The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1903-01-28

bis whole nature u changed. Inc an
clients believed in the existence OF a spring
in which, If q person bathed, he woTld
renew bis youth and live forever. We
have found that spring to-day in the text,
for "The gift Of God is eternal life" The
Bible is all a-sparkle with wells and
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 q gives
new life"
Solomon, refreshed by the story OF
heaven, exclaims, "As cold water to .
thirsty soul, so is good news from a tar
ness OF the children. of God, writes. They
shall sprins as willows from the water.
courses" The prophet. glowing with the
Thought of the millennium, says, Streams
| shall break forth from the desert"
The mission of water in this world is to
hess and satisfy, refresh and help. But
| all the waters that ever leaped in the tor.
rents, or foamed in the cascade, or fell in
tie summer shower, or hung IN the morn
az dew. have given nc such comfort to tho
troubled heart: NO such rest and refresh.
nav be drawn by you and by me from the
neither spring OF the gospel"
II is a good type Of ILLUSTRATION, Of tho
gospel because Of its brightness. Yet here
It fails of giving US perfect description or
| idea, for where can you find such bright
ness as CLEANS in this neither spring?
David, unable to pu. it into words,
plays it on his harp. Christopher Wren.
unable to put it into language, springs It
in the arches Of st. Paul's. Bunyan, fail.
ing to present it in ordinary story, put 1t
in the form Of allesory, 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 g!adness. the brightness, tie 10y nm
uttcrable in that lie which is hid with
Christ in God; And this ! may drink IN
az I come to the neither springs.
There is no life on earth 80 happy, az
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. If he walks the angels bear him up;
If 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 a place, not the nearest, but
on the very outer circle. to hear the lowest
| title of all the redeemed, to he the weakest
| child OF al 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 snints is a hope which sets the heart
a.sing;ng. All this l 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 somc next to the Bible for sweet.
ness and power. Here came Magdalen and
the P%hilippian jailor, Zacchaeus, and the
poor trembling thief on the cross, and they
drank of the waters end stand to-day IN
the company OF the redeemed.
It is a marvellous spring Of which I speak.
I recall the fact that when the Master net
the man who was blind from his birth He
! anoin,ed lis eyes with ciaT and spitt!e and
then told him to 60 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 Cos
mel. 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 OF
the face Of the Master Himself. It is not
strange that We are unable. in our sinful
| condition, to see things rs they are in the
Kingdom OF God, for we are blind. But II
YOU will only come with your blindness to
| the neither spring you shall 80 away re-
joicirg. It is like the pool OF Bethesda.
1t has healing power, and we are not only
likewise be saved from its power. The
only difference is that in the pool the sick
peop.e must wait until the waters are
| troubled before they may step in and be
! healed, while in this neither spring tao wat.
crs 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 I shall give him shall never thirst.
But the water shall give him shall be IN
him n wei OF water; !spTingIng up INTO
everlasting life And in the Apocalypse
| these words are found: 81 am the Alpha
and Omega, the beginning and the end. l
%iil give unto him that is athirst, OF tine
fountain OF tie water OF life freely" y
| thirsty souls. come and drink!
I know what springs OF water nave 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 20 through the valley they make M
the very synonym OF fruitfulness. Closely
akin To- that is what the neither spring OF
| The gospel does for us. No ono knows the
fulness of his own being until be IS filled
| with the influence and power OF the gospel.
| You walk, in the month of January, over
| the most fertile place in q field or through
the forest. and you will see the illustration
| al what man is in his natural state. The
earth ia full of roots and the trees are tal!
of buds, all Of which are closely bandaged
| so that they can not expand, but when tne
spring time comes the roots IN the arih
| commence to push forward and the ouds
on the trees begin to unfold: ana IN q very
| little time all nature is rejoicing. what
marvellous change, simply because the roots
have been warmed by the sun and kissed
by tine light! and yet it is not worthy to
he compared with q change which might
;e wrought in you, if you will but come to
| the neither spring and drink OF its litc:g!v-
| inc waters. for there you will meet HIM
| who has said: Il am come that you might
a~bundantiy."
III. I wish I might be able to make
| plain to you all that there is SO much
more to the Christian life than SIMPLY
The whole experience stretches away from
| that point, and gets brighter and brighter
MS the DAYS 20 by. With the hope that we
might learn tho lesson together to-day l
have brought before you these two springs;
Whether the strict exegesis OF the text VIII
| allow the Interpretation or not, am very
sure that all will agree that it IS n perfect
| illustration. To drink at the ne'her
/ sprinc is salvation. but to drink at the UP
pcr snriny is a high privilege that is Of
Tered to every child Of God. l could bring
so many passages OF Scripture to you
| which would serve as an illustration OF
what ] mean. Take Ephesians !: 5:
..niN 10 Ihn God and Father OF our