Turn with me in your Bibles again
to Revelation chapter 22. Revelation chapter 20, the Lord
said, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first
and the last. We're going to talk about the
last this morning, and this evening we're going to talk about the
first. The last gospel message is given
to us here in Revelation chapter 22. And if you remember from
chapter 21 in reading, that in chapter 21, the Lord said, I
make all things new. There's a new heaven, a new earth,
and a new Jerusalem, which is the bride of Christ. And he said
in chapter 21 that he dwells in the midst of her. That's the city of God that we
read about in Psalm 46. And there's a river that makes
them glad and we're going to talk about that river. He dwells
in the midst of her. As a matter of fact, He is their
temple. It says in chapter 21. No need
for a temple anymore. No need for a tabernacle in the
wilderness anymore. He is the temple and dwells with
them. Not only that. He is the light. There's no need for sun, moon,
stars, or anything like that. He is the light in that city. And God's people delight in that
light. But how did they get there? How did they go from the ruin
of Adam, sinners before a holy God, to dwelling in the city
celestial? How did that happen? Well, that's
what chapter 22 is all about. How did that happen? Look with
me in chapter 22. We'll read the words and then
we'll come back and make a few comments about this. In chapter
22 it says, 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. In the midst of the street of
it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of
life, which bared twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit
every month, and the leaves of the tree were for the healing
of the nation. and there shall be no more curse,
but the throne of God and the Lamb of God shall be in it, and
his servants shall serve him, and they shall see his face,
and his name shall be in their foreheads, and there shall be
no night there, and they need no candle, neither light of the
sun, for the Lord God giveth them light, and they shall reign
for ever and ever. And he said unto me, These things
are faithful and true. And the Lord God of the holy
prophets sent his angel to show unto his servants the things
which must shortly be done. Behold, I come quickly. Blessed
is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
And I, John, saw these things, and heard them. And when I had
heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the
angel which showed me these things. Then saith he unto me, Seeth
thou do it not? For I am thy fellow servant,
and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings
of this book. Worship God and he saith unto
me still not the same to the prophecy of this book for the
time is at hand He that is unjust Let him be unjust but still and
he which is filthy Let him be filthy still and he that is righteous
Let him be righteous still and he that is holy Let him be holy
still and behold I come quickly and And my reward is with me,
to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha
and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do his
commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and
may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are
dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters,
and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. I, Jesus, have sent mine
angel to testify and to use these things in the churches. I am
the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning
star. And 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 of the water of
life freely. For I testify unto every man that heareth the words
of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these
things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written
in this book. And if any man shall take away from the words
of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part
out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from
the things which are written in this book. He which testifieth
these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so come,
Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you all. Amen. Several things that we
could talk about from this passage, but I just want to show us Seven
things if we are able to get through with them starting with
the first three words and He showed me and he showed me Who
showed him well as one of the seven angels? tells us back in
chapter 21. It was one of the seven angels
and he was a fellow prophet, a servant, a preacher, just like
John. And that's why he told John not
to bow before him, that what they needed to do was just worship
God. But he showed me. And you know
what? We'll never know anything until
God shows us through God's sent man. Never. Oh, we may know the doctrines,
we may know some of the teachings, but we won't know it here. We
won't know it in our hearts. We won't know it by the change
that God makes to us, by the revelation of God to us. And God showed Him. God showed
him. How those people get into that
great city, the city of God? God showed him. God showed him
how. Isaiah said it this way, to whom
is the arm of the Lord revealed? Who hasn't believed our report?
And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? It has to be revealed. And the only way we'll know it
is if God by the Spirit of God reveals to our heart the Word
of God. That's the only way we are going
to be able to know it. Paul said it this way, whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And how
shall they be saved or how shall they call if they haven't believed? And how shall they believe if
they haven't heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? This is God's divine method. And what God has for us here
through this preacher, through this angel, through this messenger
is as cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a
far country. How far can you get to the throne
of God? We've got some good news rolling
out of that throne for us today and for all who will read and
study and hear what God has to say. A preacher who has already
gone to be with the Lord wrote these words and I jotted them
down. These are good words, not mine, so listen closely. In every assembly where the gospel
is preached by the man of God that God has sent, the good news
is sounded for all to hear. This is the wisdom and power
of God. through which God has chosen
to call his people to himself, and to cast a stumbling block
in front of the foolish, and to educate and comfort those
who hear. We preach Christ and Him crucified. We glory in the cross. This is the gospel of substitution. Jesus Christ taking our place
on the cross. He showed me, well what did he
show me? He showed me a throne. He showed
me a throne. He showed me where God sits.
He showed me that God is in control. He showed me that God is sovereign.
He showed me that God is a God of purpose. He showed me that
He's a God of provision. He showed me that throne where
God is the God of providence as the river flows out from the
throne of God. He showed me that God is a God
of power. He has all power. He can do all
things. And He showed me as a God of
providence that He does all things for my good. He showed me that
He's a God of presence. There He is on His throne. And He will never leave us nor
forsake us. He showed me that He's a God
of promise. All His promises are yea and
nay in Christ Jesus. There He sits. on the throne
he showed me the throne of God not only that but he showed me
the throne of the Lamb 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 and of the lamb. This is the lamb that John saw
in the heavenlies. A lamb as it had been slain.
He's a smitten lamb. He's a lamb that was slain for
his people. He was a smitten lamb. And if
you remember back in the wilderness, they had no water. They were
thirsty. They wanted something to drink.
They came to Moses and complained as usual. Here we're going to
thirst to death in this wilderness. We could have been back in Egypt
when we'd had the river Nile. And God told Moses, go smite
that rock. Moses went over there with his
rod and he smote the rock. And out from that rock came water. Water enough to quenched the
thirst of over 3 million people. That's a pretty good flow. That's
pretty good flow. And that rock is Jesus. 1 Corinthians
chapter 1 tells us that rock followed them all through the
wilderness. Wherever they went from that
point on, they had water. Three million people could go
and drink and get their fill of water. They may have thirsted
during the night, but in the morning they could go back and
get some more. That's that river we're going
to talk about. We can thirst and we can go and we can drink
of the river of the water of life. That river is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. The Lamb. The Lamb who was sitting on the
throne. John said, Behold the Lamb of God and His disciples
went and followed Him. He now sits at the right hand
of God. Why is it the throne of grace? That's where God meets with his
people. He meets with them. That's where God sends out His
love and His mercy and His grace. You see, He's the Lamb of God.
He's our substitute. He's the one who went to the
cross for us, who came to this earth as a man, a body that God
had prepared for Him. And He sacrificed that body on
the cross for His people. No wonder God was satisfied.
What son would do such a thing? What son would do such a thing?
Would you do that for your father? I remember back when Abraham
took Isaac up on the mount. Isaac never said a word except
one. Father you got the wood and you
got the fire. Where's the lamb for the burnt
offering? Abraham said God will provide
himself a lamb. He is the lamb. And Abraham was
willing to offer his only son. God himself willingly offered
his only son for his people, for you and me. He showed me
the throne. He showed me the throne of God.
He showed me the Lamb of God. And then he showed me, as he
was doing that, a pure river of water of life. Clear as crystal. I remember being in Florida one
time and we went by to see Crystal Springs. And those waters were
clear. As a matter of fact, in some
places, some 40, 50, 60 feet deep, and it's as if the bottom
was right there where you could touch it. So clear. So clear. Can you imagine the clearness
of the water that our Lord Jesus Christ has given and is You see,
it's a river of living water and Jesus Christ is that living
water. As a matter of fact, He said,
if any man thirsts, let him come unto Me and drink. He is that
living water. If you knew the water that I
could give you, the living water I could give you, you would ask
of Me and I'd give you living water and you'd never have to
thirst again. And what did the woman do when
she heard all that? She left her water pot. She didn't
need any other water. She only needed the water of
Jesus Christ. Now some people need other kinds
of water. That water is polluted. That
water is not clear. That's the water that only man
can come up with. His own righteousness. His own
free will. His own way of doing things.
But there is a way that seemeth right unto a man. But the end
thereof are the ways of death. Only Jesus Christ has the clear,
pure, living, Water. Clear as crystal. It's pure. It's unpolluted. You're not going
to find any germs. I once bought a house and it
had a spring. The city decided that they were
going to run a water line out by us and I had to hook up to
the water line. And I refused to do so. So they
came out and checked my spring and they found bacteria in it.
And they condemned that spring. I still protested and I put in
a cleaning system and I drank the water anyway. Never hurt
me. Not one little bit. But here,
this water, it's not going to have no germs. It's not going
to have no bacteria. It has no viruses in it. It's clear as crystal. It never
runs muddy. This is the water of life, Jesus
Christ I'm talking about. It never runs muddy. It's never
stagnant or stale. It's deep and wide coming out
of the throne of God. There is a continuous flow. It
runs freely. It'll never be diverted. It'll
never be damned. It will not run dry. That's Jesus Christ. He will
not run dry. He's always the water of life. And you can come drink and drink
and drink. Today we drink. This morning
we drink. This evening we'll drink again.
If you take your word, the Bible with you this afternoon and read,
you'll drink some more. We can come drink any time we
want. And there's a continuous flow.
And it's life-giving. It's life-giving. Our Lord Jesus
Christ is life-giving. In Him was life, and the life
was the light of men. 1 John 5 verse 12, He that hath
the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God
hath not life. Life is found only in Jesus Christ. And it's free! It's free! You don't have to pay a thing
for this water. As a matter of fact, if you tried to, you'd
mess it up. It's free! And once you drink, our Lord
said, you'll never thirst again. Now that doesn't mean you won't
drink anymore of it. That just means you'll never
have a thirst. You'll always know where to go
get your water. It's coming out of the throne.
It's crystal clear and it's pure and it's Jesus Christ and it's
a continuous flow. As a matter of fact, later on,
and we'll see it as we go on here a little more in depth,
but later on he tells us, whosoever will, let him come drink of the
water of life freely. Everything God has for his people
flows out from the throne of God. Everything, everything flows
from the throne of God. Jesus said to
some, it's a well of water springing up into everlasting life. You
just go and drink. Now He showed me the water of
life, but also in verse 2, He showed me the tree of life. And
that's Jesus Christ. None other. It was first seen
in the garden. Remember in the garden of Eden?
There was the tree of life, the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil. And after Adam's fall, after he deliberately, rebelliously,
transgressed the law of God, they were barred from the tree
of life. There was a flaming sword put
there. They had to be cast out if you
read the end of chapter 3 of Genesis. They had to be cast
out. Would you want to leave the garden
of Eden? But they had sinned against God
and part of their punishment was to be cast out. The punishment
was that they would die. Because they were cast out, because
if they ate of the tree of life, what would mankind be in then?
No hope. No hope. So he puts that flaming
sword there, I believe that's the word of God. And I believe
the only one who could go through that flaming sword was Jesus
Christ himself, who is the word of God. And by what he did for
his people on Calvary some 2,000 years ago, he brought in eternal
redemption, everlasting life, love like love we've never known. And down that tree, It was on
either side, notice verse 2, in the midst of the street of
it and on either side of the river was there the tree of life
which bare twelve manner of fruits and yielded her fruit every month
and the leaves were for the healing of the nations. John said, He that believeth
on the Son hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see the life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. Jesus said, I am the way, the
truth, and the life. I am the resurrection and the
life. In his prayer, in John chapter
17, he said, the father had given him power
over all flesh that he should give eternal life to as many
as the father had given him and this is eternal life that they
may know the father the only true God and Jesus Christ whom
he has sent this is the life we're talking about This is the
life of Jesus Christ. This is the life that He gives
to His own. Now notice it produced 12 menna
of fruit and that yielded every month. We're back in time. Back
a few chapters before this, the angels stood upon one foot upon
the sea, one foot upon the land and cried out, time shall be
no more. And we read in chapter 21 what
the eternals are going to be like. And here in chapter 2 we
go back to time. Why? Because that's how we get
there. Right now. Right now. Do any of you remember
years ago, and they may still have it, I don't know, but years
ago they had the fruit of the month club? And in the fruit of the month
club every month they would send you a box of fruit of some kind. In the winter months it would
usually be jam of some kind. The fruit of the month club.
And it was good fruit. They only put in there the best. Can you imagine what the fruit
of the month club is going to be like in heaven? Can you imagine
the fruit that you're going to be able to eat? Oh, taste and
see that the Lord is good. Can you imagine what it's going
to be like every month? Well, it's right now. It's right
now. You can reach out and grab some
of the fruit that the Lord God offers. Why? There's the fruit
of wisdom. If any man lacks wisdom, let
him ask of God. There's the fruit of righteousness.
There's the fruit of sanctification. Justification. Redemption. There's the fruit of election.
The choice that God has made. There's the fruit of regeneration.
There's preservation. Take you a handful. There's resurrection. There's forgiveness. There's
adoption. Justification. Faith. I can think of all kinds.
But he says twelve manner of fruit. Now the Bible does say
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, and in another passage the fruit
of the Spirit is goodness and righteousness. That's pretty good fruit. I think
I'd like to have a plate full of that, wouldn't you? Just eat
it up and enjoy. What God has for His people. What God has for His people. The leaves there are for the
healing of the nations. And why do they need life? Why
do they need fruit? Why do they need healing? Because
of who we are. We're dead in trespasses and
sins. The wages of sin is death. We're sick. Sin sick. And we need healing and only
the great physician can heal us. There he is. Water of life. Tree of life. There he is. There's Jesus Christ. Our only hope. the only way the
only truth the only life and let me say it this way this tree and this water is only
for thirsty and hungry souls if you're not thirsty it's not
for you if you're not hungry for the things of God It's not
you. Jesus said, Blessed are they
that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall
be filled. If you're not hungry, you won't
want any of this. If you're not thirsty, you're
not going to want any of this. But let me just tell you, everything
that anyone needs before a holy God is found in what flows out
of that throne and what grows on either side of that river,
Jesus Christ. Everything you need. He's all
and in all. We live in a dry and a thirsty
land. We need some holy water. And
I'm not talking about that little bit that they have at their little
conclave at the beginning of their churches where they dip
their fingers in and sprinkle it on themselves. I'm not talking
about that holy water. I'm talking about the holy water
that comes right out of the throne of God. It's for thirsty souls. The Lord said in Isaiah twice,
He said this in Isaiah, when the poor and needy seek water,
they shall be filled. Are you poor? Are you needy? Are you thirsty? Christ is the water in a dry
place and no wonder the psalmist David said as the heart panteth
after the water broke so panteth I after thee O God I want a drink
of that water I want to drink it Time and time and time again. I want to eat of that fruit,
the tree of life. I want to eat of it time and
time and time again. Oh, I know that when I put my
trust in Jesus Christ, when I confess Him as my Lord and Savior, that
I have eternal life. It's not something to give. It's
something that's given, and God gave it to me. But I also know
that daily, I need to dwell in that life. I need to know more
of that life. Do you know this? Jesus Christ and what he's done
for us is promised. It's promised to sinners. If
you're not a sinner, it's not for you. It's promised to the
ungodly. If you're not ungodly, it's not
for you. Promise to those that are without
strength, who are weak and can do nothing for themselves. And if that's not you, this is
not for you. Let me show you, just very quickly,
those that it's not for. Look in chapter 21 verse 8. But the fearful, and unbelieving,
and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers,
and idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the
lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second
death. Now down to verse 27. Speaking of this city, there
shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither
whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie, but they which
are written in the Lamb's book of life. Look at chapter 22,
we read in verse 11. He that is unjust, let him be
unjust still. He which is filthy, let him be
filthy still. And he that is righteous, let
him be righteous still. And he that is holy, let him
be holy still. And then look down in verse 15. For without are dogs,
and sorcerers, and whoremongers, murderers, idolaters, and whatsoever
loveth and maketh a lie." But I'm glad that Paul wrote to the
Corinthians and he listed all these things and more and then
he said, and such were some of you. You were just like that. You were just like that. Such were some of you. And when God came on your scene,
when God revealed Himself to you, when you saw Jesus Christ
as the sacrificial lamb on the tree, you realized it was for
you that He died. God made it known to you, and
it was because you were a sinner that He died there. And then,
not only was He made to be sin for us, but He was, we are made
the righteousness of God in Him. What a place that's going to
be. What a place that's going to
be. No wonder, as I mentioned, the
psalmist said, Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. That
water will not have a bad taste. That fruit will not have a bad
taste. It will be wonderful. And then look at verse 16, chapter
22. 16 and 17, I, Jesus, have sent mine
angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I'm the
root and the offspring of David. I'm the bright and morning star.
And the spirit and the bride say, come. And let him that heareth
say, come. And let him that is a thirst,
come. And whosoever will, let him take
of the water of life freely. Thirsty souls will come and drink. Hungry souls will come and eat. And they'll find it all in Jesus
Christ our Lord. Everything God has for His people
is in His Son. The lamb, the river, the tree, it's all flowing for your drinking. It's all growing for your eating. And he says, whosoever will.
I'm glad he says that. Whosoever will. I fit that category. I'm a whosoever. Whosoever will. And God put it in my heart. One
day, listening to the preaching, and at home one evening, I said,
Lord, if these things are true, I have to have it. I have to
know it. Have mercy on me. And that night,
God had mercy on me. Whosoever will if the Lord has
shown you Jesus Christ He's the sovereign provider. He is salvation
If the Lord has shown you that he is your substitute that he
took your place on the cross He did what you could not do. He died for all your sins and
forgave you if the Lord made you to know that He is the sacrifice
that He bore your sins in His body on the tree if the Lord
has made you to know that He alone is the satisfaction of
God and if you're going to get anywhere with God it's going
to be in Christ and in Christ alone we receive all and we have
all in Jesus Christ. And then notice the words in
verse 17. Come. Come. Such a simple word. Come. He's not talking about coming
forward in a church service. That won't get you anywhere.
He's not talking about coming and asking for advice and counsel. That's not going to get you anywhere. You come while you sit there
in your seat. You come by faith, that's drinking. You come by faith, that's eating. You come to the Lord Jesus Christ
and Him alone. Whosoever will, let him drink
of the water of life freely. Jesus said, come unto me all
you that are weary and heavy laden. I'll give you rest. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. The Spirit and the Bride say
come. That's the service this morning.
The Bride of Christ. The Spirit of God. The Spirit
and the Bride say come. Come. Now if you've heard, come. Paul said it this way and I close
with this verse. Romans 11.36. Turn there with
me please. this is the provision Romans
11 36 for of him speaking of Jesus Christ and through him
and to him are all things to whom be glory forever and ever. Heavenly Father we thank you
for the word this morning what a blessing it is to know
that there's a River flowing right now for us. A tree of life flourishing right
now for us. And what a privilege and blessing
to know that it's Jesus Christ our Lord. Lord, we pray that you would
continue to bless your gospel as it's preached here at this
church and save such as should be saved. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let's stand together and
sing Amazing Grace. How sweet the sound that saved
a wretch like me.