The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1896-05-08

within the best specimen of the Mex
lean cactus I ever saw.
There are others plantei. In Christ's
garden who are always radiant, al
ways impressive-more like the roses
of deep hue that we occasionally find,
called 'Giants of Battle" the Martin
Guthers, st. Pauls, Chrysostoms, Wick
liffes, Latimers and Samuel Ruther-
lords. What In other men is a spark
in them is a confagration. When
they sweat, they sweat great drops of
blood When they pray, their prayer
takes fire. When they preach, it is a
Pentecost. When they fight, it is a
Thermopyl@. When they die, it is a
martyrdom. You find great many
roses in the gardens. but only few
"Giants of the Battle. Men say:
''Why don't you have more of them in
the church," 1 say: why don't you
have IN the world more Hur@boldts and
Wellingtons?" God gives ~ some ten
talents, 70 another one.
In this garden of the church which
Christ has planted 1 also find the snow
drops, beautiful, but cold-1ooking,
seemingly another phase OF winter. l
mean those Christians who are precise
in their tastes, unimpassioned, pure as
snowdrops and as cold. They never
shed any tears, they never get excited,
they never say anything rasAly, they
never do anything precipitately. Their
pulses never futter, their nerves never
twitch, their Indignation never boils
over. They live longer than most peo-
pie, but their life is in minor key.
They never run up to &C. above the
staff. In their music of life they have
no staccato passages. Christ planted
them in the church, and they must be
of some service or they would not be
there; snowdrops, always snowdrops.
But have not told you of the most
beautiful flower of all this garden
spoken of in the text. If you see a
century plant your emotions are start
ed. You say: why, this flower has
been a hundred years gathering up for
one bloom, and it will be hundred
years more before other petals will
come out" But I have to tell you
of a plant that was gathering
up from all eternity, and that 1000
years ago put forth its bloom never to
wither. 1t is the passion plant of the
Crossl Prophets foretold it; Bethlehem
shepherds looked upon it in the bud
rocks shook at it's bursting, and the
dead got up in their winding-shcets to
see it's full bloom. 1t is a crimson
1ower-blood at the roots, blood on
the branches, blood on all the leaves.
It's perfume is to fill all the nations.
It's breath is in Heaven. Come, o
winds from the north and winds from
the south and winds from the east and
winds from the west, and bear to all
the earth the sweet-smelling SAVIOR of
Christ, my Lord!
His worth If all the nations knew,
Surs the whole earth would love Him, too
Religion Is not mere senti mentali-
ty; it is practical, life-giving, health
full fruit-not posies, but apples. "Oh,"
says somebody, II don't see what your
garden of the church has yielded" In
reply, ask where did your asylums
come from? and your hospitals? and
your institutions of mercy? Christ
planted every one of them; He planted
them in His garden. When Christ gave
sight to Bartimeus He laid the corner
stone to every blind asylum that has
ever been built. When Christ soothed
the demoniac of Ga1ilee He laid the
corner stone of every lunatic asylum
that has ever been established. When
Christ said to the sick man, ''Tale up
thy bed and walk" He laid the corner
stone of every hospital the world has
ever seen. When Christ said, Il was
in prison and We visited me-" He laid
the corner stone of every prison reform
association that has ever been organ
lied. The church of Christ is glo-
rious garden, and it is full of fruit.
There are Christian men in this house
whose religion is not a matter of psalm
singing and church-going. Tomorrow
morning that religion will keep them
just as consistent and consecrated in
their worldly occupation as it ever kept
them at the communion table. There
are women here to-day of a higher type
of character than Mary of Bethany.
They not only sit at the feet of Christ,
but they go out into the kitchen to
help Martha in her work that she may
sit there, too. There is woman who
has a drunkard husband, who has exc
hibited more faith and patience and
courage than Ridley in the fire. He
was consumed IN 81 minutes. Hers
has been a 20 years martyrdom. Yon-
der is a man who has been Is years on
his back, unable to feed himself, yet
calm and peaceful as though he lay on
one of the green banks of Heaven,
watching the oarsmen dip their pad
die in the crystal riveri Why, it seems
to me this moment as if st. Paul
threw to us a pomologist's catalogue
of the fruits growing in this great
garden of Christ-love, Joy, peace,
patience, charity, brotherly kindness,
gentleness, mercy; glorious fruit,
enough to fill all the baskets of earth
and Heaven.
Again, the Church In my text is APP
called garden, because it
Is thoroughly irrigated. No garden
could prosper long without plenty of
water. / have seen a garden in the
midst of desert, yet blooming and
luxuriant. All around us was dearth
and barrenness; but there were pipes,
reaching from this garden
up to the mountains, and through
these aqueducts the water came stream
ing down and tossing up into beautiful
until every root and leaf and
flower was saturated. That is like
the church. The church is garden in
the midst of great desert of sin and
suffering; but it is well irrigated; for
"our eyes are unto the hills from
whence cometh our help" From the
of Gods strength there flow
down rivers of gladness. There is
river the stream whereof shall make