The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1893-05-10

| ap on the hill and turned on the water.
and 1t came flashing down the broad
stairs of stone, until sunlight and wave
In gleesome wrestle tumbled at my
feet. And so it is with this garden OF
Christ. Everything comes from above
pardon from above, peace from above,
comfort from above, sanctification from
above. Streams from Lebanon, OIL the
consolation in this thought. Would
God that the gardeners turned on the
fountain of salvation until the place
where we sit and stand might become
Elm with twelve wells of water and
three-score and ten palm trees. But l
hear sound at the garden gate. 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 gar
den, and comes to the aged man, and
He says: "Old man, come to help
thee, come to strengthen thee. Down
to hoary hairs l will shelter thee; ] will
give thee strength at the time of old
nga; will not leave, l will never for
sake thee. Peace, broken-hearted old
man, / will be thy consolation forever"
And then Christ the Gardener comes
up another path of the garden, and He
sees soul in great trouble, and He
says. Hush, troubled spirit, the sun
shall not smite thee by day, nor the
moon by night; the Lord shall preserve
thee from all evil; the Lord shall pre-
serve thy soul" And then the Card
ener comes up another path of the
garden, and He comes where there are
some beautiful buds, and say, stop,
D Gardener, do not break them off. "
But He breaks them off, the beautiful
buds, and / see great futter among
the leaves, and l wonder what He is
doing, and He says, 81 do not come to
destroy these flowers; l am only going
to plant them in higher terrace, and
in the garden around My palace. l
have come into My garden to gather
lilies. l must take back whole cluster
of rosebuds. Peace, troubled soul; all
shall be well. Suffer the little chill
dren to come unto Me, and forbid them
not, for of such is the Kingdom Of
Heaven" o, glorious Gardener of the
Church Christ comes to it now, and
He has right to come. We look into
the 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 father or mother
ever uttered-"Thy will be done" But
you have noticed that around every
kings garden there is high wall.
You may have stood at the wall Of a
kings court and thought, "How | would
like to see that garden;" and while
you were watching the gardener opened
the gate and the royal equipage swept
through it and you caught glimpse of
the garden, but only glimpse, for then
the gates closed.
bless God that this garden of Christ
has gates on all sides, that they are
opened by day, opened by night, and
whosoever will may come in. OH how
many they are who die in the desert
when they might revel in the gardenl
How many there are who are seeking
in the garden of this world that salts
faction which they can never find.
1t was so with Theodore Hook, who
made all nations laugh while he was
living. And yet Theodore Hook, on a
certain day when in the midst of his
revelry he caught glimpse Of his own
face and his own apparel in the mirror,
said: "That is true. look just as
AMIDST, body, mind, soul and estate,
lost" And so it was with Shenstone
about his garden, of which spoke in
the beginning of my sermon. He sat
down amid all its beauty and wrung
his hands and said: 81 have lost my
way to happiness am frantic Ihate
everything; hate myself as madman
ought to-" Alasl so many in the gar
dens of this world are looking for that
flower they can never find except in the
garden of Christi.
Substantial comfort will not grow
In natures barren soil,
All we can boast till Christ we know
Is vanity and toll.
How many have tried all the foun-
tain's Of this worlds pleasure, but
never tasted of the stream Of Lebanoni
How many have revelled in other gar
dens, to their souls ruin, but never
pluclsed one flower from the garden of
our God! swing open all the gates Of
the garden and invite you in, what
eyer your history, whatever your sins,
whatever your temptations, whatever
your trouble. The invitation comes no
more TO one than TO all "Whosoever
will, let him come"
The flowers Of earthly gardens soon
fade, but, blessed be God, there are
garlands that never wither, and
through the grace Of Christ Jesus we
may enter into the joys which are pro-
vided for us at Gods right hand. ohl
come into the garden. And remember,
as the closing thought, that God not
only brings us into garden here, but
1t is garden all the way with those
who trust, and love, and serve Him, a
garden all through the struggles Of
this life, garden all up the slope Of
heaven.
There everlasting spring abides
And never-withering flowers;
Death, like narrow stream, divides
rlt,a ho. lxv La fro