Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1898-03-23

personal appearance, that he had blue
graceful structure; but l suppose it
was all guess work. The painters 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
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 We
| ends of the earth, and be We saved, for
l am God, and there is none else"
| Proclamation of universal emancipa-
ton for all slaves. Proclamation OF
universal amnesty for all rebels. Bel
shazZar gathered the Babylonish no.
bles to his table; George l. entertained
| the lords of England at banquet; Ma
| poleon III. welcomed the Car Of Rus
| STA and the Sultan Of Turkey to his
| feast; the Emperor of Germany was
glad to have our minister, George Ban
croft, sit down with him at his table;
but 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?
On the day of his death, Stephen
spoke before few people in the San
dom. Paul the Apostle stood on Mars
Hill addressing a handful Of philoso-
pliers who knew not so much about sci
ence as a modern school girl. To-day
| he talks to all the millions of Christen-
dom about the wonders of justification
and the glories of resurrection. John
| Wesley was howled down by the mob
to whom he preached, and they threw
bricks at him, and they denounced
him, and they jostled him, and they
spat upon him, and yet to-day, in all
| lands, he is admitted to be the great
| father of Methodism. Booths bullet
vacated the Presidential chair: but
from that spot of coagulated blood on
the floor in the box of Ford's Theater
there sprang up the new life of a ma
ton. Stephen stoned, but Stephen
alive.
Pass on now and see Stephen in his
dying prayer. His first thought was
not how the stones hurt his head, nor
what would become of his body. His
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 grim
ace about the future. but you and
have no shame in confessing to some
anxiety about where we are going to
come out. You are not all body. There
is within you a soul. / see it CLEAN
from your eyes, and l see it irradiating
your countenance. Sometimes l am
abashed before an audience. not be-
cause come under their physical eye
sight, but because l realize the truth
that stand before so many immortal
spirits. The probability is that your
body will at last find a sepulchre 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 poisoning fir; but this spirit
about which Stephen prayed, what di-
rection will that take? What guide
will escort it? What gate will open to
receive it? What cloud will be cleft
for it's path ay? After it has got be-
yond the light Of our sun, will there be
torches lighted for it the rest of the
way? Will the soul have to travel
through long deserts before it reaches
the good land? If we should lose our
pathway, will there be a castle at
whose gate we may ask the way to the
city? Oh, this mysterious spirit with
in us! 1t has two wings. but it is in
a 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 light
nings 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 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 inhuma-
ton. / shall sleep just as we'll in a
wrapping of sackcloth as in satin lined
with eagles down. But my soluble
fore this day passes, l 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 questions for me. What though
there were massive bars between here
and the city Of light. Jesus could re-
move them. What though there were
great Saharas of darkness. Jesus could
illume them. What though l get
weary on the way, Christ could lift me
on his omnipotent shoulder. What
though there were chasms to cross. his
hand could transport me. Then let
Stephens prayer be my dying litany:
Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" 1t