Water
“ ‘Fire Water’ ”
Satan, the enemy of all good, was not satisfied with the cooling, refreshing, life-giving drink that our heavenly Father made for all His creatures. He therefore caused men to think that they knew more than God, and led them to invent another kind of water for us to drink.
It looks very much like the water that God has given us, but, oh, how different it is! Instead of cooling and refreshing what it touches, it burns and sears and withers. Instead of life and health, it brings death and decay.
Place a beautiful white lily or a rose in it, and lo, what a change! The green leaves become spotted and eaten, the flower turns brown and withers and decays.
If you should get some of this water in your eye it would hurt you very much.
Your horse or cow or dog would not touch it, and if you should give it to your little baby brother, it would throw him into spasms, and might kill him.
It is so hot and fiery that it cooks and hardens the white of an egg that is dropped into it. And it treats men’s brains in the same way when they drink it. It hardens their brains so that they cannot think well, and it burns the lining of their stomachs and causes it to become covered with sores. It makes their blood hot and feverish, makes their faces and eyes red, and sometimes covers their faces with sores. It often makes men so crazy that they cannot walk straight, and do not know what they are doing. It first causes them to be very silly and foolish, and then to be very cross, so that they want to steal, and fight, and shoot one another, and even kill their own wives and children. It causes them to become so weak and ill that they are not able to work, and it makes them so thirsty that they will sell their homes, and furniture, and children’s clothes, and let their families starve to death so that they may have money to get some more of the dreadful drink. They think it will quench their burning thirst, but it makes it only worse and worse. Sometimes it makes men so drunk that they cannot stand up or know any more than a dead man, and then they lie about by the roadside or in the ditches like beasts.
Thousands are dying every day because of this terrible poison.
The water that God has given us puts out the fire, but if we soak a paper in this water that Satan has given us, and touch a match to it, how it burns! A pair of the Indians call it “fire-water” because it burns people, and is so much like a fire. Do you not think it is a very good name for it?
But the real name of this fire-water is—Alcohol. We find it in brandy, whisky, beer, wine, hard cider, and other strong drinks.
Alcohol is no better for a food than it is for a drink, for “there is not so much food in a pint of wine or beer as there is in a grain of wheat.”
It does not give men strong bodies, and strong minds with which to resist evil, but it makes them weak and wicked.
In short, alcohol is one of Satan’s own traps which he has set for every boy and girl and man and woman. He hides it in the ruby wine and in the foaming beer, and in the innocent looking sweets. He tempts a boy to taste it but for once, and then to taste just once more, until he wants it all the time, and cannot break away from the deceitful habit. Ah, Satan’s caught him now, and he cannot get away! No one but Jesus Himself has power to set him free. Oh, will he let Him do it? or will he go on and on until he sinks into a drunkard’s grave, lost, for ever lost? No drunkard can inherit the kingdom of heaven.
My dear young friend which water do you choose? Do you know what your best Friend says to you to-day? Listen to His voice:—
“Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder.”
“Touch not the foaming, tempting glass
Nor look upon the wine;
A serpent vile is hid within
The liquid of the vine.
Its ruddy gleam invites you all
To taste the sparkling bowl,
And hides beneath the poison fangs
Which smite into your soul.”
“Pure Water”
As we bathe in the billowy sea, or sit neath the falling cataract [waterfall], or quench our thirst at the bubbling spring, or walk by the peaceful river, we should be reminded of that better and living water which flows from Jesus, the never-failing Fountain of Life. It can cleanse the inner most recesses of the heart. It can satisfy the thirsting soul as nothing else can. It can be a well of water in us springing up into everlasting life. It is free for whosoever will, and the supply is more boundless than the ocean, more powerful than the cataract, more satisfying than the purest mountain spring, and more peaceful than the river. Blessed is the man, woman, or child that forgets not to drink daily of this wonderful, life-giving water.
Impure, dirty water is as unhealthful as impure, spoiled air. We therefore should be very careful not to drink water which has stood all night for it has taken in the impurities of the room. Our cisterns should be cleansed often, and we should be careful to have everything dirty far away from the well, for the impurities soak down through the ground and find their way into the water.
Did you know that water is one of the best medicines in the world?
“Water”
Jesus said, “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. . . . And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” John 7:37; Rev. 22:17.
Water, how clear, and sparkling, and beautiful! It is so bright that you can see your face in it, and so clear that you can look right through it. If it is clean, good water, you cannot smell it? Almost the last thing before you close your eyes at night you say, “Mamma, please give me a drink of water.” Did you ever notice how many times you say that in just one day? Then in the morning you bathe your face and hands in it; how cool and refreshing it is, and how bright and clean it makes you look. It is the world’s cleanser. It washes everything, even the air. Your breakfast and dinner are cooked in water, and your clothes are washed in water. Some people have their houses warmed with the steam that comes from boiling water, and others have their sewing machines run with water [remember, this was written in 1893]. We have not time to tell you half of the wonderful things that are done with water. Ask your father to tell you how it runs the steam cars, the steamboats, the mill that grinds your flour, the printing presses that print your books and papers, and the machines that weave cloth for your dresses. Watch and see how many ways water is used in your house. Keep your eyes and ears open every day and see how many things you can learn about it.
Do you remember how some of the water that was on the earth at first, got way up above our heads in the clouds? Well, after God had made the beautiful firmament above us, and part of the waters that had been on the earth were floating about in the air, there was still much water on the earth; for there was no dry land at all.
On the third day, therefore, God gathered these waters together so that the dry land could be seen. He did not have to dip the water up, and carry it to the places where He wanted it, as we do, but He just said, “Let the waters be gathered together by themselves”; and they were! And God called the dry land “Earth,” and the great bodies of waters he called “Seas.” And God placed sand all around the edge of the seas for a bound or border. And God said to the waters of the seas, “Hitherto [that is, to this place] shalt thou come, but no farther; and here shall thy proud waves be stayed.” And though the great waves have tossed themselves ever since, yet they cannot break away from where God put them and again cover the earth; though they roar, they cannot pass over the sand that God placed around them. Jer. 5:22.
God did not put all the water in one part of the earth. He sent some into the mountains in springs and told them to run down into the valleys in little streams, that the beasts and birds might go there and find water to drink, and that the grass and trees in those places might be kept fresh and green. He put part of the water into lakes and ponds; and part, he put way down in the ground so that if men do not live near a river or spring, they can dig holes or wells down in the ground and find water. And then besides all this, He shows His tender love, by giving us the beautiful rain, about which we learned last week. The great Heavenly Father must love us all, for He sends His rain on the good and on the bad, and He freely gives us each all the good pure water that we need.
This water is wonderful, and useful, and good, and it keeps us alive; but it cannot keep us alive for ever. It causes us to have clean faces and hands; but it cannot cause us to have pure thoughts and actions. Jesus can give as “living water,” water that will cause us to have pure, good thoughts and actions, so that we finally can live for ever with Him. Would you like to know what this “living water” is? It is His Holy Spirit. We cannot see it any more than we can see the air, but it makes us gentle and kind, and makes us want to please Jesus in every little thing that we do. You know how freely God gives us the beautiful water. Well, the Bible says that Jesus is just as willing to give us His Holy Spirit. Let us think of this every time we take a drink of water.
- How do you get your face clean?
- Name some of the places where we find water.
- Did you ever see a spring? An ocean? A river?
- What is an ocean?
- Why don’t the waves rush out over the dry land?
- Do you think that it is just that little sand that keeps them there?—No. Ps. 89:8, 9; 93:4.
- Were the waters always in oceans, and lakes, and rivers, and springs?
- When did God gather them together?
- How did He do it?
- For what is water good?
- Suppose God had put all the water in one part of the earth, would it be so pleasant? Why not?
- What should we always remember about dirty, bad-smelling water? It is just as bad for us as spoiled, bad-smelling air.
- Is wine, or any other strong drinks as good for us as water? Why not? Prov. 20:1; 23:29-32.
“Water, bright water, pure water I drink,
From clear mountain streamlet, or deep wells brink;
It cooleth, when parched, my thirsty tongue;
It helpeth my happiness to prolong;
‘Tis the drink of the flowers, the birds, and bees.
The insects that dance on the summer’s breeze;
The cattle that graze on the hill and plain:
The traveller’s friend on the mighty main:
‘Tis the drink that God gave first unto man.
In rivers that through lovely Eden ran.
Water, bright water, pure water, to thee
May I be a life-long, true devotee!”
- What precious promise does God make to those who love and obey Him?—Their water shall be sure; they will always have enough. Isa. 35:15, 16.
- But can this water make us live for ever?
- Can it cause us to have pure thoughts and actions?
- What kind of water can?—Living water.
- What is this living water?—God’s Holy Spirit. John 7:37, 39; 4:10-13.
- Where can we get it? John 7:37.
- Do you want this gentle Spirit to come and live with you?
- Then what does Jesus invite you to do?—To come unto Him, without money, and ask Him for it and He will give you freely all that you want.
“Ho, ye thirsty, come and drink!
Water! living water!
Gather at the fountain’s brink,
Take the living water.
Souls athirst, oh, hither haste,
Stay not in the desert wastes;
“Come the healing waters taste,
Water, living water.
“Come ye who in deserts roam:
Water! living water!
Whosoever will may come
To the living water.
Ye who hear, lift up the cry,
Every soul that thirsts, draw nigh:
Come and drink, and never die;
Take the living water.”
The Present Truth – September 21, 1893
Story in pdf Fire Water Pure Water