The Lexington intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1901-1949, 1901-08-17

In this discourse ar. 1aimage repre-
sents religion a. q great refreshment,
and invites al the world 10 come ana
receive il; text, Genesis, 2g;S. I'VE
cannot until all the hoeks be gathered
together and till they roll the stone
from the wells mouth; then we water
the sheep"
A scene in Mesopotsmia, beautifully
pastoral. A well of water of great
value in that region. The fields around
about il white with three fOeks of
sheep lying down waiting for the wa
tering. / hear their bleating coming
on the bright air and the laughter of
young men and msidens indulging in
rustic repartee. / look of, and see
other focks of sheep coming. Mean
while Jacob, a stranger, on the inter
esting errand Of looking for a wife,
comes 10 the well. A beautiful shep-
herdess to the same well. see
her approaching, followed by her IA
theirs sheep. 1t was a memorable
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 &C.
CURED Jacob aceosts the Shepherds and
asks them why they postpone the
shaking Of the thirst Of their sheep
and why they did not Immediately pro-
coed TO water them. The shepherds
reply TO the effect: Eve are all good
neighbors, and as q matter of cour-
tesy we wait until all the sheep of the
neighborhood come mp. Besides that.
this stone on the wells mouth is some
what heavy, and several of us take hold
of il and push ii aside, and then the
buckets and the troughs are filled and
the sheep are satisfied" I'VE cannot
until ali the fiocks are gathered to-
gether and till they roll the stone from
the wells mouth; then we water the
sheep"
oh, this is a 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
turtles ago a Shepherd, with crook in
the shape OF q cross and feet cut tc
the bleeding, explored the desert pas
sages OF the world and one day cam,
across a well a thousand feet deep
bubb.iDg and bright and opalescent
and looked TO the north, and the south
and the east, and the west, and erie,
eut with a voice strong and musical
that rang through the ages: "Ho
everyone that thirsteth, come ye to tn,
waters!"
Now a great flock of sheep to-da,
gather around this Gospel well. Their,
are q great many thirsty souls. Iwon
der why the locks of all nations d,
not gather. why so many stay thirsty
and while ] am wondering about ii m,
text breaks forth in the explanation
1aying: 1--WE cannot until sIl the flock
be gathered together and till they rol
the stone from the wells mouth; the
~e water the sheep"
n a herd of swine come to a well
they sngrily jostle each other for tn
precedence; If a drove of cattle com
to q web, they hook each other bacI
from the water, but when a flock o
sheep come, though a hundred of ther
shall be disappointed, they only ez
press 1t by sad beating, they come tC
gsther peaceably. We want a grea
multitude TO come around the Gosp'
well. know there are those who d
not like a crowd; they think a crow
is vulgar. IL they are oppressed fc
room in church, il makes them pos
lively impatient and belligerent. "
have had people permanently lea
church because so many other Peep
came 10 II. Not so did these orient
shepherds. They waited until all Il
fiocks were gathered, and the mo
flocks that came the better they lik
Dt. Anu 80 we OuBnt W NC duAlO
THAT all the people should come. {
out into the highways and the hedg
land compel them to come 10. Go
1.-THE rich and tell them they are in
gent without the Gospel of Jesus.
10 the poor and tell them the afiuer
there Is in Christ. Go TO the BIZ
and tell them Of the touch that civ
eternal illumination. Go to the la
and tell them Of the joy that will ms
she lame man leap like a hart. Gail
sll the sheep off all the mountai
None so torn of the dogs, none so 81
none so worried, none so dying as
be omitted. Why not gather a gr
fock2 All this city is a flock, all n
York Is a flock, all London Is o Ac
all the world is a flock.
This well Of the Gospel is d
enough to put out the burning TIL
of the 1000, OO0. 900 of the race.
not let the church by a spirit Of
clusiyeness keep the world out.
down all the bars, swing open all
gates, scatter all the invitati'