Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1898-03-24

L
first thought was about his spirit.
Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" The
murderer standing on the trap-door,
the black cap being drawn over his
head before the execution, may grimace
about the future, but you and | have
no shame in confessing some anxiety
about where we are going to come out.
| You are not all body. There is within
you soul. / see it CLEAN from your
ewes, and see IL irradiating
your countenance. Sometimes l am
abashed before an audience, not
because l come under their physical
eyesight, but because l realize the
truth that stand before so many inn
mortal spirits. The probability is that
your body will at last find sepulcher
in some of the cemeteries that surround
your town or city. There is no doubt
but that your obsequies will be decent
and respectful, and you will be able to
pillow your head under the maple, or
the Norway spruce, or the cypress or
the blossoming fir; but this spirit about
which Stephen prayed, what direction
will that take? Whatguide will escort
itp What gate will open to receive it?
What cloud will he cleft for its path
way? After it has got beyond
the light OF our sun, will there be
torches lighted for 1t the rest of
the way? viii the soul have to travel
through long deserts before it reaches
the good land? Ii we should lose our
pathway, will there be castle at
Whose gate we may ask the
way to the city? 1t has two wings,
but 1t 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
lightnings are not swift enough to
take up with it. When the soul leaves
the body it takes fifty worlds at
bound. And have no anxiety about
itP Have you no anxiety about itP
do not care what you do with my
body when my soul is gone, or whether
you believe in cremation or inhuma-
ton. bshall sleep just as we'll in a
wrapping of sacltcloth as in satin lined
with eagles down. But my soul, be-
fore this day passes, will find out
where it will land Thank God for the
intination of my text that when we
die Jesus takes us. That answers all
questions 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. What though | get wea-
ry OF the way, Christ could lift me on
flo nn T., uh 4 lac, 4,
there were chasms to cross, His hand
could transport me. Then let Ste
phcn's prayer be my dying Iitany:
Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" 1t may
be that in that hour we will be too
feeble to say II 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,
lpray the Lord my soul to keep.
We may be too feeble to employ eth
er of these familiar forms; but this
prayer OF Stephen is so short, is 81 con
else, is so earnest, is SO comprehensive,
we surely will be able to SAY That's
Lord Jesus, receive ny spirit. Oh,
II that prayer is answ red, how sweet
1T will be To die This world is clever
enough to us. Perhaps it has treated
us n great deal better than we deserve
TO be treated; but ii ON the dying pill
| l,,y ih,,.n phnn11 80
that better world we shall have II.
more regret about leaving II small
dark, damp house for one large, beau
| titul and capacious. That dying min
i lister in Philadelphia, some years ago,
beautifully depicted it, when in the
last moment he threw up his hands
and cried out: Il 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: "lle fell asleep" oh"
you say, what u place that was to
sleepl A hard rock under him, stones
falling down upon him, the blood
streaming, the mob bowling.
What place it was to ,lccp!"
And yet my text takes that
symbol of slumbcr to describe
his departure, SO sweet was it, SO
| contcnted was it, So peaceful was it.
Stephen had lived Il very laborious life.
! His chief work had been to care for the
poor. How many loavrs of bread he
distributed, how many bare feet he had
saudaled, how many cots of sickness and
distress he blessed with ministries of
Kindness aud love, | do not know, but
from the way he lived, and the way he
preached, and the way he died, | know
he was n laborious Christian. But
that is all over now. lie has
pressed the cup to the last faint
ing lip. He has taken the last
insult from his enemies. The last
stone to whose crushing weight he il
susceptible has been hurled. stephen
is dead! Tho disciples come. They
take him up, They wash away the
/ 1. L. l.