The Calhoun chronicle. [volume] (Grantsville, W. Va.) 1883-1984, 1902-04-29
MAN HASA LION TO FIGHT
Or. TnlmaSe Says When Contendlug Agains:
An Evil Habit You Stand in
Circle Of Sympathy.
Clouds OF Witnesses Blessed Arc They Who
Put Their Trust Ia HIM."

WASHINGTON, ID. C.-This discourse of
for those who find life struggle. and
shows that we have many celestial sym.
pathzers; texts, Hebrews xii. 1 Seeing
we also are compassed about with SO
great a cloud OF Witnesses" i Corinthians
XIV, 80, IL have fought with beasts at
Ephesus."
Crossing the Alps by the Mont Cents
pass or through the Mont Cents tunnel.
you are in a few hours set down at Vero,
ma, Italy, and in few minutes begin ex-
sml1ing one OF the grandest ruins OF the
world, the Amphitheatre. The whole
guiding sweeps around you in a circle
You stand in the arena where the combat
was once fought or the race rum and on
all sides the seats rise, tier above tier, I'M
til you count forty elevations or galleries,
~ shall see fit to call them, in which sat
lie Senators, the kings and the $4,000 ex-
ted spectators. At the sides of the arena
md under the galleries are the cages in
which the lions and tigers are kept with
out 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. I think that
Paul himself once stood i'm such place,
and that it was not only figuratively, 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 children, orators and
Senators, great men and small, thousands
upon thousands come, until the first gal
lery is full, and the second, the third, the
fourth, the ffth-all the way up to the
twentieth, all the way up to the thirtieth,
all the way up to the forticth. Every place
is filed. immensely of audience sweeping
The great circle Silence. The time for tho
contest 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 watch.
ing. l hear the door at the side of the
arena creak open, Out plunges the half
starved lion, his tongue athirst for blood,
and with roar that brings all the CALLER.
les to their feet he rushes against the
sword of the combatant. Do You know
how strong a stroke n man will strike
when his life depends upon the first thrust
of his blade? The wild beast, lame and
bleeding, sinks back toward the side OF
the arenaj then rallying his wasted
strength he comes up with fiercer eye and
more terrible roar than ever, only to be
driven back with fatal wound, while ths
combatant comes in with stroke after
stroke until the monster is dead at hi.
feet, and the $4,000 clap their hands ans
utter a shout that makes the city tremble.
Sometimes the audience came to see a
race; sometimes TO see gladlators fight each
other, until the people, compassionate foy
the fallen, turned thei, thumbs up as an
appeal that the vanquished be spared, and
sometimes the combat was with wiz
beasts.
To one OF the Roman amphitheatrical
audiences OF 100000 people Paul refers
when he says, 1--WE are comprised about
with so great cloud OF witnesses" The
direct reference in the last passage Is made
to race; but elsewhere having discussed
that, L take now Paul's favori.c idea cf
the Christian life as a combat.
The fact Is that every Christian man haa
N fn Enl. Il bad 70,
The gates of the arena have been opened,
and this tiger has come out to destroy your
soul. 1t has lacerated you with many a
wound. You have been thrown by it time
and again, but in the strength of God YOU
have arisen to drive it back i verify be.
lieve you will conquer. / think that the
temptation is getting weaker and weaker.
on have given 1t so many wounds that
the prospect Is that it will die, and you
shall be victor, through Christ. Courage,
brother! Do not let the sands of the
arena drink the blood of your soul
Your lion is the passion for strong drinl.
You may have contended against it for
twenty years, but 1t Is strong of body and
thirsty of tongue. You have tried TO fight
1t back with broken bottle or empty wine
flask. Nay, that is not the weapon. With
one horrible roar he will seize thee by the
throat and rend thee limb from limb.
Take this weapon, sharp and keen-reach
up and get 1t from Gods armo-y-the
est drive him back and conquerl
But why specify when every man and
woman has a lion to fight? If there be one
here who has no besetting sin, let him
speak out, for him have | offended. If
you have not fought the lion, it is because
you have let the lion eat you up. This
very moment the contest goes on.
The Trajan celebration, where 10000
gladiators fought and II, 900 wild beasts
were slain, was not so terrific a struggle as
hat Ia Il. !.
q soul. The combat was for the life of the
bodyI this is for the life of the soul. That
was with wild beasts from the jungle this
is with the roaring lion of hell.
Men think, when they contend against
an evil habit, that they have to fight it all
alone No! They stand in the centre of
an immense circle of sympathy. Paul had
been reciting the names of Abel Enoch
Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, joseph,
Gideon and Barak and then says, Being
comprised about with 90 great a cloud OF
witnesses"
Before I get through I will show YOU
that you fight in an arena, around which
circle, In galleries above each other, all
the kindling eyes and all the sympathetic
hearts of the ages, and at every victory
gained there comes down the laundering
applause of great multitude that no man
can number. Being comprised about
with so great a cloud Of witnesses"
On the first elevation of the ancient am.
pnitncdJfes on the ddY OF n celebration,
sat Tiberius "a Augustus or the reigning
king. So in the great arena of spectators
that watch our struggles and in the first
divine gallery, as ] shall call it, sits our
King, one Jesus. On His head are many
crowns The Roman emperor got his
place by cold b,ooded conquests, but our
King hath come to His place by the bro.
ken hearts healed and the tears wiped
away and the souls redeemed. The Ro-
man emperor sat, with folded arms indif-
ferent as to whether the swordsman or
the lion beat, but our Kings sympathies
are all with Us-nay, unheard of conde-
scension! | see Him come down from
the gallery into the arena to help us in the
fight, shouting until all 60 and down His
voice Is heard: Fear mott / will help
theel / will strengthen thee by the right
hand of Ny powerW
They gave to the men in the arena In
the olden time food to thicken their blood,
go that II would flow slowly and that for
longer time the people might gloat over the
scene. But our King has no pleasure in
our wounds, for we arc bone OF His bone,
flesh Of His flesh blood OF His blood.
In all the anguish OK our heart
The Man Of Sorrows bore a part.
Once in the ancient amphithcatre a lion
with one paw caught the combatants
sword and with his other paw caught his
shield. The man took his knife from his
girdle and slew the beast The king sit.