Bulletin Articles Issue #149 November 2012

The Life River

“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.”—Revelation 22:1.

In the first Paradise, and in connection with the first creation, we find a river—’a river went out of Eden to water the garden’ (Genesis 2:10); and in connection with the second Paradise and the new creation, we find a river also—a river without a name—but simply designated ‘a river of life.’ The earthly and the heavenly thus run parallel with each other, though the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.

In connection, not merely with earthly fruitfulness and beauty, but with spiritual blessings, we have many allusions to rivers. ‘The river of Your pleasures’ (Psalm 36:8); ‘there is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God’ (Psalm 46:4); ‘you enrich it with the river of God, which is full of water’ (Psalm 65:9); ‘peace as a river’ (Isaiah 48:18); ‘the Lord shall be to us a place of broad rivers and streams’ (Isaiah 33:21).

The earthly river beautifies, fertilizes, refreshes, gives life, quenches thirst. All these and much more does the heavenly river do for us. In this life-river is the reality of those things of which the earthly river is the shadow. What would the first Adam’s Paradise have been without the river? What would the second Adam’s Paradise and city be without the river of life?

But let us gaze a little on this life-river which John describes, and see its qualities and glories. Of it we may say, ‘It is good for drink, and pleasant to the eyes, and a river to be desired;’ for no river on earth, Nile or Jordan, can be compared with it. It contains all that a soul needs; and it is not for angels—but for men.

I. It is a river of HEAVEN. These two concluding chapters speak of no earthly city, no earthly Paradise, no earthly tree of life, and no earthly river. It is a stream fed from heavenly sources, filled with heavenly water, and resplendent with heavenly beauty. Everything pertaining to its origin, and course, and nature, partakes of heaven. It is the river of God, conveying on its pure water all that heaven contains of blessedness. Those who drink of it must drink immortality and love. ‘It is the river of God.’ To gaze on it, to wander by its banks, to bathe in its pure flood, to drink of its waters—this is heaven itself!

II. It is a river of GRACE. It flows from the throne of the Lamb; and everything that has connection with the Lamb is necessarily of grace. The Lamb is, of all the names of Christ, that which most explicitly expresses grace, and the channel through which that grace flows to us. Name but the Lamb, and you proclaim God’s love to sinners, His riches of grace towards the most worthless of human creaturehood. The Lamb is the name by which Christ is most commonly spoken of in this book; and this seems to be done, in order that we may, in the midst of the terrors and the glories of which it is full, be made to feel the grace of God as it pours itself out over the dwellers in this poor earth. And this grace goes on through eternity; there is grace to be brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ. There is the grace of earth, there is the grace of heaven. There is the grace of the first coming, there is the grace of the second.

III. It is a river of POWER. It comes from the throne—the throne of God; and therefore possessing the properties of that throne. It communicates, it infuses power into the soul of every one that drinks, or even that walks along its banks. The power and authority of God are in it; for it issues from the fountainhead of universal owner. O mighty river of God! How mighty do they become who betake themselves to you! Mighty river! The symbol of the Holy Spirit (John 7:37), proceeding from the Father and the Son, from God and the Lamb—what infusion of power may we not receive from you here; how much more hereafter! In this wilderness much; in the glorious city, more.

IV. A river of PURITY. ‘A pure river of water of life!’ The word pure almost invariably refers to priestly or sacrificial cleansing. This river then owes its purity to the same blood which makes the garments of the redeemed white; and just as the gold of the city is called pure gold, like unto clear glass—so the river gets the like designation. A pure river! Like the Lamb from whose throne it comes, who is without blemish, and without spot! A pure river! Like the city through which it flows, into which nothing that defiles shall enter! As it pours its heavenly waters on us now, it purifies, it cleanses; and hereafter it will preserve in us eternally that purity which it began in time, as the tree of life will preserve forever the immortal life which it created here in us. Think often of this river, you who feel the impurity of your soul; wander by faith along its banks even now; refresh yourself with its transparent waters; for is it not promised, I will give to him who is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely? The pledge of this we get just now; but the full accomplishment is reserved for the day when ‘the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shall lead us to the living fountains of waters’ (Revelation 8:7).

V. A river of LIFE. Wherever the river comes it quickens; just as of Ezekiel’s river it is said, ‘the waters shall be healed, and everything shall live where the river comes’ (Ezekiel 47:9). Each drop is life giving; it contains everlasting life, for the Spirit of life is in that river. And He from whom it comes is the Lamb, even He who said, ‘I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish;’ ‘because I live, you shall live also.’

VI. A river of BRIGHTNESS. The words ‘clear as crystal’ should be ‘bright as crystal’—the same word as in verse 16, ‘the bright and morning star.’ It is a river of splendor, divine and heavenly splendor. No earthly river, shone upon by the brightest earthly sun, can equal this. It is radiant all over, and it communicates its radiance to those who dwell upon its banks. It makes them shine as the sun. It is a river of glory—God lights it, and the Lamb is the fountain of its splendor! O river of brightness, will you not cast down on us here some of the radiance of your pure water? River of glory and holiness, will you not gladden and purify us, by causing us to behold your beauty in some measure here, that we may be prepared for beholding that splendor in fuller measure hereafter, when the days of our shame, and sin, and mourning are ended?

Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted
by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither;
and whatever he does shall prosper.” – Psalm 1:1-3

And he shall be like a tree planted –not a wild tree, but “a tree planted,” chosen,
considered as property, cultivated and secured from the last terrible uprooting,
for “every plant which my heavenly Father has not planted, shall be rooted up:” Mt 15:13.

By the rivers of water; so that even if one river should fail, he has another. The rivers
of pardon and the rivers of grace, the rivers of the promise and the rivers of communion
with Christ, are never failing sources of supply.

That brings forth his fruit in his season; not unseasonable graces, like untimely figs,
which are never full flavored. But the man who delights in God’s Word, being taught by it,
brings forth patience in the time of suffering, faith in the day of trial, and holy joy in the
hour of prosperity. Fruitfulness is an essential quality of a gracious man, and that fruitfulness
should be seasonable.

His leaf also shall not wither; his faintest word shall be everlasting; his little deeds
of love shall be had in remembrance. Not simply shall his fruit be preserved, but his
leaf also. He shall neither lose his beauty nor his fruitfulness. The Lord’s trees are all
evergreens. No winter’s cold can destroy their verdure; and yet, unlike evergreens
in our country, they are all fruit bearers.

And whatsoever he does shall prosper. Blessed is the man who has such a promise
as this. But we must not always estimate the fulfilment of a promise by our own eye
sight. How often, my brethren, if we judge by feeble sense, may we come to the mournful
conclusion of Jacob, “All these things are against me!” For though we know our interest in the
promise, yet we are so tried and troubled, that sight sees the very reverse of what that promise
foretells. But to the eye of faith this word is sure, and by it we perceive that our works are prospered, even when everything seems to go against us.
It is not outward prosperity which the Christian most desires and values; it is soul prosperity
which he longs for. We often, like Jehoshaphat, make ships to go to Tarshish for gold, but they
are broken at Eziongeber; but even here there is a true prospering, for it is often for the soul’s
health that we would be poor, bereaved, and persecuted. Our worst things are often our best
things. As there is a curse wrapped up in the wicked man’s mercies, so there is a blessing
concealed in the righteous man’s crosses, losses, and sorrows. The trials of the saint are a divine
husbandry, by which he grows and brings forth abundant fruit. -Spurgeon

“In summer and in winter, shall it be.” Zechariah 14:8

The streams of living water which flow from Jerusalem are not dried up by the parching heats of sultry midsummer, any more than they were frozen by the cold winds of blustering winter. Rejoice, O my soul, that you are spared to testify of the faithfulness of the Lord. The seasons change and you change—but your Lord abides evermore the same—and the streams of His love are as deep, as broad and as full as ever.

The heats of business cares and scorching trials make me need the cooling influences of the river of His grace; I may go at once and drink to the full from the inexhaustible fountain, for in summer and in winter it pours forth its flood. The upper springs are never scanty, and blessed be the name of the Lord, the nether springs cannot fail either. Elijah found Cherith to dry up—but Jehovah was still the same God of providence. Job said his brethren were like deceitful brooks—but he found his God an overflowing river of consolation. The Nile is the great confidence of Egypt—but its floods are variable; our Lord is evermore the same.

By turning the course of the Euphrates, Cyrus took the city of Babylon—but no power, human or infernal, can divert the current of divine grace. The tracks of ancient rivers have been found all dry and desolate—but the streams which take their rise on the mountains of divine sovereignty and infinite love shall ever be full to the brim. Generations melt away—but the course of grace is unaltered. The river of God may sing with greater truth than the brook in the poem, “Men may come, and men may go—but I go on forever.” How happy are you, my soul, to be led beside such still waters! never wander to other streams, lest you hear the Lord’s rebuke, “What have you to do in the way of Egypt—to drink of the muddy river?” Charles Spurgeon.

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16

Sovereign grace is not a religious denomination or theological movement. It is a concise expression of the clear teaching of scripture that describes who God is and how He saves a sinner.
God is sovereign. He is the most high God (Gen 14:22), supreme and elevated in authority, character, dignity and worth above all His creatures. He is not accountable to anyone (Job 33:13). He does as He pleases, when He pleases, with whom He pleases (Is 46:10). He is not dictated to nor influenced in any degree by anyone or anything and cannot be questioned or hindered in anything that He does (Dan 4:35, Rom 11:34).

Grace is God’s eternal favor and blessing upon a sinner who neither deserves it nor seeks it. Grace is salvation. Grace is Christ and all of the benefits of His meritorious life and sin-atoning death bestowed upon the wretch who is worthy of only condemnation and punishment.

Sovereign grace is the sovereign God purposing and promising to be gracious to whom He would be gracious, and then bringing to pass that purpose and making good on that promise by putting those objects of grace in Christ and Christ in them (1Cor 1:30, Col 1:27). – Chris Cunningham

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