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Revelation 22:17 - Salvation Is Available To All Who Want It.

Revelation 22:17 (NIV) The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let the one who hears say, "Come!" Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.

Revelation 22:17 (NLT) The Spirit and the bride say, "Come." Let anyone who hears this say, "Come." Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life.

INTRODUCTION

   Both the Holy Spirit and the bride (the church) extend the invitation to all the world to come to Jesus and experience the joys of salvation in Christ.
   Once again Jesus uses the image of living water, inviting anyone who desires to come and drink of the water of life (22:1). The Holy Spirit brings healing, love, freedom, refreshment, and newness of life. The Good News is unlimited in scope - all people everywhere may come. Salvation cannot be earned, but God gives it freely. We live in a world desperately thirsty for living water, and many are dying of thirst. But we still have time. Let us invite everyone to come and drink. [Life Application SB 2019]

COMMENTARY PEARL

Thirsting for Truth
   An Amazing Fact: An adult human body is made up of approximately 70 percent water. The recommended water intake is about eight cups per day, though a healthy person can drink up to three gallons depending on the environment and activity. By the time a person feels thirsty, more than one percent of the total amount of water in the body has been lost.
   It is very difficult to drink too much water. Although you can be seriously harmed and even killed by drinking too much water too quickly, it is rare. Water intoxication occurs when the amount of water coming into your body dilutes the sodium levels in your bloodstream and causes an imbalance of water in your brain. This happens mostly during periods of intense athletic activity because of the rapid loss and replenishing of water.
   Most people do not drink too much water; they drink too little. Everyone has been thirsty at one time or another, and many people in the world do not have enough fresh water to drink on a regular basis. Most people would love to never thirst again. This was the case with the woman at the well in Samaria.
   Christ promised her a kind of water that would keep her from thirsting again. He told her that God the Father desires honest worship from the heart, not from a specific location like Jerusalem. All "true" worshipers, according to Jesus, worship "in spirit and truth." Such worship will spring forth into everlasting life. When we have Jesus, we will never spiritually thirst again. [Moving Mountains by Amazing Facts]

COMMENTARY

   The same divine mind that is working upon the things of nature is speaking to the hearts of men and creating an inexpressible craving for something they have not. The things of the world cannot satisfy their longing. The Spirit of God is pleading with them to seek for those things that alone can give peace and rest--the grace of Christ, the joy of holiness. Through influences seen and unseen, our Saviour is constantly at work to attract the minds of men from the unsatisfying pleasures of sin to the infinite blessings that may be theirs in Him. To all these souls, who are vainly seeking to drink from the broken cisterns of this world, the divine message is addressed, "Let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." Revelation 22:17.
   You who in heart long for something better than this world can give, recognize this longing as the voice of God to your soul. Ask Him to give you repentance, to reveal Christ to you in His infinite love, in His perfect purity. In the Saviour's life the principles of God's law--love to God and man--were perfectly exemplified. Benevolence, unselfish love, was the life of His soul. It is as we behold Him, as the light from our Saviour falls upon us, that we see the sinfulness of our own hearts.  SC28

   "If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." The condition of the people made this appeal very forcible. They had been engaged in a continued scene of pomp and festivity, their eyes had been dazzled with light and color, and their ears regaled with the richest music; but there had been nothing in all this round of ceremonies to meet the wants of the spirit, nothing to satisfy the thirst of the soul for that which perishes not. Jesus invited them to come and drink of the fountain of life, of that which would be in them a well of water, springing up unto everlasting life.
   The priest had that morning performed the ceremony which commemorated the smiting of the rock in the wilderness. That rock was a symbol of Him who by His death would cause living streams of salvation to flow to all who are athirst. Christ's words were the water of life. There in the presence of the assembled multitude He set Himself apart to be smitten, that the water of life might flow to the world. In smiting Christ, Satan thought to destroy the Prince of life; but from the smitten rock there flowed living water. As Jesus thus spoke to the people, their hearts thrilled with a strange awe, and many were ready to exclaim, with the woman of Samaria, "Give me this water, that I thirst not." John 4:15.
   Jesus knew the wants of the soul. Pomp, riches, and honor cannot satisfy the heart. "If any man thirst, let him come unto Me." The rich, the poor, the high, the low, are alike welcome. He promises to relieve the burdened mind, to comfort the sorrowing, and to give hope to the despondent. Many of those who heard Jesus were mourners over disappointed hopes, many were nourishing a secret grief, many were seeking to satisfy their restless longing with the things of the world and the praise of men; but when all was gained, they found that they had toiled only to reach a broken cistern, from which they could not quench their thirst. Amid the glitter of the joyous scene they stood, dissatisfied and sad. That sudden cry, "If any man thirst," startled them from their sorrowful meditation, and as they listened to the words that followed, their minds kindled with a new hope. The Holy Spirit presented the symbol before them until they saw in it the offer of the priceless gift of salvation.
   The cry of Christ to the thirsty soul is still going forth, and it appeals to us with even greater power than to those who heard it in the temple on that last day of the feast. The fountain is open for all. The weary and exhausted ones are offered the refreshing draught of eternal life. Jesus is still crying, "If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink." "Let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." "Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." Rev. 22:17; John 4:14. DA453-4

"The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come." Rev. 22:17. Everyone who hears is to repeat the invitation. Whatever one's calling in life, his first interest should be to win souls for Christ. He may not be able to speak to congregations, but he can work for individuals. To them he can communicate the instruction received from his Lord. Ministry does not consist alone in preaching. Those minister who relieve the sick and suffering, helping the needy, speaking words of comfort to the desponding and those of little faith. Nigh and afar off are souls weighed down by a sense of guilt. It is not hardship, toil, or poverty that degrades humanity. It is guilt, wrongdoing. This brings unrest and dissatisfaction. Christ would have His servants minister to sin-sick souls. DA822

CLOSING PEARL

Only One Way
   A driver stopped to ask the way to a certain street. When told, he asked doubtfully, "Is that the best way?" The man replied, "That is the only way."
   There is only one way of salvation - and that is Christ. Jesus said, "No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6). Peter declared, "There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).
   Is this arrogance or intolerance? No - and Christians must never be guilty of those attitudes. We are saved solely by God's grace; we do not deserve it. But Christ was God's appointed means of salvation. Only Christ died for our sins; only Christ rose from the dead.
   God's offer of forgiveness and new life still stands. If you have never done so, turn to Christ today. And if you do know Him, pray today for someone you know who does not yet believe, and ask God to help you tell that person of His salvation. [Hope for Each Day by Billy Graham]

LINKS FOR FURTHER STUDY

Revelation 21:6 (NIV) He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.
Devotional pending.

Isaiah 55:1-3 - REALLY LIVING!!!
https://www.abible.com/devotions/2014/20141011-2240.html

John 7:37-39 - Are You Thirsty?
https://www.abible.com/devotions/2024/20240312-0832.html

LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT

https://abible.com/links/