Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1896-05-06

Rank Weeds Grow Among the Flowers
That Blossom

In Chr,st's Earthly Garden. where the
Fragrance OF Good work and Faith
Offset the rhoras That Hide
beneath the Rcses-Dr.
Tsimagc'. sermon.
DIR. Talmage's text last Sunday was:
Isaiah lvin., IL: Thou shall be like "a
watercd garden"
The Bible is great poem. We have
in il faultless 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, moro weird than that
of Spcnser.
This great poem brings all the gems
of the earth into its coronet, and il
weaves the flames of Judgment into its
garlands, aud pours eternal harmonics
in its rythm. Everything this Book
touches il makes beautiful. from the
plain stones of the summer thrcshing
floor To the daughters of Major filling
the trough for the camcls; from the
fish pools of llcshbon up To the Psalm
list praising God with the diapason
of storm and whirlwind, and Jobs
imagery of Orion, Arcturus and the
Plciades.
My text leads us into n scene of sum
mcr rcdoicncc. The world has had n
great many beautiful gardens. Charlie
magne added to the glory of his reign
by decrccing that they Toe established
all through the notwithstanding even
the names of the flowers To bc planted
there. Henry ", Mt Montpelier, es-
tablishcd gardens of bcwitching beauty
and luxuriancc, gathering into them
Alpine, Pyrenean and French plants.
One of the sweetest spots on earth was
the garden of Shenstone, the poet.
His writings have made but little inn
precision on the world; but his garden,
The LcasowcS," will be inn
mortal. To the natural advantage
of that place was brought the
perfection of art Arbor and terrace
and slope and rustic temple and rcscr-
voir and urn and fountain here had
their browning. Oak and yew 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 to the adornment of that
| one treasured spot. lie gave $500 for
| It; he sold il for Gl7 900. And yet am
To tell you to-day of richer gar
den than any | have mentioned.
II is the garden spoken of in
my text, the garden of the church.
which belongs To Christ. lie bought
| it, he planted it, he owns il and
he shall have It. Walter Scott.
in his outlay Mt 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 elOO,
600 sacrificed him. But / have to tell
| you that Christ'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, yc execu-
TONERS who lifted him and let him
down! Tell me, thou sun that didst
hide; ye rocks that fell Christ loved
the church and gave himself for IL. IL
the garden of the church belongs To
Christ, certainly he has "A right to walk
in it. Come, then, o blessed Jesus, to-
day; walk up and down these aislcs
and pluck what thou wilt of sweetness
for thyself.
The church, in my text, is appropri-
ately compared To "A garden, because il
is this place Of choice flowers; of select
fruits. and of thorough irrigation.
! That would be a strange garden in
which there were no flowers. II no.
where else, they would be along the
borders or at the gateway. The home
lest taste VIII dictate something. IL il
be only the oldfashioned hollyhock, or
iahlia, or daEodil, but il there be
.arger 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 gcran-
! ium on the stand, and the new window
curtains keeping out the glare Of the
sunlight. They are, perhaps, more like
the ranunculus, creeping swcctly 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 nowcry
! jasmine, running in and out amid the
| crcvices These flowers in Christ's
/ garden are not. like the sunnowcr.
| gaudy in the light, but wherever dark
ness hovers over soul that needs 90
| be comfortcd, there they stand, night
| blooming cercuscs.
| But in Christ's garden there are plants
| that may be better compared 10 The
| Mexican cactus-tborns without. love
| Illness within; men with sharp points Of
| character. They wound almost every
one that touches them. They arc hard
| 20 handle Men pronounce them moth
/ ing but thorns, but Christ loves them
Notwithstanding all their sharpncsses
/ Many man has had a very hard
\ ground 90 cultivate. and IL has only
/ been through severe trial nc has raised
/ even the smallest crop Of grace. A