THE RIVER OF GOD I
REVELATION 22:1 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.
THE RIVER OF THE WATER OF LIFE! YES! THAT’S WHAT WE WANT! VERSE ONE INVOKES A VISION OF A HEAVENLY CITY, THE NEW JERUSALEM. A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH IN FACT.
JUST OVER THE MOUNTAIN IN THE PROMISED LAND, IS A HOLY CITY BUILT BY GOD’S WON HAND.
-WE’RE NEARING HOME.
BETTER KNOWN WOULD BE THE SONG
"SHALL WE GATHER AT THE RIVER.
WHERE BRIGHT ANGEL FEET HAVE TROD,
WITH ITS CRYSTAL TIDE FOREVER,
FLOWING BY THE THRONE OF GOD.
ON THE MARGIN OF THE RIVER, WASHING UP IT’S SILVER SPRAY,
WE WILL WALK AND WORSHIP EVER, ALL THE HAPPY GOLDEN DAY.
ERE WE REACH THE SHINNING RIVER, LAY WE EVERY BURDEN DOWN, GRACE OUR SPIRITS WILL DELIVER, AND PROVIDE A ROBE AND A CROWN.
YES, WE’LL GATHER AT THE RIVER, THE BEAUTIFUL, THE BEAUTIFUL RIVER; GATHER WITH THE SAINTS AT THE RIVER
THAT FLOWS BY THE THRONE OF GOD.
THE LAST VERSE SAYS.
SOON WE’LL REACH THE SHINNING RIVER
SOON OUR PILGRIMAGE WILL CEASE,
BUT DO WE HAVE TO WAIT TILL WE REACH THE BANKS OF THAT SHINNING RIVER,
DO WE HAVE TO WAIT TILL OUR PILGRIMAGE WILL CEASE TO HAVE HAPPY HEARTS THAT QUIVER WITH THE MELODY OF PEACE?
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REVELATION 22:1 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.
REVELATION 22:17 The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.
FRIENDS, THIS WATER IS AVAILABLE TODAY. NOW
IN FACT, DRINKING THE WATER OF LIFE HERE AND NOW IS A PREREQUISITE FOR DRINKING IT IN THE HEAR-AFTER.
FOR IF THE WATER OF LIFE WERE NOT AVAILABLE UNTIL WE ALL GET TO HEAVEN, -THEN NONE OF US WOULD .
TOO MANY PROFESSED CHRISTIANS LIVE FOR THE HEAR AND NOW.
YET, THERE ARE MANY THAT LIVE FOR THE HEAR-AFTER.
LETS DETERMINE THAT WE WILL BE A PEOPLE THAT LIVE IN THE HEAR-AFTER, BEGINNING TODAY!
JOHN 7:37 On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me,
38 and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ’Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’" 39 Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
SDA COMMENTARY: VOL. 5 P.982
RIVERS OF LIVING WATER:
The one in living communion with Christ becomes himself a center of spiritual influence. There is in him a power of life which, when quickened by faith, flows forth as a river, carrying life and refreshment to others.
The true Christian who grasps a great truth that satisfies his own yearnings cannot long refrain from giving expression to it. There is formed within him a river of waters that no dam can wholly confine.
CONSIDER A PARABLE,
DAVID COX, -FUTURE CHURCH PERSONAL MINISTERIES DIRECTOR FOR SOUTHERN ENGLAND CONF
THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS LIKE A RIVER.
FROM HIGH UP IN THE MOUNTAINS IT CAME, COURSING DOWN OVER THE ROCKS AND STONES -AND BETWEEN THE WOODED SLOPES UNTIL IT REACHED HE PLAIN.
THERE IT FLOWED WIDE AND STRONG, GIVING LIFE TO THE CITY THAT HAD GROWN UP BESIDE IT.
IT SATISFIED THE CITY’S THIRST. WATERED IT’S CROPS, AND PROVIDED FOOD.
CHILDREN PLAYED ALONG IT’S BANKS.
THERE WAS PROSPERITY AND HEALTH FOR ALL.
GRADUALLY THE CITY GREW AND DEVELOPED.
THE PEOPLE BUILT DOCKS AND PARKS AND BRIDGES, AND ADDED WATERWHEELS TO HARNESS THE RIVERS FORCE.
ONE IDEA LED TO ANOTHER, AND EVENTUALLY THE IDEA OF A DAM CAME UP.
HOW MUCH MORE COULD BE ACHIEVED BY A GREAT DAM, WHICH WOULD STORE THE RIVERS MIGHTY POWER AND GIVE CONSTANT ENERGY THAT DIDN’T VARY WITH THE SEASONS.
AND SO A DAM WAS BUILT, BRINGING NEW BENEFITS TO THE CITY - AT FIRST.
BUT LITTLE BY LITTLE, THE DAM BROUGHT CHANGES. AS TIME PASSED, THERE WAS LESS AND LESS A OF A RIVER AND MORE AND MORE OF A LAKE.
NOT ONLY THAT, BUT THE WATER DIDN’T SEEM TO SPARKLE ANY MORE.
IN FACT, SOMETIMES SICKNESS AND DISEASE CAME TO THE CITY, BUT THE CHANGES IN THE WATER HAPPENED SO GRADUALLY THAT NO ONE CONNECTED THEM WITH THE PROBLEMS THEY NOW BEGAN TO EXPERIENCE.
MEANWHILE, SOMETHING ELSE WAS HAPPENING. THE PURE WATER KEPT FLOWING DOWN FROM THE MOUNTAINS, AND WITH TIME, THE LEVEL OF THE WATER GRADUALLY ROSE BEHIND THE DAM.
THEN ONE SPRING, AS THE SNOWS BEGAN TO MELT ON THE MOUNTAINS, THE RIVER STARTED SWELLING TO NEW LEVELS.
EARLY ONE APRIL MORNING THE PEOPLE WOKE TO A SOUND THEY HAD NEVER HEARD BEFORE.
-THE SOUND OF RUSHING, ROARING WATER, AND THEY RAN TO THE RIVER TO SEE WHAT WAS HAPPENING.
THE DAM WAS STILL THERE -- BUT THE WATER WAS RAPIDLY FLOWING AWAY.
THE DAM ITSELF HAD NOT BROKEN, BUT THE EARTH WALL TO THE SIDE OF IT HAD GIVEN WAY,
AND A FOAMING CASCADE OF WATER WAS THUNDERING THROUGH THE BREACH.
THE WATER LEVEL BEGAN TO DO DOWN, AND THE MUD AND FILTH OF MANY EARS OF SEDIMENT WERE SWEPT AWAY AS THE RIVER POURED FORTH IN NEW POWER.
CONFUSION FILLED THE CITY.
WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS DISASTER?
WAS IT SABOTAGE? WAS IT THE WORK OF TERRORISTS?
EXPERTS MET TO DISCUSS THE SITUATION, AND WENT ON TELEVISION TO SAY THAT THERE WAS NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT - EVERYTHING WAS UNDER CONTROL?
BUT NOT EVERYONE BELIEVED THEM.
ENGINEERS INSPECTED THE DAMAGE AND MADE THEIR REPORTS, BUT THERE WAS LITTLE THEY COULD DO. THE RIVER HAD CUT A NEW COURSE FOR ITSELF AS IT SURGED ACROSS THE PLAIN, -AND NO ONE WAS ABLE TO CLOSE THE BREACH OR STOP THE FLOW.
OFFICIALS DID THE ONLY SENSIBLE THING THEY COULD THINK OF - THEY PUT UP "DANGER, KEEP OUT!" SIGNS NEAR THE NEW RIVER
AND THE CITY COUNCIL PASSED A SERIES OF RESOLUTIONS FORBIDDING ANYONE TO GO NEAR IT.
ALL THAT REMAINED OF THE OLD RIVER WAS A DIRTY, STAGNANT, STREAM FLOWING SLUGGISHLY ALONG THE RIVER BED, ONLY A SHADOW OF ITS FORMER SELF.
TIME PASSED, HOWEVER, AND THE CITY LEARNED TO LIVE WITH THE SITUATION, AS CITIES DO.
MOST PEOPLE CONTENTED THEMSELVES WITH LIVING THEIR LIVES, TAKING CARE OF THE DAM [NOW NEARLY USELESS] AND WRITING BOOKS TO EXPLAIN WHAT HAD HAPPENED.
LIFE RETURNED ALMOST TO NORMAL.
BUT A SMALL GROUP OF PEOPLE THOUGH OTHERWISE. THEY SAID, "WHAT’S THE POINT OF STAYING HERE BY A USELESS DAM AND A SLUGGISH RIVER?
LET’S MOVE FURTHER DOWN THE VALLEY AND BUILD A NEW CITY BY THE NEW RIVER."
AND SO THEY DID.
THE CITY COUNCIL DID NOT APPROVE. THEY ACCUSED THE GROUP OF CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE AND THREATENED THEM, BUT THESE PEOPLE KNEW WHAT THEY WANTED AND NO ONE WAS GOING TO STOP THEM GETTING IT.
SO THEY SET OUT FROM THE OLD CITY AND BUILT A NEW CITY A FEW MILES AWAY.
IN TIME THE NEW CITY GREW AND PROSPERED, DRAWING ITS LIFE FROM THE POWERFUL FLOW OF THE RIVER AND IT’S CLEAN FRESH WATER.
DOCKS, PARKS AND BRIDGES WERE BUILT. THE PEOPLE FOUND WAYS TO HARNESS THE RIVER’S FORCE, AND BUILD WATERWHEELS AND SUCH. .
..THERE WAS PROSPERITY AND HEALTH FOR ALL. UNTIL ONE DAY, SOMEONE SAID, "I’VE GOT A GREAT IDEA, LET’S MAKE A DAM ....".
AND WE KNOW THE REST OF THE STORY,
FIRST, BECAUSE HISTORY HAS A WAY OF REPEATING ITSELF,
AND SECOND BECAUSE WE ARE ALL PART OF IT. IT’S THE STORY OF THE LOVE AFFAIR -THE GREAT ROMANCE WHICH GOD BEGAN WITH US WHEN HE CREATED THE WORLD.
BACK IN EDEN, WHEN HE INVITED US TO LIVE IN HIS PRESENCE AND DRAW OUR LIFE FROM HIS LIFE.
IT’S THE STORY OF HOW IT ALMOST ENDED BECAUSE SIN SEPARATED US FROM GOD. OUR FIRST PARENTS, AFRAID OF GOD, RAN AND HID THEMSELVES FROM HIS PRESENCE,
AND THIS IS THE STORY OF HOW GOD’S LOVE FOUND A WAY. GOD’S LOVE, PROVIDED A SECOND CHANCE BECAUSE THE LOVE OF GOD POURED OUT FROM HEAVEN IN THE FORM OF JESUS.
HE CAME TO OUR WORLD TO LIVE, SUFFER & DIE FOR US, TO AFFIRM HIS LOVE AND WIN US BACK. TO SAY, THAT IN SPITE OF ALL WE HAVE DONE AND FAILED TO DO, GOD’S LOVE FOR US IS STILL THE SAME.
DESPITE THE DAM WHICH SIN HAD BUILT, GOD’S LOVE KEPT FLOWING FROM ABOVE; THE LEVEL KEPT RISING; THE PRESSURE KEPT INCREASING, UNTIL IT COULD NOT BE HELD BACK ANY LONGER.
GOD’S LOVE BURST UPON THIS WORLD IN AN IRRESISTIBLE TIDE THAT NOTHING COULD STOP.
FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, THAT WHOSOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM SHOULD NOT PERISH, BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE.
DEEP AND WIDE, DEEP AND WIDE THERE’S A FOUNTAIN FLOWING DEEP N WIDE.
WHAT DO YOU SAY?
AND ALL OF US CAN LIVE AGAIN, BECAUSE OF THAT FOUNTAIN.
JUST AS THE RIVER FROM THE MOUNTAINS IN THE PARABLE WAS THE SOURCE OF LIFE TO THE CITY, SO THE LOVE OF GOD IS THE SOURCE OF OUR LIVES, AND WITHOUT GOD’S LOVE LIFE IS HOLLOW.
WHAT CAN SEPARATE US FROM THE RIVER OF GOD’S LOVE,
ROMANS 8:38,39
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,
39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
HIS LOVE RUNS DEEP AND WIDE, AND NO ONE CAN SEPARATE US FROM GOD’S LOVE,
BUT ITS INTERESTING TO NOTE THAT THE WORD SEPARATE GK. [CLEREO] MEANS NO ONE CAN CONTAIN US, NO ONE CAN HOLD US, PLACE US OUTSIDE OF GOD’S LOVE.
NO ONE CAN HOLD US BACK FROM GOD’S LOVE -IF WE WANT IT. BUT THAT’S THE PROBLEM,
WE, LIKE ADAM & EVE, TRY TO RUN AND HIDE.
WE RESIST HIS LOVE, WE LIMIT IT BY OUR DEFINITION OF IT,
WE BUILD OUR DAMS TO CONTAIN IT AND CONTROL IT.
WE ARE NOT TO CONTROL THE FLOW, THE LOVE OF GOD IS TO CONTROL US.
2 CORINTHIANS 5:14
For the love of Christ constrains us; -compels us, -controls us.
BUT WE ATTEMPT TO RESTRICT IT’S FLOW, DICTATING WHEN AND WHERE, AND UPON WHOM IT SHOULD FLOW, -GOD DOESN’T WORK THAT WAY.
PERHAPS YOU HAVE NOTICED THAT THE RIVER OF GOD’S LOVE DOESN’T FLOW AS IT ONCE DID.
PERHAPS YOU’VE NOTICED LIFE HAS LOST IT’S SPARKLE.
IT HAPPENS TO PEOPLE, IT HAPPENS TO CHURCHES.
MAX DECIDED TO FOLLOW JESUS FOR THE FIRST TIME, AND HIS LIFE TAKES ON A NEW RICHNESS AND SWEETNESS. UNTIL HE STARTS LOOKING IN THE MIRROR, AS MOST NEW CHRISTIANS DO, AND BEGINS TO WONDER HOW HE CAN POSSIBLY BAKE IT TO HEAVEN.
HE BECOMES PREOCCUPIED WITH THE RULES AND LOSES SIGHT OF THE PERSON, AND BEING A CHRISTIAN BECOMES HARD WORK.
NEW-TOWN CHURCH STARTS UP ALONG THE BANKS OF A RELOCATED RIVER. [REMEMBER] IT BEGINS AS A WARM, LOVING FELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIANS AND THEIR FRIENDS WHO REALLY WANT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE. YET WITHIN A FEW YEARS IT IS HARDLY RECOGNIZABLE. SERVICES HAVE BECOME ROUTINE; PEOPLE ATTEND FROM A SENSE OF DUTY; MEMBERS ARE CRITICAL AND JUDGMENTAL; AND THEY’RE MORE CONCERNED ABOUT THE MUSIC OF THE YOUNG PEOPLE LISTEN TO AND THE CLOTHES THEY WEAR THEN THE FACT THAT THEY COME TO CHURCH.
THEY STILL TALK ABOUT REACHING THE WORLD FOR CHRIST, BUT TRUTH IS,THEY’VE LOST TOUCH WITH THE REAL WORLD WHERE THE LOST ACTUALLY LIVE.
TRAGIC ISN’T IT. BECAUSE ONLY ONE THING GIVES LIFE, ONLY ONE THING CHANGES US AND MAKES US GROW. ONLY ONE THING SAVES, - AND THAT IS THE LOVE OF GOD IN CHRIST,
COMMUNICATED TO US LIKE A RIVER OF LIVING WATER BY THE HOLY SPIRIT.
IT’S TRUE FOR INDIVIDUALS, IT’S TRUE FOR CHURCHES.
SO THE QUESTION WE MUST ANSWER INDIVIDUALLY AND TOGETHER IS,
WHERE ARE WE LIVING AND WHAT WATER ARE WE DRINKING?
IS OUR CHURCH MORE LIKE THE OLD CITY OR THE NEW? IS THE WATER WE DRINK AND OFFER TO OTHERS STALE, OR FRESH AND SPARKLING?
JESUS SAYS, WO
JOHN 7: 37 ...He cried out, "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me,
38 and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ’Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’"
EACH BELIEVER, BECAUSE A WELLSPRING OF LOVE THEMSELVES.
THAT IS WHY WE CAN’T DAM IT UP OR TURN IT OFF. WE ARE NOT TO CONTROL IT BUT LET THE LOVE OF GOD BE AS RIVERS OF LIVING WATER POURING FROM OUR HEARTS.
WE’VE EXAMINED A PARABLE, AND MADE ONE APPLICATION, ALLOWING THE RIVER TO REPRESENT HOW GOD SHEDS HIS LOVE UPON US,
LET US PLEDGE OURSELVES TO BE FULL RECIPIENTS OF GOD’S LOVE.
LET’S NEVER BLOCK IT, DIVERT IT OR DAM IT.
MAY WE NEVER ATTEMPT TO CONTROL IT,
EXCEPT THAT WE MAY POUR IT FORTH ON OTHERS.
