If you take your Bibles and turn
with me to Revelation, Revelation chapter 21, we'll be looking
at verses 5 through 7 this evening. Revelation 21, verses 5 through
7. I've entitled this message, A
Declaration of Grace. A declaration. And the one who
makes it is our Lord. Look at this in verse 5. It says, And He that sat upon
the throne, We know this is Christ who is set upon His throne. He
said this, Behold, I make all things new. And He said unto
me, Write, for these words are true and faithful. And He said unto me, It is done.
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I give unto him
that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
He that overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be his
God, and he shall be my Son." Our Lord Jesus Christ, after
He hath made all things new here, the Scripture says there is a
new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first
earth are passed away. And there's no more sea. And
John sees some things. He sees the holy city, New Jerusalem
coming down from heaven prepared as a bride, adorned for her husband.
And this great voice comes out of heaven saying, Behold, the
tabernacle of God is with men. You see, what we've seen now
is the end of all things. This is the final scene, the
eternal scene that is set for all eternity. A new heaven and
a new earth has come. God's church is now with God,
and God is dwelling with His church, and He gives these things.
There'll be no more tears, no more sorrows, no more afflictions,
no more death, no more separation, all those things that cause us
grief. When this day comes, there will be no more. No more. What a blessed negative. No more. No more sorrow, no more tears,
no more crying, no more death. Why? The former things are passed
away. And this is the declaration of
Him that sat on the throne. Behold, I make all things new. An eternally new state. Can you imagine that? That's just hard to imagine.
We don't have the capacity to understand an eternally new thing. Eternally fresh. And surely this
means the end But I also want you to understand, it doesn't
mean just the end of all things in eternity. But we may also
see that this announcement is talking about Christ's declaration
now. You see, He is not just going
to sit on the throne then. You see, He is right now sitting
upon His throne. And as He sits on His throne,
He is making an eternal declaration. An eternal declaration is this,
Behold, I make all things new. Now, what does He mean by that?
I want us to see this in this matter of His salvation, especially
His matter of this salvation. Jesus Christ. Go to 2nd Corinthians,
hold your place, we'll just look at this real briefly, 2nd Corinthians
chapter 5, and see if this is not exactly the same thing. See
if the Apostle is not making the same declaration as Christ
here makes in 2nd Corinthians 5 verse 17. The scripture says,
therefore if any man be in Christ, what is he? He is a new creature. All things are passed away. Listen. Behold, all things are become
new. Is that not the same thing? It's
the same thing our Lord said. Look at the previous verse, verse
4. It says the former things are passed away. Exactly what
Paul said. The former things are passed
away. And what's the declaration? Behold, all things are new. Therefore, you who believe on
Jesus Christ, I want you to see this is talking about you. Our
Lord is making a declaration concerning every one of His saints. This is what He does for every
one of His saints. He makes them a new creation,
a new creature. He gives them new hearts, a new
nature, which God before promised in His covenant of grace. God
promised that He would give us a new heart. You know this in
Ezekiel, the covenant. Ezekiel 36 and verse 24. Let's
go there. I want you to read it with me
because it's so beautiful. Ezekiel 36 and look at verse
24. God says this, makes this declaration,
For I will take you from among the heathen and gather you out
of all countries. Isn't that what He did for us?
He took us from among Adam's heathen race. And He gathered
us from wherever we were. When I read this again, I focused
on those two words, take and gather. Seems different, don't
it? One means to seize. The other means to draw. Isn't
that exactly what He did? He seized us. And then what did
He do? He drew us. He drew us in. And He says this, I will bring
you into Your own land. And I will sprinkle clean water
upon you. This is the blood of Christ.
The promise of Christ. I will sprinkle clean water upon
you. And what's the result? You shall be clean. From what? Your filthiness. Because that's
what we were. He took us from the heathen.
We were filthy. We were guilty. We were idolaters. And what did He do? He cleansed
us from our filthiness and our idols. He said this, a new heart
will I give you. A new heart will I give you.
This is the new nature that He's speaking of. Behold, listen,
I make all things new. When God comes in power and demonstration
of His Spirit, this is the declaration. Behold, I make all things new.
I give you a new heart and a new spirit will I put in you. Now
to the sinner, whose heart is always corrupt and vile and full
of sin. This announcement of grace is
one of hope. If all you have is an old nature,
here is a message of hope. Christ says, I will give you
a new nature. I make all things new. When he saves a man, he makes
him all things new. This is a divine announcement. Now, what is the assurance of
this announcement? How sure can you be about this,
pastor? How sure that He will make me new? Well, consider the
source. He that sat on the throne said.
I mean, what more authority do you need? This man who sat on
the throne said, I make all things new. And you listen, if He makes
all things new, you bet this, it's new. He makes all things
new. He sits on the throne. If He
has made a new creature in us, if we are partakers of the divine
nature, you should rejoice. You should rejoice. Not doubt,
rejoice. How often we doubt. Is there
a new creature in me? Did Christ say there was? Did
He say He would make all things new? Consider the source. His word cannot be broken. It
can't be thwarted. It can't change. He said this
from eternity. Behold, I, me alone, I make all
things new. And when God makes you a new
creature, guess what? You are a new creature. You are
a new creation. He makes all things new. Because
He said this, I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore, you
sons of Jacob are not consumed. And we see this. Now, there are
four things that I want us to see as we go along in this declaration. This is a declaration of Christ
about salvation, about the creation of a new nature and the salvation
of a sinner. The first thing I want us to
see is this, the accomplishment of this grace. The accomplishment
of this grace. Then we're going to see the application
of this grace. We're going to see the abundance
of this grace. And then we're going to see the
admonition of this grace. He admonishes us. He accomplishes
it. He applies it. It's abundant. And He gives those to whom He
applies it an admonition. Let's see these four things tonight. First of all, the accomplishment
of this grace. Look at this in your text. Go
back to your text. He said, I make all things new. He said unto
me, write these words are faithful and true. And He said unto me,
here's the accomplishment. It is done. It is done. He who sat on the throne, He
said, I make all things new and this is faithful. You listen
to this. It's done. It's done. It's done. It was always God's eternal purpose
to make His elect new creatures. It was always His purpose to
make you believer holy and without blame. It was the will of the
Father that Jesus Christ, His Son, should be the only High
Priest and Redeemer of His elect. It was always His purpose. Therefore,
when Jesus came, when Jesus came into the world in obedience to
the law of God, He fulfilled righteousness. And in His death,
He accomplished redemption that the Father had purposed. And
this is what He said when it was accomplished. This is what
He said when it was done. In John 17, He said, Father,
I have finished the work Thou gavest Me to do. That work of
righteousness, that work of redemption. I have finished the work. And after He had fulfilled these
things, He was nailed to the cross. suffered the justice and
wrath of God in the stead of His people, and what were His
words there? It is finished. Father, I have
finished the work. It is finished. And now what? It is done. If you want a perfect
summation of the gospel, it's right here. It is done. If your
gospel is not done, your gospel is not a gospel. If your salvation
requires something of you, if it is not done, then your gospel
is not the gospel. This is the gospel of Him that
sat on the throne. You listen to Him. Listen to
His words. Don't listen to me. Listen to
Him. It is done. This faithful and true. You write
this down, John. It's done. It's done. What's
done? I make all things new. Salvation
is done. See, the glory and majesty of
our salvation is that it was purposed of the Father and accomplished
by the Son even before we knew it. 2 Timothy 1. Go over there. 2 Timothy 1. 2 Timothy 1 and look at verse 9. This is who? Who there is God. He spoke the power of God is
the root of our salvation. And notice what he said. Who
God hath saved us and what? Called us. Which is first? Which
is first? Is salvation or calling first? Salvation is first. What's next? Calling. What kind of calling? A holy calling. An effectual
calling, not according to merit or works, but according to His
own purpose and grace which was given us when? Where? In Christ Jesus, before the world. Don't you see salvation was something
purposed and accomplished before? Now, But now, listen, in time,
it's made manifest by two things. Two things. First of all, the
appearing of Jesus Christ and His putting and His bringing
life and immortality to life. He appeared. Jesus our Savior
appeared. He abolished death and brought
life. Well, there's the first manifestation of that salvation.
What's the second manifestation? He brought it to light through
the gospel. That's the calling. When the
gospel was preached, it is then we heard of His salvation. Which was what? Already done.
We heard of a salvation that was already done. And same thing
in Romans 8. Romans 8. You know that 28 to
30, salvation was purpose. We predestinated of God. To be
conformed to the image of Christ, His Son, He says that we are
called, justified, and glorified. When? When you are called, justified,
and glorified. In the mind and purpose of God
from eternity. You are called, justified, and
glorified when Christ came and accomplished your salvation.
And listen, you are called, justified, and glorified when He affectionately
calls you and saves you. This is so all our salvation
shall redound to the glory of God. He said this. It is done. I am Alpha and Omega. Look at your text. That's what
he says. It is done. Why? I'm the beginning and the end
of your salvation. I'm the beginning and the end.
Now what Paul says that he is the author and finisher of your
faith? He's the Alpha and the Omega of it. Salvation from its
planning, its purchase, its performance, its preservation, is completely
of God. Planning, purchase, performance, preservation, it's all of God.
I am the Alpha and the Omega in salvation. And so what's the
first thing we see is that this salvation is done. It's accomplished. How do you know? He who sat on
the throne said so. It's done. Second of all, the
application of this grace. The application of this grace
is in a new creation. A new creation. Look at what
he says next. He says, I will give He said
the salvation's done, it's accomplished. I'm the Alpha and the Omega in
salvation, the beginning and end of salvation. And listen
to what He says He's going to do. In the application of it,
He said, I will give unto him that is a thirst of the fountain
of the water of life freely. Now salvation of all the elect
of God was purposed in eternity, accomplished by Christ. The application of salvation
is the work of the Holy Spirit. It is the work of God the Holy
Spirit in the application of this declaration. The declaration
is, I make all things new. He did. He made all things new.
And so what does the Spirit do? He takes that new thing and He
applies it to the elect. He applies it to the sinner. actually creates something. He
actually creates a new nature. I know you heard Jesus say, I
make all things new. He just said it. He said, I will
give you a new heart. I will be your God. You shall
be My people. Let me ask you, have you experienced this? Because
what good are these words if you've not experienced it? If
you've not been made new, what good are these words to you?
They're of no value to you unless you can receive them, unless
you know them, unless you experience them. Have you been born again
of the Spirit? Is there any more important question? I'm sure you've got a lot of
questions. But is there anyone more important than that? Because
if you haven't been born again, you're outside of Christ. And what good is all the other
questions you got? If this is not settled, this
is not answered. Jesus said, except a man be born of water,
even of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. What
else is there? You must be born again. This
new creation of the Holy Spirit, when God makes a creation, He
creates in a man a new nature. The first thing a man has is
need. When God creates in a man a new
nature, the first thing he is awakened to is his need. Need of life. Need of mercy. Need of peace and righteousness
before God. And in this declaration of Jesus,
we see that the fountain of water, this fountain of the water of
life, this is what He gives. When he makes a new creation,
he gives this fountain of the water of life. You know what
that is? That's himself. He is the fountain of the water
of life. That's him. He is that fountain. You remember when Jesus was speaking
to that woman at the well? And he said this, if you knew
the gift of God and who it is that asked you to give me the
drink, The gift of God and who it is that asks you are the same
thing. He is the gift of God. And He is the one that says,
give me to drink. You would have asked of Him and
He would have given you what? Living water. Living water. Jesus is the living water because
He alone can give to the sinner such spiritual water as to satisfy
the soul and cleanse him of sin. He is the only thing that can
cleanse a sinner of sin. He is this fountain of the water
of life. Matter of fact, the prophecy spoke of this in Zechariah
13. I'm sorry. Yeah, Zechariah 13. It said in that day there is
a fountain open. So this water of life he's speaking
of here, the water of life that he was speaking of at the woman
in the well, is the same fountain that was spoken of in Zechariah. This fountain opened in the house
of David. What's it for? For sin and uncleanness. So who's this fountain open for?
It's open for sinners. It's open for one purpose, to
cleanse filthiness. to cleanse sin. That's why this
fountain is open. See here, Jesus, His hands, His
feet, when they were pierced, when His side was pierced, now
you pay attention, the fountain was open. The fountain was open
for sin and uncleanness. It was open because He bare our
sins in His own body on the tree. Now listen, those nails and that
spear was very painful to Him in the flesh. But nothing compared
to the wrath of God that fell on Him. And when the wrath of
God fell on Him, that fountain of water of life gushed out of
Him. I was reading this morning and
evening, Sheryl and I were reading that this last week, and it was
talking about him sweating great drops of blood. He said normally
when our bodies are in pain, normally the blood goes into
the heart. It goes toward the vital organs. His went away from his heart. It poured out of his pores. Why? He was the fountain of water
of life. His blood was shed to cleanse
sin. And so when He said, Awake, O
sword, and smite the shepherd, the man that is my fellow, He
did it to redeem us, to cleanse us. You see how God declares
him then to be successful? He's successful. When this fountain
was opened, it's successful. It actually cleansed sin. It actually accomplished redemption. Now listen, you want to know
the difference between true and false religion, that's the point
in our day of contention. Did he actually do it or did
he make it possible? Did He actually put away sin?
Or did He potentially put away sin? I'm going to make it very clear
according to Scripture. Neither by the blood of goats
or calves, but by His own blood He entered in once into the holy
place, you listen, having obtained eternal redemption. Anybody know
what obtained means? It just means He got it. It's
done. That's what our text said earlier. It's done. This man, after he
had offered one sacrifice for sin, what did he do? He sat down
on the throne, expecting something. Why? Because he's successful.
He's expecting it because he's successful. He did it. Expecting
till his enemies be made his footstool for by one offering.
You listen, he had perfected forever. Sin that are sanctified. He did it. He did it. And now you see this fountain
open, that sin, is atoned for by His offering, and now see
Christ, what is He doing? He is freely giving it. He is
freely giving the fountain of His blood. He freely gives the
water of life. Without cost, without merit,
He gives life to sinners, freely. Religion wants you to pay something. Religion wants you to do something. No, Jesus said, I give unto them
freely the water of life. This is how He applies salvation.
He applies it freely. But I'll tell you this, there
is a qualification. Look at your text. Tell me if you don't see
this qualification. He said, I will give unto him
that is what? A thirst. You see, there is a qualification. He don't give it to everybody.
He said, I freely give it to them that are thirsty. To them
that are thirst. This is the experience of grace
that opens the eyes of the sinner to know his need and feel the
burden of his sin It is the work of the Spirit of God to make
a man thirsty for righteousness. It's a Spirit's work. If any
man is to receive the free gift, the Holy Spirit must first give
him life, and once he has life, he sees this, that he is guilty
and must be judged. For only then will a man begin
to search for the remedy." You know what? If you ain't sick,
you'll never look for a remedy. If sin is not your problem, you
will never seek Christ. This is the work of the Holy
Spirit in application. He must make you see your need.
We just went over that, the woman at the well. I mean, not the
woman with the issue of blood. We just went over that Wednesday
and then last Sunday. This woman, she had an issue
of blood. She was an outcast from the worship of God. She
had no ability to have life in herself. She could not know a
man. She was unclean. So she could not have life within
herself. She was in this state for 12
years. She saw all those doctors and
grew nothing better but only worse. And when she was, what, at her
wit's end, when she could do nothing else, what happened? She heard of Jesus. You see,
that's when a sinner hears of Jesus. When he's got nothing
else. When he's come to the end of
himself. That's the work of the Spirit of God. You can't come
to the end of yourself, except the Spirit of God bring you there. You know what she did? By faith
she pressed into that crowd and she was going to have Christ
or die trying. She had nothing else. If I but
touch the hem of his garment, I shall be made whole. And you
know what happened when she did? She was made whole. Isn't this
the experience of every believer in Christ, the application of
the Spirit of God? He shows us our need. We seek
all the religion of the world, trying to fix ourselves, and
we grow none better. We only grow worse until we hear
of Christ's success, Christ's victory, Christ's power, Christ
sitting on the throne saying, Behold, I make all things new.
Well, I need a new heart. Peradventure He'll give me one.
Wait a second. He said he would. I give unto
him that's a thirst. You thirsty? You thirsty? Well, you qualify, friends, if
you're thirsty. Oh, man, we've been digging in
broken cisterns, haven't we? Lord Jeremiah said, we've hewned
out broken cisterns. Isn't that what a man is? Cisterns
built the whole water, isn't it? But if it's broken, what
does it hold? Nothing. You can pour water in
a broken cistern and know what it's going to do? Just leak out.
That's what happens with a man. He pours good works, he pours
good works, he pours good works into it, and it just leaks out.
There's nothing there. What does Christ say? I got a
new cistern. I got a brand new cistern that
will hold water. Why? I built it. I made it. And
then what does He do with that cistern? He pours water into
it. He pours life into it. I give unto you water of life
freely. And when Jesus gives this water
of life, this fountain of life springs up inside of a man. The fountain of Christ springs
forth before our eyes and we say, I must have Him. I must
have this fountain. Isn't that what you say tonight?
You are believers in Christ. Do you not still need this fountain
of cleansing? I need Him. I want Him. I've got to have Him. You see,
I have a need. I'm thirsty, aren't you? I'm
thirsty for His presence. I'm thirsty for His grace. I'm
thirsty for His forgiveness. Why do I thirst for Him? Because He has a fountain of
water springing up in me. It's the work of the Holy Spirit
in application. And I'll tell you this, sinner,
if you come to Him and drink of this fountain, you know what
you're going to find? You'll be like that woman. That issue
of blood will dry up immediately. Your issue of sin dries up immediately. Before the eyes of God, there
are no sins. In that day, at that time, shall
the sin of Israel be sought for, and there shall be none. Can you understand that? There's
none. Before the eyes of God, Christ carried it away. He bore
it away. If you come to Christ right now,
listen, your sins will be carried away. Your sins will be carried
away. Come and drink. How? Freely.
You listen to me. If you tarry till you're better,
you will never come at all. What are you waiting for? If
you've not come to Christ, why? Why have you not come to Christ?
Is it not free? Did He not say, I make all things
do? Did He not say salvation is done?
He said it's finished. Come now. A preacher doesn't
say that only the elect. You bet. You bet. Only the elect
will come. Doesn't God give faith only to
the elect? Yes. But just as sure, all the
elect will drink. How will the elect drink? Freely.
Freely, without cost. I'll tell you this, if I... Scott's
got a glass of water right over here, I don't want to go get
it right now, but I got a glass of water right now. If I were
to take that glass and set it before you and say, If you're
thirsty, drink. Now, why would you not drink? You're not thirsty. If you're
thirsty, you'll drink. I tell you this, if you are thirsty
and have a need for salvation, you will come to Christ. You
will. This is the work of the Spirit. If you have a need, come now.
If you're a thirst, come to Christ. And He gives this freely. It
can't be bought, it can't be earned, it can't be merited.
Most people won't come because they can't earn it, because they
can't merit it. Well, I don't want it if I can't
merit it. Okay? I need it. I have to have it. And I'm so glad it's free. You
know why? I ain't got nothing to pay. I
got nothing. Oh, every woman thirsty. Come
you to the waters, buy wine and milk without money, without price.
Why do you spend money for that which doesn't satisfy? Sin never satisfies. Come and drink of this water
of life freely. And Jesus said, Those who drink
of this water, they shall never thirst. Never thirst. Once you drink of Christ, you
never have need of righteousness again. You have it always. You
never have need of pardon, peace with God. Why? You have it always. Why? You have a new creation
inside of you that's holy. Okay, let's move on to the third
thing. First thing, you see the declaration is accomplished.
You see the application of it in the giving of the water of
life freely. Now then, I want you to see the
abundance of it. How much grace is involved here? Well, notice this. Jesus said
that this water of life is not a puddle. He said, I don't really
give you a puddle of water. No. A cup of water. No. It's called a fountain. You know
why? Because it's a perpetual source of water. When I was in
Houston, there was this artesian well out there in Humboldt, Texas. And I mean, ever since I was
a little kid, That thing just keeps coming. The water just
keeps coming. You know, I drive over there once in a while, look
over at that fountain and expect it eventually to be dried up.
That thing is still pumping water. It's a fountain. It's a constant
supply of water. It doesn't stop. How much more
is the grace and mercy of God to those who drink of Christ?
It is a fountain of living water. Matter of fact, in Ezekiel 47,
I like this picture even better, it's a river. It's a river. You remember that Ezekiel goes
into that tabernacle, and behind there, that's where God is, in
that holy of holies, and he sees this trickle of water come out,
it goes down by the altar, and it starts heading up north, and
he measures a little bit, and he measures a little bit, and
pretty soon, this is an exceeding great river. You know what that
is? That's a gospel. That's Christ. The gospel comes from Christ. He is the source of this living
water. And this river, as he describes
it, it goes down into the deserts and the barren lands and everywhere
the river goes, life. Life. It bends here. Life. It
bends there. Life. It goes over here. Life.
Life. Life. Everywhere the river goes,
there's life. And he said this river, it goes
out into the sea. Most people believe that's the
Dead Sea. You know where the Dead Sea comes
from? Remember Sodom and Gomorrah? Is there any more horrific city
in all of Scripture than Sodom and Gomorrah? What a picture
of Adam and his race. That's us by nature. A dead sea. But you know, as soon as the
river hits this dead sea, you know what happens? Life. It's
swimming with life. We were the dead sea and this
river comes to us and it springs life. Abundant life. He can't even describe how much
life. He said there's trees, and then
there's birds, and then there's fish, and there's people gathering,
catching fish, and there's life! Life everywhere is described
by this river. This is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
It springs forth to save sinners. It springs from Christ. Sinners see that this is no idle
promise. such as men give, but this water
of Christ has come from God. He was sent with this purpose
to give life and faith to sinners, to cleanse them from sin, to
cleanse His elect. Who are they? They're the ones
who drink of this water, and seeing it is from God, this fountain
has no end to its constant supply of grace and pardon." No end. And I'll tell you this, you can
go out in this gospel and you weigh that in your ankles if
you want to. Or it can go over your head. It's an abundant gospel. It's abundant. And this is what
Paul says. He says that he was given to
preach the unsearchable riches of Christ. What does that mean? It means unsearchable. You will not find a bottom to
God's forgiveness. How bad is your sin? His grace is infinitely greater
than your sin. Why? Because Christ's death was
infinitely of more value to pay for your sin than you could ever
do. Isn't that what it says? Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
saith the Lord. For the Lord hath received double
was your sin. Don't worry, I received double
at the hand of the Lord for all your sins. Double payment for
all your sins. Believer, faint not at the trials
and tribulations of this life. Faint not even because of your
sin, or because of the flesh, or because of the hatred of this
world, for unto the least And most undeserving sinner is this
grace, this unsearchable riches been given. That to us this mystery that
was hidden before the world began in God is now made known to us. That God purposed to save us,
that Christ actually saved us, and the Spirit applies it. And
when that happens, there is no into His boundless love and grace. There is no end to the supply. I like this, what Octavius Winslow
said. He said, what boundless, fathomless
ocean. Eternal love moved the heart
of Jesus to relinquish heaven for earth, a diadem for a cross,
a robe of divine majesty for a garment of our nature. By taking
upon Himself the leprosy of our sin, Oh, the infinite love of
Christ, what boundless, fathomless ocean of love. How is it that we feel the force
and exemplify the practical influence of this amazing, all-commanding
truth so faintly? Oh, the desperate depravity of
our nature. Oh, the deep iniquity of our
hearts. Will not the blood drops of Jesus
Christ move us? Will not the agonies of the cross
influence us? Will not His dying love constrain
us to a more heavenly life? Isn't it the love of Christ that
constrains And it's only if we see the boundlessness
of this love, are we constrained. What does David say? Bless the
Lord, O my soul, and forget not all is finished. Who forgiveth
all thine iniquities, and healeth all thy diseases. Therefore, having washed us,
healed us, He constantly, justly, and having paid our sin, constantly
forgives us. Do you see how boundless this
fountain is? You can't out-sin this grace. That's just amazing. I know that
they say, well, shall we sin that grace may have bound? God's
people don't say that. But this kind of boundless grace
is what constrains us. It's infinite. And the last thing
is the admonition. Let's look at this quickly. Go
back to your text. We see the accomplishment. It is done. I
make all things new, the declaration, and the accomplishment is it's
all done. I'm the Alpha and the Omega,
the beginning and end of your salvation, and this is the application. I will give it unto him that
is the thirst of the fountain and the water of life freely.
And the abundance of it is that it is a fountain, a continual,
perpetual cleansing of our sins and love of God. And now the
admonition is found in verse 7. He that overcometh shall inherit
all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. There are many who presume that the examining of this water
of life is salvation. No, the actual drinking of it
is salvation. The drinking of this water. He
that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. He that believeth
not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on
him. You must drink. And if you drink, this abundant
fountain of grace is yours. But this is also true that we
that have life will never perish, nor will any man pluck us out
of our Father's hand. Therefore, when He says, he that
overcometh, he that overcometh shall inherit all things. He's
talking to you because you already have overcome all things. In Christ, you have already overcome
all things. Isn't that what He told His disciples?
He said, be of good cheer, I have overcome, what? I have overcome
sin. I have overcome death. I have
overcome hell. I have overcome the wrath of
God. Therefore, if you are in Christ, you too have overcome. You have overcome. And so what does He say to us
who have overcome? You must overcome. He that preserves us also demands
our perseverance. True faith in Christ is only
seen by its endurance. When Judas and Peter were standing
together all those years, you could not tell their faith apart.
Until when? until Judas apostatized, and
Peter did not. Why did Peter not apostatize?
Jesus said, because I have prayed for thee. Because I have overcome,
you have overcome, and listen, you shall overcome. And what
is overcoming? The just shall live by faith.
That's what it is to overcome. It is to constantly live by faith
in Christ alone. That's what it is. And what do
you get when you overcome? All things. He said that. Look at your text. He that overcometh
shall inherit what? All things. Well, what's that? Just what is that? Everything. And this is the inheritance.
I will be his God, and he shall be my son. What a declaration of grace. What a declaration of grace.
He that sat on a throne said it. I make all things this. How'd
he do it? He said, it's done. I've accomplished
salvation. I'm the Alpha and Omega, the
beginning and the end. I accomplish it. I apply it by
the Spirit of God. I give it freely. And you who have it, it's abundant. It's a never-ending fountain
of grace. And he that has this fountain will always overcome. And he that overcomes inherits
all things. God is his God. And he is his
Son. Isn't that a good declaration? It's wonderful. I don't have
to make this up. It's all right there in front of you. I pray
that God will bless it to you now. Give it to you. Eat it. Eat it. It's good. It's good
food. Good food. Let's be dismissed in prayer.
Gracious Father, I pray you would bless us with your message. Thank
you for this sovereign declaration of our Lord and Redeemer, Jesus
Christ, who sits upon the throne. Thank you for the salvation that
cannot be thwarted. Salvation that's already done.
Salvation applied. Salvation kept. And Father, we
thank you for the inheritance we have in Christ. And one day
soon we shall receive according to your grace. Forgive us our
sins and watch over us until we meet again. God, I pray you'd
be with us in Jesus' name. Amen.