The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1884-06-25
PULPIT UTT,EERl',A. TT Rl' Noes,
,,NARTYeooM of, PAST AND , PRESENT. 3
A Recent Evening Sermon Preached 10
.ga0 brooklyn tabernacle by lsevT.
1.. ar Dewitt Talmhgo. do.

Behold, see the Heavens opened ana the
Son of Man standing ON the right hand of
God. Then they cried out with Il loud voice,
and stopped their cars and ran upon him
with one accord. and cast him ont of the city
and sloued him and the witnesses laid down
their clothes ut u young manls feet whose
name was Saul; and they stoned Stephen,
calling upon God and saying: Lord Jesus,
receive my spirit" and he kneeled down pnd
cried with q loud voice: Lord lay not this
sin to their chargo," and when he had said
this he fell asleop.-Acts rit 58:Gl.
Stephen had been preaching rousing
sermon, and tho people could not stand it.
They resolved to do as men sometimes
would like TO do in this day, if they dared,
with some plain preacher of righteousness
kill him. The only way to silence this
man was to knock the breath out OF him.
So they rushed Stephen out Of the gates Of
the city and brought him TO the cliff, as
was the custom when they wanted to take
away life by stoning. Having brought
him to the edge of the cliff they pushed
him off. After he had fallen they came
and looked down, and seeing that he was
not yet dead they began to drop stones
upon him. Amid this horrible rain of mis-.
siles Stephen chambers upon his knees and
folds his hands while the blood drips from
his temples to his cheeks, from his cheeks
to his garments, from his garments to the
ground; and then, looking up, he makes
two prayers-one for himself and one for
his murderer. "Lord, Jesus, receive my
spirit;" that was for himself "Lord, lay
not this sin 10 their chsrge;" that was for
bis assaiiants. Then from pain and loss
of blood he swooned away and fell asleep.
want to show you five pictures; Stephen
gazing into Heaven; Stephen looking at
Christ; Stephen stoned; Stephen In his
dying prayer; Stephen asleep.
First look at Stephen gazing into Heav-
on. Before you climb ladder you want
TO know 10 what point the ladder reaches.
And 1t was right that Stephen, within few
moments Of Heaven. should be gazing into
It. We would all do well to be found In
the same posture. There Is enough In
Heaven TO keep us gazing. Heaven Is the
gallery where God has gathered the chief
treasures OF His realm. The whole uni.
verse is His pslace. In this lower room
where we stop there are many adornments; I;
tesselated floor Of amethyst and cowslip,
and on the winding cloud-stairs are
stretched out canvas on which commingls
azure and purple and saffron and gold.
But Heaven is the gallery In which the
chief glories are gathered. There arc the
brightest robes. There are the richest
crowns. There are the highest exhilara.
tions. John says Of It: "The Kings Of the
earth shall give their honors and glory
into It." see the procession forming, and
In line come all Empires, and the stars
spring up into an arch for them TO march
under. They keep step 10 the sound Of
earthquakes and Of svalsnches from the
mountains, and the flag they bear Is the
flame Of consuming world, and all Heav.
en- turns out with harps and trumpets and
myriad-voiced aoclamation Of angelic do.
minion 10 welcome them In, and 10 the
kings Of the earth bring their honor and
glory into IT. Do you wonder that good
people often stand, like Stephen, looking
into Hesvsni We have q great many
friends there. There Is not man In this
house 80 isolated In life but there h some
enc In Heaven with whom ho once shook
hands A man gets older the number
Of bis celestial acquaintance very rapidly
mnltiplies- We have not had one glimpse
OF thcm since the night we kissed
them goodbye and they went away;
but stiIi We stand gazing at Heaven.
Pass on now and see Stephen looking
upon Christ Ny text says he saw the Son
Of Man at The right hand Of God. Just
tow Cbrist looked in this world, Just how
He looks In Heaven, we can not say. A
writer in the time Of Christ says, describ-
Ing the saviour's personal appearance,
that he had blue eyes and light complex.
Ion, and Q very graceful stature, but sup
pose n was all guess-work. The painters
Il the difrerout ages have tried 10 imagine
che features Of Christ and put tbeih upon
canvas; but we will have to wait until
vtthour ovn eyes We see Him, and with
our own cars we can hoar him. And yet
thero b q way Of seeing and hearing Him
nov. Ihave to tell you that unless you
sse and hear Christ on earth you will
never seoand hear Him In Heaven. Look
rhcro BE Is. Behold tho Lamb Of God
Can you NOT see himi Then pray 10 God
70 take the scales of your eyes. Lool
that way-try TO look that way. His voict
comes down 10 you, comes down TO the
b,tndest, 10 the deafest soul, saying
"Look unto Ne all ye ends Of the earth
and be ye saved, for am God and ther,
Is none else" Proclamation Of universal
emancipation for all slaves. Prociama
ton Of universal amnesty flor all rebels
Tell mo, ye who know most OF the world'i
history, what other King ever asked tn,
abandoned and the forlorn and the wretch
cd and the outcast 10 come and SIT dow
beside himf o, wonderful invitation
You can take II out and stand at the heal
Of the darkest alley In all this city anS
say: "Come, clothes for your rags, saiv,
for your sores, throne for your eterna
reigning." A Christ that talks like tha
and acts like that, and pardons like tha
do you wonder that Stephen stood look
ing at Hmi Behold Him, little children
for II you live to threesoore years and tei
you will see none so fair. Behold Him, "
aged ones, for He only can shine througl
the dimness Of your failing oyeslght. BE
bold Him, earth. Behold him, Heaven
What a moment when all the nations O
the saved shall gather around Christ! AL
faces that way. All thrones that way
gazing, casing on Jesus.
pass on now and look at Stephei
| stonad Tha xvorld has alwav. ,,,ontoa A