Flowing From the Throne of God
“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.” Revelation 22:1-2
Intro: In the movie “Bridge of Spies” directed by Steven Spielburg, actor Tom Hanks plays a New York lawyer James Donovan is asked to defend Rudolf Abel of being a spy during the cold war with Russia.
(Spoiler Alert) Rudolf Abel is arrested and convicted for being a spy.
When it looks like he is about to get the death penalty Tom Hanks, who also has a background as an attorney in many insurance lawsuits poises a question to the Judge Mortimer Byers
What if instead of the death penalty Judge Byers gives instead a prison sentence to the spy Rudolf Abel
Just in case…, as a type of “insurance” against the possibility that the United States also at some point might hypothetically have a spy who would be captured someday as well.
As the movie progresses a short time later Russia captures U.S. pilot Francis Gary Powers after shooting down his U-2 spy plane.
James Donovan (Tom Hanks),
goes all the way to the supreme court to fight for the legal rights of the Russian spy Rudolf Abel.
And ultimately for the exchange of Abel the Russian spy for Power the American spy and also an innocent college student who happens to be caught up on the wrong side of the Berlin wall.
During the arguments presents are questions raised like can a Russian be a spy and be honorable?
Can an American Judge be a patriot
and ignore the human rights afforded individuals either foreign or domestic in the U.S. Constitution?
What makes one person a patriot or another not a patriot?
And I raise a similar question today, “What makes one person a saint or another person not a saint?”
We are here today to celebrate the lives of “All Saints Sunday.”
The word saint appears about 100 times in the King James Version of the bible.
While the New Living Translation uses the word saint only twice.
The more modern translations uses the word “servant” or one version even reverts to the word “slave unto the Master” instead of saint.
In The Apostles’ Creed we say the phrase, “I Believe in the communion of the saints.”
Someone once said, You can be a Christian and never step foot inside a church.
But you can’t be a Christian and never step foot outside into the world and not proclaim Christ.
Let’s think about like this:
You bow your head and pray at church
You sing hymns and praises at church
You hear the scriptures read at church.
But you very rarely if at all see someone praying at Wal-Mart
You very rarely if at all here someone singing Amazing Grace at the Dollar Store
You very rarely see someone reading the bible at a library or restaurant.
Even Christmas has Santa Claus
And Easter has easter bunnies.
The world outside we live in today has changed so quickly over the past 40 years
that if Jesus comes back tomorrow it will still take the church another 10 years to realize he has came.
It is a thousand time easer to live for Jesus inside the communion.
But the real defining character
The real and essential quality of the spiritual experience of the Christian as believer
is when we step foot outside the church building in live our lives daily in the nature and temperament of Christ.
I have been to a lot of funerals where people were called saints.
Is there some kind of vote taken?
There is an old story about two brothers who terrorized the town they lived in?
When they were young they were bullies in school.
When they were grown they were bullies as adults.
They were terrible to their wives and abusive to their children.
They were dishonest to their customers and cheated every way they could.
Then one day suddenly the older brother Joe died.
In making arrangements for his funeral, the younger brother asked the town pastor to do the service.
“And," said the younger brother,
“I insist that you call my older brother a saint during the funeral service."
The good pastor resisted.
But then he was told there would be a $100,000.00 gift to the church riding on his decision.
The pastor decided to do the service.
On the day of the funeral, the pastor addressed the congregation with these words.
“Everyone here today knows Joe was a degenerate man.
He was bad to his family.
He was crooked in his business.
He was immoral in all his ways.
But in spite of all his faults, compared to this younger brother, Joe was a SAINT."
The bible talks about saints as those who are still living
and the bible talks about saints as those who have already died in the faith.
So, “Who are the saints?”
The Greek word for saint (Strong's Greek: 40. ????? hagios) means: sacred or holy.
It means different, unlike the others.
A saint is one whose nature is in the "likeness of the Lord"
because they are “different” from the world.
In biblical use when something is holy it is meant that it is “set aside” for a special purpose.
Objects in the temple were said to be holy,
but a temple or a candle stick is not a moral being.
These objects were holy because they were set apart exclusively for God’s use and purposes.
But people are the only things that can be saints.
We are saints,
not because we are flawless
not because we exact righteousness in every choice
but when we live our lives as honorable,
when we live our lives loyal to the call of Christ
and holy and as set apart for God to be used for his purposes in service and duty then we are saints.
Saints are not perfect, sinless people.
Saints are some of the people in this very room right now.
— people with faults,
people who have sinned, but repented of that sin
people who have committed themselves to grow in their faith
to live for God and love him.
I can sometimes set out to go to grocery store to get light bread, milk, and peanut butter.
When I get home I realize I have hotdog buns, pop, and potato chips.
We are all limited by our faults,
but we as believers can be empowered by our virtues through the Holy Spirit of God
People who have invited the Holy Spirit to live within them
We can have saintly qualities
We can have intrinsic worth.
There is no plaque on the wall that makes you a saint.
Or name tag on a pew or window seal that makes you a saint.
No, being saint doesn’t mean you are perfect.
They had their own problems
They had their outburst of sins.
Just read anyone’s autobiography.
There will be a page or paragraph or at least a sentence
of their very real awareness of their personal sins and shortcomings that was very real.
The greatest people I know are aware of their limitations and shortcomings.
It is the ones who are unaware of their faults that are the greatest irony.
One of the most beautiful images in the Bible is described is these two verse of Revelation 22:1-2 of our text.
The Revelation of John
gives a vision of the great River of Life that flows from the Throne of God and of the Lamb.
This crystal clear river begins at the Throne and then flows throughout the New Jerusalem or Heaven
to provide healing and eternal life for all who cross over its eternal shores.
What a day that will be when we get to Heaven.
All the problems and struggles in this life will be no more.
All the suffering and pain will end.
The blind will see, the lame will walk, the sick will suffer no more.
Who are the saints?
Those who from their labors rest
Who by faith before the world has confessed, Thy name of Jesus.
Alleluia. Alleluia.
One of the greatest blessings and healings is the sinner will no longer struggle with the temptation of sin.
For the tree of life that was taken from man because of the sin of Adam and Eve
will be bear twelve crops of fruit yielding its fruit every month.
That means: In other words all evil is gone.
I want to encourage you always keep moving forward.
Keep being your best.
Doing something every day that you be grad you did it and not ashamed o
It is the eternal blessings of God that come when we believe in him.
Because of the forgiveness of sin through the blood of Jesus,
Apostle Paul's greetings to the believers in his letter to the Romans teaches us
I. Saints are partners in the gospel.
“To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 1:7 NIV
Who is a saint?
In Charlotte North Caroline there is a cemetery
on one of the grave markers is this inscriptions.
“End of construction” Thank you for your patience”
Ruby Bell Graham’s head stone wife of Billy Graham 1920-2007
Is she a saint?
II. We are all Saints in Progress
“And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance to God’s will.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:27-28
I am delighted to be part of the family of God.
We all have loved ones who have passed on into the afterlife.
I believe if they could speak to us here today their message would be simple.
Just because we make a mistake or sin or fall doesn’t mean to give up and quit.
It just means that we have to trust more in the power of the Holy Ghost
to give us the grace and strength to get up and dust our selves off and start over a fresh.
In the book of Ezekiel 47 God asked the prophet “Can these dry bones live again?”
He was asking a question for which there was only one answer if we answer in the power and ability of man. The answer would have to be NO!
But, in the power of the life giving River of God,
these bones could not only live but they could become a mighty nation and able to do great things.
When we look a little further, we can see Jesus as he is waiting for the woman at the well
who heard the words of Jesus as he said in John 4:14, " But whosoever drinketh of the water
that I shall give him shall never thirst;
but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."
As the waters of that river flow,
there is much that it will do for those who will step into its water and wade out just a little bit deeper each day.
Every person must step out into the water and begin to explore the things of God.
What sin is the Holy Spirit asking you to step out of and leave behind?
What work is God calling you to do?
What changes does God want to make in your life?
What things do you need to give up and stop to so that you can better use your time to follow Jesus?
God wants you to make disciples for the transformation of the world.
As Christians mature in Christ and their relationship grows,
they begin to wade out a little farther from the shore and a little farther
until finally they are baptized in the love of Jesus Christ and learn to live in full communion with Him by faith.
Too many people won’t go out into the deep water of relationship with Jesus
because it requires a commitment of faith to believe that Jesus’ power will keep them afloat.
The River of God, that begins at the Throne of God and of the Lamb, that comes from the foot of Calvary’s cross gives us the power to overcome and the power to be satisfied by the Spirit of God in every circumstance for we know that God has it all under control.
The River of God Cleanses Us!
There is an old song that says,
There is Power in the Blood, Power in the Blood.
Sins stains are washed in its life giving flow, there is Power in the Blood of the Lamb.
In heaven the waters came out of from the throne of God and the Lamb!
The blood of Jesus Christ that flowed from His side on Calvary.
The blood that began as a trickle, then became a flow that reached down and began to flow out from heaven and the very “Altar of Sacrifice of the Cross”
to go down to the earth and flow over the souls of a sin darkened and lost world.
Praise the Lord, there is the real source of the Water of Life and of the River of God.
Every provision for man’s need is met in the precious Blood of the Lamb.
As the River of Life begins its journey through the heart of man there is so much that it does for us.
Let’s look at some of these benefits.
The River Brings Life!
“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.” Revelation 22:1-2
