Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1900-09-12
SERMONS Of THE DAY
Preached By Rev. Dr.. Talmage

Preached By Rev. Dr.. ralmage
Subject The Garden of tho King-ChrIst
tho Founder and Gnrdencr-The Flow
ers and Fruits OF Religious Devotion
Tho Beauty OF Right Living.
GCopyrtRht lsoai
WASHINGTON, D. C.-This sermon DR..
Talmage sends from a halting place in
his journey through the valleys of Swift
erland. 1t seems to have been prepared
amid the bloom and aroma of a garden
midsummer. The text is Song of Solo
mon v, l. 81 am come into my garden"
The Bible is great poem. We have in
it faultless rhythm and bold imagery and
startling anthithesis and rapturous lyric
and sweet pastoral and instructive narra-
tive and devotional psalm; thoughts ex-
pressed in style more solemn than that
of Montgomery, more bold than that
Dante, more natural than that of Words
worth, more impassi0ned than that of
Pollok, more tender thap that of Cowper,
more weird than that of Spenser. This
great poem brings all the gems of the
earth into its cordhet, and it weaves the
pours eternal harmonies in its rhythm.
Everything this book touches it makes.
beautiful, from the plain stones of the
summer thrashing floor to the daughters
of Major filing the troughs for the cam
els; from the fish pools of Heshbon up to
the psalmist praising God with diapason
of storm and whirlwind. and Jobs i'm
agery of Orion, Arcturus and the Pleiades.
My text leads us into a scene of sum
mer redolence. The world has had a
great many beautiful gardens. Charlie
magne added to the glory of his reign by
decreeing chat they be established all
through the realm-deciding even the
Henry w., at Montpelier, established
gardens of bewitchng beauty and luxu-
riance, gathering into them Alpine. py-
renean and French plants. One of the
sweetest spots on earth was the garden OF
Shenstone, the poet. His writings have
but his garden, "The Leasowes," will be
! immortal To the natural advantages of
| that place was brought the perfection of
| art. Arbor and terrace and slope and
| rustic temple and reservoir and urn and
fountain here had their crowning. Oak
and yew and hazel put forth their richest
foliage. There was no life more diligent.
no soul more ingenious than that of
Shenstone, and all that diligence and &C.
MUS he brought to the adornment of that
one treasured spot. He gave f300 for it !;
he sold it for eli 900. And yet l am to
tell you to-day of richer garden than
any l have mentioned. 1t is the garden
church. which belongs to Christ. for my
text says so. He bought it, He planted it,
He owns it, and He shall have it.
| Walter Scott, in his outlay at Abbots-
ford, ruined his fortune, and now, in the
crimson flowers of those gardens, You can
blood of tina. old mans broken heart
The payment of the last 100000 sacri-
feed him. But / have to tell you that
Christ's love and Christ's death were the
outlay of this beautiful garden of the
church, of which my text speaks. Oh
how many sighs and tears and pangs and
agonies! Tell me, ye women who saw
Him hang! Tell me. We executioners who
lifted Him and let Him down! Tell me
thou sun that didst hide, yc rocks that
fell! "Christ loved the church and gave
Himself for it, If the garden of the
church belongs to Christ, certainly He
has a right to walk in it. Come, then
down these aisles, and pluck what Thou
wilt of sweetness for Thyself,
The church, in my text, is appropriately
compared to a garden, because it is 6
place of choice flowers. of select fruit:
and of thorough irrigation.
That would be a strange garden il
which there were no flowers. If nowhere
else, they would be along the borders ol
at the gateway The homeliest taste viii
dictate something, if it be only the old
fashioned hollyhock or dahlia or daffodil
but if there be larger means, then yo'
will find the Mexican cactus and blazinl
azalea and clustering oleander. We'll
now, Christ comes to His Garden, and HI
plants there some of the brightest spirit
that ever howered upon the world. Som
of them are violets, inconspicuous, bu
sweet as heaven. You have to search an,
ID tAa,, ~
ten. perhaps, but you find where the.
have been bv the frightened face of tn
invalid and the sprig of geranium on tn
stand and the new window curtains keep
ing out the glow of the sunlight. The.
are, perhaps, more like the ranunculus
md briers of life, giving kiss for sting
md many a man who has had in his wa.
some great black rock of trouble ha
found that they have covered it all owe
with howery jasmine running in and on
amid the crevices.
These flowers in Christ's garden are no
like the sunfower, gaudy in the light, bu
wherever darkness hovers over soul tina
needs to be comforted, there they stand
night blooming cereuses. But in Christ
garden there are plants that may be bet
ter compared to the Mexican cactus
thorns without, loveliness within; mel
with sharp points Of character. The,
them. They are hard to handle. Me,
pronounce them nothing but thorns, bu
Christ loves them Notwithstanding al
their sharpnesses. Many a man has hat
very hard ground to cultivate. and
has only been through severe trial he ha
raised even the smallest scrap of grace
A very harsh minister was talking to
, very placid elder, and the placid eide
said to the harsh minister: Doctor, l d.
. wish you would control your temper.
"Ah," said the minister to the elder. g
j. control more temper in five minutes thai
/ you do in five years" 1t is harder TO
. some men to do right than for other mel
vate you to the seventh heaven might no
keep your brother from knocking a maj
| down. l had a friend who came to m
and said, Il dare not join the church:
said, Why" "Oh," he said, Il hav
such violent temper. Yesterday morn
City ferry, and | saw a milkman pour
large quantity of water into the milk can
and said to him: L think that will do
and he insulted me and l knocked hin
down. Do you think l ought to join tn
church," Nevertheless that very sam
; man, who was SO harsh in his behavior
t loved Christ, and could not speak of sa
cred things without tears of emotion an
affection. Thorns without, sweetnes
D within-the best specimen of Mexican
cactus / ever saw.
There are others planted in Christ
garden who are always radiant, alway
impressive-more like the roses of dee
hue that we occasionally find, calle
giants of battle;" the Martin Luthers
St Pauls, Chrysostoms, Wycliffes, Lat
mers and Samuel Rutherfords. What il
! other men is a spark in them is conAa
grafton. When they sweat, they swea
great drops of blood. When they pray
: their prayer takes FIRE. When they preac
, it is a Pentecost. When they fight, it is
Thermopylae. When they die, it is
martyrdom. You find great many rose
in the gardens, but only few giants Q
: battle" Men say, why don't you hav
! more of them in the church," l say
"Why don't you have in the world NOR
Humboldts and Wellingtons" God give
to some ten talents, to others one.
J Again, the church may be appropriated