The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1895-11-01


But why specify when every man and
woman has lion to tighti 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 be-
cause you have let the lion eat you up
This very moment the contest goes on.
The Trajan celebration, where 10000
\ gladiators fought and II 900 wild beasts
were slain, was not so terrific struggle
as that which at this moment goes on
in many soul. That 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 roar.
ing lion of hell.
Men think, when they contend against
an evil habit, that they have to fight it
all alone. Mol They stand in the center
of an immense circle of sympathy. Paul
had been reciting the names of Abel,
Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah Isaac,
Joseph, Gideon and Barak and then
says, "Being comprised about with sc
great cloud of witnesses.
A Cloud of witnesses.
Before get through / will show you
that you fight in an arena around which
circle, in galleries above each other, all
the kindling eyes and all the sympa.
thetic hearts of the ages, and at every
victory gained there comes down the
laundering applause of a great multi
tude that no man can number. "Being
comprised about with SO great a cloud
of witnesses.
On the first elevation Of the ancient
amphitheater, on the day of celebra
ton, sat Tiberius, or Augustus, or the
reigning king. So in the great arena of
spectators that watch our struggles, and
in the first divine gallery, as shall call
it, sits our king, one Jesus. On his head
are many crowns The Roman emperor
got his place by cold blooded conquests,
but our king hath come to his place by
the broken hearts healed, and the tears
wiped away, and the souls redeemed.
The Roman emperor sat, with folded
arms, indifferent as to whether the
swordsman or the lion iout, BIT our
kings sympathies are all with nc Nay,
unheard of condescensieNsl l rec him
come down from the gallery into the
arena to help us in tho f@Lt, shouting,
until all up and down his voice is
heard: Fear not l will help thee! |
will strengthen thee by the right hand
of my power p
They gave to the men in tho arena,
in the olden time, food to thicken their
blood, so that it 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.
Once, in the ancient amphitheater, q
lion with one paw caught the combat
ants sword, and with his other paw
caught his shield. The man took his
knife from his girdle and slew the
beast. The king, sitting in the gallery,
said: THAT was not fair. The lion
must be slain by sword" Other lions
were turned out, and the poor victim
fell. You cry. "Shame, shamep at
such meanness But the king in this
case is our brother, and he will see
that we have fair play He will forbid
the rushing out of more lions than We
can meet He will not suffer us to be
tempted above that we are able Thank
{ ID The king is in the gallery! His
eros are on us. His heart is with us.
HIS hand will deliver us. blessed are
al they who put their trust in him"
The Angelic Gallery.
look again, and see the angelic
gallery. 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 patriarch; this one
protected child; that one has been
pulling soul out of temptation! All
these are messengers of light. Those
drove the Spanish armada on the rocks.
This turned Sennacherib's living hosts
into heap of 1861 corpses Those
yonder chanted the Christmas carol over
Bethlehem until the chant awol1e the
shepherds. These, at creation, stood in
the balcony of heaven and serenaded the
newborn world wrapped i'll swaddling
clothes of light. And there, holier and
mightier than all, Is Michael. the arch
angel ITO command an earthly hest
gives dignity, but this one is leader OF
the 90, 900 chariots of God and of the
ten thousand times ten thousand angels,
| think God gives command to the arch
angel, and the archangel to the sera
phim, and the seraphim to the chelubim,
until all the lower orders Of heaven hear
the command and go forth on the high
behest.
Now bring on your lions Who can
fear? 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
4 cases! Oh, bending throng of bright,
angelic faces and swift wings and light
ming foot, | hail you today from the
dust and struggle of tho arena!
] / look again, and see the gallery of
the prophets and apostles. Who are
those mighty ones up yonder? Hosea
and jeremiah and Daniel and Isaiah and
Paul and Peter and John and James.
i There sits Noah, waiting for all the
world to come into the ark, and Moses,
waiting till the last Red sea shall di-
vide, and jeremiah, waiting for the
Jews to return, and John Of the Apoc-
alypse, waiting for the swearing of the
angel that time shall be no longer
Glorious spirits Ye were howled at; ye
were stoned; ye were spit uponl They
have been in the fight themselves, and
they are all with us. Daniel knows all