The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-10-28
ALL THE ANGELS LOOKING ON.
TAL8IAGE breaches HIS FIRST
SERMON AT WASHINGTON.

aEAAMOA - - W.
The Church Unable To Hold All the
People Who FIocIsed 10 Hear Him.
The New Pastor Pays m Eloquent
Tribute TO DR.. sunderIund-The
battle with a Lion in the AmDhi-
theatre at Verona only symbo4-caI
of the Lion Every Christian Has 90
Fight.
washington. oct 27.-ThOse who know
that no church i'm this or foreign coun-
tries has been able 10 mold the audiences
that have assembled when it was an
nounced that DR.. Talmage would preach,
viii not be surprised that vast multi
tuaes attempted in vain TO hear his first
sermon as pastor in Washington. The
subject Of his opening sermon at the
national capital was: "AH Heaven Look
ing on" the text selected being the ia
nous passage from Hebrews 12.1: See
ing we also are compassed about with so
great a cloud of witnesses"
In this my opening sermon in the ma
tional capital. give you heartiest Chris
tan salutation / bethink myself of the
privilege Of standing in this historic
church so LONG presided over py one OF
the most lGIldEkaN4E men VI AAlN N-AA7
fury. There are plenty OF good ministers
besides Or. Sunderland, but DO not know
of any man except himself with enough
brain to have stood successfully and JIl-
umphantly fOrty-three years in this con-
spicuOus pulpit Long distant pc the year
when that gospel chieftain shall put down
the silver trumpet with Wmch ne rs
marshallcd the hosts OF Israel, or shealAe
the sword with which he has struck such
mighty blows for God and righteousness.
/ come 10 you wsth the same gospel that
H.. hos fn|
kinds of work for making the world bet-
ter. and 1 hope to see you all IN your
own homes and have you all come ana
see me, but dOnt an come at once anu
without any preliminary discourses as 10
what l propose to do, l begin here ana
now to cheer you with the thougnt that
all heaven is sympathetically looking on.
Seeing we also are comprised about with
so great a cloud of witnesses.
Crossing the Alps, by the Mont Cenls
Pass or through the Mont Cents tun-
neil you are in a few hours set down at
Verona, Italy, and in a few minutes be-
gin examining one of the grandest ruins
OF the wOrld-the amphltheater. The
whole building sweeps around you in a
circle. You stand in the arena where
the combat was once fought or the race
run, and on all sides the seats rise, tier
above tier. until YOU count forty eleva-
tons, or galleries, as / shall see int 10
call them. in which sat the senator's, the
kings, and the twenty-five thousand eX-
cited spectators. AT the sides or the
arena, and under the galleries, are the
cages in which the lions and tigers the
kept without food, until, frenzied 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 a place, and that 1t was not only
figuratively, but literally, that he had
fought with beasts at Ephesus."
The gala-day has come. From all the
ma Men. women, and children, orators
and senators, great men and small.
thousands upon thousands come, until
the first gallery is full, and the second,
the third, the fourth, the fifth-al the
way up TO the twentieth, all the way up
TO the thirteth, all the way up to the
fortieth Every place Is filled. lmmen-
sity Of audience sweeping the great cir
Gle. Siencel The time for the contest
has 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. 1 hear the door
at the side Of the arena creak open. Out
plunges the half-starved lion, his tongue
athirst for blood. and, with roar that
brings all the galleries to their feet, he
PUSHES against the sword Of the combat
ant. DO you know how strong a stroke
a 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,
Tallying his wasting strength, he comes
UP with ncrcer eye and more terrible
roar than ever, only TO be driven back
with fatal wound, while the combat
ant comes IN with stroke after stroke,
until the monster is dead at his feet,
ana the twenty-five thousand people clap
their hands and utter shout that makes
the city uremble.
Sometimes the audience came to see
race; sometimes to see gladiatOrs fight
each other. until the people, compassion
ate for the fallen. turned their thumbs
up as an appeal that the Vanquished be
spared; and sometimes the combat was
with wild beasts.
To an amphitheatrical audience Paul
refers when he says: I'VE are com
passed about with so great cloud of wit
nesses"
The fact is. that every Christian man
has q lion 70 fight. Yours is bad tenn
per The gates of the arena have been
opened, and this tiger has come out to de-
stroy your soul u has lacerated you
with may q wound. You have been thrown
BY l. time and again, but in the strength
Of God you have arisen to drive il back
] verify believe you VIII conquer. l think
that the temptation is getting weaker and
weaker. You nave gwen 1t 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 soult
Your lion is the passion for strong
drink. You may have commended against
IL twenty years; but ii is strong of body
and thirsty Of tongue. You have tried
70 fight it back with broken bottle or
empty wine-fiask. Nayi that is not the
seize thee by the throat and rend thee
limb from limb. Take this weapon, sharp
and keen-reach up and get it from God 5
armory; the Sword of the Spirit. With
that thou mayest drive him back and
conquer.
But why specify, when every man and
woman has a lion to fight. If there be one
here who has no besetting sin, let him
speak out, for him have / offended. If 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 ten thousand gladia-
tors fought, and eleven thousand wild
beasts were slain. was not so terrific a
struggle as that which at this moment
goes on in many soul. That combal
was for the life of the body; this is foi
the life of the soul. That was with wilC
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 il
all alone. mol They stand in the center
of an immense circle of sympathy. Pau
had been reciting the names of Abel
Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac
Joseph, Gideon and Barak, and then says
Being compassed about with so grea
a cloud of witnesses"
Before l get through, I will show yol
that you fight in an arena, around which
circle in galleries above each other, al
1,rAf.