The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1894-07-04

they preacn, IL II Ieutecos"
they fight, it rs Thermopylw. Whep
they die, it is 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," say: "Why
don't you have 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 snow
drops, beautiful but cold looking,
seemingly another phase of the winter.
I 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 enythlng
rashly; they never do anything pre-
cipitately. Their pulses never hutter;
their nerves never twitch, their indig-
nation never boils over. They live
longer than most people, but their life
is in 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 have not told you of the most
beautiful flower in all this garden
spoken of in the text. If you see
century plant" your emotions are
started. You say. why, this flower
has been hundred Years gathering up
for one bloom, and it viii, be hundred
years more before other petals will
come out" But have to tell
you of plant that was gathering
up from all eternity, and that 1900
years ago put forth its bloom
never TO wither. 1t is the passion
flower of the cross! Prophets fore
told II. bethlehem shepherds looked
upon It in The bud; the rocks shook ut
its bursting, and the dead got up in
their winding sheets to see its full
bloom. II is crimson fiower-blood
at the roots, blood on the branches,
blood on all the leaves. Its perfume is
|
It's breath is Heaven. Come, o winds
from the north, and winds from the
south and winds from the east anC
winds from the west, and bear to al
the earth the sweet smelling SAVIOR o.
Christ, my Lord.
His worth, II oil the nations knew,
Sure the whole earth would love Him too.
Again, the church may be appro
priately compared to n garden, becaus'
It is a place of select fruits. Tha
would be strange garden which ha'
in it no berries, no plums, no peache
OF apricots. The coarser fruits ar
planted in the orchard OF they are Sc
out on the sunny hillside, but tn
choicest fruits are kept In the garden.
So in the world outside the churo
Christ has planted great many bear
tiful things-patience charity, genei
osity, integrity-but he intends tn
choicest fruits TO be in the garden, an
II they are not there then shame on tn
, church. Religion is not mere flow
ering sentimentality. 1t is a practica
life-giving, healthful fruit-not posie'
but apples "Oh," says somebody, .
don't see what your garden of tn
Z church has yielded" Where di
, your asylums come from, and you
hospitals, and your institutions {
mercy? Christ planted every one {
4 them. He planted them in His ga
den. When Christ gave sight to Ba
timeus He laid the cornerstone of ever
E blind asylum that has ever bee
4 built. When Christ soothed the di
: moniac Of Galilee, he laid the corne
stone Of every lunatic asylum that hi
!. ever been established. When ChriI
! said TO the sick man, Take up thy be
|, and walk" be laid the cornerstone {
every hospital the world has ever seel
d When Christ said, 81 was in prisoi
and We visited me-" he laid the corne
y stone of every prison reform associ
S tion that has ever been formed. II
7 Church of Christ is a glorious gardel
d and is full Of fruit. / know there
= some poor fruit in IL. ! know thei
e are some weeds that ought TO ha'
!, hc5n thrown over the fence. / kno
: there are some crab apple trees thi
q ought TO be cut down. know the
r are some wild grapes that ought TO
e uprooted, bpIt are you going to destrC
o the whole garden because Of a u
|, tie gnarled fruit? You will find wor
IS eaten leaves in FontaiIebleau and i
Y scots that sting in the fairy groves
e the Champs Elysees. You do not tei
n down and destroy the whole gardC
IT because there are a few specimens
lr gnarled fruit. admit there are me
y and women in the church who ougI
y not 70 be there, but let Us be just
d frank and admit the fact that there a
hundreds and thousands and tens
g thousands Of glorious Christian m'
d and women holy, blessed, useful, co
: secrated and triumphant There is !
II grander collection on earth than h
o collection of Christians
N There are Christian men in u
g church whose religion is not a matt
n Of psalm singing and church goin
o Tomorrow morning that religion w
= keep them just as consistent and co
n sscrated on exchange" as IL ever kel
N them at the communion table. The
d are women in the church Of high
Q type Of character than Mary Of Bet
!, any. They not only sit at the feet
h Christ, but they go out into the ldtch'
g to help Martha in her work, that 81
y may sit there too. There is woman wi
If has drunken husband who has exhi
k tied more faith and patience and cou
It age than Hugh Latimer in the fire. |
l was consumed in twenty minute
Hers has been twenty-year's marty
4 | L.. Wa..In.. L. man ..thI, In In