NOTES OF A GOSPEL ADDRESS.
“And the Spirit and the bride say, Come.
And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come: And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev. 22:17). REV 22:17
IT is a delight to the heart of God to give, and He gives freely. He is too rich to sell and we are too poor to buy. In the scripture just read we have our side: “Whosoever will.”
Do you desire, do you wish for this blessed gift, the water of life? You must take; come to Him, and take. Take nothing less; and be careful to go empty, not to go full; for He fills the empty with good things, but the rich He sends empty away.
“How am I to take it?" you say.
In Rev. 21:6 REV 21:6God says, “I will give unto him that is athirst." Are you thirsty? Come with the empty vessel of faith, and take of the water of life freely.
If the world were full of thirsty sinners,
God has enough water to fill all. It is our responsibility to take. Believe in the Lord Jesus from the bottom of your heart, and you will get a draft which will prevent your thirsting again. The only qualification needed is to be thirsty. Jesus said, “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink” (John 7:37). JOH 7:37
If you turn to John 6:35, JOH 6:35you will see that drinking is believing on Him: "He that believeth on Me shall never thirst." In John 7 JOH 7 it is a pouring out of the living water:
“Out of his inward parts shall flow rivers of living water" (vv. 38, 39).
Who will get the water? All who believe.
Who get the Holy Ghost? All who believe.
Thousands are waiting for you who are unsaved here to-night, till you take of this living water, and become vessels of communicating it to their thirsty souls.
In Rev. 21:6, REV 21:6 God says, " I will give ... of the fountain." Do you know Him as the giving God, not the exacting God? He does not offer to sell, or as a reward: “I will give to him that is athirst." Has He made you thirsty? He gives of the best in heaven to the worst on earth:
“Oh, Christ, Thou art the fountain,
The deep, sweet well of love! ''
Oh, drink then abundantly, and thirst no more forever!
In Luke 16:24 LUK 16:24 there is a thirsting soul in hell, where there is not a drop of water.
Plenty of thirst there, but nothing to quench it. Alas! plenty of water now offered freely, with few to take it, because few are thirsting for eternal joy.
If you do not thirst on earth you will thirst forever in eternity, when it will be forever too late. The rich man asked for only a drop of water; but there was none, not so much as could be conveyed on the tip of the finger to cool his parched tongue. He who was once rich on earth, and thirsted not for the life giving water, is now enduring eternal thirst in the flames of hell! He refused it when it was freely offered; now he cries in vain for it.
There flows no stream through those arid regions; all are doomed to endure eternal, undying thirst. Come then now, whilst you may, ere it be too late, and drink of the life-giving streams.
H. M. H.
God has often been pleased to use the humblest means in accomplishing the great work of awakening souls to a sense of their need of salvation. I have seen one after another brought by a servant-girl to hear the Word. She continued in prayer for them; and, in answer to prayer, they were immediately brought to God, and found peace.
Little boys have gone into the street, and brought in careless sinners who, after hearing the gospel, and believing it, have gone out justified from all things. In one place, a blind infidel; in another, a cursing old sailor, utterly broken down with a sense of sin, and then filled with rejoicing in Christ Jesus. Old men from seventy to eighty, and little children of 'six, alike brought to know the certainty of salvation through the blood of the Lamb.