The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-11-15
THE POWER TO FIGHT
DIR. TALNAGE TELLS HOW TO
WRESTLE WITH EVIL
we Must be Trained for the Struggle.
Sslence and DecipIine-Gn Fall H. not
the End-The strength That Comes
From God

Association
In this discourse DR.. TaImage selects
one Of the boldest figures of the Bible
to present most practical and encOurag
ing truths; text EphesiAns Vi, Y, W
UrestIe not against the flesh and blood
but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers Of the dark
ness Of this world, against spiritual
wickedness in high places"
Suueamishness and fastidiousness
were never charged aginst Pauls rhet-
oric. In the wal against evil he took
the first weapon he could lay his hand
on For illustration, he employed the
theater, the arena, the foot race, and
there was nothing in the lsthnlldh
game, with it's wreath Of pine leaves
or Pythian game, with it's wreath OF
laurel palm, or Nemean game, with us
wreath Of parsley, or any Roman CIR
Gus, but he felt he had a right 10 put
it in sermon or epistle, and are you not
surprised that in my text he calls upon
a wrestling bout for suggestlVeness /!
PIutarch says that wrestling Is the
most artistic and cunning OF atnietlc
games We must make a wide dluer-
ence between pugiiism, the lowest Oh
spectacles, and wrestling, which is an
effort in sport to put down another on
foor or ground, and we, all of US, in
dulged in it in our bOyhOOd days IL we
were heaIthful and plucky. The an
Gent Wrestlers were first bathed IN OIL
and then sprinkled with sane Ihe
third throw decided the victory, ana
many a man who went down IN the
I~1r- in no I iT6
throw was on top and his opponent
under. The Romans did not like this
game very much, for it was not savage
enough. no blows or kicks being allow
ed in the game. They preferred the
foot of hungry panther on the breast
of fallen martyr.
In wrestling the opponents would
bow in apparent suaVity, race
TO face. put down both feet sOlidly,
take each other by the arms and push
each other backward and forward I'M
til the work began in real earnest, and
there were cOntOrtiOnS and StranSula-
tiOnS and violent strokes OF the foot or
one contestant against the foot OF the
other, tripping him up, or, with strug-
gle that threatened apOpleXy or death,
the defeated fell, and the shouts of the
spectators greeted the victor. | guess
Paul had seen some such contest, and
it reminded him of the struggle of the
soul with the temptation, and the
struggle of heavenly forces against
Apollyonic powers, and he dictates my
text to an amanuenSiS, for all MS let
tiers, save the one to Philemon, seem
to have been distated, and, as the
amanuensis goes on with his work |
hear the grOan and laugh and shout
of earthly and celestial belligerents,
I'VE Wrestle not against princlpalltles,
against powers, against the rulers OF
the darkness of this world, aginst spirit
nal wickedness in high places"
THE AMENITIES OF LIFE.
I-notice that as these wrestlers ad-
vanced to throw each other they bowed
one to the other. 1t was a civility, not
only in Grecian and Roman games, but
in later day, in all the wrestling bouts
at ClerkenWell. England, and in the
famous wrestling match during the
reign Of Henry III in ST. Giles Field
between men of Westminster and peo-
pie Of London. However rough a twist
and hard a pull each wrestler contem-
plated giving his opponent, they up
preached each other with ~politeness
and suavity. The genufieXions, the
~affability, the courtesy in no wish mn
dered the decisiveness of the contest.
Well, Paul. | see what you mean. In
this awful struggle between right and
wrong we must not forget to be gentle
men ana ldUltS. <AIIiDIIlIS hON1A AiiA
ers, but always helps. You are power
less as soon as you get mad. Do not
call rumsellers murdererS. Dc not call
infidels fools. Do not call higher crit
les reprObates. DO not call all card
players and theater gOers children OF
the devil. Do not say that the dance
breaks through into hell. Do not deal
in vituperation and billingsgate and
contempt and adjectives Dynamite.
The other side can beat us at that.
Their dictionaries have more Objurga-
ton and birthstone.
We are in the strength of God to
throw flat of it's back every abOmina-
ton that curses the earth. but let US
approach our mighty antagonist with
suavity. Hercules. son of Jupiter and
Alcmena. will by a precursor of smiles
be helped rather than damaged for the
performance of his '12 labOrS." Let
us be wisely strategic in religious cir
Giles as attorneys in COurtrOOmS, who
are complimentary to each other in the
opening remarks, before they come into
legal struggle such as that which left
Rufus Choate or David Paul Brown
triumphant or defeated. People who
get into a rage in reformatory work
accomplish nothing but the depletion
of their own nervous system. There is
such a thing as having a gun so hot at
the tOuchhOle that it eXplOdes. killing
the one lndC sets IL OH. lneIt are
some refOrmatOry meetings to which |
always decline to go and take part, be-
cause they are apt to become demon
STATIONS of bad temper. | never like
to hear a man swear, even thOugh he
swear on the right side. The very Paul
who in my text employed in illustra-
tior the wrestling match. a on a
memorable occasion as we ought TO be-
have. The translators of the Bible
made an unintentional mistake when
the represented Paul as insulting the
people of Athens by speaking of the
unknown god whom We lsnorantly
Worship" Instead of charging them
with ignorance, the original indicates
he comp'imented them by suggesting
that they were very religious, but as
they confessed that there were some
things they did not understand about
God. he promised to say some things
concerning him. beginning where they
had left off. The same Paul who said
in one place, BE Courteous and who
bo5 noticed the bow preceding the