Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1902-02-28

Il
SNIFF from his girdle and slew the beast.
The king. sitting In the gallery. said:
Ihat was rot fair. The lion must be
slain by n sword" Other lions were
turned out. and the poor victim fell.
You CRY, Shame, shamer' at such
meanness. But the King in this case
is our brother, and he will see that we
have fair play. lie will forbid the
rushing out OF more lions than we can
meet. He will not suffer us to be
tempted above that we are able. Thank
God, The King is i'm the gallery, His
eyes are on us. His heart is with us.
His hand will deliver us. blessed are
they who put their trust in him"
The Angels In the Gallery.
! look again. and / see the angelic
gallery. There they are-the angel
that swung the sword at the gate of
Eden. the same that Ezekiel saw up
holding the throne OF God, and from
which look away, for the splendor is
insuiferable. Here are the guardian
angels. That one watched a patriarch;
this one protected a child; that one has
been pulling soul out of temptationl
Those drove the Spanish armada on
the rocks. This turned Sennacherib's
living host into heap of $4,000
cOrpses. Those yonder chanted the
Christmas carol over Bethlehem until
the chant awoke the shepherds. These
at creation stood in the balcony of
heaven and serenaded the newborn
world wrapped i'm swaddling clothes Of
light. And there, holier and mightier
than all, is Michael, the archangel.
To command an earthly host gives dig
nifty, but this one is leader of the &c, 900
chariots of God and OF the ten thou
sand times ten thousand angels. /
think God gives command to the arch
angel, and the archangel to the sera-
phim, and the seraphm to the cher
ubim. until all the lower orders of
heaven hear the command and go forth
ON the high behest.
Now. bring on your llonsl Who can
fear? All the spectators in the angelic
gallery are our friends HE shall give
his angels charge over thee, to keep
thee in all thy ways They shall bear
thee UP in their hands lest thou dash
thy foot against n stone. Thou shalt
tread upon the lion and adder; the
young lion and the dragon shalt thou
trample under foot"
Though the arena be crowded with
temptations. we shall, with the angelic
help. strike them down in the name of
our God and leap on their fallen car
casses! o bending throng of bright
angelic faces aud swift wings and
lightning foot, hail you today from
the dust and struggle of the arena,
l look again. and see the gallery of
the prophets and apostles. Who are
those mighty ones up yonder? Hosea
and jeremiah and Daniel and Isaiah
and Paul ard Peter and John and
James. There sits Noah. waiting for
all the world TO come into the ark. and
Moses. waiting till the last Red sea
shall divide. and Jeremiah, waiting for
the Jews TO return. and John OF the
apocalypse. waiting for the swearing
of the angel that time shall be no
longer. Glorious spirits, Ye were
howled at. we were stoned, ye were spit
uponl They have been I'm this fight
themselves, and they are all with us.
Daniel knows all about lions. Paul
Fought with beasts at Ephcsus.
Help From the Prophets.
In the ancient amphitheater the peo-
pie got so excited that they would
shout from the galleries TO men I'm the
arena: AT IL again. "Forwardw
"One more stroker Look outr' Fall
backr "Huzza! Huzzaw So I'm that
gallery. prophetic and apostolic. they
rannot keep their peace. Daniel cries
nut. ''rhy God will deliver thee from
the mouth OF the llonsw David ex-
claims. "He will not suffer thy foot 10
be moved" Isaiah calls out: Fear
not am with thcel Be not dis.
mayedr' Paul exclaims. "victory
through our Lord Jesus Christi That
throng OF prophets and apostles cannot
keep still. They make the welkin ring
with shouting and halleluiahs.
] look again. aud | see the gallery of
s sGrS rssnoMbq Is hStS H not ab st
ogize for the truth he preached, and so
he died, the night before swinging
nom the bedpost in perfect glee at the
thought OF emancipation. Who is that
army of 0,666? They are the The
Here is a larger host in magnificent
array, $4,000, who persisted for Christ
In the prosecutions OF Diocletian. Yon-
der is family group. Felicitas or
Rome and her children. While they
were dying for the faith she stood en-
couraging them. One son was whip
ped TO death by thorns; another was
hung from rock; another was behead-
cd. At last the mother became d mar
tyr. There they are together, a family
group In heavenl Yonder Is John Brad
ford, who said In the fire, eve shall
have merry supper with the Lord to-
nightw Yonder is Henry Woes. who
exclaimed as he died, IF / had ten
heads. they should all fall off for
Christi: The great throng OF the mar
tyrs! They had hot lead poured down
their Threats; horses were fastened to
their hands and other horses to their
feet. and thus they were pulled apart:
they had their tongues pulled out by
redhot pipchers; they were sewed up
In the skins of animals and then
thrown to the dogs; they were daubed
with combGstibles and set on fire! If
all the martyrs stakes that have been
kindled could be set at proper dis
tances, they would make the midnight
eli the world over bright as MONDAY!
And now they sit yonder in the mar
tyrs' CALLER. For them the fires of
persecution have gone out; the swords
are sheathed and the mob hushed. Now
they watch us with an all observing
sympathy, They know all the pain, all
the hardship. all the anguish. all the
Injustice, all the privation. They can
net keep still. They cry: Courage!
The fire viii not consume: the floods
cannot drown; the lions cannot deyour.
Courage down there in the arenar
Some Eminent Spectators.
What: Are they all looking? This
hour we answer back the salutation
they give and cry, Hail, sons and
daughters of the irer'
look again, and ! see another GAL
iery-that of eminent Christians yVbaf1