
with so great cloud OF witnesses
On the first elevation of the ancient
amphitheater, ON the day of a celebra'