The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1893-05-18

Sllcu lucu, WIN nave great eXaSperatlOn
OF manner and seem TO be very different
from what they should be, really have
in their souls that which commends
thcm TO the Lord, Mexican cactus all
the time, So man said to mo years
ago: "Do you think ought TO become
member OF the church? | have such
violcntte n2er.
"I csucrday l was c.ossing Jersey
City ferry. 1t was early in the mora
ing, and saw q milkman putting a large
quantity Of water into his can | sad,
That is enough, sir and he got of the
cart and insultcd me, and knocked
him down Well," said he, "do you
think L could ever become a Christian?'
That man had in his soul the grace Of
the Lord Jesus, but outside he was full!
OF thOrns,' and lul Of brambles, and
full OF cXasperatlons, but he could not
hear the story of Saviour's mercy told
without having the tears roll down his
| cheek. There was lovellness within,
but roughness outside. Mexican cactus
all the time.
| But l remember IN boyhoDd that VIC
had in our father's garden what we called
Tue Giant OF Battle, a peculiar rose, very
rcd and fiery. Suggestive flower, it was
called the Giant of Battle. Aud so in
tOc garden OF the Lord we fiud that kind
OF llower-thc Pauls and Martin Luthcrs,
TIC Wycllis, the John Kuoxes--giauts
OF battle. What in other men Is a spark
IN them is q conf agation. When thew
pray, lhelr prayers take fire, when they
sulle', they sweat great drops Of blood;
when they preach, it is a pcntecost; ;
when they fight it ls Thermopyl;c,
When they die, it is martyrlom-glants
OF battle. You say, "Why have we not
more OF them in the church OF Christ at
ths !lmc?" l answer your question by
asking another, "Why have we not more
Cromwclls ana IIumboldts in the
World?' God wants only a few giants
OF battle. They do their work and they
do il well.
But lind also in the church Of God a
plant that l shall call the sno wdrop.
Very beautiful, but cold. 1t is yary
purc-purc as the snowdrop, beautiful
as the snowdrop aud as cold as the
snowdrop. No special sympathy. That
kind OF man never loses his paticuca.
lie never wceps; he never lushes with
anger; he never utters rash word. AL
ways cold, always precise, always pas.
siVe-bcautilul snowdrop. But | don't
like him. | would rather have one Gi.
ant OF Battle than 5000 snOwdrop3.
Give me man VIII, may make some
mistakes in his ardor for the Lords
service rather than that kind of nature |
which spends its whole lie doing but
one thing, and that is keeping cquilbri-
um. There are snowdrops in all the |
without any sympathy. |
Very good. They are in the garden of the |
l.ord; therefore | know they ought 10 be
there but always suOwd, ops.
You have seen in some places per-
haps century plant. | do not suppose
there Is Il pers IN iu this house who has
ever seen more than one century plant
IN il!l bloom and when you see The cen.
tnry plant your emotions arc stirred.
You look at it and say, "This flower has
been gathering up its beauty for whole
century, and it will not bloom again for
another hundred years." Well, have
To tell YOU that in this garden Of The
church spoken Of in my text there Is a
century plant.
1t has gathered up It's bloom from all
the ages OF eternity, and 10 centuries
ago it put forth It's glory. Ii is not only
a century plant, but a passion ilowcr-
The pa ,sion flower of Christ, u crimson
liowcr, blood at the root and blood on
| tie leaves, the passion flower of Jesus,
the century plant OF eternity. Come, O
winds from the north, and winds from
the SOUTH and winds from the east, and
winds from the west, and scatter the
perfume OF this flower through all na-
tlUns.
His worth, if all the nations kne w,
Sure the whole earth would love him too.
Thou, the Christ Of all the a1cs, hast
garments smelling Of myrrh and aocs
and cassa out Of tie ivory palaces.
| 90 further and say the chur:h of |
Christ is appropriately compared to a |
garden because of its thorough irrigation.
There can be no luyuriant garden with
out plenty of water. saw garden in the
midst OF the desert amid the Rocky
Mountains. l said, GLOW is it possible
rou have so many ilowers, 50 much rich
fruit in desert for miles around?n |
suppose some Of you have seen those
gardens. Well, they told me they had
AQucduct3 ana pipes reaching up to the |
hills and the SHOWS melted on the Sier-
"a Nevada and the Rocky mountains |
md then poured down IN water to those
lqucducts, and it kept the fields in great
uNuriaucc. Aud L thought to myself
iow like the garden of Christ! All
lrOund il the barrenuosa of sin and the
oarrcnncss Of the world, but our eyes
are unto the hills, from whence cometh
our help. There is river the streams
whereof shall make glad the city Of our
iod-the fountain of gardens and
streams from Lebanon. Water to slake
he thirst, water to refresh the faintiny,
water to wash the unclean, water to toss
lp in fountains under the sun of right
'ousncss until you can sec the rainbow
around the throne.
| wandered in garden Of Brazilian
'ashcw nut, and saw the luXuriancc of
hose gardens was helped by the abun.
liant supply OF water. | came TO it on a
lay when STRANGERS were not admitted,
'ut by a strange coincidence. at the mo-
ncnt | got in, the kings chariot passed
md the gardener went up on the hill and
u"ned on the water, and il camo flash
nG down the broad stairs OF stone un-
II sunlight and wave in glccsome wres.