Again in our last issue we promised to try to write more on the above subject. So we will try again to comply with the promise. This time we will start our little article by calling attention to Zechariah 13:1, which reads as follows: In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.

The word shall is used in different ways or senses. Sometimes it is used in the sense of prophecy - simply telling beforehand what will come to pass at some time in the future. Sometimes it is used in the sense of a mere statement of fact. Sometimes it is used in the sense of a command, or in the giving of a command. Sometimes it is used in the sense of determination; it carries with it the idea of determination on the part of the speaker.

Let us look, for a few minutes, at Daniel 12:10: "Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand." In this text the word shall is used in the first place in the sense of determination-"many shall be purified, and made white, and tried." This is not something which they do themselves. It is something to be done by another, and clone for and to them. They "shall be purified, and made white." The Lord determined that they should be thus made--made pure; they "shall be purified." Poor sinners are made pure by the work of the Lord. God the Holy Spirit makes the application of the blood of Christ to them, and thus they are purified and made white. The Lord determined to do this; and He chose those for and to whom this would he done. He chose those whom He would purify from their sins, and make white in the blood of the Lamb.

The next clause says; "but the wicked shall do wickedly." They do not do wickedly because God determined that they should; hut they do wickedly because it is their nature to do wickedly. Hence, that is simply it statement or a fact. It was that way when the language was written; it was that way before the language was written; and it is that way yet, and it will continue to be that way. The wicked have always done wickedly because it was their nature to do wickedly; and they will always do wickedly because it is their nature to do that way.

The next clause says: "and none of the wicked shall understand." Why is it that none of the wicked shall understand? The Saviour answers that question for us very plainly. In John 8:43 He said to some wicked Jews, "Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word." The reason why the wicked shall not understand is because they cannot hear His word--they cannot understand it. "None of the wicked shall understand" because they cannot understand. Something must be done for the sinner which he cannot do for himself in order that he be able to understand-he must be changed first, in order that he understand.

In our text at the beginning of this article the Lord declares that in a certain day a fountain shall be opened. This carries with it the idea that the Lord had determined the fountain to be opened, or that it should be opened. He was going to see to it that this would come to pass; He was going bring it to pass. This certainly carries with it the idea that the Lord determined this beforehand. That is God's predestination. Not only did He determine that this fountain should be opened, but He determined that a certain end should be reached--a certain thing should he accomplished, and as a result of, the opening of this fountain.

Note, carefully, that the text says "in that day." This signifies a certain day, a fixed day---not "in those days," but "in that day." The Lord determined to do this, or that it should be done, in a certain day. The day was fixed, or determined, as well as the thing to he done was determined. The Lord determined that this should he done at a determined time--in a certain day. "In that day there shall be a fountain opened." The Lord determined to do what He does, and determined the time that He will do it. When the Lord does a thing, it is but the fulfilling, or bringing to pass, what He determined beforehand to do; and He does it at the time He determined to do it. He never gets behind with His work, nor does He get ahead with His work. He always does His work on time, and at the right time. It is always at the right time for the thing to be accomplished which He determined to be accomplished.

The Lord did not say, in this text, that the fountain should be opened for the benefit of all mankind, or that all mankind might have access to it. Neither did He say that it would be free for all who would accept it; but it "shall be opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem." The fountain is opened to these special people. It was not to be opened to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Jebusites, or the Perizzites, or the Hivites - but to the Israelites; the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The Lord made choice of those to whom the fountain should be opened. The fountain was not to be opened a part of the way, and they to come the rest of the way - but the fountain was to be opened to them; it was to reach them, and to benefit them. It was to do something for them and to them, or in them.

The fountain was not to be opened in order that there might be sin and uncleanness; but to take away sin and uncleanness. "The blood of Jesus cleanseth us from all sin." It is not baptism that takes away sin, or that cleanses from sin; but it is the blood of Jesus which does that.

A fountain is self-sustaining. It requires no power outside of itself to sustain it. A fountain is self-purifying. Place poison in the fountainhead of a stream and the fountain will remove and carry the poison away itself. No power outside of itself is needed in order that the poison be removed. All the sins of the chosen people of God were laid on Jesus. "The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all." - Isaiah 53 6. But the fountain carried all those sins away into the land of forgetfulness, and the Lord has said. "and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." - Hebrews 8:12

When the blessed Redeemer hung on Calvary's cross and bowed His head and gave up the ghost, and poured out His blood on Calvary's hill, the fountain was opened. It is self-sustaining. It needs not the help of men or angels in order that it be sustained; nor does it need the help of men or angels to make it sufficient to carry sins away into the land of forgetfulness. "For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins" -- Matthew 25:28 The blood of Jesus is sufficient to remit sins; hence baptism is not necessary in order to the remission of sins. This fountain was opened to, and for the benefit of, all spiritual Israel, the chosen of God; and He predestinated their salvation; He predestinated that all their sins and iniquities should be taken away by the efficacy of this fountain, and that they should all finally be brought home to glory, to live with Him in that glory world. He predestinated that they should be glorified.

There is a fountain filled with blood
Drawn from Immanuel's veins,
And sinners plunged into that flood,
Lose all their guilty stain.

The dying thief rejoiced to see
That fountain in his day;
I hope that blood was shed for me,
And washed my sins away.

Dear dying Lamb! Thy precious blood
Shall never lose its power,
Till all the ransomed church of God
Are saved to sin no more.

E'er since by faith I saw the stream
Thy flowing wounds supply
Redeem love has been my them,
And shall be till I die.

When this poor, lisping, stammering tongue
Lies silent in the grave,
Then in a nobler, sweeter song
I'll sing thy power to save.

We will try to write some more for next issue on this subject, the Lord willing. May His rich blessings rest upon you, and may these articles be blessed to the good of the readers. Please remember us in prayer. C. H. C.