Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-07-12

] beautiful things patience. charity, genercs-
lty, integrity, bui he ienis the choicest
! fru Is TO be IN the gar Ten, aud II the" re not
I there, then shame o. the church. Religion is
not mere ioWctlug sentimentallty. IL ID "a
practlc al. hte-giving, healthfnl fruit-not
po-ics. but appies. 20" saws somebody, II
I uou't see what your garden Of the church mas
yielded Where did your asylums come FROM
I and your hospitals ana your institutions OF
mercy Christ planted every one OF them.
lie planted them IN MS garden. w men
Christ gave sight 10 Bartmeus he laid Ihe
corner stone OF every blnd asylum mat mas
demonIsc Of Galilee He laid The corner stone
Of every lunauC asylum that has ever been
established. When Christ SAID 70 the SICK
mau; Take up thy bed and walk He LAID
I the corner stone of ever hospital the word
( has ever reen. Whom Christ said: 81 was IN
( prison and We visited me-" lie LAID the corner
/ stone Of every prison reform ASSOCIATION that
, has ever Oecn formed. The Church Of Christ
/ Is a glorious garden, and 1t j. full of fruit.
know there is some poor fruit IN it. know
I there are some weeds tuat ought 70 he thrown
I over the fence, ! know there are some crab
/ apple trees that ought to be cut down. know
/ there are some wild grapes That ought 10 be
{ uprootcd; but are YOU going TO destroy lhe
whole garden because OF Iltue gnArled
/ fruit? You viii ind worm eaten leaves IN
/ FOntainehleau and insects that sting IN the
! fairy groves OF the Champs Elysces on ito
/ not tear down and destroy the whole garden
| because there are few specimens ~ gnarled
! lruit- | admit there are men ana women
~ he church who ought not to be there; but LEI
3 us ne just as lfduk ana ANlnlL iNc IdSL IHht
! there are hundreds and thousands ana tens OF
/ thousands or glorious Christian men and
, WOmen-hOly, bIessc1, useful, cOn-c' rated
and triumphant. There Ia no grauder colIec-
! ton IA all the earth than the collection OF
! Christians. There are thrlstlan men In TINS
| house whose religion Is not a matter Of psalm
singing ana church going. Tomorrow morn
/ ing thht religion Will Keep them Just as con
,lstent and conseCratcd in their worldly occu-
patton u ii ever kent them at the CONF uDlOn
| table. There are women here to-day Of
higher T. pc Of character than Mary of Beth
any They not only sit at the feet OF Christ,
but they 70 oat into the kitchen to help
Martha IN her work, that she may
SIT there too. There is woman
who has a drunken husband VINO has ex-
nibled more farm and patience and courage
than Ridley IN the fire. lie was consumed in
~ years martyrdom. i nder 10 man VINO
has been fifteen wears on his back, unable
even 10 feed hmself, yet calm and peaceful
as though ne lay on one Of the green banks OF
hcave watching the oarsnen zip their pad
dies in the crystal river! Why, 1T seems to
me this moment as II 81. PAU threw To us
pomOlOgIst's catalo que of the fruits growing IN
tins great garden Of Chrl-t-lOve, JOY, peace,
patience, charity. brothery kindness, gentle
ness, mercy; glorious irult, enough to I'LL all
the baskets Of earth and heaven,
have not told you of the better tree in this
garden and Of the better fruit. 1t was planted
Just outside Jerusalem "A good while ago.
when that tree was planted II was so split,
and bruised and barked, men said nOtnmg
would ever grow upon it: but no sooner had
that tree been planted than II budued. and
blossOmed. and fruited, and the soldiers
spears were only the clubs that struck down
That lruIt. and 1t fell into the lap OF the ma
tious, and men began to pick il up and eat it;
| and they found in it an antldOte TO all thirst,
to al poison, to all sin, to all death-the
smallest cluster larger than the famous one Of
E-hcol, which two men carried on a stan be-
tween them. If the one apple in Eden Killed
the race, this one cluster OF mercy shall re-
| store g.
Again: The church IN my text is appro-
prlatciy called IA garden, because II Is thor
ougnlv irrigated No garden cou prosper
long without plenty of water. ! have seen "A
garden IN the midst OF DIES TT, yet bio coming
and luXurlaut. Al around vas dcarth and
barrenness; but there were pipes. aque iucts
reaching from this garden up TO tine noun
taus, and through those aqueduCts the water
came streaming down ami tossing up into
beautiful fountains. until every root and leaf
and Hover " ere saturated. That Is like the
church. The church is a garden in the mldrt
OF great desert Of SIN and suffering; bat
it Is well irrigated, for ''our eyes are unto
the hills from whence cOmeth our help" From
the MOUNTAINS Of Gods strength there flow
down rivers of gadness. There Is a river
the stream whereof shall make glad the city
OF our Cod Preaching the Gospel is one OF
these auueducts. The Bible is another Ban
jlsm and the Lords supper are aqueducts.
WAFER TO slakc the thirst, water to wash the
unc'ean, water tossed high up in the light of
tine sun OF righteousness, showing as the rain
| DOW around the throne. o, WdS there ever
gdr en- thoroughly lrrlgatedY You know
that the beauty Of Versailles and Chatsworth
| depends very much upon the great supply OF
water. | came to the latter place tJhats-
WORTH one day when strangers are not to be
admitted. but by an lnuucement, which
always seemed as applicable to AN
Engllsnman as an American, | got H.
and then the gardener went far up
above tue stairs Of stone and turned on the
wafer. | saw 1t < eamlng on the dry pave
ment, coming down from step to step until 1t
came so near l coulu hear the muslcal rush,
and ali over the high. broad stairs II came
fOamlng, nashiug, roaring down. until sum
! light and wave in geesOne wrestie tumbied
at my feet. so 1t Is with the Church of God.
/ Everything comes from above; pardon from
above, joy from above, adoption from above,
! sanctitcation from above. Oh, thai now God
would turn on the waters OF salvation, that
/ they might Tow down through tins heritage,
ana that to-day we might find this very place
/ to be "Elm, with Twelve wells Of water and
! three score and ten palm treesw
! HarA. hear the latch of the garden gate,
! and look to see who is coming. | hear the
/ voice OF Christ. II am come into my garden"
! say: Come in. o jesus we have been wait
/ ing for Thee; walk ali through the paths.
/ Look at the flowers: look at the fruit; pluck
/ that which Thou wilt for Thyself." Jesu,
comes into the garden and up TO that old man.
and touches him, and saws: Almost home.
/ father; not many more aches for thee; l VIII
/ never leave thee; take courage 4 little longer
| and viii steady thy tottering steps, and
Will sopthc Thy troubles and give thee rest.
| Courage old man" Thea Christ goes up an
other garden path, and he comes TO Il SOU in
| trouble anu says: "Peace. all is well. | nave
! seen tiny tears. / have heard thy PRAYER.
| The sun sh al not smite thee by day nor the
moon 10y night. The Lord shall preserve
! thee from all evil; He VIII preserve
! thy soul. Courage. q troubled sWrt." Then
! | see Jesus going up another garden path,
! aui | see great excitement among The leaves,
/ and hasten up that garden path to 5 &c what
! Jesus Is doing there, and 10 he is breaking of
/ flowers, sharp and clean from the stem, and
/ say: "Stup, Jesus. don't Kill those beautiful
! tluWers.' He turns To me and saws: Il have
/ come into My garden to gather lilies, and
mean to take these up to higher terrace for
/ the garden around my palace, and there
/ VIII plant them; and IN better soil aud IN bet
! ter AR they shall put forth brighter leaves and
! swecter redOleuce. and no frost shall touch
| them forever" And looked upinto His face
aud said: "Well, 1t is Iii, garden and lie na-
I a right TO do what lie will with 1t. ThV Will
! he done" the hardest prayer man ever m AIDE.
II has seemed as II Jesus Christ took the
! best; from many of your households the best
/ one IL gone You know that she was too good
/ Tor this wOr d; -he was the gentlest in her
! ways. the deepest in Ter affections; and when
I AT llst the sic i>ne- camc you had no faith in
! medicines. You knew that the hour OF part
/ ing had come, and when, through the rich
/ grace Of the Lord Jesus Christ, you surren-
! derei that treasure you sald: Lord Jesus,
! take tit Is the best we have; take it. Thou