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The Tree of Life – Its Fruit, Rivers of Living Water

Rivers of Living Water

Wednesday, September 27, 2017, 6pm.

And Jehovah God made coats of skin for Adam and for his wife and clothed them. (Gen 3:21)

And Abel also brought an offering, from the firstlings of his flock, that is, from their fat portions. And Jehovah had regard for Abel and for his offering. (Gen 4:4)

Speak to all the assembly of Israel, saying, On the tenth of this month each man shall take a lamb according to his fathers’ house, a lamb for a household… And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. (Exo. 12:3,7)

The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29)
Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall by no means hunger, and he who believes into Me shall by no means ever thirst…For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. (John 6:35,55)

We’ve seen how Christ is the tree of life to be food to us.
As the Lamb of God, what is Christ to you?

Some More Items of Christ in the Gospel of John for our enjoyment:

the Word who is God (John 1:1), life as the light of men (v.4), received by us to make us children of God (v.12), incarnated as a man full of grace and reality (v.14), the heavenly ladder joining us to God (v.51), the temple (vv. 2:19,21), the wine as life for our enjoyment (v. 10), the bronze serpent, in the likeness of the flesh of sin, yet without the poison of sin (3:14), the living water and fountain (v. 14)

Can you remember some other items of Christ for our enjoyment? Continue reading the Bible and see how many more items of Christ you can find!

Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes into Me, as the Scripture said, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water. But this He said concerning the Spirit, whom those who believed into Him were about to receive; for the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified. (John 7:37-39)

You are preparing to help your friend to enjoy the Lord. Speak the verses above in your own words.

Further reading: The Tree of Life, chapter 5, published by Living Stream Ministry

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The Tree of Life – A day in Your courts is better than a thousand

A-Day-In-Your-Courts-is-Better-than-a-Thousand-Cropped

Wednesday, September 20, 2017, 6pm.

A-Day-In-Your-Courts-is-Better-than-a-ThousandJesus said to them, I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall by no means hunger, and he who believes into Me shall by no means ever thirst. (John 6:35)

As the living Father has sent Me and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me. (John 6:57)

And out of the ground Jehovah God caused to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, as well as the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Gen. 2:9)

Use these verses (above) to describe God’s intention for man.

They are saturated with the fatness of Your house, / And You cause them to drink of the river of Your pleasures. (Psa. 36:8)

With You is the fountain of life; / In Your light we see light. (Psa. 36:9)

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. (John 1:4)

Again therefore Jesus spoke to them, saying, I am the light of the world; he who follows me shall by no means walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. (John 8:12)

In My Father’s house are many abodes; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. (John 14:2)

What does the “house” in the verses above refer to? How do these verses relate to each other?

One thing I have asked from Jehovah; / That do I seek: / To dwell in the house of Jehovah / All the days of my life, / To behold the beauty of Jehovah, / And to inquire in His temple. (Psa. 27:4)

A day in Your courts is better than a thousand; / I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God / Than dwell in the tents of the wicked. (Psa. 84:10)

Is there something in these two verses that touches you?

Further reading: The Tree of Life, chapter 4, published by Living Stream Ministry

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The Tree of Life – Who is Christ?

Who-Is-Christ

Wednesday, September 13, 2017, 6pm.

Who-Is-ChristFor a child is born to us, / A Son is given to us; / And the government / Is upon His shoulder; / And His name will be called / Wonderful Counselor, / Mighty God, / Eternal Father, / Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

Jesus said to him, I am the way and the reality and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and henceforth you know Him and have seen Him. Philip said to Him, Lord, show us the Father and it is sufficient for us. Jesus said to him, Have I been so long a time with you, and you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how is it that you say, Show us the Father? (John 14:6-9)

Can you use these verses to answer the question, “Who is Christ?”

And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, that He may be with you forever, Even the Spirit of reality, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him; but you know Him, because He abides with you and shall be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you. (John 14:16-18)

And the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.(2 Cor. 3:17)

What mystery is revealed in these verses?

And when He had said this, He breathed into them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit. (John 20:22)

Incarnation, Human Living, Crucifixion, Resurrection. These were the steps the Lord went through. When did the above verse take place? And with whom?

Further reading: The Tree of Life, chapter 3, published by Living Stream Ministry

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The Tree of Life – In the Middle of the Garden

The tree of Life in the middle of the garden

Wednesday, September 6, 2017, 6pm.

Jehovah God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. And Jehovah God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground Jehovah God caused to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, as well as the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Gen 2:7-9)

What two trees are specifically mentioned in Genesis 2?
Why did God put Man in front of the tree of life?

And Cain went forth from the presence of Jehovah and dwelt in the land of Nod, east of Eden. And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch; and he built a city and called the name of the city after the name of his son Enoch. (Gen. 4: 16-17)

And Jehovah said, My Spirit will not strive with man forever, for he indeed is flesh. And Jehovah saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And Jehovah repented that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him in His heart. (Gen. 6: 3a, 5-6)

And the rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights. Everything in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, of all that was on the dry land, died. (Gen. 7:12,22)

What do you see from the verses above? And how does it relate to question 1?

But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit. (1 Cor. 6:17)

Then Jesus said to His disciples, if anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his soul-life shall lose it; but whoever loses his soul-life for My sake shall find it. (Matt. 16:24-25)

Describe your understanding of “he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit” and “deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.”

Further reading: The Tree of Life, chapter 2, published by Living Stream Ministry