AND HE SHOWED ME A RIVER

Revelation 22:1-5

Sermon of the Week #200820 – May 18, 2008

The first five verses of Revelation chapter twenty-two, verses one through five begins when John says, “The angel showed him a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.” This water from the throne of God is the only water that completely satisfies the thirst of humanity. The prophet had it right in Jeremiah 2:13 when he said, “They have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and hewed out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” And remember, Jesus said in John chapter four to the woman of Sychar who came to draw water, “Every one who drinks of this water shall thirst again; but whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up unto everlasting life.” All of our hopes and dreams in this life for money, fame, or in great achievement, without that fountain of living water is a broken cistern that holds no water.

Those words about the river of the water of life flowing out of the throne of God, and of the Lamb are not lost on the mind of the Christian, as he sings:

“Shall we gather at the river

Where bright angel feet have trod.

With its crystal tide forever

Flowing by the throne of God.”

And He showed me a river. However, there are other wonders the Lord will show us in these first five verses of Revelation twenty-two.

THE TREE OF LIFE

For one thing he begins by showing us the tree of life, “And on this side of the river, and on that was the tree of life bearing twelve manner of fruits, yielding its fruit every month: and the leaves were for the healing of the nations.”

The first time the tree of life is mentioned is in Genesis 2:9, “The tree of life also God put in the midst of the garden.” After the fall of Adam and Eve, the next time is Genesis 3:24, “So He drove out the man; 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.”

No matter what plan mankind can develop to extend life beyond Biblical limits will be met with the flaming sword that continues to turn every way to keep the way to the tree of life. In Psalms 90:10 is recorded a prayer of Moses, “The days of our lives are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is it soon cut off, and we fly away.” And even if we extend life to a hundred years, the extra twenty qualifies as soon cut off compared to the previous eighty.

I went to visit an elderly lady who lived alone; she met me at the back door, and as we walked through the kitchen, I saw a large Bible opened on the table. I said, “I see you have been reading the Bible.” She said, “Yes, I want to find out more about where I am going.” She was a wise lady; some folk have no idea where they are going when their flight takes off.

The Bible is the only place where your destination is mentioned. The faithful Christian can start vocalizing at any time as we wait in eternity’s international airport:

“Some glad morning when the sun will shine, I’ll fly away.

To that home on God’s celestial shore, I’ll fly away.”

Only in Heaven can it be said, “And He showed me a river, and on this side and on that was the tree of life.”

NO MORE CURSE

Another thing that was shown at the river that flows from the throne of God was the absence of the curse. There shall be no curse any more. The first time we read of the curse is in Genesis 3:17 when God said to Adam, “Because thou hast hearkened unto thy wife, and eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, ‘Thou shalt not eat of it; cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat of the herb of the field. In the sweat of thy face shall thou eat bread, till thou returnest unto the ground, for out of it thou wast taken: for dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt return.’”

The good news for those who gather at the river is the curse has been called off, and that not without good reason. First Moses tells us why we are cursed in the first place when he says in Deuteronomy 27:26 when he declares, “Cursed be he that confirmeth not all things that are written in the law to do them.” Then Paul repeats that prophecy again in Galatians 3:10, “Cursed be he that comfirmeth not all things that are written in the law to do them.” And then in Galatians 3:13, Paul tells the curse can be lifted, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us; for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree.”

We are not left in doubt as to what it means that Christ is the one who is cursed by hanging on a tree when Peter told the high priest in Acts 5:30-31, “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom ye slew hanging Him on a tree. Him, did God exalt to be a prince and a Savior, to give repentance to Israel and remission of sins.” There shall be no more curse, for even the leaves of the tree of life are used for the healing of the nations. There will be no more cancers, or AIDS in Heaven for those who gather at the river that flows from the throne of God.

THE THRONE OF GOD AND LAMB

And He showed me a river, and then He showed me the throne of God and of the Lamb. The best description of the throne of God is in Revelation at the beginning of the fourth chapter. John said, “Behold a throne was set in heaven, and one sitting upon the throne; and he that sat was to look upon like a jasper stone and a sardius: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, like an emerald to look upon.”

That rainbow-circled throne brings to mind the rainbow that God placed in the heavens after the flood in the days of Noah. Beginning in Genesis 9:13, “And God said, I do set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, and the bow shall be in the cloud: And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature that is upon the earth.”

The Apostle Peter tells us in 2nd Peter 3:5 that modern man has willfully forgotten the flood as though it never happened. However, we can be assured that God has not forgotten His promise. He not only has not forgotten that promise, but He has made another promise when He said, “But the heavens that now are, and the earth, by the same word have been stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of judgment and the destruction of ungodly men.”

And now look again at that throne of God and of the Lamb set in Heaven and see the rainbow in a complete circle around about that throne; does that not say to us that every promise that God has ever made to mankind will one day be fulfilled? And then wonder of wonders, Jesus tells us in Revelation 3:21, “He that overcometh, I will give to sit down with me on My throne even as I overcame and sat down with my Father on His throne.”

On that day as we are invited to sit down with Jesus on His throne, we may say there is something vaguely familiar about this throne. Then the Lord may tell us, “It should be familiar because you have been to this throne many times.” And then we will remember the many times according to Hebrews 4:16, that we accepted the invitation to come boldly to the throne of grace to find grace and mercy in time of need. And He showed me a river.

SERVE HIM

And when He showed me a river, He also showed me that our lives in Heaven would be one of service; we shall serve Him. While it is true according to Revelation 14:13, we shall rest from our labors and our works do follow us, there will still be more work to do. Heaven is going to be a busy place. It won’t be like the song says,

“I’ll go where the loud Hallelujahs are ringing

But I will not take part in their singing.

Then weep not for me, friends, if death do us sever

For I’m going to do nothing for ever and ever.”

No, it won’t be that way; we are going to be busy. We are going to serve.

If we are going to serve Him in Heaven, it is necessary that we serve Him while on this planet. Jesus gives us a word of encouragement when He tells us in John 12:26, “If any man serve Me, let him follow Me, and where I am, there shall also My servant be.” That statement should be enough to make us work more diligently. And then, Jesus gives us a further word of encouragement in the very next statement, “If any man serve Me, him will the Father honor.” What an honor that will be when the Father, Himself honors the service we give.

In our service we need to be aware of what Jesus said about service in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:24, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one and despise the other.” In other words it is easy to serve the Lord for a couple hours on Sunday, and then serve the Devil all week. Somewhere I have heard it said, “I want to be more than a ‘Sunday-go-to-meeting’ Christian.”

And then it is hard to forget how Joshua challenged Israel in his farewell address in Joshua 24:15, “And if it seem evil for you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve…but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” And He showed me a river.

HIS NAME

Then he showed John a most unusual sight. Those who are serving will see His face and His name shall be written on their foreheads. We shall see His face. I would like to have seen the face of Jesus as a babe in Bethlehem. I would like to have seen the face of Jesus as a boy of twelve, as the doctors were amazed at His questions and answers in the Temple at Jerusalem. I would like to have seen His face when He took the cup and gave to them saying, “This is My blood of the covenant which is poured out for many unto the remission of sins.” And I would like to have seen His face when He gave the Apostles the Great Commission; when He said, “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” But best of all is when we see His face in all the glory of Heaven:

“Face to face with Christ my Savior

Face to Face what will it be?

When with rapture I behold him

Jesus Christ who died for me.”

But that is not all that was shown to John. He saw His face and His name was written on their foreheads. It appears the redeemed will wear the brand of Christ in Heaven. They wear His brand because He bought them with the price of His blood on the cross.

I cannot help but think if I am going to wear His name in Heaven, then I want to be sure I am wearing His name here on earth.

Luke tells us in John 11:26, “And the disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.” Some try to tell us the name Christian was given to the disciples by the enemies of Christ. That is impossible; we all have sense enough to know the Devil would not give a name to the disciples that honored Jesus. He would have given them a name that short-circuited the glory that belongs to Jesus; or as we are told in James 2:7, “They blaspheme the royal name by which we are called.” And He showed me a river.

NIGHT NO MORE

Then He showed me that there would be night no more, “And they need no light of lamp, neither light of sun; for the Lord God giveth them light.” What light will the Lord God give us? Jesus said in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world; he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life.”

Without Christ, you are walking in the dark. Darkness cannot be confined between sunset and sunrise. You can be walking outside at high noon, and not a cloud in the sky, and without Christ, you are walking in the dark. How dark is it? It is dark like the ninth plague that fell on Egypt; a darkness that could be felt. Darkness, like the chains of darkness that bound some of the fallen angels in Jude 6; Hell is going to be a dark place. Only in Heaven will there be light.

One night when I was a child, my dad told me to go into another room and bring him something. I told him I would not do it because it was dark, and the boogie man would get me. He said, “Go ahead; the boogie man won’t get you because Santa Claus threw him in the river.” Then I was brave enough to go in.

A better answer to the darkness is in Psalms 119:105, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” And He showed me a river.

REIGN

Finally, when He showed him the river, we have to note the final word of exhortation in these verses, “And they shall reign forever and ever.” If we are going to reign with Him forever and ever, it is needful that we reign over ourselves while here on earth. Paul tells us in 2nd Timothy 2:12, “If we endure, we shall also reign with Him: if we shall deny Him: He will also deny us.”

And then Paul gives us fair warning in Romans 6:4, “We were buried therefore with Him through baptism unto death; that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.” And then in the 12th verse he continues, “Let not sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey the lusts thereof.” The question that plagues us all, “Is sin reigning over us, or are we reigning over sin?” According to John, the victorious Christian shall reign with Him forever and ever.

The term forever and ever is found about nineteen times in the New Testament. Seventeen times it refers to the glory, praise, and power of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Then there is a one-time reference made, especially applied to the Devil in Revelation 20:10, “And the Devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where are also the beast and the false prophet; and they shall be tormented day and night forever and ever.” And then the last and final time forever and ever is mentioned in the New Testament is when it refers to the redeemed, “And they shall reign forever and ever.”