The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-07-02

"
dred years gathering up for one bloom,
and it will be a hundred years more be
fore other petals will come out" But |
have to tell you of a plant that WAS gath
ering up from all eternity. and that nine
teen hundred years ago put forth its
bloom new to wither. 1t is the Passion
Flower Of the Cross! Prophets fOretOld
it. Bethlehem shepherds looked upon 1t
in the bud the rocks shocks at its burst
ing, and the dead got up in their winding
sheets to see its full bloom. IL is Grim
son flower blood at the roots. blood on
the branches. blood on all the leaves. Its
perfume is 10 fill all the nations. Its
touch is life It's breath is heaven. Come,
O, winds from the north. and winds from
the south. and winds from the east. and
winds from the west, and bear to all the
earth the sweet smelling SAVIOR of Christ,
my Lord
His worth il all the nations knew.
sure the whole earth would love him. too
Again: The church may be appropri-
ately compared to a garden, because il is
place Of select fruits. That would be
strange garden which had in it no berries,
no plums, no peaches or apricOts. The
coarser fruits are planted in the orchard,
or they are set out on the sunny hillsides;
but the choicest fruits are kept in the
church Christ has planted a great many
beautiful things patience, charity, gen
erosity, integrity; but he intends the
fruits to be in the garden, and if
they are not there then shame on the
church. Religion is not a mere towering
sentimentality. itls practical, life-giving,
heal thful fruit-nOt posies, but apples.
"Oh," says somebody, II don't see what
your garden of the church has yielded"
I 1. 4 I
from and your hospitals and your insti-
tutions Of mercy Christ planted every
one of them; he planted them in his gar
den. When Christ gave sight to Barti-
meus he laid the corner stone of every
blind asylum that has ever been built
When Christ soothed the demoniac Of
Galilee, he laid the corner stone of every
lunatic asylum that ever been estab-
lished. When Christ said to the sick
man. take up thy bed and walk ="
he laid the corner stone of every
hospital the world has ever seen. When
Christ said Il was in prison. and We
visited me" he laid the corner stone of
every prison reform association that has
ever been formed. The church of Christ
is glorious garden, and it is full of fruit.
know there is some poor fruit in it. |
know there are some weeds that ought to
have been thrown over the
fence. ! know there are some
crab-apple-trees that ought to be
cut down. know there are some
wild grapes that ought to be uprooted
but are you going to destroy the whole
garden because of little gnarled fruit!
You will find worm eaten leaves in Foun-
.ainbleau, and insects tina sting in the
fairy groves Of the Champs Eiysees. You
10 not tear down and destroy the whole
garden because there are few specimens
If the gnarled fruit. | admit there are
men and women in the church who ought
lot to be there; but let us be Just as
rank, and admit the fact that there are
hundreds and thousands and tens of
thousands Of glorious Christian men and
women, holy, blessed, useful, consecrated
and triumphant. Their is no grander
collection in all the earth than the col
ection Of Christians. There areI Chris
ian men in the church whose reii-
NON is not matter of psalm
singing and church going. Tomorrow
morning that religion will keep them Just
Is consistent and Consecrated on Eek
'hange' as ii ever kept them at the com
There are women in the
church of higher type 70 character than
Mary of Bethany They not only sit at
he feet Of Christ, but they go out into
he kitchen to help Martha in her work,
hat she may sit there too There is a
who has drunken husband, who
las exhibited more faith, and patience
md courage than Hugh Latimer in the
ire. He was consumed in twenty min
ties. Hers has been twenty years
Wonder is a man who has
ain fifteen years on his back, unable even
o feed himself, yet calm and peaceful as
hough he lay on one of the green banks
If heaven, watching the oarsmen DIP their
paddles in the crystal river Why, it
seems to me this moment as if Paul threw
o us a pOmologist's catalogue of the
ruits growing in this great garden of
joy, peace, patience, charity,
kindness, gentleness. mercy
glorious fruit enough to fill all the
baskets of earth and heaven.
l have not told you of the better tree in
his garden, and of the better fruit. 1t
vas planted Just outside Jerusalem a good
while ago. When that tree was planted,
t was so split, and bruised, and barked,
men said nothing would ever grow upon
t; but no sooner had that tree been
planted, than it budded, and blossomed,
and fruited, and the soldiers spears were
only the CLUBS that struck down that
fruit and it fell into the lap of the ma
tons, and men began TO pick it up and
eat 1t, and they found in it an antidote to
all thirst, to all poison, to all sin, to all
death-the smallest cluster larger than
the famous one of Eschol, which two men
carried on a staff between them. If the
one apple in Eden killed the race, this
one cluster of mercy shall restore it.
Again, the church, in my text, is appro-
priately called a garden, because it is
thoroughly irrigated No garden could
prosper long without plenty of water.
have seen a garden in the midst of a des
ert, vet blooming and luxuriant All
around was death and barrenness but
there we're pipes, aqueducts, reaching
from this garden up to the mountains,
and through those aqueducts the water
came streaming down and tossing up into
beautiful fountains, until every root. and
leaf and flower were saturated That is
like the church The church is a garden
IN the midst of great desert
Of sin and suffering; it is well ir-
rigated, for Our eyes are unto the hills
from whence cOmeth our help" From
the mountains of Gods strength there
flow down rivers of gladness There
is a river, the stream whereof shall
make glad the city of our God Preach
ing the gospel is one of these aoueducts.
The Bible is another Baptism and the
Lord 5 supper are aQueducts. Water TO
Stake the thirst, water to restore the
faint, water To wash the unclean, water
tossed high up In the light Of the sun of
showing us the rainbow
around the throne. Oh, was there ever
a garden so thoroughly irrigated You
know the beauty of Versailles and Chats
worth depends very much upon the great
supply OF water. l came to the latter
place ,Chatsworthl one day when straug-
a r1n 70 h, I'd