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T H E By J O H N.B U N Y A N. "And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."–Revelation 22:17 L O N D O N, Printed for Nathanael Ponder, at the Peacock in the Poultry, 1688. Published the year John Bunyan died. |
[THE NATURE AND QUALITY OF THIS WATER.]
OURTH.] But I leave this, and proceed to the fourth and last thing,
namely, to the nature and quality of this water. It is said to be pure and clear;
pure and clear as crystal. "And he showed me a pure river of water of life,
clear as crystal." I know that there is a two-fold quality in a thing, one with
respect to it's nature, and the other with respect to it's operation. The first of
these is inherent, and remaineth in the subject being as such, and so for the most
part useless. The other is put forth then when it meeteth with fit matter on which
it may freely work. As to instance aquae vitae, the very metaphor here made use of,
hath a quality inherent in it, but keep it stopped up in a bottle, and then who will
may faint notwithstanding; but apply it, apply it fitly, and to such as have need
thereof, and then you may see it's quality by the operation. This water, or river
of grace, is called, I say, the water of life, and so, consequently, has a most blessed
inherent quality; but it's operation is seen by it's working, the which it doth only
then when it is administered and received for those ends for which it is administered.
For then it revives where life is, and gives life where it is not. And thus far,
in the general, have we spoken to it already. We will, therefore, in this place more
particularly, though briefly, speak a few words unto it.
[The operative quality of this water.]
FIRST. Then this water of life is the very groundwork of life in us, though not the
groundwork of life for us. The groundwork of life for us is the passion and merits
of Christ, this is that for the sake of which grace is given unto us, as it is intimated
by the text; it proceeds from the throne of God, who is Christ. Christ then having
obtained grace for us, must needs be precedent, as to his merit, to that grace he
hath so obtained. Besides, it is clear that the Spirit and grace come from God through
him; therefore, as to the communications of grace to us, it is the fruit of his merit
and purchase. But, I say, in us grace is the groundwork of life; for though we may
be said before to live virtually in the person of Christ before God, yet we are dead
in ourselves, and so must be until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high; for
the Spirit is life, and it's graces are life, and when that is infused by God from
the throne, then we live, and not till then. And hence it is called, as before, living
water, the water of life springing up in us to everlasting life. The Spirit, then,
and graces of the Spirit, which is the river here spoken of, is that, and that only,
which can cause us to live; that being life to the soul, as the soul is life to the
body. All men, therefore, as was said before, though elect, though purchased by the
blood of Christ, are dead, and must be dead, until the Spirit of life from God and
his throne shall enter into them; until they shall drink it in by vehement thirst,
as the parched ground drinks in the rain.[14]
Now when this living water is received, it takes up it's seat in the heart, whence
it spreads itself to the awakening of all the powers of the soul. For, as in the
first creation, the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters, in order to
putting of that creature into that excellent fashion and harmony which now we behold
with our eyes; even so the new creation, to wit, the making of us new to God, is
done by the overspreading of the same Spirit also. For the Spirit, as I may so say,
sitteth and broodeth upon the powers of the soul, as the hen doth on cold eggs, till
they wax warm and receive life. The Spirit, then, warmeth us, and bringeth the dead
and benumbed soul—for so it is before conversion— to a godly sense and understanding
of states, of states both natural and spiritual; and this is the beginning of the
work of the Spirit, by which the soul is made capable of understanding what God and
himself is.
And this drinking in of the Spirit is rather as the ground drinks in rain, than as
a rational soul does through sense of the want thereof.
The Spirit also garnisheth the soul with such things as are proper for it, to the
making of it live that life that by the Word of God is called for.
It implanteth light, repentance, faith, fear, love, desires after God, hope, sincerity,
and what else is necessary for the making the man a saint; these things, I say, are
the fruits and effects of this Spirit which, as a river of water of life, proceedeth
forth of the throne of God and of the Lamb. Hence the Spirit is called the Spirit
of faith, the Spirit of love, and the Spirit of a sound mind; for that the Spirit
is the root and original of all these things, by his operations in, and upon, the
face of the soul (2 Cor 4:13; Gal 5:22; 2 Tim 1:7).
But, again, as this living water, this Spirit and the grace thereof, doth thus, so
it also maintains these things once planted in the soul, by it's continual waterings
of them in the soul. Hence he saith, "I will water it every moment"; water
IT—his vineyard, the soul of the church, the graces of the church; and so the soul
and graces of every godly man (Isa 27:3).
And because it so happeneth sometimes, that some of those things wherewith the Holy
Ghost has beautified the soul may languish to a being, if not quite dead, yet "ready
to die" (Rev 3:2), therefore he doth not only refresh and water our souls, but
renews the face thereof, by either quickening to life that which remains, or by supplying
of us with that which is new, to our godly perseverance and everlasting life. Thus
"thou visitest the earth, and waterest it; thou greatly enrichest it with the
river of God" (Psa 65:9).
For this must be remembered, that as the herb that is planted, or seed sown, needs
watering with continual showers of the mountains, so our graces, implanted in us
by the Spirit of grace, must also be watered by the rain of heaven. "Thou waterest
the ridges thereof abundantly: thou settlest the furrows thereof: thou makes it soft
with showers: thou blessest the springing thereof" (Psa 65:10). Hence he says
that our graces shall grow. But how? "I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall
grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread,
and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon. They that dwell
under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine:
the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon" (Hosea 14:5- 7). Or, as he
saith in another place, "The Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy
thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden,
and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not" (Isa 58:11).
There is, besides this, another blessing that comes to us by this living water, and
that is, the blessing of communion. All the warmth that we have in our communion,
it is the warmth of the Spirit: when a company of saints are gathered together in
the name of Christ, to perform any spiritual exercise, and their souls be edified,
warmed, and made glad therein, it is because this water, this river of water of life,
has, in some of the streams thereof, run into that assembly (Jer 31:12,13). Then
are Christians like those that drink wine in bowls, merry and glad; for that they
have drank into the Spirit, and had their souls refreshed with the sweet gales and
strong wine thereof. This is the feast that Isaiah speaks of, when he saith, "In
this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things,
a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees
well refined" (Isa 25:6). This is called in another place, "the communion
of the Holy Ghost" (2 Cor 13:14). Now he warmeth spirits, uniteth spirits, enlighteneth
spirits; revives, cherisheth, quickeneth, strengtheneth graces; renews assurances,
brings old comforts to mind, weakens lusts, emboldeneth and raiseth a spirit of faith,
of love, of hope, of prayer, and makes the Word a blessing, conference a blessing,
meditation a blessing, and duty very delightful to the soul. Without this water of
life, communion is weak, flat, cold, dead, fruitless, lifeless; there is nothing
seen, felt, heard, or understood in a spiritual and heart-quickening way. Now ordinances
are burdensome, sins strong, faith weak, hearts hard, and the faces of our souls
dry, like the dry and parched ground.
This drink also revives us when tempted, when sick, when persecuted, when in the
dark, and when we faint for thirst. The life of religion is this water of life: where
that runs, where that is received, and where things are done in this spirit, there
all things are well; the church thrifty, the soul thrifty, graces thrifty, and all
is well. And this hint I thought convenient to be given of this precious water of
life, that is, with reference to the operative quality of it.
[The other qualities of this water.]
SECOND. I shall come, in the next place, to speak of it, as to the other descriptions
which John doth give us of it. He says it is, First, pure; Second, clear; Third,
clear to a comparison: "And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear
as crystal."
[First. The purity of this water.]
1. You read here that this water of life is PURE, that is, alone without mixture,
for so sometimes that word PURE is to be understood. As where it saith, pure, "pure
olive oil" (Exo 27:20). "Pure frankincense" (Exo 30:34). "Pure
gold" (Exo 25:11,17). "Pure blood of the grape" (Deut 32:14), and
the like. So then, when he saith, "he showed me a pure river of water of life,"
it is as if he had said he showed me a river of water that was all living, all life,
and had nothing in it but life. There was no death, or deadness, or flatness in it;
or, as he saith a little after, "and there shall be no more curse." A pure
river. There is not so much as a grudge, or a piece of an upbraiding speech found
therein. There is in it nothing but heart, nothing but love, nothing but grace, nothing
but life. "The gifts and calling of God are without repentance" (Rom 11:29).
2. PURE is sometimes set in opposition to show or appearance; as where he says, "the
stars are not pure" (Job 25:5). That is, not so without mixture of darkness,
as they seem to be: so again, "If thou wert pure and upright" (Job 8:6):
that is, as thou seemest to be, or as thou wouldst have us believe thou art.
Now, take pure in this sense here, and then the meaning is, it is grace without deceit,
without guile; it's show and it's substance are the same; it has nothing but substance
in it; it is indeed what it seems to be in bulk; it is a river in show and a river
indeed. It comes from God and from his throne in appearance, and really it comes
from his very heart.
The great fear of the tempted is, that there is not so much grace in God, and that
he is not so free of it as some scriptures seem to import. But this word PURE is
levelled against such objections and objectors, for the destroying of their doubts,
and the relieving of their souls. There is no fraud, nor guile, nor fable in the
business; for though God is pleased to present us with his grace under the notion
of a river, it is not to delude our fancies thereby; but to give us some small illustration
of the exceeding riches of his grace, which as far, for quantity, outstrips the biggest
rivers, as the most mighty mountain doth the least ant's egg or atom in the world.
3. But, again, this word PURE is set in opposition to that which is hurtful and destructive:
"I am pure from the blood of all men," that is, I have hurt nobody (Acts
20:26). "The wisdom that is from above is first pure," it is not hurtful
(James 3:17). Do you count them pure with the wicked balances? how can that be, since
they are hurtful? (Micah 6:11).
Now take PURE in this sense here, and then it intimates, that the grace of God, and
the doctrine of grace, is not a hurtful thing. It is not as wine of an intoxicating
nature. If a man be filled with it, it will do him no harm (Eph 5:18). The best of
the things that are of this world are some way hurtful. Honey is hurtful (Prov 25:16,27).
Wine is hurtful (Prov 20:1). Silver and gold are hurtful, but grace is not hurtful
(1 Tim 6:10). Never did man yet catch harm by the enjoyment and fulness of the grace
of God. There is no fear of excess or of surfeiting here. Grace makes no man proud,
no man wanton, no man haughty, no man careless or negligent as to his duty that is
incumbent upon him, either from God or man: no, grace keeps a man low in his own
eyes, humble, self-denying, penitent, watchful, savoury in good things, charitable,
and makes him kindly affectionated to the brethren, pitiful and courteous to all
men.
True, there are men in the world that abuse the grace of God, as some are said to
turn it into wantonness and into lasciviousness (Jude 4). But this is, not because
grace has any such tendency, or for that it worketh any such effect; but because
such men are themselves empty of grace, and have only done as death and hell hath
done with wisdom, "heard the fame thereof with their ears" (Job 28:22).
It is a dangerous thing for a man to have the notions of grace, while his heart is
void of the spirit and holy principles of grace; for such a man can do no other than
abuse the grace of God. Alas, what can be expected of him that has nothing in him
to teach him to manage that knowledge of grace which he has, but his flesh, his lusts,
and lustful passions? Can these teach him to manage his knowledge well? Will they
not rather put him upon all tricks, evasions, irreligious consequences and conclusions,
such as will serve to cherish sin? What Judas did with Christ, that a graceless man
will do with grace, even make it a stalking horse to his fleshly and vile designs;
and rather than fail betray both it, and the profession of it, to the greatest enemies
it has in the world.
And here I may say, though grace is pure, and not hurtful at all, yet one altogether
carnal, sinful, and graceless, having to do with the doctrine of it, by the force
of his lusts which tamper with it, he will unavoidably bring himself into the highest
ruin thereby. An unwary man may destroy himself by the best of things, not because
there is in such things an aptness to destroy, but because of the abuse and misuse
of them. Some know the way of life, the water of life, by knowledge that is naked
and speculative only; and it had been better for such if they had not known, than
to know and turn from what they know; than to know, and make the knowledge subservient
to their lusts (2 Peter 2:20-22). Some receive the rain of God, and the droppings
of his clouds, because they continually sit under the means of his grace. But, alas!
they receive it as stones receive showers, or as dunghills receive the rain; they
either abide as hard stones still, or else return nothing to heaven for his mercy,
but as the dunghills do, a company of stinking fumes. These are they that drink in
the rain that comes often upon them, and that instead of bringing forth herbs meet
for the dresser, bring forth briers and thorns; and these are they who are nigh unto
cursing, whose end is to be burned (Heb 6:7,8).
By this word PURE I understand sometimes the chiefest good, the highest good. There
are many things that may be called good, but none of them are good as grace is good.
All things indeed are pure, that is, all creatures in themselves are good and serviceable
to man, but they are not so good as grace (Rom 14:20; Gen 1:31). "There is a
generation that are pure," that are good in their own eyes (Prov 30:12). There
are good men, good consciences, good works, good days, good angels, &c., but
none so good as grace, for it is grace that has made them so. Grace, this water of
life, therefore is good, superlatively good, good in the highest degree, for that
it makes all things good, and preserveth them good. And whatever it be that this
water of life washeth not, it is soil, and given to the curse, as the prophet intimates
where he saith, "But the miry places thereof, and the marshes thereof, shall
not be healed; they shall be given to salt" (Eze 47:1).
But who understands this, who believes it? Its goodness is kept close from the fowls
of the air. Men, most men, are ignorant of the goodness of it, nor do they care to
inquire after the enjoyment of this pure, this good water of life. The reason is,
because though it is good in itself, good in the highest degree, and that which makes
all things good, yet it is not such a good as is suited to a carnal appetite. There
is good; and there is suitable good. Now suitable good is of two sorts: either such
as is spiritual, or such as is temporal. That which is spiritual, is desired only
of them that are spiritual; for temporal good will satisfy a carnal mind. Now grace
is a spiritual good; this river of grace is the goodness of spiritual good. It is
the original life of all the grace in our souls. No marvel, then, if it be so little
set by of those that are carnally minded. They will serve a horse, and mire will
serve a sow; so things of this life suit best with the men of this world; for their
appetite is gross and carnal, and they savour not the things that be of the Spirit
of God. "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God,"
the things that be of this river of God; "for they are foolishness unto him:
neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Cor 2:14).
This is the river of OIL which the prophet speaks of, the river of SPIRIT. Were it
a river of gold and silver, there would be old fishing on the banks thereof. But
it is a river that runs "like oil, saith the Lord God" (Eze 32:14). This
rock pours us out "rivers of oil" (Job 29:6)—"fresh oil" (Psa
92:10)—"soft oil" (Psa 55:21)—"the oil of joy" (Isa 61:3)—"the
oil of gladness" (Psa 45:7)—oil to anoint the head withal (Eccl 9:8)—oil to
make the face to shine (Psa 104:15)—oil by which thou wilt be made able to honour
both God and man in some good measure as becomes thee (Judg 9:9).
I might have enlarged upon this head, and have showed you many more particulars wherein
this term of pure might serve for the better setting forth of the excellency of this
water of life, but I shall proceed no further upon this, but will come to that which
remains.
[Second. The clearness of this water of life.]
As this river of water of life is said to be pure, so it is said to be CLEAR. "He
shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear." This term has also it's particular
signification, and, therefore, ought to be heeded.
1. CLEAR is set in opposition to dark; therefore some are said to be "clear
as the sun" (Cant 6:10). And again, "the light shall not be clear nor dark"
(Zech 14:6). In both these places, clear is to be taken for light, daylight, sunlight;
for, indeed, it is never day nor sunshine with the soul, until the streams of this
river of water of life come gliding to our doors, into our houses, into our hearts.
Hence the beginning of conversion is called illumination (Heb 10:32). Yea, the coming
of this river of water of life unto us is called the day-spring from on high, through
the tender mercy of our God (Luke 1:78). It is also called the dawning of the day
(2 Peter 1:19). And hence, again, these men unto whom this river of water of life
comes not, are said to be dark, darkness. "Ye were sometimes darkness, but now
are ye light in the Lord" (Eph 5:8). Wherefore, this water is like Jonathan's
honey; it hath a faculty to open the eyes, to make them that sit in darkness see
a great light (1 Sam 14:27; Matt 4:16). The light of the knowledge of the glory of
God in the faith of Jesus Christ; "God, who commanded the light to shine out
of darkness, hath shined in our hearts to give the light"; the Spirit that enlighteneth
and giveth the light, "of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ" (2 Cor 4:6). This river casteth beams where it goes, like the beams
of the sun; it shines, it casts out rays of glory unto those that drink thereof.
The streams of this grace were they that overtook Saul when he was going to Damascus;
they were the waters of this flood that compassed him round about. And if you will
believe him, he saith this light from heaven was a great light, a light above the
brightness of the sun, a light that did by the glory of it make dark to him all the
things in the world (Acts 9:3, 22:6, 26:13).
2. CLEAR is set in opposition to that which is not pleasing. For to be clear is to
be pleasant. Hence it is said, "truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing
it is for the eyes to behold the sun" (Eccl 11:7). I read of rivers that looked
red as blood, that stank like the blood of a dead man, but this is no such river
(Exo 7:19,20; 2 Kings 3:22,23). I read of rivers whose streams are like streams of
brimstone, fiery streams, streams of burning pitch, but this is none of them (Isa
30:27-33; David 7:9-11; Isa 34:9). "There is a river" besides all these,
clear and pleasant, "the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God"
(Psa 46:4).
There are the waters that the doves love to sit by, because by the clearness of these
streams they can see their pretty selves, as in a glass (Cant 5:12).
These are the streams where the doves wash their eyes, and by which they solace themselves,
and take great content. These streams are instead, as I said, of a looking-glass;
their clearness presents us with an opportunity of seeing our own features. As in
fair waters a man may see the body of the sun, and of the moon, and of the stars,
and the very body of heaven; so he that stands upon the bank of this river, and that
washeth his eyes with this water, may see the Son of God, the stars of God, the glory
of God, and the habitation that God has prepared for his people. And are not these
pleasant sights? is not this excellent water? has not this river pleasant streams?
3. CLEAR is set in opposition to dirty water and muddiness. I read of some waters
that are fouled with the feet of beasts, and with the feet of men, yea, and deep
waters too. Yea, saith God to some, ye "have drunk of the deep waters,"
and have fouled "the residue with your feet"; and again, "As for my
flock, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet, and they drink that which
ye have fouled with your feet" (Eze 34:18,19). These waters are doctrines contained
in the text, muddied and dirtied by the false glosses and sluttish opinions of erroneous
judgments, of which the poor sheep have been made to drink. And, verily, this is
apparent enough by the very colour and hue of those poor souls; for though the truth
of God was in them, yet the very stain of tradition and superstition might be also
seen in their scales. For as the fish of the river receive, by being there, the changeable
colours of the waters, so professors, what doctrine they hear and drink, do look
like that. If their doctrines are muddy, their notions are muddy; if their doctrines
are bloody, their notions and tempers are bloody: but if their doctrines are clear,
so are their notions, for their doctrine has given them a clear understanding of
things.[15]
Now, here we have a river of water of life that is clear— clear without dirt and
mud—clear without the human inventions and muddy conceptions of unsanctified and
uninstructed judgments; yea, here you have a river the streams whereof lie open to
all in the church, so that they need not those instruments of conveyance that are
foul, and that use to make water stink, if they receive it to bring it to them that
have need.
4. By clear we sometimes understand purgation; or that a thing has purged itself,
or is purged from those soils and imputations of evil wherewith sometimes they have
been charged. "Then thou shalt be clear from this my oath"; or, "How
shall we clear ourselves?" (Gen 24:8-14, 44:16). Something of this sense may
be in the text; for if men are not afraid to charge God with folly, which is intimated
by "that thou mightest be clear when thou judgest" (Psa 51:4), will they,
think you, be afraid to impute evil to his Word, and grace, and Spirit? No, verily;
they are bold enough at this work. Nay, more than this, even from the foundation
of the world, men have cast slanders upon, and imputed based things into the blessed
grace of the gospel. But not to look so far back. Paul was one of the pipes through
which God conveyed this grace to the world; and what was he counted for his so doing,
but "a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition - throughout the world"
(Acts 24:5,6). But, behold, no imputation can stick on the grace of God—not stick
long; for that, like honey, will purge itself of what filth is put upon it, and of
all bad imputations of evil men's springs, and rivers are of a self-purging quality.
Now, here we have to do with a river—a river of water of life; but a river more slandered
than ever did Naaman the Syrian slander the waters of Israel in preferring those
of Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, beyond them (2 Kings 5:10-12). But behold
now, at last, when all the world have done what they can, and cast what reproaches
and slanders upon it they are able, it is a river pure and clear. It has purged itself
before kings—it has purged itself before princes and judges, and all the Naamans
in the world; it is still a river—a river of water of life—a river of water of life
CLEAR.
5. By clear we sometimes understand purity manifest, or innocency and goodness made
known. "In all things ye have approved yourselves to be CLEAR in this matter"
(2 Cor 7:11). That is, you have made it appear, and stand upon your justification,
and are willing to be searched and sounded to the bottom by those that have a desire
to undertake that work. So this river of water of life in the fountain, and in the
streams thereof, offer themselves to the consideration and conscience of all men.
To this end how often doth God, the head of this river, and he out of whose throne
it proceeds, call upon men to challenge him, if they can, with any evil or misdoing
towards them, either by presence or doctrine; hence he says, "Put me in remembrance;
let us plead together; declare thou," if thou canst, "that thou mayest
be justified," and I condemned (Isa 43:26). So again: "What iniquity have
your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity,
and are become vain?" (Jer 2:5). So Christ: "Which of you convinceth me
of sin?" (John 8:46). And "If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil"
(John 18:23). So Paul: We "have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not
walking in craftiness, nor handling the Word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation
of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God"
(2 Cor 4:2). All these sentences are chiefly to be applied to doctrine, and so are,
as it were, an offer to any, if they can, to find a speck, or a spot, or a wrinkle,
or any such thing in this river of water of life.
Some men fly from it as from a bear; and some are afraid to drink of it, for fear
it should be poison unto them. Some, again, dare not take it because it is not mixed,
and as they, poor souls, imagine, qualified and made toothsome by a little of that
which is called the wisdom of this world. Thus one shucks,[16] another shrinks, and
another will none of God. Meanwhile, whoso shall please to look into this river shall
find it harmless and clear; yea, offering itself to the consciences of all men to
make trial if it be not the only chief good, the only necessary waters, the only
profitable, for the health of the soul, of all the things that are in the world,
and as clear of mischief as is the sun of spots.
[Third.—this river is clear to the most perfect comparison.]
As John saw this river pure and clear, so he saw it clear to a comparison. Clear
to the best of comparisons, clear as crystal. Crystal is a very clear stone, as clear
as the clearest glass, if not clearer; one may see far into it, yea, through it;
it is without those spots, and streaks, and smirches that are in other precious stones.
Wherefore, when he saith that this river is clear as crystal, it is as if God should
say, Look, sinners, look to the bottom of these my crystal streams. I have heard
of some seas that are so pure and clear, that a man may see to the bottom though
they may be forty feet deep. I know this river of water of life is a deep river;
but though it is said to be deep, it is not said we can see no bottom. Indeed, as
to the wideness of it, it is said to be such as that it cannot be passed over; but
I say, it is nowhere said that we cannot see to the bottom; nay, the comparison implies
that a man with good eyes may see to the bottom. It is clear, as clear as crystal.
So, then, we will a little look down to the bottom, and see, through these crystal
streams, what is at the bottom of all.
1. Then the bottom of all is, "That we might be saved" (John 5:34). "These
things I say," saith Christ, "that ye might be saved"; and, again,
"I am come that you might have life, and that you might have it more abundantly"
(John 10:10). This is the bottom of this great river of water of life, and of it's
proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb: it is that we might be saved;
it is that we might live. What a good bottom is here! what a sound bottom is here!
But few deep rivers have a good bottom. Mud is at the bottom of most waters in the
world; even the sea itself, when it worketh, casts up mire and dirt, and so do the
hearts of sinners; but the bottom of this grace of God, and of the Spirit and Word
thereof, is that we might be saved, consequently a very good bottom.
2. As the bottom of all is, "that we may be saved," so that we may be saved
by grace, and this is a bottom sounder and sounder. Our salvation might have been
laid upon a more difficult bottom than this. It might have been laid on our works.
God might have laid it there, and have been just, or he might have left us to have
laid it where we would; and then, to be sure, we had laid it there, and so had made
but a muddy bottom to have gone upon to life. But now, this river of water of life,
it has a better bottom; the water of life is as clear as crystal, look down to the
bottom and see, we are "justified freely by his grace" (Rom 3:24). "By
grace ye are saved," there is the bottom (Eph 2:5,8).
Now, grace, as I have showed you, is a firm bottom to stand on; it is of grace that
life might be sure (Rom 4:16). Surely David was not here, or surely this was not
the river that he spake of when he said, "I sink in deep mire, where there is
no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. Deliver me
out of the mire, and let me not sink" (Psa 69:2,14). I say, to be sure this
could not be the river. No, David was now straggled out of the way, was tumbled into
some pit, or into some muddy and dirty hole; for as for this river it has a good
bottom, a bottom of salvation by grace, and a man needs not cry out when he is here
that he sinks, or that he is in danger of being drowned in mud or mire.
3. The bottom of all is, as I said, that we might be saved, saved by grace, and I
will add, "through the redemption that is in Christ." This is still better
and better. We read that, when Israel came over Jordan, the feet of the priests that
did bear the ark stood on firm ground in the bottom, and that they set up great stones
for a memorial thereof (Josh 3:17, 4:1-3). But had Jordan so good a bottom as has
this most blessed river of water of life, or were the stones that Israel took out
thence like this "tried stone," this "sure foundation?" (Isa
28:16). O the throne! this river comes out of the throne, and we are saved by grace
through the redemption that is in him. We read that there is a city that has foundations;
grace is one, Christ another, and the truth of all the prophets and apostles, as
to their true doctrine, another, &c. (Heb 11:10). And again, all these are the
very bottom of this goodly river of the water of life (Eph 2:19,20).
4. There is another thing to be seen at the bottom of this holy river, and that is,
the glory of God; we are saved, saved by grace, saved by grace through the redemption
that is in Christ to the praise and glory of God. And what a good bottom is here.
Grace will not fail, Christ has been sufficiently tried, and God will not lose his
glory. Therefore they that drink of this river shall doubtless be saved; to wit,
they that drink of it of a spiritual appetite to it. And thus much for the explication
of the text.
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