The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1903-01-16

renew his youth and live forever. We
have found that spring to-day in the text,
Bible Is all a-sparkle with wells aud
springs, rivers and seas. They toss up their
brightness from almost every chapter. And
water is many times the type or figure Of
that which enlivens, beauties and gives
new life"
heaven, eXelaims, AS cold water to .
thirsty soul, so Is good news from a far
country" Isaiah, speaking Of the blessed
ness OF the children OF God, writes, They
shall spring as willows from the water
eourses" The prophet, glowing with the
thought OF the mllienlum, SAYS. Streams
shall break forth from the desert"
The mission OF water IN this world is TO
b,ess and satisfy, refresh and help. But
all the waters that ever leaped IN the tor
rents, or foamed in the cascade, or iell IN
the summer shower, or hung in the MORN
ing dew. have given no such comfort 10 the
troubled heart. no such rest and refresh
ment To the sln-sick soul. as that which
may be drawn by you and by me from the
neither spring OF the gospel"
IL is a good type OF illustration os the
gospel because Of its brightness. Yet here
i, fails OF giving us perfect description or
idea, for where can you hnd such bright
ness as CLEANS in this neither spring:
David, unable to pnt 1t into words,
PLAYS IL on his harp. Christopher Wren,
unable to put it into language springs il
in the arches OF st. Paurs. Blnysn, fall
ing 20 present II in ordinary story, put 10
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 o-atoro."
o, the g.adness. the brightness, the JOY un-
utterable IN that lie which Is hid with
Christ in God. And this / may drink IN
as ! come to the neither springs.
~
the Christians. Take the humblest child
Of God you know, and WHY shouldn't he
be happy? According TO the Bible he is
all the time under the shadow of Gods
wings. IL he walks the angels bear him up;
il he sleeps they let down ladders from the
skies, up and down which the angels 60
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. 10 be the
dimmest jewel in His crown OF rejoicing,
TO be the least, yea. less than least of all
the saints is a hope which sets the heart
a-singing. All this I find and more a
thousand times more, as | stoop and drink
at the neither springs.
But here is a 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.
Here came Bunyan, cursing with every
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 Magdalen and
the Philippian jailor, Zacchaeus, and the
poor trembling thief on the cross and they
drank OF the waters and stand to-day in
the company OF the redeemed
1t is a marvellous spring of which | speak.
| recall the fact that when the Master met
the man who was blind from his birth He
anointed his eyes with clay and spittle and
then told him to go wash in the pool OF
Sloan; and when he had washed he came
seeing. / 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
be 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 OK
the face OF the Master Himself. II is not
strange that we are unable. in our sinful
condition, TO see things as they are IN the
kingdom of God, for we are blind But If
you will only come with your blindness to
the neither spring you shall go away re-
jocing. It 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
people must wait until the waters are
troubled before they may step iii and be
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 l
read in, the gospel OF John these words:
that / shall give him shall never thirst.
But the water / shall give him shall be in
him a well of water, springing up into
everlasting life And in the Apocalypse
these words are found: Il am the Alpha
and Omega, The, beginning and the end.
will give unto him that is athirst,, of the
fountain of the water OF life freely" y
thirsty souls. come and drink
l know what springs OF water nave done
for the world. Found in Gerar by Isaac,
they make the field fruitfu! IN abundance.
Bursting forth in Lebanon, they send their
waters down the mountain side, and as
they 20 through the valley they make it
the very synonym OF fruitfulness 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 ful!
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 very
little time all nature is rejoicing. What
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 lite-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 1T more
abundantiy.'
III. | wish | nigh. be able 10 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
as the DAYS 60 by. With the hope that we
might learn the lesson together to-day L
have brought before you these two springs.
Whether the strict exegesis of the text will
allow the Interpretation or not. | am very
sure that all will agree that il Is perfect
illustration. To drink at the neither
spring is salvation. but to drink at the up
per spring is a high privilege that ia Of
fered to every child OF God. ! could bring
so many passages of Scripture to you
which would serve as AN illustration of
what | mean. Take Ephesians j. 3:
Blessed be the God and Father OF our
Lord Jesus Christ. who hath blessed US
with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus"
Or, Col. H. IL: Buried with Him in hap-
tism. wherein also vc arc risen with Him,
through the faith OF the operation of God,
who hath raised Him from the dead"
with Christ. seek those things which are
Il .r.sr hrts fNrth vaOhf