Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1896-10-30
REV. DR. TALNAGE.
The Eminent Washington pivlnsS
Sunday Sermon.
subject: "Armagcddon."

Megiddo Is the name Of mountain that
looks down upon Esdr&lon, the greatest
battlefield that the worll has ever seen.
There Barak fought the Canaanites; there
Gideon fought the Milianites, there Josiah
fought the invading Egyptians. The whole
region stands for battle, ami the Armagei-
don OF my text borrows is name from il,
and Is here used, not geographically, but
fgurativeiy, while setting forth tho idea
that there is to be worlds closing battle,
the greatest Of all battles. compared with
which the conflicts Of this century AMI all
other centuries were insignificant, tecause
Of the greater number Of combatants en-
gagged, the greater victory and the greater
defeat. The exact date of that battle we do
not know, AMI the exact locality is uncer-
tain. [ may be in Asia, Europe, Africa, or
America; but the fact that such battle will
take place is as certain as Gods eternal
truth. When use the superlative degree in
regard to that coming conflict, do not forget
that there have been wars all along on
stupendous scale. AS when at Marathon Mil
tiades brought on his men, not in ordinary
march, but in full run, upon the horse
men OF Persia and the black archers OF
Ethiopia. and scattered them, and crying,
"Bring fire! Bring flre!" set into flame the
ships Of the invaders, AS When Pizarro over
came Peru. As when Philip the Second
trumphed over Portugal. AS when the Huns
met the Cloths. AS when three hundre
Epartans sacrificed themselves at Thermo-
pylas. As when the Carthagenians took Ag-
rlgentum. AS when Alexander headed the
Macedonian phalapx. AS when Hannibal in
vaded Italy. Battle Of Hastingsl Battle of
Valmy, Battle o! Arbela Battle of Toursl
Battle of Borodinol Battle Of Lucknow! Bat
tie OF Solferinol Battle OF FoDtenoy where
100 900 vera slain! Battle OF Chalons where
300. 600 were massacredi Battle of Herat
where Genghis Khan destroyed 10000
livesl Battle OF Neishar where 1,747,00
went down to death! 1,Sl6,0C0 slain at Troy!
And American battles, too near us now to
allow US to appreciate their awful grandeur
and significance, except you who were there
facing the North or facing the South! But
all the battles ] have pamed put together
will not equal in numbers enlisted, or fierce
meas, or grandeur, or triumph, or rout, the
coming ArmageddOn contest, Whether it
shall be fought with printers type or keen
steel. whether by brain or muscle, whether
by pen or carbine, whether by booming can
non or thunders OF Christian eloquence, do
not know, and you may take what l say az
figurative or literal, but take as certain what
st. John, in bis vision on the rocks Of the
Greeian archipelago, is pleased to call ear
Mageddon."
My sermon will first mentionthe regiments
that will be engaged in the conflicts then
will say something OF the commanders on
both sidesi and then speak of the battle
itself and the tremendous issues. Begin
ming with those who will fight on the wrong
side, | first mention The Regiments Dia~
bOlic. In this very chapter from which my
text Is taken we are told that the spirits Of
devils will be there. How many millions
of them no one can tell. for tn statistics Of
fha ont 10 do int hox
ported and the roll of that host has never
on earth been called; but from the direful,
and continental, and Planetary work they
have already done, aud the fact that every
man and woman and child on earth has Il
tempter. there must be ut least sixteen hum
dred millions Of EVIL spirits familiar with
our world. Perhaps as many more are en-
gagged on especial enterprises OF abomiDa-
ton among tbs Nations and empires of the
earth. Beside that there must be an incon-
ceivable number CT inhabitants In realms
pandemoniac, staying there 10 keep the
great capitals of sin going from age 10 age.
Many of them once lived in heaven, bat
engaging In conspiracy 10 put Satan on the
throne, they were hur ed out AMI down. ana
they are now among the worst thugs OF TIE
universe. Having been in three worlds, -
Heaven, earth and he'll, they have all the
Of great experience. Their power,
their speed, their cunning, their hosii ity
wonderful beyond oil statement! In the Ar
they will. doubt not, be present
in full array. They will have no reserve
corps, but all will be Mt the front. There will
not only be soliiers in that battle who can
be seen and aimed at, but troc ps intangible
and without corporeity, and weapons may
strike clear through them w.,eOut giving them
hurt. With what shou, .. defiance will they
olipo hn nd Nra luut fro,
the battlem ents y .a1bestos into the ast cam.
paign OF hell P.ssl, the bravest Of n | men,
was impressed with their michtfor evil when
he said, ave wrestle not against flesh and
blood. but against principalities, aud against
powers, and against the rulers of the dark
ness in this world, against spiritual wicked
ness in high places" o., wnat an agitatng
moment, when the ranks dabolic move up
and take their p aces for conflicts in the Ar
mageddoni
Other regiments who will march into the
fight will be the Regiment Alcoholic. They
will be made of the brewers companies, dis
Iil!ery owners and liquor dealers associa-
lions, and the hundreds OF millions OF their
patrons These millions of victims of alco-
hol joined by the millions of the victims OF
arrack, the spirituous liquor of China An /
India, and Arabia, AMI Egypt, and CeyloD,
and am.
Other regiments who will march into the
fight on tho wrong side will be the Reg
meEts Inlidel. God gave but one revelation
10 the human race, and these men have beeu
trying to destroy it. Many OF the books,
magazines and newspapers. through per-
petual scoff Mt Christianity. and some Of the
have become recruiting agencies
for those regimen s. The greatest bf.2adier
OF all those regiments, Votaire, who closed
70 ~ II ~ hxrxu writ
ing: "Eappiness is dream, and only pain is
real l tavs thought % Tor eignty-iour
years, aud know no better plan than to re-
sign myself TO the inevitable and to reflect
that flies al bora to be devoured by spiders
AMI man to be consumed by care. l wish
/ had never been born" Oh. the God-for-
saken regiments of infidels, who, after hay-
ing spent their life antagOnizing the only in
huence that could make the earth better,
gather with their low wit and their vile sheer
and tLeir learned idiocy and their horrible
blasphemy to take part against God ana
righteousness in the great Armageddon!
Other regiments who will march in on the
The wrong side in the battle will be the Regi-
ments Mohammedan. At the present time
there are about one hundred AMI seventy
FIVE million Moslems. Their plain mission
is to kill Christians, demean womanhood,
and take possession of the earth in the inter-
pst OF ignorance, superstition, and moral
filth. The massacre of fifty thousand Ar
menians in the last two or three years is only |
one chapter in their effort to devastate the |
earth Of everything but themselves. SO |
de ermined are they in their bad work |
that all the Nations Of the earth put together |
dare not say to them, stop or we will make |
you stop" My hope is that long before that |
last battle OF which speak, the Turkish |
Government, and with it Mouammedanism, |
may be wiped out of existence. The Turkish |
power OF the last four hun ired years has |
been the mightiest hindrance on earth to re-