The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-03-14

earnest, is so comprehensive, we surely
will be able 70 say that: Lord Jesus, re-
ceive my spirit" Oh, IL that prayer is
answered, how sweet 1t will be to die. This
world Is clever enough to us. Perhaps it
has treated us a great deal better than
we deserve to be treated; but IL on
the dying pillow there should break the
light of that better world, we shall have
no more regret about leaving a small, dark,
damp house for one large. beautiful, and
capacious. That dying minister in Phia-
delphia, some years ago. beautifully de-
picted it, when in the last moment. he
threw up his hands and cried out: II move
into the lightv'
Pass on now, and I will show you one
more picture. and that is Stephen asleep.
With a pathos and simplicity peculiar TO
the Scriptures, the text says of Stephen:
He fell asleep" oh" you say, what a
place that was TO sleepl A hard rock I'M
der him, stones falling down upon him.
the blood streaming. the mob bowling.
What a place il was to sleep." And yet
my text takes that symbol of slumber to
describe his departure, so sweet was II, so
contented was Ii, so peaceful was it. Ste
phen had lived a very labonouS life his
chief work had been to care for the poor
How many loaves of bread he distributed,
how many bare feet he had sandaled, how
many cots of sickness and distress he
blessed with ministries of kindness and
love- do not know; but from the way he
lived, and the way he preached and the
way he died, know he was a laborious
Christian. But that is all over now. He has
pressed the cup TO the last fainting lip. He
has taken the last insult from his enemies.
The last stone to whose crushing weight he
is susceptible has been hurled. Stephen is
dead! The disciples come They take him
up. They wash away the blood from the
wounds. They straighten out the bruised
limbs. They brush back the tangled hair
from the brow, and then they pass around
to look upon the calm countenance of him
who had lived for the poor and died for
the truth. Stephen asleep!
have seen the sea driven with the hur-
ricane until the tangled foam caught in the
rigging, and wave rising above wave SEEM
ed as If about to storm the heavens and
then have seen the tempest drop. and
the waves crouch, and everything become
smooth and FURNISHED as though a camp.
ing place for the glories of heaven. So
have seen man, whose life has been toss
ed and driven, coming down at last to an
Infinite calm, in which there was the hush
of heavens lullaby.
Stephen asleep! 1 saw such an one He
fought all his days against poverty and
against abuse. They traduced his name
They ratified at the door knob while he was
dying, with duns for debts he could not
pay; yet the peace of God brooded over his
pillow, and while the world faded, heaven
dawned. and the deepening twilight of
earth's night was only the opening twilight
of heavens morn. Not sigh Not tear
Not struggle. Hushl Stephen asleep
1 have not the faculty to tell the wealth
er. 1 can never tell by the setting sun
whether there will be a drought or not.
..xk ali IL
whether IL will be fair weather or foul on
the morrow. But 1 can prophesy. and
will prophesy what weather 1t will be
when you, the Christian, come to
die. You may have it very rough
now. 1t may be this week one
annoyance, the next another annoy
ance. 1t may be this year one bereave-
ment, the next another bereavement. Be-
fore this year has passed you may have
to beg for bread, or ask for scuttle of
coal or a pair of shoes; but at the last
Christ will come in and darkness will go
out And though there may be no hand
to close your eyes, and no breast on which
10 rest your dying head, and no candle 10
lift the night, the odors of Gods hanging
garden will regale your soul and at your
bedside will halt the chariots of the King.
No more rents to pay, no more agony be-
cause -four has gone up, no more strug-
gle win tn6 WOr1Q, the QeSn ana the
devil;" but peace-long. deep, everlasting
peace. stephen asleepl
Asleep in Jesus, blessed sleep,
From which none ever wake to weep;
calm and undisturbed repose,
Uninjured by the last of foes.
Asleep in Jesus, far from thee
Thy kindred and their graves may be;
But there Is stin blessed sleep,
From which none ever wake to weep.
You have seen enough for one MORNING
No one can successfully examine more
than five pictures in a day Therefore
we stop, having seen this cluster of Di-
vine Raphaels-Stephen gazing into heav-
en-; Stephen looking al Christ; Stephen
stoned; Stephen in his dying prayer; Ste
phen asleep.