The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1901-09-12
Is VERY REFRESHING
Dr.. Talmage, in This Discourse, So
Represents Religion.
He Invites All the World to Come and
Receive It-Christ's Eternal
Fountains Satisfy the
Soul.
Copyright, 1901. by Louis Klopsch. N. VI
Washington,

In lQlS discourse Dr 10IAdSe repre-
sents religion as great refre SHINE Mt,
and invites all the world to come and
receive it; text, Genesis, 29:S. 1--WE
cannot until all the tiocks be gathered
together and till they roll the stone
from the wells mouth; then we water
the sheep"
A scene in Mesopotamia, beautifully
pastoral. A well of water of great
value in that region. The fields around
about it white with three fiocks of
tering. l hear their bleating comm g
on the bright air and the laughter of
young men and maidens indulging in
rustic repartee. l look off, and see
other focks of sheep coming. Mean
while Jacob, a stranger, on the inter-
esting errand of looking for a wife,
comes to the we'll. A beautiful shep-
herdess comes to the same well. see
her approaching, followed by her IA
theirs sheep. 1t was memora BILE
meeting. Jacob married that shep-
herdess. The Bible account of it is:
Jacob kissed Rachel and lifted up his
voice and wept." 1t has always been a
mystery to me what he found to cry
about! But before that scene oc-
Cured Jacob accosts the shepherds and
asks them why they postpone the
shaking of the thirst of their sheep
and why they did not Immediately pro-
ceed to water them. The shepherds
reply to the effect: eve are all good
| neighbors, and as a matter of cour-
tesy we wait until all the sheep of the
| neighborhood come up. Besides that,
this stone on the wells mouth is some
what heavy, and several of us take hold
of 1t and push it aside, and then the
buckets and the troughs are filed and
the sheep are satisfied" eve cannot
until all the flocks are gathered to-
gether and till theyroll the stone from
| the wells mouth; then we water the
| sheep"
Oh, this is thirsty world! Hot for
the head, and blistering for the feet,
and parching for the tongue. The
worlds great want is a cool, refresh
| ing, satisfying draft. We wander
around and we find the cistern empty.
| Long and tedious drought has dried
| up the worlds fountain, but cen
turies ago Shepherd, with crook in
| the shape of cross and feet cut to
| the bleeding, explored the desert pas
| sages IF the world and one day came
across a well thousand feet deep,
| bubbling and bright and opalescent,
| and looked to the north, and the south,
and the east, and the west, and cried
out with a voice strong and musical,
that rang through the ages: "Ho,
everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the
waters!"
Now great flock of sheep to-day
gather around this Gospel lwell. There
are great many thirsty souls. Iwon-
der why the focks of all nations do
not gather, why SO many stay thirsty
and while am wondering about it my
text breaks forth in the explanation
saying: "We cannot until all the focks
be gathered together and till they roll
the stone from the wells mouth; then
we water the sheep"
This well of the Gospel is deer
enough to put out the burning thirst
of the 100000, 900 of the race. Dc
not let the church by spirit of ex.
clusiveness keep the world out. Let
down all the bars, swing open all the
gates, scatter all the invitations
"Whosoever will, let him come" Come
white and black. Come, red men o1
| the forest. Come Laplander, out
of the snow. Come Patagonian, out OF
the south. Come ir>furs. Come pant
ing under palm leaves. Come one
Come all. Come now. AS at this wei
of Mesopotamia Jacob and Rache
were betrothed, 20 this morning at thi.
well of salvat ton Christ, our Shepherd
will meet you coming up with your long
focks of cares and anxieties, and He
will stretch out His hand in pledge
of His affection, while all Heaven will
cry out: Behold, the bridegroom
cometh! Go ye out to meet him!"
You notice that this well of Meso
potamia had a stone on it, which
must be removed before the sheel
could be watered, and 1 find on th'
we'll of salvation to-day impediment:
and obstacles which must be re
moved in order that you may Obtain
the refreshment and life of this gos
pei. In your case the impediment il
pride of heart. You cannot bear t.
come to so democratic fountain
you do not want to come with 81
many others. 1t is as though yo,
were thirsty and you were invited t.
slake your thirst at the town puml
instead of sitting in q parlor sippini
out of a chased chalice which ha
just been lifted from a silver salvel
Not so many publicans and sinners
You want to get to Heaven, but yo
must be in q special car, with you
feet. on a Turkish ottoman and
band Of music on board the trair
| You do not want to be in compan