The Penn's Grove record., 1896-05-01

Again. the church may appropriately b.
compared to a garden because 1t Is a place o
fruits. That would be q strange garden
which had In 1t no berries, no plums OF
peaches or apricots. The coarser fruits arr
planted In the orchard, or they are set out
on the sunny hillside, but the choicest fruits
are kept In the garden. So in the world out.
side the church Christ has planted a great
many beautiful thinRs-patience, charity,
generosity, integrity-but He intends the
choicest fruits to be In the garden, and II
they are not there. then shame on the
church,
Religion is not a mere s~entimentality. 1t
sa practical, life giving, healthfuI fruit
not posies. but apples. "oh," SAYS some
body. u don't see what your garden OF the
church has yielded" I reply / ask where
did your asylums come from, and your hos
pitfalls, and your institutions OF marcy2
Christ planted every one OF them. He plant
cd them In His garden. When Christ gave
sight to Bartimeus, He laid the cornerstone
10 every blind asylum that has ever been
built. When Christ soothed the demoniac
of Galilee, He laid the cornerstone OF every
lunatic asylum that has ever been estab-
hshed. When Christ said to the sick man:
take up thy bed and walk" He laid the
cornerstone OF every hospital the world has
,ver seen. When Christ said: II was in
prison and ye visited Me" He laid the cor
l~erstone OF every prison reform association
hat has ever been organized. TIL church
u Christ lisa %glourtous garden, and 1t is full
u fruit.
I know there is some poor fruit In II. J
tnow there are some weeds that ought to be
thrown over the fence. know there are
some crab apple trees that ought to be cut
down. l know there are some wild grapes
that ought to be uprooted. but are you going
10 destroy the whole garden because of a
little Rnarled fruit? You will md worm
baten leaves in ~Fontaineble8u and insects
that sting In the fairy groves of the Champs
Elysees. You do not tear down and destroy
the whole garden because there are q few
,pecimens of gnarled fruit. I admit there
ARE men and women in tho church who
ought not to be there, but let US be just as
rank and admit the fact that there are hun
ireds and thousands and tens Of thousands
II glorious Christian men and women-holy,
blessed, useful, consecrated and triumphant.
There is no grander, nobler collection In all
he earth than the collection of Christians.
There are Christian men in this house
whose religion ia not a matter OF psalm sing
ng and church going. Tomorrow morning
hat religion will keep them Just as cOnsis-
emit and consecrated In their worldly occu-
patton as It ever kept them at the COM
nunion table. There are women here to-
AtJ vi y hh3hoE tyP vi o2AhA " tiiftA AhAtAJ
II 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 q uni who has a
irunkard husband who has exhibited more
laith and patience and courage that Ridley
IN the fire. He was consumed In twenty
minutes. Hers has been a twenty years
nartyrdom. Yonder Is a man who has been
fifteen years on his back. unableto feedhim-
taIR x,a4 nai,o onA Al aaf,,l oa thNrob ba lou
u one Of the green banks OF heaven, watch
ng the oarsmen dip their paddle In the crys-
al riveri Why, 1t seems to mt this moment
V II 81. Paul threw to us q pomologlst's
catalogue of the fruits growing In this great
garden Of Christ-love, Joy, peace, patience,
sharity, brotherly kindness, gentleness,
mercy, glorious fruit, enough to fill all the
baskets Of earth and heaven.
Again, the church in my text is ap
ropriately called a garden because 1t is
thoroughly irrigated. No garden could
have seen a gardenin the midst OF n desert,
yet blooming and luxurlant. ALI around us
we're dearth and barrenness, but there
we're pipes, ~aqueducts, reaching from this
garden up to the mountains, and through
hose aqueducts the water came streaming
iown and tossing up into beautiful foun-
.ains, until every root and leaf and flower
wa saturated. That Is like the church.
The church Is q garden In the midst of a
we'll irrigated, for "our eyes are unto the
Hills from whence eometh our help" From
The mountains Of Gods strength there flow
down rivers Of gladness. "There is a river
the stream whereof shall make glad
the city OF our God" Preaching the
gospel is one of the a~queducts. The
Bible is another. Baptism and the Lords
supper are aqueducts. Water to slake tho
thirst, water to wash the unclean, water
tossed high up In the light of the Son of
Righteous, showing us b rainbow around
the throne. Oh, was there ever a garden so
thoroughly irrigated You know that the
beauty Of Versailles and Ohatsworth depends
very much upon the great supply OF water.
{ came to the latter place, Chatsworth, one
iay when strangers are not to be admitted,
but by an inducement which always seemed
a. potent with an ~Englishman as an Ameri-
san I got in, and then the gardener went far
np above the stairs Of stone and turned on
the water. I saw 1t cleaning on the dry
pavement coming down from step to step un-
HI II came 80 near I could hear the musical
rush and all over the high, broad stairs II
same foaming, flashing, roaring down, un-
I'll sunlight land wave in gleesome wrestle
tumbled at my feet. 80 1t is with the church
Of God, Everything m from above
pardon from above, JOY from above, adoption
from above, sa%ntiflcation from above.
Hank? Ihear the latch Of the garden gate,
and I look to see,who is coming. lhear the
voice OF Christ. 81 am come into My gar
den." say: "Come in, o Jesusl We have
been waiting for Thee. Walk all through the
paths. Look at the flowers, look ut The
truit; pluck that which Thou wilt for Thy
self." Jesus comes int the garden and 10
TO that old man and touches him, and says:
sAlmost home, father, not many more aches
tor thee. 1 will never leave thee. Take
courage a little longer. and l will steady thy
tottering steps, and l will soothe thy trou.
bles and give thee rest. Courage, old man."
Then Christ goes up another garden path,
and He m to a soul in trouble and saws,
iPeace! All is we'll. 1 have seen thy tears.
I have heard thy prayer. The sun shall not
,mite thee by day nor the moon by night,
The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil.
He will preserve thy soul. Courage, 0 trou.
bled spiritl"
Then l see Jesus going up another gardel
path, and l see great excitement among the
leaves, and / hasten up that garden path TO
zee what Jesus Is doing there, and loi He Is
the stem, and I say. ''Stop, Jesus, don't Kill
those beautiful flowers" He turns to ma
and saws: 81 have some into NV garden TO
gather lilies, and I mean to take these IN to
/ higher terrace, for the garden around NV
palace. and there / will plant them, and in
better soil and In better air they shall put
forth brighter leaves and sweeter sedotsnce.
and no frost shall touch them forever" Aud
/ looked up into His face and said; "Well, II
q His garden, and He has a right to do what
he Will with 1t. Thy will be donel' the
hardest prayer ever man made.
n II has seemed as II Jesus Christ took the
best; from many OF your households the
best one is gone. You know thai she was
too good for this world; she was the gen.
Hest in her ways, the deepest in her afrec,
lions. and when at last the sickness came
you had no faith In medicines. You knew
that the hour OF parting had come. and wher
through the rich grace OF the Lord Jesui
Christ, you surrendered that treasure yor
said. "Lord Jesus, take 1t. 1t Ia tho bes
me- have. take It. Thou art worthyg' The
hthsrs in the household may have been Of
rrosser mold. She was OF the finest.
The heaven OF your little ones will not bs
fairly begun until you get there. All the
kindness shown them by immortals will not
make them forget you. There they are, the
radiant throngs that went out from your
homes, Throws kiss to the sweet dsrlings.
They are ali well now in the palace. The
crippled child has q sound foot now. A lit.
tie lame child says, siMa, will 1 be lame In