The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1895-09-20

WILL GQer6 Do Cdstlc az WhosO S"eO We
may ask the way to the city2 Oh, this
mysterious spirit within us It has two
wings, but it is in cage now. 1t is
locked fast to keep it, but let the door
Of this cage open the least, and that
soul is off. Eagles wing could not catch
it. The hghtnings are not swift enough
to come up with it. When the soul leaves
the body it takes 30 worlds at bound
And have I no anxiety about it? Have
you no anxiety about it?
do not care what you do with my
body when my soul is gone, or whether
you believe in cremation or inhumation.
+ ] shall sleep just as well in a wrapping
Of sackcloth as in satin lined with
eagles down. But my soul-before
close this discourse / will find out
where it will land. Thank God for the
intimation Of my text that when we die
Jesus takes us. That answers all ques-
lions for me- What though there were
massive bars between here and the City
of Light, Jesus could remove them.
What though there were great Saharas
of darkness, Jesus could illume them.
w uuo ullou6h L SCO WOhAy OAA ohO Woyt
Christ could lift me on his omnipotent
shoulder. What though there were
chasms to cross, his hand could trans
port me. Then let Stephen prayer be
my dying litany, Lord Jesus, receive
my spirit" 1t may be 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 Prayer, for it
has seven petitions. Perhaps we may be
too feeble even to say the infant prayer
our mothers taught us, which John
Quincy Adams, 70 years Of age, said
every night when he put his head upon
his pillow:
Now lay me down to sleep.
| pray 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 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
a great deal better than we deserved 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 small, dark, damp
house for one large, beautiful and capa-
cious. That dying minister in Philadel-
phia, some years ago, beautifully de-
picted it when, in the last moment, he
threw up his hands and cried out, 81
move into the light ~
A Peaceful Sleep.
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 Ste
phen, "He. fell asleep" "Oh," 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 de-
parture, so sweet was it, SO contented
was it, 80 peaceful was it. Stephen had
lived very laborious life. His chief
work had been to care for the poor. How
many loaves Of bread he had distribut,
ed, how many bare feet he had san
daled, how many cots of sickness and
distress he had blessed with ministries
of kindness and love, I do not know.
Yet from the way he lived, and the way
he preached, and the way he died,
know he was a 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 Ste
phen 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 t.
look upon the calm countenance of hin
, who had lived for the poor and died fol
the truth Stephen asleep
, / have seen the sea driven with thu
hurricane until the tangled foam caugh
In the rigging, and wave rising above
wave seemed as II about to storm thu
/ heavens, and then have seen the tenn
} pest drop, and the waves crouch, anC
: everything become smooth and bur
nished as though camping place TO
t the glories of heaven. So I have seen
man whose life has been tossed ant
Z driven coming down at last to an inf
3 mite calm in which there was hush G
heaven 8 lullaby. Stephen asleep
< saw such one. He fought all hi
3 days against poverty and against abuse
They traduced his name They rattlet
at the doorknob while he was dying
with duns for debts he could not pay
s Yet the peace Of God b1ooded over hi
t pillow, and while the world faded heav
t en- dawned, and the deepening twilight
t of earth's night was only the opening
] twilight of heavens morn. Not sigh
r Not a tear. Not a struggle Hush
p Stephen asleep
Q have not the faculty as many hav
: to tell the weather. can never tell b,
q the setting sun whether there will be
Q drought or not cannot tell by tn
j blowing Of the wind whether 1t will b
g fair weather or foul ON the morrow. Blu