The Water

“And the Lord snake unto Moses saying, Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass, to wash withal; and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and thou shalt put water therein; for Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat. When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire unto the’Lord; so they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not;

ee: and it shall be a statute forever to them, even to him’ and to his seed throughout their generations.” Exod. xii:17. ‘‘ Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. Simon Peter saith unto him: Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith to him: He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit; and ye are clean, but not all.” John xiii: 8. HE figure of water is universally familiar, and represents one of the most important and necessary elements in the physical universe. We find it in the vast ocean, comprising by far the largest part of the earth’s surface; and in our inland lakes and rivers, which form such exquisite networks, both of beauty and convenience and of commercial value, throughout both continents. We find it in the vapor of the skies; and the dews that gather about the vegetable creation, and preserve it from withering through our torrid Summer. We find it forming the largest proportionate part of our own. bodies, and everything we call solid and substantial in the world. It is a figure

of purity and refreshing; of quickening

life and power; of vastness and of abundance. Without it, life could not be for a single month maintained. And so we find it in the Bible as one of the most important symbols of spiritual things. Away back in Eden, there were four rivers which watered the garden; and were, without doubt, types of the grace with which mankind was to be supplied. We find it again in the preservation of the life of Hagar and her son, and supplied by the angelic agency. We find Moses striking it from the rock for the children of Israel, and we see them gathering around it with songs of joy and gladness, and it becomes the source of supply in all their wanderings. It appears in the ministry of Elisha and Elijah. It brings healing to Naaman and saves Jehoshaphat’s army from destruction. In Ezekiel’s vision we have the fountain of water where the filthy wash and become clean from their idolatries and the vices which flow from the temple of Vision. Zechariah tells us of a fountain open for sin and uncleanness. And when we come to the New Testament, John’s baptism was the symbol by which the Lord’s reign was ushered in; and Christ carries the figure farther to imply, not only repentance, but also, regeneration and sanctification. ‘Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” In His talk with the woman of Samaria, He gave it an exquisite expression. In the service of the feast of tabernacles, He used the vessels with which they poured out the water, as symbols of the water which He would give, even the rivers of waters which He says shall flow forth from them that believe. From His own pierced body comes forth a stream of blood and water for the healing of the nations. The Epistles of the New Testament are filled with the figure of water. Again and again we read of the cleansing and the purity which

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He comes to bring to the world. And in the Apocalypse it appears in the vision of the finished work of redemption, and the river of the water of life. And the whole. volume closes with this exquisite passage that points back to all the preceding figures, ‘‘ Let him that is thirsty come; and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”

And so this laver, of which we have read a description, stands just in the center of one of the most far-reaching of all the fig- - ures of the Holy Scriptures. In the tabernacle, and the whole Levitical ceremony, there were various uses made of water. The priesthood had to be set apart by cleansing. The leper had to wash himself with water and be shaved, and sprinkled with blood, and anointed with oil. They had also the water of separation with which those who had touched the dead had to be cleansed before entering the tabernacle, This laver or basin was the second article of furniture in the tabernacle. It was formed out of the brazen mirrors of the women of Israel, which they had brought from the land of Egypt, perhaps with excusable vanity, and perhaps without realizing that they belonged to their old life. When the Lord got them into the wilderness, He gently drew from them these memorials of their old life, and consecrated them to a higher purpose as the materials from which they made this brazen laver. They were first melted, and then cast into this basin. It was, perhaps, four or five feet high, and there were a number of faucets opening below the basin, and falling into a receptacle. We read of the laver with his foot; no doubt below there were basins into which the waste water could fall.

It consisted of three parts really. First, it was a mirror itself, polished so finely they could see their faces in the brazen exterior; a looking-glass, in which they could see, not their beauty, but their blemishes. Then it was a fountain of water for their cleansing, and further it had receptacles or basins at the foot where they could come and be cleansed when they saw their defilement.

The position of this altar was just beyond the altar of offering; the laver was further on; it was to be used by the priests alone, and it was to be used always by them before entering the holy place. They were not permitted to go into God’s presence with a spot or stain upon them. They had to do this before they could go in and offer their service. Neither could they go to the brazen altar which stood outside, with their offerings, until they had washed in this laver.

Now you have the picture of the laver, let us gather the lessons.

1. The materials out of which it was made, and its use as a mirror reflecting the defilement upon the garments of the priests, suggest our first lesson — that is, that God ‘has provided for us in His word and Spirit, the influences by which we are to discover our own uncleanness and defilement, and we must never forget that this is a very large part of the functions of the Spirit. ‘‘ All scripture is given for doctrine” (that is, teach- ing), [but also “‘for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” God expects us to go to Him that He may reveal our shortcomings and blemishes; and we should be glad to see them even by painful methods. The Holy Ghost is the gentle reprover, quickly giving us the sense of evil; as if by the sense of smell, the soul will have the instinctive sensibility to sin, quickly throwing it off and applying the blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse from its very shadow. Now, dear friends, let us take God’s mirror to show us where we fail; let us not be so encased in the idea of being infallible and unreprovable, that we shall fail to get these lessons; let us be glad, not that we made a mistake, but that that mistake has shown us something in which we are yet to be made stronger, as it shall be overcome. Let us thank God for this polished mirror, and say as the Psalmist said: ‘‘Cleanse thou me from secret faults. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me.”

Don’t turn away from the Bible because it throws a reproving light on your soul; don’t shrink from prayer because it gives you a sense of unworthiness and guilt; but remember that the laver, which shows the sin, is the fountain which will also wash it all away.

2, Again, turn from this view of the laver as a mirror, to look at it as the fountain of cleansing. Water, in the Scriptures, is the chief symbol of the Holy Spirit. Blood tells us of the lamb; water tells us of the dove. God has sent one especial person, and His business istomake us clean; to purify and keep us spotless as His own unsullied wing. To this work God has given a divine person; has given the infinite and almighty Spirit, one filled with all possible resources for this work. Remember it is His business; you are not imposing upon Him when you bring your uncleanness; He has been sent, commissioned thus to fulfill the blessed redemption work of our Saviour Jesus Christ. How precious it is to know that this Person is not away up in the heavens, but is present in your heart; ready to stoop down to your uncleanness and enter your foul heart, and stay there until there is not a spot, even as Jesus stooped at the feet of Peter, and washed those feet with His own hands. Dear friends, the Holy Ghost is God’s purifying messenger to you, bringing the

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water and the fire that will make us white as snow. Let us trust Him; let us obey Him; let us receive Him; and let us feel that we shall be without excuse for our failures if we do not.

Again, it stands not only for the Holy Ghost, but for the Word of God, through which usually the Spirit of God works. We find the figure of water employed not only to denote the Holy Ghost, but the Word: ‘‘That He might cleanse the church by the washing of water by the — Word.” ‘*‘ Now ye are clean through the Word which I have spoken unto you.” Christ’s word is the cleansing stream of the Spirit. ‘‘ Sanctify them through truth; thy word is truth.” ‘It first shows us our impurity; God’s law; Christ’s commandments; the sermon on the mount; the thousand directions of Christian duty; they show us where we come short; they show the path of purity. But that is not the best; they give the promise of cleansing, by which we are enabled to receive and retain His sanctifying grace. And so we read: ‘‘ Having therefore these promises,dearly beloved,let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” And so Peter says in his second epistle: ‘‘ Whereby are given to us exceeding great and precious promises; that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” Do you find any lack of purity? Take His promise and claim it. What can you want more than this? “If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” There is the remedy for any defilement. ‘‘If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” If you have some sin that is troubling you, bring it into the light, and.hand it over to execution; if you do, He is faithful and just. He will pardon you,.and having pardoned it, then He will go to work and cleanse it — put it out of existence, so it will no longer dominate you; He will cleanse — you from all unrighteousness. So the Word is our laver, and ever the efficient agent in the hands of the Holy Ghost. What is the cleansing here typified? First, regeneration; giving us a new nature, a new heart. That comes after we trust in Jesus, after we come to the altar of blood, and leave our sins. Then the blessed Holy Ghost puts into us a new life and spirit. That is the first step; it is called the washing of regeneration. But there is a more complete waching than this, namely: the sanctifying grace of - Jesus Christ. This is the complete and entire dedication of your whole being to God, by which you become His, and His alone, and He becomes yours, and fills you with His own nature, and His own Spirit; takes posession of your desires, your will, your affections, and all the faculties and powers of your being; and becomes the dominating, controlling, keeping power of your life; the indwelling Christ, through the Spirit, in your heart. It is not merely that you get a new heart, and then go on struggling with.a thousand elements of evil; but your whole spirit and soul and body are dedicated to the Lord, preserved blameless unto the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Undoubtedly this is set forth in this ancient laver. It was not that the priests eot a little cleansing; the laver meant that every spot was taken from their garments; for had there been one single blemish there, they could not have dared to enter the holy place. Oh, friends, if this means anything, it means everything. If the Spirit and the blood of Christ can take away one spot, they can take away all; if they can keep you one moment, they can keep you a thousand years; if they can give you a single spark, they can fill you. Suppose the priest had gone up and said, ““I will get off one little speck to-day, and some other day I will cleanse another,” what would have been the consequence if he had ventured into the tabernacle? God says, ‘‘ Let them wash

themselves with water, that they die not.” That single spot of sin would have been a conductor to receive the flash of the divine anger. The spirit of God requires of us and brings to us, entire cleansing; and the great hindrance there is to our receiving it is that we are afraid to believe so great a Gospel; we are afraid to dare to take God at His word, and to think that He is able and willing to do what He says. “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean.” I believe, dear friends, one spot of sin in your heart will be like one spot of mortification in your body. We must get clean. I do not speak of our mistakes and misapprehensions, but I do speak of standing without any conscious, willful act of sin. I do not believe that you can go into the presence of God; I do not believe that you can have communion with God; that you can have the peace of God, if you are tolerating or consenting to anything in your heart or life that you know to be wrong, and yet saying, ‘‘It is too much to expect God to keep a man like that.” God says that is the way He is going to keep you, and you and I have no business to belittle His keeping care, and His precious redemption. Let us take Him fully; and while He may see in us ten thousand things we do not see; and while He will lead us ever to a deeper sanctification, this is a very different thing from tolerating evil. [believe God accepts us as pure, when we stand pure in all the light we have, and do all we know of His blessed will. Beloved, are you fully cleansed this day? Have you come to God’s laver to see your whole self, feeling that everything is dependent upon your being right with God? Have you brought everything to Him? Do you with open face and heart take the cleansing water, as well as the cleansing blood, to wash every stain away? Do you believe He does it? And do you hear the Master say: ‘‘ Now are ye clean through the word which I have spoken unto you?’ Oh, how touching it is that He said that to poor Simon Peter, to the very disciples that in twenty-four hours were to sin again. But He cleansed them and they were cleansed; and they believed it; and even if you should slip to-morrow, beloved, take His cleansing to-day. And if you take Him as Peter might have taken Him, He will keep you from stumbling, and bring you to the presence of His glory at last with exceeding joy. This leads us to another point, namely, the continual application of the cleansing. Not only was it a single cleansing, but it

was a very frequent, reiterated ceremony; they had to do it every time they went into the sanctuary, and to the altar. This brings out a very precious truth; that is: the Lord Jesus Christ, after He consecrates us thoroughly, and fills us entirely, has still grace to fill us every day, and grace to overcome all the ills and trials of life. I think you will see this better in the 8th verse of the thirteenth chapter of John. There He uses two expressions, for the verbs are different in the original. One describes a thorough cleansing. ‘*‘ He that is washed” (tenth verse) ‘‘needeth not save to wash his” feet.” The word ‘‘ washed” means he that is thoroughly washed, that is, entirely cleansed, soul and body, and thoroughly sanctified, he does not need to have that done, but he will need to have his feet washed, to have the little stains of the passing earth, the little missteps that come a thousand times a day, removed. He

does not need to be again saved and sanctified to God; but he needs a thousand rewashings, from the transient defilements that had not entered his heart, but had stained his feet.” He that is washed needeth not his whole body to be plunged beneath the stream, but needs to have the daily defilements removed. You are washed in this larger sense, but if I wash you not in this lower sense, ye have no part with me. Your communion is in-

terrupted until you are cleansed.

Now, dear friends, this is the meaning of coming daily to the throne

of grace, and finding help in time of need. ‘This is the privilege of the most consecrated believer. That blessed laver is open in our hearts continually; and the Great High Priest is ever there, with the hyssop, to sprinkle us, and wash us over

‘ and over, even from the very shadow of

the faintest contact that comes from the spirits of others, or the atmosphere of the world in which we live.

And then what a comfort it is to know that the water came down to the level of the priest; Iam glad to think they did not have to climb up to it, but it could be poured upon their garments by simply opening the faucets, and getting under it. ‘Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? .Or who shall descend into the deep? But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith which we preach; That if thou wilt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”

We pass on, just a moment, to glance at the persons that are to be cleansed. They were the priests of God; those who came to minister in the more immediate presence of God. They were not common

people — the unsanctified crowd; they were God’s consecrated ones; and they stand for that blessed place of privilege which all believers may occupy to-day. The priesthood of old meant consecrated service. And so,beloved,this laver, this sanctifying Christ, this ever cleansing grace, is given to us that we may use it in holy service. There was a time, I suppose, that we felt this sanctifying grace was givén to us to prepare for the glories of heaven. But I am so glad that the belief is now going abroad through the church that it is not the end, but the beginning of Christian service. The position of this laver was not in the far distant part,but just beyond the altar of sacrifice. First, they came to the altar where they offered their victim, then to the laver, where they washed away their stains. It was all before they entered into the holy place, the sanctuary of God, for His moreimmediate communion. Now, beloved, this is the meaning and place of “4. CHRIST IN

sanctification. Oh that we may learn where we stand. Christ does not keep your sanctification until you get to the holy of holies.

He gives it to you just after you have been pardoned, that you may enter His service and do His consecrated work; and live a life of purity for His glory, and the good of men.

And now, friends, if this be true that God has provided all this for us, what a responsibility it places upon every Christian. Look at it. It is not hidden behind those curtains; it is open to everybody, and so it is open to you. If you do not receive it, what will you say to Christ in the day of His coming, when He asks you, ‘* Friend, wherefore hast thou come in not having thy wedding garment 2” What can any Christian say that lives in any sin? I am afraid you would be silent, and have nothing to say. Let us be sure that we have not only come to the altar and the blood, but that we are washed with pure water, and are constantly keeping our garments unspotted from the world, and cleansed in the ever-flowing tides of His love.

We have the altar that tells of His finished work; and we have the fountain that tells of the infinite supply for all our needs. The specific idea of the laver was cleansing; have we received it? are we walking with the Spirit of God? We have trusted the Saviour; have we likewise trusted the Holy Ghost? We have received the blood. Have we received with equal fulness the boundless supplies of His Spirit? We have prized His love who for thirty-three years dwelt among us a martyr and an outcast. But have we recognized His equal love, who for eighteen hundred years has made His - home with a vile and sinful race, dwelling as. you might have dwelt in a leprous hospital, to cleanse away the vileness of our guilt? I am ashamed whenever I think of that love and patience, that I have not loved Him more, and more perfectly yielded to His grace. Oh, this day take the Holy Ghost afresh; let the vast and mighty floods pour into your nature, and as you go forth, go forth with the blessed consciousness, that through all your soul its waters flow, a stream of heavenly cleansing. That laver was ever full. So it stands to-day; there is enough for us all.

And it comes down to the level of every one of us. Mr. Spurgeon tells a quaint and interesting story of his early days; he said when he was a boy, he and his brother had two aunts they used to visit; when they went to see aunt Margaret, they never got many cookies or good things; she had them put away on an upper shelf. But when they went to aunt Jane’s, they got all they wanted; she gave them the right of way, and always put the cookies on the lower shelf.

That story makes me think how near Christ brings salvation. The law puts it away up in Sinai; Moses even could not reach it. But Christ has come to the level of the meekest child, and put it where anybody can get it, like those ancient waters that flowed down to the foot of the laver so they could reach them. Iam so glad that the waters of His love and His cleansing are pouring on your feet; get under them, dear friend; take that which God has brought so near; and then go into His sanctuary, and minister for His glory, and for the sake of a sinful and dying world.