Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1893-05-19

and a. cold rs the snowdrop No special
sympathy. That kind OF mau never loses
nis patience; he never weeps, he never
flashes with anger he never utters a rash
word. Always cold, always precise. always
passve-beautilul snOwdrop, but | don't like
him. would rather have one Giant Of Bat
tie than 5000 snowdrOps
Give me man who may make some mis-
akes in his Rrior for the Lords service
rather than that kind Of nature which spends
Its whole life in doing but one thing, and
that is keeping equilibrium. There are snow
drops in all the churche5-men without any
sympathy. Very good they are in the
garden of the Lord; therefore ] know they
ought to be there, but always snowdrops.
You have seen in some places perhaps a
century plant. do not suppose there is
person In this house who has ever seen more
than one century plant in full bloom, and
when you see the century plant your emo
tions are stirred. You look at il and say,
This flower has been gathering up its beauty
for whole century, and 1t 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 GEN.
tury plant.
In has gathered up its bloom from all the
ages OF eteynity, ana ~ centuries ago II put
forth its gLdtY. II Is not only a century plant,
but a passion 6ower-the passion Hover OF
Christ, crimson flower, blood at the root
and blood on the 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 Nations
His worth. II all the Nations knew,
Sure the whole earth would love Him too.
Thou, the Christ OF all the ages, hast gar
nnpufs smallinv ~ rnyrrh anil nlpaa and caG-
sia out Of the ivory palaces.
go further and say the church OF Christ
Is appropriately compared to a garden be-
cause Of its thorough irrigation. There can
be no luxuriant garden without plenty Of
water. | saw garden in the midst Of the
desert amid the Rocky mountains. said,
How is 1t possible you have SO many
flowers, SO much rich fruit, in desert for
miles around?" suppose some Of you have
seen those gardens. Well, they told me they
had aqueducts and pipes reaching up TO the
hills, ard the enows melted on the Sierra
Nevada and the Rocky mountains and then
poured down IN water TO those aqueducts,
aud it kent the fields in great luxuriance.
And thought to myself-how like the gar
den OF Christ All around 1t the barrenness
OF sin and the barrenness OF the world. but
our eyes are unto the hills, from whence
cOmeth our help. There is "a river the
bbi'A'uS " l'Itpl SllhIl ulAht Sldl lIIt city VI
our God, the fountain of gardens and streams
from Lebanon. Water to slake the thirst,
Rater to refresh the fainting, water to wash
the unclean, water to toss up in fountains
under the sun of righteousness until you can
see the rainbow around the throne.
| wandered in a garden of Brazilian cashcw
nut, and saw the luxuriAncc of those gar
deh3 was helped by the abundant supply OF
water. | came to il on day when strangers
were not admitted. but ly "a strange coinci.
dence, at the moment | got in. the kings
chariot passed, and the gardener went up on
the hill and turned on the water, and 1t came
flashing down the broad stairs OF stone until
sunlight and wave in gleesomc wrestle tum-
blcd at my feet. And SO il is with this garden
OF Cnrst. everything comes from above
pardon from above, peace from above. COM
fort from above, Sanctii nation 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 twelve wells OF
water and thrcescOre and ten palm treCT. But
hear His 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 garden. and He
comes to the aged man, and He says: cold
man, | come to help thee; | come to
strengthen thee. Down to hoary hairs will
shelter thee ; | will give thee strength at the
time OF old age. l will not leave; | will
never forsake thee. Peace broken hearted
Old man F.; | 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
hv day. nor the moon by night the Lord
shall preserve thee from all evil the Lord
shall preserve thy soul" And then the Gar
dener comes up another path of the garden,
and He comes where there are some beautiful
buds, and say, "Stop, o Gardener do not
break them off," But He breaks them of,
the beautiful buds, and l see great futter
among the leaves, and / wonder what He Ia
doing, and He says II do not come to
destroy these flowers. l am only going to
plant them in higher terrace and
in the garden around My pal
ace. / have come into My garden to gather
lilies. l 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, for of 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. of the bud,
and we say "Thou art worthy to have them.
Thy will be done" The hardest prayer q
bercaved father or mother ever uttered
'Thy will be done"
But you have noticed that around every
kings garden there is a high wall. You may
have stood at the wall Of a kings court and
thought, How would like to see that gar
den" 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 there are who
die In the desert when they might revel
In the garden How many there are who
are seeking in the garden OF this world that
satisfaction which they can never find
1t was so with Theodore Hook, who made
all nations laugh while he was living. And
yet Theodore on 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. 1 look Just as
AMIDST, body mind, soul and estate, lost ~
And so 1t was with Shenstone about his gar
| den, OF which spoke in the beginning OF my
sermon. He sat down amid all its beauty
and wrlng his hands and said, 81 have lost
my way to happiness l am frantic; hate
everything; | hate myself as a mad man
9Tg3s fSS Si. t9i. Al4s e many ny IN the gardens Of
thia "Oiiu hIc iOOhluP lOE ludt HOWtr lney
never can lnd except in the garden of Christ
Substantial comfort will not grow
In natures barren soil.
All we eau boast TIL Christ we know
| Is vanity aud toll.
How many have tried all the fountains OF
this worlds pleasure, but never tasted OF the
stream from Lebanon How many have re-
veled in other gardens to their soul ruin, but
never plucked one flower from the garden oi
| EAI / gypinu all hn - tba
garden and invite you in, whatever your his.
tory, whatever your sins, whatever your temp.
tations, whatever your trouble. The invita-
tion comes no more to one than to all,
"Whosoever WILL let him come"
The flowers OF earthly gardens soon fade