Sermon Tone Analysis

The River of Life

22 Then the angel1 showed me xthe river of ythe water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of zthe street of the city; aalso, on either side of the river, bthe tree of life2 with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month.

The leaves of the tree were cfor the healing of the nations.

3 dNo longer will there be anything accursed, but ethe throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and fhis servants will worship him.

4 gThey will see his face, and hhis name will be on their foreheads.

5 And inight will be no more.

They will need no light of lamp jor sun, for kthe Lord God will be their light, and lthey will reign forever and ever.

The River of Life

22 Then the angel1 showed me xthe river of ythe water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of zthe street of the city; aalso, on either side of the river, bthe tree of life2 with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month.

The leaves of the tree were cfor the healing of the nations.

3 dNo longer will there be anything accursed, but ethe throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and fhis servants will worship him.

4 gThey will see his face, and hhis name will be on their foreheads.

5 And inight will be no more.

They will need no light of lamp jor sun, for kthe Lord God will be their light, and lthey will reign forever and ever.

Psalm 1

Prayer

Begin by praying for everyone; that we may hear the word of the lord, that it may reign in our hearts and minds, and that we would listen to its wise counsel.

Then, we read scripture:

The River of Life

22 Then the angel1 showed me xthe river of ythe water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of zthe street of the city; aalso, on either side of the river, bthe tree of life2 with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month.

The leaves of the tree were cfor the healing of the nations.

3 dNo longer will there be anything accursed, but ethe throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and fhis servants will worship him.

4 gThey will see his face, and hhis name will be on their foreheads.

5 And inight will be no more.

They will need no light of lamp jor sun, for kthe Lord God will be their light, and lthey will reign forever and ever.

There is no activity I enjoy more than heading up north, to Cuyahoga Valley National Park, and hiking, biking, and/or wading through the streams of water that flow off of the Cuyahoga.

I find it so peaceful, that I can’t even begin to explain how precious this time is to me.

Questions:

What does it look like to be a person who delights in God’s law?

Who always has it on their lips, and on their tongues?

What does true Godliness look like?

Who does it look like?

If you are questioning what it looks like to be holy - Godly - look no further than Jesus.

There is nothing further.

You see, that river of God, foretold of in the book of Revelation is flowing now. is offered now.

Rivers of Water

7:37.

The “last day” of the Feast of Tabernacles (7:2) probably refers to the eighth day.

For at least the first seven days of the feast, priests marched in procession from the Pool of Siloam to the temple and poured out water at the base of the altar.

Pilgrims to the feast watched this ritual, which Jews throughout the Roman world thus knew; it was even commemorated on souvenir jars they could take home with them.

7:38.

The public reading of Scripture at this feast included the one passage in the Prophets that emphasized this feast, Zechariah 14, which was interpreted in conjunction with Ezekiel 47. Together these texts taught that rivers of living water would flow forth from the temple (in Jewish teaching, at the very center of the earth, from the foundation stone of the temple), bringing life to all the earth.

The water-drawing ceremony (7:37) (originally meant to secure rain) pointed toward this hope.

Because the water of verse 38 flows to and not from the believer (v.

39), 7:37–38 may be punctuated to read: “If anyone thirsts, let this one come to me; and let whoever believes in me drink.

As the Scripture says …” (The original manuscripts had no punctuation.)

Verse 38 may thus declare that Jesus fulfills the Scriptures read at the feast, as the foundation stone of a new temple, the source of the water of life (cf.

19:34; Rev 22:1).