Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1893-05-24

| Sure tho who!o earth would love Him too.
Thou, the Christ Of all the ages, hast gar
mcnts smelling of myrrh and aloes and cas-
STA out OF the ivory palaces.
90 further and say the church Of Christ
Is appropriately compared to garden be-
cause Of Its thorough irrigation. There can
bo no luxuriant garden without plenty Of
water. saw garden in the midst of the
desert amid the Rocky mountains. said,
Glow Is 1t possible you have so many
flowers, 80 much rich fruit, in desert for
miles aroundY Isuppose some OF you havo
seen those gardens Well, they told me they
had aqueducts and pipes reaching up to the
hills, and the SHOWS melted on the Sierra
Nevada and the Rocky mountains and then
poured down In winter to those aqueducts,
and 1t kept the fields in great luxuriance
Ana l thought to mysef-how like the gar-
den OF Christ All around it tho barrcnness
Of sin and the barrcnnGss Of tho world. but
our eyes are unto the hills, from whence
cometh our help. There is u river the
streams whereof shall make glad the city OF
our God the fountain of gardens and streams
from Lebanon. Water to slake the thirst,
water to refresh the fainting, water to wash
the unclcan, water TO toss up in fountains
under the sun of righteousness until you can
SEQ the rainbow around the throne.
wandered in garden of Brazilian cashcw
nut, and saw the luXuriance of those gar
dens was helped by the abundant supply Of
water. came to it on a day when strangers
were not admitted, but by q strange coinci-
dence at the moment | got in, the kings
chariot passed, and tho gardener went up on
the hill and turned on the water, and it came
flashing down the broad stairs of stone until
sunlight and wave in gleesome wrestle tum-
bled at my feet. And so it Is with this garden
OF Unrlst. everything comes from above
pardon from above, peace from above COM
fort from above, sanctllcation from above.
Streams from Lebanon. Oh. the consolation
in this thought Would God that the garden
ers turned on the fountain of salvation until
the place where we sit and stand might
become Elm with twelve wells of
water and thrcescore and ten palm trees. But
hear His sound at the garden gate. l hear
the lifting Of the latch Of the gate, Who
comes there? 1t is the Gardener, who passes
in through the garden gate. He comes
through this path of the garden. and He
comes to the aged man, and He says: sold
man, | come to help thee | come to
strengthen thee. Down to hoary hairs will
shelter thee | will give thee strength at the
time Of old age. | will not leave; | will
never iorSnkc thee. Peace, broken hearted
old man | will he thy consolation forever"
And then Christ, the Gardener. comes up
another path of the garden. and He sees q
soul in great trouble, and He says, "Hush,
troubled spirit the sun shall not smtc thee
by day, nor the moon by night the Lord
shall preserve thee from all evil: the Lord
shall preserve thv soul" And then the Gar
dener comes up another path of the garden.
and He comes where there are some beautiful
buds. and | say. "Stop, o Gardener; do not
break them or" But He breaks them Off,
the beautiful buds, and | see u great nutter
among the leaves and | wonder what He is
doing, and He SAYS 81 do not come to
destroy these flowers. | am only going to
plant them in higher terrace and
in the garden around Ny pal.
ace. have come into My garden to gather
lilies. | must take back a whole cluster OF
rosebuds. Peace, troubled soul: all shall be
well. Suffer the little children to come unto
Me and forbid them not, for of such is tho
kingdom OF heaven" Oh, glorious Gardener
OF the church Christ comes to it now, AMI
He has right to come We look into tho
face of the Gardener as He breaks off the bud,
and we say "Thou art worthy to have them.
Thy will be done" The hardest prayer u
bercaved father or mother ever uttered
"Thy will be done.
But you have noticed that around every
KING 5 garden ther' is hlHh wall. 1oumny
have stood at the wall OF Il king s court AMI
thou ght HHOw I wOn,d like 70 SOC that ,ar-
don ~ and Will vo,, ,,nra ,,.,t.Ii,,,, Tho
gardener opencd the gate and the royal
eouipage swept through il. and Won caught
n GLIMPSE of the garden. Int only n plinpsn.
for then the gates closed.
bless God that this Garden of Christ has
gates on nil sides. that they are opcnrd Inv
day. opencd by night and whosoryer will
may come in. on how many thore are who
die in the desert when thew MIGHT revnI
in tho garden How many thcre are who
nrc seeking in fine rnrlnn of this world that
satisfaction which tbcv can nnyorIlnIl
If was 50 with Theodore 100, who ,nodo
nil nations lnurb while he was Twin, And
VET Theodore on certain doy. when in tbo
midst Of his revnIrv he cnr,,Lt a rIi'nnso nj;
his own face and His own npnarel IN tnc
mirror. said .,That il truo. | I"o; inst as
Tom-iost body. mind soul and estate lost !"
And So If was with Shrnstonr nbout hi. pnr.
den, of which I smoke in the berinninr OF NV
sermon. He snt down amid nil its bcoutv
and wrunr his hands and said 81 have LOST
my way to happiness | am frantic | hate
| everything | hate myself MS n mnd man
OUGHT IA Y Al,e ca ,,,.ny in tbn rnrI,ng al
.,' W. ~ iI''oS - W. '' .,.'.