A DRINK FROM THE OLD WELL

He said, “My God, forbid that I should do such a thing: shall I drink the blood of these men that have put their lives in jeopardy?” This sacrifice that David made to the Lord was no small offering. Consider that once it was offered it could not be taken back. Once the water was poured out there was no way for a change of mind. The offering of ourselves should be the same. Once we have made a decision to serve the Lord there is no lawful turning back. Jesus said, “He that sets his hand to the plow and looks back is not fit for the kingdom of God.”

There was a time, and still is in some areas of the world, where to serve the Lord means physical persecution. With us it is not so much physical but mental persecution. The most annoying form of persecution is done by the nitpickers---people who find fault over petty things. One is tempted to call down fire from heaven upon them, but the fact that we are forbidden to do it, the fact that we can't do it anyway, plus the fact that it would not be the Christian thing to do, only adds at times to the frustration.

Another reason the offering of the water to the Lord was great is because it is more difficult to offer something valuable to the Lord than something that is not worth much. The water was of great value to David but he offered it anyway. It is easier to offer up a sick body to the service of God than a well body. It is easier to pray when sick, “Oh Lord, get me out of this and I will serve you better than ever.” Promises to serve with greater zeal are easier to make when sick than when perfectly well. Then again it is a great sacrifice when you consider that it is easy to offer to God something you don't need anyway. You have no more use for it so let God have it.

Suppose I say, “Lord, I am going to give You $25,000.” The Lord may ask, “When can I expect to get it?” I tell Him, “I have You in my will for that amount. I think my house will sell for much more than that so I will give You $25,000 when my will is probated.” The Lord might say, “You mean you will give Me $25,000 when you get to the place when you don't have any more use for it?” I say, “That’s it, Lord.” The Lord might say, “Why don't you give it to Me now?” I tell the Lord, “If I give it to You now I might find out that I need it myself. I'll wait and give it to You when I have no more use for it.” Although there is something to be said for leaving God in our wills, it is an even greater sacrifice when we give it to God while we still have use for it ourselves.

About ten years ago we got into a hole in the radio broadcast and sent out an appeal. One man sent a check for two thousand dollars. He said that he had the radio broadcast in his will but decided that we could not wait for him to die so he sent it before he died. It is easy to give something to God that we have no use for anyway.

Listen to the words of David again, “Oh, that one would give me drink of water of the well of Bethlehem, that is at the gate.” David remembered his youth. He remembered the old days as a keeper of his father's sheep. He longed to go back and be young again. He remembered it as it used to be and he wanted to go back. The lines of a well-known poem expresses it for us all when we, like David, long for a drink from the old well:

Backward, turn backward Time in thy flight. Make me a child again, Just for tonight.

While we can't go back to the way it was physically, in a spiritual sense I would that I could have a drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem that is at the gate; that someone would bring me a drink from the well at Pentecost, a drink from the well at Troas, and a drink from the well at Samaria. Like David, “Oh, that one would give me drink of water of the well of Bethlehem, that is at the gate.” There are several times in life when I long especially for that drink.

YOUNG PREACHERS

I long for that water sometimes when I see some of our young preachers. Some years ago I had a meeting in Williamstown, New York. A Bible College group was on hand to lead the singing. Some of the young men were sons of preachers I either knew or had heard about. As they listened to me preach they gave me the fish-eye look. Did you ever have someone look at you with a fish-eye? Just think of a fish, notice how he stares at you. It is a blank look---a look that doesn't register surprise, sorrow, joy, amusement or anything. That's all you can say for it---a fish-eye look. They gave me the fish-eye look on Friday. I got it again on Saturday. I got it again on Sunday. I got to thinking, “Am I seeing this thing right? Am I misreading these people? Do I really know what a fish-eye look is?” It is sort of like a double whammy.

I was not mistaken. On Sunday morning after the services we had a carry-in dinner. After the dinner I was sitting on the front row reading something or other when one of the young ladies in the group came up and sat down beside me. She said, “I have heard a lot about you but I decided before I came here to not prejudge you until I had heard for myself.” Then she said, “I like what I have heard.”

At this point I realized why I had been given the fish-eye look by the rest. Although they were from a Bible College, the message they wanted to hear and the message they obviously preached was not the same as what I had learned as a student.

At times like these I feel like David, “Oh that someone would give me a drink of water of the well of Bethlehem, that is at the gate.” While it is true that many of the young men who preach today have a dry message---a message that will in no wise quench the thirst of those who are spiritually thirsty---it is equally true that some have broken through the Philistine lines of conformity, the Philistine lines of faith-only and the Philistine lines of the charisma tics. They have brought the water of life to those who long for a drink of water of the well of Bethlehem that is at the gate.

Another time when I feel like David and I long for a drink of the only water that can quench the spiritual thirst is when I think of the message of the old preachers that have gone on to the other side of Jordan.

THE OLD PREACHERS

I remember some of the old preachers of bygone days. They gave us water from the well, which is by the gate of Jerusalem. How I remember their ringing declarations of the gospel as it was preached on the Day of Pentecost. In those days they were not ashamed to tell us that Peter said, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” In those days they gave us water from the well at Troas, which is by the gate. They told us over and over again about the Lord's Supper on the first day of the week. They gave us water from the well at Samaria, which is by the gate when they reminded us over and over again that Philip immersed the Eunuch. They reminded us not only of what was right but they told us what was wrong. They gave us much water from the well at Corinth, which is by the gate when they told us of the sin of denominationalism. I long for a drink of water from the well at Bethlehem that is at the gate.

Sometimes when I visit Churches where some of the old preachers used to preach it is easy to look back and remember. Sometimes I get to thinking, “If some of the old preachers who were here forty-five years ago could come back for one day and preach the same sermon they preached then, they would be told to not come back for the evening service.” One of those old sermons would be enough to do them in. It is then that I long for a drink from the old well.

Sometimes as I sit in services and think of the way it used to be I realize that if I had come into these services blindfolded, not knowing where it was, there is no way that I could tell what denomination I was in. The message I am hearing in most places could be preached anywhere and not cause any waves. Perhaps the one thing that would give them away as Church of Christ would be that the message would be so weak that I would say even denominations are not this far gone. It is then that I feel like David and I long for a drink of water of the well of Bethlehem that is at the gate.

Another time when I have a longing for a drink of water from the old well is when I think of the religious journals.

RELIGIOUS JOURNALS

There are a lot of good things said in our religious journals. There are also a lot of things that are not so good. Because of the things that are not so good, I read very little of our religious journals. The reason I do not read them is that I become like Saul of Tarsus. He said before Agrippa, that before he met the Lord he was exceeding mad against those that were of the way. The word for exceeding mad is one who is in a rage. I go into a rage when I read some of the things in our religious journals. This is not right! It is not Christian for me to do that. It is not good for me physically as well as spiritually. So for my own well being, both spiritually and physically, I refrain from reading our religious journals. Once in awhile I sneak a peek and usually I am sorry when I do. It is hard sometimes to verbalize just exactly what we are trying to say, but suffice it to say that I did not go into a rage forty-five to fifty years ago when I read the same religious journals. It is at a time like this that I feel like David and I long for a drink of water from the well at Bethlehem that is at the gate.

Another time when I long for a drink of water from the old well is when I think of our larger conventions.

CONVENTIONS

As background for what I want to say, this story is appropriate. Back in the early seventies I came out of services about twelve noon, got in my car, turned on the radio and heard a world famous religious broadcast. The preacher was preaching on the second chapter of Acts. He got to the thirty‑eighth verse and met it head on. He said, “We need to be baptized because it is done for the remission of sins. We need to be baptized because it is done to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. We need to be baptized because it is done by the authority of Jesus Christ. And we need to be baptized because if you don't you have cheated yourself of this grace that God has extended to you.” And then he ruined the whole thing by saying that it doesn't make any difference how you do it --- pouring, sprinkling or immersion. It was about two years after this that I saw in an advertisement of one of our largest conventions that this speaker was on the program and he was advertised as one of the world's great leaders in evangelism.

If I would sprinkle even one person for baptism I would be drummed out of the brotherhood immediately. But there is the Big Sprinkler and he is called one of the world's great leaders in evangelism. It is hard for me to believe that such a statement could have been made forty‑five or fifty years ago. It is then that I feel like David and I long for a drink of water from the well at Bethlehem, that is at the gate.

One more time when I long for a drink from the old well is when I think of some of my contemporaries.

COMTEMPORARIES

Some of the preachers I went to school with are now speaking in tongues or at least they say they do. Some are actually casting out demons, or at least they say they do. Someone said they cast a demon out of somebody and he threw up something green. I think that he no doubt got hold of a bad batch of chili. Some that I went to school with are now more faith-only than anything else. Sometimes it is even worse; they privately say they believe the same as before but it doesn't come through in the message. Like I say, sometimes it is hard to verbalize but the difference is there and it is then that I feel like David and I long for a drink of water from the well at Bethlehem, that is at the gate.

CONCLUSION

As I think these things out loud, I wonder if there is someone who will break through the Philistine lines of conformity, the Philistine lines of faith-only, the Philistine lines of tongues, the Philistine lines of everybody is right, and the Philistine lines of we are all going to the same place regardless of what you believe.

“Oh, that one would give me drink of water of the well of Bethlehem, that is at the gate.”