The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1901-08-16

Washington,
In this discourse DR.. TaImage repre-
sents religion as great refre shment
and invites all the world to come and
receive it,; text, Genesis, 1913. eve
cannot until all the focks 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 flocks of
sheep lying down waiting for the wa
tering. l hear their bleating coming
on the bright air and the laughter of
young men and maidens INDUCING in
rustic repartee. L look off, and L see
other focks of sheep coming. Mean
while Jacob, a stranger, on the inter
esting errand of looking for a wife,
comes to the well. A beautiful shep-
herdess comes to the same well. l see
her approaching, followed by her ia
theirs sheep. 1t was a memorabl
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
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-
coed to water them. The shepherds
reply to the effect: eve are all good
neigh bors, 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 it and push it aside, and then the
buckets and the troughs are filed and
the sheep are satisfied" eve cannot
until all the f1ocks are gathered to-
gether and till they roll 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
turtles ago a Shepherd, with crook in
the shape of a cross and feet cut to
the bleeding, explored the desert pas
sages of the world and one day came
across a well thousand feet deep,
bubb,ing and bright and opalescent,
and looked to the north, and the south.
and the east, and the west, and cried
out with voice strong and musical,
that rang through the ages: ''Ho,
everyone that thirsteth, come We o the
waters!"
Now a great flock of sheep to-day
gather around this Gospel well. There
are great many thirsty souls. won
der why the focks of all nations do
not gather, why so many stay thirsty,
and while l am wondering about it my
text breaks forth in the explanation,
saying: I'VE cannot until all the f1ocks
be gathered together and till they roll
the stone from the wells mouth; then
we water the sheep"
If a herd of swine come to a well,
they angrily jostle each other for the
precedence; if a drove of cattle come
to well, they hook each other back
from the water, but when a flock of
sheep come, though hundred of them
shall be disappointed, they only ex-
press it by sad beating, they come to-
gether peaceably. We want a great
multitude to come around the Gospel
well. ] know there are those who do
not like a crowd; they think crowd
is vulgar. If they are oppressed for
room in church, it makes them posi-
lively impatient and belligerent. We
have had people permanently leave
church because SO many other people
came to it. Not so did these oriental
shepherds. They waited until all the
flocks were gathered, and the more
focks that came the better they liked
it. And so we ought to be anxious
that all the people should come. Go
out into the highways and the hedges
and compel them to come in. Go to
the rich and tell them they are indi-
gent without the Gospel of Jesus. Go
to the poor and tell them the aff1uence
there is in Christ. Go to the blind
and tell them of the touch that gives
eternal illumination. Go to the laQe
and tell them of the JOY that will make
the lame man leap like hart. Gather
all the sheep off all the mountains,
None so torn of the dogs, none so sick,
none so worried, none so dying as to
be omitted. Why not gather a great
flock? All this city is flock, all New
York is a flock, all London is flock,
all the world is a flock.
This well of the Gospel is deep
enough to put out the burning thirst
of the I 900. 900, 600 of the race. Do
not let the church by a spirit of eX-
clusiveness keep the world out. Let
down all the bars, swing open all the
gates, scatter all the invitations.
whatsoever will, let him come" Come,
white and black. Come, red men of
the forest. Come Laplander, out
of the snow. Come Patagonian, out of
the south. Come in>furs. Come pant
ing under palm leaves. Come one.
Come all. Come now. AS at this well
of Mesopotamia Jacob and Rachel
were betrothed, so this morning at this
well of salvation 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
comethl Go We out to meet him!"
You notice that this well of Meso-
potamia had a stone on it, which
must be removed before the sheep
could be watered, and 1 find on the
well of salvation to-day impediments
and obstacles which must be re
moved in order that you may obtain