National Republican., 1886-09-13

let him come 10 Me and drink" All tnese
other fountains you find are mere mirages OF
the desert. Paracelsus, you know, spent his
time in trying TO find out the elixir OF life
liquid which, II taken, would keep one
perpetually young In this world, and would
change the aged back again to youth. OF
course he was disappointed he found not
the elixir. But here l tell sou this mora
ing OF the elixir of everlasting life bursting
from the crock Of Ages" and that
drinking that water you shall never get
old, and you will never be sick, and you
will never die. "IIo, every one that
thirsteth come ye TO the waters.n All, here
Is man who says: ~ have been looking
for that fountain great while, but can't
find it.n And here Is some one else, who
says; ~ believe all you say, but have
been trudglng along In the wilderness and
can't find the fountain Do you know
the reason1 l will tell you. You never
looked in the right direction. ooh" you say,
"l have looked everywhere. have looked
north, south, east, and west, and Haven't
found The fountain" Why, you are not
looking in the right direction at all. Look
up, where Hagar looked. She never would
have found the fountain at all, but when
she heard the voice Of the angel she looked
up and saw the finger pointing to the sup
ply. And, o soul, II TO day with one
earnest, intense prayer you would only
look up 10 Christ, lie would point you
down TO the supply in the wilderness.
"Look unto Me oil We ends OF the earth and
be We saved; for l am God, and there is
none else !" Look Look. as Hagar
looked.
Yes, there is a well for every desert Of be-
reavement. Looking over the audience
this morning notice an unusual number
Of signs OF mourning and woe. Have you
found consultations o man bereft o
woman bereft have you found consola-
tlonP Hearse after hearse. We step from
one grave hillock to another grave hlllock.
We follow corpses, ourselves soon to be
like them. The world is in mourning for
It's dead. Every heart has become the
sepulcher Of some buried Joy. But sing ye
to God every wilderness has well In IL,
and come to that we'll to day, and begin
to draw water from that well. II you have
lived in the country you have sometimes
taken hold OF the rope OF the old well
sweep, and you know how the bucket came
up, dripping with bright, cool water. And
l lay hold OF the rope Of Gods mercy this
morning, and begin to draw on that Cos
pei well sweep, and / see the buckets CON-
| ing up.
Thirsty soul Hero is one bucket of
| life Come and drink OF 1t. "Whosoever
will, let him come and take Of the water Of
life freely" / pull away again at the rope,
and another bucket comes up. 1t is this
| promise: "Weeping may endure for night,
but Joy cometh In the morning. lay
| hold Of the rope again, and l pull away
| with all my strength, and the bucket comes
up, bright, and beautiful, aud cool. Here
is the promise "Come unto Me all ye who
are weary and heavy laden, and l will give
| you rest.n
The old astrologers used to cheat the
| people with the idea that they could tell
| from the position OF the stars what would
occur In the future; and II cluster Of stars
stood in one relation, why, that would be a
prophecy Of evil; II a cluster OF stars stood
In another relation, that would be q
prophecy OF good. What superstitlonl But
here is new astrology in which put all
my faith. By looking up to the star OF
Jacob, the morning star Of the Redeemer,
can make ths prophecy In regard to those
who put their trust In God: "All things
work together for good to those who love
God.n Do you love HlmP Have you seen
the NyctanthesY 1t is beautiful flower,
but It gives very little fragrance until after
sunset. Then II pours its richness on the
air. And this grace of tho Gospel that
commend TO you this morning, while II
may be very sweet during the day Of pros.
perity, Il pours forth its richest aroma after
sundown. And 1t will be sundown with
you and me after awhile. When you come
to go out Of this world, will it be desert
march or Will it be drinking at q fountaini
| n Ndb ulluS,
heather comrades came around him aud
tried to comfort him by reading some of the
pages OF their theology; but he waived his
hand, as much as to say: ~ don't want &c
hear it.n Then they called In heather
priest, and he said: "If you will only recitt
the Numtra 1t will deliver you from HE'LL
He waved his hand, as much as to say
~ don't want to hear that" Ther
they said: "Call on Juggernaut." II,
shook his head, as much as to say
81 can't do that" Then they though
perhaps he was too weary to speak, ant
they said: snow, II you can't say 'Jugger
naut,' think OF him." He shook his hea,
again, US much as to say: "No, no, moi
Then they bent down to his pillow ant
they said: "In what will you trustG" III
face liRhted up with the very glories of th
celestial sphere, as he cried out, rallying al
bis dying energies: "Jesus.n Oh, com
this morning to the fountainl ! will tel
you the whole story In two or three sen
tences. Pardon for all sin. Comfort 70
all trouble. Light for all darkness. Aut
every wilderness has well In it.
|