The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1892-09-16

Couic dOWn from the galleries l0bO JEc
arena 10 help us in the fight, shouting
until all mp and down His voice is heard:
Fear mott / will help theel will
strengthen thee by the right hand OF
my powerr'
They gave to the men in the arena,
in the olden time. food to thicken their
blood, SO that il would flow slowly,
and that for a longer time the people
might gloat over the scene. But our
King has no pleasure in our wounds,
for we are bone of His bone, flesh of
His flesh, blood Of His blood.
In all the anguish OF our heart
The man Of sorrows bore part.
Hook again, and see the angelic gal
lery. There they are, the angel that
swung the sword at the gate of Eden,
the same that Ezekiel saw UNFOLDING
the throne of God, and from which /
look away, for the splendor is insuffer-
able. Here are the guardian angels.
That one watched patriach; this one
protected a child. That one has been
pulling soul out of temptationl All
these are messengers of light Those
drove the Spanish Armada on the rocks
This turned Sennacherib's living hosts
into a heap of one hundred and
eighty-five thousand corpses. Those,
yonder. chanted the Christmas carol
over Bethlehem, until the chant awoke
the shepherds These, at creation,
stood in the balcony of Heaven, and
serenaded the newborn world wrapped
in swaddling clothes of light. And
there, holier and mightier than
all, is Michael, the archangel Tocom-
mand an earthly host gives dignity;
but this one is leader of the twenty
thousand chariots of God, and of the
ten thousand times ten thousand an
gels i think God gives command to
the archangel, and the archangel to the
seraphim, and the seraphim to cheru-
him, until all the lower orders of Heaven
bear the command, and GO forth on the
high behest.
Now, bring on your lions! Who can
fearl All the spectators in the angelic
gallery are our friends. 'He shall give
His angels charge over thee to keep
thee in all thy ways. They shall bear
thee up in their hands. lest thou dash
thy foot against stone. Thou shalt
tread upon the lion and adder; the
young lion and the dragon shalt thou
trample under foot"
Though the arena be crowded with
temptations. we shall, with the angelic
help, strike them down in the name of
our God, and leap on their fallen car
cassesl o, bending throng of bright
angelic faces, and swift wings, and
lightning footl ] hail you to-day,
from the dust and struggle of the
arena!
look again, and see the gallery of
the prophets and apostles. Who are
those mighty ones mp yonder? Hosea,
and jeremiah, and Daniel, and Isaiah,
and Paul, and Peter, and John, and
James. There sits Noah waiting for
all the world to come into the ark; and
Moses waiting till the last Red sea
shall divide; and jeremiah waiting for
the Jews to return; and John, of the
Apocalypse, waiting for the swearing
of the angel that time shall be no
longer. Glorious spiritsL Ye were
howled at, We were stoned; We were
spit uponl They have been in this
fight themselves; and they are all with
us. Daniel knows all about lions.
Paul fought with beasts at Ephesus
In the ancient amphitheater the peo-
pie got so excited that they would
shout from the galleries to the men in
the arena: '.At it again. Forward"
Zone more strokep' Look outy' Fall
baclkr' "Huzzal Huzza!' So i'm that
gallery, prophetic and apostolic, they
can not keep their peace Daniel cries
out: Thy God will deliver thee from
the mouth OF the lions!p David ex-
claims: HE will not suffer thy foot to
be movedr' Isaiah calls out: '.Fear
notl am with theel Be not dismayed!'
Paul exclaims: Victory through our
Lord Jesus Christi That throng of
prophets and apostles can not keep
still. They make the wellzin ring with
shouting and hallelujahs
i look again, and see the gallery of
the martyrs Who is that? Hugh Lat
inner, sure enoughl Hewould not apol-
ogize for the truth preached; and SO he
died, the night before swinging from
the bed-post in perfect glee at the
thought of emancipation. Who are
that army of six thousand SIX hundred
and sixty-six? They are the The
ban legion who died for the faith. Here
is larger host in magnificent array
eight hundred and eighty-four thou
sand-who persisted for Christ in the
persecution of Diocletian. Yonder is
family group. Felicitas, of Rome, and
her children. While they were dying for
the faith she stood encoT raging them.
One son was whipped to death by
thorns, another was flung from a rock,
another was beheaded. At last the
mother became a martyr. There they
are together-a family group in
Heavenl Yonder is John Bradford
who said, in the fire: 1--WE shall have
a merry supper with the Lord tonight"
Yonder is Henry Woes, who exclaimed
as he died: IF had ten heads they
should all fall off for Christ?' The
great throng of the martyrsl They
had hot lead poured down their
threats: horses were fastened to
their hands, and other horses to
their feet, and thus they were
pulled apart, they had their tongues
pulled out by red-hot pincers; they were
sewed up in the skins of animals, and
then thrown to the dogs: they were
daubed with combustibles and set on
fret If all the martyrs stakes that
have been kindled could be set at
proper distances, they would make the
midnight all the world over, bright as
monday And now they sit yonder in
the martyrs gallery. For them the
fires of persecution have gone out The
swords are sheathed and = the mob
hushed- Now they watch us with an
sympathy They know
all the pain, all the hardship, all the
anrnish All the in ir,sfica ali 4la nj;