to turn back to Revelation 22, and let me read the text again
and then point something out to you that perhaps you have
not seen before, perhaps you have. In verse 17, the spirit
and the bride say, Come and let him that they come. To whom is the Spirit speaking there?
The Spirit, of course, is the Holy Spirit, and the Bride, there
has come controversy there, but the Bride in the Scripture is
the Holy City, is the New Jerusalem. Revelation 21, verse 2 says,
And I, John, saw the Holy City, new Jerusalem coming down from
God out of heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Others believe that the bride,
of course, is the Church, and that's all right because the
Church is the bride of Christ. But the Spirit says to somebody,
Come. And the bride, whether it's the
Holy City or the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, says to somebody,
Come. and let him that heareth the
man who has heard the gospel," who has heard it with an ear
of faith, who has heard it with an understanding heart, who has
heard it with an appreciative spirit. He says, Come. Do you
know who the bride and the spirit and the man who has heard the
gospel is talking to there? They're talking to the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's who they're talking to.
Back in verse 13, and several times in this chapter, and I
must confess something to you, I saw this for the first time
yesterday afternoon. I'm going to make the other application
in a moment, which is there also, but this. Now look at it in Revelation
22, and verse 12, the Lord Jesus said, Behold, I come quickly.
I come quickly. He's been talking about judgment,
he's been talking about the eternal joys and glory of the believer. He's been talking about heaven.
He's been talking about the river of the water of life. He's been
talking about the holy city. He's been talking about what's
going to happen when he comes again. And he says, I'm coming
quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man according
as his work shall be. I am the Alpha and Omega. I am
the beginning and the end. I am the first and the last.
And verse 16, he said, I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify
unto you these things, that I'm coming. There's going to be a
judgment, there's going to be an eternal heaven, there's going
to be an eternal hell. I'm coming and my reward is with
me, and I've sent my angel to testify unto you these things
in the churches. I am the root and the offspring
of David, I am the bright and the morning star. And verse 20,
he which testifies these things, sayeth, Surely I come quickly.
And John, writing, said, Come, Lord Jesus. And verse 17, the
Spirit says, Come, Lord Jesus. We want you to come. We're looking
for your coming. We're anticipating your coming. We're expecting your coming.
The Holy Spirit of God says, Come, Lord Jesus. And the church
of the Lord Jesus Christ says, Come, Lord Jesus. and the holy
city prepared for the people of God," says, come Lord Jesus,
and every man who's ever heard the gospel with his heart says,
come Lord Jesus, please come. We're anticipating thy coming,
we're earnestly expecting thy coming, we're waiting for the
day of thy coming, come Lord, we want you to come right now.
I was turning through a song book one time and I found the
song. It wasn't written by a saved man, I don't think. It says,
Wait a little longer, dear Jesus. Don't come now. Don't come now. The Spirit says, Come. And the
bride says, Come. And the church says, Come. And
him that heareth says, Come. And the John, the apostle, says,
Come right now. We want you to come. We don't
want you to delay your coming. We want you to come now. We want
you to come. But now there's a twofold invitation
in this verse here, and let him that is athirst, let him come
to the Lord. Let him come to the returning
Redeemer. Let him come to the Savior. When John the Apostle gave this
blessed verse, he says, The Spirit has come, Lord, And the bride
says, Come, Lord! And the church says, Come, Lord!
And everybody that's heard the gospel says, Come, Lord! And
John seems to turn to every man, woman, boy or girl and says,
Anybody else that's thirsty? You want to get in on these blessings? You want to get in on these benefits? You want to get in on this glory? You want to get in on this water
of life? You come on, too! We're not selfish. We don't want to keep it all
for ourselves. If you want to come, come on.
Everybody, come on. Christ is coming again. Come
and prepare to meet him. Come and join us as we welcome
him. Come and enjoy his presence.
If you're thirsty, come on. And whosoever will out there.
Let him take the water of life freely. Now let the message unfold
under four headings or four parts. Thank God there is a water of
life. There is, thank God, a water
of life to which we can invite the thirsty, to which we can
invite the hungry, to which we can invite every man who is willing
and the invitation to the water of life is as wide as the word
whosoever," whosoever will, let him take the water of life. And
the path is clear, let him come, Christ said, let him come. And
last of all, the rule laid down, but let him come empty-handed,
let him come empty-handed, let him come stripped, let him come
as a beggar, Let him come and take the water of life freely."
Now, watch that as God sets it forth for us by his Spirit. First of all, there is a water
of life. Jimmy Davis sings a song on a
tape that we have, and it's called, Thank God for His Marvelous Grace. And the chorus goes like this,
Thank God, thank God there's a bridge over the river. I never
get tired of hearing that song, really. I've played it a lot
of times. And I never get tired of hearing that one line, Thank
God there's a bridge over the river. And we'll see our Redeemer's
sweet face. With Him we'll reign there forever. Thank God for His marvelous grace. Man is a ruined creature. Man
is undone. Man is lost in a desert wilderness. there's no water left in his
canteen. Turn to Psalm 107 and listen
to the psalmist as he describes our condition. Psalm 107, beginning
with verse 4, he says, They wandered in the wilderness in a lonely
way. They found no city to dwell in,
hungry and thirsty. hungry and thirsty. This earth
is a barren, parched, bleached, dry, sandy desert. The earth yields no moisture."
hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Must man perish
in this spiritual wilderness? Must man die and his bones be
bleached in the sun? Must man perish without any hope
out there in the lonely wilderness of sin? No, sir, our text says
there's water of life, there's water somewhere. There's water
of life. And this water of life, this
fountain of life, this well of living water springs from the
eternal counsels of God. That's where it starts. Some
of us flew to Mexico a couple of weeks ago, and when we got
on the airplane we crossed over the vast, wide, deep, huge Mississippi
River. And it's a big river, and there's
a lot of water in that river. But if you go up that river as
far as you can go, you'll go somewhere and you'll find where
that river starts. I don't know where it is, but
somewhere that river starts. Somewhere it has a beginning.
And if you trace the river of the water of life, if you trace
the fountain that flowed from the side of Christ at Calvary,
if you trace the river, the fountain of the water of life, you'll
find that it has its starting point back under the eternal
counsels of God's love. That's where it started. That's
the source of it. God dug this well of water according
to his own will and by his own wisdom. Before he created the
world, before man fell, before darkness and death descended
upon this earth, God Almighty ordained a well of life, a well
of water, crystal clear, eternal, first-quenching, soul-saving
water. Water. And the Lord Jesus Christ
filled that well with the water of life from his own being, his
righteous obedience and his precious blood. fill the spring that God
ordained and that God purposed. And the Holy Spirit of God knows
where it is, and the Holy Spirit of God can take the sinner by
the hand and lead him to the water of life. Over here in Genesis
21, I wish you would turn over there with me a moment. Here
is a sad story in Genesis 21. You know, God told Abraham that
he would have a son. Abraham was about a hundred years
old or so, and his wife was real old, and God said, You're going
to have a son. Well, God didn't move fast as
Abraham thought he ought to. We get impatient sometimes, and
we think that God's like we are, that he's a creature of days
and a creature of hours and a creature of minutes, but he's not. With
God there is no time, it's just the everlasting present. And
so Abraham went in to Sarah's handmaid, Hagar, and she gave
birth to a son. He must have been a fine-looking
young man. He called him Ishmael, big, strong,
healthy lad, and he was Abraham's son, and Abraham loved him. But
God said, Abraham, that's not the son of faith, that's not
the son of promise, that's not the son of miracles, that's not
the son that God promised. Now when Isaac's born, that boy
will have to go. The son of promise and the son
of bondage can't exist together. No more than works and grace
can live side by side in the human heart. One's got to go.
You've got to lay down your works if you're going to receive God's
grace. The son of works and the son of grace cannot live together. The son of the bondman and the
son of promise cannot grow up together. God will share his
glory with no man. that boy and his mother have
got to leave your home. So when Isaac came along, Abraham,
verse 12, God said, Abraham, let it not be grievous in thy
sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman. And
all that favour hath said unto you, hearken to her voice, for
in Isaac shalt thou see it be called. And also the son of the
bondwoman, Ishmael, I'll make him a great nation, I'll make
him a nation, he's your seed. So Abraham rose up early in the
morning, he took bread and a bottle of water, and he gave it to Hagar,
and he put it on her shoulder. That must have been a very sad
hour. He gave her a bottle of water and put it on his shoulder,
and I'm sure he must have hugged that boy for a long time there,
and then he sent her away. and she and Ishmael departed,
and they wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba." They didn't have
any place to go. They didn't have any place to
go. You see, God dealt severely with
her, God dealt severely with the boy, God always deals severely
with works. God is going to slay your works
and your self-righteousness and every effort on your part to
make yourself acceptable to him, and works and self-righteousness
and human merit die awful hard. But God has to slay them, God
has to deal severely with them. And God put her out. And so she
wandered in the wilderness, Beersheba, and the water gave out in the
bottles. It wasn't long before they didn't have any water. And
she took Ishmael. I don't know how old he was.
Some people seem to think he was a good-sized up in his teens,
and she put him over under one of the shrubs. They were thirsty,
oh, so thirsty. The sweat was pouring down their
faces, and their lips were chapped and probably broken open with
the heat, and the sun was beaming down, and they were thirsty,
and they knew they couldn't take another step. And so she put
him over there under one of the shrubs, and she went and sat
down over against him a good way off, probably a hundred yards,
a bow shot. She went over there way off from
him, and she said, I don't want to watch my son die. And she
sat over against him and lifted up her voice and cried. And God
heard the voice of the lad, and the angel of God called her,
Hagar, out of heaven and said, Hagar, what aileth thee? Fear
not, God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. God hears,
thirsty sinner. God hears weary people, God hears
those who are helpless, God hears those who can't help themselves,
God hears those who have need of his hand and his mercy, God
heard the lad, arise, lift up the lad, hold him in thine hand,
I'll make him a great nation. And God opened her eyes and she
saw a well of water. a well of water. It was there
all the time, but Hagar didn't see it. Hagar didn't see it. It was there. She wandered through
the wilderness, and she walked right by a well of water. There
was a well there all the time, and Hagar put the boy over there
to die under a shrub, and she sat down way over here, way over
here to keep from seeing him die, and cried unto God, I'm
thirsty! And the Lord opened her and she
saw a well of water, and she drank. I'm thankful there's a
well in a desert plain, this desert plain of sin, this wilderness
of sin, this parched, dry, empty wilderness of sin. There's a
well, a well of water, and it waters cold with entreating strain. Oh, every thirsting, sin-sick
soul come freely drink. and thou shalt be whole." Why
will you die when the living well is so nearby? Why will you die? Who is that
living well? It's He's right near you, he's
even on your lips, he is even the words in your mouth, he is
very nigh unto you, he's not far from any of us, the well
is there. Oh, that the Spirit of God would
just bring you to see your thirst and you'd cry out and he'd open
your eyes and say, there he is right there. There's the well
of water. It's Christ's blood, it's Christ's
righteousness, it's Christ's obedience, it's Christ's sacrifice,
it's the well that God ordained and Jesus Christ fulfilled and
the Holy Spirit revealed. That's the well. Well, here's
the second thing. Turn back to Revelation 22. It
says, "...everyone that's thirsty, let him come to the water of
life." There is water. Sure, we're living in a parched,
dry, barren desert of sin, but there's water! There's living
water! And if a man drinks of this water,
he'll never die! Never! No, never! No, never die,
Christ said. And the invitation, you say,
is it for me? Well, listen to it. And whosoever
will. Now, my brethren, I stand tonight
on Ezekiel's hill. And I cry to the dead, dry, parched,
beat, bleached bones of mankind. And I say, whosoever will, let
him take the water of life. There's no lock on the door.
You want it, take it. There's no restrictions. The
only man who's excluded is the man who excludes himself and
says, I will not come. Our faith is not in the power
of those who hear to obey the command. Our faith is in the
power of him who gives the command to also give the power to believe. But I ask you one question tonight. Are you willing to be saved?
Are you willing to be pardoned? Are you willing to be sanctified? Are you willing for Christ to
be your Lord? Are you willing to receive him
as your Redeemer? Are you willing to bow under
the yoke of the Son of God? Are you willing to receive Christ
right now as your Lord and Savior? Are you willing?" And the Scripture
says, "...let him come," if he's willing. But, Brother Mahan,
I don't understand the Bible. It doesn't say here, "...whosoever
understandeth the Bible, let him take the water of life."
It says, "...whosoever will." I don't imagine the Samaritan
woman understood a great deal about God's purpose when Christ
said, if you ask me, I'll give you the water of life. She said,
Lord, give it to me. That's the first time she ever
heard the gospel and she received it. I don't imagine Matthew had
very much understanding of the doctrines of grace when Christ
walked by and said, Matthew, follow me! And the scripture
says he arose and left all and followed Christ. I don't imagine
the thief on the cross had very much understanding of the covenant
of grace, of imputed guilt, of imputed righteousness, of the
extent of the kingdom of Christ, but that thief cried, Lord, remember
me! And Christ said today, Thou shalt
be with me. Whosoever will. Not whosoever
understandeth all that is written, but whosoever will. Let him take
the water of life. Somebody says, but my heart's
so hard. I don't read in the Bible where
it says, whosoever's heart is not hard, let him come. Whosoever's
heart is pure, let him come. Whosoever's heart is filled with
love, let him come. It says, whosoever will. Will
you? Will you? But somebody says,
I don't feel just right. I don't read where it says, whosoever
feels just right, let him come. I see here it says, whosoever
is thirsty, whosoever will, let not conscience make you linger,
nor of fitness fondly dream. All the fitness Christ requireth
is to feel your need of him. But, Brother Mahan, my past life
is so evil My past sins are so many, I don't read where it says,
Whosoever's past is pure, let him take the water of life. It
says, Whosoever will. But, preacher, I'm so unworthy,
I don't read where it says, Whosoever is worthy, let him take the water
of life. Why don't you quit arguing and
tell the truth and be honest? You don't want to. That's right,
now we're getting down to where you live. Christ said, You will
not come to me that you might have life. He says, Come on,
one fellow said, I just bought some land and I've got to go
look at it. You mean you bought some land
without looking at it? Why don't you tell the truth?
You don't want to. Come on and follow me, Christ
said. Another said, I married a wife and I can't come. You
mean you married a wife and she's before the Lord, why don't you
tell the truth? You don't want to come. Well,
I'll come, but let me go home and bury my father. Let the dead
bury the dead. You take up your cross and follow
me. Why don't you tell the truth? You don't want to come. You're
not willing You're not willing. This word is as broad and as
wide and as deep and as high as it possibly can be, but it
holds this thing down to the truth, whosoever will, will be
saved, will be sanctified, will be a child of God, will bear
the yoke of Christ, will bow before the scepter of the Son
of God. If you're willing, come on! Big sinner, little sinner,
black sinner, white sinner, fair sinner, double-dive sinner, old
sinner, young sinner. The thing is, are you willing?
Are you? Well, look at the third thing.
He said, you're willing. If you're willing for Christ
to be your sacrifice, if you're willing for Christ to be your
priest, If you're willing for Christ to be your Lord, if you're
willing to be done with the path of sin and bow to the scepter
of Christ, if you're willing to bear the yoke of the Son of
God, if you're willing, if you're really thirsty and weary and
tired and hungry and broke and homesick, let him come!" That's
what the Lord said. Now, the word let is a strange
because in the Bible the word let signifies two opposite things. Turn to 2 Thessalonians 2. Now
I want you to look at this in 2 Thessalonians 2. Verse 7, 2 Thessalonians 2.7,
For the mystery of iniquity doth already work, only he who now
let it that means hindereth. Will let will hinder, h-i-n-d-e-r,
until he be taken out of the way. That's the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit hindereth the
Antichrist, holds back the floodtides of evil. The Holy Spirit someday
will be taken out of the way, and evil shall cover this earth.
So the word let there means hinder. But over here in Revelation 22,
17, the word is not hinder, the word here removes all hindrances. The word here says, Do not stop
him, do not hinder him. If he's willing, let him come. But the law stands out there
and says, Wait a minute now, hold on here, hold on, here's
an old double-died crimson, wicked sinner, and the law says he's
too evil, he's a great sinner, he's unworthy, and the Lord says,
Law, let him come. Let him come. My son has removed
the curse, my son has removed the condemnation, my son has
put away the guilt, my son has paid the price. Law, let him
come! Let him come. But Satan steps
out and says, hold on, hold on, I have deceived him for all these
years. He's bowed to me, he's served
me, he's followed me, he's obeyed me, he's mine! Jehovah says,
stand back, Satan, you're defeated, your power is broken, your kingdom
is destroyed, the debt is paid, let him come! The religious leader
steps out with his thumb in his vest and says, hold on a minute
now, he doesn't understand the doctrines, he has not met our
requirement, he doesn't believe as we believe, he has not met
our standard, and the Lord says, step aside and let him come. Whosoever will, if he's willing,
let him come. If he's thirsty, let him come. Stand back all that would oppose. The sinner's Savior calls, and
the sinner's Savior bought this world, and it's here, and he's
Lord. And when he says, Let him come,
you better let him come. Let him come. Don't None can
stay his hand or say unto him, What you doing, Lord? I'm doing
what I will do. You let him come. You let him
come. There's nothing to prevent him
from coming if he's willing, if he's willing, if he's willing. O Jerusalem, how oft would I
have gathered you as a hen doth gather her brood, but you would
not!" You were not willing. You will not come to me that
you might have life if you, my small boy, my small child, if
you, mother, daddy, if you are willing to come to Christ." as
a broken, hungry, thirsty, weary sinner. Christ said, Let him
come. There ain't nothing to stop him.
You let him come. Not the law, not the ceremony,
not Satan, not the kingdoms of evil, not his past sin, not his
unworthiness. Let him come! But wait a minute. Hold on. There's one rule laid down you're
going to abide by. He said, let him come and take
the water of life, f-r-e-e-l-y, freely. The fountain of life
is free. You must not bring anything with
you to purchase your redemption. The gift of God is eternalized. Oh, everyone that's thirsty,
come to the water! Come to the water if you're thirsty! Come without money! Come without
price! In my hands no price I bring,
Since unto the cross of Christ I cling. Could my tears forever
flow? Could my zeal no longer know? These for sin could never atone. Christ must save, he's jealous
of his glory. I will share my glory with no
one. Let him come take it freely,
or let him leave it alone. Or let him leave it alone, or let him leave it alone, just
as I am without one plea. I plead not any merit of my own,
I plead not any works of my own, I plead no obedience of my own,
without one plea. Except thy blood was shed for
me, and that thou bidst me let him come. O Lamb of God, I come
to thee. Lord Jesus, come on. Deliver
us from this dunghill of depravity. Lord Jesus, come on. Lift us
out of this cesspool of sin. Lord Jesus, come on. And deliver
us from these trials and tribulations. Lord Jesus, come on. The Spirit
says, come. And the Church says, come. And
him that heareth all of them say, come on, Lord. But then
the Master says, anybody out there thirsty, want in on this?
There's no reason for you to perish. There's no reason for
you to die in your sins. There's no reason for you to
lie out there like ager until you perish in the wilderness
and die out there of thirst. Anybody thirsty? You can come
too, you know, if you're willing. Whosoever will, whosoever will. Whosoever will, let him take,
let him take, let him come and take, without money, without
price, freely! Let him come and take! That's
the orders of my King, that's the commands of my Lord, that's
the rule of our Master. Let him come! Don't you stop
him. Don't you stand in his way, don't
you hinder him, don't you discourage him. You let him come. And you let him take the water
of life, and you let him take it further. Our Father, make
men thirsty. Thank you for the days, thank
you for the hours when we were made thirsty, when we saw there
was nothing but vanity of vanities in this world, in this life,
in this wilderness of sin. Thank you, Lord, for that day
when thou didst open our eyes to see the well of the water
of life, Jesus Christ our Lord. And thou didst let us drink.
Let him come. Make somebody else thirsty, some
young person, some mother or dad thirsty tonight, and bring
them to see there's no barrier between them and the water of
life except their unwillingness. They're not willing. Make them
willing. Make them willing. And O God,
let them see the free, full, complete invitation that our
Lord Jesus Christ extends. Let him come and take the water
of life. It's there, coming down. All
things are ready. Just bring an appetite, just
bring hunger and bring thirst, and the Lord will satisfy. Let
him be the glory. In his name we pray, amen. Brother Ronald, you come lead
us in a song.