St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1902-04-05
''Being eompa ssed about with SO great
q cloud OF witnesses"

On the first elevation of the ancient
amphitheater, on the day of cele'
bration, sat Tiberius or Augustus OIL
the reigning king. So in the great
arena of spectators that watch our
struggles and in the first divine gal
lery, as I shall call it, sits our King,
one Jesus. On his head are many
crowns. The Roman emperor got his
place by cold-blooded conquests, but
our King hath come to His place by the
broken hearts healed and the tears
wiped away and the souls redeemed
The Roman emperor sat, with folded
arms. Indifferent as to whether the
swordsman or the lion beat, but our
Kings sympathies are all with US
Him come down from the gallery into
the arena to help us in the fight, shout
| ing until all up and down His voice
is heard: "Fear not! Twill help thee!
I will strengthen thee by the right
hand of My power!"
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 a 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.
Once in the ancient amphitheater a
lion with one paw caught the combat
ants sword and with his other paw
caught his shield. The man took his
knife from his girdle and slew the
beast. The king, sitting in the gal
lery, said: "That was not fair. The
lion must be slain by 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 eyes are on US.
His heart is with us. His hand will
deliver us. BLESSED are they who put
their trust in Him.
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 I look away, for the splendor is
insufferable. Here are the guardian
angels. That one watched a patriarch;
this one protected child; that one has
been pulling 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 in 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 co.
900 chariots of God and of the 10000
times 10000 angels. think God gives
command to the archangel, and the
archangel to the seraphim, and the
seraphim to the cherubim, until all
the lower orders of Heaven hear the
command and 60 forth on the high
behest.
Now, bring on your lions! 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 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 angelic
help, strike them down in the name of
our God and leap on their fallen car
cases! o bending throng of bright
angelic faces and swift wings and
lightning foot, I hail you to-day from
the dust and struggle Of the arena!
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 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.
In the ancient amphitheater the
people got so excited that they
would shout from the galleries to
men in the arena: Sat it again!'
Forward" "One more stroke!"
Look QUIT" Fall back!" "Huzza!
Huzza!" So in that gallery, prophet
ic and apostolic, they cannot keep
their peace. Daniel cries out: 'tThy
God will deliver thee from the mouth
of the ions!" David exclaims: HE |
will not suffer thy foot to be moved!"
Isaiah calls out: Gear not! I am
with thee! Be not dismayed!" 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, and 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