{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_57109/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_57109","id":"gutenberg_57109","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/57109","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Religion/Spirituality","Christian life","Taylor, James Hudson, 1832-1905"],"text":"Produced by Free Elf\n\n\n\n\nUnfailing Springs\nJ. Hudson Taylor\n\n\n\"JESUS answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of\nGOD, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou\nwouldest have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living\nwater.\n\n\"Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall\nnever thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in\nhim a well of water springing up unto eternal life.\"\n\nJohn 4:10, 14, RV.\n\n9,000 in print\n\n----\n\nUnfailing Springs\n\n\"Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely\" (Rev.\n22:17)\n\nTHE best evidence of Christianity is a Christ-like life, and the\nbest evidence of the inspiration of the Word of GOD is found in\nthe Word itself; when studied, loved, obeyed, and trusted, it\nnever disappoints, never misleads, never fails. Why is so much\ntime worse than wasted over criticism of its different books?\nWhat is needed is the humble, reverent, prayerful meditation of\nthose who are determined to do the will of GOD; to such the\nguidance of the Spirit is promised, and the divine perfections of\nthe Word are revealed. Is there anything of human manufacture\nthat is not easily proved to be man's work when tested by the\nmicroscope? It reveals imperfections in the finest workmanship;\nwhile under similar treatment the minutest object of GOD'S\ncreation is only shown to be more marvellously perfect. There is\nthe same difference between man's word and GOD'S Word; the latter\ntried by appropriate tests is proved to be Divine.\n\nLike many other parts of Holy Scripture the narrative of the\nfourth chapter of John may be profitably studied as an item of\nancient history. It shows how the Son of GOD in the days of His\nflesh, doing the will of His Father, must needs go through\nSamaria, and avoid the route to the east of the Jordan by which\nthe Jews were wont to escape contact with the Samaritans. It is\nmost instructive to notice how the exhausted SAVIOUR forgot his\nweariness in the presence of a soul needing salvation; and how\nwith divine wisdom He drew out the sympathy, surprise and\nattention of the sinful, ignorant woman, and called forth her own\nconfession, \"I have no husband\". How in a sentence He revealed to\nher His knowledge of her whole life, and fulfilled her own ideal\nof what the CHRIST would do. Then, giving her that which she so\nignorantly asked--the Living Water--He plainly stated to her that\nHe was indeed the CHRIST of GOD, and allowed her in the impulse\nof a new life to do that which even the disciples had not\nattempted to do--to bear such witness concerning Him as to bring\nthe multitudes to His feet. It is indeed an interesting and\nprofitable item of ancient history, and as such is worthy of much\nmore minute examination.\n\nBut is there not another standpoint from which it behoves us to\nconsider this narrative? Why has it been recorded, but for our\ninstruction? Is not the living CHRIST speaking now through this\nstory to us, who as much need the Living Water as did the\nSamaritan woman? With this thought in mind let us notice\nparticularly the words used by our Saviour of this Living Water.\n\nJESUS said (v. 10) \"If thou knewest the gift of GOD, and who it\nis that saith to thee, Give Me to drink; thou wouldst have asked\nof Him, and He would have given thee Living Water.\" How simple\nthe conditions! If thou knewest thou wouldst have asked, and He\nwould have given; she had not asked because she had not known;\nbut surely we who know, and happily, believe the words of the\nLORD recorded in the preceding chapter, \"GOD so loved the world\nthat He gave His only begotten Son . . .\" do know the gift of\nGOD--the Living Saviour who is as present with us now, according\nto His own promise--\"Lo, I am with you alway\"--as He was then\nwith the woman of Samaria. Realizing His presence, and knowing\nHim as GOD'S gift, is it not our privilege at once to ask and His\njoy at once to give us this precious gift--Living Water?\nAssuredly it is for this very purpose that the words have been\nput on record. We may not know, we cannot tell all that is\ninvolved in the gift, but if we know Him, that is sufficient. \"As\nfor GOD His way is perfect\" we have only to fulfil our part, to\nask of Him the Living Water, and leave to Him all the results.\n\nBut let us see what further He has to say to us: in verse 13 He\nsays, \"Every one that drinketh of this water [that of Jacob's\nwell] shall thirst again\"; the woman who heard these words knew\nby experience that this was true; and we also have proved that it\nis true of all earthly water, all earthly gifts. We should indeed\nthank GOD for our temporal blessings, comforts, and joys: they\nare not mere superfluities; they meet real needs, and are tokens\nof our Heavenly Father's love; but while they help and gratify,\nthey do not permanently satisfy, they leave us to thirst again,\nand, oh! how deep is the thirst oft-times! But our Saviour\ncontinues (verse 14), \"Whosoever drinketh of the water that I\nshall give him SHALL NEVER THIRST\". Wonderful words! Let our glad\nsouls take in their fulness. \"Shall,\" not may, certainly shall;\n\"never\", by no means for ever more (lit.); \"thirst\", be left\nlonging, left unsatisfied, faint, but unrefreshed. Blessed\nassurance of never-ending refreshment and strength!\n\n\"SHALL NEVER THIRST.\" What a promise! How often we have thirsted!\nHow many weary and unsatisfied hearts there are; and yet this\nfull supply was not intended to be the special portion of some\nexceptionally favoured soul, for note the SAVIOUR'S word,\n\"Whosoever drinketh\", it is free to all. May the Holy Spirit\nenable us to take our place as included in the \"whosoever\", and\ngive their full and blessed meaning to those marvellous words,\n\"shall never thirst\". To know that \"shall\" means shall, that\n\"never\" means never, that \"thirst\" means any unsatisfied need,\nmay be one of the greatest revelations GOD has ever made to our\nsouls.\n\nLet us not, however, change the SAVIOUR'S words. Note carefully\nHe does not say, Whosoever has drunk, but \"drinketh\": He speaks,\nnot of one isolated draught, but of the continuous habit of the\nsoul. In this, as in many other passages, it is important to mark\nthe force of continuous habit expressed by the present tense of\nthe Greek verbs. There is full and deep satisfaction at the first\ndraught of the Living Water, which, however, is a perennial\nsupply for constant use. This the LORD brings out more fully when\nHe says, \"But the water that I shall give him shall be [or better\n'become', RV] in him a well of water springing up unto eternal\nlife\". These words explain why the partaking of the Living Water\nis not followed by renewed thirst. The Living Water becomes a\nwell, a fountain, always available, springing up in the believer,\nnot only leaving no room for thirst, but overflowing for the\nsupply of the need of others unceasingly.\n\nNor is this wonderful promise unique and without parallel. It\nalways was, and is still, the SAVIOUR'S purpose to satisfy. On\nthe occasion of the feeding of the five thousand (John 6),\nPhilip's highest thought was to procure sufficient that everyone\nshould have a little; but the LORD took the little they already\nhad and multiplied it in the giving, so that each one had as much\nas he would, and twelve baskets were filled with that which\nremained after all were satisfied. The next day our LORD raised\ntheir thoughts to the true Bread from heaven, saying, \"I am the\nBread of Life: he that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he\nthat believeth on Me shall never thirst\". Or more fully and\nliterally, \"He who is [habitually] coming to Me, shall by no\nmeans hunger, and he who is believing on Me shall by no means\nthirst at any time\". The Greek word is the same as that used in\nthe passage, \"No man has seen God at any time\". The habit of\ncoming in faith to Him is incompatible with unmet hunger and\nthirst. Again, in John 7 CHRIST says, \"If any man thirst, let him\ncome unto Me, and drink. He that is believing on Me, as the\nScripture hath said, out of him shall flow rivers of living\nwater; this spake He of the Spirit, which those who are believing\non Him should receive.\"\n\nThere is something very delightful in the truth thus taught:\ninstead of conscious need and unsatisfied longing, abundant\nsupply and overflowing satisfaction; instead of poverty and\nweakness, wealth and strength wherewith to help other needy ones.\nWhat a Divine Saviour! What a full and perfect salvation! GOD'S\noverflow more than supplies the lack of individual capacity. We\ncannot all be great, or wealthy or strong, wise or experienced;\nbut CHRIST is made unto us wisdom and righteousness,\nsanctification and redemption: He wills to be our all in all for\nlife and service.\n\nWandering among GOD'S beautiful mountains on a delightful\nsummer's day, how soon one becomes weary with climbing, and\nparched with thirst. Guided by the sound of running water, we\nseek the shade of an overhanging rock, and a draught from the\ncrystal stream falling from above. It may be we have but a small\nvessel from which to drink, but we can fill it again and again,\nfor the supply is inexhaustible. If the cup be small, it will\nsoon be full and overflow: had we a bucket it would take longer\nfilling, but, once full, it would equally overflow: and if a huge\nbarrel were placed under the stream, it, too, in time would\noverflow. And the overflow in each case would be the same, for it\ndepends not on the size of the vessel but on the unfailing supply\nof the stream.\n\nThus the saved Samaritan woman, without any preparation or any\nother fitness, could at once draw to her newly-found Saviour a\nmultitude of needy souls, while many an eloquent preacher can\nleave the multitudes to go home unsaved and unsatisfied.\nUnderstanding this, it ceases to be a question of what we are, or\nwhat we can do, and the important thing is, have we brought our\nvessel to Him to be filled to overflow, that being more than\nsatisfied ourselves, we may have to give to any and every thirsty\none without stint and without fear? For the promise of John 7 is\nof rivers of living water, and of John 4 of an unfailing spring\ngoing on and on unto everlasting life.\n\nLet us not leave the subject without asking ourselves, beloved\nfriends, where we are with reference to this matter. Are we\namongst the thirsty ones, or amongst those who have come to the\none great Source, and are drinking, believing, and therefore\nreceiving, for their own need and the blessing of others?\n\nIn conclusion, I should like to give a few words of personal\ntestimony. It was in a time of deep spiritual need that the\nthoughts I have above expressed were given me when alone in\ninland China. I was painfully conscious that I was not living all\nthat I was trying to teach the Chinese. Struggling for victory,\ntoo often I found myself defeated, until I asked myself whether I\nought not to cease to preach, and to retire from missionary work.\nFasting, prayer, meditation on the Word, all I could think of\nseemed powerless to help me, when one afternoon, in the course of\nmy usual reading, I came to John 4. It had always been ancient\nhistory to me, and as such loved and appreciated, but that\nafternoon for the first time it became a present message to my\nsoul. No one could have been more thirsty, and I there and then\naccepted the gracious invitation, and asked and received the\nLiving Water, believing from His own Word that my thirsty days\nwere all passed, not from any present feeling, but because of His\npromise. That same evening I took, without reluctance, my usual\nBible-reading with the Chinese, and spoke freely, but without\nbeing specially conscious of power. At breakfast the following\nmorning, however, I learned that one of my hearers had been\nbrought into such deep conviction of sin as to pass the night\nsleeplessly; and from that time my ministry was owned of GOD as\nit had not been for some time before.\n\nSome months later I passed through a time of great trial and\nsorrow; the death of a beloved child, the sending home of three\nothers, and the most trying time in China through which our\nbeloved Mission has ever passed, bringing innumerable\ndifficulties and perplexities; but it was also a time of deepened\nspiritual joy and rest, and of experience that my SAVIOUR was\nsufficient for every emergency. In Tientsin the Sisters of Mercy,\nthe French Priests, and Consul had been massacred, and in all our\ninland stations there was excitement and peril. Almost daily I\nhad letters from some group of workers asking for guidance, and\nwondering whether to stay or leave the station, as work for the\ntime being was impossible. I knew not what to advise, but in each\ncase, like Hezekiah, I spread the letters before the LORD, and\ntrusted Him to teach me how to reply to them. There was no\nconscious revelation, but in every instance I was guided to reply\nin the way that led to the best results, and I sent each letter\noff in the joyful peace of knowing that I had asked and He had\ngranted the wisdom that is profitable to direct. Just at this\ncrisis my dear first wife had an attack of cholera, from which\nshe rallied with difficulty; a little one was born and only lived\na fortnight, a wet nurse not being procurable in that time of\nexcitement. But again the Living Water proved sufficient for her\nand for me. The very evening after the funeral of the babe, my\nprecious wife had an attack of syncope, from which she did not\nfully recover, and early the next morning she too was taken. Then\nI understood why the LORD had made this passage so real to me. An\nillness of some weeks followed, and oh I how lonesome at times\nwere the weary hours when confined to my bed; how I missed my\ndear wife, and the little pattering footsteps of the children far\naway in England. Perhaps twenty times in a day, as I felt the\nheart-thirst coming back again, I cried to the LORD, \"You\npromised me that I should never thirst\", and at once the LORD\ncame and more than satisfied my sorrowing heart, so that I often\nwondered whether it were possible that my loved one who had been\ntaken could be enjoying a fuller revelation of His presence than\nI in the loneliness of my chamber. He had literally fulfilled the\nprayer--\n\n\"LORD JESUS, make Thyself to me\nA living, bright reality;\nMore present to faith's vision keen\nThan any earthly object seen;\nMore dear, more intimately nigh\nThan e'en the sweetest human tie.\"","title":"Unfailing Springs","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":2586}