The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1895-10-02
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE BY THE
NOTED DIVINE.
Subject: "Five Pictures"

Stephen had been preaching a rousing SER
mon, and the people could not stand 1t:
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, with curses and whoop and below,
they brought him to the cliff. as was the Gus
tom when they wanted to take away life py
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 thev began
to drop stones upon him, stone after stone.
Amid this horrible rain Of missiles Stephen
chambers upon his knees and folds his hands,
while the blood drips from his temples, ana
then. looking up, he makes two prayers
one for himself and one for his murderers.
"Lord Jesus. receive my spirit" That was
for himself. "Lord, lay not this sin to their
charge" That was for his murdersrs. Then;
from pain and loss OF blood, no sWooheo
away and fell asleep.
want to show you to-day five pictures:
Stephen gazing into heaven, Stephen look
ing at Christ, Stephen stoned, Stephen
In his dying prayer. Stephen asleep.
First. look at Stephen gazing into heaven.
Before you take leap you want to know
where you are going to land. Before you
climb ladder you want to know to what
point the ladder reaches. And 1t was right
that Stephen, within a few moments OF
heaven. should be gazing into it. We would
all do we'll to be found In the same posture.
There Is enough in heaven to keep us gaz-
ing. A man OF large wealth may have statu-
ary in the hall, and paintings in the sitting
room. and works of art In all parts
OF the house, but he has the chief pictures in
the art gallery. and there hour after hour
you walk with catalogue and glass and ever
increasing admiration. Well, heaven Is the
gallery where God has gathered the chief
treasures of His realm. The whole universe
Is His palace. In this lower room where we
stop there are many adornments, tessellated
floor of amethyst. and on the winding cloud
stairs are stretched out canvases on which
commingle azure and purple and saffron and
gold. But heaven Is the gallery IN which
the chief glories are gathered. There are
the brightest robes. There are the richest
crowps. There are the highest exhilarations.
st. John says OF It, "The kings Of the earth
shall bring their honor and glory into 1t.
And see the procession forming, and In the
line come all empires, and the stars spring
up into an arch for the hosts to march under.
They keep step to the sound OF earthquake,
and the pitch OF avalanche from the noun
. tains. and the flag they bear is the fame ofa
consuming world. and all heaven turns out
with harps and trumpets and myriad voiced
acclamation of angelic dominions to well
come them in, and 50 the kings of the earth
bring their honor and glory into it. Do you
wonder that good people often stand, like
Stephen, looking into heaven? We have
many friends there.
There Is not nan here 80 isolated in life
but there Is some one in heaven with whom
he once shook hands. As man gets older
the number of his celestial acquaintances
very rapidly multiplies. We have not had
one glimpse Of them since the night we kissed
them goodby, and they went away, but still
we stand gazing at heaven. As when some
OF our friends go across rhe sea. we stand on
the dock, or on the steam tug. and watch
them. and after awhile the hulk Of the vea-
sci disappears, and then there Is only patch
of sail on the sky, and soon that is gone, and
they are all out Of sight, and yet we stand
looking in the same direction. So when our
friends go away from US into the future
world we keep looking down through the
Narrows and gazing and gazing as though
we expected that tn 3y would come out and
stand on some cloud and give US one glimpse
Of their blissful and transhgured faces.
While you long to join their companion
ship, and the years and the days 90 with
such tedium that they break your heart, and
the vipers Of pain and sorrow and bereave-
ment keep gnawing at your vitals, you will
stand, like Stephen, gazing into heaven.
You wonder if they have changed since you
saw them last. You wonder II they would
recognize your face now, so changed has 1t
been with trouble. You wonder II, amid the
myriad delights they have, they care as
much for you as they used to when they
gave you q helping hand and put their
shoulders under your burdens. You Won
der II they look any older, and sometimes
in the evening tide, when the house Is all
quiet, you wonder il you should call them
by their first name II they would not an
swer, and perhaps sometimes you do make
the experiment, and when no one but God
and yourself are there you distinctly call
their names and listen and sit gazing into
heaven.
Pass on now and see Stephen looking
upon Christ. My text says he saw the Son
OF Man at the right hand Of God. Just how
Christ looked in this world. just how He
looks in heaven. we cannot say. The paint
ers OF the different ages have tried to
imagine the features of Christ and put them
upon canvas, but we will have to wait until
with our own eyes We see Him and with our
own ears We can hear Him. And yet there
Is a way Of seeing Him and hearing Him
now. have to tell you that unless you see
and hear Christ on earth you will never see
and hear Him In heaven.
Look! There He is! Behold the Lamb OF
God! Can you not see Him? Then pray to
God to take the scales off your eyes. Look
that way-try to look that way. His voice
comes down to you this day-comes down to
the blindest, to the deafest soul-saying,
"Look unto Me, all ye ends Of the earth, and
be ye saved, for am God, ard there is none
else" Proclamation Of universal emanci-
patton for all slaves. Tell me. We who know
most OF the worlds history, what other king
ever asked the abandoned, and the forlorn,
and the wretched, and the outcast to come
and sit beside him? Oh, wonderful invita-
the head Of the darkest alley In oil this city
and say, "Come! Clothes for your rags, salve
for your sores, q throne for your eternal
reignine." Christ that talks like that and
acts like that and pardons like that-do you
wonder that Stephen stood looking at Him.
I hope to spend eternity doing the same
thing. must see Him. must look upon
that face once clouded with my sin, but now
radiant with my pardon. I want to touch
that hand that knocked off my shackles.
want to hear the voice that pronounced my
deliyerance. Behold Him, little children,
for IL you live to threescore years and ten
YOU will see none so fair. Behold Him, ye
aged ones, for He only can shine through the
dimness Of your falling eyesight. Behold
Him, earth. Behold Him, heaven. What q
moment when all the Nations of the saved
shall gather around Christ! All faces that
way. All thrones that way, gazing on Jesus
His worth If all the Nations knew
Sure the whole earth would love Him too
Ipass on now and look at Stephen stoned.
The world has always wanted to get rid o.
good men. Their very life Is an assault
upon wickedness. Out with Stepher
through the gates Of the city. Down with
him over the precipices. Let every man
come up and drop stone upon his head.
Rut thesa men did not so much kill Stephen