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. 2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: 4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.
10 And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand. 11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust 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. 12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. 13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
When one reads this text, there’s a lot in it. Let’s just look at a few points.
We read of the river of the Water of Life, that comes from the Throne of God. We have been given this crystal clear life-giving water. God has revealed to us this river of life, through His Word, Jesus Christ (John 1:1). And this water comes from the throne of God, to give life to the one who drinks from it.
If you want life, stop drinking from the filthy water of the world, but drink of this Water of Life!
Physically our bodies consist of about 80% water. If we don’t drink we die. Spiritually it’s the same. What type of water do you drink spiritually?
Here is the Word of God. There’s nothing that can be compared to it (Ps 19:7-10).
Many times we suffer because we drink dirty, unclean water, from this world.
Maybe it’s the magazines you read, the news from the newspapers, the news on the internet, etc. That will bring death in your life if you carry on in that way. Maybe you even talk to your children about the filth you read on the internet, awakening something in them that defile them.
Is the Bible still the most precious in your life as at the beginning?
Maybe you realise your child is dead spiritually, but you don’t take it to a spiritual doctor for help. Even if you do, it doesn’t help since you are the one that has the evil influence on your children, and they die again with you?
Maybe you think you know better than our fathers in the Lord, since you’re so much more clued up with the latest technology? But knowledge doesn’t bring spiritual life.
You feel so quickly sorry for your children when they have a headache or a stomach ache, but you don’t care for their spiritual state as you should. They have many excuses not to go to church, yet you believe all their schemes.
Maybe it’s difficult in your life. Why? Because God wants you to seek this water of life. Otherwise you become complacent. Do you understand why God sometimes tighten the screw in your life? Firstly because He loves you and is jealous that you live for Him alone. Secondly that you seek this crystal clear, life giving water.
We are living in evil times, where the devil wants to swallow us. There is no time as evil as today. Look at your own evil heart with all its envy and bitterness in it. Why?
Martin Luther said, “who is closer than a husband and wife, father and son, mother and daughter? And yet there is so much strife between them.”
The devil wants to destroy the church, and he wants to destroy our children.
We live in a crisis where people don’t know how to dress decently anymore. And our children start to dress likewise, with excuses that they’re doing sport, tennis etc. But those are just excuses because they desire to be like the world. The truth is they haven’t yet met with Jesus Christ and everything will change once they meet with Jesus Christ.
As long as you realise you’re in a crisis, that’s already the first step to get help!
Now there are terrible words in this text, “let him who is filthy be filthy still!”
It’s probably the worst words anyone can hear after numerous corrections, that God won’t restrain you anymore but simply give you over to your heart’s evil desires, to your own destruction!
In Ezekiel’s day it was the same when God said to him, “let him who hear, hear, but he who refuse to hear, let him refuse” (Ezekiel 3:27). They were given over to their own destruction.
In Romans we read that God eventually gives men over to their evil if they continue in their sin and do not acknowledge God (Rom 1:26-27). And that’s where homosexuality and lesbianism come in. God had given them over to do what they desire. He doesn’t restrain them anymore, to their destruction.
Maybe you are playing with sin and eventually God says, “carry on, I won’t restrain you anymore.” That’s probably the worst situation to be in.
Think of jealousy. God bless your neighbour and then you are jealous of his blessing, in stead of being happy with him. This is especially rife among blacks, being jealous of the one who prospers and do everything to harm him.
A person who doesn’t want to be sexually immoral can be seen in the way he or she dress and conduct themselves, and so too those who are sexually filthy.
In stead of thinking pure things from above as the Bible says (Philippians 4:8) they are busy with the things of the world, having evil imaginations.
Research shows that the effect of pornography on the human brain is just as potent, if not more, as addictive drugs such as heroin or cocaine! To make matters worse, there’s 1.9m cocaine addicts in America, 2m heroine addicts, but 40m addicts of online pornography! It’s frightening! We know heroine and cocaine are strong drugs, but those addicted to pornography is 20 times more! Watching pornography causes a chemical reaction in your mind which is much stronger than heroine and cocaine combined!
Research also shows that it’s much more difficult to get free from pornography addiction than addictive chemical substances such as heroine or cocaine.
Humanly it’s impossible to get free from pornography, you need a meeting with God.
TV, internet, videos etc. are fire extinguishers, they extinguish the fire of God in your life.
Parents, when you see the evil your children do, do you keep quiet to keep the peace? Then you prepare them for hell. Ask your children about the Hollywood stars and you will find out they know all their names! Yet you do nothing! They are on their way to hell.
To counter it, God says, be righteous, just, let your life, the way you dress, show you’re righteous. Young girl, you don’t have to tell everyone you’re pure and upright, they will see it by the way you dress and behave yourself.
Allow God to clean out your life, and dwell in you, and make you holy.
Do you love and study God’s word? Are you holy, and set apart for God? Then God says, carry on and be holy still. Make sure God’s fire burns in your life and that you don’t extinguish it.
Then it will be easy to deny evil, for God’s Spirit will tell you not to do the evil, but do the good.
As you continue to look on Jesus you will find the things of this world will grow strangely dim (Hebrews 12:2).
Let’s learn from our fathers and not think they are old fashioned. When God says something is evil, accept it. When you’re older, maybe you’ll understand. Otherwise your children will one day do what you have done, unless you repent from that thing.
Come to the water of life, drink and live. Wash your robes in the Blood of the Lamb (Rev 7:14). Satan wants to destroy, but Jesus says if you want to overcome, the prerequisite is to wash your robe in the Blood of the Lamb.
14 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.