The Penn's Grove record., 1912-08-16
Living Water"
He That BeEeveth on Me =.
Out Of His Heart Shall Flow Rivers
Of Living Water.-John 7:38.

the great body of Christians. So
we are given here a definition OF the
ideal Christian. Perhaps you have
thought sometimes that you would
like to know, in a few plain words,
Just what Jesus expects of you as a
Christian. Here is an answer plain
and simple. 1t was the time of the
feast of the tabernacles. There was a
vast number of people in Jerusalem,
and they were gathered in the temple
area. Above them stand the priests,
pouring water out of large jars, to
symbolic the outpouring of the Holy
Spirit upon Israel. Just then Jesus
speaks, and amid the silence of the in
tently watching throng his voice rings
out: IF any man thirst let him come
unto me and drink; he that believeth
on me, out Of his heart shall flow riY-
ers of living water" That packs into
a sentence Jesus ideal of what a true
Christian down in this world should
be, and may be.
Water is the essential of life. Abb
sence of it means suffering, sickness
and death. All the history of the
world clusters about its water courses.
Harvest Should Be for All.
In the book of Joshua we read, For
Jordan o~verloweth all its banks all
the time of the harvest" When there
was flood in the river, there was har-
vest in the land. Has there been a har-
vest in you life? A harvest of the
fruits of the spirit-loye, Joy, peace.
long suffering? NO" you say, mot
much of a harvest" Perhaps none at
all Do you know why? Is it not be.
cause the Gospel of Jesus Christ has
not filled your heart with It's ffoodtide
Of power? When the blessed stream
has filed you being it must find an
outlet, it produces a harvest And it
blesses all who come near 1t.
II you look at a chart showing the
circulation Of the blood, you will see
a wonderful network of lines running
In every direction, but they all con-
verge in the great blood vessels that
lead to and from the heart. And every
where the blood goes there is life. Now
turn to a map showing the water sys-
tenn of some great valley like the Mis-
sissippi. Here again you note a net
work of little streams and rivers, all
converging in the great main artery,
and that leading to the sea. And ev-
erywhere the water goes there is life,
Here is Jesus picture of the Chris
tian down in the world. AS the red
stream of life is sent out by the force
pump of the heart to give beauty and
health and strength to every part of
the body. so out of the personality of
the true believer shall go a fiood-tide
Of power, bringing refreshing, and
cleansing, and beauty and vigor every
where within the circle of his life.
Believe in Him, Is the Secret.
st. John has a story in his gospel, in
the fourth chapter, about a woman
who seemed indeed a most unlikely in
strument for the Masters purpose.
She was a woman Of no reputation,
rather of bad reputation. She prop
ably had no influence in her town. But
she met Jesus at Jacobs well, and she
listened to him and believed on him,
and there lies the secret of what fol,
lows.
She went back to her village and
commenced speaking about Jesus to
those she knew. The result was start
ling. We are told in the simple Ian
guage of the Gospel that many be-
lieved on him because of the word of
the woman" There is only one way
to account for such results. Only the
Holy Spirit speaking through her lips.
could have produced them. She had
begun to drink of the water of life, Of
which Jesus had been speaking to her,
and already the living water vas iow7
ing out to others.
The same Jesus wishes to do that
with you, and far more if you will let
him. Let me ask, why have we not
all the same power for Christ that
this had? Well, possibly some.
of US are like Nicodemus who came
to Jesus by night. There is no power
because of timidity. We are afraid of
what people might say. And some of
us may be like Lazarus was physical
ly. We are tied up tight. hands and
feet and face. We are the slaves Of
some sin, Of some habit; there is.
something wrong. Now whatever it
is, it is clogging up the spiritual chan!
Ael which should bring supplies Of liv-
ing water from the great reservoir of
the heart of Jesus. How shall we
have power, abundant, life giving,
sweetening our own lives and inlu-
encing other lives for good? The an
swer is easy to give, but it is no easy
task to live up to it. Remove the OBJ
struction that is clogging the channel
of your spiritual life. Cease from that
sin that is hindering the water of life
from flowing into your heart. Then
there shall come new life and new
power.