Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1895-09-21
A WITH STEPHEN
REV. Or. TALmAeE PRESENTS FIVE
LIVING PICTURES.
Stephen Gazing Into Heaven - Stephen
Looking at Christ - stephen Stoned.
stephen In His Dying Prsyer-stephea
AsIeep-A Picturesque Sermon.

stephen In His Dying Przyer-stephen
AsIecp-A Picturesque sermon.
NEW YORK. sept l5.-In his sermon
for today Rev. DIR. Talmage has chosen n
theme n picturesque as II is spiritually
inspiring He groups his discourse into
" Five Pictures The text selected was,
Behold. scethc heavens opened. Acts
vii. 5000
stephen had been preaching n rousing
sermon. and the people could not stand Ii.
They resolved to do as men sometimes
would like to do in this day, IL 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.
80 they rushed stephen out ~ the gates Of
the city. and with curse and whoop and
below they brought him TO the cliff, ms
WAS the custom when they wanted to take
away life by stoning. Having brought
him to the edge of the cliff, they pushed
him or After he had fallen they came
and looked down, and seeing that he was
not yet dead they began TO drop stones
upon him, stone after stone. Amid this
horrible rain 81 missiles stephen chambers
up an his knees and folds his hands. while
tho blood drips from his temples, and then,
looking up, DE makes two prayers, ono for
himself and one for his murdcrers. Lord
Jesus. receive my spirit" that was for
himself. Lord, lay not this sin 10 their
charge" that was for his murdercrs.
Then, from pain and loss Of blood. he
swooned away and fell asleep.
want to show You today five pictures
Stephen gazing into heaven. Stephen
looking at Christ, stephen stoned, Stephen
in his dying prayer Stephen asleep.
stephen Looking Into Heaven.
First look at Stephen gazing into heav-
en-. Before Won take "A leap YOU want to
know where you arc going 10 land. Be
fore YOU climb la'lerr you want To know
"a what point the ladder reaches. And il
was right that :strnhrn. within few mo-
ments Of heaven. should be- gazing into Ii.
We would all do well To he found In tho
same posture. There Is enough In heaven
10 keep us gazing. \ man u large wealth
may have statnary in the hall. and paint
ings In the sitting room. and works Of art
In all parts ~ 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 tho 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 commin-
gle 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
crowns. There nre the highest exhilara-
tions 81. John says Of IL, THE kings Of
the earth shall bring their honor and glory
into IT," And / see the procession form
ing 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 mountains, and the
flag they bear Is the flame Of consuming
world, and all heaven turns out with
harps and trumpets and myriad voiced nc
clamation of angelic dominions 10 well
come them in, and so the kings Of the
earth bring their honor and glory into 1t.
DO YOU wonder that good people often
stand, like stephen, looking into hcaveni
We have many friends there.
There is not n man here SO 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 nc
quaintances 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 mt
heaven. As when some OF our friends 20
across the sea we stand on the dock or ON
the steam tug and watch them. and after
awhile the hulk Of the vessel 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 look
ing in the same direction, SO when our
=
world we keep looking down through the
Narrows and gazing and gazing rs though
we expected that they would come out and
stand on some cloud and give us one
glimpse OF their bissful and TRANSPORTED
faces.
While you long TO join their companion
ship, and the years and the days go with
such tedium that they break your heart, and
the vipers OF pain and sorrow and bercaye-
ment keep gnawing at your yitals, you
will stand, like Stephen. gazing into hcav-
en-. You wonder IL they have changed
since you saw them last You wonder IL
they would recognize your face now, so
changed has it been with trouble. You
wonder II, amid the myriad delights they
have, they care rs much for you rs they
used TO when they gave you helping
hand and put their shoulders under your
burdens. You wonder II they look any
older, and sometimes in the evening tide
when the house Is ali quiet, you wonder II
you should call them by their first name IL
they would not answer, anG perhaps some
times you do make the experiment, and
when no one bus God ard yourself are
there you distinctly call their names and
listen and sit gazing into heaven.
Looking Upon Christ.
Pass on now and see Stephen looking
upon Christ My text says he saw the
Son Of Man NJ the right hand OF God.
just how Christ looked in this world, just
how he looks in heaven. we cannot say.
The painters Of the different ages have
tried 10 imagine the features OF Christ
and put them upon canvas, but we will
have 10 wait until with our own eyes we
see him and with our own ears we can
hear him. And yet there i way of see
ing 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 I'm heaven.
Lookl There he l.. Behold the Lamb
Of GOdl Can you not see himy Then pray
TO God To take the .cislcs off your eyes.
Look that way-try 10 look that way. His
voice comes down to you this day-comes
down 70 the hlindcst. 10 the dcafest soul,
saying LOOK unto me, All We ends Of the
larth End be We saved. for am God, and
there Is none else Proclamation of uni
Ycrsal cman, ipatinn for all slaves Tell
me, - who know most Of the worlds his.
tory, what other king ever asked the aban-
doncd. aud the iurlorn and the wrctchcd,
and the uutcast iu come and sit beside
him oh. wonderful invitation, You
can take il to-day and stand NJ tho head II
the darkest alley ia all this city, and say:
Come Clothes for your rags, salve for
your sores. throne for your eternal reign
ing. \ Christ that talks like that ard
acts Ike t.iat and pardons like that--do
you wonder that Stephen stood looking at
him. | hogc TO spend eternity doing the
same thing ! must scc him; | must look
upon that f.;ce once cluudcd with my sin,
but now radiant with my pardon. l want
Co touch that hand that knocked off my
shackles. ! want To hear the voice that
pronounced my dcliycrancc Behold him,
little children, for IL you live to three
scoro years and ten you will see none 50
fair. Behold him. ye aged ones, for he
only can shine through the dimness Of
your failing cycsight. Behold him, earth.
Behold him, heaven. What a moment
when all the nations ~ the saved shall
gather around Christ. all faces that way,
all thrones that way. gazing ON Jesusl
His worth il all the nations knew