(Continued from page 262.)
Transparency.-Pure water is clear, allowing the light (suggestive of truth) to pass through it, just as the word of God offers itself to the closest inspection-all is clear to any one whose mind the god of this world has not blinded. If any scripture is not clear, the fault lies with the person, not with the Word (1 Cor. 2:9-16; Rev. 3:17-19; Prov. 8:9; Ps. 119:105).
There is a close moral relation between power and truth. In the hands of one who is untruthful or dishonest, power is sure to be abused. How beautiful, then, that the most powerful thing in the world is (not invisible, and not translucent, but) transparent; and how reassuring to the soul that all power in heaven and earth has been committed to the hands of Him who is "the truth."
Men seek power, but are indifferent as to truth. Politicians generally sacrifice truth where it would stand in the way of power; and even Christians, as individuals and as associated, are too often affected by this same evil principle. God inseparably links power with truth, which, as physically in this element, both cleanses and satisfies the thirst of man.
Water transmits all the light; snow reflects it all. The two thoughts are nearly similar, as are truth and purity (Ps. 51:7; 19:8).
Cleansing.-Almost all substances are readily dissolved and held in solution by water. The whole world uses it for cleansing. Left standing in a sick room, it absorbs the odors of the room. Rain falling through the air absorbs its impurities and delivers them to the soil where the plant can use them. In this way it cleanses the air as nothing else could. All these facts show its cleansing power; and it does promptly the work it was designed for. So also the word of God:it does in the heart and life what the type does in the physical realm (Ps. 119:9; John 13:3-14; Eph. 5:25, 26; John 15:3; Ps. 51:7; Ezek. 36:25).
I think, too, there is in this a not obscure hint at the method of cleansing, in the Word made flesh bearing our sins in His own body on the tree.
Refreshing, but Tasteless.-Water has no taste, or flavor. Thirst gives it a flavor that nothing equals. If it were like wine, or any palatable beverage, men would often drink it when they were not thirsty, and drink much more of it than they needed. As it is, only those who are thirsty enjoy it, or care to drink it. So with the word of God; only the thirsty soul cares for it; but to such it is unspeakably refreshing. See Isa. 55:i, 2; Prov. 25 :25; John 7:37; 4:13, 14; Rev. 22:17.
He that gives a cup of literal water to a thirsty one in the name of a disciple shall not lose his reward. Much more, then, he that ministers the Word shall be rewarded ; only, let him first be refreshed himself, that he may have the heart and power to offer it to others (John 7:38). Out of the fulness of the heart will the mouth speak effectively. It costs little or nothing to give a literal cup of cold water, while it often costs much to offer the suited word to a needy soul.
Hydrophobia.-We have in a previous article noticed that the abnormal indifference of men now to the word of God finds a physical counterpart in thirstlessness and hydrophobia. God made men's, souls with an appetite for His Word just as their bodies thirst for water. Ps. 119 is the healthy expression of this appetite. Spiritual and physical lack of thirst are diseases, and hydrophobia is infectious. Men must either know this normal spiritual thirst here, where the water of life is free and abundant, and be satisfied, or later must know the anguish of being unable to appropriate it. The faint shadow of this we have in the convulsions of hydrophobia, and the Lord's own description of it in the parable of the rich man in hell (Luke 16:19-31). All this fits together with what we have had before us.
A Mirror.-There is only one mirror in nature- only one perfectly smooth polished surface, where one may see his face and know just how he looks:for the face stands for the man-the part of intelligent expression and individuality-and no one can see himself without a mirror. If we want to see our own hearts, we must needs look into the word of God. That alone faithfully exposes its inmost recesses. See Rom. 3:10-20; Jer. 17:9, 10; Gen. 6:11-13; Mark 7:21; Prov. 27:19.
The fact that in nature the mirror and the means of cleansing are identical is very suggestive:there is a beautiful moral relation between them. Suppose a little boy comes in with very dirty face and hands :his mother, without a word, goes to his room, pours water into a basin, lays soap and towel and the mirror beside them; then, coming down, she says to him, '' There are some things on the washstand in your room for you." No further comment would be needed as he runs up-stairs. Just so in the antitype. God has linked them together.
Every living man must have water to drink. God has also provided him with a mirror in the water which cleanses from the defilement which the mirror reveals.
Notice also that when looking into water-the surface being horizontal-you not only see your own face, but the heavens above are also reflected before your eyes. Thus the Word which reveals the evil of the heart, presents to our gaze the heavens also. See Rom. 3:11-31.
Odorless.-The sense of smell is akin to that of taste; only, the latter is associated with our necessities, while the former involves mainly our pleasure. Thus the word of God has no attraction, does not minister pleasure, to the natural man-only to the one who has a taste for it. T. M.
(To be continued, D. V.)