e The meanest Christian is more enlightened than the greatest of the prophets, Luke vii. 28.
f He is the root as well as the offspring of David, Rev. xxii. 16.
s There was a brazen sea, above fifty feet in circumference, and almost ten in depth, wherein the priests were to wash their hands and feet : there were also ten lavers wherein the things offered for sacri- fice were washed, and from whence the water for the sprinkling of the offerers was taken, 2 Chron. iv. 6.
h The pool of Siloam, whither our Lord sent the blind man to wash, (John ix. 1 1 .) and which was typical of Him who was the Shiloh
But Christ was a fountain for moral defilement, and spiritual maladies*]
In due season this prophecy received its accom- plishment.
II. The completion of it —
From the incarnation of Christ this fountain was more fully exhibited : during his ministry its waters flowed in partial streams ; but at his death it was fully opened :
It was broken open on the cross —
[In our Lord's agony, the blood had flowed through every pore ' : previous to his crucifixion his back had been torn with scourges k: the crown of thorns pierced his sacred temples1: his hands and feet were nailed to the accursed tree"1; and his side, pierced with the spear, emitted blood and water n. Thus did men and devils concur in breaking open this fountain. The dying thief was made a monument of its cleansing efficacy0.]
It was set open on the day of Pentecost — [Then the Spirit was poured out in a more abundant measure : thousands, even of the murderers of our Lord, were cleansed by it. The effects produced were instantaneous and abidingp: the blackest guilt was purged, the most ferocious natures changed. Nor was its influence to be confined any longer to one age or nation.]
It was left open in the promises to all succeeding generations —
[We may say of this fountain as St. Paul does of the Gospel q — . The word is the channel in which it flows: it has already spread its streams to the ends of the earth r : it will flow till that prophecy be fully accomplished8 — : the invitations to it are yet sounding in the ears of all1 — .]
Address —
1. To those who expect salvation while they live in sin —
of the tribe of Judah, (Gen. xlix. 10.) and eminently the sent of God. Compare John ix. 7. and vi. 38 — 40. Bethesda was still more ap- propriate to this use, John v. 2 — 4.
1 Luke xxii. 44. k John xix. 1. Ps. cxxix. 3.
1 Mark xv. 17, 19. m Ps. xxii. 16.
n John xix. 34. This imported that he should cleanse both from the guilt and power of sin, 1 John v. 6.
0 Luke xxiii. 43. p Acts ii. 42 — 47. 9 Rom. x. 6 — 8.
r Rom. x. 18. s Hab. ii. 14.
* Isai. lv. 1. Rev. xxii. 17.