The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1898-03-19

hbN' IALMAoh. low tney DrOuRnC
him to the cliff, as was the custom
when they wanted to take away life
by stoning. Having brought him to
the edge Of the cliff, they pushed him
off. 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 his horrible rain of missiles,
Stephen chambers up on his knees and
folds his hands, while the blood drips
from his temples to his cheeks, and
from his checks to his garments, from
his garments to the ground; and then,
looking up, he makes W prayers
one for himself and one for his muir
derers. Lord Jesus, receive my
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.
l want to show you to-day fv pic
lures. Stephen gazing into Heaven,
Stephen looking at Christ. Stephen
stoned. Stephen in his dying prayer.
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 n ladder you
want TO know to what point the ladder
reaches. And it was right that Ste
phen within n few moments of
Heaven. should be gazing into it. We
would all do we'll to be found in the
same posture. There is enough in
Heaven to keep US gazing. A man of
large wealth NAV have statuary 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, n there hour after
hour you walk with catalogue and
glass and ever-increasing admiration.
Well, Heaven is the 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; teS-
sellated Hoor of amethyst, and on the
winding cloud-stairs are stretched out
eanvasses on which commingle 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 are the highest
exhilarations. John says of 1t: The
kings of the earth shall bring their
honor and glory into it." And L see
the procession forming, and In the line
come all empires, and the stars spring
up into an arch for the hosts to march
under. The 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 con-
Stunning world, and all Heaven turns
out with harps and trump pets and
myriad-voiced reclamation of angelic
dominion to welcome them in. and so
honor and glory into it. Do you won
der that good people often stand, like
Stephen. looking into Heaven We
have many friends there.
There is not d man in this house to-
day SO isolated in life but there is some
one in Heaven with whom he once
shook hands. As a man gets older, the
number of his celestial acquaintance
very rapidly multiplies. We have not
had one glimpse of them since the
night we kissed them good-by, and
they went away; but still we stand at
Heaven. AS when some of our friends
60 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; SO when our friends go away
from us into the future world we keep
looking down through the Narrows.
and gazing and gazing, as though we
expected that they would come out and
stand on some cloud, and give US one
glimpse of their blissful and transhg-
ured 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 vipor of pain and
sorrow and bereavement keeps Rnaw-
ing at your vitals, you stand still, like
Stephen, gazing into Heaven. You
wonder II they have changed since you
saw them last- You wonder if they
would recognize your lace now, so
changed has it been with trouble. You
wonder if, among the myriad delights
they have. they car al much for you
as they used to when they gave you a
helping hand and put their shoulder
under your burdens. You wonder If
they look any older; and sometimes in
the eVeningtide. when the house is all
quiet, you wonder If you should call
them by their first name II they would
not answer; and perhaps sometimes
you do make the experiment, and
when nc one but God and yourself are
there you distinctly call their names
and listen, and sit gazing into Heaven.
Daas 4n -a- md rAa GfaNhan 141ly4-@
upon Christ My text says he saw the
Son Of man at che right hand of God
Just how Christ looked in this world,
just how He looks in Heaven. we can
not say. A writer in the time of Christ
says, describing the Saviour's personnel
appearance, that He had blue eyes and
light complexion, and q very graceful
structure; but 1 suppose It was all
~guesswork. The painters of the diff
ferent ages have tried to imagine the
features of Christ and put them upon
canvas; but we will have t wait until
with our own eyes we see Him n
with our own eyes we can hear Him.
And yet there lie u way of seeing and
hearing Him now. 1 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. Be-
hold the Lamb Of God. Can you not
sec HimP Then pray to God to TAX
the scales off your eyes Look that
way-try to look that way. His voice
ZONES down 10 you this d~ay-comes
down to the blindest, to the deafest
soul, saying, 'Loolt unto Me, all ye
ends of the earth. and be ye saved, for
l am God, and there is none elise"
Proclamation Of universal emanciPa-
tion for all slaves. Proclamation OF
universal amnesty to all rebels.
Oh, wonderful invitation! You can
take it to-day, and stand at the head
of the darkest alley in any city, and
say: Come! Clothes for your rags,
salvc for your sores, G throne for your
eternal reigning." A Christ that talks
like that, and acts like that, and par
dons like that-do you wonder that
Stephen stood looking at Him? l hope
to spend eternity doing the same
thing. 1 must see Him; 1 must look
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