Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1893-05-12
THOUGHTS FOR MAY.
TALMAGE BREACHES ON THE
MONTH OF FLOWERS
At the Ordi nation OF His Son In Phil
adelphia-A Fountain of Gardens,
Well of Living Waters and Streams
from Lebanon.


He has dictated the following sermon on
timely and seasonable topic, "May-Iime
/ Thoughts the text select being the beau
tiful words of Solomon's Song, 4l5, "A
! fountain of gardens, IA well of living waters,
and streams from Lebanon"
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 g,eat luXuriance to the gar
dens at the foot; and you see now the
allusion of my text when it speaks of
the fountain of gardens, and streams
from Lebanon.
Again and again the church is rep
resented as a garden, all up and down
the Word of God, and 1T is 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
a handful of tlower-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 sun
shine 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
IL al hA
God is Love,
Omy friends, if we only had faith
enough, we could see Gospel lessons
all around and about us-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 beautl-
full gardens created There was the
garden of Charlemagne, and you re-
member that this king ordered gar
uens laid out all through the realm,
and decided 10y decree of government
what kind of flowers should be planted
in those gardens. Henry w., at Mont
| pellier, decreed that there should be
flowers planted throughout his realm,
and gardens laid out, and he specially
deere ed that there should be Alpine
pyrena and French plants. Shenstone
| the poet was more celebrated for his
| gardens than for his poetry; his poetry
! mas faded from the ages for the most
part, but his gardens are immortal; to
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 oak and the hazel
and the richest woods of the forest
were planted in that garden. He had
genius and he had industry, and all
his genius and all his industry he APP
| piled to the Identification OF that gar
| den. lie gave for it II 800 and he sold
| it at last for $50 900, or what was
equal to that number of dollars. 1t
was an expensive garden. laid out
with great elaboration. And yet |
have to tell you now of a garden of
vaster eXpense-the garden spoken of
in my teXt-a fountain of gardens
with the streams from Lebanon.
Walter Scott had the great mbition
of his life TO build Ab5otsfori and lay
out extensive gardens round about it.
1t broke his heart that he could not
| complete the work as he desired it. At
his last payment of el0O, 900, after lay
ing out those gardens, and building
that palace of Alb botsford, at that
time his heart broke, his health failed,
and he died almost an imbe Gle.
A few years ago, when | walked
through those gardens, and thought
at what vast expense they had been
laid out, at the expense of that mans
| life, it seemed ] could see in the Grim
| son flowers the blood of the old man S
broken heart. But have TO tell you
now of garden laid out at vaster
| expense-who can calculate that vast
expense. Tell me, We women who
watched him hang, tell me, We execu-
TONERS who lifted and let him down;
tell me, thou sun that didst hide, and
| we rocks that did fall, what the LAYING
out of this garden cost? This morn
ing, amid the aroma and brightness of
the spring-time, it is appropriate that
l show you how the Chuich of Christ
is a garden.
| remark first, it is garden because
of the rare plants in it, That would
be strange garden in which there
were no flowers. IL you cannot find
them anywhere else you will find them
along the paths, and you will find
them at the gateway.
|
especial means, you will find there the
hoilyhoclS, and the daffodil, and the
dahlia. If there be no especial taste
and no especial means, you will find
the Mexican cactus, and the blue-bell,
and the arbutus, and the clusters of
oleanders.
Flowers there must be in every gar
den, and l have TO tell you that in the
garden of the church are the rarest
| plants. Sometimes you will find the
violet, inconspicuous, but sweet as
heaven-Christian souls, with no pre-
tence, but of vast usefulness, compara-
lively unknown on earth, but TO be
glorious i'm celestial spheres. Violets
and violets all the time. You cannot
tell where these Christians have been,
save by the Frightening face of the in
valid, or the steaming tureen on the
stand near the sick pillow or the new
curtain that keeps out the glare OF the
sun from the poor mans cot. Such
characters are perhaps better typified
by the ranuncufus which goes creeping
between the thorns and the briars of
this lire, giving kiss for a sting, and
many a man has thought that life be-
| fore him was a black rock of trouble