Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1898-03-18


course Of DR.. Talmage which we send
out is vivid story of martyrdom and a
rapturous view of the world to come;
text, Acts vii, $500, Behold see the
heavens opened" etc.
Stephen had been preaching a rousing
sermon, and the people could not stand
it. They resolved to do as men some
times would like to do in this day, If
they dared, with some plain preacher of
righteousDess-kil him. The only way
to silence this man was to knock the
breath ont of him. So they rushed
Stephen out of the gates Of the city, and
with curse and whoop and below they
brought him to the cliff, as was the Gus
tom when they wanted to take away life
by stoning. Having brought him to the
edge Of the cliff, they pushed him of,
After he had fallen they came and look
ed down, and seeing that he was not yet
dead they began to drop stones upon
him. stone after stone Amid this hor-
rible rain Of missiles Stephen chambers
M on his knees and folds his hands,
while the blood drips from his temples
TO his cheeks, from his cheeks to his
garments, from his garments to the
ground, and then, looking up, be makes
two prayers-one for himself and one
for his murderers Lord Jesus, receive
nv spirit" that was for himself.
Lord, lay not this sin to their charge" :"
that was for his assailants. Then from
pain and loss of blood he swooned away
and fell asleep.
The Martyrs Vision.
want to show you today five pic
lures - Stephen gazing into heaven
Stephen looking at Christ, Stephen
stoned, Stephen in his dying prayer
and Stephen asleep.
First look at Stephen gazing into
heaven. Before you take a 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 it was right that Stephen,
within few moments of heaven, should
be gazing into it. We would all do well
to be found in the same posture. There
is enough in heaven to keep us gazing.
A man OF large wealth may have stat
uary 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 cata-
logue and glass and ever increasing ad-
miration. Well, heaven is the gallery
where God has gathered the chief treas
ures of his realm. The whole universe
is his palace. In this lower room where
we stop there are many adornments, tes'
sellated floor Of amethyst, and on the
winding cloud stairs are stretched out
canvases on which commingle azure and
purple and saffron and gold. But heay'
en- is the gallery in which the chief glo-
ries are gathered. There are the bright
est robes. There are the richest crowns.
There are the highest exhilaratlons.
John says of it, 1.-THE kings of the earth
shall bring their honor and glory into
it." And | See the procession forming,
and in the line come all empires, and
gno stars spring up into an arch for the
hosts to march under. The hosts keel
step 10 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 acclamation Of angelic dominion
to welcome them in, and so the kings OF
the earth bring their honor and glory
into it. Do you wonder that good peo
pie often stand, like Stephen, looking
into heaven? We have many friends
there.
Friends In Heaven.
There is not a man in this house to
day so isolated in life but there is som'
one in heaven with whom he once shoOl
hands. AS man gets older the numbe
Of his celestial acquaintances very rap
idly multiplies We have not had on
glimpse Of them since the night w
kissed them goodby, and they wen
away, but still we stand gazing a
heaven. As when some of our friend
90 across the sea, we stand on the docl
or ON the steam tug and watch them
and after awhile the hulk of the yesse
disappears, and then there is only
patch of sail On the sky, and soon tha
is gone, and they are all out of sight
and yet we stand looking in the sam
direction, so when our friends 60 ava,
from us into the future world we kee
looking down through the Narrows, an
I gazing and gazing, as though we eS
pected that they would come out an
. stand on some cloud and give us on
: plimpse Of their blissful and transfiguI
ed faces.
While you long 70 join their com
panionship and the years and the day
90 with such tedium that they brea
9 your heart, and the viper of pain an
4 sorrow and bereavement keeps gnawin
1 at your vitals, you stand still, llk
Stephen, gazing into heaven. You WOE
: der if they have changed since you say
them last. You wonder if they woul
recognize your face now, so changed ha
: il been with trouble. You wonder il
amid the myriad delights they have
they care as much for you as they use
to when they gave you a helping ban
n and nut their shoulder under your bul
denS You wonder if they look any oldei
and sometimes in the evening tide. whe
the house is all quiet, you wonder
you should call them by their first nan
if they would not answer, and perhal
q sometimes you do make the experimen
and when no one but God and yourse
are there you distinctly call their nam'
and listen and sit gazing into heaven.
Seeing Christ.
= Pass on now and see Stephen lookir
upon Christ My text says he saw q
a Son Of Man at the right hand of Got
- Just how Christ looked in this worl,
iust how be looks in heaven, we cann'
say. A writer in the time Of Chrl
a, SAYS, describing the Sayiour's person
n. appearance, that he had blue eyes al
:, light complexion, and very gracef
: structure, but suppose it was all CUES
p work. The painters of the different ag
9 have tried to imagine the features
ID Christ and put them upon canvas, b
as we will have to wait until with