Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1895-10-10

enough to come up with 1t. When tn
soul leaves the body it takes fit,
/, worlds at bound Aad | have no anx
iety about it. Have you no anxiety
about it?
i do not care what you do with my
body when my soul is gone, or whether
II you believe in cremation or inhuma
j ton. I shall sleep just as well in q
wrapping Of sackcloth as in satin lined
Il with eagles down. But my soul be
i fore I close this discourse l will fine
out where it will land Thank God fol
u the intimation of my text, that when
4 we die Jesus takes U.S. That answers
all questions for me. What though
there were massive bars between here
and the city Of light, Jesus could re.
move them. What though there were
great Sahagas of darkness, Jesus could
illumine them. What though l get
weary on the way, Christ could lift me
on His omnipotent shoulder. What
though there were chasms to CROSS,
His hand could transport me. Then
let Stephens prayer be my dying lit
any: Lord Jesus, receive my spirit"
It may DO in that hour we will be too
feeble to say long prayer. 1t may be
In that hour we will not be able to say
the Lords praper," for it has seven
petitions. Perhaps we may be too
feeble even to say the infant prayer
our mother taught us, which John
Quincy Adams, seventy years of age,
said every night when he put his head
upon his pillow:
Now lay me down to sleep,
Ipray the Lord my soul to keep.
We may be too feeble to employ
either OF these familiar forms; but this
prayer of Stephen is so short, is so
concise, is so earnest, is comprehens-
sive, we surely will be able to say that:
Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" 0, If
that prayer is answered, how sweet it
will be to die! This world is clever
enough to us. Perhaps He has treated
us great deal better than we have
deserved to be treated; but il on tho
dying pillow there shall break the light
Of that better world, we shall have no
more regret than about leaving small,
dark, damp house for one large, beau
tiful, and capacious That dying min
lister 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 light
Pass on now, and / will 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" "O,n
you say, what place that was to
sleep! A 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 labori-
Gus 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 |
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 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 have seen the
tempest drop, and the waves crouch,
and everything become smooth and
FURNISHED as though 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
lays against poverty and against abuse.
They traduce his name. They ratified
vt the doorknob while he was diving
with duns for debts he could not paw;
yet the peace of God brooded 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 tear. Not struggle.
Hush! Stephen asleep
have not the faculty as many have
o tell the weather. I can never tell
~ the setting sun whether there will
'e drought or not. l cannot tell bv
he blowing Of the wind whether Il
vii be fair weather or foul on the
morrow But l can prophesy, and I
will prophesy what weather it will be-
When you, the Christian, come to die,
lou may have it very rough now. II
nay be this week one annoyance, the
lext another annoyance. II may be
ms year one bereavement, the next