Revelation 22:1. And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
Rivers partake of the character of the source from which they come that which proceeds «out of the throne of God and of the Lamb «may well be «a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal.» What but good and perfect gifts can come down from the throne of God? What but pure streams of mercy can flow from the throne of the Lamb?
Revelation 22:2. In the midst of the street of it,-
For heaven is a place of sacred intercourse and hallowed communion: «in the midst of the street of it,»-
Revelation 22:2. And on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits,
Every variety of joy and blessedness,
Revelation 22:2. And yielded her fruit every month:
For the felicities of heaven are ever fresh and ever new, we shall never be satiated or wearied with that heavenly fruit.
Revelation 22:2. And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Everything in heaven is the very best of the best. The leaves of the trees in earthly gardens are blown about by the blast, and we take but little note of them; but the leaves of the tree of life are «for the healing of the nations.» O happy place, where even the leaves on the tree have such virtue in them!
Revelation 22:3. And there shall be no more curse:
No more thorns or thistles, no more pangs of child-bearing, no more sickness, or sorrow, or death.
Revelation 22:3. But the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall serve him:
They shall have nothing else to do, and it shall be their supreme delight to serve him perfectly and unceasingly.
Revelation 22:4. And thy shall see his face;
Not through a glass darkly, but face to face shall they behold their God. Surely that will be the very heaven of heaven.
Revelation 22:4. And his name shall be in their foreheads.
Aaron was to wear upon his forehead a plate of pure gold, with HOLINESS TO THE LORD engraved upon it, that the children of Israel might be accepted before the Lord, but the saints in glory are to have the name of their God «in their foreheads.» In the very forefront of their glorified personalities there shall be the marks to betoken that they are the children of God.
Revelation 22:5. And there shall be no night there;
The saints in glory will have no need of sleep, so «there shall be no night there,» but one perpetual day of holy, unwearying service. There shall be no night of ignorance, of sorrow, of sin, of death; there shall be no powers of darkness there, and no darkness in which they might work their evil deeds.
Revelation 22:5. And they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light:
Directly and distinctly, without using any means, by his own immediate presence, «the Lord God giveth them light:»-
Revelation 22:5. And they shall reign for ever and ever.
Earthly kings die, or their empires on earth are taken from them; but as for us whom God hath chosen by his grace, our kingdom is like that of our Lord and Saviour, it is an everlasting kingdom.
«They shall reign for ever and ever.» I wonder that some wise man does not try to prove that this means that the saints shall reign only for a short time they have whittled «everlasting punishment» down to next to nothing, why do they not try to reduce the duration of heaven, bliss in the same way. The same words are used concerning the one as concerning the other, so we shall always hold to the eternity both of the one and the other, the bliss and the woe are equally «for ever and ever.»
Revelation 22:6-7. And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew 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.
You have the witness of God, you have the witness of the angel of God, you have the witness of Christ you have the witness of John, and all of them agree that «these sayings are faithful and true,» and that they relate to facts that shall in due course be established.
Revelation 22:8. 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 shewed me these things.
And, according to the Church of Rome, he was quite right; but, according to the Word of God, he was quite wrong.
Revelation 22:9. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.
Worship none but God; take care not to break the first two of the ten commandments either by worshipping another God or by worshipping the true God under any form of similitude whatsoever.
Revelation 22:10. And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.
«There is no need to roll it up, and set a seal to it; as it is so soon to be fulfilled, leave it open.»
Revelation 22:11. He that is unjust, let him be just 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.
The Lord's messenger speaks as if «the time» were so nearly come that there was no opportunity left for any charge to be made, and this is what will happen, sooner or later, to all men. When they die, their characters will be fixed for ever. The wax will cool, and the impress that it bears will be retained eternally.
Revelation 22:12-13. And, behold, I come quickly; 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.
These must be the words of the Lord Jesus Christ himself; no mere messenger, however high his rank, would have dared to say, «I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.»
Revelation 22:14 ; Revelation 22:16. 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.
We thank God that they are shut out of heaven, for, albeit that we wish all men could be there, yet we would wish none to be there whose characters are of such a kind as this, unless they were washed and cleansed. Heaven would be no heaven if such men could be admitted there. They shall not be; they must, by infallible justice, be excluded from the realms of bliss.
Revelation 22:16. I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.
So glory is dawning, for Christ the bright and morning star, has risen,
Revelation 22:17. And the Spirit and the bride say, come. And let him that heareth one, come. And let him that is athirst, come. And whoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
Here we have the last invitations in the Word of God; may all who have not yet accepted them do so now, lest they should never again be uttered in their hearing.
Revelation 22:18-21. 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 plaques 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.
So the blessed Book closes appropriately with grace, for ‘tis grace that-
«All the work shall crown Through everlasting days;
It lays in heaven the topmost stone,
And well deserves the praise.»
This exposition consisted of readings from Genesis 2:1-17; and Revelation 22:1.