Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, vols. 13–63

Genesis 2:1-8. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made. These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, and every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. Everything was ready for man's use. Every fruit-bearing tree for his nourishment, every creature to do his bidding, for it was the will of God that he should "have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." God did not place the man formed in His image, after His likeness, in an unfurnished house or an empty world and leave him to provide for himself all that he required, but He prepared everything that man could possibly need, and completed the whole plan by planting "a garden eastward in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed."

9. And 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 also in the midst of the garden, and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.That Tree of Life in the midst of the earthly Paradise was to be symbolic of another Tree of Life in the Paradise above, from which the children of God shall never be driven as Adam and Eve were driven out of Eden.

10-14. And a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasses the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; and the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone. And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasses the whole land of Ethiopia. And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goes toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. That river in Eden also reminds us of the "pure river of Water of Life clear as crystal, proceeding out of the Throne of God and of the Lamb," of which we read almost at the end of the Revelation that was given to John in Patmos. Thus the beginning and the end of the Bible call our attention to the Tree of Life and the river of life in the Paradise below and the better Paradise above.

15. And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it There was to be occupation for man even in Paradise, just as they who are before the Throne of God in Glory "serve Him day and night in His temple." Idleness gives no joy, but holy employment will add to the bliss of Heaven.

16, 17. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden, you may freely eat: but of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die. Apparently Adam was not forbidden to eat of the fruit of the Tree of Life, though, after his fall, he was cast out of Eden, as God said, "lest he put forth his hand and take also of the Tree of Life, and eat and live forever." He might freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden except one—"of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, you shall not eat of it." It was a slight prohibition, yet the test was more than man, even in a state of innocence, was able to endure and, alas, his failure involved all his descendants, for he was the federal head of the human race, and "by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men." Happily, there is another federal Head and, therefore, we read, "For if through the offense of one, many are dead, much more the Grace of God, and the gift by Grace, which is by one Man, Jesus Christ, has abounded unto many."

Revelation 22:1. 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.Rivers partake of the character of the source from which they come. That which proceeds "out of the Throne of God and of the Lamb "may well be "a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal." What but good and perfect gifts can come down from the Throne of God? What but pure streams of mercy can flow from the Throne of the

Lamb?

2. In the middle of its street—For Heaven is a place of sacred and hallowed communion—"In the middle of its street"—

2. And on either side of the river, was the Tree of Life, which bore twelve fruits. Every variety ofjoy and blessedness! 2. And yielded her fruit every month. For the felicities of Heaven are always fresh and always new, we shall never be satiated or wearied with that heavenly fruit!

2. And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.Everything in Heaven is the very best of the best. The leaves of the trees in earthly gardens are blown about by the wind and we take but little note of them. But the leaves of the Tree of Life are "for the healing of the nations." O happy place, where even the leaves on the tree have such virtue in them!

3. And there shall be no more curse. No more thorns or thistles, no more pangs of child-bearing, no more sickness, or sorrow, or death.

3. But the Throne of God and of the Lamb [See Sermon #1576, Volume 27—THE THRONE OF GOD AND OF THE LAMB.] shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him/They shall have nothing else to do, and it shall be their supreme delight to serve Him perfectly and unceasingly.

4. And they shall see His face.[See Sermon #824, Volume 14—THE HEAVEN OF HEAVEN.] Not through a glass darkly, but face to face shall they behold their God! Surely that will be the very Heaven of Heaven!

4. And His name shall be on their foreheads. Aaron was to wear upon his forehead a plate of pure gold, with HOLINESS TO THE LORD engraved upon it, that the children of Israel might be accepted before the Lord. But the saints in Glory are to have the name of their God "on their foreheads." In the very forefront of their glorified personalities there shall be the marks to declare that they are the children of God!

5. And there shall be no night there. The saints in Glory will have no need of sleep, so "there shall be no night there," but one perpetual day of holy, unwearying service. There shall be no night of ignorance, of sorrow, of sin, of death—there shall be no powers of darkness there, and no darkness in which they might work their evil deeds.

5. And they shall need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God gives them light Directly and distinctly, without using any means, by His own immediate Presence, "the Lord God gives them light"—

5. And they shall reign forever and ever. Earthly kings die, or their empires on earth are taken from them. But as for us whom God has chosen, by His Grace, our Kingdom is like that of our Lord and Savior—it is an everlasting Kingdom!

"They shall reign forever and ever." I wonder that some wise man does not try to prove that this means that the saints shall reign only for a short time! They have whittled "everlasting punishment" down to next to nothing—why do they not try to reduce the duration of Heavenly bliss in the same way? The same words are used concerning the one as concerning the other, so we shall always hold to the eternity both of the one and the other, the bliss and the woe are equally "forever and ever."

6, 7. And He said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy Prophets sent His angel to show unto His servants the things which must shortly be done. Behold, I come quickly: blesed is he that keeps the sayings of the prophecy of this Book.You have the witness of God. You have the witness of the angel of God, you have the witness of Christ you have the witness of John, and all of them agree that "these sayings are faithful and true," and that they relate to facts that shall in due course be established.

8. And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which showed me these things.And, according to the Church of Rome, he was quite right. But according to the Word of God, he was quite wrong!

9. Then said he unto me, See you do it not: for I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this Book: worship God. Worship none but God! Take care not to break the first two of the Ten Commandments either by worshipping another God or by worshipping the true God under any form of similitude whatever!

10. And he said unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this Book: for the time is at hand."There is no need to roll it up, and set a seal to it, as it is so soon to be fulfilled, leave it open."

11. He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still The Lord's messenger speaks as if "the time" were so nearly come that there was no opportunity left for any charge to be made. And this is what will happen, sooner or later, to all men. When they die, their characters will be fixed forever. The wax will cool, and the impression that it bears will be retained eternally.

12. 13. And, behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.[See Sermon #546, Volume 9—ALPHA AND OMEGA.] These must be the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, Himself! No mere messenger, however high his rank, would have dared to say, "I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last."

14, 16. Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have the right to the Tree of Life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For outside are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.We thank God that they are shut out of Heaven, for, albeit that we wish all men could be there, yet we would wish none to be there whose characters are of such a kind as this, unless they were washed and cleansed. Heaven would not be Heaven if such men could be admitted there! They shall not be. They must, by Infallible Justice, be excluded from the realms of bliss.

16. I Jesus have sent My angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the Bright and Morning Star. So Glory is dawning, for Christ, the Bright and Morning Star has risen,

17. And the Spirit and the bride say, come. And let him that hears say, come. And let him that is thirsty, come.

And whoever will, let him take the water of life freely. [See Sermons #279, Volume 5—COME AND WELCOME; #1331, Volume 22—THE TWO "COMES"; #1608, Volume 27—THE DOUBLE "COME" and #2685, Volume 46—THE OFT-REPEATED INVITATION.] Here we have the last invitations in the Word of God—may all who have not yet accepted them do so now, lest they should never again be uttered in their hearing!

18-21. For I testify unto every man that hears the words of the prophecy of this Book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this Book: and if any man shall take away from the words of thee Book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the Book of Life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this Book. He which testifies these things says, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. So the blessed Book closes appropriately with Grace, for 'tis Grace that—

"All the work shall crown Through everlasting days; It lays in Heaven the topmost stone, And well deserves the praise."