The Iola register., 1886-07-23

martyrdom. You nnd great many roses
in the gardens, bat only . few "giants Of
battle" Men say; "why don't you have
moro Of them In the church," I say;
"Why don't you have In the world more
Humboldts and wdlingtons." God gives
to some ten talents; to another one.
In this garden Of the Church which
Christ has planted, I also find the snow.
drops, beautiful but cold looking, seeming.
ly another phase Of winter. I mean
those Christians who are precise in
their tastes, unimpasioned. pure q
snowdrops and ~ cold. They never
shed any tears, they never get ex.
cited, they never say any thing rashly,
they never do any thing precipitately.
Their pulses never hutter, their nerves
never twitch, their indignation never boils
over. They live longer than most people,
but their life il In minor key. They nev.
er run up to &C" above the staff. In their
music of life they have no staccato pas.
sages. Christ planted them in the Church,
and they must be of some service, or they
would not be there; snowdrops, always
snowdrops.
But have not told you Of the most bean.
tiful flower In all this garden spoken of in
the text. II you see century plant your
emotions are startled. You say: "Why,
this flower has been a hundred years gath.
ering up for one bloom, and It will be .
hundred years more before other petals
will come out" But / have to tell you of
. plant that was gathering up from all
eternity, and that 1, 800 years ago put forth
its bloom never to wither. It is the pas.
sion plant OF the cross! Prophets foretold
It; Bethlehem shepherds looked upon IL in
the bud; the rocks shook at its bursting;
and the dead got up in their winding.
sheets to SEQ its full bloom. It is crimson
f1ower-blood at the roots, blood on the
branches, blood ON all the leaves. Its per.
fume 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, aud bear to all the earth the sweet.
smelling SAVIOR of Christ, my Lordi
His worth II all the nations knew.
Sure the whole earth would love him too.
ly compared to q garden, because it is q
place of select fruits. That would he q
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 out on the sunny hillside;
but the choicest fruits are kept in the gar
den. So in the world outside the Church.
Christ has planted a great many beautiful
things-patience, charity, generosity, in.
tegrity; but he intends the choicest fruits
to be in the ga-del, and II they are not
there, then shame on the Church. Relig.
ion is not mere towering sentimentality.
1t 10 a practical, lise-giving, healthful fruit
mot posies, but applee.
"O," says somebody: II don't see what
your garden of the Church has yielded" 4"
Where did your asylr:ns come from? and
your hospitals: and your institutions of
mercys Christ planted every one Of them.
He planted them in his garden. When
Christ gave sight to Balf!nieus he laid the
corner stone Of every blind asylum that
has ever been built. When Christ soothed
the demoniac of Galilee he laid the corner
stone of every luuatic asylum that has
ever been established. When Christ said
to the sick man. "Take up they bed and
walk" he laid the corner -ston3 Of every
hospital the world has ever seen. When
Christ said: 81 was in the prison and ye
visited me-" he laid the cornerstone Of
every prison reform association that has
ever been formed. The Church of Christ
is glorious garden, and is full of fruit.
know there is some poor fruit in it.
know there are some weeds that ought to
be thrown over the fence. know there
are some crab-apple trees that ought to he
cut down. I know there are some wild
grapes that ought to be uprooted; but are
you going to destroy the whole garden be-
cause of little gnarlsd fruit? You will
find worm m-eate n leaves in Fontainebleau,
and insects that sting in the fairy groves
of the Champs Elysees. You ,lo not tear
down and destroy the whole garden be-
cause there arc few specimens Of gnarled
fruit. admit there are men and women
in the church who ought not to be there;
but let us be Just as frank and admit the
fact that there are hundreds and thou
sands and tens Of thousands of glorious
Christian men and women-holy, blessed,
useful, consecrated and triumphant. There
j. no grander collection in all the earth
than the collection of Christians. There
are Christian men in this house whose re-
ligion is not matter of psalm singing and
church going. Tomorrow morning that
religion will keep them just as consistent
and consecrated in their worldly occupa-
ton as it ever kept them at the COM
muuion-table.
There are woman here to day Of higher
type Of character than Mary of Bethany.
They not only sit at the feet of Christ, but
they 60 out into the kitchen to help Martha
in her work, that she may sit there too.
There is q woman who has o drunken hus-
band, who has exhibited more faith and
more patience and courage than Ridley in
the fire. He was consumed in twenty
minutes. Here has been twenty years.
martyrdom. Yonder is man who has
been twenty years on his back, unable
even to feed himself, yet calm and peace
full as though he lay on ono of the green
banks Of heaven. watching the oarsmen
dip their paddles in the crystal river!
Why, it seems to me this moment as il st.
Paul threw to US pomologist's catalogue
of the fruits growing in this great garden
of Christ-love, joy, peace, patience, char
ity, brotherly kindness, gent!eness. mercy;
glorious fruit, enough to fill 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 it
was SO split, and bruised, and barked, men
said nothing would ever grow upon it; but
no sooner had that tree been planted than
it budded, and blossomed, and fruited, and
the soldiers spears were only the clubs