The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1894-07-12

| TUG roses OF deep hue that Wo CCChsioi
ally find called "eiants of battle"--th'
Martin Lnthers, St. Pauls, Chrysostoms
Wyklifs, I.atlmers and Samuel Suthol
fords. What iD other mcn is spark
IN them 1s q Goptlagration. When theJ
sweat they sweat great drops OF blood
When they pray, their prayer takes fire
Whom they preach, it is a Pentecost
When they fight, il is Il Thermopv]m
Which, they die, it is martyrdom. You
Gnd grea' many roses in tho gardens
but only few "giants of battle" Mel
say, "Why don't you have more 0
them III tho church," | cay, "Why
don't YOU hayo in tho world more Napn
Icons aud Humboldt and Wellngtons?"
God gives TO somc ten talents, 10 another
one.
In this garden OF Tho church, which
Christ has planted, also find tho snow
drops. bouuLilul but cold looking, seem
inoiy another phase Of The winter. |
mo an those Christians who arc precise in
their tastes, unimpassioned, puro rs
snowdrops aud US cold. They never
shed any tears; they never get excited;
tho never say anything rashly;
they mover do anything pro.
cipltatclv. Their pulsos never lluLter;
their nerves never witch; their indgna-
ton never boils over. They live longer
than most people, but their lito is in a
MINOR key. They never run up to sc"
above tho staff. In the music Of thelr life
thoY have no staccato passages. Christ
planted them in the church, and they
must be of some service, or thoy would
not ba there. Snowdrops, always
snoWdrops.
But have not told YOU of the most
beautiful nowcr in all the garden sp oxen
cf in the text. If you SEQ "century
plant" your emotions are started. You
say, "Why, this flower has been hun
dred years gathering up for Que bloom,
and 1t will he hundred years moro be-
toro other petals will como OUT" But
l havo to tell you Of plant that was
gathering up from all eternity, aud that
1000 years ago put forth lts bloom never
TO -yither. It is tho passion flower of
the cross! Prophets foretold il. Beth
lehem shepherds looked on il in the bud
the rocks shook at It's bursting, and the
dead got up in their winding sheets TO
see its full bloom. ills a crimson flow
cr-blood ut the roots, blood on the
branches, blood ON all tho leaves. It's
perfume is to fill all the nations. liz
touch is life. It's breath is heaven
Como o winds. from the north and
win !s from tho south and winds from
the east and winds from tho west, aud
bear to all the Garth the sweet smelling
SAVIOR Of Christ, my Lord.
His worth, if all tho nations know,
Sure the whole earth would love him too.
Again tho church may bo appropri-
ately compared to garden, because ii
is place Of select fruits. That would
bo n strange garden which had in it no
berries, no plums, no peaches orapricots
The coarser fruits are planted in tho Or
chard or they arc set out on the sunny
hillside, but the choicest fruits aro KEEP
in tho garden.
So in the world outside tho church
Christ has planted great many beauti-
iul thngs-pnticuce, Charity, generosity,
lntogriiy-but he intends Tho choicest
fruits to be in the garden, and if they are
not there then shame on the church.
Religion is not mere ilowering scnti-
mentality. IL is n practical liie giving
healthlul frult-not posies, but apples
"Oh," ssYs somebody, ~ don't SEE
Yielded" Where did your asylumi
come from, and your hospitals, and youl
institutions of mercy? Christ planted
every one Of them. lie planted them
in his gardon. When Christ gave sight
TO Bartimeus, he laid the cornerstone oi
every blind asylum that has over bceu
built. When Christ soothed the demo
MAC OF Galilcc, ho laid tho cornerstone
Of every lunaLc asylum that has ever
been established. When Christ said to
the sick nan, "T0ke up thy bed and
walk" he Ibid tho cornerstone of every
hospital the world has ever seen. When
Christ said, 81 was in prison, and yc
visited NO." he laid the cornerstone OF
every prison reform association that has
ever been formed. Tho church of Christ
is glorious garden and it l3 iull of fruit.
L know there ls sOme poor fruit in il. l
know there are some weeds that ought
TO have been thrown over the fence. |
know there nre some crab apple treos
thai ought to be cut down. l. know
there are some wild grapes that ought TO
be uprooted, but arc you gong TO de-
stroy tho whole'garden because of ht-
tie gnarlcd fruit? You will find worm
Cntch lcNfeS Ill OnlhlnGDlcuu ana III
sects that sting in the fairy groves Of the
Champs ElYces. You do not tear down
and destroy the whole garden because
there are lew specimens of gnarled
lrult. | admit there are men and women
IN tho church who ought not to be there
but lot us bo just as frank and admit tho
fact that there nre hundreds and thous-
ands and tens of thousands of glorious
Christian men and women holy, blessed,
useful, consecrated and triumphant.
There is no grander collection in all the
earth than tho collection Of Christians.
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 cousccrated on
"exchange" as it ever kept them at 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 go out
into the kitchen to help Martha in h 81
work, that she may sit there too. There
is q woman who has drunken husband,
who has exhibited moro faith and pa.
tlence and courage than Hugh Latimer