Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1900-09-07


drops. beautiful but cold looking. seem.
ingly another phase OF winter. 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 anything raShly. they
never 60 anything precipitately. Their
pulses never Hutter. their nerves never
tWitch. their Indignation never boils
over. They live longer than most peo-
pie. but their life is ia a minor key.
They never run up 10 g above the
staff. In their music of life they have
no staecato passages. Christ planted
them in the church. and they must be
OF some service or they would not be
there. SnowdropS-alwayss nowdropS.
But ! have not told you of the most
beautiful flower in all this garden spo-
ken of i'm the text If you see ceptu-
ry plant. your emotions are started.
You say. "Why. this flower has been a
hundred years gathering up one bloom.
and il will be n hundred years more
before other petals will come out" But
| have TO tell you of plant that was
1000 years ago put forth It's bloom new
er to wither. 1t Is the passion plant of
the cross. Prophets foretold IL: Beth
lehem 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 a
crimson tiower-blood at the roots,
blood on the branches. blood on the
leaves. Its perfume is TO ill all the
nations. Its breath is heaven. Come.
. 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 sa-
vor of Chris, my Lord!
His worth il all the nations knew.
Sure the whole earth would love him too.
The Place OF Fruits.
Again. the church may be appropri-
ately compared to Il garden, because
1t is place of fruits. That would be q
strange garden which had in it no Der
ries, no plums or peaches or apricots.
The coarser fruits are planted in the
orchard or they are set out on the sun
ny hillside; but the choicest fruits are
kept in the garden. SO in the world
outside the church Christ has planted
n great many beautiful thiugs-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 n mere lowering sen.
timentality. 1t is n practical. life Civ
ing healthfui fruit-not posies. but APP
pies. oh" says somebody, u don't
see what your garden of the church
has yielded" Where did your asylums
come from. and your hospitals. and
your institutions of mercy? Christ
planted every one of them. He plant
ed them in his garden. When Christ
gave sight TO Bartimeus. he laid the
cornerstone of every blind asylum that
has ever been built. When Christ
soothed the demoniac of Galilee. he
laid the cornerstone of every luuatic
asylum 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, Il 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 n glorious garden. and It is full OF
fruit. | know there is some poor fruit
In it. know there are some weeds
that ought To be thrown over the
fence. ! know there are some crab
apple trees that ought 10 be cut down.
know there are some wild grapes
that ought TO be uprooted. But are you
going 10 destroy the whole garden he
cause OF n little gnarled fruit? You
will find worm eaten leaves I'm Fon-
tainebleau and insects that sting in
the fairy groves OF the Champs Ely
sees. You do not tear down and de-
stroy the whole garden because there
are few specimens OF gnarled fruit.
l admit there are men and women i'm
the church who ought not TO be there:
but let us bc frank and admit the fact
that there are hundreds and thousands
or glorious Christian men and women
holy, blessed, useful, consecrated.
and triumphant. There is no grander
collection i'm all the earth than the col
lection OF Christians. There are Chris
tian men in every church whose re-
iigion is not matter of psalm singing
and churchgoing. Tomorrow morning
that religion will keep them just as
consistent and consecrated i'm their
worldly occupation as Ii ever kept
them at the communion table. There
are women with us today of higher
type OF character than Mary of
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 n
woman who has drunken husband,
who has exhibited more faith and pa
thence and courage than Ridley In the
IRE. He was consumed In 20 minutes.
Hers has been 20 years martyrdom.
Nonder is man who has been 10 years
on his back, unable to feed himself, vet
calm and peaceful as though he lay on
one of the green banks OF heaven,
watching the oarsmen dip their pad.
dies in the crystal river! Why, II
seems to me ut this moment as If ST,
Paul threw to us Il pomologist's cata-
logue OF the fruits growing In this
great garden of Cbrist-love, Joy.
peace. patience, charity, brotherly
kindness, gentleness. mercy; glorious
fruit. enough to fill all the baskets of
earth and heaven.
The Tree of Mercy.
i have not told you Of the better tree
in this garden and of the better fruit.
1t was planted just outside Jerusalem
good while ago. When that tree was
planted, ii was so split and bruised and
barked men said nothing would ever
grow upon it. but no sooner had that
tree been planted than 1t budded and
blossomed and fruited. and the sol
diers' spears were only the clubs that
struck down that fruit. and il fell into
the lap OF the nations. and men began
to pick 1t up and eat it, and they found
in it an antidote TO all thirst, 60 all
poison, TO all sin, to all death, the
smallest cluster larger than the famous
one of Eshcol. which two men carried
on staff between them. If the one