The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1884-06-19

God 10 take the scales of your eyes,
Look that way-try to look that way.
His voice comes down TO you, comes
down TO the blindest, to the deafest
soul, saying, Look unto Me oil ye ends
OF the earth and DO ye saved, for am
God and there Ia none else." Proclama-
tion of universal emancipation for all
slaves. Proclamation Of universal am
neaty for all rebels Ahazuerus gath
cred the BabylOnlsh mobiles TO his fable;
George |. entertained the lords OF Eng.
land t0'a banquet; Napoleon III welc0m-
cd the Gear Of Russia and the Sultan OF
Turkey 10 his feast; the Emperor Of
Prussia was glad 10 have our Minister,
George Bancroft, sit down with him ~
his table, but tell me, ye who know
most of the worlds history, what other
King ever asked the abandoned and the
forl0rn and the wretched and the out
cast to come and SIT down beside him
o, wonderful inyitatiOn You can take
II out and stand Mt the head of the dark
est alley In all this city and say, Come,
clothes for your rags, salye for your
sores, u throne for your eternal reign
Ing" A Christ that talks like that and
acts like that, and pard0ns like that--do
you wonder that Stephen stood looking
at Himp | hope TO spend eternity doing
the same thing. ! must see Him. |
must look upon O face once clOuded
with my sin, but now radiant with my
pardon. Iwant TO touch that hand that
knocked of my shackles. ! want 10
hear that voice which pronounced my
dellyerance. Behold Him, little chill
dren. for II you live to three-sc0re years
aud ten you will see none 80 fair. Be-
hold Him, ye aged ones, for lie only can
shine through the dimness of your fail.
Ing eyesight. Behold Him, earth. Be-
hold Him, heaven. What q moment
when all the nations OF the saved shall
gather around Christi All faces that
way, All thrones that way, gazing, gaz.
Ing, on Jesus,
ellsworth II All the nations know,
sure, the whole earth would love Him too"
pass on now and look ut 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 preci.
plces. Lot every man come and drop u
stone upon his head. But these men did
not 30 much kill Stephen as they killed
themselves. Every stone rebounded up.
on them. While these murderers are
transaxed by the scorn OF all good men
Stephen lives In the admiration Of oil
Christendom, Stephen stoned, but
Stephen alive, so all good men must be
pelted. All who will live godly In
Christ Jesus must suffer persecution,
II is no eulogy Of a man TO say that
every body likes him. Show me any one
who 10 doing all his duty TO State or
church, and / will show you scores |
men who utterly a6h0r him. II all men
speak well OF you II Is because you are
either laggard or dolt, II steamer
makes rapid progress through the waves
the water will boil and foam all around
II, Brave soldiers Of Jesus Christ will
hear the carblnes click. When geo a
man with voice and money and inAu.
ence all on the right side, and some carl
cature him and some sneer at him and
some denounce him, and men who pre-.
tend 70 DO actuated by right motives
conspire to cripple him, to cast him out,
TO destroy him, say: stephen stoned"
When see man In some great moral
or religious reform, battling against
grog-shops, exposing wickedness In
high places, by active means trying IA
purify the church and better the worlds
estate, and lnd that the newspapers
anathematize him, and men, even good
men, oppose him and denomce him be-.
cause, though he does good, he does moi
do " In their way, | say, stephen
stoned" The world, with Infinite spite
took after John Frederick 0berlin and
Robert Mpifat and Paul and Stephen OF
Tho text. But you notice, my friend,
that while they assaulted him they did
not succeed really In killing him. You
may assault good man, hut you cannot
kill him. On the day Of his death Ste.
phen spoke before few people In the
Sanhedrim; thislSabbath he addresses all
Christendoml Paul, the Apostle, stood
on Mars Hill addressing u handful OF
philosophers who knew not 80 much
about science ~ q school girl OF Packer
Institute, or q school boy of the Poly.
technic. To-day no talks 10 all the NIL
lions OF Christendom about the wonders
OF justification and the glories Of resur-
rectlon. John Wesley was h0wled down
by the mob to whom he preached, and
they jostled him, and they spat upon
him; and yet to-day In oil lands ho Is nd
mitted TO be the great father Of Method.
ism. Booths bullet vacated the Presi.
dents chair, but from the spot Of coagu.
lated blood on tho floor In the box at
Ford'a Theater there sprang up the new
life Of u nation Stephen stoned, but
Stephen alive.
Pass on now and sec Stephen in his
dying prayer His FIRST thought was not
how the stones hurt his head nor what
would become Of his body, His hrst
thought was about his spirit. "Lord
Jesus, receive my epirit." The murderer
standing on the trap door, the black cup
being drawn over his head before the
execution, may grimace about the
future, but you and | have no shame In
confessing some anxiety where we are
going TO come out. You are all body
There IL within you soul. / see II
CLEAN from your eyoa and | sec IL IRA.
dating your countenance. Sometimes
| am abashed before an audience, NOT
because | come under your physical eye.
elght, but because | realize the truth
that | stand before 80 many immortal
epirits. The probability Is that your
body will at Inst Hnd n sepulture ~
some Of the cemeteries that surround
this city. There Ia no doubt but thai
your obsequioa will DO decent and re.
spectful, md you will be able TO pillow
your head under the maple or the Nor.
way spruce or the cypress or the bios
somlng flr, but this spirit about which
Stephen prayed, what direction will it
takep What guide will escort itp What
gate will open TO receive itp What
cloud will be- cleft for its pathway After
II has got beyond the light OF our sun
will there be torches lighted the rest OF
The wayp VIII the soul have TO trayel
through longdeeerts before Il reaches the
good lOndp If we should lose our path
way viii there he u castle ~ whose gnto