The River of Living Water

[0:00] Good morning, everyone. For those of you who don't know who I am, my name is Andrew Rim, and I'm a pastoral intern here at Trinity Cambridge Church, and a current seminary student who is finishing up his degree.

[0:15] And with Sean gone for the next few weeks on vacation, it's my joy and pleasure to be able to bring God's word to you guys this morning. And so without further ado, if you could turn your Bibles, if you have one, to Revelation chapter 21, verse 22.

[0:33] For those of you who don't have a Bible, please raise your hand and someone can give you a copy from our table. Revelation chapter 21, verse 22, to chapter 22, verse 5.

[0:51] Please join me in prayer for the reading and preaching of God's word this morning.

[1:03] Heavenly Father, we thank you so much that you are our God, seated on the throne, and that you give us access to you to be able to worship you, to adore you, to pour out all honor and glory.

[1:25] Lord, we thank you that you are such a gracious and loving God. And Lord, we thank you that you give us your word to equip us with every need, to satisfy us, to nourish us, to grow us in the spirit, so that one day when you and the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ returns, we may be perfected with you, Lord.

[1:48] And so, Lord, as we come across this beautiful passage coming into the river of life, Lord, stir our hearts that we yearn for the living waters, Lord.

[2:04] Stir our hearts so that we yearn for the eternal light that is to come through new Jerusalem, the new creation, Lord. Help us to be faithful stewards of the gospel here and now, Lord.

[2:16] We pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen. Please stand as you're willing and able for the reading of God's word.

[2:27] Revelation chapter 21, verse 22 to chapter 22, verse 5. And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb.

[2:42] And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day, and there will be no night there.

[3:03] They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations, but nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.

[3:17] Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. Also on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month.

[3:36] The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.

[3:49] They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads, and night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

[4:07] This is God's holy and authoritative word. You may be seated. Back in 2016, the city of Flint, Michigan, faced a federal state of emergency because traces of poisonous lead were found in their water systems.

[4:30] This was due to the oversight and poor management of the city's water pipes by the Flint city officials. And after a number of court investigations and hundreds of millions of dollars spent on legal settlements and repairing these corroded pipes, Flint's water was declared clean and drinkable later in the year of 2016.

[4:52] But the damage had been done. Many residents of Flint, Michigan, to this day, still don't drink the water straight from the tap because they still do not trust the source of the water.

[5:06] Here in the state of Massachusetts, according to the U.S. News, we rank fifth in the entire United States for our drinking water quality. We're in fifth place.

[5:18] We have the best drinking water in all of New England, for that matter. The next best New England state is Rhode Island, and they come in 20th place. Yikes. And yet, even still, even though our drinking water quality is this good, many of us here are still proactive and careful with our water sources.

[5:40] We install water filters like Brita and Pure into our sinks, our faucets, and our water dispensers. Some of us opt to buy the Costco 40-pack water bottles, and we just drink straight out of that.

[5:50] And some of us even have our own personal rankings of the best-tasting water bottle brands, from Awkwafina to Smart Water to Evian to Poland Springs to Fiji to the Whole Foods Asparagus water.

[6:06] All this we do because we care about where our water is sourced from. We want to be certain that we aren't harming ourselves with unclean and contaminated water.

[6:18] And so we're careful about the source of our water. Brothers and sisters, as followers of God and the Lamb that is Jesus, we must also be vigilant of the source of our spiritual water.

[6:36] What is the source of our living waters? What satisfies us and nourishes us in this life? Last week in Revelation chapter 21, Sean exhorted us to choose our treasures carefully.

[6:52] For where our treasure is, there our hearts will be also. In the same way, we need to pay attention to the sources of our waters, of what nourishes and satisfies us in our lives today.

[7:06] Does living water from the throne of God and of the Lamb satisfy us? Or does our water come from the darkness of this world, which will only satisfy for a short while, before leaving us emptier than ever before?

[7:20] The answer to this question is of utmost importance. Because the source of our water, the source of our living water, is a matter of spiritual and eternal life and death.

[7:34] This morning, we're at the end points of Revelation. We're finally at Revelation chapter 22, the final chapter, where John, he sees in his vision that the kingdom of God has been fully inaugurated.

[7:51] Evil has been utterly vanquished, and the new Jerusalem has been established as the new heavens and the new earth. John then sees in Revelation 22, the river of the water of life in New Jerusalem, one that flows from the throne of God and the Lamb through the center of New Jerusalem.

[8:09] And this river, it yields abundant fruit from the tree of life. It heals nations, and it makes the city pure from anything accursed.

[8:21] This, this is the water that we should be longing for, the river of living water. We must draw near to this living water, whose source is from the Lord God and the Lamb, the light of the world, who is Jesus.

[8:39] And so this is our main point for our passage this morning. We should live our lives faithfully to the light of the world, that is Jesus, and the Lord God, whose throne is the source of living water.

[8:51] And so I'm going to touch on two major features of our passage this morning. First, the eternal light, and second, the river of life.

[9:07] Revelation chapter 21, verse 22, and I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb. In the Old Testament, the prophet Ezekiel envisioned, in Ezekiel chapter 40 to 43, the rebuilding of the temple of God, after it had been destroyed by the Babylonian Empire.

[9:30] However, now, in John's vision of New Jerusalem, there is not a physical temple in sight in the city. John gives the reason why this is so, for its temple is the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb.

[9:47] In the Old Testament, the temple was built as a dwelling place for the Lord God, and as the meeting place for God's people to worship him, whose presence was in the Ark of the Covenant inside of the temple.

[10:01] In Exodus, Moses built the tabernacle as a portable way for Israel to carry the presence of God until they reached the promised land. And once Israel was established as a nation and a kingdom, King Solomon built the temple to more permanently host the presence of God at which all of Israel would gather to worship Yahweh.

[10:25] But the Old Testament prophets later, they envisioned an even greater temple in the future. Haggai chapter 2 prophesied that the latter glory of this house, which is the temple, will be greater than the former.

[10:41] Jeremiah chapter 3 prophesied of a day when God's people will no longer say the Ark of the Covenant. And neither the temple nor the Ark of the Covenant will come to mind or be remembered or be missed by God's people.

[11:00] These prophecies are fulfilled here in New Jerusalem. God's dwelling place is no longer the physical structure of the temple. Instead, the Lord God and the Lamb are fully present face to face with the new creation in the New Jerusalem.

[11:18] The temple, a gathering place to worship God, had been fulfilled in the new city. This also means that the church today, including our own gathered body of believers here, will be perfected and fulfilled when the Lord is fully present in the new Jerusalem.

[11:38] In the new city, those who have been faithful to the testimony of Jesus will no longer need to gather in a building, in a structure to worship their God. Because God now dwells among his people there.

[11:53] We'll have unfiltered, unparalleled access to worship our Lord God. You guys, how much greater will our worship be in New Jerusalem when we're able to clearly see with our very own eyes who it is that we give our honor and glory to?

[12:13] How amazing it's going to be that when we sing, behold our God, behold the Lamb, here I am to worship right in front of the Lord God, being able to see him face to face.

[12:24] That's such an amazing sight, amazing hope for us that we'll be face to face in direct relationship and communion with our Lord God, the very one that we worship.

[12:39] John continues in his vision of New Jerusalem and sees that the city of Jerusalem, New Jerusalem, has no need of sun or moon to shine on it. For the glory of God gives it light and its lamp is lamb.

[12:53] We see the same idea evoked later at the end of our passage in Revelation 22, 5. And the night will be no more. The servants of God will need no light of lamp or sun for the Lord God will be their light and they will reign forever and ever.

[13:10] These two verses are a direct fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah chapter 60. The sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give you light, but the Lord will be your everlasting light and your God will be your glory.

[13:30] Isaiah and John, they're not trying to say that the sun and the moon will be completely non-existent in the New Jerusalem. Their point is that the sun and the moon's function as bearers of light during the day and the night will not be necessary anymore.

[13:49] And that's because God's glory and the light of his son Jesus, the Lamb, will illuminate the new city both day and night. In James 1.17, God is called the Father of lights.

[14:06] 1 John 1.5 proclaims that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. In the Gospel of John, Jesus calls himself the light of the world who stepped into this dark world to open our eyes to God's salvific work through him.

[14:24] The Lamb of God acted as the lamp to God's glory. Jesus was the word in the beginning who was with God and was God and in the word was life and the life was the light of men.

[14:39] John 1. The light of God's glory and the Lamb will shine on the new Jerusalem day and night. This is John's way of again emphasizing that God's presence will be directly among his people in the new city and his presence will never go away.

[15:00] God will be with us as our eternal light day and night forever. This light from the glory of God and the Lamb in New Jerusalem will also accompany the nations and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into the light.

[15:20] This again is a fulfillment of Isaiah 60. And nations shall come to your light and kings to the brightness of your rising. The wealth of the nations shall come to you.

[15:31] The wealth of the nations shall come to you. Throughout Revelation we see Jesus and his angels of the Lord issue out warnings to all of the nations of the final day of judgment.

[15:45] And they call out to repent of idolatry in order to be preserved by God. Revelation chapter 14 verse 7 is one example of this.

[15:56] An angel cries out to every nation and tribe and language and people and it cries out fear God and give him glory because the hour of his judgment has come.

[16:09] In John's vision the nations who heeded these warnings and repented and turned their allegiance to God and to Jesus are able to walk in the light of God's glory and enter into the city of New Jerusalem.

[16:26] While other passages in Revelation refer to the kings of the earth as the wicked unrepentant rulers who have received judgment from God here John is referring to the kings of the earth who had received the angels warnings and obeyed the call to repentance and submitted themselves to the lamb and to the testimony of Jesus.

[16:46] These are the kings and nations who will be welcomed into the city and they will bring their glory into it. The Isaiah 60 prophecy speaks of the nations bringing material wealth into Israel.

[17:03] The wealth of the nations shall come to you. They bring their material riches and wealth into Israel. John then changes the language in Revelation from wealth to glory.

[17:18] The nations and kings will bring glory into New Jerusalem as it says in verse 24. And we see later in verse 26 that they will bring glory and honor.

[17:31] What John is saying here is that the kings are bringing into New Jerusalem not material riches and wealth but rather glory and honor coming from the nations.

[17:43] The kings and nations are brought into the New Jerusalem by the invitation of the lamb to worship the Lord God in glory and honor to worship him.

[17:57] There's no longer any personal riches or accolades or boastings of self that are to be brought into the city of New Jerusalem but only the glory and honor that is due to God and to Jesus Christ the lamb in worship.

[18:17] Brothers and sisters we have no material wealth. We have no personal riches to offer to God because God already has these things.

[18:29] In fact he has infinitely better things beyond our imagination. God doesn't need our money. He doesn't need our savings.

[18:39] He doesn't need our prizes and our trophies. He doesn't need our social status and influence. When we as faithful believers of Christ are invited into the New Jerusalem we have nothing to bring with us except for our worship to bestow our Lord God in honor and glory.

[19:00] Amen? Continuing on the nations and the kings they enter into New Jerusalem through New Jerusalem's open gates.

[19:11] These gates will never be shut by day and also by night because there will be no night. The gates to New Jerusalem will be open night and day for all eternity.

[19:25] In last week's sermon Sean had described the unassailable security of the New Jerusalem. The walls of New Jerusalem were 12,000 stadia tall.

[19:39] 1,400 miles tall. And its walls were as thick as the length of a professional soccer field. No enemy would be able to breach these walls.

[19:52] No enemy would be able to breach the walls of New Jerusalem even in secret even in the dark of night. So why would such an impenetrable city choose to leave its gates wide open never to be shut?

[20:09] That's because there are no longer any enemies. Because there is no more night in the world. There will be no night in New Jerusalem.

[20:22] John is using the word night figuratively to refer to the darkness and evil that dim God's glory in this world. In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke when Jesus was crucified it was said that at noon there was darkness over all the land.

[20:42] The darkness took over when the Son of God was crucified and killed. But three days later, the angels of the Lord appeared before Jesus' followers in dazzling brightness and light to announce that the Savior had resurrected and conquered death.

[21:02] For John to say that there is no night in New Jerusalem isn't just an odd passing comment but it's a triumphant declaration that there will be no darkness or evil that can exist in the new creation.

[21:17] The darkness and evil of the enemy are no more. There is no need to worry or be cautious about ambushes or invasions from the enemy into the city because all enemies of God have been defeated already.

[21:33] We have kings, we have nations, we have tribes and tongues from all over the earth that will enter into the gates of New Jerusalem and there is absolute certainty and security that not one of them, not even one of them will bring wickedness and evil into the light of God's new creation because night and darkness are no more.

[22:03] When I was in elementary school and in middle school and also maybe in high school I was really afraid of the dark. In our house we had a basement where we would often store things and whenever I had to go down into the basement I was so afraid that something would pop out of the dark and get me.

[22:25] One year it was ghosts. Another year it was Darth Vader. To cope with this fear to deal with this being afraid of the dark as I went as I went down those stairs I would often sing whatever worship song that I knew in my head.

[22:43] I would literally go down the stairs and be like I love the world you step down into darkness and then scurry down those stairs and run straight back up as quickly as I could. The most comforting and relieving sight for me as I ran back up those stairs though was the faint outline of light on my basement door.

[23:06] That faint outline that you see through the cracks and I knew oh my gosh once I go through those doors I'm going to be back in the light Darth Vader won't be chasing me anymore to tell me that he's my father.

[23:17] No more of that. And so I would run up those stairs and burst out to the door into the light of my living room and I would feel safe and secure. Brothers and sisters scripture scripture gives us that faint outline of light and it's getting brighter and brighter through the coming of God's radiant kingdom and the new Jerusalem and that should fill us with great hope and comfort and relief in the dark days that we live in today.

[23:52] For those of you who may feel distressed by all this darkness in our world wars disease famine the evil schemes of man or for those of you who may be feeling so discouraged by the darkness of your own struggles and sin there is hope in the light of the coming kingdom of our Lord God and so believe in God's victory over darkness and hold on to the testimony of Jesus.

[24:22] There will be a day when night will be no more. Darkness and evil will be totally vanquished and there will be absolute security in the brilliant light of our savior Jesus.

[24:40] Because Jesus has vanquished all evil any unclean thing and anyone who has not repented of their detestable and false things will not be able to enter into the new Jerusalem even with those gates wide open day and night.

[25:00] This means that anyone who has defiled themselves in sin that God so abhors and has not repented and allowed for the blood of Jesus to wash over their sins will not be able to enter.

[25:12] This means that those who have given themselves away to the lies of the enemy and have acted on those lies into acts of deception like adultery murder bearing false testimony and stealing they will not be able to enter into the city of New Jerusalem.

[25:35] Church we too have committed these grave sins time and time again. We've been adulteries we've told lies we've stolen God's glory we've become idolaters in the things of this world and time and time again we've fallen short of the glory of God but the difference the difference as believers of Jesus Christ is that by the grace of God we have recognized our need for a savior we recognize this need this need for someone to save us of our sins and by faith in Jesus we have repented of those detestable and false things and claimed our allegiance to Christ evil doers and the wicked will not have their names written in the book of life and they will be subject to eternal torment and suffering in the lake of fire only those who have been counted righteous and holy by the

[26:43] Lord God those whose names have been written in the Lamb's book of life will enter and so let's hope and believe in the light of God's coming kingdom and hold on to the testimony of Jesus this leads to our second feature in our passage the river of life revelation chapter 22 verse 1 to 5 now the angel who's guiding John's vision turns John's attention now to a river in the new Jerusalem this river is bright as crystal as radiant as the rest of the city which is adorned in precious stones and clear gold as it said in revelation 21 John calls this river the river of the water of life which flows from the throne of God and of the lamb through the middle of the street this river should be reminiscent of the river at the garden of

[27:49] Eden in Genesis 2 the river which flowed out of Eden to water the garden this river in New Jerusalem flows from the throne of God and of the lamb the fulfilled temple in New Jerusalem there is only one throne in which both God and the lamb Jesus are seated in vienen and the God the son have a shared identity in the Holy Trinity and they reign over the new creation as the one Lord God and out of that throne flows that river of living water some scholars think that the Holy Spirit, the third member of the Trinity, is also represented here in this passage by the river of living water. I think that this is an appropriate and a beautiful image of the

[28:54] Holy Trinity in fellowship with one another and with us in the new creation, the new Jerusalem that is to come. Jesus says in John chapter 7, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

[29:08] Whoever believes in me, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. Now this he said about the Spirit. Jesus also offers the Samaritan woman in John chapter 4 at the well, living water. Just as the river of living water flows out from the throne of God and of the Lamb, the Holy Spirit proceeds from God the Father and Jesus the Son. In the same way the Holy Spirit is the living water of new Jerusalem, the Holy Spirit should be the living water that satisfies us today.

[29:49] In John chapter 14, Jesus promises his followers to send a helper, the Holy Spirit, to aid them in carrying out the gospel mission. The Holy Spirit is a helper to us to this day, today. The Spirit indwells those who believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ and seals them permanently as God's chosen people. The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sins. The Spirit illuminates scripture so that we may understand God's word. He transforms and sanctifies us to be more like Jesus and helps us to bear good fruit in our words and our deeds. And the Holy Spirit does all these things for the glory of God, so that glorifying God may be the center of our lives. This is why the river of the water of life flows through the center of New Jerusalem, to lead its inhabitants to worship at the central throne of God and of the Lamb, the source of this living water. Brothers and sisters, are we fully relying on the living water of the Holy Spirit to aid us in living a life that is faithful to Christ?

[31:10] Are we submitting to the Spirit to convict us of our sins and to convict us to God's word? Are we trusting in the Spirit to equip us and empower us to speak and act in a godly manner? Is the Spirit moving us to fervent and earnest worship of our Lord God? If we're relying on the Holy Spirit fully, our entire lives will be transformed so that glorifying God will be the central focus of our living. Church, our sinful world tempts us to quench our thirst with unclean water. Unclean water that will never fully satisfy. And drinking from this unclean water will ultimately lead us to eternal suffering, because it will cause us to turn away from the Lord God Almighty into the lake of fire. No matter how much money, no matter how much fame or influence we try to chase after in this lifetime, no matter how much riches we try to acquire and accrue and save up in this life, these waters, none of these things will satisfy us. They'll leave us thirstier and greedier than ever before. At the end of our lives and at the end of the age, all these man-made riches and prestige will perish and crumble to dust. But what will remain is the eternal kingdom of God, a new heaven and a new earth, the new Jerusalem, where the stream of living water will lead us to eternal worship and fellowship with our triune God. And so let us look into the waters of our own lives and examine whether our living water is indeed being sourced from God, the Lamb and the Holy Spirit.

[33:23] In the second half of verse 2, John's vision continues to reference the Garden of Eden, this time with the Tree of Life. The Tree of Life in New Jerusalem is found on either side of the river.

[33:40] This is weird because there's only one Tree of Life. How can it be on either side of the river? We can see that singular tree as a collective singular noun. This is some Greek grammar, sorry.

[33:53] But a collective singular as this one tree is representing multiple trees. Since it's found to be on either side of the river. This will be consistent to the prophecy in Ezekiel 47, where on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of tree for food.

[34:13] In the New Jerusalem then, the original Tree of Life from the Garden of Eden has become multiple trees of life, all flanking the river through the center of New Jerusalem.

[34:26] The river of living water, it nourishes these trees of life, and causes them to bear 12 kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month.

[34:40] The trees will yield their 12 kinds of fruit every month. In our fallen world, there are only certain seasons in which fruits are ripe.

[34:51] Else they will taste bitter or sour, or are withered, or do not grow at all. John's vision shows us that seasons will be no more.

[35:04] There is no harvest season. There is no planting season. The trees will yield fruit each month, and the fruit will be abundantly available to be enjoyed by the inhabitants of New Jerusalem all year long.

[35:21] In Revelation chapter 2, Jesus promises to the church in Ephesus that the one who conquers, I will grant to eat of the Tree of Life, which is the paradise of God.

[35:35] In the paradise of new creation in New Jerusalem, there will be no times of hunger or lack of resources. Just as God will be readily available, His presence will be readily available at all times, He'll always and eternally be present in New Jerusalem.

[35:54] His providence and His sustenance will be readily available all year long for all eternity. And so those who are faithful to the testimony of Jesus will be eternally satisfied by God and His providence, and they will lack in nothing.

[36:15] And not only the fruit will be the thing that will satisfy us, we see that the leaves of the Tree of Life, they provide the great effects of healing of the nations.

[36:26] The Tree of Life will have leaves that provide healing. A while ago, I was told that you can put the peels of bananas onto your skin where there are bug bites to help soothe any sort of itching or inflammation.

[36:48] I'm not sure if this is a credible source, but it worked for me. Like, the itching disappeared, and there was no more swelling for a bit, for a bit. But after 30 minutes or so, the bite would start to itch and burn again, and I would have to slap on a new leaf, another banana peel, onto my skin to soothe it again.

[37:09] Church, while leaves and medicinal herbs today can only provide a temporary fix to our pains in the natural world, the leaves of the Tree of Life are for eternal healing and health of the nations.

[37:23] of those who put their faith in Jesus Christ and are welcomed into the city. Eternal healing and health. This means that there will be no sickness nor pain in the new Jerusalem.

[37:38] There will be no flu, no COVID-19, no broken bones, no cancer, no chronic achings and conditions, no death that will be, that will need to be healed or reversed in the new creation.

[37:53] The leaves of healing from the Tree of Life represent the once for all, the final, the eternal relief from all pains and sufferings of God's people. And that has been accomplished by Jesus upon His return when He comes again.

[38:10] There will be a day when Jesus returns and wipes away our tears of sorrow once and for all, as Revelation 7 and 21 proclaim. And in the same way, there will be a day when Jesus returns and heals and restores us to perfect health once and for all.

[38:31] This is final and for all eternity. Pain, suffering, and death, and all the cursed things of the earth will be no more.

[38:45] Verse 3 says, no longer will there be anything accursed. In the Garden of Eden in Genesis, all of humanity and the earth was cursed for our sin and disobedience to God.

[38:59] And the curse of sin was death. We were destined to die because of our rebellion against the holy and good God.

[39:12] And yet God, in His infinite mercy and love, sent His Son, Jesus, to be the atonement, the slain lamb to cover our sins.

[39:25] As Galatians chapter 3 says, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it's written, cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.

[39:40] By hanging on that cross, Christ removed the curse of sin and death from all who believe in Him as the ultimate act of grace. We no longer have the curse of sin and death bearing on our shoulders because Jesus took that burden for Himself.

[39:59] And once Jesus returns again, comes again, and the kingdom of God is established here on earth, there will be nothing that is cursed in the new heavens and the new earth.

[40:11] All evildoers, all idolaters, all satanic forces that curse the earth and rebel against God will be thrown into the lake of fire to suffer their own eternal curse.

[40:24] But those who put their faith in God and the Lamb that is Jesus will dwell with the Lord free of all curse and instead rich with blessings that have been granted by the righteousness of Christ.

[40:40] Where this curse of sin and death had once ruled over, the throne of God and of the Lamb has conquered and laid dominion there. And out of that throne flows the river of living water.

[40:55] And all who have believed, all who have believed in the gospel, all who have believed in God and the Lamb, His servants will draw near to the source of living water and they will worship our God seated on His throne.

[41:11] And finally, all who have been faithful to the testimony of Jesus will see God's face.

[41:25] We will be able to see God's face. All throughout history, humans could not and cannot see God's face. Moses was unable to see God on Mount Sinai in Exodus 33.

[41:40] Israel could not enter into the tabernacle of God's presence without immediately dying from God's holiness. John chapter 1, verse 18 says, no one has ever seen God.

[41:52] Not one has ever seen God. The only God who is at the Father's side, He has made Him known. To be able to see someone's face means that you are in right relationship with them.

[42:10] When something is wrong in a relationship, whether it's a fight or an argument or strife, there are times when people won't be in each other's faces, where people won't see each other's faces, or they won't be present with one another because something is not right in the relationship.

[42:31] Similarly, we are unable to see God's face right now, in the here and now, because our relationship with God is not perfected yet. There is still sin and evil in the world that keeps God's presence behind the misty veil.

[42:50] But that's the greatest hope of believers and followers of Jesus. To be in right, perfect relationship with God and to be able to see God's face as a sure sign of his perfect presence directly with us.

[43:10] 1 John 3, verse 2 says, Beloved, we are God's children now. We are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared.

[43:23] But we know that when he appears and we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. When the Lord Jesus returns, like a bride at the wedding, the misty veil over our eyes will be lifted, and we'll be able to see Jesus and the Lord God face to face.

[43:47] And this will be the sure sign that we are in perfected, right relationship with our God. And we will be able to dwell in his full presence forever as his people, as his children.

[44:03] This is the amazing hope that we look forward to in our future. If we faithfully hold on to the testimony of Jesus in the here and now, we will belong to our Lord God.

[44:18] Just as Jesus promised in Revelation 2, I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven and my own new name.

[44:32] We're going to be marked on our foreheads with the new name of God and of Jesus. That's a sure sign that we belong to no one else. No one can claim that we are theirs except for Jesus and the Lord God Almighty.

[44:47] And we will reign with him in the new Jerusalem, the new creation forever and ever. Brothers and sisters, as we live as God's people and as followers of Jesus Christ, let's examine exactly where the source of our life's water is coming from.

[45:11] Let's see to it that we're not drinking from the water of this world, which will only leave us thirstier and thirstier than ever before. But rather, we're reliant on the river of living water, the Holy Spirit that flows from the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb that is Jesus Christ.

[45:31] Those who faithfully draw near to that living water, those who faithfully hold on to the testimony of Jesus, on that final day when he returns, will be able to enter into the city of New Jerusalem.

[45:45] And we'll be able to enjoy the living water and the fruits of the tree of life and we'll be restored in eternal fellowship with the Lord God face to face in his presence.

[45:58] Let's pray. O Holy God, we thank you for the rivers of living water.

[46:16] We thank you so much for your spirit which is the living water that we have today which aids us and guides us as the helper to aid us in our walk and faith with you, Lord.

[46:31] Lord, we thank you that you give us this grand vision of the new cities that is to come, the new creation, the new heavens and earth where we'll be able to dwell with you for all eternity in your light day and night, night and day.

[46:48] Lord, we thank you that we have this access, this unfiltered access to be able to worship you in spirit and in truth. Fill our hearts with that wonder, fill our hearts with that hope of the coming kingdom of our Lord and God and help us in the here and now in our present moment to look for that source of our living water and see to it that it comes solely from you, Lord.

[47:21] We thank you, God. we love you and we pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.