Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1898-03-19
THE WORLD TO COME.
REV. DIR. TALMAeE PICTURES LIFE BE-
YOND THE GRAVE.

Martyrdom of Stephen tho Theme For
an Able Sermon = Glmpscs of Heaven
Through tho Eyes of tho Great Preach
er-The Eternal Sleep.
5Copyrlght, 1895, by American Press Asso-
clatlon.
WASHINGTON, March 1S.-The dis
course of DIR. Talmage which we send
out is vivid story of martyrdom and a
rapturous view of the world to come;
text, Acts vii, $500, "Behold sec the
heavens opened" etc.
Stephen had been preaching rousing
sermon, and the people could not stand
it. They resolved to do as men some
times would like to do in this day, II
they dared, with some plain preacher of
righteousness-kil him. The only way
to silence this man was to knock tho
breath out 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 OFT
After he had fallen they came and look
cd down, and seeing that be was not yet
dead they began to drop stones upon
him, stone after stone. Amid this hor-
rible rain of missiles Stephen chambers
ND on his knees and folds his hands,
while the blood drips from his temples
to his checks, from his cheeks to his
garments, from his garments to the
ground, and 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 ASSISTANTS. 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 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 oil 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 adj
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 arc 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 CIVILIZATIONS.
John says of it, 1.-THE kings CT the earth
shall bring their honor and glory into
it." And I see the procession forming,
and in the line come all empires, and
tho stars spring up into an arch for the
hosts to march under. Tho hosts keep
step to the sound Of earthquake and the
pitch of avalanche from the mountains,
and the flag they bear is the fame of a
consuming world, and all heaven turns
out with harps and trumpets and myriad
voiced reclamation of angelic dominion
to welcome them in, and 80 the kings OF
the earth bring their honor and glory
into it. Do you wonder that good peo-
Pile often stand, like Stephen, looking
into heaven? We have many friends
there.
Friends In Heaven.
There is not man in this house to-
day 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 acquaintance very rap
idly 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
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 a
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, 30 when our friends 60 away
from US into the future world we keep
| looking down through the Narrows, and
gazing and gazing, as though we ex-
pected that they would come oNt and
stand on some cloud and give US one
glimpse of their blissful and transfgur-
ed faces.
While you long to Join their COM
partnership and the years and the days
go with such tedium that they break
your heart, and the viper of pain and
sorrow and bereavement keeps gnawing
at your vitals, you stand still, like
Stephen, gazing into heaven. You won.
der if they have changed since you saw
them last. You wonder if they would
recognize your face now, so changed has
it been with trouble. You wonder if,
smid the myriad delights they have,