Okay, let's turn in our Bible
now to the Revelation, the last chapter of the Revelation, the
last book, the last chapter. And we'll have this message today
and then a couple more messages and then we'll finish our study
through the revelation. And I must say it has been a
revelation to me. This makes the third time we've
studied through this revelation and it's just as new and fresh
and real, more so, more so now than it was back 20 years ago
when we first went through it, and then 10 years ago when we
went through it the second time. Maybe it's an indication that
I'm growing in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I said it might be an indication. I hope it is. Now Revelation
chapter 22, and we want to try to look at the first five verses
of this chapter today. And I'm using for a title to
these first five verses here, Paradise Restored. Paradise Restored. Now God created a man and put
him in the Garden of Eden, and it was a paradise. It was a paradise,
but something terrible happened. Adam sinned against God and was
kicked out. And when God kicked Adam out,
he kicked you out. He kicked us out. because it
all came forth from that one man. In this last chapter of
the revelation of Jesus Christ, we have another glorious picture
of the spiritual paradise, the city of God, the kingdom of the
Lord Jesus Christ that he has prepared for us. Remember he
said in John 14, I'll go away, and if I go away, I'll go away
and prepare a place for you that where I am, there you may be
also. I'll come again and receive you
unto myself. The Lord told the dying thief
in his last hour, today you'll be with me in paradise. That thief is still there with
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why our Lord said, as
we've read over here in Revelation 14, blessed are the dead which
die in the Lord, yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from
their labors. We rest, we're blessed to die
in the Lord. When a believer departs from
this body of sin, they immediately and eternally are in the presence
of the Lord Jesus Christ awaiting their resurrected body. They
shall serve the Lord and see Him face to face, and they shall
reign with Him in that day and forevermore." Now Adam, before
sin entered in, lived in a glorious paradise that God had prepared. It was called the Garden of Eden. It must have been a glorious
place. no weeds, no thorns, no thistles. Everything was planted
by God. He said everything was good and
perfect. But sin entered in. God drove
Adam and Eve and all men out of that paradise because of sin.
By one man sin entered into this world and death by sin in that
all men have sinned in him. That's how you are a sinner. That is why you are a sinner.
In Adam all died. In Adam all are guilty before
God. God put a flaming sword of his
holy justice He said, you can't come here unless you satisfy
the righteous holy law of God, unless you have a righteousness
that answers the demands of God's holy law. Thank God we have that
in Christ. In the fullness of time, the
Lord Jesus Christ came, who was called the second Adam, and restored
what the first Adam had lost and much more. By one man's disobedience,
many were made sinners. By the obedience of another shall
many be made righteous. Where sin hath abounded, grace
doth much more abound. Where sin hath reigned unto death,
even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life
by Jesus Christ. Now whose righteousness is he
talking about there? Not ours. not our morality, but
the righteousness we have freely imputed unto us in the Lord Jesus
Christ. In the fullness of time, the
Lord sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the law
to redeem them that were under the law, and he got it done.
He justified and saved his people with his own blood. So in the
Lord Jesus Christ, we have this paradise restored. Restored. A spiritual heavenly kingdom.
And we have the Lord Jesus Christ, notice what it said, the Lamb
upon the throne. And he showed me, verse 1 of
Revelation 22, he showed me a pure river, a river of water of life. a water of life, clear as crystal,
proceeding not by the throne of God, proceeding out of the
throne of God and the throne of the Lamb. You see, the Lamb
here is God. He is God, our Savior. The Lord Jesus Christ is indeed
the water of life. He is the pure river of the water
of life. There is an eternal abundance
of life and salvation in Him, never ending, overflowing the
eternal supply and the river of His love, the river of His
grace, the river of His mercy. It's eternal and it flows from
the throne of God right down to where we are. We've studied
in Psalm 46, remember? There is a river, the streams
whereof she'll make glad, the city of God, the holy place,
the tabernacles of the Most High, God in the midst of her, she
shall not be moved, God shall help her and that right soon.
There is a river. And then we studied in Isaiah
32, the Lord has called the rivers of water in a dry place. A man
shall be a hiding place from the wind, a covert from the tempest,
as rivers of water in a dry place. as the shadow of a great rock
in a weary land." That is the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember
he told the woman at the well, you remember in John chapter
4, and that woman said to the Lord Jesus Christ, she was a
Samaritan, and she said to the Lord, well the Jews don't have
any dealing to do with the Samaritans, and the Lord asked her for a
drink of water. And the Lord said to her, if you would ask
of me, I'll give you a cup of water that's a well of water
springing up into everlasting life. And she said, Lord, give
me that water. Give me that water. The Lord
Jesus Christ is a well of water springing up into everlasting
life that will never run dry. Christ is the water of life.
You know, water is very necessary to our life, isn't it? You cannot
do without drinking water. Water. All the cities in this
country, when the western expansion started in 1830, 1840, 1845,
all the cities going west were all established by what? Rivers. Cincinnati, St. Louis, Kansas
City. Omaha, Nebraska, all those cities
were founded upon rivers. Why? Water is a necessity. You have to have water. And the
Lord Jesus Christ is a water of life. He said in John 7, 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.
Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. Lord, give me
that water. Give me that water. Now, we've
seen this a couple of times here. Turn back to Revelation 21. Revelation
21. Look at verse 5. He that sat
upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he
said to me, Write, for these words are true and faithful.
And he said to me, It is done. I am Alpha, Omega, the beginning,
the ending, the end. I will give unto him that is
athirst the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh
shall inherit all things. I'll be his God, and he shall
be my Son. The water of life that's freely
given. Freely given. Look at chapter
2, 22 rather. Revelation 22 verse 17. The Spirit
and the Bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say,
Come. And let him that is athirst, Come. Come to Christ. And whosoever
will, let him take the water of life. I love that word freely. Our Lord says, Ho, everyone that's
thirsty, come to the water and drink. He that hath no money,
come buy without money and without price. This pure river flows
from the sovereign throne of God with an abundance of pure,
clean, clear, crystal blessings of grace, love, and mercy through
the mediator, through the advocate, through the surety of the covenant,
through our Savior. that is the Lord Jesus Christ.
One God, one mediator between God and sinners, and that is
the Lord Jesus Christ himself, who has blessed us with all spiritual
blessing in the heavenlies, in the Lord Jesus Christ. I can
say with that woman at the well, Lord, give me that water. Let
me drink of that water of life that flows from your throne,
proceeding clear as crystal. It's a pure river. out of the
throne of God and out of the Lamb. That's good water. That is pure water that comes
from God that he's provided for us. Now look at verse 2. In the
midst of the street of it, on either side of the river, there
was a tree of life. There's that symbol again, symbolic
of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. This tree of life, like
the water of life, this tree of life which bear twelve manner
of fruits, yielded her fruit every month, and the leaves of
that tree, that tree of life, were for the healing, the healing
of the nations. I need healing, don't you? This
new paradise also has a tree. It's called the tree of life.
In the original paradise, there was a tree of life. Adam lost
the privilege of eating it by sinning against God, by eating
of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which ended
up being the tree of death and ignoring the tree of life. And
we read there in Genesis chapter 3, so he drove man out and he
placed At the east of the Garden of Eden, cherubims and a flaming
sword which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of
life, to guard it, to protect it. No way back into that garden
except the holy justice and law of God is satisfied, and that's
only done by our Lord Jesus Christ. He took the sword of God's justice
into his bosom and suffered the wrath of God for us that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him. And we enter into
this paradise based upon his blood and his righteousness alone.
In this new paradise and in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ,
The Lord Jesus Christ is the tree of life. He is the fruit
of all blessings. Christ is the fruit of endless,
endless blessings we have in Him. He is the tree of life which
bears twelve manner of fruits. Notice this tree of life seems
to be everywhere. In the midst of the street, on
either side of the river, it seems to be everywhere. Now we
know this is symbolic of the presence of the Lord, which is
everywhere. The tree of life seems to be
everywhere, in the street, on both sides of the river, in the
city of God, in the paradise of God, everywhere present. The
Lord Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of that. The city, which is a
picture of the church, is full of the Lord Jesus Christ, the
blessedness of glory that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now,
in Him, we are blessed. And there. Notice it says it's
bearing twelve manner of fruit. Meaning, remember I told you
that number twelve? We talked about that last week,
all the different twelves. That twelve was the number of
completion, the number of God's complete and sovereign rule.
The manner of fruits, meaning complete, twelve manner of fruits,
meaning complete and full blessings in Christ. Full salvation, full
pardon, full righteousness, in Him dwells all the fullness of
a Godhead bodily, and in Christ we stand, what? Complete! Of His fullness have we all received
grace for grace, grace upon grace. He is the true vine. Even the
leaves of the tree, as it says in verse 2, the leaves of the
tree were for the healing of a nation. Not only the fruit,
but even the leaves. Every part of that tree was good
for food. We know the Gospel teaches us
that with His stripes we are healed. He was wounded for our
transgression, bruised for our iniquity, the chastisement of
our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed. Isn't
this a special tree? What a river! of water of life
God has provided for us, a river, and then we have a tree of life
that bears all manner of spiritual fruit. He's provided all our
need according to His riches in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's
made of us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
Everything we have in Christ here and now will be forever
enjoyed perfectly there and then, everlasting life. and eternal
joy in Him. Now look at verse 3, and there
shall be no more. Now I love that word no more.
No more curse. No more curse. But the throne
of God and of the Lamb of God shall be in it, on it, about
it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall serve Him. Now remember, turn back one page,
in chapter 21, Verse 4, and God shall wipe away all tears from
their eyes and there shall be no more death, there shall be
no more sorrow, no more crying, there shall be no more pain,
the former things were passed away. And he that sat upon the
throne said, I make all things new. And he said unto me, write,
write these words. They are true and faithful. Make all things new. What a glorious paradise we have
in the Lord Jesus Christ. No more curse. No more curse. You remember what we read in
the book of Galatians? Cursed is everyone that continues
not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do
them. And then we read in that same book, Galatians 3 verse
13, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made
a curse for us. Cursed is everyone that hangeth
on a tree. The Lord Jesus Christ took our
curse and gave us His blessing. God made Him to be sin for us
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. The Lord Jesus Christ, there's
no more curse because there's no more sin. The Lord Jesus Christ
put away our sin, not with the sacrifice of bulls and goats,
but with His own blood. He obtained for us eternal redemption. No condemnation to those who
are in Jesus Christ right now and then. justified freely by
His grace through the redeeming blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed is that man to whom the
Lord imputeth righteousness without work. Blessed is that man to
whom the Lord will not impute sin. No more curse. No more sin. No more death. No more pain. Everlasting joy. Eternal life in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Can't wait to go. Can't wait
to be with the Lord. The former things will pass away.
No possibility of sin or Satan ever destroying this paradise
of God. Nothing going to enter into that
city. You remember the last verse in chapter 21? Nothing will enter
into that new paradise that will destroy it. In Revelation 21
verse 7, 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. Nothing but perfection
is going to enter into that city. No one could ascend to the hill
of the Lord but those who were in the Lord Jesus Christ. We
ascend based upon the righteousness He's given us in Christ. Upon
the blood redemption of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's going to make
a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness,
remember? And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first
heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no
more sea." No more sea, no more trouble, no more curse. The law
of God has been satisfied in our blessed Savior. We read it
in 2 Peter 3 many, many times. But according to his promise,
We look for a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth
righteousness. He's going to destroy this place.
He's going to destroy this earth as we know it, and he's going
to make a new heaven and a new earth. In this paradise restored,
in this restored paradise, the throne of the Lord Jesus Christ
and the Lamb of God who put away our sin reigns supreme, absolute
and forever. It mentions that twice in verse
1 and in verse 3, the throne of God and of the Lamb. It's
the Lamb upon the throne that is our Savior. His dominion is
everlasting dominion. He ruled and reigned over all
things. All through our study in the Revelation, in this book,
we have seen the glorious description of the Lamb, the Lamb of God,
and the Lamb upon His throne. Remember? Let's go back and review
for a moment. Turn over here to Revelation
chapter 4. We see the Lord Jesus Christ
as the Lamb in His sacrificial character upon the throne of
God. Revelation chapter 4 verse 8. The four beasts and each of them
had six wings about him and they were full of eyes within and
they rest not. day and night saying, holy, holy,
holy, Lord God Almighty, which is and is to come. And when those
beasts give glory and honor and thanks to him that sat on the
throne, that lives forever and ever. And the four and twenty
elders, the four beasts are symbolic of God's servants, the four and
twenty elders. are symbolic of the redeemed
of the Lord. They fall down before Him that
sat on the throne and worship Him that lived forever and ever,
and they cast their crown before the throne of God. Thou art worthy,
O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for Thou hast
created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created. The Lamb upon the throne is God
our Savior. Behold the Lamb of God that takes
away our sin. Now, turn to chapter 6, verse
14. When the Lord comes back, the
heavens will depart as a scroll when it's rolled together, Revelation
6, verse 14. And every mountain and island
were moved out of their place, and the kings of the earth, and
great men, and rich men, and cheap captains, and mighty men,
and every bondman, every free man hid themselves in the dens
and rocks, of the mountains, and said to the mountains, and
rocks fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sits
on the throne, from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day
of his wrath is come. Who shall stand? Only those in
the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the Lamb upon the throne.
Look at chapter 7, verse 9. Revelation 7, verse 9, And this
I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of
all nations, kindred, and people, and tongues, stood before the
throne, and before the Lamb. You can't get away from that,
can you? The Lamb upon the throne, and
clothed with white robes, and palms in their hand, and cried
with a loud voice, Salvation unto our God, which sits upon
the throne, and unto the Lamb. The Lamb upon the throne. Do
you have the Lamb? You remember what Isaac said
to his father, Abraham, where is the Lamb? You cannot approach
God without a sacrifice for sin. And thank God the Lord Jesus
Christ is that very sacrifice we need. The throne of the Lamb
is the throne of His sovereign grace and His sovereign dominion.
Whatsoever the Lord please, that's what He does in heaven, earth,
sea, and all deep places. It's joy to the believers, but
it's dread to all the enemies. They prayed, Lord. They prayed
unto the rocks and the mountains to fall on them, to hide them
from the face of the Lamb, the wrath of the Lamb. Now, look
back to chapter 22 again, in the last part of verse 3. And
His servants shall serve Him. His servants, they serve Him.
Now, His servants serve Him now. His servants, believers redeemed
by His blood, shall serve Him, sing praises unto Him, and worship
Him like we want to now. But in that day, worship Him
without sin. Worship Him perfectly. Worship
Him as He ought to be. We can say right now, worthy
is the Lamb that was slain to receive all honor, power, glory
and blessing both now and forever. But how much more in that day
shall we worship God without sin? Look at verse 4. And they shall see His face,
the face of the Lord Jesus Christ, and His name shall be in their
forehead. We shall see him completely,
totally, and know him perfectly face to face. Paul writes about
that in 1 Corinthians 13. Let me read it to you. He said,
we know in part and we preach in part. Now we see through a
glass darkly or in a riddle. But then in that day face to
face, he said, now I know in part, but then shall I know even
as also I am known. We shall know him and see him
face to face. The glory of God shines in the
face of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you turn back, you want to
turn back to 1 John. John writes about it in 1 John
3. 1 John 3 says, Behold, verse
1, behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon
us that we should be called sons of God. Therefore, the world
knoweth us not because it knew him not. 1 John 3, verse 2, beloved,
now are we sons of God. And it does not yet appear what
we shall be, but we know that when He shall appear, we shall
be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is, face to face with
Christ my Savior. Face to face, what will it be? What will it be? The essence
of glory is to be like Him, to see Him, to be with Christ forever. That is what we are predestinated
to be. We are predestinated perfectly
to be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
predestinated us to be just like Christ. You remember this scripture? I know you do in Romans 8, 29
and 30. For whom He did foreknow, He
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son. That's
what predestination is all about. Being like Christ. Whom He did
predestinate, them He also called. And whom He called, them He also
justified. And whom He justified, them He
also glorified. What shall we say to these things?
If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not
His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not
with Him also freely give us all things? Who can lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who
is He that condemneth? It is Christ that died. We have
all things in him. So it says there, we shall see
him face to face. We shall see him face to face
and be conformed to his image. They shall see his face and his
name, his name, not on their forehead, in their head. in their
head. Christ in you is the hope of
the Lord. All the elect of God will be
owned by the Lord, and He will acknowledge that we belong to
Him. You remember in John 10, He knows
His sheep by name and leads them out. The foundation of God, then,
is sure, having sealed the Lord, and knoweth them that are His.
Now, we've seen this before. You remember? Turn back to chapter
14. Chapter 14. We've seen this before.
Remember the 144,000? A number of God's elect, His
redeemed. Revelation 14 verse 1, And I
looked, and, lo, a lamb stood on Mount Zion with them, the
144,000, having their Father's name written in their forehead. They follow the Lamb wherever
the Lamb of God goes. His name is in our thoughts,
in our heart. We own Him, that name that's
above every name. At that name, every knee will
bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. No
other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be
saved. His name shall be in their forehead. Look at verse 5. And there shall be no night there.
No night there. They need no candle. Neither
the light of sun, for the Lord God giveth them light, and they
shall reign forever and ever and ever and ever. Christ is
our light. Look right across the page in
Revelation 21 verse 23. And the city had no need of sun,
of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it, for the glory
of God did enlighten it, and the lamb is the light. The Lamb is the light thereof. Remember our Lord said in John
8, I am the light of the world. He that follows me shall not
walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. He's called
us out of darkness into His marvelous light. He transformed us out
of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son.
All believers, all the elect of God, notice the last part
of verse 5. They shall reign forever and
ever with Him, being one with Him, seated in the heavenlies
in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is right now precious to you
who believe, but oh, in that day, oh, in that day, that will
be glory for me. When by His grace I shall look
on His face, that will be glory for me. Paul writes about it
this way in 1 Corinthians 2, I have not seen, ear hath not
heard, neither entered into the heart of man the thing which
God hath prepared for them that love him." Thanks be unto God
who has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
I would encourage you to turn with me and let's read this over
here in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15,
and Adam all died, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1 Corinthians 15, look at verse 50. I don't know how many times
I've read this. Standing in a graveyard next
to a freshly dug grave, bearing a dear loved one with anticipation
of resurrection glory. And now, this I say, this is
1 Corinthians 15, verse 50. This I say, brethren, that flesh
and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither doth
corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery.
We shall not all sleep, but we all shall be changed. In a moment,
in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, the trumpet
shall sound and the dead shall be raved incorruptible, for we
and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put
on incorruption, this mortal must put on immortality. So when
this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal
shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass
the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin. The strength of sin is the law.
Our Lord conquered the grave, didn't He? He said, I am He that
liveth and was dead. Behold, I am alive forevermore.
The Lord Jesus Christ satisfied the law of God, taking the sting
of the law, taking the sting of death in His own body on the
tree, and He gives us life, salvation. Therefore, we say, verse 57,
thanks be to God who has given us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ. He is the river of the water
of life. He is the tree of life. Look
to Him. That's what our Lord said. The only just God and Savior
said, look unto Me and be ye saved. All the ends of the earth,
I am God. Beside Me there is no other.
There's no other Savior. There's no other salvation but
in the Lord Jesus Christ.