The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-05-08
THOUGHTS FOR NAY TIME.
TaImagG breaches on the Church Of
God as a Garden.

ing in the Realm of Salvation-Gates
Open on All Sides to the Garden Of
Christ.
Philadelphia, May REV. DR. Tai
mage is in this city to-day participating
in the services at the ordination of his
son, Rev. Frank Talmage, to the ministry.
He has dictated the following sermon on
a timely and seasonable topic: May
time Thoughts" the text selected being
the beautiful words Of Solomon's Song,
iv., 10, "a fountain of gardens, "a well of
living waters, and streams from Lebanon. y
Some of the finest gardens Of olden
times were to be found at the foot Of
Mount Lebanon. Snow descended. and
winter whitened the top of the mountain;
then, when the warm spring weather
came, the SHOWS melted and poured down
the side of the mountain, and gave great
luxuriance to the gardens at the foot, and
you see now the allUsion Of my text, when
1t speaks of the fountain of gardens, and
streams from Lebanon.
Again and again the church is repre-
sented as garden, all up and down the
Word of God, and it is a figure specially
suggestive at this season of the year,
when the parks and the orchards are
about to put forth their blossom, and the
air is filled with bird voices
A mother wished to impress her child
with the love of God; and so in the spring
time, after the ground had been prepared
in the garden she took handful of flower
seed, and scattered these seeds in the
shape of letters all across the bed of the
garden. Weeks passed by and the rains
and the sunshine had done their work.
and one day the child came in and said
Mother, come quickly to the garden
come now" The mother followed the
child to the garden, and the little child
said, Look here, mother see, it is spelt
all over the ground in flowers, God is
Love-"
o, my friends if we only had faith
enough, we could see gospel lessons all
around and about lessons in shells on
the beach lessons in sparkles on the
wave, lessons in stars on the sky, lessons
In flowers all over the earth
Well, my friends, you know very well
that there have been some beautiful gar
dens created. There was the garden Of
Charlemagne, and you remember that
this king ordered gardens laid out all
through the realm, aud decided by de-
cree of government what kind of flowers
should be planted in those gardens. Henry
w, at Montpelier decreed that there
should be flowers planted throughout his
IN1ihis anu BdIutHS ldAu uubs anu ne
specially decreed that there should be
Alpine pyrena and French plants Shen-
stone, the poet, was more celebrated for
his gardens than for his poetry His
poetry has faded from the ages for the
most part, but his gardens are immortal;
10 all the beauty of his place he added
perfection of art. Palisade and arch and
arbor and fountain and rustic temple had
their most wonderful specimens and the
nnlF and fha hnza1 aud tho rsi.ltocf Dc
of the forest were planted in that garden
He had genius and nc had industry, and
all his genius and all his industry he APP
piled to the Identification of that garden
He gave for IL one thousand and five hum
dred dollars and he sold it az
last for eighty-tive thousand dollars,
or what was equal to that num-
garden, laid out with great elaboration
And yet have to tell you now of gar
den of vaster eXpense-the garden spoken
of in my teXt-a fountain of gardens with
the stream from Lebanon
Walter Scott had the great ambition Of
his life to build Abbotsford and lay out
extensive gardens round about it. 1t
broke his heart that he could not COM
plete the work as he desired il. At his
last payment of one hundred thou-
sand pounds, after laying out
those gardens, and building that palace
of Abbotsford, at that time his heart
broke, his health failed, and he died all
most an imbecile.
A few years ago, when ! walked
through those gardens, and I thought at
what vast expense they had been laid out,
at the expense of that mans life, it
seemed | could see in the crimson flowers
the blood Of the old mans broken heart.
But / have TO tell you now of a garden
laid out at yaster eXpense-whO can cali
culate that vast expense. Tell me, We
women who watched him hang, tell me,
We executioners who lifted and let him
down tell me, thou sun that didst hide.
and ye rocks that did fall, what the lay
ing out of his garden cost. This morning,
amid the aroma and brightness of the
spring-time il is appropriate that ] show
you how the church Of Christ is a garden.
/ remark first, it is a garden because Of
the rare plants in IT, That would be
strange garden in which there We're no
flowers. If you cannot find them any
where else you will find them along the
paths, and you viii find them at the gate
way.
If there be no especial taste and no es-
pecial means. you will find there the hol-
lyhock and the daffodil, and the dahlia.
If there be no especial taste and no espe-
cial means, you will find the Mexican cac-
tus, and the blue-bell and the arbutus, and
the clusters of oleanders.
Flowers there must be in every garden.
and / have to tell you that in the garden
Of the church are the rarest plants.
Sometimes you will find the violet. incon-
spicuous, but as sweet as heaven-C Chris
tian souls, with no pretense, but of vast
usefulness, comparatively unknown on
earth, but to be glorious in celestial
spheres. Violets and violets all the time.
You cannot tell where these Christians
have been, save by the Frightening face
of the invalid, or the steaming tureen on
the stand near the sick pillow, or thenew
curtain that keeps out the glare of the
sun from the poor mans cot Such char
acters are perhaps better typified by the
ranunculus which goes creeping between
the thorns and the briars Of this life Civ
ing kiss for sting; and many man
has thought that life before him was
black rock Of trouble, and found it COW
cred all over with delightsome jessamine
of Christian sympathy.
In the garden Of the Lord l find the
Mexican cactus, loveiness within, thorns
without, men with great sharpness of be-
hayiOr and manner, but within them tho
peace Of God, the love Of God, the grace
Of God. They are hard men 70 handle,
ugly men 70 touch. very apt TO strike back
when you. strike them, yet within them
all lOyeliness and attraction, while out
side 80 completely unfortunate. Mexican
cactus All the time