The Iola register., 1886-07-23
TALMAGE'S SERMON.

TAuMAdES SEKMUN.
Becond Discourse Of the Series on
svoicos Of Gardens and Fields"
The Church Militant ~ the Garden Of
Chrlst-lts Labor. Fruits and FloweEs
-Herolc Laborers-The Voice
of the Gardener.
Rev. +: Dewitt Talmage delivered the
second Of his series Of discourses on
"voices Of Gardens and Fields" at "The
Hamptons," taking for his text:
am come into my garden.-Solomon's
Song. v.,L
He said: The Bible is great poem. We
have in it's faultless rhythm, and hold inn
agery, and startling antithesis, and rap.
turous lyric, and sweet pastoral, and in.
structive narrative, and devotional psalm,
thoughts expressed in style more solemn
than that of Montgomery, more bold than
that of Milton, mere terrible than that Of
Dante, more natural than that Of Words
worth, more impassioned than that of
Pollok, more tender than that Of Cowper,
more weird than that Of Spenser. This
great poem brings all the gems Of the
earth into its coronet, and It weaves the
flames Of judgment into its garlands, and
pours eternal harmonies in its rhy thin.
Every thing this book touches it makes
beautiful, from the plain stones of the
summer threshing floor to the daughters
of Nabor filling the trough for the camels,
and the 1sh-pools Of Heshbon up to the
Psalmist praising God with diapason of
storm and whirlwind, and Job leading
forth Orion, Arcturus and Pleiades.
Ny text leads US into . scene Of summer
rcdolence. The world has had a great
many beautiful gardens. Charlemagne
added to the glory of his reign by decree.
ing that they be established all through
the realm-deciding even the names of the
flowers to be planted there. Henry w., at
Montpelier, established gardens of be.
witching beauty and luxuriance. gather.
ing into them Alpine, Tyrenean and
French plants. One of the sweetest spots
on earth was the garden of shenstone, the
poet. His writings have made but little
impression on the world, but his garden,
''The Lessowes," will be immortal. To
the natural advantage Of this place was
brought the perfection of art. Arbor, and
terrace, and slope, aud rustic temple, and
reservoir, and urn and fountain here had
their crowning. Oak and yew and hazel
put forth their richest foliage. There was
no life more diligent, no soul more in
genious than that of Shenstone, and all
that diligence and genius he brought to
the adornment of that one treasured spot.
He gave 81 800 for it; he sold it for SS5, 900.
And yet am to tell you to-day of o richer
garden than have mentioned.
1t is the garden spoken of in my teIt,
the garden of the church, which belongs
to Christ, for my text says SO. He bought
It, he planted it, he owns it, and he shall
have it. Walter Scott, in his outlay at
in the crimson flowers of those gardens,
you can almost think or imagine that you
see the blood OF that old mans broken
heart. The payment of the last 500, 900
sacrificed him. But I have to tell you
that Christ's life and Christ's death were
the outlay of this beautiful garden Of the
church, of which my text speaks. Oh,
how many signs, and tears, and pangs,
and agon;es! Tell me, ye women who
saw him hang! Tell me. ye executioners
who lifted him and lot him down! Tell
se, thou sun that didst hide; We rocks
that fell! ''Christ loved the church and
gave himself for it." II the garden of the
church belongs to Christ, certainly he has
a right to walk in it. Come, then, o
blessed Jesus. to-day; walk up and down
these aisles, and pluck what Thou wilt of
sweetness for Thysel
The church, in my text. is appropriately
to a garden, Lecause it is place
Of choice flowers, of select fruits, and of
thorough irrigation.
That would lie a strange garden in which
there were no flowers. II nowhere else,
they would be along the borders or at the
gateway. The homeliest taste will dictate
if it be the old IA shinned holly
hook, or dahlia, or daffodil; but il there be
larger means, then you will find the Mexi-
can cactus, and blazing szalea, and clus-
tering oleander. Well, now Christ comes
to his garden, and he plants there some of
the brightest spirits that ever fowered
upon the world. Some of them are vioIets,
but sweet as heaven. You
have to search and find them. You do not
Bee them very often, perhaps, but you find
where they have been by the frightened
face Of the invalid, and the sprig of ger
Anium on the stand, and the new window
curtains keeping out the glow OF the sun
light. They are, perhaps, more like the
creeping sweetly along amid
the thorns and briars Of life, giving kiss
for sting; and many man who has had
In his way some great black rock of
trouble, has found that they have covered
it all over with the fiowery jessamine run
ming in and out amid the crevices. These
flowers in Christ's garden are not like sun
flowers, gaudy in light, but wherever
darkness hovers over a soul that needs to
be comforted, there they stand, night
blooming cereuses. But in Christ's garden
there are plants that may be bet
ter compared to the Mexican
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 notwithstanding all
their sharpnesses. Many a man has had
R very hard ground to cultivate, and it
has only been through severe trial he has
raised even the smallest scrape OF grace.
A very harsh minister was talking to
very placid elder, and the placid elder said
10 the harsh minister:
"Doctor, do wish you would control
your temper"
"Ah," said the minister to the elder, 81
rontrol 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 you to the seventh