The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1896-10-24
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
The Great Battle Of Armageddon
as Described in Prophecy.



Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage delivered
tbe following sermon before his WASH
inqton congregation, taking for his
text:
And He gathered them to- ether in place
called In The Hebrew tongue Armageddon. -
Rev. xvi. To-
Megiddo is the name of a mountain
that looks down upon Esdraelon, the
greatest battlefield that the world
has ever seen. There Barak fought
the Canaanites; there Gideon fought
the Midianites; there Josiah fought
the invading Egyptians. The whole
region stands for battle, and the
Armageddon of my text borrows it's
name from it, and Is here used, not
geographically, but fguratively, while
setting forth the idea that there is to
be worlds closing battle, the great
est of all battles, compared with which
the conflicts of this century and all
other centuries were Insignificant, be-
cause of the greater number of COM
batants engaged, the greater victory
and the greater defeat. The exact
date of that battle we do not know,
and the exact locality is uncertain. 1t
NAV be in Asia, Europe. Africa or
America; but the fact that such bat
tie will take place is as GER
tain as Gods eternal truth.
When use the superlative
degree in regard to that coming con-
Aict, do not forget that there have
been wars all along on stupendous
scale As when at Marathon Milti-
.des brought on his men, not in ordi-
nary march, but in full run, upon the
horsemen of Persia and the black
arches of Ethiopia, and scattered them,
and, crying, Bring tire! Bring fret"
set into flame the ships of the invaders.
As when Pizarro ovcrcame Peru. As
when Philip III. triunphed over Portn-
gal As when the Huns met the Goths.
As when 500 Spartans sacrificed them
selves at Thermopylae. AS when the
Carthagenians tool Agrigentum. As
when Alexander headed the Mace
DOMAIN phalanx AS when Ham
nibal invaded Italy. Battle
of Hastings. Battle of Valmy!
Battle of Pultowa! Battle of Ar5ela!
Battle If Tours! Battle of Borodino!
Battle of Lucknow! Battle of Solfe-
rino! Battle of Fontcnoy, where l0o,-
600 were slain! Battle of Chalons,
where 300, 900 were massacred! Battle
OF llerat, where Genghis Khan de-
stroyed 100000 lives! Battle of Neis.
har, where 1,741,000 went down to
death! One million and eight hun
bred and sixteen Thousand slain at
Troy. And American battles, too
near us now to allow us to appreciate
their awful grandeur and signiti-
canoe, except you who where
there, facing the north OF facing
the south But all the battles i have
named put together will not equal in
numbers enlisted, or fercenesss, or
grandeur, or triumph, or rout, the
coming Armageddon contest. Wheth-
er it shall be fought with printers
type or keen steel. whether by brain
or muscle, whether by pen or carbine,
whetherby booming cannon or thun-
ders of Christian eloquence. do not
know; and you may take what Isay as
fgurative or literal, but take as GER
tain what st. John, i'll his vision on the
Grecian archipelago, is pleased to call
"Armageddon."
NV sermon will first mention the
regiments that will be engaged in the
conflict, then will say something of
the commanders on both sides, ami
then speak of the battle itself and the
tremendous issues. Beginning with
those who will fight on the wrong
side, / first mention the regiments
diabolic. 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 nq-~ene
can tell, tor the statistics of the sa-
tanic dominions have never been re-
ported and the roll of that host has
never on earth been called; but
from the direful and copti-
mental and planetary work they
have already done, and the
fact that every man and woman and
child on earth has a tempter, there
must be at least 1000, 100000 OF evil
spirits familiar witlrour world. Per-
haps as many more are engaged on
especial enterprises of abomination
among the nations and empires of the
earth. Beside that there must be an
inconceivab,e number of inha bitants
in realms pandcmoniac, staying there
to keep the great capitals of sin going
from age to age. Many of them once
lived in Heaven, but engaging in con-
spiracy to put Satan on the throne,
they were hurled out and down, and
they are now among the worst thugs
of the universe. Having been in three
worlds-Ileaven, earth and hell-they
have all the advantages of great expe'
rience. Their power, their speed,
their cunning, their hostility. wonder
full beyond all statement! In the Ar
mageddon they will, doubt not, be
present in full array. They will have
no reserve corps, but all will be at the
front. There will not only be sol
diers in that battle who can be seen
and aimed at, but troops intangible
and without corporiety, and weapons
may strike clear through then
without giving them hurt With
what shout of defiance will they
climb up Che ladders of fire
and lam FROM tho battlaments nj