Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1896-04-30

OF nlcod. When they pray, their prayer
takes fire. When they preach, 1t is a
Pentecost. When they fight, 1t is Their
mopyle. When they die, it is a martyr
dom. You find great many roses in the
gardens but only few "Giants of Bat
tle." Men say, "Why don't you have
more Of them in the church," 1 say,
why don't you have In the world more
Humboldts and Wellingtonsf" God gives
to some ten talents; to another, one.
In this garden of the church which
Christ has planted 1 also find the snow
drops, beautiful but cold looking, SEEM
ingly 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 any
thing rashly, they never do anything pre-
cipitately. Their pulses never flutter, their
nerves never twitch, their indignation
never boils over. They live longer than
most people, but their life is In a minor
key. They never run up to G 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. Snow
drops always snowdrops.
But have not told you of the most
beautiful flower of all this garden spoken
of In the text. If you soc a century plant,
your emotions are staiE You say,
why, this flower has been 100 years gath
ering up for one bloom, and it will be 100
years more before other petals will come
out" But l have to tell you of q plant
that was gathering up from all eternity,
and that 1900 years ago put forth its
bloom never to wither. 1t is the passion
plant Of the cross! Prophets foretold It,
Bethlehem shepherds looked upon it in the
bud, the rocks shook at its bursting, and
the dead got up in their winding sheets to
see Its full bloom. 1t Is crimson flower
blood at the roots, blood on the branches,
blood Oh all the leaves. Its perfume is to
I'LL all the nations. Its breath is 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,
Sure the whole earth would love him too.
Fruit In the Garden.
Again the church may be appropriately
compared to garden because it is a place
of fruits. That would be strange gar
den which had in 1t no berries, no plums
or peaches or aprioots. The coarser fruits
are 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 outside the church, Christ has plant
ed a great many beautiful things-pa-
thence, charity, generosity, integrity-but
he intends the choicest fruits to be in the
garden, and If they are not there, then
shame on the church.
Religion is not q mere sentimentality.
1t is a practical, life giving, healthful
fruit-not posies, but apples. "Oh," says
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.
Whom Christ gave sight to Bartimeus,
he laid the cornerstone to every blind
asylum that has ever been built. When
Christ soothed the demoniao of Galilee, he
laid the cornerstone of every lunatic asy-
lum that has ever been established. When
Christ said to the sick man, "Take up thy
bed and walk" he laid the cornerstone of
every hospital the world has ever seen.
When Christ said, ~ was in prison and ye
visited me-" he laid the cornerstone of
every prison reform association that has
ever been organized. The church of Christ |
is glorious garden, and it is full of fruit.
l know there is some poor fruit in it.
know there are some weeds that ought to
be thrown over the fence. I know there
are some crab apple trees that ought to be
cut down. know there are some wild
grapes that ought to be uprooted. But are
you going to destroy the whole garden be-
cause of little gnarled fruit? You will
find worm eaten leaves in Fontainebleau,
and insects that sting in the fairy groves
of the Champs Elysees. You do not tear
down and destroy the whole garden be-
fruit. admit there are men and women
In the church who ought not to be there,
but let US be just as frank and admit the |
fact that there are hundreds and thou
sands and tens Of thousands Of glorious
Christian men and women-holy, blessed, |
useful, consecrated and triumphant. |
There Is no grander, nobler collection in |
all the earth than the collection of Chris !,
tians.
There are Christian men in this house
whose religion Is not matter of psalm
singing and church going. Tomorrow
morning that religion will keep them just
IS consistent and consecrated In their
worldly occupation as it ever Kept them at
jhe communion table. There are women
here today of higher type of character
'han Mary of Bethany. They not only sit
1t the feet of Christ, but they go out into
jhe kitchen to help Martha in her work
hat she may sit there too. There is a
woman, who has drunkard husband, who
1as exhibited more faith and patience and
courage than Ridley in the fire. He was
in 20 minutes. Hers has been
! 20 years martyrdom. Yonder is man
Who has been Is years on his back, unable
10 feed himself, yet calm and peaceful as
hough he lay on one of the green banks
# heaven watching the oarsmen dip their
'addle In the crystal river. Why, it seems
o me this moment as if st. Paul threw to
is pomologist's catalogue of the fruits
'rowing In this great garden of Christ
owe, JOY, peace, patience, charity, brother
y kindness, gentleness, meroy-glorious
ruit, enough to fill all the baskets of ,
arth and heaven
The Watered Garden.
Again, the church in my text is appro- '
riately called garden because it is thor !
ughly irrigated No garden could pros E
er long without plenty of water. have i
cen garden in the midst of desert, yet l
md /.
ere dearth and barrenness, but there were @
ipes, aqueducts, reaching from this gar S
en- up to the mountains, and through
hose aqueducts the water came streaming t
own and tossing up into beautiful foun- /
aims, until every root and leaf and flower h
as saturated. That is like the church. t
he church is garden in tho midst of !
reat desert of sin and suffering, but it is
ell irrigated, for "our eyes are unto the l
ills from whence cometh our help" t.