Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1903-01-17

Il
ing to present it in ordinary story, put it
in the form of allegory, which lives on to-
day with constantly increasing power.
Handel. with ordinary music unable to
reach the height and sound the depth of
the theme, thrills us with his oratoro"
O. the Cladness. the brightness. the JOY nm
utterab.e in that lie which is hid with
Christ in God. And TINS | may drink in
as ! come to the neither springs.
There Is no life on earth so happy az
the Christians. Take the humblcst child
of God you know, and why shouldn't he
all the time under the shadow of Gods
wings. If he walks the angels bear him up;
if he sleeps they let down ladders from the
skies, up and down which the angels 90
to and fro. bringing down blessings of
God. and bearing away his heavy burdens.
Why. to get within the door of the king
dom. to have place. not the nearest, but
on the very outer circle TO bear the lowest
title of all the redeemed. to he the weakest
child of all the family of God. to be the
dimmest jewel in His crown OF rejoicing.
TO be the least, yea, less than least Of all
the saints is hope which sets the heart
a-singing. All this / find and more. a
thousand times more. as | stoop and drink
at the neither springs.
Water is also like the gospel in its power
to refresh. | remember the River Jordan
the day when Naaman came to its banks
with his leprosy. / see him going down
into its waters. once; twice. three times.
and then on until he had. according to the
instructions of the servant of God bathed
seven times, and then, marvellous change.
his flesh became as it were the flesh OF a
little child.
But here is greater change for the sin
full soul who will come to the neither
spring. Here came Newton, and left be-
hind him his sins which were as scarlet.
II.
step until lewd people rebuked him, and
he went away, so changed that he gave to
the world the book that stands in the esti-
nation of some next to the Bible for sweet
ness and power. Here came Nagdalen and
the Philippian jailor, Zacchacus, and the
poor trembling thief on the cross, and they
drank of the waters and stand to-day in
the company of the redeemed
j stand by the side of the waters to-day,
and with all the tenderness of saved sin
ner. with all the assurance of pardoned
child of God, with all the alarm OF a friend
who sees his friends and neighbors going
down to death, away from the living wat
ers, bid you come, come, come; Whose
ever viii. let him come"
1t is marvellous spring of which ! speak.
i recall the fact that when the Master met
the man who was blind from his birth He
anointed his eyes with clay and spitt.c and
then told him to go wash in the pool OF
seeing. l imagine that first of all he saw
the face of the Master Himself. This is
the power of the neither spring OF the gos
pei. The touch of its waters will cause the
scales to drop from our eyes. and we shall
he able to see the wondrous things written
in the book of God, and not only so, but
we shall have given unto us the vision OF
the face OF the Master Himself. 1t Is not
strange that we are unable. in orr sinful
condition, TO see things as they are III the
kingdom of God. for we are blind. But il
YOU will only come with Your blindness TO
the neither spring You shall go away re-
loicing. 1t Is like the pool OF Bethesda.
1t has healing power. and we are not only
saved from the guilt of sin. but we may
likewise be saved from its power. The
only difference is that in the pool the sick
people must wait until the waters are
troubled before they may step in and he
healed. while in this neither spring the wat.
ers are always ready This is no new idea
so to represent the gospel of Christ, for
read in the gospel of John these words:
But whosoverer shall drink of the water
that ! shall give him shall never thirst.
But the water l shall give him shall be in
him well of water. springing up into
these words are found: Il am the Alpha
and Omega, the beginning and the end. !
viii give unto him that is athirst, of the
fountain OF the water of life freely" o
thirsty souls, come ana drink.
/ know what springs OF water have done
for the world. Found in Gerar by Isaac.
they make the field fruitful in abundance.
Bursting forth in Lebanon, they send their
waters down the mountain side, and as
they go through the valley they make it
the very synonym of fruitfuness. Closely
akin to that is what the neither spring of
the gospel does for us. No one knows the
fulness of his own being until he is filled
with the influence and power OF the gospel.
You walk, in the month of January over
the most fertile place in field or through
the forest, and you will see the illustration
of what man is in his natural state. The
earth is full of roots and the trees are full
OF buds, all of which are closely bandaged
so that they can not expand, but when the
spring time comes the roots in the earth
commence to push forward and the buds
on the trees begin to unfold. and in n very
little time all nature Is rejoicing. What a
marvellous change, simply because the roots
have been warmed by the sun and kissed
by the light! and yet it Is not worthy to
be compared with a change which might
be wrought in you, If you will but come to
the neither spring and drink of its lfe-giv-
ing waters. for there you will meet Him
who has said: 81 am come that You might
have life. and that you might have it more
abundantly."
III. | wish / might be able to make
plain to You all that there is so much
more to the Christian life than simply
being saved. That is only the beginning.
The whole experience stretches away from
that point, and gets brighter and brighter
as the days 20 by. With the hope that we
might learn the lesson together to-day !
have brought before you these two springs.
Whether the strict cXegesis OF the text Will
allow the Interpretation or not. | am very
sure that all will agree that il Is Il perfect
illustration. TO drink at the neither
spring Is salvation. but To drink at the uf-
per spring is n high privilege that is OF.
fered to every child of God. could bring
so many passages of Scripture TO you
which would serve as an illustration al
what l mean. Take Ephesians i: 2:
BLESSED be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed III
with all spiritual Blessings in Christ Jesus
Or. Col. ii: II: Buried with Him in hap
tism, wherein also We are risen with Him.
through the faith Of the operation of God
who hath raised Him from the dead
Or, take Col. iii: 10: IF We then be risen
with Christ, seek those things which are
above, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. Set your affection on things
above, not on things on the earth For ye
are dead. and your life is hid with Chris;
in God" Or, take Phil iii: 20: For our
conversation is in heaven from whence
also we look for the Saviour, the LORD
Jesus Christ
/ would that 'rht all drink az the
upper spring. would then fiji