The intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1887-1891, 1889-05-25

of Caleb thirsted after the water springsf
1t Is no stagnant pond. scummed over
with malaria, but springs Of water leap
ing from the Rock of Ages! Take up one
cup of that spring water. and across the
top of the chalice will float the delicate
shadows of the heavenly wall, the yellow
OF jasper, the green of emerald, the blue
of sardonyx, the fire of jacinth. l wish l
could make you understand the joy reli-
gion is to some of us. 1t makes a man
happy while he lives and glad when he
dies. With two feet upon a chair and
bursting with dropsies, l heard an old
man in the poor house cry out: BLESS
the Lord, o. my souli" l looked around
and said: what has this man
got to thank God for?" 1t
makes the lame man leap like the hart and
the dumb sing. They say that the old
Puritan religion is II juiceless and joyless
religion; but l remember reading of DR..
Goodwin, the celebrated Puritan, who in
his last moments said: 'Is this dyingf
. Why. my bow abides in strength l am
swallowed up In God" "Her ways are
ways of pldasantness, and all her paths
are peace" o. you have been trying to
\ satisfy yourselves with the South land"
Of This world, do you not feel that you
would, this morning, like to have access
to the neither springs of spiritual comfortr
Would you not like to have Jesus Christ
bend over your cradle and bless your
table and heal your wounds, and strew
flowers of consolation all up and down
the graves of your dead?
IT'S religion that can give
Sweetest pleasures while we live;
IT'S religion can supply
Sweetest comfort when we die.
But l lave something better to tell you,
suggested by my text. 1t seems that old
father Caleb on the wedding day of his
daughter wanted to make her just as
happy as possible. Though Othniel was
taking her away, and his heart was almost
broken because she was going, yeti he gives
her a 'south land :" not only that, but the
upper springs. o God, my Father, l
thank Thee that thou hast given me a
south land" in this world, and the neither
springs of spiritual comfort in this world;
but, more than all. / thank Thee for the
upper springs in Heaven.
It Is very fortunate we can not see
Heaven until we get into 1t U Christian
man, IL you could see what a place it is
we would never get you back again to the
Office or store or shop, and the duties you
ought to perform would 60 neglected. /
am glad / shall not see that world until /
OubCI H. ouppoSo "o "cIcd iio"cu " kO
on al excursion into that good land with
the idea of returning. When we got there,
and heard the song, and looked at their
raptured faces, and mingled in the super
nal society, we would cry out: Let us
stayi We are coming here anyhow.
Why take the trouble of going back again
to that old worldP We are here now; let
us stay" And it would take angelic vio-
lence to put US out OF that world IL we
once got there. But as people who can not
afford to pay for an entertainment some
times come around it and look through
the door ajar, or through the OPEN
ings in the fence. so WI come and look
through the crevices in that good land
which God has provided for us. We can
just catch a glimpse of it. We come near
enough to heal the rumbling of the eter-
nal orchestra, though not near enough to
know who blows the cornet or who fingers
the harp. My soul spreads out both wings
and claps them in triumph at the thought
of those upper springs. One of them
breaks from beneath the throne; another
breaks forth from beneath the altar of the
temple; another at the door of 'the house
of many mansions" Upper springs of
gladnessl Upper springs of light Upper
springs Of love! 1t is no fancy of mine.
'1u6 LdHU WHICH ID III tn6 mluSU OF Ll6
throne shall lead them to living fountains
of water" o Saviour divine, roll In upon
our souls one Of those antici-
roots of the parched tongue one
drop of that liquid life! Tos' before
our vision those fountains of God, rain
bowed with eternal victory. Hear it.
They are never sick there; not so much as
a headache or twinge rheumatic, or thrust
neuralgia. The ~inhabitant never says:
II am sick" They are never tired there.
Flight to farthest world is only the play
of a holiday. They never sin there. 1t is
as easy for them to be holy as it Is for us
to sin. They never die there. You might
go through all the outskirts of the great
city and find not one place where the
ground was broker for a grave. The eye
sight of the redeemed is never blurred
with tears. There is health In every cheek.
There is spring in every foot There is
majesty on every brow. There is joy in
every heart. There Is hosanna on every
lip
How they must pity us as they look over
and down and see us and say: Poor
things away down in that world" And
when some Christian is hurled into a fatal
accident they cry: 'Goodi He is com
mRG Anu Wu0u we SIhuu dTOuHu tuo
couch OF some loved one (whose strengt
is going away and we shake our head
f~orebodingly, they cry: 81 am glad he II
worse; he has been down there loni
enough. There, he is deadi Come home
Come homep o. il we could only ge
our ideas about that future world untwist
ed our thought of transfer from here Il
there would be as pleasant to Is as 1t wa,
to a little child that was dying. She saids
Papa, when will I go homer" And he
said: 'To-day, Florence" "To-dayf So
soonp / am so gladl"
wish l could stimulate you with these
thoughts, O, Christian man, to the highest
possible exhilaration. The day of your
deliverance is coming. Is coming. 1t Is
rolling on with the shining wheels of the
day and the Jet wheels of the night.
Every tbump of the heart is only a ham,
mer stroke striking Off another chain Of
clay. Better scour the deck and coil the
rope the harbor Is only six miles away.
Jesus will come down in the 'Narrows"
to meet you. Now is your salvation nearer
than when you believed
UnforgIven man, unpardoned man, will
you not make a choice between these two
portions, between the 'south land" of
this world, which slopes to the desert, and
this glorious land which thy Father offers
thee, running with eternal water courses?
Why let your tongue be consumed with
thirst when there are the neither springs
and the upper springs, comfort here and
glory hereafter?
Let me tell you, my dear brother, that
the ~silliest and wickedest thing a man
ever does is to reject Jesus Christ. The
loss of he soul is a mistake that can not
be corrected. 1t is a downfall that knows
no alienation; it is q ruin that is remedi-
less; it is a cknes hat has no medical
ment; it is a grave into which a man goes
Lut never comes GU. Therefore, putting
my hand on your shoulder as a lr, ther
puts his hand on the shoulder of a brother,
l say this day: Be manly and surrender
your heart to Christ You have be en- long
enough serving the world; now begin to
servo the Lord who bought you. You
have tried long enough TO carry these
burdens; let Jesus Christ put His shoulder
your burden.
Do / hear any one in the audience say :
81 mean to attend to that after awhile;
il is not just the timer" L. is the time for
the simple reason that you are sure of no
other; and God sends you here this morn
ing, and He sent me here to comfort you
with this messenger and you must hear
o that Christ died to save your soul,
and that II you wan to be saved you may
he saved. "Whosoever will, let him
come" You will never find any more
convenient season han this. Some OF
you have been waiting ten. twenty. thirty,
forty, fifty and sixty years. On some of
you the snow has fallen. 1 see it on your
brow, and yet you have not attended to
those duties which belong to the very
springtime of life. 1t is September with