Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1900-09-03

holy, blessed, useful, consecrated,
and triumphant. There is no grander
collection in all the earth than the col
lection of Christians. There are Chris
tan men in every church whose re-
Iigion is not a matter of psalm singing
and churchgoing. Tomorrow morning
that religion will keep them just as
consistent and consecrated in their
worldly occupation as it ever kept
them at the communion table. There
are women with us today of a 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
| woman who has a drunken husband,
who has exhibited more faith and pa
thence and courage than Ridley in the
fire. He was consumed in 20 minutes.
Hers has been a 20 years martyrdom.
Yonder is a man who has been Is years
on his back, unable to feed himself, yet
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, it
seems to me at this moment as if st.
Paul threw to us pomolOgist's cata-
logue of the fruits growing in this
great garden Of Christ-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.
have not told you Of the better tree
in this garden and of the better fruit.
It was planted just outside Jerusalem
q good while ago. When that tree was
planted, it was so split and bruised and
barked men said nothing would ever
grow upon it, but no sooner had that
tree been planted than it budded and
blossOmed and fruited, and the SOL
diers' spears were only the clubs that
struck down that fruit, and it fell into
the lap of the nations, and men began
to pick it up and eat it, and they found
in it an antidote to all thirst, to all
poison, to all sin, to all death, the
smallest cluster larger than the famous
one Of Eshcol, which two men carried
on a staff between them. If the one
apple in Eden killed the race, this one
cluster Of mercy shall restore.
Again, the church in my text is ap-
propriately called a garden because it
is thoroughly irrigated. No garden
could prosper long without plenty Of
water. I have seen a garden in the
midst Of a desert, yet blooming and
luxuriant. All around was dearth and
barrenness, but there were pipes, aQue-
ducts, reaching from this garden up to
the mountains, and through those aque-
ducts the water came streaming down
and tossing up into beautiful fountains
until every root and leaf and flower
was saturated. That is like the
church. The church is a garden in the
midst of a great desert of sin and suf-
fering, but it is we'll irrigated, for "our
eyes are unto the hills from whence
cometh our help" From the noun
tains of Gods strength there flow
down rivers Of gladness. "There is
river the stream whereof shall make
glad the city of our God" Preaching
the gospel is one Of the aQueducts.
The Bible is another. Baptism and the
Lords supper are aqueducts. Water
to s1ake the thirst, water to wash the
unclean, water tossed high up in the
light of the Sun of Righteousness
showing us the rainbow around the
throne. Oh, was there ever garden
SO thoroughly irrigated?
You know that the beauty of Yer
sailles and Chatsworth depends very
much upon the great supply of water.
I came to the latter place, Chatsworth,
one day when strangers are not to be
admitted, but by an inducement which
oil with Eng
lishman as an American, L got in, and
then the gardener went far up above
the stairs of stone and turned on the
water. I saw it cleaning on the dry
pavement, coming down from step to
step until it came SO near 1 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 at my
feet. So it is with the church of God.
Everything comes from above; pardon
from above, joy from above, adoption
from above, sanctifcation from above.
Waters of Salvation.
Would that now God would turn on
the waters of salvation, that they
might flow down through his heritage,
and that this day we might each find
our places to be "Elims" with u wells
of water and threescore and ten palm
trees.
Hank! hear the latch of the garden
gate, and look to see who is coming.
I hear the voice of Christ, 'I am come
into my garden" I say, "Come in, o
Jesusi We have been waiting for thee;
walk all through the paths. Look at
the flowers; look at the fruit; pluck
that which thou wilt for myself"
Jesus comes into the garden and up to
that old man, and touches him, and
says: almost home, father; not many