The River and the Tree of Life

      1Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, 2in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; 4they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. 5And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.

      6And he said to me, “These words are faithful and true”; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show to His bond-servants the things which must soon take place.

      7“And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book.”

      8I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things. 9But he said to me, “Do not do that. I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book. Worship God.”

The Final Message

      10And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. 11“Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong; and the one who is filthy, still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous, still practice righteousness; and the one who is holy, still keep himself holy.”

      12“Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. 13“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

      14Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city. 15Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.

      16“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”

      17The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.

      18I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; 19and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.

      20He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

      21The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.

NASB ©1995

American Standard Version
And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb,

Douay-Rheims Bible
And he showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.

Darby Bible Translation
And he shewed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, going out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

English Revised Version
And he shewed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb,

Webster's Bible Translation
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.

Weymouth New Testament
Then he showed me the river of the Water of Life, bright as crystal, issuing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.

World English Bible
He showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb,

Young's Literal Translation
And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, bright as crystal, going forth out of the throne of God and of the Lamb:Come and Welcome
Nay, further than this, this is not only Christ's cry to you; but if you be a believer, this is your cry to Christ--"Come! come!" You will be longing for his second advent; you will be saying, "Come quickly, even so come Lord Jesus." And you will be always panting for nearer and closer communion with him. As his voice to you is "Come," even so will be your prayer to him, "Come, Lord, and abide in my house. Come, and consecrate me more fully to thy service; come, and without a rival reign; come, occupy …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 5: 1859

Sanctification and Justification (Continued).
"He that is holy, let him be holy still." --Rev. xxii. 11. The divine Righteousness, having reference to the divine Sovereignty, in one sense does not manifest itself until God enters into relationship with the creatures. He was glorious in holiness from all eternity, for man's creation did not modify His Being; but His righteousness could not be displayed before creation, because right presupposes two beings sustaining the jural relation. An exile on an uninhabited island can not be righteous nor …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

The Need of the New Testament Scripture.
"For I testify onto 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 plagues that are written in this book."--Rev. xxii. 18. If the Church after the Ascension of Christ had been destined to live only one lifetime, and had been confined only to the land of the Jews, the holy apostles could have accomplished their task by verbal teaching. But since it was to live at least for eighteen centuries, and to be extended over …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

Rivers in the Desert
T. P. Rev. xxii. I Glorious River of God's pleasures, Well of God's eternal bliss, Thirsting now no more for ever, Tread we this waste wilderness. O for words divine to tell it, How along that River's brink, Come the weak, the worn, the weary, There the tides of joy to drink! "Drink abundantly, beloved," Speaks the Voice so sweet and still; "Of the life, and love, and glory, Freely come and drink your fill." Every longing stilled for ever, As the face of God we see-- Whom besides have we in heaven, …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen, Suso, and Others

Letter xix (A. D. 1127) to Suger, Abbot of S. Denis
To Suger, Abbot of S. Denis He praises Suger, who had unexpectedly renounced the pride and luxury of the world to give himself to the modest habits of the religious life. He blames severely the clerk who devotes himself rather to the service of princes than that of God. 1. A piece of good news has reached our district; it cannot fail to do great good to whomsoever it shall have come. For who that fear God, hearing what great things He has done for your soul, do not rejoice and wonder at the great …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

Wesley at Sevenoaks
Monday, October 16.--I went to Tunbridge Wells and preached to a serious congregation on Revelation 22:12. Tuesday, 17. I came back to Sevenoaks and in the afternoon walked over to the Duke of Dorset's seat. The park is the pleasantest I ever saw; the trees are so elegantly disposed. The house, which is at least two hundred years old, is immensely large. It consists of two squares, considerably bigger than the two quadrangles in Lincoln College. I believe we were shown above thirty rooms, beside …
John Wesley—The Journal of John Wesley

The Water of Life;
OR, A DISCOURSE SHOWING THE RICHNESS AND GLORY OF THE GRACE AND SPIRIT OF THE GOSPEL, AS SET FORTH IN SCRIPTURE BY THIS TERM, THE WATER OF LIFE. BY JOHN BUNYAN. 'And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.'--Revelation 22:17 London: Printed for Nathanael Ponder, at the Peacock in the Poultry, 1688. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. Often, and in every age, the children of God have dared to doubt the sufficiency of divine grace; whether it was vast enough to reach their condition--to cleanse …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

The Jerusalem Sinner Saved;
OR, GOOD NEWS FOR THE VILEST OF MEN; BEING A HELP FOR DESPAIRING SOULS, SHOWING THAT JESUS CHRIST WOULD HAVE MERCY IN THE FIRST PLACE OFFERED TO THE BIGGEST SINNERS. THE THIRD EDITION, IN WHICH IS ADDED, AN ANSWER TO THOSE GRAND OBJECTIONS THAT LIE IN THE WAY OF THE THEM THAT WOULD BELIEVE: FOR THE COMFORT OF THEM THAT FEAR THEY HAVE SINNED AGAINST THE HOLY GHOST. BY JOHN BUNYAN, OF BEDFORD. London: Printed for Elizabeth Smith, at the Hand and Bible, on London Bridge, 1691. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

The Last Words of the Old and New Testaments
'Lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.'--MALACHI iv. 6. 'The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.'--REVELATION xxii. 21. It is of course only an accident that these words close the Old and the New Testaments. In the Hebrew Bible Malachi's prophecies do not stand at the end; but he was the last of the Old Testament prophets, and after him there were 'four centuries of silence.' We seem to hear in his words the dying echoes of the rolling thunders of Sinai. They gather up the …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

God's Will and Man's Will
The great controversy which for many ages has divided the Christian Church has hinged upon the difficult question of "the will." I need not say of that conflict that it has done much mischief to the Christian Church, undoubtedly it has; but I will rather say, that it has been fraught with incalculable usefulness; for it has thrust forward before the minds of Christians, precious truths, which but for it, might have been kept in the shade. I believe that the two great doctrines of human responsibility …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 8: 1863

The Properties of Sanctifying Grace
By a property (proprium, {GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI AND OXIA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON}{GREEK SMALL LETTER NU}) we understand a quality which, though not part of the essence of a thing, necessarily flows from that essence by some sort of causation and is consequently found in all individuals of the same species.(1155) A property, as such, is opposed to an accident (accidens, {GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON}{GREEK …
Joseph Pohle—Grace, Actual and Habitual

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