The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1895-10-02
Pass on now and I will show YOU

Pass on now, and l will show you
one more picture, and that is Stephen
asleep. With pathos and simplicity
peculiar 70 the Scriptures the text says
of Stephen, He fell asleep" ''Oh,
you say, what place that was to
Sleep? 4 hard rock under him, stones
falling down upon him, the blood
streaming, the mob bowling. What
place it was to Sleep" And yet my
text takes that symbol of slumber to
describe his departure, so sweet was it,
so contented was it, so peaceful was it.
Stephen had lived a very laborious
life. His chief work had been to care
for the poor How many loaves of
bread he had distributed, how many
bare feet he had sandaled, how many
cots of sickness and distress he had
blessed with ministries of kindness
and love, do not know. Yet from
the way he lived, and the way he
preached, and the way he died, |
know he was q laborious Christian.
But that is all over now. He has
pressed the cup to the last fainting lip.
He has taken the last insult from his
enemies. The last stone to whose crush
ing weight he is susceptible has been
hurled. Stephen is dead. The dis
ciples come. They take him up. They
!.1 a s7 tne 5fo0d Trss71 3.re wounds:
They straighten out the bruised limbs.
They brush back the tangled hair
from the brow, and then they pass
around to look upon the ca m counte
nance of him who had lived for the
poor and died for the truth. Stephen
asleep!
have seen the sea driven with the
hurricane until the tangled foam
caught in the rigging, and wave riS'
ing above wave seemed as ii. about to
storm the heavens, and then have
seen the tempest drop, and the waves
crouch, and everything become
smooth and FURNISHED as though a
camping place for the glories Of
heaven. So | have seen man whose
life has been tossed and driven com
ing down at last 10 an Infinite calm
in which there was hush of heaven S
lullaby. Stephen asleep.
saw such n one. He fought all
his days against poverty and against
abuse. They traduced his name. They
ratified at the doorknob while he was
dying with duns for debts he could
not pay Yet the peace of God brood
ed over his pillow, and while the
world faded heaven dawned, and the
deepening twilight of earth's night
was only the opening twilight OF
heavens morn. Not sigh. Not a
struggle. Hush, Stephen asleep.
1 have not the faculty as many have
to tell the weather. I can never tell
by the setting sun whether there will
be drought or not I cannot tell by
the blowing of the wind whether it
will be fair weather or foul on the
morrow. But I can prophesy and I
will prophesy what weather it will be
when you, the Christian, come to die.
You may have it very rough now. It
may be this week one annoyance, the
next another annoyance. 1t may be
this year one bereavement, the next
another bereavement. But at the last
Christ will come in, and darkness will
60 out. And though there may be
no hand to close your eyes, and no
breast on which to rest your dying
head, and no candle to lift the night,
the odors of Gods hanging garden
will regale your soul, and at your bed,
side will halt the chariots of the king.
No more rents to pay, no more agony
because flour has gone up, no more
struggle with ''the world, the flesh and
the devil but peace long, deep, ev,
erlasting peace. Stephen asleep!
Asleep iu Jesus, bleS ell sleep,
! From which nGne ever wake {, weep;
a calm and undisturbed rep,se.
Uninjurtd by the last of fos:.
Asleep in Jesus, far from thee
Thy kindred ard thy graves may be,
But there is still blessed sleep.
From which none ever wake to weep
You have seen enough for one day.
No one can successfully examine more
than five pictures in day. There
fore we stop, having seen this cluster
Of divine Raphels-Stephen gazing
into heaven, Stephen looking at
Christ, Stephen stoned, Stephen IN his
dying prayer, Stephen asleep.