74 



THE OLIVE LEAF. CHAP. 



it off from its parent rock and rounded it to its 

 present shape ? Was it not water ? The substance of 

 the stone was deposited originally as mud at the 

 bottom of some primeval sea \ and it was shaped by the 

 action of the waves, or by the running waters of a river. 

 Water, therefore, is older than the stone, older than the 

 mountains and hills which have from time immemorial 

 been taken as the emblems of what is everlasting. It 

 is the oldest of all material things, and also that which 

 will endure the longest. And in this respect, as in all 

 other respects, is it not an emblem of the Gospel, which 

 was foreordained before the foundation of the world ? 

 It is the old water of life of which Jacob drank, and of 

 which the Apostles and all Christians since have drunk, 

 that we come to the well of salvation from time to time 

 to drink. And the water is all the more precious that 

 it comes to us from eternal sources, associated with the 

 memories of many ages and generations. The Gospel 

 is all the more impressive that it belongs to all time, to 

 all eternity ; that it sets before the eye of the frail and 

 perishing sons of men the eternal counsels and the 

 absolute unchanging purposes of God. But while thus 

 old, the Gospel is ever fresh and new, just as water is 

 the oldest and yet the newest of all things. It has the 

 same suitableness, the same power of adaptation to the 

 wants and circumstances of to-day that it had to the 

 wants and circumstances of the first Christians nearly 

 two thousand years ago. 



Thirst is the most urgent desire of our nature. It is 

 the most painful feeling we can experience. We can- 



