The Columbus commercial. (Columbus, Miss.) 1893-1922, 1896-05-03
TALMAGE's SERMON.
The Season OF Flowers Suggests
the Garden Of God.



Rev T. De Witt Talmage delivered
the following sermon, apropos Of the
advent Of spring flowers, before bis
Washington congregation. taking for
his text:
Thou shalt Be Ike q valered garden.--iaaiaa
lvlii., a.
The Bible Is a great poem. We have
IN II faultless rhythm and bold inn
agery and startling antithesis and
raptuTous lyric and sweet pastoral aud
instructive narrative and devotional
psalm; thoughts expressed In style
more solemn than that Of Montgom-
cry, more bold than that Of Milton,
more terrible than that Of Dante. more
natural than that Of Wordsworth,
more impassioned than that Of Poll
lock, more tender than that Of Cow
per, more weired than that Of Spen-
ser.
This great poem brings all the gems
of the earth into its coronot. and It
weaves the flames Of Judgment into its
garlands, and pours eternal harmonies
Ia its rhythm. Everything this book
touches It makes beautiful, from the
plain stones Of the summer threshing
floor to the daughters Of Major filling
the trough for the camels; from the
tish-pools Of Heshbon up to the psalm
list praising God with the diapason Of
storm aad whirlwind, and Jobs
imagery Of Orion, Arcturus and the
Pleiades.
My text leads us into a sene Of sum-
mer redolence. The world has had a
great many beautiful gardens. Charlie
magne added to the glory Of his reign
by decreeing that they be established
all through the realm-deciding even
the names of the flowers TO be planted
there. Henry w., at Montpelier, es-
tabllshed gardens Of bewitching
beauty and luxuriance, 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 impression on the world; but his
garden, THE Leasowes," will be inn
mortal To the natural advantage
of that place was brought the per-
lection of art. Arbor and terrace and
slope, and rustic temple, and reservoir.
and urn, and fountain here had their
GROWING. Oak and yew and hazel put
forth richest foliage There was no
life more diligent, no soul more in
genious. than that Of Shenstone, and
all that diligence and genius be
brought to the adornment Of that one
treasured spot He gave R300 for ii;
he sold it for $4,000 And yet l am
TO tell you to-day Of a richer garden
than any have mentioned. It is the
garden of the church, which belongs
to Christ. He bought 1t, He planted
It, He owns 1t, and He shall have It
Walter Scott. in his outlay at Abbots-
ford. r1aiaezI his fortune; and aosz.. 50
the cromson 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 100000 sacrificed him. But I
have to tell you that Christ's death
were the outlay Of this beautiful
garden of the church, Of which my
text speaks, Oh, how many sigh and
tears and pangs and agoniesl Tell me,
ye women who saw Him hangl Tell
me We executioners who lifted Him
and let Him down. Tell me, thou sun
that didst hides We rocks that fell
Christ loved the church and gave Him
self for it. If 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 aisles, and pluck what
Thou wilt of sweetness for Thyselt
The church in my text, Is appropri
ately compared to a garden, because Il
Is the place Of choice flowers, Of select
fruits, and Of thorough irrigation.
That would be a strange garden in
which there were no flowers. II mo-
where else, they would be along the
borders or at the gateway. The home
Hest taste viii dictate something, If II
be only the Old-fashioned hollyhock,
or dahlia, or daffodn; but II there be
larger 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, IN
conspicuous, but as 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 bright
ened face Of the invalid, and tho sprig
Of geranium on the stand, and the new
window curtains keeping ont the glare
Of the sunlight. They are. perhaps,
mere like the ranunoulus, creeping
sweetly along 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 trou bic.
has found that they have covered It ell
over with dowery jasmine, running IN
and out amid the crevices. These flow
ers In Chriats garden are not like the
sunnower. gaudy in the light. bui
wherever darkness hovors over a soul
that needs to be comforted, there theJ
stand. nlght-bloom ing cereuses.
But IN Christ'a garden there are
plants that may Be better compared ID
the Mexican cactus-thorns without
loneliness within; men with SHARP
points Of character They wound 81
most everyone that touches them
They are hard 10 handle. Men pro
no,srra khara rofhfncs httt thorwa h~i