Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1894-07-06

They never run up 10 4 above the stan.
In the music of their life they have no
staccato passages. Christ planted them
in the church, and they must be of some
service, or they would not be there.
Snowdrops, always snowdrops.
But have not told you of the most
beautiful flower in all this garden spo-
ken of in the text If.you see a century
plant, your emotions are started. You
say, "Why, this flower has been a
hundred years gathering up for one
bloom, and it will be a hundred years
more before other petals will come
out. But have to tell you of a plant
that was gathering up from all eternity,
and that 300 years ago put forth its
bloom never to wither. 1t is the passion
flower of the crossl Prophets foretold
it. Bethlehem shepherds looked upon
it in the bud, the rocks shook at its
bursting, and the dead got up in their
winding sheets to see its full bloom It
is a crimson flower-blOod at the roots,
blood on the branches blood on all the
leaves. Its perfume is to fill all the
nations Its touch is life It's breath
is heaven. Come, O winds, from the
north, and -inds 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.
Hr worth, IL all the nations knew,
Ct,ro clio ,rIo1o % IT would love him
Full of Fruit.
Again, the church may be apprOpri-
ately compared to a garden, because it
is a place of select fruits. That would
be Il 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
hillside, but the choicest fruits are kept
in the garden. SO in the world outside the
church Christ has planted great many
beautiful things - patience, charity,
generosity, integrity-but he intends the
choicest fruits to be in the garden, and
if they are not there then shame on the
church. Religion is not a mere flower
ing sentimentality. 1t is a practical life
giving, healthful fruit-not pOsies, but
apples. "Ohr' says somebody Il don {
see what your garden Of the church has
yielded" Where did your asylums
come from, and your hospitals, and
your institutions of mercy: Christ
planted every one of Them he planted
them i'll his garden. When Christ gave
sight to Bartimcus, he laid the corner
stone Of every blind asylum that has
ever been built When Christ soothed
the demoniac Of Galilee, he laid the cor
nerstone Of every lunatic asylum that
has ever been established When Christ
said to the sick man, Take up thy bed
and walk he laid the cornerstone Of
every hospital the world has ever seen.
When Christ said, Il was i'll 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 a glorious garden, and it is
full of fruit. l 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 crabapple
trees that ought to be cut down. l know
there are some wild grapes that ought
to be uprooted but are you going to de-
stroy the whole garden because Of a lit
tie gnarled fruit: You will find worm
eaten leaves in Fontainebleau and in
sects that sting in the fairy groves Of the
Champs Elysees. You do not tear down
and destroy the whole garden because
there are few specimens Of gnarled
fruit. l admit there are men and wom-
en- in the church who ought not to be
there, but let us be just As frank 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 trium-
plant. There is no grander collection
in all the earth than the collection Of
Christians