The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1896-10-23
ARMAGEDDON FIELD.
Rev. DR.. Talmage Talks on the
Great Battle Of Prophecy.
The Hosts OF Error Engulfed by the
Forces of Christlanity-The Mig hty
struggle which IN to Mark
the Earth'a Climax

his Washington congregation. It was
based on the text:
And He gathered them toLether in place
called in me Hebrew tongue Arnageddon.- -
Rev. XVI. 10.
Megiddo is the name of a mountain
that looks down upon Esdraelcn, 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
a 4mageddon of my text borrows its
name from it, and is here used, not
geographically, but fguratively, while
setting forth the idea that there is to
be a 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
may 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 l use the superlative
degree in regard to that coming con-
hict, do not forget that there have
been wars all along on stuPendous
scale. AS when at Marathon Milti-
AIDES 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 fret Bring frel"
set into flame the ships Of the invaders.
AS when Pizarro overcame Peru. As
when Philip III. triumphed over Portu-
gal. As when the Huns met the Goths.
As when G06 Spartans sacrificed them
selves at Thermopylae. As when the
Carthagenians took Agrigentum. As
when Alexander headed the Mace
DOMAIN pha.Gnx AS when Han
nibal invaded Italy. Battle
Of Hastingsl Battle of Valmyl
Battle of PultowaI Battle of Arbelal
Battle of Toursl Battle Of Borodino!
Battle of Lucknow! Battle of Solfe-
600 were slain! Battle of Chalons,
where 800, 900 were massacredl Battle
of Herat, where Genghis Khan de-
stroyed /, coo, 900 Hvesl Battle of Neis-
har, where 1,747, coo went down to
DEATH One million and eight hun
dred and sixteen Thousand slain at
Troyl And American battles, too
near us now to allow us to appreciate
their awful grandeur and ignif-
canoe, except you who where
there, facing the north or facing
the south But. all the battles have
named put together will not equal in
numbers enlisted, or fiercenesss, or
grandeur, or triumph, or rout, the
coming Armageddon contest. Wheth-
er 1t 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. l do not
know; and you may take what Isay as
fgurative or literal, but take as GER
tain what St. John, in his vision on the
Grecian archipelago, is pleased to call
"Armageddon."
Ny sermon will first mention the
regiments that will be engaged in the
conflict, then will say something of
the commanders on both sides, and
then speak of the battle itself and the
issues. Beginning with
those who will fight on the wrong
side, l first mention the regiments
diabolic In this very chapter from
which my text is taken we are told
that the spirits of devils viii be there.
How many millions of them no one
can tell, for the statistics of the ss-
tanic dominions have never been re-
ported and the roll of that host has
never on earth been called; but
from the direful and CONT
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, 600, 900 of evil
spirits familiar with our world. Per-
haps as many more are engaged on
enterprises of abOmination
among the nations and empires of the
earth. Beside that there must be an
inconceivabie number of inhabitants
in realms pandemoniac, 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-Heavsn, earth and hell-they
have all the advantages of great expo
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 them
without giving them hurt. With
what shout of defiance will they
climb up the ladders of fire
and leap from the battlements of
asbestos into the last campaign of
hell! Paul, the bravest of men, was
impressed with their might for evil
when he said: I'VE wrestle not against
flesh and blood, but against princi-
palities, and against powers, and
against the rulers of the darkness in
this world, against spiritual wicked
ness in high places" oh, what an
agitating moment, when the ranks
diabOlic move up and take their places
for conflict in the Armageddonl
Other regiments who will march into
the fight will be made up of the brew
ers' companies, distillery owners, and
liquor dealers associations, and the
hundreds of millions of their patrons.
They will move into the ranks with
what the Bible calls the "Song OF the
Drunkard." And what a bloated, and