It's good to see all of you here this evening. I would ask you to pray for those who are still suffering with sickness and difficulties and trials. Pray for Chuck and Patty and their family as they struggle. Patty's mom and Chuck's brother-in-law. Pray for them. I know that Ryle and Emma are having difficulty passing that strep throat back and forth with the kids and they've been sick for a very long time. I talked with them this week. So pray for them as they struggle with that. And their struggle is not as a normal struggle. They have extra struggles. So pray for them.

I always tell people when God saves a man, it's then the difficulties really begin. The trials of our faith are real. They're necessary. One of the greatest fears that every believer has is this, that my faith is vain. If you have that fear, God's going to prove it's not. And he does that through trials. Because one thing God does not permit is that his children continually forever forsake him. They may at a time of weakness and difficulty fall into many foolish and hurtful lusts, but God delivers them out of them all. And one thing that will always continue is faith. Every believer recognizes this, I don't have enough of it. And I won't ever have enough of it until it's gone. And when it's gone, I won't need it. But until then, I'll never have enough. And love is another thing a believer never has enough of. Always short.

I'm very thankful, and this message is going to prove this out, this text will prove it out. I'm so thankful that my salvation is not dependent upon me or my amount of faith or my amount of love. In fact, my faith and love are simply byproducts of that salvation. They're simply something that springs from the inside out. And that's a work of God. That's a work of God. A man believe on Christ, that's a work of God. You know what Jesus said? And this is the work of God. That you should believe on him whom he has sent. It's a work of God.

So pray for those brethren, all the brethren that are going through trials, and I know that you're here, and just because you're here doesn't mean you've escaped the trials. You had trials. And yet the Lord has, by His mercy, granted you the ability to be here to hear His gospel. That is a gift. That is a gift of grace. Not only to be here, but to desire to hear it. That's another thing. A lot of people are made to come, but they... I see the ones here. They're not made to be here. The ones that are here are not made to be here. They want to be here. And I know the ones that are listening, they desire it. They desire it, and I'm thankful for this means that we have that the gospel's preached from this place and other parts of the world.

Let's go to Him in prayer.

Our gracious Father, as we have mentioned these, our brethren, our sisters that are struggling in great afflictions, Father, We bow before you, we lift them up before you, we pray for them, we ask for your grace upon them, we ask for your mercies. We ask for you to help them, to touch their bodies and their minds. We understand how simple it would be for you to do these things. For you, it is not complicated or hard. But Father, you do have all wisdom and you understand all things and you know what is best for your people. I pray, Father, that you would help them sustain their faith and love. I beg you tonight to give me the liberty I need. Open this text by the power of your Spirit. Save sinners, please. Call those that are dead to life, that they may believe on Christ and live. Forgive us our sins and comfort our hearts by this message I ask you. I beg you in Jesus' name and for His sake. Amen.

All right, Revelation chapter 22. I'll just message the river of life. The river of life. And John here writes, and he showed me a pure river of water of life. clear is crystal proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

Now, in order to understand this book, the book of Revelation, we must understand these words not literally. These are figurative words, figurative prophetic language. We know this by other portions of the book of Revelation. when John saw a beast coming up out of the ocean. We're not expecting a literal beast to come up out of the ocean having ten heads and ten horns and crowns. We're not expecting a beast. That's prophetic language and it speaks of anti-Christian governments and kings that are going to arise.

Another one is that that Christ should reign a thousand years upon the earth. It's not a literal thousand years. You notice those people believe that. They're always moving the goal post. They always say, well, it wasn't this. It's got to be this next one. You know, they're always looking for that. They're looking for a timeline. They're looking for some specific thing to look for so when that starts, they know when it starts. No, it's the dispensation of grace. It's the time from His first advent until the second coming. That's what the thousand years, so not a literal.

And so that text right here, this river that he showed him, not a literal river, it is a spiritual thing. It is a prophetic language. And what is intended by this river is nothing more or less than the salvation of God by Jesus Christ. This is the river.

Now, I want to prove this. Go to John chapter 4. Look over in John chapter 4. Our Lord uses the same metaphor of water. In John chapter 4, you remember at verse 70, the woman of Samaria comes to draw the water and our Lord meets her there and He asks her to give Him some water. And in verse Nine, it says, then the woman of Samaria said unto him, how is it thou being a Jew askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. And Jesus answered and said unto her, if thou knewest the gift of God, and what's the gift of God? It's salvation. It's the gift of God and who it is that's asking you for some water. Now if you knew those two things, this is what you'd do. You'd ask of him and he would give you what? Living water.

Oh, he's making a distinction here. That water in the well is not living water. He needed that water. He was a man. He was thirsty. But he was giving something greater. Not a literal water, but a living water. And the woman, she thought it was literal. She said, how in the world are you going to get it? You don't have a bucket. This well's deep, and you can't get that living water from down there. How are you going to give it to me? He said, are you greater than Jacob? Oh boy, what a question. She obviously don't know who she's talking to. Are you greater than Jacob? which gave us this well, and drank from it himself, and children, and cattle, and Jesus answered and said to her, Whosoever drinketh this water shall thirst again, but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water, springing up everlasting life. Natural men, like this woman, cannot understand spiritual things. They can't. This woman was so focused on that well of water, every time the Lord mentioned living water, she went back to the well. This is what natural man does. When I'm talking about spiritual things, they automatically turn back to natural things. Why? They can't understand. They can't understand.

This water that Jesus will give, He says it's a living water. And it's not a water that goes from the outside in. It's a water that comes from the inside out. It's totally different. It's a well of water springing up from the inside and manifests itself outwardly.

Behold the need then of man to have this spiritual water. It's water John's talking about. is the same water our Lord Jesus Christ is speaking of. It's a spiritual water and man needs this water because he's dead. Have you ever thought of how ruined man really is? Man is dead. He's barren within himself and he cannot ever produce life in himself. Can't do it. He can't produce righteousness. He can't make an offering acceptable to God. He needs life. And that's what this water pictures.

I remember when they took some pictures a long time ago, took pictures of Mars and they thought they found a little puddle of water. They were so happy. Now, why do you suppose they're so happy? They think they found water out there. Because wherever there's water, there's what? Life. Can't have life without water. That's physical, right? But this is spiritual. Jesus is talking not about a literal water, but a spiritual water, salvation.

Whosoever shall drink of this water shall thirst again, but whosoever drink of the water that I give him, he shall never thirst. He shall never thirst. Those who drink of this water by faith, now that's what it is to drink of the water, isn't it? By faith, it's to believe. You that believe on Jesus Christ, what have you done? You drank this water. You have go, and we ain't stopped. But I'll tell you this, we'll never thirst for righteousness. You know why you got it? Now you feel your need of righteousness. You drink this water, don't you feel like you need righteousness? You may feel that way, but what does your feelings have to do with it? You have this righteousness. It's yours. We'll never need another offering for sin. This water is fulfilling and satisfying. And all who drink of this water shall never thirst for the acceptance of God, the love of God, the mercy of God. They'll have it. They'll have it. Why? Because it springs from the inside. It's coming from God in us, and it works itself out. It doesn't come from the outside. It doesn't come by your working of your hands.

Look now at this living water that Christ gives. All the righteousness God requires, He fulfilled. And all the payment for sin, He has paid. All the grace and strength we need are found in Him. Therefore, if you knew the gift of God, if you know the gift of God and who it is that gives it, what'd you do? Didn't you ask of Him and He'd give you this water? You would ask of him.

And I'll tell you this. I like this. When this woman realized who he was, you know what she did? She dropped her bucket. She left all and ran into the village. You know what? That's exactly what we do. When we're filled with this water, we leave all that earthly religion behind. We don't drink from those broken cisterns anymore. We turn to Christ and He gives us the water of life.

Man, is there anybody thirsty for salvation? Anybody need life? And you listen, there's only one person that can give you this water. It's Christ. And He said, ask of Him. Is that not, is it too hard? Is that an obstacle too hard? Not if you've got life, it's not too hard. To drink then is to believe. In John chapter one it says, many have received him. That word received means to drink in. You believe that's exactly what you've done. You've drunk in. You've believed him. You've drank this water. And all who drink this water shall never thirst again for life.

Now go back to your text. Now you see then that this water, and I have many other places we can go to see that this water is salvation, but I thought that was one of the clearest. Now look at your text. Now we see this water of life is salvation.

Now I've got three things that the Holy Spirit has given us in this text about this water of salvation. First of all, the Holy Spirit gives us the source. The source. John says, I saw this river proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. It is a two-fold source. It is a source from God the Father and it is the source of Jesus Christ the Lamb.

Secondly, the character of this water. It is powerful to give life. Matter of fact, that's the name of it, isn't it? The water of what? Life. That's its very name, the water of life. It has power to do what? Give life. The second character of this water is that it's pure. It's uncontaminated. And this water is clear. It's plain.

And third thing about this is the calling of this water, and that's seen in verse 17, when the spirit and the bride say come, let him that is a thirst say come, and whoever is thirsty come, whosoever willed, let him drink of the water of life. What? How does he drink? Freely. Freely.

So those are my three points. First of all, let's see the source. Now, this is vitally important to see the source Now the Holy Spirit could have said that it proceeded out of the throne of God and just said that. But the Spirit of God didn't just say that. He said of God and the Lamb. Why? Because it's a two-fold source. Your salvation is a two-fold source. First of all, it is from God the Father. Your salvation proceeds from God the Father.

Go to Ezekiel chapter 47. I preached this message to you a while back, but I want you to see the parallel here. Because what John's seeing in this vision is exactly what is seen in Ezekiel's day. John's is much clearer, of course, but this is the same water. Look at this in Ezekiel 47 and see where this water comes from. This water is the same water. It's the water of salvation.

Look what it says, and afterward he brought me again to the door of the house, and behold, the waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward. Well, the forefront of the house was toward the east, and the waters came from under the right side of the house at the south side of the altar. You see, that word altar tells us where he's at. He's not just any house. He's at the tabernacle. This was the place where God dwelt. This was where the Shekinah glory dwelt.

Now Ezekiel was not permitted inside that veil. But inside that veil was the presence of God. And in a vision he sees the water coming out from under the right side of the veil, passing through the altar. What is this telling us? It's telling us this, that our salvation proceeds from the eternal, immutable, sovereign throne and will of God the Father. That's where your salvation comes from. Now listen, I didn't know anything about this salvation until God revealed it. But this salvation is ancient, friends. It's as old as God. Your salvation, not just salvation, your salvation is as old as God the Father. Why? Because that's where it came from. It proceeded out of the throne of God.

Now Paul calls this a mystery. I like the way Paul puts it in 1 Corinthians. He said we preach, we speak the wisdom 1 Corinthians chapter 2, how be it we speak wisdom to them that are perfect. To you that are saved, isn't this wisdom? Isn't this the gospel of Jesus Christ just the wisest thing that you've ever heard? It's beyond me. I never would have figured this out. I never would have planned it this way. Nobody would have. But to you that are saved, it's just wisdom. Yet not the wisdom of the world, nor the princes of the world, which come to nothing, But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom of God, which God ordained before the world for our glory.

If salvation was ordained of God for your glory. See then, believer, our salvation flows from the immutable will and sovereign counsel of God, which He ordained for His glory to those that love Him. Do you love Him? When I thought about that question, I wrote that question and then I asked myself that question. I see the weakness of my love. I love him. Of this there is no doubt. But it is the weakest love that a man could possibly have. I see my weakness. I ask myself, do you really believe on Him? I say yes. With all my soul I believe on Him, but how weak is my faith? It's weak. But what this text is telling me is this. This is not the grounds or the source of my salvation. That's not where it came from. My salvation didn't come from my faith or my love. It's not grounded on that. It is grounded on the eternal will of the living God. It was God who decreed my salvation, according, Paul says in Ephesians 1, as He had chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy. Thou blame before Him. You see, that's not accidental. That's by design and purpose. Not mine, but it is the purpose of God the Father for His elect, that they be holy and without blame before Him.

I like this. I was thinking about this in Acts chapter 13. This is what it says. For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light to the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. That's what we're here for. We're here to be a light. We're here to be a witness. We're here to preach the gospel so that salvation should go throughout all the earth. And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad. And notice this, and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. I preach to everybody. You know who's going to believe? As many as the Father ordained to eternal life. That's who's going to believe. Why? Because the source of their salvation is the eternal will of God.

That was clearly illustrated in Jacob and Esau, wasn't it? Two sons born of the same father in the womb of the same mother, and yet God, according to the election of grace, loved one and hated the other. Scripture says, for Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Why? That the purpose of God, according to election, might stand. One person wrote that the decree of God, which is entirely free and depends upon his own will and choice, stands firm. and immutable, and is not disannulled by earth or hell, for it stands not in the uncertainty of works." You get this? Your salvation doesn't stand in any uncertainty. Why? Because it's rooted in the immutable will of God that cannot be changed. Why? Because it's perfect. Why don't you change your will? You got a business. You change your mind. Why? Don't always work out, does it? Don't always go the way you think it's going to go. Why? Because we're not perfect. See, God doesn't change His will because He is perfect. His will is to save you. And you get this down, you will be saved. That's comfort, isn't it? that my salvation proceeds from the throne of God, by the sovereign will and decree of God the Father.

Now listen, if your salvation is dependent then upon you in any measure, you drank the wrong water. You drank from a muddy puddle's stagnant pond, and there's no life in it. If your salvation is dependent upon your will and your works, this is not the river of life. That proceeds from you. But this water of life proceeds from the throne of God and not me. And I'm thankful for it.

Secondly, the second source of this is the Lamb. The Lamb. The Father ordained and purposed and planned our salvation, but we know this, that it is only by Jesus Christ that we are saved. The only reason this water has any effectual power upon us is because of the perfect effectual work of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. In 1 Corinthians chapter 1, remember he says, but of God are you in Christ Jesus. Who of God is made what? Made unto you wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. God made Christ to be all your salvation. All of it. that by Him alone you should be saved. All the salvation the Father ordained was only by and in the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.

And as we read that in Ezekiel, remember, this flowed from within the veil. What was in there? What was in that holy of holies? The Ark of the Covenant? Well, who's that a picture of? What's that a picture of? That's a picture of Christ, isn't it? That's a place where God dwelt, yes, but it's also the place where the Ark of the Covenant was. That's a picture of Christ. And then it flowed past what? The altar, which is what? Another picture of Jesus Christ. He's the altar. He's the sacrifice.

So now look how in the beginning, In the beginning, when Adam died and ruined his race, we see how we all died in him. When he died, he could never by his works please God. You notice that when Adam sinned, God didn't wait for Adam to repent? Did you notice that? Why? Because he never would have. He didn't have any understanding. He was out there getting leaves. He was sowing leaves together to think the leaves would hide his sin from God. And yet God comes to him and what's the first thing God does? God purposed to come to him and He did. What's the first thing He preached? He preached Christ, didn't he? He said, the seed of the woman. He said, there's going to be another man. You ruined everything. But there's going to be another man. He's not going to be like any other man. He's not going to be the seed of man. He's going to be the seed of the woman. And he's going to crush the head of the serpent. And the serpent of bruises healed. And remember, God gave him a picture. He killed that innocent animal. And then he took the skins and covered their nakedness. From that moment, God had begun to preach Christ. Now the river had become visible. They become manifest. How? That God would save. God purposed to save, now God shows you how He would save, and that's by Jesus Christ only. Only by Jesus Christ.

Think about Ezekiel, you go out that little, coming out the side of that altar, just a little trickle. There's a little water and he follows it a little bit and it gets deeper. He follows it and it gets deeper and deeper and deeper. You know what? As you go down the scriptures from that first prophecy and you go further, what does the water get? The water gets a little deeper, doesn't it? You see it a little clearer. You see the Passover lamb. You see the great day of atonement. What a great picture of the Lord Jesus Christ that was. You see the tabernacle and all the instruments and everything in the law. And then you see the prophets. The prophets come and the water gets deeper. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son. Thou shalt call his name Immanuel, which means God's with us. And it gets deeper. Behold, they pierce my hands and my feet. I mean, it gets deeper. Until when? Until the dam breaks and Christ comes.

Peter says, those that preach these things, he says in 1 Peter 1 and verse 10, he says, Of which salvation the prophets inquired and searched diligently and prophesied of the grace that should come unto you, searching what, in what manner of time, of the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify when he testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow, unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves. They didn't realize what they were writing. Don't you realize what they wrote was for you? Don't you realize they ministered to you, writing this?

Look now and see that the Savior who is promised and pictured has come, that Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, bore the full measure of our salvation unto us, A child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders. What does that mean? That means the weight of his kingdom would rest upon his work. Christ came into this world, he attended to his work diligently. What was his work? His work was to provide righteousness and redemption for his people, and that's exactly what he did. What's the source of your righteousness? You that are righteous, what is the source of your righteousness? Is it not the righteousness of God by the faith of Jesus Christ? It is. What about your redemption? What's the source of your redemption? Is it not the blood of Jesus Christ, the only offering for sin?

Our Lord Jesus Christ, when He came into this world, He came to save His people, and that's exactly what He did. He saved His people from their sins. When God imputed our sin to Him, He was the Lamb of God, and God charged our sins to Him. Paul said this in 2 Corinthians 5, he said, But God made him to be sin for us who knew no sin. The mystery of God is displayed there. And as Christ bore our sins in His own body, when justice could demand no more, He said, It's finished! It's finished. And now behold, the river of Christ's blood that was purposed has removed all the sins of his elect people. How do we know that? Because God raised him from the dead. God raised him from the dead. So what's the source of your salvation? If water is salvation, what's the source of it? The immutable will of God. and the perfect work of Christ. That's the source.

Now then, look at the character quickly. I've got to move faster. The character of this river. There are three things about this character. First of all, it's power. Second of all, it's purity. And third, it's clarity.

Look at this. He showed me, go back to your text. He showed me a pure river of water of what? Of life. Of life. I want you to understand that wherever this river goes, it gives life. It gives life.

Go back to Ezekiel 47. Look at this. Ezekiel 47. Look at verse 9. And it came to pass that everything that liveth and moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall what? Live. Now you understand that God purposed salvation for the elect. I don't know who they are. I just know this, wherever they are, at the appointed time, this river will come. And wherever this river goes, gives life wherever it goes I don't know where it's going I just know this wherever it goes it gives life and there shall be a great multitude of fish because the waters shall come thither for they shall be healed and everything shall live whether the river cometh and it shall come to pass that the fishers shall stand upon from in Getty even to Iglam and They shall be a place to spread forth their nets. Their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea exceeding many.

Anybody know where Engedi is? You know where that's at? Dead Sea. See, it has to be spiritual. Nobody fishes in the Dead Sea. Why? There's nothing there. You see the poor fool out there throwing a net into the dead sea. For what? There's no life there. But the scripture says where this river goes, it comes to Engedi and it gives life. You know who Engedi is? Me. I was dead. And when the Spirit of God came to this dead sinner, there was life.

Now you got a picture of these fishermen out there. and they're ready, they got nets. What did the Lord call his disciples? He said, I shall make you what? Fishers of men. Now look, we just cast the net out there. That's all we do. Take the gospel and you throw it out. What a foolish thought to throw it out in the dead sea. At thy command, we throw it out. Expecting what? Expecting life. Some are going to hear this and they're not going to live. That's all right. The river didn't go there. But wherever it goes, it gives life. And God casts the net of his gospel and he gently draws his people to himself. Why? This river is powerful. It's pure.

The second thing is pure. In other words, it's unmixed with your works. It's pure. It's pure. It doesn't require anything from you. You don't need to go get one of those purification systems on your water, on this. No purification required. Nothing required from you. It, in its nature, is pure. It's perfect. Don't need anything. Matter of fact, the only way to contaminate is put something in it. Take something of yours and put it in it, and it's contaminated. But this river by nature is pure and perfect. Christ's work is perfect, and it's clear.

Listen, to everyone that drinks, this gospel is clear. It's not mud, it's not complicated. Is the gospel complicated to you? God chose people. Is that complicated? Anybody miss that? Christ died for them. Is that complicated? You may not like it, but that's just so. He died for them. And the Spirit of God will come to them. He will give them life. He will give them faith. And He will keep them until they are perfect before God. And they have nothing to do with it. That's complicated? No, it's clear. This river is clear. It's refreshing. It's comforting to the soul. of only one person to somebody who's thirsty. Anybody thirsty. But this is refreshing. This water constantly cleanses us from all our sins. I like that it's a river and not a lake or a pond. Don't you? Why? Because the river never stops flowing. You know why? Because I need a constant cleansing from this powerful, pure, and clear water. That's what this river is.

Now the last thing is the calling. The calling of this river. Look at verse, go back to your text now. We see it proceeds from God the Father by His sovereign will. We see it by Jesus Christ and His work alone. It is the Spirit of God that moves this river where He lives. And this river is powerful to give life. This river is pure. It's perfect. This river is clear.

Now then, this river calls. Look at this. The Spirit and the Bride. The Spirit and the Church. The Spirit and the Elect. The Spirit and everyone that drinks this water. What do we say to others? Come on. Come over here. Look at this. Look at this. This is the water of life. We say, come. And let him that hears what you say. You heard this? You heard this by the power of the Spirit? What do you say? Come! Come! Let him that is a thirst... Oh, there's a qualifier. Let him that is a thirst... Oh, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, come buy wine and milk with what? Without money, without price.

Wherefore do you spend your money on that which doesn't satisfy? He said, let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord. In order to have this water, you've got to forsake your way. Well, I think that salvation comes like this. Well, you've got to leave that. To have this, you've got to leave that. Well, I think salvation, no, you've got to leave your thoughts out. You'll just contaminate the water. And listen to this, whosoever will. Man, I don't have a problem in the world with that, do you? Why, God don't have a problem with it. I sure don't have a problem with it. Whosoever will. You know, I believe God chose whosoever will. I don't believe He chose whosoever won't. As many as were ordained to eternal life, what did they do? They believed. They believed.

Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life. Now, how do you take it? When the river calls you to take it, how do you take it? Freely. That's the only way to take it. You can't take it by merit. You can't take it by words. It's only drank freely. What is this river? salvation. Where does it come from? The will of God. The blood of Christ. The righteousness of Christ. How does it come? It comes by the power of the Spirit to give life. It comes in purity. It comes in clarity. And it calls men who are thirsty. And everyone who's thirsty, you that have drank it, have you not drank it freely? There's no other way to drink it. There's no other way to have it. And that's good for somebody like me that can't earn it. I could never pay for it. I could never merit His grace to give it to me.

So what do I do? I take it freely. You know why? It's all I can afford. I can only afford free. Can't afford anything else. And that's your salvation, you that believe. I hope God will comfort you with it. Let's stand and be dismissed in prayer. Dismissed in prayer, please. We thank you, Lord, for your service to us and for bringing your word to us. We pray that you would be faithful He's the only Christian you're gonna pray for. We pray this day that you'll be his name.