The Opelousas courier., 1899-01-07
DR.. TALMAGE'S SERMON
A BRIEF SYNOPSIS OF THF DlVINE's SUN.
DAY DISCOURSE.

Subject: 1.-THE Wrestlers'-The Time ia
Coming When the Last Mighty Evil of
: the World Will Be Grappled by Right
-. eousness and Thrown.
: TEXT: "We wrestle not against flesh and
blood, but against principalities, against
MOVERS, against the rulers OF the darkness
of this world. against spiritual w%ickedness
in high places."-,Ephesians vi, -.
Soueamishness and f~astidiousness were
never charged against Paul's rhetoric. In
the war against evil he took the first
weapon he could lay his hand on. For H.
Iustration, he employed the theatre, the
arena, tho foot-r2ce, and there was moth.
ing in the lsthmian game with its wreath
of pine leaves; or Pythian game. with its
wreath Of laurel and palm; or Nemean
game, with its wreath of parsley; or any
Roman circus, but he felt he had a right to
put It in sermon or epistle, and are You not
surprised that in my text he calls upon a
wrestling bout for suggestiveness? Plu-
tarch says that wrestling Is the most artjs-
tic and cunning of athletic games. We
must fmake a wide difference between
pugilism, the lowest of spectacles, and
wrestling, which is On effort in sport to put
down another on floor or ground, and we,
all of us, INDUCED in it in our boyhood
days, IL we were healthful and plucky. The
ancient wrestlers were first bathed in oil.
and then %sprinkled with sand. The third
throw decidedssthe victory, and many a man
who went down In the first throw or Sec
ond throw, in the third 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 be-
ing allowed in the game. They preferred
the foot Of hungry panther GU the breast Of
fallen MARTYR.
In wrestling, the opponents would bow
in apparent suavity, advance face to face.
put down both feet solidly, take each othcn
BY the arms, and push each other backward
and forward until the work began in real
earnest, and there we're contortions and
strangulations and violent strokes Of the
foot OF one contestant against the foot Of
the other, tripping hin up, or with strug-
gle that threatened apoplexy or death, the
defeated fell, and the shouts of the specta-
tors greeted the victor. Iguess Paul had
seen some such contest. and 1t reminded
him Of the struggle of the soul with temp
tation, and the struggle Of truth with error,
and the struggle of heavenly forces against
%apollyonic powers, and he dictates my text
the one to Philemon, seem to have been
dictated, and as the amanuensis goes on
with his work I hear the groan and laugh
and shout OF earthly and celestial belliger-
ents: 1--WE wrestle not against flesh and
blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers Of the darkness
Of this world, against spiritual wlckedness
In high places"
I notice that as these wrestIers advanced
to throw each other they bowed one to the
other. 1t was a civility, not only in Gre
clan and Roman games, but in later days,
in all the wrestling bouts at C~lerkenwell.
England and in the famous wrestling match
during the reign Of Henry III, in st. Giles
Field, between men of Westminster and
people Of London. However rough q twist
and hard a pull each wrestler contemplated
giving his opponent, they approached each
other with p%oliteness and suavity. The
g~enuaexions. the affab1lity, the courtesy in
no wise hindered the dscisiveness of the
contest. Well, Paul, I see what you mean.
In this awful struggle between right and
wrong. We must not forget to be gentlemen
and ladies. Affability never binders, but
always helps. You are powerless as soon
as you get mad. Do not call rum-sellers
murderers. Do not call infldels fools. Do
call all ~card-players and theatre-goers chill
dren Of the devil. Do not say that the dance
breaks through into hell. Dc not deal in
vituperation and b~illingsgates and con-
tempt and adjectives dynamite. The other
side can beat US at that. Their dictionaries
have more objurgation and birthstone.
: We are in the strength of God to throw
fiat on its back every abomination that
curses the earth, but let US approach our
mighty antagonist with suavity. Her
cules, a son of Jupiter and Alcmene, will
by a precursor of smiles be helped rather
than damaged for the performance OF his
s'twelve labors." Let us be as wisely
strategic in religious circles as attorneys
In court-rooms, who are complimentary,
to each other in the opening remarks. be-
fore they come into legal struggle such as
that which left Rufus Choate or David
Paul Brown triumphant or defeated,
People who get into q rage in reformatory
work accomplish nothing but the deple+
ton of.their own nervous system. There
Is such a thing as having a gun SO hot at
the touch-hoia tnat 1t e%xplodes, killing
the one that sets it off. There are
some reformatory meetings to which I
always decline to go and take part, be-
cause they are apt to become demonstra-
tions OF bad temper. I never like to hear
o man swear, even though he swear or
the right side. The very Paul who in my
text employed In illustration the wrestling
match, behaved on q memorable occasion
as we ought to behave. The translators
of the Bible made an unitentional mis-
take. when they represented Pau as In
sulring the people Of Athens by. speaking
vi Id uuhAONA kO0 AoA "
worship" Instead Of charging them with
ignorance, the original indicates he COM
plimented item by suggesting that they
were very religious; but as they confessed
that there were some things they did not
understand about God, ne proposed to say
some things concerning Him, beginning
where they had left off. The same Paul
who said In one place, "Be courteous" a
who had noticed the bow preceding the
Srroe&ls1- ~,nAoI, 1nrn nVnRo{cn0 GtlnUIftnd
before he proceeds practically to throw
down the rocky side of the Aoropolis the
whole rarthenon OF idolatries, Minerva and
Jupiter smashed up with the rest OF them.
In this holy war polished rifles Will DO
more execution than blundeybusses. Let
our wrestlers bow as they go into the
struggle which will leave all perdition un-
der and all heaven on top.
| Remember also that these wrestlers went
through severe, and continuous course OF
preparation for their work. They were
put upon such diet as would best develop
their muscle. As Paul says, every man
that striyeth for the mastery la temperate
in nil things The wrestlers were put
under complete MISUNDERSTANDING, gym
n%astics, struggle in sport with each other
TO develop strength and give ~quickness TO
dodge Of head and trip Of foot; stopping
to lift each other off the gronnd; suddenly
rushing forward; suddenly pulling back
ward; putting the left foot behind the
others light foot, and getting his oppo'
nent oil his balance; hard training for DAYS
and weeks and months, so that when they
met it was giant ciutchiRg giant. n
my friends, if we do not want ourselves ia
be thrown in this wres:le with the sin and
error o: the world, We had better get ready
BY Christian discipline, by holy self-de'
nial. by constant practice, by submittlne
70 divine supervisal AND direction. DO not
begrudge the time an} the money for that
young man who is preparation Tor TN
ministry, spending tn years IN grammal
school, and four yed in college, ahe
three years in theoHgical seminary.