The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1902-03-01
STRUGGLE OFl LIFE.
Words of Inspiration in the Sermon
of DR.. Talmage.
He shows Us That We Have Many
Celestial Sympaahizers in Our
Fight with the Lions
of Today

washington,
This discourse of DR.. Talmage i
full of inspiring thoughts Tor thos'
who find life "a struggle and show
that we have many celestial sympa
thizers; texts, Hebrews 1871: Seeing
we also are comprised about will
so great a cloud of Witnesses" l Cor
inthians 1882: Il have fought will
beasts at Ephesus."
Crossing the Alps by the Mont Cen
is pass Or through the Mont Gents
tunnel, you are in a few hours sci
down at Verona, Italy, and in a few
minutes begin examining n of the
grandest ruins of the world, the
Amphitheater. The whole building
sweeps around you in n circle. You
stand in the arena where the combat
was once fought or the race run, and
on all sides the seats rise, tier above
or galleries, as | shall see fit to call
them, in which sat the senators, the
kings and the $4,000 excited specta-
tors. At the sides of the arena and
under the galleries are the cages
in which the lions and tigers are kept
without food until, frenzied with
hunger and thirst, they are let out
upon some poor victim, who, with his
sword and alone, is condemned to
meet them. | think that Paul him
self once stood in such a place and
that it was not only fguratively, but
literally, that he had fought with
beasts at Ephesus."
The gala day has come. From all
the world the people are pouring
into Verona. Men, women and chill
dren, orators and senators, great
men and small, thousands upon thou
sands come, until the first gallery is
full, and the second, the third, the
fourth, the tifth-all the way up to
the twentieth, all the way up to the
thirtieth, all the way up to the forth
eth. Every place is filed. immensely
of audience sweeping the great cir
Gle. Silence. The time for the con
test has come. A Roman official
leads forth the victim into the arena.
Let him get his sword with firm grip
into his right hand. The $4,000 sit
breathlessly watching. | hear the
door at the side of the arena creak
open. Out plunges the half-starved
lion, his tongue athirst for blood, and
with a roar that brings all the gall
ieries to their feet he rushes against
the sword of the combatant. Do you
know how strong a stroke a man will
strike when his life depends upon the
first thrust of his blade? The wild
beast, lame and bleeding, sinks back
the side of the arena; then
rallying his wasted strength he
comes up with fercer eye and more
terrible roar than ever, only to be
back with a fatal wound,
while the combatant comes in with
after stroke until the mon
ster is dead al his feet, and the 25,-
600 clap their hands and utter q
that makes the city tremble.
Sometimes the audience came to
see a race; sometimes to see gladi-
ators fight each other, until the peo-
pie, compassionate for the fallen.
turned their thumbs up as an appeal
the vanquished be spared, and
sometimes the combat was with wild
I casts.
To one Of the Roman am~phitheat-
rical audiences of lOO,O 900 people Paul
refers when he says: 1--WE are COM
passed about with so great a cloud of
The direct reference in
the last passage is made to a c
but elsewhere having discussed that.
take o Paul's ~favorite idea of the
Christian life as a combat.
The fact is that every Christian
man has a lion to fight. Yours is a
bad temper. The gates of the arena
been opened, and this tiger has
come out to destroy your soul. It has
.lacerated you with many a wound.
You have been thrc sn by it time and
but in the strength of God
you have arisen to- drive it back.
verify believe you will I
think that the temptation is getting
weaker and weaker. You have given
il so many wounds that the prospect
that it will die, and you shall be
through Christ. Courage.
.rother! Do not let the sands of
the arena drink the blood of YOUR
soul.
Your lion is the passion for strong
drink. You may have contepded
against it for 20 years; but it is
of body and thirsty of tongue.
You have tried to fight it back with
hrnLan hnff1A n- ,..4.