Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1902-02-27

one Is leader of the 10000 chariots 9
God and of the ten thousand times te
thousand angels. I think God give
command to the archangel. and tn
archangel to the seraphim, and tn
, seraphim to the cherubim, until all tn
lower orders Of heaven hear the com
mand and 81 forth on the high behest
Now bring on your lions! Who cal
fear? All the spectators in the angeli
gallery are our friends. Though tn
arena be crowned with temptations, W,
shall, with the angelic help, strik,
them down in the name Of our Goo
and leap on their fallen carcasses! {
bending throng Of bright angelic face.
and swift wings and lightning foot,
hail you to-day from the dust and
struggle Of the arena!
look again. and I 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, 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 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.
look again. and see the gallery OF
the martyrs. Who is that? Hugh Lat
inner, sure enough! He would not
apologize for the truth he preached, and
so he died, the night before swinging
from the bedpost In perfect glec at the
thought Of emancipation. Who is that
army Of 6.666? They are the The
ban legion who died for the faith.
Here Is larger host In magnificent
array. $4,000. who persisted for Christ
In the prosecutions OF Diocletian. Yon-
der Is a family group. Felicitas OF
Rome and her children. While they
were dying for the faith she stood en-
| couraging them. One son was whipped
to death by thorns; another was flung
from rock; another was beheaded. At
last the mother became martyr.
There they are together. family group
In heaven! Yonder Is John Bradford,
who said in the fire. I'VE shall have a
merry supper with the Lord tonight"
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 martyrs! 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 pinchers;
they were sewed up In the skins Of an
imals and then thrown to the dogs;
they were daubed with combustibles
and set on fire! II all the martyrs
stakes that have been kindled could be
set at proper distances. they would
make the midnight all the world over
bright as MONDAY! And now they sit
yonder In the martyrs gallery. 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 injustice all the
privation. They cry: Courage! The
fire will not consume; the foods can
not drown; the lions cannot devour.
Courage down there in the arena."
What? Are they all looking? This
hao
they give and cry, Hail. sons and
daughters Of the fire!"
look again and I see another gal
lery-that Of eminent Christians What
strikes me strangely Is the mixing In
companionship Of those who on earth
could not agree. There Is Albert
Barnes and around him the presbytery
who tried him for heterodoxy! Yon-
der are Lyman Beecher and the church
court that denounced him. Stranger
than all. there are John Calvin and
James Arminius! Who would have
thought that they would sit so loving
| L. together? There are George White
Held and the ministers who would not
let him come into their pulpits because
they thought him fanatic. There are
the sweet singers Toplady. Montgom-
cry. Charles Wesley, Isaac Watts and
Mrs. Sigourney. II heaven had had
no music before they went up, they
would have started the singing. And
there the band of missionaries-David
Abeel, talking of China redeemed; and
John Scudder. Of India saved; and Da-
vid Brainerd. of the aboriglnes evan
| gelized; and Mrs. Adoniram Judson.
whose prayers for Burma took heaven
by violence! All these Christians are
looking into the arena. Our struggle is
nothing to theirs! Do we in Christ's
cause suffer from the cold? They
walked Greenland's icy mountains. Do
we suffer from the heat? They swell
tered in tropics Do we get fatigued ?
They tainted, with none to care for
them but cannibals. Are we persecut-
ed? They were mathematical. And
as they look from their gallery and see
US falter in the presence of the lions
I seem to hear Isaac Watts addressing
US in his old hymn. only little
changed:
Must you be carried to the skies
On flowery beds Of ease
While others fought to win the prize
Or sailed through bloody seas,
Toplady shouts in his old hymn:
Your harps. ye trembling saints.
Down by the willows take;
Loud to the praise Of love divine
Bid every string awake.
While Charles Wesley. the Method.
list, breaks forth in words little va.
ried: