READER, take seat for a short time, and let us think over the meaning of these words, for they suggest something extremely important.
Water is a world-wide acquaintance, a universal friend, an indispensable servant of mankind. We look into the crystal fluid daily; we drink it for refreshment when weary, when thirsty; we use it prodigally in a hundred ways; we throw it away—waste it—constantly; we listen to its pleasing music in the foaming sea waves, in the falling rain, in the gurgling springs, in the swift-flowing rivers.
JESUS AND THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA
Send now a quick glance around the world. Observe how vast a portion of its surface shimmers with water—water framed into rolling, tossing, flashing oceans; water rimmed into sheltering, protecting bays, gulfs, and lakes; water curbed into mighty rivers pushing their proud way down steep mountainsides, grinding massive rocks into dust, beautifying arid valleys, transporting hither, thither, every year, thousands of the human race, distributing widely the million fruits of man's toil, the marvelous results of man's inventions; water leaping, gushing, from the hidden fountains of the earth, and driving the wheels of a thousand great industries; and water at the very zenith of its mechanical uses—the furnishing power to generate electrical energy, that mightiest, most subtle, most spirit-like of nature's known forces.
Partly cataloged, this is water as we know it, as we work with it, a medium of boundless utility to man, an element of gracious service to all animals, fishes, birds, bees, butterflies, and even reptiles, those gruesome, repellent creatures which speed our thoughts back to Eden, and remind us of an immutable law transgressed and of centuries of bitter consequences.
But, most fortunately, in this gospel age, during nineteen centuries of "good news" to the human race, water has served a purpose far higher, has symbolized a service far more beneficent, than any mentioned above.
Shortly preceding His signal suffering in behalf of man, Christ, the benevolent Creator of the world-wide liquid, exalted it far above all its common uses and associations, by making it a symbol of the cleansing, purifying power of truth,—truth unchangeable, truth as it exists in God, as it is revealed in Christ, truth in its power to supplant sin, to implant righteousness, to clarify character, when instilled, made effective, by the mighty and beatific influence of the Holy Spirit.
I will quote the text from which the seven words forming the heading of this article are taken, John 4:14:
"But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."
That Christ had reference here to the abounding and benign effects and fruits of the gracious yet mighty truths He taught, when instilled and made effective by the beatific influences of the divine Spirit, is evident from similar sayings of the Saviour on other occasions.
John 7:37, 38 recalls an occasion when, as the Jews were contending with Christ, according to their custom, He declared with fearless directness: "If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said,4from within him shall flow rivers of living water."
John explains immediately and distinctly the tenor of the Master's words: "But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive."
In John 14:16, 17 Christ affirms this assertion when He declares: "I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of TRUTH; whom the world"—the worldly-minded—"can not receive." But "He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you."
Elsewhere, with even greater emphasis, the Lord makes clear to His disciples the relation of the Spirit to the great, eternal truths He Himself taught them, and also points out to them the distinct service of both marvelous and mighty agencies. John 14:26; 15:26:
"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of TRUTH, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of Me."
Also, "When He, the Spirit of TRUTH, is come, He will guide you into all TRUTH: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come."
Now Christ Himself is the great fountain and source of truth. "I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." "If ye continue in My word, . . . ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
Not only was Christ the way, the truth, and the life, but He was also the true, the reliable WORD. Notice: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . . . All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made."
Then He who told the woman at the well in Sychar, "Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a WELL of water springing up into everlasting life," must have possessed not only the great power but also the full will to establish that statement, to confirm that pledge.
That was an amazing assertion, a startling utterance. A WELL of water abounding with life, within man! Springing up not for a day, not for a year, but for eternity! What could have been the meaning of that humble Wayfarer? What instrumentality would He use to accomplish a purpose everlasting, a result to endure through the ages?
Let us read: "He that BELIEVETH on Me, as the Scripture hath said, from within him shall flow rivers of living water."
Then man himself has some part in this unique, unequaled transaction. He must take the initial step. He must BELIEVE in the mighty, compassionate WORD, in His power to cause—through the reception of exalted, eternal truth, instilled by the divine Spirit—streams of noble impulse, of pure affections, of lofty purposes, of merciful deeds, to flow out to all humankind, whether friend or foe.
So long as this water of life, of love, of pity, shall be used for gracious ends, for Christlike service to others, so long will the Spirit of God minister an affluent supply, to every follower of Christ, of the potent, efficacious TRUTH symbolized by rivers and wells of water.
