p. 28 | Christ The Fountain by Dr. Cuyler

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jan 18, 1883

Christ The Fountain.

By Dr. Cuyler

"If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink!" This was an astonishing announcement. If Plato had uttered it from his Academy, it would have savored of boastful presumption. Yet, a Galilean peasant, whose whole "school" of followers scarcely went beyond a dozen fishermen and publicans, makes this proclamation to all humankind: if any one is thirsty for pure happiness, I will satisfy him; if any one is suffering from a sense of guilt, I will relieve him; if any one is heart-broken, I will comfort him. There is no alternative. Either this carpenter's son from Galilee is an insane impostor or else he is a being clothed with divine power. No madman ever talked for three years without uttering one foolish syllable; no impostor ever pushed himself before the public eye for three years without doing one selfish act. Jesus of Nazareth, then, was what he claimed to be—the Son of God.

He does not draw from others his supplies for human needs; he invites everybody to come and draw from him. He is not a reservoir filled up from some other sources and liable to be exhausted; he is an original, self-supplied FOUNTAIN-HEAD. Never had the face of humanity been more parched and dusty and barren than was that Oriental world when Jesus burst up through it like an artesian well. Even Judaism had become like a desert, and lo! there breaks forth this gushing fountain of crystal waters. He is more than a teacher, giving instruction on all profound and

practical questions.

He is more than a miracle worker, giving sight to the blind, ears to the deaf, and healing to the diseased. His supreme gift to man is himself. From himself flows the recovering influence; from the inexhaustible depths of his own being, as "very God of very God," a whole thirsty race may draw refreshment.

"The water that I give shall be in you a well of water springing up into everlasting life." It is not simply profound truths that Jesus offers, or a system of doctrine, or a beautiful model of right living. He offers himself as the satisfier: drink me, take me into your souls, and ye will never die of thirst.

This fountain never dries up. It is never frozen over. No sediment defiles it. Every good thing that I ever sought for outside of Jesus Christ has had its defects, and the very best has brought a shade of disappointment. But, whenever I get a deep draught of Christ's wonderful words they were like Jonathan's honeycomb, they "enlightened my eyes." Whenever I have swallowed his promises, they have acted on me as Professor Tyndall says the canteen of fresh Swiss milk acted on him before he commenced the ascent of the Weisshorn. It lubricated his joints and put new strength into every muscle for the hard climb.

But we must drink from the fountain, if we would receive strength, joy, and life. The proclamation is, "Come unto ME and drink." This is a voluntary act; so simple that a babe understands it by instinct. On a hot summer day we dip the vessel into the cool spring, and, as its delicious draught passes into the lips and through the whole system, an exquisite refreshment steals through every nerve and fiber of the frame. So doth faith take in Christ, and his grace reaches every faculty and affection of the soul. Coleridge said that the best proof of the inspiration of God's word was that "it is the only book in the world that finds me at every point of my nature." The best argument for Jesus Christ is that he alone satisfies me. His grace goes to the right spot. His comfort soothes the sore place; his atoning blood makes me sure of pardon; his love cures my wretched selfishness as nothing else can do it; of almost every one and everything else we can get tired, but what true child of Christ ever got tired of the water of life? With joy doth he ever draw water from this well of salvation.

Yet tens of thousands around us are perishing—not from want of the life-giving water, but because their foolish, depraved hearts do not thirst for it. A lady who visited one of the tropical islands, for health, wrote home to her friends: "This is a lovely spot. I have every kindness, and abundance of food and fruits, and luxuries; but I have no appetite. If I could only get an appetite, I would soon recover." Alas! within a month she was gone! She died not from want of food, but from want of hunger; not for lack of refreshing drinks, but for the lack of thirst for them. So it is the worst symptom of sin in the human soul that it kills the appetite for holiness. It craves other sources of enjoyment than Christ offers. Drugged with the devil's treacherous draughts, it cries constantly for more, and yet refuses to touch the water of life everlasting. Blessed are they that thirst after purity and pardon and peace and power; for in Christ they may be filled.

These words are written for those who are thirsty. Ye who have a real aspiration for a nobler and purer life, ye who have never yet been delivered from the plague and power of sin, listen to that celestial voice: "If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink!" There is a flock at the fountain now. Go and join them. Draw for yourself. Drink, that your joy may be full. In Heaven there is a perpetual Thanksgiving Day; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne is their Shepherd, and he leadeth them to ever new fountains of waters of life. -Dr. Cuyler.