The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1893-05-13

turned on the WaIeT, anu ~ CGiio AseSi1-
ing 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, sane
LITIGATION from above. Streams from
Lebanon. Oh, the consolation in this
thought! Would God that the garden
ers turned on the fountain of salvation
until the place where we sit and stand
might become Elm with IL wells OF
water and threescore and ten palm trees.
But hear his sound at the garden gate.
l hear the lifting Of the latch Of the gate.
Who comes there? It is the Gardener,
who passes in through the garden gate.
He comes through this path of the gar
den, and he comes to the aged man, and
he says: '.Old man, I come to help thee;
/ come to strengthen thee. Down to
hoary hairs I will shelter thee; I viii
give thee strength at the time of old age.
| will not leave; I will never forsake
thee. Peace, broken hearted old man;
will be thy consolation forever"
TIKI DIVINE dAtS1GHEhs r
And then Christ, the Gardener, comes
up another path of the garden, and he
sees a soul IN great trouble, and he says,
''Hush, troubled spirit; thesun shall not
smite thee by day, nor the moon by
night; the Lord shall preserve thee from
all evil; the Lord shall preserve thy
SOUL" And then the Gardener comes up
another path Of the garden, and he comes
where there are some beautiful buds,
and I say, 'sStop, 0 Gardener; do not
break them off," But be breaks them
off, the beautiful buds, and see great
futter among the leaves, and I wonder
what he Is doing, and he says: Il do not
come to destroy these flowers. am
only going to plant them in a higher ter
race and in the garden around my pal
ace. 1 have come into my garden to
gather Hlies must take back whole
cluster of rosebuds. Peace, troubled
soul; all shall be we'll Suffer the little
children to come unto me and forbid
them not, foraof such is the kingdom Of
heaven" Oh, 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 a bereaved father or
mother ever uttered hywill be DONE"
THE WALL OF DEFENSE.
But you have noticed that around ev-
cry kings garden there is a high wall.
You may have stood at the wall of a
kings court and thought, GLOW 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 a 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 there are who die in the desert
when they might revel in the gardeni
How many there are who are seeking in
| the garden of this world that satisfaction
which they can never find!
It was SO with Theodore Hook, who
made all nations laugh while he was liv-
ing. And yet Theodore Hook ON GER
tain day, when in the midst of his rev.
elry he caught glimpse Of his own face
and his own apparel in the mirror, said:
"That is true. look just as I AMIDST,
body, mind, soul and estate, lostr And
SO it was with Shenstone about his gar
den, of which spoke in the beginning
1 - EIac oil ;+1
beauty and wrung his hands and said,
ST have lost my way to happiness; am
frantic; hate everything; I hate myself
as mad man ought to-, Alas, so many
in the gardens of this world are looking
for that flower they never can find ex-
cept in the garden of Christ!
Substantial comfort viii not grow
In natures barren soil,
All we can boast till Christ we know
Is vanity and toll. 911
UNsATIsFYING PLEASURES
| How many have tried all the fountains
of this worlds pleasure, but never tasted
of the stream from Lebanon! How
many have reveled in other gardens to
their souls ruin, but never plucked one
flower from the garden of our God!
swing open all the gates of the garden
and invite you in, whatever your history,
whatever your sins, whatever your temp.
tations, whatever your trouble. The
invitation comes no more to one than &c
all, "Whosoever will, let him come"
| The flowers Of earthly gardens soon
fade; but, blessed be God, there are gar
lands that never wither, and through
the grace Of Christ Jesus we may enter
into the joys which are provided for us
at Gods right hand. Oh, come into the
garden. And remember, as the closing
thought, that God not only brings uf
into garden here, but it is a garden all
the way with those who trust and love
and serve him, garden all through the
struggles Of this life, garden all up the
slope Of heaven.
There everlasting spring abides
And never whitening flowers.
Death, like narrow stream, divides
That heavenly land from ours.
Israel Putnam's Gun.