Owingsville outlook. [volume] (Owingsville, Ky.) 1879-192?, 1896-04-30
LIKE A GARDEN.
Rank Weeds Grow Among the Flowers
That Blossom


! DIR. Ialmagc'S text last Sunday was:
Isaiah lviii., II: Thou shall he like a
watcrcd garden"
! The Bible is great poem. We have
/ In il faultlcs> rhythm and bold imagery
and startling antithcsis and rapturous
| lyric and sweet pastoral and instructive
narrative and devotional psalm;
thoughts expressed in style more
solemn than that of Montgomery, more
bold than that of Milton, more terrible
than that of Dante, more natural than
! that of Wordsworth, more impassioned
than that of Pollock, more tender than
that of Cowpcr, more weird than that
of Spcascr.
This great poem brings all the gems
of the earth into its coronet and it
wcavcs the flames of Judgment into its
| garlandS. and pours eternal harmonies
in its rythm. Everything this Book
touches it makes beautiful, from the
plain stones of the summer threshing
floor to the daughters of Major filling
the trough for the camels; from the
fish pools of lIeshbon up to the Psalm
list praising God with the diapason
of storm and wnirlwind, and Jobs
! imagery of Orion, Arcturus and the
Plciades.
Ny text leads us into a scene of sum-
mer rcdolcncc The world has had a
great many beautiful gardens. Charlie
magnc added TO the glory of his reign
by dccrccing that they be stablished
all through the realm-deciding even
the names of the flowers to be planted
there. Henry w., at Montpelier, es-
tabliShed gardens of bewitching beauty
and luNuriance, gathering into them
Alpine, Pyrenean and French plants.
One of the sweetest spots ON earth was
the garden of Shcnstone, the poet.
His writings have made but little i'm
precision on the world; but his garden,
The Lcasowes," will be i'm
mortal. To the natural advantage
of that place was brought the
perfection of art. Arbor and terrace
and slope and rustic temple and rescr-
voir and urn and fountain here had
their browning. Oak and ycw and
hazel put forth their richest foliage.
There was no life more diligcnt, no
soul more ingenious, than that of Shen-
stone, and all that diligence and genius
he brought tn the adornment of that
one treasured spot. lie gave $500 for
1t; he sold it for fl7 900. And yet am
TO tell YOU to-day of n richer gar
den than any | have mentioned.
1t is the garden spoken of in
my text. the garden of the church,
which belongs To Christ. He bought
it, he planted it. he owns it and
he shall have it. Walter Scott,
in his outlay ut Abbottsford,
ruined his fortune. and now, in the
crimson flowers of those gardens, you
can almost think or imagine that you
see the blood of that old mans broken
heart The payment of the last flOO,
900 sacrificed him. But | have to tell
you that Chpist's life and Christ's death
were the outlay of this beautiful garden
of the church. of which my text speaks.
Oh, how many signs and tears and
pangs and agonies! Tell me, We women
who saw him hang! Tell me, we execu-
TONERS who lifted him and let him
down! Tell me, thou sun that didst
hide; We rocks that fell! Christ loved
the church and gave himself for it. If
the garden of the church belongs to
Christ, certainly he has right to walk
in it. Come, then, o blessed Jesus, to-
day; walk up and down these sizes
and pluck wyatt thou wilt Of sw' 'ess
The church, in my text. is appropri-
ately compared to a garden, because it
is the place of choice flowers; of select
fruits, and of thorough irrigation.
hat In fra dan in,
which there were no flowers. If no.
where else, they would be along the
borders or at the gateway. The home
lest taste will dictate something, If it
be only the old-fashioned hollyhock, or
dahlia, or daffodil, but if there be
larger means, then you will find the
Mexican cactus, and blazing azalea,
and clustering oleander. Well, now,
Christ comes to His garden and He
plants there some of the brightest
spirits that ever lowered upon
the world. Some of them are
violets, inconspicuous, but sweet
as Heaven. You have to search
and find them. You do not see them
very often, perhaps, but you find where
they have been by the frightened face
of the invalid, and the sprig of geran-
ium on the stand, and the new window
curtains keeping out the glare of the
sunlight. They are, perhaps, more like
the ranunculus, creeping sweetly amid
the thorns and briars of life, giving
kiss for sting; and many man who
has had in his way some great black
rock of trouble, has found that they
l. 81
jasmine, running in and out amid the
crevices These flowers in Christ's
garden are not. like the suntlower.
gaudy in the light, but wherever dark
ness hovers over soul that needs to
be conlforted, there they stand, night
blooming cereuses.
But in Christ's garden there are plants
that may be better compared to the
Mexican cactus-thorns without, love-
illness within; men with sharp points of
character. They wound almost every
one that touches them. They are hard
TO handle. Men pronounce them moth
ing but thorns, but Christ loves them
notwithstanding all their sharpnesses.
Many a man has had very hard
ground to cultivate, and it has only
been through severe trial he has raised
even the smallest crop of grace. A
very harsh minister was talking to a
very placid elder, and the placid elder
said to the harsh minister: doctor, i
do wish you would control your tenn
per-" "Ah," said the minister to the
elder: Il control more temper in five
minutes than you do in five years"
1t is harder for some men to do right
than for other men to do right The
grace that would elevate you to TIE
seventh Heaven mieh not keen Your
brothoi from knocking a man down. 1
had n friend who came to me and said,
IL dare not join the church" / said,
''Why?- oh" he said. Il have such a
violent temper. Yesterday morning 1
was crossing very carly mt the Jersey
City ferry, and l saw a milkman pour
large quantity of water into the milk
can, and said To him, Il think that will
do and he insulted me, and l knocked
him down. Do you think fought to join
| the church," Nevertheless that very
| same man, who w SO harsh in his be-
havior, loved Christ, and could not
speak of sacred things without tears of
emotion and affection. Thorns with
| out, sweetness within-the best spec
| linen of the Mexican cactus ever saw.
There are others planted in Christ's