The Columbus commercial. (Columbus, Miss.) 1893-1922, 1896-05-03

brother from knocking q man dowl'.
had a friend who came 70 me anN
said; ~ dare not join the church" Y
said: "Why3n ''Oh,r be said, ~ have
such a violent temper Yesterday
morning waa crossing very early %
the Jersey City ferry, and saw milk
man pour a large quantity Of water
into the milk can. and said TO himi
i think that viii do, and be inanlt6d
me and I knocked him down. Do you
think I ought to join the church,"
Nevertheless. that very same man, who
was SO harsh In his behavior, loved
Christ, and could not speak Of sacred
things without tears Of emotion aud
Affection. Thorns without, sweetness
within the best specimen Of the Mex
lean cactus ever saw.
There are others planted in Christ's
garden who are. always radiant, al
ways impressive-more like the roses
Of deep hue that we occasionally End,
called "Giants Of Battle. the Martin
Luthers, St Pauls, Chrysostoms, Wick
liffes, Latimers and samuel Ruther-
fords. What in other men is a spark
ia them Is q conhagration. 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
Thermopyle When they die, Il is a
martyrdom. You find a 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," I say: why don't you
have in the world more Humboldts and
Wellingtons?n God gives to some ten
talents, 20 another one.
In this garden Of the church which
Christ has planted also find the snow
drops, beautiful, but cold-loolying,
seemingly another phase OF winter. /
mean those Christians who are precise
in their astesAunimpassioned, pure as
snowdrops and as cold. They never
shed any tears, they never get excited,
they never say anything rashly, they
never do anything precipitately. Their
pulses never hutter, their nerves never
twitch, their Indignation never boils
over. They live longer than most peo-
pie, but their life is in a 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. II 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 have to tell you
of a plant that was gathering
up from all eternity, and that 1906
years ago put forth its bloom never tc
wither. 1t is the passion plant Of the
Crossl Prophets foretold it; Bethlehem
shepherds looked upon it in the bud
rocks shook at its bursting. and th,
dead got up ia their winding-sheets u
see It's fuiI bloom. L Is a crimson
iower-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, c
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 II all the nations knew
Surs the whole earth would love Him, too.
Again, the Church in my text is ap
propriately called garden, because Il
Is thoroughly irrigated. No garden
could prosper long without plenty Of
water. have seen a garden in the
midst Of a desert, yet blooming and
luxuriant All around us was dearth
and bafrenness; but there were pipes
aqueducts, reaching from this garden
up to the mountains, and through
these aqueducts the water came stream
ing down and tossing up into beautiful
fountains, until every root and leaf and
flower was saturated. That is like
the church. The church is a garden in
the midst of a great desert OF sin and
suffering; but 1t is well irrigated; foI
''our eyes are unto the hills from
whence cometh our help" From the
mountains Of Gods strength there flow
down rivers Of gladness. There is q
river the stream whereof shall max,
glad the city Of our Cod Preaching
the Gospel Is one Of the aqueducts
The Bible Is another. Baptism and the
Lords Supper are aqueduets. Water
/ IN qlalra tha thirst tvakssr IN sxrach this
unclean, water tossed high up in the
light Of the sun Of righteousness, show
ing as the rainbow around the throne
Oh, was there ever garden 50 thor
oughly irrigated You know that the
beauty Of Versailles and Chatswortf
depends very much upon the greai
supply Of water. came to the latter
place, ChRtsworth, one day wher
strangers are not to be admitted; but
by an inducement which Away
seemed as potent with an Englishmar
as with an American, got In. and
then the garnener went far allow
the stairs Of stone and turned OF
the water saw It cleaning
on the dry pavement, coming dowr
from step to step, until It came so neal
/ could hear the musical rush, and ali
over the high, broad stairs It cam'
foaming, flashing, roaring down. unit
sunlight and wave IN glsesoms wrehtl'
tumbled at my feet So It Is with The
church Of God. Everything Gomez
from above; pardon from above, Jos
from above, adoption from above