Democratic messenger., 1894-07-07
Highest of all in Leavenng Power-aest IT, $ Govt Report
Re-! q! Bski9s Bs%5ssz
ABSOLUTELY PURE

ly find called giants of battle"-the
Martin Luthcrs, st. Pauls, Chrysos-
toms, Wyklifs. Latimers and Samuel
Rutherfords What in other men is
spark i'll them is conflagration. When
they sweat, they sweat great drops of
blood When they pray, their prayer
takes fire. When they preach. it is
Pcntecost. When they fight, it is q
Thermopyl1. When they die, it is
martyrdom. You find a great many roses
in the gardens. but only few ''giants
of battle. Men say. why don't you
have more of them i'll the church,"
say, "Why don't You have in the world
more Napoleons and Humboldts and
Wcllingtons:" God gives to some ten
talents. To another one.
The Passion Flower.
In this garden of the church. which
Christ has planted. also find the snow,
drops, beautiful. but cold looking, seem
ingly another phase of the winter. ]
mean those Christians who are precise
in their tastes. unimpassioned, pure ne
snowdrops and rs cold. They never
shed any tears; they never get excited;
they never say anything rashly; they
never do anything precipitately. Their
pulses never fiuttcr; their nerves never
twitch; their indignation never boils
over. They live longer than most peo.
pie, but their life is i'll minor key.
They never run up TO G above the staff.
In the music of their life they have nc
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 i'll the text. II you see century
plant, your emotions are started. You
say, why. this flower has been n
hundred years gathering up for one
bloom, and it will be hundred years
more before other petals will come
out" But / have to tell You of n plant
that was gathering up from all eternity,
and that 1000 years ago put forth its
bloom never To wither. 1t is the passion
flower IF the cross. Prophets foretold
it. Bethlehem shepherds looked upon
il in the bud, the rocks shook at its
bursting, and tho dead got up i'll their
winding sheets to see its full bloom. II
is a crimson fiower-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. Its 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.
liir worth. IL all the nations knew,
Sure the whole earth would love him too.
Full Of Fruit.
Again, the church may be appropri
ately compared TO a garden, because it
is place of select fruits. That would
he strange garden which had in it nc
berries, no plums, no peaches or apricots.
The coarser fruits are planted i'll 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 u mere flower
ing sentimentality. 1t is practical life
giving, healthful fruit-not posies, but
apples. oh" says somebody, Il don't
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 dcmoniac 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 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
lTutt Ill H. huOM art sOiIt NttttS
that ought to have been thrown over the
fence. know there are some crabapplc
trees that ought to be cut down. know
there are some wild grapes that ought
to he uprooted, but are you going to de-
stroy the whole garden because of lit
tie gnarled fruit: You will find worm
eaten leaves i'll Fontainebleau and in
tl,..
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 ard women, holy,
blessed, useful, consecrated and trium-
phant. There is no grander collection
in all the earth than the collection Of
Christians.
Catalogue of Fruits.
There are Christian men in the church
whose religion is not matter Of psalm
singing and church going. Tomorrow
morning that religion will keep them
Just as consistent and consecrated on
Exchange" rs it ever kept them ut the
communion table There are women in
the church Of higher type Of character
than Mary of Bethany. They not only
sit at the feet of Christ, but they 20 out
into the kitchen To help Martha in her
work. that she may sit there too There
is woman who has drunken husband,
who has exhibited more faith and pa
thence and courage than Hugh Latimcr
in the fire. He was consumed N 30
minutes. Hers has been 30 years