David Landsborough
Revelation 22:17. And let him that is athirst come; and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
Exhausted with sufferings of body and soul, the Son of God said, “I thirst”. What an opportunity of doing what never would have been forgotten through time or through eternity! And did many rush forward to quench the Redeemer’s thirst? Alas, when they made haste, it was to add bitterness to His bitter cup: “In His thirst they gave Him vinegar to drink”. And yet, instead of visiting them with vengeance, either immediately or when He came to His kingdom, He said from His throne of glory of old and He says now: “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink”; “Let him that is athirst come; and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely”.
How precious the offer! How precious even the common element of water! Withhold it for even a few days from man, and he dies in agony. What water is to the body, grace is to the soul – indispensably necessary to its life and welfare. Grace is here figuratively spoken of as living water, “the water of life”. Grace was typified by the refreshing streams that flowed from the smitten rock in the wilderness. Rich are the blessings of grace that flow from Christ this smitten rock, such as pardon of sin, and consequently deliverance from the punishment of iniquity; sanctification of body and spirit, and consequently deliverance from the power of sin; meetness for the inheritance, and at last possession of the “kingdom that cannot be moved”. The pure river of water of life is of heavenly origin; it proceeds “out of the throne of God and of the Lamb”. It is life, and the life imparted is everlasting. It purifies: “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean”. It refreshes; it is “as rivers of water in a dry place;” or as “a well of water springing up unto everlasting life”. How precious the invitation then: “Let him that is athirst come!”
How general the invitation! “Let him that is athirst come; and whosoever will, let him take the water of life”. This invitation, without doubt, extends to all those who have tasted the water of life, who have had experience of its virtue and earnestly desire fresh supplies: “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee, in a dry and thirsty land where no water is.” It extends also to those who as yet know nothing of the joys of God’s salvation, but who have been made to feel their need of mercy to pardon and grace to help.
1Born in 1779, Landsborough was parish minister of Stevenston and later Free Church minister in Saltcoats. He died of cholera in 1854.
For them the fountain is open, and to them the invitation is given: Come to the wells of salvation and draw, and drink with joy.
But does it extend no farther? Yes, it is to those also who are labouring in the fire, compassed about with sparks of their own kindling; thirsting but coming to broken cisterns, wells without water, or to poisoned streams which only feed the burning thirst that consumes them; searching eagerly after happiness, saying, “Who will show us any good?” and yet utterly ignorant where this true good is to be found. How merciful is it to say to such: “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters . . . . Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which satisfieth not?” And lest they should still fear that the invitation does not extend to them, because they do not thirst aright, it is added: “and whosoever will, let him take the water of life”.
How free is the invitation! It is not only: “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life,” but let him take it “freely”. The unrenewed man is a stranger to the riches of the glory of divine grace, and he concludes that he must have some righteousness of his own to entitle him to apply for grace. And Satan seeks to keep him in this belief: that without some merit of his own, application would be fruitless. But Christ says, “By grace are ye saved through faith”; “Take the water of life freely”. “The water of life” is saving grace; and saving grace is free grace, unmerited kindness; for if it were merited, it could not be free grace. He who died for sinners offers it freely, without money and without price; and what he offers liberally and ungrudgingly He wishes you to take unsparingly, saying, “Drink, yea, drink abundantly” of the water of life.
It is the Prince of life that offers it. In His thirst, “they gave him vinegar to drink”; but He holds out to you the cup of salvation. “While it is said, Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” Do you hesitate? Today He says, “Come”; tomorrow He may say, “Depart from Me, ye cursed”. Today He says, Drink, drink of the water; tomorrow He may say, Drink, but drink of the cup of trembling; and drink of it for evermore.
What love is manifested in the earnestness of the invitation! When the need is so great, it had been enough, one might have thought, to give the most distant hint that all our needs might be supplied. But wonder, O heavens, and be astonished, O earth, at the condescending kindness of the Lord, when all we need is not only offered, and freely offered, but pressed on our acceptance with the utmost urgency and earnestness: “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price”.
To rouse the careless and to attract their special attention, the cry is raised
aloud: “Ho”. How precious is water to the exhausted traveller! Were we in the wilderness almost perishing of thirst, and were the smallest fountain of water discovered, how quickly we would rush to it! How eagerly we would drink of it, muddy and polluted though it might be, even amidst the thirsty camels’ feet! And when we are in the moral wilderness and when our soul faints in us, how amazing that, when the fountain of life has been pointed out, we should need to be urged to drink of it! He who freely offers the living water knows that we must perish if we do not drink; and the passionate and urgent cry is, Come, come, come, and take freely, not only water, but wine and milk, without money, and without price – water, to save from death; milk, to nourish and strengthen; and wine, to cheer and gladden the fainting soul. “The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”