Revelation 22:17. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
These words contain one of the fullest displays of the riches and freeness of divine grace to be found in the Bible. As they occur at the close of the inspired Scriptures, they may be considered as a concluding exhortation addressed to sinners in every country and age of the world.
“The Spirit and the bride say, Come.” The Spirit, by whom the Scriptures were given, and by whose inspiration holy men of old spoke, says by prophets and apostles: “Come”; “Hear, and your soul shall live”; “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon”; “Repent, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out”. The Spirit concurs with these invitations by His gracious influences on the heart.
“And the bride says, Come.” That is, the Church, who is called in this book the Lamb’s wife. She is espoused as a chaste virgin unto Christ. She joins with the Spirit in these gracious invitations. To the Church are committed the oracles of God, and the ministers of the churches are sent forth as heralds to proclaim to men the Redeemer’s boundless compassion and infinite readiness to receive returning sinners.
“And let him that heareth say, Come.” Let everyone who hears the voice of Christ in the gospel, and obeys it, echo back the voice of sovereign mercy and invite others to share with him in the unsearchable riches of Christ, saying, Come, my fellow sinners, do not be faithless any longer, but believing; accept the blessings of salvation and rejoice in the manifestations of the Saviour’s love. From experience I can assure you that these blessings are as freely bestowed as they are freely offered.
“And let him that is athirst come.” He who is hungering and thirsting after righteousness, he who is labouring and heavy laden, he who is ardently longing after happiness but cannot find it in the broken and empty cisterns of creature comforts, let him come to Jesus and he shall have all his needs supplied and the desires of his heart completely satisfied.
“And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely.” Lest some should think themselves excluded by the former invitation, lest any poor convinced sinner should suppose that he was not the person whose soul was properly athirst for the blessings of salvation, it is here extended so as to take in every case and to silence every objection which unbelief – fruitful in apologies for itself – can possibly suggest. Whosoever will – whatever his former character may have been, however great his present guilt and unworthiness are – let him take the water of life freely.
I propose now (1) to point out some of the blessings we are invited to receive; (2) to explain the extent of the invitation and, particularly, to show the absolute freeness with which these blessings are bestowed on all who are willing to receive them.
1. Some of the blessings we are invited to receive.
Gospel blessings are spoken of in the text under the comprehensive term, “the water of life”. “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Water is a very common metaphor the writers of the Bible use when speaking of the blessings of salvation. “When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places, and streams in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.” “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters.”
Similarly, when describing these blessings “in the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink”. So also He addresses the woman of Samaria: “If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give Me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water. . . . Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give shall be in him a well of water, springing up into everlasting life.”
No blessing is more necessary than water to sustain life; usually nothing is less valued. Yet there is nothing that we feel sooner than the lack of water. In the warm regions of Judea, where water was often difficult to find, the metaphor must have had peculiar force. But whether people are conscious of it or not, we are sure that water is no more necessary for our bodies than the blessings of the gospel are for our souls. The gospel is truly living water, more refreshing to the weary soul than the cooling drink to the traveller parched with thirst. Its blessings are exactly suited to the needs of poor, guilty sinners. To show how necessary and important these blessings are, I shall now mention a few of them.
(1.) The pardon of sin.
I mention this first, not only because it is a blessing of inestimable value, but because it lies at the foundation of all the others and is indispensably necessary to enjoying true, solid happiness. While the guilt of unpardoned sin lies on the conscience, nothing can ease the troubled mind. To abide under the wrath of the Almighty, to be continually exposed to the just, everlasting displeasure of Him who made us, must appear inexpressibly awful to everyone who reflects on the matter. Like the handwriting which appeared to Belshazzar at his feast, it must embitter all the pleasures of life, and make trembling and astonishment seize the sinner. But “blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven, and whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity.”
This is the blessedness which the gospel reveals, of which we are so freely invited to partake. The gospel lays a solid foundation for enjoying this blessedness. It reveals God as reconciled by the death of His Son. It assures us of this peace-inspiring truth: “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses”. It assures us that “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”, and “the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin”. How comforting this is to the awakened sinner! To be assured from the Word of God that there is forgiveness with Him; that every obstruction is removed out of the way of our reconciliation to God; that though our sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow through the blood of His dear Son; that though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
Come then, you labouring, heavy-laden sinners, to Jesus the Saviour for this inestimable blessing. He invites you to partake of it, without money and without price. He Himself has paid the ransom. Nor can anything prevent you enjoying this unspeakably precious blessing but an obstinate rejection of His rich redeeming mercy. To every penitent, believing sinner He addresses these comforting words, Be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee.
(2.) The sanctification of our corrupted nature.
Not only has sin brought guilt on the conscience and exposed us to the eternal wrath of God, but it has also weakened all the powers of our souls and rendered us the miserable slaves of our own headstrong passions. No captivity is so disgraceful as the bondage of sin; no pollution so loathsome as that which defiles the conscience. There can be no true enjoyment under a sense of unpardoned guilt, as long as sin retains its dominion in the soul and the enslaved sinner is led captive by the devil at his will. Thus the salvation which the gospel offers is a complete salvation. It includes deliverance from the power and pollution of sin, as well as from its guilt and punishment. It is designed to make us holy as well as happy – to make us holy in order that we may be happy. It is impossible to conceive of any degree of permanent happiness, if there is no inward purity; nor does the gospel in the least sanction any joy that has a tendency to relax our obligation to holiness.
Come then, you who are weary and heavy-laden sinners, who are groaning under the bondage of corruption, the gospel brings you a glorious deliverance. It is admirably fitted to purify and ennoble your souls, to elevate them above the grovelling pleasures of sin and exalt them to higher and more dignified pursuits. Jesus invites you to aspire after more sublime objects than any which this world can bestow. He is able to heal all the diseases of your nature. He can cure you of your pride, sensuality, covetousness and earthy-mindedness. He can subdue the most powerful corruptions of the human heart, overcome the most deep-rooted habits, and implant the graces of His Spirit in souls where sin and Satan ruled before with uncontrolled dominion. Only commit your souls to His gracious government and the guidance of His Spirit, and you shall experience His all-conquering power.
(3.) Access to God and communion with Him in His ordinances.
Only those who have tasted its sweetness can know the value of this blessing. The joys of a pious mind are pure and satisfying. When away from the world, when no eye rests on him but God’s, the Christian holds fellowship with Him. The Christian reads in Scripture, with astonishment and delight, the counsels of heaven about the salvation of guilty, perishing man; the exceeding great and precious promises which God has given him; and the love and gratitude that this kindness demands in return. Then his thoughts take a wider range, and he meditates on the boundless variety of objects that nature, providence and grace present to his mind; he pours out his soul in the humble confidence of faith, and spreads before his heavenly Father his needs and cares, sins and sorrows, fears and hopes and joys.
What inexpressible satisfaction then diffuses through his soul, and with what pity and contempt does he look down on the low, sordid pleasures of ungodly men; in comparison with those he now enjoys, they are like the crackling of thorns under a pot. Or when he mingles with his fellow saints in the house of God and joins in solemn acts of worship, when with meekness he receives the engrafted word of truth, when he offers up with the congregation fervent, united prayer or lifts his voice in praises to God his Father, or when with a few Christian friends he talks of the things which belong to their peace till their hearts burn within them, or when in a more public and solemn manner he holds communion with his Saviour and the faithful in the Lord’s Supper – he then experiences a pleasure which strangers do not know, which is often joy unspeakable and full of glory.
The gospel invites you to enjoy all this happiness. It removes the distance which sin has made between a pure, holy God and a guilty, polluted soul. By the blood of Christ, the gospel brings near those who were far off. It gives them access to the holiest of all, and opens a way, not only to the altar of God, but unto God as their exceeding joy. Being justified by faith, they have peace with God through their Lord Jesus Christ, by whom they have access by faith into this grace wherein they stand. Come then, you who spend money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which does not satisfy. Hearken diligently to Christ and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
(4.) Victory over death and the sure hope of eternal life.
Whatever pleasures worldly men may boast of, none of them reach beyond the grave. Death puts an end to all their schemes and pursuits, their hopes and joys. To say the least, they have only a dreary prospect, a vast unknown future. Therefore those who are strangers to religion try to banish the thought of death as much as possible from their minds. By means of work and pleasure, they usually succeed in keeping themselves tolerably secure, except in a time of sickness and danger, when in spite of their best endeavours, the prospect of this terrible messenger often causes the most dreadful fears.
But the gospel delivers from the fear of death. It destroys this bane of human happiness, not by banishing thoughts of it from the mind, but by opening up such prospects beyond it as completely change its nature and make it desirable. The gospel brings life and immortality to light. It assures us that Christ, by dying and rising again, has destroyed death and him that had the power of death. It discloses unutterable joys beyond the grave, in that blessed world to which, in due time, He will bring all His faithful followers. It teaches believers to consider death as the entrance into life eternal and, though the path may be gloomy, it will lead them to the regions of everlasting day. Though the passage may be stormy, it will infallibly bring them safely to the peaceful shore of Immanuel’s happy land.
Come then and embrace this blessed gospel, which shows us such bright prospects. Trust in this almighty Saviour, who has conquered death and secured victory to all who believe in Him. If you trust, He will receive your soul at death into His own blissful presence, and in the resurrection morning, even this vile body which must soon become the food of worms shall be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working of that mighty power, whereby He is able to subdue all things unto Himself. “Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
2. The extent of the invitation and, particularly, its absolute freeness.
The extent of the invitation is expressed in these words: “Whosoever will”. This gives encouragement to every returning sinner who feels his need of mercy and is willing to receive the blessings of salvation, whatever his former character, or however numerous and aggravated his offences in the sight of God. No one is excluded from the blessings of salvation but those who exclude themselves. The water of life is freely bestowed on everyone who is willing to receive it.
This is a precious, most comforting truth. It is the glory of the Christian scheme, the hope of sinners, and the song of the redeemed before the throne. It is the uniform doctrine of the Scriptures and is particularly conspicuous in the New Testament. The Lord often spoke about it. He taught that the Jew and the Greek, the poor and the rich, the decent and the profligate must be accepted in the same way. Many Jews, because of their special privileges, “trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others”. He told them plainly: “Verily I say unto you, that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you” (Mt 21:31).
On another occasion, He solemnly assured the people that “they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God,” while the children of the kingdom are thrust out. When He was in the house of Simon the Pharisee, a woman that was a sinner came in and began to wash His feet with her tears and to wipe them with the hairs of her head. Instead of reproving her or forbidding her to approach, He encouraged and comforted her by declaring that her sins, which were many, were forgiven. At the same time He told the proud Pharisee that, because much had been forgiven her, she loved much. So remarkable was the Lord’s conduct that His enemies reproachfully called Him the Friend of publicans and sinners. Nor did the merciful Saviour disdain the name. “They that are whole”, He said, “need not a physician, but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
How often we find Him, during His public ministry, inviting sinners of every description to come to Him for the blessings of salvation! “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” “If any man thirst, let Him come unto Me and drink.” And to encourage all, He declares that none who come to Him shall be rejected: “Him that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out” – that is, on no account whatever, even if his sins are ever so numerous or aggravated. Indeed we find Him, with the tenderest pity, complaining of sinners being unwilling to come to Him: “Ye will not come to Me that ye might have life.” “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not.”
Such was the compassion of the great and gracious Redeemer that He laid down His life on a cross as a ransom for many, declaring with His dying breath, “It is finished”; and displaying, in the midst of the greatest sufferings, the boundless extent of His grace, by extending mercy to a penitent thief who was crucified along with Him, and praying for His murderers in these astonishing words: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”.
When the Lord Jesus rose again from the dead, He revealed still more plainly the nature of His kingdom, and the extent of the salvation He had procured by His obedience unto death. He did so by commissioning His apostles to teach and baptize all nations, and to preach the gospel to every creature. Accordingly, we find the apostles, after the ascension of their Lord and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, publishing the glad tidings of salvation in the name of Jesus. They declared to all who heard them that those who believe in Him are justified from all things.
Everyone who is tolerably acquainted with the apostles’ writings, particularly the Epistles of Paul, and who reads them with any degree of freedom from prejudice, must be conscious that the apostles taught, like their great Master, the doctrine of free grace. How fully and clearly Paul explains this doctrine in his Epistles to the Romans and Galatians! He lays it down as an undeniable truth that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” and that, in consequence, the whole world has become guilty before God, so that “there is none righteous, no not one”. From this he draws the evident conclusion that, by the deeds of the law – that is, by our own works or performances of any kind – no flesh living can be justified in God’s sight.
Having shut up all hope from any other quarter, Paul unfolds the gospel method of salvation, in all its grace and glory, its fulness and freeness. He declares that “the righteousness of God . . . is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. . . . To him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. . . . Therefore it is of faith that it might be by grace.” And “if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. But the Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.”
This is the doctrine of free grace, the apostolic gospel, which excludes all boasting, denies any merit or worthiness to the creature, and ascribes the whole of salvation, from first to last, to the sovereign mercy of God and the all-perfect redemption of Jesus Christ. A sure and broad foundation is laid here for the sinner’s hope, suited to every case and able to support him in the utmost extremity. All are invited to receive blessings, and none have any superior claim above their fellow-sinners. And all who receive them receive them in the same way: without money and without price.
Nor is there any danger that this doctrine, so reviving to the mind of the awakened sinner, should open a door to licentiousness, proving unfriendly to morality. Paul foresaw this objection and has answered it. “What then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid! How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein?” The doctrine of grace may be abused by those who do not understand its nature or feel its influence; but when it is properly understood and cordially believed, it must produce the fruits of universal holiness. Though good works are neither the cause nor the condition of our acceptance with God, they are the necessary effects of it.
Salvation is freely bestowed by the grace of God, through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ. But this salvation, it ought to be remembered, includes deliverance from sin as well as from punishment, a disposition to obey the will of God as well as a title to future happiness. To conceal or limit the freeness of the gospel offer, from fear it may be abused, is to presume to be wiser than God. It is unfaithfulness to His testimony to join anything whatever with the righteousness of Christ, as the ground of a sinner’s justification before God. And it is cruelty to the souls of men to prevent them seeing the unsearchable riches of Christ and the boundless extent of His grace. For “this is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save” even the chief of sinners.
I conclude with a full declaration of the freeness of the salvation which the gospel reveals. “The Spirit and the bride say, Come; and let him that heareth say, Come; and let him that is athirst come.” Listen, you who are “stout-hearted and rebellious, that are far from righteousness”; listen, aged and young sinners; listen, proud self-righteous Pharisees who vainly compass yourselves about with sparks that you have kindled yourselves, and you open transgressors who proclaim your sins as Sodom and your wickedness as Gomorrah: unto you is the word of this salvation sent – to every one of you without exception, of every character. “Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely.” There is salvation in Christ for the very chief of sinners, and there is salvation in no one else. “He that believeth . . . shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” Submit to the righteousness of God. Believe His threatenings. Believe His promises. Take refuge from the wrath to come under the covert of the Redeemer’s wings.
And you who know the grace of “building up yourselves in your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life”.