the river of life, the tree of life (revelation 22:1-2)

This message was preached at New Testament Christian Fellowship in Claremont, NC on July 24, 2022. Its focus is the detailed blueprint of the New Jerusalem, the Lamb’s wife, as unveiled in Revelation 21:10-22:5, particularly the city’s CIVIC AFFAIRS (22:1-5). In the first two verses of this final chapter of Revelation, we look at the EXTERNAL affairs of the New Jerusalem, its municipal administrations that direct outward: a RIVER OF LIFE (22:1), and the TREE OF LIFE (22:2), once a single tree in the the Garden of Eden and now a whole species of tree in abundance in the midst of the Paradise of God. In these verses are found more clues that the New Jerusalem, the Church’s future home, comes down to this present creation in the Millennial Reign of Christ and then transcends into the new heavens and the new earth.

May these patterns and visions of future blessings make us ashamed of our lukewarmness and thereby strengthen our hands in these dark times. For this same scene, a tree planted by a river of water, is used to describe the way of the righteous in Psalm 1. Moreover, the Book of Proverbs likens the tree of life to at least four things that are sorely lacking in Americas churches: wisdom from above, soul-winning, hope fulfilled, and a wholesome tongue.