St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1900-10-06

rivers Of gladnesa- There n . rivs1
the stream whereof shall make glad
the city of our God" Preaching tho
Gospel il one of the aqueducts. The
Bible is another. Baptism and the
Lords Supper are aqueducts. Water
to slake the thirst, water to wash the
unclean, water tossed high up in the
light Of the Sun Of Righteousneas,
showing m the rainbow around tAs
throne. Oh, was there ever . garde1
SO thoroughly irrigated? You know
that the beauty of Versailles and
Chatsworth depends very much upon
the great supply of water. came
to the latter place, Chatswortf, one
day when strangers are not to be ad-
mitted, but by an inducement which
always seemed as potent with an
Englishman as an American I got
in. and then the gardener went far
up above the stairs of stone and
turned ON the water. saw it gleam-
ing on the dry pavement, coming
down from step to step until it came
SO near could hear the musical rush,
and all over the high, broad stairs
it came, foaming, flashing, roaring
down until sunlight and wave in
gleesome wrestle tumbled 1T my feet.
So it is with the church of God.
Everything comes from above-par-
don from above, joy from above. adop-
tion from above, sanctification from
above.
Hark! hear the latch Of the gar.
den gate, and look to see who is
coming. I hear the voice Of Christ.
II am come into My garden" I say:
"Come in, O Jesus! We have been
waiting for Thee. Walk al through
the paths. Look at the flowers; look
at the fruit; pluck that which Thou
wilt for Thyself" Jesus comes into
the garden and up to that old man
and touches him and says: almost
home, father: not many more aches
for thee. / will never leave thee.
Take couragesa little longer. and ]
will steady thy tottering steps, and
/ will soothe thy troubles and give
thee rest. Courage, old man." Then
Christ goes up another garden path,
and He comes to q soul in trouble
and says: Peace! All II well. I
have seen thy tears. I have heard
thy prayer. The sun shall not smits
thee by day nor the moon by night.
The Lord shall preserve thee from
all evil. He win preserve thy soul
Courage, o troubled spirit!"
Then I see Jesus going up another
garden path, and I see great excite.
ment among the leaves, and ! hasten
up to that garden path to see what
Jesus is doing there, and. 10! He II
breaking OF flowers sharp and clean.
from the stem, and / say: Stop,
Jesus. Do not kill those beautiful
flowers" He turns to me and says:
81 have come into Ny garden to gath
er lilies, and mean to take these up
to . higher terrace for the garden
around my palace. and there ! viii
plant them, and in better soil and In
better air they shall put forth bright
er leaves and sweeter redolence, and
no frost shall touch them forever"
And / looked up into His face and
said: "Well, it is Thy garden, and
Thou hast . right to do what Thou
wilt with it. Thy will be done!"-
the hardest prayer man ever made.
It has seemed as ii Jesus Christ
took the best. From many of your
households the best one is gone You
know that she was too good for this
world. She was the gentlest in her
ways, the deepest in her affection.
and when at last the sickness came
you had no faith in medicines. You
knew that the hour of parting had
come, and when, through the ricA
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. You
surrendered that treasure you said:
Lord Jesus, take it. It il the best
we have. Take it. Thou art worthy"
The others in the household may have
been Of grosser mold. She was OF
the finest.
1 notice that the fine gardens some
times have high fences around them,
and cannot get in. It is so with
kings garden. The only glimpse you
exer get of such . garden is when
the king rides out in his splendid car
rage. 1t is not 20 with this garden.
this Kings garden. I throw wide
open the gate and tell you all to
come in. No monopoly in religion.
Whosoever will may. Choose now be-
tween q desert and garden. Many
of you have tried the garden of this
worlds delight. You have found IL
has been q chagrin. So It was with
Theodore Hook. He made all the
world laugh. He makes m laugh now
when we read his poems. But he:
could not make his own heart laugh.
While in the midst Of his festivities
he confronted . looking glass, and
he saw himself and said: There.
that is true. I look just n am
done up in body, mind and purse
So II was Of Shenstone, Of whose gar
den / told you at the beginning Of
my sermon. He sat down amid those
bowers and said: 81 have lost my
road to happiness. I am angry and
envious and frantic and despise every,
thing around me Just - it becomes !
madman to do"
Dye weary souls, come into Christ'S
garden to-day and pluck . little
heartsease. Christ il the only rest
and the only pardon for . perturbed
spirit. Do you mot think your chance
has almost come? You men and
women who have been waiting year
after year for some good opportunity
in which to accept Christ. but have
postponed it S. 10, 20. 30 years, DO
| YOU not feel as II now your hour Of
deliverance and pardon and salvation
had come? o man. what grudge
hast thou against thy poor soul thas
thou wilt not let It be saved?
Some years ago vessel struck On
the rocks. They had only one life
boat. In that Hfeboat the passengers
and crew were getting ashore. The
vessel had foundered and was sinking
deeper and deeper. and that one boat
could mot take the passengers very
swiftly. A little girl stood ON the
deck waiting for her turn to get into
the boat. The boat came and went,
came and went, but her turn did not