The Bossier banner., 1893-05-25

MANY a man has thought that life be-
| fore him was black rock of trouble,
and found it covered all over with de-
lightsome jessamine of Christian sym
pathy.
In this garden of the Lord l find the
Mexican cactus, loveliness within,
thorns without, men with great sharp
ness of behavior and manner, but with
in them the peace of God, the love OF
God, the grace of God. They are hard
men to handle, ugly men to touch, very
apt to strike back when you strike
them, yet within them all loneliness
and attraction, while outside so COM
pletely unfortunate. Mexican cactus
all the time.
Said placid elder to Christian
minister: doctor, you would do well
to control your temper" "Ah"' said
the minister to the placid elder, Il con-
troll more temper in five minutes than
you do in five years" These people,
| gifted men, who have great exaspera-
tion of manner, and seem to be very
different from what they should be,
really have in their souls that which
! commends them to the Lord. Mexican
cactus all the time. So, man said to
me years ago: ''Do you think l ought
to become a member of the church,
have such violent temper?. Yester-
day l was crossing Jersey City ferry.
1t was very early in the
morning and I saw milkman
putting large quantity of water into
his can and l said: That is enough,
sir and he got off the cart and insulted
me, and knocked him down. Well"
said he, ''do you think could ever be-
come Christian?" That man had in
his soul the grace of the Lord Jesus,
but outside he was full of thorns, and
full of brambles, and full of exaspera-
tions; but he could not hear the story
of a Saviour's mercy told without hav-
ing the tears roll down his cheek.
There was loveliness within, but rough
ness outside. Mexican cactus all the
time.
But remember in boyhood that we
had in our fathers garden what we
called the giant of battle, a peculiar
rose, very red and very fiery. Sugges-
tive flower it was called the giant of
battle. And SO in the garden of the
Lord we find that kind of fiower-the
Pauls and Martin Luthers, the Wy
cliffes, the John Knoxes-giants of bat
tie. What in other men is spark, in
them is a confiagration; when they
pray, their prayers take fire. When
they sr.fer they sweat great drops OF
blood: when they preach it is a pente-
cost; when they fight it is a Thermop-
yls; when they die it is martyrdom-
giants of battle. You say: 'Why have
we not more of them in the church OF
: Christ at this time?" l answer your
question by asking another: why
have we not more Cromwells and Hum
boldts in the world?" God wants only
few giants of battle; they do then
work, and they do it well.
| But find also in the church of Goo
plant that shall call the snowdrop
S Very beautiful, but cold; it is very
S pure, pure as the snowdrop, beautiful
as the snowdrop, and as cold as the
l snowdrop. Nospecial sympathy. Tha
: kind of man never loses his patience
/ he never weeps, he never flashes will
~
!, Always cold, always precise, alway
: passive, beautiful snowdrop; but dom
n like him. 1 would rather have on
e giant of battle than five thousant
d snowdrops.
l. Give me man who may make som
r mistakes in his ardor for the Lord
d service, rather than that kind of natur
l. which spends it's whole life doing bu
l. one thing, and that is keeping equilih
e rum. There are snowdrops in all tn
l. churches-men without any sympathy
" Very good; they are in the garden O
r the Lord, therefore l know they ough
n to be there; but always snowdrops.
D You have seen in some places, pei
haps, century plant. l do not SUI
l. pose there is person in this house VIII
d has seen more than one century plan
d in full bloom, and when you see tn
le century plant your emotions are stirred
E. You look at it and say: This f1owe
n has been gathering up its beauty for
1t century, and it will not bloom agai
l. for another hundred years" Well,
is have to tell you that in this garden {
lie the church,, spoken of in my text, the1
is a century plant.
ID 1t has gathered up it's bloom from a
l the ages of eternity, and nineteen Gel
I'd turies ago it put forth its glory. 1t
at not only century plant, but a passio
he fower-the passion flower of Christ;
Id crimson flower, blood at the root, an
III blood on the leaves, the passion flow,
er of Jesus the century plant of eternit
st Come, OH winds from the north, an
no winds from the south, and winds fro
n the east, and winds from the west, al
I'll scatter the perfume of this flow
We through the nations
ut His worth II all the nations knew,
%. Sure the whole earth would love Him. too
he Thou, the Christ of all the ages, ha
1 garments smelling of myrrh, and aloe
sa and casia, out of the ivory palaces.
l go further and say the Church
Sc Christ is appropriately compared to
be garden, because of its thorough irrig
re ton. There can be no luxuriant ga
IN den without plenty of water. ! saw
at garden in the midst of the desert am
the Rocky mountains. l said: How
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