The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1882-05-04


to his feast; the Emperor of Prussia was
glad to have our minister, 0RQrge Ban
croft, SIT down with:fIms at his table;
but tell me, .ye who know most Of the
worlds history, what. other king ever
asked the abandoned, aud the fOrIOrn,
and the wretched; and the outcast, TO
come and sit down beside him? o,
wonderful invitatiOnl You can take it
out to-day, and stand at the head of the
darkest alley in our city, and say: "COmel
Clothes for your rags, salye for your
sores, throne for your eternal reign
ing" A Christ that talks like that, and
acts like that, and paTdOns like that-dO
you wonder that Stephen stood looking
at Him! hope to spend eternity doing
the same thing. l must see Him.
must look upon that face once clOuded
with my sin, but now radiant with nv
pardon. l want to touch that hand that
knocked off my shackles. | want to
hear that voice which pronounced my
dellVerance. Behold Him, little chill
dren, for if you live to three score years
and ten, you will see none so fair. Be
hold Him, ye aged ones, for He only can
shine through the dimness of your eye
sight. Behold Him, earth. Behold Him,
heaven. What a moment when all the
nations of the saved shall gather around
Christ! All faces that way. All thrones
that way, gazing, gazing on Jesus.
''His worth, ST all the nations knew,
Sure the whole earth would love him too.o
pass on now, and look at Stephen
stoned. The world has always wanted
to get rid of good men. Their very life
is an assault upon Wickedness. Out
with Stephen through the gates of the
city. Down with him over the precipi-
ces. Let every man come and drop a
stone upon his head. But these men did
not so much kill Stephen as they killed
themselves. Every stone TebOunded upon
them. While these muTdereTs are trans
fixed by the scOrn of all good men
Stephen lives in the admiration of all
ChristendOm. Stephen stoned; but
Stephen alive. So all good men must
be pelted. All who will live gOdly in
Christ Jesus must suffer persecution. 1t
is not eulOgy of man to say that every
body likes him. Show me any one who
is doing all his duty to State or Church,
and will show you scores of men who
utterly abhOT him. If all men speak
well of you, 1T is because you are either
a laggaTd or dOlt. If steamer makes
rapid progress through the waves, the
water will boil and foam all around it.
Brave soldiers of Jesus Christ will hear
the carbines click. When l see man
with voice, and money, and influence,
all on the right side, and some caricature
him, and some sneer at him, and some
be actuated by right motives cOnspire to
cripple him, to cast him out, to destroy
him, | say: "StepheR stoned" When
| see man in some great moral or religi-
GUS reform battling against gTOg-shOps,
| exposing Wlckedness in high places, by
active means trying to purify the Church
and better the worlds estate, and find
| that the newspapers anathematize him,
and men, even good men, oppose him
| and denOunce him, because, though ne
does good, he does not do it in their way,
| say: stephen stoned" The world,
with Infinite spite, took after John
| Frederick Oberlin, and Robert MOffatt,
and Paul and Stephen of the text. But
| you notice, my friends, that while they
assaulted him they did not succeed
really in killing him. You may assault
| a good man, but you cannot kill him.
On the day of his death, Stephen spoke
before few people in the Sanhedrim:
this Sabbath morning he addresses all
| ChTistendOm! Paul the Apostle stood
on Mars Hill addressing a handful of
| philosophers who knew not so much
| about science as school girl Of Packer
! Institute or a school boy of the POlyte-
! chnic. To-day he talks to all the mil
| lions of ChTistPndOm about the wonders
of justification and the glOries of resur-
rectiOn. John Wesley was hOwled down
| by the mob to whom he preached, and
nOunced him, and they jOstled him, and
they spate upon him, and yet to-day, in
| all lands, he is admitted to be the great
| father of MethOdism. Booths bullet va
Gated the Presidential chair; but from
that spot of cOagulated blood on the
| floor in the box of FOrd's Theatre there
| sprang up the new life of nation
! Stephen stoned; Stephen alive.
Pass on now and see Stephen in his
| dying prayer. His first thought was
not how the stones hurt his head, nor
what would become of his body. His
| first thought was about his soul. Lord
Jesus, receive my spirit" The murderer
standing on the trap-dOOr, the black cap
| being drawn over his head before the
| execution, may grimace about the
| future; but you and l have no shame in
| cOnfessing some anxiety about where
we are going to come out. You are not
all body. There is within you a soul. /
| see it gleam from your eyes to-day, and
| see it irradiating your cOuntenance.
| Sometimes am abashed before an audi
| ence, not because L come under your
| physical eyesight, but because realize
the truth that l stand before so many
| immortal spirits. The probability is
that your body will at last find a sepul-
| ture in some of the cemeteries that sur
round this city. There is no doubt but
that your Obsequies will be decent and
| 1OSpbOllul, anu JOu W III OC dOlO W pr
low your head under the maple, or the
Norway spruce, OF the cypress, or the
blossOming fir; but this spirit about
| which Stephen prayed, what direction
will that take? What guide will escort
it? What gate will open to receive it?
What cloud will be cleft for its path
way? After 1t has got beyond the light
of our sun, will there be torches lighted
for it the rest of the way? Will the soul
have to travel through long deserts be-
fore 1T reaches the good land? If we
should lose our pathway, will there be
castle at whose gate we may ask the
way to the city? o, this mysterious
spirit within us! 1t has two wings, but
it is in cage now. 1t is locked fast to
keep it; but let the door of this cage
open the least, and that soul is off.
Eagles wings could not catch it. The
lightnings are not swift enough to take
up with it. When the soul leaves the
body it takes fifty worlds at a bound.
And have 1 no anxiety about it? Have
you no anxiety about itP do not care