The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1902-03-05

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ent as to whether the swOrdsman or
the lion beat. but our Kings sympa-
thies are all with uS-nay, unheard OF
condescenSion. | see him come down
from the gallery into the arena to help
us in the fight, shouting until all up
and down his voice is heard: Fear
not. will help thee. l will strength
en- thee by the right hand Of my pow
er.."
They gave to the men in the arena
in the olden time food to thicken their
/; blood. so that it would flow slowly
and that for q longer time the people
might gloat over the scene. But our
King has no pleasure in our wounds,
for we are bone Of his bone, flesh OF
his flesh, blood Of his blood.
In all the anguish of our heart
The Man Of Sorrows bore a part.
Once in the ancient amphitheater
lion with one paw caught the combat
ants sword and with his other paw
caught bis shield. The man took his
knife from his girdle and slew the
beast. The king, sitting in the gal
lerv. said. That was not fair. The
lion must be slain by a sword" Other
lions were turned out, and the poor
victim fell. You Cry, Shame!
shame" at such meanness. But the
King in this case IS our brother, and
he will see that We have fair play. He
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
in the gallery. His eye are on US.
His heart is with US. His hand will
deliver US. BLESSED are they who put
their trust in him."
I look again, and l 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
insufTerable. Here are the guardian
angels. That one watched a patri-
arch: this one protecteda a child; that
one has been pulling a soul out OF
temptation. All these are messengers
of light. 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 il swad-
ding clothes of light. And there,
holier and mightier than all, is Mich
ael, the archangel. To command an
earthly host gives dignity, but this
one is leader Of the 10000 chariots OF
God and Of the ten thousand times ten
thousand angels. I think God gives
command to the archangel, and the
archangel to the seraphim, and the
seraphin to the cherubim, until all
the lower orders Of heaven hear the
command and 60 forthon the high be-
hest.
Now, bring on your lions! Who
can fear? AL the spectators in the
angelic gallery are our friends. He
shall give his angels charge over thee,
to keep thee in all tiny ways. They
shall bear thee up in their hands lest
thou dash thy foot against a 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 ange-
lie help. strike them down in the name
Of our God and leap on their fallen
carcasses. O bending throng OF
bright angelic faces and swift wings
and lightning foot, I hail you today
from the dust and struggle Of the
arena.
Hook 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 and 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, walt
ing 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, ye were stoned, ye
were spit upon. They have been in
this fight themselves, and they are all
with US. Daniel knows all about
lions. Paul fought with beasts at
EphesuS.
In the ancient amphitheater the
people got so excited that they would
shout from the galleries to men in the
arena: AT it again" Forward"
''One more stroke" Look OUT"
Fall back" ''Huzza. Huzzaw So
in that gallery, prophetic and apostle
lie, they cannot keep their peace.
Daniel cries out, THY God will de-
liver thee from the mouth of the lions"
David e1claims, He will not suffer
thy foot to be movedw Isaiah calls
out: Fear not. I am with thee.
Be not dismayed!" Paul e1claims,
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, and l see the gallery of
the martyrs. Who is that? Hugh
Latimer, sure enough. He would not
apologize for the truth he preached:
and so he died, the night before
swinging from the bedpost in perfect
g,ce at the thought of emancipation.
Who is that army Of 6,666? They
are the Theban legion who died for
the faith. Here is larger host in
magnificent array, $4,000, who
perished for Christ in the prosecutions
Of Diocletian. Yonder is a family
group, Felicitas OF Rome and her
children. While they were dying for
q, cl, e&ooS riocr tho0o