August 1928
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
476
after “ never thirst.” “ If thou knewest the gift o f God— thou wouldest have asked o f Him and He would have given thee living water.” “ The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” “ Let him that is athirst come, and whosoever will, let him take the water o f life freely.” In the wilderness* all creatures, little and great, have a common daily meeting place, the spring. Mankind, like wise, dependent, needy, thirsty, has.one common cry: “ I need Thee every hour.” “ My soul waiteth for the living God, more than they that watch for the morning.” : ■ . “ Saved B u t A lo n e ” In a recent-issue we gave a familiar story regarding the writing of H .G . -Spafford’s hymn: “ It is Well With My Soul.” An Oakland reader who attended many of the Moody meetings, and often heard Mr. Spafford speak, believes there are some errors in the story as often told. W e stated that a boat bearing Spafford’s two daugh ters. went down in one o f the Great Lakes, following the Chicago fire when -Spafford lost all his possessions. Our correspondent points out that Mr. Spafford sent his wife and two daughters on an ocean voyage. They left New York on the liner Villa du Havre, which was lost at sea. One daughter was saved (most authorities say it was Mrs. Spafford who was saved, and some say that four daughters went down with the ship). The one who was rescued (commonly said to have been Mrs. Spafford) cabled Spaf ford the words “ Saved but.alone.” ;■ This furnished Moody one of his most striking stories. Our correspondent also believes us wrong in the state ment that-Spafford later went to Palestine and became insane, believing himself to be a new Messiah. He believes Spafford was impressed by the truth of the Lord’s coming as taught by Moody, Whittle and others organized a party to go to the Mount of Olives, believing the Lord was about to come. No less an authority than Hubert P. Main, however, says that Spafford did imagine himself a Messiah and that his mind was unbalanced by his great grief. It may be true that he went to Jerusalem primarily to be on Mt. -Olivet when the Lord returned. Perhaps some of our readers may be able to shed further light upon these matters. a » I t ’ s S o lv ed ! One K ing ’ s B usiness reader has solved the Puzzle Picture ( “ Is This The Same Man?” ) on Page 271 o f our May issue. We believe his solution is correct. “ He is the same man, all right,” says our friend, “ the difference being that in the first picture he is a GOAT in his own pasture and in the second picture he is a GOAT in the wrong pasture. ‘I f any man love the world, the love o f the Father is not in him.’ He needs 2 Cor. 5 :17.” How’s that for a solution? Is .a man who spends $20 for a theater ticket on Saturday night, and puts a dime in the collection plate in church on Sunday, a Chris tian anyway? W e ’d hate to say that the man could not be a true child of God and do such things, but surely the world has reason to be suspicious that he is not one o f the Lord’s sheep.
very quickly. As it is, these same pores that “ absorb” the water are the very means by which ground water rises to the surface and gives moisture to the grass and every growing thing. Capillary attraction is our name for this miracle of water climbing upwards, but the name does not explain it. nor can any say why liquids thus climb. The prophet Isaiah noted this (55 :10) when he marked how “ the rain cometh down from heaven and returneth not thither but watereth the earth and maketh it bring forth and bud that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater.” He was right; the rain returns not directly to heaven; by penetration it waters the earth; by rising again it gives nourishment and drink to the growing plants. Then man and beast receive food : and no other origin for food is there save the living plantsM-all the nourishment for all creatures is made by the living greenery carpeting the life less soil. Who can thus exist, on the very kindness and forethought o f divine arrangement and not express his gratitude to God for food so carefully.^ provided ! T he P lace of W ater . in N ature The need for water is not a momentary one but eternal. Let the soil moisture fail and thè grass withers, the herbs sicken, and finally the trees die. Hour by hour a constant movement upward into the plant takes place in order to carry on growth and food making. The’roots must never dry out. It requires more than half a million gallons o f water to grow an acre of cabbages. A.single oak tree was estimated to use one hundred eighty gallons a day in sum mer. The body and produce o f plants is mostly water : pota toes are nine-tenths water. Indeed all food has a large moisture content, raw beef, for example,, being three- fourths liquid. Our own bodies are sixty-five per cent water ; even the bones are nearly one-half water. Nine- tenths o f the blood \is water and so are the digestive and eliminative juices? f W e are cooled by skin evaporation and our muscles work freely and normally with the aid . o f water; W e thirst, we cry out for it, we thrill with the cooling touch of the long-desired drink of water— plain ■simple water, free as the air, yet precious, more precious than kingdoms and gold. W e must have water— the water of life. And what dignity and meaning is there in “ giving a cup o f cold water” if we, give it in His name. The Lord has provided our needs; graciously has God given drink to man and beast. “ Freely ye have received; freely give.” But it is His water we give— in His name. W ater A s A T ype How natural that the Lord from heaven should have offered us drink ! He has from the beginning watered His flocks and His people. W e have long drunk from His wells. W e should be used to accepting necessities from heaven, apart from worth and desert; So the Lord speaks plainly when He declares— “ Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst.” Indeed we have all thirsted. “ As pants the heart for water brooks, so pants my soul for Thee, O God,” is an universal cry. What is to be expected but that God who refreshes the thirsty flesh should satisfy the thirsty soul? And' so Christ came, “ that ye might have life and have it more abundantly.” He brings that abounding life we have longed for, thirsted after. When we recognize Him as Creator, Sustainer, then from very habit we should cry out fo t satisfaction in the inner life and there
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