The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1894-07-07
the best specimen Of Mexican cactus

iva oNiohp ai"dyS impressive
more like the roses of deep
hue that we occasionally find called
"giants of battle"-the Martin Luthers,
st. Pauls, ~Chrysostom, Wyklifs, Lati-
mers and Samuel Rutherfords. What
in other men is a spark, in them is q
confiagration. When they sweat, they
sweat great drops of blood. When they
pray, their prayer takes fire. When
they preach, it is a Pentecost. When
they fight, it is a Thermopyle. When
they die, it is q martyrdom. You find
q great many roses in the gardens, but
only a few giants of battle" Men
say: why don't you have more of
them in the church," l say: why
don't you nave in the world more Ma
poleons and Humboldts and Yelling
tons?" God gives to some ten talents,
to another one.
In this garden of the church, which
Christ has planted, l also find the o
drops, beautiful but cold looking,
seemingly another phase of the winter.
l mean those Christians who are pre-
else in their tastes, unimpassioned,
pure as snowdrops and as cold. They
never shed any tears they never get
excited; they never say anything
rashly; they do anything pre-
c~ipitately. Their pulses never ~fiutter;
their nerves never twitch, their indig-
nation never boils over. They live
longer than most people, but their life
is in a minor key. They never run up
to ''C'' above the staff. In the music
Of their life they have no staccato pass
ages. Christ planted them in the
church, and they must be Of some serv-
ice, or they would not be there. Snow
drops, always snowdrops.
But l have not told you of the most
beautiful flower in all this garden
spoken of in the text. II 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 q hundred
years more before other petals will
come out" But I have to tell
you Of q plant that was gathering
up from all eternity, and that 1900
years ago put forth its bloom
never to wither. It is the passion
flower Of the crossi Prophets fore
told It. bethlehem shepherds looked
upon 1t 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 q crimson fower-blood
at the roots, blood on the branches,
blood on all the leaves. Its perfume Is
to AL 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.
His worth, IL all the nations knew,
Sure the whole earth would love Him too.
Again, the church may be appro-
priately compared to a garden, because
it is q place of select fruits. That
would be q 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 a great many beau.
tiful things-patience, charity, gener.
osity, 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 q mere fiow'
ering sentimentality. 1t Is q practical,
l~ife-giving, healthful fruit-not posies,
but apples. "Oh," says somebody, 81
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 in His gar
den. When Christ gave sight to Bar
timeus He laid the cornerstone of every
blind asylum that has ever been
built. When Christ soothed the de
moniac Of Galilee, he laid the corner
stone of every lunatic asylum that ha,
aver been established. When Christ
said to the sick man, Take up thy bee
and walk" he laid the cornerstone o,
every hospital the world has wei seen
When Christ said, ~ was in prison
and We visited me- he laid the corner
stone of every prison reform associa
ton that has ever been formed. Thu
Church of Christ is q glorious garden
and Is full of fruit. ! know there L
some poor fruit in it. l. know thert
are some weeds that onght to havs
been thrown over the fence. / know
there are some crab apple trees tina
ought to be cut down. l kno Their
are some wild grapes that ought TO b,
uprooted, but are you going TO destroy
the whole garden because Of q lit
tie gnarled fruit? You will find worn
eaten leaves in Fontainebleau and in
sects hat sting in the fairy groves O
the Champs Elysees. You do not teal
down and destroy the whole garden
because there are a few specimens O
gnarled fruit. admit there are mel
and women in the church who ough'
not to be there, but let us be Just q
frank and admit the fact that there ar,
hundreds and thousands and tens O
thousands of glorious Christian mel
and women holy, blessed, useful, con
secrated and triumphant There is n,
grander collection on earth than thu
collection of Christians.
There are Christian men in tn,
church whose religion is not Q matte
of psalm singing and church going
Tomorrow morning that religion viii
keep them just as consistent and con
secrated on exchange" as it ever KEEP,
them at the communion table. Their
are women IN the church of Q higheI
type of chsraetey than Mary Of Beth
any. They not only sit At the feet o
Christ, but they 60 out into the kitchen
to help Martha In her work, that sh,
may sit there too. There Is q woman VIII,
has a drunken husband, who has exhib
tied more faith and patience and cour
age han Hugh Latimer in the fire. H,
was consumed in twenty MINUTES
Hers has been q twenty-year's martyr
dom. Wonder Is q man who has lail
fifteen years On his back, unable u
feed himself, yet calm and peaceful q
though he lay ON one Of the greel
banks of Heaven, watching the oar
men dip their paddles in the crysta
river! Why, IL seems to me this me
ment as II Paul threw to us q pomolO
gist's catalogue of the fruits growing
in this great garden Of Christ-lovs
joy, peace, patience, charity, brOtherl
kindness. ~gentleness, mercy-glOriop
fruit, enough to all sll the basksts G
earth N Heaven.
have not told you Of the better tire
In the garden and of the better fruit
1t was planted just outside J~erusalel
a good while ago. When that tree WI
planted, it was SO split and bruised an
barked men said nothing would eve
grow upon II, but no sooner had tha
tree been planted than II budded an
blossOmed and fruited, and the 80