Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1886-07-24

sprig Of geranium on the stand, and
the new window curtains keeping out
the glow of the sunlight. They are,
perhaps, more like the %ranunculus,
creeping sweetly along amid the thorns
and briars of life, giving kiss for sting;
and many a man who has had in his
way some great black rock of trouble.
has found that they nave covered it all
Over with fowery %jessamine running in
and out amid the creviccs. These flow
ers in Christs garden are not like the
sunfower gaudy in thelight, but where
ever darkness hovers over Il soul that
needs TO be comfortcd, there they
stand,
NIGHT-BLOOMING CEREUsEs.
But in Christ's garden there are plants
that may be better compared to the
Mexican cactus-thorns without. love
illness within; men with sharp points of
character, They wound almost every
one that touches them. They are hard
to handle. Men pronounce them nothing
but thorns, but Christ loves them not
withstanding all their s~harpnesses.
Many II mar has had Il very hard
ground to cultivate, and it has been
through severe trial he has raised ever
the smallest scrap of grace. A very
harsh minister was talking to a very
placid elder, and the placid elder said
to the harsh minister: doctor, | do
wish you would control your temper"
.Ah," said the minister to the elder;
81 control more temper in five minutes
than you do in five years" 1t is harder
for some men to do right than for other
men to do right. The grace that would
elevate yoE TO the seventh heaven
knocking Il man down. | had n friend
"ho came to me and said: Il dare not
join the church, | said: "WhyP"
Oh" he said, Il have such q violent
temper. Yesterday morning | was
crossing very early at the Jersey City
ferry, and ! saw a milkman pour IA
large amount Of water into the milk
can, and | said to him: Il think that
will do and he insultcd me, and /
knocked him down. DO YOU think |
ought to join the church," Neverthe-
less, that very same man, who was so
harsh in his behavior, loved Christ and
could not speak of sacred things with
out tears of emotion and affection.
Thorns without, sweetness within-the
best specimen of Mexican cactus | ever
saw.
There are others planted in Christ's
garden who are always radiant, always
inpressive--more like the
oSE OF DEEP
that we occasionally find called
''giants of battle" the Martin Luthers,
St. PaulS, Chrysostoms, Wicklytfs, Lati-
mers and Samuel Rutherfords. What
in other men is Il spark. in them is II
conflagration. When they sweat, they
sweat great drops of blood. When
they pray, their prayer takes fire.
When they preach, it is a Pentecost.
When they 'Ight, it is a Thermopylp.
When they die, it is ii martyrdom. You
find a grea. many roses in the gardens
but only g few 'giants of battle Men
say: IVY by don't you have more of
them in church," | say: why
don't you have more Humboldts and
Wellingtons." God gives to some ten
talents. to another one.
In this garden of the church which
Christ has planted | also find the snow
drops, beautiful but cold looking.
seemingly another phase Of winter. |
mean those Christians who are precise
in their tastes, unimpassioned, pure rs
~snowdrops and as cold. They never
shed any tears, they never get excited.
they never say anything rashly, they
never do anything prccipitately. Their
pulses never flutter, their nerves never
twitch, their Indignation never boils
over. They live longer than most peo-
pie, but their life is in a minor key.
They never run up to ''C' above the
staff. In their music of life they have
no staccato passages. Christ planted
them in the church, and they must be
of some service or they would not be
there; snowdrops, always snowdrops.
But ] have lot told you Of the most
BEAUTIFUL FLOWER
in all this garden spoken of in the text.
If you see a century plant your emo
llOHS are SlaIltu. lou say WHY.
this flower has been q hundred years
gathering up for II bloom, and it will
be q hundred years more before other
petals will come OUT But | have to
tell you of a plant that was gathering
up from all eternity, and that nineteen
hundred years ago put forth its bloom
never to wither. 1t is the passion-plant
of the cross! Prophets foretold it;
Bethlehem shepherds looked upon it
in the bud; the rocks shook ut its
bursting; and the dead got up in their
winding sheets to see its full bloom. Ii
is a crimson flower-blood ut the roots,
blood on the branches, blood on all the
leaves. Its perfume is to fill
all the nations. Its breath is heaven.
Come, O winds from the north, and
winds from the south, and winds from
the east, and winds from the west, and
bear to all the earth the understanding
SAVIOR OF Christ, my Lord!
''His worth II all the nations knew,
Sure the whole earth would love Him too
Again: The church may be appro-
riately compared TO a garden, because
it is 4 place of select fruits. That
would be a strange garden which had
in it no berries, no plums, or peaches,
or apricots. The coarser fruits are
planted in the orchard or they are set