Milford chronicle. [volume] (Milford, Del.) 1878-1974, 1896-05-01
THE GARDEN OF GOD.
REV. Or. TALMAGG breaches A SEA-
soNABLE SERMON.

He Compares tho Church to Garden b.
cause 1t Is the Place of Choice Flower
Select Fruits and Of Thorough Irrigs
tiOn-An Invitation to Enter.
1 WASHINGTON, April 26.-As the parks /
Washington arc abloom with hyaoinths
and tho gardens are being made, the siniil
dominant in this subject is very sugges;
i've and practical. DR.. Talmagc's text wa
Isaiah lyiii, II, Thou shalt be like wa
tered garden.
The Bible is great poem. We have il
it faultless rhythm, and bold imagery, an,
startling antithesis, and rapturous lyric
and sweet pastoral, and instructive nara
tive and devotional psalm--thought ex
pressed in style more solemn than that o
Montgomery, moro bold than that of Mil
tom moro terrible than that of Dante
more natural than that Of Wordsworth
moro impassioned than that of Pollock
more tender than that OF Cowper, more
weird shan thnt OF Sponsor.
This great poem brings all the gems OF
/ the earth into its cOronot and it woaves
( 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 thrashing floor TO the daughters
Of Major filling the trough for tho camels
from tho fish pools Of Heshbon mp to the
psalmist pFaising God with tho diapason
of storm and whirlwind and Jobs imagery
Of Orion, Arcturus and the Pleiades.
A Beautiful Garden.
My text leads us into a scene of summer
rn1Olnnrn Tho ruprld tn1
many beautiful gardens. Chnrlemagne
added to tho glory of his reign by decree
ing that they be established all through
tho realm, deciding even the names Of
tho flowers TO be planted there. Henry ",
at Montpelier, established gardens of be-
witching beauty and luxurianco, gather
ing into them Alpine, Pyrenean and
French plants. Ono Of tho sweetest spots
on earth was the garden of Shcnstono, tho
poet. His writings have made but littlo i'm
preston on tho world, but his garden, "Tho
LeasOwes, will DO immortal. To tho nat
ural advantage of that place was brought
the perfection of art. Arbor and terrace
and slope and rustic tomplo and reservoir
and urn and fountain here had their crown
ing. Oak and yew and hazel put forth
their richest foliage There was no life
more diligont, no soul more ingenious,
than that of Shonstone, and all that dill
gence and genius ho brought to the adOrn-
lnent Of that one treasured spot He gave
$500 for it; no sold it for e17 COO. And yet
am to tell you today of a richer garden
han any l have mentioned 1t is the gar
den spoken of in my text the garden of
The church, which belongs to Christ. flo
bought it, no planted it, he owns it, and
le shall have it. Walter Scott, in his out
ay at Abbotsford, ruined his fortune, and
low, in tho crimson flowers Of those gar
lens, you can almost thnl, or imngino that
Tou sec the blood Of that old mans broken
leaTt. The payment Of the last 600 600
acriflced him. But have 10 tell you that
1hrist's life and Christ's death wcro the
utlay Of this beautiful garden of the
hurch Of which my text speaks, Oh, how
many signs and tears and pangs and
comics! Tell me, 20 women who saw him
angl Tell me, yo executioners who lifted ,
i'm and let him down Tell mo, thou sun ..
hat didst hide, yo rocks that fell Christ
wed the church and gave himself for it.
the garden of the church belongs to
hrist, certainly Lo has right to walk in !
. Come, then, o blessed Jesus, today; ;
ak up and down these aislos and pluck !
hat thou wilt of sweetness for myself. ,
The church, in my text is appropriately !
impaired to u garden because it is the Z
lace of choice flowers, Of select fruits and :,
thorough irrigation. That would be o y
range garden in which there were no j..
overs If nowhere else, they would be :,
ong tho borders or at tho gateway. The
Jmeliest taste will dictate something, if -
be only the old fashioned hollyhock or =
,hlia or daffodil, but if there be larger =
fhora r-ot mil Ia, -
otus and blazing azalea and clustering :,
eander Well, now, Christ comes to his "
irden, and he plants there somo Of the l.,
ightest spirits that ever lowored upon Il
g world. Some of them arc violets, in n,
nspicuous, but sweet as heaven. You ~
we to search and find them. You do not ~
3 them very often perhaps, but you find =,
lere they have been by tho frightened Il,
co Of the invalid and the sprig Of gerani- cr
n on the stand and tho now window cur ~
ms keeping out the glare Of the sunlight.
icy are perhaps moro like the ranuncu- -
), creeping swcetly along amid tho 20
orns and briers of life, giving kiss for IN
ng and many man who has had in 80
way some great black rock of trouble -
5 found that they have covered it all =
Or with Gowery jasmine, running in and ~
t amid tho crevices. These flowers in -
rist's garden are not, like tho sunlower, e.,
1dy in tho light but wherever darkness l..
vers over a soul that needs to be COM e.,
ted there they stand, night blooming 90
euses.
But in Christ garden there are plants
It may be better compared to the Next
oactus--thOrns without, loneliness p
Thin, men with sharp points Of char ou
or. They wound almost every one that ~
ches them They are hard 10 handle ~
Il pronounce them nothing but thOrns, Wy
Christ loves them Notwithstanding all ~
ir sharpnesses. Many man has had a ~
y hard ground to cultivate and it has ~
y been through severe trial he has raised ~. ~
n the smallest crop of grace A very ~ ,
sh minister was talking to a very placid va
1r, and tho placid elder said to tho harsh NJ NJ
lister, doctor, I do wish you would -
troll your temper" "Ah, said the sre
lister TO tho elder, Il control more W., W.
per in 1vo minutes than you do in five ~ ~
rs nr'
Thorns In tho Garden. s SIC
t is harder for some men to do right mn
n for other men to doright. The grace inc
would elevate you to the seventh mn
ven might not keep your brother from r.,
oking man down. / Lad n friend al
came to mo and sAid 81 dare not join To-
church" I said, "Why2" "Oh, " he tho
], Il have such violent temperl Yes raj,
ay morning l was crossing very early Tho
he Jersey City ferry, and saw a milk Va,
! pour large quantity Of water into and
milk can, ana l said to him, 1 think flo
will do, and he insulted me, and Inf
eked him down. Do you think ought stra
lin the ohurchY' Nevertheless that mn
same man, who was so harsh in his NOT,
lvior, loved Christ and could not speak can
lcrcd things without tears Of emotion fnr
anectioh. Ihorns without sweetness on
lin-the best specimen Of tho Mexican dry
us l ever saw. sten
here are othsrs planted in Christ's gar nm,
who arc always radiant, always i'm stai
sivo, moro like tho roses Of deep hue dow
We occasionally find, called Giants SOM
attlo;" the Martin Luthers. St. Pauls, witt
fsostoms, Wyclifs, Latimers and Sam com