Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1895-11-01


not. an with thee. lie not dismayed"
Paul eyclaims: Victory through our
Lord Jesus Christ. That .hrong of
prophets and apostles cannot keep
still. They ME the welkln ring with
/ shouting and nalleluiahs.
! look again. and sec the gallery Of
| the martyrs. Who is that? Hugh Lat
inner. sure enough! He wouid not apoi-
oGiZe for the truth preached; and so he
! died, the night before swinging from
the bed-Dost in perfect glee at the
thought of emancipation. Who are
that army Of six thousand six hundred
and sixty? They are the Theban
Legion who died for the faith Here
| is larger host in magnificent array
eight hundred and eighty-four thou
/ aand--who persisted for Christ in the
prosecutions al Diocletian. YOnder is a
| family group, Felicitas. of Rome, and
/ her children. While they We're dying
! for the faith she stood encouraging
them. One son was whipped to death
| by thorns: another was flung from
| rock; another was beheaded. At last
! the mother became a martyr. There
they are, together-a family group in
heaven. Yonder is John Bradford.
! who said. in the fire, We shall have a
! merry supper with the Lord tonight"
Wonder is Henry Woes, vino exclaimed,
as he died. IF had ten heads, they
: should ali fall off for Christi The
/ great throng Of the martyrs. They
| had hot lead poured down their
! throatg: 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 sewn up in the
! skins 81 animals, and then thrown TO
/ the dogs; they were daubcd with COM
| bustibles and set on fire! Ii all the mar
| tyrs' stakes that have been kindied
! could be set at proper distances, they
would make the midnight. all the world
over, bright as MONDAY! And now they
! sit yonder III 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 al!-observing sympathy. They know
all the pain all the hardship, all the
anguish, all the injustice, all the pri-
| walton. They cannot keep still. They
cry: Courage! The fire will not con-
sumo. The floods cannot drown. The
lions cannot devour. Courage. down
there in the arena"
What. are they all looking? This
night we answer hack the salutiOn they
/ give, and cry, Hail, sons and daugh-
| tiers Of the fire.
! l look again. and | see another gall
/ iery, that of eminent Christians. What
strikes me strangely is the mixing in
compani0nship of those who on earth
| could not agree. There / see Martin
| Luther. and beside him q Roman Cath
Ollie who looked beyond the supersti-
! tons of his church and is saved. There
! is Albert Barnes. and around him the
| Presbytery who tried him for hetero-
! doSy! Yonder is Lyman Beecher, and
| the church court that denounced him!
! Stranger than all there is John Calvin
and James Arminius! Who would have
| thought that they would sit SO lovingly
| together There Is George Whitefeld,
and the Bishops who would not let him
! come into their pulpits because they
| thought him q fanatic. There are the
sweet singers, Toplady. Montgomery,
Charles Wesley, Isaac Watts, and Mrs.
! Sigourney. III heaven had had no music
before they went up, they would have
| started the singing. And there, the
band OF missionaries: David Abeel,
| talking of China redeemed and John
! Scudder, of India saved; and David
! Brainerd, of the aborigines evangel-
! lied: and Mrs. Adoniram Judson, whose
prayers for Burmah took heaven by
violence! All these Christians are look
ing into the arena. Our struggle is
| nothing to theirs. Do we, in Christ'S
cause, suffer from the cold? They
walked Greenland's icy mountains. Do
we suffer from the heat? They swell
| tered in the tropics. Do we get IA
| tigued? They tainted, with none to
care for them but cannibals. Are we
prosecuted? They were anathema-
| tized.
| look again, and ! see the gallery of
our departed. Many Of those in the
other galleries we have heard of; but
| these We knew. Oh! how familiar their
| faces! They sat at our tables, and we
walked to the house OF God in COM
pany. Have they forgotten us? Those
| fathers and mothers started US on the
road of life. Are they careless as to
what becomes of us? And those chill
dren: do they looks on with stolid in
difference as to whether we win or
lose this battle for eternity? Nay; I
see that child running his hand over
your brow and saying, Father. do not
| fret" Mother, do not worry" They
remember the day they left us. They
remember the agony of the last fare
we'll. Though years in heaven, they
| know our faces. They remember our
sorrows. They speak our names. They
watch this fight for heaven. Nay;
sec them rise up and lean over, and
wave before us their recognition and
| encouragement. That gallery is not
! full. They are keeping places for us.
! After we have slain the lion, they ex-
pect the King to. call us. saying, Come
up higher" Between the hot struggles
| in the arena / wipe the sweat froIG my