The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1895-09-20

ing litany: Lord Jesus. receive my
spirit. It NAV be in that hour we
will be too feeble to say long prayer.
1t NAV be in that hour we will not be
able to say the Lords Prayer" for is
has seven petitions. Perhaps we may
be too feeble even to say the infant
prayer our mothers taught rs, which
John Quincy Adams, 20 years of age,
said every night when he put his head
upon his pillow:
Vow lay me down 70 sleep
pray the Lord my soul to keep
We NAV be too feeble to employ
either of these familiar forms; but this
prayer of Stephen is so short, is so con-
else, is so earnest, is so comprehensive,
we surely will be able to say that:
Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" Oh,
if that prayer is answered, how sweet
it will be to die, This world is clever
enough to us. Perhaps it has treated
Us q good deal better than we de.
Isrved to be treated; but If on the dying
pillow there shall break the light of
that better world. we shall have no
more regret than about leaving a
small, dark, damp house for one large,
beautiful and capacious. That diving
minister in Philadelphia. some years
ago, beautifully depicted it when, in
the last moment. he threw up his hands
and cried out: II move into the lighti'
Pass on. now. and | wilt show YOU
one more picture. and that is Stephen
asleep. With pathos and simplicity
peculiar to the Scriptures, the text
says of Stephen: He fell asleep"
oh" you say. what a place to sleepl
A rock under him. stones falling upon
him, the blood streaming, the mob
bowling What a place it was to
sleep And vet my text takes
that symbol of slumber to describe
his departure. so sweet it was.
50 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 cots of sickness and distress
he had blest with his ministries of
kindness and love. I do not know: vet
from the way ne lived and the way he
preached. and the way he died. know
he was 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 crushing
weight he is susceptible. has been
hurled. Stephen is dead. The disciples
come. They take him up, They wash
away the blood from the 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 calm countenance 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 rising
above wave seemed as if about to
storm the heavens, and then l 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 a man whose life has been
tossed and driven, coming down at
last to an infinite calm, in which there !
was a hush of Heavens lullaby. !
Stephen asleep,
| saw such an 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 duus for debts he /
could not pay; and yet the peace of
God broOded over his pillow. and the /
twilight of earth's night /
was only the opening twilight of .
Heavens morn. Not a sigh Not a .
tear Not struggle. Hush! Stephen
asleep.
have not the faculty as many have
to tell the weather. can never tell /
by the setting sun whether there will /
be drought or not. | cannot tell by
the blowing of the wind whether it
will be fair weather or foul on the
morrow. But | can prophecy and l
will prophesy what weather it will be
when you. the Christian, come to die.
You may have it very rough
now L may be this week one
annoyance. the next another be-
But at the last Christ
will come in and darkness will 60 out.
And though there may be no hand to
Hose your eyes, and no breast on which
% rest your dying head. and no candle
20 lift the night, the odors of Gods
garden will regale your soul.
md at your bedside will halt the char
OTIS of the King. No more rents to
pay, no more agony because -four has
World, the flesh and the devil" but
'eace-long, deep. everlasting peace.
stephen asleep.
Asleep in Jesus. blessed sleep
From which none ever wake 10 weep:
\ calm and uudiSturbed repoSe.
Cninlured by the last OF foes
Asleep IN Jesus. far from thee
Thy kindred and thy graves NAV 5s.
But there i still blessed sleep.
From which none ever wake 70 weep
You have seen enough for one day.
20 one can successfully examine more
han FIVE pictures in day Therefore I
re stop. having seen this cluster of c
ivine aphaels-Stephen gazing into 1
Ieaven: Stephen looking at Christ: !
tephen stoned: stephen in his dying q
rayer; Stephen asleep '
Hunting the Moose.
Thanks to the fact that the moose is 1
ather solitary in his habits. quick. =
Tilted, and keen of eve. ear and nos I
ii in detecting danger. he is not des- {
ned to be exterminated so easily as a
he more stupid bison. caribou. and 4
l. u 4 /