St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1896-06-20
TAIlfAGE'S SERMON.


TALlfAGE'S SERMON.
The Season q flowers Suggests
the Garden Of God.
eooa - Tie Riehnsss - 0ea's Realn
-TAe Church Ceayassa -
WateseA Oaraea.
Rev. 7. De Witt Talmagc delivered
the following sermon, apropos Of the
advent Of spring flowers, before his
Washington congregation, taking for
his text:
Thou shalt be like watered garden.-Isaiah
Twill, H.,
The Bible is : great poem. We have
in 1t faultlcss rhythm and bold inn
agery and startling antithesis and
rapturous lyric and sweet pastoral and
instructive narrative and devotional
psalm; thoughts expressed in style
more solemn than that Of MontRom-
cry, more bold than that Of Milton,
more teri Ne than that Of Dante, more
natural IAN that of Wordsworth,
more iml ssioned than that of Pol
lock, molS tender than that of Cow
per, more weired than that of Spen-
SER
This great poem brings all the gems
OF the earth into its corOnet, and It
weaves the flames of Judgment into its
garlands, and pours eternal harmonies
in its rhythm. Everything this book
touches it makes beautiful. from the
plain stones Of the summer threshing
Aoor to the daughters of Major filling
the trough for the camels; from the
fish-pools of Heshbon up to the psalm
list praising God with the diapason of
storm and whirlwind, and Jobs
imagery Of Orion, Arcturus and the
Pleiades.
Ny text leads us into q sene of sum-
mer redolence. The world has had a
great many beautiful gardens. Charlie
magne added to the glory Of his reign
by decreeing that they be established
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 luxuriance, gathering into
them Alpine, Pyrenean and French
plants. One of the sweetest spots on
earth was the garden of Sheustone.
the poet. His writings have made but
little impression on the world; but his
garden, 1.-THE Leasowes." will be i'm
mortal. To the natural advantage
of that place was brought the per-
lection Of art. Arbor and terrace and
slope. and rustic temple, and reservoir,
and urn, and fountain here had their
browning. Oak and yew and hazel put
forth richest foliage. There was no
life more diligent, no soul more in
gcnious, than that of Shenstone, and
all that diligence and genius be
brought to the adornment of that one
treasured spot. He gave fs00 for it;
he sold it for $4,000 And yet l am
to tell you to-day of q richer garden
than any 1 have mentioned. It is tho
garden Of the church, which belongs
to Christ. He bought it, He planted
1t, He owns it, and He shall have it
Walter Scott, in his outlay ut Abbots-
ford, ruined his fortune; and now. in
the cromson 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 alOO, 900 sacrificed him. But l
have to tell you that Christ's death
were the outlay of this beautiful
garden of the church, of which my
text speaks, Oh, how many sigh and
tears and pangs and agonies! Tell me,
ye women who saw Him hang! Tell
me We executiOners who lifted Him
and let Him down! Tell me, thou sun
that didst hide; ye rocks that fell!
Christ loved the church and gave Him.
self for it. II 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 aisles, and pluck what
Thou wilt of sweetness for ThyseH.
The church in my text, is appropri-
ately compared to garden. because it
is the place of choice flowers, Of select
fruits, and of thorough irrigation.
That would be . strange garden in
which there were no flowers II no.
where else. they would be along the
borders or at the gateway. The home
licst taste will dictate something, If IL
be only the old-fashioned hollyhock,
or dahlia, or daffodil; but II there be
larger means, then you will hnd 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 violcts, in
conspicuous, but rs 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 bright
encd face of the invalid, and the sprig
of gerauium on the stand, and the new
window curtains keeping out the glare
Of the sunlight They are. perhaps,
more like the ranunculus, creeping
sweetly along 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 have covered it all
over with howery jasmine, running in
and out amid the creviceA These flow-
ers in Christ's garden arc not, like the
sunhower. gaudy in the light, but
wherever darkness hovers over . soul
that needs to be comforted, there they
stand, night-bloom ing cereuses.
But in Christs garden there are
plants that may be better compared to
the Mexican cactus-thorns without,
loneliness within; men with sharp
points Of character. They wound al
most everyone that touches them.
They are hard to handle. Men pro-
nounce them nothing but thorns, but
Christ loves them Notwithstanding all
their sharpness. Many man has had
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