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Have you ever realized that Revelation is a book of life? A good number of books have been written as expositions of this book, but most of them are written along the line of prophecy. But the Lord has shown us that this is a book of life, not only of prophecy.
Tree of life is mentioned four times in this book. Water of life is mentioned four times also, three times in the singular and once in the plural. Book of life is used three times, and crown of life is also mentioned. The Lord Jesus also declared in this book, “I am...the living One; and I became dead, and behold, I am living forever and ever” (1:17-18). Revelation, as the last book of the Bible, is a book of life. This is because in the very beginning of the Bible, the central theme is also life (Gen. 2:9).
The record of God’s creation in Genesis 1—2, strictly speaking, is not a record of creation but a record of life. If it were really a record of creation, it would not be so short. Only one verse is the record of creation, and that is the first verse of chapter 1: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” This is the record of creation. Then from Genesis 1:2 to the end of chapter 2, it is entirely a record of life.
According to the Hebrew text, Genesis 1:2 must be rendered in this way: “But the earth became waste and emptiness.” “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. But the earth became waste and emptiness.” This means that the earth became full of death, and upon the surface of the earth was the darkness of the deep. The deep and the darkness signify death. The Spirit of God then came in, not to create but to recover by life. Following the coming of the Spirit of God, light came. The light was not for creation but for life. Light came in to separate the darkness from the light. This was for producing life.
The first day, light came in for the producing of life. Then an expanse came in to separate the waters above from the waters beneath. This again is for the producing of life. The expanse is air. Without air, life is impossible. Light is for life, and air also is for life. This was the second day.
On the third day the land came out of the water. The third day means resurrection. The Lord Jesus was resurrected on the third day. He was the good land that came out of the water of death. After the earth came out of the water on the third day, all kinds of life were produced. All life comes out of the resurrected Christ.
Because of higher life, there is the need of greater light. Therefore, on the fourth day the great light-bearers, the sun, the moon, and the stars came forth. On the fifth day the higher animal life was produced. The fish in the waters, the birds in the air, and the beasts of the field—all of these animal lives—were produced.
Then on the sixth day the highest life among creatures was produced. This is the human life, the life which is according to the image of God, the highest of all lives. Now we can see that Genesis 1 is not a record of creation but a record of life.
Genesis 2 continues by showing how God made man from the dust of the ground and placed him before the tree of life. By the side of the tree of life was another tree, the tree of knowledge. Man was made with the highest life among the created lives, but man still needs the divine life, the eternal life, the uncreated life. Genesis 2 gives us the details of how man was made and for what purpose. Man was made in three parts—the body, soul, and spirit. The body is for contacting the physical world, the soul is our being, and the spirit is the part whereby we may contact God. We are a person with a body without and a spirit within so that we may receive God into us as the divine life, and this divine life is signified by the tree of life. The highest life among all the created lives must receive God as the divine life. Then we will be one with God.
If we will receive the divine life, we will have the living water flowing within us as shown in Genesis 2. By the tree of life, a river was flowing, and in the flow of the river, precious materials were produced: gold, bdellium (pearl), and onyx (precious stone). These precious stones are for the purpose of producing a bride. Following this, there is a bride (Eve) to match the bridegroom (Adam). This bride, we know by Revelation 21, typifies the holy city built with these three kinds of precious materials: gold, pearl, and precious stones. Thus, this is not a record of creation but a record of life which produces material for the building up of the universal bride to match the universal Bridegroom. This is the opening of the sixty-six books of the Bible. The first two chapters of the Bible are a record showing how life produces the materials to build up the bride.
Brothers and sisters, do we need teachings? Do we need doctrines? No! Praise the Lord, we need life, and Christ is life, and Christ is God. God is in Christ as our life.
If we read the Bible from Genesis 1 to the Gospel of John, we see that “in Him [Christ] was life” (John 1:4), and He says, “I have come that they may have life and may have it abundantly” (10:10). He said again and again that He is life. He told Martha that He is life (11:25), and He told His disciples that He is life (14:6). He came that we may have life. Life is all we need.
Then in the last book of the Bible, the Lord says, “I am...the living One; and I became dead, and behold, I am living forever and ever” (Rev. 1:17-18). “To him who overcomes, to him I will give to eat of the tree of life (2:7). What He means is that He is the tree of life. In John 6:57 He says, “He who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me.” It is a matter of eating, not of knowing. It is a matter of life, not of knowledge.
Therefore, in this last book we have all these terms: tree of life, crown of life, book of life, water of life, and waters of life. The tree of life is for us to eat, the water of life is for us to drink, and the crown of life is for us to wear. We must take something into us as life, we must put something upon us as life, and we must be recorded in the book of life. Life, life, life, life! It is life, not knowledge. We must learn how to eat of life, how to drink of life, and how to wear life.
The good Christians are the eating and drinking ones, not the knowing ones. Christianity always tells people that they must know this and they must know that. Brothers must know that they are to love their wives. Sisters must know that they have to submit to their husbands. Christianity always tells people to know, know, know. There are so many “dos,” and so many “don’ts.” Everyone must know what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is bad. But “to know” is a matter of knowledge and belongs to another tree. There are two trees: one is the tree of life, and the other is the tree of knowledge (Gen. 2:9). The “knowing” in Christianity belongs to the tree of knowledge.
What we need is not to know but to eat and drink. “To him who overcomes, to him I will give to eat of the tree of life” (Rev. 2:7). “Let him who is thirsty come...take the water of life freely” (22:17). We must eat and drink.
“He showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb in the middle of its street” (v. 1). This means that out of the redeeming God, the Lamb-God, proceeds the river of life, and on either side of the river grows the tree of life. We have the river of life for us to drink and the tree of life for us to eat. If anyone comes and tells you that you have to know, know, know, you must realize that he is one who is sent from the tree of knowledge, not from the tree of life. But if someone tells you that we all need to eat and drink of Christ, we must say, “Hallelujah, this one comes from the New Jerusalem!”
Are you an eating and drinking Christian or a knowing Christian? If we will eat and drink, eventually we will have something to wear as a crown. Our glory must not be in knowledge, but in life. Life is our glory; life is our boast. Is Christ knowledge? No, He is life! We are boasting in life. Life is our crown; life is our glory!
If you meet a brother with a long face, be sure that he has a clear mind, and in the clear mind is an abundance of knowledge. But if you meet a brother with a broad face, saying—“O Lord, Amen, Hallelujah!”—be sure that he is one who is enjoying the Lord. He is full of Christ, and because of this, he is full of joy. You may say that he is foolish, but he is joyful.
I like to see all the brothers and sisters with a broad face, smiling all the time and saying, “O Lord, Amen, Hallelujah!” They may not know anything, but they do enjoy Christ.
Are you full of joy, or are you full of knowledge? We must not be full of knowledge, but full of Christ who is our life and joy. Praise the Lord! Revelation is a book of life, because it affords us the tree of life, the water of life, the crown of life, and the book of life.
When we are joyful and rejoicing, the Lord Jesus is glorified, and the enemy is put to shame. For years I have been afraid of any Christian with a long face. Whenever I meet this kind of Christian, I am fearful. While I am talking to him, he is so cold, with a long face and turning eyes. Is this a proper and normal Christian? I must say that this is an abnormal and dead Christian. When people talk to us, we must say, “O Lord, Amen, Hallelujah!”
What we need today is not knowledge. I know that this may cause some to be offended, but I cannot help it. I must tell the people of the Lord that they do not need knowledge. What they need is life, and life is nothing less than Christ Himself. This is all we need. We do not need knowledge, and we do not need religion. Christianity is a religion of teachings. No other religion has so many books as Christianity. It is really a religion of teachings, with knowledge as the central matter.
In Revelation, strictly speaking, there is not much teaching. It is a book of life. There is the tree of life, the water of life, the crown of life, and the book of life. Everything must be a matter of life.
When I first came to this country, some asked me concerning absolute grace. Another asked me about eternal security. Others asked me if I was a Calvinist or an Arminian. Do you know how I answered? I said, “I have Christ, so I have something more than absolute grace. I do not care for absolute grace; I only care for Christ. Christ is the best security. Nothing is as secure as Christ.” Christianity has many teachings about certain doctrines, such as justification by faith, sanctification, and holiness. But where is holiness, where is sanctification, and where is justification by faith? Everything is in Christ. If we enjoy Christ, we have justification. If we enjoy Christ, we have the day-by-day sanctification. If we are enjoying Christ and taking Him as everything to us, we are really holy. We may not know the term holiness, but we have the reality, because Christ is our holiness.
It is good not to know. Before Adam and Eve took of the fruit of the tree of knowledge, they were innocent. They did not know anything. One saint said that to know something sinful is sin. I do not know this or that, but I do know that Christ must be our everything. When I enjoy Christ, I simply do not know anything. I am just joyful and rejoicing. What we all need is Christ, not Christianity. We need life, not knowledge.
We all need a change. We not only must take the way of the local church, but we need a change. Otherwise, we will bring all the Babylonian things into the local church, such as the knowledge and teachings from our background. This will do much damage.
The age has been turned. In the book of Revelation, the third person of the Godhead becomes not only the second but also the sevenfold intensified Spirit. We need life, and life is in Christ, and Christ is in the Spirit. The Spirit today is the seven Spirits—the sevenfold intensified Spirit.
The Lord Jesus in Revelation 3 told the church in Laodicea that they were lukewarm, neither cold nor hot; so He must spew them out. Lukewarmness does not suit the Lord’s taste. If you are cold, just be cold; if you are hot, be hot. But if you are lukewarm, the Lord will spew you out. What does this mean? It means that you have nothing to do with His life.
It is not only a matter of being saved or of being lost. We must take care of the enjoyment of Christ. Are you enjoying Christ, and are you enjoyable to Christ? We all must enjoy Christ, and we all must be enjoyable to Him in order to have the life fellowship with Him. We simply need to enjoy His sevenfold Spirit.
Today’s Christianity always has teaching, teaching, teaching. We came out of a background of religious teachings. Today’s Christianity is altogether a religion of teachings. The Lord has no intention of giving a religion to His people. The Lord did speak to the Jewish people, and it was put into writings, comprising the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament. But the Jewish people made a religion out of these books. They only care for doctrines and religion.
Some years ago, I met a Hebrew believer. Both he and his wife told me how they were orthodox Jews before they became believers of Christ. The Jewish religion had so many regulations, even how to wear your shoes and in what direction to place your shoes at night. Every regulation was based upon a verse of the Bible. They could tell you why they had to put their shoes in a certain direction by referring to a verse in the Old Testament. Would you laugh at them? If you would laugh at them, you must laugh at yourself first.
The Lord had no intention of giving the Jewish people a religion. His intention was to give them the living Word that they might gain and enjoy Him. But they made a dead religion of the Word, causing the Word to be dead. They had the knowledge of the Bible without a living contact with the Lord. So when the Lord Jesus came, they did not know Him.
When the Lord Jesus was born, the magi came from the heathen world. They did not have the Bible, and they did not have the knowledge of the Word. They did not have religion, yet they saw the star. King Herod called the leaders of the Jewish people to ask them where Christ should be born. Immediately, they told Herod that He should be born in Bethlehem. They had the knowledge, but they did not go to Bethlehem. However, the magi, who did not have knowledge, went there and found Christ.
When I was young, I was taught that as long as we have the Bible, everything is all right. But later I discovered that this is not true. Here is the proof: The magi were told by the people who had the Bible that Christ was to be born in Bethlehem, and they went to Bethlehem. But still they had a problem. The Bible tells us He was to be born in Bethlehem, but it does not say on what street, in what house, and at what address. Praise the Lord, when the Bible was lacking, the living star came. The living star was above, and the magi were walking beneath. It was the star that led them to the very place where the Lord Jesus was born (Matt. 2:9). If the Bible were everything, there would be no need for the Lord to be the Holy Spirit within. The Bible may tell us the principles, but the details must come from the inner anointing of the Holy Spirit.
I would say that it was not the Bible that eventually led the magi to Christ, but the living star. I do believe in the Bible, and I do love this book. But the Bible is without, and the Holy Spirit is within. These are the two great gifts that God has given us. The Holy Bible must be one with the Holy Spirit; then it becomes living. Without the Holy Spirit, the Bible is dead. Without the Holy Spirit, the Bible is just the dead letters that kill.
The Lord Jesus said, “The words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” (John 6:63). The Bible should not be the word of knowledge in letters, but the word of life in the Spirit. The Bible must be a book of life in the Spirit.
Christianity has even made so many different kinds of religions out of the New Testament. Some take verses about immersion and develop a religion out of immersion. Others take verses about the presbytery (eldership) and make a religion out of them. Some take verses about speaking in tongues and make a tongue-speaking religion. Some take a passage about head covering and make a head-covering religion. Then some argue that you should not cover your head, so they make a non-head-covering religion. Some insist to cover the head with a black head covering, and others with a white head covering. So there are two kinds of religion for head covering. Even more than this, some have a short covering, and others have a long covering. Some take verses about foot-washing and make a foot-washing religion out of them. All these religions have come out of Christianity’s doctrinal use of the Bible. But none of them is right. I do believe that the Lord is going to tear down all these religions.
Do not be religious. Do not have a self-made religion. We all have a kind of self-made religion. Some like to be silent, some like to be loud, some like to do this, and some like to do that. Some say that Los Angeles is too noisy, and they do not like it. They prefer silence. But this is just their self-made religion. They do not like it, but the Lord honors it. What can they say?
There is something quite peculiar which exists in China. Some Christians shake their chairs whenever they meet. I am not for it, but I have discovered its principle. It is so easy to be in our mind, but when they all shake the chairs, their mind is gone. The more they shake the chairs, the more their mind is gone. We do need the “chair-shaking”! I do not encourage you to do this literally, but we need this in principle.
In my last trip to Taiwan, some of the brothers told me that the chair-shaking Christians had built a big magnificent church building, and they told me where they got the money. A rich man was sick, and no doctors could help him. Then the chair-shakers went to see him, knelt down around him, and shook their chairs and prayed. He was healed! I am not preaching for them, but there is something here. He was thoroughly healed and so happy, so he gave them a large amount of money and told them to build a church.
You may say that it is not good to shake the chairs, but the Lord healed the man. What would you say? I do not encourage you to shake the chairs, but there is a principle we must see. People who are so much in the mind really need to shake the chairs. They are so religious and so full of doctrines. They know everything, but they are so dead and cold and have nearly nothing of life. What they need is the shaking off of all their knowledge so that they may be turned to the Spirit to enjoy life.
The Lord has turned the age. In Revelation there is no religion and no doctrine, but the tree of life, the water of life, the crown of life, and the book of life. The Lord is living, not religious. We too must be full of life, not full of doctrines and teachings. We must not be religious. We must drop all the doctrines and teachings and be filled with the sevenfold Spirit.
The last book of the Bible has no doctrine and no religion but is full of life. We must be filled with this life, and we must express this life. This is today’s age. May the Lord turn us to the age of the sevenfold Spirit for the realization and enjoyment of life.
