Revelation 22 verses 1-5 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. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bore twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month, And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 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. And they shall see his face, and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there, and they need no candle, neither light of the sun, the Lord God giveth them light and they shall reign forever and ever. As we look at this heavenly Jerusalem, three things that I draw your attention to tonight are the river, and then the second thing is the tree, and then the third thing that we think about tonight is the access to these things. because these things are for the saved, for the healing of the nations. This vision is the final showing. Verse 1, He showed me a pure river of water of life clear as crystal. So in this closing vision, it is a culminating vision and it's the crown of all, it's the mountain top, We're seeing the bliss, the final and the full bliss. At the end of the story, ruin to victory. The victory of God, the victory of the Lamb, the victory of that throne that has been so prominent. Satan's work and sin's ruin totally reversed. That's really what we have here. Now, this vision is still belonging to the Holy City. It's still part of chapter 21, but another aspect of it. And as I said, we focus on the river and the tree because that's what the camera is doing in this section there at the heart of the city. And they're very closely connected with the throne of God because this river comes out of the throne of God. But before we speak in a little detail about the river and the tree, I do want to remind you of some things in chapter 21 that we haven't covered yet that are appropriate to the tree and to the river. And that is the access. You'll notice about this city there are gates. And not only are there gates, but there are avenues, streets in the city from the gates and I mention them because they are about the access. The gates are open for the saved of the nations and for the servants of God so that they are having access, free access to go through the avenue to the heart of the life of the city, the river of life, the tree of life. And the important word is the word life. That's the word to underline in chapter 22. Now, there are 12 gates because access is for all Israel. There are 12 tribes of Israel. I'm talking about the true Israel, the spiritual Israel. All Israel shall be saved. Talking about the church of the redeemed in the Old Testament and the New Testament. All the saints pictured in the 12 tribes all the tribes of God coming into the city having free access to the city. Verse 12 of chapter 21 had a great wall and had 12 gates and at the gates 12 angels and notice it names written their own. The names of the 12 tribes of the children of Israel. So you see the 12 tribes are identified with the 12 gates. The Holy Spirit is making the identification. These gates are for the 12 tribes for the people of God. Now you remember the Holy of Holies in the midst of Israel, the cube in the wilderness and the cube in the temple, but particularly in the wilderness, the Holy of Holies was a cube just like this is a cube when it's a massive cube. And that was in the midst of God's people and they had access to the tabernacle, but it was only through one gate. And all the tribes were encamped around the temple, the tabernacle, every tribe in its place, the 12 tribes all around the tabernacle. But here is something similar that we have to have in our view. But instead of there being one gate, there are 12 gates. There's a gate for every tribe. And so you'd have three tribes on one side around the tabernacle, three tribes on another side around the tabernacle, north, south, east and west. So that's the kind of image that we have here. So that all the people of God, all the tribes of the Lord have access, free access, immediate access. They don't have to go way around, you know, and laborious walking around 1,500 miles away around to the other side. No, it's free access for them all into this holy of holies to enjoy the presence of God and the everlasting life. that he has obtained for them, the true Israel, then all those in union with the seed of Abraham, who is Jesus Christ. We have here not just Jews. That's what I'm trying to say. That's why the Lord is emphasizing the nations for the healing of the nations. All the nations of the sea have come in. So we're not just talking about Jews now. And we're not just talking about Jewish Israel, literally speaking, we're talking about Israel into which all the nations have been added in the church. The Gentiles have come in, in the times of grace, the New Testament times, because that's what's happening now. The Gentiles are coming in. They're coming in amongst the people of God, amongst the saved, the nations of the earth. And at the end, all of these saved from all the nations of the earth, they're going to have free access. God's presence. You'll notice in verse 14 the wall of the city had 12 foundations. 12 again, this important symbolic number showing the completeness of the people of God. There are 12 foundations here and in them the names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb. So just as we had the names of the 12 tribes in the Old Testament, So now we have in the New Testament, the names of the twelve apostles. It says the foundations of the wall that which are holding the gates up, making them strong and stable, making this point of access to be safe and secure is because they are founded on the names of the twelve apostles of the law. A very important addition to this truth. the apostles who belong to the law. In other words, the foundation is the new covenant. It's not just the old covenant. This is all Israel. This is all the Jews. No, it's the new covenant foundation. It's that which has been brought in by Jesus Christ and ratified by Jesus Christ, the apostles of the law. We're not talking about something that is Jewish. We're not talking about something that belongs to the old covenant. We're not talking about something that will be revived and restored and there'll be, you know, a literal Israel and Jews. No, we're not talking about anything like that. We're talking about the new covenant blessings for the people of God, the foundations, the names of the 12 apostles of the lamb, the one who shared his blood, the one who ratified the covenant of grace through his death and resurrection. And you'll notice also that in verse 19, the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. There are 12 stones here, 12 foundations, 12 stones. And with each foundation, there's a gemstone. With each foundation, there's a name of a tribe. With each gate, And with each foundation there's a name of an apostle. There's names here. Names of the people of God. And there are stones and gemstones. Now what is that recalling to your mind? Who wore 12 stones with names on them? It was a high priest. He wore the breastplate. He had the gemstones engraved on them were the names of the people of God. so that he bore them and carried them all day long. He interceded for them, he prayed for them. And the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our great high priest, who bears his people on his heart, he died for them, he bought them with his blood. And that's the grounds of their being able to come in. The priestly work of Christ, the death of the lamb, the one who bears our names, who knows the names of his sheep, who calls them by name, who draws them to himself by name, and who brings them into the eternal rest by name. And those names are engraved on his hand and they're always before him. So he's the bearer of the names. And that's why they have access. And that's why these gates are open. because of the land, because of the great high priest, because of the entrance he has given us. You remember that the priest in Israel, he couldn't really get an entrance. He could only go in once a year. But when our great high priest died, the veil was rent, a way was made open into the holy of holies. It's open now, you see, for the people of God. It's gone. There are no closed gates now into the cube, no closed gates into the most holy place, right into the presence of God now for the people of God. That's what we have here, this access. And you'll notice in verse 25, the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day, for there shall be no night there. See, in old times they closed gates at night, but these gates are never going to be closed. They don't have to be closed. It's an everlasting day now. It's the glory of the Lamb illuminating the whole place, no darkness anymore. So the doors are open and they never shut and the saints of God will always have access. Remember now, it's from the image of being pictured camping around the city, but now they all have access right into the presence of God, which is filling now the new heavens and the new earth in this new Jerusalem. Now remember, it's only a vision. It's setting forth powerful things, even beyond what the vision itself is telling us. Now, of course, This vision is also bringing us back to Genesis. Wasn't there a river in Genesis? What does the Bible say? Genesis 2 verse 10. A river went out of Eden to water the garden. It divided into four after that and went out into the world and to the rest of the earth. But in Eden, it was one river that's watering the whole garden and then it's dividing into four and going out whoever else will populate the rest of the earth, whatever. So there's this river in Genesis and Eden. There was also a tree of life, wasn't there? Genesis 2 verse 9 out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life. The tree of life, the very same expression. So Eden is a place of bliss. Eden is a place where God is in the midst of the garden. He comes walking in the garden. Eden is a place where Adam and Eve see God face to face and talk to God face to face. They have communion with him. It's bliss. It's wonderful. They had life and they had access to the tree of life. And they had the promise of eternal life in the access that they had to that tree of life. And as long as they had access to that tree of life, they had life. It was wonderful. It was perfection. It was a perfect cube. The new heavens and new earth in this perfect cube as it were for Adam and Eve and join the presence of God and the river and the tree of life. But we know what happened. The dragon came. The serpent who was cast down entered into it. And what might have been? What might have been if Adam had have been steadfast? What might have been the story for humanity if it had have been so? I misstood Satan. And Satan was cast out of the garden. What might have been? But the fall came. And we read then verse 24 of chapter 3 of Genesis. He drove out the man. He placed at the east of the Garden of Eden, cherubim, angels, a flaming sword which turned every way, all around the Eden, all around the Holy Cube, turned away every way this angel with the flaming sword. Why? To keep the way of the Tree of Life. No access to the Tree of Life. The angels bar up the way, the ferry chair you've been borrowed the way the gates are closed. To the tree of life and man is cast out. So the tree of life is barred up and the angels kept the way barred up and guarded the closed doors and there's no access anymore to the Eden. No way to the tree of life. No way to the river of life at its source in Eden. And now the Book of the Revelation is the picturesque restoring of that and its reversal. Paradise restored is a good summary of the Book of the Revelation. Eden restored. And that's what we have here. The throne of God and of the Lamb reverses all that Satan did. Not just the throne of God, It's the throne of God and the Lamb that reverses all the work of Satan. It's God through his son, Jesus Christ, who was incarnate and who shed his blood. It's through him that it is all reversed. All reversed. And the gates are open now. and the accesses for all men now through Jesus Christ. And this throne of God and of the Lamb obtains a new humanity. And Eden is restored. But not just restored. Far more than that. Magnified, enlarged, more blessed, more life than ever was possible in the first Eden. You see the first Eden wasn't really God's plan. God knew what his plan was. He's a lamb slain from the foundation of the world even before the fall of Eden. Satan thought he had thwarted God's plan. But he hadn't. Because God had in mind not just the first Eden He had in mind the eschatological Eden, the last Eden into which he would bring his redeemed humanity. And the dragon would be destroyed and cast out forever and never again be able to interfere in God's union with mankind through his son Jesus Christ. It's a marvelous story. It's a wonderful thing And these gates now are everywhere. And the way is open in every direction, north, south, east and west. Whatever part of the globe the Gentiles are brought in is open in every direction. So that the believing and the saved amongst all the nations have free access. And you'll notice at these gates, these open gates, there is something. Something special and powerful. Verse 12 of chapter 21. 12 gates and at the gates, 12 angels. Just like in Eden, the cherubim, the angels, but they were keeping the gates closed. But now the angels are present. They're making sure they stay open. Angels at the access points, keeping guarding so that the saints of God may be facilitated and helped in their access to the presence of God. Angels are sent forth as the ministers of them who shall be the heirs of salvation. They help the saints in their access to God. They put thoughts into their mind or whatever. They give, as it were, them security and protection because the angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and very often they keep the demons away from us and such like things. And so the angels are facilitating the saints as they have their access into the holy cube and into the holy presence of their Lord and God and Savior, Jesus Christ. So the city is so large and the redeemed are so many that there's all these gates giving them access to the river and to the tree of life. But of course, gates aren't enough. There has to be avenues, streets, so that the access is right into the heart, right into the river, right into the tree. And so we read of streets, and that's why it's mentioning streets here. It's giving us truth, open gates, avenues of access to the river and the tree of life. So that's what this vision is all about. The dimensions are so great as we have seen. Does that mean that we won't all have the same access, that some will be closer than others, and some will be on the outskirts than others, and some will have better access to the river of life and to the tree of life than others? Will there be differences? Will there be more privileged ones? Will there be more ones, as it were, nearer to these blessed things than others? And the answer is no. It's all the same. Because the twelve gates for all the tribes, and the avenue, the street, for all the people of God. The word street then occurs in chapter 21, verse 21. The 12 gates were 12 pearls. Every gate was one pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold. And then chapter 22, verse 2, in the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river. So you'll notice that the river is in close proximity to the street and the tree of life is in close proximity to the street. And the street leads from the gates and all the people of God have straight access to the street, to the river, to the tree. There's no difference. That's what the impression is coming across here. Now it is to be noted that this word street, while it is most often used in the plural in the New Testament, it is only used in the singular here. It doesn't say streets of gold. It's just one street. Say a street. Only one street. The street here then is a broad open court. Massive and opening. We don't even read of any buildings. I mean, it's really hard to picture this in 3D and what is really happening here. We can't really paint it because it's so massive. But the Holy Spirit just wants us to know there's just one street for everybody. And all those gates are leading on to the one street somehow or other. So I don't know how to 3D measure. We're not talking about something that we can picture in terms of today. So gates on a street and in that street, Along that street, everywhere in proximity to that street, the river coming from the throne of God and the tree. One river, one tree. There are some who think that the picture is of many streets and many streams and many parks, many trees of life of the same kind, but many of them all over the place. So that all these streets have the river, the stream, And all these streets and avenues have the trees. That's how people picture it. And that might be right. But it's only the singular word that occurs. Tree of life. River of life. And street. So the Holy Spirit wants us to picture the unity. The oneness. and the access that all the people of God have to in the oneness together to the river and to the tree of life. So the emphasis is on oneness. Now the street is described as pure gold. That is, it's heavenly, it's eternal. But a kind of pure gold that is transparent as glass, so that you can see through it and beyond it. And you can imagine this city is filled with the glory of God. And this street will be reflecting that, this transparency of glass. There'll not be anywhere where you won't see it. There's not a kind of a floor blocking it out and the people underneath the floor are somehow not going to see. It's seen everywhere. And all the people of God have access to it. And the gold and the radiance and the transparency. All you're seeing is the glory of God. All you're seeing is this marvelous light. And that street that the people of God are on, they're basking in the glory of God, in the light of God. And it must be wonderful. And they all have unhindered access to the river and to the tree. That's what this is about, you see. And all of that is coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb. Now as I said, the important word is life. Verse 1, a pure river of water of life. Verse 2, a tree of life. And the saints are going to have access to life. Life. The life of God. The eternal life. The life that comes through the Lamb. Not just the animal life, not just the material life, the human life that they possessed in Eden. This is beyond that. This is more than that. This is the life of God. This is the life in Jesus Christ. The life that he enjoys at the right hand of God. That eternal life. Indescribable life. Of course we have life now, don't we? He that believeth on the Lord Jesus has everlasting life. But we don't have it in its consummate form. We're not enjoying it in all its fullness. This is the full glory. This is a consummation. This is the fullness of life. Whenever it talks about access to the tree of life and to the river of life, we're talking about the full enjoyment of it in the glory of God. The river is pure and clean, we're told here. It's clear and clean as crystal. It's a pure life. It's a holy life. It's a clean life. It's a delightful life. It's a light, a light that saints will enjoy. And it's coming from God. And then there's not only the river of life, there is the tree of life. And you'll notice that the tree has very fruits. 12 kinds. Again, we have this symbolic number, 12 kinds and deals different fruit every month, 12 months, 12 fruits, perhaps one fruit, one month, another fruit, another month. Again, it's just imagery is symbolic. but it's symbolic of a life of satisfaction, a life of sweetness, a life of variation, a life with no boredom, a life with no lacking, a life with no poverty, a life with no dissatisfaction whatsoever and uninterrupted every month, perpetually, month after month, year after year. uninterrupted, ongoing, continual, ever fresh, always new. This life that satisfies all the nations of the earth that are saved. Even its leaves are evergreen because it says the leaves are for the healing of the nations. Everything about it is life. And so what we have here in the river The streams were rough, make glad the city of God and all of that. This is a symbol for the Holy Spirit. And what life the Holy Spirit can bring. You remember just the dead waters, no life, but the Holy Spirit. He brewed it over it all and all the fishes and all their abundance, full of life. The Holy Spirit, what he will bring to the people of God as they have access and begin to enjoy the everlasting life that has been obtained by them. by their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So we have here a picture of bliss. Life that is bliss and unending. And that's really about all that I can say about it. I mean, how can you describe something that you've not really experienced? Something that's indescribable really until you see the glory of God and begin to participate in it. This is a great salvation that the Apostle Paul talks about. and that the Bible says before us. Now again, I remind you it's only imagery and I think the imagery is symbolic but the reality is beyond the picture because you can't paint the reality. This is the best the Holy Spirit can do to paint it because our understanding is so feeble. We are limited by material world and we just can't comprehend these things. And so he just has to use baby pictures to give us some kind of idea of what it's all about. But the reality is far better than the painting. You can be sure of that. And so all that the Holy Spirit has for the people of God. He'll show us the path of life. And in his presence will be fullness of joy. And at that right hand where the lamb is there will be pleasure flowing forevermore unending unceasing. I do point out one lovely word, healing. Healing. God and eternal life will bring to the people healing. And we need a lot of healing, don't we? I don't just speak of the healing of our bodies, but the healing of soul. I'm sure we could all weep here Whenever we think about the healing. But a weeping with joy. A weeping with joy at the thought of the healing. Because sin, brethren and sisters, has left us many scars. Many scars on our mind. Many scars on our emotional life. Many scars on our soul. Not to say anything about our poor bodies. But just our minds. The painful scars. The shameful scars. the degrading, the emotionally destroying scars upon our life that have come about by sin. And some of these scars, perhaps a greater portion of them, we brought upon ourselves in our foolishness and falling. Perhaps many of them are caused, given to us by the sins of others and how many lives have been destroyed and Many people ruined because of abusive sinners. Scars that just have not made people the same in life. Scars that have people wrecked by sin and by the sin of others upon them. And maybe even we have left some scars on some people too. By our hurtful ways. There's an awful lot of healing to do. and the psychiatrist and the psychologist or even the Christian pastor with the Bible in his hand. He cannot do it. He cannot do it. But God can. And His eternal life brings healing of all the scars. Bless His name. What does it say there? Healing for the nation. for the nations, for multitudes of souls, blessed day of God and of the Lamb, healing, healing for all. And that healing, of course, is only through the Lamb. That's why the Holy Spirit here is always emphasizing the throne of God is the throne of the Lamb. And the Lamb is the one who died. The Lamb is the one who shed his blood. The lamb is the one who accomplished it all and brought the river and brought the tree and brought the healing. And so it all comes from Calvary. Out of his side there came the water, the water and the tree comes from the cross. It is interesting that the word tree here is the same word that is used to describe Christ's cross. whenever it is called a tree. Peter says his own self bore our sins in his own body on the tree. That we being dead to sin should live on to righteousness by whose stripes ye are healed. Healing through the cross. Healing through the tree. Healing through Christ so that the tree may have the leaves that bring to us the healing for all our scars. He's scarred, he's striped, he's emotionally abused. His stripes are not just physical, they're not just material, plying through his back. No, they have reached into his inner soul so that we might have healing in our inner soul. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse He's taken away the curse and he's brought the healing. How has he taken away the curse? Being made a curse for us as it is written. Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. It's through the tree again. And it's interesting here how the prophet goes on and in verse three after it says healing, it says and and you have to highlight that and don't miss it. It has to be tagged on to the healing of the nations and no more curse. No more curse. The curse is gone. The healing comes in its place. No more scars identified with the curse. Only God's throne and the lamb, as it says there in verse three, but the throne of God and of the lamb shall be in it. This is what now is in it. And so there is this bliss. And endless service to the Lord because it says his servants shall serve him. I think we get the picture here of priests serving in the temple, serving in the cube now. And they're all here in the cube, in the Holy of Holies, in the presence of God. And they're just all priests now, serving him. And they're kings too because it says they're in with him forever and ever. Kings and priests. in the holiest of holies with God and Christ. You know how God must have loved mankind. He's done something here he hasn't done to the angels. The angels are right there on the gate and humanity has entrance right in. I mean I think that's why Satan revolted. Because I think the angels were given a foreshadowing of this a taste of this. A revelation of it. And Satan didn't like it. He didn't like it one bit. And he left God and he's going to ruin mankind and destroy them. It was all in the plan of God, of course. You see what the Bible means when it says, whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. This proves it. He that believes in Christ will not be ashamed. What can we say? God's people are blessed, but what about poor sinners? What poor sinners will miss? May God open their eyes and give them faith.