ght"--worthless, not fit to drink. And Elisha "went
forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast salt in there, and said,
Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters." To my mind these
bitter waters of Jericho symbolize the truths of God's Word, as these
truths appear to the mind and affect the taste of the unconverted man.
Read the Bible to the man who has no relish, no love for its truth. Is
it not to his soul like the waters of Jericho--"naught," or nothing?
These men of Jericho are all around us, and you may find opportunities
to prove what I have said. I have repeatedly tried it. I have read
chapter after chapter of the divine Word to unconverted men, sometimes
to my own work hands who I knew cared nothing for religion, and whilst
they would not tell me to my face that they cared nothing for it, I
could find out by others, and by their own after lives that what they
heard was to their souls as the waters of Jericho were to the men of
that city. But when the salt of pure love for the Lord, and the desire
to leave off and forsake all sinful indulgences and worldly pleasures
by leading a new life in doing the Lord's will, enters a man the Word
becomes sweet and precious to his soul. _The waters are healed,
because the man is healed._

The twelve disciples, particularly, were, at the time our Lord spoke
the words of my text, the very embodiment of all the virtues of heart
and life which make the Word of the Lord sweet to the soul. To such
these beautiful words in the Song of Solomon apply: "He brought me to
the banqueting house: he stayed me with flagons of wine: he comforted
me with apples: his banner over me was love: yea, and HIS FRUIT _was
sweet to my taste_."

Now, to bring my text to something like a practical head, I must say
to every unconverted soul here: You must put the salt into the water
of God's Word for yourself. If you look to the Lord, and ask him to
give you eyes that you may see, and ears that you may hear, and a
heart that you may understand, you will also receive all the salt you
need to heal the Word and make it healing to your soul. But if you
neglect and despise or reject the offers of God's love, the very thing
that he has prepared for your eternal joy will be everlasting
bitterness to your soul. For one to know his duty and not at the same
time do it exposes him to the danger of being converted into a pillar
of bitter salt as Lot's wife was. She could not give up her love for
the world.