We're so thankful for another
day that we have to be able to meet together. What a privilege
and a joy it is. Well, we've got a new little
baby. Deacon Scott. I like that. I think I can remember that one.
We're so thankful for the Lord's mercy and grace to deliver that
little baby for being Joanna, especially Joanna. I know she's
thankful. And then for Linda Brown, that's
able to be home, got home yesterday. And we're so thankful for the
Lord's mercy and grace toward her during this surgery for and
for different ones. I know we've had we've had different
ones that have had some ailments, and we're thankful for God's
grace, but especially We're thankful this morning that the Lord would
once again allow us to come back and to feed His people with the
spiritual food of His blessed Word. Let's have a word of prayer. Our Father, how we thank You
this morning for the time that You've given us that we can,
in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, call upon You. we realize and know that You're
here. And we're so thankful because
You've given us a heart to want to pray and to ask, to seek,
to knock. And we pray this morning, Lord,
would You bring honor to Yourself through the preaching of Christ?
Would You feed us and do us good according to Your kindness? But
we ask these things for the blessed sake of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen. Let's take our Bibles and turn
to the book of Revelation chapter 22. Revelation 22. I'd like to look at the first
verse of this chapter. This chapter begins with a view of a river. I was thinking this morning how
marvelous it is that the Scriptures set forth those things that we
would never think about. We would never, I don't think,
I don't think I would be able or would come up with the wording
of a river. But His ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts.
And I'm so thankful that we can sit down and just listen to Him
speak. He showed me a pure river of
water of life, clear as crystal. proceeding out of the throne
of God and of the Lamb." King David spoke of this river in
Psalm 46, verses 4 and 5. He says, There is a river, the
streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place
of the tabernacles of the Most High. God is in the midst of
her. She shall not be moved. God shall
help her in that right early." God. God Almighty is the river. And He is known only through
the preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ as He set forth in the
glorious gospel of God. You that believe, this is what
you want to hear. I know it is. You want to hear, tell me about
the river. God the Father, because when
we say God, this is what we mean. The Holy Trinity. The blessed
triune God, God the Father, is the river. Jeremiah 2.13, For my people
have committed two evils, they have forsaken me, the fountain
of the living waters, or the fountain of living waters, and
hewn them out cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water. The Father is the river. God
the Son is the river. Zechariah 13, verse 1, "...in
that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David
and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness."
God the Son is the river. God the Holy Spirit is this river. 737 39 in that in the last day
that great day of the feast Jesus stood and cried saying if any
man thirst let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth
on me as the scripture has said out of his belly that is out
of his heart shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake
he of the spirit which they that believe on him should receive
For the Holy Ghost was not yet given because that Jesus was
not yet glorified." This is the river of God. This
river is the river by which the believer is continuously refreshed. Fear not. God is in the midst of her. God is in the midst of us. You know, He's gloriously manifested
in creation. Before a believer is called out
of darkness though, like everyone else, they don't see Him. We
see the glory of God in creation now. But I'll tell you this, He's
gloriously in the midst of us right now. He said, where two
or three are gathered together in My name, I'm in the midst
of you. Now you just stop for a minute
and you think about that. He's here. You that believe, know it. And you have such respect for
Him. You would desire that which is
said from this pulpit would bring honor to Him. You would desire
nothing but that the glorious gospel of free grace, sovereign
grace, be set forth concerning Him who is in the midst of you. But I'll tell you, you that believe,
He's in your heart. Christ in you. The hope of glory. There's a river. God is in the
midst of her. The Father that chose. If I can
just share with you a little personal word of thanks. God
the Father. that chose me in the Lord Jesus
Christ before the foundation of the world, that I should be
holy and without blame before Him
in love, predestinated me. He determined beforehand the
very destination that I would take in causing me to cross paths
with the hearing of His blessed gospel and determined before
the foundation of the world that I would hear through a preacher
the message of redemption. The message of Christ, the message
of hope. And all of this according to
His good pleasure. He didn't leave me to myself
to allow luck or chance. He didn't
leave me to my free will because I didn't have one. How disrespectful that is to
even insinuate that the God of all mercy and grace would leave
glorious salvation, the honor of His Son, the redemption of
His people that it ever lasts. How disrespectful that is to insinuate that they would
have in their hands their eternal security. God the Son assumed human flesh, my nature. According to that everlasting
covenant that He entered into with His Father and with the
Spirit, that He covenanted the Son of God That He would assume the form of sinful flesh. That
He would live as the God-man, truly God, truly
man. That He would live for me and
for all that He had everlastingly loved and establish a righteousness for me as the obedient servant, that
he would go to Calvary according to that everlasting covenant,
that he would actually, that's right, actually be made sin. Actually be made sin. Now this is something that you
nor I would ever figure out how the Lord Jesus Christ could actually
be made sin. I don't know any other way. What
I'm saying is it was not just merely laid upon Him where it
had no effect upon Him whatsoever. No, He was actually made sin
and was obedient. Adam wasn't. Adam coming in contact
with... I don't even know how to explain
it. Adam made sin. Adam sinning. Adam disobeyed
immediately. The Lord didn't. Great is the
mystery of godliness. God Almighty in human flesh made
sin, made the guiltiness, Made to be sin. Actually made what
I am and faithful. Only God could do that. He was made sin for me. And bore
the penalty of my guilt, my rebellion, my sin. Made sin. And Paul the Apostle, under the
divine inspiration of the Spirit of God, said, I was crucified
with him. How can these things be? God
said they are. And that ends it. We're not up for debate. I'm
not here to argue. I'm not going to get on, you
know, and back and forth with somebody on the Internet. He
hath made him. sin, who knew no sin, that we
might be made the righteousness of God in Him. One of these days,
I'll see that clearly. It does not make it not so, because
I can't see it clearly. The Spirit of God, the River
Himself, eternally covenanted with the Father and the Son to
quicken me in time When I was in rebellion, not looking for
God, and neither were you, that belief, you weren't looking for
God. We were all just like Saul of
Tarsus, on our way, on our merry way, thinking we were serving
God in absolute rebellion. Rebels against God, and when
it pleased God. quickening power, grace and mercy,
said, your warfare's ended. It's over. Stop. This is the river, the
Father, the Son, the Spirit, a pure river of life. A river that has been running
in love to the church from everlasting. I didn't know it was running,
not until he called me out of darkness. I couldn't see the
way it ran in Providence until he called me. I could have never
known anything. His eternal love. But it's always ran. It's a river. Four things about this river. Number one, it's a reveal river.
He showed me. He showed me. This river, hidden in the eternal counsels
of God's good pleasure, providence, revealed to everyone that God
has everlastingly loved. Now, there's two different kinds
of people in this world. Those that spiritually see and
those that don't. That's the only two kinds they
are. I don't care what color you are,
nationality. There are two kinds of people.
There are those that God has shown the river. And those that see not. How blessed it is that God is
not silent to His people, that He speaks. He speaks this morning. In truth, He speaks in His Word. Even while you that believe,
even while you hear these words in your heart, in your mind,
in your new man, in your rebirthed man, in your new creation, created
in righteousness in Christ, you're drinking of this river
right now. The Spirit says, I know you are. He said, if any man
thirsts, let him come unto Me. And right now, God's people say,
you know what? I'm thirsty. I want a drink.
I want a drink again. Lord, let me drink. Let me evermore
drink of Him. It's a pure river, secondly,
a pure river of life that continuously refreshes God's people. And they know that He's the source
of it. John 14, 6, I am the way. I am the truth and the life. In Him, the Gospel says, was
life and the life was the light of men. This river, God Himself is only
known by The Son's revealing Him. That's it. It's a reveal. He
showed me a pure river of life. How do you know that it's a pure
river of life? Because He's taught me that. He's the source of life. Thirdly, this river is clear
as crystal. Let me tell you the beauty of
what was just said right there. I know he's pure, a pure river,
not, you know, he's pure, not anything but pure, but clear
as crystal. This is what it sets forth. This
river is not cloudy. It's not cloudy with untruth.
Now, I know that God's people see through a glass darkly. But what they see is clear. Does that make sense? I know
that I know in part. I know I prophesy in part. I
know that what I preach, prophesying in part, is only what the Lord
has taught me. But what He's taught me is clear
as crystal. The clear revelation of the Father. I can't perceive the depth that
the Father, before the foundation of the world, I can't perceive
the depth of it. with everlastingly love of people
and choose them in Christ and that the Lord Jesus Christ would
come into this world and assume the nature of His people and
walk before them and they all in Him as He walked because they
have always been in Him and that He would go to the cross and
die as their absolute substitute, absolutely exchange places He
made guilty. They made righteous. I don't
understand the depth of it. But what I understand is crystal
clear. I'm not by the grace of God. It's not cloudy to me. And you
that believe, it's not cloudy to you either. Oh, you agree
with me. You agree. I don't understand
the depth of it. How little I do know, but what
you do know. Someone say, you think the Lord
Jesus Christ absolutely died for only His elect? Yes, I do.
Can you tell me the depth of that? No, I can't tell you the
depth of it. I can't tell you the extent,
the magnitude, but what I know is crystal clear. Do you think
that the Lord Jesus Christ only established a righteousness for
only His elect? Yes, sir. That's crystal clear
to me. Why would He do that? Because
that was the will of His Father. He sent me to do His will. And
He said, My meat is to do the will of Him. All that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. How are they going to come? The Spirit of God is going to draw
them out. How is He going to get them under the gospel? I don't understand all there
is to know about it, but what I know about it is crystal clear. Can I talk you out of it? Well,
if I can, God never taught you. Can I deviate from this a little
bit? No. No. Do I want to talk about anything
else? No. By the grace of God, we've come
here today and we want to talk about one thing. We want to talk
about Him. I don't want to talk about other
things than maybe next week I'm going to get on to. No, I may
not be here next week and you may not either. This river is
clear as crystal. When God teaches a man, that
man sees the glory of God in truth and he knows it. He knows
God's established. He's taught it. The bright revelation of the
Son, whose meat it is to do the will of Him that sent Him, reveals
to all the objects of God's mercy this very truth. Lastly, this
river flows out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. I tell you, this to me is just
a continuation of what was just said, clear as crystal, proceeding
out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. God's pleasure to show Himself
to be the God of all mercy and compassion to His elect does
not have its source in man. This mercy and grace has continually
been found only in Him. We are the objects of His mercy.
We are not the source of it. We are not the source of life.
We are the objects of His mercy. We are sinners saved by the grace
of God. The triune God from which His
throne, this river flows, You say, how does it flow? It flows from
the throne of God and the Lamb. Where is that? At God's throne. Explain that to me. I can't. But it's clear as crystal. From the throne of the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit. God Himself and of the Lamb,
the fullness of God, the fullness of the Godhead bodily in human
flesh. And the thing that is indescribably
marvelous is the Scripture sets forth That the throne of God
and of the Lamb is the same throne. Clear as crystal. Explain it
to me. I can't. But that's clear as
crystal. Can you imagine trying to explain
to somebody? God. Father, Son and Spirit. and the Lamb, the fullness of
the Godhead in human flesh, God. You know what I love about this
is that I can't explain it. I love it. I love it. It causes me in my heart to say,
these things are too high for me. Now, you'll worship. You that have been called out
of darkness, you'll worship Him. If it's a God you can figure
out, it's a God that's trying to do something, it's God. And
while you're talking about the God that wants to or the God
that would desire to, here He's coming. You're just bringing
Him down to your level. He is no God. If He's a God,
you can explain. David said, our God is in the
heavens. And He has done that which has pleased Him, that all the world keep silence
before Him. Adore Him. Adore Him that you
cannot explain and set forth by your little cute, articulate
words. Bless the Lord. All my soul and
all that is within me, bless His holy name. God. God and the Lamb equal in dignity and holiness. The triune God pours like a river. His rich
mercies to the church one way, through the Lamb. The Lamb. God Himself. The fullness of the Godhead. Who is the Lamb? He is the fullness
of the Godhead. Father, Son, and Spirit bodily. And He showed me a pure river
of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne
of God and of the Lamb." May God Almighty teach us to be silent before Him. And
as He says He is, He is. May He bless His Word to our
heart, to our rejoicing for Christ's sake. Amen. Let's just take a
look.